𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥! 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

SCENE EIGHTEEN. the creel house

she felt the cold spine chill as she left the car, the sting at her hip. this was the house alright. the windows were bordered and the blue paint chipped. trees standing tall around it.

"yeah that's not creepy.'' steve mumbled as he stared up at this house. it was similar to a house he wanted, a family house. but unlike the one before him. his would be filled with life. his children playing in the yard, plucking flowers that were grown in the garden. the windows would be lit up with warm yellowish light. his wife would be in the studio, painting. the smell of fresh bread in the air. his home would be homely, the opposite to his current reality. he followed his friends up the cracked stone path towards the bordered door.

"what exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?'' steve commented as he started plucking nails out of the wooden board in front of the door. nancy helped him on the other side. on piper's left, max stood headphones on, lucas lingering beside her wanting to know if she was okay. yet they never spoke. and on her right robin stood by dustin just watching the two pull the nails.

"we're not sure. we just known this house is important to vecna.'' nancy replied, shrugging her shoulders as she continued.

"because max saw it in vecna's red soup mind world?" he added again, most mocking the situation when piper finally spoke. the first time since she had mentioned the house itself.

"because i saw it too."

"piper." he spoke, breath hitching in his throat as he turned to look at her. and for a moment he saw the same piper from the russian base. pale ill-sick skin, quivering frame and the hand that rested upon her hip. he wondered if that purple claw mark still bore on her pretty skin. 

"we don't think he's in here? do we?" lucas questioned softly, watching as piper's skin grew paler at the thought. something he didn't believe to be possible.

"guess we'll find out.'' max replied, and the wooden board fell. revealing the old oak door and rose glass window. steve reached for the door, hand rattling the doorknob. and no surprise the door was locked.

"should i knock and see if anybody's home?" he smirked trying to shed some light on the occiasion when robin spoke up.

"no need, i found a key." she sat holding up a brick, a brick piper didn't even remember seeing the girl pick up. it was incredible how robin just found things when one isn't looking. and piper had to look away as they threw the brick at the pretty window. glass shattered, followed by the thump of the brick on the other side. she held her breath as steve's hand disappeared into the dark house. and the door creaked open, she was quick to stand beside steve. you know, just in case. following steve into the house i was exactly what one would expect the house to look like inside. devoid. barren. dark and dusty.

"looks like someone forgot to pay for their electric bill." lucas commented as he tried to turn on a lamp.dustin switching on his flash light at the comment.

"where'd everyone get those?"

"do you need to be told everything? you're not a child."

"dustin, leave him alone. he can have mine." piper rolled her eyes. handing the light out towards him. dustin hides his small smile from steve. thank god, she still loved him. dustin wondered when they would grow up and get back together.

"hey guys? do all see that too" max questioned, hoping this wasn't a dream now as she stared up at the clock. steve watched as piper shivered as a clock chimed. vecna must like clocks. neither realised she had reached to grab his hand for comfort.

"why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? maybe he's like a clockmaker or something?" steve spoke, acting like he was some kind of decisive when in reality he just sounded... stupid. piper decided not to remind all that she had a clock almost identical to the one before them. minus it had a cherry blossom stained glass.

"i think you cracked the case, steve.'' dustin commented sarcastically.

"all i know is that the answers are here. somewhere. okay everyone stays in groups of two or three. robin upstairs." robin and nancy ran up the stairs, max dragging lucas off to the dead living room. leaving the husband and wife with one of their kids. steve and piper, and of course dustin. steve sighing as he moved for the stairs as well.

"was that a sigh?" dustin spat.

"no i did not sigh."

"why'd you sigh?"

"i didn't sigh!"

"i heard you."

"we're just always partners, okay?"

"do you have a problem with that?"

"shut the fuck up." piper groaned, running her hand down her face as she rolled her eyes. they bikered like father and son, like an older brother and younger brother. all three failed to notice the electric buzz of light as they travelled up the stairs. piper wandered  into some random room alongside dustin and steve.

"you okay?" and she spun on her heel dropping the perfume bottle in her hand to find steve harrington standing in the doorway.

"all good." she replied, turning away, not wanting to meet the soft brown gaze.

"piper, when were you going to mention that you were cursed." he asked, taking a few strides to stand beside her at the vanity. makeup remained scattered on the desk, lipstick still awaiting to be applied. forever stuck in eternal pause.

"i wasn't." and she walked back over to dustin. her words lingering in his mind. did they need music for her too? he had seen her be cursed yet, minus the school. he hadn't seen her float, hadn't seen the blank eyes. and thank god he didn't. wondering if he could ever recover from such a sight. he knew dustin had music in his bag. he had questioned max knowing piper wouldn't speak of the curse. but max didn’t tell him her favourite song. so he carried multiple tapes in his bag. david bowie, queen, abba, cindy lauper, micheal jackson. not knowing what her favourite song would be. but it's okay cause they won't need them, right?