March 26th, 1986

Hawkins, Indiana

"Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car?" Robin called out from the front seat beside Nancy as we drove to Reefer Rick's cabin to meet back up with Eddie. "'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck." She stated, shooting a glance at Nance who only shook her head and kept her eyes on the road. "It'll be fine."

Understatement of the year, really. We didn't know anything, not really. We had a bunch of pointless leads that led nowhere, let alone the fact that even though we knew where Vecna was, it wasn't like we had a way to him. "I can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't." She continued glumly.

"At least he can drink himself to feeling better." Steve called out, holding up the six-pack that Eddie had requested while he and Dustin snacked on some pringles we had snagged at the store. "Right 'cause that always helps." I mumbled from my place beside, resting my head on the back of Lucas' seat.

"Why don't we give it a trial run?" Robin questioned, looking at us through the rearview mirror. "Hey, Eddie. Uh- good news first this time. We got some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension, and the gate's closed, so we have no way of getting to him. He's 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." She rambled, her voice quickly rising with her anxiety.

An awkward silence fell over the car once she finished her little rehearsal. "Needs some work but sounds about right." I mumbled with a frown. "Maybe we don't put it like that." Lucas mumbled, turning to face me with wide eyes. "We're one step closer to finding Vecna." Nancy offered with a shrug. "That's what we say. That's what's important."

"That's the only good news we have to offer after leaving him in the dark for over a day..." I muttered, rolling my eyes as Steve threw a broken chip at Dustin. "You know, a positive spin could make all the difference?" Steve offered a small grin, earning a curt nod from me before I shifted my gaze back onto the road, "Oh, shit..."

The road leading to Reefer Ricks was blocked off. Police cars and barricades brought us to a halt as we looked over the scene of worried citizens as they tried to look past the cops and ambulance as they rushed around the scene. Pulling over, we quickly piled out of the car to join the crowd and figure out what was going on. "Nothing to see here! Just step back a litte. All right?" Powell called out from the front of the crowd as a news crew raised a mic over him.

"This way..." Nancy whispered, quickly ushering us around the news van so that we could have a clear view of Powell. "As many of you know, the Roane County line 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 yards from that house you see behind me. It was there we found the victim, an eighteen-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney. His limbs... his body, it was disfigured. There was an eyewitness on the scene, we have also identified a person of interest. Eddie Munson."

The Chief held up a photo of the teen in front of the camera with a frown. "We encourage anyone with information to please come forward." He added sternly as he traced his eyes over the crowd. "Oh, God..." I whispered, turning to Dustin with wide eyes. "This is not good. Really not good." Steve mumbled as the rest of the group shook their heads in disbelief.

"You've got a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer as many as I can. Two o'clock at town hall, where anyone from the Hawkins community is welcome. But right now, I've got work to do and I appreciate your understanding." He finished before nodding his goodbye while the reporters tried to push their microphones in front of him and berated him with hurried questions.

"Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?" Eddie's voice broke through the air, Dustin hastily pulled the walkie from his bag and turned down the volume of the speaker. "Eddie. Holy shit... Are you okay?" Dustin questioned quietly as we huddled around the walkie. "Nah, man. Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay." He scoffed lightly. "Where is he?" I pushed for Dustin to keep him talking. "Where are you?"

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?" He informed us while Dustin looked around the group. "That's near Cornwallis and--" "Garret, yeah. I know where that is." Steve cut the boy off as he searched for the street name in his memory. Nodding for us to follow him back to the car, Dustin spoke into the walkie in the hopes of reassuring Eddie. "Hold tight. We're coming." He mumbled but the line stayed dead.

~~~

It felt like we were walking in circles, didn't help that all the trees looked the same, and leaves decorated the forest floor as far as we could see while Dustin refused to give up the map and compass he used to lead us through the woods. "Dude, I'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way." Steve called out, voicing the annoyance that we all had been silently directing towards Dustin. "It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map."

Quickly catching up with the boy, Steve rolled his eyes at the statement. "You do realize Skull Rock is a super popular make-out spot?" He questioned. "Yeah, so?" Dustin groaned, looking between his compass and the map. "Yeah, well, it wasn't popular until I made it popular. All right, I practically invented it."

"My boyfriend everyone..." I groaned softly, internally rolling my eyes at the idea of how many times he had come out into these woods with girls from our school, couldn't help but wonder when was the last time he had trekked through these woods. "All I'm saying, is we're heading in the wrong direction." He added, quickly shooting a glance back at me before branching off the path, pulling back the branches of some trees before waving for us to follow.

"Steve. Where are you going? Steve!" Dustin yelled after him, sticking to the path he had been leading us down for the past hour. "Stop whining. Let's go, trust me." Steve called out, waving for Dustin to move from his place while I passed, lightly patting him on the shoulder. "Think we should listen to the expert, Dusty-buns." I grinned, the first half of my comment didn't go unnoticed by Steve as I caught up with him.

The air between us was thick, keeping my eyes locked on the ground while he continued to lead us to Skull Rock, seemingly deep in thought and trying to figure out what to say. Moving to pull my hand into his, I quickly flinched away, earning another concerned look from Steve as I awkwardly clasped my hands together.

"Nellie, what's going on with you? Talk to me..." Steve whispered as Dustin and the rest of the group fell behind us. Pulling my eyes say from the leaves that decorated the forest floor, I could only reach his gaze for a moment before returning to the scattered leaves.

"Do you still love me?" I whispered finally, doubting myself as I uttered the question, ashamed that I even had to ask. "What?" He scoffed lightly before quickly realizing that it was a serious question. "Of course, I love you..." Steve whispered, pulling one of my hands into his, clasping it between both of his before pulling me to look at him. "You know that I love you, Nell." If the concern in his voice wasn't evident enough, it was written all over his face.

Swallowing my pride, I quickly shook my head before pulling my hand away from his. "No, that's- that's the thing, Steve. I don't know anymore." I frowned, looking over my shoulder to find the group was having their own side conversations, giving us enough privacy for this conversation. "I just can't help but feel like we've stepped back a couple of years, Steve." I continued, not fully understanding how to express my feelings and attack the problem.

Nodding along, Steve let a gentle sigh pass his lips. "What do you mean? Talk to me." He arched a brow, wrapping an arm around my shoulders only for me to shy away from his touch. "What was it exactly that you didn't want Dustin telling me?" I questioned, glancing back up at him to watch as the color drained from his face. "What?" He questioned dumbstruck.

"In the car a few days ago, Dustin almost spilled something you didn't want me to know about. Steve... I'm going to give you one more chance, is there something I should know about?" He had already connected the dots but my tone made it easy for him to assume that I already knew what he was hiding. "I- I was going to tell you..." He stuttered, eyes pleading for me to let him explain and yet he couldn't find the right words.

Waiting patiently, I nodded for him to continue, "So what exactly has been stopping you?" I couldn't hide the bite of sarcasm that broke through my tone. "It's not what you think it is. I- I just needed someone to talk to." He explained softly, his shoulders slumping slightly at the confession while it broke my heart. "You feel like you can't talk to me?"

Steve took in a deep breath while I struggled to blink away the warm tears that clouded my gaze. "You started getting short with me whenever we talked and... It felt like you were pulling away." He continued, looking ahead of us as he thought back to how all this had started.

Was I pulling away? It wasn't intentional if I was but then again I didn't know what I had done to make him worry. "What do mean? What happened?" I pushed, needing more elaboration before apologizing. "You tell me, Nell. What's been going on with you? Something different." His tone was suddenly on edge, causing me to raise my brow and scoff before looking at the trail in front of us.

"With me? Steve, you're the one that's been going out with other girls." I quickly shook my head at how I had just let him deflect from the initial problem. "I needed someone to talk to. I couldn't say no, Nell." His defense was weak and he knew it as soon as the words fell past his lips, moving to explain himself but I quickly cut him off, "Oh, no? So these girls just forced you to take all of them on dates?" I nodded for him to continue, earning a glare in response.

"Well, what inclined you to lie to my face about Eddie?" He quickly pointed out, causing me to scoff in surprise. "Excuse me?" I shot him a sarcastic grin, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. "I knew D&D was just a lame excuse..." Steve seemingly mumbled to himself, shaking his head in annoyance as he ran a stressed hand through his hair. "Excuse for what?"

"I know, about you two. Not even friends- bullshit." Steve mimicked, turning to look down at me. The look in his eyes caused my steps to falter, I didn't know what to say. In all honesty, it really didn't matter but it was still a lie.

Steve nodded slowly as he scanned his eyes over my features. "Yeah, I know. Dustin's pretty shit at keeping secrets." He mumbled before continuing further into the woods. "I didn't think it was something you needed to know, not now at least." I tried to explain but he only shrugged it off. "When did you plan on telling me?"

"When all this was over. When Eddie's safe." Scoffing slightly at his silence, seemingly ticked by my choice of words, I defended myself. "Jesus, he's my friend, Steve. Our friend at this point. How are getting mad at me for something that happen three years ago when you're the one cheating on your girlfriend?"

"A girlfriend that was thousands of miles away." He pointed out, only adding more fuel to the fire. "Right, she has to move so why not embarrass her while we're at it, huh?" I nodded along with the excuse while he rolled his eyes. "You think I wasn't embarrassed? Imagine how I felt, Nellie. I was alone."

"Obviously you weren't. Our friends and plenty of girls can attest to that." The more we talked the worse this situation became, the group behind us had grown quiet as the conversation worsened. Taking in a deep breath, I slowly exhaled before turning to Steve who had seemingly been staring at me the whole time. "You could have talked to me, Steve. I didn't... I didn't mean to push you away, I- I just didn't want to worry you."

I was ready to fold and apologize for a snowball effect that I didn't even know had occurred much less the fact that I was the cause of it. "So, tell me now. What's been going on? What haven't you been telling me?" He pushed, desperate to root out the problem that was eating away at us.

But I couldn't find the right words, struggling to land on the right thing to tell him. The whole truth was confusing, something I didn't understand. How do I tell him to not worry about something that could possibly end in death? "Nell, I'm gonna be worried whether or not you tell me what's happening. So just tell me." He spoke softly as if he could hear my inner torment. "It's not that simple..."

Steve nodded, tearing his gaze away from me before running a hand over his face and releasing an awkward sniffle. "Jesus... All right. Let's just- Can we return to this later?" He questioned, still looking ahead of us before branching off the path, his pace quickening. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't- Just don't." He called out from ahead of me while I failed to keep up with his quick strides.

"Uh oh, looks like Mom and Dad are fighting." The shift in Robin's voice caused my quick steps to falter and fall behind the group. "What?" I mumbled, blinking away the sudden haze that grew over my eyes to find myself in Jonathan's old bedroom, the angry voices of our parents could be heard through the wood of his door. "Mom and Dad are fighting again..." Jonathan mumbled from his place next to the door, busying himself with cranking the older record player we used to own. Not now...

Taking in a stuttered breath, I scanned my eyes over the room before tracing them back to a young Jon as the voices outside grew louder. Scowling at the words our father yelled at Mom, I pulled my knees to my chest, crossing my arms before clutching tightly onto my shoulders as 'Fly Me to the Moon' flowed out of the speaker, quickly covering their voices.

"That'll help..." Jon stated, moving back to his place on the bed before pulling me into his side as I rocked slightly in my place. "It's going to be okay, Nellie... He can't hurt you." He whispered reassuringly, carefully placing a hand over my bandaged one. "Maybe he'll leave again?" I whispered, keeping my eyes locked on the door as the record began to scratch.

"" Max called out to me, pulling me out of the trance and allowing the memory to melt away and shift back to the present. "Is... Is he gone?" I whispered, unable to grasp that I wasn't stuck in the past anymore, and came to grips with reality. My hands still tightly gripped onto my shoulders as my arms crossed over my chest. "Who are you talking about?" Max questioned softly, pulling one of my hands away from my shoulder, "When was the last time you slept?" Lucas asked as I began to recognize where I was.

Taking in a shaky breath, I scanned my eyes over the forest to find that the rest of the group had moved on without us. "I-- I don't..." I muttered softly, struggling to find the words that would calm their worries. "We should keep going..." I mumbled awkwardly, "Don't wanna fall behind." I offered the two a small grin before waving for them to keep going.

Sharing a glance, Max stuck by my side while Lucas stayed close behind us. "Nell, if something's happening you have to tell us... If- If it's Vecna we have to tell the party." Max spoke in a hushed yet hurried tone. "No- There's no point, this will just slow us down." I quickly shook off the idea of telling the others. "We are so close to ending this... You don't have to worry, I can handle this. He can't hurt me." I tried to reassure her but the look on her face told me that my words did little to ease her nerves.

"Have you seen it yet?" She questioned, looking around at the trees that surrounded us. "The clock?"

Scrunching my face slightly, I shook my head. "I think something different is happening... Do you know how serial killers change up their methods to throw off the police? I think he's catching onto us and... Now it's like he's playing cat and mouse." I muttered, struggling to piece together what was happening. "I'll tell them, just now isn't the time."

Max hesitantly nodded in agreement before looking over her shoulder back at Lucas. "You aren't wrong, it was different... It was a trance but it's like you kept waking up." She squinted as she thought back to how they'd found me. "You were humming." She whispered. "Maybe you woke yourself up?"

~~~

"And, boom!" Steve called out from ahead of us as he pushed back the bushes that blocked our path. "Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock." He continued to gloat as Dustin and I followed behind him, the boy looking between the map and compass, before tracing his eyes onto the rock in front of us. "In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face."

Dustin shook his head while Steve moved to the small space between the rocks. "Doesn't make sense..." He mumbled, trying to understand how he could be wrong. "Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. Can't admit you're wrong, you butthead." Steve mumbled, placing his hands on his hips in disbelief.

"I concur." A voice called out, jumping down from the rock beside me and landing to the left of me before pulling me into their side. "You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead." He finished, a false sincerity masking his features while I tried to shake the scare he had given me. "Holy shit..." I groaned, nudging him in the side before grinning up at him. "We thought you were a goner." I mumbled, quickly pulling him into a hug before moving to let Dustin do the same. "Yeah, me too..."

Turning to face Steve, he continued to glare at us from his place in front of Skull Rock while the rest of the group joined us just in time to ease the tension.