The shade of clouds that hovered along the horizon sat fat, their soaked interiors threatening to spill over the city at any minute. Their composure was beginning to absorb the little light that was left in the sky. All of the businesses were beginning to close and within a matter of hours, the city would be asleep. The group's window was slim, and they knew that if they didn't act quickly, all chances of their plan's success would be crushed.

Eddie leaned against the doorway of his childhood home, watching as the lights of nearby trailers began to go out. It was clear how anxious he was about the upcoming chain of events. There was a battle going on inside his head, strands of unethical thinking pulling his consciousness in different directions like a rough game of tug of war. Unlike the usual composure he wore, Eddie tried his best to act unfazed.

The majority of the group was outside preparing for their unforeseen mission. Due to the vow of secrecy Eddie had made to himself, none of them knew what laid ahead. Some of them had grown suspicious of Eddie's efforts but instead of saying something, they inserted their frustration and nerves into other things, such as preparing snacks and DIY weapons for their trip. Emelia, on the other hand, remained indoors and simply watched the individual tick.

"So" - Emelia blurted, extending her pace from the shadows she was lurking in. Eddie jumped slightly, taking in her composition with an entirely new sense of posture. He muttered something under his breath to calm himself down and pursed his lips as his peer neared him. "This plan of yours – will it get me killed?"

Eddie snickered to himself, a small tint of amusement slipping out of his mouth and onto his lips. He matched her pace, closing the space between them with a few slow steps. Emelia could feel Eddie's hot breath warm her eyelashes now, and her breath hitched in a place it had never touched before. Her eyes flickered down towards Eddie's lips as they parted, his voice lower than a quiet whisper.

"Only if you fail to keep up."

Emelia's legs shivered with shock and for a brief moment, she couldn't move. Quicker than the moment had unfolded, the door shut, and she was left in the room all by herself. She didn't stay long and instead followed quickly after the male.

Steve and Nancy had mustered up enough strength to shove their bicycles under the bottom of Eddie's porch, hiding the little evidence that they left from city official's. It was unlikely that their hiding space would be good enough to conceal their safe haven entirely but it would be enough to delay them.

"Okay," Steve uttered, standing up from his perch on the ground and wiping his muddy hands on his jeans. His breath hitched in his throat as he composed himself once again, looking around and doing an unspoken head count to make sure everyone was there. "I hope your plan is good, Munson, because we don't have much time."

Eddie nodded towards his familiar and gestured forward, causing the rest of the group to fall into a scattered grouping behind him. They did their best to contain their volume by matching stride with the man, even going to the deepest effort to envelope their footprints into his. Their speed began to increase the longer they followed him but much to their surprise, they hadn't traveled far from their initial location.

Eddie's jog had ceased behind a neighboring trailer and his energy manifested itself elsewhere. He had uprooted an old cinder block from its place on the ground, leaving a damp, worm-infested imprint in the mossy soil, and placed it beneath the window of the motorhome. Emelia had stopped in her tracks upon seeing this image, causing Dustin to run straight into her back. The pair of them quickly whispered an apology to another before moving closer to their friend.

Before either of them could reach him, Eddie had thrust his body upward and through an opened window. His posture had caught her off guard and almost immediately, Emelia diverted her attention to quite literally anywhere else. The rest of the group watched the male intently, waiting for any signs of safety or cues for them to follow. Shortly after he had entered, he gestured for them to follow.

Emelia entered shortly after the rest of them. She wanted to make sure the younger ones of the group made it in safely before she did and after the majority of them had made it inside, she noticed that both Steve and Nancy had done the same. The interior of the home was sloppy. Stomped out cigarettes lined the floor and empty bags of chips laid carelessly across all surfaces.

The majority of the kids had made themselves comfortable, sitting immediately on a nearby couch and awaiting instruction from the ringleader himself. Emelia made her way up to the front of the vehicle, tuning into the conversation that Steve, Robin, and Eddie were having in the cab. As she got closer, she noticed what exactly was going on and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Impressive," Emelia blurted, crossing her arms to try to stifle the urge to itch nervously at her skin. "Who taught you how to do that?"

In between the breaking and manuevering of wires, Eddie had told them another story from his childhood. The majority of his words were incomprehensible due to the focused expression he wore. His tongue was positioned just outside of his mouth, and his teeth bit at the skin on his lips.

Soon enough – before Emelia could truly comprehend what he was trying to say – the motor of the vehicle sprung to life. The loud pop caught her off guard but despite it all, she couldn't help but laugh. Meeting eyes with the individual in the driver's seat, she expressed her admiration for his skills with a nod of her head.

A loud bang caused her to stumble backward and as she turned around, she was met with the furious expressions of what she assumed to be the homeowners. She recognized them immediately to be the caring couple that previously sat around the rusted firepit. They looked a lot different now, fits of rage now filling in where the loving compsures had originally been.

Within a matter of seconds, Eddie had bolted from the driver's seat and threw himself onto a cushion below. The vehicle took off before she was able to register what was going on, which ultimately sent her flying backward. A set of kitchen cabinets broke her fall, and she did her best to ignore the pain in her back and replace it with thankfulness. She stabilized herself shortly after by wrapping her fingertips around an open window.

Once the ride had become less rigid, Emelia tore the ski-mask off her face and tossed it onto the floor. The atmosphere around her became less suffocating directly after, and she closed her eyes and allowed herself to finally take a breath. Glancing over at the boy across the way, Emelia noticed that he too had taken off his mask. Eddie's hair was discheveled, curls sticking out in all different directions. She didn't even want to think what her hair looked like right now.

If they weren't currently in the situation they were in, Emelia might haved laughed at the quirky remark Robin had made about their ultimate theft. Although she had been living a constant chain of unexpected events the last few days, she was still shocked every time.

Emelia lowered herself to the floor and pondered the events of the future. Despite how much she tried to fill her head with positive thoughts, the inferior endings seemed to envelope each corner of her brain. Even if they were to succeed in killing Vecna, there were no place in Hawkins for her or Eddie. Even the rest of them were at risk at returning now that they had intertwined themselves with their crimes, it was unlikely that they would be able to come home without any punishment.

A low dim chime sounded behind her and if she hadn't heard it before, she was convinced she would have just deemed it sole background noise. She diverted her attention toward the back window, searching for the ticking source of the noise.

She didn't think it could be possible but in that moment, she was more terrified than she ever had been.

-

Hello!

I appreciate that you are still taking the time to read this book. This chapter is a filler chapter in my opinion. There are a lot of things currently in the works right now, one of which includes this book. I have a lot of both good and bad plans for this book, so I hope you stay tuned for that.

The majority of the people reading this book are the same people but nevertheless, I appreciate your undying support (I'm looking at you, Jaela).

There are only a few chapters that are going to be written for this book, so I really want them to be good. That being said, in order to accomplish this, I have to be in a very specific place mentally. I am trying to crank them out while I have the motivation before I lose it again.

With me luck!

Rori x