Time Will Tell

Chapter 13

After a long night of restless sleep, the boys and I start to look more into Victor Creel. We read over the articles Nancy and Robin copied, but are still unable to find any real answers.

Steve begins pacing as he continues to read the same article he's been staring at for the past 20 minutes.

"Okay...be honest, uh" he grumbles. "You guys understand any of this?" he asks, looking up at us.

"No," Lucas says.

I shake my head, sighing.

"Pretty straightforward," Dustin stated.

"Oh, straightforward, really?" Steve said, sarcastically.

"Well what's confusing to you?" Dustin asks. "So far everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He's the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him."

"Yeah, that's assuming that he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know," Steve stated. He reached up to rub his forehead. "How can Vecna have existed back in the 50s? It doesn't make sense."

"As far as we know, Eleven didn't create the upside down. She opened a gate to it. The upside down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions." Dustin said, shrugging. "I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs."

"Di-dinosaurs? What are we-" Steve asked.

"Okay, okay. But if a gate didn't exist in the 50s, How did Vecna get through?" Lucas interjected.

"Oh, and how's he getting through now?" Steve asked, pointing at Dustin.

"And why now?" Lucas added.

"Oh, and why then?" Steve continues. "He just pops out in the 50s, kills one family and is like, 'eh, I'm good,' and poof he just disappears. Just...gone?" he says, motioning with his hands. "Only to return 30 years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it."

Steve lets out a loud exhale as he turns to sit in the chair across from where Dustin and Lucas are sitting on the couch.

"Straightforward, my ass. You know what. Honestly, Henderson, a little humility every now and then," Steve states, turning to face Dustin, "it wouldn't hurt you."

"Sorry," Dustin mumbles, looking up at Steve.

Steve sits down in the chair, crossing his legs. He raises his eyebrows at Dustin before continuing to read through the article again. Dustin looks around the room for a few moments before his eyes land on Max.

"Any idea what she's writing?" he asks the group, quietly.

Lucas and I shrug. Steve turns around to look at Max.

"Did she sleep?" Dustin asks, concerned.

"I mean, would you?" Lucas asks in response.

The door leading to upstairs abruptly opens and the four of us jolt at the noise. We hear footsteps rushing down the stairs.

"Okay so..." Nancy begins as she enters the basement. She turns to face Robin and smiles. "We have a plan."

Robin and Nancy both hold up folders. Nancy proceeds to hand her file to Steve as Robin hands her file to me. Steve and I begin looking through its contents, exchanging a confused look. I go to sit next to Dustin on the couch, who takes the file from my hands, scanning the pages.

"Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rockstar psychology students at the University of Notre Dame," Robin explains.

"I'm now Ruth-" Nancy states.