Since Eddie is still hiding out, we decide it's best that we go grocery shopping for him. Steve, Robin, Dustin, Max and I walk into the shed with grocery bags in hand. The place looks even more like a dump in the daylight.
"Jesus..." Eddie says. He seems jumpy. Afraid that he'll be found.
"Delivery service," Dustin says.
Eddie begins to shove cereal into his mouth the second we put the bags down. I cannot imagine what he's going through right now. He can't leave. He's been accused of murder.
"So, we got, uh, some good news and some bad news," Dustin tells him. "How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always," Eddie says.
"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," Dustin explains.
"Like, 100% kind of convinced," Max states.
"And the good news?" Eddie asks.
"Your name hasn't gone public yet," I inform him.
"But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do too," Robin reasons. "And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."
"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie says.
"Exactly," Robin tells him.
"Shit," Eddie remarks.
"So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence," Dustin says.
"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie asks.
"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it," Dustin tells him.
"Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before," Robin states. "I mean, they have a... a few times, and... and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this."
"Yeah, see we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers," Steve tells him. "But, uh, those went bye-bye, so..."
"So, we're technically in more of the..." Robin starts.
"Kinda..." Steve says.
"Brainstorming phase," Max says.
"Brainstorming," Steve agrees.
"There... There's nothing to worry about," Dustin assures.
Steve scoffs and Eddie doesn't look too convinced. He looks downright scared as we hear sirens.
"Shit," Steve says.
"Tarp," I tell Eddie. "Tarp. Tarp."
Eddie covers himself with the tarp. As I look out the window, I see cop cars and an ambulance rushing by.
We get in the car to see what happened. As we pull up to where the cop cars stopped, I can see Nancy. A cop is talking to her. There's a white sheet in the middle of the road.
We sit at a picnic table in Max's trailer park. Nancy starts to explain to us what happened. We let her know what we found out.
"So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down?" Nancy asks.
"If the shoe fits," Steve says.
"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse," Dustin explains. "Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know."
"All we know is this is something different," Max says. "Something new."
Nancy shakes her head. "Doesn't make sense."
"It's only a theory," Dustin tells her.
"No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?" Nancy asks.
"Maybe they were just in the wrong place," I offer.
"They were both at the game," Dustin says.
"And near the trailer park," Max adds.
"We're at the trailer park," Steve says. "Uh, should we maybe not be here?"
"There is something about this place. Fred started acting weird
the second we got here," Nancy tells us.
"Acting weird as in..." Robin starts.
"Scared, on edge, upset," Nancy tells us.
"Max said Chrissy was upset too," Dustin states.
"Yeah, but not here," Max tells him. "She was crying in the bathroom at school."
"Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?" Robin says. "So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman..."
"Vecna," Dustin corrects.
"I dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone," Steve reasons.
"Maybe they did," Max says. "I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you... you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But you might go to your..."
"Your shrink," Robin says.
Max wants to pay a home visit to Ms. Kelly. She thinks she may be able to get something out of her. As we walk towards the car Nancy starts in the other direction.
"Whoa, whoa, Nance. Nance!" Steve says. "Where you going?"
"Oh, there's just something I wanna check on first," Nancy tells him.
"Something you wanna share with us?" Dustin asks.
"I don't wanna waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark," Nancy says.
"Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind?" Steve asks. "Flying solo with Vecna on the loose? No, it's too dangerous. You need... You need someone to..." Steve tosses his keys to me. "Here. I'll stick with Nance. Take the car, check out the shrink."
"No." I shake my head as I grab a radio from Dustin's bag before grabbing Robin's arm. "Us ladies will stick together." I hand Steve his keys back. "Unless you think we need you to protect us."
"Be careful," Steve tells me.
Robin, Nancy, and I head to the library.
"Help me get this straight. Eddie's uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he's the one running around committing these murders?" Robin asks.
"Pretty much," Nancy tells us.
"Is that even possible?" I ask. "Victor committed the eyeball murders way back in the '50s."
"Well, '59," Nancy says.
"So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?" Robin offers.
Nancy nods. "Yeah."
"Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old," Robin states.
"Yep," Nancy says as she rings the bell on the front desk.
"So, he's a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air," I state.
"It doesn't make sense. I know," Nancy says. "That's why I said
it was a shot in the dark."
"I know. I just thought that by "shot in the dark," you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later," Robin confesses. "But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who've been spun around 50 times."
Nancy rings the bell again repeatedly.
"Coming!" a woman says as she walks out from the back.
"Hi. Sorry, we're in a bit of a rush," Nancy tells her. "Could we get the keys to the basement archives?"
"Of course. Give me one sec," the woman says.
"Did I come off mean or condescending?" Robin asks.
"No," Nancy tells her.
"Right. Sorry. It's just, you seem annoyed. You don't know me well. I don't really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues,' Robin tells her.
"Okay," Nancy says.
"If I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it's a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily," Robin explains.
"Got it," Nancy assures.
The woman comes back with the key. "All right, ladies. Here you go. Have fun."
Nancy takes the key from the woman. "Yep. We'll try."
We head down to the basement and start going through microfilm. Robin and I use one machine while Nancy uses the other.
"Anything... juicy over there?" Robin asks.
"Nothing new," Nancy tells her.
"Same here," I state. "Victor seemed like a normal guy."
"Dead family, missing eyes, took a plea deal, sent to Pennhurst," Robin says. "Blah, blah, blah, blah."
"What are we looking for exactly?" I ask. Nancy doesn't answer me. "Nance?"
Robin knocks on the wooden panel of the cubical housing the microfilm viewer. "Any mention of dark wizards or alternate dimensions? Things in that vein?"
"I don't know. Okay?" Nancy tells her. "It's starting to seem like this was just a big waste of time. You're obviously bored. Why don't you call Steve? I'm sure he'll pick you up. And I mean,
I'm not really in danger here, so..."
I make a face. "What's with the awkward tension? It shouldn't have anything to do with Steve. You and Jonathan are fine right?"
Nancy nods. "Yeah. Yeah, we're fine."
Robin is going through a file cabinet. "Holy shit. The Weekly Watcher. I can't believe they have this."
"Don't they write about, like, Bigfoot and UFOs?" Nancy asks.
"First, UFOs are absolutely real," Robin states. "Bigfoot I'm still on the fence about. But may I remind you we are looking for information on dark wizards? If someone's gonna write about that, it's gonna be these weirdos."
We put the film into the viewer. The first article is about Elvis being cloned by aliens.
"Ah "Elvis cloned by aliens."" Nancy says.
"You never know," Robin says.
Nancy walks away clearly not impressed.
""Victor Creel claims vengeful demon killed family."" Robin reads. ""The murder that shocked a small community.""
"Ha, ha. That's very funny," Nancy says.
"She's not kidding," I tell her. "Get over here."
""According to several insiders, Victor believed his house was haunted by an ancient demon."" Robin continues. ""Victor allegedly hired a priest to exorcise the demon from his home." Pretty novel for the '50s. Exorcist wasn't out yet."
"Keep... Keep going," Nancy tells her.
"Okay, so Victor claimed this exorcism failed, but it angered this demon, which then murdered his family, removing their eyes. Victor believed he was spared as a punishment," Robin reads.
"That's pretty convenient for Victor," Nancy remarks.
"Yeah, or super inconvenient," Robin argues. "Victor was declared legally insane by the court, right? What if this is why? I mean it sounds pretty insane. Just didn't go public because..."
"The plea bargain. The records were sealed," Nancy states.
"What if a demon did invade Victor's home?" I ask. "It's just, this demon wasn't any old demon. It was Vecna."
We rush out of the library. I pull out the radio.
"Dustin, do you copy?" I ask.
"Yeah, I copy," Dustin says.
"So, Nancy's a genius," I tell him. "Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull's-eye."
"Okay, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now," Dustin tells me.
"Wait what are you doing?" I ask.
"Breaking and entering in the school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files," Dustin says.
"Can you repeat that?" I ask.
"Just get your ass over here, stat," Dustin tells me. "We'll explain everything."
"Thought they were talking to Ms. Kelley," Nancy says.
"We leave them alone for two hours," Robin remarks.