THE TOWER ━ stranger things

27.

chapter twenty-seven – think freddy krueger...but ten times worse

March 22, 1986

"Reefer Rick!" Dustin yelled as he roughly knocked against the door before ringing the doorbell a few more times. He ignored Steve's protests against his choice of words as well as how loud he was being and continued.

Irene rolled her eyes and stepped back from the group, clutching her sweater tighter as a chill from the lake swept past her. She could hear the faint whispers of water lapping against the shore and walked further away from the house to get a better look at the lake in the moonlight. Down toward the water, she could see that a fairly large boathouse-shed was perched between the trees. She could also see that the light outside of it was on and the hairs on her neck rose – a feeling of familiarity bloomed in her chest and it clicked.

"Guys..." Her voice wavered against the wind and Max was the only one who turned her attention. She nudged Robin and like a ripple effect, one by one, they all looked toward their friend who was pointing her flashlight forward. Irene looked back at them, "He's in there."

"And you're sure?" Steve questioned skeptically but followed behind the rest of his friends anyways. He pushed aside his sour feelings for the sake of staying focused so that they could find Eddie and hopefully figure out if something was back in Hawkins. He knew the answer though. They all did – they just refused to believe it until they had concrete proof.

"Saw it in a vision when I first met Eddie; he was sitting on a boat in some shed."

"That could literally be anywhere, Rena." Dustin retorted only to receive several eyerolls in response.

"It's the only other lead we've got." Max bit back and Irene gave her a small thankful smile.

"Rick's the only person Eddie knows who lives this close to the lake. He used to throw a lot of parties in the summer and everyone would swim and drink." Irene explained as they walked down toward the door.

She couldn't believe it; she couldn't believe that somehow Eddie had gotten mixed up in the one mess she was trying her hardest to shield him away from.

Guess you didn't try hard enough.

The signs were there and she had the vision to prove it, but she pushed him away instead and tried to act like everything was fine. She tried to keep her friendships intact and pretend like danger didn't lurk in the murky depths of their future. And yet it was all for nothing.

Steve scoffed beside her and before he could respond with something quick-witted and spiteful, Robin was already making her way through the door and asking if anyone was home.

The wooden floorboards creaked beneath them and now Irene could perfectly hear the water swishing just inches away. The air was stale and it was freezing as they investigated with their flashlights. As Irene lingered near Robin and Max, Steve had begun to roughly poke at the tarp covered boat at the center of the shed.

"What are you doing?" Dustin hissed.

"He might be in here." Steve responded curtly, continuing to poke with the oar in his hand.

"So take the tarp off!"

"If you're so brave why don't you take the tarp off?" The two's bickering slowly faded and once again the cloak of silence fell over the five as they continued to roam the room, looking for any clues that would indicate the metalhead was there or had been at one point in time.

Irene couldn't think clearly – her hands felt all clammy as her stomach tied in knots. She was running out of time and as her friends searched and searched she fought the inner turmoil of wanting to make sure Eddie – someone who, whether she liked to admit or not, she deeply cared about – was safe but also desperately wanting to warn Fred so that he won't meet the grim fate she knows looms over him like gray clouds on a stormy evening. She felt trapped.