cursed (2022)

chapter twenty-nine: mordor

Eventually, we catch up with the rest of the group, who are already talking to Eddie. He was hiding under Skull Rock with a stolen super comm.

"What the hell happened?" Steve asks as Dustin starts to hand Eddie his food and drinks.

"God, uh," Eddie rubs his face. "Jason and his crazy ass friends found me. I took the boat onto the lake and prayed they wouldn't see my leaving the shed, but, uh, Jason and Patrick both jumped into the water to go after me. In the middle of nowhere, Patrick sunk underwater before lifting back up, so high up into the air...and uh, the same thing that happened to Chrissy happened to him. When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but uh...my walkie was busted man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran."

I feel bad for Eddie. That's the second person he's had to see die in such a way. Dustin is pacing back and forth with his compass, which I don't get. Maybe he's trying to get his steps in or something.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asks.

"Yeah, no, I know exactly what time it was," Eddie says as he starts to remove his watch. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

He tosses the watch to Nancy and she catches it before observing, "Nine twenty-seven."

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin says.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asks.

"That that surge of was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy explains before tossing Eddie's watch back to him.

"Well, we're one step closer," Robin sighs. "We know how Vecna attacks."

"And where he attacks from," Lucas adds.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," I say.

"If he even has a heart," Robin retorts.

"A stake?" Steve says, clearly confused. "Is he like, a vamp? Is he a vampire?"

I shake my head, "It was a metaphor."

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie suggests.

From what I've been told by Mike, bullets don't do much damage to Demogorgons, so I don't think they would work on Vecna, given the fact that Demogorgons are just a completely watered-down version of Vecna and the Mind Flayer altogether. Alas, everyone continues to use them on the bastards.

"I say we chop his head off," Lucas says.

"Yeah, I'd say all of the above, but we can't do any of that 'til we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy replies.

"We need El to get her powers back," I say.

"Everything was like, wayyy easier," Steve agrees before looking to Eddie. "We had this girl, she had superpowers."

"Superpowers," Eddie says at the same time. "Yeah, you mentioned her...Hey, uh, Henderson's not uh, cursed, is he?"

I look over at Dustin who's still pacing back and forth like an idiot. I hope I wasn't pacing back and forth like that at any point in time when I was cursed.

"Cursed?" Steve raises an eyebrow. "No, No, no, no, he's fine. Mental? Absolutely."

"Boom!" Dustin yells, startling me and everyone else before pointing at Steve. "Bada...bada...boom. I was right! Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve says angrily.

"Mhm," Dustin smiles.

"This is Skull Rock! Okay?" Steve snaps. "You're totally, absolutely, one hundred percent wrong right now!"