T H E B R A I N S T O R M
⇾everybody wants to rule the world by tears for fears
nothing ever lasts forever
⸺THAT night when they went to see Eddie, Tiffany had felt something on the way back home. She had this piercing pain in her head for the whole drive back, but she just assumed it was a headache. There was a sound along with it. A high pitched scream like sound, almost like when a person flat lines. That's exactly what she heard when the Mind Flayer was playing its mind games. Tiffany had told Steve about it that night, but he reassured her that the Mind Flayer wasn't back. Everyone saw her kill it. It couldn't be back.
Thankfully, Tiffany did have something to keep her mind away from her worries, more worries. Steve, Tiffany, Robin, Dustin and Max were going to visit Eddie again since he needed more food and drinks. They were sort of giving him a bunch of care packages just slowly.
They had all just arrived at the house where Eddie was staying at and they brought with them all the snacks. They opened the boat house door decently quickly and they accidentally scared Eddie. They just smiled innocently and Steve sent him a little wave. Eddie just sighed.
When Eddie actually had a chance to eat, he didn't hesitate to forget all of his manners, but who could blame him? He had bigger things to worry about. Dustin started off the conversation. "So we got some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always." Eddie responded, just wanting the bad part over with. "Alright, bad news. Tiffany, take it away."
"Well, my co-worker told me that you're their number one suspect. They're convinced you killed Chrissy. Like 100% completely, no questions, absolutely positive that you killed Chrissy." Tiffany answered bluntly, but it really didn't the situation. Eddie, who was only more nervous now, spoke in a fairly worried tone. "A-And the good news?"
"No one other than the police know you 'did it'." Tiffany put air quotes on the words 'did it' considering Eddie didn't actually hurt Chrissy. Robin did add onto Tiffany's point, but there was some additional bad news for the good news. "But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."
"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie commented with a small shake in his voice. "Exactly."
Tiffany could tell that there was another card at play here. Not only was Eddie wanted for murder, but once his name gets out to the public, other and more bigoted people may want Eddie gone for his preference in people. More specifically, people he may want to date.
"So before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence." Dustin said in a very nonchalant tone, but what they were doing was anything but nonchalant. Tiffany, who still was not helping, added onto Dustin's calm explanation. "Yeah, there's really nothing to it. I use my voodoo. You're saved. World's saved. Bada-bing, bada-boom. We go out for ice cream, but if anyone gets mint, I'm not paying for it because mint is crap."
"That's all guys? That's all?" Eddie sarcastically questioned, trying to prove a point that is seemed much more complicated than the Hendersons were leading it on to be. Dustin simply nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders, not seeing the huge deal with this plan. "Yeah, no, that's pretty much it."
"Listen, Eddie." Robin began, trying to actually be helpful unlike the two opposite to her. "I know everything they're saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a few times 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."
"We usually rely on this girl who has super powers, but, uh, those went bye bye. But we do also rely on Tiffany sometimes since she had super powers too, but then she lost them so she could keep living." Steve explained, but the ending of his explanation didn't sit right with his girlfriend. "What? I still have powers. I have Cory's."
"Yeah, and how's that going?" Steve asked, already knowing the answer to his question. For the eight months that Tiffany has actually had Cory's abilities, she has not gotten better whatsoever. Her mind has just gotten weaker. Tiffany never thought she'd say this, but she really did miss her old powers. She could control them easily (sometimes) and they were a lot less damaging on her mind. "They are going...not...great."
"My point exactly. So we're now more in the brainstorming phase." Steve explained. Everyone nodded along with them, but Tiffany just mocked Steve under her breath. "hOw's tHAt gOiNg?"
"There's nothing to worry about." Dustin reassured, but as soon as he did, they all heard sirens just outside the house. Without even a second thought, Eddie laid back in the rowboat and threw the blue tarp over him, trying his best to hide since they all assumed that the cops had found them. Dustin, Max, Robin, Tiffany and Steve ran over to the windows to see what was happening and there on the road, they saw ambulances and police cars rushing passed the house. It confused them slightly since they assumed that they'd be after Eddie, but there seemed to be a more pressing matter.
The group immediately headed out to Steve's car wanting to make sure that everything was alright and that the police weren't after Eddie. Eddie stayed in the boathouse as everyone else went in Steve's car and just went down the road. When they got there, they all just stepped out of the car, and there they saw Nancy talking to the police officers. Nancy had caught sight of them and immediately made eye contact with Tiffany. She gave the Henderson a small wave and Tiffany returned it.
⁕ ⁕
Now with Nancy, the group had moved to the trailer park so they could actually have some privacy to talk. Considering that place was now a ghost town due to the recent murder, there was no one around. They were all sitting at a small picnic table and the group had explained everything to Nancy. "You're saying that this thing killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down?"
"Well, considering the only things that talk to me through mind control are things from the Upside Down, yeah, we're pretty sure it's from the Upside Down." Tiffany explained fairly bluntly. It was a solid reason, but there was more evidence as to why they figured Vecna was from the Upside Down. "Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. Now whether or not he'd doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or he just loves killing teens, we don't know."
"No, no, no. The Mind Flayer is really obedient and weak. It's only as strong as its master. It listens to me, probably Vecna. The Mind Flayer is like a dog it'll listen to its master, so it can't be in control of Vecna." Tiffany reasoned, the Mind Flayer being the one thing she really knew about from the Upside Down. She was an expert in that being and she knew that there was no possible way the the Mind Flayer was this powerful. The Mind Flayer is only as powerful as its master.
"All we know is this is something different. Something new." Dustin compromised, but Nancy shook her head at Dustin's idea. It wasn't exactly making sense. "Doesn't make sense."
"It's only a theory."
"No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?" Nancy asked, trying to be smart about this situation.
"Maybe they were just in the wrong place. They were both at the game and near the trailer park." Max reasoned, but that also didn't sit well with Steve. Nothing seemed to be sitting well with anyone however. He looked around them and mumbled, "We're at the trailer park. Uh, should we maybe not be here?"
"Yeah, I'd rather not crumble like Chrissy." Tiffany agreed with Steve. It seemed as though they were the only two not wanting to be in the area of where the murders were taking place, which was insane. It's a sad day when Steve Harrington and Tiffany Henderson were being the reasonable ones.
"There is something about this place. Fred started acting weird the second we got here." Nancy mentioned, which Robin had to get her to elaborate on. "Acting weird as in..."
"Scared, on edge, upset." Nancy answered.
"Max said Chrissy was upset too." Dustin pointed out, but Max corrected him. "Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school."
Tiffany raised her hand, having a fairly good point to make, but no one really understood why she raised her hand. Nancy just sighed and motioned for Tiffany to go ahead. She lowered her hand as she said, "Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, and that seems to be the theme with these psychos from the Upside Down. I mean, even last year, everyone who was possessed saw the Mind Flayer before he let go of their connection, causing them to die. So maybe Chrissy and Fred saw Vecna before they...you know."
"Well, if I saw this freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone." Steve reasoned, actually having a very good point which Max built off of. "Maybe they did. I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you wouldn't go to the police, they'd never believe you."
"But you might go to your shrink." Robin said, ending Max's thought. This made sense to everyone but Tiffany who questioned, "Why the hell would you trust a therapist with that kind of information?"
"Not everyone has the same views on therapy as you do." Steve argued as he patted her shoulder comfortingly, considering she was the only one in the group who thought this way. "Well, I'm right. The two people who have a therapist are now dead. You tell me where my logic is wrong?"
"Just play with your rings, babe." Steve said as he threw an arm around her shoulders. Tiffany did have a lot to bring to the table, but there has been a pattern of her going along with stupid plans. Her getting her waist cut open because she tried to save Steve, Jonathan and Nancy from a Demogorgan, her literally getting herself killed to once again save her friends, her willingly going into a Russian base because her new friend said so and now her with all of her voices in her head and random nightmares were back, so she was more of a fighter than a thinker.
Steve had gotten Tiffany three different rings while they were together since her nightmares were making her nervous. He didn't want her to fiddle with her hands, so her rings were better. He just had to get one last ring on her finger soon.
While Tiffany stopped interjecting since she knew she wasn't too much help in the brainstorming phase, the rest of them had made up a plan to get more information to help them figure out why these people specifically were being killed. There had to be a pattern.
As the group began walking to Steve's car, Nancy was walking the opposite way, but Tiffany had caught her. "Wait, wait. Nance, where are you going?"
"There's just something I want to check first." Nancy said as if it were no big deal, but Tiffany was still curious. "Well, would you like to share with the rest of the class?"
"I don't wanna waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark." Nancy blew off, but this seemed to be a much bigger deal for Tiffany. "Are you forgetting the part about the magic murderer running around killing people that are specifically your age? You need someone to with you. I'll go."
"Alright." Nancy agreed fairly quick, not minding her oldest friend tagging along. Tiffany went to stand beside her and threw an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Yeah, yeah. Tiff and Nance. Dream team."
"No, absolutely not." Steve disagreed. "Tiff, you have died twice. I'm not letting you out of my sight."
"I died in your sight." Tiffany argued. She was in fact correct. Both times Tiffany died, but was brought back to life, Steve was right next to her. However, that wasn't going to stop him from being protective. "I don't care, I'm not losing you again."
"Oh my god! I'll go with her, just please stop bickering like a married couple." Robin offered. Tiffany just sighed and went back over to Steve's car as Robin joined Nancy. Robin did however send Steve a wink on the way by, reminding him of her specific choice of wording. Steve sent her a sarcastic smile as Robin and Nancy actually began walking the other direction.
The rest of them walked back towards the car as Tiffany teased Steve slightly. "You're too protective, Stevikins."
"Stevikins?!" Dustin asked excitedly. He had never actually heard Tiffany call Steve that before. Steve already knew that this was going to become a habit of his and he wasn't in the mood. "Just shut up and get in the car. And wipe your feet."
Everyone got in the car, the adults in the front, teenagers in the back. Dustin did wipe his shoes off, but he did it inside the car. Steve spotted this and was not excited. "On the outside, not the inside! Always the babysitter. Always the goddamn babysitter!"
Tiffany just shook her head at her brother. Somehow, these two were always stuck with the younger people in the plans regarding the Upside Down. They didn't hate the kids, they did like them, they just wished that they didn't have to look over so many people all the time. At least they had a lot of experience with taking care of kids for the future.
A/N
Idk if you guys like the new cover or not. let me know. i'm not great at editing stuff, so i can always change it back to the old one if you guys don't like it.