⸻ ❛𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐈 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒!❜
Rory Hargrove is obsessed to uncover the truth behind Barbara Holland's disappearance, while facing her brother's enemy and buried secrets from...
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WHILE THE OTHER TRIO PARKED ON A QUIET STREET lined with tall trees and blooming bushes — a neighborhood of charming stone houses — the girls' trio was surrounded by the scent of paper, books, newsprint, the odor of thousands of words, full of meaning, news, lies, and truth. As known as, the Public Library.
They were digging deep into Hawkins' deliciously dusty library for information on Victor Creel — who, according to Munson's uncle, was the one behind all that crap. It might have been a shot in the dark, but Rory deeply understood the gnawing feeling inside when you had to see where a clue might lead.
She quickly suggested they start by thoroughly scanning the old newspapers, hoping to find an impartial perspective on the past events.
But a few hours in, her eyes were aching from squinting at the endless lines of tiny letters on countless rolls of microfilm. The constant whirring of the machine was starting to get on her nerves, just like seeing headlines from the Indianapolis Gazette and Hawkins Post in their overly bold fonts.
Still, her brain loved connecting the dots. It craved it. It was her kind of paradise. She glanced to her right to give her eyes a break.
"3 Dead as Police Probe Grisly Scene," screamed the headline on the page Wheeler was staring at with all the energy she had left behind those deep navy-blue eyes — now shadowed with early signs of under-eye bags, driven by a desperate need to find something—anything—substantial. A straight answer to the chaos they were facing.
"Anything... juicy over there?" Rory asked, catching Robin Buckley in her peripheral vision, sitting on the other side with her knees pulled to her chest — a perfect visual representation of being done with all the black-and-white pages in front of her.
Nancy shook her head in frustration, pressing her lips into a line. "Nothing new," she muttered, forcing a clearly fake smile. But Rory could see through that neat composure — behind it was a tired soul that probably wanted to punch the dimly lit screen in front of her.
"Victor seemed like a normal guy," Buckley concluded with a shrug, her voice low and gravelly. Despite her posture, her voice didn't sound tired — just the usual bored.
"Hm, not really," Rory said, biting her thumbnail, thoughtful. "Dead family, missing eyes, sent to Pennhurst. That's not normal. He seems more like someone traumatized. Like he witnessed something evil."
"But... what exactly are we even looking for? Mentions of dark wizards and alternative dimensions?" Robin asked, leaning her head between the four monitors to catch the faces of Nancy and Rory on the other side.
