Chapter Text
"Do we even know where this damn portal is?" Max huffed as the party continued to walk.
"Yeah. Yeah, totally," Steve nodded, his tone unconvincing. "It's... y'know," He glanced around. "Somewhere."
Lucas sighed. "Gee, thanks, Sherlock." He said sarcastically, earning a glare from Steve.
"What if there isn't one?" Chrissy chirped quietly, her tone uncertain and slightly fearful. It was a reality everyone had thought of at least once, one that everyone silently feared: what if there was no way home? What if they were stuck here forever? What if they run out of food and water and they hadn't made it out yet. What if there was a portal now, in somewhere they'd already checked? What if one of the hellish beasts from the cursed dimension killed them? What if?
"There will be." Steve said firmly. "We have to be sure of that. And either way, we'll figure something out."
"Guys?" Dustin murmured.
"But, like, what if there actually isn't?" Max chimed in again. "Like, what if there's a limit or something?"
"Guys." Dustin said, a bit louder, his flashlight trembling in his hand.
"Then we'll figure it-"
"Guys!" Dustin all but shouted. The group whipped their heads around, Steve opening his mouth to scold him for his volume when he saw the expression on his face. He blinked, glancing at the others before following Dustin's gaze, nearly dropping his flashlight when his eyes landed on two eyes in a far-off tree, glowing in the light, pointed right at them.
"What do we do?" Chrissy squeaked shakily, her hands trembling around her flashlight as she stepped closer to the others.
"Should we go check it out?" Lucas murmured.
"Hell no, dude. Have you seen, like, any horror movie ever made?" Dustin snapped, looking at Lucas.
"He's right," Steve sighed. "Let's... let's just back away, keep our eyes on it, yeah?" He suggested.
"Yeah. Right, yeah." Robin murmured, eyes wide. The group began to slowly pad away from whatever was watching them, slowly walking backward, Max watching ahead to make sure they wouldn't run into anything else with their backs turned. When they got a few yards back, Nancy couldn't help the surprised squeak that escaped her as the creature - person? - opened its wings, flying to the next tree, closer to them.
"Okay. New plan." Steve said, swallowing. "We keep our weapons held tight and go see what it is."
"Are you insane?" Dustin snapped, his eyes flicking back to the unblinking eyes in the tree, glowing as their flashlights reflected off of them.
"Got any better ideas, man?" Steve whisper-shouted.
Dustin grumbled under his breath, and the pair slowly began to trudge toward the tree with Steve leading the way, his bat braced for attack. When they were a few yards away, he halted in his tracks, holding in a gasp.
"No." Dustin said, his voice quiet but firm. "No. It's some Upside Down trick." He insisted. "There's no way. This place is fucking batshit but it's not that batshit."
Nobody else spoke for a moment, staring up into the tree, all holding their breath in shock. Perched in the treetop, clawed hands wrapped around the branch he sat atop, was Eddie. At least, it vaguely looked like him, except... wrong. It was all wrong. His clothes were ripped and shredded from the bat attack, and his skin was a deathly pale, greyish color. His hair was thinner, looking almost damp, and his eyes looked almost yellow, so different from their usual chocolatey-brown color. His face looked gaunt, but most importantly, there were large, fleshy grey wings sprouting from his back. He still had all the wounds from his attack, covered in gashes, missing hunks of flesh, exuding the scent of death.
Robin gagged, taking a stumbling step back. After a few beats, she, too, found her voice. "Eddie?" She all but whispered, staring up at the figure. He didn't react, didn't even blink as he stared wide-eyed down at them. It wasn't until Steve took a step forward that Eddie moved at all, lunging out of the tree and bringing him to the ground, clawed hands digging into the flesh on his shoulders.
Steve gasped sharply, the fall knocking the air out of his lungs. He could feel bile pool at the back of his throat at the scent of Eddie, his disgust immediately replaced by fear as he registered that the other man was holding him down. "Say something, man." He said shakily, his voice breathless. Eddie blinked at him, wide eyes narrowing down at him, claws digging deeper. "Jesus-!" Steve grunted, only being pierced further as he tried to push out of the grip. "It's me, dude. It's me, Steve, you know me. Well, sort of," He tried to reason, but Eddie only narrowed his eyes further, parting his lips to reveal fanged teeth, letting out a low hiss as he raised one of his clawed, bloodstained hands. "Woah, woah, woah-!"
"Eddie!" Dustin called out, his voice pleading and almost tearful. Eddie's head snapped to him, his wide eyes assessing the younger boy. "Eddie, it's me, man, it's Dustin." Dustin continued, taking a step forward. "Look, you know Steve. You might know him as an asshole, but you still know him. He isn't gonna hurt you, none of us are. Please. Please."
Eddie blinked down at Steve, releasing him from his grip and standing to his feet, yellowed eyes flicking around the group. He still didn't speak, his eyes landing back on Dustin.
"Man..." Dustin started, brows knitting together as he looked at Eddie. "What the hell happened to you? Why are you... alive?"
"I don't think he is." Robin murmured softly, her voice contemplative and thoughtful as she observed Eddie. "He's like some sort of... bat zombie? Bat vampire, something like that. Are you a zombie? You're not gonna, like, eat our brains are you? Or drink our blood? Maybe neither is good. Though you could still just drink some of our blood and we could stay alive, but personally I'd prefer to keep all of mine. Or are you some sort of bat Frankenstein or something? Like-"
"We get it." Lucas groaned. "He's not alive. We get it. It doesn't matter what he is. What matters is he just attacked Steve, and he could kill any of us, like, right now? Hello?"
"No," Dustin protested. "Eddie wouldn't kill anyone, dude. He's Eddie still." He insisted, gesturing to where Eddie was just standing and blinking at them with a seemingly emotionless expression. "See? Not attacking anyone."
Eddie's eyes continued to slowly flick through the group, examining each of them. Max was staring at him with narrowed, calculating eyes, Lucas wearing a similar expression, his body tense. Steve had a hand on his hip, raising a brow as he listened to Dustin's persistent defense. Nancy was gripping her shotgun, stepping closer to the younger kids, her eyes locked on Eddie. Robin just looked confused, staring at Eddie with a thoughtful expression. Chrissy looked afraid, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides as she glanced around at the others. Eddie looked back to Dustin, surveying him. He opened his mouth to say something, to say anything, to explain he meant no harm, but all that came out was another hiss, which only seemed to set the unconvinced party members more on edge. He huffed, looking down at himself in frustration. He didn't ask to be brought back, especially not like this. He didn't ask for any of this.
"Are you what's been following us?" Lucas spoke up, looking at Eddie. "We've been seeing and hearing shit for days. Was that you?" He questioned, narrowing his eyes further.
Eddie managed a nod, glancing around to catch everyone's reactions. "So, why didn't you just come out instead of hiding?" Lucas continued, looking utterly unconvinced that Eddie was innocent, or even really Eddie. Eddie huffed, using his arms to gesture down at himself. He then gestured back around at the group, then at Lucas, finishing his nonsensical motioning by making a face, hoping it would get his message across: he hadn't come out of hiding because he knew he looked scary and they believed him dead, he knew they'd react this way, seeing him as a threat.
"So, what," Lucas sighed. "You planned to just follow us around and watch us like a creeper until we made it out of here? And then what, man? Were you planning on following us out? We'd have to see you eventually."
Eddie shook his head. He hadn't had any plans to leave with them, no plan to leave at all. He knew what he looked like - what he smelled like - he knew he could never blend in in Hawkins again. Not that he ever did in the first place. He supposed maybe he was following them to keep an eye on them, to protect them if he had to. There were times he had almost come out of hiding, times where he had almost let the puppeteer in his mind win, times when he had almost given in and made a meal of his friends. Times where he almost won. But Eddie was strong, and he'd do everything he could to assure he never, ever acted on the impulse, to make sure he never hurt his friends.