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"EDDIE'S UNCLE, WAYNE, THINKS that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he's the one running around committing these murders?" Robin questions for the thousandth time as the girls approach Hawkins Library. Nancy isn't that familiar with Robin. The pressed lips and annoyed expression on her face lets Paisley know that she's pretty much tired of the girl's rambling already.

"Pretty much," Nancy replies with. "Still don't understand this. The guy did the murders in the '50s. And if he escaped wouldn't it be like, national news?" Penelope asks, wrapping her leather jacket closer to her body. "It was '59, actually," Paisley smiles at her correction. Penelope rolls her eyes, waiting for one of them to open the big library doors for her.

The three girls stop and stare at her. "You aren't famous, you know that, right?" Robin asks, a hand on her hip. Penelope goes to scoff but a glare from Nancy makes her stop, the only person that the blonde listens to for some reason. Whether it be because of Nancy's connection to Murray or just that Nancy is used to dealing with stuck up girls with small hearts of gold.

Penelope caves in and opens the doors for the girls, a sarcastic smile and gesture with her hand as she walks in behind them. Smaller doors are opened by Nancy. Robin rambles on again, "So, that means these murders predate in the Upside Down and Penelope by about 30 years."

"Well," Penelope pushes past Robin and Nancy, "I never went to the Upside Down. I escaped that hellhole before it got that bad." A frown plays on her face like it usually does when she remembers what she went through in that lab, what her mom forced her through.

"Yeah, all correct," Nancy sighs, feeling like Robin is just pointing out the obvious. They walk up to the library's front desk. Robin leans against it, "Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old."

"Yep," Nancy chimes the bell, more obviously annoyed by Robin. "So, he's a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air," Robin continues. "It doesn't make sense. I know. That's why I said it was a shot in the dark," Nancy clenches her jaw as she speaks. Paisley, as much as she doesn't want to admit it, is getting annoyed by Nancy. She understands her frustrations with the mix of grief but Robin is just a nerd. A full blown nerd and Miss 4.0 GPA should love Robin but it doesn't seem that way.

Paisley moves her body between Nancy and Robin, a sense of protectiveness coming over her, "Everything we theorize is a shot in the dark, Nancy. We're just trying to wrap our heads around everything."

Nancy presses her lips together and clears her throat. "I just thought by shot in the dark you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later. But this like—" Nancy rings the bell again, "—really, truly a shot in the dark! Like we are snipers with blindfold on who've been spun around 50 times—"

"Robbi," Paisley grabs the girl by the shoulder, sensing that Nancy might lose it in two seconds, "We understand that this is truly, a shot in the dark, okay?" The blonde stares back, smiling nervously, "Did I ramble?"

"No, not at all," Penelope deadpans, clearly being sarcastic. Nancy repeatedly chimes the bell now and Paisley nearly throws the object but she refrains.

"Coming!" The librarian says in a sing-songsing-song tone. "Hi, sorry. We're in a bit of a rush," Nancy says with a much sweeter tone than she gave Robin, "Could we get the key to the basement archives?"

"Of course. Give me one sec," The librarian says and turns away to grab the key. Paisley is still between Nancy and Robin but that doesn't stop Robin from asking that question that has been spinning in her head. "Did I come off mean or condescending? Or something?" Robin asks. Paisley's heart breaks in half at the sound of the concern in Robin's voice. If she could hold the girl's hand right now, she would. She would run circles into her skin like she usually does when Buckley is anxious but she cannot.

"No," Nancy answers but it doesn't sound believable. Penelope leans on the counter next to Nancy, "Buckley, what's your GPA?" Robin taps her pointer finger against her chin, ".....3.6? I think. I don't quote me on it. I didn't check so that I could have a good spring break."

"It's too late for that. You're smart," Penelope presses her lips together, quite impressed with Robin. The blonde chuckles to herself, welcoming the rare compliment from Penelope. The happiness quickly depletes when she looks back at Nancy.

"Sorry. It's just, you seem annoyed. You don't know me very well. I don't really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues. If I say something that upsets you, just know that it's a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily," Robin rambles again. Sad eyes attached to Paisley glance at Robin who looks very defeated.

"Alright, ladies. Here you go. Have fun," The librarian dangles the keys. "Yep. We'll try," Nancy says, hand reaching for the keys but Paisley snatches it before Nancy can. "We will," Paisley fakes a smile and drags Robin towards the basement.

"Jesus, what's up her skirt?" Penelope crosses her arms. Nancy glances at her, exhales and just follows after them.

MAX AND BROOKE NEVER thought they would end up at their school counselor voluntarily, much less her house. "Okay, she knows we're friends right?" Brooke asks, realizing how weird this duo might be. Max shrugs, "I've never mentioned her to you."

Brooke frowns, slightly offended but Max just rings the doorbell repeatedly. "Can I ask why?" Brooke asks. Max looks up at the slightly taller teen, "Was I supposed to?" Brooke places a hand on her hip, "I mentioned you!"

The front door opens and reveals Ms. Kelley very confused to see the students that hate talking have shown up to her house. "Max, Brooke? Hi," Kelley smiles. Brooke puts a foot forward, "Hi, I'm sorry to bother you over break. Max really needed someone to talk to and I can only do so much without a degree," She forces a giggle. "Yeah, do you have a minute to talk?" Max asks. Kelley analyzes the damaged girls, trying to find a hidden joke but there's genuine looks on their faces. "Um, yeah, of course. Of course," Kelley says and steps back so the two can walk in.

Brooke looks back at Steve's car and throws a low thumbs up before she's fully in the house. Brooke takes in the woman's house. It's pretty big for what she can assume is a single woman with no kids. "Brooke, you can make a sandwich or whatever you'd like. I'll go talk to Max in the other room," Kelley says but she hesitates to walk away, "Y'know, she's lucky to have you but...if you need to, you can talk to me afterwards."

"Uh, no. I'm good. I appreciate it though," Brooke puts her back to the checkered counter. Kelley just smiles, walking away from Brooke and towards Max. Talk to someone...crazinesss. She's aware it's hypocritical of herself to tell others to talk about their shit while she nearly chokes to death on hers.

"Okay, keys. Something. Anything," Brooke whispers to herself. The carpet floor that separates the kitchen from the hallway cushions her footsteps. Brooke's eyes stay on Max and the back of Ms. Kelley's head. It's a short hallway. There's a bathroom to her right and then her bedroom not too far at the end of the hall. The door is just slightly open. Brooke bites her lip, tip toeing over to Ms. Kelley's bedroom.

The door creaks slowly and Brooke curses at herself. But, she doesn't hear movement from the living room so she continues. Her eyes scan the room and land on a bowl of keys on the nightstand. "Bingo," Brooke smirks and shuffles over. The first set she picks up is labeled office and she does a little dance in celebration. Brooke leaves the room, stuffing the key in her pocket and taking her seat in the kitchen.

Max is talking about something, whether it be actual problems she's facing, Brooke has no idea but she flashes her eyes and points out the window, telling her they're good to go. The redhead says some excuse and then the girls bid a farewell and rush out of the house.

"You got something?" Max asks, jogging to the car. "Keys," Brooke simply says. Max piles into the backseat with Stella and Brooke goes to her seat but Dustin sits in it with a smirk across his face. "Henderson, move!" Brooke shouts through gritted teeth. "We need to drive before she notices," Max impatiently says. "Notices what?" Stella asks.

"Henderson, go to the back," Steve orders him but he scoffs. "You let me sit here!" Dustin protests. Running thin on sanity, Brooke takes Dustin by his hoodie and grabs him out of the car. "Get in the back or walk," Brooke tells him. "I thought I was your favorite," Dustin sighs, giving into sitting in the back. "I don't have a favorite," Brooke responds.

"It's certainly not Mike," Max says. Steve and Brooke glance at each other before Brooke looks back at Dustin, "Shut up. Don't say that too loud. I don't hate him. He's just at the bottom."

"Oh my God! Just drive!" Max shouts. "Why are you yelling?!"

"Steve, drive!" Max shouts again. "Okay, jeez," Steve says and quickly puts the car in drive, tires squealing, "What'd you steal?" He smirks at his girlfriend, knowing she did something dirty in order for this to work. Brooke shoves her hand in her pocket and dangles the golden key, "Right here. Happy?" Steve rolls his eyes, at least happy she's giving him soft sarcasm, "Yeah, very."

They're driving for a little bit down a long road when Lucas' voice comes through the walkie talkie. "Dustin. It's Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin," Lucas calls out urgently. "Lucas? Where the hell have you been?" Dustin asks. Brooke leans into the backseat and takes the walkie talkie, "Is Danny with you?" The last place he could possibly be is with Lucas if he wasn't with Max or Dustin. Anxiety boils before a voice comes over the walkie, "Yeah, why do you drink? I'm hungover."

Dustin tries to grab the device back but Brooke has wide eyes. "You drank? Lucas, what'd you do?!"

"He came voluntarily, first of all. Brooke, don't talk, just listen. Are you guys looking for Eddie?" Lucas asks. Dustin finally gets his walkie back with a loud scoff, "We found him, no thanks to you."

"You found him? Where's Stella?" Lucas sounds hopeful. "I'm right here. Eddie is at a boathouse on Coal Mill Road," Stella says into it, "Wait, do they know I was there?"

"You guys know he killed Chrissy, right? You were there, Stella?" Lucas seems to be out of the loop and to think Eddie would kill someone means Lucas must've drank a lot. "That's bullshit and you know it," Stella seethes into the walkie. She had been happy Lucas was concerned about her but now she knows it's because he thought Eddie killed her or some shit. "Eddie tried to save Chrissy. Stella was there like she said," Dustin explains. "Then why do all the cops say he did it?" Lucas questions.

The walkie is roughly taken from Dustin's hand again by Max. "You two are so behind it's ridiculous, okay? Just meet us at the school. We'll explain later," Max tells her ex and best friend. "I can't. I think some bad shit is about to go down," Lucas responds, his tone laced with fear. It worries Steve and Brooke who side eye each other. "What are you talking about? What bad shit?" Max shouts.

There's no response, only static over the radio. Brooke slumps in her seat, "They're with Jason. I'm like ninety percent sure." Steve keeps glancing at Brooke, "Why do you say that?"

"They always celebrate after games. Jason must've invited Lucas for his winning point and Lucas asked Danny to tag along as some sort of emotional support," Brooke says like she has the situation down.

"Should we find them then?" Stella asks, leaning between the seats. "No, no. They'll be at the school. I'm not that worried," Brooke says and sits upright again. "You sure? We can turn around and find them," Steve suggests but Brooke nods her head no again and they continue their way to the school.

THE FOUR GIRLS HAVE been researching in near silence for an hour or so. Robin and Paisley on one side and Nancy and Penelope on the other. The article is big in front of them. Paisley's legs are laid across Robin's lap as the two scan over the article, desperate to find anything involving Nancy's shot in the dark.

The machine whirls on the other side of them. "Nancy, this is all the same shit," Penelope scoffs, leaning against the wood with a fake yawn. Nancy rolls her eyes, choosing to just ignore the comment and read the article in front of her. Paisley leans close to Robin with a playful smirk. "Oh no," Robin leans closer to Paisley's face, "I don't like your smirk," She whispers. "They can't see us," Paisley continues to whisper with a smirk. "Yeah, I'm aware," Robin's eyes fall to Paisley's lips.

Paisley moves her legs from Robin's body and manspreads, leaning even closer to Robin, "We haven't kissed in forever." Robin's cheeks flare up red. Paisley has always been the one with more flirting skills in....whatever the hell is going on between the two of them. Her blue eyes go big as she comically gulps with a nervous smirk. "You've counted?" Robin asks.

"Like.....two days....ish," Paisley smiles. Robin actually smirks now, a small sense of confidence coming over her, "You're ridiculous."

"In the best way possible," Paisley says, beginning to lean in but Robin internally freaks out and backs away, nearly falling off the old wooden chair. "Anything juicy over there?" Robin asks the other two girls with a pitched tone. Paisley slumps down in her seat, hurt by Robin's sudden action. She reasons it out in her head to not make herself upset, that they're in public and neither girl has established anything between them. Not even a confession of feelings, one night Robin kissed Paisley at the Slora house and it's just been like this ever since. Confusing but loving.

Nancy's machine whirls again, "Nothing new."

"All the same dead people," Penelope also answers. Paisley's eyes scan over Robin, her heart still warm at the sight of the blonde's beauty nearly two years later. "Yep, same here," Robin says, "Victor seemed like a normal guy. Dead family, missing eyes, took a plea deal, sent to Pennhurst."

"Nancy, what are we even looking for?" Paisley asks, leaning over Robin to see Wheeler but Nancy nor Penelope is there. Robin knocks on the wood rhythmically and they both lean over slowly. "Any mention of dark wizards or alternate dimensions?" Robin asks. "We would've told you if we did, wouldn't we?" Penelope sasses.

"It's starting to seem like this was a big waste of time!" Nancy gets up from her chair, "You two are obviously bored! Call Brooke or Steve to come get you, okay?" Nancy angrily tells them. They're taken completely off guard by her outburst, glancing at each other. "Why is she so angry?" Penelope asks as if the other two would know. Robin shrugs but Paisley gets up from the chair and walks over to Nancy as the girl opens a filing cabinet.

She stands at the edge of the stairs staring at her lifelong friend. The two haven't been really close in years but still know each other well, especially given everything that's happened. The massive crush she had on Nancy almost makes them being alone awkward but only for Paisley. She knows it's all in her head but Nancy didn't know and never will so she speaks up.

"What's wrong?"

"What? Nothing!" Nancy is quick to deny. Paisley sighs and stands next to Nancy now, nudging her with her shoulder, "Nance, I trust your shot in the dark."

"Do you? Because I feel questioned and doubted by everyone! I thought I had this figured out but now I could be hindering what actually is going on," Nancy sighs, looking through the cabinet aimlessly. "You're like the second smartest person I know," Paisley says with a chuckle. Nancy whips her head at Paisley, "I used to be the first."

"If it matters that much you can be the first."

"Who took my place?" Nancy insists on knowing. Paisley bites at her lip, wondering if the mention of Robin might set the girl off. "Robin," She says anyway. Nancy freezes for a second before taking a deep breath, "Okay." Paisley feels terrible but she can't explain why Robin is now the smartest, why Robin tops everyone around her. Footsteps are heard from behind them. Penelope's heels are much louder than Robin's Converses against the cement.

"What's going on down here?" Penelope struts over. Robin moves past her and towards the last filing cabinet. "Just trying to find more stuff," Paisley says with a shrug. "Holy shit. The Weekly Watcher. I can't believe they have this," Robin holds up the box. "Don't they write about like, Bigfoot and UFOs?" Nancy recalls.

"First of all, UFOs are absolutely real. Paisley and I aren't sure about Bigfoot. We had a whole debate on that anyway, may I remind you girls that we are looking for information on dark wizards?" Robin says. "Well, sounds like those nerds would write about it, wouldn't they?" Penelope asks. "Indeed they would," Robin answers.

After a few minutes an article pops up discussing the Creel family murders. Nancy's fear of her shot in the dark is gone once they realize Vecna's first victims were the family back in 1959.

"Hey, gang, so Nancy's shot in the dark was exactly what we needed! Back in 1959 was Vecna's first victims," Paisley says excitedly into the walkie.

The lock in the school's door loosens. Brooke opens the doors with a smirk, "Beautiful." They all walk into the dark school, the minimum light from outside bouncing off the lockers. "Okay, that's actually bonkers but I can't really talk right now," Dustin tells the girls.

"What are you jackasses doing?" Paisley asks. Brooke steals the walkie from Dustin, "I got them into the school. Breaking and entering to be exact."

"For what?!" Paisley shouts into the walkie. Dustin scoffs, tired of his walkie being passed around, "To retrieve confidential and extremely personal files." The group is looking over their shoulders, paranoid security might pop out somewhere. "Can you repeat that?" This time it's Robin over the walkie.

"Just get your ass over here, stat!" Dustin impatiently tells them.

"Jesus, Max is speedy," Stella says as they round the corner. Max is already at Ms. Kelley's office, unlocking the dark room by the time they get there. Brooke is the next to get there, running over to the cabinet.

"It's like a mini watergate or something," Dustin comments. Max gets the cabinet open and now her and Brooke are rummaging through the files. "Hawkinsgate!" Dustin continues. "Wait, didn't those guys get caught?" Steve asks. "Yes, that's why it's so big," Stella answers.

Their conversation goes ignored by Brooke and Max. Brooke finds her own file, Max's and then Chrissy's. She moves a couple of more files to be nosy when she spots Fred's file. "Holy shit," Max curses, seeing the file as well now. "What? You found Chrissy's?" Stella asks, rushing over. "Yeah, not just Chrissy's. Fred was going through some shit as well," Brooke says, dangling the file in front of Steve's face.

"He was seeing Ms. Kelley too?" Stella asks, grabbing the file and flipping through it. Max frowns in confusion, "I don't remember seeing him like, ever going in here."

"After school, maybe?" Steve suggests. Max sits down with all the files on the desk. She opens Chrissy's first, reading over personal information before turning to the next page. Brooke and Steve both sit on a corner of the desk, secretly glancing at the other as anxiety eats away at them.

Max's eyes scan over the list of things Chrissy had as a result of whatever she was going through. She frowns at the familiar symptoms, "Can I see Fred's file?" Max asks. Steve's eyes slowly leave Brooke, "Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure," He hands Max the file.

Max does the same thing she did with Chrissy's. The list of symptoms is the same. Brooke reaches for Chrissy's file.

Headaches. Nightmares. Difficulty sleeping. Nosebleeds.

Chills run up and down Brooke's body. Realization hits her like a truck. She's been struggling with all of these. The paper bends beneath her fingers the harder she grips it, crumpling to make vein like lines along the sheet.

  Something switches within Brooke and she feels stuck for a small second. It feels like she can't breath or feel anything and then her senses are quickly back. "Max!" All the people around her are shouting. Brooke frowns when there's no response from the redhead. "Max? Hey!" Brooke shouts, trying to shake herself of the feeling of being stuck.

Stella's breath quickens, images of what happened the other night pile in her head. "Wake her up!" Stella panics, yelling loudly. "Stella, did this happen to Chrissy?" Brooke asks, her eyes back on Chrissy's file. The look of pure fear and mechanical head nod from Stella makes Brooke's heart drop. It seems like no matter how loud they shout Max is frozen in place.

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hi!!! thank u for 10k <333