his shadow | eddie munson

↝ chapter six

"you... stowed away... in the back of a strangers van?" he was dumbfounded. his hair was down now, having taken his cap off in the van, and it was knotted and damp with sweat. a trickle of blood ran down his chin. he wiped at it with the sleeve of his leather jacket and grimaced, but his eyes never left maude. "you're the girl from the gas station." he recalled. those brown doe eyes were filled with so much caution.

we're not strangers, i know you. "we go— went, to hawkins high together. i sit next to you in social studies."

he looked as though he was trying to recall this. "yeah, you look familiar. but why were you in my van? don't you know who i am? eddie munson— the freak, the satanist, the murderer."

maude took a step forward. eddie took one back. she paused. "i don't believe any of that. i never did."

his eyes examined her, his face staggering. "why not?"

she wracked her brain for the right answer. she thought of one. "can i show you something? it's in my backpack, in your van."

eddie's eyes flickered to his van, then back to maude. when he didn't react, she took it as a sign to re-enter his van from the driver's entrance, and she reached around the chair for her bag. when she brought it out and unzipped it, eddie took another wary step back, so she pulled her notebook out slowly, watching him with friendly eyes. when she pulled it all the way out she placed her bag on the ground beside her, and she flipped the book open to her last portrait— his portrait. she held the book out nervously, aware of her shaking hands.

eddie slowly crept forward before he gently took the book and looked down, his face twisting as he beheld the portrait.

"you've always interested me," maude began to explain, surprised at herself for sounding so confident. "i've seen the way you are, eddie munson. with your hellfire friends, in class, on your own. you're no murderer— you're no freak."

"then what am i?" he began flicking through the rest of the book, seeing the pages of sketches— recognising his rings, his shoes, his hair. they were all of him. sometimes there were group sketches of him and the hellfire club, a scene of them playing dnd, or a scene of him and his band performing. these were all from memory? from observing?

"you're the most sane person i know." maude answered truthfully, her breath falling with relief— and it was a relief, to finally be getting this all out, to finally be talking to him, encountering him. even if in such a strange setting.

he looked up, mouth slightly agape and eyebrows furrowed. he shut the book suddenly, and held it out to her. she took it hesitantly. "so... you've been following me around? sketching me... stalking me?"

maude flinched. "yes."

"yes..." his eyes narrowed slightly, "what do you know, then?"

maude shook her head. "nothing, i know nothing. i just saw you in that gas station, and i saw your van... and i ran. away from my uncle and cousins. to the closest place i could hide."

"yeah, i know that feeling." eddie hummed, moving to walk past maude, around to the back of his van. maude followed him hesitantly. he pull the back door open and examined everything, noticing the brown paper bag of chips and sweets and cigarette packets. he then reached further in and grabbed the bloodied towels, and stuffed them under the mattress, which he flipped around.

"you're hurt." maude pointed out. eddie huffed. it wasn't directed to her, but something that he thought of. something that turned his face dark, unkind.

"just a scratch or two." he murmured, avoiding looking at maude. he shut the back door and went around to the driver's seat, climbing in with a brooding scowl. maude remained at the butt of the van, blinking awkwardly. she didn't know what to do, if this was where they were to part, on a quiet road with a line of convenience stores on the right side, and an endless array of paddocks on the left.

she heard the passenger window roll down, and eddie called out, "you coming or what?"

maude's eyes widened and she rushed around the side of the truck and entered through the passenger door, clambering onto the seat and reaching for a seatbelt—there was none. she closed the door behind her and looked over at eddie, who had his eyes shut as though trying to contain his pain. "are you okay?"

"oh i'm perfect." eddie spoke through his teeth sarcastically as he opened his eyes and started the van, then pulled out of the curb and drove back onto the road. maude frowned, still concerned that his injuries, whatever they were, were far more serious than he was treating them. but with his zipped up leather jacket underneath his down vest, she was unable to see what horrors may lie beneath.

"what's your name?" he spoke again, glancing over at her.

"maude fitzgerald."

"cool."

maude wanted to talk to him more, to ask her ever-growing questions, to learn the truth about what had happened, to have a reason to be proud of herself for not falling into the skepticism and gossip of their town. but she couldn't speak, she was frozen with nerves. she had finally spoken to eddie, he finally knew she existed— but it had all happened so quickly, so strangely. a part of her wished that it didn't happen this way, that she had stormed up to him one day in school and asked to join hellfire club, claiming that she knew the rules and would be a great addition, and that he'd grow intrigued by her and would say yes. a part of her also sparked with exhilaration as she sat beside eddie in his van, somehow having wound up joining him on the run, and him being oddly okay with it.

but a major part of her was consumed with alarm as she considered the factors of their encountering. eddie was on the run. he was hurt. something bad had happened, something far worse than had been anticipated. she didn't know why she thought this, but she could feel it deep within her core...

it all had to do with hawkins.

☿

eddie my poor baby :(
i just want him to be okay and happy.
i have the control to do so...
but that would be boring for the plot, wouldn't it?
at least, not right away...

sincerely,
the suffer brothers' worst nightmare <3