𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

twenty-seven

Wren sat in Robin's lap with her headphones on as she fidgeted with the rings on the older girl's fingers. They had returned to Eddie's hide-out with groceries, and Dustin was explaining that the police were convinced that he was the one who killed Rosie.

The only good news was that his name hadn't gone public yet, but it was only a matter of time before it did.

Wren had no idea how they were supposed to fight Vecna. They had become so dependent on Eleven to help them defeat these monsters from the Upside Down, but her powers disappeared the night the Starcourt Mall burned down. Even if she hadn't moved away, she would be no use to them.

They were completely screwed. They had no way to reach Vecna. They had no way to kill him. They had no way to prevent more people from dying. Wren had no way to protect Holly, and she had no way of expressing how terrified she was to the others without coming off as dramatic, as Mike so often reminded her that she was.

"Wren." Robin shook the petite girl's shoulder. Wren lowered her headphones and turned to look at her. Robin carefully pried her hand free from the younger girl's smaller ones. Wren didn't even realize that she was practically rubbing Robin's fingers raw with the rough twists of her rings.

"Sorry," she whispered. It was the first word she'd spoken since finding out about Vecna the previous night. She was so anxious about the whole thing that she just shut down. She didn't feel mentally prepared to have to face something like this again, and she'd been wracking her brain trying to figure out how they were going to come out of this alive.

Chrissy untied the green ribbon in her hair and handed it to Wren. "Here, you can fidget with this if you need to. I've seen you messing with your hoodie strings before. I know it's not exactly the same, but hopefully it'll still help. "

Wren took the ribbon with a small nod of thanks. She expected someone to scold her for not using her words to express her gratitude, but to her surprise, no one did.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Eddie got into the boat and pulled the tarp over himself. The others went over to the windows and saw a police car drive by followed by an ambulance.

They piled into Steve's car and drove over to where the cops were gathered in the trailer park. When Wren stepped out of the car, she saw Nancy talking to the police. She gave her a small wave, which Nancy returned with a teary, barely noticeable smile.

When the cops were gone, they all sat down at a picnic table and filled Nancy in on everything that they had learned. Wren was sitting on one side with her sister, Robin, and Max. Chrissy, Dustin, and Steve were on the other side.

"So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Rosie . . . it's from the Upside Down?" Nancy questioned. She took Wren's hand when she noticed her picking at the skin around her nails. She gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to reassure her that it would all be fine – even though this was far from fine.

"If the shoe fits." Steve nodded.

"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse," Dustin said. "Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know."

"All we know is this is something different," Max added. "Something new."

Nancy frowned and looked down, her brows furrowing slightly. "It doesn't make sense."

"It's only a theory," Dustin repeated.

"No, Fred and Rosie don't make sense. I mean . . . why them?" She took a deep breath in through her nose. "Rosie is Wren's age. That . . . That terrifies me. It could've been her."