⸻ ❛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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"NANCY! YOU'RE FREAKING ME OUT!" Robin Buckley spat through clenched teeth what both Eddie Munson and Rory Hargrove were already thinking, as they watched Wheeler pace back and forth across her bedroom. Once painted in faded pink wallpaper in the Wheelers' suburban home, the room was now strangled by vines, transforming the place into something eerie, abandoned, frozen in time.
Nancy stood in the corner, staring at the wall—or more precisely, at the brittle pages of an old diary—her lips parted, eyes unblinking. Rory's heart thrashed against her ribs, threatening to burst free, waiting—begging—for an answer, a reasonable explanation for why Nancy's guns weren't there.
"I think the reason my guns aren't here," Nancy said, her voice flat, her gaze never leaving the diary, "is because they don't exist yet."
Eddie repeated the words, incredulous, anger slipping into his tone, while disappointment carved itself across Robin's face. Rory just furrowed her brow, waiting for more.
"This diary should be full of entries. But it's not. The last one is from November 6th, 1983."
Her hippocampus sparked, memory catching flame. "The day Will went missing." Rory's jaw dropped. "Everything's stuck in time."
"Exactly, the day the gate was opened..." Nancy pressed on, exhilarated. "We're in the past." A shiver snaked down every spine in the room.
"Okay, so, Plan B. We hit the police station, load up, and take out the bats guarding the gate... right?" Robin's voice trembled with equal parts hope and urgency. Rory was about to nod, to give in, when a thought pulled at her—supernatural problems don't die by ordinary means.
"Wait... maybe we don't need weapons." Her voice was soft, but loud enough to carry, and three sets of startled eyes whipped toward her.
She swallowed, drew in a breath, and forced the words out. "When Steve and I were trapped here two years ago, the only weapon I had was a shotgun I found in the Harrington basement. He had his bat with nails. And we had gasoline and a lighter..." Her eyes dropped at the memory of fire.
"Yeah, well, right now we've got none of that." Eddie threw his hands up before stuffing them into his pockets, pacing, frustration radiating off him.
"Then let's go get them." Robin lifted her chin, shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Rory stepped forward, palms out in a calming gesture. "No, listen. The shotgun should still be there...Steve already had it in '83. But the bat with nails? That came later. We won't find it here. And one more thing..." Her voice dropped. "I didn't have that shotgun with me when I crossed the gate with Steve." Their eyes, already adjusted to the darkness, flickered with sharp clarity. Rory saw suspense etch itself into their features. "I made the Mindflayer forget we'd been here." Or, actually, Vecna.
