his shadow | eddie munson

↝ chapter nine

master of puppets - metallica
10 | summoning
☿

"eddie!"

eddie gasped, eyes bursting open and breaths falling sharp, painful. he froze when he realised his surroundings— he was back in his trailer, back in the upside down.

"no, no, no..." he moved around in a circle, then his eyes dropped to his body. he was dressed in his black jeans, hellfire shirt, leather jacket and down vest. his hands went to his head, his bandana was tied over it. he looked up, and stepped back when she saw that the rope that went through the gate was severed, lying at his feet. no one stood on the other side of the gate. "dustin..."

"eddie!"

he snapped around, and something inside him clicked. "shit, dustin!" he burst out of his trailer and into the upside down, pausing for a moment when he realised that bats weren't swarming his trailer— but were in the distance, circling and swooping at a figure on the ground, they were screaming.

"dustin, no!" he broke into a sprint, but suddenly his leg erupted with pain. he screamed out but tried his best to endure it as he ran with a limp. "dustin, i'm coming!"

dustin's screams brought forth a wave of panic and tears, and eddie began cursing as he moved as quickly as he could. suddenly, all of the bats dropped, littering the ground. eddie cursed again and pushed forward, reaching dustin as he lay on the floor, still. too still. eddie fell to the ground and grabbed dustin, pulling him onto his lap. "dustin, hey. it's me, i'm here."

eddie surveyed dustin's body, and his tears spilled more as he realised the injuries matched his own. his hands found dustin's face and he gripped it shakily. "dustin? dustin! hey, wake up! you're okay, you're okay— wake up, dustin!"

he didn't awaken. he was limp in eddie's arms. eddie pulled him closer and cradled his body, his sobs becoming erratic. "no, no, no, no... dustin. not you. it's shouldn't have been you— it should've been me. it should've been me."

"eddie..."

his head snapped over his shoulder, and he froze with petrify when she saw who stood over him. "you..."

vecna stood stiffly and craned his neck around. "this is all your fault, eddie. dustin died because of you, because you acted on impulse, because you tried to be a hero."

eddie began shaking his head. "no, no... it didn't happen this way. it was me!"

vecna's head shook slowly, and he tsked. "oh, eddie. don't you see? when you run away, everyone you leave behind must bear your repercussions. this is a foretelling."

dustin's body suddenly disappeared, evaporating into a mist of dust particles. eddie looked down at his hands and choked on a sob, his fingers curling as tough trying to capture the particles which once made up dustin— even if it hadn't actually been him.

"running comes easy to you because you're ignorant," vecna began circling him, his steps slow. "you don't understand the importance of facing your fears, you run and hide... so when you faced my army, you surprised me."

eddie's face twisted, and he rose slowly. "i surprised you? the formidable vecna..."

"eddie munson... a freak, a loser, a failure," vecna's tone was unwavering, and his eyes were cold as they dug into eddie's soul. "always running away from danger. does it make you feel noble? does it make you feel lucky?"