Chapter Text
They say a person’s soul knows their perfect match after just one touch and a connection that strong leaves traces. No one knows the origins of the soulmarks or the source of divine intervention that brought them into being. Early human history mentions distinct birthmark type images appearing on the skin as the sun rises. Modern scientists have determined that on the morning after your soulmate's hand touches your bare skin a mark will appear. Your soulmate’s skin will wear the same mark as you when the touch is returned. However, such is the case with many, when one person ignores the connection or refuses it altogether, the mark may fade overtime. Meeting a soulmate is rare but for those lucky few who meet and find each other after, they say it is indescribable, immeasurable happiness. Unless of course you get your mark and you don’t know who left it; and the fact they never come looking for you makes you question if any of it’s even real.
You got a soulmark when you were very young. The morning after your kindergarten graduation a mark appeared on your upper back just below your neck. The exact place someone’s hand might land if they hug you tight when saying goodbye. Your inner monologue’s tone was sarcastic as you boarded the bus to school. Good thing you only hugged a dozen or so people that day…or finding the right person would be difficult. You knew who you hoped it was but since they never said anything to you; you resigned yourself to a life of bitter unrequited love. As much as you wanted to meet your soulmate you knew after all these years they must not want to meet you. Though the mark never faded some days you wished it would. Especially after meeting Billy.
Billy was a year older than you. He was nice and it didn’t hurt that he was very handsome, your weak mind fell hard and fast. All he had to do was say the right things and just like that he had you wrapped around his fingers. Soon you found yourself following his every word and slowly pulling away from your friends, even though you knew he wasn’t your soulmate that didn’t stop him from telling people it was him. People never questioned where Billy’s mark was because anytime someone would ask he’d just grin and wink. You’d only been talking for a short time when he’d asked you out last year and you’ve been together ever since.
“You know I was thinking,” Billy said one night “If your mark wasn’t so fucking ugly, I’d get it tattooed. But whoever left that mark is a real freak. If it doesn’t fade soon, I’ll take you to get it covered up.”
It took a lot of begging and convincing but on the condition you kept it hidden and he never had to see it, Billy dropped the subject. Which you were very very thankful for. Not that you were a stranger to covering things up. After you’d been together a while things with Billy began to change. It started off small.
“Sorry sugar, I guess I don’t know my own strength,” Billy whispered in your ear the night you first let him have sex with you, “You look so beautiful covered in my marks though.”
You felt the bus jerk as you checked your cheek in a mirror quickly before stuffing the mirror in your bag and heading into the building. It’s the fall of your senior year. The first time since you started dating that you wouldn’t have Billy here with you. A fact that both delighted and terrified you at the same time. Those halls felt so lonely without Billy but you were thankful for the chance to talk to your friends more often. You were at your locker exchanging geometry for biology when Robin grabbed your shoulders. Your movements were involuntary as you jumped.
She frowned, “Hey, I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re supposed to be excited! It’s senior year and you’re over here looking like someone’s dog died.”
You hid your emotions really well. You smiled at her, “I’m fine! Maybe you shouldn’t come up behind someone like that.”
“I called your name but you didn’t respond. Seriously. Sometimes I think you’re like a walking zombie.” The two of you walked towards biology together.
The class was all gathered with their cliques, stories of the summer on their tongues. You and Robin walked in and looked for seats. You looked in the far corner and your chest twisted in knots. Eddie Munson was sitting in the back corner desk reading by himself. You looked at him but he didn’t look up. Robin called for your attention as she found you a seat. The whole class period you couldn’t help but steal glances every once and a while at your childhood friend.
You and Eddie were neighbors as kids, you still are. He lives in the trailer across from yours. The two of you were inseparable as kids but you haven’t spoken to him in years. Part of you wants to know what you did wrong to make him hate you.
“Miss?” the teacher called your name, “Can you answer the next question please?”
Before turning to the front to answer the question, you think you catch Eddie’s eyes flash up towards you at the sound of your name, for just a brief moment and then back down to his book.
Robin has band class while you have lunch so you enter the lunchroom alone, you find a table away from everyone and sigh as you fight back tears. This year was going to suck. Billy’s not here, you have a class with Eddie, and now you don’t even have anyone to eat lunch with. Who’s fault is that? Billy’s voice overtakes your own and offers your mind little comfort in this moment. Your solitude is interrupted by a commotion coming from the center of the room. Eddie was up on a table taunting Jason Carver, King of Hawkins. He looked over at you, your eyes meeting for a moment before he made a weird face and then went back to his seat.
Your headphones block out all the sound around you as you wait for the bus to pick you up. You hated riding the bus. Last year Billy would drive you to and from school but now he can’t.
“I already told you once! I can’t drive you,” Billy’s face contorted with frustration, “I have to work. You’ll have to take the bus.”
Your voice is level as you try once more, not wanting to upset him further, “I know Billy but I was thinking on the days that you don’t work you could. We could see each other then.”
His fist clenched, “Now why would I want to spend my day off carting you to and from that fucking school? If it’s so fucking beneath you to take the bus, walk!” His voice grew louder.
“Ok Billy I’ll take the bus.”
He smirked, “That’s a good girl.”
The screeching of the old tires breaches your ears and you look up, the bus is here. You adjust your backpack on your sore shoulder and prepare for the long drive back to your house. Your whole cassette tape plays and the sun is starting to disappear as you finally reach your stop. You get off the bus and still have to walk up the road a ways to your trailer. Your mood lifts as you hear tires crunching the gravel behind you, Billy’s here. Except you turn to see a large van. It blows past you as you cringe. Munson. You continue the path up to your doorstep as you hear voices from across the street. You watch from over your shoulder as Chrissy Cunningham, captain of the cheer squad, gets out of Eddie’s van. They are laughing as he leads her into his house. Shaking your head you step inside your own house.
Your mom is passed out on the couch with a lit cigarette in her hand. Following the routine so familiar to you, you clean up the living room, discarding the cigarette and then empty liquor bottles, heat up come crap from the fridge and then off to your room to work on homework. As much as you tried to focus you found yourself thinking in a dangerous place.
“Come and play with me!” you pouted as Eddie sat on the swings by himself.
He was a second grader and you were a kindergartener but living across the street from each other made you perfect buddies to build mud pies together whenever it rained. You spent all summer talking about how excited you were to be going to school with him. You looked up to him, he would read to you when your mom and step dad fought and you ran away to hide at his house. You had been waiting all morning for recess to see him but now he was being weird.
“I’m sure you made other friends today, go play with them,” he snapped at you.
“But I want to play with you!”
“You don’t want to be seen with the freak,” he kicked the ground idly, “It’s better if you and I aren’t friends.”
“Eddie,” you got sad. “You’re not a freak. You’re my best friend! Come on, let's play!” You grab his right arm and pull him off the swing. He tried to fight it but you knew he couldn’t say no to you. Whenever you wanted to run off somewhere, he’d indulge you. He just smiled and let himself be pulled towards the jungle gym.
You laughed and played together all day and then again at home that night, but after that? Eddie wouldn’t talk to you. He kept making excuses why he couldn’t come see you or play with you and you started to notice that he wasn’t coming to school everyday. You’ve always wondered what you did wrong that upset him. On your last day of kindergarten you finally confronted him.
“Eddie Munson!” you stomped your sandals over to where he was sitting at recess, “Why are you being mean to me? You were my friend! Friends aren’t mean, they are nice to each other.” you folded your arms looking grumpy.
He tugged at the sleeve of his jacket, “I-I told you it’s better if we aren’t friends.” He stepped towards you, slowly, moving as if you were glass and he wanted to keep you from breaking.
Even to this day you remember clear as day what happened in the next few seconds.
To your surprise, he hugged you. His hand touching the open space on your back exposed from your frilly flower print top. He pulled back and said the last words he’d spoken to you, “Goodbye.”
That afternoon was the kindergarten graduation celebration. You got hugs from all your friends and classmates. You came home and even your mom and step dad seemed to be in a good mood. You fell asleep happy. The next morning you were getting ready and cried as you spotted a glimpse of your back in the mirror. A small cluster of marks sat right below your neck. You crawled up on the bathroom counter and strained your head to get a better look at the reflection. Are those…bats?