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Dustin was crying.
It’s ok, Dustin. Come on, man. Please don’t cry. You have to take care of those little sheep for me.
Everything was quiet.
He could sense light, but it wasn’t quite clear. He realized his eyes were closed, so he opened them. He was surrounded by white fog, but it wasn’t ominous. It was…comforting. Calming.
He suddenly remembered the pain he had been in. He looked down at his body quickly, hands flying to his chest and torso. His shirt was clean and whole; his vest, untarnished.
“Eddie?”
The voice startled him, but it didn’t frighten him. His shock was to be expected, as he never thought he’d hear that voice again.
He looked up to see the shocked but smiling face of Chrissy Cunningham, her eyes bright. Her hair fell in curls around her face, the back still in her classic ponytail. Her cheerleading outfit pristine and spotless.
He shuddered, his eyes closing as he looked away, remembering his last look at her. Her body broken and twisted. Her eyes, sunken and bloody.
He felt a soft hand on his face, causing a chill to run down his spine.
“It’s ok, Eddie,” Chrissy’s voice said. He slowly opened his eyes as he looked into her soft, now slightly sad eyes. He couldn’t stop the tears that began to pool in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry Chrissy,” he choked. “I’m so so sorry. I tried to wake you up. I tried so hard.”
“Hey, hey. Shhh,” she replied, hand still on his face. “It’s not your fault. It was never your fault.”
“I left you, I ran,” he retorted, composing himself slightly.
“You stayed with me when it mattered. You could have run a long time before that. Anyone would have done the same. You tried to save me. You did, Eddie,” Chrissy replied, now smiling sadly.
“If I didn’t bring you to my house, you wouldn’t be here,” Eddie said.
“No,” Chrissy stated shortly, shaking her head. “It had nothing to do with that. That…Thing had be targeted for a long time. He would have taken me anywhere.” She paused. “I’m glad I was with you.”
“You are?” Eddie asked, looking down at her.
“You made me feel safe when I hadn’t felt safe in days. He made me…see things. Horrible things,” Chrissy shuddered, her eyes averted. She paused before her eyes looked at his body, as if seeing him for the first time. “What happened? Why are you here? Don’t…don’t tell me…he didn’t…,” she began, her eyes filling with tears.
“Not exactly,” Eddie cut in. “I… I don’t know where he is. Me…my friends…we went hunting for him. We tried to stop him. You know Billy Hargrove’s sister? He targeted her too. I…I don’t know if she’s still alive. We held him off once and we were trying to get to him before he finished the job…but oh, God. Dustin.”
“Who’s Dustin?” she asked, her face puzzled.
“He was a good one. Part of Hellfire. He and I split off to clear the way for that guy Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, and Robin Buckley to go after Vecna- that’s what we were calling him. Obviously, it didn’t go as planned,” he finished with chagrin, gesturing to his person standing before her.
“Wait, you’re telling me that Steve “The Hair” Harrington, Perfect Nancy Wheeler, and weird Robin Buckley were the trio that went after that monster?” she said, with not so much disdain as incredulity.
“Those guys…they’re not so bad. They’re pretty cool. Especially Harrington. He’s not who he used to be. And shame on you, Chrissy Cunningham! You know you’re a freak just like the rest of them,” he said with a teasing smile.
“Yeah, well, they can’t be as cool as me because I never saw them listen to Corroded Coffin,” she replied with a smile and a playful punch to Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie smiled before looking around him.
“What do we do now?” Eddie stated, looking around.
“I don’t know, I’ve only been here for a few minutes or so,” she replied.
“A few minutes?! Chrissy you’ve been dead for at least a week,” Eddie said, his eyes turning serious.
“A week? Huh, time must work differently in this place,” Chrissy replied, her tone generally unbothered.
“Yeah, about that. What is this place? I would say heaven, but it certainly can’t be since I’m here,” he commented dryly.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Eddie Munson,” she smiled. “Want to go find out together? And fill me in on what happened on the way?”
“You bet, Chrissy Cunningham,” Eddie replied, taking her hand. “Do me one favor though.”
“What’s that?”
“Never fall asleep again.”