𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑷𝒀 - Dustin Henderson

021. The Nina Project

THE NEXT MORNING, CINDY AND MAX SAT IN THE DINING ROOM OF THE WHEELER HOUSE. Max couldn't sleep since everyone kept blasting music in her ears, so Cindy accompanied her upstairs to get a break from the sweaty basement.

Max drew on multiple pieces of papers while Cindy sat back in her chair, listening to her favourite song on her walkman, American Pie.

Cindy wasn't quite sure what the red head was drawing, it was quite grim but she looked at each one, trying to piece together what they are. "What is this?"

"Some things I saw in Vecna's... mindscape," she answered, not sure what to call the thing she was stuck in.

Nancy and Dustin then came running up the stairs. Max and Cindy turned to the two, they both seemed distressed and concerned, but when they found the two girls sitting at the dining table, they calmed down.

Nancy walked over to the table and sat down between the girls while Dustin grabbed some pancakes. Max paused her music and took her headphones off, "you okay?" Nancy asked.

"Just couldn't sleep. People kept blasting music in my ears, for some reason." Max chuckled, Cindy was happy to see some light in those eyes again. "But Holly let me borrow some of her crayons. We've been having fun, right, Holly?"

"Mm-hmm," the girl replied, not seeming convinced.

"Is this what you saw last night?" Nancy asked, looking at the drawings.

"I mean, it's supposed to be. I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but... Not so much," she answered.

"Is that...?" Nancy started, pointing to the drawing of Chrissy and Fred.

Cindy grimaced just looking at that, it showed he was ruthless and not someone to fuck around with. It scared her, she just hoped this was the last time he tried to get Max.

"It was like they were on display. And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare," Max explained.

"You think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" Nancy wondered.

"With Billy? Yeah. But when I made it here... I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there," she replied. Dustin then joined the table, sitting next to Cindy. She faced him and smiled, he quickly returned it.

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room," he interjected, invested. Cindy took a pancake off the top of his pile and started eating at it.

"Freddie Krueger?" Holly asked, listening in on their conversation.

"He's a super burned-up dude with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams," he explains, but didn't notice the terrified look on the young girls face.

Cindy elbowed him in the side and he glanced at her confused. She gestured over to Holly and realised what he said. "Sorry. It's a movie. It's not real." He apologised, turning back to Max. "Just... think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing," he picked up a picture, thinking it would be easy to decipher. "God, we need Will," that statement got Cindy's attention, maybe she could decipher, she spent enough time with Will when he drew that map.

She took the piece of paper from Dustin's hand. "No shit. But I tried them again this morning, and it's the same busy signal," Max complained.

"Is this a window?" Cindy asked, showing it to Max.