"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Nick exclaimed as the group rushed out of the store and towards where their cars waited, Nick, Steve, Dustin, and Robin hopping into Steve's car while Lily, Debbie, and Max piled into Debbie's.

While she was normally one to wait until all of her passengers were safely buckled inside their car seats, the doors were barely shut before Debbie peeled out of the parking lot, tires squealing beneath them against the asphalt with Steve's car not far behind. She pulled out onto the main road through downtown Hawkins, following the familiar path towards Lover's Lake that would hopefully bring them face-to-face with a safe, unharmed Eddie.

"So what's our plan of action here?" Debbie asked. "Find Eddie and talk to him?"

"We need to figure out what really happened last night." Max explained. "He's the only one who knows what attacked Chrissy. If it's what we think it is, then we know we're really in trouble here."

Lily's eyes met the floor of the vehicle as Max's words registered in her head. If they were right, if Chrissy had been attacked by something from the Upside Down, then that was just the start of their troubles without Eleven here, with or without her powers.

"What do we think it is?" Debbie asked as she pulled off the road just before Lover's Lake, turning onto Holland Road. "What do you all know that I don't?"

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, alright?" Lily spoke up, not wanting to hear any of the words spoken aloud as her breathing started to become more ragged, and instead she forced her gaze up out of the window, where the name Lipton was scrawled across a mailbox.

"Well this is... nice," Debbie mused as she slowed the car to a stop, and the three girls hopped out to see Dustin already running to the front door. Robin was right behind him with flashlights in hand, passing one to each of the girls, and Lily instantly clicked hers on, illuminating a small glow in the darkness to investigate the house.

The house sat alone in front of Lover's Lake, with plenty of space and a cover of trees separating it from any nearby houses. The lights were off inside the house, despite the sun already having set, giving the impression that no one was home. It was quiet and secluded, the perfect place to hide for someone trying to escape. She could only hope Eddie had the same thought about it.

The group followed Dustin to where he paused in front of the door, instantly reaching for the doorbell. He pressed the button, and a muffled ringing sound could be heard inside the house. She peered in through the window to try and catch any sign of movement, but nothing stirred inside the empty house. Frustrated, Dustin rang the doorbell again, pressing it repeatedly, but still, nothing moved.

"Okay, well that's settled." Steve said as Dustin continued to ring the doorbell. "I guess he's not here."

Instead, the lack of response only made Dustin pound on the front door harder. "Eddie!" he yelled. "It's Dustin!"

"Great," Steve sighed exasperatedly.

"Guys, maybe he's really not here." Debbie pointed out.

"Where else would he go?" Lily asked. "He has to be around here somewhere."

"Look, we just want to talk!" Dustin yelled through the locked door. "No cops, I swear, we just want to help!" He began to pound on the door again. "Eddie!"

"Thank you, Dustin, let's wake up the whole neighborhood and show them where Eddie is, shall we?" Lily scolded the boy, turning her flashlight around for any sort of sign that Eddie had been anywhere in the yard, but she came up short.

"Rick!" Dustin changed tactics, switching back to ringing the doorbell again. "Reefer Rick!"

"Don't scream that," Steve hissed at the younger boy. "He's not there."

"He could just be really high." Dustin pointed out.

Nick snickered. "I can assure you he's definitely been that high."

As Dustin continued his efforts at the front door, Lily watched as Max moved around towards the side of the house. She watched as her sister's eyes lit up, and she turned back to face the rest of them. "Hey, guys?" Max called out, and the others followed her, the trail of her flashlight leading to what looked like a very old, dilapidated boathouse.

Nick was the first to lead the group down the hill to the boathouse, and instantly Robin and Max began to shine their flashlights in the windows. Lily peered inside, hoping she might catch a glimpse of Eddie, but instead all she could see was an old boat covered in tarp, and other supplies that looked like they hadn't been touched in years.

"Hello?" Nick asked, pushing the door open with a sharp creaking sound. "Eddie, it's me, are you in here?"

"What a dump," Steve mused as the group made their way inside, the glow of flashlight beams illuminating lines of light across the dark room. Lily watched as he picked up an oar hanging against the wall, holding it up in a defensive position as he began to jab it at the tarp covering the boat.

"What are you doing?" Dustin hissed as Steve continued to jab at the tarp.

"He might be in here," Steve said simply, continuing his work.

"So take the tarp off." Dustin pointed out.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off." Steve retorted.

"You boys are absolutely ridiculous," Nick sighed, watching the exchange in front of her.

"Hey," Max said, drawing Lily's attention away from them and to where her sister now stood over a pile of empty food wrappers, accompanied by an empty beer bottle.

"Looks like someone's been here," Lily said.

"Maybe he heard us." Robin said. "Got spooked and ran."

"Don't worry," Dustin assured her. "Steve will get him with his oar."

"I know you think you're being funny, Henderson," Steve said, still attacking the tarp with the oar. "But considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally I don't find it funny in the slight-"

In a blur, movement flashed from the tarp, and all Lily could hear were Steve's screams as he was tackled by a figure that shoved him against the wall, the sharp point of an empty beer bottle trained against his throat. As they came to a standstill, Lily could see Eddie's hair sticking out wildly in every direction, his body tensed as he surveyed whether or not Steve was a threat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eddie, Eddie stop!" Dustin yelled, holding back Max and Robin, who'd attempted to advance toward the scene. Lily stood speechless with Debbie and Nick, the latter's eyes going glassy as she took in her brother's appearance. "Eddie!"

As Eddie turned to look at the rest of the group, Lily could see the panicked, horrified look in his eyes, like a deer caught in headlights moments before being hit by the car. He continued to hold Steve by the point of the bottle, but his eyes were now moving back and forth between Dustin and Nick.

"Eddie, it's us." Nick said calmly, not wanting to spook him any further.

"It's Dustin and Nick," Dustin added. "This is Steve. He's not going to hurt you, right Steve?" Dustin asked, extending a hand in the direction of the boy pinned against the boathouse wall.

"Right, yeah," Steve breathed out, his eyes trained on the broken glass held just above his throat.

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Dustin suggested calmly.

Steve nodded, dropping the oar away from them, and Eddie took the opportunity to hold the bottle closer, the sharp edges of the glass now touching Steve's throat.

"Eddie!" Nick exclaimed.

"He's cool, he's cool!" Dustin shouted, still attempting to talk Eddie down.

"I'm cool, man, I'm cool," Steve whispered, pleadingly.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked in a panicked tone.

"We're looking for you." Dustin explained.

"We're here to help." Robin added.

"Eddie, these are my friends." Dustin introduced. "You know Robin, from band." he said, and Robin lifted her hands, imitating playing a trumpet. "And that's her sister Debbie, she was in your class last year. You know Max, and-"

"Hi Eddie," Lily said softly, the boy's eyes instantly moving to find her standing by Nick and Debbie, an expression Lily couldn't quite decipher crossing his face.

"I must've really lost my mind last night if I'm seeing Lily Mayfield here to help me right now." Eddie said, chuckling humorlessly, though he made no move to release Steve from his grip. "What are you really doing here?"

"Eddie, we're on your side." Dustin said. "I swear on my mother. Right, guys?"

"Yes," Max said, "yes, we swear."

"We swear." Lily and Debbie added.

"On Dustin's mother." Robin and Nick said at the same time.

"D-Dustin's mother," Steve agreed, nodding, and Eddie finally let Steve go, slumping against the wall and slowly sliding down until he was crouching on the ground.

Lily stepped closer to Eddie, keeping her distance between the two of them but crouching until she was at his eye level, a few feet behind where Dustin and Nick attempted to console him, though it was to no avail as the boy curled in on himself.

"Eddie," Dustin said again, "we just want to talk. Okay?"

Robin kneeled down next to them. "We want to know what happened." she spoke calmly.

Eddie shook his head with a sniffle, his lower lip trembling as he tried not to cry. "You won't believe me." he said, his voice faltering.

Max shrugged from where she stood, just above Lily. "Try us."

Eddie stared up at Max for a moment before he finally nodded. Nick held her hand out in his direction again, and he finally took it, allowing his sister to pull him to his feet and help him a few steps forward, where he sat down on the floor near the boat, and she took a seat next to him. The rest of the group moved with them, Dustin, Max, Lily, and Debbie taking seats facing the Munsons while Robin leaned against the desk, and Steve stood behind them with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I was on my way to lunch yesterday when Chrissy slipped me a note, asking if she could buy from me after school. We met in my spot behind the track, and she just seemed, like..." he trailed off for a moment, speaking slowly as his lip continued to tremble. "...off. I could tell something was bothering her, but I thought she was just nervous about doing a drug deal. Then she asked if I ever felt like I was losing my mind. When it came time for the actual sale, she said she wanted something stronger than weed, something to get away from whatever was freaking her out. So I told her that, after the basketball game and the campaign were over, she could come by the trailer to pick it up. Wayne was working and I knew Nick was staying over at Wheelers', so I figured she'd just be in and out, and nobody would know.

"I went to find what she was looking for, but when I came back, she was in some kind of trance." he continued on, a glassy look falling over his eyes as he continued to tremble, Nick's hand firmly holding onto his. "Then her body just, like, lifted into the air, and she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones, uh, she-" his voice faltered as he began to whimper, his eyes shutting tightly, and the image of Chrissy's arms awkwardly dangling behind her back flashed in Lily's mind. "Her bones started to snap.

"Her eyes, man," Eddie said then, and Lily looked back up in his direction, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. Chrissy had been lying face down on the carpet when Lily had seen her body, so she hadn't been able to see her eyes. "It... it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling." he had removed his hand from Nick's grip as he reached up, imitating the movements, and upon seeing them, Lily ducked her head down between her knees, willing herself to take deep breaths as bile threatened to rise in her throat, before she finally forced herself to look back up at him. "I... I didn't know what to do, so I..." he stopped for a moment. "I ran away. I left her there."

Eddie looked back up at the group, his eyes meeting Lily's for a fraction of a second before he scoffed, turning back away from them and holding up a hand against his face. "You all think I'm crazy, right?" he asked in a soft voice.

"No," Dustin assured him, "We don't think you're crazy."

"No, don't bullshit me, man!" Eddie exclaimed, "I know how this sounds."

"We're not bullshitting you." Max said.

"Not even a little bit." Lily added.

"We believe you." Robin agreed.

"Look," Dustin said in a low voice. "What I'm about to tell you might be a little... difficult to take."

"Okay," Eddie whispered.

"You know how people say Hawkins is cursed?" Dustin asked. "They're not... way off."

"What?" Debbie asked, looking over at the younger boy.

"There's another world." Dustin explained. "A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours."

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked, and Nick shook her head in response.

"Not exactly," Nick said softly.

"There are some things worse than ghosts." Max said.

"These monsters, from this other world," Dustin continued, "We thought they were gone. But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."

"If they're back again, we need to know." Max said.

"That night, did you see anything?" Robin asked.

"Dark particles, maybe?" Max suggested, but Eddie shook his head.

"It would almost look like dust." Dustin explained. "Swirling dust."

"No man, there was nothing you could see," Eddie responded, causing the sinking feeling to resurface in Lily's stomach. "Or, uh, or touch." he sat silent for a moment before he continued. "I tried to wake her, man." he said again. "She couldn't move. It was like she... she was in a trance or something."

"Or under a spell." Dustin added, the sinking feeling in Lily's stomach growing even deeper.

"A curse." Eddie said.

"Vecna's curse," Dustin concluded, and Lily shot out of her seat, nearly knocking over the tiny foot stool she'd been sitting on as it bounced against the concrete flooring with a loud thud.

"No," Lily said adamantly. "No. That's- that's impossible. You've never dealt with him before, so why now?"

"Who's Vecna?" Steve asked.

"An undead creature of great power." Dustin explained in a horrified tone.

"A spellcaster." Eddie breathed.

"A dark wizard." Dustin added.

Lily's eyes shut tightly as she tried to take deep breaths, though every part of her mind screamed at her to leave the boathouse, take Debbie's keys and don't stop driving until she was well out of Hawkins, or even better, well out of Indiana. If Dustin was right, and the creature they were facing was on Vecna's level of power, they were doomed. All of them were doomed.

"So what's our plan of action?" Nick spoke up. "We can't just take Eddie back with us if the police are looking for him, but we can't just leave him here alone."

"Someone should stay with him." Robin agreed. "Keep an eye on him, play lookout and distract anybody who might come knocking so he can get away."

"I'll do it." Nick offered instantly, but Steve shook his head.

"Nah, it can't be you, Munson." Steve said. "The two of you are obviously linked. If you go missing too right now, things could get even worse for both of you."

"Then who's going to stay with him?" she retorted.

"Lily could stay," Debbie spoke up, causing every head in the room to turn in her direction. "Why are you all looking at me like that? There's no link between the two of you, and if anybody asks, you went out of town on a college visit for spring break."

"Absolutely not," Nick started.

"Debbie's right." Robin agreed. "Max, would you be able to cover for Lily at home?"

"Piece of cake." Max said simply.

"What do you think, Lily?" Debbie asked, and Lily finally allowed herself to look over at Eddie, his broken gaze fixed on her.

Lily hadn't exchanged more than a passing glance with Eddie Munson in the past seven months, since she threw her Hellfire shirt into his hands back at his trailer and left them behind. All she'd ever wanted was a way out from the horrors that had befallen Hawkins, Indiana, but somehow now she'd found her way back into the eye of the storm.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "If it's the right decision, then I'll stay."