brontide ; stranger things

ELEVEN

Sulit (n.)

something that is worth it

-Collie's Word of the Day #97

•••

"NOW you see why I have to keep the truth from spreading. By whatever means necessary." Nancy stopped the recording of Owens and stared at the man, Murray, along with Collie and Jonathan. Murray stared into the distance, his mouth agape as he tried to process all the new information he was being given.

"So... is it enough?" Collie asked, crossing her arms when Murray did nothing. "The recording, is it enough, is it incriminating?" Murray blinked and looked up at them, as if just noticing they were there. Slowly, he stood, and they thought he was going to do something.

But instead, he simply turned and walked out of the room.

Sharing looks of confusion, Collie, Jonathan, and Nancy quickly followed him back through his maze of a house into the kitchen, where he set out a bottle of vodka.

"What are you doing?" asked Nancy, watching as he poured himself a large glass.

"Thinking," Murray replied without hesitation. Collie scoffed,

"With vodka?"

"It's a central nervous system depressant, so yes, with vodka." He grabbed his glass and pushed past them into the living room, where he then pulled out a dusty record from a box. Nancy huffed and questioned in an unbelieving tone,

"Music? Really?"

"Yes!" snapped Murray without looking at her. "It helps me think." He put the record on the player and soon music from what sounded like the fifties began to resound through the room. He sighed in content and began to absently stroll around, deep in thought. Collie wondered if he was possibly on some kind of drug.

"How long is this going to take?" demanded Nancy, stomping towards him as her impatience grew.

"Longer, if you keep talking," Murray said lazily.

"Is the tape incriminating or not? It's a simple question." Murray then threw his head back and let out a fake laugh, finally turning back to the teenagers.

"There's nothing simple about it," he retorted sharply, "nothing simple about anything you've told me." Jonathan sneered a bit and asked,

"You don't believe us, do you?"

"I believe you." Murray nodded his head, though his statement didn't sound too convincing. "But that's not the problem, you don't need me to believe you, you need them to believe you." He gestured with his glass to the windows, which were all curtained off.

"Them?" Collie tilted her head in question.

"Them," confirmed Murray as if he knew all the answers to the universe. "With a capital 'T'.  Your priest, your postman, your teacher, the world at large." He scoffed to himself softly. "They won't believe any of this."

"That's why we made the tape!" exclaimed Collie, stalking towards him. She was getting extremely frustrated with him and as to why he wouldn't just help them. There wasn't any need for all this... whatever he was doing.

"Oh!" Murray shouted. "That's easy to bury. Easy." He gave her a disappointed shake of the head, as if he expected more from her.

"But he admits it!" Collie raised her voice, grabbing the tape from Nancy's hands and shaking it. "You heard it, he admits culpability!" Murray took a step forward and countered,

"You're being naive, Collie!" She took a breath and stopped herself from saying anything more. "Most people... they're not wired like me and you, okay? They don't spend their lives trying to get a peek behind the curtain. They like the curtain. It provides them stability, comfort, definition." He leaned down to be face to face with her.

"This... this would open the curtain and open the curtain behind that curtain, okay? So the minute someone with an ounce of authority calls bullshit, everyone will nod their heads and say, 'See? Ha! I knew it!' It was bullshit, even if you get their attention at all!"

Collie gaped at him, her shoulders slumping. She curled her lips back in a frown and asked, throwing her arms out,

"So you're saying we did all of this for nothing?"

"I'm saying I'm thinking!" he yelled at her. Grumbling, Murray strode back to the kitchen to refill his glass as Collie stared after him. Coming beside his girlfriend, Jonathan huffed and mumbled to her,

"This is ridiculous." In the kitchen, Murray stopped upon hearing his words and widened his eyes as realization dawned upon him.

"That's it," he announced, staring down at his drink. "That's it." The three approached him yet again as Nancy crossed her arms and questioned,

"What's it?" He answered without looking up,

"It's too strong." He mixed a small amount of water in with his vodka, then took a sip from the glass and smirked. "Perfect." Though Jonathan muttered about coming here for nothing, Collie and Nancy shared a glance with tiny smiles.

"We water it down," stated Nancy as she leaned forward over the table. Murray grinned at them and nodded.

"Precisely!" The confusion in Collie's head cleared and her heart jumped in excitement. Now they were getting somewhere.

"Wait, what?" Jonathan hurried back over, looking between the other three. Murray set his glass down and explained,

"Your story. We moderate it. Just like this drink here. We make it more... tolerable." He poured three more glasses, mixing water in with the clear alcohol. "Perhaps Barbara was... exposed to some dangerous toxins."

"A leak from the lab. A three-mile island, or something," blurted Nancy. Murray nodded and added,

"Something scary, but familiar!" He set the three glasses down in front of them and tilted his head in invitation. "Close enough. But it hits the man right where it hurts."

"And those assholes who killed Barb." Nancy took her glass and raised it. Collie grabbed hers and said,

"And the bastards who did this to me." Murray looked between Collie, Nancy, and Jonathan, looking each one of them in the eye.

"They'll go down," he promised, then stuck his drink out. The teens tapped theirs together and tossed back the vodka-water mix, all chugging it down with one gulp. Wiping her mouth and setting down the glass, Collie added to herself,

"Sulit."