THATS SO 80s - Steve Harrington

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Dustin, can you hear me?"

I woke up on the floor, leaning on Steve. We had come back to the Wheeler's basement. I had only gotten around 2 hours of sleep last night, I think before I was woken up again. Everyone was sleeping peacefully, ignoring Eddie's callings on the walkie-talkie.

Shit, Eddie. I quickly got up and walked over to the walkie-talkie. "Juno here, I copy," I responded to his calls.

"Hopper! Hey." Eddie responded. "Um, I'm gonna needa food delivery, like, really soon, unless you want me going out into the world."

"No, no, no. Don't do that." I rubbed my eyes tiredly. "Just stay where you are, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Eddie responds. "Listen, um... Can you pick me up a six-pack? I know, it's stupid as shit, drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves."

I looked over at the couch to see Max missing. "I'm gonna have to call you back." I quickly told him.

"Hopper, don't you dare—" I turned off the walkie-talkie.

I shake Dustin awake. "Dustin! Wake up." He wakes up slowly.

"What?" Dustin moaned.

"Aren't you suppose to be on Max watch?" I asked, glowering at him.

"Yep, yep, yep." Dustin realised his mistake.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"She's right there." He pointed to the couch, then frowned. "A second ago. I swear, I just dozed off for..." He checked his watch. "An hour."

Nancy had woken up, hearing our voices. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Max is missing," I replied.

"What?" Nancy jumped up. "Weren't you supposed to be on Max watch—"

"We've established this already! Let's go find her!" Dustin snapped, and the three of us rushed upstairs, entering the kitchen only to find Max wearing her headphones at the breakfast table with Holly.

"Morning, guys." Karen, Mrs Wheeler spoke, giving us a smile. I felt my entire body relax. Karen was in the kitchen. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Nancy responded. "Yeah, everything's okay."

"I think it's so sweet that you guys are sticking like this," Karen tells us.

"Could try sticking together at a different house for a change." Ted retorts, looking up from his newspaper.

Karen turned to me, and Dustin as Nancy advanced forward toward Max. "You know you guys are welcomed here anytime."

"Totally. You're like family." Dustin smiled.

"Yeah, you're like the Mom I've always wanted," I assured her, and she beamed at me.

"Well, I've known you since 2 or 3 grade." Karen reminds me. "You're like my third daughter."

"Another kid, yay." Ted sarcastically spoke, and I rolled my eyes.

"May I?" Dustin gestured towards the eggos cooked on the plate.

"Absolutely." Karen nods her head, me and Dustin take some eggos on a plate.

"Yeah, why not?" Ted asked. "Take us all for what we're worth."

"Okay." Dustin grinned.

"If you insist," I replied, taking some eggos and pouring maple syrup on it. I walked over to Nancy along with Dustin, where she sat down next to Max. I sat down beside max on the other side.

Max takes off her headphones. "Hey." Max greeted us.

"Hey." Nancy and I replied in sync and I begin to eat.

"You okay?" Nancy asked softly.

"Just couldn't sleep," Max responded. "People kept blasting music in my ears, for some reason." Nancy chuckled. "But, Holly let me borrow some of her crayons. We've been having fun, right, Holly?"

"Mm-hmm," Holly replied.

"Is this what you saw last night?" I asked, touching the drawings. It was a bunch of red and black drawings.

"I mean, it's supposed to be," Max tells us. "I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than explain it, but... Not so much."

"Is that...?" Nancy points to a specific picture.

"It was like they were on display," Max explained. I looked as Nancy dragged the picture of what was supposed to be Chrissy and Fred, tied to a stump or something, with dead skulls. "And then there's this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare."

"Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" Nancy asked.

"With Billy? Yeah." Max nodded. "But when I made it here... I dunno; something was different. He seemed surprised, almost." Dustin finally joined us, sitting down next to me. "Like he didn't want me there."

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind," Dustin suggested. "He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room."

"Freddie Krueger?" Holly asked, looking slightly interested.

"He's a super burned-up dude with razor fingers," Dustin explained. "And kills you in your dreams." Now, Holly looked scared.

"Dustin, seriously?" Nancy snapped. She glanced at her little sister.

"Sorry," Dustin whispered. "It's a movie. It's not real. Just... Think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing. God, we need Will."

"Yeah, no shit." Max rolled her eyes. "But I tried them again this morning, and it's still the same busy signal."

"Is this a window?" Nancy asked, picking up a picture.

"Yeah," Max replied.