CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
SHRINK

Hours later, and the group were back at Reefer Rick's. More specifically, the garage in which Eddie was hiding in.

The six teenagers had brung the food they'd bought for him, and they'd sat along side him as he ate it.

Aaron was reluctant to do this, however Kimmy had dragged him down next to her. The brunette not wanting to give the older boy any reason not to trust the group.

Aaron didn't make a fuss after Kimmy had forced him to sit down next to her, however he did watch Eddie with a wary expression.

The blond's hands were placed in his lap, the boy messing around with his watch strap as he did his best not to look to Eddie, a blurry look of fear on his features that he did his best to control.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news." Dustin spoke up carefully, his face scrunched up in hesitancy. "How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first." Eddie answered instantly with a shrug, stuffing his face with a bag of chips as he spoke. "Always."

"Alright." Dustin sighed while clasping his hands together. "Bad news it is."

Aaron began to fidget with his watch once more, to the point that his elbow kept nudging into Kimmy without him noticing it.

Kimmy didn't draw attention to what he was doing, simply placing her hand over his wrist to stop his fidgeting.

The blond snuck a glance at her with furrowed brows, only to find she wasn't watching him. Kimmy was simply looking ahead at Eddie with an unreadable expression of perplexity.

"We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro." Dustin rambled on, concerned look burning into his features as he spoke at a rapid pace. "And they're definitely looking for you. Also, there, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, 100% kind of convinced." Max nodded from the other side of Kimmy.

"And the good news?" Eddie scoffed sarcastically at the news thrown his way.

"Your name hasn't actually gone public yet." Robin rushed to explain, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as she did so. "But... if we found out about you, it won't be long before others do too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shadow-minded mother is going to be gunning for you."

"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie spoke sourly, his face scrunched up into an almost dramatic expression of hate.

Aaron rolled his eyes at Eddie's choice of words.

"Uh... yeah?" Kimmy answered with an expression of uncertainty, although her answer sounded more like a question in itself.

Aaron held back a grin at her response, knowing she was fully serious in her attempt to... comfort him.

"Shit." Eddie groaned anxiously at the brunette's response.

"So, before that happens," Dustin instantly began again, a faux look of confidence taking over his face. "We find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence-"

"Vecna?" Aaron repeated in a puzzled tone, tilting his head ever so slightly as he looked to Dustin.

Dustin snapped his head over to the blond boy, his eyes wide as he glanced to Aaron with a look of horror.

"Yes, Aaron! Vecna!" Dustin practically shouted, waving his hands drastically as he spoke. "I explained this to you all yesterday, or do you just listen to nothing I say? Vecna's curse. Ring any bells?"

Aaron looked to Dustin with a blank expression. "Not really, no-"

"Jesus Christ!" Dustin exclaimed with a sigh, placing his hand to his forehead rather dramatically before he continued to talk ten times faster than usual. "He's an undead creature of great power - a spell caster. A dark wizard, if you will. The Upside Down, he practically runs it-"

"Yeah, but how do you know his name?" Aaron asked with a simple shrug. "And what does this have to do with Chrissy?"

"Aaron, Eddie said she was cursed!" Dustin practically screamed at the blond. "Going by what Eddie told us,  it is exactly like Vecna's curse!"

Dustin scoffed at him and shook his head, however Aaron spoke up again before Dustin could continue.

"Is it like the Demodog's?" Aaron grinned, tilting his head as he did so. "You named it after D&D?"

"I did not name it, I'm just using D&D as an example!" Dustin argued, the two boys seemingly having already forgotten why they were at Reefer Rick's in the first place. "Seriously, Aaron-"

"Well, sorry-"

"Is killing Vecna our only plan?" Eddie inserted himself into the conversation with a dramatic sigh.

Aaron bit the inside of his cheek harshly and shut his mouth, suddenly embarrassed that he'd bickered with Dustin over something so stupid in front of everyone.

"Uh, yeah, that's pretty much it." Dustin nodded, a now relaxed smile on his face.

"I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional," Robin interrupted Eddie before he even had a chance to speak. "But we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a... a few times, and... and I have once. Mine was more human flesh based, theirs was more smoke related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this."

"Yeah, we usually rely on this girl who has super powers." Steve shrugged nonchalantly as if it were no big deal. "But, uh, she went bye-bye, so-"

"So recently we've been in kinda... a brainstorming phase." Max continued Steve's point, already knowing Steve would get side tracked.

"Yeah, but there's... there's nothing to worry about." Kimmy spluttered in an almost false sense of security.

"Yeah, you'll... be fine." Aaron attempted to back up Kimmy's point, although he sounded anything but convincing.

Steve scoffed at Aaron's attempt at comfort, although before the blond could snap back at his older brother, the sound of sirens began to blare, startling all seven of the teenagers.

"Shit." Aaron whispered, more to himself than anyone else. However once the realisation had set in of what those sirens actually meant, he began to hell. "Shit! Fuck, guys! Shit-"

"It's okay, it's okay." Kimmy nodded in a much calmer tone than Aaron, instantly standing and talking to Eddie. "Just- just get back under the tarp."

Eddie nodded rapidly, rushing over to the tarp he'd previously been hiding under before the group got there that Kimmy had been referring to, Dustin and Robin scrambling to hide him under it.

Meanwhile, Kimmy, Aaron, Max and Steve rushed over to the small window of the garage, looking to see if they could see any police cars.

They did actually, as well as several fire engines and ambulances. The only thing was, is that they were driving straight past, speeding down the road at such a pace it must have been at least forty over the speed limit.

The four watched as their expressions all fell from once looks of fear and panic, into looks of confusion and puzzlement.

"What the fuck?" Aaron mumbled, looking down to Kimmy with a look of perplexity.

Kimmy had no answer for him, simply shrugging in response.

Aaron felt Steve rush past him, turning to look to his older brother with a curious expression.

"Where are you going?" Kimmy asked in a puzzled voice.

Steve hesitated, stopping at the door of the garage as he glanced between the five teenagers he'd driven over to Reefer Rick's in the first place.

"Well, come on then." The older boy shrugged in an oblivious tone. "Let's go see what's going on-"

"No!" Aaron exclaimed in a loud voice, all while following his older brother out of the garage. "Enough. Steve, enough! We are not getting into another mess, please!"

Of course, Steve ignored him. And just like all his friends, Aaron ended up in the backseat of Steve's car once more that day. Complaining all the same.

...

Much to Kimmy's surprise, it ended up being Nancy Wheeler of all people who the authorities were racing to get to.

Nancy was on the school paper, and while on some sort of... investigation - Kimmy wasn't really sure about what the ins and outs of what working at the school newspaper entailed, but whatever it was, that's was they were doing. Looking into the next big story apparently.

Although, it was different this time. Because unlike every other time Nancy and her partner at the newspaper would go out to investigate an article, someone had died.

To be more specific, Fred had died. Nancy's partner at the newspaper. To be even more specific, Fred had died just like Chrissy had. The exact same way.

Eyes turned to the back of his head, every bone in his body snapped - all while he was levitated into the air.

Kimmy thought it was odd. In fact it was more than odd, it was fucking weird. How the hell two people had died within two days of each other in the exact same way.

Especially since it had never happened in history before Chrissy - well, not to Kimmy's knowledge it hadn't.

Even if it had happened in history some point down the line, it was weird that it was beginning again. Even if Dustin theorised that the monster - or a monster just like Vecna from D&D was behind it all.

"Oh, my god." Kimmy's once peaceful walk was disturbed by the blond boy walking beside her, the brunette refraining from rolling her eyes at the beginning of his panics.

"Jesus. Jesus fucking Christ." Aaron whispered to her frantically, reaching out and grabbing a hold of her hand to try and halt her steps. "Kimmy, we are walking into a crime scene!"

Kimmy went to disagree with him just for the purpose of putting his panics to rest, however she flinched upon seeing the large number of tape surrounding the trailer which she naturally presumed to be Eddies, clearly showing that it was in fact a crime scene.

"I- just- we'll be fine." The brunette stuttered, watching as the group ahead of her seemed to head towards a bench right in the middle of the trailer park.

It seemed that both Max and Eddie lived in the same trailer park, although Kimmy couldn't find it in her to be suprised. She was pretty sure there was only one trailer park in Hawkins, and she knew for a fact that there wasn't much people who lived in it.

In fact, it greatly surprised Kimmy that she and her parents hadn't ended up in the trailer park some point down the line. They should have, they were practically dirt poor. She supposed they were always just scraping by, right on the verge.

"This has gone too far." Aaron droned on, abruptly grabbing Kimmy's wrist with the hand that wasn't gripping onto her hand as she forced him to walk. "Why are we getting involved? I don't want to spend my spring break hunting a murderer or- or some Vecna guy. I want to go home-"

"You can go home if you want." Kimmy told him in a honest voice, nodding gently at him as she spoke. "I already told you, I'll cover for you-"

"And I already told you, I'm not leaving you alone to die because of Eddie Munson's mess." Aaron pleaded with her in a pathetic attempt to go home. Kimmy sent him an unappreciative look at his choice of words. "Let's just leave here, and go back to my house, and we can finish watching Gremlins-"

"Aaron, we'll only be here for a couple of hours then we can go home." Kimmy told him in a whisper as they approached the group. "You don't have to come next time-"

"Next time?" Aaron exclaimed with a scoff, his voice just quiet enough that the group wouldn't have heard.

Kimmy sent him a look as if to tell him he'd be foolish to think there wouldn't be a next time, Aaron understood this, pursing his lips and sighing.

"We'll be fine." She told him for what felt like the millionth time that day.

Kimmy didn't wait for a response, turning away from him and hastily walking over to the bench where their friends all sat. Quickly sitting down next to Dustin and dragging Aaron to sit down at the other side of her.

Not long after, as Kimmy was listening to the group talk and more or less exchange notes on what exactly was going on, she suddenly felt a weight on her right leg.

Without drawing too much attention to herself, Kimmy glanced down with furrowed brows, only to find that Aaron had his hand placed on her upper leg, nervously tapping his fingers against her knee as he listened to what his friends were talking about.

Kimmy then snuck a look at the blond, only to find that - just as she suspected, he wasn't watching her at all. Instead he was looking to whoever would take their turn to talk with an anxious expression, looking utterly terrified.

Kimmy looked away from him, clearly he didn't want any attention on him. She left his hand resting there for two reasons - she wanted him to calm down a little, and if that's how it would happen then so be it. And, number two - she didn't mind him leaving his hand there, in some way she liked the gesture.

"So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy," Nancy begun with a hesitant expression. "It's from the upside down?"

"If the shoe fits." Steve hummed smugly.

"My working theory is that he attacks with a spell... or a curse." Dustin spoke up instantly, nodding thoroughly as he did so. "Whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or... just loves killing teens, we don't know."

"All we know is that this is something different." Max told the older girl with an almost solemn expression. "Something new."

"Doesn't make sense." Nancy seemingly shut down the claims instantly, shaking her head as she spoke more to herself.

Aaron hummed in agreement, however this was ignored.

"It's only a theory." Dustin countered with an abrupt expression of hesitancy which Kimmy hadn't heard priorly while he would talk about his theories on the matter.

"No, I mean, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense." Nancy cleared her through awkwardly as she answered. "I mean, why them?"

Kimmy perked up at her words, suddenly interested in what Dustin's answer would be. That had been the question on her mind since she'd heard of it all.

Why Chrissy of all people? And now, Fred?

"Maybe they were just in the wrong place." Shrugged Dustin, although it was clear he wasn't fully confident in this answer. "They were both at the game."

Max tilted her head in thought, her brows furrowing on their own accord. "And near the trailer park-"

"We're at the trailer park." Aaron butted in with an anxious tone, his eyes suddenly wide with worry.

"Uh... should we maybe not be here?" Steve asked the group in far too of a nonchalant tone than Kimmy was comfortable with.

"No we shouldn't." Aaron agreed, sounding much more panicked over the situation than Steve did. Although he did his best not to show this to the full extent that Kimmy knew it was. "There's a crime scene here, let's- let's just go-"

"Let's calm down a notch." Steve quipped in an almost mocking tone, evidently not taking the situation seriously. Or as seriously as he probably should have been.

Kimmy didn't turn to look at him, but just with the way he tensed, she could tell Aaron was about to say something back to his brother. Something that would most likely start an argument between the two that everyone else would be forced to listen to.

Thankfully, Nancy spoke up before Aaron could retaliate.

"There is something about this place." She insisted, looking nervous - almost hesitant to continue. "Fred started acting weird the second we got here."

"Acting weird as in... what?" Robin had her face scrunched up in confusion as she asked the question.

"Scared." Nancy was quick to reply, as if it had affected her so much she didn't even have to think twice about it. "On edge, upset."

"Max said Chrissy was upset too." Was Dustin's swift response.

"Yeah, but not here." The redhead sighed, sounding almost puzzled as she elaborated. "She was crying in the bathroom at school."

Kimmy looked to her friend with a perplexed expression, one which Max returned.

"Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?" Robin shrugged, trying to put the entire situation into perspective for everyone, clearly being the only one who had the slightest bit of a clue to what was going on. "So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman-"

"Vecna." Dustin corrected without missing a beat, unable to stop himself.

"I don't know about you," Steve spoke up without acknowledging the curly haired boy's words. "But if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone."

The older boy clearly wasn't buying into all this, bringing something up that hadn't even occurred to Kimmy.

"Maybe they did." Max was quick to say. "I saw Chrissy leaving Mrs Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you... you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But... you might go to your-"

"Your shrink." Robin finished her thought for her.

"The school counsellor is hardly a shrink." Aaron shrugged with an almost scoff. "Who the hell sits down and tells the school counsellor of all people all their personal problems?"

There was a beat of silence, as if no one knew what to say.

"You'd be surprised." Max spoke up hesitantly, avoiding everyone's expectant eyes as she spoke.

...

Around an hour later, and Steve, Dustin, Kimmy and Aaron were sat outside the school counsellor's house in Steve's car. Waiting anxiously as they all watched Max walk up the driveway and ring the doorbell.

Kimmy thought the entire plan was not only outrageous but also illegal. Breaking into the school as well as into the guidance counsellor's office with a key that Max was about to attempt to steal if she could actually get into the house.

Truthfully, the entire situation stressed Kimmy out. Although she hadn't said this, she'd only just got Aaron to calm down a bit as he too thought the idea was crazy.

Kimmy was more worried about the trouble Max would get in if she was caught stealing the keys from Mrs Kelley's house. The brunette knew her friend needed that person where she could say absolutely anything and get guaranteed mental help and advice on what to do all while knowing it wouldn't be shared. Kimmy worried that would be taken away from her if she was caught stealing.

Still, Max had insisted she could do it, and the group didn't really have another option.

Robin and Nancy had left the group at the trailer park, Nancy insisting she had something to check out that might help them and Robin offering to help. Despite the fact the Wheeler girl had been nothing but vague of where she'd be heading.

"Okay," Steve sighed in relief from the front seat, sitting back and folding his hands over his chest. "She's in."

"Thanks for that thrilling update, Mr Bond." Aaron scoffed, he too looking away from the car window and shifting so he could sit more comfortably in the backseat.

"Yeah." Dustin agreed with an eye roll. "I'm missing collarbones, not eyes."

"Jesus, guys." Steve retaliated with a scrunched up expression of irritation. "Calm it."

Kimmy hid a smile at his response, adverting her attention to the blond sat next to her as Dustin and Steve began talking between the two of them.

Sure, they weren't whispering, but Kimmy wasn't stupid enough not to realised that it was a closed discussion that she really didn't have any business listening to.

Instead, she focused her attention on the fidgety blond sat with her. Watching him with a shadow of a frown pulling on her lips.

He looked stressed, as usual. It was only then Kimmy really realised what that must do to him, being stressed out more often than not. And Aaron wasn't exactly the type of person to have a minor panic, he was the type to freak out and verge on a panic attack when he got stressed.

He must have felt her eyes on him, because he turned to face her with a blank expression. His face unmoving for several seconds as he looked to her.

It wasn't too long before his eyebrows creased the slightest bit, emphasising his confusion.

"What?" He whispered to her, a look of concern now taking over his features.

Kimmy cracked a smile, snickering slightly to herself as she shook her head. "Nothing."

"Seriously, what?" He asked again, looking slightly panicked. "Is there something on my face- what is it? Get it off-"

"There's nothing on your face." She snickered once more, the boy sighing and scrunching his face in frustration.

"Please, Kimmy," Aaron sighed once more. "Just fix it-"

"Okay, okay, fine. Calm down." The brunette sighed, leaning over to wipe the imaginary dirt off of his face despite the face there was nothing there, somehow finding that to be less embarrassing than actually admitting to the boy that she was just watching him for the sake of it.

"All fixed." She smiled at him, using the tips of her fingers to brush away the excess dirt that wasn't really there anyway.

Aaron sent her an embarrassed look in return, a sheepish smile that he desperately tried to hide pulling on his lips as he glanced away from her and to the front seat.

Only to find that Steve and Dustin were in a seemingly deep argument, neither the two of them paying attention to what the two were talking about in the backseat.

"Do you... do you still want to finish watching Gremlins when we get back?" Kimmy asked somewhat nervously, desperately searching her brain for something to say.

"Yeah- uh, sure." Aaron answered the second she'd stopped talking, spluttering over his words for no reason other than the fact he'd been caught off guard.

Kimmy grinned at his response, raising her brows at him as she did so.

"You'll be glad to know my head isn't as bad... I don't think." Kimmy spoke up once more, only partially teasing him.

"What do you mean, you think?" Aaron tolled his eyes halfheartedly, not finding her humouring the subject to be funny as he'd taken any of her illnesses she'd had while staying with him very seriously. "Is it better today?"

"I mean, it wasn't great this morning-" she answered honestly, ignoring his scoff at her answer. "But I took the pills for it and it's much better now. It's not bothering me at all."

"Yeah, that's the whole point of them, Kimmy." Aaron shook his head, looking mildly stressed out again upon realising it clearly was still bothering her. "I'll maybe see if they have stronger ones at the pharmacy-"

"No, it's fine don't worry about it." The girl dismissed in a heartbeat, waving her hand at him as if to say it wasn't a big deal.

Aaron opened his mouth to say something without thinking but stopped himself, suddenly all too aware of the fact there were two other people in the car.

Kimmy knew what it was he was going to say anyway. He would have told her that he can't just stop worrying about her and that it's easier said than done.

Of course he hadn't said it, knowing if his brother heard he'd be subjected to endless teasing, but Kimmy knew that's what he was thinking.

He told her all the time how much he cared about her, usually in his actions, but he would catch both of them by surprise and tell her himself on the rare occasion where he didn't have enough time to second guess himself.

Kimmy simply sent him a smile. A genuine smile. One that told him she appreciated the gesture anyway, even if he was holding himself back in fear of judgement or some sort of rejection.

Aaron seemed to get what she was referring to, shyly returning the gesture.

...

TYSM FOR 28K READS!!!!!!! ALL THE SUPPORT ON THIS STORY MEANS SM TO ME!! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS, VOTES AND READS!! <3

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and is looking out for when the next one is posted because that's where it starts to get interesting LMAO

Hopefully everyone had a great day!!!!

- AJ :)