tw: this chapter will very lightly mention suicide.

"And what exactly were you all doing at the lake?" Powell asked as he stared at the four teens on the couch, their parents, minus Leven, Stella, and Max's Mom, behind him.

They were all silent. Clove cleared her throat. "Enjoying the summer night. You know, Grease style."

"Going for a walk." Max agreed with her. "Grease Style."

"Minus the cigarettes, duh." the blonde laughed with a wave of her hand.

"A walk? At 9:00pm?" Callahan asked, Clove rolled her eyes so hard her head started to throb slightly. Her and officer Callahan did not have the best past.

"To the lake." Dustin explained, his voice grew higher. "We were gonna-take a little swim. Little night swim."

"Dusty." Mrs.Henderson gapped at her son. "Someone was just murdered there."

"We were paying our respects." Clove exclaimed. "You can ask Anna, with the news crew. We spoke earlier and when she told me about Patrick, we just wanted to wish him a peaceful passing."

"But that's why we didn't actually swim." Lucas added in quickly.

"And Nancy, was she with you at this night swim?" Karen leaned forward with worried eyes.

Just as Max said no, Dustin said yes.

"We're not sure." Lucas tried to reason.

"She dropped us off, for sure." Clove nodded her head.

"Then she left." Dustin agreed with her, "It's all a little confusing."

"That's when you guys came." Lucas exclaimed with fake enthusiasm to the police.

"Right. And then they dared me to say what I said about the killer." Max forced a laugh.

"A little freshman year initiation." Clove scoffed with a little wave. "We've all been there, am I right or am I right?"

"You're lucky you didn't get shot." Ted pointed out to them.

"I actually have a petition about better gun control in Hawkins. I need a thousand signatures before town hall considers it but if you're that worried, Ted, i'd be happy to let you be the next signing." Clove smiled sarcastically in his direction, batting her eyes to show her innocence.

"Have you had any contact with Eddie?" Powell looked at the four again.

"You'll have to be a little more specific, sir. I, you know, have a lot of boys under my belt." Clove forced a laugh with a wave of her hand, Max laughed with her. "You know me. All happy with a bunch of boys!"

"Munson." he exhaled in annoyance.

"That psycho...freak killer?" Dustin glared in disbelief. "God, no. Nope. Absolutely not."

"No. We haven't heard from him." Max added.

"We barely know the guy." Lucas agreed.

"Not really my type of boy." Clove shook her head.

"Who?" Dustin added.

"Oh, that's a bunch of bull." Erica stepped forward with a cross of her arms. Clove shut her eyes in disbelief.

"Erica!" Mr and Mrs Sinclair scolded her.

"I mean, you realize they're lying." she tossed a hand toward the four. "The whole couch is on fire."

"Shut your sister up." Clove whispered to Lucas with hopeful eyes. "Dustin is a horrible lier, he's gonna crack soon."

"Erica!" they scolded her again.

"Just the facts." she shrugged in response.

"Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?" Mrs.Henderson looked down at her som, who she still believed could never do any wrong.

"No!" his scream was high-pitch.

"Lying to cops is a crime, son." Mr.Sinclair nodded at Lucas. "Clove, i'm sure if your Dad was here he'd be telling you the same thing."

"I'm not lying!" Lucas explained.

"Me neither! I literally have a sad song on Max's walkman that was gonna play while we honored Patrick!" Clove sat up a little more. "Wanna hear it?"

"That won't be necessary." Powell shook his head.

"The fire is consuming us." Erica exclaimed.

"She's just mad because we didn't invite her." Clove shrugged her shoulders. "It wouldn't be the first time she's thrown me to the cops and it came back false!"

"That is true." Lucas pointed out.

"Because you were waving you god damn petitions around yelling about rain forest being set on fire!" Erica explained toward Clove. "How else was I suppose to make you shut up?"

"Maybe by not telling the police a Pennhurst patience was loose in your neighborhood?" Clove suggested.

"Just the facts." she shot back.

"Erica!" Lucas scolded her.

"Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that'll loosen their lips." Ted nodded to the pair of cops.

"Okay." Dustin rolled his eyes.

"Like yours do with that damn chicken?" Clove mumbled under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Ted asked in disbelief. "I don't see your parents here."

"I don't see your kids here." she shrugged dramatically in return.

"You wanna send our kids to jail?" Lucas' mom looked his way in disbelief.

"He didn't mean it like that." Karen defended her husband.

"They need to take this seriously." Ted explained. Overlapping yelling and arguing flooded the Wheeler house immediately.

"Shut up."

"Shut up!" they all did when Powell yelled for the second time, raising to his feet. "We're gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time. You first."

"Why her?" Clove sat up to protect Max.

"Why me?" she agreed.

"Follow me." he encouraged.

"I'm not even in the Hellfire club." Max laughed in disbelief. "Neither of us!"

"Do I need to cuff you?" Callahan pointed a figure at her.

"You better go." Clove whispered to Max. "This dudes ego is about to make his head explode."

Max huffed, standing up and following. Clove threw her head back with a loud exhale.

"Your Dad would fix this so fast." Lucas spoke as him and Clove lingered in the kitchen together.

"Yeah, he definitely would." she agreed, Dustin flushed the hallway toilet and walked back to them. "Anything?"

"Ooh." he moved out of Hollys way, going to the pair. "Nothing."

"You don't think they went through.." Lucas trailed off.

"Through Watergate?" Dustin asked in disbelief. "Without us? Without a plan? Without weapons? They wouldn't be that stupid."

"I have a little more faith in Nancy then that." Clove said honestly as her elbows started to hurt from how she was leaning on the table.

"They must just be laying low cause the law got us." Dustin reassured the pair.

"The law?" Erica mocked as she walked into the kitchen. "What is this, Gunsmoke? The Stupid and the Ugly? Should I round up the posse? Saddle the horses?"

"Erica." Lucas scolded her in annoyance. "Please, just go away."

"Can try throwing us under the bus again." Clove rolled her eyes.

"Here's the deal, blondie." Erica leaned in. "Either you tell me what's happening or I stop helping you campaign after school for more Woman's only clubs."

"But that's our thing!" Clove explained.

"Said what I said." she shrugged, looking at Lucas. "And i'll tell Dustin and Clove what I found under your bed."

"Please, no." Lucas panicked with begging eyes.

"You haven't told me yet?" Clove gasped in disbelief as Erica shook her head.

"Spill your guts, cowpuncher." she leaned in closer to her brother.

"What'd she find under your bed?" Dustin gapped at Lucas.

"Nothing." he shot back quickly.

"Is it gross?" Dustin looked at Erica, who nodded. "Scale of 1-10?"

"A hundred." she said in return.

"Oh my god, now you've gotta tell me!" Clove gushed with a laugh.

"A hundred?" Dustin asked Lucas in disbelief.

"The serial killer is a dark wizard from the Upside Down. And we've been looking for him, but he's in the Upside Down, which we can't reach. At least we thought we couldn't, until we found a gate at Lover's Lake." Lucas spoke fast as Erica sipped her juice box. "That was the reason why we were there, but these stupid cops grabbed us. And if you tell anyone about this, that's including Mom and Dad and Tina...especially Tina, I will smother you in your sleep. Do you understand?"

Erica stared as she leaned forward. "Hmmm."

"Erica?" Lucas leaned forward some too. "Do...you...copy?"

"The smothering in my sleep part, but not much else." she stood up more. "Why would they open up a gate at Lovers Lake?"

"What?" Lucas asked in disbelief.

"Vecna is only one." Clove shook her head.

"The commies." Erica gave them a dumb look.

"The commies didn't do this." Lucas gave her a weird look.

"Then who did?" she gapped, holding a hand to his face. "Clove, you explain."

"Right, so-" she began.

"She raises an essential question." Dustin cut in.

"I said Clove." Erica mocked him.

"How did Watergate open up?" Dustin asked, ignoring her.

"Vecna did it." the Reyes girl nodded.

"But how would he do that if no other Upside Down creature could?" Dustin repeated. "Only two gates have opened, so far as we know. One by El, one by the commies. But it's not the commies or El this time, so it...Holy shit."

"Holy shit?" Clove asked.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Dustin explained quickly.

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Lucas sat up.

"There's one thing we've never understood." Dustin stated as he looked around at them. "Which is why Vecna's killing people. What's his motive? Killing teens? It's always just seemed too random. Too prosaic. On top of that, how does the Mind Flayer figure into all this? Maybe this is it. This is the answer."

"What is the answer?" Lucas asked in annoyance.

"Use your words, Dustin." the blonde encouraged. "Or different words, I mean."

"You sure you just want water?" Karen walked into the kitchen with the officer close behind. "We have Coke, Sprite, Dr.Pepper."

"Coke works. Thank you." he said in return as she grabbed the can. Dustin nodded to the side, encouraging the trio to follow him behind the stairs.

"Okay, just hear me out. How did El open the Mothergate?" Dustin asked with a curious look.

"With her powers." Clove nodded.

"She contacted the Demogorgan." Lucas added in.

"With psychic contact. Just like..." the Henderson boy trialed off.

"Vecna!" Cloves eyes widened as she yelled. They all shhed and scolded her quickly, she rose her hands slightly. "Vecna."

"When he cast his spells." Lucas added into her words as Erica looked between the two.

"Exactly. So, what if, with each kill, he's not simply killing them, he's making a powerful psychic connection with his victims?" Dustin pointed out. "A connection powerful enough to rip a hole in the fabric of time and space."

"Clover?" Powell stuck his head out of the room as Max stormed out. "Could we talk next."

Dustin nodded. "We'll wait for you if we get a plan."

Clove nodded, approaching Max. "Everyone okay in there?"

"Stuck with the story." Max nodded. "Look...he's gonna press you. Don't let it get to you."

"Press me? About what?" Clove gave an odd look.

"Personal stuff." Max leaned in and hugged her. "I just wanted you to know that....i'm glad you're here."

Clove rubbed her back. "Why do you say that?"

"Just sometimes get the urge to say it." she admitted.

"Clove." Powell repeated was a small wave for her to follow. Max let her go, giving an encouraging look. Cloves platforms dug into the Wheelers carpet slightly as she walked over, the same carpet she'd ran across many mornings after her and Mike passed out in the basement. Powell held the door open for her a little more. "Take a seat."

"You know you're not allowed to question a minor without a parent present?" she asked as she sat down.

"We're just having a conversation." he gave a small smile, taking a seat. "Now, I heard you say you four were there to show your respect for Patrick. And Nancy Wheeler dropped you off?"

"Yes." she lied. "It was my idea. Because it's spring break, we can't do anything for him at school, so I figured we do what we could until then. We were gonna go on a little walk, like Max said, to find flowers for him."

"Well, that's kind of all of you." he nodded his head. "Anna from the news crew told me you were poking around when Patrick first died. What were you doing at Lovers Lake?"

She swallowed slightly. "We were passing by. My...cousin and I were practicing driving before I get my license December. I wanted to get a head start, and i've got my permit already."

"And you saw the news vans and figured something bad happened, right?" he nodded at her.

"Right." she confirmed.

Powell gave her a small nod. "Last time we saw each other, you were in a pretty bad place. How are you feeling now?"

"What's that have to do with why I was at the lake?" she found herself getting defensive, because she didn't want to think about the last time they saw each other.

"I'm only worried about you." he shook his head. "I saw your parents weren't in town, and the lake just worried me."

"What? You think I brought my best friends out to the lake to try and kill myself infront of them again?" Clove shot at him, the Christmas memory playing on a loop in her head. "Sorry to ruin your theory but if you remember clearly I took a lot of pills, I didn't try to drown myself."

"Hey, i'm not trying to-" he started gently.

"What are you trying to do then?" she stood up quickly, feeling overwhelmed, feeling emotional. "That wasn't even my fault. I had something wrong with me and now i'm on medication to help me avoid it getting bad again. You trying to accuse me of traumatizing my friends even more then I already have is such bullshit."

"I'm not trying to accuse you of anything." he promised her, he kept his tone gentle, like maybe he genuinely did care about her mental health. "I just want to make sure you are okay, and surrounding yourself with death might become a trigger for you."

Clove exhaled as she looked down. "I'm doing fine."

"Okay." he nodded his head, she sat back down. "Do you have people to talk to if you ever aren't doing fine?"

"Yeah." a little smile went on her face. "I guess that's.."

"That's what?" he asked her.

"I just wish they crossed my mind before I grabbed all my grandmas pills. Like, I can't remember their faces when it happened, but waking up in the hospital..." she trialed off, stopping to hold it together. "-just seeing how much I broke my Dad, how terrified I made my friends, how guilty my Mom looked....it's weighing on me so much."

"Like you said, that wasn't your fault." Powell reassured her. "Have you told them this?"

"I think we're all just trying to forget it happened." she said honestly with a shake of her head. "I'm trying to, anyways."

The lights began to blink as Clove looked up a moment. Powell didn't pay it any mind. "Would you say you're feeling better mentally, or are you trying to forget that too?"

"No, I really am." she promised. "There are days, and episodes, but not nearly as bad as it use to be. Getting on medicine...it's just helped me a lot."

"That's why i'm gonna advice you to stay away from the murder cases around Hawkins." he nodded at her. "I know you want to help, and I know that you're very local now that you're so involved with school. But you have to put your mental health first, and all of this? All of this might put you back into a bad head space, remind yourself of how good you are doing."

I wish it was that easy, Powell.

Clove and Max held hands as they walked into Eddie's trailer. "You think Eddie would let me host meetings here?"

"Ugh, I'm gonna have to say i'm not on board with that idea." Max said as she looked at the large gate on his ceiling, where Chrissy died.

"Your trailer instead?" she suggested.

"Sure." Max gave a head tilt.

"How are we even gonna get them through that thing?" Erica asked in disbelief.

"Broom?" Lucas suggested, taking it from the corner and passing it to Dustin.

"Here goes nothing." he braced himself. Max wrapped her arms around Clove, pulling her back some as Dustin began to break through the gate, tearing away.

"Ugh, reminds me of giving birth." Clove cringed. "I never wanna give birth."

"Don't think that's gonna be something you have to worry about much, babe." Max patted her back.

"Oh my god." Lucas gapped in disbelief as Dustin giggled up at the gate. Erica looked back at Clove, giving her a push to encourage her to go first. The girl walked next to the boys, looking up at the group on the other side.

"Hi there." Clove laughed.

"Hey, Prez." Eddie waved to her.

"What now?" Max gapped.

"Well, it looks like they need to climb and then fall into this world." Clove cleared her throat as she looked around. "Landing pad."

"Like a mattress?" Lucas suggested.

"Exactly like a mattress." she nodded as him and Max hurried to the back room. "Erica, think you can help me tie a rope?"

"Do I look like I know how to tie a rop?" she gave her a risen eyebrows.

"Do you not remember my twelfth birthday?" a grin spread across the blonde face. Erica was holding back a smile. "I know you do!"

"I don't think I wanna know what happened at Cloves twelfth birthday." Steve shook his head as the girls began to tie sheets together.

"Those stains are, uh..." Eddie trialed off as Max and Lucas dropped the mattress below the gate. "I don't know what those stains are."

"Not quite sure how these physics work." Dustin said honestly as he took the tied bedsheets and looked up at the ceiling. "But, uh, here goes nothing."

Clove tossed the sheets as hard as she could, they planted at the bottom. She laughed as she shook Max. "Did you freaking see that!"

"And if my theory is correct..." he trialed off, letting the sheets go as they stayed still. "Abracadabra."

"Holy shit." Max grinned in fascination.

"All right, pull on it! See if it holds!" Dustin called to the group. Robin did so, laughing as it held.

"This is the craziest shit i've ever seen in my life." Erica exclaimed as she smiled widely. "And i've seen some crazy shit."

Dustin held his hand up, getting a high five from her.

"Someone test the theory!" Clove called as she held onto Max.

"Guess i'm the guinea pig." Robin latched onto the sheets first, grunting as she crawled up.

"All right, let's clear the landing pad." Dustin encouraged as they all stepped back, giving Robin space to flip from the ceiling hole and flop onto the mattress.

"Oh, thank god." Robin laughed as she sat up with a smile, standing up and getting out of the way.

The trio stared before Eddie nodded. "All right, I guess i'll go."

"You got this, Eddie." Clove encouraged him as he flipped onto his mattress.

"That-" he sat up with a breath. "-was fun."

"Two down, two to go!" Clove gave an exciting bounce toward Dustin. "We're so smart, I can't believe we did the broom and the sheets like that."

"Nerd." Erica mocked.

"A cute nerd." Max put her arm around Clove with a smile.

"See you on the other side." Nancy looked at Steve.

"See you on the other side." he agreed.

It was quiet, and still.

"Nancy, Nancy! Stay with me!" Steve began to panic.

"Steve, what's happening!" Dustin called in fear.

Max stared. "Vecna."

•

kylie speaks

see you guys again in a
few weeks!!!