Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Like I'm supposed to care about a championship game!" 

Eli tried his best to hide his amused smile as he listened to Eddie rant about Dustin and Mike's request to postpone Hellfire Club at lunch, but he could tell that he'd failed when Eddie stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at him with that offended look he pulled off so well, "Are you laughing, Mayfield? These kids are bleeding me dry and you're laughing!"

The dramatic devastation in the other man's voice only served to widen Eli's smile further, amusement coursing through him at the memory of the melodramatic speech his boyfriend had given to the entire cafeteria just a few minutes prior and he turned to face the man, already prepped to make a joke about inviting one of the other basketball players to stand in for Lucas when he froze in his tracks. That amusement was wiped away in an instant when he turned to face Eddie, caught off-guard by the fake pout on those lips he'd kissed just this morning before school and he found himself wishing that he could plant one on him right there in front of all of Hawkins High. But he had been the one to set up the boundary that they didn't change how they acted around others outside their main circle and he planned on sticking to it.

His silence had gone unnoticed, however, Eddie stepping even closer following his sudden pause and whispering conspiratorially, "What are the chances you could drag Max along?"

"Unless you mean drag in the literal sense, I'm not sure that'll do anything beyond piss her off," Eli replied immediately, thinking of how the other girl had snubbed him every time he'd tried to make plans or hang out with her in the last few months, "I don't know what's going on with her between the headaches and the moodiness and the not sleeping. It took two weeks of nagging her about her nightmares for her to finally make an appointment with Ms. Kelly."

The amusement and fake indignation that'd been on Eddie's face melted away the second he heard the concern in Eli's voice and he reached forward to squeeze his boyfriend's arm, wishing above everything that he could hold him. "Max's gonna be fine, trust me. She's tougher than most of the people in this town, me included," he assured Eli, barely looking up when the bell rang to signal the start of their next period, "Tell you what, I'm meeting with a customer after Hellfire but I'll swing by afterward so we can all watch something together. I'll even let the Zoomer pick!"

As if on cue with the end of their conversation, Ms. Sumter swung open one of the classroom doors just a few dozen feet down the hall and stepped out with both hands on her hips as she stared down Eddie with a positively venomous look, "Mr. Munson, will you be joining us for class this morning?"

"Wouldn't dream of missing it!"

Seeing as the hallways were completely empty beside the three of them, Eddie decided to take a chance and leaned in to press a single chaste kiss to the corner of Eli's mouth before sprinting to catch up to where Ms. Sumter's door was swinging closed behind her. Eli tried his best to hide the blush on his face and the grin that was permanently stuck on his lips as he slipped into his own classroom, but he knew it was no use when it came to his boyfriend. 

++++++++++

Though it'd hurt to see the downfall of the character Eli had been playing for well over a year now, as well as the fall of the majority of those left in their campaign, the matching proud smiles on Eddie and Erica's faces at the end of the Cult of Vecna had made it well worth it. Erica had gotten their party a victory that was over a year in the making and stood at the end of the table with a look of elation after making her critical hit, soaking up the chorus of cheers from everybody around her all capped off with Eddie's excited shout from the end of the table, "That's why we play!"

Hugs and claps on the back and high fives were exchanged amongst the rest of the players, but Eli was already drifting to the head of the table to pull Eddie into a loose hug. He gave Eddie a bright smile when he pulled back and said, "We're gonna have to start inviting Lady Applejack along on more adventures, she certainly fits in with our merry band of misfits."

"That she does," Eddie agreed with a matching grin of his own, throwing an arm around Eli's neck and pulling the man in to kiss his forehead chastely before calling across the room to Erica in the same DM voice he'd been using mere moments ago, "What say you, Lady Applejack, to joining our party in their future endeavors?"

"Yeah, I think I could make that work," she replied casually, though the grin that pulled at the edges of her mouth betrayed her joy at the prospect of being invited back.

"You can be one of the guinea pigs for when Eli finally takes over as DM," Gareth joked, laughing good-naturedly at the glare Eli sent his way and raising his hands mock-defensively as he said, "Hey, I'm looking forward to it!"

"Yeah, yeah, just remember who my teacher's gonna be," Eli responded with a downright sadistic smirk as he squeezed Eddie around the middle before pulling away and moving back to the other end of the table. He came to stand by the youngest members of the group, setting a hand on Erica's shoulder and looking around at each of them before asking, "Alright, show of hands, who am I driving home?"

All three of them raised their hands immediately, Dustin being the only one with the decency to look at least a little sheepish (given he lived the farthest away from their trailer park), and Eli looked to where Eddie was still waiting at the end of the table, "Meet you at 10?"

"Meet you at 10."

He gave the man a playful salute and turned with a flourished wave towards the door as he announced, "Lead the way, lads, Lady Applejack gets shotgun and the radio for saving our asses tonight." 

++++++++++

By the time he arrived home, roughly 10 minutes late because Mike's mother insisted on stopping Eli to tell him about her son traveling across the United States for the first time in his life and how anxious she was about the whole ordeal, he was exhausted. He leaned back against the front door the moment it was shut and let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger before he could even register Max sitting a few feet away from him. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the girl's quiet, "Hey."

"Oh, Christ, I didn't see you there," he breathed, holding his chest dramatically as he tried to get his pulse back down before saying, "Sorry I was late, Hellfire ran a little over and Karen Wheeler refused to let me leave until she'd practically described Mike's entire flight schedule to me." He flopped down onto the couch cushion beside his sister and leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he pulled in a deep breath and relaxed back into the cheap linen fabric before asking, "Has Eddie come over here yet?"

"No, was he supposed to?"

"He wanted to come have a movie night with the both of us, it's been a while."

"As opposed to just making out with you alone in your room?"

With that, Eli fully lifted his head off the back of the couch and opened his eyes to look over at Max, furrowing his brows at the girl when she met his eyes, "Just cause him and I are together doesn't mean he doesn't love you too."

Max sat in silence for a couple moments after he finished talking before finally nodding in acknowledgment, sitting up straighter on the couch so she could peer out the living room window to the driveway directly across from theirs. "Well, either way, I don't think he's gonna be joining us tonight. He peeled out of here in his van about a half hour ago," she said casually but Eli immediately stood from where he'd been seated and used his fingers to part the blinds to get a better look at the, in fact, empty driveway across from them, "Probably just got sketched out dealing with Chrissy Cunningham, of all peo-"

"Chrissy Cunningham?" Eli cut her off immediately to ask, turning his head sharply to look down at where Max was beside him and found her already turned to face him with a startled look on her face.

"Yeah, the cheerleader. Blonde wi-"

"I know who she is, Max, I don't know why the hell she would be anywhere even near here. Or why he wouldn't tell me," he cut her off again, finally flopping back down in his seat with a huff and furrowing his brows in confusion as he continued, "Her boyfriend has been tormenting Eddie for years, it's hard for me to believe either of them would ever be caught dead around one another."

Max nodded seriously for a moment before looking to Eli and saying, "I don't know why she was over there, but if it helps any, Chrissy seems pretty nice. I don't know why she's dating a douchebag like Jason Carver but I don't think she's anything like him."

"I hope not. Eddie deals with enough bullshit from this town as-is." 

There was another long beat of silence, during which Eli got that feeling in his gut that something was going left unsaid and before he could even ask Max to clarify what she actually saw, the girl was quietly speaking beside him. "I was feeding the dog when I saw them pull up in Eddie's van, I didn't know what they were doing together so I didn't say anything but," Max stopped and Eli watched her take in a breath before looking back out the window to the empty parking space where Eddie's van sat most of the day, the burnout marks clear in the gravel driveway now that he was looking for them, "he was alone when he left."

The hairs on his body all seemed to stand on end at once and Eli felt the weight of dread settle in his stomach like lead. Don't be dramatic, he told himself, he probably got sketched out and left her to get picked up by someone. Drug deals go wrong all the time. 

"She might've had one of her friends come get her after I got back and we didn't notice, it's not like we've been really keeping watch."

Max nodded once but her face seemed just as unnerved as he currently felt, "Yeah, probably."

Eli stood from the couch and lightly ruffled the top of her hair as he passed her to go to his room, hopeful that he'd catch even a few minutes of sleep before dawn. 

++++++++++

Eli didn't wake up the next morning so much as he just sat up from where he'd been lying in bed, finally watching as the first rays of sunlight peeked in through the window facing Eddie's trailer and began illuminating his bedroom in the soft light. He was too caught up on the sight of the driveway across from his house, still empty of Eddie's van but now Eli could see his uncle Wayne's truck parked beside the trailer and the man himself sat on the porch with a cigarette in hand. 

He was throwing open his bedroom door and tearing his way across the house to the front door before he could even take in the scene further, focused so single-mindedly on making sure Eddie was okay that he passed by Max's sleeping figure on the couch without a sideways glance. 

That single-minded focus was derailed by the distant sounds of police sirens that stopped Eli dead in his tracks on the front porch, his face pale as he looked between Wayne's downturned head and where the red and blue lights were tearing over the hill to enter their trailer park. He didn't even think as he broke into a sprint down his front steps and across the small gravel road between their trailers, coming to stand in front of Wayne at the same time his head raised from where he'd had it pressed into his palms. Whether he was alerted by Eli's presence or the sirens that were growing louder by the second, he was unsure, but he didn't waste a second asking, "Where's Eddie?"

For the first time in two years of knowing the man, Wayne looked to him with red-rimmed eyes that seemed equal parts scared and lost and Eli felt fear like he'd never experienced it before. He felt that same sinking feeling he'd gotten facing down the Mind Flayer just a few months prior, the hairs on his body standing at attention and his stomach twisting in a way that made him nauseous. 

His body moved before he was even consciously aware of it, running up those three stone steps he'd traversed a million times by now and throwing open their front door so hard he heard the door knob hit the wall with a sharp 'thwack!'

Nothing else about the scene registered in his mind besides the single mangled body lying face-down in the center of their living room floor, the green and white cheerleading uniform immediately recognizable in a way that had tears forming in his eyes. His stomach roiled like he was going to vomit as he slammed the door shut behind him and stumbled down the stairs, raising his head just in time to watch his mom and sister appear in their trailer doorway across the road as the cop cars finally arrived, trailing a flurry of dust behind them. 

Max's eyes widened as they met his in a way that made him certain that she understood what he was trying to say without a single word exchanged:

Eddie's in danger. 

++++++++++

As soon as the police had dismissed Eli from questioning, given the fact that Chief Powell had literally watched from his car as Eli ran from his house to the Munson's trailer, the man had come to retrieve Max and his car keys. He didn't say a word to her as he waved for her to follow, simply leaning down to kiss their mom's forehead when she opened her mouth to ask where they were going and answering her half-formed question with a simple, "Heading to Dustin's so we don't get blocked in when the camera crews come, we'll be back before dark."

With that, he swung the door closed behind him and dropped into the driver's side of his car only to find Max already in the passenger seat, her arms crossed over her chest as she said, "We're never back before dark."

"Yeah, well she works overnights and doesn't need the extra stress. Seatbelt."

He tore out of the driveway the second he heard the signature click and immediately took off in the direction of Dustin's house, familiar with the route from the number of times he'd driven the younger home from Hellfire. They drove in complete silence, Eli focusing as he pushed his car to speeds he'd never dared to drive in their small town before and Max replaying the disjointed occurrences she'd witnessed last night over and over again as if that would help her parse out what exactly had happened. 

However, even relaying everything she'd seen to Dustin and Eli had only served to confuse all of them more. 

"Chrissy Cunningham? You're sure it was Chrissy?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't have been sure of it either if Max hadn't told me the night before that she'd seen Chrissy go in and not come out," Eli confirmed, dropping his head into his hands from where he was sitting on Dustin's bed and pressing his palms into his eyelids to try to erase the image of her mutilated body that was haunting him still, "It was her."

Dustin stopped to look down at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he asked, "Then why didn't you tell the cops all of this?"

"Because even if his name isn't on the news or anything yet, I guarantee you Eddie is suspect #1 right now," Max answered for him and when Dustin looked over at her, she continued, "plus, I know he didn't do it."

Something about her tone made even Eli raise his head to look at her, his eyes narrowed as he opened his mouth to question her but Dustin asked before he could get a word in, "How?" 

Eli had assumed that it was for the same reasons that he knew Eddie hadn't done it, the same reasons that motivated him to go to Dustin of all of the people in Hawkins for help: they knew Eddie. They knew that beyond the tough exterior, the leather jackets and the drug use and the heavy metal music, was one of the kindest people any of them had ever met. Eddie had turned the outcasts of their school into a family, embraced all of the things about them that others shunned and took interest in their lives and the things they cherished in a way that showed just how much he loved people. 

He was caught off-guard by the seriousness on Max's face when she looked between the two of them, seemingly gathering courage before answering. "After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go into his trailer... something happened to the lights. They started flashing and the TV started flickering in and out like there was some type of disturbance and when I got up to fix it, I heard this," she trailed off for a moment, her eyes stuck on some random spot on Dustin's wall as if the scene were actively replaying in her mind before she added, "awful scream. Eddie's always loud, it's not like it's the first time I've heard him from outside his trailer, but I've never heard him scream like that. And I've never seen him so... scared."

She'd barely gotten out the last word before Eli was scooping his car keys up from where he'd dropped them on the corner of Dustin's dresser and waving for both kids to follow after him without a word. Dustin flung his bag over his shoulder before he and Max fell in step close behind, only stopping for a moment to assure his mom the same way Eli had done with his own mother a few minutes prior.

Eli could only hope that he could return them all as safely as they were promising.

++++++++++

"Hey, Steve," Dustin called out as soon as they entered the Family Video, making a beeline for the counter where he and Robin were watching the news of what was happening at the Forest Hills trailer park since the Mayfields had left. 

Steve half-turned to face them from where he was leaning back against the counter and pointed to the broadcast, "You guys seen this?"

"How many phones do you guys have?"

Steve turned his focus towards where Eli and Max were standing behind Dustin, continuing on like the younger hadn't spoken at all as he said, "Someone was murdered in your nei-"

"How many phones do you have?" 

Dustin stressed every syllable, fully leaning against the counter and meeting Steve's eye in a way that must've conveyed at least some of their urgency because Steve finally answered, "Two, why?"

"Technically three if you count Keith's in the back," Robin chimed in, quickly cut off by both hers and Steve's shouts as Dustin threw his backpack off his shoulder and directly over the counter before following with his own body shortly after. 

He didn't say a single word nor answer a single question as he took a seat at the computer set up behind the counter, already typing by the time Steve asked, "What are you doing, man?"

"Setting up a base of operations here," Dustin answered nonchalantly, not looking up from whatever he was typing into their computer even when Steve went over to try to physically pull him from it, simply swatting the man's hands away. 

Eli rolled his eyes at the boy's antics before pulling Max over to the entrance to the area behind the desk so they could start making phone calls once Dustin had retrieved the numbers. As soon as they had shoved themselves into the cramped space, Robin looked up from where she'd been arranging the tapes Dustin had knocked down and Eli immediately raised his hands in a placating gesture as he stated earnestly, "We wouldn't be bothering you like this if it wasn't serious, we need to get Eddie's friends' phone numbers so we can find him."

Steve looked down at Dustin from where he was still trying to pull the kid off their computer and gave him a sour look as he asked, "Oh, Eddie? Your new best friend, Eddie, who you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy game?"

"Ooh, I'm picking up on a note of jealousy, Harrington," Eli pointed out mock-seriously from where he was behind them, his eyes scanning the computer as Dustin looked through their rental database for any familiar names or addresses.

Dustin turned around to face Steve as well, narrowing his eyes at the man as he defended himself, "And I never said that!"

"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you guys can play around like toddlers but it is Saturday, it is our busiest day!"

Dustin didn't even see that response fit to turn around for, continuing to stare at the screen as he said in a voice that verged on bored, "Look, Robin, I can totally empathize with your point but this cannot wait until Monday."

The woman straightened from where she'd been picking up tapes and papers that'd slammed to the floor behind the desk, throwing her hands up in exasperation as she asked, "What, cause calling all of Eddie's friends is an 'emergency'?"

"Correct," Dustin nearly shouted at them, his frustration mounting until he turned to face Max and asked, "Can you just fill them in on everything while I do this?"

Max nodded in agreement as Eli replaced where she'd been standing by his side, instead pulling Steve and Robin into the breakroom where Keith's other phone was so she could explain everything that was happening away from others that may be listening in. Eli and Dustin tasked themselves with creating a master list of anyone in Hawkins that they'd ever heard Eddie talk about or who they'd heard talk about Eddie, something that Eli knew would be a daunting task due to his work as a dealer. 

Once they had all three of the phones plugged in behind the front desk and the other three members of their group helping them make phone calls, everything went by much more smoothly than Eli had even thought possible. However, that didn't stop his increasing frustration as he hung up his third phone call in a row where the person had reliably informed him they hadn't seen Eddie in nearly a year. 

All of that melted away when he heard Max's voice repeat in confusion from behind him, "'Reefer Rick'? No, does this Reefer Ri-"

Eli didn't even let her finish her question before pressing the switch hook on the phone she was holding and saying with relief in his voice, "I know Rick."

"Do you know where he lives?"

He gave a single curt nod as he fished his car keys out of his pocket, "Yeah, I've picked Eddie up there a few times when he's been too drunk or high to drive, I remember it."

Dustin and Robin both hung up the phone calls they'd been on once they saw Eli rounding the front desk with keys in hand, not willing to waste a moment as he shot Steve a look that communicated the urgency of the situation when he saw the man flirting with a girl their age a few aisles away. Dustin gathered up the backpack he'd thrown behind the counter when they'd come in and each of them filed out as Steve replaced their spot behind the counter to finish up the girl's rental, insistent upon keeping up his charming façade regardless of the high stakes of their situation. 

Eli and the others followed closely behind the girl as she left the store, Steve rounding out the back of the group so he could flip their sign to 'Closed' and lock the front door while everybody piled into Eli's car. By the time he arrived, he was crammed into the backseat beside Dustin and Max without a second to buckle himself in before Eli was tearing out of the parking lot towards the direction of Lover's Lake.

++++++++++

When they'd pulled up outside of Rick's house just a few minutes past dark, Eli was barely able to wait long enough to put the car in park before jumping out and going to the door to knock as loud as he could, cupping his hands around his mouth as he called out, "Rick? Eddie? It's Eli, is anybody home?"

He continued knocking and calling out to one of the men he hoped was inside as he watched the others pile out of his car, flicking on their flashlights as they quietly made their way up to the front door beside him. Max, Robin, and Steve each partially circled the house with their flashlights in hand, pointing them up into the windows to try to get a visual on anyone or anything that might be moving inside. 

Eli's increasingly frantic shouts and knocking were finally cut off by Max's voice calling to them from just a few feet away from the porch, an almost nervous, "Hey, guys?"

Each of the members of their group moved toward her, their eyes traveling to where the beam of her flashlight was illuminating the partially opened front door of Rick's boathouse with clear apprehension. Eli, however, was too focused on helping Eddie to even allow that same fear to sink in, already flicking his flashlight on where he'd been loosely holding it in his right fist and moving towards the boathouse with a speed that forced the others to follow. 

He didn't even circle the front or sides of the building before pushing the metal front door open, immediately calling his boyfriend's name into the darkened space and waiting for a moment to hear any response. The only sounds that greeted him were the gentle sloshing of the lake hitting the dock where Rick's boats sat and his friends' quiet footsteps on the wooden porch as they made their way behind him, their flashlight beams preceding each of their entrances as they tried their best to stay silent.

Steve, of course, was the one to inevitably break that silence with a quietly muttered, "What a dump."

The others didn't even dignify that a response, slowly running their flashlights along every square inch of the place in search of either Eddie or any potential signs that the man had been there earlier that day. Eli was at the point of panic that he would take a singular Spaghetti-O's can or beer bottle as a sign of life if it offered the chance that he'd see his boyfriend ever again.

However, the sounds of Steve using a wooden oar he'd grabbed from the wall to smack against each of the tarps covering Rick's boats drew all of the attention away from their tasks, instead now focused on where Dustin and Steve were bickering at each other again as the younger hissed, "What are you doing?"

"He might be in here."

Dustin looked unbelievably annoyed as he pointed at where Steve was still driving down the tip of his oar, "So take the tarp off!"

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off!"

Eli shot both of them a positively venomous look from where he was on the other side of the dock, leaning forward from where he was bent next to one of the beams near the center of the room and reaching out to yank the tarp off the boat to the right of the one Steve was currently assaulting. He had expected the noise to maybe startle the man, or (hopefully) even startle both him and Dustin. 

What he hadn't expected was the figure that shot up from the place he'd disturbed, throwing the tarp backward so hard that it came back to partially cover Eli as the person moved forward with a speed that startled everyone and pinned Steve to the same wall he'd retrieved that oar from. By the time the movement had settled and everyone's lights were focused on that same figure, Eli had thrown the tarp off himself only to look up and see Eddie. His back was turned to Eli from where he was pinning Steve to the wall, but Eli would recognize his boyfriend's curly brown hair and the Dio vest that he'd stitched together himself anywhere.

Dustin was the first to run forward with a shout, "Woah, woah, woah, Eddie, stop!"

Eli used the initial commotion, both the panicked shouting and the sounds of the tarp being thrown off Eddie, to step across one of the boats in the center. It rocked slightly under his weight, especially given the one next to it was still swinging from where Eddie had sprung out of it, but it held him long enough for him to step down onto the opposite side of the dock a foot or so behind his boyfriend.

It spoke to Eddie's panicked state that he didn't notice his presence in the slightest. 

"Eddie! Eddie! It's me," Dustin called for the man again, only lowering his voice when Eddie's wide eyes finally focused on him and only him, "it's Dustin. This is Steve! He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?"

Steve seemed to be caught between what to do, simultaneously not wanting to nod with the broken glass currently pressed into his jugular and not wanting to talk for fear of scaring the spooked man even further. He finally settled on a whisper that was little more than an exhale, "Right, yeah."

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?"

The man gave Dustin a slightly exasperated side-eye at that, unsure why he should be the one dropping his weapon when he was the less pressing threat in the room right now, but he followed what the boy said and dropped his oar without further protest. However, the sound of it hitting the dock only seemed to startle Eddie even more and Steve tried to retreat further into the wall behind him as that broken glass was pressed flush against his skin now.

Panic shot through Eli so fast that it felt like he'd been dunked in cold water as he watched the broken edge of that bottle press even further into Steve's throat, wanting so badly to reach out to hold Eddie right now but knowing that touching him right now would only spell disaster. 

Thankfully, Dustin did much better under pressure, only slightly raising his voice as he reasoned with Eddie, "He's cool, he's cool!"

He heard Steve whisper the same thing even quieter than he'd spoken before but Eddie didn't seem to register what either of them had said as he asked in a voice that was strained, broken from stress, "What are you doing here?"

"We were looking for you."

"We're here to help," Robin added sheepishly, trying for a smile that came out much closer to a wince when the older man looked over upon hearing a voice besides Dustin's. 

"Eddie, these are my friends," Dustin held out his arms to indicate to the girls he had on either side of him, first to Robin then to Max as he continued, "You know Robin, from band. And this is Max, Eli's little sister, the one that never wants to join us for DnD."

It seemed to register in Eddie's mind then that Eli was missing from the picture, evident in the panicked look in his eyes as they strayed from Dustin to take in even more of the room, but Dustin realized what that look meant immediately. "Eli was the one that brought us here, he's the one that told us you were in trouble," Dustin kept his voice much softer than it had been when initially introducing the rest of the group, knowing that anything concerning Eli would do the job better than any placating voice could hope to.

"Where is he?"

"Right here, sweetheart, I'm right behind you," Eli crooned comfortingly, the pet name one that they'd hardly used around one another but he saw the tension bleed out of Eddie's shoulders the second it left his mouth regardless, "We didn't mean to scare you, Steve didn't mean to scare you, we just want to help."

Eddie pulled back from where he'd been holding Steve like he'd been burned, sending that broken beer bottle clattering across the wooden deck as he turned fully and practically fell into Eli's outstretched arms. Eli leaned back against one of the beams as he slowly lowered both of them to the floor, keeping his arms around Eddie's waist and shoulders in a hold that was so tight that neither man could take in a full breath without separating from one another. All the while, Eli was leaning forward and murmuring in his boyfriend's ear softly, "It's okay, Eddie, you're safe. We're here to help, we're gonna do whatever it takes to help."

He made eye contact with Robin over his boyfriend's shoulder as she bent to take in deep breaths with Steve, his eyes genuinely concerned as he made the 'OK' sign at her in a roundabout way of asking if Steve was alright. She gave the man a barely-there nod as she reached out her hand to hold Steve's shoulder, helping him partially lower himself to a sitting position against the wall he was pinned to less than a minute ago as he caught his breath.

Dustin came to stand just a few feet behind Eddie, slowly lowering himself into a crouch to not startle the man as he said, "Eddie, we just want to talk."

"We want to know what happened," Robin added earnestly, following Dustin's lead as she came to crouch just a few feet away from where he and Eli were hunched together. 

Eli's heart broke at the shaking he felt wrack Eddie's frame as he pulled away just a few inches from where he'd been hiding his face in Eli's chest, turning slightly to face the others with tears in his eyes as he sniffed, "You won't believe me."

"Try us," Max challenged immediately, knowing full well that the people in this room were probably the only people in the whole of Hawkins who would stand a chance of believing him. Not only because they were all, in some way or another, connected to Eddie but because they'd all seen things beyond most people's wildest imaginations. 

++++++++++

Eddie had separated from Eli somewhat when he had started explaining everything that'd happened to the group, though he kept their hands linked together on the dock between them where they sat still. The story started the same as he and Max had concluded: Chrissy came to Eddie looking for drugs (what or why she was looking was never brought up), he brought her back to his trailer when he realized he didn't have all of his supplies with him, and he came back from his room to find her in some... catatonic state. 

"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh... and she just, like, hung there. In the air," Eddie recounted, his eyes fixed on some far-off space in the room and haunted by the images he was replaying in his mind, "And her bones, uh... she-" 

The man cut himself off mid-sentence, a whimper leaving his lips as his hand involuntarily tightened where it was held against Eli's and his boyfriend wanted so badly to pull him into his arms. He knew that he needed to say this though, not only to get it off his chest but to let their group know what they were up against this time. 

The look in his eyes when they finally opened again was a familiar one, a blend of helplessness and disbelief and fear that he'd seen in all of their eyes at least once before, that he'd seen in Max's eyes only a few months prior as Billy had lain dying in their arms. He had hoped this was all behind them, that the other members of their group could die never having to experience any of the horrors of the Upside Down again and wishing to leave the ones of their group who'd never witnessed it untainted by its monstrosities.

"Her bones started to snap. And her eyes, man, it was like there was something... something, like, inside her head, pulling," Eddie's voice shook even more as he started describing the specifics, seeing and hearing each detail again in his head in the perfect clarity that had been haunting him all day, "I... I didn't know what to do, so I... I ran away. I left her there." He turned his head away from where he'd been facing the group this entire time, trying subtly to wipe the tears that'd streaked down his cheeks and gathered in his eyes while he was talking before turning back with a sardonic, "You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No, we don't think you're crazy at all," Dustin said honestly, his voice still gentle and his eyes reflecting what they all felt. 

"No, don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds," Eddie raised his voice hysterically, more tears falling down his cheeks as he made an effort to keep his eyes from meeting theirs.

For the first time since Eli had decided to keep this side of his life from Eddie, he regretted not telling him. Not because he thought knowing would make what he witnessed any easier, Eli wasn't disillusioned enough to believe anything in the world could make that easier. But, he reasoned with himself, at least Eddie wouldn't have felt so completely alone. At least he wouldn't have felt the need to run off without telling Eli or Max what'd happened or where he was going for fear of being called crazy. Or even worse, for fear of being accused of doing the exact thing that had scared him into running. 

Eli wanted so badly to reassure him, to tell him that they'd seen things just as crazy if not even more insane, but it was Max's voice that cut him off, "We're not bullshitting you, Eddie. We believe you."

Eddie blew out a sharp breath and curled in on himself even further, his eyes cast completely to the side as they seemingly were still replaying everything he'd detailed to their group just a minute ago. "Eddie, there are things we've been keeping from you these past few months, things that we've been keeping from the rest of Hawkins to keep everyone... safe," Eli explained softly, reaching out his free hand to rest on Eddie's cheek and pulling the other man to face him, "but we need you to keep an open mind because Hawkins is different from anywhere else in the world."

Eddie looked so lost when he finally raised those big brown eyes to meet Eli's, his voice quiet when he murmured, "How?"

"You know how people say Hawkins is... cursed? Well, they're not way off," Dustin stopped for a moment in consideration, his brows furrowing as he explained, "There's another world, another world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it... bleeds into ours."

Eddie narrowed his eyes from where they'd focused on the younger boy as he spoke, confusion in his voice as he clarified, "Like, ghosts and shit?"

"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max stated definitively, the look in her eyes telling the story of all the horrors she'd seen spawned from that other world. Flesh-hungry dogs devoid of faces and mind-controlling beasts with the ability to reanimate flesh, plumes of smoke capable of possession and creatures with a hive mind strong enough to decimate an entire fleet of soldiers with little warning. 

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

Max nodded in agreement, "If they're back again, we need to know."

"Was there anything else... strange that happened when you were with Chrissy? Anything you heard or saw?" Eli grasped Eddie's hand even more tightly in his when he asked, knowing that Eddie would have to dig even further into those unwanted memories to pick up on the minute details, "They could've been small spores in the air, chittering noises, anything out of the ordinary."

Upon seeing Eddie starting to shake his head, Dustin leaned forward slightly and described, "It would almost look like dust, swirling dust."

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh... or touch," Eddie answered immediately, shaking his head even more vehemently before that distant look settled into his eyes again, "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she... she was in a t-trance or something."

"Or under a spell," Dustin suggested. 

"A curse."

Dustin's eyes grew wider in realization, "Vecna's curse."

Steve finally spoke from where he'd been silent at the back of the group, his eyes furrowing as he looked between all the other members of their group and asked, "Who's Vecna?"

"An undead creature of great power," Dustin explained gravely, his eyes only getting wider as the gravity of the situation began to set in, "A dark wizard."

++++++++++

Chapter Text

Eli had insisted on staying with Eddie at Rick's boathouse for the remainder of the night, arguing that they needed someone to keep watch for police or angry townspeople while Eddie finally got some rest. Steve had been the one to suggest grabbing supplies for them shortly after their talk, looking between where Eddie was shuddering in Eli's arms from the cold and where Max was smacking the end of her flashlight to get the light to stay on for a little longer. 

"Look, I know it's not the smartest idea to separate, but maybe we should start discussing the possibility of grabbing some essentials and coming back here in the morning," he spoke up several minutes into the heavy silence that'd fallen over their group, particularly aiming his statement at Dustin as he knew the kid had several walkie talkies that would help them talk amongst themselves even if they couldn't reach one another. 

Though he'd partially prepared to hear at least some arguments from his friends, he'd been relieved to see most of them nod their heads or sigh in acquiescence before standing to join him. However, he was only slightly surprised to see Eli still firmly sat beneath and wrapped around his boyfriend's trembling figure. 

He hadn't been gawking at them, knowing full well that both men needed time to themselves to process the new devastation befalling their group and the obligation that came with it, especially Eddie. However, it was impossible to stop his eyes from wandering to them occasionally, hearing the soothing whispers that Eli was murmuring against Eddie's wild hair and watching as the younger ran his fingertips almost reverently over his boyfriend's cheeks to wipe the tear tracks that remained on his skin. He'd never doubted Eli's admiration or love for Eddie, not even when he'd first admitted his crush on the man, but it was something else to see it in person. To witness intimacy between the two men that he'd never even seen between his own parents. 

When the rest of the group began readying themselves to head out, Eli tossed his car keys to Steve and warned the man not to leave a scratch on it before calling out to his little sister. As soon as she came to crouch beside where he and Eddie were curled together, Eli asked her sincerely, "Do you mind grabbing some things from the house before you come back here? Eddie has some clothes in my bottom right dresser drawer and I have a couple of joints in a tin box that I keep under my bedside table." He lifted his butt from the dock to pull his wallet from his back pocket and handed it to her without hesitation, "Take as much as you need for food and drinks, and be safe."

"I feel like I should be saying that to you guys," she said nervously, tucking his wallet into her pocket and looking at Eddie when she asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

"I got you guys to keep me safe, especially your big brother," Eddie answered with an easy smile but the slight tremor in his voice gave away how scared he was, "Thanks, Red."

She gave him a weak smile back, "Anytime."

With that, the rest of their group piled into Eli's car and left them with a single sputter of the old engine, the silence in their wake seeming eerie in a way it hadn't even before their arrival. They weren't even gone a full five minutes before Eddie looked up from where his head had been resting against Eli's chest and he peered up at what he could make out of his boyfriend's face in the darkness as he asked simply, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to, I thought about telling you a million times. Even planned out what I would say to you if the time ever came," Eli explained honestly, brushing his fingers through Eddie's hair affectionately and looking down at him seriously when he added, "but you know yourself now that there's no way to believe it without seeing it. I haven't even seen everything that other members of our group have, like Lucas, Mike, Dustin, Will. They've known about all of this since the beginning." He went silent for a couple of moments before adding quietly, somberly, "I can't imagine growing up with this looming over them."

Eddie nodded in understanding before burrowing his face back into the spot between Eli's neck and shoulder, breathing in his boyfriend's familiar scent as he allowed his body to relax for the first time in 24 hours. Eli felt the way his body steadily went limp against his own and he leaned down to brush a kiss over Eddie's forehead with a whispered, "Get some sleep, gorgeous, I've got you."

The words were barely out of his mouth before he started feeling the slow, deep puffs of breath against his neck that meant his boyfriend had finally drifted to sleep. He brushed a few wayward strands of hair from Eddie's face again, pulling back only slightly to take in his relaxed features before tucking the man's face in underneath his chin.

"You're safe, I've got you."

++++++++++

The sound of tires on gravel just past sunrise was loud enough to startle Eddie awake like there'd been a gunshot, his back going ramrod straight and his head snapping to the door to focus his wide eyes on the windows along the front of the boathouse. Eli, who'd still been awake but was steadily drifting closer to sleep as the hours wore on, nearly screamed from how much the sudden action had startled him. 

Eddie crawled out of his lap before springing up into a half-crouch as he moved towards one of the windows, focusing those big brown eyes on the road and trying his best to spot any movement that could've made that noise. 

However, he saw nothing. The only cars he was able to spot were the scattered few parked along the road that'd been there since he'd arrived yesterday night, most likely neighbors of Rick's who parked their cars closer to his property whenever he was gone, and there was no noise besides the sounds behind him of Eli shuffling to join Eddie near the window.

The silence had lulled him into a false sense of comfort and he turned back to face Eli with a relieved sigh, holding his hand up to his chest as if to calm the thundering of his heart. That relief was cut short by the large metal door swinging open with a loud screech of the aluminum along the wooden floor to his right, startling him and Eli to the point that both men stumbled back several feet with shouted expletives.

Their friends' smiling faces greeted them, each of their arms completely filled with plastic supermarket bags full of food and drinks to tide them over that they held up to the men in greeting. Max and Dustin both had their backpacks strapped to their backs as well, Dustin's filled with walkie-talkies and similar supplies while Max's was filled with all of the things Eli had asked her to bring from his room. 

"Delivery service," Dustin greeted with an especially beaming smile, genuinely happy to see both men safe and still in the boathouse.

They didn't waste a second throwing all of their bags onto the ground where Eli and Eddie had been sleeping just a few moments ago and allowing both to take whatever they wanted from each. Eli immediately searched through Max's bag for the tin he'd asked for, popping it open and taking one of the joints from inside with an ecstatic sigh that had his sister rolling her eyes at him. Eddie didn't hesitate in reaching for the food bag closest to him and tearing open the first thing he grabbed, only registering how starved he was when the sugary smell of Honeycomb cereal made his stomach rumble like he'd never heard before. 

While he was scooping out the cereal by the fistful and eating it dry, Eli was flicking open the Zippo he kept in his back pocket to light the joint he'd gotten and inhaling from it like it was vital oxygen. 

Steve furrowed his brows in confusion and looked to Eli when he asked, "Is that, uh... okay right now? While Eddie's on the run?"

"Steve, this is one of the only things keeping me okay right now. Just enough to take the edge off," he replied on the exhale, flipping the joint around in his fingers and holding it out to offer to Steve. When that served to only increase the flabbergasted look on the other man's face, Eli shrugged to himself and held it out to his boyfriend who took it from his fingers with zero hesitation. 

Robin was looking at Eddie with some type of amused fascination as she watched him inhale around the joint with a handful of Honeycomb still half-chewed in his mouth, finally letting out a short laugh when the man winced upon exhaling the smoke, "That is one of the most unappetizing things I've ever seen someone do with cereal."

"He's inhaling the cereal faster than the joint, probably can't even taste it," Eli mused jokingly and let out a bark of a laugh when his boyfriend raised the hand closest to him to flip him off, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips even with the joint still in his mouth.

That smile only stayed for a moment though, disappearing the second he watched Dustin drag one of the stools at the edge of the room near where they were seated on the ground and clasp his hands together seriously as he said, "So, we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first, always," Eddie said through a mouthful of Honeycomb, cracking open a Yoo-hoo from one of the bags sat closest to him and washing down the cereal with one swig. 

"Alright, bad news: we tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro and they're definitely looking for you," Dustin started, trying to keep his voice on the lighter side but failing when he saw the way Eddie's face dropped as he added, "Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, 100% kind of convinced," Max clarified seriously, her eyebrows furrowed in worry as she looked between him and her brother. She watched the way Eli's head immediately snapped to stare at Eddie, his eyes just starting to well with tears and his posture giving away how much he wanted to reach out to comfort the other man upon hearing that. That'd been one of their worst fears, one that'd struck both siblings upon the realization that Chrissy was found dead in his trailer, and it'd come true.

Eddie took a shaky breath when he looked back to Dustin and asked, "And the good news?"

"Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do too," Robin answered this time, though her voice more clearly showed the panic that'd grown palpable amongst their group upon the time they'd been separated, "Once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

Eddie couldn't help the bitterness that slipped into his tone when he muttered, "Hunt the freak, right?"

He dropped the Honeycomb box that'd still been clutched to his chest to the deck then and once his hand was free, Eli was reaching forward to hold it in his as he turned back to Dustin to ask, "Have you guys figured out where we're gonna hide Eddie once it's the entire town looking for him? If we made the connection with Rick, they can't be too far behind."

"Not exactly, but we have a plan before that happens," Dustin explained and both men leaned forward almost involuntarily as they waited for him to detail what his plan was, "We're gonna find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence."

Eli's head dropped forward like his strings had been cut and he let out a sharp breath, unable to believe the fact that one of his smartest friends had listed out that sequence of events as if it'd be as easy as obtaining a grocery list. Eddie voiced that frustration to the younger boy without hesitation, his voice sardonic when he asked, "That's all, Dustin? That's all?"

"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it."

Eddie rolled his eyes at the boy and dropped his head forward into his hands, still unable to fully comprehend that all of this was really happening to him. He wondered to himself when exactly he'd gone wrong, whether it had been as soon as he'd accepted Chrissy's offer to sell to her or if it'd been after she'd come back to his trailer. He suddenly wondered if what had happened to her would've happened regardless of his involvement or if this was some entity's best attempt at killing him. 

"Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before," Robin comforted the best she could upon seeing the man crumpling in on himself again, pointing over at Steve and Dustin when adding, "I mean, they have a - a few times and... and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, theirs was more smoke-related, but the bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this."

Eli looked up at Robin with wide eyes and disbelief apparent on his face when he corrected, "'We' never would've been able to do anything without El and, if nobody here has noticed, she's not even on this side of the country."

Eddie furrowed his brows at his boyfriend, turning to him with a confused, "Who's 'El'?"

"She's this girl we usually rely on who has superpowers, but, uh, those went bye-bye," Steve answered casually.

"Superpowers?"

"Yeah, she could move things with her mind, or locate people from really far away if she was put into saltwater," Max explained earnestly, thinking back to all the amazing things she'd seen Eleven do in the time they'd been friends. 

That description had only served to confuse Eddie more and he was opening his mouth to ask another question to the group when the sound of sirens coming down the road diverted all of their attention. All of their heads snapped to face the shrill sound and Eli watched all of the color drain out of his boyfriend's face when he realized what that sound most likely meant. Before that panic could fully set in, Robin was pointing at the boats in the center of the room and repeating, "Tarp, tarp!"

Eddie didn't waste a second throwing one of those tarps up, crawling into where the boat was slightly lifted above the dock, and pulling that cover down on top of him while the others went to the front windows to check what direction the police were heading. 

"We need to see where they're going. If there's been another death while we've been with Eddie, we could give him an alibi," Dustin suggested, his eyes watching as several police cruisers flew by with their lights and sirens on.

Eli nodded in agreement and clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder as he said, "You take them to check it out, I'm staying here with Eddie."

Robin looked at Eli with genuine disbelief when she asked, "And what do you think they're gonna do to you if they find you harboring a suspected murderer?"

"They haven't even made it public that they suspect him!"

"They saw you go over to his trailer right before the police arrived, they know you saw Chrissy's body," Max reasoned further and Eli suddenly felt sick at the realization that they were right. He'd made it clear to the police already that he knew who had been killed and, given the fact that only two people lived in that house, who likely did it.

"We can't give him an alibi if somebody's not with him," he argued weakly, hearing the tarp shift behind him as Eddie uncovered himself and stepped out of the boat. 

"And if you both get arrested, we'll have to cover for both of you," Dustin said with finality, looking back to Eddie when he added, "We can't risk two people going to jail. It's gonna be hard enough covering you with the amount of evidence they have."

That last sentence only served to agitate Eli and he had to make an effort to keep his voice below a shout when he said, "They don't have any evidence because he didn't do it!"

"You think I don't know that? Do you think all of us don't know that? We wouldn't have spent all of last night avoiding the extra police Hawkins has on patrol to get supplies to help him if we didn't know that! But that doesn't change the fact that they have enough evidence to send most people to prison for life."

Eli was stepping forward to argue again but it was Eddie who stopped him with a hand on his arm, his voice soft as he reasoned, "Henderson's right. My trailer, my drugs, and now I show up missing when her body's found. I'm honestly surprised they haven't made my name public with how many signs point to me." He pulled his boyfriend into his chest and pressed a kiss to his temple before murmuring beside his ear, "I'm gonna be fine."

It was only when Eli lifted his head to reveal teary blue eyes looking up at Eddie with devastation that the others started to feel like they were intruding by watching the intimate moment. The couple hardly noticed as Steve opened the door behind them and held it open so the rest of their group could leave the boathouse, making their way to the car to wait for Eli to join them eventually.

"I need you," the younger cried softly, his eyes near crystalline pools when filled with tears and Eddie felt his heart break at the sight, "I can't lose you, Eddie, I love you."

"I don't want to risk you getting caught, especially when you could be helping them," Eddie said, making his voice as soothing as possible as he brushed away the tear tracks on his boyfriend's cheeks and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, "I love you too, and I'm gonna be right here when you get back."

Eli looked over his boyfriend's face as if he was unconvinced, but he finally relented with a soft sigh and another even softer kiss that made fresh tears gather in his eyes as he said, "But if you die, I'm never forgiving you."

"I wouldn't dream of it, baby," Eddie breathed with a soft smile, finally disentangling himself from his boyfriend and watching him leave with something akin to dread settling like a weight in his stomach. 

++++++++++

It hadn't taken long for Nancy to put the pieces together once they'd explained all that they'd witnessed, the flashing lights and the invisible force that'd killed Chrissy in front of Eddie, and her voice barely held any surprise when she asked, "So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down?"

"If the shoe fits," Steve answered with a light shrug.

"It's similar to other things we've seen from there, especially the possession," Eli reasoned, though the specific mention of Billy and Will's experiences was unnecessary, "but there are other things that are missing. No dark particles, no smoke, no Demogorgons or Demodogs or Demo-whatever that Eddie could see or hear."

Dustin nodded toward Eli when he added, "Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves... killing teens, we don't know."

"All we know is that this is something different. Something new," Max said and watched as Nancy shook her head as if in disagreement.

"It doesn't make sense."

Dustin defended himself immediately, "Well, it's only a theor-"

"No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?"

"Maybe they were just in the wrong place," Dustin suggested and Eli could swear he felt a shiver run through him at the thought, the realization that came with it being that Eddie would've been a close second for whatever this was if he was correct, "They were both at the championship game."

"And near the trailer park," Max offered, though the realization that they were sitting in that same trailer park settled in immediately after and each of the members of their group began looking over their shoulders as that unsettling feeling set in.

"There is something about this place, Fred started acting weird the second we got here," Nancy stated as she looked around the trailer park, shaking her head to herself as she had been earlier before her eyes moved back to the group.

Robin furrowed her brows when she asked, "Acting weird as in...?"

"Scared, on edge, upset," Nancy listed, her eyes slightly distant as she recalled all that'd happened from the moment they'd arrived at Forest Hills to when she'd lost him.

"Max said Chrissy was upset too," Dustin mentioned meaningfully, looking at the girl in question as he mentioned her name.

"Yeah, but not here," Max reasoned back, shaking her head before clarifying, "She was crying in the bathroom at school and she seemed upset after visiting with Ms. Kelley, but I didn't see much of her when she was here."

Robin shrugged her shoulders before suggesting, "Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right? So maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman-"

"Vecna," Dustin corrected.

"I don't know about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone," Steve said as he looked between the members of their group, unsure exactly what this Vecna would look like but positive it wouldn't be pretty if he looked anything similar to the other denizens of the Upside Down. 

"Think of all the things we've seen and we don't mention it to anybody outside of our group. We'd be hospitalized if we did," Eli reasoned with the other man as he considered all of the times he'd thought about opening up to his other loved ones about the things he'd seen and experienced. Especially Eddie in the wake of Billy's death when the grief had been fresh and it had been hardest to keep all of this a secret. 

Max nodded along to what her brother said before adding, "If you saw a monster, you... you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you, but you might go to-"

"Your shrink," Robin finished the girl's words for her, the plan clicking together in her mind at the same time it did in Max's.

No additional words needed to be said, Eli already reaching to retrieve his keys from his pocket and most of the group standing to follow him as he led the way to his car. That was most of the group besides Nancy, who immediately started drifting the opposite way of their group with a positively determined look on her face but she didn't get far before Steve was calling, "Woah, woah, Nance! Nance, where are you going?"

Eli stopped with his arm propped on the driver-side door as he turned to watch Nancy turn around, apprehension clear in her voice when she answered, "Oh, there's just something I wanna check on first."

Dustin narrowed his eyes at her as he asked, "Something you wanna share with the rest of us?"

"I don't wanna waste your time, it's a real shot in the dark."

Steve shook his head then, "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..." He trailed off at the bewildered expression on her face at that last line, everybody in their group well aware of how well Nancy could hold up on her own, but that didn't deter Steve as he turned back to Eli to announce, "I'll stick with Nance."

However, before Nancy could say another word in response, Robin was stepping past Steve and coming to stand beside Nancy, "You know what, us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us." Both of them sent the man a challenging look then, daring him to say anything that questioned their abilities to defend themselves before Robin sent him a playful grin and turned to follow Nancy.

Luckily, despite all of his normal cockiness, Steve kept his mouth shut as he looked between them. 

As soon as they had turned and started walking in the opposite direction, Eli called out to the other man, "C'mon, Harrington, I'd like to get to the high school before dark!"

++++++++++

As soon as Max had suggested going to Ms. Kelley's private home, Eli had steadfastly shot her down. "Pretty big difference legally between us trespassing school grounds after closing and us trespassing private property to steal," he argued with his sister, already driving in the direction of the school despite all of her protests that she could get the key to Ms. Kelly's office easily, "And if mom is bailing one of us out of jail, it certainly isn't gonna be you."

"We're gonna be stealing regardless of where we take it from! Pretty sure stealing private records is the bigger offense," she said with a huff. 

However, it was Steve who corrected her, "But stealing the key is just so we can steal the files, pretty sure that makes it worse."

Max let out a dramatic sigh with that, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and sitting even further back into the seat beneath her. They settled into silence for a few minutes before that was interrupted by the loud sound of interference over the walkie-talkie in Dustin's hand, something that had Eli immediately straightening in his seat as he assumed Eddie to be on the other end of the transmission.

He was surprised to hear Lucas' voice instead, "Dustin, it's Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin."

As soon as Dustin heard Lucas' name on the transmission, he pressed the button to speak and responded in disbelief, "Lucas? Where the hell have you been?"

"Just listen, are you guys looking for Eddie?" 

"Yeah, and we found him, no thanks to you."

Lucas sounded panicked as he asked, "You found him?"

"Yeah, he's in a boathouse on Coal Mill Rd. Don't worry, he's safe."

"You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?"

Dustin and Eli shared a look of disbelief, Eli gripping the steering wheel harder as he tried not to take what Sinclair said personally. He knew he was probably just reporting what he was hearing through the rumor mill in town, but he was still in shock that his friend could ever think Eddie capable of something so awful. 

Dustin shook his head as he stated vehemently into the radio, "That's bullshit, Eddie tried to save Chrissy!"

"Then why do all the cops say he did it?"

That was when Max grabbed the radio out of Dustin's hands, simultaneously sick of hearing the two bickering through the staticky radio and trying to cut off any further comments about Eddie from Lucas for fear of how her brother would react. She pressed the button and said in a voice that clearly showed her exhaustion, "Lucas, you're so far behind it's ridiculous, okay? Just meet us at the school and we'll explain later."

"I can't," Lucas responded after a short pause and all of their group was able to clearly detect that note of panic bleeding into his voice now, "I think some real bad shit's about to go down."

Max furrowed her brows in simultaneous confusion and worry as she asked, "What are you talking about? What bad shit?" Then, there was nothing. Max tried calling his voice a few more times, increasing in urgency, but the only answer they received back was the empty static on the other end.

Eli didn't hesitate in laying his foot even further against the gas pedal, sharing a look of worry with Max in the rearview mirror as she handed Dustin his radio back and silence settled again over their group.

++++++++++

As soon as they reached the school, Eli was parking toward the back near the bleachers where he knew none of the guards looked out at night and pulling at each of the several sets of double doors that led inside to find one that was unlocked. He hadn't expected it to take very long, Hawkins was still a small town that didn't put a whole lot of stock into keeping tight security on anything besides the Hawkins Lab, but he hadn't expected it to be the second door he tested. 

He held the door open for the others, his eyes scanning the empty fields and parking lots behind the school for any sign of other headlights before following them in. They flicked on each of their flashlights as soon as they were in and Max started leading them in the direction of Ms. Kelley's office without a word. 

They had just made their first turn down one of the hallways leading to the guidance counselor's room when Dustin's radio crackled again and Robin's voice came through this time, "Dustin, do you copy?"

"Yeah, I copy," he responded, already out of breath from the speed their group was walking through the darkened hallways of the school. 

"So, Nancy's a genius. Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959, her shot in the dark was a bulls-eye," Robin relayed excitedly.

"Okay, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Breaking and entering into a school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files," Dustin responded in a rush, looking over his shoulder at the same time Steve flashed his flashlight into one of the open classrooms beside where they were walking to check if anyone was inside. 

There was a beat of silence before Robin's voice asked, "Can you repeat that?"

"Just get your ass over here, stat. We'll explain everything," Dustin promised before pushing the antennae back down into the radio and tucking it back into his bag. 

Almost as soon as he looked up from putting the radio away, Max stopped in front of an office simply labeled 'Ms. Kelley' and her brother didn't waste a second in crouching down to pull something out of his shoe. As soon as he straightened and the others were able to see it in the beam of their flashlights, Steve was looking at the man in disbelief as he asked, "Wait, you keep an actual lock-picking kit in your shoe? What are you, a cat burglar?"

"I'm just a big fan of heist movies," Eli murmured back sarcastically as he shoved the flat metal piece into the lock and began shimmying it back and forth, listening carefully to the pins inside until he heard that signature 'click!'

As soon as he pushed the door open, Max was moving past him and made a beeline for the file boxes directly across from Ms. Kelley's desk. "It's like a mini-Watergate or something," Dustin mused happily as he looked around the room, a small proud smile on his face as he added slightly louder, "Hawkinsgate!"

Steve furrowed his brows at the boy and leaned in to ask quietly, "Wait a second, didn't those guys get caught?"

"They sure did," Eli said over his shoulder from where he was still holding the door propped open, his flashlight pointed at the ground in the hallway to watch for shadows without fully giving away their position, "and if we're not fast enough, we might just join them."

He turned his head just in time to see Dustin and Steve give him matching looks of terror, but that was quickly cut off by Max's quiet exclamation, "Holy shit!"

Dustin raised his flashlight to illuminate where Max was pulling several files out of the drawer and asked, "Did you find it?"

"Yeah, and not just Chrissy's file. Fred was seeing Ms. Kelley too."

That got all of their attention and both Steve and Dustin gathered around the desk as the younger girl spread out Chrissy's files for them to read. Eli was leaning down to prop the door open with a small trash bin so he could hear any footsteps in the hall outside when he heard Max ask one of the guys, "Can I see Fred's file?"

He watched as Steve nodded in acquiescence before passing the file to Max, all of them watching in building curiosity as she flipped open his file with more urgency than strictly necessary. Eli leaned forward across the desk and used his flashlight to better illuminate the pages she was reading through, only catching bits and pieces of Ms. Kelley's notes from where he stood but it was enough. 

It was enough to twist his stomach, his eyes darting down to his little sister and taking in the cold dread that'd started spreading across her face. 

Dustin was the first one to speak, taking in the looks on both of his friends' faces and asking urgently, "Max, what is it? Max?"

Eli dropped down to the floor beside her and shook her shoulder with enough force to slightly jar her body in the chair, but she didn't respond. He turned her chair so she was fully facing him and tried again, shaking her with enough force that he felt the chair shake beneath the movement but that distant look in her eyes stayed focused on some far-off point in the room. 

"Max, what's happening? Max, talk to me," he pleaded from where he was kneeling, cupping her face in his hands and lightly smacking her cheeks to try to bring her back but there was no response. 

And then, as suddenly as she had faded out, she was back. 

He watched those blue eyes that matched his own blink and when they opened, he was able to watch awareness that'd been absent before slowly bleed back in. He didn't wait for her to say a word, springing up from where he'd been crouched and pulling her into a hug that made the younger's joints creak uncomfortably as he mumbled into her red hair, "Don't you ever fucking scare me like that again, Max."

Dustin saw in his flashlight beam how wide Max's eyes still were, as well as the subtle tremble of her smaller frame against her brother's, and he found himself asking before he could think better of it, "What just happened? Where were you?"

"I-I was here and there was this... voice calling me," she said with a tremor in her voice and Eli pulled back from her to look up at her intently as she continued describing, "I followed this - there was a clock, I heard it ticking and... and chiming." 

She was just rising from the chair, desperately wanting to show them what she'd seen to wipe the matching looks of disbelief from each of their faces, but the sounds of running footsteps from the hallway outside scared all of them into action. Eli put a finger to his lips and used his other hand to point down at the floor, signaling the others to hide as he slowly moved toward the thunderous footsteps. 

However, it wasn't a security guard who greeted him upon opening the door. Instead, he raised his flashlight from where it was pointed at the floor to illuminate the panicked faces of both Robin and Nancy, both women out of breath from the exertion of running to catch up with the rest of the group.

Before they could exchange any words, Max had appeared in the doorway behind her brother and both women could immediately tell from the look on their faces that something had happened shortly before their arrival. They didn't ask any questions as they followed where Max was leading all of them, her steps hesitant as if she was expecting something to pop out at her around every corner she took.

When they finally got to the end of one of the corridors, each of the others at the back of the group began shining their flashlights on the wall to see if they could see either the clock that she'd mentioned or any other signs of the Upside Down, but they heard Max's disbelieving voice instead, "It was here. Right here."

Nancy asked from where she was stood at the back of the group, "What was here exactly?"

"A grandfather clock, I followed these - these chimes here and I saw it," Max described, indicating with her hand to the wall that she'd seen the aforementioned clock embedded in, "I saw it... in the wall, but it was so real. And when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."

Nancy looked even more confused then, looking to Eli when she asked, "You 'woke up'?"

"She was in some kind of trance, nothing we were doing was breaking her out of it and then... then she was just back," Eli explained as he carefully watched his sister's eyes travel along the wall, as if willing that clock to appear to her as it had moments ago.

"Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy, without the floating," Dustin added helpfully and Eli watched as the same look of horror that'd settled across their own faces fell across both women's in tandem.

Max turned then and looked between the eyes of each of her friends and family before saying, "That's not even the bad part."

And before she said another word, before she even started leading them back to the office they'd all just come from, Eli knew what she was going to say. He'd seen the symptoms detailed in Ms. Kelley's notes and the corresponding look of horrific realization that'd settled over Max's expression as she read them. 

He wanted so badly to stay firmly planted in that hallway, to curl up in a ball and wait out whatever nightmare he'd wandered into, but he numbly followed the rest of the group as they led the way back. He barely even heard his sister's voice as she relayed everything they'd both read to the rest of the group, leaned back against the poster board behind her and staring down at the floor unblinking as his brain tried to process everything happening. 

However, his head snapped up to look at Max when he heard her say, "Chrissy's headaches started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago." 

He didn't even need to hear what she said next to know what she was getting at, his mind picturing every time this past week that she'd flinched away from any loud noise she heard or come to Eli halfway through the school day to ask for one of the Tylenol he kept in his bag. 

It didn't stop his stomach from dropping when she continued almost desperately, "I've been having them for five days. I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so...

"Looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow," she finished after a shaky breath, her eyes reflecting the tears that'd gathered in the eyes of most of her friends but before anyone could respond to what she'd revealed, there was a loud screech that echoed down one of the darkened hallways outside the office they'd gathered in. 

It was Steve who sprung into action, immediately turning back to the group and saying, "Stay here," before moving towards the sound. 

They all watched in silence as he grabbed the lamp that sat directly beside the door and held it in his hands similarly to the way one might hold a baseball bat as he pushed open the door to the office, trailing the cord behind him while stalking through the dark corridors as his eyes scanned for anyone that may be trying to sneak up on them. 

The others followed only a couple steps behind despite his order to stay, all of them well aware that Steve could hold his own in a fight but simply wanting to offer the man help should he need it. And if the loud, distant clattering that'd started anew was any indication, he may need it.

Both Eli and Nancy moved closer in step with the other man, knowing they stood the best chance of offering help if there was an actual threat around the corner, but neither could help the way they involuntarily tensed upon hearing footsteps. They were quickening on the tile floors in the hallway adjacent to theirs, pounding against the polished linoleum in a way that had Steve gripping harder onto the base of the lamp as he readied his arm to swing with force when whoever it was rounded the corner.

None of them had expected to see Lucas sprinting around that corner, his familiar hi-top and basketball jersey catching the beam of their flashlights before Steve could bring the metal lamp down on his head. 

"It's me," he shouted as he held his arms in front of himself, both shielding his eyes from the multiple flashlights pointed at his face and shielding his body from the lamp he'd seen aimed at him upon rounding the corner, "It's me!"

Steve was the first one to shout back at the younger, moving the lamp to one hand and flailing his other arm dramatically as he yelled, "Jesus, what's wrong with you, Sinclair? I could've taken you out with this lamp!" He tossed the lamp to the ground with a loud metallic clatter as the boy started apologizing, closing his eyes and wincing in pain as he tried to drag in a breath through a heaving chest.

Eli wasn't feeling particularly courteous to the younger right now, the burn from his accusations towards Eddie still fresh from earlier, and he was looking at the boy curiously as he asked, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone like, totally off the rails," he breathed out all in a rush, his face partially going red from the exertion of running to them and talking before he'd properly taken in any air, "They're trying to capture Eddie and they think you all know where he is. You're in terrible danger!"

"Alright, yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason right now," Dustin spoke up from the back of the group and without even saying her name, everybody turned to face Max as the earlier reveal finally settled over them. Eddie wasn't the only person they needed to protect anymore, and they had no grasp on what it was that was truly targeting Max nor how to stop something that none of them could even see. 

Eli's stomach sank at the realization that he stood to lose the two people he loved most in the world and he was helpless to stop it. 

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