-march 21st 1986-
-reader's pov-
the hellfire club sat around the large table, patiently waiting for eddie to begin, as he sat behind the dungeon master's rule book.
"the hooded cultists chant," he announced, his tone low and ominous, "hail lord vecna. hail lord vecna.. they turn to you." eddie motioned the action of pulling a hood down, "removed their hoods.. you recognise most of them from makbar. but there is one you do not recognise. his skin shrivelled, dedicated. and something else.."
a worrying fear began to loom over me as my brain searched for an answer, no.. it couldn't be?..
"he is not only missing his left arm.." eddie continued, and with this the fear in everyone's eyes grew, "but his left eye!" eddie stood up and covered his left eye. the whole group erupted into complaints and groans as many of us thudded our fists on the table in an act of anger.
"-vecna's dead!" jeff shouted out over the clamouring.
"-he was killed by kas!" mike added.
"so it was thought, my friend. so it was thought." eddie replied as he stalked back into his seat, "but vecna lives!" he then slammed the small figure onto the board.
- - - - -
"you are scared, you are tired, you are injured.." eddie narrated, "do you flee vecna and his cultists? or do you stand your ground and fight? come on."
"..I say we fight." dustin said, "to the death."
"-to the death." mike repeated.
"to the death! to the death! to the death!" we all repetitively chanted whilst slamming our palms against the table in a pattern.
eddie chuckled as he fell back down into his seat with dustin screaming, "to the deaaaath!" at the top of his lungs.
- - - - -
the dice clattered against the board as erica rolled the them, we all then cheered with the good hit that she had managed to roll.
- - - - -
the dice that mike had rolled tumbled upon the board and we all watched with wide, expectant eyes.
mike's roll was unfortunately very shitty and his character was defeated. eddie knocked his character down with the flick of his finger and we all huffed in annoyance.
- - - - -
jeff now took a roll, but ended up with the same disappointing fate as mike. we all cried out in an imaginative agony at this.
- - - - -
many successful rolls had been made until it was my turn. I shook the dice in my hands before letting go. the dice tossed from out of my hands and rattled against the board. the two dice traveled across the board before slowly coming to a stop. I needed a 15 or higher, but miserably I got an 11 and a 2, only adding up to 13. eddie pointed a finger and laughed as I covered my face with my hands in defeat, but then I got a bright idea.
as eddie went to kill my character off, I jerked my head and the die that read 2, now read 4.
"hey! hey! look, eddie! I'm not dead!" I exclaimed falsely. he peered down at the die and his eyebrows creased in confusion at the sight.
"did she move the die?" he turned around to look at the whole group.
everyone shrugged except mike, dustin and erica, they all wore smug smiles across their faces as they tried to stifle their giggles.
"eh, whatever." eddie dismissed it, "you're still dead." he then flicked my character dead and I groaned in defeat.
- - - - -
many characters had now been pronounced dead, these included, me, mike, jeff, gareth and the other guy who's name I didn't know. (sorry man, I did try googling but? 🤷♀️)
"time-out! time-out!" the nameless guy demanded as he formed his hands into a 'T' symbol.
"guys, I hate to say this, but we've got to flee." gareth announced as we were all in a group huddle.
"-I concur." the nameless guy agreed.
"didn't we just agree to the death?" erica inquired.
"-that wasn't literal." gareth replied.
"vecna just decimated us, we can't kill him with two players." jeff said.
"you too? he only has 15 hit points left. don't be pussies." dustin argued.
"-pussies? really? 'cause we're not delusional?" gareth fired back.
"-delusional? how about not cowards?!" erica snapped.
"hey, hey, let's ask mike and y/n." dustin intervened.
"well, I think we should trudge on forwards, how about you, n/n?" mike asked but my mind was still on the part of the conversation that involved the word, 'pussies.'
"wait. what pussies? where?" I snapped out of my reverie and swung my head from side-to-side. the group uttered in annoyance before eddie pulled our attention to him.
"hey!" he interrupted, "if I may interject, ladies, gentlemen. whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take gareth the great's concern to heart. there is no shame in running. don't try to be heroes, not today, 'kay?" he finished with a fake grin.
"one sec." dustin held up his index finger to him before we all huddled up again, "what do you guys think?" he asked.
"how many hit points do you and applejack have left?" mike quizzed.
"12." both dustin and erica replied in unison.
"it's risky as hell." mike warned, "but you're the ones on the battlefield. so it's your call."
"what do you say lady applejack?" dustin turned to erica.
"-you really gotta ask?" she replied with a sassy tone. dustin remained in thought for a short moment before making up his mind.
"screw it." he declared before the group pulled out of the huddle, "let's kill the son of a bitch."
"chances of success are 20-1." jeff addressed worriedly.
"never tell me the odds." dustin quoted, using a line from star wars, which I easily recognised.
- - - - -
"give me the D20." dustin ordered, his hand held out and eddie chucked him the die.
the die shook in his hands before he shot it out. it sped across the board before stopping on 11.
"that's a miss!" eddie announced as he swung his long, messy hair about like a rockstar.
"NO! SHIT! SHIT!" we all cried out, with now only one hope left.
- - - - -
erica jangled the die in her cupped hands and we all watched with pleading faces as she let the die roll.
"-PLEASE! COME ON!" we all begged, on the verge of genuine tears.
the die span across the table, gaining speed before loosing it again. it took it's last few tumbles before stopping on the number 20.
"-CRIT HIT!" erica squealed as we all jumped up in victory, attacking eachother with one big, friendly hug.
"that's why we play!" eddie beamed, so happy to see his friends so very delighted.
"WOOOOOO!!" I cheered, my arms waving in the air.
———————
"yeah, baby!" dustin wooed as we exited the high school. I noticed the cheery mood that the other hawkins high students were in, meaning that they had also experienced a victory just now.
every member of the hellfire club shared a celebratory high-five as we all chatted, absolutely buzzing.
"c'mon mike!" I happily called out, absolutely over the moon, "we can't be late! you do wanna see will tomorrow, right?"
mike blushed deeply before playfully slapping my arm, "shut up! 'cause I know that you'd rather die than not see el!" he teased back, now being my time to blush like crazy.