Jeanette's outfit:

• 🧝🏼‍♀️🏹👾 •

Chapter Six

"Not to be a wimp but can I sit in the car for this vist? Cause this is gonna totally and totally suck." Robin said as Nancy drove, Jeanette sat in the passenger seat, Robin, Max and Lucas sat in the middle seats and Steve and Dustim sat in the very back.

"It'll be fine." Nancy said as she shook her head slightly, "I can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't. I'm sure Jeanette can't either." Robin said, making Jeanette give her a dirty look. "At least he can drink himself into feeling better." Steve said as he and Dustin were stuffing their faces with the food they bought.

"That's what my mom does." Max said and Robin shrugged slightly, "Why don't we give it a trail run? 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 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, I know you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed." Robin rambled.

"Wait. Maybe we don't put it like that." Lucas said and Jeanette nodded, "We're one step closer to finding Vecna. That's what we're going to tell him. That's what's important and you are doing none of the talking." Jeanette said as she looked back at Robin. "See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference." Steve said and Robin raised her eyebrows slightly, "Uh-huh." She said.

"Oh, shit..." Nancy said as she looked ahead of them, making everyone follow her line of sight. Cops, cop cars, news vans, and a crowd of people stood outside of Reefer Rick's house as they pulled up. The group quickly got out of the car and stood there for a second before Nancy spoke up.

"Come on, this way." She said before leading them over to one of the New's vans so they could hear what Chief Powell was telling everyone. "As many of you may know by now, the Roane County line received a call a little after midnight... reporting a homicide here on the lake. Officer Callahan bere and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover's Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me." He explained.

"It was there that we found the victim, an eighteen-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney." Chief Powell said, making Lucas and Jeanette glance at each other. "His limbs, his body, it was disfigured... There was an eyewitness on the scene... We have also identified a person of interest." Chief Powell said before holding up a picture of Eddie.

"Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward." Chief Powell said, "Oh, man... This is not good. Really not good." Steve said as they all glanced at each other. "You've got a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer as many as I can. Two o'clock at town hall, where anyone from the Hawkins community is welcome. But right now, I've got some work to do, and I appreciate your understanding." Chief Powell said before walking away.

"Dustin, can you hear me? Bingham?" Eddie's voice came through the walkie-talkie, making Dustin quickly get it out of his bag, "Eddie, holy shit. Are you okay?" Dustin asked. "Nah, man. Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay." Eddie said and Jeanette looked at Dustin, "Where is he?" She asked. "Where are you?" Dustin asked, "Skull Rock. Do you know it?" Eddie asked and Dustin nodded slightly.

"Uh, yeah. That's near Cornwallis and-" Dustin said and Steve cut him off, "Garrett, yeah. I know where that is." Steve said before they started walking over to the car. "Hang tight. We're coming. We're coming." Dustin said before quickly following the others.

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"Dude, I'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way." Steve said as they walked through the woods, Dustin following his compass. "It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map." Dustin said as he held up the map in his hand, "You do realize that Skull Rock is like a super popular make-out spot?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. So?" Dustin asked, "Yeah, well, it wasn't popular until I made it popular. All right? I practically invented it." Steve said and Jeanette pursed her lips. "That's so cocky." She said, making Steve roll his eyes, "We're heading in the wrong direction." Steve said before walking off in a different direction.

"Steve. Where are you going?" Dustin asked, making Steve look back at him, "Stop whining. Let's go. Trust me." Steve said. "Steve!" Dustin said, stretching out Steve's name as he and Jeanette followed him, making the others follow as well just a little further back.

"Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is Henderson. Skull Rock." Steve said as he pushed through a bush, Jeanette and Dustin behind him. "In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face." Steve said, making Jeanette chuckle, "Whose acting cocky now?" She asked while Dustin glanced down at his compass.

"Doesn't make sense." Dustin said, making Jeanette look at him while Steve made a talking gesture with his hand. "Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead." Steve said before they heard someone jump down behind them, making them turn around.

"I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead." Eddie said and Dustin smiled and walked forward, "Jesus, we thought you were a goner." He said before hugging Eddie. "Yeah, me too, man." Eddie said, patting Dustin's back as he looked over at Jeanette, making her smile softly at him. "Me too." Eddie said as he and Dustin started to pull away and Jeanette glanced at Steve to find him looking at her with raised eyebrows making her give him a look.

"Don't you start too." She whispered harshly and Steve just rolled his eyes slightly before looking at Eddie and nodding slightly as the others walked over to them.

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"When I got to shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh... my walkie was busted, man." Eddie said as he sat down on the ground, drinking water while everyone else stood around him. Although Dustin was pacing back and forth, probably not paying attention at all to what Eddie was saying.

"Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran." Eddie said and Nancy furrowed her brows slightly, "Do you know what time this was? The attack?" She asked. "Yeah, no, I- I know exactly what time it was." He said before he started to take off his watch, "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked." He said before handing his watch to Jeanette.

"9:27." Jeanette read and Robin nodded slightly, "Same time our flashlights went kablooey." Robin said, making Steve look at them confused. "Which means what, exactly?" He asked, "That the surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Jeanette said as she handed Eddie back his watch.

"Well, we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks." Robin said and Lucas nodded, "And where he attacks from." He said and Max cocked an eyebrow. "So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart." Max said. "If he even has a heart." Robin said and Steve furrowed his brows, "A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve asked, making Jeanette give him a look.

"That was a metaphor. She didn't mean it literally." She said and Steve just gave her a mocking look, "A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie asked. "I say we chop his head off." Lucas said and Nancy shook her head slightly, "All of the above, but we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy said, Dustin was still pacing back and forth behind everyone.

"We need El to get her powers back." Max said, "Everything was way easier. We had this girl. She had superpowers-" Steve said and Eddie nodded. "Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her." Eddie said before looking over at Dustin who was still pacing. "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie asked as he leaned towards Jeanette and Steve, making everyone look over at Dustin.

"Cursed? No, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely." Steve said as Dustin paused for a moment before realization crossed over his features, "Boom!" He yelled, making them jump and look at him crazy. "Bada... bada... boom." Dustin said as he pointed at Steve, who just looked at him weird, "I was right. Skull Rock was north." Dustin said, making Steve roll his eyes and raise his eyebrows.

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asked and Dustin hummed and nodded, "This is Skull Rock. Okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now." Steve said and Dustin leaned forward slightly. "Yes. And no." Dustin said, making Steve shake his head slightly, "Oh my god." He said as he face palmed slightly.

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was." Dustin said and Steve looked at him in annoyance. "So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong." Steve said and Dustin pointed at him slightly, "Except it isn't faulty." He said before looking over at Lucas.

"Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?" He asked, "An electromagnetic field." Lucas said and Dustin smiled. "Yep." He said and Robin looked at them confused, "I'm sorry, I must have skipped that class." She said and Jeanette sighed slightly. "In the presence of a stronger electromagnet field, the needle of a compass will deflect towards that power." Jeanette said and Dustin nodded.

"So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..." Dustin trailed off slightly and Lucas finished it, "There's a gate." He said and Dustin pointed at him. "But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy said and Dustin nodded, "But what if, somehow, there's another gate? A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful." Dustin said.

"Snack-size gate." Robin said while Steve furrowed his brows, "How? Why?" He asked. "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. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse." Dustin said before walking away.

"Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Steve said, making Dustin stop and turn around, "Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods." Steve said and Dustin held up his compass. "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?" Dustin asked, making them look over at Eddie.

"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. But, uh, the Shire... The Shire is burning." Eddie said, making Dustin start jumping up and down with a wide grin in his face before Eddie stood up. "So Mordor it is." Eddie said before they all started to follow Dustin.

"What is Mordor?" Steve mumbled, making Jeanette look at him, "You are so lame." She said, making him look at her offended while Eddie ran back over to grab some of his stuff. "Get your stuff, dude. Let's go." Steve said as they quickly followed the others.

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The suns went down as Dustin ran past bushes and trees before pausing for a moment to see the needle of the compass spinning. "Something's happening." He said before quickly running forward as Eddie and Jeanette moved past the foliage, "Dustin? Can you slow down?" Jeanette asked as they quickly followed him, the others behind them.

"I think we're getting close." Dustin said, glancing back at the others, making Eddie quickly grab his backpack to stop Dustin from walking straight into the lake. "Watch your step, big guy." Eddie said, patting Dustin's chest as the others caught up, "Oh man. You gotta be shitting me." Steve said. "Yeah. I thought these woods were familiar." Eddie said as they stared out at the lake, "Lover's Lake." Jeanette said.

"This is confounding." Dustin said and Max furrowed her brows slightly, "There's a gate in Lover's Lake?" She asked. "Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna's the same way." Nancy said and Steve nodded slightly, "Yeah, only one way to find out." He said.

A moment later, Eddie uncovered the boat that he ran away in and he and Steve started to get it back into the water. "Easy. I- I said easy, man." Steve said as they pretty much dropped the boat into the water, "Sorry, dude." Eddie said as Robin stepped up. "Here you go." Steve said, holding his hand out but Robin just put her hands on top of their heads before stepping into the boat.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna do that. Thank you." Robin said and Steve nodded slightly, "Yeah, that works too." He said before Eddie climbed into the boat. "Wheeler." Eddie said, helping Nancy get into the boat, "Thanks." She said before Jeanette stepped up. Eddie turned to Jeanette and smiled before holding his hand out, "Eilwynn." He said, making her chuckle.

She grabbed his hand and stepped into the boat before he stepped back slightly when he noticed the small ax in her hand. "Where did you get that?" He asked, making her look down at it, "The dock house." She said and Eddie raised his eyebrows. "You've had it the whole time? Where?" He asked and she shrugged slightly, "Dustin's backpack." She said.

"Yeah, why are you bringing it?" Steve asked, making Jeanette look at him with raised eyebrows, "We're looking for a gate to another dimension full of monsters, one of which has been telepathically killing teenagers. I want a weapon." She said before moving to sit at the end of the boat.

Dustin went to step into the boat but Eddie stopped him, "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds four people tops, okay?" Eddie said before going to sit down. "It's better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble." Nancy said and Dustin looked at her crazy, "You keep an eye out." He said dramatically, making Nancy look at him weird.

"It's my goddamn theory." Dustin said, "You heard Nance." Robin said, making Dustin look at her. "Who put her in charge?" Dustin asked, "We did. She's Nancy Wheeler." Jeanette said before Nancy held her hand out. "Compass." She said and Dustin pouted before handing her the compass and stepping back. "Hey, there you go." Steve said, tossing Dustin's backpack at him, before pushing the boat away and stepping it as it started drifting off. "You said three!" Dustin said and Steve looked back at him, "Sorry." He whispered.

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos." Robin called out as he rowed away, making Dustin hold up his middle finger, "Miss you already!" Jeanette teased as she waved at them.

Nancy watched the compass as Robin and Eddie rowed, before Nancy's eyes widened. "Woah, woah, woah, woah, slow down." She said, making them stop and turn to her, Jeanette getting up slightly and leaning against Eddie's back so she could see the needle was spinning around rapidly. "Woah." Steve said before Dustin's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "Guys, what's going on? Come on guys, talk to me. What's going on?" He asked, making Jeanette grab the walkie-talkie.

"The needle to the compass is spinning like crazy." She said before Steve started talking off his shoes and socks, "Steve, what are you doing?" Nancy asked. "Somebody's gotta go down there and check this thing out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swing co-captain and certified lifeguard for three years, then... It's gotta be me. No complaints, all right?" Steve said before standing up.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I do not wanna go down there." Eddie said before pulling a bag out of his pocket while Steve took off his shirt. Robin nudged Jeanette slightly, making Jeanette look at her before following her line of sight to see Nancy staring at Steve. Jeanette and Robin both looked at each other with knowing smirks.

"Ugh. When'd Steve get so hairy?" Lucas cringed as he watched through some binoculars, "Right? I keep telling him he needs to take that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it." Dustin said. Lucas shook his head slightly before looking back into the binoculars until Max walked up.

"Let me see." She said before taking the binoculars from him, "What?" He asked as she lifted them up to her eyes. She didn't say a word, she didn't lower the binoculars, just stared through them for a good while. Lucas looked at her, before looking out at the boat, back at her, back at the boat all while Max never looked away.

Eddie wrapped the flashlight with the bag he had pulled out, before handing it to Steve. "Hey. Good luck." Eddie said as Steve grabbed the bag, "Thanks." He said before tossing Eddie his shirt whole Eddie put a cigarette between his lips. He went to light it but Robin quickly took it, "Goss." She said, tossing it away. Steve took a deep breath, preparing himself before Nancy spoke up. "Steve." She said, making him look at her, "Be careful." She said and he stared at her for a moment before jumping in.

Jeanette, Eddie, Robin and Nancy sat there in silence for a little while before Robin spoke up. "Where we at, Jeanette?" She asked as Jeanette stared at her watch, "Closing in on a minute." She said and Robin nodded slightly. "Okay." She said before they went back to silence, just looking at the water.

All of the sudden Steve splashed up to the surface, making them jump. "I found it." Steve said, making their eyes widen, "You found it?" Nancy asked and he nodded. "I found it. Yeah. I found it." He said as he grabbed onto the boat, making Jeanette chuckle before raising the walkie-talkie, "Dustin, you are a genius. Steve found the gate." Jeanette said.

"It was pretty wild. It's more of a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big." Steve said before something in the water suddenly yanked him down slightly. Steve furrowed his brows slightly, glancing down at the water before looking at the others. That when whatever was in the water, fully yanked him down.

"Steve! Steve!" They all yelled, "No! No! No! No! What the hell was that, man?" Eddie yelled. "Nancy, really, what happened?" Robin yelled and Jeanette looked over at Nancy to see her staring at the water. "Nance?" Jeanette asked before Nancy suddenly started to get up, "Wait, wait, wait." Eddie said, making Nancy stop.