Margaret felt her stomach sink at the eery feeling of her current situation. She contemplated the entire drive how she allowed herself to get into these scenarios, one word: Dustin.

The car that Steve had been driving with Robin beside him started to slow down, signalling to Margaret, Max and Dustin in the back that they were near lovers lake. The possibility of finding Eddie drew closer.

She didn't want to see him, didn't want anything to do with him. She'd known that he'd never truly liked her but she'd always assumed that it was because of her friend group, not that it was a friend group she particularly wanted to be a part of, especially now Chrissy was gone. Although, she never took Eddie to hate her so much that he left her alone after watching her friend die. He'd just upped and left as if she meant nothing to him, and here she sat still wanting to know that he was okay, alive. As soon as she knew that she'd have nothing to do with him. That she knew.

The car turned into a small muddy patch, Steve stopping shortly after, "well this doesn't look like the setting of a horror movie at all" Margaret muttered to Max before they exited the car.

Margaret getting out first and holding the door open until Max followed, "tell me about it" Max had looked as if she too was trying to play it cool.

Dustin and Steve walked around the car to stand by the 3 girls, all 5 of them making their way to the door of the place. The door that was decorated with an autumn wreath, glass panels on the door showing nothing but darkness inside.

Dustin pushed the doorbell before anyone could have any second thoughts. Nothing. Again he pushed the doorbell, nothing. This time, slightly more frustrating he rang again and again and again.

"Okay well that's settled, I guess he's not here" Steve being the first to speak up while everyone else watched Dustin continuously hammer on the door.

"Eddie!" Dustin yelled through.

"Great"

Dustin continued talking to an empty house which Margaret knew would get him absolutely no where so she walked around the place while Max and Robin shined their torches through the windows.

Her eyes quickly fell upon a large metal shed looking place near the lake, possibly a boat house? The light outside the front door turned on. Eddie.

"Guys" she yelled over, all four making their way to her quickly and take in what she had.

Robin was the first to enter trying to awkwardly call out to anyone, everyone else walked in afterwards. It was totally dark. Margaret looked around the place while Max and Robin inspected empty packets and bottles, yip, Eddie was here, or had been at least. She walked over to the back corner, looking at all the tools hanging up on a wall.

"Don't worry Steve will get him with his oar" Dustins sarcastic tone reached her ears, making her smile listening to Steve argue back. When he mentioned everyone nearly dying a hundred times Margaret's eyes widened at that thought, what had she gotten herself into?

"Ahhhh!" A loud groan came with loud stomping and Steve's yells afterwards, making Margaret and everyone else jump.

She turned to see Eddie holding Steve to the wall, holding something to his chin. She stood still where she was, everything from the night before flooding back into her brain. Dustins pleas not even registering in her mind, just the image of the bones snapping in front of her. The feeling of being in Eddies arms, coming back to no one but her friends corpse.

"I swear on my mother!" Dustins yells finally pulling her from her thoughts.

She walked over to him, stopping in front of Dustin and seeing his fist wrapping around Steve's jacket, holding him up, "cut the shit Munson, let him go" the words came out cold, distant, but a voice Eddie recognised instantly his head turning to see her.

Margaret Sawyer, standing there tall and proud, looking like a total badass with her arms crossed over her chest.

He dropped Steve and whatever he'd been holding, a smashed bottle it had looked like.

The thoughts of what he'd done flooded in after seeing her very irritated looking face. He'd ran, he knew she needed him and he ran. He left her. For the first time ever he felt regret, he knew he shouldn't have, but it was what he did.

He backed up to sit on some wooden box with watering eyes, Dustin following him.

"We want to know what happened?" Robin had tried to be nice to him.

"You won't believe me" Eddie sniffled as he spoke. Margaret let out an exasperated sigh, typical Eddie.

"Try us" Max gave him a knowing look, a look he trusted by some miracle. Margaret didn't exactly want to listen to a gruesome retelling of her friends death, so she made her way toward the door, stepping out into the nights breeze once again.

Taking a deep breath.

He was alive, now she didn't have to worry, not that she should've to begin with, but she did.

Eddie had explained the whole story, looking totally broken from what he'd seen, the same way Margaret had been, "I didn't know what to do so I ran away" his voice slowly becoming a whisper, "she needed me and I left her there" he was referring to the girl stood just outside, not Chrissy. "You all think I'm crazy right?"

Margaret heard Eddie's yells soon after, "don't bullshit me man I know how this sounds" his voice was shaking, she made her way back in, standing back, away from Eddie but listening as Dustin spoke.

"You know that people say Hawkins is cursed? Well, they're not too far off" he began, "there's another world hidden beneath Hawkins" this grasped her attention, she silently stepped closer, "sometimes it bleeds into ours".

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie questioned.

"Some things worse than ghosts"

That made her think of her gramps, he died due to 'unknown circumstances' she'd always known it was bullshit, Dustin wanted to explain but she wouldn't let him, she refused to hear any made up stories. But, perhaps this wasn't made up at all.

"It was like she was under a trance" that was exactly how she had described it too.

"A spell" Dustin added.

"A curse"

"Vecna's curse"

The word Vecna making her blood chill, Vecna like in D&D? She knew she'd never have believed this had she not seen what happened to Chrissy with her own eyes.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve muttered.

Dustin and Eddie went on to explain whole Margaret turned around, pressing her hands to a wooden bench, her grandad had been murdered by some undead creature from a board game? She shook her head at the thought. Yet, she believed it. She knew it was the only explanation. She never got to see his body. She was told it was too much for a young girls eyes.

A hand touched her shoulder making her jump ever so slightly, Max. She turned back around to face her, "you okay?" She let out a small sad laugh at Max's concern. Of course she wasn't but she nodded anyway. This was not the time to get into all of her trauma. That was Ms. Kelley's job anyway.

She looked over to Dustin, catching Eddies gaze instead. His sympathetic eyes zoning in on her, guilt ridden brows creasing at how thrown she looked.

All he'd been able to think about was how he'd ran and left her.

"Okay, you can't stay here, if we were able to find you-" Dustin looked up to Steve, "anyone else could" he stood up again, Eddie doing the same, "where can you go that no one would ever expect you to be?" Dustin started brainstorming aloud.

Steve and Robin shrugging. Max looking at Margaret and doing the same.

Dustin paced back and forth for a moment before clicking his fingers, "I got it" a smile spread over his face. He turned to look at everyone.

"We can't applaud you until we know the plan" sarcasm dripped from Margaret's tongue as she spoke.

"I don't know that you'll want to applaud" Dustin gave her the please do not hurt me innocent smile. She tilted her head, face screwing up in confusion, "I think Eddie should stay with you" his words directed to her.

She let out a loud laugh. Looking at Max who gave her a sympathetic look, knowing dustin was far from joking.

"No" Margaret raised her hands in the air, "No, absolutely not". Her hands now falling to lay on her hips. Refusing to look at Eddie, even though his eyes were stuck to her like glue.

"Come on" Dustin walked toward her, "everyone knows you and Eddie do not get along, why the hell would he be staying with you?" Dustin raised a brow giving a cheesy smile yet again, "besides your place is big enough right?"

Yea not exactly, she'd thought. She was in a damn caravan.

"Dustin I'm not living at home right now" she tried to subtly hint at something she refused to say.

"Well" he scratched the hair just under his cap, "even better right?" Margaret gave him another baffled facial expression, "then no one would even know where either of you were".

Margaret let out a sigh, knowing she'd have to pull down the rich girl façade soon.

"I'm at the caravan park" Max and Eddie had known, but, they'd been the only two, "the same one as him" she pointed in Eddies direction, not looking at him as she did.

"They've already questioned everyone they needed to around there, you weren't one of them were you?" Dustin was now stood right by her.

She shook her head.

So much for making sure he was alive then having nothing to do with him.

"Come on please" Dustin put his palms together, "it's the only way to keep Eddie safe".

She let out a breathy sigh, almost as if it were a laugh, but still being very clear that she didn't find it funny, "he didn't give a shit about keeping me safe yesterday" she spoke to Dustin, Eddies head dropping down at her words. She was right, well, to an extent, when she was in his arms he'd felt an overwhelming urge to protect her, and then he did what he did best. He ran.

"I'll owe you big time" Dustins puppy dog eyes making an appearance.

"You already do" again, she was correct. Completely correct this time. She watched Dustins face fall, letting out a deep breath from her nose, fingers coming up to run over her temples, "fine" she whisper yelled. Eddies head snapping back up to find hers, utterly shocked, "but-" she turned her head to meet his, finally, "you do not talk to me, you avoid me as much as humanly possible, you leave me the hell alone" she knew how ridiculous it sounded, being that the two would be isolated in a not very large space, a trailer, but, she felt the need to make her feelings clear.

Dustin turned to look at Eddie widening his eyes in an attempt to get Eddie to agree to her terms, he didn't want to. He didn't want to avoid her, he wanted to apologise.

"Look, I'm sor-" he began to speak to the girl before him.

She raised a hand, "agree or rot in here, I don't have forever, I have a funeral to help plan" her tone again seemed heartless, bitter.

Dustin now walking up to Eddie, shaking his head at him trying to stop him from talking again.

Eddie looked down, "okay, deal".

Steve had driven everyone else home, Dustin, Max, Robin, grabbing some clothes from his place while Margaret waiting in the car. She was going back to get Eddie with him, considering they wouldn't have all fit in his car. Steve had decided perhaps getting Eddie to change before would stop anyone noticing him in the car, or the brief run to Margaret's caravan.

"What's with you and Munson?" Steve's voice broke the very silent but short car journey.

"Nothing" she shrugged, looking out the cold window.

"I'm not blind, there's something between you two" he watched as Margaret turned to face him, giving him a total glare,"friends don't look at friends that way".

"No Steve, there's nothing between us and we are not friends" she calmed her voice quickly, it wasn't Steve's fault, "I was there when Chrissy died" Steve turned his head slightly in shock before turning back to the road, "I ran to call someone and when I came back he was gone" she sniffled, refusing to cry over Eddie, "he left me alone with the body of my best friend, he left me alone and scared" of course she knew how bad he'd have looked, but considering she was with him, she could've kept him safe. Emphasise the word alone, because that's how she'd felt her whole life, the first time she hadn't, other than being with her gramps, was when he held her, but clearly that all meant nothing to him.

He ran before she could protect him with the police, not he looked guilty for sure.

"Holy shit, I didn't realise" he hadn't, he figured when Eddie spoke about running when she needed him, he'd been referring to Chrissy, only he wasn't.

The car stopped pulling up outside the dock house.

Eddie seemed reluctant to change but did, Margaret still waiting the in the passenger side of the car. The two boys appearing back shortly after, Steve driving again and Eddie laying down in the back to avoid being seen.

Margaret threw a pillow Eddies way after closing all the blinds and curtains, they would need to stay that way for a while at least, "sleep on the couch, the floor, I really don't care, just don't bother me".