"OKAY, SHE'S IN." Steve watched as Max vanished into Ms. Kelley's house.
Dustin, in the passenger seat, glared at him. "I'm missing collarbones, not eyes."
Steve huffed, not looking at him. He fidgeted with the band of his watch, worrying about Ginny. They'd been separated for maybe half an hour and they'd heard nothing from him.
"So," Dustin mused, glancing at him. "Are we gonna talk about... it?"
Steve looked up. "Huh? Sorry, talk about what?"
Dustin stared at him. "How you basically threw yourself at Ginny earlier today?"
"Okay, that's... That's not what happened," Steve scoffed.
"Pretty sure that's what happened. It was public. There were a lot of witnesses."
"Are you implying that I still have a thing for Ginny?" Steve asked.
Dustin shook his head and pursed his lips. "I'm not implying. I'm stating, because you still have a thing for her— a hideously obvious thing for her. I saw you guys holding hands under the table."
"I was just trying to protect a-a friend," the older boy insisted, biting his cheek.
Dustin just nodded, smiling knowingly.
"A friend, Henderson. Okay? I don't wanna find her in the morning with her eyes sucked out of her skull by this Vecna creep—"
"Oh, cause her eyes are too pretty for that, right Stevie?" Dustin teased, pouting his lips.
Steve glared. "Her eyes are amazing, so yeah— and I just want to look out for her—"
Dustin laughed. "You're bright red in the face right now!"
"No, I'm not!" Steve insisted, looking out the window. "I don't wanna talk about it..."
"Why'd you guys break up anyway?" the curly-headed kid asked.
Steve shook his head. "None of your damn business."
"Why though? Why, Steve? Why? Why? Why—"
"I don't wanna talk about it! I'll punch you so hard in your face your teeth will fall back out," he countered, rolling his eyes.
Dustin's smile dropped. "Whoa." Steve looked at him and he shook his head gently. "Too far."
Steve stared at him and his expression softened. "Not cool... Sorry."
"It's okay," Dustin shrugged. He looked down, and they fist bumped as a sign of forgiveness.
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ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN, GINNY LEFT HER HOUSE. After a brief, hushed argument with Erica, they discovered that their brother hadn't been home in days. This only made Ginny worry further. She told Erica to tell their parents she was fine and staying with Max for a few days, before she slipped out the back door.
She searched half the town for Lucas before she ever heard from him, and even then, it was just his voice through the walkie talkie, calling for Dustin.
"Dustin! It's Lucas, do you copy? Dustin!"
"Lucas!" Ginny called, screeching to a stop on the skateboard. She stumbled and answered him. "Lucas, it's Ginny!"
"Ginny? Why do you have Dustin's walkie?"
"I must've grabbed it by accident. Where the hell have you been?!" she demanded, rolling the skateboard along the sidewalk next to her.
"No time to explain. Are you guys looking for Eddie?"
"We already found Eddie— I've been looking for you! People are dying out there, Lucas, you scared me to death—"
"Where is Eddie?"
Ginny scoffed. "A-A boathouse on Coal Mill Road."
"Reefer Rick's?" Lucas asked, and Ginny's brow furrowed.
"How the hell do you know about Reefer Rick?" she demanded. "Lucas, are you—"
"Ginny!"
"Right, sorry."
"You know Eddie killed Chrissy, right?" Lucas said frantically.
Ginny shook her head, even though he couldn't see. "He didn't. Something else did, something from... there. It killed another guy last night."
Lucas was deadly quiet for a moment. "From the... What?"
"It's happening again, Lucas," she told him, setting off on the skateboard again. "But this time, it's worse. Where are you?"
"Ginny, listen, some real bad shit's about to go down. Jason is after Eddie— if he finds him, he's gonna kill him."
Ginny furrowed her brow, trying to remember. "Jason... Jason, the team captain? Chrissy's boyfriend?"
"I'm with him, Andy, and Patrick. I've been trying to tell you guys, but I can only distract them for so long—"
"Where are you?" Ginny demanded.
"Dustin's. But they're not finding anything here, they're gonna go somewhere else."
"Shit..." Ginny ran a hand through her hair, and static stretched over them.
"I'll take them to Hopper's old cabin. Meet us there."
Ginny was headed the right direction already, but it'd take her forever to get to the edge of town on her skateboard. "Okay, but Lucas— be careful."
Lucas didn't answer, her only response being static. Ginny cursed, tucking the walkie into her jacket pocket and taking off down the street, trying to remember the path to Hopper's cabin.
The road ended before the cabin was in sight, so it was dark by the time she arrived, having to stash Max's board and walk the rest of the way.
She spotted Jason, Andy, Patrick, and Lucas all looking into the trunk of Jason's Jeep when she got there. "Lucas!" she called.
The boys whipped around, and Jason narrowed their eyes at her approach. "Who's there?" a deep voice called, shining at flashlight at her.
"It's Ginny Sinclair— Lucas' sister?" she tried, shielding her eyes from the light with her hand.
"Sinclair..." Andy said, grinning. "You didn't tell me this smoke show was your sister."
"Did he need to? We have the same last name," Ginny countered, stopping next to Lucas. She never liked Andy, not in high school and not now.
Jason stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Why are you here?"
Fumbling for an answer, Ginny's eyes flickered to Lucas. "Um..." She brought a faux smile to her lips. "Hunt the freak, right?"
Jason watched her for a long moment, before putting his flashlight on the ground and clearing away some leaves. He made a square with a stray stick, going over the game plan.
"So if Sinclair is right, the freak is hiding here." He drew an X in the dirt. "We move through the woods here together, then Patrick and Andy, you split up. Go around this way. Sinclair's sister can go with you guys."
Ginny rolled her eyes. This wasn't a stupid basketball game.
"Me and Sinclair, we keep going— then we flank his ass from both sides," Jason continued. "That freak won't know what hit him."
Lucas and Ginny shot nervous glances at each other.
Jason led the way up the path, and nodded for Andy, Patrick, and Ginny to split off.
Once they were a few yards away, Andy leaned into Ginny's ear, saying, "Stay behind me, sweetheart. I'll protect you."
Ginny snorted and walked ahead of him, rolling her eyes.
She heard him snicker. "Actually, go ahead. I got a nice view back here with all that ass."
Her cheeks on fire, Ginny spun around to let her hand crack across his face, but Patrick already grabbed his arm.
"Not cool, man," he told Andy in a low voice. "She doesn't want you."
Ginny watched them and Andy scoffed, rolling his eyes at Patrick. "Whatever, pussy." He grunted and moved on ahead of them.
Patrick fell into step next to her. She smiled appreciatively. "Thanks."
He smiled back. "No problem."
Ginny's eyes locked on a faint bruise on his jaw, and she felt sympathy wash over her. She recognized that kind of bruise— Roger used to leave them on her body all the time back when she dated him in highschool, back before she realized she didn't deserve his abuse.
She thought about asking, telling him she understood, but decided not to. She didn't know Patrick very well, but she did now he was one of the few people on the team who was nice to Lucas even before he scored the winning shot.
And then she felt it— the coldness, starting deep in her stomach and spreading all over. Ginny had gotten good at ignoring it in her dreams, but this was the fourth time she'd felt it when she was awake.
She swallowed the feeling and trudged on towards Hopper's cabin.
Andy kicked in the back door, Patrick and Ginny following him inside. She'd never been to Hopper's cabin, and was shocked at how small it was. They were already face to face with Lucas and Jason.
"Where you at, freak?" Jason called. He kicked down one of the bedroom doors, shining his light inside and looking around.
Ginny slipped next to Lucas, who shot her a panicked look. It quickly fell away when Jason shined his light in his face. "You sure Eddie was here?"
"Yeah, I—I'm positive," Lucas muttered.
Jason nodded, believing him instantly. "Let's check around the back."
Ginny started after them, as the other two followed him, but Lucas grabbed her wrist. She looked at him, confused, as he stood stock still for a moment.
Then he tugged her hand towards the front door. "Come on!" he hissed.
Stumbling after him, Ginny finally understood. She regained her footing and darted down the front stairs, her heart thundering as they ran across the forest.
"Here, get on!" Lucas said, clambering onto his bike.
Ginny stepped onto the back wheel, wavering to balance. She grabbed Lucas' shirt. "Go, go, go!"
Lucas started to pedal, groaning. "You're so heavy!"
She smacked him on the back of the head. "Just go, asshole!"
Once the bike was in motion across the forest floor, Lucas stopped groaning. They swerved onto the main road, not letting up.
Ginny dug the walkie talkie from her back pocket. "Robin? Nancy? Guys!"
Robin's voice answered. "Ginny!"
"Thank God. Okay, I found Lucas, where are you guys?" she asked, holding tight to Lucas' shoulder as they zipped down the street.
"We're meeting the others at the school, in Ms. Kelley's office!" came Nancy's voice in response.
Ginny frowned, but chose not to question it until she wasn't dangling on the back of a kid's bike. "Okay— we'll meet you there!"
｡･:*:･ﾟ★ ｡･:*:･ﾟ
GINNY HAD NEVER RUN SO FAST IN HER LIFE. She and her brother raced down the dark, silent halls to Ms. Kelley's office as fast as they could, hearts pounding.
They needed to tell them about Jason hunting after Eddie, they had to protect him.
"This way!" Lucas said, zipping around a corner. She followed him and broke ahead, her hair flying behind her. Lucas was slower, having biked the whole way with her on his back, so she was much faster, turning the last corner and—
"AHH!"
Something cold smacked Ginny across the face following the loud yell, pain blossoming hot and fresh from her cheek. She fell to her knees, hand flying to her bruising cheek. "Shit!"
Lucas swerved around the corner and the figure yelled again. "It's me!" Lucas cried.
Ginny groaned, looking up to see Steve standing over her with a lamp. "Steve!" she cried, holding her cheek. "What the hell!"
"Shit, Ginny!" Steve helped her to her feet. "Jesus— you scared me!"
"You hit me with a desk lamp!" she shouted, hissing at the fading pain in her face. Her heart still pounded, breath coming out in short pants.
"Sorry, guys. Sorry," Lucas said, and Ginny noticed the rest of their crew— Dustin, Nancy, Robin, and Max— behind Steve. "I was... I was biking for eight miles with this fat-ass on my back—"
"I'm the fat-ass?" Ginny spat, whirling on him. "I will—"
"Just give me a second, shit!" Lucas told her between breaths, putting a hand on his hip.
Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back to Steve. "We've got a problem, a big problem with blonde hair and a letterman jacket."
"Shit, I'm so sorry," Steve said, ignoring her sentence completely and lifting a hand to her cheek. He ran his thumb over the forming bruise, and she winced. "Gin—"
"Dustin!" Lucas interrupted, brushing past them and stalking over to him. "I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone totally off the rails! They're trying to capture Eddie and they think you know where he is!" Lucas swallowed, panting rapidly still. "You're in terrible danger!"
Dustin sighed. "All right, that... that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason now." He looked back at Max.
Ginny's heart sank. Her brow furrowed and she looked up at Steve, whose brown eyes held a certain sadness— and fear. She looked past him, to the redhead, who would not meet either Sinclairs' eyes.
"Max?"
｡･:*:･ﾟ★ ｡･:*:･ﾟ
GINNY COULDN'T CATCH HER BREATH.
Her heart wouldn't stop racing after Max dreadfully explained to them the symptoms both Chrissy and Fred had before they died— the symptoms she'd been having.
Headaches. Nightmares. Nosebleeds.
Ginny couldn't stop thinking about the blood staining her car seat, from Max's nosebleed a few days ago. She remembered the nightmares she said had returned, the painkillers she took by the handful.
Not to mention the grandfather clock.
That's what really made her heart stop: the clock Max heard and saw in a Vecna-induced vision she'd had in the school.
It was slowly piecing together in Ginny's head— the way Chrissy and Fred died, the gravelly voice in her nightmares, the clock, Iris.
It couldn't all be a coincidence.
And for the first time in a long time, Ginny Sinclair was genuinely terrified.
Now was not the time to worry about herself or tell anybody about her fears. It could just be her imagination and paranoia piecing it all together, anyway.
Besides, she couldn't stop thinking and worrying about Max long enough to consider even the fresh bruise on her cheek, much less all the shit going on in her head.
Ginny couldn't even focus on the Weekly Watcher article Robin and Nancy had found about Victor Creel and the "demon" that killed his family years ago. The other girls had disappeared to work out a plan, leaving Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Ginny to read over the article.
Max scribbled something onto the stationary paper from Mr. Wheeler's desk nearby, silent.
Steve wouldn't stop staring at Ginny, making it harder to read the article and making her more frustrated by the second. She understood he was worried— if it was Steve's best friend cursed by an evil thing from the Upside Down, Ginny would be concerned for him, too— but they needed to focus on helping Max.
Ginny couldn't lose anyone else.
"Okay, be honest," Steve said, after he'd started pacing and realized Ginny wasn't going to talk to him. "Uh... You guys understand any of this?"
"No," Lucas said.
Dustin shrugged. "Pretty straightforward."
Ginny didn't answer, her eyes running over the headline but not comprehending what it said.
"Oh, straightforward, really?" Steve countered.
"Well what's confusing to you?" Dustin asked. "So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found."
Ginny's heart sunk further into her chest. She glanced at Max's back at the desk.
"He's the only known survivor," Dustin continued. "If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him."
"That's assuming he was cursed, which we don't even know," Steve emphasized. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "How can Vecna have existed in the 50s? It doesn't make sense..."
"As far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down," Dustin said. "She opened a gate to it. The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions— I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs—"
Steve shook his head. "Dinosaurs? What are we—"
"Okay, okay," Lucas interjected, glancing at his uncharacteristically silent sister. "But if a gate didn't exist in the 50s, how did Vecna get through?"
"And how's he getting through now?" Steve added.
Ginny swallowed thickly. She had some ideas.
"And why now?" Lucas said.
"And why then?" Steve finished. "Just pops out in the 50s, kills one family and he's like 'I'm good,' and poof he just disappears, just... gone? Only to return 30 years later and start killing random teens?" He shook his head. "Straightforward, my ass... And honestly, Henderson? A little humility now and then— it wouldn't hurt you."
"Sorry..." Dustin said, as Steve plopped into his chair and crossed his legs in a motherly manner. The boy caught sight of Max scribbling away and he asked quietly, "Any idea what she's writing?"
Ginny lifted her eyes to Max, as Dustin asked, "Did she sleep?"
"I mean... Would you?" Lucas answered.
No, Ginny thought. She folded her article copy and placed it onto the coffee table.
Steve's gaze honed in on her as she did so, and when she finally looked at him, her eyes caught on his. He knew something was wrong— something more than what was happening to Max. And he was begging her to give him something, some sort of hint as to what was going on in her head.
Should I tell him? Tell them? she thought, unable to break her eyes away. It might help to tell them about her nightmares, about the horrors she saw every night when she closed her eyes.
But Lucas had to be just as worried about Max as she was; she couldn't put that burden on him, Dustin either. They were kids.
But they weren't really, not anymore.
Ginny swallowed that truth as easily as someone might swallow a jagged piece of glass. It scraped down her throat and brought stinging tears to her eyes, as they drifted to Max across the room.
No, they were kids. They didn't need any of this.
But if there was anyone she knew she could trust, anyone she knew would listen— she knew it was Steve.
He was already begging her with his eyes, the silent little question prying at her every edge. She was finally ready to give him an answer.
"Steve," she began slowly. He sat up a little straighter and watched her carefully. She swallowed. "Can we talk?"
He opened his mouth to respond, yes, God yes, when the door to the upstairs wrenched open. Nancy and Robin bounded down the stairs to them.
"Okay, so," Nancy said, sighing with a slight, proud smile. "We have a plan."
｡･:*:･ﾟ★ ｡･:*:･ﾟ
"THANKS TO NANCY'S NEWSPAPER MINIONS, WE ARE NOW ROCKSTAR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME," ROBIN SAID, PASSING THEM THE PAPERS.
Nancy smiled. "I'm now Ruth."
"I'm Rose, and Ginny is Tiffany," Robin said, handing her a folder too.
The eldest Sinclair opened it and scanned the transcript, Lucas leaning over her shoulder to do the same.
"Nice GPA," Dustin told Nancy.
She smiled again. "Thanks. So, we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics—"
"To which they said no," Robin chimed.
"But," Nancy added, "We landed a three o'clock with the director."
"Now, all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor," Robin said.
Nancy nodded, her light-colored eyes flicking to the girl in the corner, still at the desk. "Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse."
"Yeah, about that..." Steve sighed. "We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and uh... We got some questions." His eyes shot to Ginny, who did not return the look. Her burst of bravery had vanished.
"Lots of questions," Lucas added.
Nancy shrugged. "So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers."
"Wait, wait... Wait a second," Steve said, looking between the three girls with their respective folders.
"Where's mine?"
a/n:
really freaking terrified for volume 2.
bc I can really just see vecna just vecna-ing Steve Robin and Nancy at the same time because they came after him and he wants to set an example.
and i'm so so scared.