"Clove!" Max beat on her door the next morning. "Clove, wake up! I need your help! Clover! Open this-"

Leven opened the door with wide eyes. "Max, what on earth are you screaming to the heavens for?"

"Hey, Lev." Max hummed. "Is your daughter available?"

"She just left, something about needing to run." he waved her off. "Want to come in and wait? Cereal fresh off the stove."

Max cracked a small smile. "No, no. Can you just tell her to give me a yell."

She held up her walkie. "I'll be around."

"Is everything okay?" he frowned his eyebrows. "You sure you don't want to wait? She won't be long."

"No- no." Max backed off the porch. "Sorry for bothering you."

"Max-" he started, but she pulled her head phones on and was already heading off.

Clove was a few blocks away, clutching her chest as she fell into the grass. After her grandma made her start questioning her weight gain at christmas, she took up running after she ate a big meal like she had yesterday for the celebration. Now, she struggled to breath as she squeezed her eyes and clutched her stomach, regaining her breath and a normal heart best.

A loud yell rung in the air made her nearly come off the ground. "Jesus Christ! Oh my god!"

She sat up, looking in the direction it came from. Hesitantly, she pulled her headphones off and let them hang around her neck as she walked toward the forest opening. Stepping on a few twigs, she made it deeper into the forest as crying echoed slightly. She paused at the familiar back. "Jason?"

He looked back, turning away when he saw her. "Go away, Clove."

"Are you okay?" she walked a little closer, but kept her distance. "How'd you get out here?"

He cried, his head pressing into his palms. "Chrissy's dead."

Cloves heart fell. She felt for Jason because she didn't know Chrissy well. They never spoke, but she'd always provided Clove support with her petitions and the bake sales. Jason on the other hand she didn't like, not even a little. But, she felt for him right now. She couldn't imagine loosing her girlfriend, loosing Max. He was handling it a lot better then she ever would. The blonde walked closer as she reached down to hold his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Jason. So, so sorry."

"You know that Eddie freak?" she wiped his eyes as she kneeled next to him. "He killed her."

"The boy in Hellfire?" she frowned her eyebrows. She'd never actually had a conversation with him, but from what the boys had said, he seemed like a decent guy.

"Cops told me, they aren't doing shit though." he stood up in anger. "Just spreading lies, rumors."

"They're good at that." Clove stood up with him. "What can I do to help?"

Jason looked back at her. "You're good at this sort of thing, right? Getting justice? Making things heard."

"Yeah, i'm pretty good." she nodded her head. "What do you want me to do?"

"We team up." he nodded at her. "We hunt down Eddie, we find him, and we get some answers."

"If he killed someone, the two of us alone is not the most logical plan in the universe." she said back with a knowing eyebrow raise in his direction.

Jason sniffled as he wipped his eyes. "Who said anything about being alone?"

"Clove?" Lucas gapped when her and Jason walked into Bennys. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard what happened. Are you okay?" she went to his sude with a worried look. The boys were far enough for them to have a moment alone. "Lucas, Jason wants me help getting justice for Chrissy. He wants me to help him find Eddie. Isn't this guy your friend?"

"Eddie? What did Eddie do?" she realized he was extremely out of the loop, clearly Jason hadn't provided a story before storming into the woods.

"Jason." Clove walked his way. "Before we make a plan, you need to explain to all of the boys what's about to go down. They need to understand everything you told me before agreeing to help us."

At the time, she thought she was helping a broken boy track down a psycho murderer. She wasn't aware Eddie was innocent, only in a few hours, her girlfriend would save her from the true villains of Hawkins storyline. Clove and Lucas just didn't realize they were on the wrong side then.

"Eddie Munson." Jason took Cloves advice as he put his photo on the table. "He's a part of that freak devil cult, Hellfire."

Clove gave Lucas a look from across the table, telling him not to mention he was apart of the club in any way.

"The cops, they say Chrissy went to him to buy drugs." Jason ranted to the boys, the same way he told the blonde next to him in the woods.

"Drugs? No." Patrick looked in disbelief by his words, because he knew Chrissy wasn't about that what so ever.

"That's what I said. Chrissy would never touch that shit." Jason seemed proud his friends knew her the same way he had. "And they wouldn't even show her parents her face. I don't know what this freak did to Chrissy, but he did something sick."

"Probably sacrificed her, drained her blood for the devil." the curly haired boy next to Clove said. "Satanist do that."

"It's this cult." Jason brought the conversation back to Hellfire.

"Hellfire isn't a cult." Lucas voice his words as Clove looked up, ready to rescues him if he needed it. "It's...it's just a D&D club."

"You guys don't know D&D?" Clove looked at the confused jocks. "Dungeon and Dragons. My old ass grandma literally knows what that is. Where have you been?"

"How do the two of you know all of this?" one of the boys looked between his teammate and his student body president.

"Are you trying to accuse us of something?" Clove snapped at him when he stared her down. "If so, don't beat around the bush about it. Speak your truth."

"My sister!" Lucas grabbed Cloves wrist to stop her from saying anything else. "She's like- like a total nerd. Like, she plays a lot of-It's fantasy."

"I'm sure your sister isn't killing people, right?" Jason placed a hand on Lucas' chest. Clove was thankful Lucas didn't keep talking, an over explanation would make them both look guilty. "But, shit, i've read the wrong people play this game, it can warp their mind. They confuse fantasy and reality, and innocent people die. I mean, it's been happening all over the country. It's an epidemic."

"Yeah, I read about that shit. It's real." Patrick nodded his head.

"And I think Eddie...He's the wrong type of person, right?" Jason nodded, he looked to Clove, waiting for her to side with him . "You know, he got lost. He thought Chrissy was just a part of his...his sick game. And chances are, he's still in the game. Meaning-"

"He could kill again." the blonde nodded.

"But not if we can help it." Jason turned to look at all of them again. "What do you say, Prez?"

"I say we do this is the most logical, humane way possible." Clove spoke up as she looked around so the boys would listen to her. "We find Eddie, we don't hurt him, but we get a confession. I'll record it on my walkman and we go to the police. No matter how angry anyone gets, wr have to stay logical and smart. Hurting him will just land all of us in the dog house with him."

"I agree with her." Lucas nodded at Clove. "She does know what she's talking about."

"That's why I wanted her here." Jason agreed as he gave an approving nod in Cloves direction."Would Chrissy want us to just stand by while the cops go around pursing some bullshit leads, spreading rumors saying she's some druggy?"

"No!" the room yelled.

"No, she'd want us to go out there." Jason nodded, like he'd been hyping them for a game. "She'd want us to do something about it, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah!" they cheered.

"Then let's go hunt some freaks!" Jason shouted, Clove inhaled with a faint look of regret toward Lucas.

"Yeah!" the boys yelled our again.

"For Chrissy!" Jason held Eddie's photo up, a lighter in his hand as he held it out to Clove. "Do the honors, Prez."

Clove hesitated, looking to Lucas before taking the lighter. She cleared her throat, lighting the edge of the paper as the boys all cheered at once.

Oh, Max, where were you when she needed you the most?

•

kylie speaks

even if she's on the wrong
side right now, cloves leadership and confidence
this season is my fav😍