Just Call My Name (And I'll Hear You Scream): Chapter 8

A Stranger Things Fanfic

Trigger warning: violence and brief mentions of death by suffocation

“I have a question,” Chrissy whispered once they were on the road again the next day.

“Okay.”

She leaned closer so no one could overhear. “What you told me last night, does that mean you have, like, superpowers?”

He chuckled. “Honestly I was expecting you to ask me that yesterday.”

She hummed. “I was a little preoccupied.” He smirked. “Not like that!” she shrieked, shoving him right into Will on his other side.

“Hey!” the younger boy protested.

“Sorry!” She lowered her voice and leaned closer again. “Really, though. Do you?”

“I, uh, I don’t know. I haven’t tried in, like, seven years, and I was never much good at it anyway. The bats, though, I, uh, I might’ve done that. I don’t know.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? Cause if you did, that would be, um, kinda metal.” She grinned and bit her lip.

“Chrissy Cunningham, are you making fun of me?”

Her grin widened, and she leaned into his arm. “Maybe a little?”

“Uhg. You guys are gross,” Will groaned. “Jonathan, you’re switching seats with me next time we stop.”

“Sorry, Will, but El wants me up here with her, right, El?”

“What?” El asked, jerking away from the window. Jonathan groaned.

“Please, Jonathan,” Will whined. “They’re being gross!”

“Are they kissing again?” El asked, turning back to the window and leaning her chin in her hand.

“Hello, we’re right here.” Eddie waved a hand in their faces. “Wait, what do you mean ‘again’?”

“Joyce said you were kissing last night.”

“You’ve been caught now,” Jonathan said with a smirk.

Eddie shrugged and lowered his voice. “I don’t mind if people have dirt on me so long as I have blackmail too.”

Will frowned. “What do you mean?” Eddie raised his eyebrows. He could see the moment it clicked, a scarlet flush climbing up the younger boy’s face. “Oh, gross!”

“Shush, both of you!” Jonathan hissed. “We’re not supposed to know!”

“What are we not supposed to know?” El whispered.

“About your parents making out,” Eddie said.

El glanced at him over her shoulder, scrunching up her face. “What’s ‘making out’?” Eddie blanched.

“Yeah, Eddie, why don’t you explain that one to her?” Jonathan suggested, folding his arms.

“What are you kids whispering about back there?” Hopper called.

“Nothing!” Chrissy and Will chorused sweetly. Hopper humphed, but continued his conversation with Joyce.

“Sheesh,” Eddie muttered. “You two could get away with murder.” Chrissy giggled.

He leaned forward, resting his elbow against Jonathan’s seat. “Do they really think you guys don’t know?”

Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Yes, they do, and you’re really not one to talk because everyone but me knew you were head-over-heels as soon as she showed up.” He nodded at Chrissy.

“Wait, really?” Chrissy asked, and Eddie cleared his throat.

He laughed, trying to clear his embarrassment. “What, you just slower on the uptake or something?” Jonathan raised his eyebrows, and his meaning hit Eddie right in the face, which began to heat up. “Oh, well, like you were so much better with Wheeler, following her around all the time–”

Jonathan smashed in his empty water bottle and threw it at Eddie.

“Don’t throw things, please!” Chrissy said.

“Kids, don’t throw things while we’re driving!” Joyce called. Jonathan scowled, and Eddie grinned at him.

“What is ‘making out’?” El asked again, louder and more insistent.

“Making out? What are you talking about?” Hopper shouted again.

“About Chrissy and Eddie making out last night,” Jonathan lied smoothly.

Eddie picked up the crushed water bottle, about to throw it again, but Chrissy grabbed his arm to stop him. “We weren’t–”

“It means kissing, El,” Will interrupted. “And can we please stop talking about this?”

Eddie crossed his arms and slumped back in his seat. Chrissy giggled and untangled one of his hands so she could hold it. “I second the motion,” he muttered, and Jonathan laughed.

As the group made their way into the diner, Eddie wondered if this was how Harrington felt all the time. He couldn’t let Will or El out of his sight, which was stupid considering El had superpowers, Joyce and Hopper were right there keeping an eye on their kids, and honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure what he planned to do if someone attacked.

He worried about Chrissy too, of course (he figured Jonathan could take care of himself, probably), but she made it easy, plastering herself to his side and never letting go.

“What can I get you?” a waitress asked after they all slid into a booth. Everyone rattled off a long list of pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and a variety of other things.

“I’ll just take some fruit, please,” Chrissy said quietly when the waitress reached her. Eddie was glad he hadn’t ordered yet and added a couple extra pancakes to his request.

He waited for the waitress to leave, then asked, “you okay, princess?”

She smiled and nodded. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t really believe that, but he left it alone until the food came out. He slid his plate closer to her and lowered his voice. “I’m not going to eat all of these by myself. You should have some.”

She didn’t meet his eyes as she shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

His heart sank. He twisted his fingers through hers under the table. “Chrissy, please.”

She looked up, fear evident on her face. No, no, no. Why did he always ruin everything? He hadn’t meant to sound so desperate. He just–he just wanted to help, but now he was just worrying her and making everything worse.

“Did Joyce tell you?” she asked so quietly he almost couldn’t hear. He shook his head.

No one had told him. It had taken a painfully long time for him to work it out on his own. He had heard when El came to get Joyce, insisting Chrissy was sick. He had seen that ugly mirror disappear the same day. He had watched her pick at her food, and he remembered Mayfield’s theory about all of Vecna’s victims having something haunting them. It broke his heart.

“I–I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m just–I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t apologize,” she sniffed. She wiped her eyes as she smiled. “Thank you, but I think I’m too nervous to eat. Just–because of yesterday. Nothing else, I promise.”

“I believe you, but you should still try to eat something. If–if anything happens, you need more than just a couple apple and orange slices.

She bit her lip and glanced over at his plate, then the corner of her mouth quirked up. “Okay.” She leaned over and stole the bite of pancake right off his fork, then giggled, giggled, as he gaped at her.

“You little sneak!” He flicked his straw wrapper at her, and she laughed again. Will groaned, and Eddie froze, having completely forgotten they had an audience. Chrissy didn’t seem to notice, chewing slowly and cutting another small bite from a pancake with her own fork.

Hopper cleared his throat. “So, where are you kids planning to go when this is all over?” Eddie heard the slight hesitation before “when” and wished he hadn’t.

He shook his head. “Far away from Hawkins.”

“And a big city,” Chrissy reminded him, without looking up.

“Yeah. That too.”

Hopper chuckled, and Eddie frowned. Hopper shook his head. “No, I’m laughing at the memories. When I was your age, I wanted nothing more than to get out of Hawkins too, and I moved to New York.”

“Oh, New York would be fun!” Chrissy looked up now, poking Eddie’s arm. “It would be romantic.”

He laughed. “Not sure how romantic being crowded in a small space with a lot of people will be, but yeah, New York sounds nice.”

She gave a bright smile that wrinkled her nose, and if they hadn’t had an audience, he would have kissed her right there.

They finished their food and went to the bathroom before they had to get on the road again. Eddie and Will came out first and joined Hopper at the counter as he paid. “Can we go out to the car?” Will asked.

Hopper tossed him the keys with a cursory, “stay together” over his shoulder.

“Thanks!”

Eddie pushed open the glass door and ushered Will through, then followed. He scanned the parking lot, having somehow already forgotten where they had parked. Will didn’t even glance up. He just calmly led Eddie around the corner of the building because he could apparently remember things longer than thirty seconds.

“You guys are still going to call, right? Even though you’ll be in New York?” Will asked.

“Course we will. You’re not getting rid of us that easily. I’m a leech.” He pounced, grabbing the younger boy’s shoulder and cackling evilly. “You’ll never escape me.”

Will laughed and shoved him off, and as Eddie stumbled a couple steps backwards, he caught sight of a man standing behind their van.

His large, imposing frame was only exaggerated by his stiff posture and perfect green uniform–some sort of military person then. His lips twisted into a scowl, and his eyes didn’t leave the boys as they came closer, straightening.

“Do you need something?” Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“No. Move along,” the man barked, jerking his chin to the side.

Eddie leaned back on his heels, projecting false confidence. “Yeah, well, we would, but see, you’re blocking the door to our car.”

Years later, Eddie would still curse himself for those words, wondering when he would learn not to let his smart mouth get him into trouble.

The man’s eyebrows raised slightly, and something clicked. Though he didn’t understand how or why, Eddie knew he had walked right into a trap. He stepped back, reaching for Will, but the other man was faster, pulling out a pistol and aiming it at the two boys. Eddie froze, and Will sucked in a sharp breath.

“Norris, Ward, check the diner for the girl. Don’t let her leave.”

Two more men, soldiers, appeared form behind the van, guns in hand. They ran straight to the diner. Eddie’s stomach churned. He tried to remind himself that El was extremely powerful, and Hopper was armed. Hopefully they could protect themselves and the others. He shifted closer to Will, knowing he would feel better if he could only reach the other boy, but the man caught the motion, shifting the gun. “Don’t move again.” Eddie swallowed and stayed frozen.

He didn’t know how long they waited there for something, anything, to happen. The agony of waiting for a gunshot, either in front of or behind him, grated on his nerves until he was certain it would drive him mad.

He felt stupid, so stupid, for speaking to the man at all. He should have waited for Hopper. Hopper would have realized something was wrong and handled the situation.

Or he wouldn’t, and when the man pulled out a gun, Hopper would have leapt for it, and now he would be lying on the ground, dead in front of them.

The image of the chief dead on the pavement sent him spiraling into a panic. What if someone did die? What if El–

Gunshots rang through the stillness, then glass shattered. Eddie couldn’t help jerking around to look. The entire glass wall and door of the diner was gone, and the unconscious body of one of the soldiers lay beside it. He couldn’t see the other.

Will cried out, and Eddie jerked back around as the man’s arm tightened around the boy, pinning him close as he held the gun to his head.

“No! Let him go! He’s–he’s not even who you’re looking for!” Eddie shouted, reaching for Will, but the man’s hand tightened around the gun and he stopped. Will whimpered and flinched as the metal touched his head.

“Maybe not,” the man agreed, “but the others traveling with her may be more inclined to hand the girl over. Or she may come willingly herself.”

Dread sank in his stomach. A horrible ultimatum. One child’s life for the other, and, if things went wrong, both could end up dead. They could lose both Will and El–

Something snapped.

“Stop!”

Eddie nearly shouted the word, and, to his surprise, the man did. He stopped everything–moving, speaking, blinking–standing perfectly still, as though carved of stone.

Eddie never knew whether he did it on purpose or not. it certainly wasn’t a conscious decision, but whether he simply needed the man’s finger to stop before he could pull the trigger, or some subconscious part of him knew he would never be free, that this new, strange family he had created for himself would never be safe until this man was dead, didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that it happened.

Eddie later remembered Dustin bringing it up, though he couldn’t remember how the conversation had started.

“I’m just saying, if you actually made someone stop moving like that, it would be a simple way to kill them,” the boy had pointed out at a Hellfire meeting. “I mean, if you think about it, if they aren’t moving at all, then their heart isn’t beating and they can’t breathe either. Wouldn’t take long for them to die.”

“That’s terrible!” Lucas complained.

“It’s science,” Dustin corrected.

In that moment, though, Eddie’s only thought was on making sure this man couldn’t do anything to hurt Will, who must have felt the man go still and realized something was wrong, because he shot a confused and panicked look at Eddie.

Eddie took a small, hesitant step forward, terrified that he had misunderstood and the man might pull the trigger, but nothing happened. Will’s captor didn’t move a muscle, didn’t give a single sign acknowledging Eddie’s movement.

He ran forward, grabbed the younger boy, twisted the gun out of the man’s grip, and stepped back, dragging Will along with him. He aimed the gun at the man, though he wasn’t entirely sure he could shoot it, then hesitated. Should he let go? Let the man free? He wasn’t sure he knew how. (He hadn’t really thought he could stop him in the first place.)

Apparently he could let go, and apparently he had. The man dropped to the ground, flat on his face without a sound. Eddie stared at him, doing his best to aim the gun with trembling hands. But–he didn’t look like he was breathing.

Will breathed a curse. Eddie hadn’t thought the boy could curse. “Is he dead?”

“I–I don’t know,” Eddie muttered.

Will shot him a look. “Why didn’t you tell any of us?”

“Old habits are hard to break,” he shot back. “Especially when they’re the only thing keeping you safe!”

Will frowned but nodded, acknowledging the point. “You have blood on your face.” He pointed under his nose, and Eddie wiped it off. Will glanced at the gun in his hand and shook his head. ‘You can’t shoot a gun, can you?”

“Uh . . .” Eddie hesitated, glancing down at the man he feared (hoped?) might be faking.

Will snatched it out of his hands, holding it much more confidently and in a slightly different position than Eddie had. That was . . . probably correct. “Why don’t you check his pulse?”

Eddie nodded, glad someone could keep a calm and organized mind in this situation. He certainly couldn’t.

He carefully knelt down, waiting for the man to grab him, overpower him, stab him, something, but nothing happened. His fingers found the man’s wrist. Nothing. Maybe–maybe it had been too long since he tried to find a pulse. Maybe–

He found his own rather quickly.

“Well?” Will asked.

Eddie swallowed. “He’s dead.”

“Okay,” Eddie could hear the switch in the other boy’s tone as he tried to be more calming. “Okay. Let’s go find everyone else. Hopper can–he’ll help.”

Eddie nodded and got up, feeling wrong for leaving the body just lying there, but he didn’t know what to do. He needed Hopper, or Joyce, or someone to tell him what to do. Will grabbed his hand and they ran back to the diner.

Eddie was grateful for the thick soles of his shoes as they crunched over the broken glass. He scanned the diner and found five soldiers lying unconscious or dead on the ground. More must have come in from the back.

Hopper spotted them first. A long gash across his head bled profusely, and he stumbled as he tried to walk towards the doors. Jonathan held his arm, trying to keep him steady. When Hopper caught sight of the boys, he breathed a sigh and sank into a chair. Jonathan let go of him and ran to his brother, pulling him into a tight hug.

Eddie scanned the crowd for the girls and found them in a corner, both Joyce and Chrissy trying to help El up, as her legs trembled under her. They moved her to a booth not covered in broken glass, then Chrissy turned around, looking first at Hopper, then Jonathan and Will, then–

Her eyes landed on him and she let out a strangled cry and ran over, throwing her arms around his neck. “Don’t disappear like that again,” she begged. “Please, never again.”

He felt his whole body start to tremble, and he knew the horror of what had just happened, what he had done, had come to claim him. He reached for her, but stopped before his hands touched her, remembering the blood on his hands.

“I don’t–I don’t want to get blood on your clothes,” he stammered, and she pulled away, eyes widening.

“Blood? What do you–” she snatched up his hand, nearly shrieking. “Are you bleeding? Eddie, what’s–”

“Just a nose bleed,” Will interjected before Eddie had the chance, and Chrissy calmed down a bit, glancing up at him to make sure it was true.

“A nosebleed?” Hopper asked carefully. “What happened?”

“There–there was a man out there by the van,” Eddie began. “He threatened Will with–with a gun. Tried to take him hostage.” He saw Jonathan’s arms tighten. “I–I killed him. I–I didn’t mean to. I just wanted him to stop. To let go. I didn’t mean–”

“I know, kid,” Hopper said gently. “I know, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Chrissy wrapped her arms around him again. “I don’t care if you get blood on my clothes,” she whispered, and he hugged her back.

“The police will be here any minute,” Hopper said. “We need to get out of here. Joyce, can you–”

“I’ll drive,” Jonathan interrupted. “I can take care of it.”

Hopper stopped when he saw the body next to the van. He stared down at the decorated uniform, and the name plate caught his eye. Sullivan.

When they stopped for the night, he found a phone booth and called Owens up.

“This is Sam Owens. May I–”

“Owens, it’s Jim.”

“Jim! Are you–”

“Sullivan caught up to us in a diner. I’m sure you’ll hear the news soon. He sent several soldiers after us, and they’re all just unconscious, I think, but Sullivan is dead.”

“Dead?”

“Yes, in defense. He attacked two teenagers, who put up a fight, and he was killed by accident.”

“I understand, and I’m so sorry, but Jim, please tell me Eleven wasn’t the one to kill him, because that’s going to make things very difficult to explain.”

“It wasn’t Eleven. Make sure you take care of it. I don’t want my family hurt by any more of you idiots again.” He slammed the phone back into its place and sighed, leaning heavily against the wall.

Once again, Chrissy and Eddie stayed in the van after they arrived at the motel, but this time Hopper didn’t give them a time limit.

Chrissy held on tight while Eddie wept into her shoulder.

El was still awake when Chrissy knocked on the motel room door and Joyce got up to let her in. Chrissy changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth quickly, then slid into bed beside El. “Are you okay?” Chrissy whispered.

El nodded. “Are you?” Chrissy smiled and nodded as well. “And Eddie?”

“He’s okay too.”

Joyce turned out the light, and the room turned black except for the small stripe of light through the crack in the bathroom door.

The darkness made the scary pictures in her mind darker. Pictures of her dad falling to the ground after his head got cut. Pictures of Will and Eddie hurt outside the diner where no one could reach them. She sniffed.

Chrissy reached for her, pulling her close, and El snuggled into her arms. They stayed curled up together for the rest of the night.

New York was loud. And busy, and full of people. Joyce didn’t know how anyone could stand it, but Eddie and Chrissy both looked absolutely delighted to be there, so she was happy for them.

The rest of the drive there had been long, but they had time, and everyone wanted to stay together a little bit longer. (Plus Dr. Owens had agreed to pay the expenses of the trip thinks to Hopper’s persuasion, and yes, Joyce was fully aware it was petty, but she was happy to use that to her advantage.)

“And you’re sure you have everything you need?” Joyce asked, for probably the fifth time.

Chrissy grinned. “We’re sure.”

“No, wait.” Eddie’s eyes grew wide. “I think I left my solid gold toothbrush behind. We should probably turn around and get it.” Hopper rolled his eyes, and Chrissy bit back a laugh.

“Well, okay. If you’re sure,” Joyce said. “Now remember, call as soon as you find a place. We haven’t found a house yet, but call the Hendersons, or Sinclairs, or Wheelers, and they can give us your phone number, and we’ll give you ours as soon as we find a place too.”

“We will,” they both promised.

Then everyone had to give hugs and say their goodbyes. Eddie made Will promise to tell him all about the new Hellfire campaigns once he joined, Chrissy told El she would send her a pretty color of nail polish as soon as she could, and Jonathan agreed to send Chrissy some of the photos of the dance party once they were developed.

Joyce was the last one to hug either of them, and it surprised her how tightly they each held on. “I’m going to miss you both.”

“We’ll miss you too,” Chrissy said, and Eddie mumbled an agreement and dug his toe into the pavement.

“Make sure you come back to Hawkins to visit sometime.”

“We will . . . eventually,” Eddie promised.

The group returning home climbed back into the van and waved through the windows. Hopper drove away, and Will and El hung off the back seat, waving until they were completely out of sight.

“You okay?” Hopper asked, taking Joyce’s hand as she wiped her cheeks, realizing how much she would miss the pair.

She nodded and squeezed his hand. “Let’s go home.”

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