When it arose to the morning. I woke up so I can drive Hunter to the airport. "Right, have you got everything? Clothes, deodorant and all the other essentials." I said to him as we got in the car.

"Toothbrush! Hang on." He shouted as he ran back in the house. He then ran out a few second later.

"Right, let's go." I said to him as I drove him to the airport. I waited until I saw Mike and that's when I let him out.

"Right, I'll get you something as a souvenir. Miss you already." He said to me and that's when I got out and left.

"Miss you- -" I started before the door closed. "Right, I see how it is." I said before I started driving back to Hawkins. When I got home I saw Mom.

"Where's Dad?" I asked her and she looked at me.

"California. Something came up there." She said and I nodded.

"Oh, okay." I said to her and I went upstairs to change into my work clothes. I was hoping that nothing too bad would happen today. Robin was talking about Vicki. Her newest crush.

"Then Vicki laughed. And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like...it was a real, genuine laugh." Robin said and I she was telling Steve and I all about.

"Of course. It's my Muppet joke. It's hilarious." Steve said as he was putting some VHS's back on the shelf.

"All Muppet jokes are funny." I said to him with a smile.

"My point is that Vicki laughed and everything was just like...it was perfect." Robin said to us and she should really ask her out. They'd be cute together.

"But?" Steve and I asked her. There has to be a but.

"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 kept 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, I'm trying to stop, but I can't. And I'm doing it right now, aren't it?" She asked us as she turned around.

"No, definitely not." I said to her and Steve looked at me and then he looked at her.

"Yeah, you are." He said telling her the truth. He then walked backwards into a poster.

"Oh, I'm hopeless." Robin said and Steve and I joined her.

"Don't be silly. Your not at all." I said to her with a smile. She could never think like that. She had a chance.

"Eh." Steve got out and Robin looked at us.

"If only we could just, like, combine." Robin said and I was incredibly confused.

"Combine?" Steve and I asked her.

"No, think about it. I know exactly what I want, and I've found the girl of my dreams, but I just can't get the courage to ask her out. Meanwhile, you have the perfect dream relationship. And you'll probably get married one day." Robin said making Steve him in agreement. So that was a thought in his head. "So if we just combined, you could both help me and my problems would be solved. Because, I mean, alone, let's face it..." Robin trailed off and Steve looked at her.

"You totally suck." Steve said and she didn't.

"Not totally. Only a little bit." I said to her and she looked at the two of us.

"Totally and utterly. Oh, I think I found our morning movie." Robin said as she ran across the small store. "Doctor Zhivago." She said as she held up the double VHS.

"Oh, good choice." I said to her with a smile. She had taste.

"Ugh, you know I don't do double VHS." Steve said as the two of us started to walk towards her.

"But it's about doomed love." Robin said with a smile.

"That's the best kind. Apart from enemies to lovers." I said to them both. Steve started pushing the cart.

"Oh, well, that's relatable." Steve said to us both. It was and wasn't.

"Precisely. Also, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the most beautiful creature I have ever in my life." Robin said before she turned the TV on. Displaying the news.

"We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in the east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name..." The reporter said and I only knew two people that lived there. Eddie and Max.

"Holy shit." Steve said as he watched.

"...although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family." The reporter said and I looked at them.

"That's where Max and Eddie live." I said to them both and the news kept playing.

"Many of the residents we spoke to voiced similar concerns to us. Grief, shock, disbelief, anger. Everyone wants to know the same thing, how can so many tragedies befall a once-peaceful town? All eyes are now in the police for answers. Is the new Chief of police, Powell, in over his head? Or is he the very savior this town needs? We'll be here the rest of the day right here on channel nine, where we'll keep you posted on all the latest developments. In the meantime we recommend you keep your doors and windows locked tight. This is Beverly Moss, signing off for..." The reporter said and I couldn't believe this. I looked at them both. I then heard the phone ring.

"I'll get that." I said before I answered the phone. "Hello, this is family video. How can we help you?" I said as I answered the phone.

"Y/n, it's me. Hunter. Dad wouldn't let me go. Somethings happening in California now apparently. I just wanted to say I'm still here." He said and I hated every moment of this. If Hunter was here then he wasn't safe at all.

"Okay, look after yourself. Go to Dustin's. Mom will be at work. Please go there." I said to him and I could tell that he was nodding.

"I will. We won't do anything without letting you know." He said to me and I nodded. That's when the call ended.

"Who was that?" Steve asked me.

"My brother. Somethings going on in California so he wouldn't let Hunter to go. Now he's here. Where I didn't want him." I said to them both and Robin looked at me.

"At least you tried. At least you can look after him here." Robin said and at least that was the big positive.

"Exactly, besides maybe the thing in California is worse." Steve said to me and that was something at least. But I bet in California no one's turned up dead yet. We continued on with our work day. Apart from when I saw them. Dustin, Max and Hunter. Let's just say we hadn't been watching any movies this morning. Only the news.

"Hey, Steve." Dustin said as he walked in and the three of them came to the counter.

"You see this?" Steve asked him. They had to. It was everywhere.

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin asked and that wasn't related to what Steve had asked.

"Someone was murdered." Steve said to him. That was the more important topic at hand.

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin asked again. Clearly this was an important matter.

"Two. Why?" Steve said to him.

"Technically there's more than that." I said to him and I looked at Robin.

"Technically three, if you count Keith's in the back." Robin said and I saw Hunter, Max and Dustin look at each other.

"Yeah, three works." Max said and that's when Dustin started taking his bag off. Throwing it across the counter.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked him. "Whoa! What are you- -" Steve started before the two piles Robin and I had created fell.

"Be careful!" I shouted at him. We deal with any of this being broken.

"My pile!" Robin shouted at him. That's when Dustin started clambering over the counter.

"No, no, no! My tapes! Dude. What are you doing, man?" Steve asked as Dustin sat at the computer we had.

"Setting up base of operations here." Dustin said and as long as they didn't get caught they could stay here.

"Base of operation?" Robin asked and I looked at them.

"Why do you need a base exactly?" I asked them, if this was a murder then the police could handle it.

"Get off." Steve said to Dustin.

"I need it." Dustin said to him, but why.

"For what?" Steve asked him. Did we even want to know.

"Eddie's friends' phone numbers." Dustin said and I guess no one had heard from Eddie. I know that he never would've done it.

"Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve asked him and I could see the jealousy here.

"Yes. I never said that." Dustin said and I looked at the two of them.

"Steve, you're jealous I can tell." I said to him while putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day." Robin said and the two of her started picking things up. Hopefully not many people would come.

"Robin, I empathize but this cannot wait until Monday." Dustin said and he really couldn't care that we had a job.

"Oh my god." Steve got out. I could tell that he was done with Henderson in this moment. But not for long.

"Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?" Robin asked him. And I think that was right.

"Correct!" Dustin shouted at her.

"Want me to strangle him or do one of you want to?" Steve asked as he came over to Robin and I.

"I'd do it but dads a cop." I said him with a nod.

"We could take turns." Robin said and Steve went away. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Can you fill them in while I do this?" I heard Dustin ask both Max and Hunter.

"Fill us in on what?" Robin asked and I pointed a VHS at them all.

"And you better start talking." I said and Max rolled her eyes. That's when they had no choice but to tell us. Dustin was on the phone.

"Have you seen or heard from Eddie recently?" I heard Dustin asked. "When's the last time you talked to him?" He added.

"Eddie Munson. Seen him?" Max said and I heard Hunter talking from the back. I just made myself busy around the store. Giving suggestions to people as we were going around. "Hey, guys, I might have a lead." Max said to us and finally we'd have our phones back.

"Seriously?" Dustin asked and I looked at them.

"Finally." Hunter said as he looked at Max.

"Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there." Max said to us and now we just had to locate Rick.

"Sounds promising. Where does this Reefer Rick guy live?" Robin asked and k had to nearby.

"See, that's the thing. No one knows. He's more of a...a legend than someone that people actually know." Max said and this was hopeless then.

"What about a last name?" Dustin asked.

"He has to have one." I said to her. Hopefully she got that as well.

"I don't know that either." Max said, we'd hit a dead end.

"Bet the cops know the last name." Steve said as he was sorting things out with the cart. He was definitely hoping we didn't find Eddie.

"What?" Max asked him.

"Cops. I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system." Steve said. I think he was forgetting we didn't have access to the names they had.

"The cops? Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" Dustin asked him and clearly it was.

"I think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on." Steve said to us and he thought Eddie did it. I could tell.

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" Dustin asked him.

"Just say it. You do." I said to him and I'd known Eddie for years. He wouldn't do anything like this.

"Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out." Steve said as he stood beside me. But we were ruling it out.

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve." Max said to him and I agreed with her.

"Besides we all know Eddie's not capable of that." Hunter said and he was right.

"And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time looking at your girlfriend when she's talking with guys and more time trying to find Eddie." Dustin said and I nodded at that. He always saw him looking in the corner of my eye.

"Somebody to attend to the customers." Steve said and I looked at him.

"Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin said with a wink. The door then opened as well.

"Hey, not fair. Okay? I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for people." Steve said and Robin looked like she had an idea.

"Yeah, it can be." Robin said and she went to the computer.

"What are you doing?" Max asked her.

"Maybe we don't need a last name." She said and I got behind the counter to look. She then searched up Rick. We got a list of names. "Twelve Ricks have accounts here." She said to us.

"Maybe he's one of them." I said to her, it had to be one of these names.

"Lot of Ricks." Max said to us but we could refine this.

"So, let's narrow it down. Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. Chances our drug dealer has a family?" She asked and she looked at Max.

"Not likely." She said to her.

"All right. Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone." Robin read out.

"No." We all said.

"Okay. Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease." She read the next name. I doubt he watched musicals.

"Nah." We all said to her.

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash." She read and we all laughed at that.

"Definitely not." Max said to her.

"No way." Steve said to her.

"Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke." She said and that was our guy.

"Bingo." Dustin and Hunter said at the same time. Giving each other a high five.

"Lipton?" Max asked as we looked at the name.

"Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road." Robin said reading the address. We'd found Eddie.

"That's out by Lovers Lake." Dustin said. I knew that place well.

"Middle of nowhere. It's a perfect place to hide." Robin said and just like that we locked up and went on our way. Hopefully Eddie would be there. Once we made it to Rick's place Dustin started ringing the doorbell. No response. So he rapidly pressed it.

"Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve said and that's when Dustin started knocking on the door.

"Eddie! It's Dustin!" He shouted and I don't think anyone was home.

"Great." Steve said and that's when I started looking in one of the windows. Robin went the other side. No one was here.

"Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help. Eddie!" Dustin shouted.

"I don't think anyones in." I said as I looked at the mess of empty bottles everywhere.

"Shh." Robin said as she kept looking in.

"Rick! Reefer Rick!" Dustin screamed. No one was answering that door.

"Don't scream that." Steve said to him well he already had.

"Rick!" Dustin shouted again.

"He's not there." Steve said to him but there was no way that Dustin would listen.

"Reefer Rick!" Dustin shouted again.

"Just..." Steve started but there was no point.

"He could just be really high." Dustin said to him and if he was then these could be deemed as not real to him.

"Is that a foot? No, that's just a shoe." Steve said to us and I couldn't help but to laugh at that.

"Everyone!" Hunter shouted and I looked at him.

"Hey, guys?" Max called and we all went over to them. There was a boat house.

"The boat house." I said to them all. "Why didn't we check there first." I said to them. We then made our way to it. Robin was the one to open the door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" She asked as we entered the building. It was dark.

"What a dump." Steve said as we looked around.

"Eddie, if your here. It's me, Solace." I said to him if he was here. That's when I saw Steve pick up a paddle. Take a stab at the tarp on a boat.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked him.

"Be careful with whatever your doing." I said to Steve, I couldn't have him breaking anything.

"He might be in here." Steve said to us both as I walked over to them.

"So take the tarp off." Dustin said to him, that would've made more sense.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off." Steve said to him.

"I'd rather not. Who knows what's under there." I said to them and Hunter looked at us.

"Given that Steve's hit it so much, I don't think that Eddie's in there." Hunter said and he had a point.

"Someone was here." I heard Max say to Robin. She must've found something.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran." Robin said to her and hopefully he didn't.

"Don't worry. Steve will get him with his oar." Dustin said to us and that's when I looked back at them.

"The most powerful weapon of all time." Hunter said to us sarcastically.

"I know you think you're being funny, Henderson and younger Solace, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight- -" Steve started before something came out from the tarp. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Steve shouted at them. It was Eddie.

"Whoa, who,a whoa, Eddie! Eddie! Stop! Eddie! Eddie!" Dustin and Hunter shouted at him.

"Eddie, you're ok. We're here to help you." I said to him and hopefully that would be enough to get him off Steve.

"It's us. It's Dustin, Hunter and Y/n. This is Steve. He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?" Dustin said to him and I know that Eddie wouldn't hurt Steve.

"Right. Yeah." Steve said to him.

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Dustin asked him and Steve dropped it. "He's cool. He's cool." Dustin shouted at him.

"I'm cool, man. I'm cool." Steve said to him and he was. He was dating me.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked and we'd told him. I'd told him.

"We're looking for you." Dustin said to him. Telling him one part.

"We're here to help." Robin said to him.

"We'll do anything because you didn't do it." Hunter said to him.

"Eddie, these are our friend. You know Robin, from band. This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D. Eddie. We're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?" Dustin said and that was a serious swear.

"Yes. Yes. We swear." Max said to him.

"On Dustin's mother." Robin said to him.

"Yes, completely on Dustin's mom." I said to him.

"Dustin's mother." Hunter said and I looked over at Steve.

"Yeah, Dustin's...Dustin's mother." Steve said and that's when Eddie let him go. "Jesus Ch..." Steve got out and Eddie sank down the wall I went over to him with Dustin and Hunter.

"Eddie. We just want to talk." Dustin said and that's when he tried to take the broken bottle away from Eddie. "Okay?" He said to him.

"Listen, we know you didn't do it but you need to talk to us." I said to him softly. I couldn't imagine what he was thinking. He was with Chrissy when she died.

"We want to know what happened." Robin said and he never looked at her.

"You won't believe me." He said to us but we would. We'd seen it all.

"Try us." Max said to him and Hunter looked at him.

"Trust me, we'll believe you." Hunter said to him and that was the truth. No matter what.

"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...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 said to us and I felt my eyes glaze over. "You all think I'm crazy, right?" He asked us and we didn't.

"No. We don't think you're crazy at all." Dustin said to him and Eddie looked at us.

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds." He shouted but that wasn't what was happening.

"We're not bullshitting you." Max said to him.

"We've experienced things others haven't." Hunter said and now was not the time for all of that.

"We believe you." Robin said to him.

"You know I believe you." I said to him. But he didn't believe that.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little...difficult to take." Dustin said and now we had to say everything that was wrong with Hawkins.

"Okay." Eddie said hesitantly.

"You know how people say Hawkins is...cursed? They're not way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours." Dustin said and I had a feeling that one day. Hawkins would get taken over. Entirely.

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked and I wish it was ghosts. They'd be easier to deal with.

"There are some things worse than ghosts." Max said and I looked at her.

"I wish they were ghosts." I said to her. The reality was a lot worse.

"These monsters from this other world...we thought they were gone. But they're come back before. That's why we needed to find you." Dustin said to him, if we didn't this thing would've got to him first.

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

"We need make sure that Hawkins is safe again." I said to him, that was our duty now. Even though we were all kids when this started. We had that duty and we'd carry it out again.

"That night, did you see anything?" Robin asked him, hopefully whatever it was. It wasn't that bad.

"Dark particles, maybe?" Max asked him and he shook his head.

"It would almost look like dust, swirling dust." Dustin said and Eddie shook his head again.

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh...or touch." He said and Hunter looked at him.

"Could hear anything like a snarl or a roaring noise? It wouldn't sound normal." Hunter asked him and if there was a noise maybe we could try and find out what it was.

"No, the other thing to hear was what was happening to her bones." Eddie said and I couldn't imagine how that was. But for now, our target was invisible. Which made this a lot harder. Especially if we couldn't see the enemy. "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she...she was in a trance or something." He said to us and that must've been terrifying for Chrissy. She could stop it from happening.

"Or under a spell." Dustin said to him.

"A curse." Eddie said to us.

"Vecna's curse." Dustin said and I had no idea who that was but Hunter seemed to agree.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asked him.

"I was about to ask the same thing." I said to him, maybe I should learn about all these D&D things.

"An undead creature of great power." Dustin said and there was fear in his tone.

"A spell caster." Eddie said to us. This wasn't giving us any hope.

"A dark wizard." Dustin said.

"The most powerful one to exist." Hunter said and we had no chance. This would be the end of Hawkins.