veda henderson

          I have to strain to hold in my giggle at the sight of Eddie with his face covered by a cheap Halloween mask. He pokes his head around the corner of the trailer, looking out for any signs of people. I stand next to him, my chin brushing his shoulder as I too peer out. 

    Unsurprisingly, the trailer park is mostly dead probably due to the murder that happened here not too long ago. Eddie turns to the group huddled behind us, motioning for them to move forward in silence.

    We all stay crouched and huddled together, running towards the random family home on wheels. We weave through the other trailers, coming out at the back of the caravan. The family that owns the caravan sits just on the other side, unaware of the group about to steal from them.

    Eddie gestures for us to be silent as he feels the side of the metal vehicle for a way inside before landing on a small window towards the end. Without hesitating, he grips the window and slides it open, throwing himself inside the van. He sits, pulling the mask off of his head and turning to the window with his palms open. I nod, tossing his bag to him which he catches gracefully. 

    I then grip the edges of the window, yanking myself up until my body slips through the opening and hits the built-in couch beneath the window. Steve is next to follow me into the caravan as Eddie rushes over to the driving section of the vehicle. 

    "Dusty," I whisper, grabbing his hand to help pull him through the caravan. He nods his thanks, dropping down and moving behind a wooden cabinet. As everyone else piles in, I quietly walk over to where Eddie sits in the driver's seat.

    He shoves a pair of pliers between his teeth, his hands grabbing onto the wires of the car and pulling them towards him. I feel a presence over my shoulder, turning to see Steve peering over me to watch Eddie work his magic. 

    Eddie pulls the pliers from his teeth, reaching down to clip the correct wires needed for hot-wiring. Steve looks at me, concern in his eyes before turning to Eddie, "How did you learn to do this?"

    "Well, when the other Dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire," Eddie explained briefly, continuing to work on the wires in front of him, "Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did but now, I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name,"

    "Well, Wayne is a Munson too and he seems great," I shrug, noticing the way his hands fumbled for a second as if he's surprised by my words. He very quickly recovers, looking over his shoulder at me briefly before continuing. 

    "Jesus, anyone would think there was less drug trading going on with you two and more friendly bonding," Robin jokes, sending a cheeky smile my way as I turn to look at her, "Although, Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving,"

    "I have to agree, I'm not convinced you actually own a driver's license," I shudder, remembering how erratic and rough Eddie drives that van of his. Man, I'm starting to miss that van. It's definitely been impounded by now.

    "Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Harringtons got her. Don't ya, big boy?" Eddie smiles, leaning towards Steve in emphasis.

    Eddie sparks two wires together, the dashboard in front of him lighting up as the van begins to rumble to life. Almost instantly, the voices of the family outside start up, their tones loud and angry.

    I almost snap my neck as two of them appear at the window on the passenger side, banging on the windows and yelling about the locked doors.

    "No time to argue, Steve-o," I laugh, pushing Steve in front of me as Eddie laughs louder than I've heard in a while. He giddily jumps up from his seat, allowing Steve to take over. 

    He jumps over the seat, turning back to everyone in a panic "Everyone hold on to something!"

    The kids rush around trying to find something to hold on to, the smile on my face hurting my cheeks as Eddie and I grab the same metal bar across the roof. He stands in front of me, his left arm in the air as he grips onto the metal bar, my right arm holding onto the same spot. He smiles down at me, a real genuine happiness overcoming his face. 

    "Drive, Steve! Drive!" Dustin yells from the couch behind me. 

    I laugh even harder at the tone of Dustin's voice. Steve quickly jams the car into drive and takes off, the tent pitched off the caravan outside being ripped out of the ground. The car bounces and swerves, causing everyone in the caravan to be tossed around. I continue to bump into Eddie as Steve yells out warnings, hitting the corner harshly. 

    The tyres screech as Steve turns us out of the caravan park that started this whole mess, the tent flap falling off of the vehicle. 

----------

          Steve parks the caravan a fair distance away from the war zone car park. Far enough that Eddie can stay hidden from the public but close enough for them to make an escape if they need to. 

    Everyone begins to pile out of the car, me behind them as I tighten my hoodie. 

    "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa," Steve stops me before I can exit the vehicle, his hand held up with his palm facing outwards. "What are you doing?"

    "Coming with?" I say it like it's a question, looking up at Dustin behind Steve as he turns. 

    "Uh uh. No way. You're a supposed kidnapping victim. Your face is all over the news, you can't just stroll into a gun store," Steve objects, placing his hands on his hips as he shakes his head. 

    "Where else would a kidnapping victim be besides a store for self-defence?" I attempt to reason, smiling innocently before sighing at his stern face. "Do you seriously think your appearance isn't going to raise a few eyebrows?"

    He looks down at his dirty and wrapped torse, nothing but Eddie's vest to cover himself. "In Hawkins Indiana? No," 

    "He's right, V. You should stay here with Eddie," Dustin steps behind Steve causing me to groan in annoyance.

    "Technically," I start, crossing my arms over my chest and ignoring the pain in my bicep, "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to appear in public unharmed? Since, y'know, we don't want people to think that Eddie actually kidnapped me,"

     "That's... flawed logic but kinda makes sense," Dustin mumbles to himself. I smile in triumph, stepping down the caravan stairs. 

    "Actually, you two," Steve gets the attention of Dustin and Lucas. They both turn to him, waiting for a response. "You should both wait in the van too. With this whole 'hunt hellfire' bullshit, it's probably for the better,"

    "Seriously?" Dustin and Lucas object simultaneously but decide against arguing. Instead, they drag their heels as they climb back into the van. 

    I decide to keep my hoodie over my head, loosening the strings so I don't look too suspicious. We make it to the store entrance, the doors opening as we pile in. We pause as we enter, Nancy speaking up, "Let's be... fast,"

    "Definitely," Erica agrees before we all split off. 

    I branch off on my own, holding my arms tightly against myself while I look through the isles. I come across a display of hunting knives, my eyes lighting up as I grab multiple from the display and shove them into my hoodie pockets. 

    A kid in a candy store is the best way to describe me as I practically skip through the isles of weapons, my fingers itching towards every item that slightly piques my interest. 

    I spy Robin and Steve in one of the isles, the male throwing a random army-styled jacket over his shoulders.

    "How many of these do you think we need?" Robin asks Steve, dropping a gasoline canister into her cart. I stop next to them in the aisle, playing with the strings of my hoodie.

    "I'd say five or six," I suggest, Steve nods in agreement, dropping a few more canisters into the cart.

    Robin looks up, her eyes getting stuck on something behind me. Fearing the worst, that something scary and out of the ordinary is behind me, I turn around and follow her line of vision. To my surprise, I see a red-headed girl, a round yellow hat on her head and a brown jacket over her arms. 

    Huh. Why would Robin be staring at her?

    I turn back to Robin, her face something of a lost puppy with a small and mindless smile on her face. Steve looks up, following her line of vision before smiling at the side of her face. 

    That face, the emotion shown on her features. It's something so familiar to me lately, the way Eddie has been looking at me. Except, Robin is looking at a girl this way?

    My eyes widen, my head nodding slowly as I recognise what's going on. Robin's into girls. Her crush on the unfamiliar ginger behind me gave her secret away to me. 

    "You gonna just stand here and gawk at her?" I speak up, snapping Robin back into the real world. She looks at me in fear for a second, a painful look on her face as if I just kicked her. Then she sees my face, the acceptance I try to display.

    "Shut up," She dismisses me. 

    I laugh, brushing off her playful words, "Well, I'm gonna go check out the guns," 

    The gun section isn't far from where Robin and Steve are holed up. I get there very quickly after weaving through a few aisles. The guns sit on display, a man with a hat and plaid over jacket standing behind the counter.

    "What can I get for you?" The older man asks, scanning me up and down. I'm sure my appearance is concerning to him, the pulled-up hoodie and slightly dirty clothes. Smiling sheepishly, I pull my hoodie down from my head quickly to try and present myself as more relaxed. 

    "Can I look at that one?" I ask, pointing to a shotgun behind him. He looks at me for a second before shrugging and turning, picking the shotgun off of the wall. He turns back to me, holding the shotgun out for me to grab.

    The cold metal meets the skin of my palm and the price tag from the weapon lightly catches on the sleeve of my hoodie. I study the weapon, clocking the chamber back until it makes a clicking noise. 

    "How much is this?" I ask.

    "$120.99, but, I'll throw in 20 rounds of buckshot for ya," The man replies, trying to upsell me. 

    "I know you're slightly ripping me off but, I'll take it," I tilt my head with a smile, placing the gun down on the shelf and reaching into my pocket. I feel the smooth leather wallet that I plucked from a customer's pocket when we first walked in, pulling it out and yanking some bills from the inside. 

    "Hey, can I see this real pretty .357, please?" A voice from beside me makes me freeze. The man takes the money from my hand and I immediately pull my hoodie back up over my head, angling my body slightly away from the person to my right.

    The man behind the counter notices my demeanour and briefly looks over at the basketball player beside me before deciding against saying something. He turns, getting ready to ring me up.

    My heart thumps in my chest, praying to whatever higher power that Jason Carver doesn't notice me standing beside him. I drop my elbow on the bench, resting my right cheek on my fist and turning my head from him.

    I spy Nancy off to the side of the store, her striped shirt catching my attention. I stare holes into her, hoping she'll somehow sense I'm looking at her and come save me from this mess.

    What the hell is Jason doing here anyway?

    "Veda Henderson?" The same voice from before causes me to clench my eyes shut in pain. I don't reply to him, instead, shifting on my heels and pretending I didn't hear him. "I can see your name on your shoes,"

    I can't help but curse under my breath, remembering the fact that I have my name written on the inner side of my left shoe, perfectly in display of Jason's view. That's what I get for trying to personalise the new shoes my Mum got for me with a pen. Maybe next time, I won't leave any identifying features on them such as my first name in the style of the Metallica logo. 

    Putting on a painful grin, I slowly straighten up and turn to Jason. "Hey, how's it going?" I drag out almost every last syllable in the sentence.

    "Wouldn't expect to find you here," He grins sarcastically, jolting the gun he's holding in my direction. "Y'know, being a kidnapping victim and all?"

    "Well, Jason, I'm going to say this really lightly so you can understand me. You don't know as much as you think you do," I mock, leaning onto the bench with my left elbow. "My question is, what are you doing here with a gun in your hand?"

    "Well, there's a murderer going around, Veda. Wouldn't you want protection from a satanic freak?" He baits me, eyeing me carefully as if waiting for my reaction. I narrow my eyes, trying my best not to react to his obvious ploy to get a rise out of me.

    "Why else do you think I'm here?" I almost whisper back. 

    "If you're scared or being controlled by the freak, I can help you," He tries to reason with me, believing somewhere in his messed up heart that he's doing the right thing.

    I look at him-- really look at him. He looks sad and scared, the memory of Chrissy-- his Chrissy that he lost in such a violent way printed onto his skin. I feel bad for him. Despite his bad decisions, he's in a deep grief, one I can almost relate to.

    When I lost my Dad, despite his questionable actions, that ache in your chest that comes with death is unforgettable. I know he was never going to be better, but death makes things final and concrete, it takes away the illusion of redemption and that's what hurts. I can't image the pain of losing a genuinely sweet soul. If I lost Eddie, the one person who understands me completely, I'd probably go a little crazy too. 

    I grab the shotgun from the desk, holding it up in front of me as if it could protect me from him.

    "I'm sorry about Chrissy, Jason. I mean it," I tell him, watching as his face flinches ever so slightly. He quickly regains his composure, readjusting his shoulders as if to shake off my words and her memory. He's doing this all in the name of her justice, so blinded by his rage that he can't even accept the fact that Chrissy wouldn't want this.

    I didn't know her, but from our brief conversations in class, she was gentle. She would hate violence in her honour. 

    "If you ask me, shotguns aren't good for killing anything besides small birds," He begins, a dark aura surrounding him as if a shift in him clicked into place. He steps closer to me, locking eyes with me as he speaks "I mean, they got power, sure, but not much range. That's just gonna force you into close-range combat, then someone can just grab the barrel like this," He grabs the barrel of the shotgun aggressively, causing my hands to shake at the force. "And redirect it,"

    "Unfortunately, Jason, I didn't ask you anything. If you don't let go, I will redirect this thing. Believe me, I don't miss," I threaten, locking eyes tightly with him in an effort to intimidate him.

    "I knew there was something off about you, Henderson," He almost grins, shaking his head slightly, "Which reminds me. Your brother, does he happen to be here with you?"

    "Like you said, I'm a kidnapping victim. Kind of defeats the purpose if I'm here with family," I grin sarcastically, yanking the shotgun from his grasp. "But, if I were you, I wouldn't so much as think about going near him,"

    "And why's that?" He challenges.

    I pause, looking for the right words to respond with, "Maybe you're right. There is something off about me. But, at least I don't use a sweet girl's death as an excuse to hurt other people just because I'm sad," 

    "You didn't know Chrissy," He seethes.

    "No," I interrupt him, grabbing the 20 rounds from the bench and shoving them into my pocket alongside the knives I'm stealing, "You didn't know Chrissy," 

    I push past him, purposefully bumping shoulders with him as I head towards the exit. I swallow hard, making sure I don't portray my shaken nerves to him. It feels like forever before I reach the exit, pushing the door open and pushing through the frame with my weapons. The second I get out of eyeshot, I begin to run around the corner of the building to where the caravan is parked.

    If Jason is here, his goons aren't far behind which isn't good news for Eddie and the other members of the hellfire club. 

    I turn over my shoulder, making sure none of the basketball members are behind me before I run to the familiar van. 

    My hand encloses around the door handle of the van, pulling towards me until the door pops open and reveals the worried faces of the boys inside. 

    "Wow, everything okay?" Eddie asks, holding his palms out as I race inside and drop my new gun on the couch at the back of the van. Eddie follows me to the couch, staying close behind as he tries to find the problem on my face.

    A noise from the door alerts me, turning over my shoulder to see the others pile into the van.

    "We gotta go," I announce, pulling the knives out from my pocket to place them down on the cabinet. 

    "Your old friends are here," Erica sasses Lucas, dropping down to sit next to him.

    Steve immediately climbs into the driver's seat, ignoring everyone's panicked yelling as he takes off from our hidden park.

    I sit on the couch, moving the shotgun out of the way for Eddie to sit next to me. "God, he's such an asshole,"