You groan at the sound of your alarm clock blaring you awake, slamming the button to turn it off before stretching in bed, looking down at your watch which read the numbers 7:30 AM. You sigh, stretching your back out before getting out of bed, going to your closet to get your work outfit from it.
The D&D campaign went better than imagined, according to Dustin. They had in fact found a sub, and you were thrilled when he said it was none other than Erica. You knew she was a nerd, there was no way she wasn't.
You put on light makeup, putting your hair into a cute style because why not? If you had to wear this ugly uniform, you were making it up with your good sense of fashion. Your vest was decorated with all your favorite things in patch form, both you and Robin having decorated it when the two of you had a sleepover once you got the happy news of getting the job.
You grab your wallet and car keys on the way out of your room, picking Mochi up who was sitting peacefully on the couch before you rudely disturbed her. You kiss her head, nuzzling your nose on hers, before booping her cute nose and placing her back down.
You walk out the door, walking to your car before hopping into the drivers seat, taking off to the Family Video (which luckily wasn't far from your house). You tap your hands on the steering wheel to the beat of Footloose playing over the speakers, the run time taking all the time you needed to get to the small store next to the Arcade. You get out of the car, locking the door as you do, causing you to catch a glance at the thrift store right in front of your place of work. You smile to yourself, remembering fondly the day you bought Dustin's 'Thinking Cap' at it. You were very proud of your finding, glad you could replace his stupid camp one.
You see Steve's blue car, and smile to yourself knowing that you wouldn't have to open the store today. You enter the building, hearing the familiar chime of the bell ringing above the door as you do. You see Steve and Robin stocking up VHS tapes on the various shelves, walking straight up to them as soon as you do.
"Need some help?" You ask Steve, as he was carrying a whole stack of tapes that were on the verge of falling. "Nah, I've got it." He said confidently, making you roll your eyes and take some off his hands either way. "I said I got it!" He exclaims.
"You were quite obviously lying. Those tapes were one wrong move away from crushing you alive." Robin says from the edge of the shelf, leaning on it. You smile to her, fist bumping her at her agreement to your action. "So... How was your night with Vickie?" You ask, throwing her suggestive eyes. "Don't even get her started." Steve says from the other side of you, chuckling at her blushing face.
"Ignore him, tell me every last detail." You say, putting 'Grease' in its respective spot back on the shelf. "Well.... Okay, it was so totally great! Oh, my God. Remember when Steve whispered over to me that he was right?? And I said she does sound like a Muppet???" You nod, laughing at her giddiness.
"Well, she heard me. Then she laughed. And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either." She explains, and you nod again, giving her understanding eyes and letting her continue. "It was like... A real, genuine laugh."
"Of course, it's my Muppet joke, it's hilarious." Steve says from the side of you, making you shake your head and slap his perfect hair playfully for ruining the moment.
"My point is! That Vickie laughed... And everything was just like... It was perfect."
"....But?" You ask, knowing there was another part to this story. "But, I'm having this problem... Where it's like, I should stop talking. I've said everything I need to say. But then, I guess I get nervous? And the words keep spilling out, and it's like my... My person is moving faster than my mouth, Or, or rather my, my mouth is moving faster than my brain, and it's like I'm digging this hole for myself, and I wanna stop digging, I'm trying to stop, but I can't. And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?" She finishes, turning around to face you and Steve. During her rant, you had managed to fill up all the remaining shelves, and were now back to the front.
"Yeah, you are." Steve answers for you, putting his arm on one of the display cases for the newest movies. Robin sighs in desperation, leaning up against one of the many movie posters you had scattered around the store.
"I'm hopeless, aren't I?" She asks, to which you go up next to her. "Eh..." You say. "Maybe Vickie likes that about you, it's not a bad thing, necessarily..." You say, patting her on the back encouragingly. She looks over to Steve who had leaned up against the poster to the side of her.
"If only we could just, like, combine..." She says, and Steve looks over to her in a confused manner. "...Combine?"
"I've found... The girl of my dreams, but I can't get the courage to ask her out. Meanwhile, you, could go on a million dates and not get your ego bruised once when you get rejected... So, maybe... If we just combined... All our problems would be solved, because your girl wouldn't care if you changed or anything, just look at her she's smitten."
"Uh, hello? I'm right here?" You say from the side of her, crossing your arms. "Is she wrong though?" He asks cockily, to which you scoff, walking over to one of the shelves. "Think I've found our morning movie." You say, avoiding his question while going to one of the movies that caught your eye.
"Doctor Zhivago, anyone?" You ask the two, to which Robin gasps and runs over to you. "Yes, please!" She says. "Ugh, you guys both know I don't do double VHS." He disagrees, waving his arms from side to side.
"But it's about doomed love!" Robin begs. "It's relatable!" She says again. "I guess." He says, pushing the cart back to its rightful place. "And also! Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this, like seriously the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life." You laugh, shaking your head at her statement.
"Cant say I disagree..." You say under your breath as to not let Steve hear, following the dirty blonde haired girl into the desk area, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.
"We're in Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County." The lady in the news says, that channel somehow being the first one to pop up. Steve walks up to the next of you.
"We don't have a lot of the details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning, police have not released the name." You feel your anxiety start to ramp up, willing the person not to be someone you knew... If it was Mike or Nancy or Lucas, or Max... No no.... It couldn't be Mike, or Dustin. But you didn't know about Nancy, Lucas or Max. Your heart starts pounding rapidly, remembering the fact that Max lived at that trailer park, the commotion of your head making it hard to breathe.
"Woah woah woah, hey hey hey." You hear someone say indistinctly, feeling a hand on your shoulder and pull you into them. You hear the calm heartbeat and allow the sound to ground you back to reality, coming back with a gasp.
"Sh sh sh, it's ok it's ok. I'm here, I've got you." You hear Steve say, his breathing calming you and urging you to follow it. Once you calm down, you pull away, apologizing profusely and upset with yourself for having an episode here of all places. You hated having to rely on Steve for calming you down.
"Sorry..." You say, just as you do though, Robin wraps you into her arms as well. "Don't ever say sorry about that, Y/n. We're here for you." She says, squeezing you tightly before letting you go. "So true, for once." Steve says, immediately going back to teasing his coworker, making you roll your eyes.
Robin ignores his rude comment, going to turn the movie on. "I'm sure they're all okay, Y/n. We saw them all going home last night, and none of them live there." Steve says, trying to reassure you. "Max does." You state, immediately going to your phone to ring her house number.
You didn't have to, though, seeing as how the bell rang just at that moment. "I think she's alright." Robin says, drawing your gaze away from the phone and over to the door. There, stood Dustin and a perfectly healthy Max. You sigh in relief, putting the phone back onto the receiver.
"Hey, Steve." Dustin says to the man who was currently at the front desk. "Did you see this?" Steve asks, pointing to the TV. "How many phones do you have?" He asks, ignoring Steve's question entirely.
"Someone was murdered."
"How many phones do you have???" He asks again, this time more desperately. "Three, why?" He asks. "Technically four if you count Keiths in the back." Robin corrects him.
"Four is more than enough, that works." Max says, looking over to Dustin who was currently taking off his backpack. "What are you doing." Steve states, watching the scene unfold in front of him. Dustin doesn't answer, instead he flings his bag across the counter, knocking all the tapes onto the ground.
"WOAH WHAT ARE YOU-"
"MY PILE!" Robin screams after Steve just as Dustin slides over the desk as well, knocking not only Robins pile over but Steve's and yours as well. "NO NO NO! MY TAPES!!! DUDE!"
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK TO GET THOSE ALL THERE?!??? AND NOW THEYRE PROBABLY ALL BROKEN!!!!" You scream angrily, rolling up your sleeves to go punch your brother so hard in the face-
"What are you doing man?!??" Steve questions upon seeing Dustin take over the computer. "Setting up base of operations here."
"Base of- base of operations. Okay, well, you didn't have to knock down ALL our tapes in order to do that!!! WHAT THE HELL!!!" You say, pulling at your hair in attempt to calm yourself. Max goes around the civil way, making you even more angry seeing as how Dustin could've just done that!
"Get off!"
"I need it!"
"Need it for what?!?" Steve and Dustin bicker. "Eddie's friends phone numbers." He explains. You roll your eyes, wondering why he would need to know that. You bend down, starting to pick up the mess your brother made. You wonder to yourself why you were sent cleaning up a mess you didn't even make.
"Ohhh your new best friend you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve asks, putting his arm down next to Dustin, who rolls his eyes along with his whole head. "Eddie yes. I never said that!"
"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday, it's our busiest day." Robin states from the side of you, helping clean up the mess Dustin made.
"Robin, Y/n, I empathize, but this cannot wait."
"Oh, and you couldn't have gone around like Max did??? You just had to ruin our days work of setting up our desk because there was just absolutely no other way to get in here????"
"It was the fastest way in... Plus, you have to admit, it was a great entrance." He explains, making you groan in frustration. "Oh, my God." Steve musters out, dragging his hands down his face slowly. "Oh, cause calling Eddie's friends is such a dire situation???" Robin asks, putting files back where they came from.
"Correct!" He yells back, making Steve walk next to you. "Um, do you want me to strangle him first or would one of you like to do the honors?" He asks both of you, Robin stacking the papers together. "We can take turns!" She says happily. "I quite like that idea." You agree.
"Can you just fill on while I do this???" Dustin asks Max urgently. "Fill us in on what?" You ask your brother, turning around to face him. He doesn't answer, instead letting Max take the floor.
"Last night... I saw Eddie go in with Chrissy into his house. He lives right across from me, and he's kind of hard to miss. But... The strange part is, after they went into the trailer... The lights started flickering like... Anyways, that isn't the weird part, seeing as how the power is shit at my house. Right after, he ran out the house, and drove away like a maniac, which also isn't out of the ordinary... What was out of the ordinary was the scared look on his face. Really... Scared. Maybe that was because, you know, he just killed someone or... Maybe, something else killed her. So, now we're trying to find him to see what really happened." Max finishes, taking a deep breath after her monologue.
You, Steve, and Robin all give each other a worried look. "It's not... Entirely impossible. That something else killed her. We've thought this thing was gone before, and it came back. Maybe... It's found a new way of killing." You theorize, looking to Steve with terrified eyes. "But, that could just be me being paranoid. Got anything, Dustin?" You question, to which he nods.
"All you get over here and take a number." He says, to which you all nod, everyone getting a sticky note with a number written on each one, immediately getting to work.
"Have you seen or head from Eddie recently?" Dustin asks into the phone.
"Eddie Munson." Max elaborates.
"When's the last time you talked to him?" Dustin questions.
"Seen him?" Max asks.
"Okay, sorry to bother you." Dustin apologizes, scratching out at one of the many names off the list.
"Know anyone who'd know where he is?" You ask into the phone, hearing a distinct no before the person hangs up rudely, making you roll your eyes and mark the number off the list as well.
"I really don't think he's at the arcade. Yep, I'm pretty sure." Robin says.
"Reefer Rick? Does this Reefer Rick have a last name? I mean, its kind of important..." Max says as you pick up another number, watching as Steve offers a VHS to one of the girls who had walked in the store.
"Hey guys... I might have a lead." Max says suddenly, making you all turn to her, Robin hanging up the phone she was using. "Seriously?!" Dustin asks, excited.
"Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there."
"That's sounds promising." Robin says hopefully, and you nod. "It's definitely a start." You agree. "So, where does this Reefer Rick guy live?" Robin asks from the side of you. "See... Thats the thing. No one knows. He's more of a legend than someone that people actually know." You sigh, hopes crushed.
"Well what about a last name?" Dustin questions from his chair. "I don't know that either." She admits. "I bet the cops know the last name." Steve says finally from one of the shelves, organizing some movies, making you all turn in his direction.
"What?" Max asks. "Cops. I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system." Steve elaborates, crossing his arms before leaning onto the counter.
"The cops? Really, Steve, that's your suggestion?" Dustin asks. "I mean... It's not exactly a bad plan, we would just need to find a way to hack into the computers." You say, biting your lip in thought.
"Or just fill them in on what we know, what's going on." Steve says, showing his plans true intentions, making you roll your eyes and cross your arms. "You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" Dustin asks, standing up to face him. "Woah, I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know...." He says waving his hands around until putting his hands together. "I just don't think we can rule it out..." He says.
"That's... Precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve!" Max says from behind Dustin. "And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend, and more time trying to find Eddie!" Dustin exclaims, making Steve put his hands up.
"What are you talking about man? I have a girlfriend!" He exclaims, making you slap your head in disappointment. You didn't want to tell your brother yet that the two of you were dating.
"What??? Since when?" You give Steve a pointed look, saying to shut up. "Uh... Never, I lied." He says, making you let out a long sigh, putting your fingers to the bridge of your nose in annoyance to his terrible lying skills.
"And, besides! Someone has to attend to the customers." He says, pointing his hand to the door. "Especially if they're babes, right?" You question in hopes to getting Dustin off your tracks, Robin sending him a wink.
"Hey, not fair. I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike." He says, the irony of his statement being that a man just walked into the store and went unnoticed by Steve, making you snort. You didn't worry about him cheating on you, as you had faith in him. He wouldn't do that to you, not after having been in a similar situation to that. Not that he would do that to you regardless.
"We've got a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for people!" He exclaims, still going. "Yeah, it can be." Robin says, smile working onto her face as she seems to have an idea. You look to her questioningly as she races to the computer.
"What's your idea?" You ask knowingly. "Maybe we don't need a last name." She says, punching in the words 'Rick' into the computer, pushing enter to reveal multiple names with each movie they rented.
"You're a genius." You state, making her smirk. "I know. Look, twelve Ricks have accounts here!" She exclaims, making Steve walk over to the side of you to see.
"Lot of Ricks." Max says from the other side of Robin. "So let's narrow it down." She says, each word she presses a button, clicking on one name to see what movie they rented.
"Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo, what are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" Robin asks Max. "Not likely." She responds, making Robin go back to the list, going to the next Rick.
"All right, Rick Conroy, Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone."
"No." You all say in synch. "Okay, Rick Joiner, Mask, Footloose, and Grease."
"No." You all collectively say once again. "Rick Kimbrough, The Blue Lagoon and Splash." She says, making you all laugh.
"Definitely not."
"No way." Steve agrees. "Okay, Rick Lipton, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke." She finally finishes, making Dustin laugh.
"Bingo." He says. "Lipton?" Max questions. "Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road." Robin replies. "That's out by Lovers Lake..." Dustin states in recognition. "Middle of nowhere." Robin agrees. "Perfect place to hide." You say with a smirk, knowing you found the right guy. "Well let's get to it!" Steve says, getting his car keys from his pocket before tossing them in the air, catching them before they could clatter on the ground.
You all immediately race out the door to Steve's car, Robin closing up the shop as you do. You get into the shotgun seat, buckling the seatbelt as the other get in as well, Steve revving the engine as soon as he saw Robin was back.
You reach into the compartment, getting one of Steve's tapes before putting it into the player, jamming out to 'Psycho Killer.'
———
It was pitch black outside now, the only light source being Steve's cars headlights. He pulled up to the side of a dilapidated house, extremely worn down walls the only thing keeping it stable. You all get out the car and walk up to the front door, Dustin taking the lead and ringing the doorbell.
There was a pause, before Dustin rings it again. Nothing. He rings it over and over again, spamming the poor bell with multiple pushes. "Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve says from the side of you, but Dustin doesn't listen, instead goes to a different method of knocking on the door.
"Eddie! It's Dustin!" He screams. "Oh, great!" Steve says sarcastically. "We just wanna talk, okay?!" He continues as you roll your eyes. "No cops, I swear, we just wanna help. Eddie!" He tries again, ringing the door bell once again. "Rick! Reefer Rick!"
"Don't scream like that..." Steve scolds him. Dustin ignores him and continues to pound on the door as you finally let out a groan, flicking your flashlight on before exploring the area a bit. You see Max a couple feet ahead of you, and go over to her, following her line of vision to see a run down old shed. "Hey, guys?" She called to the others. They go down to the two of you immediately.
You take the lead, flashing your light across the pathway in order to try and find a door. You finally find it, and open it slowly, senses alert of any possible danger. "Hello?" Robin calls out from behind you. There was no response, yet you went deeper in despite the multiple warnings your gut was giving you to turn back around.
"Is anyone home?" Robin asks again, but to no avail. You finally get to the end of the shed, only to find a canoe and an oar. You sigh, turning off your flashlight and wait for the others to catch up. Steve immediately picks up the oar upon seeing it, and stabs the tarp that was over the canoe with it. "What are you doing??" You question as he goes in for three more hits, finally stopping when you put a hand on his arm.
"He might be in here..." Steve explains, pushing you back and stabbing it a few more times. "So take the tarp off!" You sass. "If you're so brave, you take the tarp off!"
"I would if you would let me!" You say, motioning to the hand he had preventing you from getting any closer. He doesn't answer to that, only circling around to try another angle. "I think we've established he isn't in the canoe." You state, but Steve ignores you.
"Hey, look over here... Someone was here." Max states from somewhere across the room with Robin and Dustin by her side. "Maybe he got spooked and ran..." Robin reasoned.
"Well, don't worry anyone, Steve'll get 'em with his oar!" You say. "I know you think you're being funny, Henderson, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-" A black figure suddenly popped up from behind Steve from below the tarp, making you all jump in fear and Steve scream. The figure backed Steve up to a corner.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!" He screams, putting his hands up as he was backed up harshly into a wall by none other than Eddie, holding a broken alcohol bottle up to his neck.
You run over to him, about to beat his ass had it not been for Dustin stopping you with a hand held out. "LET ME GO!!! LET GO OF HIM!!!!!" You scream, desperately trying to get to Steve.
"Eddie! Stop!" Dustin yells, grabbing the man's attention. "It's me! It's Dustin! This is Steve! He's not gonna hurt you, right Steve?" Dustin asks, making you stop struggling as he seemed to be getting through to Eddie.
"Right, yeah."
"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Dustin asks, and Steve does so, Eddie pushing the weapon harder to Steve neck, making him groan in pain.
You shut your eyes, trying to avoid seeing Steve getting hurt. You could stop him, but you trust Dustin. "What are you doing here." He asks finally in a shaky breath. "We're looking for you." You answer in a shaky voice.
"We're here to help." Robin encourages. "Eddie, these are my friends, and sister." He says, pointing over to each of you. "You know Robin, from band. This is my friend, Max, the one who never wants to play D&D, and Y/n. My sister you met yesterday in lunch." He explains. Recognition flows through his eyes as he realizes this, looking over his shoulder to meet your gaze. His eyes were full with fear.
"We're on your side." You say calmly, knowing that in that moment... You could tell he was an innocent man. "We swear on our mother! Right, guys?" Dustin encourages, looking to the others. "Yes, yes we swear." Max agrees.
"On Dustin and Y/n's mother!"
"Yeah, Dustins- Y/n's mother!" Steve agrees. Eddie looks around the room for a second, looking at Steve before finally releasing him from his grasp. Steve let's out a relieved sigh, sliding down the wall. Eddie walks over to the wall, sliding down it slowly. You hug Steve before pulling away to check his neck. It wasn't bad. As soon as you were satisfied, you walk over to Eddie.
Dustin was already there, reaching his hand out to touch Eddie's gently. "We just want to talk..." He says slowly and calmly. His finger move as they make contact, rings glinting in the flashlights light. "Okay?" He finishes. You bend down to get onto his level, gently nudging Dustin out of the way so you were seated in front of him.
"Can... Can you name five things you can feel?" You ask him gently, trying to get him out of his current state of mind. He looks up to meet your gaze, staring his dark brown and frankly terrified eyes into your encouraging ones.
"Anything?" He asks shakily finally. "Anything." You state back gently, not breaking eye contact. "Okay, uh... Five things... Touch... Blankets, guitar, paper, rings, and uh... Canoe." He finishes.
"Four things you can hear." You say, inching your hand closer to his own before placing it down on top of his gently.
"Crickets, lake, you, Dustin." He says, breathing finally getting more even. "Three things you can see." You say, stroking his hand gently in circles, doing what you did for Dustin when he was stressed out.
"The dark, you, and the shed." He states.
"Two things you can smell."
"The sea and smoke."
"One thing you can taste."
"Food." He finishes, making you smile. "Now, take a deep breath with me." You say, to which he nods, following your lead as you take a large inhale, and exhale slowly.
"Feeling better?" You ask, to which he nods his head slowly. "Lots. Thanks." He says, to which you shrug. "No problem." You say, retracting your hand from his.
"If... You're okay to talk about it... Can you tell us what happened that night?" Max asks suddenly from the back, making you remember that everyone was still here. You see Steve looking over to you with a jealous look in his eye, making you shake your head with a small smile on your face. You would talk to him later.
"You wouldn't believe me..." He says slowly back. "Try us." You state. He looks up to you, dark brown eyes meeting your own. You nod your head encouragingly, a slight smile playing onto your face. He takes a deep breath before starting to relay that night to the group.
"Her body just... Like... Lifted up into the air and, uh... And she just, hung there... In the air. And her bones started mm... mmm.... Her bones... Started to snap. Her eyes, man... It was like, there was something inside her head... Pulling..."
"You don't have to talk about this if you're not ready, Eddie." You say comfortingly, noticing his considerably shaky voice. "It's... It's ok... I-I didn't know what to do so I... I ran away. I left her there. And... You all think I'm crazy right." He asks, running a hand through his matted hair.
"No. We don't think you're crazy at all." Dustin says comfortingly. "Don't bullshit me man I know how this sounds!" He screams, voice cracking slightly.
"We're not bullshitting you." Max says. "We believe you." You state, to which he sighs, shaking his head. "Look... What I'm about to tell you might be a little... Difficult to take." Dustin says.
"...Okay?"
"You know how.. People say Hawkins is cursed? They're not... Way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. And sometimes, it bleeds into ours."
"Like... Ghosts and shit?" Eddie asks. "There are some things... Worse than ghosts." Max says.
"These monsters from this other world... We thought they were gone. But they've come back before. And that's why we needed to find you." You say, looking up to Eddie's shaky gaze. "If they're back again, we need to know." Max encourages.
"That night... Did you see anything?" Robin asks. "Dark particles maybe?" Max elaborates. Eddie shakes his head. "It would almost look like dust. Swirling dust."
"No, man. There was nothing you could see or, uh... Or touch, hear, smell, or... Or taste." He says, looking up at you. "You know... I tried to wake her, man... She couldn't move. It was like she was in a trance or something." Eddie continues.
"Or under a spell." Dustin says suddenly. "A curse." Eddie concurs. "Vecna's curse." Dustin says, making you look over to him. "It can't be..." You say, not believing your ears.
"It could be..." Dustin says. "Who's Vecna?" Steve questions. "An undead creature of... Great. Power." Dustin explains.
"A spell caster." Eddie says, looking down to the ground. "A dark wizard." You finish. You all look to each other with worried eyes.
If the next creature you were facing was Vecna... You might not be able to win this time unscathed.
———
hope you guys liked this chapter! it was really fun to write. i scrapped a whole scene where y/n fought eddie bc she was worried about him hurting steve, but i decided against it bc it would put a bit of a strain on their relationship...
question of the day is : what's your favorite color?
word count : 5184