012-skull rock is that way....or is it?

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THE UPBEAT MUSIC BLASTING FROM THE WHEELER RADIO DID NOTHING TO LIFT CARLA'S SPIRIT.

In the basement of the Wheeler house had Carla been able to tell her friends what she had seen in the attic. With Steve's hand rubbing over her reassuringly, she'd been able to tell the group that Patrick McKinney had been floating in the air, that his arms and legs had snapped like twigs in different directions, that his eyes had been sucked straight out; that he'd performed the same actions Eddie had described happened to Chrissy—that he'd been taken by Vecna.

Lucas takes Patrick's death to heart, given the boy had been apart of the basketball team. Everyone else solemnly listens, more fearful of the fact that someone else had died rather than who it was. 

No one doubts that her small vision isn't true—she'd seen Chrissy die from the other perspective, there was no reason for them to doubt her whatsoever.

 So, the next morning—under the lie to Karen that they were going to the movies—the group all packs into the Wheeler vehicle to go and tell Eddie the bad news. The news that would make his criminal record even worse than it already was—not without stopping at the grocery store first, however. 

Carla sits in the front seat, staring at the window. She can still hear the cracking of Patrick's bones ricocheting through her skull; she misses the easy headaches. She's been oddly silent, lips strung together eerily. 

Nancy is driving, thin fingers clenched around the wheel. Robin, Max, and Lucas take the middle section, the Mayfield with her headphones. Steve and Dustin sit in the truck with all the groceries, snacking on a can of Pringles that was purchased for Eddie. 

"Not to be a wimp, but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit? 'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck." Robin speaks up, leaning forward to peer at the driver of the vehicle. Truly, she doesn't want to see Eddie. Or tell him that he's dug even further into a hole he didn't have the shovel for.

Nancy shakes her head, replying, "It'll be fine."

 "I just can't stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie's break again." Robin rasps lowly. "I really, really, can't." 

From the backseat, Steve holds up the six-pack they had purchased at the store—Carla had told the group about Eddie's single request in the hopes that it would make him feel as better as he could about the situation—to point out, "At least he can drink himself into feeling better."

Still listening despite the headphones over her ears, Max shrugs, "That's what my mom does." 

Carla never really enjoyed alcohol. She's glad—she's sure she would be drinking her life away too at this point, if she did. 

"Why don't we just give it a trial run?" the Buckley asks, before raising her voice to act as if she were speaking to the Munson, "'Hey Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension we told you about and the gate's closed so we have no way of getting to him. Just a side note, another body has been found with their eyes sucked out and their bones bent. You betcha, Vecna has struck again! But, he's entirely shut off to us, so basically you're screwed. And no, I know you were already screwed, but now you're like doubly, triply, screwed!" 

Lucas cringes, trying to stop the girl's ramble, "Wait, wait, wait—maybe we don't put it like... that." 

 "'We're one step closer to finding Vecna'." Nancy offers a more positive spin on what they had discovered at the Creel house. "That's what we say. That's what's important."

⁴𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐃, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧Where stories live. Discover now