In The Stars / Steve Harrington 3

Chapter 8

"Her body just like, lifted up into the air and uh, and she just like, hung there, in the air." Eddie explains. "And her bones, uh." Eddie begins before he stops himself to calm down. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, and I move forward and take his hand. He opens his eyes, and I give him an encouraging nod.

"Uh, her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man, it was like there was something like inside her head pulling." He says, and we all listen. "I- I didn't know what to do, so I- I ran away." He says as tears form in his eyes. "I left her there." He says as a tear rolls down his cheek. I wrap him in a hug, and he instantly wraps his arms around me.

"You all think I'm crazy right?" He asks. I break away from him and put my hands on his shoulders. "No, we don't think you're crazy at all." Dustin says from behind me. "No, don't bullshit me, man. I know how this sounds!" Eddie yells in tears. "We're not bullshitting you, Eddie, we believe you." I say, and he sighs and shakes his head.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little difficult to take." I say to Eddie. "Okay." He says quietly as he looks up at me. "You know how people say Hawkins is cursed?" I ask him, and he nods. "They're not way off." I say. "There's another world, a world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes, it bleeds into ours." I explain to him. "Like ghosts and shit?" He asks. "There are some things worse than ghosts." I say as I close my eyes tight, remembering that night at Starcourt Mall.

"These monsters, from this other world, we thought they were gone, but they've come back before, and that's why we needed to find you." I explain to him. "If they're back again, we need to know. I need to know." I say to him as tears form in my eyes as I realize my brother's sacrifice was for nothing.

"That night, did you see anything?" I ask. "Dark particles, maybe." Max says to further explain. Eddie shakes his head, and I look down. "It would almost look like dust, swirling dust." Dustin adds. "No, there was nothing you could see or uh, or touch." He says, and I look back up at him.

"You know I tried to wake her, but she couldn't move. It was like she was in a trance or something." Eddie explains. "Or under a spell." Dustin says, and we all turn to look at him. "A curse." Eddie says in realization. "Vecna's curse." Dustin says, and Steve, Max, Robin, Corey, and I all give him a confused look. "Who's Vecna?" Steve asks as he walks closer to Eddie, Dustin, and I. "An undead creature of great power." Dustin says as he shares a worried look with Eddie. "A spell caster." Eddie adds. "A dark wizard." Dustin says worriedly.

"Okay, uh, that's great." I say sarcastically. Steve puts a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I sigh. "How do we defeat this guy?" Steve asks. "Uh, that's a long story and an extremely difficult task." Eddie says, and I nod. "How about we come back to this in the morning." I suggest. Everyone agrees, and we all get up. "Oh uh, before you guys leave, can you pick me up some more food because I'm all out?" Eddie asks. "Yeah." I say with a nod.

Everyone goes out to Steve's car, but before I can leave, Eddie stops me. "Hey Bell, can we talk?" He asks. "Yeah, what's up?" I ask. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" He asks in a hurt voice. "I couldn't because of legal reasons. Corey didn't even know until last year." I explain with a sigh. "Last year?" He asks, confused. "It's a long story, but it wasn't a fire." I say, and his eyes widen, knowing what I was talking about. "You mean?" He asks, and I nod as tears form in my eyes. "Oh my god, Bella." He says as he wraps me into a hug.

"I'm sorry." I wimper to him as my tears start to fall. "Why are you apologizing?" He asks with a small chuckle. "That's why I have to end this. If his sacrifice was for nothing then -" I say before I cut myself off with a sob. "Hey, we're gonna get through this. I'm kind of new to this, but it can't be that hard to stop these monsters if you guys have done this in the past. If Harrington can do it, then I can." He says, and I laugh.

"Hey, Bells, let's go." Steve says as he comes to the door of the shed. Eddie and I break away, and I turn around to see Steve looking at us with hurt in his eyes. Steve quickly turns around and goes back to his car. I sigh and turn back to Eddie. "We'll be back in a few hours." I say, and he nods. I leave the shed and see the sun starting to rise on the horizon. I get in the passenger side of Steve's car. Steve glances over at me and starts his car. I sigh, and we start the awkward drive to the grocery store to get Eddie some food.