Master of Puppets

Chapter 1

There were two things in Hawkins, Indiana that were certain.

Number One: Life was never going to be the same ever again. A hole had been ripped into the sky and no one was certain what would come spiraling out from it. The same group of kids that had grown up together would be haunted by the memories of the upside down from the last few years.

The future had seemed so certain before. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will would stay friends forever. Nancy Wheeler would become the journalist she'd been dreaming of. The spring formal would go on without a hitch, and the newspaper would get delivered to your doorstep every morning at 8 AM on the dot. For the first time, however, no one knew what was coming next.

and Number Two: Eddie Munson was dead.

-

Sitting on the hood of his car, Steve Harrington waited outside the hospital for the kids to return. Max Mayfield was still in her coma and hadn't woken up in months. Despite this, all of the kids had visited weekly, sharing stories about their day, what was going on at school, etc. Eleven had tried peering into her mind to find her, but she was lost. Nothing but an empty void and the echo of her own voice when she called Max's name.

Lucas had fared the worst. While the other kids tried to keep the conversation upbeat and joyful, Lucas could only hold her hand and watch her face waiting, praying, for any sign of life. As if the moment he looked away, she'd blink up at him and ask where he'd been.

While Steve adjusted his watch idly, Robin Buckley rolled down the window and leaned out. "They've been in there a while. We're gonna be late for work soon."

Somehow, by the grace of god, they were allowed their old jobs back. After missing a few days - no call no show - because of, you know, the apocalypse, their boss had given them their old shifts. Probably because they had a hard enough time keeping people to work at a low end video rental store for less than minimum wage. Steve and Robin liked to pretend it was because they were invaluable employees (they weren't).

"I know. Just give them some time, they didn't get to see her last week." Steve clicked the watch into place, done with his fiddling. Robin only nodded in response and rested her head on her arms. As if on cue, the familiar sound of Mike and the boys' chattering sounded throughout the parking lot.

"Hey," Steve called, "what took so long?"

"Sorry!" Mike rushed a little faster to the car. "We were showing her our character sheets. Will made her an honorary NPC." He held up a drawing of Max in knight's armor, signed with a W. Steve was glad that they had found a way to distract themselves. This world was screwed up enough, if the kids wanted a world to escape to with elves, orcs, and magic, so be it.

Dustin, however, had opted to skip this campaign. To him, D&D without Eddie was as good as sacrilege. There was simply no better dungeon master. Steve could see the hurt in his eyes when they talked about it. Dustin filed into the car with Lucas and Mike, saying his goodbyes. Eleven and Will waved goodbye to them and ran to Jonathan's van, who waited for them with Argyle.