Jeanette's outfit:

• 🧝🏼‍♀️🏹👾 •

Chapter Five

"Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished. You there? Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin?" Eddie's voice came through the walkie-talkie, making Jeanette wake up while everyone else was asleep. "Earth to Dustin." Eddie said as Jeanette walked over and extended the antenna, "Hey, it's Jeanette." She said.

"Bingham! Even better. Hey. Um, I'm gonna need a food delivery, like, really soon, unless you want me going out into the world." Eddie said, making Jeanette hum slightly, "I'm gonna hope that you know better than to actually do that. Just stay where you are, and we'll be there as soon as we can." Jeanette said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, um... can you pick me up a six-pack?" Eddie asked, making Jeanette roll her eyes slightly, "I know, it's stupid as shit, drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves." Eddie said as Jeanette glanced around to see the couch empty. "Yeah, I'll think about it. But I'm gonna have to call you back." Jeanette said, "No, don't you da-" Eddie started to say before she po pushed down the antenna.

"Nance." Jeanette said as she lightly tapped Nancy's shoulder, making her wake up. "Couch is empty." Jeanette said, making Nancy look over at where Max was supposed to be laying while Jeanette moved over to Dustin.

"Dustin!" Jeanette said as she shook Dustin's shoulder, "Hey, wake up." She said, making him slowly wake up, hitting the back of his head against the TV in the process. "Aren't you supposed to be on Max watch?" Jeanette asked and Dustin looked more awake, "Yep. Yep, yep, yep. Sorry." Dustin said and Nancy raised her eyebrows.

"Then where is she?" Nancy asked and Dustin pointed at the couch, "She's right there." He said before noticing the couch is empty. "A second ago. I swear, I just dozed off for..." Dustin trailed off slightly as he looked down at his watch before his eyes widened, "An hour." He said, making the girls give him a look.

The three of them quickly walked upstairs before stopping when they saw Max sitting at the dining table with Holly, listening to music and drawing something. "Morning, guys." Karen said as she was cooking pancakes before walking over to them, "Everything okay?" She asked and Nancy sighed in relief. "Yeah, everything's okay." Nancy said as Max glanced back at them and smiled slightly.

"I think it's so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this. And even making some new friends." Karen said, looking over at Jeanette, making Jeanette smile at her. "Could try sticking together at a different house for a change." Ted said as he looked up at them before Nancy and Jeanette walked over to where Max and Holly were sitting.

Max looked up when Nancy and Jeanette sat down, before she paused her music and took her headphones off. "Hey." Max said and they smiled at her, "Hey." They both said. "You okay?" Nancy asked and Max shrugged slightly, "Just couldn't sleep. People kept blasting music in my ears for some reason." Max said, making them chuckle.

"But Holly let me borrow some of her crayons. We've been having fun, right, Holly?" Max asked, making Holly, Nancy's little sister, hum slightly as she was pretty focused on the toy she had. Jeanette looked down at the several pictures Max had drawn, before grabbing one.

"Is this what you saw last night?" Jeanette asked, glancing over at Max, "I mean, it's supposed to be. I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but... not so much." Max said and Nancy glanced around at the pictures before grabbing one. "Is that-" She asked, making Jeanette look over to see a picture that kind of resembled Chrissy and Fred embedded into these fleshy pillar things.

"It was like they were on display or something. And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare." Max explained and Jeanette furrowed her brows slightly, "Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" She asked and Max shrugged slightly. "With Billy? Yeah. But when I made it here... I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there." Max said as Dustin sat down.

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room." Dustin said, making Holly look at him weird, "Freddie Krueger?" She asked. "He's a super burned-up dude with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams." Dustin said, making Holly's eyes widen while Nancy gave him a sharp look.

"Dustin. Seriously?" Nancy said, making Dustin look at her before looking back at Holly, "Sorry. It's a movie. It's not real." He said before looking back at Max. "Just... think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is..." He said as he grabbed a drawing.

"Somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing. God, we need Will." He said and Max raised her eyebrows, "Yeah, no shit. But I tried them again this morning and it's the same busy signal." Max said as Jeanette looked at the paper Dustin was looking at. "Nance." Jeanette said in a slight whisper as she leaned towards Nancy to show her the picture

"Is this a window?" Nancy asked, looking at Max who nodded slightly, "Yeah." She said. "Stained glass with roses." Jeanette said and Max nodded again, "Yeah. See? I'm not so terrible after all." Max said, giving Dustin a pointed look and he just shrugged. "Yeah, well, it helps that we've seen it before." Nancy said before she and Jeanette started folding and rearranging the pictures.

Nancy trained over some of the larger shapes until one-by-one, Max and Duston started to see the bigger picture. "It's pieces of a house." Max said and Jeanette shook her head slightly, "Not just any house." She said as she placed the folded up piece of paper that had the stained glass window where the door should be.

"It's Victor Creel's house." Jeanette and Nancy both said before getting up, "Where you going?" Dustin asked, his mouth full of food. "Waking the others." Nancy said as she and Jeanette walked away, making Dustin quickly follow them, not without grabbing a piece of bacon from across Ted.

"Sorry, fuel for the road. Thanks, Mr. Wheeler!"

🕰

Steve pulled up to the abandoned Creel house and everyone got out and walked up the first set of steps before stopping. The house was covered in dead viens, paint cracking, it pretty much looked like your average abandoned house, just with an added creepy atmosphere. "Yeah, that's not creepy." Steve said sarcastically as they stared up at the house.

A moment later Steve and Nancy were pulling out nails from a board that blocked off the front door. "What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?" Steve asked as he looked over at Nancy, "We're not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna." Nancy said.

"Because Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" Steve asked and Nancy nodded, "Basically." She said. "Great." Steve mumbled and Dustin shrugged slightly, "Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he's back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max." Dustin said and Lucas furrowed his brows slightly.

"We don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas asked and Max raised her eyebrows slightly, "Guess we'll find out." Max said before they pulled out the last nail. "Ready?" Steve asked and Nancy nodded before they stepped away from the board, letting it fall to the ground.

Steve tried to open the door but it wouldn't open, "It's locked. Should I knock, see if anybody's home?" Steve asked. "No need." Robin said, making everyone look back at her to see her holding up a brick, "I found a key." She said.

A moment later, she threw the brick through the window and Steve stuck his hand through and turned the knob. Everyone slowly walked in and glanced around, Lucas trying to see if a lamp would turn on but to no avail. "Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill." Lucas said and Dustin looked at him before clicking on his flashlight, which pretty much everyone had except for Steve.

"Where'd everyone get those?" He asked, making Dustin look at him, "Do you need to be told everything? You're not a child." Dustin said and Steve gave him a look. "Thank you." He said sarcastically before Dustin took off his backpack and handed it to Steve, "Back pocket." He said.

Jeanette, Nancy and Robin walked up to the doorway of the living room, shining their flashlights around. "They just left everything." Nancy said and Robin raised her eyebrows slightly, "I guess a triple homicide isn't good for resale value." Robin said and Jeanette chuckled slightly. "Hell, we're probably the first to have the balls to even step foot in this place." She said as they glanced around.

"Hey, guys?" Max said, making everyone look over at her, "You all see that, right?" She asked and they all walked over to her to find a grandfather clock. "Yeah." Dustin and Steve said, "Is this what you saw? In your visions?" Nancy asked and Max nodded. "I mean, it's... just a clock. Right?" Robin asked before walking past Max, over to the clock.

She wiped some of the dust off the glass before looking back at Max. "Like a normal old clock." Robin said and Steve furrowed his brows, "Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he's, like, a clockmaker or something?" Steve asked, making Jeanette give him a look. "Where would we be without that genius brain of yours?" She asked sarcastically, making him roll his eyes and look at her, "All I know is... the answers are here. Somewhere." Nancy said.

Okay, everyone stay in groups of two. Robin, upstairs. Jeanette, you're with us." Nancy said and Robin gave her a two finger salute while Jeanette nodded before following Nancy up the stairs.

A little while later Dustin and Steve walked into a room that had quite a lot of spiderwebs covering surfaces. "Hey, uh, Henderson?" Steve asked as Dustin looked around, "Yeah?" Dustin asked. "Could you maybe, uh, clarify what sort of clues we're supposed to be looking for here?" Steve asked.

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes." Dustin quoted, mimicking a british accent and Steve just stared at him. "Sherlock Holmes." Dustin said before scoffing lightly and walking away while Steve nodded slightly, "That's great. Thanks. That's great. Really helpful." Steve said sarcastically.

"Sherlock..." Steve mumbled under his breath before noticing a vent on the ground. He crouched down next to it before pulling the cover off to find a bunch of jars inside. He pulled one of the jars out to find it was a little terrarium for a spider. That's when he noticed a spider crawling on his shoulder, making him jump up, dropping the jar, which shattered on impact.

He was aggressively dusting himself off while moving back until he ran into Nancy, who was walking past the room. "Woah, woah. What's wrong?" Nancy asked as Steve still dusted himself off slightly, "There was a spider. It's a black widow." Steve said before closing the door to that room.

"Don't go in there." He said and Nancy raised her eyebrows slightly, "Oh, oh. Wait, just-" She said as she lifted her hand up to his hair. "What? Something- Shit." Steve mumbled slightly as he walked over to a mirror and Nancy followed, "Wait. Stop moving." Nancy said, making Steve stop, "Okay." He said as she reached up to his hair again. "I just- I got it. I got it." Nancy said as she started pulling some spiderwebs out of Steve's hair, "Thank you." He said.

"If there's a spider nesting in there, you're never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out." Robin said as she and Jeanette started walking down the hall and Jeanette made some slight clicking sounds as she waved her fingers towards Steve. "What's wrong with you two?" Steve asked, making them chuckle, "Guys, seriously." He said.

"They've got problems." Steve mumbled and Nancy chuckled quietly, "Yeah, tell me about it." She whispered. "It's cool you three are like friends now. Maybe after we find Vecna, kill him, save the world and stuff, maybe we can all go out or something." Steve suggested, making Nancy smile.

"You know? Me, you, Jeanette, Robin, Jonathan, when he's back. It's not like we're dating. Me and Robin or me and Jeanette. It's not like we're dating. They told you? That we're not?" He asked quickly and Nancy nodded. "Yes. Robin made that very clear." Nancy said, "Platonic with a capital P. And Jeanette likes Eddie." Robin said, making Jeanette look at her wide eyed.

"I never said that!"

"I mean... I would date them. It's just Jeanette's made it very clear that I'm not her type and Robin, she's... We're just... Never mind. We're friends. We're just friends." Steve said and Nancy nodded slightly, "Right." She said before pulling out the last spiderweb. "Okay. All better." She said and he turned around, "Great. Thanks." He said and she nodded.

"Well... Great, um... Guess we should, uh, get back to the investigation." Steve said and Nancy smiled and nodded, "The obvious things are not what people observe. Or- Do- Don't observe. Or-" Steve said, making Nancy look at him confused, "Sherlock Holmes." He said, making Nancy look at him both in confusion and in amusement before he walked away.

Jeanette walked over to Nancy, pointing in the direction Steve went. "Did he really just try to quote Sherlock Holmes... wrong?" She asked and Nancy chuckled lightly and nodded, "I think so..." She said and Jeanette shook her head slightly.

A little while later everyone stood around, staring at a chandelier that was on, despite the place having no electricity, with the lights dimming in and out. "It's like the Christmas lights." Nancy said, making Jeanette furrow her brows, "The Christmas lights?" She asked. "Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights... came to life." Nancy said as they continued to watch the chandelier.

"Vecna's here. In this house. Just on the other side." Lucas said before the light went out completely, "I think he just left the room." Robin said. "Did he hear us?" Max asked and Steve glanced at her, "Can he see us?" He asked. "Headphones." Lucas said, making Max put on her headphones, "Wait, wait. Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out." Nancy said and everyone started to do just that.

"But we're not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flash... lights." Steve said as he glanced around at everyone who just ignored him, "Jesus Christ." He whispered before turning off his flashlight.

Everyone walked around, waiting for a sign of Vecna, until they heard Robin call out. "I got him! I got him!" She called out, making everyone walk over to where she was, holding up her flashlight that was on before slowly turning off. "I- I had him." She said before Jeanette's, who stood next to her, flashlight turned on.

"He's moving." She said before walking forward in the direction that made the flashlight stay on. Everyone followed her until she walked up the stairs before her flashlight turned off. "Lost him." Jeanette said and Max shook her head, "No, you didn't." She said before walking over to a door, opening it to reveal light from inside.

Max slowly walked in, with Steve following, then Jeanette, then Robin peered in. "It's an attic. Of course it's an attic." She said before following them, making the others follow as well. "Hold up, guys. What if he's leading us into a trap?" Dustin said but everyone ignored him, "Guys. Guys. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit." Dustin said before following them.

Everyone slowly walked over to the middle of the attic where the hanging light above was flickering. Dustin's flashlight started flickering, making him glance down at it before looking at the others. "Flashlights." He said, making them all look at their flashlights to find them doing the same.

"Okay, what's happening?" Steve asked as the flashlight started glowing pretty bright while they all stood in a circle around the light. All of the sudden, one by one, the glass to the flashlights shattered, making them all flinch back slightly before the hanging light shattered.

Unbeknownst to them, Vecna had just claimed his third victim right in front of Jason and Eddie.