Chapter Sixty-Eight: Oh My My My

Dustin came into the kitchen moments later. He stepped out of the way of Holly, who was caring her new light bright to a different room.

When he got to the counter, he set the walkie down and leaned on it, like Lucas and Annie were doing. Annie had one headphone off her ear so she could listen to what Dustin had to report.

"Anything?"

"Nothing," Dustin replied, disappointed.

Annie's own shoulders sagged. It got worse when Lucas said, "You don't think they went through..."

"Through Watergate?" Annie rolled her eyes at Dustin's new nickname. "Without us? Without plans? Without weapons? They wouldn't be that stupid."

"Yeah..."

"They must just be laying low cause the law got us," Dustin offered. Annie started to nod, but then got cut off.

"'The law'," came Erica's voice. The looked over 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 came in and leaned up on the counter with them.

"Erica. Please, just... go away," Lucas groaned.

She didn't listen, something Annie was extremely familiar with. "Here's the deal," she said instead. "Either you tell me what's happening, or, I tell Dustin and Annie what I found under your bed."

The two mentioned looked over at Lucas, Annie's eyebrows up and eyes full of amused interest. "Oh really?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.

Lucas perked up and shook his head. "Please, no," he begged.

"Spill your guts, cowpuncher."

Dustin put a hand on his hip and turned to Lucas. "What'd she find under your bed?"

"Nothing!"

He and Annie immediately looked at Erica. "Is it gross?" Dustin asked. Erica nodded.

"Scale of one to ten?" Annie asked, wanting to know just how gross they were talking.

"A hundred."

Annie gasped and looked right back over. "Holy shit, dude," she said.

"A hundred?" Dustin exclaimed.

"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. 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?"

"Hmm..." Erica hummed after finishing off her juice with a slurp.

"Erica." Lucas slid forward on the counter. "Do. You. Copy?" he asked, quietly but very strongly.

Annie looked at him, eyebrows nearly hiding in her hair. "Jesus, dude, what the fuck are you hiding under your bed?" she asked. Lucas turned his intense gaze to her, then back to Erica for an answer.

"The smothering in my sleep part, but not much else. Why would they open up a gate at Lover's Lake?" she asked.

Now Annie was confused. "What?" Lucas asked, his intense demeanor gone.

"The commies?" Erica said, as if it were obvious.

"The commies didn't do this," Lucas explained. It was fair, since Erica was only introduced to all of this last summer, when the commies did do this.

She looked lost. "Then who did?"

"Nobody."

"So it just opened up for fun?"

"Erica," Lucas said, cutting her off, "you have no idea what you're talking about."

Annie scoffed. "Do we?" she asked quietly, but loud enough that Lucas heard and gave her an elbow to the arm.

"She doesn't, yet she raises an essential question," Dustin said. "How did Watergate open up?"

It was a good question, and Annie wondered why they hadn't really thought about it yet.

Dustin went into explaining. "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..." He stopped. "Holy shit. Wait, wait, wait, wait..."

Annie shook her head. "What? Wait on what?" She followed him with her eyes as Dustin started to walking around the kitchen.

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

"What is the answer?" Lucas asked, but Annie's eyes were drawn to Mrs. Wheeler walking into the kitchen.

The kids froze as Mrs. Wheeler came into with an officer to get him a drink, offering up several options. Annoyed, Dustin gave a look and the four of them quietly hurried out towards the entry way.

"Okay, just hear me out," Dustin whispered in their little huddle group. "How did El open the Mothergate?"

A second, then Lucas had a revelation. "She contacted the Demagorgan," he answered.

"With psychic contact. Just like..."

Annie got there. "Vecna. When... when he casts his spells," she answered.

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

"He's opening more gates."

"Bingo."

Dread filled Annie. When Lucas said that, she swore she heard a chime somewhere in the back of her mind. Her music was still playing, so she figured it was just her imagination playing tricks on her.

Another officer stepped into the entry way, radioing over to someone.

With a wave of his hand, Dustin and crew moved into the living room. "Why would he be opening gates?"

"To take over the world."

"Who do we know that wants to take over the world?"

"The Mind Flayer," Annie whispered as they came to a halt.

"So if the Demagorgan was just his foot soldier, Vecna's his five-star general... A five-star general with the power to open gates."

"Holy shit."

"Holy shit."

"Holy shit!"

"Holy shit, that was incomprehensible. You lost me at 'Mothergate.' Please be kind. Rewind," Erica said.

"Okay, so you remember the gate?" Dustin asked.

Erica rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Oh, no, I blocked that out," she answered, the sarcasm strong.

"So you think it's about the commies, but it really wasn't."

"So what was that giant laser?" she asked.

Annie was confused. "Wait- laser? There was a giant laser?"

Dustin sighed, and clenched his open hand into a fist. "Okay, one thing at a time? We can tell you all about the secret Russian base later."

They sat in the newly vacated kitchen, trying to make sense of everything. Lucas brought up to Annie that she hadn't been listening to her music, having turned it off so she could try and focus on all of Dustin's words.

"You know Steve would be pissed if he found out you weren't listening and something happened," Lucas said.

Annie rolled her eyes and sighed, knowing it was a good point. So, sitting at the table with her arms cross and her feet propped up, Annie continued to listen to Holding Out for a Hero while the others discussed.

In all honesty, she was glad she didn't have to analyze with them. Her head was too full to do any of that.

She looked at the table, noticing all the different impurities on it. The little marks from crayons, some grooves from something being placed a little too harshly on there, even a couple water rings from condensation sliding down glasses.

Annie thought about her life versus the Wheeler's. The only similarity was the attempt each family had at trying to look nice and put together. For the Harringtons, however, they didn't care about the loving family look. As long as the kids got good grades and didn't do stupid shit.

At least the Wheelers tried to look like they were all happy together. Annie's parents didn't even bother staying in town for the rest of spring break.

While doing her observations, Annie's eyes landed on the small chandelier dangling in the living room. Another thing about the Wheelers: they liked the cozy home. Sometimes, Annie felt hers was sterile.

She blinked and noticed the light grew dimmer. "Huh..." she mumbled under her breath, the others too caught up in their "analyzing" to hear her.

Despite the burn it caused her eyes to feel, Annie kept watching the light. When it started to dim and brighten rhythmically, she knew something was up.

"Guys," she said, not quite catching their attention. Annie paid close attention and made out the fact that it was morse code.

S. O. S.

"Guys!" she called out, stopping their conversation completely. Annie pulled her headphones off and kept her eyes on the chandelier. "Someone's talking to us."

Nodding her head to the light fixture, the others looked at it and watched it. "You guys said you follow Vecna through lights... does that mean he's here?" Erica asked, standing and walking toward the light.

Dustin, Lucas, and Annie followed. "No, this isn't Vecna," Annie answered. "It's morse code. It's S.O.S."

A/n: I had to skip out on some conversation because the show doesn't show all of it, and I was worried trying to fill in the gaps on my own would get super confusing. So, we get Annie's thoughts instead!