Eddie Munson - A Collection of One-Shots!

020. The Not So Bad Guy.

"Hey Theo! You coming to the presentation this afternoon?"

I was on my usual morning run around our college campus, and usually there wasn't a soul in sight, this side of 7:00am.

But I'd noticed two people, as I'd started to run down the hill. I'd already ran past one, and no one really spoke to him. I'd never spoken to him, but whenever he usually saw me, I was always met with silence and a hard stare. Arms folded across his chest, eyebrow slightly raised in whatever judgement he seemed to bear on me, always silent.

And as I looked around for the body to the voice that had shouted me, I could just see my friend Martin waving at me to my right.

I turned around to see the other still casually walking my way, catching me up in his large strides, and he flashed a mild smirk which put me immediately off guard.

Enough that I didn't see the usual root of the nearby tree I always jogged over, and I tripped over it, skidded and landed hard on my ass.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Martin cried, running over to me.

The other guy, simply gained on us and when he was behind us, he walked around us, staring down at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Who is that?" I asked, mildly irritated, as Martin helped me up.

"Eddie Munson." Martin said, shaking his head.

"He always stares. Never says a word, just stares." I said, as Martin nodded.

"I've heard he's not a nice guy." He said.

"How does anyone know that when he doesn't speak?" I asked.

"I think that's exactly what everyone's based it off. He doesn't speak, just stares at everyone, feels like he's judging them. Has that little raised eyebrow like he doesn't like anyone, like everyone annoys him." Martin said.

All of which I too, had noticed.

I dusted myself off, and turned around to see a patch of soil up the back of my shorts.

"Great, I look like I've shit my pants." I said, huffing.

Martin laughed and hooked his arm through mine.

"You're fine. Listen, you coming to this presentation this afternoon?" He asked, leading me inside the double doors to the dorms.

"What is it even for?" I asked.

"For our science projects." Martin said, as we walked up the first flight of stairs.

"I'm not in science." I said, as he laughed and nodded.

"I know, but you'll come along for your old pal, surely?" He said, smiling.

And as we reached floor C, he was there, casually leaning up against the wall, by the doors to the auditorium.

Martin stopped at the doors, and nodded towards them.

"It's at 1:30. You're coming right?" Martin asked, as Eddie directed his usual hard stare towards me.

Was he looking for an answer to that question too?

"Yeah, I'll just need to shower and change." I said, ignoring him.

"See you then." Martin said, with a smile.

And as I headed up the next flight of stairs, Eddie's eyes fell on my dirtied shorts, and that same small smirk tugged on his lips again.

And it immediately irritated me.

****************************************
I didn't understand any of the projects, no matter how animatedly or excitedly they talked about them.

Martin's was complex; possibly more complex to me because I didn't understand half of what he was saying.

And when he won second place, I clapped loudly and cheered, and watched as his peers congratulated him.

"You're a little clumsy, aren't you?" A voice purred in my ear.

Surprised at the sudden closeness of the presence behind me, I jolted a little, before turning around.

Eddie Munson.

"Wow, you do actually speak then? You're not mute." I retorted, frowning.

"You run the campus every morning, how don't you know that the tree root is always there?" He asked, amused.

"You're looming, intimidating presence is distracting." I said.

"I intimidate you?" He asked, surprised.

"You intimidate everyone." I answered.

"That didn't exactly answer my question." He said.

"I know. It was on purpose." I answered.

"Do I intimidate you?" He asked.

"Why are you even talking to me?" I asked, annoyed.

"You run every day. Clearly you don't need to, but you do. Why is that?" He asked, gesturing to my figure.

"It's called keeping fit." I said.

"You don't run like that. You run like you're running from something." He said.

"You always have this determined look on your face too." He added.

"It's just exercise." I said, dismissively.

"What are you running from?" He asked, ignoring me.

"Nothing, Jesus." I said.

"What's Theo short for?" He asked.

"Am I under some kind of interrogation here?" I asked.

Surprisingly, a soft chuckle left his mouth and I stared at him, trying to hide my surprise.

"No. You intrigue me." He said.

"Theodora. But no one calls me that." I said, wanting him to mentally take note.

If he called me Theodora and kept on asking questions, I was threatening to lose my shit.

"I like Theo." He said.

"I don't really care if you do or don't. It's my name." I said, with a casual shrug.

"You know my name." He said.

"Everyone does." I answered.

"Did you understand any of that?" He asked, changing the subject.

"No, I'm here for Martin and the after party." I said, truthfully.

"Oh, same here." He said, with a coy smile.

"You're here for Martin?" I asked, as he raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm here for the party." He said, as I rolled my eyes.

"I got that. It's called sarcasm." I said.

"Well it's about to start, so enjoy." I added.

He tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, and I noted that was the first time he'd touched me and it hadn't given me the ick I'd expected; far from it actually.

"I intend to." He said, before backing away from me.

"What did he want?" Martin asked as I turned around.

I went to answer just as the lights dimmed and the music started.

A familiar song played and I smiled; Martin frowned.

The Sacrament - HIM.

"This is the first song they choose to play?" He asked, as a few started to dance.

I walked him to the punch stand, and grabbed two cups, passing him one.

"What did he want?" Martin asked me again, leaning against the table.

"To annoy me apparently, ask me my name, ask me a ton of questions." I said, as he stood talking to two guys.

He was laughing; something I hadn't really ever seen.

I always saw the eyebrow, and the cold stare.
He sensed he was being watched and his eyes appeared over his friends head, locking with mine across the makeshift dancefloor.

He raised his cup of punch and nodded at me, with a coy smile.

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

And instead of raising my cup in return, I raised the middle finger of my left hand and smiled sarcastically.

Martin spat his drink out, laughing loudly.

"Well that was interesting." He said.

And then his mouth fell open as Eddie grinned broadly and returned my gesture.

"He seems quite taken with you." Martin said, snorting with laughter as I punched him in the arm.

"He's a dick." I retorted.

Another HIM song started to play, and the sea of heads started to bob as people started to dance and jump around.

I started to mouth the words and Martin turned to me, in surprise.

"You know this?" He asked, as I was mouthing the words.

"His Infernal Majesty. HIM. Great band." I said, starting to dance.

She'll be right here in my arms, so in love,
She'll be right here in these arms, she can't let go,

Oh no.....

"Come on." I said, leading him into the crowd, spotting a few familiar faces.

We all started to dance together, some just enjoying themselves, not paying attention to the music. There was only a few who seemed to know the song and it's actual words.

And as the final bridge started, I started to clap in rhythm, noticing only one other person doing the same.

Of course he knew this song.

And when he saw me clapping along, he smirked.

She'll be right here in my arms, so in love,
She'll be right here in these arms she can't let go.

I turned to Martin and pointed to the doors.

"Just gonna head outside, cigarette break." I said, as he nodded, dancing to the next song with a blonde girl.

"See you in a few." He said, with a smile.

He turned back to the blonde girl, and just as I made it to the doors, someone pulled me back.

"Have a dance with me, before you go outside." He purred, in my ear.

Surprised and caught off guard, I let him lead me back to the dance floor.

"Why?" I asked, as he took both of my hands, wrapping them around his neck, his own settling at my waist.

I caught Martin's eye and his jaw almost fell off.

"Not a word." I mouthed to him.

I turned back to Eddie, who was smiling down at me.

"It's a dance, not a marriage proposal. People do it all the time." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Why me?" I asked.

"I told you, you intrigue me." He said.

It was a slower song, and it was by Kasabian.

It was called Goodbye Kiss.

He encouraged me to sway with him, and my body moved before I could think about it; my body betrayed me.

Turning slowly,
Looking back see,
No words can save this,
You're broken and I'm pissed,

Run along like I'm supposed to,
Be the man I ought to,
Rock and roll sent us insane,
I hope some day that we'll meet again....

"See, it's just dancing." He remarked, as I stared hard at him.

"Jeez.... Do you always look at people like that?" He asked, shaking his head as he smiled.

"Just you. Have you seen how you look at people lately?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"They look at me that way. It's hard not to do the same sometimes." He said.

"A smile goes a long way, Munson." I remarked.

"Duly noted." He said, chuckling softly.

The song ended and I pulled from him.

"So can I go for my cigarette now?" I asked.

"Only if I can come too." He bargained, playfully.

"Whatever." I said, walking away from him.

I didn't care if he followed, I didn't look back to check.

I felt him stand somewhere behind me, and I fixed my eyes on the street across from the campus grounds, not wanting to look at him a second longer.

"I annoy you, don't I." He asked, as I groaned.

I turned and went to part with perhaps some fierce words when a loud crack of lightning stopped me and I felt my entire body tense.

I'd heard that sound before.
It didn't sound like a storm, it didn't the first time I'd heard it, and it didn't now.

"What's wrong?" He said, as I looked up in the sky.

"There's no thunder or rain clouds." I observed.

"Okay?" He asked, following my eyes and looking up at the same bright blue sky as me.

"Where are they?" I asked, before my eyes looked towards the street ahead of us.

And lightning suddenly struck the road, the cracking sound loud and ominous.

"Relax..." He said, chuckling softly.

"We have to go." I said, mentally willing my legs to move.

"Go where?" He asked.

"Do you see a cloud in the sky?" I asked him.

"No." He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm not a weatherman." He said.

"This isn't just a storm." I said, as he frowned.

A sudden gust of wind blew the fire exit doors shut and I jolted at the sound, knowing we were now stuck outside.

"We can't stay here. The only way to get inside, is to go that way, to go to the front doors when the lightning doesn't strike the road. When it does, it sets everything around it on fire. We need to time the lightning, time each strike, so we can move." I continued.

"Theo, it's just lightning." Eddie argued.

"Are you listening to me?! We have to go, we have to get inside." I said.

"But it's just lightning!" He said, unable to believe what I was saying.

"Look over there. Tell me what you see!" I cried.

He huffed slightly, confident he was only looking because he was humouring me, finding that the street and the trees were on fire and he gasped slightly.

Another series of lightning struck the street and he watched as the roads ruptured and burst apart.

"There's no storm.... There's no thunder." He said, understanding me finally.

"The problem is what comes after it. It's what comes, at nightfall." I said.

"What comes after nightfall?" He asked.

"Monsters." I said.

"What do we do?" He asked.

I didn't answer as I was timing the break between the lightning strikes.

And when it struck again I turned to him.

"Two minutes. That's how long we have." I said.

"Okay." He said, a little shakily.

"We go on the next one." I instructed.

And when it had struck again, he took my hand and gripped it as we ran around to the front of the campus, about to reach the doors when it struck again, inches from me.

We stumbled, and it pushed us back into the street and we ran to a coach parked nearby.

I noticed Martin, standing in the doorway of the reception and he waved frantically.

"What do we do?!" Martin called out to me, as we both hung by the bus.

"Get everyone inside and lock the doors. No one can be outside after dark!" I called.

"Go!" I said, as Martin nodded.

"What do we do?" Eddie asked from behind me.

We couldn't get past the lightning now, it had gained too close on us and in a split decision, I tugged on the handle of the bus door and it slid open.

"We get on here. We can't get back there right now." I said, pushing him on by his shoulder.

"It's striking the campus grounds. It's moving. We can't get in until morning." I added.

I quickly looked around me, picked up a broken piece of road, and followed him onto the bus, shutting the door behind me. I locked it and leaned over the drivers seat to look at the carnage through the windshield.

"The teachers. They're all outside." I said, panicking.

Eddie held me by my shoulders and forced me to face him.

"What's happening, Theo?" He asked.

"You've seen this before haven't you?" He continued.

I nodded wordlessly, and he looked over my shoulder and then back at me.

"You said there were monsters. Is that true?" He asked.

"The lightning comes first." I said, feeling my resolve slowly returning.

"This is crazy." He said, releasing me from his grip.

"It's crazy, but it's happening." I urged.

And as the lightning stopped, there was only a thick mist cloud that remained as the fires died down, and it started to rain.

It was starting to go dark.
And I had no time to panic. I couldn't.

********

"That's why you run every morning, isn't it?" He asked.

We were sitting in separate seats on the school bus, space and silence between us; His eyes were on the window he was sitting at and I was etching a rune symbol into a piece of asphalt I'd picked up.

"What are you doing?" He asked, peering over the seat in-front of him.

"Keeping us safe for the night." I said, as he came to sit next to me.

"What is it?" He asked.

"A protection rune." I said.

"And we really need one of these?" He asked, sounding a little amused.

I ignored him momentarily, pushing past him roughly, walking to the front of the bus, placing it face up on the dashboard.

I checked the door was firmly shut and bolted, before turning to him.

"Okay, after tonight, if we survive, you're gonna see why a protection rune isn't as stupid or as funny as you think it is right now. Tonight, you're gonna see some things that you'll think are impossible. When you see them, they'll try and convince you to let them in here. If you do, we both die. They sometimes look like someone you know, but you have to understand that they're not. We have to keep the windows and door closed. The rune has to stay facing upwards in the window." I said, firmly.

His jaw clenched and he nodded.

"I believe you." He said.

"You don't, but after tonight you will." I answered.

I walked past him, and sat down in a window seat, keeping watch. The sun was slowly going down, and I hoped that everyone who'd made it back inside the college building, had locked all of the doors.

I hoped that Martin had remembered what I'd said, and wouldn't do anything stupid.

The teachers though, were still on guard outside waiting for anyone who'd gotten stuck and despite my warnings, they were doing their duty and had ignored me.

My eyes were firmly on the window, the sun now fully set and one by one, they started to appear.

Eddie was silent in the window seat opposite me, as he stared outside.

I watched him suddenly sit upright from his slouched position, and I knew he'd seen them too.

And when one approached the bus, he slipped out of the seat he was in, blindly moving to sit next to me, visibly unnerved.

He leaned across me to look out of the window, as they grew closer to the bus.

"Don't be scared."

It was a woman. Dressed in a nurses uniform.

"You'll feel better, if you let me come inside." She said.

He was visibly scared, his back pressing up against me, uncomfortably pressing me into the window.

Wordlessly, I shoved him away from me and parted with some sound advice.

"You need to stay calm. They can't get in, but that doesn't mean they won't try and convince you. You have to ignore them." I said.

"The rune, has to stay in the window." I added.

"She.... She was my nurse.... When I was a kid." He stammered.

"Sometimes they appear as someone you know or knew. They're not them. It's a lie." I explained.

"What are they?" He asked.

"Be a good boy Edward, open the door, come outside." She said, as he closed his eyes tight.

"No..." he said, his voice strained.

There was a series of screams in the distance, and I didn't necessarily flinch.

I'd heard all of this before.
Eddie on the other hand, stiffened with fear and he started to sweat.

It was a cold, clammy kind of sweat, lacing his fringe, his face and his neck.

When the screams continued, louder and more prolonged, he started to tremble, and I realised that the hardness and the stern tone wasn't going to work. He believed me now, as I had said he would.

I climbed over him, his scared eyes watching me, and I pulled him onto his feet by his arm.

He shakily followed me as I led him to the back of the bus and forced him to sit on the floor.

When we were out of the view of the windows and the monsters outside, I peeled his leather jacket off him, his plain black T-shirt sticking to him, from the cold sweat lacing his skin.

There was another scream, and it sounded even closer this time, and his trembling worsened.

I knew it was the teachers who had been trying to protect us all and look out for anyone who hadn't made it inside.

They'd been ambushed through trying to remain true to their duties as our elders and superiors.

Eddie reached for me hurriedly, and I briefly took his hands, looking into his eyes.

"I'm here. It's alright." I said, assuring him.

He nodded wordlessly, a little breathless and he tried to calm himself, choosing to focus on what I was doing instead.

I released his hands momentarily, as I reached into my bag, pulling out the AirPods I had, connected them to my phone and gently put them in his ears.

"What music do you like?" I asked.

"Uhm.... D-Dio." He said.

I quickly searched on my phone, found a playlist and selected the first song.

Rainbow in the Dark.

I placed my phone on the seat above us, and shuffled over to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

He tensed from my touch, turning to face me as his eyes searched mine.

He relaxed after a moment, apparently grateful of my touch and his strong, muscular arms wrapped around me in return, pulling us together in an embrace. I was sitting across his lap, as he held onto me.

"Just listen to the music. Don't listen to anything else." I said, holding him tightly as the screams sounded out around us.

He nodded and rest his head against the seat behind him; he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

I watched him, keeping an ear out, hearing nothing but screams.

And when he'd eventually fallen asleep, I gently eased him down onto the bus floor, moving out from underneath him, climbing over him as I shrugged out of my jacket, draping it and his own across him. 

I walked to the front of the bus, and leaned over the drivers seat, keeping watch through the windshield.

I remained there until the sun rose in the sky the next morning, illuminating the carnage from the night.

Copious amounts of bodies were strewn in the road, that was littered with blood and overturned cars.

I heard movement behind me, and I half turned to see Eddie sitting up, rubbing his face free of sleep.

He removed the AirPods from his ears, and as he rose to his feet, his eyes fell on the view through the window and he rushed over to me.

"Oh my god...." He whispered.

"We need to check on everyone else." I said.

"We can't go out there." He said, horrified, as I turned to face him fully.

"They hunt at night. We're okay during the day, they don't come out." I said.

"They're like vampires or something?" He asked, breathing heavily.

He was attempting to stay calm.
And it was a sterling effort.

"I'm not sure what they are." I said.

"But you've seen them before." He said.

"I have." I answered.

"And survived them." He continued.

"I ran from them. It started over where I used to live, but my guess is that they're just moving across the country, once there's no one left." I said.

He reached for me then, gripping my shoulders, his hands weaving into my hair.

"You were real kind to me last night. Thank you." He whispered.

"You're gonna have to talk to people, help them. Your usual silence and demeanour isn't going to work with this. I'll need you to work with me, and we'll all need to work together." I urged.

He seemed a little deflated at this, and his hand moved to my face. The gesture was still alien to me, he'd never behaved this way towards me or anyone; he'd tucked my hair behind my ear at the party too.

He looked deep into my eyes, and he took a deep breath.

"I want to work with you, I do. I want to." He said, with a similar urging.

"We need to leave this rune in the bus, in case anyone is still outside tonight. A lot of people ran off and this would be somewhere they could stay if they get caught short by nightfall, tonight. We'll need to pick up a few more pieces, so I can make more for the college building." I said.

"So we'll do that first." I continued.

"And then head to college." He said, understanding.

"They will come back." I said, as he nodded.

His hand fell from my face, back to rest at his side and he handed me my phone and my AirPods.

We exited the bus and after picking up pieces of the road that the lightning had struck and had burst open, we headed to the college building.

"Don't look." I told him, as we walked past numerous bodies bloodied and strewn across the road.

"It's better not to look." I added, as he kept his eyes ahead of him and nodded.

And the moment we stepped inside, I saw Martin rushing over.

"Thank God you're okay. What the hell is going on?!" He asked me, as he hugged me tightly.

"I can explain. I'm okay. I'm glad you are too." I said.

"You're so calm." Martin observed as his eyes fell on Eddie, standing next to me with the road pieces in his hand.

"Get everyone together." I said.

**************************************
"What happened Theo? What's going on?" Martin asked as a sea of faces stared at me, as we all gathered in the cafeteria.

"I'm not sure what they are, but they come out at night. The lightning is always the first sign. I saw it happen in the city I lived in, before I moved here." I said.

"In the day, we're fine. But as soon as the sun goes down, we have to stay inside." I continued.

"Doors stay locked, and no matter what they might say, we can't ever open them. Sometimes they look like people we know, people we knew.... But they're not them. They're monsters." I said.

"I saw one last night.... She was a nurse who looked after me in the hospital when I was a kid." Eddie interjected.

"She asked me to open the door, let her in." He continued.

There was a stunned silence and I knew why; this was the most he'd ever said, to any of us.

"What are the rocks for?" Martin asked.

"To make protection runes. They help." I said.

"They have to be facing up in a window or anything like that, for them to work. They fall to the floor, and they're just rocks." I said.

"I need to make one of these for in here, and where anyone else is hiding." I continued.

"What can we do?" Martin asked.

"Gather any food and supplies from wherever you can. We should all make sure we stay in here. The bus outside is protected for anyone who makes their way back here, before nightfall, or after if they're caught short. This isn't going to go away overnight, so we need to gather whatever we can. If anyone is injured, we need to tend to them too." I said.

"You survived this?" Martin asked.

"I got out. A few of us did, we were the lucky ones." I answered.

"Take a few of you, gather what you can." I instructed, as Martin nodded.

********
Eddie had helped me make the protection runes, and I'd managed to charge my phone for tonight, incase he needed it again.

For some reason, I was mindful of his feelings and taking him into account when I barely knew him. I wasn't sure why that was; I wondered if it was because I'd felt like him at one point.

Once the rune was in the window, we'd headed to our respective dorm rooms and we'd changed and gathered things we'd needed.

I met him outside in the halls, and he was dressed in another black T-shirt and jeans, with converse and a denim jacket with patches. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his arms were folded across his chest.

They flexed as he relaxed them, lowering them to his sides when he saw me.

I'd changed into a pair of jeans, a white crop top and I'd tied my long black hair into a ponytail.

"What do we do now?" He asked, softly.

"Wait. Stay put." I said.

"Do we fight them?" He asked.

"Maybe.... I don't know, Eddie." I said.

"You got away from them though." He argued.

"Yeah, I ran. I'm not the hero you think I am." I said.

"Who said anything about you being a hero?" He asked, calmly.

"Whatever. We don't have time for this." I said, dismissively.

I went to walk past him and he gripped my arm, pulling me back. He settled me against the opposite wall, before pushing me into my dorm room, kicking the door shut behind us.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as he swiftly approached me.

"I don't think you're a hero. What I do think, is that you're just a kid, like me. You've seen all of this before and had the good sense to run. There's no shame in running and I just wanted you to know that." He said.

"You couldn't have said this in the hallway?" I asked, as he smirked.

"Can't have people overhearing that I'm actually soft and nice." He said.

"Are you soft and nice?" I asked.

"Deep, deep down." He wagered, with a smile.

"You were kind to me." He continued.

"You were scared, why wouldn't I have been?" I asked.

"And don't be flattered. I'd have done it for anyone." I added.

"I know. I'm just trying to say thank you." He said, with a small smirk.

"You're welcome. Now let's go." I said, walking around him to my door.

"You're quite stern, do you know that?" He asked, with that same raised eyebrow I often saw.

"You'll find that after going through this once, it makes you stern. It makes you hard. I'm just a little more stern, because I thought I'd gotten away from it all. As soon as I saw that storm, I knew. It's happening again, and it's happening from town to town, city to city." I said.

"I didn't say I had a problem with it." He answered.

"I don't care if you do." I said.

"I'm glad we cleared that up." He answered.

"We need to ensure this place is safe." I said.

"Let's go do that then." He answered, striding towards the door.

His hand clasped over mine that was gripping the handle and he moved it away, softly.

The spark as his hand touched mine was hard to ignore and he had to have felt it too.

But there wasn't time to dwell on it, and so I let him open the door and we both headed back downstairs to the cafeteria.

Martin was back, and they'd made a pile of everything they managed to salvage.

"How long will we have to stay here for?" He asked.

"Until they move on. If they move on." I answered.

"Well you got out the first time, so I trust you." Martin said, as I smiled slightly.

"Good to know." I said.

We set to work securing as many of the windows as we could, checking everywhere was secured, and by nightfall, I'd already volunteered for first watch.

"You stayed up last night." Eddie argued, as Martin eyed him and then me.

"I did. And I'll stay up tonight." I argued back.

"I'll do the first, you do the second." Eddie said.

"Fine." I answered, letting Martin lead me away.

"That's the most I've ever heard him say. He doesn't say anything to anyone for months and then suddenly becomes protective over you and argumentative with you?" He asked, his voice low.

"I can't explain it either. And I'm not going to try." I said.

"He was on the bus with you?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, he was scared, naturally. Terrified. I lent him my AirPods and put music on for him, so he didn't hear the screams." I said.

"Looks like he's just trying to return the favour. Even if it does come across as a little over bearing and intimidating." Martin said.

"Maybe." I answered.

"Everyone's grateful for what you've done, for what you know. You're already keeping everybody together and calm." Martin said.

"It's only been one night. It'll get worse. People will want to leave, and the unrest will come. People won't want to be cooped up in here which is why it's important that we have some kind of curfew in the day. People can go out, get fresh air, walk around but they're back by dusk." I said.

"You're gonna see all kinds of things, not just from outside. But from people in here. Everyone is still a little shell shocked. When this sinks in, people are going to feel all kinds of things, turn on each other, and we have to be the ones who stay calm and rational." I said.

"I promise to try." Martin said.

"Good." I answered.

***********
Eddie's POV.

I knew what everyone thought of me; they thought I wasn't a nice guy.

No one ever though I was anything other than a bad guy. And so, I didn't really ever take the time to talk to anyone, choosing not to prove them wrong.

There was no point.
And then I saw her, every morning.

She'd start her daily run around the campus, around 06:30am, when everyone else was just starting to wake up.

She didn't run like a typical fitness fanatic; she always ran like she wanted to get away from something. So when I'd seen her running for the first time, it had intrigued me enough to purposely wake up just to see her.

She didn't know, and I was in no rush to tell her.
Every day I'd see a flurry of raven hair fly past my window, and I'd watch her until I'd see her go back to her dorm, and re-emerge ready for class.

She always seemed stern, and up until now I'd never understood why. She had always seemed a little cold, distant.

Last night, she wasn't. She'd kindly lent me her AirPods and she'd held me when I'd been scared out of my mind. She'd held me until I'd fallen asleep, and she'd kept watch over us both.

She'd effectively saved my life.
And now I was finding myself drawn to her, teamed with an urge to protect her.

Not that she needed protecting.

The question was, why did I suddenly have an urge to? I barely knew this girl.

Most had gone to their dorm rooms, wanting normalcy for the night and I didn't blame them.

The only ones in the main reception, was myself, Theo and Martin.

She awoke after a few hours, and she sat next to me, her eyes on the window.

There were two that had been knocking on for just over an hour.

A milkman and a woman in a diners uniform.

They'd been trying to convince me to open the doors; I'd tried to ignore them as much as I'd tried to ignore the screams in the distance.

"Hello." The man said, as Theo turned to me.

"Go, get some sleep." She said, as I shook my head.

"I'm good." I answered.

"This wasn't the deal." She argued.

"I know, but I'm not tired." I said.

"Fine. You need a water or anything?" She asked.

"I'd love one." I said.

She rose to her feet, and disappeared into the cafeteria, just as the nurse from my childhood appeared at the window.

"Come on Edward, you'll feel much better if you come out here."

"Oh I don't think I will." I answered, as Theo returned, passing me a water.

I took it gratefully and she sat next to me once again.

"So tell me something." She said, drawing my attention from the faces at the door.

"What?" I asked, taking a sip of the water she'd passed to me.

"Why are you like that with people?" She asked.

"I don't follow." I said, closing down on her already.

"Yes you do. I can see you shutting down on me. You can't do that right now. Or ever. Not whilst this is happening. So just humour me. Why don't you speak to anyone, why the raised eyebrow all the time?" She asked.

"Everyone around me always thinks I'll never amount to anything. Anything that goes wrong? My fault. Bad things happen? My fault. Something amiss? I must have had something to do with it. Kid overdoses? I must have supplied him. So I just don't say anything to anyone and I don't do anything, so they can't say anything about me." I said.

"Fuck what anyone else thinks." She said, shaking her head.

"I care about what people think, don't you?" I asked.

"I only care about what the people who matter to me, think of me. Anyone else? Sounds like a them problem." She said.

"I already know what you think of me." I said.

"You're irritating because you do behave like you hate everyone around you. It can be unsettling." She said.

"And you can be a dick." She added, but she was smiling.

"Do you hate everyone around you?" She asked.

"No. I just choose to stay quiet and keep my distance. They can't judge me that way." I said.

"But they do, because you stay quiet and distant." She argued.

"So what do I do then?" I asked.

"Be yourself." She said, as a smile crept across my lips.

"People don't like it, fuck 'em." She added, as I chuckled softly.

She smiled then; it was one of glee and mild satisfaction.

"An actual smile and an actual laugh. See! You're on your way already." She said.

"What about you? Why so stern all the time?" I asked, curiously as she bit her lip nervously.

"I sense that it's a story for another time, I get it." I said, understanding that she perhaps didn't want to tell me. And that was okay.

"Yeah, I'd say it is." She said, as I nodded.

"It's alright." I answered, nudging her slightly.

She went to say something, but we were interrupted.

We both heard a loud scream, and she paused, her ears strained to listen.

"Did that?" I asked.

"Yeah.... It came from inside here." She said, confirming my fears, scrambling to her feet. And swiftly, she roused Martin, before pulling out a steel crowbar that she'd apparently stashed, from under her pile of belongings.

She wasted no time running up the flights of stairs, myself and Martin trying to keep up with her and when we'd reached the third floor, a young girl met us on the stairs.

"It came from in there." She said, pointing to a room just behind her.

Room 307.

Theo walked quietly to the door, her hand poised on the handle, the crowbar in her other hand, as she took a deep breath.

There was another scream, and she burst through the door, as I followed closely behind her.

Whoever was in 307, had opened the window and whatever was outside was now inside, and was eating them.

We garnered its attention and its face was unlike anything I'd ever seen. I'd never read about anything like this in comic books.

"HEY!" Theo shouted, and as it screamed at her, she drove the crowbar straight into its face and it convulsed violently.

Theo was unable to hold onto the crowbar alone.
I lunged forward without thinking and without hesitation, forgetting my horror and terror, grabbed the bar with both hands and I helped her to control it enough to drive it further into the monsters head.

Blood splashed all over us, and I blinked it back from my eyes, my face coated with it.

Theo's was red too. We were soaked.

It's screams and convulsing suddenly stopped and it fell to the floor in a quiet heap.

Theo yanked the crowbar from its face and she staggered back, breathless.

"You do know how to fight them." I said, in surprise.

She ignored me and turned to the girl, before issuing a warning.

"Tell everyone again, that no matter what they see or hear, this is what happens when you let them in." She urged, sternly.

Martin was in the doorway, breathless and shocked.

"Oh my god...." He said, shaking his head.

"Who was she?" Theo asked.

"Margarét. Exchange student from France." He said.

"She opened the window, she let it in." Theo said.

"This is a warning to you too Martin." She continued.

"And not him?" He asked, referring to me.

"He had three outside whilst he was on watch. He ignored them all. That's what we all need to do." She said, apparently defending me.

Martin seemed to falter then, and accepted it.

"No that's fair." He said, understanding.

"You should get cleaned up, both of you." He added.

"What do we do with this?" I asked.

"We need to barricade the window, and then shut and lock this room. There's not much else we can do." She said.

"I'll see to the window." Martin offered.

"Do it quickly, before any more come." She instructed.

"Use the slats from the bed." She added.

*****
I thought about her bravery and her strength whilst I took the quickest shower in history.

It wasn't a shower to enjoy; it was for purpose.

But it didn't stop me thinking about her all the same.

I knew she was across the hall from me, showering herself and my mind briefly wandered to what she looked like, under the crop top and the jeans. I felt myself stiffen slightly and a small amount of shame crept over me.

"I can help you with that."

Startled, my body jerked painfully and I rubbed my eyes free of water before coming face to face with Theo at the bathroom window.

"You're not her." I insisted, feeling exposed and violated.

"Of course it's me." It said.

"I'm pretty sure Theo can't float." I argued.

The real Theo walked into the bathroom a second later, crossed the bathroom to the window, and tugged on the blind, pulling it down sharply.

The face disappeared, and she turned to me as I stood, naked in the shower, covering my modesty, as I stood up against the wall.

"You're right, I can't float. And I don't knock either." She said, tossing a towel at me roughly.

"Sorry about that." She added, as I caught it with my hands.

I started to dry myself off and she turned around, finally allowing me some privacy, as she inspected the various products on the vanity in front of her.

"Why did you come in here?" I asked her, curiously.

"I came to see if you were okay." She said, casually.

"That and I heard voices." She added.

"Bit of a surprise to find myself floating outside of your window." She continued.

"I wouldn't have opened it." I said.

"I know nothing about you, but I do know you wouldn't do that." She said.

She was dressed in a black cold shoulder tank top this time, with long sleeves and black jeans, her hair damp and tied back, save for her loose bangs.

Her skin was free of any blood, and I watched the muscles of her arms flex in the little light creeping through the blind.

She remained facing away from me as I shuffled out of my bathroom and changed into another T-shirt and jeans, pulled on my denim jacket, tousling my wet hair quickly.

"Thanks for helping me back there. You were quick." She said, emerging from my bathroom when she was confident I was decent.

I looked at her curiously; we'd suddenly started to reach this mutual level, where we were both recognising each other for exactly who we were.

Complimenting each others positives, each others strengths, no longer focusing on the negatives or weaknesses.

We were reaching some kind of mutual, common ground.

We needed to.

"You've got more guts that anyone I know." I said finally, not taking the compliment.

"It's not guts. It's an advantage." She corrected.

"And I didn't know if that was even going to work." She added, referring to her use of the crowbar.

"We should keep watch for the rest of tonight. Sleep tomorrow." She continued.

"Oh you want me to watch with you now?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"If I recall correctly, you said you weren't tired and offered to keep watch with me." She said.

Touché.

"I did." I answered, unable to say anything else.

"Let's go then." She said.

***************************************

Activity was quiet after that, they'd gotten a kill and apparently that was enough for them.

Dawn crept on us, and we were both lethargic by the time the sun rose high in the sky.

Any monsters roaming around soon retreated and I realised that for the second time, we hadn't seen where they'd go to.

They'd just.... Disappear.

Everyone was awake and we all gathered in the cafeteria for a sparse breakfast, and there were a lot of scared, tired faces.

"I don't know how many of you know, but Margarét was killed last night." I said, rising to my feet.

I stood in the centre of the tables, pacing slightly.

"How?" Someone asked.

"She opened her window. She let one in. And she was attacked." I said.

"They're convincing, and they can persuade you. Tonight, everyone will have their doors open, and there'll be patrols. Just to ensure that no one is tempted. There can't be a repeat." I said.

"You said the runes would keep us safe." Someone else said.

"They do. Unless you invite them in. Think of them as the vampires you've watched in movies. They can only enter if you invite them. The runes work together with you keeping all doors and windows closed. The moment you invite them in, the rune doesn't work. Today, everyone needs to grab a rock or a piece of the road from outside, and I'll show you what to draw on. You'll hang one inside of your rooms." I said.

"Can they just walk in here though now we've let one in?" Someone asked.

"No. It basically resets, and starts all over again." I said.

"And you're in charge now?"

I turned to see a guy called Jake, who was eyeing me carefully.

"No one is in charge. I've done this before and survived. By doing everything I saw everyone around me do. Everything I've been telling you all to do for two days. We're all scared, and we're all stuck here until this whole thing plays out." I said.

"It's not even about who's in charge, it's about doing what Theo is saying. She has an advantage. And she also stopped that thing from getting anyone else. She killed it." Eddie said, defending me.

"You did?" Jake asked, as I nodded wordlessly.

"Eddie did too." I answered, not wanting to take all of the credit, even if he was apparently letting me.

Martin appeared then and waved at me.

"Her window is secure and the room is locked." He called as I nodded.

"Runes are the agenda today. Go." I instructed.

One by one they all finished their breakfasts and headed outside.

By the afternoon, each of them had successfully made a rune and they were all hanging in their respective rooms.

I had spent the afternoon in the library, trying to find anything on what these things were, before they became clever enough to start messing with the electrics and other things to try and draw us out like rats.

"Found anything?"

I turned to find Eddie casually leaning against the table behind me, his arms folded across his chest, teamed with his trademark raised eyebrow.

"Okay, first off... don't look at me like that. It's getting old and we've talked about this." I said, as his expression softened and his eyebrow lowered.

"Sorry...It's a force of habit." He said, a little sheepish.

"Secondly, no I haven't." I said, sighing with frustration.

"You don't think I'm a nice guy do you?" He asked.

"You don't know what I think about you and I told you, you don't need to care what people think. But you can try and be nice all the same." I said, rising to my feet.

I walked into the non fiction aisles and started to browse; Eddie had immediately followed me.

"What do you think of me?" He asked.

"I'm not sure we have the time." I said, coolly.

"It's not dark yet." He noted, as I traced a spine of a book with my finger.

"Why does it matter what I think about you?" I asked, as he shrugged.

"I have no idea. I just know, that I want to know." He said.

"You care for my opinion? Really?" I asked, unconvinced.

"I'm as surprised as you are." He said, as I shook my head.

"I don't think I have an opinion of you." I said, as he chuckled softly.

"Oh I think you do." He said, coming to stand directly behind me.

I reached for a book above me, and his hand followed; he was taller and so he reached for it and pulled it down, our bodies close.

He lowered the book, and I turned to face him in order to retrieve it; he didn't initially hand it to me though.

"Tell me what you think of me." He urged softly.

"You're rude when you don't need to be. You don't talk, when you could do and maybe people would actually get to know the real you and wouldn't have to rely on assumptions based on the behaviour you display." I snapped.

"I've been talking to you. I've even spoken to Martin." He said, with a slight smirk.

He bridged the gap between us and he continued.

"I've tried to not be like I am normally. And I think I've been quite talkative." He said.

"I just need the book." I said, as he held it out to me.

I reached for it, and his free hand gripped my wrist, tugging me to him. My breath hitched with mild surprise as our faces drew close enough that we could feel each others breath.

"I don't have a problem with how stern you are. Quite the opposite." He whispered.

"I need to keep...." I started to say, almost drunk on him, unable to speak.

"I like how stern you are. I like that deep down, you're soft and nice. We both hide it." He whispered, as he pushed the book into my hand.

"You're resourceful and strong too, and that's where we're different." He continued, as I tried to grip the book.

It slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor; I was too busy staring into his beautiful, deep brown eyes to care.

Neither of us reached down to immediately pick it up, instead my arms wrapped tentatively around him and he followed suit; we shared some kind of embrace before I broke from him to retrieve the book.

He didn't question me, instead he followed me down the aisle in silence, pulling down any book I couldn't reach.

He sat opposite me in that same silence, as he sporadically read from a book in-front of him, in between long glances at me.

My eyes grew heavy after a while, and I told myself to just perhaps rest my eyes for a moment before continuing to read.

And Eddie watched as my eyes closed and my head fell on my folded arms.

********
Eddie's POV.

She was tired, real tired.

And so, I read through the books I had, and decided to check the newspaper articles and see if there had ever been anything unusual reported over the years.

I'd sat at the projector for about an hour, when Martin had headed into the library, to come and fetch her for the watch.

"Oh I was just coming to get her." Martin said.

"Let her sleep, she needs it." I said.

"I'll take first watch, it's no problem." Martin said.

"Jake is patrolling the dorms too tonight. Everyone is fully briefed on what to do and what not to do. There's a rune in every room." He added.

"Good, I'll keep an eye on her." I said, nodding towards the sleeping Theo, her head in her arms, that were still resting on a series of open books.

I watched her for a good long while after Martin had left; she looked peaceful when she was sleeping.

Peaceful, and pretty.
Beautiful even.

But that peace was short lived and I realised after a moment that she was having a nightmare, as she twitched and whimpered slightly.

And just when I was considering waking her, she jolted upright, eyes wide open with an expression of disoriented fear across her face.

*************

I jolted awake from whatever bad dream I was having, a loud gasp leaving me, my head snapping up from the desk, and Eddie eyed me carefully from the projector he was sitting at.

He was sitting casually in the chair, a leg propped up, as he leaned back, his hand on the projector slide button, his free hand propping his head up.

"You okay?" He asked, with a slight expression of concern teamed with the usual raised eyebrow.

"Bad dream." I explained.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked, looking all around us.

"A few hours. Martin is on first watch, Jake is on patrol of the dorms. I told them to let you sleep." He said.

"You were tired. You've not slept for two days." He added, as I nodded.

"Thank you." I answered.

"Did you find anything?" I added, as he nodded.

"Something, yeah." He said, as I approached him and leaned over the desk.

Without realising it, I'd blocked his view.

He sighed loudly, and pulled me down into his lap, and he scrolled to an article for me to read.

"Someone reported sightings of these beings, in their town. They referred to them as night comers. There's only a couple of articles after this, I'm assuming the journalist died. But he reported that they came at night, sometimes looked like loved ones and that they were only safe indoors during the night if they stayed totally quiet. He didn't write about runes though. He reports that if anyone went out at night, they were brutally murdered." Eddie said, summarising what he'd read for me.

"Are his other articles on here?" I asked.

"There's two more. It was a local paper, for the town. His next article reported that they were rationing food, no signs of the night comers moving on anytime soon. They'd taken over the town and they were running out of supplies. People had gone stir crazy, some had been convinced to open doors or windows, and most nights were spent in hiding, and they still had to keep quiet." Eddie explained.

"And the last?" I asked, as he scrolled once again, this time to a much shorter article.

"There were no signs of them leaving, he reported that around ten of them were left. They were staying in the church, and they were surrounded every night. They tried to leave, but the night comers had destroyed or removed parts of any cars around, their only choice was to try on foot. Which to me, seems like they did and they didn't get far." Eddie said, again, summarising for me.

I sat back in his lap, and his arms wrapped around me as I sighed, our heads close.

I realised I liked the proximity and it seemed he did too; after all he'd sat me down in his lap, he'd wrapped his arms around me and wasn't letting me go.

For a moment we were silent, and I could feel his heartbeat against my back; it was fluttering like a little bird.

I leaned my head against his and he rested his against mine, holding me tighter, and I settled there, letting him hold me. I held onto his arms and he sighed softly, his head leaning down to press his lips against my bare shoulder.

It was a small gesture, but it felt big to me.
There was suddenly this unspoken thing between us, we'd both seemed to suddenly start seeking comfort from one another; he needed to be around me, and I needed to be around him.

He cared for my opinion too, and wanted to know what I thought of him. He annoyed me, but that only drew me closer to him.

He said I was stern, but didn't mind it.
Liked it a lot, in fact.

It was days ago when I'd fallen on my ass, had been incredibly annoyed with him and by his sheer presence, he often put me on edge, and now.....

Now, he was becoming entirely different.

And I was starting to see him differently.

"How did you know about the runes?" He asked, as his warm breath on my skin snapped me from my thoughts.

"There was a lady who lived on the outskirts..... crazy old woman who no one ever really listened to. Until we noticed that they would surround her house, but never go inside when they heard a noise. We'd have to keep quiet every night so they wouldn't hear us, and it was hard sometimes. People were panicking, and they were afraid. So I went to see her, me and my dad. And she told us about the runes. We could talk during the night, we didn't have to stay silent. The runes kept us safe." I said, as his head lifted up in curiosity.

It came to rest against mine again, and he let me continue.

"She'd have the lights on, she'd be moving around and they'd never try to go inside." I continued.

"How did she know about them?" Eddie asked.

"We didn't ask. They worked, that was all we cared about." I said.

"That makes sense." He said.

I turned to face him and for a brief time, our eyes locked and our faces were close, close enough to once again feel each others breath on our skin.

When I saw that we were inching towards each other and our lips were close enough to touch, he sensed my slight hesitation, and turned his head ever so slightly to press a kiss with his lips, on the corner of my mouth.

My eyes closed as I relished the feel of his soft, red lips, and I reached out to stroke his face gently, before tilting my head to plant the same kind of kiss on the corner of his mouth.

My lips lingered there for a moment longer than I'd anticipated, and he simply held me there, not refusing me or moving.

And when I met his eyes again, he smirked slightly, and I chuckled softly, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Why hadn't we just kissed each other properly, instead?

"I'm gonna do a patrol, check on everyone." I said, awkwardly rising to my feet.

"I'll take over from Martin." He said, with a weak smile.

"I'll take second watch with you. So if you want to, you can rest." I said.

"I'll see you in a little while." He said, watching me leave.

******
An hour later, I joined him on the watch and it wasn't long before he'd fallen asleep; he was tired and when I'd been tired, he'd insisted I sleep. So now, I was affording him the same chance.

I'd brought some of the books from the library to read, flicking through a dictionary of reported monsters and sightings across the world.

And I was shocked when I came across a section on something very similar to what was currently standing outside, talking to me, taunting me.

Night Comers.
Not vampire in kind, but something else.

Hunting prey at night, for sport more than for food.

Lucid, literate, often looking like someone familiar, a loved one or a friend.

Blood treated with UV light, mixed with theirs could kill them. But this revelation has only been recorded as early as a decade ago.

Runes give protection, when used correctly as they have done for a number of centuries.

There has even been a recording of a man in the 18th century, who'd tattooed the runes onto his skin, and was referred to as the Painted Man.

He was able to successfully fight them at night, and they could only advance so far, before the power of the runes on his skin took effect.

They were afraid of him, revered him and couldn't fight him, and so they'd moved on after a time, never returning to the village, never killing another soul from there again.

This was them.
It had to be.

Eddie stirred next to me and his eyes slowly opened. Instead of letting him wake up, my statement fell from my lips hurriedly.

"I've found something." I whispered, pausing over the pages, my body tense with realisation.

"You have?" Eddie asked, sitting upright, now awake.

He crawled over to me, coming to sit close to me and his arm curled around me, pulling me to him.

It hadn't gone unnoticed.

Martin, newly awake, had seen it too.

"Read this." I said, handing him the book.

I waited whilst his eyes moved across the page and he looked up at me, his eyes wide, his mouth open slightly with surprise.

"This has to be them." He said.

"That's what I'm thinking." I answered.

"You're brilliant, do you know that?" Eddie asked me, his mouth forming a beautiful grin.

I believed he was allowing me to see him for who he truly was.... Just slowly.

"It was a fortunate accident. I almost stopped reading it." I said.

"Take the compliment, Theo." He urged as I chuckled softly.

"The question is, where would we find a UV light?" I asked.

"There's one in the lab." Martin interjected.

"What would you need it for?" He added, as Eddie passed him the book.

Eddie pulled me closer to him, whilst we waited for him to read and he lowered the book in his hands and seemed to ponder for a moment.

"One wouldn't be enough, not for this." He said.

"How many would we be talking?" I asked.

"Several." He said.

"Where would we find them?" I asked.

There was a pause as I could practically hear the cogs of our brains going into overdrive.

Until Munson, seemed to have a lightbulb moment.

"Nightclubs." He said, suddenly, as my eyes widened.

"They often have UV lights." I said, in agreement.

"We could get them from the clubs in the town centre." He wagered.

"We have to go to them. Tomorrow." I urged.

"I'll come with you." Eddie said, without hesitation.

"We could treat everyone if we had several?" I asked Martin.

"We'd need at least a week for the exposure to work, but it would offer some protection to us all, if we were caught short. It would give us some defence if anyone was caught outside." He said.

"That's what we need to do." I said, with certainty.

*****************************************
"I've never really ever noticed how dingy these places really are, when there's no one in them." Eddie said, his eyes scanning the club.

"Yeah, they really are. But when you're drunk and dancing, you don't really care." I replied, chuckling softly.

"If I was a UV strip light, where would I be?" He pondered to himself as I fought a smirk.

"Store room?" I suggested.

"Possibly." He said, as we both walked to the bar, walking around it to the door that said STAFF ONLY.

Eddie walked inside first, checking to see if we were alone and he beckoned me to follow.

"All clear, we're good." He whispered, before turning the light on.

"Why are you whispering then?" I whispered.

"Why are you?" He whispered as we both giggled.

We checked the boxes stacked in the corner and I moved to check the boxes on the shelves, before my eyes widened.

"Jackpot." I announced as he skipped happily over to me.

"Good job." He said, impressed.

I reached inside and grabbed one, my eyes scanning the room for a plug socket.

"There." He said, pointing to the socket behind us, concealed behind a stack of tables.

I plugged it in, and switched it on, a purple glow lighting up my face. I smiled broadly, before having an idea.

"Let me show you something." I whispered, turning off the main light, the UV strip light in my hand.

We were engulfed in darkness, except for the purple glow of the light, and it lit up his beautifully chiseled face.

He was gorgeous; I was ultimately very attracted to him.

That's what I'd been feeling.
I knew he'd been feeling it towards me too.

I pressed my hand on the far wall, and shone the light on it, the glow illuminating my hand print.

I turned to him and pressed my hand flat against my chest, handing the light to him.

I removed my hand, and he shone the light, my handprint etched on my skin, as he marvelled at it.

"Can I try something?" He whispered, as I nodded.

His hand reached out and curled around my neck gently, as he stepped towards me.

He released me seconds later, and shone the light in between us, and he could see his hand print around my throat.

He watched it disappear from my skin, and he lowered the light.

"That's seriously cool. Can I try something else?" He whispered.

"Yes." I whispered back.

His hand curled around my throat again, his thumb running along my chin and he closed the gap between us, blindly setting the UV light on the table I was leaning against.

"I only care about what you think of me...." He whispered, his eyes wide like chocolate saucers.

His lips hovered above mine and my lips parted with anticipation; in a split second, he'd covered my mouth with his and he kissed me deeply.

I welcomed him, kissing him hungrily, as we understood our attraction for each other, finally.

We broke apart, and I tugged his T-shirt over his head, his hands pawing at my T-shirt; he pulled it over my head, and he kissed me deeply as he blindly unbuttoned my jeans.

I unbuttoned his and leaned forwards to push them off his hips, leaning back for him so he could tug mine down my legs.

His lips met mine, his hands swiftly and blindly sliding my underwear to the side and I felt him slip fluidly inside me.

We came together and I heard us both gasp with hushed pleasure, in unison.

For a moment we were still, and with one hand I steadied myself on the table I was sitting on, my other hand reaching out to grip his neck as we kissed slowly and deeply.

"Do I still annoy you?" He whispered against my lips.

"If you don't fuck me right now, you'll annoy me quite a bit." I whispered back, as he smirked.

He remained still for as long as he thought he could get away with, and then he started to thrust.

I was undone.

"You got it...." He whispered, biting down on his bottom lip.

It was slow, it was deep, it was passionate and it was in the dark, save for the UV glow, lighting us up from the side of me.

I ground my hips against him, and he held me to him, moaning into my mouth, his free hand holding me by the back of my head.

"You are intoxicating, do you know that?" He whispered gruffly against my lips.

My head tilted back in pleasure, my chest heaving deeply as I moaned softly.

He encouraged me to look back at him, his eyes locking with mine, his breaths expelling from him in short bursts, with every thrust.

"I want you to look at me. I want to see your eyes." He whispered, his eyes half closed, as he trembled with pleasure.

I nodded, a little breathless, maintaining the eye contact as he'd requested.

What he wanted to watch, was my reaction once he picked up the pace; I leaned further back onto the table, opening my legs wider and his head tilted back, as he groaned with satisfaction.

He still had a hold of me, his hand moving from the back of my head to grip my throat gently but firmly, as he held me in place, now able to push further inside of me.

I bit down on my bottom lip, and moaned, noticing that he liked that a lot.

I gripped the edge of the table behind me with both hands, snaked my legs around his waist and when I was sure I'd gotten a firm hold, I hoisted myself off the table, bucking my hips forward and  with both hands, he held me at my hips, grinding against me.

I knew he was close when his pace quickened, but some movements became sloppy and the friction between our bodies encouraged my own climax.

We surged towards the edge and very loudly climaxed together. When we were both satisfied that we'd ridden our individual releases out in their entirety, he lowered me back down onto the table and I unwrapped my legs from around his waist. He pulled away from me, before we met in a caring, breathless embrace.

"I've got you.... I've got you." He whispered, rubbing my back softly.

We dressed in silence, coming together one last time for a more softer, tender kiss and he held me by my shoulders.

"I can't pretend I don't feel something for you, because I really do. God I do." He said, sighing deeply.

"I feel something for you too. It actually annoys me how much I like you." I said, as he chuckled softly.

"I'll take it as a compliment, I promise." He said, as I laughed and nodded.

"You should." I replied.

He rubbed my arms softly and with care, before looking around us.

"We should take these and get them back to the college." He said.

"Can we stop at the hardware store, I want to pick a few things." I said, as he raised his eyebrow.

"Something tells me we're not going for DIY purposes." He said, as I shook my head.

"We're not, we're going for insurance purposes." I explained.

"I got it. Let's go." He said, packing the UV light in the box with the others, lifting it off the shelf.

************************************
Eddie's POV.

I'd know exactly what she'd meant by insurance purposes. She walked beside me, swinging a shotgun casually in her hand, my hand entwined with her other, a box of shells resting on top of the box I was carrying within the crook of my arm.

We reached the college and mutually parted, not wanting to bring any attention to us, and we headed inside.

Martin was first to greet us, Ashley and Jake were second.

"Did you find them?" Martin asked as I nodded to the box under my arm.

"We found around eight of them." I said.

"We can work with eight. We just need somewhere to set them up." He said.

"One of the empty dorm rooms would do, right?" Theo asked, as Martin nodded.

"I'll get one of the rooms set up, and then we'll need some kind of rota so everyone is equally treated by the light. There's what, twenty of us?" He wagered.

"Twenty one." Theo corrected, as I suppressed a smile.

She knew everything.

"I'll help you." She offered, taking the box from me.

She passed me the shotgun and I took it, as Martins eyes widened.

"What's that for?" He asked.

"Insurance." She repeated, as I bit down hard on my lip. It was hard concealing how I felt about her; it was harder concealing the aftermath of the encounter we'd not long had and just how giddy that was making me inside.

I cleared my throat then and motioned to the library.

"I'm gonna see if we can find anything more on the night comers." I said.

"I'll come to you before first watch." She said, giving me a wave.

"See you then." I said, watching her go.

**************************************
"Okay, what's the deal with you and Munson?" Martin asked, as we started to plug the UV lights into the various extension cables we'd accumulated.

"There's no deal." I said, shaking my head.

"You know what I'm talking about Theo." Martin said, huffing slightly.

"Do I though?" I asked, evasively.

"Keeping watch together, reading in the library together, going out to find these together." He said, holding a strip light up in his hands.

"You're my good friend, you really are. But that doesn't mean I owe you an explanation for anything I do." I said, as he sighed.

"So something has happened then?" He asked, a little forlorn.

"We settled our differences." I said, casually.

"Which was important, because of what's going on. He offered to help me research; I let him. I fell asleep last night after two nights of staying awake and keeping watch, you came to get me, he graciously asked you to leave me be. It was the right thing to do, and he was just being kind. That's it." I added.

"He's changed. He's nicer, talkative, helpful, less judgemental. And he looks at you differently too." Martin said.

"He's had to change. I told him he had to, so we could all work together." I argued.

"Just say it. You like him, and he likes you. Somethings changed, somethings happened between you." Martin snapped.

"Why would it bother you so much if it has?" I asked, heatedly.

"Because I care about you, alright?" Martin hissed, as I eyed him carefully.

"Martin, I like him. I like him a lot. I didn't expect to, because days ago he was a real judgey asshole. And he knows he was; but he was judging everyone before they judged him, because he's been judged his whole life. He's never tried to be anything other than what people believe he is. We thought he wasn't a nice guy, so he simply didn't behave like one. In reality, he is nice, he is soft, he is caring. He's actually really nice." I said, as Martins body language and expression softened.

"No... I have seen it. I've seen the change, he's done a full U-turn in almost four days. And I know that's because of you. Because you aren't afraid to be honest, you're not afraid to call him out and I think he's needed that. He's needed perspective, a reminder.... That it doesn't matter what people think about him, he should just be himself. You've brought that out of him. I'm sorry for snapping, I care about you a lot - platonically." Martin said, sounding apologetic.

"For how you've protected us, helped us so far.... For what you've continued to do for us.... You deserve this. I'd sooner you had a-bit of happiness now, in case it all goes to shit." Martin said, as I squoze his shoulder.

"Thanks." I said.

"Something has happened though, hasn't it?" He asked, with a smile.

"Some things I do like to keep sacred." I warned, as he nodded.

"Understood." He said, finally dropping it.

He was smiling though, and we continued to set the lights up in the room, placing a chair in the centre of the room.

"I think it's only right that you test it first." He said, gesturing to the empty chair.

"How long do I stay under them?" I asked.

"An hour, two hours tops each day." He said.

I sat in the chair, and he flicked the switch, the room flooding with bright purple light.

"That's intense." I said, shielding my eyes.

"That's why you'll need these." He said, handing a pair of sunglasses to me.

"One hour." He reminded me.

"Got it." I answered, and I sat back, watching him leave the room, closing the door behind him.

*********************************
I kept to Martin's instructions, and headed down to the library an hour later, finding Eddie hunched over a thick book.

I squoze his shoulder softly and he looked up immediately, smiling up at me.

"Hey." He said, pushing his seat back, pulling me down onto his lap.

"What are you reading?" I asked.

"There was a second volume of the book you read. There was more recordings." He said, bringing it level with me.

"No one else has been recorded as going as far as the Painted Man did, but some did take note of what he did. Taking runes with them, carrying them. Painting them on transport, anywhere they went really. Obviously when they'd wash off in bad weather, they chose to mark them into stone instead." He said.

"Which is where Roberta must have gotten that from then." I said.

"The old woman?" He asked, his arm reaching behind me to stroke my back softly.

"Yeah, Roberta Sparrow. She wrote a book on time travel too." I said, as he chuckled softly.

"With what we've seen so far, I believe in that too." He said.

"Oh me too, anything is possible." I said, with a smile.

"You ready for the first watch?" He asked, as I nodded.

"Are you?" I asked.

"I am." He said.

We headed to the reception, and we sat together by the doors, a blanket draped across us, as we kept watch.

"I've patrolled the dorms, it all looks okay. Everyone is bunking down for the night." Ashley said.

"You should too." I said, as she nodded.

"I'll grab a few hours and patrol in the early hours. I've set an alarm. Jake has offered to take second watch, so you can both rest. You've both taken watch for several days now." Ashley said.

"That's fine." I said, grateful.

******
"We have activity." Eddie said, a few hours later.

I strained my eyes and saw the milkman and diner woman approaching and nodded.

"Our favourite duo." I said, playfully.

"We're my favourite duo." Eddie said, with a grin.

"Oh really?" I asked, as he nodded.

"Open on up." The diner woman said.

"We won't hurt you, just let us in." The milkman said.

"That's not strictly true. You'll have to try harder than that." I said, not succumbing to it.

"Oh we will." The milkman promised, as they stalked away.

As promised, Ashley patrolled in the early hours, and Jake took over and deciding to trust him alone, myself and Eddie felt we'd earned a nights sleep in our beds.

And as we'd headed upstairs, and I'd gone towards my room, Eddie had pulled me towards him and pushed us both into his, kicking his door to so it was just slightly ajar.

"I want you to stay with me." He whispered, grinning broadly, as I found myself giggling at his infectious smile.

I placed the shotgun on his bedside table and he climbed into bed; once I'd set an alarm on my phone, he pulled me under the covers with him and we settled down together, his warm body curled around mine.

It wasn't long before either of us fell asleep.

*******
When I awoke, it wasn't to the sound of any kind of alarm I'd ever heard in my lifetime.

The sound itself, jolted me upright and I felt a cold, clammy sweat lace my skin from head to toe.

My hand immediately clasped over the shotgun on the bedside table, and Eddie bolted upright at the second loud, guttural scream.

"What's going on?" He asked, as I clambered out of his bed.

"I don't know. But I'm about to find out." I said, determined.

And when I opened the door, and looked both ways, I could see blood splattered up the neighbouring wall.

Jake came running towards me, his eyes wide with fear, waving his hands frantically.

"I closed my eyes for a second.... And she'd opened the door. They didn't see me. But one attacked her. And then one came inside.... It looks like me. It's tricking people into opening their dorm rooms." He said, horrified.

"Who let them in?" I asked, cocking the shotgun with one hand.

"Teresa." He said.

"Is the door closed now?" I asked, as Eddie kept a look out.

"I closed it." Jake said.

"It's just the one?" I asked.

"Yeah..." He said, shakily.

"We need to find it." I said to Eddie, who nodded.

I crossed the hall and opened my bedroom door, leaning in with my eyes looking down the hall as I blindly reached for the baseball bat that was always perched behind the door.

You could never be too sure.

I straightened up, closed my door and handed it to Eddie.

"Cover me." I said.

"You got it, sweetheart." He said, without hesitation, gripping it with both hands.

There was another loud scream, and we followed the sounds until we came across Teresa, lying in the neighbouring corridor.

She was dead.

I stepped over her slowly, and when I reached the  end, I checked both ways, before stepping out.

My foot nudged into something and I looked down to see another body.

Jane.

There was a loud cry, and it was a guy this time.

"No, no please! NO!"

Wasting no further time, I hurriedly followed the noise before stopping outside of the third room in the next corridor.

There it was.

It slowly turned to me, releasing Mark who fell back into the floor, blood pouring out of a gaping wound on his neck.

It smiled at me, and it looked identical to Jake.

"You shouldn't have encouraged us to try harder." It said, with an insidious smile.

"You don't have to." I said, before lifting the shotgun, firing a single round into its face.

It hit the floor and I hurriedly ran into the room, falling to my knees beside Mark.

I reached for a discarded T-shirt on the floor, balling it up and pressing it to his neck.

I tried to stem the bleeding, but it was no use.

I stared down into Marks eyes, admitting defeat and tried to comfort him in his final moments.

"You're going to die....Don't be afraid... Let it slide over you, it's warm." I whispered, as I took his limp hand into mine.

"Who do you love?" I asked.

"M-mom...." He spluttered, as I nodded slowly.

"Let her take you there..." I whispered.

He choked, and fell painfully still and the anger immediately spilled out of me.

"GODDAMMIT!" I roared, with frustration.

We'd lost Teresa, and we'd lost Jane.

And the guy lying in-front of me was dead now too.

Mark.

We were down to eighteen people.

Furious, I rose to my feet, and Eddie knew immediately who I was gunning for.

He didn't stop me, he simply stepped aside but Martin tried to, and failed miserably.

"Get the fuck out of my way." I spat, pushing past him roughly.

And when Jake saw me coming, he recoiled hurriedly, his shaking hands raised in surrender.

"I'm sorry.... Theo I'm sorry. I only fell asleep for a second, I swear..." He said, panicked.

"A second was all it took, and one got in here. It got in here and it killed THREE people. I trusted you with the first watch. It only takes a second!" I cried, incensed.

"We can't afford to be this stupid. We can't afford to fall asleep when we're on watch. We can't let anyone be tempted to open doors or windows. If we keep doing this, every single one of us is going to die." I continued, with anger and with emphasis.

"I'm sorry...." Jake bleated.

"I've kept watch for three nights straight. Tonight I told myself to let someone else do it. You. And look what happened! You fell asleep. When you got tired, you should have come and woken one of us to take over. We were on second watch, we could have started early. But you didn't do that, did you?" I asked him.

"Before I came here, I had a family. I had parents and I had a brother. Someone fell asleep on a watch one night, and I lost all three of them. I woke as it was coming to kill me. And one of the survivors killed it. I got to this city, thinking I'd escaped them for good. I enrolled into college, thinking I was getting a fresh start. But they just followed me here. And I am trying to keep everyone here safe. You should be trying to do that too." I spat, as I watched everyone's faces fall around me.

There was weight to what I'd said.
They were hearing what I'd lost the first time around.

They were hearing what I wasn't willing to lose again.

"I'm so sorry...." Jake said, as I shook my head.

"Not as sorry as I am. You're not carrying out a single watch after this. And you're on clean up duty. Secure the windows, move the bodies, lock the rooms, move them to 307, with the other two. Ductape the gap between the door and the floor, just to keep the smell at bay. And then stay the fuck out of my sight." I snapped.

He shuffled off, distraught and embarrassed, and it apparently hadn't sat right with Martin.

"Did you have to shame him in front of everyone like that?" Martin asked, shaking his head.

"Three people died tonight Martin." Eddie warned.

"He's right." Ashley said.

"He fucked up, he knew that before you said any of that." Martin argued, waving us off.

"Did you comfort Mark as he was dying? Did you shoot that thing dead? Did you?" I asked.

"Theo did." Ashley said.

"Brave, virtuous Theo strikes again." Martin said, sarcastically.

"It's not about being brave or virtuous. It's about being right. Instead of waking one of us up to take over, he left it until he was too tired and fell asleep. We can't pull that shit, we can't." Eddie argued, in my defence.

"I get that he was trying to do something good, he was trying to help. But it got three people killed and that thing was roaming the halls looking for all of us. We all could have died tonight. We were lucky it only took three. That was bad enough." I argued.

Martin looked down at his feet then, his hands on his hips as he shook his head.

"I'm gonna go and help him." He said, walking away from us.

"If anyone else wants to go and help him and Jake, go. If you don't, you should get some rest." I said, rubbing my face with frustration and slight anguish with bloodied hands.

"For what it's worth, you were right. Right to react that way." Ashley said.

"We can't afford to make mistakes. And when we do, we need to know we've made them." She added, smiling weakly.

"You need to get cleaned up." Eddie said.

"Yeah..." I said, staring down at my hands.

"Go.... I'll take watch." He insisted.

My hands were caked with Marks and the night comers blood and I shuddered slightly.

"Hey...." Eddie said, coaxing me into looking at him.

"It's okay to be scared, and it's okay not to always feel or be brave. You can tell me, you can say." He whispered.

"I've seen dead bodies, I've seen hundreds. But I've never seen anyone physically die, I've never felt them slip away, never seen the light leave their eyes like that." I whispered, shuddering again.

"You comforted him, when he needed it. It was brave, and it was selfless. I know that most of these people here are relying on you, in some ways we all are... I am too, but only because of your experience. In my case, it's what you know. I'm not expecting you to be at my defence every single time, I'm not looking to you to save me. I'm going off your knowledge and doing what I can to keep myself, you and everyone else alive.... I'm doing that, with you. And I'm doing this, so you know you can rely on me too." Eddie said, as I nodded.

"You can share the load, Theo." He added.

******************************************
Eddie's POV.

"Alright, listen up." She said, sounding more like herself again.

Her hands and face were free of blood, and she'd found some of that admirable resolve within herself, and she now required our undivided attention.

And as always, she had it.

"We know now, that these things can die by normal weapons. One shot to the face or head, they go down. But when they're inside and they advance, they advance quickly. Their main tactic is to catch us unarmed and off guard. And because they advance so quickly, some of us never have time to reach for a weapon. That's their advantage. They're picking us off when we're vulnerable. Which is why we all need to have an hour a day under the UV light, as an extra precaution. If your treated blood mixes with theirs.... That too kills them. And everyone needs to be armed from today. A few of us should go to the hardware store, gather as many weapons as we can, and we all have one. No one gets picked off like this again." She said.

"How do we mix their blood with ours?" Martin asked.

"I don't know that yet. Which is why we all need to be armed first and foremost, until we figure that out." She said.

"They're expecting us to be unarmed, they're expecting us to be vulnerable. From today, we won't be." She continued.

"And we're all moving onto one floor, so we can keep some kind of perimeter. Less floors to cover on patrol." She added.

"If one gets in, they only need to gain access to one floor." Martin argued.

"Which also fences them in." She remarked.

"It's a double edged sword. But she's right, Martin." I said.

"We have to stay close to each other. We're too separated right now." Jake interjected.

He was right, and she let him have his moment.

"Take whatever belongings you need, and we all move onto the second floor. We might have to double or triple up together." She said.

"You heard her." Ashley said, getting everyone moving.

She approached me then, and folded her arms across her chest.

"You're next on the rota for an hour under the UV." She said, as I nodded.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I'm going to the hardware store, I'm gonna go along with some of them. Make sure no one does anything stupid." She said, sighing.

"Remember what I said, Theo." I said, as she nodded, in understanding.

"Share the load." She answered.

"I'll catch up with you later. Go through your spoils when you get back." I said, as she smiled.

"Alright." She said, chuckling softly.

"I'll move our things from our rooms." I said.

"Wanna double up with me?" I added.

"You sure move fast." She said, playfully.

She strode over to me again and smiled coyly.

"We have sex once and now we're moving in together?" She asked, her voice low.

I belly laughed and she punched me in the arm.

"Yeah. That's exactly it. I wasn't thinking for strategic purposes, whatsoever." I said, wholly amused.

"I've never lived with a boy before." She said, as I smiled.

"Well, we could die tomorrow, so I'd personally like to try and enjoy whatever time I potentially have left. And I'd very much like to enjoy that time with you. In between being serious, sensible, and fighting monsters and all of that, obviously." I said, as she looked towards the doors.

"I'll be back later." She said, laughing at me.

"I'll move our stuff into a room. It'll be done for when you get back." I called.

"Uhm, I didn't say yes?" She called back.

"You didn't say no either!" I said, with a mischievous smile as I waved her off.

*********************************
Martin, myself, Adam, Ashley and Blaire headed out to the hardware store and the remainder stayed behind to move everyone onto the first floor.

"Bunking up with him now I see." Martin observed.

As much as he had insisted that he cared for me platonically, he had made a number of comments now that told me quite the opposite.

Why did he give such a shit about who I shared a room with during whatever circus of horrors we were in, if he was just platonically protective of me?

The more comments he made, the more jealous he sounded, and I didn't feel we had the time for that.

"It's more space for someone else, so yeah." I said, as though it was strategically obvious.

"He's practically become your lieutenant." Martin mused, as we stepped inside of the hardware store.

Everyone broke off to find whatever was useful, whatever could be used as a weapon equally, and myself and Martin headed to the guns counter.

I pulled a rifle from the rack and as I inspected it and loaded it, I chose to address it there and then.

He'd do better than to piss me off with a loaded gun in my hand.

"What's the issue Martin?" I asked.

"Just trying to make conversation, that's all. It's gotten tense lately. Regimental." He said, casually.

"It has to be that way. This isn't a vacation." I answered.

"Why you though? Why put yourself in charge?" He asked, as Ashley peeked around an aisle.

"She didn't, we kinda did. She has the most experience with these things, so maybe get off of her back about it." She remarked, as though it should have been obvious to him.

"Okay, instead of talking to me in cryptic, cloak and dagger riddles, spell it out. What's the problem?" I asked.

"When we joked about the end of the world, last year, we said that we'd be a team. I know it was just hypothetical conversation, during classes when we were bored.... But this is happening and we've drifted." He said, sounding sad.

"We're still friends. And we're still a team. I didn't think I'd wind up on that bus with Eddie Munson, and I didn't think we'd actually hit it off. If we die tomorrow, it's just like you said..... I should have a little happiness if it's on offer. I might not get another chance." I said.

"We all need to take the happiness, the good, in between the bad." I added.

"Any maybe figure out a way to stop this, so all of you have family to go back to. So you all get to go home to them." I continued.

He sighed deeply and turned to me.

"I wanted to be better at all of this than I am." He said.

"So it's a you problem then?" I asked him playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, and apparently projecting that on you with shitty little digs and comments and I'm sorry about that." He said.

"It's fine. And you're better than you think." I said.

"I'm not a patch on you. None of us are." He said, scoffing slightly.

"You don't need to be. I'm just doing what I can. I'm literally winging it. I'm doing everything I didn't do the first time. I'm fighting this time, I'm not hiding." I said.

"This is a joint effort. And we're all doing what we need to. You included." I insisted.

"I'm sorry." He said, regretfully.

"I'd already forgotten about it." I said, simply.

********************************
Eddie's POV.

By mid afternoon they were back, and Theo had gone door to door, supplying everyone in the building with a weapon.

We'd all done well to move to the second floor in the time that we had, and it wasn't long before she appeared at our new dorm room, and she observed me from the doorway, fondly making her bed up so she was comfortable.

"Hey sweetheart." I said, as she smiled broadly.

"Hey you." She answered, stepping inside to wrap her arms around me.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" She asked, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into my chest.

"All good, we're all moved in." I said, releasing her so she could look around.

"I didn't realise you'd lost your family. That was the story for another time, wasn't it?" I added.

"I didn't mean to blurt it out like that. If I was gonna tell you, if I knew I was.... I'd have told you in a better way." She said, pressing her lips together.

"You told them out of necessity. I understand why you did." I said, as she sighed softly.

"How long ago?" I asked.

"Two years." She said.

"I'm so sorry...." I whispered.

"My first year here, I was convinced it wasn't over, convinced they'd be coming back. And then second term, second year... I thought no, it's really over Theo, maybe start to live your life again. I just got comfortable thinking that way..... and I saw the lightning and I knew. This wasn't over. It isn't over." She said.

"They were brave, I bet." I said.

"They were the best." She said, her eyes glassy.

"And they'd be proud of you." I said, with certainty.

"They are proud of you." I added.

"Thanks." She said, wiping her eyes delicately.

"C'mere..." I whispered, and she turned to me, falling into my arms.

"You've got me.... You know that right?" I asked her, kissing the top of her head softly.

"I do." She said, squeezing me slightly in response.

"But...." She said, as she released me.

She hopped onto her bed, sinking into the bedcovers and I mirrored her, lying down on mine.

"But?" I inquired, looking over at her.

"Separate beds, really?" She asked.

I rolled onto my side to face her and looked at her, feigning surrender.

"I'm just easing you in. This is your first time living with a boy." I said, as she laughed.

"A boy you've had sex with once." I added, as she laughed harder.

"Oh for fucks sake Eddie." She said, before throwing a blue fur cushion at me.

I caught it before it hit me in the face and slid it under my head, propping myself up with it.

"Thanks, this is actually quite comfy." I said, feeling a little goofy.

"I think I'm gonna like living with you." She said, with a small sigh.

"You are? You know that already?" I asked, as she grinned.

"There's a big chance, I'd say." She answered, as I smiled fondly at her.

"You're the happy in all of this, for me." I said, sincerely.

**************************************
One week later.

I did it all for her,

I did it all just for her,

And love's heart is death, for me and my, Poison Girl.....

HIM was softly playing on the radio, and Eddie was softly singing along, as we were preparing food and a few beers for an afternoon party in the library.

Everyone was in low spirits; I knew it would only have been a matter of time before hope started to fade. Having to move onto one floor, put things into perspective for a lot of them.

They were aware they were fenced in now.
I had known we were from the start and I didn't have the cabin fever they were starting to get.

There were no police coming, no military.... No one could even say they knew what was happening here. We couldn't contact anyone.

Phone lines had been down for almost a week.

I wanted them to remember they were people, they were human. And that we had the chance to make things better for the interim, to momentarily forget about the horror outside.

Even if it was just for one night.
One night where everyone remembered a glimmer of who they were before this, and didn't have to worry about it.

I'd rounded up any spare sheets and curtains from the closed off rooms on the other floors, and had draped them across the main doors.

We'd still know they were out there, as they would still talk, but we didn't have to see their faces too.

This immediately calmed things, and we stuck with the same people to alternate the night watches.

"I did it all, just for her.... I did it all, just for her... and loves heart is death, for my, poison girl...." Eddie sang, head-banging slightly as he walked past me, in his own little world.

"You know something....?" He asked me, suddenly.

"What?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"I've missed music." He said, with a sigh.

"I know it's been what, two weeks? But I have. I've realised how much I've missed just being able to listen to a song." He continued.

"It's not been a normal two weeks. I get it, it feels like it's been forever." I said.

"I'm sorry.... Phones stopped working after a week. I should have remembered that from the first time." I added.

"That's not for you to be sorry about." He said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"You think they'll like what we've done for them?" He added, as I nodded.

"They will. Which reminds me, I'm gonna go and get cleaned up, before we show them." I said, popping the last tin of peaches on the table.

********
I hadn't realised he'd followed me, wordlessly back to our dorm room.

I hadn't realised when I was under the water of the shower, and he'd fluidly slid in behind me.

I realised only when his hands found my shoulders and he pressed his naked body up against me.

I was a little startled, but I pulled him under the water with me, smiling broadly.

The smile fell from my lips when his mouth covered them, kissing me deeply.

He scooped me up into his arms, pressing me against the shower wall, and hoisted me up the tiles far enough where he could manoeuvre himself inside of me, and over the sound of the running water, I could hear his soft moans of pleasure mixing with mine.

We were in the mouth of hell, that much was true.

But right in this moment, we could have been anywhere.

All that mattered right now, was him and myself.
And just how much I was growing to care for him.

"I like living with you...." I whispered, in between short breaths as his hips thrust against mine.

He laughed; it was breathy and a little shaky and he nuzzled his nose against mine.

"Oh I love living with you, baby girl..." he whispered back.

*******************************************
One month later.

It wasn't long before we'd realised our activity was being watched. It wasn't long before we realised there had been other survivors, trying to get by like we were.

We'd traded supplies a few times, and they'd shared with us that they had secured transport and were offering to take anyone who wanted to, out of the city and assured us that they could do it safely.

Out of the eighteen of us left, twelve people who had become our friends over the month, opted to go. And I'd let them; it was their choice to make.

Six of us remained: Myself, Eddie, Martin, Ashley, David and Daisy.

We were the ones that wanted to stay, and remain behind to ensure they did get out.

We still felt that there was a fight to fight; and we were going to see to it that we'd do all we could, to ensure that the ones who wanted to go, went without a hitch.

We were limited with supplies and so this relieved us too, in some ways.

I was determined not to run, not to leave.
They'd just move to another city after here.

And the five who had stayed with me, shared that same determination and wanted to end this with me.

I wanted to try and stop this, for good.

Our twelve friends had left two days previous, after tearful, bittersweet goodbyes and myself and Eddie were salvaging what we could from a nearby 7/11.

It was the furthest we'd gone, and we were all the more conscious of time, making sure we'd reach the college again before nightfall.

Eddie headed to the door of the store with a crate, and nodded his head towards the outside.

"I'm just gonna set this down by the door outside, for when we go." He said, as I nodded, heading into the back room.

I looked around at the bare shelves, before something caught my eye through the small cracked window.

My heart pounded loudly in my chest as I moved to the back door, and opened it.

And what I saw, was horrific.

I slid down the door in shock, my legs giving way from underneath me; clumsily I made a grab outwards and knocked down several crates, the noise gathering Eddie's attention.

"Are you okay?!" He asked, rushing into the room.

Wordlessly, I scrambled to my feet and ran outside, unable to believe what I was seeing.

And when Eddie followed, the whimper of grief that left his mouth was unbearable.

"No...." He whispered, in horror.

Our friends.

Tied up against posts sticking out of the ground, some of them tied up against cars.

"They were.... They were taking them out of the city..." Eddie continued, unable to believe it.

"No.... They lied to them. They lied to us." I said, vibrating with shock and grief.

"Why tie them up, like this?" Eddie asked.

"They rounded them up here, tied them up and left them out here after dark. They left them here to die.... To be killed and fed off by those fucking things." I said, unable to control the all over body tremor shaking me violently.

Eddie went to speak when we heard voices, and we swiftly rushed back inside the store room, closing the door to.

The voices grew louder, and I could hear laughter.

"When do we pick the next load up?"

"How many for tonight?"

"Last night was the best one yet. So much gore, man."

"Numbers haven't been confirmed yet."

"They fall for the lie every damn time man."

"Yeah, they're not expecting this."

More laughter.

"They never do!"

"Let's head back to the warehouse. See how many were picking up for tonight's little show."

Eddie gripped my shoulder painfully and I let him, not wanting to make a sound. But when I was sure they'd left and we couldn't hear their voices, I writhed under his grip, uncomfortable.

His eyes were fixed on the window, and I could see that he was considering something.

Something bad.

The grief was still fixed firmly on his face, but his eyes held anger, a deep rage and the furrow in his brow confirmed to me that he was already hitching a plot for something.

We'd seen their faces; we'd heard their voices and we knew where they were staying.

And we knew exactly what they'd done, and were already planning to do again, tonight.

"We don't tell them about this yet. We can't." I said, wiping my face free of tears, roughly.

I sniffed slightly, a sad sigh escaping my lips as Eddie finally released me from his grip, his expression saddening.

I rubbed my shoulder, and he reached for me, his eyes wide with realisation.

"I'm sorry...." He whispered, regretful.

"It's okay...." I whispered back, his hand coming to cup my face.

"I think we need to digest this.... Before we tell them." He said finally, in agreement.

His thumb stroked my cheek gently and I leaned into his hand.

"We should go." He said.

And we did.
We gathered what we'd salvaged and we made our way back, cautiously and keeping a keen eye out for them, along the way.

Eddie was quiet and I knew.
I knew.

Eddie was already planning to go back.

**************************************
Eddie's POV.

"Daisy, you're okay on first watch?" I asked, as she looked at me curiously.

I subtly adjusted the magnum concealed in the waistband of my jeans, and felt the cool, hard metal press against my back.

"Theo's on first watch isn't she?" Daisy asked.

"She told me she was on second and you were on first." I said, confused.

"No.... No I'm pretty sure I'm on second tonight. She definitely said she was on first. She said she was just gonna get an hours sleep before." Daisy said.

"In our room?" I asked, sensing something wasn't right.

"Yeah, she's upstairs." Daisy said, smiling weakly.

"Can you just take first watch for us? She needs the rest to be honest." I said, covering myself.

And covering Theo, because I felt for some reason I needed to; something was seriously off.

"Of course yeah, she's done a lot of them. No problem." Daisy said, as accommodating as ever.

Without further hesitation, I made my way to our room and as I had already suspected, there was an empty room, and an empty bed.

The window was closed, but everything on the bathroom vanity had been strategically moved to the right side; likely so she could climb out of the window.

That's how she'd gotten past all of us.
She'd gone through the bathroom window, closed it again and had shimmied down the drainpipe.

And I knew exactly where she was going.
She was going exactly where I was planning to go.

I followed suit, climbing out of the window.
I shut it behind me and shimmied down the pipe, looking at the sun before I made my way.

We had a few hours before nightfall.

I had to get moving. I had to find her.

******
I found the warehouse, and I found her standing outside of it.

I approached her slowly, and she saw me in her peripheral.

Initially, it didn't look as though she'd done anything.

From afar, it looked merely like she was weighing up what to do, or simply standing outside.

Until I drew level with her and she handed me a snood.

"Put this on." She instructed, through the snood across her mouth and nose.

"What have you done?" I asked her, pulling it over my nose and mouth, mirroring her.

She wordlessly nodded towards the far left window of the building, where she had connected an abandoned hosepipe to the exhaust of a car she'd hot wired. She was running it and the hose through the warehouse building.

She stood on the pavement, her arms by her side, one hand curled tightly around her shotgun and I realised in horror that the car engine was running.

The people inside, were either dying or dead.

"Why are you here?" She asked me, as I found myself growing angry.

"I came here to solve this. So you didn't have this much blood on your hands. So you didn't have to live out the rest of your life, knowing you'd murdered these people. I was going to do it, for you. I was gonna shoulder that for you." I said, both angrily and imploringly.

"It's not murder. It's balance. They sold the people who lived with us for months, a lie. They told them that they'd be able to get them out, locate their families; they said if not, they had houses where they could live. That was all a lie. Instead they rounded them all up like cattle, and tied them up outside after dark.... And watched them get eaten alive.... For kicks and for sport. I haven't murdered a single one of these evil people. I've stopped them doing this to anyone else. I've stopped them from doing this ever again. I see them as no more than what we protect ourselves from, every single night. No.... These people are worse." She said, raging like nothing I'd ever seen.

"Where's the leader?" I asked, as she cast a glance to her right.

"I wanted him to watch. I wanted him to know how I felt when I saw our people.... In pieces in the road. And then he's gonna die." She said, before cocking her shotgun.

She pointed it at him, and she approached him slowly. He was tied to a post just behind the car that was running the lethal carbon monoxide into the building, and he was already begging.

"No... no please.." he bleated, struggling against the rope binding him to the post.

"Tell me why I shouldn't put you down." She said to him.

"Explain to me why you did this." She continued as he shook his head frantically.

"You don't have the right answer. We both know that already. You did it because you're sick, and you enjoyed it. You enjoyed watching people die in the worst way. Answer her. We want to hear you say it." I said, coming to stand by her side.

"You're just as bad as me now, as all of us. You killed them." He said, shaking his head.

"Oh I killed them, you're right about that. But I am nothing like you. I just wanted to go to sleep tonight knowing that there isn't a single person out here again that you can lie to, round up like cattle and then force them outside to watch them die for sport. I know that I will sleep like a damn baby, knowing you won't be around to do that to a single person again." She said.

"Let me." I said, as she shook her head, tightening her grip on the gun.

"I'm this far in. There's blood on my hands already. No." She said.

"Remember what I said." I urged.

"Maybe I'm trying to do this, to shoulder this.... For you." She said, turning to me.

"It's like you said. You were here to just do the same. So I didn't have to. I knew you were going to come here. I could see it in your face when you saw them lying there.... Torn apart, ravaged. I saw the anger in your eyes. I saw the pain. And I saw something else.... Determination. And when I knew you were coming here.... I made sure that I got here first. This is what this is, Eddie. This is me sharing the load. This is me taking that load completely off of you." She said.

I'd had the idea first, followed closely by her in second. And when she'd realised I was dead set on carrying it out, she'd beaten me to it.

She didn't want any blood on my hands.
She'd put it all on hers instead, to spare me.

She'd resigned herself to a life where the events of today would never be far from her mind, so that they'd just be a painful distant memory, in mine.

"Why?" I asked her, both horror and love rushing through me simultaneously.

It was a strange concoction.

"You're too good for this. You've always been far too good for any of the bad that's gone on in your life. For all the bad everyone has ever thought of you." She said.

And when I sensed she wasn't going to lower the shotgun or part with it, I swiftly pulled the concealed magnum from the back of my jeans, cocked it within seconds, aimed it and fired a bullet straight in between his eyes, with zero hesitation.

His head fell limp, and she turned to face me in shock.

"Now, we're even." I said, with a stoic expression and a clenched jaw.

And then I pulled her to me roughly, hugging her with one arm, kissing her feverishly on the head as she clung to me, the shotgun slipping from her hand. It landed with a clatter on the ground, and she buried her face into my shoulder, her body suddenly racking heavily, with sobs.

I softened immediately; this hadn't been as easy for her as she'd made it seem. She wasn't cold, and she wasn't callous. This had been a heavy decision, one she'd felt had been necessary to make.

And the burden of that would be with her forever.
For wanting to ensure that no one else died in this horror show. I understood the reasoning, I understood the morality of that decision.

Even if she had taken the lives of several people to make that notion an assured one.

I'd made that decision too; I was just mad at her for taking that on, for me.

I dropped the magnum to the floor and wrapped my newly free hand around her, embracing her tightly.

"We're even. We're even, baby..." I whispered.

"We'll shoulder it together." I whispered, as she held me even tighter.

And upon our return, Martin, Ashley, Jake, David and Daisy, all wanted answers.

"Our friends are dead. They never made it out. The group they left with, lied to them." Theo announced, stony faced.

"Oh my god...." Daisy gasped, horrified.

"What happens now?" Martin asked, as Theo cocked the shotgun.

"We fucking end this." She said, with a newfound certainty and a newfound resolve.

Theo, was well and truly done.

********************************
Eddie's POV.

It was two days, before she shut down on me fully.

She shut down on everyone.
When she wasn't in the UV room, she was sitting in the library, pensive and quiet.

She was still, lost in her head.
Planning something.

And by day four, she parted with her thoughts and an apparent plan.

"I'm going out there, at nightfall. This ends tonight. I've figured it out. They work like a hive. So where there's a Queen in a hive, there's one in theirs too. They have a leader. We just haven't seen him or her yet. We kill their leader, they stop." She said.

"You're not going out there." I said.

She looked at me, and her expression showed she'd already made up her mind.

"No. NO." I said, adamantly.

"I can do this. I can. We can't stay here like this anymore and we shouldn't have to. This is our city, this is our home..... I'm not letting them hold us hostage for a day longer. We've never attempted to leave here, because we don't know how many there are, we don't know how far they span, and it isn't just them we have to worry about. There's people out there now, killing other people too." She said, as I struggled with what she was saying.

"How do you propose to go out there and not have them attack you at first sight?" Martin asked her.

"You're not agreeing with this, surely?" I asked him.

"I'm hearing what she has to say, and I'm asking questions. That's not agreeing with it." He said, calmly.

"I'm covered on that front, it will work." She said.

"I'll come out there with you." I said, hurriedly.

"We all will." Martin said, as one by one, we all nodded in agreement.

"As much as my gut is telling me this will work..... we also have to think about if it doesn't. We all go out there and it doesn't work, we all die tonight. If just one of us goes out, the others can look for another way." She said.

"So why you?" I asked her.

"Because I feel responsible for all of you. If any of us were to get out of here, alive and safe, I'd want it to be all of you." She said.

My heart clenched with the sheer selflessness.
But also from the slight selfishness; I felt like how I felt about her, hadn't been factored in.

She hadn't considered how we'd feel if we were to lose her.

How I'd feel.

I might not have voiced it fully to her, but I'd hoped she'd been seeing it. I'd hoped that what I'd done for her and with her up to now, had shown some semblance of how I'd wanted to change myself, change the way I was, for her.

Everything I'd done here, had been mostly for her.

I wanted to walk out of here, alive and with her.
Together.

We'd started this together; whichever way it was going to end, I wanted to be by her side.

"That's something quite significant to just shoulder by yourself, Theo. None of us is expecting that of you." David said.

"We're not." Daisy said, in agreement.

"I know. I know that." Theo said.

"And you've looked after us all from day one." Martin added.

"This would be me, still looking after you." She said.

"We can see that." Martin said, sadly.

"We can." Ashley said, as I remained silent.

It was futile; her mind was made up.

So she had one option.

"I know we're not changing your mind, and we can keep trying to knock on that closed door. You're making some of us feel a little dishonourable and perhaps making us question ourselves as men and as people..... So if not for the sake of my pride, but for just all of us in general terms, if you really have to do this, in some way or another, you're letting us help you, and we're doing this with you." I ordered.

"I agree." Martin said.

"So what do you need us to do?" I asked.

And she told us what she needed from us, and we agreed finally, albeit reluctantly.

And when night fell, she emerged from the library in a turtle neck jumper and cargo trousers, shotgun in her hand and a snood over her mouth and nose.

Her hair was tied back, and she walked towards me in a strict looking pair of combat boots.

Her footsteps sounded regimental, and her stare was cold, and determined.

"You're ready?" I asked her.

"I am." She said.

We stood by the door, armed and ready, my hands on the handle and the lock, positioned for her exit.

She nodded, and I opened the door.
She stepped out, and I took a shaky deep breath.

She took five strides away from us, and from there we saw the plan she'd put together, come fully into play.

She set her shotgun down momentarily, and peeled her jumper completely off her body, tossing it to the floor.

We all gasped as we noticed that she'd drawn the protection rune symbols all over her skin.

She retrieved and cocked the shotgun in her hand and half turned towards me, as she removed the snood from her mouth and nose.

Two symbols were also drawn on both of her cheeks.

"Lock the door." She instructed.

"Theo...." I started to say, faltering.

"If this works, I just need their leader. I just need that one. They won't stay if they don't have him. Lock the door." She urged.

"Open it again, when I say." She continued.

She sank to her knees on the floor, and dipped her fingers into a patch of thick, blackened soil and water, drawing a line across her eyes.

She turned to face us fully, and I could see them approaching from behind her.

She'd even drawn the runes on the white of her bra.

She was a protection rune.
She was the Painted Man.

The Painted Woman.

"It's going to be okay." She said, nodding to me.

Her hazel eyes were determined, and I swallowed hard, just wanting to be out there with her.

I pressed up against the glass, imploring her with my eyes, and she smiled fondly at me.

"You stay alive, you hear me? You stay alive. The moment this goes awry, I'm coming out there to get you back." I implored, my breath misting the glass of the window, my eyes glassy with panicked tears, as she nodded.

"You got it. Lock the door." She said.

And she turned, aiming the shotgun towards them.

And we watched in sheer disbelief, as they surrounded her, smiling at her.

We waited and when their eyes fell on the runes drawn onto her skin, they backed from her.

"We can't touch this one." One said.

"She's marked." Another said.

"That's not all fuckers. I want to see the head honcho. Where is he?" She asked, calmly.

"You want to see Leviathan?" One asked.

"Oh you bet your ugly ass I do." She said, as we watched from the doors.

"Get him. Their leader wants to see him." A woman said to another.

She smiled manically at Theo, who maintained her steel tight resolve. It was both intimidating and admirable.

"He's on his way." She said, retreating.

"Good thing I don't mind waiting." Theo said, aiming the shotgun straight at her.

And in a matter of minutes, the leader walked over the brow of the hill, walking calmly and sinisterly onto campus, smiling every step of the way.

Their smiles unsettled me. They unsettled everyone.

"Is this going to work?" Martin asked me, fretful.

"She's protected by the runes at the very least. If they were able to attack her, they would have by now." I said, hoping I was right.

"You haven't locked the door, have you?" Marin asked.

"No, she can kill me for it later." I said.

"Keep it unlocked." Daisy urged, apparently in agreement with me.

The leader approached, gaining on her with every single step and Theo turned the gun towards him.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked, calmly before noticing the runes on her skin.

He recoiled slightly, and turned to the woman who'd called for him.

"She's marked." He said.

Theo, with her free hand, reached behind her slowly and withdrew a concealed knife from the waistband of her jeans and slowly tucked in into her teeth, before turning towards me.

She nodded once and my hand clasped on the door handle, ready to open.

"Is this a game?" He asked her, as she nodded slowly.

"I like games. What are the rules?" He asked her.

Theo removed the knife slowly from her mouth, clasped it, aimed the shotgun towards his chest and fired once.

The creatures surrounding her shrieked loudly, recoiling and writhing in pain, as Leviathan peered down at the hole in his chest.

Theo dropped the shotgun, sliced her hand with the knife, broke off into a run and when she reached him, she pressed her hand onto the open wound.

And the blood that she'd vehemently treated with UV light for a week, her blood, mixed with his.

She stepped back, sinking quickly for the gun and retreated towards the doors.

She'd figured out a way to mix her blood with his.

"My blood, is your blood." She said, cocking the gun.

Leviathan met her gaze and smiled widely.

"I like this game." He said, taking a step forward before coming to an abrupt stop.

His eyes widened and his body started to shake violently.

The shrieks started again, and Theo aimed the shotgun at him, her stance steely and strong.

She was a superhero, I was sure of it.

"No..." He said, as she nodded.

"UV light. My blood has been treated with it. And you're about to die." She said, as he violently shook all over, collapsing to the floor.

The others rallied around him, shrieking, casting quick glances at her before looking back to him.

"They're afraid of her." I said, wide eyed with realisation.

"They are..." Martin gasped, as we watched.

Leviathan twitched before seemingly disintegrating before our eyes.

The creatures left, formed a line and kept their eyes fixed on her; the fear was evident for all of us to see.

"Now, you leave. You leave here. And you never come back. You do, and I'll be here waiting." She said.

"Leave." She ordered, fiercely.

"You are the leader here?" The woman asked.

"We're all leaders here. And we'll never stop fighting." Theo said.

The woman turned to another and he looked as frightened as her.

"We must go. Their leader has spoken her terms." She said, as he nodded.

"She is our leader now." He said, which took us all by surprise, even Theo herself.

"You will go. And you'll never feed on a human again. You will starve, and you will die out." Theo hissed through gritted teeth. 

I stepped outside then, and walked to her side, as they watched me, with careful eyes.

"She has a protector." One said, in surprise, as I placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Her mate." Another said.

"Go." I ordered.

And by some sheer miracle, they all began retreating off campus, seemingly obeying her and me, just as the sun started to peek through the clouds.

Theo finally let me lead her inside, her head turning sporadically, her eyes watching them retreating, in the distance.

I gently tugged her inside and closed the door behind us, locking it.

I wasn't about to tempt fate just yet.

And when she finally turned to acknowledge me, she threw her arms around me and when I knew I could without interruption, I bundled her up into my arms, peppering her mouth and face with relieved, hurried, frantic kisses which she returned as she whimpered, her arms tight around me, just as relieved.

"Oh god.... I wasn't sure if I was going to lose you." I said, as we clung to each other.

"I'm alright. We're alright." She said, sighing deeply with relief as her bloodied hands cupped my face gently.

"I love you...." I whispered.

"I love you." She whispered back, as we embraced again, relieved.

"You didn't lock the door after I went outside, did you?" She asked me, as I shook my head.

"No, I didn't." I answered, truthfully.

"I was never going to." I added.

She chuckled softly as I released her and she turned towards Martin who rushed over to her and hugged her tight.

"You're a literal superhero." He said, as they both laughed.

"You saved us Theo." Jake said.

"You did." Ashley said in agreement.

"We all did this. We all worked together." Theo insisted.

We stood in a relieved half circle, unable to believe it was over, just as the doors opened and we turned to see a figure dressed in army uniform strolled casually in.

I removed my jacket and draped it across Theo's shoulders, and she pulled it around her, smiling gratefully at me, as he approached us.

Behind him were military trucks and a tank.

"We received word that they'd retreated." He said, firmly.

"They have." Theo said.

"Thanks to Theo." I added.

"We're going to need a report, from all of you." He instructed.

Theo hesitated, and I knew why.

He seemed to notice this too, and shook his head.

"Just about them. We don't need to know the in between." He said, giving her a knowing look.

Thank god.
We'd both be going to jail, otherwise.

"We need details on their movements, activities, hunting habits.... If they had a hierarchy, any strategies... In case they move onto somewhere else. So we know how to action." He explained.

He walked us outside into the morning sun, and we all sighed with relief to see the street filled with new faces, military, police, a helicopter in flight above us.

"Survivors?" A police officer asked, as the soldier nodded.

"Did a real good job too, from what I've seen." He remarked.

"They're kids." The officer said, as the soldier raised an eyebrow.

"Yes they are. And the one covered in the black sharpie behind me? She was the one who took the alleged leader down. I saw it, from the tank. She got them to retreat. She might be just a kid, but she did what we couldn't." He said, as Theo blushed slightly.

"What's your name?" The officer asked her.

"Theodora Vance." Theo said.

The officer looked down at the case file in his hand, before staring up at her in awe.

"You were in Ohio, during the attack there. You're on the list of survivors from there..... we lost track of you." He said.

"Am I supposed to apologise for that?" She asked, finding her feet and her sarcasm.

"No, I'm just intrigued on your activity after there." He said.

"I moved to here, I moved to Hawkins. Enrolled in this college, to start over. And then it turned to total shit and we've been in there for almost two months. I'm intrigued on your activity too, Sir." She said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Are there any more survivors?" The soldier asked.

"Not that we know of. We didn't venture far. We only did, to get what we needed. We went as far as the town centre. We never saw anyone else." I interjected.

It was quite a solid delivery; I'd surprised myself.

"We didn't know how far to go, we weren't sure how many of them were out there. We always made sure we had enough time to get back here before dark." Martin added.

"Was it just you six?" He asked.

"No there were more. They wanted to try and get out. We don't know if they ever did, we haven't heard from them again." Daisy said.

The soldier talked into his radio then.

He turned to us, and the officer, and his face was grave.

"There's bodies, near the 7/11. Abandoned warehouse, there's a body tied to a post, gunshot to the head. More people inside the building. Carbon monoxide poisoning. More bodies behind the 7/11. They were tied up, looked like they were purposely left there after dark. The creatures fed off them. From what Corporal Reed can see, there was some kind of convoy going around, rounding survivors up and leaving them tied up outside." He said.

"What, for sport?" The officer asked.

"It's looking that way. There's video footage and photos in the building. They were documenting who they were taking. Documenting who was killed, like some kind of ledger. Sadly, it's now looking very likely that your friends names are on those lists, and they're potentially amongst the bodies we've found. But it looks like someone found out and well..... stopped it from happening again." The soldier said, reminding us all of what had happened.

There were fresh tears from all of us, and Theo wiped hers away delicately as always, before swallowing hard.

There had to have been something in her eyes, that the soldier noticed and he eyed her carefully.

He removed his beret, which was a mark of respect towards her, and I realised he'd seen through our collective lie.

"You realise it's murder? Several counts of murder?" He asked, in a low voice so the officer wouldn't hear.

The officer returned to inspecting his case file, and Theo remained stony faced.

"I do." She whispered.

"You acted alone?" He asked her.

"I did." She said, selflessly covering for me.

"She didn't. I went with her." I interjected, as she clenched her jaw.

"Twelve of our friends thought they were getting out. They lied to us, to them. Had them killed for their own sport..... We couldn't let them do that to anyone else. We heard them planning another, they were checking who they could round up next. If you're taking us in, just do it." I said.

"My boss, he's gonna want a report. You don't put anything about this in there, and you don't tell that officer over there about any part of your involvement, either. I'm not gonna see either of you going to jail, and I won't be the person who causes that to happen. We need you." He said, his voice hushed, as he leaned close, to address us both.

"What did you use? The guy on the post?" He asked.

"Magnum." I answered, clearing my throat.

"You still have it?" He asked.

"I do." I answered.

"I need to do a routine scope of the building. Where will I find it?" He whispered.

"Room 219. Bedside drawer." I whispered back.

"I'll take care of it. Not a single word." He said.

"Are we clear?" He asked.

"Crystal." I answered.

"I'd have done the same. For the record." He said, before turning on his heel and addressing the officer.

"Get these kids some food and water, and a place to stay. They've seen and been through enough. We'll scope the building inside, I have eyes and ears around the area searching for any more survivors." He said, as the officer nodded.

"We'll need a report from them in 48 hours." He added, before casting a single glance back to us.

"Rest. You've earned it." He announced, before saluting us.

The officer leaned up off of his car door, and approached us then.

"We have two cars just this way, let's get you out of here." He said, with a sympathetic tone.

It didn't feel real, until we were all escorted into squad cars and taken to a safe house out of the city.

Myself and Theo had made it very clear that we weren't willing to be separated and so, we were at a motel and Corporal Reed had stopped by with provisions, clothes, food and toiletries for us.

There wasn't any chance of us getting any of our belongings back; not yet at least.

They were still inspecting everything; still investigating.

Theo emerged from the bathroom, clear skinned and refreshed after a shower, towelling her long raven hair dry, dressed in a dark green hoodie and matching sweat pants.

I was wearing the same; just black in colour.
I'd fallen asleep after my shower and she'd let me rest; forever considerate, as always.

"It's really over?" I asked her, needing to be sure.

"It feels like it is. It doesn't feel like it did the first time. It never quite felt done. It always felt like they were never far away." She said, perching on the end of the bed next to me.

"Did you write the report?" I asked, as she nodded towards a pile of A4 paper on the desk by the TV.

"As they asked, yeah. I did it while you were sleeping." She said.

"You think that soldier will keep to his word?" I asked.

"At this point, there's nothing they could do to me, that's worse than what we've just been through. Three square meals a day, a TV, outside time...." She said, before eyeing me carefully, as I stared at her incredulously.

"I'm joking.. and I'm also not joking. I'm hoping he does." She added, as I relaxed.

"Me too. What happens now?" I asked her.

"God knows." She said.

"Theo.... I just want you to know.... I'll go wherever you go." I said.

"I already know. Wherever you go, I'm going too." She said, with a weak smile.

"Besides, we've already lived together, we'll be fine." She added, playfully.

I chuckled softly, despite the dread and fear I still felt and she noticed, wrapping a firm arm around me.

"It doesn't feel like it did last time." She assured me.

"I think they just want to know, just incase." She said.

"I know. I just think we could use some normal right now. I've forgotten what that's like." I said, unsure.

"You'll remember. You have family here?" She asked.

"My uncle. If he's alive." I said.

"We can find out." She said.

"I don't think I want to stay here, Theo. I feel like I want to be far from here." I said.

"Then we'll go. Your Uncle too." She said.

"You'd definitely come with me, right?" I asked, as she stared into my panicked eyes.

"I told you Eddie, wherever you go, I'm coming too." She urged, softly.

I nodded, finally convinced, and she nuzzled her nose against mine.

"You're all I have." She whispered.

"Am I enough?" I whispered back.

"More than enough." She said, pecking me softly on the lips.

There was a knock on the door then, and she rose to her feet to answer.

It was Corporal Reed.

"Status on your report?" He asked her.

"Completed." She answered, as she moved to let him step inside.

"I'm here to collect it." He said.

"I can see that. And you'll get it." She said.

"On one condition." She added.

"Which is?" Reed asked.

"We want to know if his Uncle is okay, and alive. And any other family members that my friends might be looking for. We get confirmation on their status, you get the report." She said.

"And a pack of smokes." She added, hurriedly.

I suppressed a smile, and cleared my throat.

"A cigarette would be real nice." I said, in agreement.

"You drive a hard bargain." He noted, staring down at her.

"I do." She answered.

"You know what everyone is calling you, don't you?" He asked.

"No?" She said, oblivious.

"The Demon Slayer." He said, with a crooked smile.

"I don't like it." She said, turning her nose up.

"I prefer just Theo." I said, with a casual shrug.

"Me too." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'll get on your conditions, immediately... Just Theo." He answered, simply.

He nodded at me, and he ducked out of the door.

She closed it behind him, and I chuckled softly.

"What?" She asked, self conscious all of a sudden.

"You're just.... Formidable." I said, as she chuckled softly.

"I'd say difficult." She said, as I shook my head.

I pulled her down onto my lap, and wrapped my arms around her.

"No. Definitely formidable." I mused, with certainty.

*****************************************
The cigarettes came first, and we enjoyed one or two outside the motel room, sitting on a rickety old bench, on the car park.

We were still waiting on news of Eddie's Uncle and everyone else's families.

I was on my third cigarette, washing it down with a can of lemonade when Eddie sprang off the bench we were sitting on, his eyes on a man walking hastily towards him.

The man had a grey short beard, a plaid shirt, with a denim jacket on. Denim jeans and tan coloured boots.

"That you, boy?" He asked Eddie.

I rose slowly from the table, and watched keenly as Eddie stared at him.

"Boy, is that you?" He called again.

"Uncle Wayne?" Eddie asked, as the mans shoulders dropped with relief, he removed his cap, his face full of relief and surprise and they ran to each other.

They met in the middle of the parking lot of the motel, clasped together in an embrace of sheer relief, and love. And one by one I saw people climbing out of the military vehicles, rushing down the lot to Martin, Daisy, David and Ashley.

I watched them all from afar, knowing there was no one due to run down the parking lot to me, to be relieved to see me.

I tried not to focus on the acute absence of my family, fighting back the awareness I had, that I had no one to run to.

Except for Eddie.
But he was with his Uncle.

I bit down hard on my bottom lip, fighting back the ever so human envy bubbling inside of me, wanting to quash it; I wanted to be happy for them. I needed to be happy for them.

For Eddie.

For all of them.

"Wayne, this is Theo Vance." Eddie said, pulling me out of my own head and out of my emotions.

My many emotions.

"I'm so pleased to meet you. You kept my boy safe. Thank you." He said, shaking my outstretched hand.

"Did they find your family?" He asked, still shaking my hand.

"Wayne... uhm...." Eddie started to say.

"They died.... Two years ago.... The same thing happened in Ohio, where I lived." I said.

Wayne took that hand then and pulled me to him, into a tight, warm embrace and I slowly but surely leaned into it.

He pulled away to grip my shoulders and he looked me dead in the eye.

"You're our family, now." He said.

I felt my eyes well, and as he smiled, tears spilled from my eyes.

"You did real good kid. You did what these couldn't. You got my boy out. You got your friends out, and you put an end to all of this." Wayne said, referring to the soldiers and police.

"You've heard what they're calling you, right?" He asked, as Eddie shook his head.

"We've heard. We're not keen." Eddie said, as we all chuckled.

"No, I can see why." Wayne said.

"You got somewhere to live?" He asked me.

"I was on campus, in the dorms." I said, round about explaining that I didn't have anywhere to live.

"Sounds like we're due a conversation then on where you'll be staying." Wayne said, as Eddie sighed.

"I think we need to talk about that first." He said, pointing at himself and then me.

"I see. Of course, yeah." He said, putting his cap back on.

"I'm gonna go and get the report." I said, as Eddie nodded.

I left everyone to catch up with their families, happy that everyone they loved was safe, and I walked up to the Corporal Reed, who turned to address me.

"This is yours." I said, handing a brown file over.

"I trust we met your conditions?" He asked me.

"You did." I answered, simply.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Reed asked.

"Before they retreated, they said I was their leader. I told them to go, never come back, starve and die out." I said.

"You think they'd listen to that?" Reed asked.

"They listened to me at that time, and they left. That's all I saw." I said.

He opened the other file in his hand, and handed me a photograph of one of the runes we'd made.

"This symbol, what is it?" Reed asked.

"It's a rune, for protection. It helped." I said.

"We found this on a bus." He said.

"That's where Eddie and I stayed the night it started." I said.

"That's why you drew it all over you?" Reed asked.

"Yes." I answered.

"And they didn't touch you?" He asked.

"They surrounded me, but they didn't attack." I said.

"It's all in the report." I added.

"I'm just curious. Sorry." He said.

"What are you doing from here?" He asked.

Previously, I'd said I was leaving.

Now, I wasn't so sure.

"Haven't thought that far yet." I said.

"You're gonna need housing of some kind I assume, like everyone else?" He asked.

"If I stay? Yeah." I answered.

"You have family? We didn't locate anyone with your name." He noted, as I shook my head.

"I don't. Well I have family now...... I have Eddie and his Uncle but my biological family? They're gone." I explained, feeling that familiar wave of sadness wash over me.

"Go, spend time with them. And make sure you rest." Reed said.

"I'm gonna take this to my boss." He said, holding the report up, waving it slightly.

I stepped away then and when I turned, Eddie was already behind me.

"Come take a walk with me." He said.

*************
"Wayne said that the military is moving people, who've lost their homes." Eddie said.

"Are they gonna be moving you and Wayne?" I asked.

"The lightning struck all over, not just where we were. It struck homes.... It struck the trailer park where my Uncle lives. So he's one of many being rehoused somewhere else in Hawkins." Eddie said.

"You're going with him?" I asked.

"I'm going where you go. And he knows that." Eddie said.

"I know you said you maybe wanted to consider leaving here.... But I feel like if we do, I'm running again." I said, looking down at my feet as we walked.

We stopped on the edge of the wood, and he encouraged me to sit on the grass, with him.

"It's not running." He said.

"It feels like it would be. I remembered them saying I was their leader now. So I feel as though I... we need to stay here." I said.

"Theo, it's not about need, it's about want." Eddie said.

"I just know that I want to be with you. Where that is, doesn't matter so much." I said.

"I think we should stay." I added.

"You want to stay here?" He asked.

"You're Uncle is alive, and he's safe. Family is the most important thing Eddie, and you should definitely stay. You have someone who loves you and cares about you." I said.

"I love you, and I care about you too." I added.

"I love you, and I care about you. If we stayed here.... Would you stay with me... with Wayne?" He asked.

"Not out of duty, not because you think you have to. Would you stay here, with me..... because you'd want to?" He continued, as I ran a hand through his hair.

"I'd stay, because I love you." I said.

"And you'd live with us?" He asked, beaming.

"It's either that or I'm living in room 219." I said, as he laughed.

"As much as I tried my hardest to make that our little love pad, you can't go back there. I don't wanna go back there. I hope they condemn and knock down that place." He said, as I chuckled.

"Wayne would be okay with me living with you?" I asked.

"You heard him. He's eager to have a conversation with you. I think he's already moved you in, wherever we end up." Eddie said, laughing.

"You have us. We're your family now." He added, nudging me playfully.

**************************************
Two Months Later.

"Oh for the love of god.... I really don't get this game." I said, frustrated.

"Did you write your backstory?" Eddie asked me, watching my temper flare with some amusement.

"Yeah I did." I said, pouting.

"Okay, let me have a look at it." He said, kindly.

I tossed my note book towards him and he tried his best not to laugh at my frustration, as I folded my arms across my chest.

His eyes fell on the page and I watched him as they moved to and fro, reading the elaborate back story I'd written for one of his apparent, favourite games. For my character.

"That's pretty impressive." He marvelled, handing it back to me.

"There's just one problem. You've picked an Elf, and they're more solitary players. So within a campaign if there's a party you could join, this character wouldn't allow it. Which is what I was trying to tell you. If you chose something like a Druid perhaps, that would make it easier for you, game play wise." He explained.

"You played this every week?" I asked, huffing.

"I did." He confirmed.

"With other people?" I asked, as he laughed.

"Yes Theo, I did. And we all started in the same way you are." He said.

"Okay, I hate this game." I said, tossing the book onto the dining table, as he laughed softly.

"Listen, I'm not saying it's an easy game. Because it isn't. But! I think once you get the hang of it, you'd be really good. You've proved you're more than capable, strategy wise, and that's all this game is." He said.

"It's impossible." I said, rolling my eyes.

"You think you wanna have another try?" He asked, as I sighed.

"I'll try once more. If I don't get it, we're playing frustration or something. Which is fine, because I am frustrated." I said.

He handed me a pen and he let me write for a while, and watched as I crossed out certain traits, qualities, characteristics, replacing them with alternatives.

And when I was done, I handed him the notebook and he took it from me, rising from his chair, and he casually paced our new kitchen as he read it.

He turned to me, and a smile formed on his face.

"This will work. You could now officially join my campaign." He said, as I sat back in my chair, relieved.

"Thank god. So we can actually play now? I can play?" I asked, as he nodded.

"You can, baby girl." He said, proudly.

"Nice job." He added, setting my notebook down on the table next to me.

Whatever frustration I'd been feeling, disappeared at his pride for me, and I found myself smiling.

He sat opposite me again, and began a rather dramatic introduction.

"Dungeons and Dragons..... you're in a grand, silent forest. You feel alone, but you aren't. You walk 25 steps, hearing activity in front of you. Do you investigate, or continue on your path?" He asked, as I raised an eyebrow.

"You're clearly the activity. So I say, investigate. Totally, investigate. I've been walking for hours, I'm on my own, I'm level one and I need all the help I can get." I said, as he chuckled softly.

"You proceed...." He said, passing me an unusually shaped dice.

"Roll a ten or more, and you can join the party." He continued.

"You've gotta be kidding me." I said, with a grumble.

"That's a twenty sided dice. You can do it." He encouraged.

"That's easy for you to say." I mumbled.

"Ten or more, and you're in." He said, elated.

I retrieved the dice and prayed to God for a ten or more, and rolled it across the table, closing my eyes.

"What's it say?" I asked, my eyes screwed shut.

And when he didn't say anything, I cautiously opened one eye, to see him looking mightily pleased with either me, or himself.

"Sixteen." He announced.

"I'm in?!" I asked, apparently invested.

"You are." He confirmed, as I squeaked with delight.

"YES!!" I celebrated, as he smiled warmly at me.

"Welcome to Hellfire, baby." He said, proudly.

THE END.

A.N ❤️

This chapter came from a series I'm watching called FROM, and also from a dream I recently had.

I had a dream about Eddie, and I was annoyed throughout because he just wasn't very nice to me. The weird storm came and it was his idea to get onto the bus; I was even more annoyed to be stuck with him because he hadn't been very nice to me and I wanted him to be 🤣.

Eventually we were friends and we were stuck in the bus and not much happened after that.

I woke up the next morning and aside from finding it funny, I thought hey! I think I can make this into an story.

And the story is this one. Enjoy ❤️