Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Two: Shake It Off

The next morning, Steve got the girls up so they could go to the grocery store and grab Eddie some food and drinks. More than just what the drug dealer had in his house. After they went shopping, Steve swung by and picked up Robin and Dustin.

They made a quick stop at Dustin's radio tower, and he managed to get on the same signal as the Hawkins police department. What they hoped for was Eddie not being suspect number one.

That was clearly way too optimistic, which they learned when they heard officers talking about Eddie and them being on the hunt for him. His name hadn't been released to the public yet, but Annie could tell that it would be soon.

After that delightful news, they went ahead and starting going to Eddie's hideout.

Annie fidgeted with the sleeves of her pink sweater. She wore that with her light blue jeans and her yellow Converse. Something that Max had thrown to her when Annie was a bit to slow getting out of bed.

The girl looked over and saw Max's blue jacket- the one her mom had gotten her for her last birthday- and then looked down at the ring on her finger. The one she never took off. Annie's eyes moved to her own ring, which she also never took off.

"Hey, we're here. Everybody grab some bags from the trunk," Steve said, parking and taking out his keys.

Once everyone was out of the car and armed with bags, they made their way down to the boathouse. "Hope he likes his much better selection of food," Annie said when they were close.

"I can't imagine anyone turning down free food," Dustin replied. He went to the door first, swinging it open.

The group entered and found Eddie in the corner, having obviously been scared by their intrusion, holding his broken bottle weapon.

"Delivery service!" Dustin announced, holding up the bags in his hands. The others gave Eddie smiles and showed the bags they were also holding.

Eddie sighed and dropped the arm holding the bottle. "Scared the shit out of me, Henderson," he mumbled, but walked over and grabbed one of the bags from the kid's hand. He got lucky- this one held cereal in it.

They all sat down, Eddie munching happily on his breakfast. Dustin, considering he was the closest to Eddie, kicked it off. "So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news," he said. "How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first, always," Eddie said through a mouthful of Honey Combs, which he quickly washed down with his chocolate milk.

Annie was rather proud of herself for that pick.

"All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, 100% kind of convinced," Max added, considering Dustin was being too delicate.

Eddie looked back over to Dustin. "And the good news?"

"They haven't released your name to the public yet," Robin said. "But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do, too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother if gonna be gunning for you."

Eddie's mouth quivered as the words kept coming. "Hunt the freak, right?"

Annie stiffened at the word. She almost immediately felt Max's hand on her, trying to give comfort. Steve, across the way, sent her a look, silently asking if she was okay. Annie gave a barely visible nod and they moved on, tuning back into the conversation.

"So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence!" Dustin offered, as if it was ever that easy.

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie asked, clearly seeing the faults in Dustin's optimistic plan.

Yet, the boy just nodded. "Yeah, no, that's pretty much it," he said.

Annie couldn't stop the eye roll. "Dustin, you realize nobody else in Hawkins understands the Upside Down? Or even knows it exists? Sure, taking down this 'Vecna' is one issue, but convincing the public that Eddie is innocent in all this is an even bigger one."

"That's the bigger issue? Proving my innocence? Not, oh I don't know, killing an inter dimensional being?" Eddie asked. Sure, to him it all sounded ridiculous. But he at least figured it would be the killing that was hard, not the next bit.

The brunette simply shrugged. "I mean, considering it's not my first time, then yeah."

Eddie's face showed he was super lost. "Listen, Eddie, I know we sound very delusional right now, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a- a few times, and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh based and their was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this."

"Yeah, see," Steve started, drawing Eddie's attention. "We usually rely on this girl that has superpowers. But, uh, those went bye-bye, so... uh..."

Robin came back trying to save where this was going. "So we're technically we're in- in more of the... kinda..."

"Brainstorming phase," Max jumped in, really coming in clutch at the end. Steve and Robin both voiced their agreement.

"There-there- there's nothing to worry about," Dustin concluded.

Annie sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Real nice, guys. You almost sound confident," she mumbled.

Eddie looked at them all, very incredulous. Then, they heard sirens.

"Shit." They all looked around wildly.

"Tarp!" Robin said, gesturing to Eddie. "Tarp! Tarp!"

He finally got the idea and practically threw himself back under his tarp as the others hurried over to the windows to see what was happening. They all watched as several emergency vehicles drove straight passed the house.

Annie was lost at first, but then Max piped up. "Oh god, you don't think... was there another one?" she asked, looking around at the others.

"Let's go find out. Eddie! You stay here! We'll be back," Steve called. He didn't wait for an answer before they all hurried out the door and piled back into Steve's car.

Annie held Max's hand tight. It might sound awful, but she was praying it wasn't someone else that she knew. She can't keep taking all of this.

Steve followed the lights and sirens, ending up at the crime scene. What none of them expected was to see Nancy Wheeler standing and talking to some officers.

They all got out of Steve's car, looking at her. She had a sad smile on her face, and it didn't take Annie long to realize she knew the second victim.

Nancy sent them a small wave, one Annie saw Steve return. After a few minutes of waiting, the one officer closed his notepad and the new chief gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. Then, she was walking over to the others.

"Hey," Steve greeted quietly, bringing her into a quick hug when she was close enough. Annie could see she really needed it. "Come on, we've gotta talk."

A/n: I really need to sit and write, like, 10 chapters so I can stop staying up late after work 😂 oh well, maybe Monday