PSYCHO 《 stranger things 》

-3.2 dust is stupid, just like dustin

chapter thirty-two!

CASSIE PASSED OUT ALMOST THE EXACT MOMENT SHE SAT DOWN in Steve's car. It wasn't exactly her falling asleep as much as it was her body knocking her out from the physical and emotional exhaustion combined with the extreme sleep deprivation she'd been experiencing. Nobody said a word to wake her up, not even Max, who wanted nothing more than to ask Cassie what the hell had happened. Everyone seemed to come to a collective understanding that Cassie more than needed the rest. Steve hadn't even bothered to wake her up as he carried her back down into the Wheelers basement and laid her down on the couch. Dustin pulled a blanket over her and stuffed a pillow under her head.

Cassie slept through the entire night, through the chatters and small conversations happening around her until everyone else too feel asleep. No one even mentioned waking her up to put her on Max duty, just allowing the blonde rest that she obviously desperately needed.

Cassie was finally awoken the next morning by Robin shaking her shoulders lightly. Cassie wasn't even aware of when Nancy and Robin had came in, nor did she bother to ask as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. Nancy and Dustin woke everyone else while Max sat in front of her sister with a plate of waffles. Cassie let her eyes adjust to the light and looked around, not remembering even arriving at the Wheeler residence. She looked between Robin and Max, "What the hell?"

"We're going to the Creel house," said Robin, not meeting Cassie's eyes. Max stared at her sympathetically, making Cassie furrow her eyebrows as she took a waffle into her hands with nod of thanks. "Max saw it yesterday, we think it's important to Vecna."

Cassie nodded, standing up slowly. All eyes in the room travelled to her immediately, each of them looking away as Cassie looked back with a glare. She was unaware of why everyone was being so weird, but she honestly didn't care enough to ask. She grabbed her bag off the floor and went to the bathroom to change. Cassie pulled her hair back into a low bun and changed into a white shirt and threw on her oversized deep forest-green corduroy jacket. She also changed jeans considering the ones she wore still had dirt on the knees from the day before.

She washed her face off with a washcloth, partially just to wake herself up some more. Cassie let out a shaky breath when she pulled the cloth away from her face, only to see Vecna standing in front of her. She blinked, and he was gone. She could hear the clock chime, and the waffle she had just consumed threatened to come back up. Cassie could feel vines wrap around her neck, taking the breath from her lungs. She reached up to pull at them, only to find nothing but skin. Cassie shook the uneasy feeling off as she left the bathroom and rejoined her friends.

Everyone had been talking before, but the second she reentered the room they all went silent. Cassie huffed in annoyance, putting a hand on her hip, "What the hell is everyone's problem?"

The teens avoided her eyes, murmuring variations of nothing or sorry. Cassie rolled her eyes, following as the others went out towards Nancy's car. Cassie missed her own, but everyone agreed to ride together and Nancy's car was the one with the most space. Cassie sat in the far back with Steve and Dustin, tapping her foot the entire ride in annoyance.

Cassie didn't know why everyone was being so weird this morning, but she was more focused on Max's wellbeing to even actually care. Steve eventually began to treat her semi-normal and the two spent the last ten minutes of the ride playing rock-paper-scissors.

Cassie could feel the hair on her arms stick up the moment the Creel house came into sight. She felt the pain in her head sting a little more, and her eyes watched the house with wonder. It was run down, boarded up, and creepy like most old houses. Cassie used to run through 'haunted houses' on dares all the time in California, and it never once bothered her at all. She never even got uncomfortable in the houses. But this house made her want to burn it to the ground. It left an unsettling feeling in her stomach.