his shadow | eddie munson

↝ chapter four

we've gotta get out of this place - the animals
5 | earthquake
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maude was throwing out the trash when the tremors began. when she had started shaking, she thought that maybe her anxieties were playing up— but then the shaking became more vicious, and the land across from the road began to crack. she watched, frozen with fear, as the crack lined all along from a distance, and how the earth tore apart, a bright red light illuminated from it as it began to spread across, parts of the houses across falling into it and crumbling down where they stood. she backed up, tears spilling down her face and shrieking, losing her balance and falling down, crawling backwards as the rupture grew. she could feel her end coming— she had done so little with her life, had succeeded in no true valiance.

but then the earthquake stopped, and the crack didn't grow any further. her uncle came rushing out of their small house, swearing and hissing at maude to get up. when she did, her eyes followed the length of the crack, and then she saw a blazing blast further into town where the community library was, a massive cloud of smoke spreading high into the sky. her hand flew to cover her mouth, but her sobs were not muffled. her uncle went over and grabbed her arm and pulled her towards his truck, claiming they needed to find her cousins.

she couldn't stop crying as they drove further into town— as they passed more wreckage and destruction, people sobbing and crying while they embraced, fires blazing, smoke growing— that ominous red light shining through the gaping cracks in their earth. it turned out that there were four large fractures that connected at the centre, at the library.

maude didn't know why, but something inside her felt strange as she studied the cracks. looking at them felt wrong, dreadful— extraordinary. she studied and observed, and she thought. thought that the earthquake seemed so random, yet so punctual. thought that the red light was strange, alien. thought that the four-fractures were... planned.

her cousins found them first, claiming that they'd been out searching for the freak when the earthquake hit. they took one look at maude in her distressed and clouded state, and began mocking her for being so scared and weak.

her uncle yelled at them to shut up, but he didn't do it for her. maude could tell that he was distressed himself, but he would never dare admit it.

☿

they were going to leave hawkins. there had been too much destruction and too much chaos, that her uncle didn't desire to remain there anymore. maude tried to plead with him to stay— she had lived elsewhere before, before her mother dropped her off at her uncle's, but she had never felt like any place was right for her, until hawkins. she knew she was alone and unsociable and had a very unfair life, but she still loved this town. she was so intrigued by its curiosities and peculiarities. by its people.

her pleading was useless.

she was dragged into her room and forced to pack one bag to take with her by her uncle. but when she didn't make the effort to pack anything, he glowered down at her, pushed her down onto the bed where he began screaming profanities and cruel words, then he grabbed out her duffle bag from her closet and threw it at her. the zip scratched the side of her face, right beside her eye, and she shrieked, her hand flying to it. it began to bleed and blood trickled down her cheek.

her uncle didn't apologise, he didn't even look sorry. he just told her to pack and gave her ten minutes before he would leave her behind, then he left her room and slammed the door shut behind him.

maude hesitated in that moment. maybe she would waste her time, maybe she wouldn't pack, and maybe she'd let him leave her there. she was responsible enough to take care of herself, she already did all of the housework— cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping. maybe she would be better off on her own.

but hawkins was not the same. bad things were always around the corner, and maude could feel it in her bones that the earthquake was not the end of it. she didn't know if she would survive living alone in such a promised-dangerous town.

so she packed her bag, folding as many clothes as she could to fit them. she left behind her school books and supplies, but she didn't dare part with her sketchbook or her pencils, which she packed into her backpack instead. this wouldn't take up any space because she would keep it on her at all times.

as she walked to the truck, she flipped the book open to her most recent sketch; eddie's grand portrait. she let her fingers trace the page delicately, careful not to smudge any of her hard work. her heart wrenched. just a few days ago she had been watching eddie goofing around with his hellfire friends in the cafeteria, and now he was wanted for murder and satanism— even if he was presumed dead.

and still, she did not believe he was guilty. or dead.

☿

it's happening guys. the big spin-off.
the epitome of my denial.
are you ready?

sincerely,
the writer, who is in fact, not ready <3