In The Stars / Steve Harrington 3

Chapter 20

The others join us and Nancy gives Eddie his food and drinks. We all gather around Eddie and patiently wait for him to tell us what happened. Eddie sighs and crouches down on the ground. He grabs his thermos and drinks from it. He tells us about what happened with him, Jason, and Patrick. "When I got to 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." Eddie says with a sad laugh.

"Do you know what time this was, the attack?" Nancy asks him. "Yeah, no I-I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked." Eddie says as he takes off his watch and tosses it to Nancy. "9:27." Nancy says with a nod. "Same time our flashlights went kabloie." Robin says. "Which means what?" Steve asks confused. "That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." I explain to him.

Nancy tosses Eddie back his watch and I sigh. "We're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks." Corey says. "And where he attacks from." I add and she nods. "So now we just need to sneak into his layer in the upside down and drive a steak through his heart." Max says from beside Lucas. "If he even has a heart." I say with a shrug. "A steak is he like a vamp- is he a vampire?" Steve asks and I roll my eyes. "It was a metaphor." Max says.

"Uh, bullets will work on him right?" Eddie asks. "I say we chop his head off." Corey suggests and half of us give her a concerned look. "I say all of the above but we can't do any of that until we find a way into the upside down." I say and Steve nods in agreement. "We need El to get her powers back." Lucas says and I nod. "Everything was like way easier." Steve says and he then looks at Eddie. "We had this girl, she had superpowers-" Steve says before Eddie cuts him off. "Superpowers yeah, you mentioned her. Hey uh, Henderson is not uh, cursed is he?" Eddie asks and we all turn to look at Dustin who is pacing back and forth. "Nope, just me." I say and Eddie's eyes widen. "What?" Eddie asks in shock.

"BOOM!" Dustin yells and we all jump and turn to look at him. "Bada, bada, boom." Dustin wispers as he points at Steve. Steve shakes his head and shrugs in confusion. "I was right. Skull Rock was north." Dustin says and Steve and I roll our eyes in annoyance. "Seriously? Your serious?" Steve asks Dustin getting frustrated. Dustin hums in response and I shake my head. "This is Skull Rock!" Steve yells and Dustin hums and nods in response. "Okay, you're totally, absolutely, one-hundred percent wrong, right now!" Steve says angrily. "Yes and no." Dustin says and I groan. "Oh my god." Steve says as he runs his hands over his face.

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheeler's. It was correct when we got in the car on Curley but it started to slip further east we went now it's way off. When I was leading us here I wasn't wrong the compass was." Dustin says and I look up at him. "So you're using faulty equipment you're still wrong." Steve says to Dustin. "Except it isn't faulty." Dustin says and I look at him in realization. "Holy shit." I say and Dustin looks at me with a smile. "A compass is never faulty. It tells direction by the Earth's electro magnetic field." I explain. "Exactly, and in the presence of a stronger electro magnetic field the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's some super big magnetic around here or there's a gate." Dustin says and I smile.

"We're no where near the lab." Nancy says confused. "But what if, somehow, there's another gate." Dustin suggests. "A gate that we don't know about. It has to be smaller, way less powerful." Dustin explains and I nod. "Snack sized gate." I say and Dustin nods. "How? Why?" Steve asks. "No idea all I know is that something is causing this disturbance and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate and I really hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna and a shot at freeing Bella from this curse." Dustin says and then turns away from us.

"Where are you going?" Steve asks Dustin. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Eddie's still a wanted man we can't just go for a hike in the woods." Steve protests. "This little steal capsule might be the key to saving both Bella and Eddie." Dustin says. "What say you Eddie the banished?" Dustin asks Eddie and we all turn to look at him. "I say your asking me to follow you into Mordor. Which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think it's a really bad idea but uh, the Shire, the Shire is burning." Eddie says and I smile as Dustin jumps up and down in joy. "So Mordor it is." Eddie says as he stands up and walks towards Dustin and I.

"What is Mordor?" Steve asks confused. "It a Lord of the Rings thing." I say and Steve gives me a questioning look. "Nerd stuff." I explain and he nods. Eddie walks past Steve and I to get his walkie-talkie and canister of beer. "Get your stuff man." Steve says and Eddie runs back past Steve and I. "This should be fun." I say sarcastically and Steve nods as we follow Dustin.