[ DISCONTINUED ]
She was known as the 'nice girl' of Hawkins high and he was known as the 'freak'.
Juliana Henderson was everything Eddie Munson ever wanted in a girl and she never expected to fall in love with someone like him.
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~
March 26th, 1986
"HE SHOWED ME SO MANY THINGS THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE..." Juliana whispered, describing her terrifying encounter with Vecna to her friends.
After the huge incident, the gang was now back at Skull Rock. Juliana, who was still trembling out of fear, sat down with her back against the huge rock, wearing Eddie's leather jacket while everyone gathered around her, carefully listening to the story. Eddie handed her his coat after seeing that she was still shivering even though it was pretty warm.
"He was disguised as Jacob and he was telling me the cruellest things." Juliana continued, her voice all shaky and out of breath. "I know it wasn't actually him but it felt so real. His voice, his eyes, his hair... they were uncanny." She explained as a few tears fell from her eyes. "I was so scared so, I ran. And then, I arrived in this strange, red fog place, just like in Max's drawing. That's where I found..." Juliana started to whimper as she struggled to speak. "Chrissy, Fred and Patrick just hanging there like some sort of puppets. And they were all..."
Eddie went to her side and pulled her into his arms as she broke down into tears.
Steve groaned. "This doesn't make any sense." He mumbled while rubbing his temples.
"What do you mean?" Nancy asked him, giving him a confused look.
"It's just that, Vecna usually gives his victims like some kind of warning, right?" Steve asked as she nodded. "So he shows the grandfather clock a few hours before killing them. But my question is, why wasn't it the same with Jules?"
"Because he knew..." Juliana spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention. "He sees everything we do. He knew we had a solution to save anyone under his curse." She realized.
"So he tried to kill you right away so we wouldn't have the chance to save you." Robin finished.
"But we did have the chance." Max added and looked at Juliana. " If you hadn't brought those tapes for me, who knows what would've happened to you."
"I guess he did warn me a little..." Juliana said, going back to what Steve was saying. "For the past week, maybe even before, I've had nightmares, headaches and nosebleeds. Just like Max and the others." She explained.
"Jules, why didn't you tell us?" Dustin asked her. He felt so stupid that she didn't even realize that his sister was going through so much pain.
Juliana gazed down and shook her head. "I don't know." She answered. "Maybe I didn't want to accept the fact that I was going to die, or even the opposite. I think a part of me wanted to die today. I've been living with this survivor's guilt for so long and I just couldn't take it anymore. I thought talking to Ms. Kelly would make it go away, but I couldn't open up to her." She explained as everyone listened to her with a sad expression.
They were all shocked by what they were hearing. Juliana was the last person they imagined that would be depressed. Probably because she seemed so happy every day.
"Jules..." Eddie started but shut up when Juliana lifted her hand to stop him from talking.
"I know what you guys are going to say and I don't want to hear it." Juliana protested. "Our main goal right now is to kill Vecna." She gave back the leather jacket to Eddie and confidently stood up. "So... who's ready to save the world?"
~
"Dustin, how much longer?" Robin whined from behind Dustin while following him going left and right, walking through the woods. "My feet are getting sore." She whined again, dragging her feet.
"Maybe if you complained a little less, we'd get there sooner." Dustin answered as he led the way, keeping his eyes on the compass he was holding. He stopped walking and looked around before going in another direction.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Robin yelled. She groaned and continued to follow him.
"Dude, we are all starting to get a little tired here." Steve told the younger teen as he walked beside him. "Can't we just rest for a few minutes?" He asked.
"NO!" Dustin turned around and snapped as Steve backed away as a reflex. "We're almost there, just trust me! The compass never lies." He said and then went in another direction again.
"Dustiiiiiiin." Robin whined again, walking by Nancy who lightly chuckled at how Robin acted like a child.
Behind them, Lucas and Max were talking and a little more further from them, Juliana and Eddie walked side by side. It was awkward and quiet between them. They didn't know how to start a conversation after what happened. Eddie was walking slowly, stealing worried glances at Juliana who was listening to 'Heroes' repeatedly on her walkman. Even though she could feel pair of eyes on her, the girl ignored them and kept walking.
She tiredly sighed as Dustin changed direction again."Okay, so apparently, we're going this way now?" Juliana asked. "I swear to God, if he gets us lost I'm going to" Juliana stopped talking when she noticed Eddie looking down with a gloomy face. "Hey. What's wrong?" She asked, concerned about him.
Eddie gazed at her. "Uh, nothing. I'm fine." He answered before looking back down again.
"You don't seem like it." She replied, crossing her arms and tilting her head down to meet eyes with the long-haired man. Ever since they saw each other again at Skull Rock, things between Juliana and Eddie haven't totally been doing well.
"It's just... why didn't you tell me sooner that you were going through all of this?" Eddie asked as Juliana removed her headphones.
She shrugged her shoulders at him. "I don't know I-"
"I just... I can't believe I never even realized something was hurting you and I feel like a complete asshole for not noticing." He muttered out, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Well, how could you?" Juliana asked. She hated the fact that he was blaming himself for this.
"I know, but-"
"Could you shut up, for like two seconds?" She asked nicely as Eddie stopped talking and looked at her. "It's not your fault, I'm the one who disappeared for three months. I got scared, frightened. I thought running away from my problems would fix everything but obviously, it didn't. It just made everything worse."
"But part of it is my fault." Eddie stopped in his tracks and turned to face Juliana. "I didn't chase after you when I somehow knew something was wrong and I hate myself for it. I may not have been there for you before, but I'm here now! I'm here for you, Jules! You don't have to hide anything from me anymore."
"Eddie..." She breathed out, staring at him with sad eyes. She didn't know what to reply but his message touched her heart.
"I felt my heart die for a second when I saw you in that trance." He said. "When I was with Chrissy, I couldn't save her and I watched her die. I didn't want to go through all of that again, especially not with you" His voice broke as he spoke. "So please, if anything is bothering you again, tell me. I'm going to be there, helping you in every way possible. Okay?"
Juliana desperately nodded as Eddie pulled her in for a hug, bringing her head to his shoulder so she could cry into it. Wrapping her arms around him, she instantly felt comfortable in his arms. He lifted her chin, making her look at him and pressed his lips onto hers. As if it was their last kiss.
