I promised I wouldn't leave you all hanging, so here I am with another chapter.
Also, I would like to note that the chapter titles for the season 4 section have come from the soundtrack... it just seemed fitting.
This chapter is a bit shorter, but the next one should be longer, and i apologize now if it takes me a bit to get the next one posted. In my head, chapter 21 is a monster and I want to make sure it comes out the way I have planned... which means it probably won't haha.
The first thing I was sure of was someone was holding me. I felt arms around me, loosely holding me to a broad chest, my head I assumed laying on a shoulder.
"Are you sure she shouldn't be in like a hospital man, I mean that can't be normal, to just pass out and bleed and not wake up for hours, and..."
"No hospitals..." I said just as Steve repeated the same. My voice was horse and my throat felt raw, but I knew Steve heard me as his body stiffened around me. Scrunching my eyes tighter I tried to adjust myself a little, but his arms stubbornly held me in place.
"Shit Andrews," I heard Eddie sigh in relief, and I smiled to myself keeping my eyes closed, not sure if I was ready to greet the world around me just yet. "I thought you were gonna be the second girl to drop dead around me."
"You're not that lucky." I answered and heard him chuckle. Taking a deep breath, I finally opened my eyes and blinked a few times to clear my vision. I was on the ground in the boat shed, Eddie was to my left leaning on an oar watching me intently and Steve was behind me, his arms still wrapped around me. It was no longer night, the sky grey and overcast through the small windows of the shed. "Where is everyone?" I asked.
"They went to the stop and shop down the road." Steve answered behind me.
"Yeah, a lot of people get their fishing bait there for the lake. They were gonna see if they could grab some food." Eddie added and I nodded, finally building up enough strength to push myself up into a seated position. Steve's arms fell loosely around me, and I noticed the bloodstain on his sleeves cringing at how they got there. Turning I finally looked at Steve, his hair was a mess and he had dark circles under his eyes telling me he didn't get any sleep, and I knew it was because of me. I had worried him, freaked him out... again.
"Okay, so I know uh... I know you just woke up and all from whatever that was but, how did you know?" Eddie asked and I scowled and turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"Dude...now?" Steve sighed.
"What, I gotta know." Eddie shrugged. "no one was around, but you knew exactly what happened..." Bowing my head I tried to figure out how I was going to answer his question. Bringing my knees up I let my elbow rest on one and dropped my head into my palm, turning so I could see Steve. He seemed to be searching my eyes for an answer as well, but he came to the same conclusion I did.
"The nightmare..." he said softly, and I nodded. "It wasn't..."
"I don't think so." I shook my head.
"Okay... what?" Eddie questioned confused, but before I could answer the door to the shed slammed open making us all jump.
"It's just us." Dustin smiled holding up a few bags, when his eyes fell on me his eyes got bigger and his smile got wider. "Roni!"
"Hey, you're up." Robin moved past Dustin to come and sit beside me giving me a hug. "Don't ever do that to me again." she whispered, and I nodded against her.
"This is nice and all but what about this nightmare?" Eddie asked eagerly, taking a bag from Dustin.
"What nightmare?" Max asked quickly.
"The other night..." I sighed, "I thought it was a dream..."
"When did you realize it wasn't?" Steve interrupted me, his voice tight.
"When I saw the news this morning." I answered quietly. "I knew how Chrissy died, because I saw it."
"Wait, you saw it!" Robin asked, leaning back, her eyes wide. I closed my own eyes and cringed at how they were all looking at me now. Everyone fell silent.
"Could you have stopped it?" Eddie finally asked, his voice somber as he remembered the death himself.
"No." I shook my head. "What I saw, when I saw it, it was in real time. And I tried when I was there, standing in front... I tried … but I don't think I was supposed to be there."
"What do you mean?" Dustin asked, opening a bag of chips beside Eddie.
"The things that killed her..."
"Vecna." Dustin said with a mouth full of food and I turned to him scowling.
"Vec... what?"
"Vecna. A dark wizard. A spellcaster, that puts his victims into trances and kills them." he explained, and I raised my eyebrows in alarm and surprise. "It's a... it's from the … just continue." he rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Vecna..." I said the name and looked to Dustin for confirmation who nodded with a smile. "When he saw me there, he was surprised."
"So how did you see it then?" Eddie asked. "Are you like a medium or psychic?"
"No." I couldn't help but laugh at his comment and tried to cover my amusement as Steve glared at him. "More of a science experiment gone wrong." I explained.
"So, what happened last night, was it... did someone else?" Max seemed to struggle to ask the question and she avoided looking at me as she asked.
"I was pushing it away all night, but this Vecna... before, he didn't know I was there until after and this time... I think he wanted me to see..."
"Why would he do that?" Robin asked, looking around and I shrugged. I remember what the monster said to me, I remember why he told me I was there.
"Who was it?" Steve asked from behind me his hand lightly laying on my back rubbing it back and forth.
"Fred...from the school paper." I said quietly looking down at his shoes.
"Where?" Dustin asked but I shook my head.
"Some road surrounded by trees." I answered, "I didn't really get a road map to where I was."
"So, this guy, he's definitely connected to the Lab then..." Dustin thought out loud, and everyone in the room fell silent except for Eddie who continued to crunch on the chips in Dustin's bag looking at everyone with a confused scowl.
"What lab?" he asked.
"But you're okay now?" Robin asked, ignoring Eddie, her eyes looking at me and I nodded.
"Okay, well in other news..." Dustin clapped his hands together. "We got some good and bad news; how do you prefer it?" He looked at Eddie.
"Bad news first, always." he answered, taking a drink.
"Alright bad news, we tapped into the Hawkins PD Dispatch with our Cerebro and they're definitely looking for you." Dustin explained and as he spoke, I leaned back into Steve closing my eyes, and felt his muscles relax slightly. "Also, they're uh, they're pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."
"Like a hundred percent kind of convinced." Max added with a nod.
"And the good news?" Eddie asked, his voice holding a little hope.
"Your name hasn't gone public yet." Robin said and I opened my eyes to see her smiling like it was the best news ever. "But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is going to be gunning for you."
"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie mumbled.
"Exactly." Robin nodded.
"Shit."
"So, before that happens..." Dustin started, "We need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence."
"You say that like its simple." I said shaking my head. "How do we convince a whole town that some monster from another world, that is connected to ours, which also caused Barb's and Billy's deaths, killed Chrissy and Fred?"
"Well... I haven't thought of that," Dustin thought but still had a smile and uplifting attitude. "But we just start with Vecna and we go from there."
"Listen Eddie." Robin chimed in and I finally got enough energy to pull myself away from Steve and stand. He stood behind me, his hand still on my back. I moved to lean my back on one of the support beams crossing my arms. Steve moved to the side, his shoulder on the same beam. "I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean they have a... a few times, and... and I have once. Mine was more human flesh based, theirs was more smore related. But bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this."
"What are you all talking about?" Eddie asked, still very confused.
"Will's disappearance." I sighed.
"And Barb's death, the Hawkins lab closure..." Dustin added.
"Yeah, and the mall fire, which wasn't a fire, but Russians that were below the mall trying to open this big like hole to this other world, and then the town turned into melted people that made this giant monster, and..."
"Robin." I hissed and she stopped looking at me. "Stop talking now." I whispered.
"Right, sorry." she said looking back at Eddie. "What we're saying is we got this, I mean we don't have Mike or Will or Mrs. Byers but..."
"Or El..." I said quietly and got a look from Eddie.
"There was this girl who had superpowers like Roni and uh, well her powers left and then she moved... so..." He explained with a shrug like it was a normal thing to say.
"You have superpowers?" Eddie asked. I'm not sure how much he was retaining out of what was said, but his head was spinning I was sure of that.
"Basically, we're technically in more of the..." Robin trailed off trying to find the right words.
"Brainstorming phase." Max chimed and Robin and Steve quickly agreed with her repeating the words.
"There's … there's nothing to worry about." Dustin said but as he tried to convince his friend that we had it taken care of, sirens wailed in the distance. Standing up straight I turned to Steve who had the same look on his face.
"Shit." I cursed.
"Tarp, Tarp..." Robin quickly said, motioning for Eddie to lay down and pull the plastic tarp over his head. I moved around the crates and towards the door. Lifting up on my toes, I looked through the window. Several cop cars could be heard going by, but none came close to Reefer Ricks.
"They aren't coming here." I said quietly looking over at Steve who was standing directly behind me. "Something else has their attention." When I looked back outside, I thought back to what I saw last night. Thought back to Fred. Steve seemed to have the same idea and quickly moved to leave the shed. Dustin left one of his walkie-talkies with Eddie and we all piled into Steve's car.
It didn't take us long to find the blockade down the road. As Steve pulled off and we all got out I had a sense of déjà vu, I was here last night, this was where I had been when Fred... as I thought of the kid, I noticed the police standing around something... someone, and when one moved their leg slightly, I recognized the sweater vest.
"Roni...?" Steve asked, looking back at me behind him.
"This is where I was, this is what I... that's Fred." I said answering his unasked question without looking at him. As my eyes traced through the crowd of officers, they finally fell on Nancy Wheeler standing with one of the cops talking to him, her hand on her neck as she looked at the ground. She noticed us watching and the relief on her face was almost instant. Once the police were done talking with her, she came over to us and asked us to meet her at the trailer park. Finding a place in the middle, at a picnic table, Dustin quickly explained what had happened and what they believed was the cause of both deaths so far.
"So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the upside down?" Nancy asked
"I mean if the shoe fits." Steve shrugged.
"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse..." Dustin explained looking at me for additional information and I cringed slightly, not wanting to have to relive it all again.
"When both Chrissy and Fred, they were scared, but then they just froze and stopped fighting almost." I explained.
"Okay..." she nodded scowling as she processed the information and nodded. "Okay, and you saw it, saw this... saw what killed them?"
"Yeah." I nodded, answering quietly and looked at my feet, stuffing my hands in my pockets.
"So, its connected to the lab, to Brenner's experiments?" she asked.
"There's a connection, I'm just not sure to what..." I sighed.
"We aren't sure whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer, or just loves killing teens." Dustin explained more and I watched as Max looked away for a second.
"This thing, it feels bigger." I spoke. "I mean the Mind Flayer was... big, but this is different this is more power, angry, I'm not sure."
"All we know is that this is something different." Max added looking back up, "Something new."
"It doesn't make sense." Nancy finally said after a brief pause, shaking her head.
"I mean, it's only a theory." Dustin shrugged a little offended.
"No, no... Fred and Chrissy don't make sense." Nancy shook her head, "I mean why them?"
"Maybe they were just in the wrong place?" Dustin offered. I had wondered the same thing. What the connection was between one of the school's cheerleaders and a newspaper nerd. "They were both at the game."
"And near the trailer park." Max added.
"We're at the trailer park." Steve said cautiously, turning in his spot and looking over the empty park. "Should we maybe not be here?"
"There is something about this place." Nancy agreed. "Fred started acting weird the second we got here."
"Scared, on edge... upset." she squinted as she remembered. Her description of Fred reminded me of Chrissy, and I stood up a bit straighter.
"Max said Chrissy was upset too." Dustin looked at Max.
"Yeah, but not here, she was crying in the bathroom at school." Max shook her head.
"It was more than upset." I added catching their attention. "I went into the bathroom after you left Max, Chrissy was terrified of something. When she opened the door her eyes... they were... she was terrified of something, but she wouldn't tell me what it was."
"So, we're thinking this thing was what stalking them?" Robin questioned. "Maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman..."
"Vecna." Dustin interrupted and I saw Robin glare at him.
"Dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone." Steve chimed.
"Maybe they did." Max thought and I nodded in agreement. "I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelley's office."
"If someone is stalking you, you would go to the police... but if that something is in your head, or disappearing you'd want to tell someone, who makes a living off of telling people they aren't crazy." I said, stepping towards the picnic table. "The police would think you're crazy, they'd commit you but..."
"You might tell your shrink." Robin finished and I gave a small smile and nodded as she spoke.
"If Chrissy told Ms. Kelley anything about what was going on it'd be in her file." I continued. "Regardless of if she believed Chrissy, she would have written it down and notated it. We need to see that file, if we are going to understand what happened before she died, we may be able to catch Vecna before it happens again."
"So, we go to the school?" Dustin asked.
"No." Max shook her head. "First we see Ms. Kelley." There was no further discussion. We walked towards the cars, and I saw Nancy crossing her arms and looking at the ground as she walked. Something was on her mind, but she wasn't sharing yet. She kept walking when we got to Steve's car, and I leaned on the door watching her continue down the road.
"Whoa, whoa!" Steve called just as confused. "Nance... Nance, where are you going?"
"Oh, there's just something I want to check on first." Nancy said, turning and shrugging, trying to brush off the comment.
"Something you maybe want to share with the rest of us?" Dustin asked, opening the back door of Steve's car.
"I don't want to waste your time," Nancy waved us off before turning to head towards her car. "It's a real shot in the dark."
"Yeah okay, are you out of your mind?" Steve said loud enough to make her stop. "Flying solo with this Vecna on the loose?" I could hear the worry in his voice. He would always care for Nancy, they were together through a crazy year, and Steve, he was a protector, no matter who it was he was protecting. He wanted to keep those he cares about safe, and that... that was what scared me. "No, it's too dangerous, you need... you need someone to..."
"Here," I sighed walking around the car to Dustin and grabbing one of the walkie-talkies from his backpack and walked up to Steve. He was staring at me confused as I reached my hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out his keys, before putting the walkie-talkie in his hand. "I'll take them to Ms. Kelley; you go with Nancy."
"But..." He started to say, and I gave him a small smile. "No wait, look... I can't... Okay, hold on let me just figure this out."
"This is stupid." Robin groaned and she walked towards Steve taking the walkie out of his hands and towards Nancy. "We will stick together. No use beating yourself over a decision you don't need to make. I will go with Nancy, and we will meet up later." Steve still seemed unsure but eventually turned around and I tossed him his keys before getting into the passenger seat.
The car ride was silent and as Steve parked outside Ms. Kelley's house and Max got out of the car and walked to the door. The silence in the car was claustrophobic. Sighing, I unbuckled and got out moving to sit on the back of the car. I didn't expect to be left alone, and it only took a few seconds before another door opened and shut before Steve came and sat beside me.
"Are we going to talk about last night?" he asked clasping his hands in front of him.
"About what?"
"Roni..." he groaned. "All of it, any of it. You were in pain and then you passed out and I... I want you to talk to me."
"I told you about Fred."
"But you knew it may not have been just a headache," he sighed. "I knew it wasn't."
"Steve..."
"Roni, you're connected to this thing whether you or I like it." He said and I looked over at him. He wasn't looking at me, he was staring at a spot down the road. "This isn't like before."
"I know that."
"Then let me be there, let me protect you." his voice raised slightly.
"What if you can't this time!" I exclaimed.
"Too freaking bad." He shot back at me and finally turned to look at me. To meet my eyes and take a deep breath before he closed his and turned back towards his spot down the road. Before I could respond a door shut and we both turned to see Max running towards us, looking over her shoulder nervously. We both jumped off the trunk and rushed back into the car just as Max jumped in. Dustin started to ask something, but Max just told Steve to drive.
"So, breaking into the school, that's what we're doing?" I hissed as we quietly walked up to the doors and Max opened them.
"Hey, it was your idea to get the file." Dustin said and I glared at him. Max opened the door, and I followed behind Dustin just as his Walkie started to make noise and smacked his arm.
"Turn it down."
"Oh relax, no one's here." He rolled his eyes.
"Dustin, do you copy." It was Robin on the other end.
"Yeah, I copy." Dustin hissed into his device.
"So Nancy's a genius." She explained on the other end and I slowed down and waited for Dustin to catch up so I could listen. "Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959, her shot in the dark was a bullseye."
"Okay that's uh, totally bonkers." Dustin said and looked at me. I nodded in agreement. "But, I can't really talk right now."
"Wait, what are you doing?" Robins concerned voice came back on the other end and I started walking quicker to catch up to Max and Steve.
"Breaking and entering into school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files." He answered.
"Can you repeat that?" Robin asked.
"Just get your ass here. Stat." Dustin sighed, "We'll explain everything."
"You realize you just made them think the worst right?" I said as he came up beside me. He just shrugged as we waited for Max to unlock the counselor's door. "This feels very wrong."
"It's like a mini Watergate, or something," I rolled my eyes as Dustin thought outloud and heard him snap his fingers in excitement. "Hawkins gate."
"Wait a second." Steve stopped beside the boy and scowled. "Didn't those guys get caught?" I ignored them as I followed Max to the file cabinet, looking through the folders. Pointing out Chrissy's Max pulled it out and I kept going through the folders before I found another folder.
"Holy crap," I whispered pulling the folder towards the desk where Max was looking at Chrissy's folder.
"You found it?" Steve asked, walking towards us.
"We found them," I said placing the folder down. "Fred was seeing Ms. Kelley too."
"So, they both were here." Max nodded, looking through the papers. "Look." she whispered, and her fingers landed in both folders where Ms. Kelley had written down notes from different sessions. The notes were almost identical. Severe Headaches. Nosebleeds. Constant Nightmares. Past Trama. Both Fred and Chrissy had been experiencing the same things, and they were all symptoms that I had lived with since the lab. It wasn't a coincidence, whatever was affecting them, whatever had killed them, it was related to the lab, but I wasn't sure how. Unfortunately, I was lost in thought and didn't notice Max lift her head up from the file and zone out, lost in her own head.
"Max, what is it?" Dustin asked and I blinked and looked down at the girl. She didn't respond. "Max? Max!" Steve had his hand on Max's shoulder shaking it slightly trying to get her attention. I moved around to try and get in front of her vision.
"Max." There was the voice, and with it came a blinding flash. I clenched my jaw, trying not to jerk away but I knew what was happening. There was another flash and then I saw a clock with each flash and then the chimes. The same chimes I heard after school before Chrissy died, and on the drive to find Eddie. I knew what those chimes meant.
"Shit." I cursed, clenching my eyes closed before looking up at Steve, who was watching me concerned.
Hope it didn't seem rushed.
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