Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty: Delicate

It was pitch black outside when they found Reefer Rick's house. They were in such a remote spot that there weren't even street lamps to light the way, just the headlights of Steve's car.

Flashlights in hand, they all went to the front door. Dustin led the group, being the most eager of them all to clear Eddie's name. He rang the doorbell, and they waited for an answer. After a full second, Dustin rang it again. Another second, and he did so again. And again. And again.

"Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here," Steve said. He really hadn't wanted to bring Annie on this journey, considering he didn't have a lot of faith in Eddie at the moment.

However, Dustin kept going. He moved on from the doorbell, and started banging on the door. "Eddie! It's Dustin!" he yelled into the door.

Steve let out a sarcastic, "Great."

The others started to walk around the house, ignoring Dustin as he yelled at the door. Robin tried shushing him, but Annie was too far to really care.

"Annie, be careful!" Steve called as she got farther.

"Don't worry, Max is with me," Annie responded, and the redhead waved as proof.

The girls walked together, trying to look for any signs of life. The answer came in the form of a boat house a dozen or so yards from the main house they tried.

"Guys! We got something!" Annie called, turning to look at the others.

Dustin finally stopped his tirade on the door and followed Steve and Robin over to Annie and Max. All their flashlights focused on the front door of the metal structure.

"Shall we?" Dustin asked, already taking off toward the house.

Steve made a comment under his breath and followed after, the girls following in suit. Soon, they were all looking through the windows with their flashlights, seeing if anyone was home or if anyone had been home recently.

Annie wasn't quite sure what she hoped for. On the one hand, if Eddie was there and was innocent, he could tell them all about what happened and they'd know the truth. This could, however, lead them right to the Upside Down, which Annie didn't really want.

On the other he could be a cold-blooded killer who rips peoples eyes out. So, Annie didn't know which she preferred.

Robin gently opened the door, flashlight first, and everyone gathered behind her. "Hello? Is anyone home?" she greeted, slowly entering.

Annie and Max went right behind, followed by Steve, then Dustin. The girlfriends went in the same direction as Robin, holding each others hands for safety of course. The boys went in the other.

When there was a click and less light, Annie looked over and saw that Steve had turned off his flashlight, putting it away in favor of an oar. "Steve, what are you doing?" Annie asked, watching him approach the boat.

Steve shrugged. "Just checking..." Then, without any other warning, he lunged for the boat and stabbed the covered areas with the oar.

Dustin immediately turned. "What are you doing?!" he nearly yelled.

"Wha- he might be in here! Like I just said, I'm 'just checking.' We gotta cover all out bases," Steve answered, his voice being much quieter than Dustin's.

"So take the tarp off."

"If you're so brave you take the tarp off," Steve sassed, continuing to "check" the boat.

Annie shook her head and rolled her eyes, moving on to let the two boys deal with that. She went over to where Max had wandered. Over to a table with some recent garbage on it. Robin joined them as the observed it all.