Chapter Text
Eddie woke with a gasp.
The air was stale and tasted like metal and blood. Wait, he thought. Did he just taste blood in the air? He looked around and noticed the demobats laying all around him, motionless. He didn’t need to look closer to know they were dead, he could just sense it. That’s when he realized he could sense more than the bats. He could feel the Upside Down expanding, like it was growing. He turned his body to the trailer behind him and cursed when he saw that portal had gotten bigger and stretched across the land.
“Shit!” he spat as he slowly pealed himself off the ground.
He expected himself to be in more pain, but as he got up, he noticed that most of the blood had dried onto his skin, and the wounds that were once gushing were now pale scar tissue. He poked the area and it was tender to the touch, but not painful. He thought about what had happened before he passed out. The bats, Dustin, it all felt so fresh. How was he even alive? How much time had passed? And god he was starving.
As he made his way to his trailer to scavenge for whatever food might be laying around, he realized it wasn’t food he was hungry for. This hunger was different than anything he had ever experienced. It tugged at his insides and clawed at his throat. Fuck, he thought as he rummaged through the cupboards. Nothing. There was nothing. All he could find were empty boxes of what used to be crackers, granola bars, or cereal. He tossed the boxes into the cupboards and glanced at the portal that had torn a gaping hole in the side of the trailer.
The closer he got to the portal, the more his hunger rose. Drool fell from his lips and he frantically wiped it away. He could smell something so rich coming from the other side, it was unlike anything he’d ever smelled before. It was almost arousing. Whatever happened to him while in the Upside Down, he didn’t care. All he wanted was to find the source of that sweet smell.