Stay or Go

Chapter 61

We are going to see Eddie this morning and so we stop off at a grocery store to buy some food for him. Since he can't go out and buy it himself, being a fugitive and all. As we walk down the aisles, Steve takes my hand in his, I look up at him and smile as he says "Do you think we will ever be free of this". My smile drops, he means free of the upside down. Free of having to save Hawkins over and over again. I shrug, look at the food around us, pick up a box of crackers and place it in the basket "I don't know, maybe if we can get rid of whoever is trying to get over here, maybe." Is my only answer, just then Dustin comes barreling into me, almost making me lose my balance.

"Watch it, Dustin." I snap, clutching tightly to the basket. My brother ignores me but instead holds up a chocolate bar "Can I have it?" He asks like a little kid, even giving me puppy dog eyes to sweeten the deal. I roll my eyes and offer the basket out "Whatever, just be careful." I say and he throws the chocolate bar inside. 

-

We burst into the shed that Eddie is hiding in, to see him in a corner, holding out a smashed bottle as a weapon. "Delivery service," Dustin says holding up the bags of groceries, making the older boy relax. As he shoves dry cereal into his mouth I say "So we got some good news and some bad news." Eddie looks up at me with puppy-like eyes "How do you prefer it?" He shrugs, digging his hand back into the cereal box "Bad first, always." I sigh and look at Dustin who explains "All right." He says "Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they are definitely looking for you. Also, they're pretty convinced you killed Chrissy." Max leans forwards and embellishes "Like 100% kind of convinced" 

Eddie snaps his head back to my brother "And the good news?" He asks but it's Robin who answers "Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do too and once that get's out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you." Eddie's expression drops and I feel a mix of pitty and sadness for him. "Hunt the freak, right?" He muses and Robin nods her head "exactly." I can tell Eddie is starting to panic so I continue talking "So before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence."

He tilts his head to the side and stares at me "Thats it Lori? That's all" I pull a face and nod slowly "yeah, no, that;s pretty much it." My voice has gone several pitches higher. "Listen Eddie." Robbin says "I know everything Lori is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a a few times, and I have once. Mine was human-flesh-based theirs was more smoke-related." I push away the put forming at how blase she speaks about Billy. "But bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this." 

Steve wrap an arm around my shoulder, pulling me against him as he speaks "we usually rely on this girl who has super powers. but they went bye-bye so..." Robin finishes his sentence for him "so we're technically more of the brainstorming phase." I understand that this probably isn't convincing Eddie that we know what we are doing as he stares at us like we are insane and maybe we are. "There's there's nothing to worry about." Dustin sputters nervously. Eddie gives us a look that speaks a thousand words just as police sirens sound in the distance. 

"Shit." Steve mutters and I start gesturing widely with my arms "The tarp." Eddie hides himself under it as the police sirens crawl closer. We all run to the window and peer outside, multiple cop cars and an ambulance drives straight past us. I sag in relief although a part of me understands that something bad must have happened to warrant that many cop cars AND an ambulance. 

-

We decided to follow them and we stopped a little way from the crime scene, in which one of the boys from the high school was dead—the same way as Chrissy. We spot Nancy talking to police officers and we wave at her when she notices us. 

"So you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the upside down?" Nancy asks after we explain everything. "If the shoe fits." Steve says and I flick a piece of hair from my face "Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the mind flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know." My brother exclaims. As he is doing so, I notice a shift in Max who makes eye contact with me and shakes her head. Fine, I'll ask her later. "All we know is that something is different." Max continues "Something new." 

Nancy starts shaking her head, pushing her bag up on her shoulder "Doesn't make sense." She argues and my brother replies "It's only a theory." Nancy stares at us each in turn as she explains "No, Fred and Chrisst don't make sense. I mean, why them?" We all pause, thinking about what the two of them might have had in common. If they knew about the upside down, sure that would put a target on their backs. But a perfect preppy cheerleader and a bespeckled nerdy boy who works at the school paper? They couldn't be more different. 

"Maybe they were just in the wrong place." I muse, biting the inside of my cheek "They were both at the game." Max gasps leaning forward and adding "and in the trailer park." Steve looks around, running a hand through his fluffy hair "We're at the trailer park." He points out "Uh, should we maybe not be here?" It's a bit too late for that, I want to point out but instead, stay silent. Everyone starts looking around as Nancy says "There is something about this place. Fred started acting weird the second we got here."

Robin frowns "Acting weird as in...?" She prompts and Nancy answers "Scared, on edge, upset." Dustin tilts his head to the side and chimes in "Max said Chrissy was upset too." The red-haired girl nods, still frowning "Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school." I lean forward and clear my throat "Serial Killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?" I ask casually "so maybe Fred and Chrisst saw this Vecman..." My brother glares at me and corrects "Vecna." I roll my eyes. 

Steve scratches the back of his neck and says "I don't know about you guys but if i saw some freaky wizard monster, I would probably mention it to someone." Max places her hands on the table "Maybe they did. I saw Chrissy leaving Ms Kelly's office." She tells us "If you saw a monster, you you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But you might go to your..."

"You shrink." Robin finishes Max's train of thought. That is are signal to get up and head to the car, the best way to figure out if this theory is correct is to break into the counsellors office. "Woah, whoa Nance." Steve says noticing the other girl walking slightly away from the car, when she doesn't answer he calls her name again and jogs over to her. I try to push away the feelings of jealousy I have when he does this, Nancy just saw a friend murdered brutually of course she isn't okay and I know that Jonathan isn't here to comfort her. 

"Where you going?" Steve asks as she finally turns around. Nancy doesn't meet anyone's eye as she explains "oh, there's something I wanna check on first." I raise a hand to shield my eyes from the sun and call out "Something you wanna share with us?" Nancy finally stops walking and looks down at her shoes "I dont want to waste your time." She admits "it's a real shot in the dark." We all stare at her for half a second before Steve retorts "yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with Vecna on the loose? No it's too dangerous. You need.. You need someone too...." 

He seems to choke on his words and I start to feel sick when he comes stalking towards me and presses his car keys into my hand. "Here." He says quietly "I'll stick with Nance. You keep the kids safe." I open my mouth to protest but he just kisses me so softly I almost imagine it before walking over to his ex-girlfriend. Why do I have such a bad feeling about this? "This is stupid." Robin says before they can walk off.

She takes the keys from me and hands them back to Steve. "Us ladies will stick together." She signals between her and Nancy before giving Stece doe-eyes "unless you think we need you to protect us." She winks at me and I can't help but smile. Steve stares at them for a minute open mouthed and in shock. As they walk off Dustin says "You just gonna stand there and gawk?" Steve glares at him and aims to hit him but misses "Shut up."