LEWIS FAMILY CABIN

 

HAWKINS, INDIANA

 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2025, 9:46 PM

 

Silence had always been comforting to Demona. It meant peace, and peace was the goal of all people. There was no fighting in silence, no screaming and no wars. Silence brought with it smiles, clarity, and peace of mind.

 

Tonight, though, it brought anything but.

 

As she sat on the edge of the dock, Eddie’s jacket over her shoulders, Demona stared down at the guitar pick in her hands. It hadn’t even been a full 24 hours since she had lost the one piece of her life she had struggled for seven years to get back, and she had already emptied her eyes of all the tears she could. Not even her friends had tried to comfort her, either, knowing the hole in her chest was larger than any bullet could blow. They had allowed her to have the space she needed, and while she would’ve been thankful for it in the future, at the time, all the silence did was trap her inside her mind.

 

At first, the blame had fallen on Jane. The brunette had barely been able to stand before Demona had started screaming at her for closing the gate, and for leaving Eddie behind. She had been too weak to defend herself, and while Nancy had tried to stand up for the woman, Demona was too hurt to listen to reason, screaming at the reporter for standing up for her. In her eyes, if she hadn’t closed the gate, then maybe, just maybe, she could’ve defeated the demogorgon and ran back in after Eddie, and if that wasn’t the case, then at least she could’ve been dead, too. No one had any response to that, and without acknowledging her, Nancy had picked up Jane from the ground, the two women leaving as Dustin and Will had silently moved into the Byers’ home.

 

By the time those four had left, the blame had quickly turned to Steve. Just as they went to leave, Steve had been the first to try and comfort her, pulling her into a hug. He was met, though, with only malice and words blaming him for his role in holding her back. He hadn’t allowed her to run after Eddie, and while she didn’t know what happened, she had screamed at him how he hadn’t even tried to help Eddie. It made the car ride back to the Lewis Family’s cabin silent, and when he was sure the two women were settled, Steve had left without a word to the blonde.

 

Then it was Jessica’s turn. As the woman went to offer her friend a drink, her screams had turned on her roommate, blaming her for setting up the show in the first place. In her eyes, if it hadn’t been for Jessica, Corroded Coffin never would’ve come back to Hawkins, and Eddie never would’ve been caught in the crossfire of The Upside Down. It wasn’t fair, especially since the pink-haired woman had been unaware of the existence of the other universe, but it was easier to blame everyone else than to face what she was truly feeling.

 

Finally, as she sat on the dock, staring at the guitar pick with a half-empty glass of whiskey next to her, the blame fell to who Demona actually blamed: herself. She didn’t even like whiskey, but the burn felt deserved. It helped numb the pain in her knee, but did little to cover the way her chest felt like it was sinking into the lake before her. She had come out the worst from everything -- her throat was half-bruised from the bat’s tail, her knee was bruised all around from the final attack, and her side was still healing from the bite one of them had taken during her first trip into The Upside Down, but in truth, the physical pain paled in comparison to the thoughts running through her mind.

 

After all, it had been Demona who had let Eddie enter The Upside Down a second time. She could’ve distracted them herself, or taken Jessica with her. Eddie had been injured from the start, and letting him go to play guitar had been selfish on her half. All she had wanted was to spend eternity with him, and she had barely had a full day before she had lost him again. A thumb ran over the guitar pick, and the back of her throat burned with the desire to sob again. He deserved tears shed on his behalf, but she had cried all she could cry for the time. A deep, shaky breath was taken as she clasped it behind her neck, bloodshot eyes turning up to the sky. The sun had set long ago, but she could still see the storm clouds gathering in front of the moon. It had once been her favorite weather, and there had been countless nights as teenagers where she had practically dragged Eddie outside to stand in the rain – the blonde opting to circle in the pouring rain as Eddie had chosen to stay on the porch and watch her, a smile on both their faces.

 

Now, though, as she lifted the whiskey glass back to her lips, that smile was long gone. She could hear a roll of thunder off in the distance, and squeezing her eyes shut, she threw back more of the whiskey than she should have. It was bitter, and it burned more than she was used to, the blonde leaning forward over the lake as she coughed hard. It wasn’t even doing what she wanted it to do, and staring at the lake before her, she pulled the glass back before throwing it as hard as she could. Whiskey splattered over the water before the glass splashed through the surface, ripples sending out long after it disappeared below the surface. She wanted to join it, to dive to the bottom of the lake and disappear without a trace, and it wasn’t fair how easy it was for the glass to do so. It wasn’t going to be missed, and neither would she. People would get over it, they would move on, but she wouldn’t. The longer she sat on the dock, the more she began to realize that without Eddie, the hole in her chest was never going to fully heal. There would never be another like him, not for her, and that gate closing had sealed shut all their dreams forever.

 

‘Demona.’

 

Hearing a voice that was far too familiar, the woman whipped her head around, blonde hair nearly smacking her in the face with the speed. It was impossible, she knew, but she swore it was his voice calling to her. Maybe it was the alcohol finally kicking in, or maybe she had lost her mind to grief, but as her eyes scanned the dark treeline, she swore she heard it again, followed by a second roll of thunder.

 

‘D, hey, come here.’

 

Demona swallowed, looking to the cabin back door. She could see Jessica with her back to the door, white headphones over her hot pink hair as she cooked something for dinner she was likely going to try and force Demona to eat. She wasn’t paying attention, though, and looking back to the woods, she waited only a moment before scrambling to her feet. Even if it wasn’t Eddie, she couldn’t sit back and ignore his voice.

 

Watching as the lightning flashed over the trees, Demona gave one last glance over her shoulder to make sure that Jessica wasn’t following, and then bolted into the woods. She was intimately familiar with the layout of the forest, and easily moving between the trees and roots, she searched for brown curls and worn-through Converse. She didn’t even realize how close to the gate within the rocks she was getting, and as she stepped on a stick, she half-jumped as the snap echoed through the woods.

 

However, it was followed by a squeaking that had her blood run cold. In reality, she knew the possibility of the demobats appearing in the regular world without cause was low, but those bats had scarred her both physically and emotionally. Her breath caught in her throat, and as her eyes turned up towards the trees, she realized just how far into the woods she had gone. She knew that Jessica wasn’t beyond reporting her missing, either, and rather than get lost in the woods (or attacked by bats again), she took one last look forwards before turning around to run . . .

 

. . . only to run directly into someone standing right behind her.