Scare Zone
Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader (reader is referred to as a girl a few times)
Summary: Eddie finds a flier for the first ever Hawkins Scare Zone and asks you to go with him.
Word count: 2824
Warning: established relationship, pet names, scare zone/haunted house descriptions, fake blood and weapons mentioned, clowns, fluff, very very light hurt/comfort.
A/N: Hello! This is my Halloween special! This is a little special in the same world and storyline as my series, Mixtape. You do not have to have read it to read this, this is a one-shot but the same reader from that is in this! I went to a bunch of scare zones when I was on vacation and I thought it would be fun to write about going to one with Eddie! I really hope you like this!
“Babe!” Eddie called out as he hopped out of his van, slamming the door shut before bounding up to you as you sat on his porch waiting for him. “Sorry I’m late, pretty girl.” He said before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips.
“It’s okay Eds, I got some reading done while I waited.” You smiled up at him as you took the hand he presented.
“Whatcha reading this time?” He asked as he helped you stand up and led you to the side door of his trailer.
“Dracula.” You laughed as you followed him through the now unlocked door and into his bedroom. “It felt seasonally appropriate.” You smiled brightly up at him as you plopped yourself down on his bed.
“It definitely is.” He smiled. “You’ll have to tell me how you like it, I read it a couple years ago.” He said, digging for something in his back pocket as he stood in front of you. He pulled out a folded neon orange paper and started unfolding it, a goofy grin on his face. “I saw this flier at the record shop, I thought we could go.”
He handed the paper to you and printed in black ink it read “Hawkins Scare Zone: Every Friday and Saturday in October”.
“Scare Zone?” You asked, looking up at your boyfriend with a quirked brow.
“Yeah! It’s their first time doing one of these. I think it’s where they have actors come out and scare you. I bet it’s gonna be lame cause its Hawkins. But I bet we can make it fun.” He said eagerly, nodding his head in encouragement.
You bit your lip in faux contemplation before shooting him a bright smile, “You’ll hold my hand the whole way right?” You asked.
Eddie beamed, “Of course! Gotta keep my baby safe.” He teased lightly. He took your hands in his and squeezed them lightly.
“Want to go to the one tonight?” You asked as you reciprocated the gesture.
Eddie nodded his head enthusiastically, “Oh yeah. We can get some burgers at the diner before and head over.”
So that’s what you did, and how you now found yourself standing in a long line of mostly older teens and young adults at the Hawkins fairgrounds. You were clutching your ticket tightly in one hand while the other was clinging to Eddie’s. He turned his head to you and took in the anxious expression you were trying to hide.
“Remember, they’re just actors babe. Nothing to worry about.” He whispered as he leaned in to leave a kiss to your cheek.
“I know, my friends tried to get me to go to one back in California. But I always made an excuse not to go. Our cat seems to get sick a lot around Halloween.” You chuckled with a somewhat bashful smile.
Eddie laughed as he let go of your hand to snake his arm around your waist, pulling you flush into his side as his other hand grasped the one of yours that he had just released. “Who knew that badass who went up against those demobats was such a little scaredy cat.” He teasingly whispered in your ear.
You smirked at that, “I’ll have you know I was terrified the entire time, I almost pissed myself when they started swarming.” You joked, Eddie threw his head back as he laughed and squeezed your side as the line started moving into the event.
The two of you followed the crowd as it grouped around some of the employees as they explained the rules of the event. You were currently in the main event area where there were concessions and some carnival games. Eddie pulled you over to one, the balloon popping dart game, and laid down the $2 fee to play.
He shot you a knowing wink before throwing dart after dart and hitting a balloon each time. Impressing you, and the employee working the counter. “Well, you win. Which one do you want?” He asked, pointing to the wall of stuffed animals.
Your boyfriend turned to you, “Which one dolly?” He asked with a proud smile on his face. You beamed and pointed to a stuffed jack o'lantern. “One pumpkin for the lady please.” He said to the employee who just rolled his eyes as he grabbed one of the stuffed pumpkins off the wall and then handed it to Eddie who then gave it to you.
“Thank you Eddie! Who knew you were so good at darts!” You exclaimed as you hugged the Jack O'Lantern briefly before Eddie resumed his previous hold on you, one arm wrapped around your waist as the other held your free hand.
“I’m full of surprises, sweet thing. Let’s go to the scares now though.” He said with a large smile.
Eddie led you through an archway that brought you into the scare zone that you would have to walk through to get to the haunted houses. You could already hear the distant sounds of chainsaws and manic laughter through the fog in front of you.
You squeezed the metalheads hand tightly as he pulled you forward. “I got you sweetheart.” Eddie encouraged as you walked into the foggy darkness. You heard the screaming of couples in front of you as you moved, causing the hair to stand up on your body as the anticipation got to you.
Suddenly a man covered in blood ran out of the darkness from your left wielding a large chainsaw as he laughed maniacally. You didn’t want to, but you couldn’t stop the scream from escaping from your throat as you jumped and turned into Eddie as he laughed and he led you away from the actor.
“Keep your girl close.” You heard the man yell out in a gravely voice from behind you as you moved.
“Oh I definitely will.” Eddie called back, completely unphased.
You made it through the zone quickly with Eddie holding you tight to his side and now you found yourselves in the area where they held the entrances to the 3 houses they had. You looked at each of the signs: Simon’s Slaughterhouse, Phantom Lake, and Twisted Carnival.
“Which should we do first?” You asked, looking up at your boyfriend as he thought. “The Carnival?”
“Definitely the slaughterhouse one.” Eddie said quickly, pulling you towards the house entrance.
The line for this one wasn’t as long as some of the others and you got into the area quickly. You walked in and you were greeted with the interior of a disheveled house. You walked through the blood-stained living room as an actor dressed as a knitting grandma sat in a rocking chair and told you how delicious you would taste once her son got to you.
“Hey, only I get to taste my girlfriend!” Eddie exclaimed, receiving an “Eddie!” as you flushed and pulled him into the next room. He laughed as he followed you, taking in the decorations around him as you walked through the numerous rooms.
You were walking down a particularly dark hallway and couldn’t feel where Eddie was anymore as he had dropped your hand. “Eddie?” You said quietly, there was no response. You tried to look around but you couldn't see anything as you squeezed your new stuffed animal tightly. Where had he gone?
Your nerves were starting to rise when all of a sudden you felt someone land behind you and grab both of your sides with a loud “Boo!” Causing you to scream and jerk forward into the next room.
“Hey, hey, sweetheart! It’s just me!” Eddie called after you as he followed you quickly. He grabbed your hand as you fled and brought you back to him. “I’m sorry baby. I thought it would be funny.” He chuckled softly as he pulled you flush with him again and kept walking you through the maze.
“It wasn’t Eddie! You scared the shit outta me!” You exclaimed as you were led through the blood stained room.
“That’s the whole point!” You heard the actor laugh at you as he pretended to saw a body in half.
“Sorry pretty girl.” Eddie laughed lightly as he brought you into the next room.
There were fake body parts hanging from the ceiling as you walked through a freezer and you had to brush past as you walked through. A figure jumped out from behind a fake torso, “You’ll end up here too!” He yelled as he brandished a large knife in front of you, causing you to jump and hide in Eddie’s neck as he led you out laughing.
You exited the maze and were now out in the event area that led to the other houses. “You better not try that again, Munson.” You scolded as you pulled Eddie to the next house, Phantom Lake.
~~
“Hold on, what the fuck didn’t you just say?” Eddie asked with his eyebrows furrowed and an amused grin on his face.
It was much later, you had gone through the other house which was camp themed with a serial killer chasing you throughout like Friday the 13th and now you were waiting in the line for the last house of the evening, Twisted Carnival.
“The song is a song about a dance song. It’s like making a song about the Electric Slide song but Halloween themed.” You explained as you played with the rings on his hand that you were holding.
“The Monster Mash?” Eddie quirked his head with a fond smile.
“Yeah! The lyrics are about a guy walking through his castle while a bunch of monsters do a dance called the Monster Mash. The song we are hearing is not the song they are dancing to. We are listening to a song about monsters dancing to a different song called the Monster Mash.” You laughed.
“Babe, you’re blowing my mind here.” Your boyfriend explained before he pulled you close to him to leave a wet kiss to your cheek as you walked through the entrance to the maze.
You practically preen into the affection before Eddie jumped away from you, startled, as a small woman dressed as a clown jumped in front of you with a loud scream while honking a horn. You screamed in response, scared yourself, but were shocked by the yelp that came from your boyfriend behind you.
“Babe keep moving!” You heard from him as he pushed you forward, clinging to you from behind.
His voice sounded shaky and nervous. Was Eddie Munson scared? The man who had seen and been through so much a few months ago in the Upsidedown was scared in a haunted house? A clown themed one at that? The same man who laughed and joked his way through all the other houses you went through tonight was now holding onto you tightly as you led the way through the circus themed maze.
You smiled fondly to yourself as you felt Eddie’s sweaty hands squeeze yours as you walked through a door and into a dimly lit mirror maze. You took in Eddie’s expression as you caught a glimpse in a mirror in front of you. His eyebrows were both furrowed and raised high in concern, his eyes were scanning the room frantically, wide and scared, and he seemed to be mumbling something under his breath as he walked. You listened closely over the carnival music they were playing through the house.
“Are you singing Sabbath lyrics under your breath?” You questioned him as you walked forward, spying the next clown as he showed up in one of the mirrors in front of you.
“It calms me down!” Eddie defended, his grip on your hand was incredibly tight as he followed you though. You laughed lightly at that as you wound your way to the entrance to the next room, past the smiling clown. Eddie jumped as the clown lunged for him with a manic laugh, his Sabbath lyrics coming out quickly now almost like a prayer of protection.
The metalhead groaned once you entered the next room, it was a full big top circus with bloody, knife wielding clowns wandering through. They were laughing and screaming at the other patrons as they moved in front of you, occasionally chasing a few as they ran into the next room.
A particularly tall clown bounded up to you two, he was in a bright white and rainbow polka dot outfit with large shoes, he wore a bright green wig that jutted out in all directions and he was splattered with fake blood. He ran up to you and Eddie, an unnerving high-pitched giggle coming out of him as he thundered forward.
“Babe! Move now!” Eddie practically shouted as he took the hand he was holding and pulled you along behind him as he ran into the next room with the clowns laughing as you passed.
You pulled on Eddie’s arm to bring him back to you as you entered the next room. It was much darker and decorated like a dressing room and thankfully it was currently clown free.
“Hey, pretty boy, slow down.” You cooed, pulling him into you and placing a protective arm around him as you walked slowly through. “It’s alright, they’re just actors, remember?” You told him, rubbing soothing circles into his back with the arm wrapped around him, you handed him your stuffed pumpkin before grabbing on of his hands, effectively copying the way he had held you earlier to calm you down.
“Right, right. Actors.” Eddie mumbled, eyes still wide as he scanned the room. You thankfully seemed to miss the actor in this room, a nice reprieve for the metalhead.
Thankfully for Eddie, the rest of the maze wasn’t as clown filled and he let you lead him out into the fresh October air. He followed you to a corner with minimal people, his head hung slightly as he stood next to you.
“Sorry about that.” He said softly, avoiding your eyes.
“Why are you sorry?” You asked, confused, as he handed you the pumpkin back.
“It’s not really attractive to have to help your boyfriend through a fake haunted house.” He sighed, fidgeting with his rings.
“Hey. Eddie, baby, look at me!” You demanded, his large brown eyes landed on yours, full of concern. “We came here to get scared and you’ve been helping me through this whole event! Is it unattractive to you that I was scared through the houses?” You asked, receiving a very quick shake of his head. “Then why would it be unattractive to me? Just means I know what scares the scary Eddie Munson.” You joked, poking his chest playfully as you smiled up at him.
A small smile broke on his face, “Great. Now you’re gonna try to scare me aren’t you?” He asked.
You gasped in faux offense. “Me? Scare you on purpose? What kind of girlfriend do you think I am? Can you believe he would ask me that?” You questioned to your stuffed pumpkin. “Jack is just as offended as I am at your suggestion Edward.” You said, barely able to fight the grin wanting to pull at your lips.
“Wow, wiping out the government name.” He smiled, “I’m very sorry for suggesting it, sweetheart.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” You said, holding up your stuffed friend to face Eddie, who rolled his eyes.
“And I’m sorry Jack.” He sighed, but he couldn’t fight the smile he had as you beamed back up at him. “Ready to go home babygirl? We can watch a movie.” He asked as he draped his arm around your shoulder and started leading you back to the entrance of the event.
“Yes please! But no scary movies tonight okay? I’m all out of scares.” You said as you snuggled into him. “Can we watch Pretty in Pink?” You asked brightly.
“You said no scary movies.” Eddie joked, planting a kiss in your hair as you laughed. “Yeah, I guess we can watch it again, sweet thing. Anything for you.”
“So, what’s with the clowns if you don’t mind me asking?” You wondered as you walked.
“What do you mean? Clowns are beings of nightmares.” He said seriously, smiling as you laughed loudly. “But really, it was from my childhood. Old man brought me to a circus one year. It didn’t go super well.” He said simply and you decided now was not the time to pry.
“Thank you for a great night Eddie. Happy Halloween.” You said happily, stopping outside his van once you got there. You leaned up to place a gentle kiss on his lips, something sweet and soft.
Eddie snaked his arms around your waist pulling you flush with him as he kissed you back hungrily. You pulled away with a cheeky smile on your face. “Not in front of Jack!” You teased, giggling as he rolled his eyes before he brought you back to him and found your lips again.
