for inhairently

[thefreak]

( Everything happened so fast. And yet, it felt like the world had slowed down to half-speed so Eddie could watch it all unfold while paralyzed, unable to do anything to stop it. One moment, Eddie had cut the rope in the trailer, begging Dustin to stay up there while he bought Steve and the others more time, and the next, Eddie was cycling for his life, leading the bats on a merry chase through the Upside Down.

His last words to Steve were make him pay. They echo through his mind as he musters all the energy he can to keep going, almost getting thrown off by the sheer amount of demo bats chasing him, but he doesn't dare look behind him.

He's not sure how he wound up at the other portal site, the one where Fred must have died, the only one that Eddie had been lucky enough not to witness - if you can call that luck. It's not running, he tells himself. He did his part as bait. What a very unheroic thing it would be to choose not to live just because the world thinks him a murderer.

Besides, he thinks he bought them enough time. Now, he can only hope that Nancy blows the guy to smithereens.

And so, he breaks the portal membrane and hops through, stumbling through the other side and collapsing to the ground.

Bracing himself for whatever police presence might remain, he is surprised to find yellow caution tape cordoning it off, like Eddie's trailer, but not much else. Maybe they really are all out to search for him. Not sure where he'll even be safe with an angry mob still potentially out there, Eddie makes a beeline for the one place he thinks he can hide until it's all over.

Skull Rock. )

Comments

[inhairently]

( It's almost a full day before Steve sets out looking for Eddie. Not by choice — Nancy had basically been one step away from knocking Steve out and dragging him to the hospital if he didn't go of his own volition. The hospital staff had a lot of questions. A kid with road rash is worrying enough. A kid with road rash and mysterious animal bites? They were one step away from calling Hawkins PD.

Luckily Steve managed to talk his way out of it (read: snuck out the moment he had a chance) and headed out to find Eddie.

"Steve," Robin had said with wide, worried eyes. "Don't blame yourself if you can't find him, okay?"

It had annoyed him, and he'd left in a huff, but he knows she has a point. They don't even know if Eddie made it out of the Upside Down alive. If he did, he may have skipped town. It would definitely be the smart thing to do, given the circumstances.

Steve just has to be sure, is the thing.

He checks out the more accessible spots first — Reefer Rick's, the trailer park, etc — even though he doesn't expect Eddie to be there. He just wants to cover all his bases before he goes traipsing out into the woods. He doesn't know how likely it is that Eddie might go to Skull Rock again but that's where he's headed next.

Stealth isn't even on his mind as he stomps through the brush, and his loud, rustling footsteps announce his presence long before anything else. )