Complete Chaos

051

Max found out she was going to die soon; it was a difficult night for the group.

The ride home was quiet. Steve, Julia, and Melody went back to their house, where they spent the night.

Julia could barely sleep, worried increase inside of her for Max, her daughter, and everyone else.

She didn't want her daughter to be involved in any of it, but by being around them, she was already exposed to all of it.

The next morning they woke up early and made their way to Nancy's house, where the rest of the kids were already waiting for them.

Nancy and Robin were not in the basement. The two teens were trying to find a way they could talk to Victor Creel and get more information about Vecna. 

Melody was sitting on the ground. Her body was able to sit up straight without falling to the side. It made things easier and more fun for the young girl.

A few toys were around her she had options to play with.

In her hand she was holding a sunflower rattle.

On her left side there was a Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack colorful toy. She had grown tired of it, not knowing what to do, so she stopped playing with it.

A stuffed bunny lay on her leg. She was not interested in the toy; she didn't even bother to move it.

Julia sat next to her daughter and got out a Gerber from the backpack.

Melody hearing the familiar sound of the lid being taken off, glanced toward her mother and smiled.

The sunflower rattle Melody was holding flew out of her hands, hitting her father on his ankle. She licked her lips and moved her hands up and down, hitting her legs, and the bunny that rested on her leg bounced off.

Julia couldn't help but smile at her daughter's reaction.

As Julia was feeding her daughter, Steve was walking back and forth, reading the papers with the information Nancy and Robin discovered in the library yesterday.

"Okay, be honest. Uh, you guys understand any of this?" Steve asked Dustin and Lucas, who were sitting on the sofa. "No," Lucas answered, looking through the same information.

"Pretty straightforward," Dustin responded simply.

"Oh, straightforward, really?"

"What's confusing to you? So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He's the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him," Dustin explained.

Julia continued to feed Melody. "Yummy," said Julia as Melody opened her mouth. Some orange Gerber was on the side of her mouth. With the spoon, Julia cleaned the corner of Melody's mouth and fed it back to her. 

"That's assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know. How can Vecna have existed in the '50s? It doesn't make sense," Steve scratched the side of his head, confused.

"Ahh," Melody said, opening her mouth, the carrot-flavored Gerber still in her tongue. "Finish what you have in your mouth," Julia told her daughter, leaving the spoon inside the small container.

"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," Dustin explained to the group.

Steve closed his eyes and moved his hands."Dinosaurs? What are we-" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Okay, but if a gate didn't exist in the 50s, how did Vecna get through," Lucas asked Dustin, who seemed to have all the answers.

"How's he getting through now?" Steve pointed at Dustin.

"And why now?" Lucas added another question into the mix. "And why then?" The boys went back and forth, coming up with more questions.

"He just pops out in the 50s, kills one family, and he's like, 'I'm good,' and poof, he just disappears. Just gone?" Steve made a poof gesture moving his fingers around.

Melody grinned at her father. "Dah," she said with a grin. Steve, hearing his daughter's voice, smiled at her.

"Only to return 30 years later and start killing random teens? No, I don't buy it." He sighed, looking down at the paper again.

"Honestly, Henderson, a little humility now and then, it wouldn't hurt you." He pointed at Dustin. "Sorry."

Steve sat down on the ground next to Julia. He gave her the papers so she could go over them, and she handed him the Gerber.

Curious to know how the carrot Gerber tasted. He put the tip of his finger in getting some of the food and licked it. He knitted his eyebrows together and gagged.

He didn't like the carrot one, but Melody seemed to enjoy it.

"Any idea what she's writing," Dustin asked after a second. The three boys and Julia looked at Max, who was still writing. Max had been writing for almost two hours. When Julia arrived at the basement, she saw her and didn't want to bother her. She looked concentrated.

"Did she sleep?"

"I mean, would you," Lucas responded.

The door opened, and Nancy and Robin walked down the stairs. Melody flinched, hearing the loud steps coming closer to them.

"Okay, so we have a plan." The girls gather around the rest of the group. "Thanks to Nancy's minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame," Robin explained.

Julia looked over Steve's shoulder, reading what Nancy's minions created. "So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics." "To which they said no," Robin added.

Steve passed the file to Lucas. "But we landed a three o'clock with the director."

"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor."

"Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse," Nancy said softly, looking at the young girl.

"About that. We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh, we got some questions," Steve said. "Lots of questions," Lucas added, looking at Nancy.

"So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers."

It took Steve a few seconds to realize that only Robin and Nancy had papers to go and visit Victor at the Pennhurst Asylum.

"Wait a second. Where's mine? And Julia's?"