𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻.

twenty nine.

THE NINA PROJECT

edited.
1580 words.

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"Earth to Dustin."

Charlie sat up at the voice, rolling her eyes. She groaned, pushing at her boyfriend's shoulder in an attempt to wake him. He stayed asleep, the girl groaning even louder and grabbing the walkie. She extended the antenna. "Hey, it's Charlie."

"Super Girl! Hey! Um, I'm gonna need a food delivery like really soon unless you want me, like, going out into the world-"

Charlie shook her head, "No. No, no, no. Don't do that. Just stay where you are and we'll be there as soon as we can." She shut the device off just as Dustin awoke.

She looked around. "Where's Max?"

Nancy woke then too, rubbing her eyes. "Hm? What's going on?"

Charlie frowned at her boyfriend. "Dustin!"

"I only fell asleep for-" He checked his watch, his face falling. "An hour..."

Nancy's eyes widened. "What!"

The three stood, quickly running up the steps into the kitchen to find Max at the table with Holly. Ms.Wheeler smiled at the kids. "Hey guys, everything okay?"

Nancy nodded, rubbing her temple. "Yeah. Yeah, everything's okay."

The blonde dumped pancakes onto the tray, "I think it's so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this."

Ted sighed, flipping his newspaper. "You could try sticking together at a different house for a change."

Nancy ignored her father, walking away. Ms.Wheeler set a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "You know you're welcome here anytime."

Charlie nodded, Dustin grinning. "Totally, you're like family. May I?" He grabbed two plates, handing one to Charlie.

"Why not? Take us for all we're worth."

The curly haired boy smiled, "Okay."

He began to dump pancakes on his plate, passing a few to Charlie before the two walked over to the table, taking seats. Charlie took a seat next to Holly, dumping syrup onto her plate. Dustin sat down, looking over the drawings.

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room."

Charlie frowned at the mention of the man, Holly looking up. "Freddie Krueger?"

"He's this super burned up dude, with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams-"

Nancy glared at the boy, "Dustin seriously?"

Charlie gulped down her food, smiling at Holly. "It's just a movie, it's not real."

The little blonde girl smiled, nodding and going back to coloring.

Dustin turned back to Max. "Just think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world?" He picked up a drawing, "Maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing." He sighed, "God we need Will."

"No shit but I tried them again this morning and it's the same busy signal." Max glared at him.

Charlie frowned, glancing over to the phone. It had gotten to the point where she was sure the busy signal wasn't just from Joyce's work anymore and there was definitely something else going on. Not to mention Joyce promised she'd call every other day.