It was a rough night for the group after discovering on the news that another Hawkins high schooler had been brutally murdered. Well, at least that's what the cops thought, and every other citizen. But, the others, they all knew that murder was too far fetched, and that this was just much worse.

Despite the things they knew, they didn't actually know. They didn't know what any of this meant. They didn't know why any of this was happening. And they definitely didn't know how.

So, now, after learning of the horrible news that once again racked the small, bizarre town, they were on their way to the official crime scene. Reefer Rick's house.

"Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car?" Robin spoke up with a disgusted look in the front seat beside Nancy. Max and Lucas held the space in the back, and Olivia, Steve, and Dustin were all crammed in the trunk of the car, the floor scattered with food and drinks for Eddie. Who they still haven't found since the 'murder'.

"'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck." She sighed, Olivia looking at Robin's reflection sympathetically from the trunk.

"It'll be fine." Nancy reassured.

"I just can't stand to see those full eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't." She straighten her face as she looked down at her lap.

"At least he can drink himself into feeling better." Steve mumbled as he stuffed another Pringle into his mouth. Olivia looked over at the beer he was holding up. She shrugged her shoulders before willingly stealing one from the pack.

"That's what our mom does." Max muttered through her headphones, Olivia immediately frowning.

"Hey." She warned, raising her brows at her. "Don't."

Lucas looked over at the two sisters, Max staring forward nonchalantly, while Olivia sighed, popping the beer top off and taking a quick sip.

"Why don't we give it a trail?" Robin suggested before she adjusted in her seat. "'Hey Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Well, five-pack, thanks to Liv.'"

Olivia smirked before drinking more of the beer, then the girl in the front proceeding to speak.

"'Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about, and the gate's closed, so we have no way of getting to him. Hes entirely shut off to us, so basically you're screwed. And, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed." Robin finished with a long breath, everyone stopping to stare at her with raised brows.

"Oh." Olivia nodded slowly. "That's one way to do it." She scoffed before drinking more of her beer can again.

"Wait. Maybe we don't put it like that." Lucas intervened, shaking his head quickly.

"'We're one step closer to finding Vecna.' That's what we say. That's what's important." Nancy concluded, Robin nodding with a sigh.

"See, Robin? Positive spins can make all the difference." Steve mumbled from beside his girlfriend before stuffing another chip into his mouth.

"Uh-huh." She hummed, quickly rolling her eyes.

"And I'm thr pessimistic one." The brunette in the trunk muttered, shrugging as she finished off her beer bottle.

"Oh shit." Nancy barely spoke out, everyone turning their heads to see what she was talking about. And to their surprise, the road leading to Reefer Rick's house was layered with citizens, a few cops and many, many reporters.

The teens quickly jumped out of their spots in the car, Steve grabbing Olivia's hands to help her out. Once they got evidentially closer, Officer Powell's voice came into listening distance.

"All right? As many of you may know, the Roane County like received a call a little after midnight... reporting a homicide here on the lake. Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover's Lake, about ten years from that house you see behind me."

Olivia sighed, everyone sharing worried glances to one another. Eddie definitely wasn't here.

"It was there that we found the victim, an 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney."

As soon as they registered the words, Lucas' head snapped to the group, the rest of them immediately looking over at him.

"His limbs... his body, it was disfigured... there was an eyewitness on the scene. We've also identified a person of interest. Eddie Munson."

"Oh, hell." Olviia muttered, shaking her head as she glanced over at the clearly evident look on Dustin's face. He was worried.

"Oh man." Steve muttered at the same time as she did, everyone immediately looking around anxiously. "This is not good. Really not good."

Olivia looked over to her sister, noticing her eyes sympathetically stuck onto Lucas. Her eyes slowly trailed over to him, his brows upside down in worry and his shoulders slumped. He knew Patrick and now there was another person to add to the list. When was it going to end?

Only seconds after, Eddie's faint voice came through the walkie-talkie on the side of Dustin's bag, everyone shooting up to reach for it. Dustin quickly pulled it from the backpack.

"Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler? Olivia?" At that point, Eddie was just naming anyone who he'd known the most.

"Eddie. Holy shit." Dustin spoke into the device as he turned his back away from the crime scene, the rest of the group quick to follow. "Are you okay?"

"Nah, man." He sighed. "Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay." He spoke through a laugh, Olivia's heart almost hurting for him.

"Where if he?" Robin questioned.

"Where are you?"

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?" Eddie informed them, Steve's head quickly lifting.

"Uh, yeah, that's near Cornwallis and-"

Although Dustin began forming the location, Steve quickly interjected, the boy already knowing. "Garrett, yeah. I know where that is." Then, he started running towards the car. They quickly followed, Olivia close behind as she took the passenger seat.

***

They had been walking in the woods for almost a half hour after they ditched the car far back up with hill. Now in between tons and tons of trees, Dustin and Steve continued to bicker about whether or not they were going the wrong way, to which Dustin disagreed.

"Dude, I'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way." Steve complained, jogging up to the curly head boy who was beside Olivia.

"It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map." Olivia sighed at their arguing, closing her eyes slightly since she had a migraine. Of course, they had to be arguing when she was mad, and had a headache. She wasn't even mad that they were arguing, she was mad that she had to walk through the woods for God knows how long. It reminded her of last year when she was with Joyce, Hopper and Alexei, the group completely lost. Lets just say she's hated the woods ever since.

"You do realize Skull Rock, it's a super popular make-out spot?" Steve muttered, Olivia quickly turning her head to him with furrowed brows.

"Yeah. So?"

*Yeah, well, it wasn't popular until I made it popular. All right, I practically invented it. We're heading in the wrong direction." He informed, Olivia face how deadpanned with even more anger.

"Oh, really?" She said with a completely straight face, now crossing her arms as he looked at her as if it was obvious. She stopped in her tracks, so the other two boys beside her did too, and the group behind slowly caught up mid conversation.

"Yeah. So, like, trust me." He shrugged his shoulders before beginning to walk away.

"You're an ass.", She rolled her eyes as she watched Dustin run after Steve with continuous shouts, the two not even paying attention to her. The other four of the group eventually caught up to an angry Olivia who had her arms crossed and a pout on her face.

"Uh, are you lost?" Robin joked, Olivia turning to her with a deadpanned look.

Thr brunette muttered a quick 'no' before forcing herself to follow after Dustin and her boyfriend with a loud groan. The four looked at each other with confusion before following her and breaking up into pairs again.

"Can you guys slow down? We're not running a goddamn marathon, dios mio."  Steve looked back at her with confusion as he registered the Spanish they slipped from her mouth.

When they continued to walk fast, she sighed before turning around and moving next to Robin and Nancy, trying to get away from the two annoying boys, which definitely aren't making her headache better.

"So, like, Jonathan's just staying at Lenora?" Olivia heard them talking as she walked into their conversation. "Like, isn't that just a bit, insensitive?"

"No? No, it's not." Nancy quickly shook her head with denial. Olivia had just joined the conversation, but she already knew what they were discussing. "No, he can do whatever he wants. Yeah, it's a little difficult because he's not coming down for break, but it's fine."

Olivia raised one brow, immediately seeing the uncomfortable look on Nancy's face. "Are you sure? You don't look that confident. I mean, yeah, I don't understand what you're coming from since I'm not days away from my boyfriend. I wish- but that doesn't matter."

Robin and Nancy immediately looked at her with confusion, although she continued to speak.

"But still, you don't look like you're convincing yourself hard enough."

"Speaking of Steve..." Robin slowly brought him up, side eyeing Olivia who was walking beside her. "Are you two like, okay? Because, if my opinion matters, I think you guys are, like, the glue of the group and I can't tell if you two are good, which, I normally can."

Olivia scoffed as a small smirk appeared on her lips. "No, we're good. If I'm being honest, it's not him that I'm mad at."

Nancy and Robin both paid close attention to her, Olivia dodging a branch above her as she continued to talk. "The last time I was lost in the woods was last year. I talked about it before, a little. I was with Hopper and Joyce and Alexei, the Russian."

"Yeah, him." Nancy nodded, remembering the story she told them before. "Wait, isn't he..."

"Yeah, now he is." She sighed, remembering watching him die, but there was a small smile on her face. Yes, it was still sad, but she learned to move from the bad stuff and remember the good. "But, it doesn't bother me anymore. So, if I'm ever, like, a bitch again just know that I hate getting lost in the woods. Hopper wouldnt like it very much." She joked with a smile, Robin and Nancy both smiling at her.

"Uhm, is that still bothering you?" Nancy muttered nervously at the topic of Hopper, to which Olivia shrugged.

"Sometimes. No, I don't think so." She shrugged, although she didn't seem to hurt by it. She missed the chief, of course, but she didn't like to cry or get upset about it. "Is Jonathan still bothering you?" Olivia changed the subject, a wide smirk on her lips as Nancy  choked out a laugh.

"You think I'm not happy?" The Wheeler sister questioned genuinely, wanting the opinions of the two girls beside her.

"Well, I don't know. It's not like we talk about this often. At least, you and I don't." Olivia mentioned, pointing between herself and Nancy.

"I... I'm sure you are." Robin tried to assure, but Nancy sighed, the girl able to see right through them. "It's just, the other day in the library, I mentioned Jonathan and you flinched or winced or something like-"

"I didn't flinch or wince." Nancy quickly denied, her tone growing higher as she stopped walking abruptly.

"Okay." Robin quickly surrendered, although Olivia watched with confusion. She knew something was going on ever since she found out from Mike that Jonathan wasn't coming to Hawkins over break, but she didn't know it was that serious to infuriate Nancy.

"Jonathan and I are fine." Nancy argued.

"Got it."

"We're good." She nodded sharply.

"Right."

"Keep telling yourself that, Nance." Olivia muttered under her breath. Just like that, Nancy broke, her shoulders quickly slumping and a long sigh leaving her mouth.

"It's just..." She slowly turned and continued walking, Robin sharing a worried look with the brunette before they followed after her. "He was supposed to be her for the break, and then he backed out at the last minute for some vague, mumbly Jonathan reason."

"That's literally him since highschool. Not a shocker." Olivia said with shrugged shoulders.

"To be honest, I'm not that surprised because I've been feeling him pull away. And I dont know if it's because we're 2,000 miles away or if he met someone new or what. And now I can't find out why because apparently he's blown up his family's house phone or something. So, yeah, if... if the mention of his name caused a slight muscle spasm on my face, that's... probably why." She finally stopped her rant to see both Olivia and Robin watching her with raised brows.

"Seems like a perfectly reasonable reason to flinch, wince, or something." Robin smirked.

"Look, I'm sure he's just being his usual, 'Im too much of a loner to leave my house,' kind of Jonathan." Olivia  teased, to which the two girls beside her slightly laughed. "And if it isn't that, then you know something's wrong."

With that, she walked quickly away from them, Nancy's jaw open in shock as Robin laughed. "Liv! It's not funny!" Nancy yelled forward as she heard Olivia laughing from in front of her.

***

Once they had reached Skull Rock, and Steve had continued to rub it in Dustin's face, they had found Eddie, who was reasonably shaken up. And then, he began telling them his story. Again.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh... my walkie was busted man." He explained as they all found comfortable spots standing around, Dustin on the other hand, continued pacing behind them.

"Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently." He said through an awkward smile. "I ran." He chuckled, trying to mask his fear.

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

"Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was." He nodded. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked." He muttered before taking off his wrist watch and tossing it towards the dirty-blonde.

"9:27." She confirmed, nodding her head.

"Same time out flashlights went kablooey." Robin realized, the girl nodding in affirmation.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve questioned in confusion from beside Olivia, his arms crossed.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Then, she threw the walkie back to Eddie for him to keep, although it wouldn't do much now that it was completely ruined and dysfunctional.

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

"And where he attacks from." Lucas added on, the first time he spoke in a while.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart." Max muttered, glancing over at her sister who was already watching her closely. She wasn't ever gonna take her eyes off of her.

"If he even has a heart." Robin shrugged.

"He doesn't." Olivia concluded.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve questioned, everyone shaking their heads or looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Uhm... That was a metaphor, Steve." Olivia told him with a dead panned look on her face, to which he sighed.

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

"I say we chop his head off.", Lucas added.

"Oh, we're making a 'Vecna killing techniques' list now?" Olivia said sarcastically, Robin snorting a laugh.

"All of the above, but we can't do any of that 'till we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy calmed the group down from excitement, ignoring Olivia's sarcastic comment.

"We need El to get her powers back." Max sighed.

"We need El in Hawkins in general. In fact, the Byers too." Olivia mentioned, agreeing with her sister.

"Everything was way easier. We had this girl. She had superpowers." Steve mentioned to Eddie, who nodded along.

"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her." He nodded with pursed lips. "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" He questioned, everyone turning around to see the curly-haired boy frantically pacing, his eyes glued to the compass in his hands.

"Cursed? No, no. He's fine." Steve shook his head. "Mantal? Absolutely."

Almost as if on cue, Dustin screamed a loud 'Boom!' into the air, everyone quickly flinching at the sudden noise that shook the trees and echoed through the woods.

"Bada... bada... boom." He then whispered, pointed directly at Steve, who looked at him as if he was crazy.

"I was right." Steve quickly rolled his eyes. "Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" he questioned in disbelief, everyone staring at Dustin with raised brows.

"Mm-hmm." He nodded with a smile.

"This is Skull Rock, okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now." Olivia frowned quickly before sliding down the large rock behind her and sitting on the leaves, careless of the people around her. They were annoying.

"Yes." Dustin agreed. "And no."

"Oh my God." Steve dragged his hands over his face as he sighed in bewilderment.

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. Correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

"So you're using faulty equipment, dude. You're still wrong. Liv, get off of the ground." He muttered quickly before turning back to Dustin. Olivia grimaced as she he'd her head in her hands, looking up at Steve in confusion.

All the brunette did was look up at him tiredly, ignoring his demand and the looks of the people around them before putting her head back on her knees. Steve scoffed through a small smile as he studied her buried head.

"Are you sleeping?" He teased, although he almost thought it was true since she had looked so tired seconds before.

"Yes." She mumbled, not lifting her head from her under her arms and against her knees. They other teens watched her before turning back to Dustin once he spoke up again.

"Except it isn't faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?" He questioned, Lucas quickly looking up at him with recognition.

"An electromagnetic field." He concluded.

"Yep." Dustin smiled giddily.

"Sorry. I must've skipped that class." Robin furrowed her brows at the two boys, begging nonchalantly to elaborate.

"In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will reflect towards that power. So either there's a super big magnet around here, or..."

"There's a gate." Lucas finished his sentence, Dustin pointing happily to him.

"But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy brought up skeptically, looking around.

"Maybe there's another gate." Olivia's muffled voice was heard from the ground, everyone turning to face her, although she still had her head buried in her arms.

"I thought you were sleeping?" Steve mocked, to which she kicked his foot with her own. She then was forced to look up to reveal her droopy eyes.

"I'm not."

"But, Liv could be right." Dustin brought the attention back to him. "But what if, somehow, there's another gate?"

"I just said that, dingus." She smirked, Dustin deadpanning at her with slouched shoulders. She snorted a laugh before leaning her head against the rock behind her and forcing herself to pay attention. "A gate they we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful."

"Snack-size gate." Robin chimed.

"How? Why?" Steve stuttered, clear confusion laced in his voice.

"No idea." Dustin shrugged. "All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate." He explained. "And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot of freeing Max from this curse."

He then began walking away to the path.

"Where are you going?" Steve questioned, Dustin continuing to strut down the path in determination. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

"This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie." Dustin help up the small gadget. "What day you, Eddie the Banished?"

Dustin spoke in a soft British accent before aiming his arms over to Eddie who was still squatting on the ground. Everyone studied his facial expression of thought before he began speaking.

"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think it's a really bad idea." Steve nodded, but he wasn't done. "But, uh, the Shire... the Shire is burning."

Suddenly, the curly-haired boy began giddily hopping up and down in the air, Olivia grinning as she draped her arms on her knees.

As Eddie stood up, Dustin evidently got more excited, and it didnt help that the metal-head was also smiling. "So Mordor it is."

With that, he began walking towards Dustin. Olivia groaned loudly before angrily getting back on her feet, only to jump on Steve's back. He stumbled forward before yelling at her, although she didn't move. Instead, he began following after the rest of the group, Olivia still on his back.

"You know you love me." She muttered in a sing-song voice as she smiled over Steve's shoulder.

He held tight onto her thighs as he continued walking slightly downhill. He shrugged teasingly, causing his girlfriend to let out a fake gasp. "How dare you." They both laughed slightly, before Steve sighed, preparing himself to carry the stubborn Olivia all the way to wherever she decided to walk herself.