𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑷𝒀 - Dustin Henderson

020. Dear Billy

MAX LED THE GROUP OVER TO THE END OF A HALLWAY. She mentioned something about a grandfather clock in the wall. Robin and Nancy had arrived as well, and were filled in on what they found. "It was here. Right here."

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy questioned

"It was so real. And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up," she replied.

"It was like she was in a trance or something. Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy."

Max spun back around, tears welling in her eyes, "that's not even the bad part."

They walked back into Ms. Kelley's office and she began to go over what she discovered in each file. "Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help. Uh, they both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then... Then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just... They kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... Everything ended." Max stammered as she tried to explain, definitely bothered by it.

Cindy exhaled slowly, "Vecna's curse."

"Chrissy's headache started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago. I've been having them for five days." Cindy sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so... looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."

Cindy slumped into the chair behind her, letting out a shaky breath. She had a sudden realisation and quickly opened her file, checking if she had the same symptoms. When she didn't find anything like that, she let out a small sigh of relief.

A noise from outside made everyone jump and turn towards the door, "stay here." Steve whispered, walking slowly into the hallway, not before grabbing a floor lamp.

Everyone was intrigued to know who it was, so they followed him out. Fast footsteps pattered across the floor and Steve held tightly onto the lamp ready to strike only for Lucas to come bolting around the corner, making everyone jump and scream.

"It's me!" He yells.

"Lucas?" Max calls out.

"It's me," he repeats, out of breath.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you? I could've taken you out with this lamp!" Steve yelled.

"Sorry, guys. Sorry. I was... I was biking for eight miles. Give me a second. Shit," he leant over, putting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath for a moment, before walking over to Dustin. "We've got a code red. Dustin. I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger." He explains, through sharp breaths.

"All right. Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason now." Dustin replied, looking over at Max.

• • •

    The group sat in the Wheeler's basement going through news articles Nancy and Robin had brought. "Okay, be honest. Uh... You guys understand any of this?"

"No," Lucas answered.

"Pretty straightforward," Dustin replied, shrugging.

"Oh, straightforward, really?" Steve asked, not believing that.

"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 for the confused bunch.