WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[25]

Lily wasn't quite sure when she finally managed to fall asleep.

It wasn't before Eddie's hands finally stopped moving through her hair as his breathing evened out below her, sometime around when the clock on her dresser read two in the morning. It wasn't before the sound of Steve lightly snoring cut through the air from the other side of the room a little before four. It definitely wasn't before she heard her mother getting up to leave for work the next morning, the sound of the trailer door shutting soon followed by Nancy sneaking out of the bedroom for their friends in the living room after a night of tossing and turning on the floor, careful not to wake anyone who had somehow managed to lose consciousness for a little while.

When Lily finally opened her eyes again, she became aware of Eddie's arm still wrapped tightly around her to keep her close, and she lifted her head from his chest to study the room around her. Max's bed on the other side of the room was vacant, with Steve and Nick nowhere to be found. Debbie was also missing from her spot on the floor, but Robin and Sarah were still fast asleep, curled up against one another.

"Good morning," Eddie whispered softly, causing her to look down to where he watched her with a tired smile.

"Hi," she said, groaning softly as she shut her eyes tightly, leaning back against him. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight," he said, glancing over at the digital clock sitting on top of Lily's dresser.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked.

"Living room," he explained. "Did you get much sleep?"

She shook her head. "Can you blame me?"

Eddie simply shook his head in response, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her forehead. "Come on," he said, shifting them until he could climb out of bed and holding a hand out to pull her up, which she accepted.

Lily let Eddie pull her to her feet as they tiptoed out of the room, careful not to wake up Robin and Sarah as she shut the door behind them. In the living room, Nancy sat in one of the chairs while Debbie and Max were in the kitchen, the eldest Buckley sibling scrambling a pan full of eggs while Max made toast, Steve, Nick, Dustin, Lucas, and Erica already picking at their own breakfast plates.

"Hope you guys are hungry." Debbie said as they wandered into the living room. "Everyone's going to need to keep their strength up, and I don't think anybody here's had a real meal in days."

"Thanks, guys," Lily said as Debbie passed her a plate filled with food, and she took an empty seat on the couch, Eddie soon taking the seat between her and Steve as they began to dig in.

Lily had just finished her breakfast when Sarah and Robin shuffled out into the room to join the others, and Debbie set their plates down in front of them before taking a seat of her own. As the two girls began to eat, Nancy cleared her throat, pulling everyone's attention to her as she began to speak.

"So about last night," she said, her voice still shaky as her eyes stayed glued to the floor. "We were wrong about Vecna."

"Wrong?" Sarah asked. "What do you mean wrong?"

"He's not a creature from the Upside Down." Nancy explained. "He's... he's from here."

"From here?" Lily asked.

"His name was Henry." she said. "Henry Creel."

"Creel?" Robin asked. "Victor's son? The one who died in a coma after the murders?"

"That's just what they told Victor." Nancy explained. "He's the one who murdered his mother and sister, but he was too weak to finish off Victor, so instead he let his father take the blame. They told Victor that Henry died, but instead he was taken to the lab by Brenner. He became an experiment, like Eleven. But he was the experiment. He was number One."