"Okay, help me get this straight. Eddie's uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he's the one running around committing all these murders?" Robin questioned as she, Alicia, and Nancy walked up to Hawkins Library.

Nancy forced a smile at the Buckley girl. "Pretty much."

"But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the '50s," Robin pointed out.

"Well, '59," Nancy corrected as she opened the door leading into the library.

"That's still technically in the '50s," Alicia spoke up with a small shrug, kind of scared that Nancy would go off since she seemed to be a little annoyed.

Robin nodded at that. "So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?"

"Yeah."

"Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old," Robin assumed as they walked up to the desk.

"Yep." Nancy rang the bell on the desk, making it chime so it could alert the librarian.

"So, he's a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air," Robin lightly joked, earning a small laugh from the Sinclair girl.

"It doesn't make sense. I know. That's why I said it was a shot in the dark," Nancy told her, ringing the bell once again. Alicia could tell that Nancy was getting more and more irritated as Robin spoke, but she couldn't exactly stop the girl — she was known to just keep on talking no matter the circumstances.

"I know. I just thought that by 'shot in the dark', you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later. But this is, like," Nancy chimed the bell twice as Robin continued to speak, "really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who've been spun around fifty times." Nancy begin to hit the bell rapidly, fed up with Robin's rambles.

"Coming!" the librarian shouted as Alicia and Robin glanced at each other, the latter finally sensing Nancy's exasperation.

"Hi. Sorry, we're in a bit of a rush. Could we get the keys to the basement archives?" Nancy asked.

The librarian tsked. "Those are off limits unless you have a library card," she told the Wheeler girl.

Nancy blinked. "I — Well..." she stammered, not knowing what to do now.

"If I may interject," Alicia stepped forward, in between Nancy and Robin, "I don't have my library card, but I'm sure you recognize my face."

The librarian's eyes immediately lit up, recognizing one of her most recurring customers before she went off to college. "Oh, Miss Sinclair! How wonderful it is to see you. How is college treating you?" the librarian queried, although the girls didn't have time to chat.

"Great. I mean, without this place I probably wouldn't even be in college!" Alicia flattered, waving her hands around. "And with that being said, my friends and I actually really need to the basement archives. We have a report due back at school and I think I remember some good sources down there from the last time I was here. So it would be great if we could have the keys to it, if you don't mind."

The librarian glanced at Nancy and Robin, who both gave her a tight lipped grin. "Of course," she finally said. "Give me one second."

"Nicely done," Robin complimented once the librarian walked away, earning a blush to make its way up to Alicia's cheeks. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Carmen," Alicia answered casually, thinking about how flattery always seemed to work whenever Carmen was in charge. "I've spent many times watching her work in action."

"Makes sense," Robin smiled and Alicia nodded, lightly biting her lip as she turned away from the girl. Robin glanced over at Nancy, who wasn't saying anything and was swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Did I come off mean or condescending or something?" Robin asked out of the blue, making Alicia look back at her.

Nancy hesitated before she looked away and said, "No."

"Right. Sorry, it's just, you seem annoyed. You don't know me very well. I don't really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues," Robin told her quickly.

"Okay."

Robin continued, "So, if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it's a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily." Alicia slightly frowned at that.

"Got it," Nancy nodded, just wanting to Robin to stop talking.

"All right, ladies. Here you go. Have fun," the librarian came back, holding out the keys.

"Yep. We'll try," Nancy said with another forced grin, taking the keys from her before they all walked off towards the basement.

"Oh, and it was so good to see you Alicia!" the librarian called out, even though it was supposed to be quiet in the library.

"You as well!" Alicia shouted back before she headed down the steps. "Hey," she whispered to Robin, who was walking behind Nancy. The girl stopped as Nancy kept going, not noticing the halted girls. "I wouldn't take Nancy's irritation to heart. She's always like this whenever she wants to find something out."

"Yeah, it's just...I don't want her to think of me as annoying. I mean, I'm friends with Chris and I don't wanna ruin that because I can't shut up," Robin replied, laughing ironically.

"Don't worry about it, Rob," Alicia began, making Robin's cheeks twinge pink from the nickname — although she hoped the girl wouldn't see it with the dim lighting, "just continue to be yourself because everyone loves the real you."

Robin blinked at that, remembering how Steve and Beverly told her to just be herself in front of Alicia, and how she didn't really believe it. But when Alicia had told her to do it and how everyone loved her for it, including Alicia, she knew she had to take that advice.

"R-Right, y-yeah. Be myself. Mhm. Got it. Than — Thank you," Robin forced out, not wanting to look like a complete buffoon by not saying anything. "We should, uh, get down there. You know, before she goes insane."

Alicia laughed out loud before she quickly covered her mouth since she laughed a little too hard, clearing her throat. "Yeah, good idea."

At the same time the girls were searching for the 'shot in the dark', Beverly and Steve watched as Max stepped inside the guidance counselor's home, while Dustin and Chris watched from Chris's car as well.

"Okay, she's in," Chris breathed out.

"I'm missing collarbones, not eyes," Dustin sassed from next to him. Chris ignored him, watching the door. "So...we gonna talk about...it?"

Chris looked over at him, his brows furrowed. "Talk about what?"

"Your temporary insanity earlier today with Carmen and Eddie?" Dustin recalled to jog his memory.

Chris scoffed quietly. "I wasn't temporarily insane," he told the boy, shaking his head. "That didn't happen at all."

"I'm pretty sure that's what happened. It was pretty public. There were, like, a lot of witnesses," Dustin replied.

Chris scoffed again. "What are you trying to imply, Henderson?" he questioned, cocking a brow. Although he was getting slightly annoyed with the boy at the moment, with his relation to the Hellfire Club he had actually gotten to know the boy well, as well as Lucas. He never really liked Mike's friends up until now, where he found himself joking with them and actually being sort of nice.

Now wasn't one of those moments, only because Chris was pissed off as it was.

"The fact that you have a thing for Carmen," Dustin voiced.

Chris's eyes widened at Dustin's totally wrong assumption, but he was sort of glad that he had assumed wrong. "You're implying I have a thing for Carmen?" Chris worded since he didn't even know how the boy could be so wrong.

"No. Actually, I'm not implying. I'm stating. And, as it relates to your steadfast refusal to date Robin, it's pretty much the only logical explanation," Dustin told him.

"That's not the only one," Chris muttered, shaking his head. "And as for Carmen, I just wanted to protect Eddie, that's all."

"Yeah, and you totally aren't jealous that she's spending time with him right now," he commented, making Chris's jaw clench at the fact that she was spending time with him. "Just like you weren't jealous back at the high school when they basically wanted to go on a date."

"What the hell? No, I wasn't!"

"Okay, you weren't," Dustin said, even though his tone was anything but convincing.

"Dude, I wasn't! I just don't want to find Eddie with his eyes sucked out of his skull by Vecna!" he exclaimed.

Dustin chuckled. "You're, like, bright red in the face right now," he pointed out, amused. "You totally have a thing for her."

"No, I'm not and no, I don't. I don't wanna talk about it. I'll punch you so hard in your face that your teeth will fall back out," Chris threatened.

"Whoa. Too far," Dustin told him.

Chris's face softened. "Not cool. Sorry," he immediately apologized.

"Not cool. It's okay." Chris then reached out and gave the boy a soft fist bump, making it up to him.

Beverly's leg bounced as she waited for Max to come out of the house, her lips and mouth all dry. Ever since she had gotten the news about Chrissy, she had been anxious and...scared to say the least.

After what had happened last summer, she prayed that nothing like that would ever happen again since the last years three years consisted of nothing but pain. But now...it was happening again. And it started off with the girl she saw herself in.

Steve had noticed Beverly's change in demeanor, but didn't want to say anything in front of anybody to potentially embarrass her. But, since they were now alone in his car, he thought that maybe it was a good time to ask about it.

"You okay, Bev?" he spoke up, looking over at her.

She glanced over at him, her leg still bouncing. "Fine," she answered plainly, licking her dry lips.

Steve quietly sighed and reached forward, placing his hand right above her knee to stop her leg from moving. She looked down at his hand before her eyes traveled over to his concerned expression.

"Come on, what's going on?" he softly asked, keeping his hand placed on her leg.

She let out a heavy breath, knowing she couldn't keep hiding her emotions from Steve. She began to shake her head, blinking slowly. "This shit. It's...happening again. Again. I...I can't keep doing this, Steve. I can't keep fighting," she began as she started to get emotional from all the pent up feelings. "Chrissy, she...she didn't deserve what happened to her. She was a good person. I-I saw myself in her and...I don't think I can handle losing anyone else."

"We're not," Steve assured her. "Okay? We're gonna get to the bottom of this and end it just as fast as it started."

Beverly started to shake her head once again. "We don't know that. We've lost Barb, we've lost Bob, we've lost Bi — Holy shit. Those are all B names. I-I have a B name!" she realized, her eyes going wide. "No, no, I-I c-can't die. I haven't even — I haven't even don—"

"Beverly, Beverly!" Steve quickly cut her off, bringing his hands up to her shoulders to make her face towards him. She immediately quieted down, her lip quivering as she studied his face to calm herself down. "You're not gonna die. I'm not gonna let happen, okay? And, even though it sucks to say it, Chrissy died. She had a C name. And Fred had an F name. Okay? Don't worry."

Beverly's breathing slowed as Steve spoke to her, calming down at his words. They didn't even know what they were up against, so why was she so worried? She just had a bad feeling in her chest that wouldn't go away.

She slowly began to nod, accepting his words. "Good...good. Remember, it's better to stay calm. Your words, not mine," he told her, thinking back to how the girl calmed everyone down in the stupid Russian elevator. He placed a soft kiss on her lips, making her relax a bit as she melted into the kiss. He then looked over his shoulder to see the young redhead making her way back over to her car. "Okay, here she comes."

Max opened the back door up, hopping inside the car. Beverly cleared her throat, not wanting to freak Max out with her behavior. "So, what'd she say?" the Crawford girl questioned as normal as possible.

"Nothing, just drive," she told her.

"Nothing?" Steve repeated.

"Steve, drive!" she yelled at him.

"Okay!" he said, turning the key and pressing on the gas. Chris immediately stepped on his own gas, not knowing what was going on but he followed them anyway.

"Dustin. Dustin, it's Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin," Lucas's voice came over the walkie talkies that were in both of the cars. Beverly looked over at Max, who grabbed the walkie talkie on the seat next to her and held it up so they could all hear his voice better.

"Lucas?" Dustin picked up in Chris's car, which was still following Steve's. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Just listen. Are you guys looking for Eddie?" Lucas questioned.

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

"You found him?"

"He's at a boathouse on Coal Mill Road. Don't worry. He's safe," the Henderson boy assured him.

"You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?" Lucas wrongly pointed out, and Beverly frowned lightly.

"That's bullshit! Eddie tried to save Chrissy," Dustin argued.

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

Max decided to join into the conversation in Steve's car. "Lucas, you're so behind it's ridiculous, okay? Just meet us at the school. We'll explain later," she told him.

"I...I can't. I think some real bad shit's about to go down," he revealed.

"What are you talking about? What bad shit?" Max asked. Once there was just static over the radio, all of their brows furrowed in the different cars. "Lucas? Lucas?"

"Maybe the signal got lost?" Beverly guessed, although she wasn't so sure.

"I don't know about that," Max eerily said, her brows knitted together.

✦ ✧ ✦

Carmen sat on a wooden bench in the boathouse, picking at her fingernails as she looked up from time to time at Eddie. The boy was tall, like she remembered, and his hair was all matted since he hadn't gotten to shower recently.

It was a good thing Carmen was used to bad smells from being an intern at the hospital and a pre-med student. So...it didn't really bother her.

"So...Eddie," she finally spoke up. Eddie whipped his head away from the window to look at the girl. "How long have you and Chris been friends?"

"Since he joined Hellfire with his brother, Mike. So...a few months or so," Eddie answered. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "Oh, no reason. It's just, he's never really been in D&D until this year. He used to make fun of it, actually."

Eddie nodded, "Yeah, that's what he told me. It's never too late to change, though, in my opinion. As long as he continues loving it, then there's no harm done right?" Carmen shrugged again, placing a piece of her hair behind her shoulder. "Have you guys ever...?" he trailed off, seeming to be insinuating something.

Her eyes widened. "What? Oh, God, no! Are you crazy?" she exclaimed, giving the boy a look. "I may have been known as slut in high school, but I would never do that with Chris. God, no."

Eddie's lips twitched upwards a little at her reaction, his first smile ever since Chrissy's death. "Okay, then why the tension between you both? It's pretty evident."

"He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Carmen sighed, rolling her eyes at Chris even though he wasn't even there. She just hoped he would sense the annoyance. "Chris and Beverly used to date," she began.

Eddie furrowed his brows before he started to remember a little. He never really paid attention to the popular crowd all too much, but he definitely remembered seeing them in the hallways a bit. "Okay, yeah, I guess I remember that. But wait, isn't Beverly dating Steve now?"

"Yeah, and—"

"And Steve used to be Chris's best friend, mhm, yup, I remember him telling me that," Eddie cut her off and Carmen nodded, raising her brows. "But what's that got to do with you?"

"The reason why Steve and Beverly are even together in the first place is because Chris cheated on Bev. Poor thing probably wouldn't have even broken up with him because she always sees the best in people," Carmen explained and Eddie's mouth parted, not knowing Chris had done that. "I'm not trying to badmouth him, though. Well, maybe a little. Chris and I...Let's just say I'm still pissed about the fact he cheated on my best friend and then threw up on me right after he did it."

"Hold on. He threw up on you?" Eddie gaped, scooting closer to the girl since he was so interested.

She nodded. "Yup. All over the front of my shirt. Gross, right?" she replied and he nodded, laughing slightly. "But Bev seemed to have forgiven him for everything, so I try to be as civil as possible. It's kinda hard though when he's such a dumbass. Sorry, I know you guys are friends but..."

"No, I mean, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, right?" he told her, knowing that he was seen as 'different' with his own opinions on shit, and she nodded. "Yeah, Chris and I are close but what he did was shitty. Can't blame you for being mad."

She smiled, subtly looking him up and down since he was still standing up. "You know, this isn't what I had in mind for a nice Spring Break week," she told him.

"Me either. I mean, it's definitely something different but...not what I expected in the slightest," he said with a sigh.

"At least we can get to know each other better, right?" she pointed out nonchalantly, using her charm. "I mean, all I know about you is that you play D&D, you play guitar, are in a band called Corroded Coffin where you play said guitar, and that you sell weed."

He chuckled a bit, placing his hands in his back pockets as he walked back and forth. "Well, all I know about you is that you were a cheerleader, one of the most popular girls in school, you're gonna be a doctor, and...that you're not a slut."

She furrowed her brows. "What?" she said in confusion, not knowing where that last part had came from.

"Before...you talked about being a slut," he recalled, but she still looked puzzled. "Look, all I'm gonna say is that if I hooked up with as many girls as you did with guys, I definitely wouldn't be called the names you were called back in high school. I may not like the jocks and the cheerleaders, but I do like being different," he told her and she just blinked at him, trying to process what he had said. No one had ever said that to her before in her entire life. "Did you hear that, Flores?" he asked once she hadn't answered.

She quickly cleared her throat, getting out of her trance. "Uh, y-yeah, uh, yes," she stammered. I never stutter, she thought with concern. Oh, my God. Am I dying? She quickly regained her composure, trying to think of some witty thing to say back to him. "So...are you saying you hook up with as many girls as I do guys?" she teased, praying that Eddie hadn't noticed her temporary malfunction earlier.

Eddie scoffed, glancing away from the girl in embarrassment as his cheeks slightly burned. "You'd wanna know that, wouldn't you?" he replied to avoid the answer.

She smirked. "Maybe. Aren't we supposed to be getting to know each other?"

"I guess you're right."

authors note
i felt like updating again bc why not
i wanna try to get close (or maybe finish) to
finishing s4 before school starts and then
gets really hard bc then ill be too busy to update
often 😟 (especially if i choose to keep doing soccer
bc atm im still deciding) lol
also i found this tiktok
(  https://www.tiktok.com/@not_brian_nguyen/video/7131433494252653866?_t=8VAb3JTXP4c&_r=1  ) LMAO SOMEONE NEEDS TO SAY THIS TO CHRIS BC ATP
ITS JUST BAD LIKE 💀💀💀 ( me saying this
as the author who chose to do this )