Summer was nearing its end and all the kids would be soon returning to school. Thus, the teachers, club presidents, activity organizers, and the rest of the staff were preparing for the new semester to begin. Trevor Wallace was one such individual. He ran the youth parliamentarian club where students could come and share their ideas on politics, campaigns, etc. The first annual chapter meeting was set to commence tomorrow afternoon, so he and several other members were tasked with setting up their respective classroom.
That was the plan, anyway. Trevor was the only one who showed up.
He'd decided to push past his initial frustration and get the decorations up himself. If he stayed on top of it, he'd be home before 9 PM, long after every other teacher, student, and staff member had gone home. Trevor raised an American flag decoration to the wall and fumbled with his tape, only to realize it was empty. He cursed under his breath. Remembering that he had some extra supplies in his car, he sighed in resignation, before making the trek into the hallway.
This wasn't fair. He shouldn't have to do all of this by himself. He wanted to be home, watching tv, enjoying his Saturday, but he couldn't because his classmates had bailed on him. Great. He passed by a room full of students finally finishing up their own decorations, the disco club. A girl he recognized waved at him as he made his way by, the groovy music echoed throughout the hall as it played on full blast. He smiled a bit and waved back. Allison Green. He was planning on finally asking her to the fall dance. Trevor had been far too nervous before, but this year would be his chance. He passed their classroom and continued to the exit.
When he finally left the building and walked away from the overhead lights into the dark concrete lot, a noise shuffled somewhere behind him. Trevor jumped at the sound and looked around to find the source, but he was alone. Shrugging it off, he continued towards his car. Whatever. He just needed to get the supplies and get back inside. The sudden sound of flapping wings and scraping asphalt made him drop his keys in shock. They tumbled away from him and under another car, jangling wildly. He hissed in frustration and spared another glance in all directions.
"Hello?" He called.
No response.
Trevor cursed under his breath and knelt down quickly to try to find his keys, raking his hands underneath the car to try to feel for them. More sounds, more scraping, closer and closer now. His heartbeat quickened. It took a moment of frantic searching before he finally felt the leather of his key chain and yanked it out from under the car. He stood as quickly as he could, looking wildly around the area. His throat felt tight as he gripped his keys with shaking hands.
What he saw, however, was an empty parking lot. His eyes flicked all around as he backed against the car, breathing heavily, but it seemed to him that he was alone. Trevor let out a breath and rolled his eyes at himself. He felt like such a wimp. It was probably just a raccoon or something. He pushed himself from the car and unlocked his own vehicle, fishing through his trunk for the box of supplies. Finding it, and several more rolls of tape, he nodded in satisfaction. Time to get the fuck out of this parking lot. Trevor lifted it up and clumsily fumbled with his other hand to close the lid of the trunk.
When he finally shut it, he looked up and his heart nearly stopped. Mere feet from him, he was met with a pale, leathery creature crouched on the roof of his car. It was the size of a cat and its skin was slick with mucus that dripped down the tentacle-like appendages writhing at its tail. Large, demonic wings stretched from its back as it faced him, eyeless and blind and snarling.
Trevor couldn't even scream as he stared at the creature, hands shaking uncontrollably. The box clattered to the floor, spilling its contents as he took a step backwards; but it was too late. In an instant, the bat lurched from its position and latched its claws into Trevor's chest, sending him to the pavement. His screams echoed in the empty lot as it tore him apart and bit into his flesh.
Those screams would go unheard, however, as Trevor Wallace's cries for help were drowned out by the upbeat, groovy disco music that played throughout the halls. All of his classmates sang along as they worked, all while they prepared for the meetings that would take place the following afternoon. Little did they know, that the young parliamentarian club would commence without its president. Without anyone seeing Trevor Wallace ever again.
Eddie sat in the passenger seat beside Steve as they drove through Hawkins. They were on Henderson pickup duty today. Something about a club meeting? They didn't know, he'd just told them to pick him up at 2 PM sharp. Eh, 2:13 was good enough. What they did know, however, was that things between them were now very… complicated . Steve and Eddie were mostly open with their affection, but they were also friends. Or were they? What did they call themselves now?
Steve had never kissed a boy in his life, but Eddie was the first person that ever made him want to do it again and again and again. His stomach had twisted at first at the thought of it, but when it finally happened, it felt completely right. Eddie, on the other hand, had been waiting for a kiss like that all his life. He couldn't stop staring at Steve with those dorky, love struck eyes for the rest of the afternoon. It still blew his mind that the boy he'd been pining over for years and years actually liked him back.
Eddie rifled through Steve's cassette collection, trying to find some music to play for them, scoffing at some of the choices. Music was unfortunately one of the subjects they disagreed on the most. Steve could barely stand Eddie's outrageously loud heavy metal tracks, while Eddie often found himself wanting to cover his ears at the twinkly, poppy bullshit Steve liked. That's what he'd called it anyway. He held up a Beach Boys cassette for Steve to see and raised an eyebrow.
Steve shot him a glare. "Okay, that's enough. No more judging my music." He swatted Eddie's hands until the metalhead laughed and dropped the cassettes. Munson quickly grabbed his hand before he could pull it away and linked their fingers together. "Holding another dude's hand?" Steve smirked and whistled. "Careful, Eddie, I just might think you're gay or something."
"Oh god, we don't want that do we?" Eddie cooed.
"No way... You're into dudes?" Steve pretended to be shocked, gasping dramatically.
Eddie snorted and pulled on his earlobe, making him yelp and laugh. "I know, right? The horror."
He brought Steve's hand up and kissed his knuckles lightly as they pulled up to a stoplight. Steve smiled to himself, unable to hide his nervous blush. This was still new, still so fresh. Neither was quite sure how openly affectionate they could be with each other yet. Another car pulled up next to them, catching Harrington's attention. Eddie watched the blood drain from Steve's face as he practically yanked his hand away, trying to play it off like he was just scratching his neck.
Eddie frowned at him and glanced at the other car, before looking back at Steve. The light turned green and the two cars finally started moving apart again. "What the hell was that?"
"Nothing." Steve said as he flashed Munson a quick, nervous smile, before returning his eyes to the road. Eddie raised an eyebrow but sat back and folded his arms, trying to not let the familiar feeling of dread tighten in his chest. He was probably just nervous of being seen in public. That was it. Steve was different. He tried to remind himself of that. He was different… right?
Dustin sat on the front steps of the school, dungeon master's guide in his lap as he stewed by himself. He was pissed. No one had shown up for the Hellfire Club's first meeting. Well, to be fair, he'd changed the name to the Adventurers Guild, since the last one had garnered quite the infamous reputation. The town was still wary of dungeons and dragons as a whole, so it was no surprise he'd been the only one to try reigniting it. The problem was that his friends hadn't even attended. Lucas had basketball, which was unfortunately a fair excuse, and Mike's mom wouldn't let him get near the game ever again, but he'd thought that at the very least Will would come. He was wrong.
Steve's car pulled up into the breezeway, interrupting him from his brooding session. He stood up and walked over as Steve rolled down his window. Eddie was with him, which was quite the surprise. He hardly ever left the house.
"What's up with you?" Harrington asked.
Dustin just folded his arms and sighed dramatically, which made Steve roll his eyes. "No one showed up to the Adventurers Guild. Not even Will!"
"Did you, you know, actually ask him to come?" Steve drawled, gaining a glare from Henderson. Eddie craned his neck to see his friend.
"Adventurers Guild? " He asked incredulously. "What kind of a name is that? Where's the intrigue, the flavor ?"
Dustin sighed. "I had to make it appealing for people who might still be spooked by the whole Hellfire Club thing. People aren't exactly chomping at the bit to play D&D these days."
Steve squinted up at him. "So your solution was to start another D&D club."
"The renaissance has to start somewhere, Steve!"
Steve rolled his eyes and tapped the side of his car. "Just get in the car, Henderson."
Dustin was about to move, when all of a sudden, Nancy's car sped into the breezeway. She hit the breaks, causing the car to screech a little as it stopped beside Steve's car. Robin rolled down the window in the passenger seat.
"Good! You're still here!" She yelled. The boys just looked at her in shock, and then at the other passengers consisting of Mike, Eleven, Lucas, and Will, all squeezed into the back seat. They waved at Eddie, who gave a confused wave in return.
"Nancy?" Steve blinked. "What are you guys doing here?"
She leaned over Robin, straining excitedly against her seatbelt. "We think we might have found something! Meet us at Will's house, okay?"
"O - Okay?" He mumbled as Robin rolled the window back up and they sped off again. Steve looked at Eddie and Dustin, utterly confused.
Eddie just shrugged and smacked the dashboard enthusiastically. "You heard the woman. Onward!"
Dustin quickly jumped in the backseat, buckling himself in. "Drive, Harrington!" He announced. Steve blinked and took the car out of park, not entirely moving of his own free will. So he wasn't getting the calm, normal Sunday he'd expected. He should have known better.
Will carefully slid a large hardcover book across the table. The pages were in mint condition and there wasn't a crease or even a speck of dirt to be found. Steve raised an eyebrow as he leaned over the table to get a good look at the cover. He opened his mouth to read the title, but Munson beat him to it.
"Ravenloft..." Eddie muttered with great reverence. He picked it up as if it were an ancient tome, resisting the urge to blow invisible dust off the cover. "Where did you get your hands on this?"
The boys stood around the table as if the book held some deep, ancient knowledge. Maybe Steve would have believed it was some priceless relic with the way they were handling it, had he not been able to read the words Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Official Game Adventure clearly on the front.
"Lucas's mom got it for him last Christmas." Dustin answered. "We haven't been able to play it yet. We were going to ask you if you wanted the honor of being the first to DM."
Eddie looked up at Henderson with wide eyes with a look that suggested Dustin had just told him he was naming his firstborn after him. "Now that… is enough to make a grown man cry."
"Okay -" Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, interrupting their charade, " - please tell me you guys didn't bring us all the way out here just to show us a book."
Eddie whipped around, insulted, and covered the sides of the book as if it had heard. "This is not just a book, Steve."
Nancy sighed. "No, we didn't. It's what's inside the book." She glanced over at Will and gestured to the guide.
He nodded and took it from Eddie, much to Munson's disappointment. After flipping through the pages, he finally turned the book around for all of them to see and pointed to the center of the page. "Here. Look." They all peered down at the image of a vampire with a flowing cape, long black hair, and glaring red eyes. It sat atop a throne of skulls and bones in an opulent castle. "This is Strahd von Zarovich. He's known as the lord of the vampires, and the original vampire. He sends the orders out for all his underlings to spread the disease."
Steve squinted at the page. "Okay… and this is relevant because…?"
"Because we think Strahd might be real." Mike said. Steve opened his mouth to retort, but Mike held a hand up to stop him. "And before you say anything, we don't mean it literally." Harrington shut his mouth, grumbling something under his breath. "We think there's something bigger on the other side of the portal. Something that created the demobats and is possibly controlling them."
"Like a hive mind." Dustin added. "Eleven said she saw something big and freaky in your brain."
"Big and freaky?" Eddie looked horrified. "What, like a parasite or something?"
Eleven sighed and shook her head. "No, not physically." She made a sidelong glance at Dustin. "Also, I didn't use the word 'freaky' . It felt like there was a presence. Something we've never seen before."
Eddie's mind flashed immediately to the monster in his dreams. It rarely appeared, not as often as Chrissy or the bats, but enough that whenever he saw it, it struck a guttural terror in him. The creature was hulking in size. He'd only gotten glimpses of it, from its impossibly long teeth and claws to the tentacle-like appendages that seemed to writhe forever in the darkness. It felt like pure evil. Eddie always feared it would attack him in his nightmares, but now he wondered if that was its motivation at all.
"I…" Eddie hesitated, furrowing his brows. "I've seen this… thing in my dreams. It's a lot like the bats but it… it's bigger. Much worse." Steve stared at Eddie in shock.
Why hadn't he told him about this?
"I don't know why but it just stares at me, growling or snarling, or whatever until I wake up. It's fucked up, man." Eddie chuckled nervously. "Wait, don't tell me that thing is real."
Robin bit her lip and looked at Nancy. "Unfortunately… I've got a feeling it might be. Honestly, I'm shocked we haven't seen even more crazy shit now that there are literal portals to hell in the sky."
Nancy took her hand and squeezed it with a nod. "She's right. Demobat sightings are being recorded all over Hawkins. No one is taking it seriously. There's been a spike in fatal animal attacks and disappearances, and I just read today that several bodies have gone missing from the morgue. Not disposed of. Missing . It has to be connected."
Lucas squinted at her, confused. "What, so you think the demobats are just sneaking into hospital and stealing bodies at night?"
"No, I don't."
Steve scoffed. "So the bodies just got up and walked out, then."
"Who else do we know that got up and walked out of the Upside Down?" She folded her arms and looked across the table. They all turned towards Eddie, whose face was white as a sheet.
"You don't think…?" Eddie muttered, eyes wide.
Nancy nodded a bit, pressing her lips together into a fine line. "I don't think Eddie is the only vampire in Hawkins anymore."