"Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" I ask.
"With Billy? Yeah," Max tells me. "But when I made it here... I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there."
"Maybe you infiltrated his mind," Dustin offers as he sits at the table. "He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room."
"Freddie Krueger?" Holly asks.
"He's a super burned-up dude with razors for fingers," Dustin explains. "And he kills you in your dreams."
"Dustin seriously?" Nancy scolds.
"Sorry. It's a movie. It's not real," Dustin tells Holly. "Just... think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing."
"God, we need Will," I remark.
"No shit," Max says. "But I tried them again this morning, and it's the same busy signal."
Nancy looks at one of the drawings. "Is this a window?"
Max nods. "Yeah."
"Stained glass with roses," Nancy states.
"Yeah," Max tells her. "See? I'm not so terrible after all."
"Yeah, well, it helps that Nancy and I have seen it before," I tell her.
Nancy starts to arrange the drawings. She traces an outline on them.
"It's pieces of a house," Max says.
"Not just any house," Nancy tells her. "It's Victor Creel's house."
I stand up with the drawings.
"Where you going?" Dustin asks.
"Waking the others," I tell him.
We don't really have any choice but to head to the Creel House. When we pull up it's clearly abandoned. Probably since the day of the murders.
"Yeah, that's not creepy," Steve remarks.
Steve and I start to pry the nails off the board covering the front door.
"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?" Steve asks.
"We're not sure," Nancy tells him.
"We just know this house is important to Vecna," I explain.
"Because Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" Steve asks.
"Basically," I confess.
"Great," Steve remarks.
"Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he's back. Why he killed the Creels," Dustin offers. "And how to stop him before he comes back for Max."
"We don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas asks.
"Guess we'll find out," Max states.
Steve turns to me. "Ready?"
I nod my head. "Mm-hmm."
Steve and I let the plywood fall to the floor. The stained-glass window is still intact.
Steve tries to open the door. "It's locked. Should I knock, see if anybody's home?"
"No need." Robin holds up a brick. "I found a key."
Robin throws the brick through the stained-glass window. Steve reaches through the hole in the glass and unlocks the door. We follow in the door after him.
YOU ARE READING
slay 'em dead//Steve Harrington
Fanfiction"It's a school night," I remind him. "Shouldn't you be inside?" Steve asks. "But it's so nice out here," I tell him. "I mean I am pretty nice to look at," Steve remarks.
