March 25th, 1986
AVEN WAS ON THE GROUND, tears pooling in her eyes as her shaky hands raised to her mouth. She was sobbing.
"Aven! Aven, what happened?" Steve asked as his hands found her shoulders, lightly shaking the girl as her lips parted in a tremble. He was kneeling before her, watching as Aven struggled to find the words to explain the horrific and traumatising sight.
"There was a guy and he- his legs were- his-" she tried but became a stuttering mess, her breathing hitching in her throat as her eyes darted around the dark room and the people inside of it with pure fear. Steve swallowed, forehead wrinkling with sympathy as his thoughts ran wild. He knew what she saw - Vecna had claimed another victim. Instantly, he pulled her into a comforting hug.
"Did his eyes, by any chance, get-" Robin began as Aven buried her head into Steve's shirt.
"Robin?" He cut off with annoyance from over the crumbling girl's shoulder.
"Right, yep. Shutting up," Robin nodded as she took a step back, sharing a nervous glance with Nancy as the others watched on worriedly. They all thought of one person - Will Byers.
Eventually, they made their way out of the haunting house and towards Nancy's car.
"So, where did you say he was?" The girl asked from the driver's seat, her eyes locking onto Aven's from her seat in the very back of the car. Her, Steve and Dustin had had the pleasant opportunity of being stuck in the boot of the car, legs tangled together as the boy's ate snacks and Aven went over what she'd virtually witnessed.
"I don't know, near water? There were two other guys there if that helps," Aven recounted with furrowed brows, picking at the edge of her clothing as the boys beside her pulled out a tube of Pringles. "Actually, it did look quite like a lake."
Robin and Nancy shared a look. "Eddie."
The car sped up, causing Aven to fall back into Steve. Thankfully, he caught her with a surprised gasp.
"Hey, don't knock my girlfriend around!" He shouted up to the girl's in the front, before suddenly falling silent. "We are still together, right?"
"If that's alright with you. There isn't anyone else I would rather be with," Aven smiled before resting her head against his shoulder.
"Oh, shut up," Dusti mumbled through his mouth full of chips, kicking them both in the legs with annoyance.
"Wait, did you say Eddie? As in Eddie Munson?" Aven asked the pair up the front, taking her head off Steve's shoulder as he kicked Dustin back.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Nancy asked as Robin turned around with confusion.
"Was everyone this self-centred at school? He was in the year below us all. Even I knew that, and I was only there for a year." She waited for a response - any response - but none came. "Oh my god."
"I was self-centred in school," Steve mumbled beneath his breath before stuffing another Pringle in his mouth. Aven patted him on the knee. "Want one?"
Once they finally reached the lake, they were surprised to find police tape hanging between the trees and buildings with dozens of officers scanning the area. There were countless journalists and news reporters standing by the new chief, causing a scowl to grow on Aven's face. That was Hopper's job.
Everyone quickly clambered out of the car before hiding behind a nearby truck, Steve's hand resting on the small of her covered back as he leant behind her. By listening to the police, the group found out that Patrick McKinney was the last unlucky victim of Vecna's wrath, having died as Aven watched on in spirit. She knew what happened, but no one outside of the group would believe her.
It was also revealed that Eddie Munson was wanted. Right on time, said boy spoke through the walkie in Dustin's hands.
"Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?" Dustin answered worriedly as the group turned their back to the police.
"Nah man . . . pretty goddamn far from okay," the boy laughed from the other side of the device, his voice clearly trembling with fear.
"Where is he?" Robin asked urgently.
"Where are you?" Dustin repeated.
"Skull Rock. Do you know it?" He told him, running a hand through his curly hair as he let out a shaky sigh.
"Uh, yeah. That's near Cornwallis and-"
"Garrett, yeah. I know where that is," Steve nodded before taking off in a jog, the rest of the group sharing a look before following after him.
"Hold tight. We're coming. We're coming. Oh, and, by the way, we have someone we'd like you to meet," Dustin muttered before running after everyone, not listening to Eddie's response as he tried to catch up with the group.
When they got there, it was sweet. Aven stared up at the rock with a soft smile, the memories from the past flooding back in. Blocking out the bickering of Dustin and Steve behind her, she admired the spot said boy had brought her to countless times. She'd missed the innocent times, the moments where they weren't fighting monsters to save the world in life or death situations. However, before she could reminiscent any longer, she heard an unrecognisable voice.
"You . . . Dustin Henderson, are a- Woah!" As soon as Aven had turned around, the boy had jumped back. "Oh shit, back up. I'm seeing shit, Henderson. Henderson, I'm seeing shit," Eddie started to shout as he fell back into a rock, his hands out in front of him as Aven took a slight step back. His voice had gradually got higher, surprising the girl as she distanced herself worriedly. If that's how Eddie reacted, she didn't even want to think about how the rest of the town would react. They'd done it with Will, but that was only for a few days. Eight months makes quite a difference.
"Eddie, Eddie, calm down. This is Aven. Aven, this is Eddie," Dustin introduced with a smile, stepping to the side to allow the girl some room. She passed him with a grin.
"Hi, Eddie," she greeted with a hand stuck out before her. He hesitantly shook it, his eyes not leaving hers as his brows furrowed deeply. With lines on his forehead, he reclaimed his hand, letting out a slow breath.
"So, what. You're bringing people back from the dead now?" He asked as he tilted his head towards the younger boy with the cap, still not breaking eye-contact with the supposedly dead girl.
"No, I just found them," Aven shrugged with a trusting grin.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand how you're physically here," Eddie pondered aloud as he reached out and poked her shoulder.
"I was stuck . . ." she spared a glance back at the boys behind her, who shook their heads with wide eyes. "somewhere else. Anyway, that's not important right now. We have bigger problems."
Soon enough, everyone had reached Skull Rock and had delivered Eddie his food restock in one piece.
"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked Eddie as he stuffed a hand full of chips into his mouth hungrily, looking up at the girl with wide eyes.
"Yeah, no. I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked," he explained as he dropped the packet on the floor, some of the food spilling onto the dirt as he ripped off his watch. He dangled it into the air before throwing it to the girl, her immediately reading the time.
"9:27," she muttered, looking up to share a look with Robin and Aven.
"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin observed with a worried expression before turning to face Steve.
"Same time Aven fell under that trance," he mumbled, the girl from the statement looking down as her shoes scuffed against the ground. Then, out of the blue, Dustin interrupted them all - saving Aven the trouble of going through what she'd seen in the mansion. The boy had figured out why the compass wasn't working. So, after explaining how electro-magnetic fields affect the needle inside of the circle, he told them what he'd gathered.
"So, either there's some super big magnet around here or . . ." Dustin began to explain, locking eyes with Lucas across the stick and leaf-filled area.
"There's a gate," Lucas concluded with a knowing frown.
"Oh my god. I forgot to tell you guys," Aven realised with wide eyes, everyone's sight flicking over to her as she worriedly gulped. She'd completely forgotten. "I never told you how I got back."
Max stepped forward. "Don't tell me . . ." she muttered, forehead creasing with anxiety as she stared up at the girl.
"I found another gate."
1475 words