[chapter three: the monster and the superhero]
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A TARP FLEW off of the person hiding in the boat. The guy began to breathe heavily when he heard something, like a car door slamming. The man walked up to the window to try and get a better look, nearly crapping his pants when somebody spoke from inside the room.
"It's just Dustin and—" "JESUS CHRIST.." Eddie jumped so high, his hand placed on his chest as he looked at the male sitting down in a chair with his arms crossed.
"Were you watching me sleep?" Eddie furrowed his brows.
"Well, you had a tarp over your head so.. no. Not really?" M/n shrugged as he scratched the back of his neck, his answer more of a question.
Just then the door to the shed opened, once again spooking the life out of Eddie. Dustin held up a bag with a smile. "Delivery service!"
Eddie guzzled down the food, practically shoving it down his throat as he listened to everyone speak.
"So we got.. some good news and some bad news." Dustin began. "How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always." Eddie spoke with his mouth full of Honey Comb cereal.
"Okay, bad news.. we tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you."
"—Also! They're prettey convinced you killed Chrissy.." "Like, 100% kind of convinced." Max added.
".. And the good news?" Eddie asked shakingly.
"Your name hasn't gone public yet." Robin continued. "But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do, and once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."
"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie looked up with a frown.
"Exactly." M/n nodded.
"shit.." Eddie muttered to himself.
"So, before that happens.. we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence." Dustin explained.
"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie questioned sarcastically.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Dustin answered genuinely.
"Listen Eddie, i know that everything coming out of Dustin's mouth sounds totally delusional, but we've been through this before." Gabe comforted with a smile. "I mean, they have a few times.. and i have once." Robin clarified.
"Mine was more human-flesh based, theirs was more smoke-related?— but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this." Robin nodded.
"Yeah, see— we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers but uh—" Steve gestured to M/n.
"They went bye-bye so now you'll have to deal with me. But right now we're in the brainstorming phase." M/n finished when he realized that nobody had any idea of how to go about this. He paused when he heard something in the distance.
"There's nothing to worry.. about." Dustin sputtered as Steve scoffed with a nod from behind him.
Eddie raised an eyebrow at them.
"Eddie, get under the tarp." M/n opened his eyes from when he closed them a few seconds ago to try and hear what the sound was.
"W-what why." Eddie questioned, eating another handful of cereal nervously.
On cue, sirens began to echo loudly. Robin ushered the man under the tarp as they all walked to the window to check out what was happening.
Police cars and ambulances passed right by the house. M/n walked up to the door once he saw the final police car pass.
"Let's go."
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Both cars arrived at the scene, Gabe's car and then Steve's right behind him.
They all got out of the car and leaned against it.
Nancy's looked at them from where she was standing, talking to some officers.
She smiled and raised a hand up a bit as a greeting.
"You're saying.. that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, It's from the Upside Down?"
"if the shoe fits." Steve shrugged. They were all sat on a bench in the trailer park from the scene.
"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell.. or a curse."
"Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer.. or just loves killing teens, we dont know." Dustin continued. "All we know is this is something different." Max spoke up.
"It doesn't make sense." Nancy shook her head.
"It's only a theory?"
"—No, Fred and Chrissy. I mean, why them?"
"Maybe they were just in the wrong place? They were both at the game."
"And near the trailer park." M/n looked up at Max and Dustin.
"We're at the trailer park." They all looked around, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. M/n stared at the trailer where it happened, all closed off by yellow caution tape.
Something felt off about it, M/n couldn't explain it.
"Should we maybe.. not be here?" Steve questioned.
"There is something about this place.." Gabe felt goosebumps from chill. "So you noticed it too." M/n looked over at this brother.
Nancy nodded. "Fred started acting weird the second we got here."
"acting weird as in..?"
"Scared, on edge, upset." Nancy listed.
"Max said Chrissy was upset too." Dustin pointed out.
M/n furrowed his brows as he looked up at Max, it reminded him of something.
"Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school." Max explained.
"Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?" Robin asked.
Everybody looked over at her. "Maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this.. Vecman—" "Vecna."
"Dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone."
"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 mind go to your—"
"Your shrink." Robin perked up.
As they all began to walk back to the car, Nancy split from the group. Of course, this caused confusion and panic as the whole "we have to stick together" thing. Steve volunteered to go but Robin didn't know how to drive his car, Steve didn't allow Max to drive. So, Robin threw steve his keys and volunteered to accompany Nancy to wherever it was she needed to go.
Gabe chuckled as he watched Dustin and Steve bicker with eachother, leadin ghis younger brother to his vehicle.
Once Gabe began to drive away, M/n felt a chill run him his spine, he looked out of the window from the front seat. He looked at Eddie's trailer.
Something was definitely going on.
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M/n And Gabe sat in their car behind Steve's. Max had went to Ms. Kelley's home, she had a plan up her sleeve. M/n looked at Gabe who wasn't looking at the house, but his steering wheel. He was biting his nails, deep in thought.
"Are you okay?" M/n asked as he noticed just how zoned out his brother was.
"Hm?" Gabe hummed as continued to stare into space.
"Gabe!" M/n shouted as his brother jumped in his seat to look over at his brother.
"What?!" Gabe shouted back.
"Are you okay?!" M/n contiunued.
"Yes!" He answered.
M/n looked at his brother with a deadpanned look.
"Do you think im stupid." He asked, his voice monotone.
"What?" "I said, do you.. think im.. stupid." M/n spoke slowly, looking straight at his brother.
"..no.." "no?" "No, i dont think you're stupid." Gabe threw his hands up with a sigh.
"Exactly, so tell me what's wrong with you."
Gabe slumped into his seat, trying to find the right words. "Is this about what happened earlier? With Steve and Nancy." M/n asked his brother who nodded.
"It's just.. did you see the way Steve practically threw himself at her?" Gabe began to rant, M/n tried to keep up with all this drama, sitting there all like "a-huh, tell me more"
"—Cause like.. what if he isn't completely over Nancy. What if.. they're like.. soulmates? And im the one ruining something that was meant to be with my own feelings for.. Steve." Gabe sighed as he threw his head back.
M/n breathed out through his nose, this was alot to unpack.
"Do you like him?" "Steve? Yeah i do.. a lot."
"K.. well... if you like him that much, just go for it. If he doesn't appreciate you for you, then that's his loss. Because you are pretty freaking amazing Gabe, and you dont need anybody to tell you that because you should already know it." M/n grabbed Gabe's hand and squeezed it.
Gabe felt his eyes water a bit as he chuckled. "Wow, never thought that i would be seeking out advice from my younger brother.. but here we are." He geatured to his surroundings as they both laughed. Gabe looked over at M/n with a smile. "Thank you."
M/n nodded, sitting back in his seat. The smile on his face slowly disappearing. There were a couple things on his mind.. one being Will. What if one day, Will realizes that he doesn't need him, or he doesn't have feelings for him anymore.
M/n realized how he was taking advantage of Will's feelings for him, and he felt horrible. He needed to apologize as soon as possible.
Another thing on his mind was the symptoms. Something felt familiar about them. They sounded similar to something he heard, it was something someone told him about.
Gabe noticed how his brother looked on edge all of a sudden. "Are YOU okay?" Gabe raised an eyebrow at the male who shook his head.
"No.. something is wrong. Like.. i dont know. I just know that ive heard these symptoms before.. from someone."
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As they were all casually breaking and entering in the school to retrieve some extremely personal and confidential files from Ms. Kelley's office, Gabe and M/n were keeping watch outside of the school whil Max, Dustin, and Steve were inside retrieving said files.
M/n could not, for the life of him, figure out what was so familiar to him. He racked his head for any type of clue and then stopped.
"I figured it out." M/n stood up straight. Gabe looked over at his brother.
"What?"
"Max." "What about max bro, stop being so vague."
M/n rolled his eyes. "A few days ago, Max and we talked. Max was talking to me about how she would get these really bad nightmares, headaches.. uh, bloody noses. I bet you that Chrissy and Fred went through the exact same thing."
Gabe paused to think about it, before looking back up. "If what you're saying is true, then Max is another target. Possibly even the next one."
M/n froze when he heard a loud noise, like a clock tolling. It rang four times before he heard something else.
"Max..."
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Author's Note
So, i was looking at this thread from like the first chapter of this book (i think?) where someone asked me what M/n meant. I explained that it was used because y/n was more commonly used for fem reader books so i use M/n for male reader. To clarify, im not trying to say that y/n is tied down to one gender, im just saying that from the books that i've come across, it's mostly used, like how some people also use f/n for first name or s/n for surname. I use m/n for male name, as in the name of the male, to make it clear to people that this is meant for male readers. Because even though i make it clear in the description that this is written for male readers, sometimes people seem to just ignore it.
Though, if people really want me to change it, then I will. So if you want me to switch M/n to Y/n, please comment here. =)