𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

twenty-six

Wren looked up from her book with a sigh when the doorbell rang. She opened it, and Max was standing on the other side with Dustin. She frowned when she noticed the expressions on their faces. "What happened?"

"Did you not see the news?" Dustin asked as he walked inside, inviting himself in and motioning for Max to do the same.

"I did." Wren nodded, shutting the door. "Mom and Dad were watching it, but I wasn't really paying attention. I just picked up that someone was murdered."

"It was Rosie Munson," Max said.

Wren's brows furrowed. "I just saw her yesterday. She was upset about something, and I didn't know how to help her. Are you absolutely sure it was Rosie?"

"No one else was over at Eddie's trailer last night. It was just them."

"Are you saying that you think Eddie murdered his little sister?" Wren asked, her frown deepening.

"His name's not in the news yet or anything, but I guarantee you Eddie is suspect number one right now," Max stated.

"I know Eddie, he wouldn't hurt a fly," Wren insisted. "I didn't know Rosie well, o-or at all, but whenever I saw them around together, he was always so nice to her. She really looked up to him."

"Yeah, there's no way Eddie did this," Dustin added. "He was so proud of Rosie last night when she helped us beat our DND campaign. No way."

"Well, we can't rule it out." Max shrugged.

"Yes, we can." Wren scoffed.

"Wren, Dustin!"

"You don't know him like we do, Max," Dustin stated. "Okay? When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Mike and me? I mean, no one was nice to us. No one except Eddie. He stands up for Wren whenever the big kids are picking on her, and he's a great brother to Rosie. He didn't do this."

Max crossed her arms. "Okay, well, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he's a super nice guy, but then he's murdering women on the weekend."

Wren raised a brow. "So you're saying sweet Eddie is like that psycho Ted Bundy?"

"Who's Ted Bundy?" Holly asked, gaining the attention of the arguing teenagers. They turned to look at her. She was standing curiously at the bottom of the stairs with a board game in her hands.

"Just a really bad person, Holly, it doesn't matter." Wren waved her hand in dismissal.

"Oh. Okay. Do you want to play Monopoly, Wren?"

"I'd love to, Holly, but now is really not a good time," Wren replied, feeling guilty when her little sister's shoulders slumped. "Later, okay? I promise."

"You always say that," Holly mumbled, pouting as she turned and dragged her feet up the stairs.

Wren watched her go. She chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Fuck, I'm a terrible sister," she whispered, sighing.

She almost felt as if she was turning into Nancy when she had become a teenager. They had drifted apart, and Nancy distanced herself even further from Wren when she jumped ahead to start high school with her. They were only just starting to be close again as a result of the horrors they encountered from the Upside Down, but the negative outcome was Wren not spending enough time with Holly outside of the scheduled time she set on school nights.

"Wren, you can't say that." Dustin put a gentle, reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You're an amazing sister to her."

Wren shook her head. "Not lately." She rubbed her forehead, which had begun to hurt a little. She looked up at Max. "Why haven't you told the police any of the things you shared with me and Dustin?"