⇢ ˗ˏˋ ✰🎨 🎸 ࿐ྂ
"𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞!"
➶-͙˚ ༘✶ ˗ˏˋ ✰꒰ 📎 🍒 ꒱✰ ˎˊ- ➶ °*ೃ
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JASON CARVER'S CURLING FISTS were repetitively battering the sides of Cerise's throbbing temples. His white button-up was littered with Cerise's blood. The copper metallic crimson liquid was overbearing in her mouth, and with the repetitious despair that was ascending in her cranium, Cerise's motor control was nullifying by every precarious second.
The blood-orange sunset was a metaphorical twin for Cerise Harrington. The vibrant fiery red-peachy light was seeping through the matted clouded windows of the home, slowly dimming by the second as nightfall was gradually approaching Hawkins. Simultaneously, Cerise's jovial glow was threatening to extinguish by every contact Jason made with his fist to her body.
"I don't want to do this, Harrington, but you're not cooperating with me," Jason snarled with a sadistic smile rising on his face. He yanked the white rag off of the sofa, wiping his bloodied fists with the cloth.
She returned the barbarous smile towards Jason, not daring to let him get the upper hand over her emotions. Cerise lazily sat up against the sofa in the dim-lit living room, spitting the excess blood onto the floor.
Sorry, Rick.
"Wow, and I thought the term 'blondes are stupid,' was a myth. You are the living definition of that saying, Carver," Cerise sarcastically sneered, instantly knowing it would aggravate Jason. Just as anticipated, the blonde boy stormed in anger, kneeling down to Cerise's level and strenuously grabbing her face with his hand that was decorated with her blood.
"Shut up! Do you think I want to do this? You are a good friend, Cerise, but I need answers." Cerise stared intently into Jason's tired eyes and indeed, she saw the disparity in them. For a small minuscule second, she felt sympathy for the jock.
"Your definition of 'friends' is abysmal," Cerise mumbled through her bloodied lips in a monotone. "I don't think friends beat each other to get answers, Jason."
Jason released a humorless chuckle. He reclamped his fists tightly, the milky white color of his knuckles once again digging into his palm with so much force, the reverberating echos of Cerise's pained grunts glutted the room as he swung at her.
Cerise's mind constantly was swimming with snarkiness and sarcasm, her stubbornness devouring her whole. However, the sudden thought of Chrissy entered her head, tears slowly rimming on her waterline.
"Do you really think Chrissy would want this?" Her tone was matted with sincerity, losing all of its sarcasm and mockery. She caught the way Jason's menacing demeanor was faltering into a vulnerable and melancholic state.
He backed up slightly, his feet shifting onto the now bloodied wooden planks.
The feeling of television staticky numbness crept onto Cerise's face and she subconsciously touched her cheek and winced, feeling the oozing crimson-copper liquid fall down her face.
"I just miss her so much," Jason sobbed, his knees giving up on him. He weaved his fingers through his hair, tugging on it as if he nearly wanted to rip it out. Cerise scooted closer to his anguished figure and put a hand on his knee.
Even though she did feel genuine sympathy for the Carver boy, Cerise knew she had to keep him distracted, hoping this would buy Eddie some time for a plan to escape.
But little did Cerise know, Eddie was not going to leave her, ever. Especially if it was with Jason Carver.
"I do too. Chrissy was one of my best friends." Cerise paused and bit her purple-red bruised lip. "She wouldn't want you to do this."
"Yeah...you're right. I just wish she was still here with us," Jason whispered. Cerise noticed he was evidently holding back on choked sobs and this powerless sight of Jason Carver was startling. Not once, in all of the years Cerise has known the boy, has she ever seen him cry.
She knew he cared about Chrissy, but the way he was attempting to find her murderer was iniquitous. Cerise couldn't tell Jason that his girlfriend was killed by a desiccated wizard from a role-playing game.
The teens sat in the sickening copper-smelling room for nearly a quiet minute up until Jason spoke up.
"You really don't know where Eddie is huh?" Jason asked truthfully, slowly showing his side to surrendering to his atrocious actions.
Cerise's heart pounded out of her chest, the incessant pitter-patter sensation of her heart nearly giving away her fabrications. A massive surge of adrenaline shot through her body and she had to quickly hide any indications of her lying.
"Nope. I don't."
Jason nearly believed her. He would have left it at that and told his friends to leave.
But something happened.
Andy's pestering voice boomed through the backyard screendoor, yelling inside the home victoriously. "Jason, we found him!"
Jason's solemn expression instantly twisted into a betrayed and enraged one. His eyebrows angrily furrowed and Cerise stood up, knowing how royally messed up this situation was turning into.
"You lying bitch!" Within a split second, Jason's tauntingly malicious demeanor resurfaced, nearly terrifying Cerise as she backed away from him toward the screen door.
"Jason, I—"
Cerise was cut off mid-sentence when Jason swung his closed fist, it strenuously making contact with her already bleeding cheekbone. She winced, whimpering in pain as she held her cheek. This time Cerise was ready, she lifted her knee and directly hit Jason in his private area, him tumbling down onto the ground while wailing in nauseousness.
She kneeled down and hovered over Jason's body, staring at him condescendingly. She raised her fist, drew it back, and let it swiftly collide with his lower jaw, him tumbling to the ground in pain.
"This is me showing you mercy."
Hopping over his limp body, Cerise darted out of the home and was met with a frantic Eddie whose eyes were intently scanning his surroundings for his girlfriend. When their eyes met with one another, Cerise could audibly hear Eddie release a sigh of relief, but it contorted with rage and anger when he saw the lacerations adorning her face.
"What did that son of a bitch do to you!?"
Sprinting towards him, Cerise crashed her body with Eddie's, him grabbing her cheeks to investigate the cuts on her face. Their labored bodies made it harder for them to catch their breaths and as Eddie wanted to kiss his girlfriend, Cerise wanted to get away from the jocks who were hot on their tails.
"Eddie, as much as I would love to kiss you, can we do it when we don't have jocks wanting to kill us?" Cerise exasperatedly said, her sarcasm and seriousness dripping out of her mouth. Eddie seemed to have forgotten for a second that they were currently the mice in a cat and mouse chase and he gasped.
"Oh, yeah huh—shit, let's go." Eddie interlaced his fingers with hers, the couple sprinting towards the boat that was waiting for them in the water.
Being the gentleman Eddie was, he held out his hand so Cerise could steadily get herself into the boat. She gladly took it and grabbed Eddie's body, him stumbling in the boat not so gracefully. The couple each took a wooden paddle, mercilessly letting it fold over the enchanting benthic water, the reflection crystalizing their panicked faces.
Behind them, swimming toward the boat were Patrick and Jason. Patrick seemed to express the aura of confliction, whereas Jason's face was laced with antagonistic determination.
Everything happened so quickly. Cerise's shaking hands lost her balance and she felt a tug on the hem of her shirt. Looking behind her, Patrick was in the water, pulling her into the lake with him. She gasped in fear, scared of what Jason was going to do to Eddie, but not of what Patrick was going to do to her. Cerise knew Patrick all too well that he wouldn't hurt her.
"Patrick, what are you doing, let me go!" Patrick's arms were embracing her body, restraining her from interrupting Jason from getting to Eddie. He held a look of regret and pity and it was clear to Cerise that he did not want to be here.
"I'm so sorry, Cerise," Patrick clamored truthfully. Cerise attempted to writhe out of his strong grip, but it was no use. She caught way how Eddie stopped paddling and noticed that Cerise wasn't on the boat with him. His eyes desperately searched the waters before him and when he spotted his girlfriend, his eyes ignited with unspeakable anger.
He saw the sight of Patrick, daring to lay his hands on his girlfriend. To say he was pissed was an understatement and when he saw Cerise attempt to squirm out of his grip, he lost it.
"Don't touch her!" Eddie screamed, diving into the waters himself. He didn't care that he was going to cross paths with Jason. All he saw was red. He clenched his fists blindly, ready to massacre anything that got in the way of him getting to his girlfriend.
Cerise was about to speak, but then she noticed the way Patrick was staring off into oblivion.
The exact same look she had when Vecna got to her.
"Oh my god, why you, Patrick?" Cerise's eyes widened with pain, not knowing how in the world Patrick deserved to be a victim of Vecna. Hoping to release him from his trance somehow, Cerise placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look in her eyes.
"Hey, hey, Patrick, look at me. You're okay. Don't listen to the clock. It means nothing!"
But it did mean something.
"Cerise?" Patrick croaked in fear. Just like that, Patrick was dragged under the dark pit of the lake, earning all weary and frightened stares from the teens who still had their heads above the water.
Eddie swam near Cerise, wrapping his arms reassuringly around her waist. All of the teens seemed to forget their rivalry for a moment, nothing but silence plaguing their ears.
However, within the scarce and anticipating seconds, Patrick's body shot up from the pellucid lake, his eyes filled with the same milky clouded expression and Cerise's heart dropped at the sight, the trauma slowly crawling up into her damaged mind.
Just like Cerise, Patrick's feeble bones snapped, the connective tissue obliterating into nothing. His jaw snapped low and his eyes burst out of his sockets.
Seeing that Jason was distracted, Eddie took this opportunity to his advantage and swam with Cerise, dragging her to shore into the dark misty nights of the forest. Cerise was still in shock to comprehend the fact that they were now on land, the breezy night air hitting her face with the familiar pine of the hanging tree trunks.
The clumps of bushes battered her legs and she completely ignored the scrapes that were littering her skin, her mind was filled with nothing but Patrick's terrified face before he was dragged underwater.
Eddie took them under Skull Rock, a place he knew clearly for drug deals. Feeling familiarized with the area, Cerise begrudgingly snapped out of her pained thoughts and her tear-filled eyes stared straight at Eddie.
He was already staring at her, his eyes filled with concern. Eddie placed his palm on her cheek and she sank into his comforting touch.
"He didn't deserve that," Cerise's voice faltered, tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. Eddie lifted his thumb and brushed away the stray tears away from her face. He sat the two of them onto the damp dirt, spreading his legs so Cerise could hug him tightly, her legs straddling his waist while her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck.
"I know, sweetheart."
She needed his comfort and Eddie was patient enough to give it to her. He whispered comforting words in her ear, rubbing her back with gratifying circles on the small of her waist. He allowed her to sob on his shoulder, knowing how much trauma likely resurfaced during Patrick's death.
But Eddie was going through the exact same trauma as well. When Patrick was floating into the air, it ripped open the stitches that Eddie attempted to sew into his brain, hoping that the thoughts of his girlfriend's death would finally be filed away.
That trauma wasn't going to go away. For either of them.
Eddie was dragged out of his thoughts when he felt that Cerise's body stiffened completely. Her body was entirely stiff, it concerned Eddie that something happened once again. With the events that have happened to his girlfriend, his heart dropped, considering the worst possible scenario.
"Cerise? Baby, are you okay?"
Cerise lifted her head, an audible sigh of relief escaping Eddie, but when he noticed the dull and expressionless look in her mahogany eyes, his concern returned. He grasped her cheeks with his hands, attempting to shake her out of this frightening trance.
"Hello, I don't like this! Cerise, hello," Eddie waved his hands in front of her face, but she persisted to stare out into nothing.
Cerise continued to mutter incoherent words, something even Eddie couldn't decipher as he was inches away from her. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Eddie's tone was more stern, and this caught Cerise's attention. She lazily looked up at him, her eyes seeming to cloud with darkness. Eddie rose an eyebrow, sensing that something was wrong with his girlfriend, but he couldn't put a finger on it.
Cerise continued to mutter the incoherent words repeatedly and she was about to stand up, until Eddie stopped her, placing his hands on her shoulders to refrain her from going any further.
"What do you keep saying?"
Cerise stared up at him, her smile forming in a menacing and malicious way that even seemed to frighten Eddie as well.
"He likes it cold."
"W-What?" At this moment, Eddie knew something was royally wrong with Cerise.
ALRIGHT EVERYONE, SPILL THE THEORIES.
my bby patrick deserved better.
i'm also scared of what you're all going to do to me when i write the ending of this book...
ALSO WTF LOOK AT THIS PICTURE . I AM CURRENTLY SCREAMING. I NEED THIS.