Another side

Chapter 19

We drive up to where Eddie's hiding the next morning. We walk up but when Dustin opens the door, he looks ready to attack us. "Sorry, hi. It's just us with delivery service." He nods and we give him some food. As he munches on his food, we give him an update. So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?" "Bad news first, always." Dustin nods.

"All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced that you killed Chrissy." "Like 100% kind of convinced." I look at Max. That doesn't help at all. "And the good news?" "Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do. And once that get outs, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

I look at Robin. That wasn't helpful either. "Hunt the freak, right?" "Exactly." "Shit." "So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence." I roll my eyes. He makes it sound so easy. "That's all, Dustin? That's all?" "Yeah, no, that's pretty much it." Robin looks at him. "Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds delusional, we've actually been through this before."

He stares at her. "I mean, they have a....a few times, and....and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line, collectively, I think we've got this." I'm glad someone has confidence. "We usually rely on this girl with superpowers." I nod. "My stepsister, but she's in California. And her powers went bye-bye, so we're technically in more of a....." I look at the others for help and Steve steps in for me. "Brainstorming phase."

Everyone nods and Eddie looks like he's lost all hope in us helping him. Suddenly we hear sirens and Eddie starts panicking. I grab the tarp and push him down before chucking it over his head. We go to the window and there's a bunch of police cars and an ambulance. I think Vecna has claimed another life. We go to Steve's car and he drives us to where we think they are and who's standing there but my best friend Nancy Wheeler.

The second we make eye contact a smile lights her face. The officer turns back to see what she's seen and I look at the two officers who worked with Hopper when my brother was missing. She nods at what he's asking and finally they let her go. She walks up to me and I hug her tight. I've missed her so much. We take her somewhere to talk and tell her the full story. "You're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down." "If the shoe fits." Dustin nods. "Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know."

Max nods. "All we know is that this is something different. Something new." "Doesn't make sense." I look at Nancy. "It's only a theory." "No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?" "Maybe they were just in the wrong place. They were both at the game." "And in the trailer park." "We're at the trailer park. Uh, should we maybe not be here?"

Nancy nods. "There is something weird about this place. Fred started acting weird the second we got here." "Acting weird as in....?" "Scared, on edge, upset." "Max said Chrissy was upset too." "Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school." "Serial killers stalk their prey before they kill, right?" We all look at Robin interested.

"So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman---" "Vecna." I roll my eyes at Dustin. Steve steps in. "I dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone." "Maybe they did." We look at Max. "I saw Chrissy leaving Ms Kelley's office." Max continues. "If you saw a monster, you... you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But you might go to your ---" "Your shrink," Robin finishes for her. We set off when suddenly Nancy takes a different turn. Steve asks her where she's going. 

"Oh, there's just something I wanna check on first." "Something you wanna share with us?" Nancy looks at Dustin. "I don't wanna waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark." Steve looks at her. "Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with Vecna on the loose? No, it's too dangerous. You need.... You need someone to..." He throws his keys to Robin. "Here. I'll stick with Nance."

Robin looks at him. "I don't think you want me driving your car." "Why?" "I don't have a license." "Why don't you have a license?" "I'm poor." I roll my eyes before grabbing the keys and passing them back to Steve. "How about this. Me and Robin go with Nancy and you and Billy go check out the shrink with the kids." He glares at me as I grab Robin's hand and move her towards Nancy.

Robin looks at Steve mockingly. "Unless you think we need you to protect us." He rolls his eyes and she chuckles. Dustin throws us a walkie and I wave at them. "Bye, have fun." I walk away with Robin. Nancy shrugs and follows after us. We get in the car and Nancy explains to us what's happening. Basically Eddie's uncle Wayne thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he's the one who's doing the killings. 

But the murders were done like way back in the 50s which means they predate Eleven in the Upside down by like 30 years. Which makes Victor Creel like 70 years old. Robin is talking to Nancy and trying to get the facts straight. She looks at Nancy. "So, he's a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air." I chuckle. Nancy glares at me.

"It doesn't make sense. I know. That's why I said it was a shot in the dark." Robin nods. "I know. I just thought that by "shot in the dark," you were being modest  or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later. But this is like really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who've been spun around 50 times."

I can tell Nance is getting annoyed because she starts rapidly ringing the service bell on the table. The librarian comes through and Nancy apologises saying we're in a bit of a rush and asks for the key to the basement archives. Robin looks at Nancy while the librarian looks for the keys and asks her if she sounded mean or condescending. Nancy says no and Robin starts telling her how she doesn't have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues and if she says something to upset her  that she knows it's a flaw because her mother reminds her everyday.

Just in time, the librarian comes back with the key and hands it over to Nancy. She tells us to have fun and Nancy says we'll try before walking off as fast as she can. Me and Robin look at each other before shrugging and following after as quickly as we can. There's only two things to use so I sit beside Robin and we read through the thing together. Nothing new seems to be coming up. It's just giving us things we already knew.

Victor seemed like a normal guy until he wasn't and there was a dead family with missing eyes. He took a plea deal, then he was sent to Pennhurst. We check with Nancy and she's come up with the same things. I speak up. "What are we looking for exactly?" She doesn't answer me and Robin knocks on the side of the wood.

"Nance?" She peeps over at us. "Any mention of dark wizards or alternate dimensions? Things in that vein?" "I don't know. Okay? It's starting to seem like this was just a big waste of time. You guys are obviously bored. Why don't you call Steve? I'm sure he'll come running to pick up Robin." I look at her confused. "And I mean, I'm not really in danger here, so..." She walks away and Robin runs after her.

I don't follow because I know what they're gonna talk about and I'd rather not hear Robin trying to convince Nancy that she and Steve are just friends when Nancy shouldn't even care because she's dating my brother. Suddenly I hear Robin calling my name. "We've got something." I go to them and we read what they found together. At first it doesn't seem useful at all.  Nancy gives up and walks away when finally me and Robin find something.

Robin reads the title out loud and at first Nancy thinks she's joking but we beckon her over to read the article with us. What the article says is that Victor believed that an ancient demon was haunting his house and that he allegedly hired a priest to try excorcise this demon out but apparently according to Victor this excorcism didn't work but that it angered the demon. He believes the demon then murdered his family and took their eyes. Victor believed he was spared as a punishment. 

Finally we figure it out. Vecna was the demon. Robin radios Dustin and explains the short version of what's happening here and Dustin tells her he can't really talk because they're breaking into the school to retrieve some really confidential files. I sigh. Of course they are. They tell us to get to the school quick. I roll my eyes. We leave them alone for two hours.