Cammie sat against skull rock, Max standing beside her with her hand resting on Cammie's head, fingers playing with her hair. The others were surrounded around Eddie, who was drinking from a silver flask.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh... My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran," Eddie chuckled.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked," Eddie said, throwing his watch to Nancy.

"9:27," Nancy said.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin said.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asked.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy said.

"And Cammie had her seizure right after the flashlights went out. Vecna can powerbank her, and he did it from the graveyard when he got Max, too," Lucas said.

"Wait, what? You had a seizure? And you're a... What?" Eddie stared at Cammie.

"Remember Eleven with superpowers? She can basically use my energy to channel her powers if she's not strong enough to do it alone. I have seizures whenever she uses too much energy, or whenever I do. We had an incident with Max in the graveyard two days ago, she ended up facing off with Vecna and I had a seizure and was in the Upside Down with her. We got out, obviously. Last night, when Vecna attacked Patrick, I had a seizure. And, considering the theory I'm connected, it makes sense he can powerbank my energy to do his evil deeds," Cammie said.

"Well, shit, man. You got a one way ticket to Mordor," Eddie said. Cammie snorted.

"I know, right?" Cammie muttered.

"Well, we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks," Robin said.

"And where he attacks from," Lucas said.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," Max said.

"If he has a heart," Robin muttered.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve said.

"It was a metaphor," Max scoffed.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie said.

"I say we chop his head off," Lucas said.

"I say we do all of the above, but we can't do any of that 'til we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy said.

Eddie looked through the gaps in the group, seeing Dustin was pacing up and down.

"Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie asked.

"Cursed? No, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely," Steve said.

"Boom!" Dustin yelled, turning and marching towards them. "Bada... bada... boom. I was right. Skull Rock was north," Dustin said.

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve said.

"Mm-hmm," Dustin hummed.

"This is Skull Rock. Okay?" Steve said.

"Mm-hmm," Dustin said.

"You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now," Steve said.

"Yes. And no," Dustin said.

"Oh my God," Steve scowled.

"This worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was," Dustin said.

"So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong," Steve said.

"Except it isn't faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?" Dustin asked.

"An electromagnetic field," Lucas said.

"Yep," Dustin nodded.

"Sorry. I must've skipped that class," Robin said.

"In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So, either there's some super big magnet around here, or..." Dustin pointed at Cammie.

"There's a gate," Cammie said.

"But we're nowhere near the lab," Nancy said.

"But what if, somehow, there's another gate? A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful," Dustin said.

"Snack-size gate," Robin said.

"How? Why?" Steve said.

"No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Cammax from this curse," Dustin said, stomping away from them.

"Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go hike in the woods!" Steve yelled.

"This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Cammax and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?" Dustin looked at Eddie.

"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire... The Shire is burning. So, Mordor it is," Edie said, standing up with a sigh as Dustin started jumping up and down in excitement.

"What is Mordor?" Steve muttered as Dustin walked away.

The others quickly followed, Max brushing the dirt off the back of Cammie's jeans.

"So, things are starting to look up," Max said, grabbing Cammie's hand.

"We'll see," Cammie said, looking at Max. "I'm still not feeling great about the fact that he can powerbank me. I never tried to use my powers against El. I don't know what'll happen when Vecna and I have to fight. Can I powerbank him if he powerbanks me? Or will he be able to drain me without me doing anything to him?" Cammie said.

"I don't know," Max frowned. "Think you could ask Callum?" she said.

"Not now, but I will. Let's just figure this shit out, first," Cammie said, grabbing Max's hand and intertwining their fingers.

Cammie yawned as the group trekked through the woods, following Dustin and his compass. Steve was right behind him, with Lucas and Eddie in the middle, Cammie, Max, Robin and Nancy bringing up the rear.

It was dark now and Cammie was exhausted, even with the energy shots Robin had practically forced down her throat.

"Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?" Eddie yelled after Dustin.

"I think we're getting close," Dustin yelled.

Eddie grabbed Dustin before he walked right into Lover's Lake.

"Watch your step, big guy," Eddie said.

"Oh man. You gotta be shitting me," Steve muttered.

"Yeah. I thought these woods were familiar," Eddie said.

"Lover's Lake," Robin said.

"This is confounding," Dustin said.

"There's a gate in Lover's Lake?" Max asked.

"I can't imagine Vecna feels much love in his alternate dimension of horror and cat eating demons," Cammie said.

"Oh my god, it was one cat!" Dustin said.

"That was your cat! Have more respect for Mews, Dustin. Jeez," Cammie said.

"Yeah, jeez," Max smirked at Dustin, who huffed and flipped them off.

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna's the same way," Nancy said.

"Yeah, only one way to find out," Steve said with a sigh.

Eddie pulled a sheet off a boat nearby, throwing it over his shoulder. It almost hit Steve, who dodged it easily.

"Easy. I... I said easy, man," Steve said, throwing the sheet to the side.

Eddie shrugged.

"Sorry, dude," he said.

Eddie and Steve knelt down, tilting the boat's back end so they could get in.

"Here you go," Steve offered a hand to Robin.

She ignored it, putting one hand on Eddie and Steve's heads.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna do that. Thank you," she said, climbing into the boat.

"Yeah, that works too," Steve muttered.

"Wheeler," Eddie held a hand out for Nancy.

"Thanks," she said, taking his hand and getting in the boat.

Eddie climbed in, Steve balancing the end carefully as he stood up properly. Dustin turned to step into the boat, but Eddie put his hand on Dustin's head and pushed him away.

"Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds three people tops, okay?" Eddie said.

"It's better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble," Nancy said.

"You keep an eye out. It's my goddamn theory," Dustin said.

"You heard Nance," Robin said.

"Who put her in charge?" Dustin whined.

"I did," Robin said.

"Compass," Nancy stepped forward, holding her hand out. Dustin scowled, throwing it to her.

"Would it not make more sense for me to just... jump down there and save the four grown ups from potentially drowning?" Cammie said.

"No way," Steve shook his head.

"Steve, that actually does sound better. We don't know what diseases are in this lake," Robin said.

"No, it doesn't," Nancy sighed. "Cammie's connected. And she's been getting... haunted? Well, cursed, the longest. It wouldn't be surprising if Vecna can sense her. If there is a gate and she's nearby, he could suck her in and we wouldn't know because she'd be down there alone. And we know she's Vecna's main target, that he can powerbank her. If she went down there, we're basically handing him her on a platter. We're signing her death certificate," Nancy said.

"It's already signed. Why does it matter when I die?" Cammie crossed her arms over her chest. "And, besides, I'm the only one who can fight against him. Why would you not want me to go in if there's a gate? I'll get rid of him without causing any casualties," Cammie said.

"Because you might die and then we're all screwed. So, you're staying. Deal with it," Steve said firmly.

Cammie crossed her arms across her chest, glaring at them.

She really did not want anyone else to die on her watch. She had to stop this before anybody else was lost, before any of her family was lost.

"I heard a rumour-" Cammie started, but Max quickly put her hand over Cammie's mouth.

"Sorry, Juliet, but I'm on their side. You're staying here," Max said.

Cammie scowled, but stepped back from the lake's edge. Max dropped her hand from her mouth, wrapping her arms around Cammie's waist instead. Steve quickly climbed into the boat, launching their bag at Dustin, who caught it with a grimace.

"Hey, there you go," Steve said.

"Ow. You said three," Dustin whined as they paddled the boat away.

Steve looked over at Dustin and Cammie, a frown on his face.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"This is bullshit!" Cammie said

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos. Miss you already!" Robin called.

"Bullshit!" Cammie yelled back.

"Aw, she's just like me," Nancy smiled proudly.

"I'm very mad at you!" Cammie yelled.

"We love you, too!" Eddie yelled back.

Cammie flipped him off, kicking the dirt at her feet as they got further and further away from them.

"They're stopping. What are they stopping for?" Lucas asked after a few minutes.

Cammie looked up, seeing they had stopped quite far into the lake and were shining a torch on something in the boat.

"Guys, what's going on? Come on, talk to me. What's going on?" Dustin said into the walkie.

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital aah!" Robin said.

Lucas put the binoculars to his eyes, squinting.

"Steve's stripping off and standing up. Ew! When'd he get so hairy?" Lucas asked.

"Right? I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it," Dustin said.

"Let me see," Max said, grabbing the binoculars from Lucas.

"What?" Cammie squeaked, watching as Max stared at Steve for a few seconds.

"Cammie, we should wax his chest in his sleep. He's too hairy," Max said, handing the binoculars back to Lucas.

"Men are usually hairier than women," Lucas said.

"And I am a raging lesbian with a girlfriend who does not have a jungle on her chest," Max said.

Steve dove off the side of the boat into the water and Cammie held her breath, starting to count the seconds in her head until she saw him again.

"You guys realize, if there's a gate down there, it's technically a water gate. Watergate," Dustin said, a grin on his face.

They stared at him with raised eyebrows, then looked back at the water.

"Oh, fuck this-" Cammie stepped forward, but Max pulled her back.

"Cammie, no," Max said.

"Cammie yes! He's gonna drown!" Cammie said.

"Down by the water!" a faint voice yelled.

The four teens turned, seeing torch lights being shone through the trees in their direction.

"Shit," Lucas breathed.

"Down!" Dustin hissed.

They all quickly dropped down, hiding behind a large log as they followed the torch beams with their eyes.

"Shit. Shit," Dustin whispered.

"It was on this shoreline," a voice said distantly.

"Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate..." Dustin's radio crackled with Robin's voice.

Dustin cursed, shoving the walkie into his jacket to muffle the sound. A siren wailed in the distance and Cammie flinched.

"Fuck. Cops," she whispered.

"Shit, shit, shit. We can't let 'em find Eddie," Dustin hissed.

Max peered over the log before grabbing Cammie's hand, pulling her to her feet.

"Stay with me," Max whispered. "Hey, officers!" she yelled, pulling Cammie to start running away from the lake.

"Max!" Dustin and Lucas hissed, standing up and starting to run after them.

"Over here! I found the killer! This way!" Max yelled, tugging Cammie into the trees and away from the lights.

They could hear Dustin and Lucas running behind them, and faint yells of the direction they were heading in.

"You got a plan to get us out of this one?" Cammie said to Max.

"I got a distraction so they didn't see the others on the lake. It's worse if they're found than it will be when we are," Max said.

"Good point," Cammie nodded.

"Stop! Get back here, you little rats!" an officer yelled, chasing them through the dark trees.

Dustin stumbled over a tree root, slamming face first into the dirt.

"Dustin! Shit!" Lucas yelled, turning back to grab him.

A group of officers came out of the trees, torches shining on the four teenagers. They were all wide eyed, staring back at the officers with flushed cheeks, chests heaving for breath.

"Hey there," an officer said.

"Oh, fuck. My mom is going to murder me," Cammie whispered.

Cammie winced as she sat on the sofa in the Wheeler's living room, Max and Dustin on either side of Cammie with Lucas beside Max. All of their parents were there, Mr and Mrs Sinclair with Erica, Mr and Mrs Wheeler with Holly, Dustin's mom, Cammie's mom and dad.

Max's mom was the only one not there, but Cammie figured her own father had offered to go and see what this was about so Susan wouldn't have to leave work.

Marissa currently looked severely unimpressed, and sober for once. Cammie was surprised about that. If anything, the news that her daughter and friends had been almost arrested by police should've sent Marissa head first towards the wine cupboard.

Peter, however, seemed to be a lot calmer than anyone else there. He hadn't said anything when they walked in, just checked Cammie for injuries and then did the same for Max. He'd ruffled their hairs and then grabbed some warm cups of tea or coffee for everyone while they waited for the other parents to arrive.

"What exactly were you all doing at the lake?" Officer Powell said. The four teenagers shared looks.

"Uh... It's comp..." Dustin trailed off, looking at the others.

"We were... We were just going for a walk," Max said.

"A walk? At 9:00 pm?" Officer Callahan raised his eyebrows.

"To the lake. We were gonna take a little swim. Little night swim," Dustin squeaked.

"Dusty. Someone was just murdered there," Ms Henderson said.

"Yeah, we... we didn't realize that until we got there," Dustin said.

"That's why we didn't swim," Lucas said.

"And Nancy, was she with you at this night swim?" Karen Wheeler asked.

"No," Max said.

"Yes," Dustin chimed.

"Uh... We're not sure," Lucas said.

Cammie rolled her eyes, very relieved that her lack of talking gave her an out to stay absolutely silent so she didn't make this worse for everyone else. 

"She was there. Then she left. It's all a little confusing," Dustin said.

"That's when you guys came," Lucas said.

"Right. Then they dared me to say what I said," Max said, pulling a fake smile onto her face.

"Oh, yeah. About the killer," Lucas said, him and Dustin laughing forcedly.

"You're lucky you didn't get shot," Ted Wheeler said. Cammie rolled her eyes.

"Have you had any contact with Eddie?" Officer Powell asked.

"That psycho... freak killer? God, no. Nope. Absolutely not," Dustin said. Cammie shook her head in agreement.

"No. We haven't heard from him," Max said.

"We barely know the guy," Lucas said.

"Who?" Dustin asked.

"Oh, that's a bunch of bull," Erica snapped.

"Erica!" Erica's parents said.

"I mean, you realize they're lying. The whole couch is on fire," Erica said.

"Erica!" her parents said again.

"Just the facts," Erica huffed.

"Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?" Ms Henderson squeaked.

"No," Dustin said, voice high pitched.

"Lying to cops is a crime, son," Mr Sinclair said.

"I'm not lying," Lucas said.

"The fire is consuming us," Erica said.

"Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that'll loosen their lips," Ted said.

"Okay... You wanna send our kids to jail?" Mr Sinclair snapped.

"We need to take this seriously," Ted said.

"He didn't mean it like that," Karen quickly jumped to his defense as the parents started arguing.

Cammie sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. This was not helping her headache at all and she wanted to just leave, but she couldn't exactly do that.

"Shut up! Oh my God. Shut up!" Officer Powell yelled. The room fell silent and he sighed. "Jesus. Shh. We're gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time. You first," he said, pointing at Cammie.

"Oh, Officer Powell, Cammie can't talk. She was in an accident last year that damaged her vocal chords," Karen said, giving Cammie a look that said she had her back.

Cammie felt slightly touched, then. Mrs Wheeler had always been good to her.

"She's a liar," Marissa snapped.

"Marissa," Peter said lowly.

"What? She can talk! She just doesn't because she's desperate for all the attention she gets by being a freak!" Marissa hissed back.

Cammie sank lower in her seat, rubbing her face as the other parents shared looks of shame at Marissa's behaviour. Max squeezed Cammie's hand tightly.

"Okay, we're wasting time. You," Officer Powell pointed at Max.

"Wait, what? Why me?" Max scoffed.

"Follow me," he said.

"I'm not even in Hellfire," Max whined.

"Do I need to cuff you? Up. Chop-chop. Let's go," he said.

Max got to her feet reluctantly, shooting a look at Cammie before following them down the hallway to go to an empty room. Marissa turned to Peter as soon as the door was closed.

"I told you, didn't I? That she is a bad influence on our daughter? Look what she's dragged all of the kids into. None of them would've done stuff like this until she corrupted them," Marissa hissed.

"Marissa, give it a rest. Cammie doesn't do anything she doesn't want to and neither do the boys. Don't blame Max because you can't face the fact Cammie made a mistake," Peter said.

"Why can't you see what I can see? That girl is poisoning our daughter!" Marissa yelled.

Cammie covered her face with her hands, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. Dustin put a hand on her back, while Lucas moved closer to her so they could form a shield around her, like that would protect her from Marissa's words.

Peter grabbed Marissa by the wrist, pulling her towards the door.

"I'm sorry, Karen, Ted. We're going to step outside for a minute," Peter said. "You're making a scene, Marissa," he hissed, opening the front door and practically pushing her outside.

"Cam, honey-" Karen started.

Cammie got to her feet, walking through the adults and over to the front door that was swinging shut. She grabbed it before it could completely close, slipping out onto the front step as she watched Peter and Marissa start arguing near their car.

"Our daughter almost died last year! And the year before, and the year before that, and now there's a murderer running around! This all started when Will went missing and now Max's brother is dead and she's dragging our daughter into her grief. Our daughter is drowning, Peter. Why don't you want to help me save her?!" Marissa said.

"Because you're making more problems by trying to drive a wedge between Max and Cammie! Max is the only person other than Steve that she talks to, the only person she doesn't push away, and you want to stop them from seeing each other? It's ridiculous!" Peter said.

"The way they are together isn't natural! We both know what they do when they're alone and it's disgusting. She is corrupting her daughter and it needs to stop. Cammie needs to go away to those places-"

"Who gives a shit if you think it's natural or not?!" Peter yelled, shoving Marissa back against the car. "She's our kid. When we adopted her, we knew that this wasn't going to be easy or simple or normal. I mean, for fuck's sake, she doesn't remember half of her life. She doesn't like being at home anymore because you can't leave her alone to process what the hell is going on. You're making her worse," Peter said.

"Me?" Marissa scoffed. "I'm the only one who wants to get her help by-"

"By sending her to fucking conversion therapy?! By sending her to an abusive camp where they'll try and shock some normality into her?! Are you fucking insane?" Peter yelled.

"If it makes her normal, it's worth it! She's not right in the head!" Marissa yelled back.

Cammie stared at her parents arguing for a few more seconds, watching as Marissa slapped Peter across the face. He grabbed her by her wrist, his other hand coming up to her throat. Cammie sighed and turned around, stepping back inside and closing the door over.

She saw everybody was staring at her and she dropped her gaze to the floor, tears burning in her eyes.

"Sorry," she mumbled, walking down the hallway to the bathroom and closing the door behind herself.