SATELLITE [STEVE HARRINGTON]

of her friends

"JESUS, WE THOUGHT YOU WERE A GONER." Dustin marched towards Eddie and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

Even Eddie looked surprised by it for a moment, but he also seemed like he really needed a hug.

"Yeah, me too, man... Me too." He caught the girl's eyes over Dustin's shoulder, and Ginny smiled at him, giving a soft wave of her fingers.

Steve put his hands on his hips, the two staring at each other, both probably jealous of the other's relationship with the curly-headed boy in front of them.

"Put your dicks away, boys," Ginny chirped, patting Steve's chest. "You can sword fight for Dustin's hand in marriage later."

Dustin pulled a canteen and some food from his backpack and handed it to Eddie. "Here, come on."

Once everyone caught up to them, Eddie told them the story of what happened at the lake last night, sat on a rock.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh..." He took a long swig of water. "My walkie was busted, man. Drenched, so, uh... I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran." He grinned sarcastically and chuckled.

"It was the right thing to do," Ginny said, leaning against the tree next to Steve. "The police could've gotten to you if you hadn't, and there's no telling what Jason would've done."

Nancy nodded, then asked, "Do you know what time this was? The attack?"

"Yeah, no I know exactly what time it was." Eddie pulled off his watch and tossed it to her. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

Peering at it, Nancy nodded. "9:27," she said.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey and Ginny conked out," Robin confirmed.

Eddie frowned at Ginny. "You— what?"

"She's fine, thanks," Steve interjected. He looked at Nancy. "Which means what exactly?"

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," she answered. She tossed the watch back to Eddie.

Ginny pressed her lips into a thin line before saying, "That's exactly what I felt. A surge of energy."

"Well we're one step closer," Robin sighed. "We know how Vecna attacks."

"And where he attacks from," Lucas added.

Max crossed her arms. "So now, we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart."

"If he has a heart," Robin snorted.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp— is he a vampire?" Steve wondered, his face scrunching into a frown.

Fuck, he's so cute, Ginny thought.

"It was a metaphor," Max sighed.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie asked.

Lucas shrugged. "I say we chop his head off."

"Agreed!" Ginny chirped.

Nancy nodded. "I say all of the above, but we can't do any of that until we found a way into the Upside Down."

"We need El to get her powers back," Max said.

Steve nodded eagerly. "Everything was way easier. We had this girl," he explained to Eddie, "She had superpowers—"

"Superpowers, yeah," Eddie said. "You mentioned her. Hey, uh, Henderson's not, like, cursed, is he?"

Ginny glanced over to where Dustin was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. "He's just like that sometimes."