— 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐫 —

WE ALL stood in the hallway, looking up at the chandelier as the lights twinkled.

"It's like the Christmas lights." I say.

"The Christmas lights?" Robin whispers.

"Yeah," I whisper back to her, "When Will was in the Upside Down, the lights... came to life."

"Vecna's here." Lucas says, "In this house."

"Just on the other side." I say.

The lights suddenly stop flickering.

"I think he just left the room." Robin says.

"Did he hear us?" Max asks.

"Can he see us?" Steve asks.

Lucas looks over at Max with urgency.

"Headphones." He says.

She puts them on her head, quickly, then Steve looks over at me.

"We need to get you some of those." He whispers.

"Whatever, let him take me." I say nonchalant.

Steve's eyes widen and I shoot my hands up in defense.

"Kidding! I was kidding!" I whisper.

Steve shakes his head and sighs at me.

"You're a piece of work." He whispers.

Before I have the chance to tell him off, Nancy starts to speak.

"Wait, wait. Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out." She says.

"Were not going to be able to see if we turn off our flash... lights." Steve says as everyone walks away.

I turn off my light and go to walk off, but Steve grabs my arm and turns me to face him.

"Nuh-uh. You're staying with me." He says.

"Oh, really?" I tease, "I thought I was a piece of work?"

"You are, but I wanna work it." He smirks.

I shake my head at him and cross my arms.

"You're a freak." I say.

"For you, darling." He responds.

I turn away and start to walk off, a smile inevitably appearing on my face. I thank the higher powers that it was dark so Steve couldn't tease me about it. I hear him follow at my heels as I walk through the dim halls of the decrepit house.

"I got him!" I hear Robin shout, "Got him!"

Steve and I run in the direction she was shouting, to see her facing her flashlight upwards while the light flickered. As soon as it started, the flickering stopped.

"I... I had him." She said, disappointed.

Suddenly, Steve's flashlight starts to flicker.

"Oh, woah." Steve starts to walk around with his flashlight, "Oh, I think he's moving. He's moving! He's moving!"

The group follows behind Steve as he leads the way to the front of the house. He then starts to walk up the stairs, the light continuing to flicker. We make it up one set of stairs, then the light stops.

"Shit." Steve breathes out, "I lost him."

I look over and see a door, with a small sign of light flickering from beneath it.

"No, you didn't." I say.

I make my way over to the door and open it, allowing the others to see the flickering light inside. Steve quickly makes his way behind me as I start to walk inside the door. I follow a set of stairs that led upwards.

"It's an attic. Of course it's an attic." Robin remarks.

"Hold up, guys. What if he's leading us into a trap?" Dustin asks from behind us, "Guys? Guys."

I walk up to the attic and I find myself in a familiar spot. It was just like in my earlier vision. The light on the ceiling continued to flicker, right above where I had saw the boy sitting with the spiders in my vision. We all stand around it, watching it flicker and buzz.

"Flashlights." Dustin suddenly says.

I look down at the flashlight in my hand and point it upwards, noticing that it was also flickering. We all move that so we are in a complete circle around the light and point all of our flashlights up. Vecna was here.

I had changed my clothes at my place, since it was about time, and Steve did as well. He had some extra clothes at my house so it was easier for him to just change here instead of the group having to drive us to another place.

"How do you manage to look flawless twenty-four seven?" Steve quietly says.

I finish lacing up my shoes and stand up from my couch. Steve was leaning in the doorway of my bedroom with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at me. I look up at him with a smile.

"I'm just wearing a sweater and jeans, Steve."

"You could be wearing a potato sack and I'd still think you're beautiful."

I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his shoulders. I rest my hands on the back of his neck, playing with the small hairs that rested on the nape. He stands up straight and rests his hands on the sides of my hips.

"You know I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a potato sack." I joke.

He smiles at me, not once breaking eye contact. He then leans down towards my lips and I close my eyes. His lips connect with mine for a few seconds, moving them together like they were made to never be apart. He pulls back from me and then pushes a stray hair from in front of my face to behind my ear, then traces his finger along my jaw line.

"I love you." He whispers.

I smile at him.

"I love you." I whisper.

He leans down again, this time to place a small peck against my cheek.

"We should probably get back out there or they're gonna think we're having sex." I laugh.

He removes his lips from my cheek, then starts to trail in small pecks down to my neck. He makes a humming sound on my neck and I feel my stomach start to do flips.

"Steve, did you hear me?" I ask him, my breath starting to shorten with my words.

"Should we?" He asks, then goes back to my neck.

"Yes, we should." I choke out.

He moves his hands up my hips and slips them underneath my shirt. His cold fingers graze back and forth along the sides of my torso, sending shivers down my back and up my arms.

"Maybe just five more minutes." He softly says.

I gently grab his arms and push them off of me, causing him to take his face from my neck and look at me with disappointment.

"We'll have all the time in the world after we kill Vecna, okay?" I softly say, placing one hand on his cheek to rub a small circle into it with my thumb.

He smiles and leans his head down and pecks my lips, quickly but passionate and sweet. He pulls away and looks into my eyes.

"Okay, but I'm holding you to it." He says.

I smile and take my hand from his cheek to grab his. I pull him to the door and he shuts it behind me, making our way to the car full of our friends.

"Not to be a wimp, but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit because this is gonna totally and royally suck." Robin says from the front seat.

"It'll be fine." Nancy reassures.

"I just can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again." Robin says, "I really, really can't."

"At least he can drink himself into feeling better." Steve says with a mouth full of potato chips.

I look over at him and mouth chew your food with a disgusted face and he crunches loudly on another chip teasingly.

"That's what my mom does." Max says.

"Why don't we just give it a trial run?" Robin suggests, "Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only, the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about and the gate's closed, so we have no way of getting to him. Like, he's entirely shut off to us, so basically you're screwed. And, no no, I know that you were already screwed, but now you're like doubly, triply screwed."

"Woah, wait, wait. Maybe we don't put it like that." Lucas suggests.

"We're one step closer to finding Vecna. That's what we say. That's what's important." Nancy says.

"Oh, and let's not mention my powers, yeah? I don't think he can handle that just yet." I add.

"See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference." Steve says.

"Uh-huh." Robin says, sounding annoyed.

"Oh shit." I hear Nancy say.

I lean up to look through the front window and notice a crowd and news van parked in front of Reefer Rick's residence, where Eddie was staying. Dustin quickly opens the back so that Steve and I can step out and we follow Nancy as she walks behind the news van so we can get a closer look at the scene.

"... Reporting a homicide out here on the lake." The new police Chief, Powell, says to reporters.

I look over at Steve and he looks back at me with a concerned look on his face. Chief Powell then holds up a picture of Eddie, stating that he is a person of interest.

"Oh, man." Steve says, "This is not good. This is really not good."

"Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?"

Dustin quickly takes off his backpack and pulls his walkie out.

"Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?"

"Nah, man. Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay."

"Where is he?" Robin asks.

"Where are you?" Dustin asks into the walkie.

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?"

"Uh, yeah. That's near Cornwallis and—"

"Garrett, yeah. I know where that is." Steve says, running off.

We all quickly run behind him, following him into the woods.

"Dude, I'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way." Steve says.

"It's North. I'm positive. I checked the map." Dustin defends.

Steve, Dustin, and I walk ahead of the group, leading the way through the woods.

"You do realize that Skull Rock is like a super popular make-out spot?" Steve says.

"Yeah, I've been there a few times." I say.

Both Steve and Dustin look over at me with confused looks on their faces.

"What?" I question.

"Ew, gross." Dustin says shaking his head.

"Yeah, well," Steve begins, facing forward again, "It wasn't popular until I made it popular."

"Here we go again." I roll my eyes.

"All right? I practically invented it. We're heading in the wrong direction." Steve continues.

He then speeds up and starts to walk off the trail.

"Steve? Where are you going?" Dustin asks, "Steve!"

"Stop whining." Steve ushers us, "Let's go. Trust me."

We continue to walk through the wooded area, then Steve bends down, looking through a bush.

"Oh, boom!" He exclaims, "Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock."

I push myself through the brush and bushes and make my way next to Steve.

"In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face." Steve says.

"Doesn't make sense." Dustin says.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit you're wrong, you little butthead."

A jumping noise is hear from behind me and I quickly turn around, meeting with Eddie staring right back at me.

"I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead." Eddie says.

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner." Dustin says, making his way over to hug Eddie.

"Yeah, me too, man." Eddie says.

Dustin lets him go and I walk up to Eddie.

"Hopper." He says to me.

"Munson." I say back.

We look at each other for a moment and then I walk forward, wrapping my arms softly around his torso. He hugs me back, softly.

"Harrington." He greets.

I unwrap myself from Eddie and back up, my shoulder meeting with Steve's. I look up at him and I can sense his jealously, so I wrap my arm around his.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh..." Eddie says, taking a sip of water that we gave to him, "... My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran."

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

"Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

He fiddles with his wristwatch and takes it off, throwing it to Nancy.

"9:27." Nancy says.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey." Robin says.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asks.

"That surge of energy was Vecna." I answer.

"Yes," Nancy says, looking at me once and then back at the group, "He was attacking Patrick."

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

"And where he attacks from." Lucas adds.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart." Max says.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp?" Steve asks, "Is he a vampire?"

"It was a metaphor, babe." I say.

"If he even has a heart." Robin says, "Besides, we don't need a stake now that we have (Y/N)."

I quickly turn to Robin with my eyes wide and shake my head. She widens her eyes and purses her lips.

"Wait, what about (Y/N)?" Eddie asks.

I lift my hand up slightly and purse my lips, shaking my head at Eddie. I'm slightly relived when he decides not to question it any further.

"I say we chop his head off." Lucas says.

"Yeah, all of the above, but we can't do any of that until we find a way to the Upside Down." I say.

"Can't you open it?" Nancy asks me.

"No," Steve says quickly, "No way."

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

"Wait, why are you asking (Y/N) if she can do it?" Eddie asks, getting ignored.

"Everything was, like, way easier." Steve says, "We had this girl. (Y/N)'s sister, actually. She had superpowers."

"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her. Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie asks.

I turn and notice Dustin pacing back and forth and talking to himself.

"Cursed? No, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely." Steve says.

"Boom!" Dustin suddenly yells, turning to us and pointing his finger at Steve, "Bada... bada... boom."

"What's wrong with you?" I ask.

"I was right. Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asks, annoyed at Dustin's persistence.

"Mm-hmm."

"This is Skull Rock. Okay?" Steve exclaims, pointing to the rock.

"Mm-hmm."

"You're totally, absolutely, one hundred percent wrong. Right now."

"Yes. And no."

"Oh my God." Steve says, shaking his head and putting his hands over his face in frustration.

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

"So you're using faulty equipment. Dude, you're still wrong." Steve exclaims.

"Except it isn't faulty." Dustin says, "Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?"

"An electromagnetic field." Lucas answers.

"Yup." Dustin says, satisfied.

"I'm sorry, I must've skipped that class." Robin says.

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

"There's a gate." I finish Dustin's sentence.

"But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy says.

"But what if, somehow, there's another gate?" Dustin asks, "A gate that we don't know about."

"It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful." I say.

"Snack-size gate." Robin says.

"How? Why?" Steve asks.

"No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna." Dustin says.

"And a shot at freeing Max and (Y/N) from this curse." Steve says.

"Wait, (Y/N)? I thought it was just Max?" Eddie asks.

Dustin starts to walk away from the group.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Hey, hey!" Steve calls, making him turn around, "Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

Dustin holds up his compass.

"This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max, Eddie, and (Y/N)." Dustin says, "What say you, Eddie the Banished.

We all turn to Eddie, waiting for his response.

"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea." Eddie says, "But, uh, the Shire... the Shire is burning."

I turn to Dustin and he begins to start jumping up and down in excitement. Eddie then stands up from where he is sitting with a small smile on his face.

"So Mordor it is." He says.

He walks past the group and the group start to follow Dustin.

"What is Mordor?" Steve whispers.

"I'll tell you later." I say, sending him a pat on the shoulder.

Eddie quickly runs back to the rock, grabbing his walkie and water bottle.

"Get your stuff, dude. Let's go." Steve says to him.

We begin to start walking through the woods, continuing our journey to Vecna.