teenage tragedy (Max Mayfield)

4. five

Cammie sat beside Steve on a set of boxes, listening to Eddie talk about what had happened the night before. Max was stood behind her, her chin resting on Cammie's head. Robin was stood behind Steve, with Dustin sat closest to Eddie.

Eddie was crying as he recounted the memory of Chrissy's death.

"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh... And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones... Uh, she..." Eddie mumbled, wincing. "Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It... It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I... I didn't know what to do, so I... I ran away. I left her there. You all think I'm crazy, right?" Eddie finished with a scoff, looking up at the group.

"No. We don't think you're crazy," Dustin said.

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds," Eddie cried.

"We're not bullshitting you," Max said.

"We believe you," Robin said.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little... difficult to take," Dustin said, looking back at the other four before returning his gaze to Eddie.

"Okay," Eddie said quietly.

"You know how people say Hawkins is... Cursed? They're not way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes, it bleeds into ours," Dustin said.

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked.

"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max said, wrapping her arms around Cammie's shoulders with a frown.

"These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you," Dustin said.

"If they're back again, we need to know," Max said.

"That night, did you see anything?" Robin asked.

"Dark particles, maybe?" Max said.

"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust," Dustin said.

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh... Or touch," Eddie said. "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she... she was in a trance or something," Eddie shook his head, a grim look on his face.

"Or under a spell," Dustin said.

"A curse," Eddie said, something like understanding flashing across his face.

"Vecna's curse," Dustin said.

Cammie felt her stomach sink, already knowing that, if they were right, this was not going to be an easy fight.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asked.

"An undead creature of great power," Dustin said.

"A spell caster," Eddie said.

"A dark wizard," Dustin said.

"It's more D&D bullshit," Cammie snapped.

Eddie's eyes snapped to her and he blinked.

"You talked!" he said. "You can actually talk! I didn't believe Henderson when he said you still could," he said. Cammie sighed.

"Yes, I can talk. I just prefer not to, nowadays," she said.

"Understandable. People are idiots and humanity will be the end of the world," Eddie said, nodding.

"No, they won't," Cammie said. "It'll end in fire or ice. And, lately, it's looking more and more like fire," she said.