(Ep. 2: Vecna's Curse)

Cold sweat dripped down her face as she jolted up out of bed. Her chest heaved 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 seemed to be getting worse.

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

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

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

Her mother sounded terrified, more than Gwen had ever heard, which could only mean something terrible must have happened. She dropped everything and hurried 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 said.

Gwen stood next to her mother and placed her arm around her to try and ease her nerves. She never got like this unless something terrible had happened, and based on the way she could 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 came out higher than intended, but considering Barb's name was getting mentioned again, she feared it was something involving the upside down.

As she stared at the screen, the memories of being stuck in that dimension returned. She remembered Barb's screams, her lifeless eyes staring back at her, and the hopeless felt upon realizing nothing could be done to save her.

Claudia took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her daughter, "A Hawkins High student was murdered at the trailer park last night."

Her heart dropped at the news.

Max lives at the trailer park, she thought.

"Did they say who the student was?"

Claudia shook her head, "You're staying away from that place, Gwenie. Do you hear me?"

It was an order she would disobey, but wouldn't dare argue against it at a time like this.

"Yeah, sure," Gwen merely said before deciding to go check if Max was alright.

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

Gwen put on her jacket and took her bag as she made her way to the door. She peeked into the living room to make sure her mother wouldn't notice, finding Dustin seating next to her and offering comfort.

Upon opening the front door, she was suddenly met by Max standing in front with her headphones around her neck.

Gwen took a breath of relief and let her inside, "Thank goodness you're okay."

At the sound of the door closing, Dustin approached the scene and was surprised to find Max here. They haven't spoken as much like they used to, so it left him incredulous that she was here after months of silence.

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

__________________

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

Gwen hoped Max was wrong considering she had seen her right after the game ended. From the look of it, Chrissy didn't appear to be alright. "Are you sure it was her?"

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

Dustin paced all around, worried his friend could be involved in a possible murder case. "Did you tell this to the cops?"

"No, but I can't be the only one who saw them together," Max said.

"Isn't Eddie the leader of your club?" Gwen regretted not having paid as much attention when Dustin kept speaking about him. She vaguely remembered hearing him speak of Eddie with admiration, so the fact that he could be a possible murder suspect really counteracted with Dustin's description.

"The same one," Dustin mumbled, continuing to pace around the room and playing with his cap nervously. "But it doesn't make sense. Eddie, the freak with Chrissy, the cheerleader?"

(There were two possible reasons for this.)

"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?" Gwen suggested.

"It's possible," Max agreed, but Dustin was too caught up in his thoughts to listen.

"The good thing is that the news didn't mention Eddie's name or anything," Gwen softly said, attempting to offer some reassurance amidst the chaos.

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

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

Gwen understood where he was coming from, but sometimes the worst acts could be done by the hands never expected. She didn't want to ruin the perception her brother had on him, but she didn't want him to get his hopes up that his innocence was a certainty. "Dustin, I get that Eddie is your friend, but we can't rule this out."

"I agree with her," Max stated, folding her arms across her chest and standing next to her. "It's possible."

Dustin frantically waved his arms in denial, "It's not! You guys don't know him like I do. 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 wished to have the same faith Dustin had on Eddie, but considering Chrissy was found in his trailer and he was nowhere to be found, it just made things more complicated. She could see how much Eddie meant to her brother and even though she might not believe in him just yet, she'd be willing to do so just for Dustin.

"I'm just saying it doesn't look good for him." Max argued, growing more annoyed at his loud tone as she took a step back with raised palms.

Silence fell upon the room.

If Dustin was right to have faith in Eddie, Gwen considered mentioning the flickering lights could offer some theories as to what may have happened. "I don't know if this will help, but when I got to Max's place last night, something felt strange."

Dustin perked up, "Strange, like how?"

"Maybe it was just an electric malfunction, but when I got to the trailer park, the lights started flickering the same way they did whenever it was something involving the Upside Down," she shivered at such a thought and hoped that for the first time, there would be no correlation to that place. "If you're right about Eddie, then there's a chance something killed her."

"And when you left last night, I heard Eddie yell and saw him running out of his trailer," Max added while nervously playing with her sleeves.

"Did he look scared?" Dustin asked, now fully convinced something killed Chrissy.

Max was silent for a mere moment, "Yeah, he was. He looked really scared. Maybe he was scared because he killed someone or maybe because..."

"Something else killed her."

"That can't be possible, right?" Max refused to believe everything was back. With still dealing with the aftermath of what happened at the mall, she wasn't sure how much more she'd be able to handle.

"Only one person knows what happened."

This was 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 was no way in hell she would let her friends and family face this alone.

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

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In a small town like Hawkins, where disappearances and deaths had become more common, news like this was all that was being reported on. The townsfolk gossiped as if it were something normal, theorizing about what could have possibly happened. Not even in places like the Family Video Store did the chatters stop.

If anything, they became worse.

With the history of this town, Steve worried this could possibly be linked to the Upside Down. Everything had been calm for months, but there could never be a moment of peace. Something always had to happen and it was now when he longed to abandon this place once and for all.

The door suddenly swung open.

Steve and Robin jumped at the sound and hastily turned its way, finding Dustin, Max, and Gwen storming past the displays toward the counter.

"Hey, Steve," Dustin greeted.

"You see this?" he asked, pointing to the television with the remote.

Gwen ignored his question and headed straight to the point, "How many phones do you have?"

Steve nearly fell to his knees at the sound of her voice. He swallowed thickly and lowered the remote, his grip becoming tighter and brown eyes softening. "Wait, what?"

Dustin rolled his eyes and slammed his hands on the counter for emphasis, "How many phones do you have?"

He blinked sharply, attempting to focus on what was said, "I think two, why?"

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

The three glanced at each other, "Yeah, three works."

Dustin quickly removed his backpack and jumped over the counter. The organized tapes fell to the ground, making Steve and Robin complain at his impulsive action.

Gwen, not wanting to be a bother, started picking up the mess her brother made. She could feel Steve's eyes on her and even if she used to love having his attention, she didn't want any of it right now. With everything happening, she couldn't afford being distracted by a dream that could never occur.

But Steve thought the opposite.

His brown eyes collided with her blue ones. He lost all train of thought as he watched her head to the computer. He approached her slowly, entirely unaware of his footsteps. The distance needed to be kept was forgotten and all he could focus on was her warmth radiating onto him.

Oh, Gwen...

How close he was to paradise.

So close yet so far away.

"What are you doing?" Robin's question disrupted his thoughts, causing him to take a step back.

"Watch it," Max complained, but gave him a knowing look once realizing the reason for his distraction.

Dustin didn't look away from the screen as he typed, "I'm setting up base of operations here."

"Base of operations?" Steve asked, and proceeded to attempt removing him from the computer. "Get off. You're not allowed to use it."

"I need it," Dustin stated. "We need it."

That caught his attention.

"And for what exactly?"

It was Gwen who answered this time, "For Eddie's friends' phone numbers."

Steve's gaze darkened and the pencil that was once in his hand was now split in half. He was stunned she was seeking for other guys' numbers, especially in front of him. "You're seriously searching for guys this way? Quite desperate of you."

Gwen narrowed her eyes into slits as she wondered if what she heard was actually said, "I don't need help getting guys, Harrington. I can score a date in a quick second."

(She definitely could.

And he hated it.)

"Oh, yeah?" Steve rhetorically asked, scoffing lightly. "I'd like to see you try."

Gwen didn't say anything and merely turned away. She wondered if perhaps he was jealous, but that thought was quickly dismissed once she remembered he attended the game with a girl. Not to forget how they weren't dating anymore, so if he were jealous, it would be completely unjustified.

"Can we focus here?" Dustin shook his head in disapproval, irritated at how inconvenient they were being. He, more than anyone, wished for them to get back together, but he couldn't afford to pry into their non-existent relationship now. "Gathering Eddie's friends' numbers are more important right now than your love life."

"Just shut up," Gwen whacked him on the back of his head, now standing by the corner and avoiding looking in Steve's way.

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

Dustin groaned, "I never said that!"

"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday," Robin spoke up as she fixed the leftover tapes and placed them on the counter. "It's our busiest day."

Gwen looked around, noticing it was just them. "Rob, it's only us here."

Robin jabbed a finger in her direction, "You're not helping."

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

"So calling Eddie's friends is an emergency then?"

"Correct!" he yelled.

Steve rolled his eyes as he helped Robin fix the mess, "You want to strangle him or should I?"

It was now when Gwen regretted having suggested coming here. She only considered it due to he and Robin being the only ones to know about how grave this situation could be if it did have anything to do with the Upside Down.

Maybe she should have thought this better.

"Can you guys fill them in while I do this?" Dustin glanced toward her and Max, sighing heavily.

"Fill us in on what?" Robin asked, now growing concerned when seeing the pair exchange troubled looks.

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After 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 appeared to be no sign of him.

"Really? You expect him to be at the arcade?" Gwen internally cursed as she felt like she was in between crossroads. This was about the millionth call and there were still no leads. This recent guy kept insisting 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 fool to be in public after the recent occurrences.

She slammed the phone down and crossed out the name on the whiteboard. The list was 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 needed to find him, it only made everything twice as challenging for them.

Gwen plopped her elbows on the counter, but suddenly noticed Steve speaking to a customer. He walked to her holding a VHS tape, and right away, she could tell he was about to try to flirt with the girl.

(Who was extremely pretty.)

"All right, Doctor Zhivago," Steve raised the tape in the air and passed it between his hands. "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 scoffed, not understanding why anyone would get a double VHS. It was incredibly annoying having to get up and switch the tape when the movie was at its most exciting part, and hearing that it was a romance with action just made it worse.

She noticed the way Steve acted around the girl. His doe eyes were slightly narrowed into a flirty way, his smile was much more enchanting, and he kept flipping his hair back in a rather picturesque way.

Any girl would be a fool not to fall for him.

Discreetly, Gwen moved past Robin and Max to grab the whiteboard to pretend she was looking for more numbers to call. She held the phone against her ear and continued to glance in Steve's direction. She waited for the girl to say anything, but couldn't prevent from noticing how extremely gorgeous she was. Her curls were a light brown color that almost appeared to have highlights in them. Her cheeks were flushed a light pink and her eyes held a warm tone that was quite beautiful.

(Why did she have to be so pretty?)

The girl softly smiled, "So, my boyfriend won't, like, totally puke when I bring it home?"

Gwen let out a loud snort, causing them to turn in her direction. She quickly loosened the humor in her expression and replaced it with a stoic one. She spoke into the phone despite no one being on the other end of the line and hoped they wouldn't notice.

But Steve knew her extremely well.

Right from the start, he noticed how attentive she became once he started speaking to the girl. It was inevitable not noticing her attention and Steve felt like the most blessed person at the thought she could actually be jealous.

He could play this game as well.

Steve turned to the girl and pretended to be disappointed, "Oh, your boyfriend?"

Gwen knew it was stupid of her to feel relieved at this. It was quite selfish to hope for his demise, but seeing him attempt to ask out other girls only upset her when realizing he was moving on, and she was still right where he left her.

It wasn't like she could blame him for moving on. He, more than anyone, deserved someone worthy. As much as it hurt knowing he didn't love her anymore, she wouldn't be the one to stop him from finding the right person.

If he was happy, that was all that mattered.

"Uh, no. No, he's gonna love it," Steve's voice faded into a complete silence, his lips curving upward into a feigned smile as he guided the girl out the door once she paid for her rental. He leaned against the glass door and sent a small wave, "See ya later, alligator."

Gwen discreetly smiled.

"I might have a lead," Max announced.

Dustin's eyes widened in relief, "Seriously?"

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

"That sounds promising," Robin chimed in.

"Where does he live?"

Max shrugged, "No one knows. He's more of a legend than someone that people actually know."

"Last name?"

"I don't know that either."

Gwen sighed in frustration and took a leap to sit on top of the counter. All she could think of was how much longer and complicated finding Reefer Rick was going to be. Eddie really knew how to hide, she'd give him that.

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

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

"What?"

"Cops," Steve remained in position as he adjusted the tapes into the right section. "I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer. I guarantee you he's been busted at some point."

Gwen had to admit that he did have a point, but it wasn't like they could just barge into the sheriff's office and simply ask if Reefer Rick had ever been detained. Not if they wanted to be questioned on why they were searching for him without having to reveal they were looking for a possible suspect.

"We can't go to the cops," she denied, her hands picking at the edge of her thumbs. "It's not like we have anyone there to help us."

Gwen had spent months trying to make peace with Hopper no longer being present. It was one of the reasons as to why she refused coming back to town countless times. Every corner of this place reminded her of him. He was everywhere, forever stuck in a cursed town that would never know the sacrifice he made.

No one could ever fit in his shoes.

Dustin broke the momentary silence, "Seriously, Steve? The cops are your suggestion right now?"

He rolled his eyes, annoyed at the tone he was being given, "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 pushed.

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

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

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

Steve cursed under his breath, "How many times do I have to say I'm not jealous?"

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

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

"That's enough!" Gwen exclaimed, and jumped 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 opened his mouth to speak, but she held up one finger to let him know she wasn't done speaking just yet.

"If you haven't noticed, none of us know Eddie like you do," she gestured toward 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 was slightly agape as stared at her with a new level of curiosity. He was grateful that she was defending him, but something about her seemed off. Even when being under a grand amount of stress, she had never been this serious with her brother.

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

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

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

Robin's eyes beamed in a quick instant. She smiled at the group before heading toward the computer and starting to type.

"What are you doing?" Max asked.

"Maybe we don't need a last name," Robin's eyes never once left the screen while the others gathered around her. She typed for the longest seconds until a whole list of the same names filled the screen. "Twelve Ricks have accounts here."

"That's a lot of Ricks."

Dustin leaned close to his sister, "Again, I just want to say I'm sorry."

Gwen faintly smiled and removed his cap to mess with his curls, "It's all good. Now, let's focus on finding him."

With their attention back to the screen, they squinted 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 mumbled as she shook her head disapprovingly. "That's definitely not our guy."

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

"Nah," everyone said in unison.

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash."

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

"Okay, Rick Lipton," Robin swiftly clicked on the name, revealing a whole list of movies that actually sounded 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 exclaimed.

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

Robin clicked again, "2121 Holland Road."

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

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

Steve discreetly glanced 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 was thinking about their times as well and by the look on her face, he found relief that he wasn't the only one.

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

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