[chapter two: vecna's curse]
:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ
WAKING UP with a gasp, sitting up so quickly he got whiplash. He looked around in confusion wondering when he must've gotten onto his bed.
He racked his head for any answer but came to the conclusion that he must've either crawled onto his bed and fell asleep sometime during that whole vision thing or Gabe or his mom, or both, came into his room while he was having an episode and they placed him onto his bed when he blacked out.
The latter was going to be a hassle to explain. Though, knowing that psychic does now run in the family makes things a little bit easier.
He looked at the time with a sigh before he choked at the time.
The flight to California had already left.
M/n groaned. "fuck."
He closed his eyes to calm down his frustration but cringed when he felt an uncomfortable burning sensation coming from his hands, followed by the smell of smoke soon after. He opened his eyes and they nearly bulged out of his skull.
"HOLY SHIT," he shouted as he got up from the bed in a hurry. He panicked and looked around his room for anything to help put out the flame that was on his hands and soon spread onto his forearm.
He grabbed his pillow with his other hand and starting harshly patting his arm with it, when he saw that it was soon going away he calmed down and put the pillow down.
Not even five seconds after both the pillow and his arms burst into flames.
"WHAT THE FU—"
Gabe burst into the room, his own eyes widened as he saw the flames on his brother arms.
"HELP ME?!!"
"UH YEAH— UM." Gabe tried to process what he was seeing, leaving the room and soon coming back with a bucket of water. "STAY STILL!"
Gabe dumped the entire bucket of water onto M/n. The flames put out, and m/n now looked like a wet dog.
M/n stood their as stiffly as possible as he felt the cold water run down his skin. "Thanks." he said blankly.
Gabe smiled crookedly, "pssh, yeah no prob."
M/n looked at his arms in relief but also confusion. Gabe walked over and grabbed his arms.
"Dude, what the hell? Your arms.. they're—"
"Fine. Completely.. fine." M/n finished for him.
"But how..?"
"I.. I dont know."
What the hell is happening to me?
:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ
Will looked around the airport for a certain someone, his excited smile slowly disappearing as he didnt see anyone.
He looked back to his best friend once El walked away. His smile returned back onto his face, though it wasn't as big now. He leaned in to give him a hug.
"Oh Hey! How you doing?" Mike awkwardly pat his shoulders while Will paused his movements.
"Hey Mike." Jonathan spoke up after the awkward scene he just witnessed, and how Will's face slowly began to lose the happy expression.
"Uh, What's that?" Mike pointed towards the rolled up papers in Will's hand.
"Um, it's nothing. Just these paintings I've been working on."
"Cool."
"Um, is M/n.. here?" Will asked.
"Oh, no. I didnt see him, his seat was empty. Gabe called though, something happened last night so it was expected. Im really sorry." Mike gave a small smile.
Will shrugged, he was curious and worried over what Gabe was talking about but he really hoped he could have seen the male.
"It's fine, it isn't your fault."
M/n jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked over at Gabe who was driving, the male glanced over at M/n while trying to focus on the road ahead.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
M/n sighed as he rubbed his temple. "No."
Gabe sighed. "Listen, i know you feel bad for missing your flight and chance to see Will, but you could still send letters?" He tried to comfort.
"That's the thing, i havent. I haven't been responding to any of his letters, and i feel so horrible. Part of me wishes that i would have woken up earlier to have gone to see him."
"And the other part?" Gabe asked.
M/n paused as he tried to think of the correct words.
"that.. im glad i stayed here."
"How so?"
"Something.. is wrong. I feel like something is going to happen.. something bad." M/n tried to explain without making it sounds creepy and mysterious, but there really was no other way to make his words seem less menacing.
"Okay.. that doesnt sound good at all.. um, so ill drive you to Dustin's house, and if you need me, ill be with Steve and Robin. Okay?"
M/n nodded, giving his older brother a small thanks.
:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ
M/n knocked on the door, smiling at Dustin's mom who let him inside.
"M/n! It's so good to see you, it's been a while. Dusty's just in his room, he's with that girl.. Max."
"Okay, thank you Ms. Henderson." M/n nodded politely.
He walked over to Dustin's room, and sure enough he could hear both his voice and Max's.
"His name's not in the news yet but i guarantee you, Eddie is suspect one now."
"That's crazy, Eddie didn't do this. No way.... No way!"
"Well! We can rule it out!"
"Yes we can!"
"Dustin!"
"I Agree with Dustin." M/n appeared into the room. Max and Dustin jumped.
"How'd you?!—" "Your mom let me inside..? Anyways.. it's nice to finally see you guys again, but this is serious."
Max sighed. "Why do you agree with Dustin, you barely know who he is."
"That may be so, but i know for a fact that it wasn't him."
"How could you possibly know, you weren't there."
"No.. i wasn't but.. last night.. i had a vision."
Max and Dustin deadpanned.
"A.. vision? Like.. premonition." Dustin asked.
M/n meekly shrugged. "I guess you could call it that.."
"That's so freaking cool..." Dustin muttered.
"Well, what happened..?" Max, still on topic, asked.
M/n explained what he saw, trying to leave out as many gory details as he could. He could not get the image and sound of Chrissy's bones cracking in unnatural ways.
"..point being.. Eddie is obviously in danger, and we need to find him. Surprised that no one heard him scream."
"Actually..." Max sat down next to Dustin on his bed. "i did. After I saw them both, something else happened."
She explained how minutes later, when she was watching TV, it began to glitch. Eventually the lights began to flicker. Like how they did everytime it had something to do with the upside down. Around the same time it happened in M/n's room.
"Well, now that we know what happened, it'll be easier to prove his innocence." Dustin spoke up after processing what Max had told him, about the pure fear on Eddie's face as he drove away like a maniac.
"Unfortunately, i didnt see what killed Chrissy, all i know for sure is that Eddie did not kill her."
"I dont know about you guys, but if I hadn't known about demodogs, mind flayers, the upside down, or psychics.. i wouldn't believe that a girl floated into the air and her bones broke by an unknown force." Max pointed out.
"I hate to agree, but I do. We have to find another way to prove his innocence. I also hate to say what im about to say, because i have a really bad feeling about it, but in order to prove his innocence, we'd need to find Chrissy's real killer."
They went silent.
"The only one who knows what actually happened is—" "Eddie."
They stood up, walking out of Dustin's room.
"Have you guys talked to anyone else?" Dustin turned around and asked the two who were following him.
"No." M/n answered. Max nodded aswell. "Yeah, and i cant find Lucas or Nancy, and Mike's in—"
"California... shit, shit shit." Dustin said to himself. M/n furrowed his brows slightly at the mention of the state but shook his head a bit to rid himself of the thoughts.
"Dustin, where are you going?!" His mom called out to him.
"To see a friend." He replied as he was already opening the front door for Max and M/n to leave.
"You heard the news. It's not safe."
"We'll be careful. Thanks, Love you. Bye."
:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ
M/n rode on the back of Dustin's back, holding onto his shoulders tightly.
They entered the building hastily.
"Hey Steve." Dustin called out to the male behind the counter.
"M/n? What's wrong." Gabe asked his younger brother who looked ansty, almost bouncing on his feet.
"How many phones do you have?"Dustin asked.
Steve was still focused on the news, pointing towards the TV in the corner. "You see this? Someone was murdered."
"Steve! How many phones do you have?" M/n asked again.
"Uh, two why?"
"Technically thee, if you count Keith's in the back." Robin gestured behind her with her thumb.
"Yeah, three works." Max looked at the two boys next to her.
Dustin shrugged off his backpack. "What are you doing." Steve asked in disinterest. Dustin placved his backpack on the counter before shoving over to their side of the counter.
Robin and Steve backed away in confusion and frustration. Gabe just watched with an amused but concerned look.
Dustin hopped over the counter, knocking down some tapes, much to Steve's protest.
"Dude! What are you doing man..?" Steve complained as he watched Dustin go over to their computer, surrounding him.
"Setting up base of operations here."
"Base of operations?" Gabe asked with interest.
"Stop, get off of that." Steve continued to complain. Max and M/n walked around the counter, now standing with the rest of the gang.
"No, i need it!"
"Need it? Need it for what?!"
"Eddie's friends' phone numbers." Dustin replied calmly.
"Oh Eddie? Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve said in all one breath.
"Yes.." dustin paused before looking up at Steve, his eyesbrows furrowed in confusion "I never said that."
"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's a Saturday. It's our busiest day." Robin spoke as Steve and herself picked up the dropped tapes on the floor.
"Alright Robin, look, I totally empathize, but this cannot wait."
"Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?" Robin questioned sarcastically.
"Correct!" He shouted back.
"uh, do you want to strangle him or should I?" "We could take turns."
"Could you guys fill them in while i do this?" Dustin turned to look at his friends who were just standing to the side.
"Fill us in on what?" Robin breathed out in annoyance.
Max and M/n looked at eachother before exhaling.
"Hey, im calling to ask if you've seen or heard from Eddie, you know, Eddie Munson?" M/n spoke into the phone.
"No, that's why im calling you... uhhhh.... well.. you know, me and my friends are just really worried.. for him, you know? Want to know if he's been feeling okay lately... Of course i've checked his home!—... How do i know him? Well here's the real question, why dont you shove it up your—"
"Hey guys, i might have a lead." Max spoke up
Gabe grabbed the phone from his brother's hand. "Sorry for the inconvenience, bye now!"
"Seriously?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, apparently Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there."
"That sounds promising." Gabe nodded, crossing his arms.
"Where does this Reefer Rick live?" Robin inquired
"See, that's the thing. No one knows. He's more of a.. a legend, than someone thay people actually know."
"Well, what about a last name?" Dustin asked.
"I dont know that either."
"Bet the cops'll know a last name." Steve interrupted, everybody turning to him.
"What?"
"The cops." Steve repeated.
"I mean, listen. If this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, i can guarantee you, he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system."
"The cops? Really Steve, that's your suggestion?" Gabe questioned while raising his eyebrow.
"I just think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on."
"Are you stupid—" Gabe pulled M/n back.
"You think Eddie's guilty, dont you?" Dustin accused the older male.
"Whoa! I believe in 'innocent until proven guilty', all that constitutional shit, i just, you know dont think we can rule it out." Steve shrugged.
"I feel like now is a good time to remind you that i had a vision—" "premonition," "—whatever, Eddie is for sure not the killer, whether you're jealous or not Steve. We're trying to find Eddie, and prove his innocence."
"Well how do you plan to do that?" Steve asked m/n.
"Well, we're working on that, and we would work much faster if you would stop trying to pick up random chicks in the workplace." "Well, somebody has to tend to the customers!"
"Especially if they're babes, right?" Gabe asked in a sarcastic voice, the jelousy well hidden but still obvious if you already know what you're looking for.
"Hey! I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection here. It can be super overwhelming for these people." Steve defended.
A light goes on in Robin's eyes. "Yeah.. it can be.." she muttered to herself as she turned back to look at the computer. "What are you doing?" Max asked.
"Maybe we dont need a last name." Robin answered as she typed. MOre clicking and whirring before the screen changed, a list of names popped up on screen.
"Twelve Rick's already have accounts here." She said.
"Lot of Ricks." Max added.
"So, let's narrow it down." She clicked a few more keys, the screen changing again.
"Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" Robin turned towards the teens.
"Not likely." Max responded, Dustin and M/n shaking their heads.
"Alright, Rick Conroy, Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, and Romancing the Stone."
"No." They all said simultaneously.
"OKay, Rick Joiner, Mask , Footloose, and Grease."
"Nah.."
"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash."
"Definitely Not."
"Rick Lipton. Fast Time at Ridgemont High, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke." They all laughed.
"Bingo." Dustin said.
"Lipton?" Max asked again.
"Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road."
"That's out by Lovers Lake." Dustin said.
"Middle of nowhere." M/n let a small smirk on his face as he looked at Dustin.
"It's a perfect place to hide." Robin smiled.
They all ran out, closing the store, getting into their vehicles.
:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ
While they were driving, m/n had been suffering from a mild headache. He got glimpses and he kept hearing screams, a girl's cries. Like she was crying from pain. He got glimpses of a blonde girl. Blood running down her nose. And another image of three people. Staring in shock. The middle one had long hair, she looked exhausted, tears running down her face while the two boys stared in shock and horror.
"Wh— did y— do!!"
He jumped when he felt the car stop.
"M/n listen, if you ever get more of these premonition shit, i want you to feel like you can come to me. Okay?" Gabe turned to look at his younger brother who's headache seemed to subside.
They all got out of the vehicles, grabbing some flashlights and walking over to the door. Dustin rang the doorbell once, nothing, he rang it again and then again and again until he began to knock.
"OKay, well that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve shrugged.
"Eddie! It's Dustin!!" He shouted. M/n facepalmed.
"Great." Steve nodded sarcastically.
"Look we just wanna talk okay?? No cops, i swear. We just wanna help!"
M/n looked around, using the flashlight to look around, spotting something in the distance.
"Guys!" He called out. Everybody turning to him and walked over.
They looked in the direction in which he pointed his flashlight at, a shed by the lake. Definitely was big enough to hide someone.
They walked over, shining their flashlights through the windows, M/n pushed the door.
"Is anyone home?" Robin called out. Everyone shone their lights in various directions. Trying to look for the long haired male.
Steve grabbed a wooden canoe paddle from the wall, He walked up to one of the canoes that had a brown tarp drapped over the inside of it. He stabbed the paddle onto the tarp several times. "What are you doing?" Dustin whisper-shouted incredulously.
"What are you doing." Gabe asked again in frustration.
"He might be in here." Steve replied, proceeding to poke the tarp with the paddle again.
"So take the tarp off!" "If you're so brave, why dont you take the tarp off."
Max shone a light on a table. There were several empty wrappers and beer bottles.
"Someone was here."
"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran." Robin said.
"Don't worry. Steve will get him with his oar." Dustin gestured to the wooden tool in his hand.
"I know you think you're being funny, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, i dont find it funny in the slightest—" All of a sudden, a figure jumps up from beneath the blue tarp that Steve was moving towards.
The figure grabs Steve by the collar, pushing him up against the wall and holding something up to his neck to keep him still.
"Eddie! It's me! It's Dustin!!" Eddie turned to look at said male.
"He's not gonna hurt you, right Steve?"
"Right yeah.." steve muttered, trying to stay as still as possible.
"Steve, why dont you drop the oar?" Steve put the paddle down, the noise causing Eddie to hold the object closer, a wince coming from Steve.
"He's cool! He's cool!" Dustin shouted once again.
"Im cool man, cool.." Steve whispered to Eddie.
"What are you doing here.." Eddie finally said.
"We're looking for you." M/n said from beside Dustin.
"We're here to help." Robin added.
"Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band." Robin immitated the action of an instrument.
"This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D." Max nodded.
"You probably also recognize M/n, we tried recruiting him into the club, but it never worked. This is Gabe, his older brother." Both of the siblings gave head nods and small waves.
"Eddie.. we're on your side." Dustin spoke softly and slowly, as if he were talking to an animal.
"I swear on my mother! Right guys??" Everybody nodded.
"Yeah, on Dustin's mother." Robin agreed. Steve nodded. "Yeah, Dustin's... Dustin's mother."
Everybody stared and waited for Eddie to finally calm down and let Steve go. When he did, Gabe grabbed his arm and pulled him towards him. Everybody let out sighs of relief as Eddie walked away.
Everybody checked on Steve whil m/n and Dustin walked towards the male. "Eddie, we just want to talk.. okay?" Dustin crouched down in front of the male. Everybody soon wlaking over aswell.
"We want to know what happened." M/n leaned down a bit.
"You wont believe me.." Eddie looked at the male.
"Try us." Max responded.
As Eddie proceeded to explain, everything seemed to check out with what m/n said about his vision. M/n rubbed his temples as he tried not to remember the image of chrissy broken body, Eddie's screams echoing in the background.
Eddie scoffed. "You all think im crazy, right?"
"No, we dont think you're crazy—" "NO! Dont bullshit me man! I know how this sounds.."
"We're not bullshitting you" "we believe you." Max and Robin added.
Eddie exhaled, shaking his head.
"Look, what im about to tell you might be a little.. difficult to take." Dustin started.
"..okay.." Eddie skeptically nodded slowly.
"You know how people say Hawkins is.. cursed?" Eddie's head tilted upwards slowly, the sentence catching his attention.
"They're not... way off."
"There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours."
"Like Ghosts.. and shit?" Eddie questioned.
"There are some things worse than ghosts." M/n answered, rubbing the side of his head, a headache forming.
"These monsters.. from this other world.. we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you." Dustin nodded.
"If they're back again, we need to know."
"That night, did you see anything?" "Floating particles maybe?"
Eddie shook his head. "It would have almost looked like dust, swirling dust."
"Nah man.. there was nothing you could see or, uh.. or touch."
M/n winced quietly, the pain from before getting worse, a sudden sharp pain. Gabe looked over at M/n in concern.
"Are you okay?" Gabe asked, attracting the attention of Steve who was beside them.
"Y-yeah, just a big headache.." M/n brushed off.
"It was like she was in a trance.." "or a spell." Eddie looked up at Dustin. "A curse."
"Vecna's Curse."
M/n yelped as the pain suddenly multiplied. Blood dropped from his nose. Everybody turned over to look at him.
"What's wrong with him..?" Eddie asked, beginnign to panic.
"M/n? M/n, im right here! You're okay! You're fine. I got you, we got you." Gabe grabbed M/n and wrapped his arms around the male who began to shake in his hold.
"What's going on?!" Robin shouted in worry.
"I think it's a premonition!!" Dustin answered as he kneeled down beside Gabe and M/n, the latter had his eyes rolled to the back of his head as a slightly pained expression took place. It seemed less intense than from the one yesterday, that was good.
A dark road, a boy. Floating up into the air, bones snapping and cracking into awkard positions.
"What do you want!!"
"I want you... to join me."
Another image of a man of flesh. Evil. No skin no nose. A deep, gruff voice coming from his mouth.
M/n's eyes opened once again, a loud gasp coming from him.
:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ
Author's Note
I hope you guys enjoyed this longer chapter, really struggled to type on this laptop bc the laptop is from mexico so the keys are switched but I have american keyboard, so i have to guess which buttons to click.