𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝘼 𝙁𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙆

35

𝑻𝑼𝑬𝑺𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻
˚ · • . ° .

"Please." I whisper, begging the monster for mercy.

I attempt to scoot back, until I realize I'm far enough against the wall as I can be.

My breathing becomes heavy as he steps closer to me.

"Don't cry, it will be over soon." he comments on the current tears rolling down my cheeks.

He continues walking towards me, eventually bending down to meet my level. He reaches his hand up to my face and I close my eyes, mentally preparing for the worst.

I feel too frightened to move. My blood has run cold and my bones are frozen in place. I don't dare to move an inch, I know what he's capable of.

I squeeze my eyes shut tightly when he caresses his long nail against my cheek, wiping away a tear.

"Don't cry for them, Isabelle." he tells me, referring to the fake Eddie that was yelling at me a minute ago.

I sniff, trying to hide the snot that was running down my nose, I don't want him to hold the power of my fear within himself.

I oddly feel the setting change, and something tight slowly circles around my limbs.

I make the risky decision to open my eyes, and I find myself tied up with familiar vines against a tree.

I am no longer in Eddies trailer, instead, I'm in the same place I was only a couple of days ago.

The red fog makes it impossible for me to see beyond ten feet and the mysterious liquid sits in puddles all around me. I smell that awful stench that brings back traumatizing memories.

My feet are only a foot away from the wet ground, and Vecna stands inches from me. More tight ropes catch on my throat, making it impossible to breathe.

I watch his eyes flick around, studying my face. I'm trying my best to hide the fear that he's causing me, but I'm sure he can see right through me. Especially since I'm choking for air.

"I want you to tell El," he says, "that I see everything."

My brows furrow in confusion.

El? Who's El?

"Everything." he repeats loudly. This time, his voice ringing through my ears and making the ground shake.

The ground below me continues to tremble roughly, causing me to fall loosely from the vines that were cutting off the blood circulation in my arms and legs.

I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, preparing for impact.

Instead, I feel a pair of arms catch me.

I decide to peek open my eyes, and I find myself placed in the Upside Down. Except, I'm back in Eddies trailer.

I trail my eyes up the two arms that surround me, and I find Eddies familiar face, looking me up and down for any wounds or injuries.

I throw myself onto him, wrapping my elbows around his neck. I rest my chin on his shoulder, forcing me to spot Dustin standing a couple of feet before me.

"You're okay, it's okay, it's over." Eddie repeats sweet nothings in my ear.

I take shaky breaths, while reassuring myself, "I'm alive."

"You're alive." he confirms, pulling back and giving me a cheeky grin.

Suddenly, I hear cracking and pounding from behind me, but I continue to spit out words before I pay any attention to the noise.

"He told me to tell El that he knows everything." I tell them, wondering if it means any importance.

Eddie looks just as confused as I am.

I hear the same faint banging on wood from behind me, but I decide to ignore it and keep on paying attention to the conversation in front of me.

Suddenly, Dustin snaps his fingers, as if something clicked in his mind right as I said that.

"What?" I ask, standing up and walking closer to him.

"No time to explain, we need to go now!" he points to the door behind me.

I spin on my heel, gazing at the white door, which is now almost broken in half with the multiple bats that are pushing against it.

My eyes widen, not noticing the door earlier since my mind was too occupied.

I instinctively take steps backwards, towards the portal, where Dustin already stands.

I notice Eddie still on the ground, shocked at the sudden commotion in front of him.

"Eddie, come on!" I yell at him.

He doesn't move, instead, he just sits there, caught in a daze with the power that the creatures hold before him.

Maybe it was the fact that everything was happening so quickly, and there was such little time to make a move, but he stayed frozen.

Perhaps, Eddie felt like this was it, that this was his death, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He was actually giving up.

But I wasn't going to let him.

As I run at Eddie, I whip my head around to Dustin, who is halfway up the rope, about to flip over to the other dimension.

"Eddie!" Dustin chimes in from behind me, noticing the brunettes statue-like position.

Everything seemed to be happening too fast. I was taking heavy steps towards the boy, trying to rescue him, but at the exact same time, I heard a loud crack run throughout the air.

I snap my head up right as I reach the boy, and I glimpse at the door completely snapping, making a passageway for the creatures to successfully reach us.

The cool air hit my skin as the bats flew around us, circling us in every direction.

There was too much commotion for my ears to handle. Screams came from every mouth in the room.

I felt my hands reach the jacket of my boyfriend, latching on and pulling him back and onto the mattress while grunting.

It's now that I realize he's been bitten, and he must be in some state of shock, explaining why he's still frozen.

As I pull him, a burning pain runs through my veins. I feel sharp fangs in my shoulder.

I'm not sure if it's the adrenaline in my blood or the desire to save my love, but I continue pushing through the pain.

It seemed now that he woke up out of his trance, realizing that he actually had a chance to live, and he didn't have to face such a gruesome death.

He slowly stands himself up, fighting to break through the crowd of bats in the room.

I push him to the rope, indicating for him to go before me.

If one of us is going to sacrifice, it's going to be me.

⋆·˚ ༘ *