(Ep. 2: Vecna's Curse)

Cold sweat drips down her face as she jolts up out of bed. Her chest heaves uncontrollably with every flash of the same nightmares repeating in her mind. Gwen thought that maybe coming home would have helped in easing those terrifying dreams, but it only seems to be getting worse.

She throws the blanket away from her and gets ready to take a shower. Maybe the warm water would help her headache go away since she doesn't want to take anymore painkillers or consume that awful tea her mother is forcing her to drink.

Just as she gets out of the shower, she overhears the news broadcast, "We also don't know if foul play was involved..."

Thinking nothing of it, she finishes getting ready for the day and starts heading out, but that's when her mother yells out, "Gwenie! Come right now!"

Her mother sounds terrified, more than Gwen has ever heard, which can only mean something terrible must have happened. She drops everything and hurries to the living room, stopping shortly under the archway as she sees her mother pointing at the television.

"What is it? What happened?"

"Look," Claudia simply says.

Gwen stands next to her mother and places her arm around her to try and ease her nerves. She never gets like this unless something terrible has happened, and based on the way she can feel her trembling, nothing good must be getting informed right now.

"Ever since that girl, Barb, died a few years ago, it has been one thing after another..."

"Why is she saying that? What happened?" Her voice comes out higher than intended, but considering Barb's name is getting mentioned again, she fears it's something involving the upside down.

Staring at the screen, the sudden memories of being stuck in that dimension take over as she remembers Barb's screams of when the creature attacked her. She remembers the way her lifeless eyes stared right at her, filled with terror and anguish as her life had been cut short in a quick instant.

Claudia takes a deep breath and encircles her arms around her daughter. She rubs her back for a few seconds before pulling away and taking a deep breath. "A Hawkins High student was murdered at the trailer park last night."

Her heart drops and her eyes widen in complete shock. Max lives at the trailer park... "Did they say who the student was?"

"Not yet," Claudia pulls her in for another hug. She squeezes her extremely tight that if it wasn't for Gwen gasping, her mother wouldn't have noticed and all of her breath would've been sucked right out. "You're staying away from that place. Do you hear me?"

Umm, no. Max lives there, she thinks, but knows better than to argue at a time like this.

"Yeah, sure," Gwen simply says before deciding to go check if Max is alright.

She starts wondering if those flashing lights were a coincidence or if they have a connection to what happened. She was just there last night and everything seemed completely fine. Well, it was eerily calm, which she now realizes was a sign of something terrible about to happen.

Quickly, she gathers her bag and makes her way to the door. Dustin is seated next to their mother, who is seeking the comfort of Tews and keeps mumbling incoherent things.

Gwen quietly grabs her car keys and makes sure not to alert them from being certain her mother will keep them on lockdown if necessary. Staying here when knowing Max is out there is not a good plan, so if she needs to drag the young girl here to keep her safe, then so be it.

Only as she was about to open the door, the doorbell rang and like a gift from heaven, Max was already here with her headphones around her neck and with a somber expression.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Gwen sighs in relief and lets her enter just as Dustin walks up behind her and stares at Max in confusion. He hasn't spoken as much to her like they used to so it's surprising that she's here after months of pushing him and everyone away.

"I know who was the student that died," Max says in the lowest voice possible, causing the already tense atmosphere to worsen.

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"Chrissy Cunningham?" Both siblings question at the same time.

"Are you sure it was her?" Gwen hopes Max is wrong considering she was one of the last people who saw her at school, and from the looks of it, Chrissy didn't appear to be alright.

Max nods, "Yes. She was in her cheerleader outfit. Same thing she was in when I saw her with Eddie."

Dustin springs up, his eyes filling with panic and concern that his friend could be involved in a murder case. "Did you tell this to the cops?"

"No, but I can't be the only one who saw them together," she quickly says as she starts pacing the room like Dustin.

"Wait, isn't Eddie the leader of your club?" Gwen really wishes she had paid more attention when her brother kept speaking about him. She only remembers hearing him speak of him with admiration and describing him as the greatest person you could ever meet, so the fact that he's now a murder suspect really counteracts with Dustin's description.

"The same one," he mumbles, continuing to pace around the room while playing with his cap nervously. "It doesn't make sense. Eddie, the freak with Chrissy, the cheerleader?"

There's two possible reasons for this.

Gwen stands up, stopping Dustin from his pacing before saying, "Either they were secretly hooking up, or can we also point out that he's a dealer, so what if he was selling her drugs?"

That comes as a surprise to her brother, but not to Max. "I thought those were just rumors," he says.

Max shakes her head, "The whole school knows he's a dealer. How could you not know?"

"Let's forget about that," Gwen tries switching the topic of conversation, soon joining her brother's relentless pacing before saying, "The news didn't mention Eddie's name or anything-"

"Yet," Max adds on, "But I guarantee you, Eddie is suspect number one now."

"That's crazy!" Dustin's tone gets defensive, almost offended that Max would even think his friend is capable of doing something as terrible as this. "Eddie would never do this. No way!"

Gwen's brows cinch in confusion as she places her hands on her hips, "I get that Eddie is your friend and you care for him, but we can't rule it out."

"I agree with her," Max folds her arms across her chest and stands next to her, "It's possible."

Dustin waves his arms frantically, annoyed at them for believing such a thing, "It's not! You guys don't know him like I do." His voice is all but a whisper that Gwen could only hope their mother isn't listening through the door, "When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends, Mike and me? No one was nice to us except Eddie."

Gwen really wishes to have the same faith Dustin has on Eddie, but considering Chrissy was found in his trailer and he's nowhere to be found, it just makes things more complicated. She can see how much Eddie means to her brother, and even though she might not believe in him just yet, she'd be willing to just for Dustin.

"I'm just saying it doesn't look good for him." Max argues, growing more annoyed at the loud tone from her friend as she takes a step back with raised palms.

The room turns silent, both teens sigh at the complete loss they're in. Gwen's not sure if mentioning the flickering lights will help in anything, but if Dustin is right about Eddie, then something else did this to Chrissy.

"Umm, I don't know if this will help but..." she glances over at Max, who is quick to catch on to what she's about to say. "When I got to Max's place last night, something strange happened."

That's enough to intrigue her brother. Dustin raises up from his bed, his expression filled with curiosity and an even greater concern. "Strange like how?"

"Maybe it was just an electric malfunction, but when I got to Max's place last night, the lights starting flickering the same way they did whenever it was something involving the Upside Down," Gwen shivers at the thought, hoping that for the first time, there's no correlation to that place. "If you're right about Eddie, then there's a chance something killed her."

"And also, when you left last night, I heard Eddie yell and when I looked out the window, he was running out of his trailer," Max adds while playing nervously with her sleeves.

"Did he look scared?" Dustin questions, now fully convinced there was something that killed Chrissy.

Max is silent for a brief moment as she gathers her thoughts. "Yeah, he was. He looked really scared. Maybe he was scared because he killed someone or maybe because..."

"Something else killed her," Gwen blurts out, gaining an agreeing nod from Max that only makes her wish she's wrong in this. Yet there's a part of her that wishes it's that instead of Dustin's friend being a killer. She'd really hate to see her brother's admiration disappear if Eddie turns out to be guilty, but having the monster return? There's really nothing good regardless of the truth here.

"That can't be possible, right?" Max refuses to believe everything is back. With still dealing with the aftermath of what happened at the mall, she's not sure how much more she'll be able to handle.

"Only one person knows what happened."

This is definitely not the way Gwen envisioned her spring break going. Maybe she should have chosen California instead, but knowing her mother would call and let her know what happened, she would have still ended up coming here because there's no way in hell she would let her friends and family face this alone.

"We need to find Eddie," she declares, not even giving them a chance to get ready since she's already walking out the door knowing where exactly they could find some answers.

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Steve's eyes were glued to the television. He couldn't stop worrying if there's the slightest possibility that this has anything to do with the Upside Down. Everything had been calm for months, but there can never be a moment of peace in this town, and this was just a confirmation of it.

The door suddenly swung open, catching both Steve and Robin by surprise that made them jump at the sound. They turn around and are met by Dustin, Max, and Gwen as they make their way to the counter in a rush.

"Hey, Steve," Dustin greets him.

Pointing the remote to the television, he wonders if them coming here has anything to do with the news. "You see this?"

"How many phones do you have?" Gwen ignores his question and heads straight to the point.

"Wait, what? Someone was murdered," he answers, irritated at his question being dismissed.

Dustin rolls his eyes, slamming his hands on the counter for emphasis, "How many phones do you have?"

Steve glances over at Gwen, noticing the concern and desperation on her face that makes him realize the severity of their visit, "Two, why?"

"Technically three, if you count Keith's," Robin chimes in.

The three of them glance at each other, "Yeah, three works."

Instantly, Dustin removes his backpack and slides it over the counter. He takes a giant leap, his legs tossing the once organized tapes to the ground all while Steve and Robin complain at his action.

Gwen follows her brother's footsteps and jumps over the counter as well, but unlike Dustin, she actually made sure not to topple over anything knowing how frustrating it is to fix other's messes.

Landing her feet softly to the ground, she maneuvers her way past Steve and ignores his eyes tracing her all the way to the computer. Just standing near him is making her regret coming here in the first place, but for the sake of her brother, she knows - needs - to brush any feelings aside.

Steve completely forgets the distance needed to be kept between them. He finds himself standing right behind her, his chest accidentally pressing on her back that is the warmest Gwen's ever known. She can feel his breathing on her neck, emitting goosebumps to trail down her skin that causes her to lose focus on the screen. Even more when his hand rests on the counter, allowing her to admire the way his fingers are tapping the surface and the way his veins can be seen through every flex.

Her jaw clenches ever so slightly as she tries refraining from glancing his way because damn it, she hates how crazed he makes her feel despite not being together. It's infuriating not being able to do anything about it.

Only after a few seconds, Steve notices their proximity. His heart races uncontrollably and his face begins to display a bright red. He swallows hard, quickly taking a step back that causes him to bump into Max.

The young girl smirks at him from knowing the reason behind his sudden nervousness. She walks past him, ignoring his forced smile before taking over his spot.

He clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck anxiously, "What are you doing?"

"Setting up base of operations here," Dustin responds, his eyes never once leaving the screen as he types away.

"Base of operations? Get off, you're not allowed to use it!"

"I need it," the boy complains, "We need it."

His brow raises in confusion, not understanding his sudden need to search through their customer's records. "And for what exactly?"

Gwen frustratedly sighs, placing her forehead on the counter before turning his way, "For Eddie's friends' phone numbers."

Steve's gaze hardens as the pencil that was once in perfect condition and was laying on the surface was now split in half. His nerves burn at thinking she's seeking for other guys' numbers and especially that she's doing it right in front of him.

"You're seriously searching for guys this way? Sounds quite desperate," he bitterly says, avoiding her vexing glare as she pushes back against the counter to stand in front of him.

Gwen grits her teeth, folding her arms defensively before saying, "I can get guys easily. Pretty sure the first one that walks in, I can score a date in a quick second."

She definitely can, he thinks, but wouldn't dare say it out loud.

Steve scoffs, leaning his head back before choking out a laugh, "Oh, yeah? I'd like to see you try."

She rolls her eyes and turns away, refusing to lose her concentration by bantering with him. Now is not the time to argue and from the looks of it, Dustin appears to be hanging by a loose thread that makes her unwilling to push his buttons even more by getting sidetracked.

"Can we focus here?" Dustin complains, shaking his head disapprovingly at them at how inconvenient they're being. He more than anyone wishes for them to get back together and has been pressuring Steve to make the first move, but right now, he can't afford to pry into their non-existent relationship. Not when finding Eddie has become a priority now. "Gathering Eddie's friends' numbers are more important right now than your love life."

"Just shut up," Gwen whacks the back of his head, standing by the corner with a slight pout as she focuses on not looking Steve's way.

"Oh, really? Your new best friend that you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve responds with a hint of envy in his tone.

Dustin groans, refusing to deal with his dramatic attitude, "I never said that!"

"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday," Robin complains as she fixes the fallen tapes and places them neatly on the counter. "It's our busiest day."

Gwen takes a look around, noticing it's only them in the store and not a single customer has come in, "Rob, it's only us here."

"You're not helping," Robin points a finger at her, scolding her through her stare before Gwen starts helping her fix the mess her brother made.

"Robin, I empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday," Dustin says while writing on some clipboard that he managed to acquire.

Slamming a few pieces of paper onto the counter, some tapes fall behind her that makes her lose her last bit of patience. "So calling Eddie's friends is an emergency then?"

"Correct!" he yells.

Steve rolls his eyes, helping Robin fix the mess before muttering, "You want to strangle him or should I?"

Gwen looks up from gathering the remaining tapes, growing more annoyed at being here in the same place as him. She simply suggested coming here since he and Robin are the only ones present that know of how grave the situation is if it has anything to do with the upside down. Only now, she's slightly regretting coming here despite everything.

Looking towards his sister and Max, Dustin demands, "Can you guys fill them in while I do this?"

"Fill us in on what?" Robin questions, feeling herself grow worried when seeing Max and Gwen exchange equally troubled looks as they wonder how in the world they should begin.

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Once Steve and Robin were caught up on everything, the group set sail in trying to find where Eddie could possibly be hidden. It wasn't an easy task, of course. With making countless calls, there appears to still be no sign of him.

"Really? You expect Eddie to be at the arcade?" Gwen rolls her eyes, setting down her forehead on the counter from how frustrating it is to find nothing after what seems the millionth call. The guy on the phone remains adamant that Eddie could possibly be at the Palace Arcade. Something about wanting to get a high score on Dig Dug, but he would be a complete idiot to be there when he's a murder suspect. "I'm absolutely sure he's not there."

Slamming the phone down, she crosses out the name on the whiteboard, realizing the list is getting shorter and soon there would be no one left to call. She was impressed that Eddie was hiding extremely well, but considering that they need to find him, it only makes everything twice as challenging.

Gwen places her elbows on the counter, when she notices Steve speaking to a customer. He walks to her holding a VHS tape that he went to retrieve from the backroom. Right away, she can tell he's about to try and flirt with the girl, who is extremely pretty.

"All right, Doctor Zhivago," his hands raise the tape in the air, passing it between his hands as he walks over at a leisure pace towards the girl. "It's double VHS. It's long, but that's because it's filled with action and romance, and a little bit of suspense."

Gwen quietly scoffs, not understanding why anyone would get a double VHS. It's incredibly annoying having to get up and switch the tape when the movie is at its most exciting part, and hearing that it's a romance filled with action just makes it worse. If anything, horror films are a way better genre than what he recommends.

She studies the way Steve acts around the girl. He's giving her those flirty eyes of his, smiling all charmingly, and is flipping his hair back just like he did when he was King Steve. Those moves of his are enough to make any girl fall for him, which makes Gwen pray for his demise.

Discreetly, she maneuvers her way past Robin and Max, grabbing the whiteboard to pretend she's looking for more numbers to call. She presses random numbers and holds the phone against her ear while continuing to glance in Steve's direction.

She waits for the girl to say anything, but she can't help but notice how extremely gorgeous she is. Her curls are a light brown color that almost appear to have highlights in them. Her cheeks are a light pink and her eyes have a warm tone in them that are quite beautiful.

Damn it, why does she have to be pretty?

"So, my boyfriend won't, like, totally puke when I bring it home?" she questions with a gentle smile.

Gwen lets out a loud snort that causes the two of them to turn in her direction. Quickly, her expression becomes replaced by a deadpan one as she speaks into the phone despite no one being on the end of the other line.

Only Steve knows her well enough to know her snort was directed at him. Even when talking to the girl, he could feel her eyes on him. It's hard not to notice her attention, which only makes him feel quite content in knowing she could actually be jealous.

Turning back to the girl, he pretends acting disappointed just to fill her with envy, "Oh, your boyfriend?"

A wave of ecstasy washes over Gwen when seeing his plan on asking out this girl come crumbling down to pieces. She knows it's quite selfish to pray for his demise, but seeing him attempt to ask out other girls only upsets her when realizing that he's already moving on, and she's still right where he left her.

It's not like she can blame him for moving on. He more than anyone deserves someone worthy and as much as it hurts knowing he doesn't love her anymore, she wouldn't be the one to stop him from finding the right person. As long as he's happy, that's all that matters.

"Uh, no. No, he's gonna... he's gonna love it," Steve's voice fades into a complete silence, his lips curve upward into a forced smile as he starts guiding the girl out the door once she paid for her rental. He rests against the glass door, sending a small wave before saying, "See ya later alligator."

Gwen shakes her head and bites her cheek to refrain from smiling at his adorable dorkiness. She turns around when hearing the excited voice of Max, who's the first one to get a lead after so long.

"I might have a lead," she announces.

Dustin drops the phone, his eyes widen in relief and joy as he turns around in his stool, "Seriously?"

"Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there."

"That sounds promising," Robin chimes in.

"Where does he live?" Gwen questions, ignoring the silhouette of Steve slowly making his way back inside.

Max shrugs, her headphones are nearly falling off that she quickly adjusts, "No one knows. He's more of a legend than someone that people actually know."

"Last name?"

"I don't know that either."

Gwen frustratedly sighs and takes a giant leap to sit on top of the counter. Her back faces the entrance as all she can think of is how much longer and complicated finding Reefer Rick is going to be. Eddie really knows how to hide, she'll give him that.

"Bet the cops know the last name," Steve suggests.

All four of them turn his way, watching as he fixes the messy tapes without looking at them.

"What?"

"Cops," he remains in position as he adjusts the tapes into the right section. "I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer." Now turning around, he places his elbows on the counter and looks at all of them, "I guarantee you he's been busted at some point."

Gwen has to admit that he has a point, but it's not like they can just barge into the sheriff's office and simply ask if Reefer Rick has ever been detained. Not if they want to be questioned on why they're searching for him without having to reveal they're looking for a possible suspect.

"Even if you're right, we can't go to the cops," she says, "It's not like we have anyone there to help us with this anymore." Her voice trails off into an uncomfortable silence as the remembrance that Hopper is no longer with them takes over, and now with Sheriff Powell in charge, they have no one to confide in with the possibility of the Upside Down having returned.

"Exactly!" Dustin exclaims while taking a step closer to the counter. "And seriously, Steve? The cops are your suggestion right now?"

Steve rolls his eyes, growing more annoyed at the tone of this kid considering he has no business helping him find someone he doesn't even know and yet here he is giving him his time. "I just think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on."

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

Waving his hand in the air for emphasis, Steve tries denying his question, "I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out."

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

"You're just willing to believe the worst of him because you're jealous!" Dustin takes a step closer to him, making Steve back off from not wanting to get into an arguing fit with the teen.

"How many times do I have to say I'm not jealous? Especially of him." Resting against one of the shelves, he continues glaring at Dustin, who seems like he's on the verge of losing his last bit of patience.

"You sound like it to me!" His tone is harsh, indicating this is not like their usual playful banter and he's actually getting angry with Steve. "If you weren't too busy flirting with other girls just to make my sister jealous, you could prove to be useful to help us demonstrate he's innocent!"

Gwen's jaw clenches as she's had about enough with this. She understands her brother's frustration and how important Eddie is to him, but that doesn't excuse him to be giving attitude when all of them have no business helping him with this.

"That's enough!" Gwen exclaims and jumps off the counter to stand in front of her brother. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but this attitude of yours needs to stop."

Dustin opens his mouth to speak, but she holds up one finger to let him know she's not done speaking just yet.

"If you haven't noticed, none of us know Eddie like you do," she gestures towards Steve without taking her eyes off her brother, "He doesn't either, so of course he's going to be doubtful of his innocence. We're all doing you a favor in helping you find him because it's important to you, but you seriously need to cut the attitude or else, you're on your own with this."

Steve's mouth is slightly agape as he folds his arms across his chest and just stares at her with a new level of curiosity. He's grateful that she's defending him, but something about her seems off. Even when being under a grand amount of stress, she's never been this serious with her brother. As much as he loves how defensive she got over him, he would much rather have her join Dustin's attitude.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm really worried for him. That's all," Dustin finally says after having remained silent. He loses the tension in his shoulders and peers in Steve's direction, "Sorry, man."

He gently smiles, "It's all good."

Gwen takes a deep breath and runs her hands through her hair, "Okay, so what can we do since going to the cops isn't an option?"

Robin's eyes beam in a quick instant. She smiles at the group before heading towards the computer and starts typing.

"What are you doing?" Max questions.

"Maybe we don't need a last name," her eyes never once leave the screen while the others start gathering around her. She types for the longest seconds until a whole list of the same names fill the screen. "Twelve Ricks have accounts here."

"That's a lot of Ricks."

Dustin leans close to his sister, patting her shoulder for her attention before saying, "Again, I just want to say I'm sorry."

Gwen faintly smiles and removes his cap to mess with his curls before pulling him in for a hug, "It's all good. Now, let's focus on finding him."

With their attention back to the screen, they squint their eyes for a better focus and try figuring out which Rick could possibly sound like theirs. "Rick Conroy, Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone."

"Ugh, romance," Gwen mumbles as she shakes her head disapprovingly. "That's definitely not our guy."

Robin laughs, "Agree. Okay, so Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease."

"Nah," everyone says in unison.

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash."

Once again, everyone mutually agreed this is not Reefer Rick, "Definitely not."

"Okay, Rick Lipton," Robin swiftly clicks on the name, revealing a whole list of movies that actually sound like it could possibly be their guy. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke."

"Bingo!" Dustin exclaims.

"That's definitely him," Gwen agrees, "So what's the address?"

Robin clicks again, "2121 Holland Road."

That's definitely in the middle of nowhere near Lover's Lake. Gwen should know since she's been there countless times with Steve.

"That's by Lover's Lake," Dustin informs the group.

Steve discreetly glances over at her, smiling when remembering all of the times they went there. The first time they visited was right after their graduation party and because Steve was the designated driver, Gwen had been the only one to drink that night so she became slightly tipsy. He wanted to take her home, but she suggested going to Lover's Lake for a late night swim.

The night was calm, just listening to music and talking about the future, and not even a few minutes later, she claimed he didn't have the guts to go skinny dipping. Just to prove her wrong, he ended up taking her up on the dare, which she ended up doing as well.

He could only wonder if she's thinking about their times as well, and by the look on her face, he finds relief that he's not the only one.

"That's in the middle of nowhere," Max continues.

Robin glances at everyone with a smile, "It's a perfect place to hide."