The car ride was a long one, and Steve refused to look in Eve's direction, still very shocked about finding out that not only did his little sister did drugs, but she also knew where an infamous drug dealer lived.
"This place is creepy," Robin said as they drove onto the road where Reefer Rick's house was - it was dark out and they were surrounded by forest, this didn't feel safe.
"We just need to find Eddie and then we can go," Dustin says to Robin as he grabs the flashlights from his bag - they'd stopped off to get them on the way there, knowing chances are they would need them, that, and Dustin had been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes and insisted that they need them.
Steve stopped the car and sighed loudly, rubbing his face with his hands as he looked from the creepy home to Eve, whose head had not moved from laying on the window and staring out.
"This the one?" He asked her, and she nodded softly, not speaking. She hadn't spoken since their argument in the car earlier. She didn't like that Steve couldn't just drop it, she didn't like how Steve liked to pry into her life. She didn't want to talk about her issues or what she was going through, she didn't like to think about it.
"Alright," He mumbled, getting out of the car, Max, Dustin and Robin following his lead. Eve stayed still for a moment, watching them walk up to the main house. She opened her car door, hearing Dustin ring the doorbell over and over again, yelling out Reefer Rick's name - not the smartest plan ever, but even Dustin had his dumb moments.
She got out and looked at Max and Robin, who were both shining their torches through the windows, before looking at the metal shed next to it. That is where she meant, not the house.
She began to walk towards the shed, not having her flashlight. Max saw her do it, blocking out Steve and Dustin's bickering in the background as she looked at the girl walking slowly towards the shed. She began to follow, a little concerned for Eve's safety, before turning to the others.
"Guys," She whispered, making them all look at her, before she gestured her head over to Eve and where she was heading. Steve shook his head quickly, storming ahead and quickly catching up with Eve, placing his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Are you insane?" He whispers to her, "You're gonna get yourself killed."
"You guys were at the wrong place," Eve said back simply, moving out of Steve's grip and walking closer to the building, "Come on."
"Where's your torch?" Dustin asked her, to which she shrugged her shoulders. He rolled his eyes - she really wasn't much help these days, and often ended up just getting on his nerves.
Robin went in first, the door creaking as she shone her flashlight into the room, calling out, "Hello? Is anyone home?"
Everyone slowly followed in behind, the room very creepy with just torchlight - there was a black tarp laid out on a table, things were thrown all over the floor, and cobwebs were hanging from the corners of the room. It was very creepy, anyone could jump out at any moment and kill them all - no one would be able to hear their screams.
"What a dump," Steve comments as he shines his light onto an old bookcase, caked in webs and dust. He hands his flashlight to Eve, who was barely looking around the room, but rather focusing on her friends who were cautiously taking every step.
She took it, shining the light at the ceiling - the place was not safe whatsoever, the roof close to breaking in. She shone it around a little before seeing a small wooden box - she knew that box well, or to be more specific, knew the contents that box usually held well. She began to walk over to it, climbing up on a chair to grab it, when a loud noise occurred behind her.
Everyone turned to look at Steve, who had just grabbed an oar and hit the tarp in the middle of the room.
"What are you doing?" Dustin asked incredulously, shining his torch at Steve, who refused to look away from the tarp, hitting it again.
"He might be in here," Steve says then, jabbing the tarp over and over.
"So take the tarp off?" Eve then asks him from where she stands, arms crossed over her body. Steve was also not the smartest guy around.
"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off," Steve argues with her, making her shake her head, turning back to grab the box she had previously seen.
She managed to reach up and grab it - opening it quickly to see exactly what she needed - a bag that held about a half-ounce of weed, some rolling papers, a grinder and some roach cards, it's like the universe was in her favour.
She quickly grabbed it all, stuffing it into her small bag on her back, before moving onto another area to avoid looking suspicious.
"Hey, look at this," Max said quietly, picking up an empty box. Robin moved towards her, Eve doing the same, "Someone was here."
"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran." Robin suggested as Eve reached forward, grabbing a piece of scrunched up paper. She began to unfold it, seeing inside messy writing.
"Don't worry. Steve will get him with his oar," Dustin said sarcastically, making them all look over to the two boys.
"I know you think you're being funny, Henderson," Steve began, still hitting the tarp with his oar over and over again, "but considering the fact everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-"
Suddenly a body jumped up, making everyone jump as Eddie grabbed onto Steve, pushing him more and more towards the wall as everyone began to yell at him to stop.
"Wait, wait, please! Wait, wait!" Steve screamed out as Eddie slammed him against the wall, holding a broken bottle to his neck.
"Eddie! Stop, stop!" Dustin yelled, shining his torch on the scared man. Eve ran forward next to Dustin, yelling at Eddie to leave him alone - her heart was racing, she hated these situations so much.
"Eddie! Eddie!" Dustin managed to get his attention, "It's me! It's Dustin! This is Steve. He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?"
"Right, yeah," Steve whispered, tilting his head back to avoid the sharp glass cutting him.
"He won't but I might," Eve mumbled quietly to herself, making Dustin stamp on her foot to shut her up. His action made her wince and send an evil look over to him, but the boy would not look away from Steve and Eddie, trying to calm both members down.
"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Dustin suggested, or rather told Steve, which he did, making a loud bang that caused Eddie to move the broken bottle closer to Steve's neck.
"He's cool! He's cool!" Dustin yelled.
"I'm cool, man. I'm cool," Steve whispered, putting his hands up slightly in defence, but not enough to alarm the boy of any danger.
"What are you doing here?" Eddie asks, his voice wavering as he asks it - the boy is clearly scared and confused, never encountering anything like what he saw with Chrissy - he had every right to be scared, but that wouldn't stop Eve from killing him if he hurt Steve.
"We're looking for you," Dustin stressed.
"We're here to help," Robin continued for him, hoping the kind approach will make Eddie loosen his grip on the bottle at Steve's throat.
"Eddie, these are my friends," Dustin. begins to introduce, "You know Robin from band."
"Do do do do," Robin imitates playing an instrument, breaking up the very tense moment for a second, it brings a very small smile to Eve's face as she looks over at her.
"This is my friend Max," Dustin continued to introduce, "The one who never wants to play D&D. And this is Eve, Steve's sister. Eddie. We're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right guys?"
"Yes, we swear," Max nodded her head quickly.
"Yes, on Dustin's mother," Robin agrees, Eve staying silent. She wasn't on his side, not while he had a weapon to her brother's throat.
"Yeah, Dustin's... Dustin's mother," Steve nods slightly, as much as he can in the predicament he's in.
Eddie stares at Steve for a moment, before moving away, letting Steve fall slightly to the side as he caught his breath. The freeing of her brother made Eve go over to him quickly, grabbing his shoulder as she guided him to a place to sit.
"You okay?" She whispered to him, and he nodded softly. She brought him forward, hugging him tightly as he froze for a second. He eventually hugged her back as she hid her face in his neck.
"God I thought he was gonna stab you," Eve mumbled to him, making Steve hold her tighter before letting go. She stared at him for a second, checking over that he was okay, their past argument forgotten about as he finally caught his breath.
"Eddie, we just want to talk," Dustin said slowly, crouching in front of the traumatised boy. Robin moved next to him, crouching down too as Steve stayed where he was, Eve keeping close as she stared at Eddie.
"We want to know what happened," Robin then spoke, as if she was talking to a three-year-old.
"You won't believe me," Eddie sniffs, looking at them all with downcast eyes.
"Try us," Max says.
"Yeah believe me, whatever you say, we've seen worse," Eve adds, making the group nod.
"Chrissy," Eddie said quietly, "Something happened to her."
"What happened?" Dustin asked.
"her body just, like, froze, I couldn't see her eyes and she wasn't moving. Nothing I could say would make her move, and it was really freaking me out," Eddie began, talking slowly, as if reliving a memory, "Her body lifted into the air and, uh, and she just, like, hung there," He said, looking at the ground, "In the air. And her bones... uh, she..." A tear fell down his cheek, "Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It... it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I... I didn't know what to do, so I... I ran away. I left her to..."
He seems to snap out of his trance of reliving the story as he looked up at Dustin and his friends, all of them listening intently to what he was saying, trying to figure out if it was like something they'd ever dealt with before.
"You all think I'm crazy right?" he asked, shaking his head and bringing his hand to his face.
"No, we don't think you're crazy," Dustin disagrees quickly.
"Don't bullshit me, man!" Eddie argued, his voice high as he held back a small cry, "I know how this sounds!"
"We're not bullshitting you," Max says to him.
"We believe you," Robin adds.
"Listen, Eddie," Eve starts, sighing out as she moves forward to stand by Dustin and Max, "What I'm about to tell you might be a little... difficult to understand."
"Okay," Eddie says quietly, looking up at her.
"You know how people say Hawkins is cursed?" She asks him, and he nods slowly, "They're not way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours."
"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asks her, a little confused.
"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max says for Eve, seeing she was having trouble articulating what there was without sounding batshit insane.
"These monsters from this other world," Dustin adds to it, "We thought they were gone, but they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."
Steve then got up, going to stand behind his sister as she stared at Eddie, her heart racing. This was the exact thing she was trying so hard to keep away from, and it was back again in full swing.
"If these monsters are back, we need to know," Eve continues on, taking a deep breath as she thinks back to the Demogorgon, the Demodogs... the Mind Flayer.
"That night, did you see anything?" Robin asks him.
"Dark particles, maybe?" Max suggests.
"A shadow in the sky?" Eve adds.
Eddie shakes his head, looking off.
"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust," Dustin continues.
"No, man, there was nothing you could see, or, uh... touch," Eddie explained to them, "you know I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move, it was like she was in a... trance or something."
"Or under a spell," Dustin suggested, his face falling as he realised exactly how fucked they were.
"A curse," Eddie then realised.
"Vecna's curse," Dustin whispered, making Eve look back at Steve, both of their faces showing confusion and worry.
"Who's Vecna?" Steve asked them, his hand moving to Eve's shoulder for support, both of their hearts dropping.
"An undead creature of great power," Dustin began, his eyes cast on the floor as he tried to articulate it to the best of his ability.
"A spell caster," Eddie added, staring at Dustin with the same look of 'oh-my-god-we-are-fucked.'
"A dark wizard," Dustin said then, Eve moving back a little as she looked at the floor.
"Fuck sake," She muttered.