Chapter Text
It was dark. It was cold. There was nothing. Eddie couldn’t feel anything. He was dying, maybe already dead. For some strange reason he couldn’t feel more at peace. The violent pain was replaced with a soothing tranquility. Like he was being carried to bed by a mother he never had. Like it was all finally over. He didn’t have to think anymore. He was finally accepting it. Only for it all to come rushing back.
It jolted through his body and he could feel his sense being forced upon him again. He let out a sharp gasp. The air caught in his lungs and came back out in a nasty wet cough. Blood fell down his chin into his hand. He wasn’t in pain. Just pure shock.
He looked at his surroundings. Bats are nowhere to be seen. Particles wafted through the air as he slowly stood up. He tore off what was left of his vest and shirt. What should be open wounds are heavy scars. He traces his finger over them not believing it's real.
He then notices how cold he is. With a shiver he walks towards his trailer. The gate is still there. His thoughts are going a million miles per second.
Did the plan fail? Is Max dead? Is Dustin dead? Why is he alive? Why is he here? How long has it been?
He pushes through his thoughts and finds an old shirt in his weird upside down trailer. His body feels so weak and cold. Despite this he finds a way to make another rope and hoist himself back to the home he knows. He expects to feel the warmth return to him like the first time he flipped but he still feels the chills on his skin.
He lets out a weak groan as he gets back up to his feet. He looks around. Everything's gone. Its all clean and tidy. He walks back to his room. The walls are clear of any posters and his mixtapes are all gone. Even his bed is just the framework, not even a mattress that he could sleep on.
He checks the bathroom hoping to maybe take a warm shower. He throws open the door and stares at the mirror. Why isn't he in the reflection? Oh god. He is dead. He’s a ghost. He panics. Just when I thought I had my life back. He flips on the sink and splashes water on his face… ok maybe not a ghost. He can still feel and touch things. Maybe this mirror is broken?
He tries to brush it off. He checks the shower. Doesn’t work. He settles on just washing his face a bit more in the sink.
It’s night. He thinks about who to go to. Who wouldn’t flip out and make him even more stressed than he already is?
He can’t drag his friends into this upside down shit. He can’t go to any of the kids. Robin has an extreme amount of nervous energy that rubs off on him. Nancy lives with Mike. Begrudgingly his best bet is Steve the hair Harriton.
He scales his house like a natural. Quietly getting himself to his window. He looks in. Steve is sitting up in bed staring at nothing. How could he not freak him out right now?
Eddie lightly knocks on the window. Steve jumps despite Eddie’s efforts to prevent that. Steve looks around the room almost like he’s looking for a clue that he fell asleep and he’s dreaming right now.
“Come on man, I'm freezing out here.”
Steve cautiously opens the window. As the window opens Eddie suddenly finds his senses overwhelmed with the smell of something sweet and the sound of heartbeat pulsing through his ears.
“Um… do you wanna come in?”
Eddie sharply nods as he stumbles through the window. That pulse is still distracting him. Why is his heart beating so fast? He brings his hand to his heart only to find that the pulse in his ears is going at a different rhythm. His thoughts are interrupted by a hand grabbing at his face.
“Are you real?”
Steve pinches Eddie’s cheek and places his other hand on Eddie’s shoulder.
“I think so? I was kind of hoping you could prove it to me.”
Steve’s brows furrow and Eddie notices he’s looking at his lips.
“Do you like what you see, Harrington? Is this fulfilling all the fantasies you have about me?”
Steve leans in closer to his mouth.
“Harrington, take me on a date first!” Eddie says nervously
Steve backs up not realizing how close he got
“Sorry, its just- you have fangs. When did you get fangs?”
Eddie gives him a confused look. He feels around his mouth with his tongue. What the fuck.
“I uh- I’ve always had these?”
“Right…”
“How long has it been?” Eddie quickly changes the subject.
Steve lets out a long sigh “8 months. It’s been 8 goddamn months. Eddie, we thought you were dead. Where the hell have you been?”
“8 months? Are you sure?”
“Yes man.” Steve tries to wind down and sit down on his bedside. “We had a funeral and everything.”
Eddie starts pacing the room. “I swear it feels like it’s only been a day. How could I have survived without food or water that long? Is everyone okay? The portals are still open. What’s going on here?”
“Eddie Eddie slow down.” Steve takes him by the shoulders and guides him to sit on the bed. Eddie can still hear the loud thumps of his heart. He can feel the warmth of his hands through his thin shirt. God he’s so cold. Steve starts to take his hands off of him but Eddie grips one of Steve’s wrists. He craves warmth.
“Holy Shit! Your hands are freezing.”
“Everything is freezing.”
Steve looks down at his thin black long sleeve and blood covered grimy jeans. “Did you just come from the upside down?”
“Yeah. I came here since I figured you would freak out the least about… um… I don’t know. I really did think I was dead Steve.” For a moment Eddie’s heartbeat begins to overpower the sound of Steve’s. It gets harder to breathe.
“Okay. Don’t think about it right now.” Steve bites his lips as he thinks for a moment. “How about you take a nice hot shower, I’ll lend you some clothes, make some food and you can tell me everything after that?”
—-----------------------------------------------
The shower was heavenly. As soon as the water stopped he felt the cold return in an instant. He pressed his hands together and despite the steam filled room they were frigid. He threw on the blue sweater and black sweatpants Steve gave him and carefully stepped out into the hall. He walked down the hallway admiring all the family pictures. He could tell Steve was faking a smile in every picture, he looked horrible. The corners of his mouth were awkwardly turned up without even the slightest wrinkle at the corners of his eyes.
“Oh god, please don’t look at these.” Steve said with a plate of pizza in his hand.
“Not very photogenic are you Harrington?” Eddie chuckled.
“My parents nag me about it every year. Here.” Steve shoves the plate of food into Eddie’s hands.
Weird, Eddie can’t even smell it and it doesn’t even look appetizing. He hasn’t eaten in eight months. How could pizza be gross to him right now? He shakes off the thought and eats it anyways. He needs to. The pizza doesn’t taste like anything, It’s just a warm feeling on his tongue he can feel the warmth spread down his throat as he swallows.
“Is my pizza not up to your standards?” Steve says with raised eyebrows.
Eddie was making a disgusted face and quickly adjusted. “Sorry, I just can’t taste anything. It's just a mushy sensation in my mouth.”
“I mean you did almost die? Maybe that messed with your taste buds or some shit. What were you eating in the upside down for all that time?” Steve realized they were still standing in the hallway. He looked at a picture and winced before gesturing to Eddie to follow him.
They sat on the couch and Eddie put down his pizza on the table in front of them since it wasn’t really helping his appetite.
“Steve.” He said, staring at him with big fearful eyes.
“Eddie?” He gave an equally worried look in return
There was no use in hiding it. He couldn’t even deal with this truth on his own. If he was some sort of monster now he figured Steve should know. “I think I’m some sort of undead vampire. The fangs. The cold. I can hear your heart beat. This regular food isn’t appetizing. I haven’t eaten since that day we planned to defeat vecna.”
Steve leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and let out a long sigh. “At least you're undead and not dead right? Right? That's a good thing.”
Eddie gets up and starts pacing around “Yeah man but I can hear your pulse. I can smell your blood. What if my living is going to cost other people dying-”
“What does my blood smell like?” Steve cuts him off.
“What?”
“Does it have a specific smell?”
“Is that really what you’re focused on right now?”
“I’m just curious…”
Eddie pauses. Takes a big deep breath in. “Kind of sweet. Maybe like a fresh homemade cookie.”
“Does that mean I have good blood?”
Eddie laughs to himself and brings a hand to his forehead. “I’m glad I came to this house. Only you would be worrying about how good your blood is instead of the blood sucking monster standing in front of you.”
“Eddie. I think if you were this uncontrollable monster you would’ve already acted on it by now.”
“Yeah but I still got this crazy hunger in me man. What if it’s just a matter of time before I break?”
Steve thinks for a moment. Eddie can’t help but notice he’s biting his lip again. He wishes he could read minds instead of just smelling people. “What about meat?”
“Not following.”
Steve gets up from the couch to look through his freezer and pulls out a package of raw beef.
“Woah ok. I can smell that.”
“Yeah?” Steve smiles with a crease in his eyes missing from the photos in the hall.
“Yeah! I mean it’s not as strong as you but still, its something.” Eddie smiles as well. For the first time tonight Eddie feels a bit hopeful.
“Well unfortunately it's an icy brick right now but I'll leave it out to thaw. Now.” Steve leaves the beef out and slides back over to the couch. “Tell me everything. From the moment you woke up.”
“First, tell me if everyone is okay.”
“Well, everyone is alive?”
“Vecna?”
“Alive as well. At least that’s what we assume.”
“What happened after? After I died…”
“Vecna got Max. The fourth gate opened. El was able to somehow revive Max but she slipped into a coma. Vecna hasn’t done anything but-”
“The gates are open. We have to assume he’s out there.”
“Yeah. You’re lucky the government hasn’t blocked your gate yet.”
“Blocked?”
“Right now they’re putting metal over the gashes in the earth. While also not letting anyone in or out of Hawkins.”
Eddie rolls his eyes. “Right. Like that’ll help.”