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thevampirelevi · 5 months

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Adventureland | Part II

Masterlist

"Da Vinci's Dream." (part 2/7)

cw: vampire!eddie x fem!reader, mentions of grief, loneliness

wc: 2.8k+

You had not the faintest idea that you were being followed. Not that you should, given your humanly lack of any survival instincts whatsoever. Eddie really couldn’t fathom one good reason why a girl would travel into an abandoned theme park alone, let alone at night.

Sure, when he first picked up on your scent, the sun had technically not exited stage left yet, but still. Though to your credit, you hadn’t actually been the first to come here - only the first to do so in the late hours of the evening, not to mention the first in so long. Has no one warned you to stay away? Any other visitor wouldn’t have much of a story to tell, but they should at least remember ‘Adventureland’ being the last thing they saw before everything faded to black. Given the fact that the numbers in loiterers were dwindling ever since Eddie first made a home here, he’d considered it message received. Eddie’s methods as of late were calculated and meticulous, and definitely far less fatal than his fledgling days. They also served a secondary purpose now, and that was keeping the at least somewhat abandoned Adventureland, well, abandoned.

Yet it seemed that you were very steadfast on getting in the way of that. Eddie pondered making a run for the breaker box, already having memorized its location just outside the ‘Tunnel of Love,’ but there was a familiar light to your eyes that had him second guessing whether or not you were actually new to this neck of the woods. His sudden and painstaking hunger also had him immersed in your every move at the moment, so one could say that he felt he was almost owed a second look at you. Just a peek, nothing more.

You carefully stepped over the fissures in the pathway where weeds were sprouting through, polyester sleeves stretched over your knuckles and hugging your chest.

Now you were walking somewhat aimlessly, it only becoming clearer and clearer that your beloved memories were merely just something of the past. Seeing Adventureland in its neglected state was beginning to eat away at you, in a similar fashion to how weather ate away at seemingly any and everything it could within fairgrounds, ironically starting with what you made out to be now barren concession stands. They seemed to have the worst of it. Instead of smelling the rich sugar and old oil of fried dough, you had to turn your nose away from the musty smell of mold, mildew, and wood rot.

You were just starting to come around to the idea of admitting defeat when a wind chime-like sound made you look toward the opposite way you’d been walking down a crossroad. As soon as you saw the swings, a swarm of memories invaded your inner thoughts instantaneously.

It was your favorite ride as a kid, and pretty much the only ride your mother wouldn’t mind spending two, three tickets on in just a day. It overlooked ‘Lover’s Lake,’ though this side of it was now more comparable to a marsh. The paint on the swaying seats now chipping to reveal the same metal as the handlebars and chains holding the swings to the ceiling of the carousel, but it was in surprisingly good condition in contrast to any other rollercoaster you’d seen in here so far. It was almost like being there a decade ago all over again.

You’d finally been tall enough to ride this one. Never being a fan of heights, your mother kept her promise of holding your hand from her own seat the entire time, the momentum pushing you both to and fro out of sync with all of the other passengers and making you knock into each other - erupting bouts of giggles from the pair of you. Watching the reflection of the summer sunset on the ripples of the lake from way above was something special. Later on there had been time for just one more ride before the park closed, and the carousel now being fully lit up like a Christmas tree made you pull your mother’s arm all the way back to the line. You both spread your arms out like wings instead of holding hands that time, imagining you were flying.

The lonesome lurching of your heart suddenly pulled you away from your thoughts as you somberly looked onward. Coming here on Valentine’s Day of all days, especially having brought no one with you (having nobody to bring, actually) was now undeniably a mistake. Your face was so cold that you didn’t even feel the tears fall, so dark that you also didn’t notice your crying distorting your vision. You whipped around and turned on your heel so fast you’d almost lost your footing…

If not for two large hands bracing your shoulders as you knocked into something very statue-like.

Those hands were so cold, so unmoving, that it hadn’t fully registered to you that you had bumped into another person until your eyes adjusted to see two large eyes staring back at you.

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Almost as if a reflection in one another’s mirror, you both jumped back with widened eyes, startled.

Several literal beats passed before Eddie could remember how to make the sounds escape his mouth, it’d been so long since he’d last spoken.

“Sorry,” he started, trying to focus more on the rasp of his own voice than the drumming of your quickening heart. “Didn’t mean to scare you…”

“S’okay, you looked equally scared yourself,” you sniffled, offering a weak smile. Clearly you didn’t spend enough time in the big city to undo the conditioning of being a waitress with ready and chipper responses, and to know not to talk to strangers.

“People don’t really come here anymore,” said the man. When you’d first, literally, run into him there was something very youthful about his eyes from what you could make out in the dark. However now upon hearing his voice, the slight ruggedness of it, he seemed much older. It almost sounded like he’d just come back from a smoke.

At the thought of that, you honestly could use one yourself right about now to calm your nerves upon remembering that you were now in this abandoned theme park, at night, with no one or nothing to protect you, now engaging in chit chat with this strange (and strangely good looking) man.

Almost as if sensing your unease, the stranger took a few steps away from you, luckily putting himself under direct moonlight. It must have been a full moon tonight, this giving you more of a view of nearly all of his features even from where he stood towering over you.

His skin pale and hiding the faintest blush across his cheekbones, maybe from the cold or perhaps because he was just as flustered as you. The softness of his eyes returning made you feel less like you were transfixed in conversation with a complete and total stranger, the dark curls cascading onto his brow adding to the depth of his eyes. Now it was starting to feel more like a meet-cute.

“Are you lost-”

“Do I know you-”

Both of your words come out crashing together. You wipe whatever tears remaining with the sleeve of your sweater jacket, feeling slightly shy.

“Sorry, it’s just that you look kind of familiar,” you finish. “But maybe that’s just me hoping for a familiar face, I mean, I might be kind of lost..”

At your words he cracks a smile, dimples piercing through his alabaster skin and making the corners of his eyes slightly wrinkle. This immediately puts you at ease in a way you didn’t anticipate.

“Yeah I mean, no offense, but I kinda figured you didn’t intend on exploring Hawkins’ biggest junkyard all by your lonesome.” He folds his arms across his chest, looking you up and down. He heard your heart flutter as he surveyed you. “Lucky for you, I’m one hell of a tour guide. Name’s Eddie.”

Eddie extends his ring-clad right hand to you.

“Y/N.”

Both the coolness of the metal and his skin make you jolt for the second time since meeting. He quickly drops your hand and clears his throat.

“So, where were you headed?”

It’s your turn to blush again this time, “Oh- I meant to come here, it’s just…Not what I was expecting, I guess,” you clarify. “It’s only been a year since I was here last, I wasn’t expecting it to be…”

“Abandoned?” Eddie chimes in. So the rumors hadn’t in fact reached your ears yet.

“Yeah,” you let out a shaky laugh, looking around the both of you. “It’s seeming more like ‘land’ than ‘adventure’ this time around.”

He laughs again, a warm sound. “Well, sorry to disappoint. Things have changed a lot ‘round here.”

“Yeah?” you urge him to continue.

He looks at the ground suddenly, “Yeah, it’s a long story…Hey are you staying in town? I could help you home, if you want.”

You don’t understand why it seems that he’s trying to change the subject suddenly, but honestly it makes you even more curious.

“I have time,” you smile. “I traveled all the way here, might as well learn who let the place go.”

Eddie’s eyes meet yours finally, pondering briefly before he speaks again, “Alright, I guess I did sign myself up for being a tour guide.”

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Eddie was having a hard time keeping to a human’s pace so unexpectedly, being much more used to his usual gait. Furthermore, the new revelations you were making had you walking even slower as you remained deep in thought the more that he shared.

And what he did tell you still wasn’t the whole story, either.

“A record breaking earthquake?” You echo his words from earlier.

Eddie nods his head, “This town’s been through a lot this past year you could say, still trying to recover. Lots of things had to be rebuilt and people lost their houses so, this side of the tracks is pretty much forgotten about.”

“That’s so sad,” you say softly, thinking aloud.

“Eh, I’m sure they’ll get around to it eventually, power’s still on after all. We’re not completely forsaken yet.”

You stop walking, “The power’s still on?”

“Yeah, I come here often. A lot of these rides can still be booted up,” he notices immediately how your heart picks up a different tune, in addition he could practically smell what he could only assume was excitement though it seems you were trying to hide it. “As long as you have the key that is. Which I do…What was that ride you were looking at? Da Vinci’s Dream?”

You nod your head, suddenly more enthused, “It was my favorite when I used to come here as a kid.”

“It’s one of the safe ones, I could probably ride it with you if you’re interested?”

Eddie can tell you can no longer contain your newfound excitement.

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You had picked out your seat on the outer edge of the circle of swings, feet rocking above the ground as you waited while Eddie located the power boxes to Adventureland.

He made good time, as not long after you’d gotten settled in your seat, all of the lights around you flickered to life and the calliope began playing its familiar tune without missing a single note as if waiting to serenade you once again after all of these years.

You looked around you in amazement, in awe of how well the fluorescence of the butterscotch haze spilling all around you hid the uninhibited nature of Adventureland and added a mellowness that was definitely not there a half hour ago.

As you’re taking it all in, you feel the row of chairs being pushed forward ever so slightly. There now making his way through the gate is your newfangled friend, light dancing in his eyes as he excitedly strides to the swing adjacent to yours, gracefully ducking the others as he does so. Just as the ride begins to lift, he clammers in his seat in a manner too fast for your eyes to follow. That contagious smile of his eclipses his face once again as he holds up his hands, what looks to be a ‘Midland Ready Rescue’ radio in one and a thumbs up in the other.

“That old speaker up there doesn’t work but I figured we still needed some music,” he proclaims, not even slightly out of breath. “Stations never play any thrash but, it’ll do.”

Just as he gives the handheld to you, the ride begins to pick up speed as you ascend higher and higher off the ground. You fiddle around with the buttons briefly before finally picking up a signal that doesn’t feed you static. You keep a firm grip on the device in your dominant hand as you close your eyes and stretch out those wings you haven’t used in so long.

Eddie’s eyes were on you the whole time, watching with wonder as something pure and childlike broke out of you, almost making him think one of the cherubs on the plafond above had come to life and taken your place. When the journey seemed to slow, you let your eyes open and finally brought your arms down, but the ride only continued backwards.

Eddie could hear you laughing before the sound left your lips. It was interesting, he’d never had the pleasure of witnessing that ever before.

He couldn’t help joining in with you, thankful to both whom or whatever was still keeping the currents flowing to ‘Forgotten-Land’ and also his quick witted idea of giving you the experience of having what was left of the amusement park all to yourself.

You keep the Ready-Rescue clutched to your belly, slightly muffling a recognizable (at least to you) Crowded House song. Da Vinci’s dream was ending as the coaster made its final merry-go-round.

You dare a glance to the man next to you, finding that he was already looking your way with watchful doe eyes.

You wait for a pause in the lyrics, “Thank you,” you breathed. Eddie’s smile deepens in return. “So much.”

The scuffed soles of his maybe-once-white Reeboks reach the ground before your feet did, him swiftly lifting the safety bar of his swing and exiting the ride. He holds out one fair hand to help you off.

The electricity reverberating between your palms didn’t shock you, but it sent many a chill down your spine and had you feeling as if you’d shuffled across a carpet charged with static friction while you held his hand longer than the first time, trying to find your balance on tingling feet.

“Are you cold Eddie??” you practically yelped.

He drops your hand in the same manner as before, clasping his rings together and bringing his fists to his flushed lips, huffing a cloud of air over them. You watch this action too closely. “Sorry, I’m very anemic,” he chuckles, “Blood doesn’t circulate very well.”

Eddie leans over the waiting area railing and turns the key to the killswitch, darkening the square where the ride was held. You’re walking ahead of him. You collapse on a nearby bench, killing the radio and turning your knees in his direction, lost in thought as your eyes trail his approaching silhouette.

Once he reaches you, your mind has finally decided that you do recognize him.

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“You were at my mother’s funeral,” you had announced.

Eddie stilled for a moment before his features softened as he took a cautious seat next to you, but feeling an island away.

You continued, “It was this time last year. Practically every student she’s ever had showed up. Were you one of them, Eddie?”

Realization flashes across his face in remembrance, “Mrs.L/N..Of course,” his words were as soft as his expression, almost whispering. “She was my art teacher.”

You nodded, sighing. “Hawkins Elementary.”

“I’m sorry,” Eddie offered earnestly. He paused, tiptoeing the topic, “D’you miss her? Is that…Is that why you were crying earlier..?”

You nodded your head silently, looking at a moth trapped in a flickering street lamp a few feet away. Eddie took both of your hands in his, forgetting once again just how close he couldn’t be to you. You didn’t mind. You let your eyes meet his, your icy exterior melting under his warm gaze except for in the spot where his fingertip drew circles into your palm, iron rings conducting the feeling.

His hair was longer, only further deepening the depth of the shadows under his eyes - also a new feature since the last time you briefly saw him - coal colored ringlets framing his angel face. What was the same; the black he was dressed in top to bottom apart from his shoes both then at the funeral and then again sitting next to you after all this time, and the sympathetic look in his eyes was all the same too whether in quick or lingering glances. He stood apart from everyone else, in the abyss of his eyes it didn’t feel like pity, it felt like understanding.

It was those same abysmal brown-black eyes that would stare back at you in every dream you dreamt on Motel 6 pillows since you first walked into Adventureland one lonely Valentine’s Day. Since you first met Eddie Munson.

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an: this chapter was so long so pls give me some grace if it seems to go in and out of first person pov lol

- levi

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