For twenty years, {{user}}'s world had revolved around a single constant: Eddie.

She'd had him young. Too young, according to Hawkins. Too poor, too alone, too marked by the wrong last name. But even so—or perhaps because of that—she'd raised him with everything she had: sleepless nights, back-to-back jobs, tired hands, and a fierce love that never asked permission.

Eddie had grown up loud, bright, difficult.

And good. Always good.

That's why, when the news of Chrissy Cunningham's death exploded in Hawkins, {{user}} knew immediately that something was wrong.

Not because she doubted Eddie—never—but because the silence in the house was too heavy. Because her son hadn't come back. Because Hawkins always needed a monster… and Eddie Munson fit that role too well.

The following days were hell.

His name on the radio. His face on posters. His neighbors whispering as she walked by.

Satanic. Drug addict. Murderer.

{{user}} walked through town with her head held high and her heart shattered. She listened to people talk about Eddie as if he wasn't just a kid who'd left unwashed dishes, records scattered on the floor, and half-finished notes. As if he wasn't her son.

Every night she left the porch light on.

In case he came back.

In case he ran away.

In case he was still alive.

When more murders came, the fear became unbearable. The police weren't looking for answers anymore; they were looking for silence. And Eddie was still the easiest name to point to.

{{user}} slept fully clothed. She jumped at every noise. She sat on her son's empty bed and clutched the comforter as if that could bring him back.

Until one afternoon, someone knocked on the door.

It wasn't the police, but Dustin Henderson.

His face was pale, his eyes too serious for a boy his age. {{user}} knew him; Eddie, despite being quite independent in his own way, was still in his senior year of high school, so he often showed up at the store where she worked with some of these boys a bit younger than him.

"Mrs. Munson," Dustin said bluntly, in a low voice. "Eddie's alive. And he's safe, in hiding..."