"No, I don't think he's at the arcade- Wait, call who? Do you know her last name? Great! Thank you!"
The slam plastic knocking together echoed through the almost empty video store as Robin Buckley turned to the younger teen that paced the space behind the counter. Dustin Henderson had begun to reach for the clipboard to look up the next number when Robin stopped him, his brow furrowing as she spoke rapidly.
"Do you know Kate McNeil?"
"Uh, yeah, she used to be one of my babysitters, she- She hangs out around Eddie and Gareth, she comes to Hellfire sometimes!"
Leaning over the whiteboard, Robin looked over the names carefully, dragging her fingers down the scrawled list. Her fingers collected the residue as she scanned again, a freckled nose wrinkling at the feeling before she turned back to Dustin.
"Do you have her number? There's not a Kate on here."
The third member of the search party perked up, ducking around Dustin to make her way back to the computer. Max Mayfield quickly typing in the new name and skimming through the glowing green catalog, turning to Dustin when her search came up short.
"There's no Kate McNeil in the system, is Kate a nickname?"
"I don't know, she's only ever gone by Ka-"
"It's Katherine."
Everyone turned to the older boy leaning lazily against the far side of the counter, staring as he idly shifted through boxes of candy. Steve Harrington looked up after a moment, raising a brow as he spoke again.
"What? She was in my art class."
"Now you say something!"
Dustin pushed between the two girls as he began to type furiously, his frustrated frown slowly turning upward as he double checked the recent rentals.
Arsenic and Old Lace Poltergeist Rocky Horror Picture Show Carrie The Dark Crystal Return to Oz Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fabulous Stains"That's totally her, give me the phone."
Lighting up first thing in the morning wasn't an everyday thing for Kate, she usually preferred to smoke socially, but lately it was the only reason she was able to get out of bed in the morning. Her head pounded as she opened her eyes to the sunlight streaming through her window, Kate disappearing back under the covers with a soft groan as her eyes struggled to adjust. Sleep had come and gone with a fight, Kate waking up in the early hours of the morning to silence and a sheen of cold sweat coating her skin. She hadn't remembered much of the nightmare, just flashes of darkness and an echo of her name remaining as she shuffled through her room to rewind and replay the cassette she'd fallen asleep to before crawling back into bed. Now, she struggled for a moment longer to rest before she pulled herself out from under the covers, grabbing a joint from her beside table and vowing to ask Eddie for more whenever he showed up again.
The kitchen was far too bright as she approached the coffee maker, mindlessly going through the motions of filling the filter, pressing start and pouring copious amounts of sugar-substitute into the bottom of her cup. Kate made breakfast out of the leftovers that still sat in the oven, wandering into the living room and picking at cold chicken while the coffee brewed. She chose to watch whatever tape had been left in the VCR instead of exposing herself to whatever tragedy the news had to offer, smiling softly when a campy tune filled the living room and the screen lit up in technicolor. By the time she wandered back, the coffee was ready, Kate filling her cup to the brim as she took her first hit. What should have been a satisfied sigh at the burn that filled her lungs turned into a rough cough as the phone rang, startling Kate enough to slosh the hot coffee over her fingers.
"Goddammit-"
She wiped her hands on her shirt and tossed the joint into the nearby ashtray before she answered, trying her best to keep her voice calm.
"Hello?"
"Hi! Is this, uh, Katherine McNeil?"
Kate pulled the phone away from her ear, wrinkling her nose at the use of her Christian name before returning to the receiver. No one called her that, not unless it was about a job or school, so she assumed whatever this phone call was, it had to be important. It wasn't her boss, or anyone that worked alongside her, so she was safe from the retrocessions of last nights antics. Thus, it was probably worth postponing her wake n' bake for now, even if it meant dealing with the dull throbbing between her temples for a while longer. She focused on the curling stream of smoke that lifted from the extinguished roll as she replied to the girl in what she hoped was an equally pleasant tone.
"Uh, yeah, how can I help you?"
"Robin, let me ta-"
The rustle on the other end startled her, her brow raising as a familiar voice came back through the line.
"Kate, it's Dustin."
"Dustin? Dustin Henderson? How did you get my nu- You know what, nevermind, I'm sure your mom still has it."
"Your name is Katherine?"
She rolled her eyes, instantly regretting the sting it sent through her temples before shifting the phone between her ear so she could stretch the line further into the kitchen to retrieve her coffee cup.
"Not to you it isn't, what's up Dust Bunny?"
"Right, sorry. Uh, hey, uh, just wondering if you've seen Eddie."
Kate froze as the familiar feeling of panic began to spread across her chest, fighting hard against the buzz from the still smoking joint on the counter that attempted to keep her mellowed despite her rising pulse rate. Dustin knew better than to bother Eddie outside of school, this had to be important, and if Eddie was part of it, possibly criminal. Which meant that his ditching her last night probably wasn't the malicious attack on their friendship that her crushing doubt was still trying to convince her it was. Clearing her throat, Kate replied with the hope that she'd start getting answers.
"Eddie? Not since yesterday morning, why?"
"Oh, just needed to ask h-"
"Don't lie to me Henderson."
Everything about this felt sour, she wasn't letting the kid keep anything from her if it meant helping a friend, especially if that friend was Eddie Munson. Dustin's lisp slipped nervously as he continued with an otherwise calm tone, but Kate wasn't buying it.
"It's not a big de-"
"Is he in trouble?"
Silence, far too long of a silence for her taste, but she didn't risk him hanging up on her due to her being too aggressive. Not until she knew more.
"...Have you seen the news today?"
"No, you, uh-"
Leaning around the corner, she glanced at the cartoons that were playing from the television and eyed the time on the VCR's clock before fully forming her reply.
"- woke me up. Why?"
He didn't question her response, Kate watching the shifting of the afternoon sun dance through the lace of the kitchens as he continued.
"Shit, okay, do you have any idea where Eddie could be?"
"Dustin."
"Listen, I'll tell you everything later, I swear. Just, fu- Do you know where he is?"
"If you think I have any idea of what he's up to at any given moment, you're sorely mistaken."
She hated how irritated she'd sounded in her response, she really hadn't meant it that way. Eddie was just unpredictable, and unless you had his word on something, it wasn't worth it to try and figure out what he would do next. Kate rubbed at her temples, breathing in deep before trying again.
"Who all have you tried?"
"Uh-"
She could hear voices in the background alongside the jingling of a bell, pressing the phone closer to her ear as she listened. Dustin came back louder than before, Kate almost flinching away from the noise as he rattled off a list of mostly familiar names.
"-and Gareth, who told Robin that we should ask you."
Kate's heart softened, Gareth's trust that she would know better where to find Eddie helping to solidify her confidence. She paced as she thought, ducking under the phone's twisting cord with each pass. Dustin shifted on the other end as she spoke up again, cursing herself for not thinking of it faster.
"Did you not try Ricks? Eddie's crashed there on and off since he was like fifteen."
"Do you have his number?"
She sighed, pulling her hair down from its place twisted on top of her head and slipping the tie around her wrist. Her fingers found the sore places on her scalp, raking through tangles as she continued.
"Fuck no, are you kidding me? I've only met him a handful of times, and the last time I was at his house-"
"Wait, you know where he lives?!"
"-was when we were seventeen and Eddie drove us out there after a show. So, no. I don't."
Dustin fell quiet for a moment before he sighed, sounding more defeated than she'd ever heard before.
"Fuck."
"Language, Dust. Look-"
That damn bell again, the ringing far too familiar for her to ignore, came through from his end once again.
"Where are you?"
"Family Video."
Someone hissed his name in the background, the sound of someone ramming into something solid pulling a whine out of Dustin that she couldn't help but chuckle at. She decidedly downed the rest of her coffee, ignoring the burning of her throat and reaching for her used ashtray as she moved back towards the phone's place on the flowered wallpaper.
"I'll be there in five, don't go anywhere without me. I want answers, Henderson."
The light green Beetle rattled as she shifted it into park, the music blaring from the speakers shutting off mid-melody as Kate ripped the key from the ignition. Dustin Henderson was out the front door of Family Video as soon as she'd locked the car, sneakers shuffling against the pavement as he paused in front of her. She didn't have much time to dwell on how big he looked without the imposing figure of their Dungeon Master beside him, Dustin speaking quickly as he moved past her.
"We know where Reefer Rick lives."
She blinked, watching as a stream of teenagers poured out of the door behind him in rapid succession. The last of the group locked the door behind her, flipping the sign to "Closed" before turning to Kate. The girl was vaguely familiar, but there was no time to decide where she knew her from before she moved again, a voice she recognized from the phone earlier quickly making introductions as she passed.
"Hi, Robin, nice to meet you. Are you coming?"
Mousy hair swung around her chin as she quickly continued towards the car parked a few spaces from the Beetle, sliding into the passenger's seat beside someone that Kate could have recognized anywhere. The boy in the driver's seat peered at her in the rearview mirror as she slid in beside Dustin, shifting the knitted bag that hung across her chest into her lap so he wouldn't sit on it before looking at the tousled head of hair that turned over his shoulder to reverse.
"Hey Steve."
"Hey, didn't know you were still friends with Eddie."
She didn't like his tone, but she didn't get to dwell on it long before Dustin was talking once again, gesturing to the redhead beside her.
"Kate, Max Mayfield. Max, this is Kate. Now that everyone knows each other-"
Dustin sighed heavily over their short greeting, gripping the back of the seats in front of him as a stern expression crossed his usually pleasant demeanor.
"There was a- a murder, at Eddie's last night."
"...I've got to admit that's not what I thought you were going to tell me."
"Yeah, well, it's not really how I wanted to spend my weekend either."
"And he's-"
"A suspect, obviously."
Dustin reached across to the front seat, poking hard into Steve's shoulder for his interjection while Kate tried her best to get her brain to catch up with where her mouth was in the conversation. She wasn't sure that she knew how to entirely digest the situation at this point, her mind dulled from her morning smoke and her quick decent into shock. She slipped further into panic the longer she let her mind wander, her muscles tensed and her words heavy in her mouth as she continued.
"Eddie is…suspected for murder?"
"Yeah, his reputation is totally ruined now, right?"
The smack that echoed was barely audible over the squealing of tires as the car swerved, Steve cursing loudly as he regained control of the car.
"Jesus Christ! I'm sorry-"
Kate's hand throbbed at the sharp contact, but she didn't regret the outburst, not when it was in Eddie's defense.
"He wouldn't do this, never. Don't you dare think for a moment that he is capable of anything like this.""
"Look, we don't kn-"
One look at Kate in the rear view mirror shut Steve up quickly, her expression now shifting from her shell shocked to a harsh mask of irritation as the jabs being thrown towards her best friend's peril fueled the growing fire. The kids beside her shared a look as Kate let herself lean into her fury, her tone clipped as she asked the second most important question in this situation.
"Who died?"
"...Chrissy Cunningham."
Her breath was knocked out of her, Kate turning to look at the red headed girl, Max, who had spoken up for the first time since she'd gotten in the car. It made linear sense, Chrissy was the last person that Eddie had probably interacted outside of Hellfire Club, her spiraling assumptions of what had delayed Eddie the night before held some form of rational thinking, but how something like this could happen, well, that escaped her entirely. Kate ignored the tears that were stinging the corners of her eyes, blinking rapidly and speaking up again as she struggled to make sense of it all.
"Are you sure? I mean, Eddie was- Well, they were supposed to meet up yesterday for a school thing but-"
"You can just say he was selling her drugs, we all know about it."
Steve sounded less aggravated as he chimed in now, Kate finding his gaze in the rear view mirror for a moment before she continued.
"Yeah, guess you would. Anyway- They were supposed to meet up before Hellfire Club, which went okay, I'm guessing…?"
She turned to Dustin now, finding him nodding an affirmative as she continued.
"Maybe she wanted something that he didn't have on him, he doesn't carry everything, but- I don't know! He was supposed to come over last night but he never showed up, and now I guess I know why…"
Whether her tears were from rage or sorrow, she wasn't sure, either would hold her tightly enough to choke. A smaller hand laid over hers at it gripped the back of the passenger's seat, Dustin leaning into her as he spoke softly and suddenly Kate wondered when he'd become so grown up.
"We'll know more when we talk to Eddie, okay? We need him to tell us what happened before we do anything."
Kate took a shaking breath, nodding her head softly before words she didn't entirely mean to say fell from her lips.
"He's supposed to graduate this year…"
The quiet that fell over the car felt like morning fog, thick and cold as the reality of what this could do to Eddie's future settled over them. She finally let herself begin to cry then, letting her head drop into her knees as soft sobs shook her shoulders. The straight paths along the center of Hawkins slowly began to turn into the winding roads of the outer limits, Kate trying to keep herself from falling into either of the kids beside as they drove in silence. Eventually a tap to the center console shook her from her trance, Kate lifting her head from the soaked denim of her jeans to look up as Steve Harrington sighed.
"Let's calm down before we go off the deep end here, okay? Just-"
She blinked, her brow furrowing as he rolled through a stop sign and chanced a turn of his head to look back at her.
"Put your seatbelt on."