Eddie

Wayne and I put the finishing touches on the maze in the barn, blocking out a path out the side door and around the back with hay bales. Just and Misty dragged out a long trough bucket for apple bobbing and set up a scarecrow on a Christmas tree base for the pumpkin toss. We already had tunes going, blasting them out from the open window upstairs, and things smelled great, from the cider to the pies.

Thanks to Lib's talents I was becoming a HUGE pie fan. Always liked it, but fresh and right out of the oven? Amazing shit. Totally. And I really enjoyed celebrating Rosh Hashanah too. Lib had been right about Just not quite having the lung power for the shofar, but trying was the important part, and that's what mattered. Practice, practice, practice.

Anyway, we were nearly done setting everything up, and I was in a good mood as I collected the last of the eggs and locked up the chickens for the night. It took time, but I was getting pretty good at not getting pecked now. Part of it was being able to sweet talk the hen, and part of it was just sleight of hand. I came away with three eggs in each pocket of my vest as Misty carried the pail of milk to the kitchen.

"This one's for the co-op," she called over her shoulder. "Any eggs?"

I followed her inside. "Six," I produced them and added them to the wire basket in the fridge. "Do we have apples?"

"Pfft, I think we've got some still on the trees," she told me. "If Lib hasn't already harvested them."

"I'll check," I offered and headed out to the orchard on the south side of the house. It's not much of an orchard: four apple trees, a pair of peach trees and a single gnarled old plum. The stone fruit was long gone from springtime, but there were still some apples so I started picking, stuffing them into my vest again. The sun was going to set in about half an hour and everything was golden light.

I wandered back, heading out towards the turn off, and sure enough, Wayne and Just where there, putting the final touches on Big Orange with some paint and a filet knife. The face was definitely demonic and when they put the fat candle in it, perfection. I loved how both Just and Wayne high-fived each other when it was done.

"Never carved a pumpkin this big before," Wayne told us. "Piece of work, that one."

"Yeah," Just agreed. "Maybe the one next year will be bigger!"

"Maybe you ought to just grow it out here and save us the pain of rolling it so far," I told him, and he giggled.

The Wheelers showed up first, along with the chief's daughter, El. I'd never met her before, but she shook my hand and thanked me for the invite. She had kind of an intense look, but Mike was clearly gaga for her, staying close. Nancy brought some sort of dip along with chips and set it on the long table we had in the barn before looking around.

"Wow, I had no idea how big this place was," she grinned. "It's a genuine farm!"

"Used to be," I started setting out some of the folding chairs. "We've cut back on the crops, though."

The Byers showed up next, along with Dustin, who was in a Mad Scientist costume. Will had a striped sweater and hat so I assumed he was Freddy Kruger. Jonathon carried a huge plate of decorated cookies and I snagged one when he passed by me.

"Nice pumpkin out front, "he told me. "I'm gonna try and get a good photo of it."

"Just grew it, and my uncle carved it," I told him. "I'll pay for a second print, man."

Jonathon waved a hand. "Nah, I'll make one no charge. Least I can do for all this," he looked around. "Nice."

And it was. Between the party lights, the tunes and the food, things were looking good. Lib brought out some fudge and these little crispy cinnamon puffs, sharing them and chatting with everyone. Just was in a pirate coat, hanging around with Dustin and Will while Mike and El curled up on a hay bale. After a while Lucas showed up, followed by Steve and Robin.

"Hey! GREAT pumpkin by the road!" Robin called. She had on a striped shirt and a beret; probably a mime but I wasn't sure. Steve was too cool for costumes, but I noticed his sweater was orange, so that was probably as close as he got to even acknowledging Halloween. He waved, but his attention was on the food, not that I blamed him.

For the first hour things were goin' good. I explained about the three games, making it clear that winners would be getting prizes. The younger ones were definitely interested, but I could see both Jonathan and Steve looking competitive as well. THAT would make things interesting, I knew. Misty explained apple bobbing to El while Just and I set up the water trough.

Then, something howled in the woods.

Lib

I thought it was a joke. Someone being goofy and trying to scare us, but when we all stared at each other, nobody was looking as if they were in on it. We all looked . . . startled.

"The hell was that? You have some boom box hidden in the woods?" Steve asked, peering around and flexing his hands.

"No," I told him. "That's not from us."

"We don't have wolves around here," Dustin spoke up. "It's not their territory. Too many people. Wild dog, most likely."

"Or someone being a dick," Robin muttered softly. "I wouldn't put it past a bunch of them from school."

"Hargrove," Mike winced. "He's been kind of a dick lately."

"Not lately; all the time," Jonathan agreed. "This would be his style."

Another howl. This one sounded weird and hissy, not like any dog I'd ever heard. On the porch, Mannie pricked up his ears and gave a low growl, and that startled those of us who lived here because Mannie is such a low-key dog.

Mom came out and soothed him, looking around.

Will rubbed the back of his neck. "That's . . . not a dog," he intoned, and I saw his brother and the Wheelers stare at him. Even Steve looked spooked.

"Shit. No, no, not again!" Steve gritted his teeth. "Seriously?"

"What?" I had no clue what was going on, but they were all looking at each other in a way that told me something bad was going on.

"The rabbits, the stray cats," Robin spoke up. "The dog at the pool. Shit. We've got . . ."

"An incursion," El announced. "a monster."

I laughed. She sounded SO serious that it had to be a joke, right?

They looked at me, and Robin took a breath, stepping closer.

"Okay, Lib, this is going to sound completely bizarre, and I know because it's Halloween it's going to sound like some sort of Horror Movie-"

"—The fact is, Hawkins Lab has broken through to another dimension, and has done it more than once," Dustin interrupted her, his tone serious. "There are creatures in that dimension that kill. A lot."

I looked around at the group. Nobody was smirking. Nobody was hiding a giggle. Will looked like he might throw up.

"You . . . mean that," Eddie was trying to get a grip on this idea as well. "You actually MEAN that. Henderson, if you're bullshitting us—"

"He's not." That was from Mom, who was glaring in the direction of the Lab. "Damn it. Let me guess: started two years ago? Right about the FIRST time the crops died?"

Steve nodded, so did Nancy and Jonathan. "When I got . . . taken," Will admitted, sounding spooked. "I can sense . . . things. And yeah, we've got trou-"

He didn't get to finish. Something slick, dark, and disgusting charged out at us from the stand of trees between the house and the creek.