▸ Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi

T H E    D I V E P T . I

Eddie had explained what truly happened at Lover's Lake. Patrick had been a victim of Vecna.  The entire time Eddie told the story, he snacked and drank out of cans that we had brought him. Poor guy was starved and thirsty. The wrappers and aluminum cans were littered around him. I had my arms crossed as Eddie continued to explain what happened after. Dustin was pacing behind us.

"When I made it to shore," Eddie took a sip from the canteen, "my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran."

He placed the canteen on the ground. Eddie spread out his hands and gave us a grin. He released a chuckle, clasping his hands together.

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

"Yeah, no, I...I know exactly what time it was." Eddie started to undo his digital watch from his wrist. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

Eddie tossed the watch to Nancy. She caught it out of surprise. Nancy turned it in her hands to read the time. 

"Nine twenty seven." Nancy read aloud.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey." Robin noted.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve crossed his arms.

"That-that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Nancy explained.

"Does that mean Victor Creel's house is, like, Vecna's base then?" I furrowed  my brows together.

No one responded as they pondered the question.

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

"And where he attacks from." Lucas looked at me. "So I guess it is his base after all."

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart." Max shrugged as if it was that easy.

"Or a machete." I smirked.

"If he even has a heart." Robin pointed out.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve looked at Max for more information, interested on whether or not Vecna was indeed a vampire.

"It was a metaphor." Max explained.

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

"I say we chop his head off." Lucas rebutted.

"Again, machete." I shrugged with a smile.

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

"We need El to get her powers back." Max stated, looking at the ground.

"Everything was way easier. We had this girl." Steve looked at Eddie as he explained. "She had superpowers."

"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her." Eddie looked at my brother. Dustin was still pacing a storm. "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?"

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

"He's just being Dustin." I gave Steve a look.  He shrugged in response. "Usually, when he's in his detective thinking mode, he paces a lot."

"Boom!" Dustin suddenly yelled, his voice echoing in the woods. I turned to look at him. He pointed at Steve. "Bada...bada...boom. I was right."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"About?" I quirked a brow.

"Skull Rock was north." Dustin pointed to the sky.

"Seriously? You're being serious?" Steve asked him. Dustin hummed with a smile. Steve pointed to the rocks, raising his voice. "This is Skill Rock. Okay?"

Dustin gave Steve the same response: a hum and a nod. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Are they seriously doing this shit right now?

"You're totally absolutely one hundred percent wrong. Right now." Steve pointed to the ground at "now" for emphasis.

"Yes. And no." Dustin told him.

"Oh my God." Steve raked his hands down his face.

"This," Dustin held up the compass,  "worked correctly when we left the Wheeler's. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further East we went."

"Okay...and?" I titled my head in confusion. "Your point?"

"The point is. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was." Dustin held up his compass again.

"Still not seeing the point." I pressed my lips tightly together.

"So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong." Steve told my brother.

"Except it isn't faulty." Dustin held up a finger.

"Why are we still talking about the compass?" I sighed.

"Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?" Dustin faced his friend.

"An electric magnetic field." Lucas's eye lit up as he seemed to catch on to what Dustin was saying.

"Yep." Dustin spread out his arms and faced Steve again.

"I'm sorry. I must've skipped that class." Robin looked at Dustin to explain.

"In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect toward that power." Dustin described the scenario. Steve shook his head. "So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..."

"There's a gate." Lucas finished.

Dustin released a chuckle and pointed to Lucas in agreement.

"But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy noted.

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

"Snack-sized gate." Robin called it.

"How? Why?" Steve placed his hands on his hips.

"Do you think it's, like, a natural gate? Like it wasn't opened by the lab and has been here all along?" I questioned.

"No idea." Dustin admitted with a shrug. "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 Max from this curse."

With that, my brother turned his back on us and stared to walk away.

"Dustin?" I called out.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey."

Dustin stopped in his tracks. He turned to face us.

"Eddie's still a wanted man." Steve motioned toward Eddie. "We can't just go hike in the woods."

"This," Dustin held up his compass once again, "little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

We all glanced at Eddie. Eddie rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. 

"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you," Eddie looked up at Dustin, "I think is a really bad idea."

Steve nodded in agreement.

"But, uh, the Shire..." Eddie continued. He looked up at the sky. "The Shire is burning."

Dustin started to hop with a large smile. Eddie gave him a smile. He slapped his hands against his thighs and stood up to his feet.

"So Mordor it is." Eddie said, walking towards Dustin.

I watched with confusion. Dustin nodded with his head to follow him. The others, minus Steve and I, followed after them.

"What is Mordor?" Steve asked me.

"I have no idea." I shrugged.

We started to follow after them. Eddie ran back, grabbing the walkie and a can.

"Get your stuff, dude." Steve told him. Eddie started to jog past us. "Let's go."

▷

Night fell quickly. We were trekking through the woods in the dark. An odd sense of deja vu crept into my mind. The last time I was in the woods hunting for something strange-like...Nancy and I entered the Upside Down.

Dustin started running ahead.  He paused for a second, looking down at his compass. Just when I thought we caught up, Dustin started walking again.

"Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?"  Eddie called out.

I stepped over a broken branch, momentarily shining my flashlight in front of my feet so I wouldn't trip. Steve placed a hand on my arm.

"You good?"

"Yeah," I gave him a nod, "just trying not to trip. That would be embarrassing."

"And we wouldn't want that." Steve sent me a sly grin.

"I think we're almost getting close." Dustin looked back to inform us.

Eddie quickly caught up to him, grabbing his shoulder to stop him. He was one footstep away from falling into the lake.

"Watch your step big guy." Eddie patted his shoulder.

"Oh man." Steve breathed out. We all stopped around Dustin. "You gotta be shitting me."

"Yeah."

"I thought these woods looked familiar."

"Lover's Lake." Robin said.

"This is confounding." Dustin frowned.

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

"Just our luck." I muttered, scratching my temple.

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening." Nancy remembered, glancing at me. "Maybe Vecna's the same way."

"Yeah, only one way to find out." Steve stated, staring at the dark lake.

"I stashed the boat not that far from here." Eddie started to lead us. "Come on."

We followed after him. Once we got to the blue tarp, Eddie took it off. We all stared at the boat. Steve and Eddie exchanged looks. The two of them lifted it to the lake. They placed the bow, the front end of the boat, first and we're holding the boat from the stern, the back end.

"Easy." Steve warned Eddie as he crouched, the goal to set the boat down gently in the lake. The later ignored him and dropped the boat into the water. "I said easy, man."

"Sorry, dude." Eddie apologized.

"Here you go." Steve held out a hand to help the first person to go in.

Robin stepped up first and ignored his hand. Instead, she placed her hand on both Steve's and Eddie's head. She used them to help keep her balance as she stepped into the boat.

"Thank you." She told the boys.

"Yeah, that works too." Steve grumbled.

Nancy stepped towards the boat next. Eddie quickly stood up and got in the boat. He held a hand out for her.

"Here you go, Wheeler." Eddie gave her a nod.

"Thanks." Nancy took his hand to step onto the boat.

Steve held his hand out for me. I gladly took it and joined the others in the boat. Robin patted the spot next to her. I sent her a smile and sat down right beside her.

Dustin went towards the boat next. Eddie placed his hand against his forehead and pushed him back.

"Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?" Eddie asked him. Dustin frowned, looking over Eddie's shoulder to stare at me. "This thing only holds four people tops, okay?"

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

"You keep an eye out." Dustin repeated to her. Nancy furrowed her brows. Dustin pulled a face. "It's my goddamn theory."

"You heard Nancy." Robin said from her seat on the boat.

"Who put her in charge?" Dustin pointed to Nancy. "I thought Dawn was in charge? I vote for Dawn."

I heard Max and Lucas mutter in agreement. My heart swelled.

"I put Nancy in charge." Robin nodded at him with a smile.

"Compass?" Nancy held out her hand toward Dustin.

Dustin pouted and stomped his foot. He dug his hand into his pocket to retrieve the compass. My brother placed it in her hands. Dustin took a few steps back to join Max and Lucas.

"You guys stay together, you hear me?" I waved a finger at the young teens. "Keep a lookout for any trouble. Lookout for each other, and protect Max."

"Yes ma'am." Lucas gave a two finger salute, a smirk growing on his lips.

"Hey," Steve stood up and tossed the backpack to Dustin, "there you go."

Dustin groaned at the force of the backpack hitting his chest. Steve pushed the boat into the lake before hopping on. He sat across from me. Eddie started to row the boat out into the lake.

"You said four." Dustin called out. "Dawn?"

"Sorry." Steve whispered to my brother, sending him a wave.

"Stay safe!" I gave him a nod. Dustin's frown deepened as worry settled in his eyes. Giving him a reassuring smile, I mouthed "love you."

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos!" Robin teased them. She stood up and waved. "Miss you already!"

Steve moved up to help Eddie row. Nancy came to sit next to Robin and I. I anxiously drummed my fingers in my thigh. A metallic noise was coming from Nancy's pocket. I stopped drumming and turned to give her confused look.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down." Nancy held up her hand to stop the boys and leaned forward. "Slow down, guys."

Nancy dug the compass out of her pocket. The boys stopped, turning to look at her. Robin and I peered down at the compass. The needle was going haywire, spinning in fast circles.

"Whoa." Steve uttered.

"What's going on?" Dustin's voice came through the walkie. "Guys, talk to me, what's guys on?"

"Uh, Dustin," Robin picked up the talkie, "you're compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital "aah"."

Steve started to unlace his shoe. He took off his shoe and sock, placing  them in the boat.

"Whoa, hey," I placed a hand on his arm to stop him, "what the hell are you doing?"

"Someday's gotta go down there and check this thing out." Steve simply stated, taking off the other shoe and sock. "Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, and then...it's gotta be me."

"Steve-"

"No complaints, alright?" Steve cut me off, giving me a look.

"I'm complaining. I'm filing a complaint, right now." I rushed out as Steve got closer to the edge of the boat. "Steve!"

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I do not want to go down there." Eddie pointed out. I gave him a glare. "Just saying."

"Steve!" I stood up. His back was facing me as he peered at the water. "You can't wait until it's at least during the day when you can actually see down there?"

"Dawn, now is the only chance we have." Steve pulled off his shirt. He tossed it to me. I caught it with a groan. Steve turned to face me, his abs on full display. If I wasn't so upset right now, I would definitely be staring. "I have to do it now."

"Are you- ugh!" I threw my hands up in frustration. With a huff, I dropped his shirt on the seat.

"Hey," Steve cupped my face, rubbing his thumb against my cheek. "I'm going to be okay. I'm just going to go down and see if there's a gate. That's it. I'll come right back up when I find it."

"You better come up when you feel like you can't breath, you hear me?"I hung my head, knowing I couldn't stop him.

"Anything for you. C'mere." Steve kissed my forehead. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. I hugged him back, placing my face in the crook of his neck. "I'm coming back, okay? For you. I love you."

"I love you, too." I pecked his lips before drawing away.

"Here." Eddie held a flashlight wrapped in a plastic bag. "Now he can kinda see down there. Good luck."

"Thanks." Steve took the flashlight.

I stepped away, immediately biting my thumbnail. Steve inched closer to the edge of the boat. Eddie brought out a cigarette and placed it loosely on his lips. He took out a lighter and flicked it on.

"Gross." Robin plucked the cigarette from Eddie and tossed it into the water.

"Be careful." Nancy told Steve.

Steve looked at me one last time. With a deep breath, he turned to face the water. He inhaled deeply and dove into the water with a splash. The boat rocked, causing me to stumble. Nancy grabbed my arm and helped me sit down.

"Thanks." I muttered.

"No problem." Nancy rubbed my arm.

The dark water rippled as it settled calmly. I rested my arms on the edge of the boat. My eyes watched as the flashlight quickly dimmed underwater the deeper Steve went.

"He's going to be okay." Robin told me.

"Yeah..." I bit the inside of my cheek.

Nancy was staring at her watch, keeping time. I know only a few seconds had passed by, but it felt like an eternity. It wasn't helping the anxiety that was building up.

"Where we at, Wheeler?" Robin asked.

"Closing in on one minute." Nancy stated.

"Okay." Robin shakily said.

I stood up straight, the anxiety getting to me. My nerves were making me feel as if I needed to move. Sitting still was killing me. I started to bounce my knee in hope that it would relieve the pent up anxiety.

"Can you please not do that?" Nancy looked at me with worry. "You may bring attention to the boat if there is something down there."

"Sorry." I stopped, switching to tapping my hands against my thighs. "Just the nerves."

"I know." Nancy gave a reassuring smile. She rubbed soothing circles on my back. "He's gonna come back."

I heaved a sigh and looked back out into the water. There was a loud splash as Steve broke through the surface. I gasped, jumping from fright.

"Oh Christ!"

"Steve!" I sighed in relief.

"I found it." Steve swam toward us.

"You found it?" Nancy asked with a smile.

"I found it." Steve rested his arms on the edge of the boat. "Yeah. I found it."

"Dustin you're a goddamn Einstein." Robin spoke into the walkie. "Steve found the gate."

"How was it?" I leaned forward.

"It was pretty wild. It's more than a snack-sized mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big." Steve filled us in.

Suddenly, Steve was tugged down into the water. I stifled a scream, scrambling to lean over the edge. Steve came back up with a confused expression a few seconds later. He looked at me and was tugged back into the water. Robin screamed beside me.

"Steve!" I yelled out.

"Steve!"

"No! No!"

"Steve!"

"What the hell was that, man!?" Eddie asked.

"Nancy, really, what happened?" Robin freaked out. "Dawn?"

"Jesus!"

I felt for my machete that was still attached to my belt loop. Nancy saw the movement and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Dawn. Dawn no." Nancy quickly shook her head.

"Steve is down there, Nancy! He's in trouble!" My eyes started to well with tears. "He needs help."

"You're not going in there, are you?" Eddie held out a hand to try and stop me.

"I need to." I started to go closer to the edge. I unclipped my machete and held it in my hand.  "You guys just wait here, okay?"

"Wait, no, Dawn!" Robin screamed.

"Dawn!" Nancy reached a hand toward me, but it was too late.

With a deep breath, I dove into the water.

Things are getting intense

And I left it off with a cliff hanger 🤷🏽‍♀️
Gotta keep y'all on your toes