chapter vii .
fuck mason anderson
VAL WAS AWOKEN TO THE SOUND of a car overhead, which normally would not have scared her as bad as it did that particular morning—but when one is hiding with a fugitive of the law, one is pretty sensitive to the fact that people are nearby. Panic engulfed her as the car's engine droned to a stop at the top of the very hill she and Eddie were at the bottom of.
She threw a lifejacket at him. He didn't move. She threw another—still nothing. Finally, she resorted to poking him with an oar, still ducking beneath the window so their visitors could not see her. Eddie jerked awake, already on-edge, but Val put a finger to her lips and used her other hand to point above her head, out the window. His eyes followed, and subsequently widened in fear. He mouthed a curse, then dove in front of Val so they were both hidden by the window.
Eddie's hand found Val's arm and he clutched it, as if he were preparing to protect her from the threat—but he was the one that let out a high-pitched scream when the door burst open to reveal some very non-threatening threats. Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Max poked their heads in, all smiling at the pair.
"Didn't realize you spent the night, Val," Dustin said as he made his way in, "or else we would've brought you something, too."
"Don't sweat it," Val muttered, stepping out from behind Eddie.
As it was, Eddie shared his cereal with Val as they sat across from each other in the boat. The rest of them surrounded the couple, looking pretty forlorn.
Val swallowed the minimal amount of cereal she had put in her mouth, then looked to Dustin. "Spill."
"So, uh, we got some good news and some bad news, and also some really bad news," he said, shifting on his stool. "How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always," Eddie said immediately.
"Maybe do a bad news sandwich," Robin suggested. "Like, do the real bad stuff first, then the good stuff, then the medium-bad stuff."
"It's not called a bad news sandwich, it's a compliment sandwich," Steve pointed out. "That wouldn't make them feel any better."
Dustin sighed heavily. "Alright, fine, I'll start with really bad, then we'll work from there." He drew in a short breath, then looked to Val. "Your name got out."
She scoffed, ignoring the sinking feeling in her gut. "Pretty long time coming," she said casually. "How did they find out?"
"One of Eddie's neighbors recognized you," he replied. "Said she knew you 'cause you used to be over there a lot. But it means that you're on their radar, too. Which leads me to the other bad news—we tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Both of you, now."
"Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy," Steve added. "Like, a hundred percent kind of convinced."
Eddie swallowed. "And the good news?"
"Your name hasn't gone public yet," Robin said. "But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do too."
"Actually, it's not," Val chimed in, her throat feeling like sandpaper as she spoke. "It's, uh—I went home last night, to see if I could get any sleep, but Mason was hosting a party with all his basketball friends and shit. Jason Carver was there. And, uh, he's after you, Eddie. All of them are. And if my name's out there, too... He already didn't like either of us very much, but this would be motivation enough to kill us."
