March 23rd, 1986

The group all woke up this morning and immediately met up to bring Eddie some food. They drove over to Reefer Rick's house and went to the shed where Eddie was.

There was a loud bang when the group entered in and they saw Eddie scared with a smashed beer bottle in his hand. He sighed when he saw the group, "Jesus..."

"Special delivery for one special freak!" Ally exclaimed holding one of the plastic bags. Eddie sighed before taking the bag from Ally as the whole group entered in.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news." Dustin said as Eddie ate some cereal and a bottle of Yoo-hoo.

"How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always." Eddie replied.

"All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy." Dustin explained.

"Like 100% kind of convinced." Max nodded.

"And the good news?" Eddie asked.
"Your name isn't public yet. But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do, too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you." Robin replied.

"Hunt the freak, right?"
"Exactly."
"Shit."

"So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence." Dustin said and Beth sighed.

"Really, Dustin?" Beth questioned.

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie questioned after her.

"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it." Dustin nodded making Brandon and Steve shared a look while Ally groaned in annoyance.

"Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds delusional, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a...a few times, and...and I have once. Mine was more human flesh based, theirs was more smoke relate, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this." Robin explained while the others nodded along with her. Eddie looked at them like they were all insane.

"You see, we usually rely on this girl who has super powers. But, uh, those went bye-bye, so..." Steve explained and Brandon nodded.
"She's also in California so she can't help us...so, uh..." He said.

"So, we're technically in more of the-"
"Kinda..."
"Brainstorming phase."
"Brainstorming."

"There's...there's nothing to worry about." Dustin spluttered. Eddie gave him a look making Beth and Ally sigh.

"You should worry." Beth said.

"Worry a lot." Ally nodded along making the group give them looks.

"What?" Beth shrugged before they heard sirens.

"Shit."

"Tarp."

Eddie quickly put the blue tarp on himself that sat in the van. The others looked out the window to see fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances driving down the road.

What the hell happened now?

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The group drove off in Steve's maroon BMW. They arrived at the crime scene soon after.

When they all got out the car, they didn't expect to see Nancy Wheeler being interrogated by cops. But there she was.

Nancy looked over and waved when Steve did.

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"So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy..it's from the Upside Down?" Nancy questioned as her and the group sat at a table in the trailer park.

"If the shoe fits." Steve sighed.

"Most definitely from there." Brandon nodded.

"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse." Beth looked over at Max who looked away immediately making the brunette frown.

"Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of The Mind Flayer or just killing twins, we don't know."
"All we know is this is something different. Something new."
"Doesn't make sense."
"It's only a theory."
"No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense."

"What about them?" Ally asked looking at Nancy.

"I mean, why them?"
"Maybe they were just in the wrong place. They were both at the game."
"And near the trailer park."
"We're at the trailer park."
"No shit, Steve." Brandon rolled his eyes but also felt a little uneasy of being at the place two kids died.

"Uh, should we maybe not be here?" They all looked around and Ally sighed looking at Beth who shrugged.

"There is something about this place. Fred started acting weird the second we got here."
"Acting weird as in...?"
"Scared, on edge, upset."
"Max said Chrissy was upset too."
"Yeah, but not here."

"She was crying in the bathroom at school." Max replied.
"Did it sound like crying?" Beth questioned and Max shrugged. Beth knew Chrissy had a hard family life even if she didn't show it. She had an eating disorder. So, Beth wondered if the crying was really Chrissy throwing up.

"Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right? So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman-"
"Vecna."
"Dunno about you, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone."
"I would too." Brandon agreed.

"Maybe they did. I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you...you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But you might go to your-"
"Your shrink." Robin cut Max off and the redhead nodded.

The group made their way to Steve's car, before Steve had noticed Nancy walking off.

"Whoa, whoa, Nance. Nance! Nance, where are you going?"
"Oh, there's just something I wanna check out first."
"Something you want to share with the class, Wheeler?" Brandon questioned her.

"I don't wanna waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark."
"Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with this Vecna creep on the loose? No, it's too dangerous. You need...you need someone to...here. I'll stick with Nance, alright." Steve tossed the keys to Robin who barely caught them.

"You guys take the car, check out the shrink."
"I don't think you want me driving your car."
"Why?"
"I don't have a license."
"Why don't you have a license?"
"I'm poor." Robin shrugged.

"I can drive."
"No, no! Never again. Please. Anyone but you. No." Steve then looked at Dustin who gave him a smile. "No chance."

"I can drive. I've got a license." Brandon spoke up and Steve shook his head.
"Yeah, no. I'm not letting you drive my car so you can mess it up like yours."
"I didn't mess it up. It broke down itself. Let me drive, Steve."

"Please just let me, I'll keep your baby safe." Brandon begged.
"No."
"Come on, man!"

"All right, okay, this is stupid. Us ladies will stick together." Robin grabbed Dustin's walkie talkie out his bag and slipped the keys back in Steve's pocket.

"Unless you think we need you to protect us." Robin smirked at him and Steve just sent a sarcastic nod her way as the two walked off.

"Be careful!"
"Looks like Stevie got rejected."
"Shut up before I beat your ass, Wright."

"So, are we going to go or are you going to sit and gawk all day?" Beth asked and Steve gave her a look.

"Let's just go!" Ally exclaimed.
"Shut up and get in the car."
"Wipe your feet." Steve told Dustin as the group got in the car. Dustin wiped his feet on the inside.

"On the outside, not the inside!" Steve yelled, Dustin shrugged before shutting the door.

"Always the babysitter. Always the goddamn babysitter!" Steve exclaimed as he started the car.

"Hey! We're both babysitting asshole!" Brandon exclaimed back making Ally and Beth grin. Beth took one look at Max who sighed before Beth turned with a frown.

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The five sat in the car outside of Max's therapist's home. Brandon sat in the front with Steve while the three younger teens sat in the back.

"Okay. She's in."
"We can see, dingus." Brandon scoffed.
"I'm missing collarbones, not eyes." Dustin mumbled from the back making Beth snicker.

"So, Stevie..." Brandon turned to him making Steve look at her.

"Yeah?"
"Are we just...not gonna talk about it?" He shrugged.

"Talk about what?"
"Your temporary moment of insanity where you basically threw yourself at Nance?" Dustin spoke up after hearing Brandon talk about it. Beth sighed looking at Ally who shrugged.

"That's not what happened."
"Pretty sure that's what happened."
"Agreed."

"It was public. There were a lot of witnesses."

"You implying I still have a thing for Nance?" Steve questioned and Brandon frowned. God, he hoped he didn't.

"No. I'm not implying. I'm stating. And, as it relates to your steadfast refusal to date Robin, it's pretty much the only logical explanation." Dustin explained making Brandon sigh. Ally and Beth shared a look knowing he was getting jealous.

"That's not the only one. And as for Nance, I was just trying to protect a friend. A friend, Henderson, Wright. Okay?" Steve exclaimed at the two and Brandon sighed.

"Okay."
"Whatever."

"Don't wanna find her with her eyes sucked out of her skull by this Vecna creep." Steve continued.

"You're bright red in the face, Stevie." Ally laughed.

"Shut up Rivera. I'm not. I don't wanna talk about it. I'll punch you so hard in the face your teeth will fall back out." Steve told Dustin and everyone winced.

"Whoa...too far." Dustin replied and Steve felt bad immediately.

"Not cool. Sorry."
"Not cool. It's okay."

Beth gave Brandon a look and he sighed taking a look at Steve before looking out the car window.

Beth turned to Ally to see her looking through tapes for her Walkman. Ally listened to that thing every day since Beth got for her for her birthday last year. She loved it so much that it's all she listened to. Ally pulled out a tape of the song "Killer Queen" by Queen. Beth knew that was her favorite song of the band and her favorite song in general.

Ally put the tape in her Walkman and put the headphones on as she pressed play. A few seconds passed and she felt a massive headache but shrugged it off.

The group started talking again wondering where Max as Ally drowned them out with her music. Suddenly she felt the headache again and felt something drip down her nose. She groaned in pain.

"Yo, Al, you okay?" Brandon questioned turning to face her. She looked up and nodded.

"Yeah." She smiled slightly.

"Ally, your nose. It's bleeding." Beth pointed out making the boys look at her concerned.

Ally wiped the blood off and responded with, "I'm fine."

Before anyone can say anything else they saw Max walking out the house.

"Here she comes. Here she comes."
"What'd she say?"
"Nothing, just drive." Max responded as she got in the car and squished herself next to Ally.

Steve gave a confused look before Max spoke up again, "Steve, drive."

"Okay." He nodded as he started the car and they drove off.

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The group drove down the road when Dustin's walkie started making noise.

"Dustin. It's Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin." Lucas's voice came from the walkie.

Dustin picked up the walkie and talked into it, "Lucas? Where the hell have you been?"

"Just listen. Are you looking for Eddie?" Lucas questioned.

"We found him, no thanks to you." Dustin scoffed at his friend over the walkie.

"You found him?" Lucas asked.

"A boathouse on Coal Mill Road." Dustin replied. "Don't worry. He's safe."

"You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?" Lucas told them and Beth rolled her eyes.

"That's bullshit. Eddie tried to save Chrissy." Dustin told his friend.

"Then why do all the cops say he did it?" Lucas asked and Ally groaned.

"Lucas, you're so behind. It's absolutely insane." Ally took the walkie from Dustin.

"Just meet us at school. We'll explain later." Max nodded along with Ally.

"I...I can't." Lucas muttered. "I think some real bad shit's about to go down."

"What are you talking about? What bad shit?" The group shared looks.

A voice was heard from a distance, "Sinclair!"

There was suddenly static over the radio. "Lucas? Lucas?"

€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

"Dustin, do you copy?" Robin's voice spoke through the walkie.

"Yeah, I copy."
"So, Nancy's a genius. Vecna's first victims date back to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bullseye."

"Okay, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now." Dustin spoke as Beth looked at Max grabbing her hand in comfort.

"What are you doing?"
"Breaking and entering school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files."
"Can you repeat that?"
"Just get your ass over here, stat. We'll explain everything."

Beth and Ally stood next to Max as she unlocked Ms. Kelley's office with the keys she stole.

"It's like a mini watergate or something."
"A what?" Brandon looked at Dustin as he flashed the light at him.

"Hawkins gate."
"Wait a second didn't those guys get caught?" Steve wondered as Brandon shrugged.

"Holy shit."
"What happened?" Beth stepped next to Max placing hand around her and looked down at the files.

"Yeah, and not just Chrissy's file. Fred was seeing Ms. Kelley too." Max replied as Beth examined the file which showed Fred Benson.

"Holy shit."

€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

Brandon examined the files as Max read Chrissy's. His eyes widened as he saw two names he recognized in the pile.

Bethany Wright and Allison Rivera.

Beth and Ally were seeing Ms. Kelley. "Beth, Ally, you both were seeing Ms. Kelley?" He asked making everyone look at the two.

"Well, I-" Beth started as Ally stood silent.

Max flipped through the notes on Chrissy's file and read what it said. Ally looked at it with her as Brandon continued to question Beth on seeing Ms. Kelley. Ally tuned them out.

"Can I see Fred's file?" Max asked and Ally handed her the file.

The redhead flipped through it and the same thing on Chrissy's was written down on Fred's.

Ally got a glimpse and saw nosebleeds and then headaches. Ally widened her eyes she got a massive headache back at Ms. Kelley's house and then the nosebleed.

The curly haired girl leaned in closer and read over the file with Max. Nightmares. She's been having lots of them. Past trauma. Yeah...her parents.

Ally suddenly noticed Max in a trance. "Max?" She questioned making the group look towards the two.

"Max, what is it?"
"Max! Max!"

"Max. Babe, can you hear me?" Beth tried shaking her girlfriend but nothing.

"Max!"

Hey guys!! New chapter is here! We've got some jealous Brandon and big news on Beth and Ally. Y'all knew Beth was seeing Ms. Kelley since I made a scene with her but Ally is too! And the trauma being with her parents. You'll find out soon what that's about and what Beth's trauma is too! Also yes, I decided to make Ally's real name Allison because I thought it was cute. So, Ally is a nickname.

I can't wait to write about what happens with them and writing Brandon and Steve moments!! One of the next few chapters is going to be more about Ally and one will be all about Beth and the other Brandon. So, you're going to see more of their stories!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and more is coming soon!!

Love you all!!

-Mary💗