𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻.

thirty six.

THE TURNBOW TRAP

edited.
1639 words.

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"Dustin!" Charlie cheered as she stepped out of the car. The brunette was right where he was supposed to be, by Steve's side.

"Woah." Lucas whispered, prompting the girl to take a closer look.

Dustin had dried blood smeared all over his face, from his nose to his mouth. A black eye was brewing and his clothes were torn up and covered in dirt.

"Holy shit!" Mike peered at him as the group got closer.

"Yup." He winced. "Bike crash. Flew head first into a light post."

Charlie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Look, I'm sorry about missing the crawl, about everything." Dustin patted Mike's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, don't beat yourself up."

"Looks like he already did."

"Is that broken?" Charlie frowned, reaching towards his face.

"Don't-" Dustin flinched away. "Don't touch it."

She felt her heart break a little more and allowed for her arm to retreat back to her side. When, she wondered, would things stop being weird between them.

"You..." Dustin raked his eyes up and down the girl. She'd almost forgotten she was still covered in Mrs. Wheeler's blood. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah-"

"Hey!" Robin yelled. "This isn't a social call, kiddos! Let's go!"

Five minutes later, they were all seated inside the station. Robin and Will had explained their little escapade and how they knew who Vecna was going to target next.

"Derek Turnbow?" Steve asked in disbelief. "As in the Turnbow family? Like Turnbow Realty?"

"The one and only."

"Whole family's a menace."

"How can you be sure?" Nancy's brows furrowed. "Sure that Derek's the next target?"

"Because, I saw." Will explained. "I've learned that when I'm close enough to the hive mind, I can tap into it. Into Vecna's mind. I can see who he's targeting. The first time it happened, I saw through Holly's eyes. The same day she was taken. And this morning it happened again. Only this time, I wasn't Holly, I was someone else. I was Derek."

"Hold on, I'm lost." Steve held his temple.

"Shocking." Dustin shot.

"Were you seeing through the eyes of Vecna or of Derek?"

"Both? I was Vecna but inside Derek's mind."

"Vecna's like a psychic serial killer." Robin offered. "He stalks his victims but he does it by invading their minds. That's what he did with Chrissy and Max."

"Yeah but the way he's doing it this time is different." Nancy sighed. "We did some digging at the hospital. It turns out before he took Holly, Vecna stalked her. But he didn't appear as Vecna, he appeared as Henry. As a friend."

"We think he was trying to earn her trust." Mike explained. "Now, why he went to all that trouble, we don't know but I highly doubt his long term goal is friendship."

"Whatever it is, whatever he's planning. We have to stop him. And we have to save Derek."

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