Billy's gone.
Ruby Buckley's world ended with him.
But Hawkins isn't done with her yet.
When strange deaths begin again, Ruby is pulled into the heart of the storm. Between shadowy nightmares, the town's newest outcast, and someone she was never s...
( songs for the chapter ) walking after you // foo fighters well i wonder // the smiths
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After catching Lucas up to speed on the last twenty-four hours, the curse, the visions, Chrissy, everything, they all ended up back at the Wheelers'.
The plan was simple: get some rest, then go over the articles Robin and Nancy found and figure out what the hell to do next.
The basement smelled faintly of dust and warm electricity, the hum of the furnace filling the silences between them. Max sat at the small desk in the corner, head bent, the tip of her pen scratching furiously over a notebook. She'd been like that for hours. Writing, erasing, writing again.
Ruby sat curled on the couch with Dustin and Lucas while Steve paced in front of them, holding a thin newspaper between his fingers like it might start making sense if he just stared hard enough.
"Okay, be honest." Steve muttered, squinting at the faded print. "You guys understand any of this?"
All three of them answered at once.
"No," Lucas said under his breath, flipping a page that looked just as confusing as the last.
"Yes," Ruby said automatically, her voice half distracted.
"Pretty straightforward," Dustin said with the confidence of someone who had no idea what was going on.
"Oh, straightforward? Really?" Steve turned on him, incredulous.
Dustin raised his hands in surrender. "What's confusing about it? Everyone Vecna cursed has died, except for that Victor Creel guy Nancy found."
"Victor Creel," Ruby repeated quietly, her mind sifting through the name like it carried a weight she hadn't noticed before. She lifted her head. "He's the only known survivor."
"Exactly." Dustin nodded, relieved someone was following. "If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him."
"Yeah, assuming he was cursed, Henderson." Steve shot back. "Which we don't even know." He started muttering again, rubbing his temple. "How could Vecna exist in the fifties? It doesn't make sense."
Dustin leaned forward, mind already spinning. "Well, far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down. She opened a gate to it. The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs."
Ruby arched an eyebrow. "I wouldn't go as far as dinosaurs, Dustin."
Steve threw up his hands. "Dinosaurs? What are we-"
"Okay, okay." Lucas interrupted. "But what if a gate didn't exist in the '50s, how did Vecna get through?"
"Oh, and how's he getting through now?" Steve added, pointing as if the question were a weapon.
