"We'll swing by and grab you after we go check his friends." Jason stopped at Cloves house. "Thanks for doing this."

"Shouldn't take me long." she looked to the house, no one was home. "Don't be long, I don't wanna be home alone with a murderer on the loose."

"Lock the doors and i'll run up and get you when we come back." Lucas nodded at her, earning a thumbs up before the car drove off. As Clove headed up the steps, unlocking her door, she quickly got inside. She locked the doors like Lucas said and was headed for the printer.

A hand clasped over her mouth.

Clove yelled as she tried to fight off the hand, their arms locked around her. "Chill out! It's me! It's me!"

Max let Clove go as she spun around. with wide eyes, her lipstick was smeared from Max's hand over her mouth just a few moments ago. "What the hell? You scared me!"

"I know you're jumpy and I didn't want you to scream and alert your neighbors." Max defended herself, raising her hand. Clove saw the red on her palms. "Sorry."

"What are you doing here?" Clove sat down to calm her heart rate.

"Came to find you. I need your help." Max sat with her and grabbed her hand. "Have you seen the news?"

"Yeah, I've been trying to help Jason find Eddie. That's why I came home, to print missing flyers." the blonde nodded her head.

"What? No." Max shook her head. "Eddie is innocent. He didn't kill Chrissy."

"What do you mean? The cops said he did." she sat up more.

"It wasn't him." Max swallowed. "Something is here. In Hawkins. That's why I was looking for you, I was freaking out."

"Something like a passing murderer or something that shouldn't exist?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"I just really need you to come with me." Max stood up with an out reached hand. "If you're anywhere else I have no clue if you're alive or safe and I really wanna know if you're alive or safe."

"Last time I checked-" she stood up with a grin. "-I was alive and safe."

"So, let's keep it that way." the redhead latched onto her hand, leaning in to kiss her once before dragging her off to Steve's car parked out back.

"So you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down?" Nancy spoke up before Clove could. After getting to the trailer park, Dustin explained his theory to both of the girls.

"If the shoe fits." Steve shrugged.

"Doesn't Vecna attack with a spell? Of something or someone that's cursed, right?" Clove nodded her head with a questionable look.

"Exactly, that's my theory." Dustin nodded at her. "How, weather or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know."

"All we know is this is something different." Max got their attention. "Something new."

"Doesn't make sense." Nancy looked down.

"It would if you knew D&D." Clove nodded to her.

"No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense." Nancy turned to look at her. "I mean, why them?"

"Maybe they were just in the wrong place?" Dustin shook his head from across the table.

"Where they in the same places?" Clove squinted from the sun as the wind blew her hair back.

"Chrissy and Fred were both at the game." Dustin agreed.

"And near the trailer park." Max filled her in.

"But both attacks happened here? At the trailer park?" she gave a questionable look as Max nodded.

"We're at the trailer park." Steve glanced around uncomfortably. "Uh, should we maybe not be here?"

"There is something about this place." Nancy said honestly as she looked around. "Fred started acting weird the second we got here."

"Acting weird as in...?" Robin questioned her.

"Scared." Nancy shrugged as she recalled his emotions. "On edge. Upset."

"Like he was feeling something?" Clove looked over at her.

"Or seeing something." the oldest Wheeler agree.

"Max said Chrissy was upset too." Dustin looked to her.

"Not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school." Max explained what she knew.

"Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?" Robin voiced her bubbling theory. "So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman-"

"Vecna." Dustin corrected with an eyeroll.

"Dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone." Steve still seemed on edge with them being here.

"Police wouldn't believe something like that. They ignore anything that isn't literal." Clove shook her head, her Uncle Murray a victim of it.

"Or they might have said something." Max pointed out. "I saw Chrissy leaving Ms.Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you...you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you, like Clove said. But you might got to your-"

"Your shrink." Robin confirmed.

"Okay, well, Steve looks like he's about to have an anxiety attack so why don't he put a pep in our step?" Clove suggested with a nod.

"Yeah, i'm with the Prez on that one." Steve agreed as he stood up first, the rest followed.

"I'm not the only one that needs you here, you know." Max walked by her side. "Your whole Political Monster thing comes in handy when dealing with monsters from another dimension."

"Had a lot of practice." the blonde gave a little shrug as Max cracked her a grin.

As they all headed for Steve's car, Nancy was going the opposite way. "Woah, Nance. Nance! Where you going?"

"Oh, there's just something I wanna check on first." she looked back as the wind blew her hair some.

"Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?" Dustin looked in annoyance

"I don't wanna waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark." she waved them off.

"Rule number one of not dying is being a firm believer in the buddy system." Clove tossed her hands up as she leaned against the open door.

"Flying solo with this Vecna on the loose?" Steve shook his head at her. "No, it's too dangerous. You need..you need someone to..."

"Nice game." Clove mumbled.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Max hummed from behind her.

"Here. I'll stick with Nance." Steve threw his keys toward Robin. "You take the car, check out the shrink."

"I don't think you want me driving your car." Robin hid a laugh.

"Why?" he shrugged.

"I don't have a license." Robin stated the obvious.

"Why don't you have a license?" Steve huffed at her.

"I can drive." Max shrugged.

"No, never again. Please." Steve snapped quickly with wide eyes.

"I can drive." Clove suggested.

"You have a license?" Steve question.

"Permit." she shrugged.

"She also wrecked her Dads Mk3 Escort." Dustin hummed.

"You freaking traitor!" she yelled at him from across the car. "I told you that in confidence."

"You want me to lie and have you run up a tree again?" Dustin tossed his hands up.

"Yeah, hard pass on the Ankle Biter." Steve shook his head.

"Nancy and I are the same heights now." Clove rolled her eyes. "I did have a growths spurt if you didn't notice."

Dustin looked toward Steve with a questionable look. "Not a chance."

"Come on." Dustin rolled his eyes

"All right, okay. This is stupid." Robin tossed her hands up, throwing Steve's keys at his chest. "Us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us."

"Don't worry about Steve, ladies!" Clove took a bow in their direction. "He's in the hands of the future President of the United States."

"Oh my god, let's go." Max grabbed her belt loop and pulled her into car.

"What'd she even talk about in there?" Clove leaned back against Max's chest in the back of Steve's car, dangling the keys Max stole infront of her face.

"Councilor shit." she said in return, arm rested around her waist.

"Dustin." a familiar voice echoed from Dustin walkie. "Dustin, do you copy?"

"Oh shit, he's probably looking for me." Clove sat up.

"Lucas? Where the hell have you been?" Dustin snapped at him as he answered.

"Just listen." he called from the other end. "Are you guys looking for Eddie? I think he stole Clove!"

"Nope, I'm still here." Clove reached forward the talk.

"We found him, no thanks to you." he pulled the walkie back from Clove.

"You found him?" Lucas gapped.

"He's at a boathouse on Coal Mill Road." Dustin answered. "Don't worry. He's safe."

"You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?" Lucas voiced his concern.

"Did you not see the note I left you?" Clove yanked the walkie, jabbing Steve in the ear with the antenna. "I said "Lucas, it's Clove, your friend. Eddie isn't a murderer and i'm off to prove he's innocent. Run around town yelling my name and i'll find you. Love, Clove" It was sitting on my counter."

"You had to clarify it was you in a note yet still signed your name at the bottom?" Steve turned his head to give her a questionable look.

She stared, realizing what she did. "Mind your business."

"Then why are all the cops saying Eddie did it?" Lucas spoke up in confusion, Max leaned past Clove to yank the walkie next.

"Lucas, you're so behind it's ridiculous, okay?" she rolled her eyes. "Just meet us at the school. We'll explain later."

"I can't." Lucas inhaled. "I think some real bad shits about to go down."

"What bad shit?" Max asked, but it was silent on the other end. "Lucas? Lucas?"

"I think I know what bad shit he is referring to." Clove gave a worried look. "How do we feel about protecting Eddie from a bunch of guys that act like 83' Steve?"

"Dustin, do you copy?" Robins asked from the other line as they headed into the school, Clove held the flashlight for Max to follow.

"Yeah, I copy." he brought it to his mouth.

"So, Nancy's a genius." Robin fangirled. "Vecn's first victims dates back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull's-eye."

"You know, my Dad went to school with Ms.Kelley." Clove looked to Max as she kept her voice low.

"Seriously?" she looked over.

"Yeah, before he wanted to do business, he was gonna do counciling." she nodded as they made it to the door as Max unlocked it. "Imagine if we were breaking into my Dads office right now."

Max had to snort. "Little action figured all over his desk."

"And a coffee mug that says number one councilor." Clove laughed as she followed her in.

"Just get your ass over here, stat. We'll explain everything." Dustin ended the line with Robin, following the girls into the room.

"Key for you." Max handed the set to Clove as she unlocked the filing cabinet.

"It's like a mini-Watergate or something." Dustin's eyes darted around the office. "Hawkinsgate."

"Look at you, Miss Thang." Steve held up a flyer with Cloves face on it. "Your little fight over the mic with that blonde guy would have been the highlight of my year if I still went here."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that I forged your signature on my petitions since the principle likes you." Clove nodded at him.

"You know my signature?" he frowned his eyebrows.

"Why do you think I asked for your autograph on my Scoops Ahoy cup?" she shook her head with an odd look.

"I thought you were-" he started, shaking his head. "Nope. Nope. Never mind."

"Holy shit." Max spoke up as she pulled out the files

"You found it?" Dustin looked over.

"Yeah, and not just Chrissy's file. Fred was seeing Ms.Kelley too." Max sat down with Chrissy's as Steve took Fred's.

"Fred was a hard core feminist." Clove smiled at his file. "He always came to my woman's club meetings and would sign every petition I made to get more sports teams for the girls."

"Can I see that?" Max looked her way.

"Yeah." Steve passed the file her way.

Clove eyed her girlfriend slightly. "What's the matter, Max?"

She was quiet. Too quiet.

"Max." Clove leaned down and shook her body. "Max!"

•

kylie speaks

imagining them leaning on
each other in steve's car made
me stop and smile at the wall
for a moment