The police were still swarming on the road, keeping people away. The ambulance was just getting ready to leave. Nancy sat next to Wayne Munson on a picnic table. The man was pretty stoic; a complete opposite from what she knew about Eddie.
"Victor Creel?" she repeated, jotting the name down.
"I guess you're too young to remember...but back when I was a kid, everybody knew the name Victor Creel. He lost his mind. Killed his whole family. Kids and wife. Took their eyes. Cut 'em right out. That poor kid I found this morning? Same exact thing."
Nancy swallowed, keeping her hands steady. She knew that kid. Sure, he was an annoying editor and always trying to flirt with her, but he didn't deserve that. She hadn't seen Fred's body but Mr. Munson described it to her. It sounded horrific. It was a stretch, considering Victor would have to be in his 80's now. But Nancy was a reporter; looking into leads was her thing.
The air was thick with the cigarette smoke from the pile of butts laying on the ground next to the edge of the table. Nancy tried not to cough as she took a deep breath.
Both of them looked up at the same time as Eddie pulled onto the street and slammed his van to a stop in front of his place.
"That's my nephew," Mr. Munson said, getting to his feet and dusting off his hands.
Mr. Munson stamped on his last cigarette. "He's a good kid. But I worry about him, y'know."
Nancy nodded, getting to her feet as well. She stayed by the picnic tables as he left.
Chrissy got out of the van and noticed the approaching man who had to be Eddie's uncle. "Hey, Eddie?" she said, taking a few steps back and looking over the short hood of the van.
"Yeah?" Eddie was halfway up the steps, keys in hand.
"Um...I'll see you again, right?"
Eddie grinned. "Yeah, definitely." His smile faded a bit to seriousness as his uncle walked around the back of the van. "Don't go anywhere alone, okay? Remember what Max said."
Chrissy nodded before walking away from the van and toward Nancy, who caught her eye. The girls met halfway.
"How are you doing?" Nancy asked, reaching out and squeezing Chrissy's arm reassuringly.
"I have music," Chrissy said, patting the Walkman in her bag. The headphones were wrapped around her neck. "Which kind of feels like a measly weapon against an evil wizard or whatever this thing is."
Nancy smiled, a small, sad smile. "I don't know what's going on exactly. There's a lot of pieces...I just don't know how to put them together."
Max came out of her house in a rush and found Nancy and Chrissy sitting at the picnic bench, talking.
"Are you okay?" Chrissy asked the moment she set eyes on Max.
Max sat down, knuckles white from gripping the strap of her backpack so tightly. "I...I'm fine."
Nancy squinted her eyes to study her. "Max, I thought you were supposed to be with Dustin finding Lucas."
The red haired girl shifted around in her seat, avoiding their eyes until... "Okay, fine! Something really freaky just happened with my mom." She took a few minutes to explain how she'd seen her mom doing laundry and went to talk to her about being careful before the scene shifted and she saw...him. Vecna.
"It has to be the same monster," Max said, glancing over at Chrissy. "It was..."
"Terrifying," Chrissy offered.
Max nodded. "You didn't notice anything weird? The sky getting dark or animals acting crazy?"
"Just a few minutes ago?" Nancy shook her head. "No."
