𝐔𝐍𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃. ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ ʰᵃʳʳⁱⁿᵍᵗᵒⁿ ²

003

▬ 003. 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒.

    "𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐃'𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍 there's been a murder in Hawkins?" Lori said slowly into the phone, eyebrows sharply narrowed. Her stomach instantly twisted and she didn't waste a second before speaking again, "Who? Who was it?"

    She was standing at the far end of her dorm room, by the desk in front of the window. Her jacket was halfway off, hanging on one arm, and she clutched the phone tight to her ear. Her finger stopped twirling the cord. Suddenly, in the snap of a finger,  things flipped— a murder in Hawkins? Surely it wasn't out of theme for a town like that, but that was just because Lori knew about all of the interdimensional bullshit. Those weren't regular murders. But this, this was a real homicide? She pressed the phone to her ear and tried not to get ahead of herself too quickly.

    Maureen exhaled, thinking for a moment before she spoke. "I'm watching the news right now," she said, "It happened last night, late after the game at school, you know the basketball game? Almost everybody went, Claudia said."

    "Uh," Lori shut her eyes tight, remembering how Dustin had spoken about it the day before. Why wasn't Dustin calling now? "Uh— yeah, yeah I do,"

    "Hawkins High student... named," Maureen paused in a question, speaking delicately. And then it sounded like she saw something on the TV, "Oh— oh, Chrissy Cunningham. 'Hawkins High student found dead at Forest Hills Trailer Park.'" she read aloud. "Dear, God."

    Lori's stomach dropped a bit, "Student?" she exclaimed. And then her voice lowered to a whisper. "What the hell..."

    Lori had never actually spoken to Chrissy Cunningham before, but she could recall seeing her a few times around school as she started her climb up the social hierarchy of Hawkins High, in those last few months. All she remembered was a cheer uniform, and a really pretty smile. Who the hell would murder a sixteen year old girl in Hawkins, Indiana?

People. Lori thought. The bad people. Her mind flickered back to the Russians of last summer. But she told herself those people were gone, so she swallowed hard and tried to accept the possibility that this murder could be something totally unrelated.

    "They're not giving many details yet, but this is weird, Lori," Maureen said warily. "Poor, poor girl. I bet her family is just heartbroken," her voice dropped sadly. Sympathetically.

    "Who would murder an innocent sixteen year old girl?" Lori said, confusedly. In truth, she didn't know if Chrissy Cunningham was innocent or not, but the message of her statement still applied nonetheless. "Do you know who could've done it?"

    "I don't know," Maureen sighed. "Oh my goodness, this is just terrible. I hope they catch whoever did it, and quick for that matter. We can't have a killer running around on the loose. Too much has happened already."

    Lori's mind flickered back to Dustin as she glanced to the clock. "Uh, Dustin was at his Hellfire Club meeting last night, right? His Dungeons and Dragons thing."

    "I remember Claudia mentioning something of the sort, yes," Maureen said, slightly confused. "And what on earth kind of club name is that?"

    Lori twirled her finger around the phone cord, sort of nervously. "And he came home last night, right?"

    She could tell that Maureen was narrowing her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure— Claudia would've called if he hadn't. She'd be over here worried sick. Why are you asking?"