Angelica "Freak Two" Munson

Chapter 73

"So let me get this straight," Robin begins, "Her Uncle Wayne thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he's the one running around committing these murders?"

"Pretty much,"

"I mean, I've never heard him talk about a Victor Creel before," Angie admits, "But I guess he was gone a lot."

Robin scoffs, not believing Nancy, "But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the '50s."

"Well, '59." Nancy corrects.

"So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?" Angie questions as they enter the library.

"Yeah,"

"Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old."

"Yep," she chimes the bell for service.

"So, he's a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air."

Nancy sighs, "It doesn't make sense. I know." She smiles tightly, "That's why I said it was a shot in the dark." 

She dings the bell again.

"I know." Robin throws her arm against the countertop, "I just thought that by 'shot in the dark,' you were being modest or hiding super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later."

Nancy turns to Angie with a pleading look, but she only shrugs.

"It does seem like something you would do, Nance."

She sighs once more, slapping her hand on the top of the bell.

"So this is really, truly a shot in the dark?" Robin rambles, "Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who've been spun around 50 times."

Nancy begins to go impatient and frustrated as Robin mumbles into her ear.

Rather than dinging the bell once, she continues to hit it until the librarian comes running.

"Hi, sorry, we're in a bit of a rush." she smiles, "Could we get the keys to the basement archives?"

"Of course. Give me one sec."

Robin bounces on her heel, seriously contemplating her previous conversation with Nancy-- more specifically, how Nancy seems to react to her.

"Did I come off as mean or condescending or something?"

She shakes her head rapidly, "No,"

"Right-- It's just that you seem annoyed. You don't know me very well. I don't really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues."

"Okay,"

"So, if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it's a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily."

Nancy nods as if she's not really listening, "Got it."

"Alright, ladies," the librarian returns, dangling the key in front of their faces, "Here you go. Have fun."

She snatches it from her hand, "Yep. We'll try."

Nancy rushes a few paces ahead of them, so Angie places a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder.

"Don't worry," she beams, "She'll warm up eventually. Just give her time."

Robin flashes her a thin smile, "Yeah. I'm sure you're right."

The three girls sift through old news reports for hours, not finding much to be useful.

"Anything... juicy over there?" Robin asks, peeking over her side of the machine.

Nancy sighs, "Nothing new."

"Yep,"

"Same here... Victor seemed like a normal guy. Dead family, missing eyes, took a plea deal, sent to Pennhurst. Blah, blah, blah, blah."

Angie takes the time to speak up, "What are we looking for exactly? Nance?" She knocks on the wood as Nancy slowly turns to her.

"Any mention of dark wizards or alternate dimensions?" Robin jests, "Things in that vein?"

Nancy scoffs, "I don't know. Okay? It's starting to seem like this was just a big waste of time." She stands, "You're obviously bored. Why don't you just call Steve? I'm sure he'll come pick you guys up. And I mean, I'm not really in danger her, so..."

She moves into another section of the archives as Robin sits still, her mouth agape.

Angie places a hand on Robin's arm, trying to soothe her, "Why don't you just let me talk to her, okay?"

She follows Nancy, standing a pace behind her, "Okay, what is your deal?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." she mutters sarcastically.

"That's bullshit and we both know it." Angie lowers her voice, "So spill."

"She just never stops talking. I mean, how are you supposed to get anything done. Plus, she's constantly hanging around Steve-- Doesn't that bother you? It should bother you." Nancy rambles on.

"Well, it definitely doesn't for... obvious reasons." she hesitates not wanting to spill anything about Robin's secret, "It definitely seems to bother you, though, Nance. Any particular reason for that? You and Jonathon doing okay?"

"No," Nancy waves her off, "Everything is great. I'm not even sure why you would suggest something like that."

She shrugs, "Just trying to find a more logical reason for you not liking Robin because your whole 'she talks too much' thing isn't really holding up."

She opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by Robin, "Hey, Ange, did you know that they have The Weekly Watcher here?" she lifts the tape up into their view.

Nancy tilts her head in confusion, "Don't they write about, like, Bigfoot and UFOs?"

"First of all, UFOs are absolutely real. Bigfoot I'm still on the fence about." Robin takes a step forward, "But may I remind you that we are looking for information on dark wizards? If someone's gonna write about that, it's gonna be these weirdos."

She grabs the tape from her hand, bringing it back to the machine, "Let's hope you're right."

Nancy smirks as they open it, completely unamused, "Hmm 'Elvis was cloned by aliens.'"

"You never know."

Robin continues to scroll until she finds the right paper, "'Victor Creel claims vengeful demon killed his family. The murder that shocked a small community.'"

"Ha, ha. That's very funny."

"She's not kidding." Angie mutters, looking at the screen, "Get over here."

"'According to several insiders, Victor believed his house was haunted by an ancient demon.'" Robin reads, "'Victor allegedly hired a priest to exorcise the demon from his home.' Pretty novel for the '50s. The Exorcist wasn't even out yet."

"Keep going,"

"Okay, so Victor claimed this exorcism failed, but it angered this demon, which then murdered his family, removing their eyes... Victor believed he was spared as a punishment."

Nancy scoffs, "That's pretty convenient for Victor."

"Yeah, or super inconvenient." Angie argues.

"Victor was declared legally insane by the court, right? What if this is why? I mean, it sounds insane. Just didn't go public because--"

"The plea bargain. The records were sealed." Nancy grins.

"What if a demon really did invade Victor's home? It's just, this demon wasn't any old demon."

"It was Vecna."