Eddie had settled himself back in the boat and stuffed another handful of cereal into his mouth.

He had no idea what Mia was doing with the little group, but he didn't really care as long as she was there to help. There were worse people they could have brought with them; King Steve's Bard was the lesser of most evils. Even if she was looking far paler than normal, with dark circles bruising beneath her eyes.

'So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news,' Dustin explained. He was sat on a stool a little to the left, Steve a sentry leaning against a nearby column. Belle had settled herself on the lip of the boat on Eddie's other side. 'How do you prefer it?'

'Bad news first, always,' Eddie answered, his mouth still full. He didn't bother swallowing before he took a swig of chocolate milk.

'All right, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.'

'Like, a 100% kind of convinced,' added Max.

'And the good news?' asked Eddie.

'Not sure it's good,' Mia murmured, earning his attention in an instant. She refused to meet his eye, and Eddie wondered if she thought he was actually a killer, or if there was another reason.

Robin shot her a quick look before turning back to Eddie. 'Your name hasn't gone public yet.'

'But Jason knows.' Mia's sentence hung awkwardly in the air.

'How?' Belle asked, voice little more than a whisper.

'I don't know. Just that…' Mia heaved a deep breath. 'Luis's with them. He didn't exactly stop to explain.'

'Hunt the freak, right?' said Eddie, his insides twisting. If the basketball team were looking for him, how long before they thought of Rick's? Would they go for the others first, seeing if he was with any of them? Would they try speaking with Wayne? Go to Dustin's? To Belle's?

'Exactly,' Robin agreed.

'Shit,' Eddie cursed.

'So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence,' noted Dustin quickly.

'That's all, Dustin? That's all?' asked Eddie, disbelief coating his words.

'Yeah, no – no, that's pretty much it.'

'Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin's saying sounds totally delusional,' said Robin, learning forwards on a support rope, 'but we've actually been through this kinda thing before. I mean, they have a… a few times, and… and me and Mia have once. Ours was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this.'

'Yeah, see usually we rely on this girl who has super powers. But, uh, those went bye-bye, so, uh…' expanded Steve.

'So we're technically in - in more of the –'

'Kinda –'

'Brainstorming phase.' Robin, Steve and Max all spoke at once.

Steve clicked. 'Brainstorming,' he agreed.

Dustin spluttered slightly. 'There – There's nothing to worry about.'

Steve scoffed and Eddie glanced briefly at Belle. Her silence was somewhat pressing, but her attention was on the others, as if trying to figure something out.

'We're alive,' Mia said, as if that might help their cause. 'And we can probably send Jason on a wild goose chase away from the Lost Boys.'

Despite everything, the reminder of her nickname for Hellfire brought a brief smile to Eddie's lips.

The moment was shattered by the wailing of sirens. Belle was up in an instant.

'Shit,' whispered Steve.

'Tarp,' ordered Robin. 'Tarp. Tarp.'

Eddie spotted Belle already peering out of the window as he covered himself with the tarpaulin, his heart thundering against his ribs.

'What's the betting it's got nothing to do with all this?' Belle asked softly, but Eddie could hear that even she didn't believe they'd be so lucky.

'Are you sure?' Steve asked, surveying Belle while he leant on the roof of his car. She couldn't ignore the fact his attention kept drifting off to where Eddie was talking to Dustin; there was a concern there, but she couldn't tell if it was for the situation, for Eddie, or for Dustin because he still didn't trust the metalhead.

'No,' Belle admitted, earning his full attention once more. 'Not about keeping Eddie company,' she hastened to add. 'About leaving him alone.'

Steve ran an uncertain hand through his hair; it was a gesture she was growing increasingly familiar with. It felt strange, knowing that he was worried about all of them to some degree. But she also knew that even if he didn't think Eddie had anything to do with Chrissy's death, he still didn't trust the other young man. No matter what he'd seen before – and she was determined to get more of the story off Robin – he couldn't shake old views.

'Anyway, somebody has to get the van away from here to give us more time; my bike's easier to hide, and I can grab some better supplies,' she continued, counting the ideas off on her fingers. She'd been trying to think of other ways to help, to try taking away some of the concerns she knew had to be plaguing Eddie.

'If anything happens, Clary, you need –'

Belle groaned, and Steve's brow furrowed. 'Please don't tell me to "walk away." I'm so sick of people saying that. The van needs moving, and we probably should've done that yesterday, but anyway.

'And Eddie needs somebody here. Would you really want to be alone with all this?'

Steve shook his head, because of course he wouldn't have. She couldn't think of anybody who would enjoy facing that sort of thing alone. Least of all Eddie, the one person she so rarely saw without a person with him.

'Be careful. And try not to get yourself arrested,' Steve said instead, a small smirk on his face, just as Belle felt somebody stepping up behind her. The slight shift in his expression assured her it could only be one person: Mia. 'You all right?'

Belle glanced over her shoulder. Mia's face was far paler than normal, highlighting the dark circles beneath her eyes. Belle's insides twisted as she remembered the blank look she'd seen on Mia's face in the drama room; the white of her eyes that had made Belle feel helpless.

'Never better,' Mia said, rubbing her temple gently. She dropped her hand, obviously realising they were still watching her, and instead shifted her attention towards Belle.

Belle hastily put her hand up, cutting the words off before Mia could voice them. 'Yes, I'm sure about moving the van. Yes, I'll be careful. And no, I won't go in the direction of the sirens.'

A small smirk quirked Mia's lips before she looked serious once more. 'Break a leg.'

'You too,' Belle said, offering Mia a brief smile. She just hoped that she'd be able to keep those promises, and be back to the boathouse before dark.

'So,' said Nancy, now they had settled at a bench in the trailer park.

Robin sat opposite Mia, their knees brushing every so often and distracting Robin. Her thoughts had been a mess of different tangents since they'd left the boathouse, since they'd spotted Nancy near the police cars. Concern for Eddie, worrying about Belle who had decided that she needed to at least show her face at home after driving Eddie's van far away from Rick's, the fact that there was something very obviously up with Mia even if she said there wasn't, were ones that kept fighting for dominance. And then the fact that there was yet another dead body.

'You're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down?' Nancy said, just about stopping Robin's thoughts from spiralling once more.

'If the shoe fits,' noted Steve.

'Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or – or a curse,' explained Dustin. 'Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know.'

'All we know is that this is something different. Something new,' noted Max.

'New? How many times does the Upside Down want to attack with a different MO?' asked Mia. She'd pushed her glasses up on top of her head and was rubbing her right eye with a knuckle. Beside her, Steve's brow pinched in mild concern.

'It's gotta adapt,' Dustin reasoned, though he didn't sound too happy about the admittance.

Nancy shook her head. 'Doesn't make sense.'

'It's only a theory,' defended Dustin as Mia lowered her glasses again. She shot Steve a small smile, and Robin hastily turned her attention back to the conversation at hand.

'No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?' expanded Nancy.

'Maybe they were just in the wrong place,' noted Dustin. 'They were both at the game.'

'And near the trailer park,' added Max.

'We're at the trailer park,' Steve said, glancing around the empty space behind him. 'Uh, should we maybe not be here?'

'There is something about this place,' agreed Nancy.

'But last time it was the mall,' reasoned Mia. 'The brand new mall. I don't think they're too fussy.'

Nancy nodded, conceding the point. 'Fred started acting weird the second we got here, though.'

'Acting weird as in…?' pressed Robin.

'Scared, on edge, upset,' Nancy answered.

'Max said Chrissy was upset too,' Dustin reminded them.

'Yeah, but not here,' Max corrected. 'She was crying in the bathroom at school.'

'Any reason Fred might be scared at school?' Mia asked.

Nancy shook her head, a slight frown forming between her brows.

'Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?' added Robin, thoughts trailing to the fact Billy had been used by the Mind Flayer; perhaps there was another human element here too. Somebody that they were missing. 'So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman –'

'Vecna,' corrected Dustin.

'I dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone,' said Steve.

'Maybe they did,' mused Max. 'I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelley's office. And if you saw a monster, you… you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But you might go to your –'

'Your shrink,' Robin finished, her thoughts drifting to Belle; to the fact that her own best friend had been in and out of that office so many times.

Silence settled over the group for a moment, a look passing between them.

'Do you think guidance counsellors work on the weekend?' asked Mia.

'Probably not,' Robin noted, but the others were already standing.

'Probably do if there are dead kids,' Dustin reasoned as they started towards the cars.

'And they think another student is to blame,' Mia said, concern pinching her expression ever so slightly. Robin gently nudged her arm with her own, wishing there was something more she could do to help. She knew Mia must be worried about what Luis might get himself into by following Jason.

'Whoa, whoa, Nance. Nance!' Steve said as they reached the car. As Nancy started walking away from them. 'Nance, where are you going?'

'Oh, there's just something I wanna check on first,' she explained, walking backwards towards her car.

'Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?' asked Dustin.

Nancy shifted uncertainly. 'I don't wanna waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark.'

'Yeah, OK. Are you out of your mind?' Steve asked; he was using his mom-voice, and Robin shared a quick smirk with Mia. 'Flying solo with this Vecna creep on the loose? No, it's too dangerous. You need… You need someone to…' He turned and threw his keys at Robin. She barely caught them. 'Here you go. I'll stick with Nance, all right? You guys take the car, check out the shrink.'

'Didn't he literally just let Belle go off on her own?' Mia asked.

'Didn't really have much of a choice,' noted Dustin. 'Tink would've stayed and moved the van after we'd left.'

Robin couldn't help agreeing, but her main focus was on the keys in her hands. 'I don't think you want me driving your car.'

'Why?' Steve asked.

'I don't have a licence.'

'Why don't you have a licence?'

'I'm poor.'

'I can drive,' Max piped up.

'No. No, never again. Please,' Steve said, actual fear on his face. 'Anybody but you. No.' His attention trailed to Dustin. 'Not a chance.'

'Come on,' complained Dustin.

'Don't look at me,' Mia said, leaning on the top of Steve's car. 'I'm going to try making sure my idiot of a brother doesn't do anything he might live to regret. Someone's gotta warn the Lost Boys to keep an eye out for trouble, don't you think?'

Robin could see the argument bubbling up inside of Steve. She agreed with him, they should probably be trying to stick in pairs at the very least, but they'd left Eddie alone again, and Belle was alone for the moment as well.

Instead, Robin moved to grab a flashlight from Dustin's backpack. 'OK. This is stupid.' She stuffed Steve's keys back in his hand. 'Us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us.'

Steve sneered at her, but Robin merely scoffed before turning on her heel and heading towards Nancy's car.

'Be careful,' called Steve.

Robin glanced over her shoulder, shot him a peace sign. 'You too,' she said, attention shifting towards Mia. She just hoped they'd be back as a group again sooner rather than later.

Mia had got Gareth's address from Dustin, and told Steve to drop her off at the end of the road. Steve had argued that she shouldn't go alone, but she'd merely reminded him that if Vecna attacked at the moment they had no way of stopping him. He'd had no argument for that, and Mia had jumped out before he could find one. She'd watched him drive off before heading to Gareth's house.

The garage door was open, and Mia glanced nervously over her shoulder. Would they even be here? Would she have found them before Luis and the basketball team? She really didn't think she could face off against her own little brother if it came to it. The threats of Russians had been terrifying, but it didn't hit as close to home as that would. The fact he'd come to collect a crowbar sent a skitter of fear down her spine. The boys weren't hoping to just talk to Eddie, that much she was certain of.

'Hey,' she greeted, spotting the band. Her stomach tightened as she realised that the drum kit had been knocked over. That Gareth was nursing his hand while the others hovered around him. For his part, Jeff shifted a little in front of his friend. Mia hastily raised her hands peaceably. 'I just came to talk.'

Jeff scoffed, and Mia wondered if perhaps she shouldn't have tried to encourage Belle to join her in this one. 'You looking for Eddie too?'

'No,' Mia said simply, earning a sceptically raised eyebrow from Felix.

'Then why're you here?'

'I just…' Mia's mind stalled for a moment. She'd hoped to warn them about the basketball team, but it seemed she was already too late. The detour to the trailer park had cost them time. It had been unavoidable, but she wondered if she might not have prevented whatever altercation had happened if she'd insisted on taking her own car rather than letting Steve drive.

'Why is it everybody suddenly wants to find Eddie?' asked Gareth bitterly, wincing slightly as he shifted the frozen peas on his hand. 'First Dustin, then the jocks, now theatre.'

'I don't want to find him,' Mia said firmly.

'You knew the jocks were coming, didn't you?' Jeff asked, expression more thunderous than she'd seen it before. 'A student gets murdered in the trailer park and suddenly Eddie's suspect number one because he's a "freak," is that it?'

'No,' she told him firmly. 'I guessed they'd come talk to you. I wanted to – I'd hoped I'd get here first.'

'Yeah, well you didn't,' said Gareth bitterly.

Mia bit back an apology. There was nothing that she could do to stop what had already happened, and they had to have known, especially with the recent articles about Dungeons and Dragons, that they'd be first in the suspect pool.

'What did you tell them?' she asked, hoping that they might not have guessed where exactly Eddie was.

'Why, want to try and find him first?'

'Will you stop?' Mia snapped, glaring at Felix. 'Not everybody in this town is actually out to get you guys.' She exhaled slowly, trying to get her nerves in order. If Jason had already come here, if the group had already roughed up one of Eddie's friends in the hopes of getting information, what would they do if they actually found Eddie? She didn't want to think about it; least of all if anyone was with Eddie at the time. Would they be able to stop themselves, or would the bloodlust of revenge be too much?

Somehow, Mia thought she knew the answer to that, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

'What did you tell them?' she asked, voice slightly softer as she glanced between the three of them.

The group shared a look, as if weighing up their options. Coming with Belle really would have made this that much easier; or even Dustin. She was just the girl who complained at them when they didn't properly tidy up the drama room after Hellfire meetings.

'Please.'

Gareth huffed out a long breath, moving the peas from his hand to his eye. 'Dustin was calling everybody yesterday, seeing if Eddie was staying with us.'

'Shit,' cursed Mia, turning and scraping her hand through her hair, loosening a few hairs from her ponytail.

'You don't think they'd go after him as well, do you?' Felix's voice was softened by uncertainty.

Mia didn't say anything, merely glanced briefly at the little group.

'Maybe we should call him. Warn him –'

'He's not at home,' Mia said simply. 'Just… Stay safe, yeah?'

'D'you think they'll find Belle?' Jeff asked.

'I don't know,' Mia admitted, really hoping that they wouldn't think to speak to her as well.

'Do you know where Eddie is?' Gareth asked as she started to walk away from them, mind spinning with everything else that they now had to worry about.

'No,' she lied easily, glad that there was no real link between her and Eddie. Glad that she wouldn't have to find out which side of this her brother fell on if Jason decided she might know something.

'What were you thinking?' Belle's mother asked, her anger obvious more so from the use of French than her pacing up and down in front of the sofa Belle was settled on. Tey stood in the doorway of the living room, arms folded as he leant against the frame and a slight frown on his face. The only person she couldn't see was her father, who sat beside her; but she could feel his fingers tapping the back of the sofa.

'Robin called,' Belle said, trying to keep her voice even. She didn't want to think about her parents' reaction if they found out she'd hidden Eddie's van on the opposite side of town before jogging home. If they found out she'd been sleeping in a boathouse on the property of a known drug dealer with a young man everybody thought had killed a person.

Then again, that might actually have been easier for them to cope with than when she'd admitted to hearing Axel's voice all those years ago.

'But why didn't you?' Her mother finally paused, eyes blazing. 'Did you not think that after the announcement of a dead student' – her voice hitched ever so slightly, but she continued as if it were nothing – 'we might have wanted to hear from you?'

Belle opened her mouth, but swiftly closed it again. Her own tumultuous feelings about the report had wiped away any logic in the beginning, and she didn't doubt it had done the same for her mother as well. 'You saw me leaving for work.'

'Not the point, Cabbage,' her father said softly, forcing her to look towards him. 'What if the call had been to us this morning?'

An uneasy silence settled over the room.

'You think somebody else is going to die?' Belle asked after a moment.

Her father heaved a sigh, moved his glasses onto the top of his head so he could run a weary hand down his face. 'Hawkins has had its fair share of horrors recently. Expecting the worst is kind… It's kind of the normal now.'

'Maman,' Belle said, turning back to her mother, 'I'm sorry. I just… I wanted to spend some time with Robin.'

Her mother's expression softened ever so slightly.

'She's asked if I could stay over a bit this week,' Belle said, knowing that it was better to give herself a reason to be out of the house.

A little of her mother's sternness returned, but it was Tey who intervened.

'Gotta make up for lost time somehow.'

She shot her brother a small smile, then hastily looked back to their mother. 'Her parents are around this week. I just… It's our last Spring Break.'

Her mother heaved a sigh. She could tell that she wanted to argue the point, but eventually she relented, gave the briefest of nods.

Belle stood, moved to kiss her mother on the cheek. 'Thank you.'

'Just… be careful.'

'Of course,' Belle assured her before slipping passed Tey, giving her brother's arm a brief squeeze. She knew she should spend a little time with him, but right now Eddie needed people around him. When everything came to light, Tey would understand.

Unless Vecna gets him, a small voice in the back of head said as she jogged up the stairs. It wasn't Axel though, it was her own fear at everything that had happened. She refused to entertain the idea though. By the end of the weekend Tey would be back at college; back to enjoying himself far away from the horrors that seemed to lurk in Hawkins.

Belle pushed her bedroom door open and froze as she spotted a looming figure by her headboard.

'What are you doing here?' she hissed, closing the door behind her and glaring at Axel.

He dropped Cambel back on her pillow. 'Where have you been?'

'Doesn't matter,' she said, keeping her back against the door, her voice low. 'What are you doing here?'

Axel ran a nervous hand through his black hair, mussing it ever so slightly. 'You should stay away from that group. They… They have a habit of sticking their noses into things that don't concern them.'

'How do you know?' Belle watched as he perched himself on her bed. He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forwards slightly.

'Every bad thing that's happened in Hawkins over the past few years, they've been there. And yet nobody bats an eyelid because the chief of police was there too,' Axel said, his attention on her wardrobe door, never once straying back to her.

'Not every bad thing.'

Axel cringed slightly, the most human reaction he'd given her. 'This isn't your fight.'

Belle scoffed, shook her head in disbelief.

'It isn't,' he told her, shifting so his palm rested on her bed, so that he could look at her directly. 'You're safe. As long as you stay away from them, you'll –'

'And how, exactly, can you say that?' Belle asked, taking a cautious step towards him. 'Is it you?'

'No!' His voice pitched just loud enough that Belle glanced briefly at her bedroom door. She couldn't hear anybody coming up the stairs, and nobody shouted to check on her.

Axel huffed out a breath.

'Then how can you say, with any certainty, that I'm safe?'

'Because… I just… Please, trust me.'

'Trust you?' Belle asked, taking another step towards him. 'I have no idea who you are, Axel. For all I know, you're from the Upside Down.'

Axel stood quickly, and Belle instinctively took a step away from him. 'Just… Stay away from them, Clary.'

Belle opened her mouth to argue, but Axel was already heading for her window. She dare not follow him; her heart thundered against her ribs. There had been plenty of times when Axel scared her, the first time he'd spoken to her, the questions he tended to offer up when things seemed to be getting dark. The first time she'd seen him in person, that voice she'd only ever heard inside her head finally made real; the realisation that he was an actual person, not a complete figment of her imagination. But this was the first time she was scared of what might happen if she crossed him. Because if he really was linked to the Upside Down as she was beginning to wonder, then was he able to kill people in supernatural ways?

Only once Axel was gone, once she'd heard his feet hit the ground outside her window, did Belle move to her bed. She sank onto it, only to feel something slimy beneath her hand. She recoiled, and glanced at the red smudged letters beneath her hand.

Godfrey.

Belle's brow furrowed, her attention strayed to her hand. The red smear there too familiar. She could feel the thoughts clawing their way to the forefront of her mind, but she squashed them. Belle stood up, but when she looked back down, her grandfather's name was gone.