ᴍᴇʟ | ᴇ. ᴍᴜɴsᴏɴ

iv.

!!! TW MENTIONS OF DRUGS, DEATH !!!

FRIDAY, MARCH 21ST 1986 | HAWKINS, INDIANA

as melissa and eddie walked inside the school, melissa looked around and saw there were already three guys inside. remembering two of them were called jeff and gareth, she greeted them.

"i'm sorry, i still don't know your name?" she asked the third one.

"oh, i'm isaac. your name's melissa, right?" he questioned.

"yeah, nice to meet you", melissa smiled at him.

soon enough, three people walked through the door of the room; both freshmen and some other girl who looked about ten or eleven years old. as mike introduced eddie and the others to the girl -erica-, eddie stayed calm, but denied the girl to play.

"absolutely not", eddie rejected.

"you asked for a sub, we delivered", the curly-haired dude objected.

"this is hellfire club, not babysitting club", eddie debated as he leant forward.

"i'm eleven, you long-haired freak", the girl spat back.

eddie fake-gasped, "my, my, the child speaks."

isaac chuckled and out of nowhere, eddie jumped out of his seat, still attempting to insult or even trying to get her to go.

"so, what's your name, child?" eddie insulted.

"erica sinclair", the girl plainly said.

eddie chuckled and looked at jeff, gareth and isaac for a second. his eyes curtly drift off to melissa, but seeing she wasn't looking at him, he directed his gaze back to erica.

"so this is sinclair's infamous sister", eddie spoke as he tried to make fun of erica, who didn't give in.

"he's sharp", she told curly-haired dude and mike.

isaac, jeff and gareth laughed, but when eddie looked at them, they immediately stopped. still curious as to what curly-haired guy's name was, melissa stood up and walked over to the three guys. she asked no one in particular and gareth responded, saying it was dustin.

"what's your class and level?" eddie mocked, "level one dwarf?"

isaac, jeff and gareth immediately began laughing, but melissa didn't join in. instead, she looked at dustin and mike, who looked worried for erica's well-being.

"my name is lady applejack and i'm a chaotic good half-elf rogue, level fourteen. and i will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri. and i'll smile as i watch them die a slow, agonising death. so, we going to do this or we going to keep chitchatting like this is your mommy's book club?" erica spat.

eddie looked at the girl in front of him with a serious look on his face, causing everyone else in the room to worry what eddie's reaction might be, but he surprised them all by smiling at erica, stretching out his hand and welcoming her to hellfire.

soon, all of them took place at the table, but eddie and melissa stayed up.

"mel, d'you want to watch or try to play the game?" eddie asked in a low voice so the others couldn't hear him.

"you're actually willing to let me play? after the way you tested erica?" melissa questioned as her eyes widened, "i'll have to be honest. i'm probably level one dwarf."

"it's just like you said," eddie smiled, "it was a test. a test to see if an eleven-year-old could play with us, fourteen to twenty year olds. you're what? seventeen, eighteen?"