๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ย ย โ ย ย ( ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก๐ฒ )
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย โ please let someone be here, pleaย โย โย and as if loftily answering a prayer, the door flew open from the inside.ย
but who waited beyond the knob wasnโt any kind of anticipated, if unimaginable, underworld monstrosity. nor was it a badge-toting figurehead of hawkins safety and security. it was a ghoul with the face of a terrified and bloody eddie munson, clutching a makeshift spear in one hand and the doorknob in the other. truly, he looked so shocked that for a moment chrissy almost believed he was real.ย
the once-cheerleader automatically let out a strangled bleat in fright, but all the air was stolen from the sound halfway through. her shock stumbled down a cliff of surprise rolling all the way down into a pit ofโฆ..sadness. this vision of eddie looked so like the world they were in โย grungy, dusty, slathered in rot. so thoroughly mangled that there was no chance he could be alive. he could be nothing other than the manifestation of this placeโs manic feeding frenzy on souls and bodies alike. โฆ.which implied heโd entered their now shared purgatory while still alive only to fall and be consumed by the acidic hatred that had conjured this place however long ago.ย
here stood her confirmation that this barren slice of the universe was not a second chance at whatever passed as living here in this poor excuse for โhawkins", inverted. genuine existence was only mimicked. she was dead. and so was he. like a gunshot, chrissyโs chest was riven by the sensation of missing him. could you miss someone you barely knew? someone who wasnโt there?ย
yet โ almost-eddie said her name. as if her appearance was the least likely sight in hell he could muster up. she didnโt blame this shade his stupefaction, at least not for too long. this mutated world of darkness trapping them could very well birth all manner of hallucinations, could be dangling false hope in front of her at any moment. manufactured, cruel fictions to match the cruel imitation of life chrissy had lived thus far and a crueler imprint of the town sheโd called home.
what was left of her heart sank quickly to the ichor-slicked soles of her sneakers. he sounded so much like eddie, this ghost. orโฆ..she thought. guilt assuaged slumping shoulders as she realized how little she really knew of this young man from whom humble hawkins seemed to expect the worst. and heโd been so kind to her up until the moment her memories stopped. [ did you find it? eddie? ] generous with his time and his humour [ youโre not what i thought youโd be like ], clever with his attempts at making her smile. [ how could i forget?! ] a mere few hours after meeting him (again) was enough time gone to know heโd not lay a harming finger on her if he drove her home. ready to help her despite his confusion.ย
oh, living and breathing chrissy, so starved of understanding had she been that the moment eddie munson stared through her like glass, she felt secure for the first time inโฆ no. that was a pointless enumeration. sheโd be ashamed of herself if she went any further.ย
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย โ eddie? โย even to her own ears she sounded devastated. wrecked. what misfortune had laced the atoms of his essence together into so ripped and chewed a shadow of sentience? nothing that could comfort her in the presence of his ghost, certainly.ย ย โ what happened to you? youโreโฆ. a mess.ย โ
chapped lips closed, then opened, then closed again, rendered suddenly unable to string any kind of sufficient thought into speech. all she could feel was sorry. everything she knew was sorry. sorry to see him in such a place, sorry to be haunting the haunted, sorry to have possibly done anything that could drag him into this tartarus pit, this realm of refuse. heโd paid dearly for every act of heroism, judging by the looks of things. a shining, blood-soaked knight in shredded ribbons, complete with a sword.
either all her tears had evaporated or weariness sapped every reaction in extreme from her system. a limp swallow clenched her throat shut long enough to pause all thought of caution and chrissy stepped forward. her bruised arms lifted, powered by winces of pain, to wrap gingerly around this not-quite-eddieโs torso. no breath to reconsider, just the driving force of mourning a life half lived and a thousand chances missed. in cheer, missing by inches brought injurious disaster. what brought them here was miles.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย โ itโs alright if youโre not real, โย chrissy mumbled into ruined fabric, utterly depressed. anything above a whisper scraped murder across her vocal cords. her fingers dug into a bony back until spinal ridging uncomfortably collided with the juts of her knuckles. the skeletal pattern was grounding. so frustrating in its physicality. he still faintly smelled like leather and hawkins humidity.ย you didnโt deserve this. you didnโt deserve anything you were getting. iโm sorry i thought so badly of you. if i could go back iโd make up my own mind about you and never listen to anyone tell me what to believe again. how tantalizing a thought, to admit as much to the real eddie. but his ghost was no replacement. admission to a phantom was like begging a stone for help. like pounding on the door of an abandoned police station that might never have held any remote promise of safety. absolute miserable insanity. still, there was a small childish comfort in embracing a figure that could only be meant to fade from her gaze the moment she gripped it too fiercely in a bid to regain her balance.ย โ iโm just glad to see you. โ
so chrissy let go.ย easier, when the battle was already lost.ย
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย โ this place isโฆ..is twisted. i donโt know why it made you look like this. itโs messing with my head, eddie. but i canโt be losing my mind anymore if iโm dead, can i? โ
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, was what eddie wouldโve said if his brain hadnโt flatlined. jaw rusted ajar by shock, his vengeance upended into an anemic stare. questions that were more sensation than language stacked themselves on his teeth, his tongue, leeching the dusty moisture from the back of his throat. his head wasnโt completely empty. there was something resembling a thought for a brief, crudely puerile moment when eddieโs suede eyes widened because chrissy cunningham remembered him. even in his state of oozing wounds, matted hair, and a complexion not unlike an autopsy.
ย ย ย ย ย ย eddie was still playing catch up when chrissyโs arms interlocked around his torso. an instinctive arm swam around her, shocked by how close to nothing she felt against him. his protection amended itself into a firmer circle as her lament tumbled like tears down the chewed remains of his shirt.
ย ย ย ย ย ย youโre not dead, his thawing tongue willed itself to say, not yet. as if on cue, an alien wail shattered the unnatural peace. pale surprise overshadowed by a sudden sharpness of narrowed eyes and iron-soaked resolve. the hard line of his lips bent at a grim angle at the shadows in the encroaching mist.
ย ย ย ย ย ย an encouraging pat warned the girl of his intentions. โ come on, letโs get you inside. โ shuffling awkwardly, eddie eased chrissy into the station, gingerly rotating their position so that if any spawn of the upside down chose that moment to strike, itโd be forced to go through ed before it ever got a chance to even look at her.
ย ย ย ย ย ย the door closed behind them with a bloated thunk. there were better odds finding the holy grail stashed in powellโs desk than a surface not covered in disemboweled rot. fearing heโd drop her, eddie settled chrissy in a chair that looked like a cramped piece of shit even without the upside down tinge. as eddie slipped his jacket around the despondent girl, he took the opportunity to take in the horror sheโd been through.
ย ย ย ย ย ย how was it possible for her to be even smaller than he remembered? her skin, a glass menagerie tinted by faded shades of livor mortis. and her eyes, maybe it was a trick of light straining through heavy motes. maybe it was because the last time eddie saw them was the last time anyone did. but eddie swore the twinkle that outshined gymnasium lights was still there. with ghost behind it, barricading the way between him and the girl hiding.
ย ย ย ย ย ย any furniture not strapped to the ground by vines was dragged and deposited roughly against the door. eddie worked as quickly as his tremoring muscles allowed, always craning his neck to keep an eye on the object of his disbelief, replaying their one way exchange.
ย ย ย ย ย ย was he real? he didnโt feel real, but he sure as shit felt alive. and โ if you squinted โ so did chrissy.
ย ย ย ย ย ย panting from the strain of his task, the young man crouched in front of her, swallowing a dry knot of tension as he stumbled on what to say. because what the fuck do you say to someone murdered from the inside out? โ iโm, uh, iโm glad to see you too. โ despite the blood on his lower lip and the hellscape in the window, eddie smiled.
ย ย ย ย ย ย realizing he was holding his breath, eddie flickered from side-to-side for a way to make her a little more comfortable. fastened to his back with medical tape was an outdoor first aid kit eddie scavenged from the drugstore. he was forced to clear out most of its contents, spoiled by the taint that permeated the upside downโs mimicry, leaving him with gauze, several bandages, and a tube of off-brand neosporin that passed the sniff test with skeptical colors. he needed to be careful retrieving its contents. a circular bite wound on his lower back was still runny, exploding with mauve-y pus if he touched it.
ย ย ย ย ย ย placing the kit on a coaster of debris, eddie skittered to reclaim the treasonous ration from before. he returned, his joints ached as lowered himself again to meekly offer the can of campbellโs schlock to her.
ย ย ย ย ย ย โ itโs safe to eat. i promise. just donโt look at it. โ