Y/n's POV:
My breath was shaking as Lucas and Steve helped me up from the ground. There was a slight discomfort in my right foot, but it would've been worse if Steve hadn't broken the fall.
"Thanks, guys," I gave Lucas a smile as I held onto Steve. Lucas nodded as a way to say, 'you're welcome.'
"Is your foot okay?" Steve asked and I nodded.
"It doesn't hurt that bad, only when I put too much pressure on it," I shrugged it off.
"Are you okay?" Max came over to me and I once again nodded.
"I'm fine," I smiled, "I'm just glad we knew what to do." I noticed the song had stopped playing and I stuffed the Walkman back in my pocket. I should be fine for now.
"We should go, now," Nancy said, "I don't want to be in this house longer than I have to be."
"I second that," Dustin raised his hand. A chorus of 'yeah,' and 'same,' could be heard throughout our group. We all rushed out of the Creel house, I took a slighter longer time with my foot even with assistance, but we piled into Nancy's car, and she drove everybody to our houses.
"Bye, see you guys tomorrow," I said as Max and I waved to the few remaining in the car, Nancy, Robin, and Lucas. They all lived relatively close, so they opted to be the final destinations. They all waved back as we walked through the front door.
It was late, like midnight late, so it wasn't a shocker to see Susan passed out on the couch. Beer cans littered the floor around her, and I sighed.
"Go to bed, I'll clean this up," I told Max as I began picking up crushed up cans. She headed straight for our room, and I finished cleaning up the living room. I did everything I had to for my night routine, and it was lights out after that.
.
I sat in between Lucas and Max, which wasn't super awkward since it seemed like they had made up the previous day at the Creel House, but it was just slightly awkward since Lucas looked upset that he wasn't going to be able to talk to Max. Sorry, Lucas.
Max and I both had our Walkmen on us and playing our songs. Not to brag or anything, but I totally knew Max would like Kate Bush. Even though Freddie Mercury's absolutely amazing voice was blasting, I could still hear the conversation that was occurring throughout the car.
"Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car for this visit? 'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck," Robin whined from the front. As much as I loved her, she was going to have to get used to these weird missions we went on. The second you get roped into this nonsense; you're stuck for life.
"It'll be fine," Nancy brushed her off. By this point I had stopped the cassette and taken the headphones off.
"I can't stand to see those full eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't," Robin shook her head.
"At least he can drink himself into feeling better," Steve crunched on a chip. I hit him upside the head and gave him a look. Drinking was not the solution to anything. I have a track history of knowing alcoholic's whose lives got worse with drinking.
"That's what my mom does," Max looked over at me and I sighed. She was right. Susan was a bit of a binge drinker. At least she's not an angry drunk.
"Why don't we just give it a trial?" Robin spoke as Nancy scoffed. I could tell Nancy wasn't a fan of Robin, which threw me off slightly since Robin didn't really do or say much to her in the first place. Maybe she could be a little talkative, but that's just who Robin is, I thought as yet another Robin Ramble was about to begin. I could tell by the way her mouth moved; it was not planning on stopping, "'Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension, that we told you about and the gate's closed, so we have no way of getting to him. He's entirely shut off to us, so basically, you're screwed. And, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed. Oh, yeah, and he cursed/tried to kill one of your best friends.'"
"Wait. Maybe we don't put it like that," Lucas suggested.
"'We're one step closer to finding Vecna,'" Nancy said, "That's what we say. That's what's important."
"Are you forgetting the part where he is literally hiding because his life might be on the line with town locals? Why don't we just tell him 'Yes good news, hooray! But Vecna might just kill a few more people before we can get to him, which means you might have to stay in hiding for just a little longer.'?" I shrugged, "That could be a nice touch."
"That is not very positive Y/n," Steve looked at me.
"Yeah, well, unfortunately in a time like this," I emphasized the word 'this,' "I'm finding it very difficult to be positive."
"Oh, shit," Nancy stopped, there being both a news van and road blockers in the way of her path. As we stepped out of the car, I couldn't help but notice the amount of people crowding the two officers at the front. I believe that's Powell and Calahan?
"...the Roane County line received a call, a little after midnight... reporting a homicide here on the lake," Chief Powell spoke to the news reporter. Homicide? Did Vecna attack someone after me? "Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover's Lake about ten yards from that house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, and 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick Mckinney."
We all looked over at Lucas, whose eyes widened at the mention of his teammates name. Lucas looked down, obviously he'd be upset. Even if he was part of the group that was trying to track down Eddie, Lucas still probably considered him a friend from their time on the team together.
"His limbs... his body, it was disfigured..." I almost gagged hearing it, knowing if we hadn't found out about the music thing, that could've been me. "We have also identified a person of interest," He paused before holding up a picture. No. "Eddie Munson."
"Shit," I whispered.
"We encourage anyone with information to please come forward," Powell was interrupted dby the crowd in front of him.
"This is not good. This is really not good," Steve shook his head.
"You've got a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer as many as I can. Two o' clock at town hall, where anyone from the Hawkins community is welcome. But right now, I've got some work to do, and I appreciate your understanding," The reporter began asking more questions as we all looked at each other. Just then, Eddie's voice could be heard through Dustin's walkie.
"Dustin, can you hear me? Hargrove?" He called out.
Dustin immediately responded in a whisper, "Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?"
"Nah, man. Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay."
"Where is he?" I asked Dustin, insinuating he should ask Eddie for his location.
"Where are you?" Dustin asked Eddie.
"Skull Rock. Do you know it?" He responded.
"Uh, yeah. That's near Cornwallis and--" Steve cut Dustin off.
"Garrett, yeah. I know where that is." We all rushed to Nancy's car, ready to go on yet another trip.
.
It was warm as we walked through the woods, so I tied my flannel around my waist. I was with Steve and Dustin in the front, who were, you guessed it, arguing.
"Dude, I'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way," Steve complained.
"It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map," Dustin replied.
"You do realize that Skull Rock, it's a super popular make-out spot?" Steve pointed out. Yeah, I know that all too well.
"Yeah. So?" Dustin questioned.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't popular until I made it popular," Steve bragged.
"Are you seriously bragging about making a random spot with a huge rock a popular make out spot right now?" I asked him.
"Uh, yeah, I am," Steve looked at me, "And you know we're going to wrong way, I've taken you there way too many times for you to forget the path." I snorted; he was right.
"We are heading in the wrong direction, Dusty," I shrugged.
"Y/n, seriously? I thought you would be on my side," Dustin gave me an unimpressed look.
"I would if I had no idea where we were going," I started to redirect us in the right direction, "But I've been there, so follow me."
"Wha- where are you going?" Dustin asked.
"Skull Rock, duh," I continued my walk, "You know, you two really are immature."
"Nuh-uh," Steve pointed at Dustin, "He is."
I laughed, "This is my point exactly. Steve, you always have to prove a point, and, well, yeah Dustin you always have to prove a point, too. It doesn't mean it's not funny, but it can become a bit much."
"I guess you're right," Dustin nodded then turned to Steve, holding his hand out, "Truce?"
"Truce," Steve shook his hand. This will last a total of five minutes. No, no, maybe six if I'm lucky. After a short walk, we were finally there. Skull Rock.
"Oh, boom!" Steve's voice bounced off the trees, "Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face." Okay. Three minutes. New record.
"It doesn't make sense," Dustin stared at his compass confused.
"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it," Steve mocked, "Can't admit you're wrong, you butthead."
"Butthead? Really?" I asked him. A thud was made from behind us and we turned, Eddie.
"I concur," Eddie said, "You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead."
"Jesus, we thought you were a goner," Dustin gave him a hug.
"Yeah, me too, man," Eddie walked over to me and gave me a hug, "Me too."
"Hey, Munson," I smiled, "I'm glad you're okay."
"I could say the same for you, Hargrove," He messed up my hair. Steve stood there awkwardly as the rest of the group came down. As everyone settled into a comfortable spot, Eddie explained why he was there.
"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh..." He took a swig from the metal flask, "My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently, I ran." I frowned, running was the safest thing for him right now.
Nancy immediately got to asking questions, "Do you know what the time was? The attack?"
Eddie sputtered, "Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."
He tossed his watch over to Nancy, "9:27."
"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin said.
"That's like the exact same time I was cursed, or Vecna'd. Whatever we're calling it," I nodded.
"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asked with his arms crossed.
"That surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick and taking Y/n," Nancy explained.
"But that must have been a lot of energy," I shook my head, "Why would he try and get two kills almost simultaneously?"
"Not sure, but we know one thing," Robin spoke, "We know how Vecna attacks."
"And where he attacks from," Lucas chimed in.
"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through ihs heart," Max shrugged.
"If he even has a heart," Robin said.
"A stake? Is he like a vamp?" He turned to me, "Is he a vampire?"
"It was a metaphor, babe," I patted his shoulder, "I know you didn't do that great in English, but I at least expected you to know metaphors."
"A bullet, should work on him, right?" Eddie asked.
"I say we chop his head off," Lucas suggested and I snapped.
"I like that idea," I agreed.
"Yeah, I say all of the above, but we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy pondered.
"We need El to get her powers back," Max looked over at me with a questionable look. I shook my head 'no,' at her. After the events that took place two years ago with the whole fire-hands thing in the tunnel I vowed to never use my powers again. I mean, I was knocked out for everything besides that. I also made sure nobody who knew brought it up ever again. Which nobody had. Until then. Good thing she likes to be discreet.
"Everything was way easier. We had this girl. She had superpowers," Steve explained.
"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her," Eddie looked at Dustin who was pacing, "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?"
"Cursed? No, no. He's fine," Steve waved it off, "Mental absolutely." I hit Steve's shoulder and gave him a 'really?' look. He threw me a 'what?' look back.
"Boom!" Dustin yelled. Boom? "Bada... bada... boom." Haha. "I was right." Wait he's throwing this in my face too, isn't he? "Skull Rock was north." Yeah, he's throwing this in my face as well.
"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asked incredulously.
"Mm-hmm," Dustin nodded with a small, yet growing, smirk.
"This is Skull Rock. Okay?" Dustin still nodded his head at Steve's frustration. "You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now."
"Yes," Dustin responded, "And no."
"And no?" I looked at him.
"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly," Dustin told us, "But it started to slip the further east we went. Now, it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."
"So you're using fault equipment. You're still wrong," I rolled my eyes at Steve.
"It's not 'faulty,' compasses use magnetic forces to tell the direction you're heading in and stuff, so if anything, there's something going on with the electromagnetic field. I think?" I looked at Dustin to see if that was close to correct.
"Exactly, Lucas and I ran into this problem years ago," I nodded at his words.
"Yeah, with the lab," Lucas nodded.
"Sorry, I must've skipped that class," Robin said.
"In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..." Dustin trailed off.
"There's a gate," Lucas finished Dustin's sentence.
"But we're nowhere near the lab?" Nancy asked.
"We don't have to be. If there was a gate in the lab, there must be another one," I shrugged.
"Like a smaller, way less powerful one," Dustin agreed.
"Snack-size gate," Robin theorized. Oh, Robin.
"How? Why?" Steve asked.
"No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate," Dustin pointed to his compass, "And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Y/n and Max from this curse." Dustin began to walk away.
"Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey," Steve stopped him, "Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."
"This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max, Y/n, and Eddie," Dustin then turned to Eddie, "What say you, Eddie the Banished?" We all turned to him, nobody needing to ask Max or I whether or not we agreed with this because, we did.
"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea," He looked up, "But, uh, the Shire... the Shire is burning." Dustin then began to jump up and down. Aw. That's cute.
Eddie stood up, "So Mordor it is." We all looked at each other, and then followed Dustin. This should be interesting.
.
I had my flannel back on, as it got colder and was night, when Dustin made a slight pause. He looked down at the compass, and then began running again. Jeez, I need to get my stamina up.
"Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?" Eddie called out.
"I'm with Eddie on that one," I huffed slightly.
"I think we're getting close," Dustin was definitely excited. So excited, that he nearly fell into the lake. Lover's Lake.
"Watch your step, big guy," Eddie pulled him back.
"Oh, man," Steve groaned, "You gotta be shitting me."
"Yeah," Eddie sighed, "I thought these woods were familiar."
"Lover's Lake," Robin said.
"This is, confounding," Dustin said, giddy.
"There's a gate in Lover's Lake?" Max asked.
"Probably one at every death site," I looked over at Nancy who nodded at me.
"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening," Nancy looked over at me, "Maybe Vecna's the same way."
"Yeah, only one way to find out," Steve stated. Eddie walked over to a tarp-covered object and unveiled it. A boat. Cute. He and Steve were placing it in the water when Eddie just dropped it in.
"Easy. I... I said easy, man," Steve sighed.
"Sorry, dude," Eddie shrugged. They were helping Robin in who, instead of taking their hands, used their heads to climb in. I got in right after Robin doing the exact same thing.
"Why, thank you, gentlemen," I smiled as Robin laughed.
"No problemo, m'lady," Eddie got into the boat after me. He then helped Nancy in.
"Wheeler," He grabbed her hand.
"Thanks," She sat next to me. Dustin tried to get in, but Eddie stopped him.
"This thing holds four people, tops, okay?" Eddie told him.
"It's better this way, okay?" Nancy told the others, "You guys stay here with Max. If anything happens with Y/n, she should be fine. She has her Walkman. Just, keep an eye out for trouble."
"You keep an eye out!" Dustin demanded as we gave him a weird look, "It's my goddamn theory."
"You heard Nance," Robin said.
"Who put her in charge?" Dustin asked.
"I did," Robin shot back and I looked at her with a smirk.
"Compass," Nancy held her hand out as Dustin, reluctantly, handed her his compass.
At the last second, Steve got on the boat and handed Dustin his stuff.
"You said four!" Dustin shouted.
"Sorry," Steve whispered.
"Bedtime at nine, kiddos," Robin yelled.
"Nine-thirty for Max," I shouted. Robin and I laughed; the kids were unimpressed with our antics.
"And you say I'm childish," Steve scoffed.
"Did I ever say I wasn't?" I shot back.
"Boom," Robin pretended to drop a microphone. We were still rowing out to the middle of the lake when things started to get weird. The boat started to rock slightly as we got closer to the middle.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Nancy looked at the compass, "Slow down, guys." The compass was spinning out of control and the clanging of the tiny metal needle inside could be heard faintly.
"Guys, what's going on?" Dustin spoke over the walkie, "Come on, guys. Talk to me. What's going on?"
Robin responded, "Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital 'aah!'" Steve began taking his socks and shoes off.
"Steve, what the hell are you doing?" I asked him.
"Somebody's gotta go down and check this thing out," He paused, "Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... it's gotta be me. No complaints, all right?"
"Hey, I'm not complaining," Eddie spoke, "I do not wanna go down there."
"Preach," I agreed with him. Yeah, I'm still cursed. I'm not going down there because I will either damage my Walkman with water OR leave it in the boat and never got my Walkman or my Queen cassette back. No bueno.
Steve took off his shirt and I, being the not-so-subtle person I am, stared at him. Unbeknownst to me, Robin and Nancy were looking at me with similar smirks. Hot.
Eddie had finished wrapping his flashlight in a plastic bag, possibly to save it from water damage, "Hey," He handed it to Steve, "Good luck."
"Thanks," Steve turned back and gave me a slight smile before preparing himself to jump him.
"Steve?" I called out he looked back again, "Be careful." With that he dived right in, and we all stared at the water, anxious. I was playing with my hands when Eddie tapped my shoulder.
"Hmm?" I hummed as a question.
"I always wanted to ask because I thought it was cool, where'd you get your ring?" He asked me, pointing to the skull ring on my finger.
I smiled, "It was my, uh, brother's. Max actually gave it to me a little before he died. He stopped wearing it for some reason right before his death." He stopped wearing it because he was under control and had little to no self-awareness.
"It's pretty rad," He smiled at it, "Do you know where he got it?"
"I think he got it back when we lived in California, but I'm not sure," I shrugged, "Sorry."
"It's all good," He waved it off, "Just thought it was a cool ring that wasn't talked about enough."
"Where we at, Wheeler?" Robin asked, Steve had been in the water for a short time.
"Closing in on a minute," Nancy told her. A few seconds later, Steve swam up with a gasp.
"I found it," He took deep breaths.
"You found it?" Robin asked.
"I found it. Yeah. I found it," Steve held onto the boat for stability.
"Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein," Robin spoke into the walkie, "Steve found the gate-"
"Why did he turn his off?" I questioned.
"Dunno," Robin shrugged then turned to Steve.
"It's pretty wild. It's more of a snack-sized gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big." I gasped as Steve was dragged under water. He came back up like nothing happened, then was dragged down again.
"Holy shit!" I yelled.
"Steve!" Robin and Nancy yelled.
"What the hell was that, man?" Eddie shouted.
"Really, what happened?" Robin freaked out.
Fuck it. I threw Eddie my Walkman and almost jumped out of the boat when Eddie stopped me.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're not going in there, are you?" He asked.
"You three just, just wait here. I can get him," I jumped in before they could protest. As I swam down, I could feel the water moving above me and saw Nancy and Robin swimming right after me. As I reached the gate, Eddie joined in.
Wait. Where's my Walkman then?