Notes:
Here's the second chapter! Once again, this is episode two, Vecna's Curse.
I remember I had a lot of fun writing this one :)
Enjoy!
Max startled awake, sweat covering her body. Her eyes darted around. She was in her bedroom. She was safe.
The nightmare tonight was far worse than any of the others. Max watched all her friends die, torn apart by the mindflayer. She'd called out their names, sobbing. It was as if the mindflayer was torturing her. Showing Max her worst fears. Her demons.
Closing her eyes, Max steadied her breathing enough to calm her nerves. It wasn't enough, though. She'd need to resort to the Benadryl again.
Climbing out of bed, Max searched her backpack for the bottle and, walking into the kitchen, she took two, the most she could handle at once. It was the same routine every dull morning.
Staring out the window, she stared at the cloudy sky, threatening to rain. The forecast said it'd be sunnier towards the end of the day, though.
Suddenly, Max heard sirens wailing, nearing her trailer. A few moments later, a swarm of police cars rushed in her direction. But not her trailer. No, Eddie's trailer.
Her mother must've woken up from the blaring sirens because she came to stare out the window a moment later too.
"What's happening?" her mom asked.
"Not sure."
Heading out the front door, they stood on the small porch, watching the scene unfold.
Although Max couldn't hear what Mr. Munson was saying to the police, she could tell it wasn't good, judging by his face. Pure shock.
"Looks like that Munson boy's up to no good again."
Max silently walked toward the other trailer to get a good look at what was happening.
Although she couldn't entirely determine what she was seeing, Max could tell that something was lying across the floor. Something dressed in a cheerleader outfit.
Max tried to move forward when suddenly an officer jumped in front of her.
"You can't be out here. Get back inside," he ordered. "Back inside."
Max sprinted back towards her mom.
"What was it?"
"I don't know," Max said, half-lying.
It only took an hour before she heard the news.
"A Hawkin's student was found dead today at the trailer park. Police believe it was a homicide, but the situation is still being investigated. "
Max instantly knew. She knew who it was.
Chrissy.
Max needed to tell someone everything she saw. Someone who might have more details on Eddie. Someone like Dustin.
After getting dressed and packing her bookbag with clothing and other things she may need, Max climbed onto her bike and pedaled as fast as she could to Dustin's house.
Deep down, her gut told her the truth. Still, Max didn't want to believe it. She wouldn't let herself believe it.
Max couldn't handle any more loss.
Pulling to the house, she parked her bike in the driveway and marched to the door, ringing it. Max waited for only a second before Dustin quickly opened the door.
They stared at each other for a moment.
"It's about-" Dustin started, but Max quickly cut him off.
"Yeah…"
"Come on," he said, beckoning her inside. Then, striding into his room, Dustin closed the door and began to pace.
"It was Eddie's trailer," Max said abruptly. Dustin paused.
"Eddie?" he asked nervously.
"He lives directly across from me."
Max saw a look of panic etch across his face.
"He's alive," she said quickly, and he sighed a breath of relief. He started to pace once more, faster this time. "But, listen, I'm almost certain I know who it was."
"Who?"
"Chrissy Cunningham…"
Dustin gawked at her.
" What? "
"Listen, I know it sounds insane, but I promise you it was her."
He shook his head. "Why was he with Chrissy?"
"I- I think probably drugs or something," Max whispered.
Dustin shrugged. That'd make sense—sort of. At least, the part about Eddie selling drugs.
"How do you know it was her?"
Max sighed. "Last night, I saw him get out of his van with her, and they headed inside. And this morning, I caught a glimpse of her body."
"Chrissy Cunningham? You're sure it was Chrissy?"
"Yes, in her cheerleader outfit. Same thing I saw her in with Eddie."
"Did you tell all this to the cops?"
Max sheepishly looked down at the floor. "No…" she mumbled. "No.. but I- I can't be the only one who saw them together. They stood out."
"Eddie the freak with Chrissy the cheerleader?" Dustin said, stopping to face her.
"Exactly. You know, his name's not in the news yet or anything, but I guarantee you Eddie is suspect number one."
"That's crazy. Eddie didn't do this, no way. No way."
Max huffed. "We can't rule it out…."
"Yes, we can!"
"Dustin!" she pleaded.
"You don't know him like I do, Max. Okay? When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Mike and me? I mean, no one was nice to us. No one except Eddie."
"Okay, well, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he's a super nice guy, but then he's murdering women on the weekend."
Dustin cupped his face for a moment. "So you're saying Eddie is like Ted Bundy ?"
"No, I'm not saying… I'm saying we can't presume anything, okay? But it doesn't look good for Eddie."
Sighing, Dustin sat on his bed, looking into space.
"Why haven't you told the cops this?"
"I- I don't know…."
"You don't know?"
"After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go in the trailer…." Max said hushedly, "…something else happened."
She thought back to when she was feeding the dog.
"-Okay, all right. Last one."
Max remembered Eddie's car wildly pulling up to his trailer and how he and Chrissy climbed out, how her TV signal was weird.
"Come on," she said, hitting the TV.
"The electricity was… weird. The lights were flickering, and my TV signal went out. When it stopped, I heard someone scream inside. Eddie ran out of his trailer and sped off," Max explained. "Nothing that weird or anything. I mean… Eddie always drives like a maniac, and the power goes off at my place all the time. It's a piece of shit. But… I started to think back, and… I don't know." She paused.
"The look on his face. He was scared, Dustin. Really scared," Max whispered. "Maybe he was scared because, you know, he… he just killed someone, or… maybe, um…" she stuttered. God, she didn't want to say it. "maybe be... because… I don't… I don't know, maybe…"
"Something else killed her," Dustin concluded for her.
"But that's impossible. Right?"
"I don't know. It should be. Only one person knows what actually happened."
"Eddie…"
Sitting up, Dustin grabbed a bag, stuffing it with items, and they left his bedroom together. He didn't explain anything, but Max decided not to ask. Instead, let him have an immediate crisis to work his emotions out so he wouldn't lash out or do anything stupid.
Dustin turned his head. "Have you talked to anyone else?"
"No. I can't find Lucas or Nancy, and Mike's in–"
"California. Shit, shit, shit," Dustin realized.
As Max opened the front door, Mrs. Henderson turned to face her son. "Where are you going?"
"To see a friend," he replied.
"You heard the news! It's not safe!"
Right before closing the door, Dustin responded with, "Good point; we'll be extra careful. Thanks. Love you. Bye."
Climbing onto their bikes, Max called out to him. "I'm guessing we're going to see Steve."
"No duh."
"Jeez…"
Steve always said that Dustin needed his ego checked, and she couldn't agree more.
"We'll need to call all Eddie's friends and see if we can get any information on where he is."
"Got it."
Once they finally arrived at the video store, the two kids stormed inside.
"Hey, Steve-"
"You see this?" Steve asked, completely ignoring Dustin.
"How many phones do you have?"
"-Someone was murdered."
" How many phones do you have? "
Steve and Robin stared at each other, confused. "Two. Why?"
"Technically three, if you count Keith's," Robin added.
Dustin turned to look at Max. "Yeah, three works."
"What are you doing?" As Dustin slid his bag over the counter, Steve didn't have enough time to prevent the boy from doing the same. "Not my tapes!" he cried as Dustin knocked the stack over.
Max used the actual entrance instead.
"What are you doing, man?"
"Setting up base of operations here," he replied, logging into the computer.
"-Base of operations?" Robin asked.
"Get off," Steve ordered.
"I need it."
"For what?"
"Eddie's friends' phone numbers."
Steve rolled his eyes. "Oh, Eddie. Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?"
Dustin groaned. " Ed, yes, and I never said that."
"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around in here like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day," Robin complained.
"-Robin, I empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday."
"Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?" she asked.
"Correct!"
"Want me to strangle him or you want to?" Max overheard Steve saying.
"We can take turns," Robin replied sarcastically.
"-Can you fill them in while I do this?" Dustin begged Max.
"Fill us in on what?" Robin asked. The older teens stared at Max expectantly.
She sighed. "I live across from Eddie's trailer. Last night I saw him get out of his van with Chrissy Cunningham-"
" Chrissy Cunningham?! " Robin said, astonished.
"Yes, her. She followed Eddie into his trailer, and a few minutes later, my lights started to flicker. The TV was weird for a moment too. Finally, it stopped, and then I heard Eddie scream from his trailer. The next thing I know, he's jumping into his van, speeding away. He looked terrified."
"Wait, this doesn't have to do with that dead student, right," Steve asked.
Max looked down. "It was Chrissy. I woke up this morning and heard sirens. I went to investigate and saw her on the floor in her cheerleader outfit. The same thing she was wearing the night before. I didn't get a great look at her, though."
"Holy shit," Robin whispered.
"I'm not sure if Eddie killed her or if… you know."
"Jesus Christ…." Steve said, putting his hands on the back of his neck.
Jesus Christ, indeed.
It took a while to get anywhere, but Max eventually managed to do it.
"Hey, guys, I might have a lead," she said, putting down the phone.
"Seriously?" Dustin asked, thrilled.
"Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there."
Robin smiled. "Sounds promising. Where does this Reefer Rick live?"
"See, that's the thing. No one knows. He's more of a… a legend than someone that people actually know."
"Well, what about a last name?" Dustin said.
"I don't know that either."
"Bet the cops know the last name," Steve commented as he walked over.
"What?"
"Cops," he repeated. "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."
"The cops?" Dustin stared at him, dumbfounded. "Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?"
"I think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on."
"-You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?"
Steve scoffed a bit. "Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out."
"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve," Max countered.
Dustin added, "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."
"Somebody has to attend to the customers," Steve replied defensively.
"-Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin smirked.
"Hey, not fair. Okay? I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for people."
A smile formed over Robin's face. She had an idea. "Yeah, it can be."
Turning to the computer, she typed in 'Rick'.
"What are you doing?" Max asked.
"Maybe we don't need a last name," Robin muttered. "Twelve Ricks have accounts here."
"That's a lot of Ricks."
"So, let's narrow it down." She clicked on the first one. "Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. Chances our drug dealer has a family?"
"-Not likely."
" All right. Rick Conroy." Robin clicked again. "Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone."
"No," everyone said at once.
"Okay. Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease."
"Nah."
"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash."
The four of them laughed. "Definitely not."
"Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke."
"Bingo."
"Lipton?" Max questioned.
"Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road."
"That's out by Lovers Lake," Dustin responded.
Max shrugged. "Middle of nowhere."
"It's a perfect place to hide," Robin grinned.
Grabbing their stuff, they dashed into Steve's car as he locked the store.
"Let's go find Eddie," Dustin said, determined.
It was late at night when they got there, but Dustin was the first one out of the car. He frantically rang the doorbell.
"Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here…" Steve concluded.
Dustin didn't listen. "Eddie! It's Dustin!"
"Great."
"Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help."
Max ignored their arguing. Instead, she shined her flashlight into the window. Nothing.
Suddenly, her eye caught the boathouse. The outside light was on…
"Hey, guys?" They moved towards her, and a moment later, Robin took the lead. Cautiously, she pushed the door open.
"Hello?" she called. "Is anyone home?"
"What a dump," Steve commented. Max watched him grab an oar and start poking the tarp. Jesus.
"What are you doing?! What are you doing?" Dustin repeated.
"He might be in here."
"So take the tarp off!" he squeaked.
"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off!"
Do these two ever stop arguing?
Max used her flashlight to investigate the rest of the place. It was so ancient that it felt like it would break any moment.
The floorboards creaked beneath her feet.
Suddenly, she spotted some wrappers.
"Hey, look over here."
Robin joined her, and together they examined it. "Someone was here," Max said.
Robin looked her in the eyes. "Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran."
"Don't worry, Steve will get him with his oar!" Dustin responded sarcastically.
Steve groaned. "I know you think you're being funny, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-" He didn't finish his sentence as a figure jumped out of the tarp.
The entire room screamed as Steve was pinned against the wall, a broken bottle held up to his neck.
The figure was none other than Eddie.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Dustin cried. "Eddie! Eddie! It's me. It's Dustin. This is Steve. He's not going to hurt you. Right, Steve ?"
"Right, yeah," Steve whimpered.
"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?"
As Steve let it slip out of his hand, everyone jumped as Eddie pushed the broken glass closer to his neck.
"He's cool! He's cool!"
"I'm cool, man. I'm cool," Steve breathed.
"What are you doing here?" Eddie sounded traumatized. He'd definitely been through something.
"We're looking for you."
"We're here to help," Robin chimed in.
Dustin tried to reassure Eddie, talking as soothingly as he could. "Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band."
Robin imitated a flute.
"This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D & D."
Max simply raised her hand in greeting. Introductions were pretty useless in this sort of scenario.
"Eddie. We're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?"
"Yeah, on Dustin's mother," they all said together.
It was a tense few seconds. Max could see Eddie considering his decisions. Eventually, though, he released Steve. She sighed. Thank god…
As Robin went to ensure he was okay, Dustin kneeled beside Eddie.
"Eddie… We just want to talk. Okay?"
"We want to know what happened," Robin added.
Eddie sniffed. " You won't believe me."
Max shook her head. "Try us."
Eddie gazed at her before dropping his head.
"I know how crazy I'm about to sound, okay, but please try and believe me."
Everyone nodded.
"Chrissy Cunningham. She wanted drugs; seemed desperate for them. I tried to sell some to her in the woods, but she wanted something stronger. I offered to take her to my place after the game, and she agreed. When I went to find the thing she was looking for, I got back, and she was… standing there. Her eyes were all rolled back and shit."
"What happened next?" Max questioned.
"Her body just, like, lifted into the air and, uh… And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones… Uh, she…" Eddie whimpered. "Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It… It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling." Eddie took a moment to breathe. "I… I didn't know what to do, so I… I ran away. I left her there." He turned to glance at them and scoffed. "You all think I'm crazy, right?"
Dustin bowed his head and stared at his friend with sympathetic eyes. "No. We don't think you're crazy."
"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds."
"We're not bullshitting you," Max said.
Robin commented alongside Max. "We believe you."
Dustin cleared his throat. "Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little… difficult to take."
Eddie bobbed his head up and down. "Okay."
"You know how people say Hawkins is cursed? They're not way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours."
"Like ghosts and shit?"
"There are some things… worse than ghosts," Max whispered.
"These monsters from this other world…." Dustin continued, "…we thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."
Max wanted to cry. She felt hopeless. Still, they had a chance. "If they're back again, we need to know."
"That night," Robin asked, "did you see anything?
"Dark particles, maybe?" Max said.
"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust," Dustin added.
Eddie shook his head. "No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh… or touch." He hesitated. "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she… she was in a trance or something."
"Or under a spell."
"A curse…"
"Vecna's curse."
Steve looked at them in confusion. "Who's Vecna?"
"An undead creature of great power," Dustin replied.
"A spell caster…" Eddie said, playing off of him.
"A dark wizard."
Max sat in panic. The upside-down was back. It was back and ready to take more lives. More of her pride. More of her spirit.