CHAPTER TWO
THE DUNGEON MASTER

"Then Vickie laughed. And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like... It was a real, genuine laugh."

Mavis was intensely listening to Robin swooning about her interaction with Vickie during the game the night before as she sat at one of the chairs behind the counter, watching Robin and Steve sort out some of the freshly returned movies back into their respective shelves.

This was an usual occurrence for her. Whenever she had the day off, she would come there and hang out with Steve and Robin while they worked. At first, Keith wasn't too fond of the idea, but he got used to it after a while, finding it weird whenever the girl wasn't there. He even offered her a job there, but she was happy with her job next door, so she declined. However, she really enjoyed hanging out at Family Video with her friends. And Steve and Robin really liked having her there. Especially Steve.

"Of course she laughed, Robin. It's my Muppet joke. It's hilarious," Steve said as he organized some movies on the shelves.

"My point is that Vickie laughed and everything was just like... it was perfect."

"But?" Mavis asked, sensing a 'but' was about to leave her friend's mouth.

"But I'm having this problem where it's like, I should stop talking. I have said everything I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words they just– they keep spilling out, and it's like my... my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or... or rather my... my mouth is moving faster than my brain. And it's like I'm digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, and I'm trying to stop digging, but I can't. And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you are," Steve agreed with his best friend, Mavis sending him a small glare to which he just shrugged.

"Oh, I'm hopeless," Robin said defeatedly as she leant against a poster of The Last Dragon, a martial arts comedy film that had been released a year ago. The three of them had seen it together, but it wasn't exactly up Mavis' alley. Steve loved it though.

"You're not hopeless, Rob. I'm sure everything will work in your favor," she smiled at the girl.

"Mav's right. Like I told you yesterday, there is no way Vickie isn't into girls."

Mavis' head perked up, now looking at Steve. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Steve smirked. "Vickie returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, five seconds."

She gasped. "No way. That's the scene where Brad imagines Linda removing her bikini top and coming on to him," she chuckled. "Vickie is definitely into girls."

"Thank you! That's what I said!" Steve exclaimed.

"I get it that you two are always having each other's back, but can you stop? It gets annoying sometimes," Robin spoke, rolling her eyes. "And we don't know for sure it was her. What if it was her boyfriend? Or maybe she has a brother..."

"Robin, I think you should just tell her about your feelings–" Mavis started to say before Robin interrupted her.

"No, Mavis. I refuse to become Hawkins' town pariah," she sighed. "I'll just have to live with the fact that I am doomed to be alone."

"I think you're being a little overdramatic now," Steve chuckled.

Robin just sighed again, looking around the store, her eyes lighting up as she gasped. "Ooh, I think I found our morning movie!" she exclaimed as she rushed over to the Drama section and picked out a movie, turning to look at Mavis first and then at Steve. "Doctor Zhivago."

Mavis hadn't watched the movie yet, but she had read the book, so she was familiar with the plot. "I'm down."

"Ugh, you know I don't do double VHS," Steve complained.

"But it's about doomed love."

Mavis sneaked a glance at Steve, blushing slightly before she looked away, tucking her hair behind both ears. And just as she did that, Steve looked at her.

"Oh, well, that's relatable," he said, which earned him a look from Robin, who glanced between her two best friends.

"You guys are so oblivious it hurts," she groaned. "Anyways, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life," she rambled as she turned on the TV, getting ready to put the movie. However, she stopped as she paid attention to the news, Steve doing the same as he positioned himself behind Mavis.

"We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details right now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning," Mavis' eyes widened as she started to get worried. Eddie and Max lived there... "Police have not yet released the victim's name, although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family. "

"Holy shit," Steve exclaimed in shock.

"You can say that again..."

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Mavis, Steve and Robin's usual morning routine had been interrupted by the sudden news of a Hawkins student being murdered. Sure, weird stuff happened in Hawkins, and the three of them were very aware of that, but no one had been murdered before. At least not by something other than a monster.

As they watched the news, the phone at the counter started to ring. Steve, being the closest to it, picked up. "Family Video, Steve Harrington speaking. How can I help?" A pause went by as he listened to the person's answer. And then, he looked at Mavis. "It's for you. Sinclair."

Oh, thank God he was okay.

"Lucas, hey!" she smiled as she grabbed the phone. "How did you know I'd be here?

"Are you really asking me that, Mavis?" he asked sarcastically.

"Okay, okay. Point taken," she let out a laugh. "How are you?"

"Fine, but my head is killing me," he groaned on the other side of the phone.

"Did you drink?"

A beat went by. "No?"

"Lucas."

"Okay, yes. I may or may not have drank a little too much yesterday."

Mavis sighed. "You're underage. You shouldn't be drinking at all..."

"I know, and don't worry, I won't do it again. It is definitely not worth the hype."

"Tell me about it..."

"Oh shit. I'm sorry Mavis, I-I shouldn't have done that," Lucas proceeded to apologize. He knew exactly how she felt about alcohol, having been there for her whenever her father had too much to drink and she needed a place to stay. "I promise I won't drink again."

She smiled slightly. "Lucas, it's fine. I don't have a problem with you drinking, but next time wait until you're twenty-one."

"I will!"

"Good," she chuckled. "By the way, do you need me to pick you up or something?"

"No, Patrick is driving me home."

She nodded as her eyes were glued to the TV again. "Hey, did you hear the news?"

"What–" he suddenly stopped talking, and Mavis could hear retching from the other line.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, but I-I think I need to throw up. Talk to you later!" and he hung up.

Mavis blinked slightly as she stared at the phone. Huh...

"Is everything okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, Lucas just had a bit too much to drink last night," she chuckled slightly as she put the phone down.

"Oh," he chuckled. "I don't blame him, when I was still in high school I did the same after every game," he sighed. "Those were the good old days."

"Do you miss those days?"

"To be honest, not really. I was an asshole back then."

"Oh, I know."

Steve's smile faltered. "Y-You know?"

"Yes. I saw you break Jonathan's camera during sophomore year. And it was kind of your reputation back then, King Steve," she teased him, but he didn't smile.

He had hoped Mavis hadn't known that side of him, or that she didn't remember it, because he was ashamed of his past self. And well, he certainly didn't want the girl he liked to know about that.

Mavis frowned as she noticed Steve hadn't laughed at her teasing. "Hey," she said softly. "I know you're not an asshole. In fact, I'm pretty sure everyone knows you're a nice guy by now."

He looked at her. "Do you really think so?"

She smiled. "I know so. You're a babysitter, and babysitters aren't exactly assholes so..."

Steve finally chuckled, and it was music to her ears. She really loved making him laugh.

He looked at her, and she looked at him, and Mavis could have sworn they were having a moment, a romantic moment, like something out of a romance movie, but she wouldn't be able to find out if she had been right, because the door bell rang in that exact moment, announcing someone had entered the store.

"Hey Steve," Dustin walked inside the store, Max next to him. "Oh, Mavis," he smiled, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, but it's perfect. The more the merrier."

"Have you guys seen this?" Mavis asked the two kids, motioning to the TV. She was glad Max was okay.

"How many phones do you have?" he ignored her question as he looked at Steve.

"Someone was murdered," Steve said in disbelief.

"How many phones do you have?" he asked again, emphasizing every word while doing so.

"Uh, two. Why?"

"Technically three, if you count Keith's in the back," Robin chimed in.

"Yeah, three works," Max finally spoke, looking at Dustin.

"What are you doing?" Mavis asked as Dustin took his backpack off and put it on the counter before sliding it across it, throwing everything that was on it to the ground.

"Whoa, what are you–"

"My pile!" Robin exclaimed angrily.

Dustin ignored their cries as he jumped onto the counter and slid himself down to the other side, where Steve, Mavis and Robin had to move to make room for him. By doing so, he kicked some tapes down.

"No, no, no! Not my tapes! Dude!" Steve exclaimed, bringing his hands to his head. "What are you doing, man?" he asked as he walked over to Dustin, who had sat down right in front of the computer.

"Setting up base of operations here."

"Base of operations?" Mavis asked confused as she helped Robin pick everything up, Max going around the counter to walk to the computer too.

"Stop, get off of that," the older boy said, trying to sound stern.

"No, I need it!"

"Need it for what?" Robin asked.

"Looking up Eddie's friends' phone numbers."

"Eddie?" Mavis asked, but she was ignored.

"Oh, Eddie. Your new best friend Eddie you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy game?"

"Yes!" Dustin looked at Steve in disbelief. "I never said that."

"Did something happen to Eddie?" Again, ignored.

"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around in here like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day." Robin said as she organized the mess Dustin had caused.

"But Mavis is here," Dustin spoke.

"She doesn't count," Steve said, blushing slightly. "And she has never caused a mess like the one you two are causing right now."

"All right," Dustin sighed before looking at Robin. "Look, Robin, I totally empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday!"

"Oh my god," the older boy ran his hands through his face.

"Why? Cause calling all of Eddie's friends is an emergency?"

"Correct!"

"Uh, do you want me to strangle him or do you want to do that?" Steve asked Robin as he helped her clean up.

"We could take turns," Robin smirked.

"Okay, enough!" Mavis exclaimed, getting the attention of everyone involved. "You two need to stop acting like you own the place and just tell us what happened. Is Eddie alright? Why are we calling up his friends?"

Dustin sighed, annoyed. "Can you just fill them in while I do this?" he asked Max.

"Fill us in on what?" Robin asked.

The redhead girl just looked at the older teenagers, and Mavis just knew something bad had happened.

"Last night, I saw Chrissy with Eddie. And this morning..." Max let out a shaky sigh. "I saw her in Eddie's trailer... dead."

Mavis brought her hand to her mouth in shock. Chrissy was the one they were talking about in the news. "Oh God..."

"Shit," Steve said, running his hand through his hair.

"So... Eddie killed her?" Robin asked.

"No!" Dustin and Mavis said in unison.

"He wouldn't do something like that," the younger boy said.

"I agree. And he told me Chrissy was coming over to his house. To... buy drugs."

"Drugs? Are you sure Mav?"

"Yes, Steve. He wouldn't lie to me. And he wouldn't tell me he's having Chrissy over if he was planning to kill her. So yeah, he didn't kill her. No way."

"Okay, but he's probably the number one suspect right now, right? I mean, they found her body in his trailer..." Robin said.

"Yeah, but it wasn't him," Dustin spoke as he continued doing his research.

"Have you told the cops about this, Mayfield?" Steve asked. "Because you should."

Max shook her head. "After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go in the trailer... something else happened." Everyone listened intensely. "The power went off, and the lights started to flicker, and Eddie screamed, and then he got into his van and drove away frantically."

Oh no.

"Nothing that weird or anything. I mean... Eddie always drives like a maniac, and the power goes off at my place all the time. It's a piece of shit. But..." she sighed, looking at the older teenagers. "The look on his face... He was scared, really scared. Maybe he was scared because, you know, he just killed someone, or, maybe... maybe because..."

"Something else killed her," Mavis spoke quietly, thinking out loud.

Steve looked at her. "But that's impossible... right?" he asked the group.

"I don't know..."

"It should be."

"Only one person knows what actually happened," Dustin spoke.

"Eddie."

"Exactly Mavis. And that's why we have to find him."

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A few hours later, the five of them were still trying to find Eddie, but to no avail. As Steve attended to the customers, and Dustin, Robin and Max used the three available phones, Mavis headed to Slatewood Records. She greeted her coworker Veronica who was working that day, telling her she was in the area when she realized she had forgotten to call her dad to let him know she would be home late. Veronica didn't question it, and so Mavis went to the back to use the phone. She needed to call Gareth. If someone knew who Eddie was, it had to be him.

Meanwhile...

"Okay," Max spoke. "Someone just mentioned a certain Reefer Rick, but that is all they said."

"Just that name?"

"Just that name," she sighed. "Apparently, he's more of a... legend than someone that people actually know."

"So, how do we find him?" Robin asked.

"Bet the cops know who he is," Steve said as he organized some tapes.

"What?"

"Cops. I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point," he approached them, resting his arms on the counter. "Means he's in the system."

"The cops? Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" Dustin asked in disbelief. "You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?"

"Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, I just don't think that we can rule it out."

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve," Max said.

"And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time making eyes at Mavis and more time trying to find Eddie."

"What?" he blushed. "I'm not making eyes at anyone, Henderson. I'm attending to the customers."

"Is that a new word for swooning over Mavis?" Robin smirked, sending a playful wink his way.

"Hey," he pointed at her. "Not fair. Okay? I am not swooning over anyone..."

"Hey, guys! I might have a lead," Mavis greeted the four as entered the store, the door bell ringing. And Steve was so glad she didn't come back a few minutes earlier when Dustin and Robin were teasing him about his crush. He wouldn't have known what to do with himself.

"Seriously?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah. Gareth told me Eddie buys his drugs from someone named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there."

"Did he give you an address? Or tell you a last name?"

"No..." she sighed. "Turns out no one really knows anything about him. I do know he lives in the outskirts of town, though."

"I'm going to say it again: we should tell the cops," Steve said. "I mean, they probably know more about this guy than we do, and I just think at this point they should probably be filled in on what we know, what's going on."

"Because they will believe us, right?" Mavis said sarcastically, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she looked at him.

"Mavis is right. Cops won't believe us. They never do..." Max said as she copied Mavis, crossing her arms as well.

Steve sighed. "Whatever. I will keep on attending the customers," he glared at Dustin. "We've got a very big selection in here, and it can be super overwhelming for these people."

"Yeah, it can be," Robin smiled before rushing to the computer, determination written all over her face.

"What are you doing?" Mavis asked her as she ran around the counter to stand at her left side. Max and Dustin did the same, standing at her right side as they looked at the screen.

"Maybe we don't need a last name," she started to type something, the keyboard clacking. Steve's curiosity got the best of him, so he rushed behind the counter as well, standing next to Mavis as he placed his hand on the table and looked at the screen.

"You're a genius, Rob," Mavis smiled.

"I know," she smirked, the typing finally coming to a stop."Twelve Ricks already have accounts here."

"That's a lot of Ricks," Max said.

"So, let's narrow it down... Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?"

"Not likely," Mavis shook her head.

"All right. Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, and Romancing the Stone."

"No," they all said in unison.

"Okay. Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease."

"Nah."

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash," she said, making them laugh.

"Definitely not."

"No way."

"Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke."

That had to be him.

Dustin chuckled. "Bingo."

"Lipton?"

"Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road."

"That's out by Lovers Lake," Dustin explained.

"Middle of nowhere," Max stated.

"It's a perfect place to hide," Mavis shared a look with her friends, all thinking the same thing.

And just a few minutes later, they were rushing out of Family Video and getting in Steve's car, Mavis sitting in the passenger seat while Robin, Dustin and Max sat in the back. Steve turned the engine on and started the drive.

"Do you have flashlights in your car?" Dustin asked.

"Uh, no?" Steve answered.

"Ugh," the younger boy groaned. "Are you serious, Steve?"

"Why should I have flashlights, Henderson? Huh? Please enlighten me."

"Because we're always getting ourselves wrapped in some supernatural shit, Steve. And flashlights are a must when it comes to supernatural shit."

"He has a point," Mavis chuckled.

Steve just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Can we stop by my house then?" Dustin asked. "It's about to get dark, so we will need flashlights."

"You're going to be the death of me," he sighed as he turned left to head to Dustin's house first.

After a short while, Steve parked his car in front of Dustin's house. Max and Robin followed the boy inside, leaving Mavis and Steve alone.

"This is certainly different from our usual hangouts after work," Steve looked at her with a smile.

"It is," she chuckled. "How come weird shit keeps following us?"

"I wish I knew," he sighed. "I just want a normal life... is that too much to ask?"

"Apparently," she smiled.

He looked at her, smiling. Mavis could tell he was about to speak again, but then he suddenly brought his hand to his temple, groaning.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Y-Yeah..."

"You need to work on your lying skills, Steve. That wasn't convincing at all," she said. "Are you still having headaches?"

He nodded.

"I told you you should go to the doctor," she sighed.

"I know, and I will. I just... haven't had the time," he spoke quietly, his hand still in his head as he tried to stop the throbbing pain he was feeling.

"You really need to go soon. All those headaches and migraines you're having are a cause of all the head trauma you've suffered," she explained. "I-I read about it."

She had. After Steve had finally told her about it a few months ago, Mavis had gone to the library to do some research about what might be causing it. She just... didn't like seeing Steve in pain.

"Here, let me help," she said softly as she took off her seatbelt, turning around to face him. Steve stared at her as she brought her hands to his face, him bringing his own hand down. She then placed her fingers on his temples, and started to massage them, doing a circular motion.

Steve felt immediate relief, sighing contently as he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

"Does that feel good?"

"Yeah, it does," he whispered, opening his eyes again. Mavis' face was close to his, and so he stared at her, looking at each and every small part of her face... He was admiring her. God, she looked beautiful, and he really wanted to kiss her.

And he would have if Mavis hadn't suddenly stopped massaging his temples before putting her seatbelt back on. He wondered if he had done something to upset her, but then the back doors opened and Dustin, Robin and Max crawled inside, now fully geared.

"We're good to go?" he asked them.

"Yes!" Dustin answered and that was enough for Steve to start the car again, taking it out of Dustin's driveway and driving towards Lovers Lake.

Mavis just avoided eye contact with Steve during the rest of the ride. He hadn't done anything to upset her. In fact, she had leant in, wanting to kiss him so badly, but then she saw the others leave Dustin's house and she freaked out.

However, she wasn't sure about what had happened. Had Steve actually leaned in as well or was she just imagining things? It was probably the latter but still... she knew she would keep replaying that moment in her head for the rest of the night. Or week.

Once they arrived at Rick Lipton's address, the quintet walked towards the door, each one of them holding a flashlight since it had gotten dark. Dustin rang the doorbell, but there was no answer, so he rang it again. And again. And again. And again.

"Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here," Steve said as Dustin started to knock on the door.

"Eddie! It's Dustin!"

"Great."

"Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help," he knocked again. "Eddie!"

Mavis shushed him as she pointed her flashlight through the window and inside the house, looking at it. Robin and Max followed her.

"Rick! Reefer Rick!" Dustin continued knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell.

"Don't scream that," Steve scolded him.

"Rick!"

"He's not there."

"Reefer Rick!"

"Just... He could just be really high," Steve suggested, looking through the window. "Wait, is that a foot?"

"No, that's a shoe."

Mavis had grown tired of their bickering so she continued walking around the house, using her flashlight to try and see if she could find anything, but she came to a stop when something caught her eyes: a dock house.

"Hey, guys?" she called out to her friends, and shortly after they were standing in front of the dock house. Mavis walked towards the door with her flashlight in one hand as she used the other to push the door open.

"Hello?" she asked, entering slowly and looking around. "Is anyone home?"

The other four followed her inside, each one of them using their flashlights to look around.

"What a dump," Steve said before turning off his flashlight and grabbing a wood paddle, hitting the tarp of a boat with it.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked him.

"He might be in here."

"So take the tarp off."

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off."

Mavis just rolled her eyes at their childish behavior. Would they ever grow up?

"Hey, look over here," Max pointed her flashlight at one of the tables.

"Someone was here," Mavis said as she looked at the food wrappers and empty glass bottles.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran," Robin suggested.

"Don't worry," Dustin said sarcastically. "Steve will get him with his oar."

"I know you think you're being funny, Henderson, but considering the fact that everyone in this room has nearly died about hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight–"

Suddenly, someone jumped from under the tarp, shoving Steve against the wall and holding a broken beer bottle to his neck.

Eddie.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Steve panicked, his breath quickening.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Dustin screamed.

"Eddie! Eddie!" Mavis called out to him, joining Dustin.

"It's me," he pointed to himself. "It's Dustin. This is Steve," he pointed to Steve now. "He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?

"Right. Yeah."

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?"

He did as he was told, but Eddie just tightened his grip on him, Steve groaning. And Mavis instinctively grabbed her flashlight like a weapon.

"He's cool. He's cool."

"I'm cool, man. I'm cool," Steve said, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked, still looking at Steve.

"We're looking for you," Mavis spoke softly, Eddie finally looking at her. "We're here to help."

"Eddie, these are my friends," Dustin said. "You know Mavis. And you know Robin, from band," Robin imitated playing the trumpet with her flashlight. "This is my friend Max, the one who never wants to play D&D."

"Eddie," Mavis spoke again. "We're on your side."

"I swear on my mother!" the younger boy screamed. "Right, guys?"

"Yes."

"Yes. We swear."

"On Dustin's mother."

"Yeah, Dustin's... Dustin's mother."

Mavis could feel the tension built up as Eddie contemplated his next actions. But she knew he would do the right thing. And he did: he let go of Steve and took a few steps back. She immediately went over to Steve, placing a hand on his shoulder as he sat down. "Are you okay?"

He just nodded, but he was thankful to have her by his side.

"Eddie... We just want to talk," Dustin approached him, Eddie sitting down and leaning against a wall. "Okay?"

"We want to know what happened," Robin said as she knelt down next to Dustin.

Eddie sniffed, shaking his head. "You won't believe me."

Mavis looked at him. "Try us."

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"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh... And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones... Uh, she..." Eddie whimpered as he told the events of last night to the group. "Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It... It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I... I didn't know what to do, so I... I ran away. I left her there," he looked at them, who were listening intensely to his words, before he scoffed. "You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No. We don't think you're crazy," Dustin shook his head.

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds."

"We're not bullshitting you."

"We believe you," Mavis spoke softly.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little... difficult to take," Dustin started to speak.

"Okay..."

"You know how people say Hawkins is... cursed? They're not... way off."

"There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it even bleeds into ours," Mavis explained, helping Dustin.

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked.

"There are some things... worse than ghosts," Mavis shivered slightly as she recalled the events at Starcourt Mall. Steve noticed this, so he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"These monsters from this other world... we thought they were gone," Dustin proceeded. "But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."

"If they're back again, we need to know," Max said.

"That night," Robin spoke, "did you see anything?"

"Dark particles, maybe?"

Eddie shook his head.

"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust."

"No, Wilson, there was nothing you could see or, uh... Or touch," he sighed. "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she... she was in a trance or something."

"Or under a spell," Dustin thought out loud.

"A curse," Mavis said quietly, realization hitting her.

"Vecna's curse."

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asked, scared of the answer.

"An undead creature of great power."

"A spell caster."

"A dark wizard..."

『••✎••』

vecna is here! & you know what that means... shit is about to go down🤪

also i just finished writing this chapter so it isn't proofread, but i'll do that tomorrow since it's one am for me lol

anyways, don't be a ghost reader & i'll see you next chapter! 💙

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