Chapter Text
“What’s your favorite song?” Steve asks from where he’s seated next to Eddie.
“Why are you asking?” Eddie retorts.
“Come on, man, I’ve asked everyone else. You’re the last person I need to ask. Just tell me.”
“You’re wondering what’s my favorite song? Forget it, I’m not getting cursed, man.” Eddie mumbles, “There’s not even anything Vecna will want in here.” He gestures to his temple.
“I’m not taking that chance, Munson. What is it?”
“Fine…. It’s Army Dreamers by Kate Bush.” Eddie mumbles. Low enough so no one but Steve can hear.
“You? Edward-“
“Don’t say that name.”
“-Munson, metalhead and freak of Hawkins’s favorite song is by Kate Bush?” Steve teases. “Who would’ve known.”
“Shut up. It’s better than… whatever you like. Probably.”
“Hm, I guess.” Steve mutters.
***
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***
The group is scattered around an RV they stole earlier. Thanks to Steve’s ‘amazing’ driving skills and Eddie’s hot-wiring knowledge, they made it to a rest stop near a small forest.
All of them are asleep. Except for Eddie.
He hasn’t been able to fall asleep these past few days. Eddie doesn’t know if it’s because of stress, the feeling that anyone at any given moment, can get their body mangled, or because of something else he can’t quite make out. The best he can describe it is as a weird sensation that someone or something is always lurking around, watching. Not from afar, like they’re right behind Eddie, creeping up on him.
Anyway, Eddie can’t fall asleep, and he doesn’t know what else to do besides stare at the ceiling with boredom. Not wanting to disturb the crowd of sleeping people sprawled around the RV’s floor or couches.
So he stays awake throughout the night, checking the time on the wall clock every 5 minutes. Time passes by as slow as possible, almost like it’s teasing Eddie.
Or it’s just sleep deprivation to get to him. Because when the man stands up to walk to the kitchen, he stumbles upon a vintage-looking grandfather clock crushed into the kitchenette’s wall with a hole pierced right into the glass of it.
The ticking of the clock is vibrating throughout the RV, the sounds getting louder as Eddie walks closer. He can’t control his movements, like he’s a puppet and something is forcing him to move his legs and walk. An invisible creature begins to speak to Eddie like they know every last of his secrets. Their voice is low and monstrous as they repeat accusations toward Eddie. Like the creature pried into his mind and is forcing Eddie to listen to all of the horrible things he’s done.
It’s your fault Christine died.
You left her there, you coward.
You ran.
You’re the reason she died.
You could’ve saved her, but you didn’t.
Your sister is dead because of you.
And so are your parents.
You left all of them there to die.
You should be ashamed of your cowardly behavior.
MURDERER.
MURDERER.
MURDERER.
MURDERER.
All of the accusations stop, giving Eddie few seconds of peace and quiet before he begins to hear sounds coming from the clock.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
The ticking of the clock is teasing. Slow and steady as it races through Eddie’s ears, sending shivers down his spine. Making him whimper in fear as beads of tears threaten to spill out
When suddenly, spiders begin to crawl out of the hole in the grandfather clock. Having appeared from nowhere. The old clock’s ticking not stopping at any moment.
That’s when Eddie hears the first chime of the clock. The sound distorted and low.
Then again…
Then again…
Then again…
And then everything stops. All of the noises, the accusations, the flares of pain in Eddie’s head. Stop.
Eddie gets taken out of his trance. He wakes up with a silent gasp. When he calms himself down, he sits up properly, his head continuously throbbing and nose dripping crimson red blood.
He gets up and walks over to the bathroom. Careful to not step on anyone’s legs or hands. Eddie grabs some of the toilet paper and uses it to wipe the blood that had dripped down his nose. Not able to do much about the headache.
Steve knocks on the doorframe, the door having been open.
“Are you okay?” He asks, leaning on the wall.
“Yeah. I bumped into something and hit my nose.” Eddie lies. “Why are you awake..?”
“Oh, no reason. I just heard you wake up so I did, too. Wanna head outside with me for a bit when you’re done cleaning your nose up?” Steve offers.
“Sure. It was pretty warm earlier, so hopefully it’s not that cold.”
Steve walks out of the RV and seats himself on the small steps that lead inside. He picks at a loose strand on the vest Eddie had let him borrow. Hoping he’ll get a new one at WarZone tomorrow, preferably cleaner and not soggy with Upside-Down goo and blood.
Eddie follows behind shortly after. He takes a seat beside Steve, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging himself.
The duo sit together in silence for a few seconds. Enjoying the chill breeze that passes by every once in a while.
“Hey, Harrington?”
“Yeah?”
“You.. you won’t think I’m crazy if I tell you some deep shit, right? Like, really deep.”
“No, of course not. We’ve all got some crazy shit to unpack, anyway.”
“Okay.. good. So-so don’t freak out, okay?… Please?”
Steve rubs his hand down Eddie’s back, giving some kind of reassurance to the metalhead.
“Shoot.”
“I… I think I’m seeing some stuff. Not your typical hallucinations. Like, things I could never imagine myself.” Eddie starts. “I saw.. a clock. A grandfather one to be specific. Spiders crawled out of it after a deep voice accused me of things. Like how I killed my parents and sister. And how it was my fault… Chrissy died.”
Steve stays quiet for a while, processing what Eddie said. The information being creepily close to what Robin and Nancy said the other victims were seeing before they got cursed.
“Oh.” Is what he finally manages to get out.
“Do you think maybe… he got me..?” Eddie asks, voice sounding vulnerable and scared for once. Lacking the usual facade laced in between.
“I don’t.. know. Maybe. But hey, we’re close to stopping him. Hopefully we can end him before he tries killing you.” Steve encourages, unsure of whether or not they’ll actually manage to defeat Vecna.
“No, Harrington. I’ve been having visions and headaches and nosebleeds ever since the day I told you my favorite song, and that was not much over a week ago. It’s almost like Vecna wanted me to sound ironic. Considering I said he wants nothing from my mind.” Eddie mumbles, “I guess he did.”
“Munson-“
“Isn’t it funny? The druggie, freak, outcast of Hawkins getting cursed by an inter-dimensional creature who kills high school students with unrecovered trauma. It’s not surprising he chose me, now that I think about it. I was there whenever my family died. I was the reason they died. And even if I do die by him, it’s not like anyone will miss me. Maybe except for Wayne. Dustin will probably be sad for like, a day. But he’ll move on quickly. He has you, and everyone else. I’m just… a piece of garbage that everyone disposes after enough use. Useless and easily replaceable.” Eddie chuckles, his self-loathing personality seeping deeper into his words.
“No, Eddie! You don’t get to say that, okay?! You’re not ‘a piece of garbage’! People here will miss you! Dustin will. Mike will. Lucas will. Robin will. Nancy will. Your uncle will. I will. Max will. She’ll miss having a brother-figure there for her every day. No matter how either of you feel, you’re always the reason she calms down. You relate to her. She looks up to you, Eddie. And she’ll miss you. I can guarantee you that.” Steve assures, taking Eddie’s hands in his and maintaining eye contact.
“You-you think so?” Eddie whispers, tears beginning to spill from his eyes.
“No. Why would I? You’re just a coward who runs away from all of his problems. That’s what you did to Chrissy, right? And your family? You even ran when Patrick died. You left them. I can’t believe anyone could be friends with someone like you.”
Eddie tears his hands away from Steve’s. Confusion and shame washing over him.
“W-what?”
Steve pushes Eddie, the metalhead falling back and suddenly landing into a boat that wasn’t previously there. Water ripples around him, the body of water’s area not ending as far as Eddie’s eyes can see. He’s in same boat he was in when Patrick died and Eddie was fleeing from several jocks who wanted his blood.
It’s like the memory is being replayed as Jason and Patrick are getting closer to the boat. Eddie frantically pulls the engine’s rope to get it running, the engine emits a spluttering sound, not working properly.
Eddie panics and gives up with the engine. Instead he fights back with his oar, hitting the duo with the ends. It helps for a while, until it doesn’t. Jason pulls Eddie in the water by the oar’s end while Patrick gets snatched underwater, the rivals not noticing due to their fighting and the water splashing non-stop.
Jason finally notices that Patrick is nowhere to be seen, he falters, giving Eddie a chance to punch him in the face and swim away for a few seconds. Just before the jock pulls on Eddie’s ankle, bringing the metalhead underwater. They wrestle, trying to get the other person to drown.
The enemies had completely forgotten about Patrick, assuming he just went back to the shore to get more of Jason’s goons. Their thoughts are proved wrong as Patrick flies out of the water, the sudden movement alerting the other two.
Patrick stays floating in the air, shaking slightly as Vecna tries prying his way into his mind.
Jason and Eddie watch in fear. Especially Eddie, having to witness another person get targeted by Vecna. Even if he barely knew the person.
Patrick’s arm jitters, protesting against the force that is trying to bend it. The jock’s arm lets out a loud ‘CRACK!’ as it breaks. The sound echoing despite the three people being outside.
The environment begins to alternate, changing Eddie’s trailer and then the lake. Flickering back and forth between Chrissy and Patrick’s death.
People begin to yell at Eddie. A cacophony of Chrissy’s, Vecna’s, Jason’s, Eddie’s sister’s, his parent’s, and Patrick’s voices filling Eddie’s ears. Accompanied by the continuous ticking of the grandfather clock and crack of bones.
Eddie tries to tune the voices out, more so, the voices tune out themselves. The main sound Eddie now hears is the continuous ‘Tick, tock. Tick, tock.’ of the vintage clock.
***
§§🎸§§
***
“No, Mun-Eddie! You don’t get to say that, okay?! You’re not ‘a piece of garbage’! People here will miss you. Dustin will. Mike will. Lucas will. Robin will. Nancy will. Your uncle will. I will. Max will. She’ll miss having a brother-figure there for her every day. No matter how either of you feel, you’re always the reason she calms down. You relate to her. She looks up to you, Eddie. I can guarantee you that.” Steve assures, taking Eddie’s hands in his and maintaining eye contact.
“You-you think so?” Eddie whispers, tears beginning to spill from his eyes.
“Yes, Eddie. You’re an amazing person and I’d hate to see anything or anyone hurt yo-“ Steve stops mid-sentence when he notices Eddie’s eyes are glazed over, his pupils being pulled back into his skull.
“Eddie?! Eddie!! Robin! Nancy! Dustin! Help! Please!” Steve yells as he shakes Eddie by the shoulders in hopes of waking the metalhead from his deep trance Vecna placed him in.
Everyone inside the RV comes outside due to Steve’s yelling. They scramble to find a radio, boom-box, WalkMan, anything, that can produce music.
Dustin stays next to Steve, the duo both desperately trying to shake Eddie awake.
“Steve! What happened to him?!” Dustin asks.
“I don’t know! He was just talking to me about his visions and symptoms!” Steve informs.
“What’s his favorite song! Hurry, Steve!” Robin urges.
“Um-Army Dreamers! Kate Bush!” Steve replies quickly.
“Okay, okay. Nance! Get the Army Dreamers tape and anything portable that can play music! Hurry!” Robin shouts across the RV.
Nancy finds a WalkMan and Eddie’s tape. She quickly inserts the tape into the WalkMan and passes it to Lucas, who passes it to Max, who passes it to Erica. She runs past her body’s usual limit. Trying to get the music to Steve as fast as possible.
“Thank you! Please work, please work, please work.” Steve prays silently. He places the headphones onto Eddie’s head and presses play. Turning the volume up so high everyone can hear it from where they’re gathered around Eddie in anticipation.
***
§§🎸§§
***
The place turns a deep red. Debris and rocks fly everywhere, almost hitting Eddie multiple times. Vecna approaches Eddie slowly, like he has all of the time in the world.
Vecna tilts his head slightly. Almost like he’s surprised by Eddie’s presence. Even though he’s the one who personally chose Eddie to be one of his victims.
“Fuck you. What the hell do you want?” Eddie asks. Trying to pretend like he’s calm but his voice betrays him.
“Hm. I was expecting less from you. You have lots of walls set up. You push people away when you need help the most. Why?” Vecna retorts.
“That’s none of your goddamn business, you asshole.”
“I have lots of topics to pry at. Survivors guilt. Shame. Facades. You don’t care for yourself. People-pleaser. You put yourself down to place others up. Self-harm. Repeated attempts at suicide. Even body dysphoria. Wow, Edward. You really need a therapist.” Vecna adds, “Good thing you never got one, though. I get a free kill.”
“Go to hell.”
Vecna pushes Eddie against a wall, matching the one’s Chrissy, Patrick, and Fred are held against. The previous victims being held up by decomposing, black vines.
“We’re already there.” If Vecna were to grin, the face he’s making would be a perfect depiction.
Vines begin to tangle themselves in Eddie’s limbs, one wrapping around his neck and tugging roughly. Forcing Eddie to look up at Vecna. He takes in the monster’s terrifyingly glassy eyes and decaying, wrinkly skin.
That’s when Eddie hears the voice of Kate Bush from the distance. He tries his best to looks at where her singing is coming from, only to be met with a portal, similar to the watergate and the one in his trailer’s ceiling.
‘I’ve a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate mammy’s hero
Mourning in the aerodome
The weather warmer, he is colder’
Eddie smiles, despite everything he’s been through, Kate Bush has always found a way to him. Even when he’s seconds away from death.
Vecna forces Eddie to look back at him. Growling silently in anger, aware that his plan might be ruined.
“Nothing can save you now, Edward.” He says as he pulls Eddie’s head up with his clawed-hand’s force.
Eddie can feel the ghost of Vecna’s hand on his face, even if the monster isn’t touching him. Eddie’s eyes are forced back into his skull, the pain in his head beginning to become excruciating.
‘Four men in uniform
To carry home, my little soldier
What could he do? Should’ve been a rockstar
(But he didn’t have the money for a guitar…)’
***
§§🎸§§
***
‘What could he do? Should’ve been a politician.
(But he never had the proper education…)’
Steve can see why this is Eddie’s favorite song, Kate Bush’s voice truly is angelic and soothing. Contrasting to the gloomy lines and sad topic.
Nancy and Robin are hugging, something weird to see from Nancy. Well who isn’t looking more vulnerable than usual, now? Everyone is internally praying to a god they don’t believe in that Eddie survives. Proving Eddie’s self-deprecating speech from earlier completely wrong.
‘What could he do? Should’ve been a father.
(But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste.
Army dreamers.’
Everyone is a mess, crying, hugging, looking like they’re about to throw up. Having to witness one of their own brushing so close to death, they don’t have any other ways to react.
They all hope Eddie will make it, despite their curiosity on why Vecna chose Eddie. He was only dragged into this mess because he saw one of Vecna’s victims die. Eddie shouldn’t be the one floating in the air right now. He’s the last person anyone would expect Vecna to go after.
“Steve? What if… what if Eddie doesn’t survive..?” Dustin asks quietly, almost liek it hurts him to say it.
“Eddie will make it. He-he has to.”
But nothing ever turns out perfect.
Eddie doesn’t ever fall back to the ground for some reason.
‘Ooh, what a waste of army dreamers…
Tears o’er a tin box…’
CRACK!
“No!” Dustin yells as Eddie’s arm breaks. Steve and everyone else stand there in shock. Not expecting Eddie’s limbs to crack, they had thought he escaped Vecna’s sick visions. The group aren’t able to do anything anymore.
‘Oh Jesus Christ, he wasn’t to know
Like a chicken with a fox
He couldn’t win the war with ego…’
CRACK!
“Eddie!” Dustin cries out, his knees buckling. He falls to the ground with a sob, not being able to tear his eyes away from Eddie’s soon-to-be-mangled body.
‘Give the kid the pick of pips
And give him all your stripes and ribbons
Now he’s sitting in his hole
He might as well have buttons and bows…’
CRACK!
Eddie’s leg breaks, twisting into an unusual angle. Almost kicking Steve right in the face. Everyone is in tears or shock. Watching as one of their own is mere seconds away from dying. This has never happened before. They’ve always won. This can’t be happening.
‘What could he do? Should’ve been a rockstar
(But he never had the money for a guitar)
What could he do? Should’ve been a politician
(But he never had the proper education)
What could he do? Should’ve been a father
(But he never even made it to his twenties…)’
CRACK!
Eddie’s last limb breaks. Everyone’s hope of him surviving is completely gone. Eddie shakes a little before dropping, Steve reacts just on time, being able to catch Eddie right before he drops to the ground. Saving the metalhead from any more injuries. Eddie’s mangled body stays still in Steve’s lap, head still radiating from it.
‘What a waste, army dreamers
Ooh, what a waste of army dreamers
Army dreamers
Army dreamers, oh…’
Dustin is full-on crying now. Grieving together with everyone else as they watch Steve rock Eddie in his lap. Giving the man some dignity after his death.
Dustin sobs silently, dropping to Steve’s side and kneeling. Brushing any unwelcome, dark strands of hair away from his temples.
Eddie’s eye’s are bleeding and glazed over, as if he was blind. Steve and Dustin look at each-other with confused faces, they realize all of the other victim’s eyes were popped and left a red bowl where their eyes originally were. Unlike Eddie’s.
‘B.F.P.O. (Army dreamers…)’
Steve and Dustin freeze when they hear soft whimpering coming from Eddie. A sign that he’s still alive and conscious.
“Eddie?! Eddie!” Steve yells.
“H-Harrington..?” Eddie whispers. Pain and fear laced in his voice.
“Guys! He’s-he’s alive!” Dustin shouts. Everyone drops next to the trio. Crying out in relief, their hope for Eddie coming back.
“We need a doctor! Someone call an ambulance! Please! We-I can’t lose him!” Steve begs. Gesturing to Erica to run inside and call a doctor.
Erica runs inside quickly, using the phone inside to call an ambulance.
“We-we can tell the police and doctors that we had a run-in with the killer and they attacked Eddie. We’re all witnesses.” Nancy explains, getting back into strategy-mode.
Everyone approves of the plan. Nodding softly as they return their attention to Eddie. The man mutters incomprehensible words, traumatized from the horrible things Vecna showed him.
“I-I’m so scared. I can’t see anything and my whole body hurts!” Eddie cries out.
“It’s okay, Eddie. I’m here. Dustin’s here. We’re all here.” Steve assures. Grazing his fingers through Eddie’s hair. Caressing his cheek, stopping when Eddie flinches slightly. Likely thinking he’s back with Vecna.
“You’ll make it, I swear. I can’t lose you Eddie.” Steve whispers, “I can’t.”