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{Isadora}

It was getting darker by the second.

Steve's hands were clenched tightly around the steering wheel as the car wound its way down the narrow road toward Reefer Rick's cabin. No one had said much since we'd left Family Video. I shifted in my seat and stared out the window, watching as the woods blurred past. I let out a breath and desperately wished that we were anywhere else right now.

"I really don't like this," I muttered as the cabin came into view. Steve soon pulled the cut to a stop, but as the engine cut off, no one moved. As we sat there, staring at the cabin, Billy reached over and squeezed my hand. I forced myself to smile at him even though my stomach was doing somersaults.

"This is it," Steve said finally.

I glanced at him as we got out of the car, "I know Eddie's our friend, but I cannot believe we're searching for him in a creepy cabin in the woods at night. Like, has no one here ever watched a horror movie? This is literally how all of them start."

Billy huffed out a laugh, "And how would you know, Miss 'I Can't Watch Horror Without Hiding Under the Blankets'?"

"I've watched one," I shot back. "With you and Steve."

I had also accidentally watched Carrie, but Billy didn't need to know that.

He grinned teasingly at me, "The one where you hid under the blankets the entire time? That A Nightmare on Elm Street, Issi, and it didn't even start with a cabin in the woods."

"Fine, but when they make a horror movie about this, it's going to open exactly like this, with a group of teenagers checking out a creepy cabin in the dead of the night. Can we please just get this over with?"

Billy tilted his head, "What's the matter, love? Are you scared?"

Before I could answer, Dustin bounded up the steps and started hammering on the doorbell like his life depended on it.

"Okay, well that's settled. I guess he's not here," Steve said, when there was no answer after a few minutes.

"EDDIE! It's Dustin," Dustin yelled, his voice ricocheting off the trees.

I crossed my arms as I glared at him, "Oh, yes. Let's yell louder. Let's make sure every creepy thing in the woods knows exactly where we are. That's a brilliant plan, Dustin."

He ignored me as he kept banging on the door, "Eddie! Come on, man, look we just want to talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help."

With everyone else fixated on the door, I stepped down the stars, my flashlight cutting a narrow beam through the darkness as I peered through the grimy windows. The inside was pitch black, still in a way that made my skin prickle. A shiver ran down my spine.

"I can't believe we're doing this again," Kendra whispered from behind me. I jumped slightly, before turning toward her.

"Y-Yeah," I muttered. She had no idea how badly this was messing with me, how much it reminded me of the last time everything went wrong. I'd tried, I'd really tried, to bury those memories, but standing here in the dark, it felt like I was right back on the edge of something awful, like the ground beneath us was about to give way.

"Hey, guys?" Max called. Kendra and I exchanged a look before hurrying over to where she was standing. There was a small boat ahead a short distance away from the cabin, its door hanging slightly. We made our way down to the boat shed, and Max pulled the door open. As she did, I swept my flashlight inside, the beam catching on old fishing gear and dust-covered supplies. It looked abandoned, but I knew better than to trust that. I also knew that this would be the perfect place to hide.

"I don't like this," I murmured as we stepped inside. As we spread out through the shed, Steve picked up an old oar from the corner, and I frowned as I watched him.

"Steve, what are you doing with that?"

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked, as Steve started using the oar to dig through a pile of old tarps.

"He might be in here."

"So take the tarp off," Dustin told him.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off," Steve retorted. Kendra and I glanced at each other and shook our heads as we listened to the two of them.

"Hey, look over here. Someone was here," Max told us, as she walked over to a corner of the room with Robin and began examining it.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran," Robin suggested.

"Don't worry, Steve will get him with his oar," Dustin told us dryly.

"I know you think you're being funny, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight ..."

He never finished his sentence. Something jumped out of the darkness, and there was a blur of movement and a heavy thud as Steve was slammed back against the wall, the oar clattering uselessly as he lost his grip.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Steve gasped.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Dustin cried, rushing forward with his hands raised. "Eddie! Eddie! It's me, it's Dustin. This is Steve. He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right. Yeah," Steve nodded.

"Eddie, we're here to help," I told him.

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?"

Steve groaned, and Eddie tightened his grip on him.

"He's cool. He's cool," Dustin told him.

"I'm cool, man. I'm cool."

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked us.

"We were looking for you. We're here to help," Dustin told him. "Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band, and this is my friend Max, the one who never wants to play D&D. Eddie, we're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?"

"Yes. Yes. We swear."

"On Dustin's mother."

"Yeah. Dustin's ... Dustin's mother."

"Jesus Ch ..." Eddie said, as he let go of Steve and went to sit down.

"Eddie, we just want to talk, okay?" Dustin said, as he crouched down in front of Eddie, before Robin joined him.

"We want to know what happened."

"You won't believe me," Eddie sniffled.

"Try us," I told him. Eddie seemed to hesitate for a while, before nodding and explaining to us what he'd seen.

"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh ... and she just, like, hung there, in the air, and her bones ... uh, she ... her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It ... It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I ... I didn't know what to do, so I ... I ran away. I left her there," he told us, before looking around at all of us, "You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No, we don't think you're crazy."

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds."

"We're not bullshitting you."

"We believe you."

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little difficult to take."

"Okay."

"You know how people say Hawkins is cursed? They're not way off," Dustin told Eddie. The word cursed made my stomach twist. For a split second, I wasn't standing there anymore. I was back in Starcourt Mall, standing in that hallway as Billy made his way towards me. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to breathe, and to remember where I was.

"There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours," Dustin explained.

"Like ghosts and shit?"

"There are some things worse than ghosts."

"These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone, but they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you. If they're back again, we need to know."

"That night, did you see anything? Dark particles, maybe?"

"It would almost be like dust, swirling dust."

"No, man, there was nothing you could see, or, uh ... or touch. You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she ... she was in a trance or something, or under a spell."

"A curse. Vecna's curse."

"Who's Vecna?"

"An undead creature of great power. A spell caster. A dark wizard," Dustin told us.

My stomach churned at his words. We stayed for a little longer before deciding to head back, promising Eddie we'd return in the morning with supplies to keep him going for as long as he needed to hide out here before saying goodbye to him and heading back to Steve's car.

The drive back to Hawkins was quiet and I just looked out the window, watching everything pass by, my mind replaying everything over and over again. Finally, Max nudged me gently.

"Issi, are you okay? You've been really quiet."

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking," I shrugged in response. It wasn't a lie, but I also knew it wasn't the whole truth, but I didn't really want my friends knowing what I was thinking about. Billy squeezed my thigh, and I smiled as I glanced toward him.

Steve soon pulled up outside Family Video, and we all climbed out, exchanging quick goodbyes with Steve, Robin, and Kendra as they headed off. Once they left, I turned towards Max and Dustin as they wheeled their bikes closer.

"Are you sure you don't want a life home?" I asked, the idea of them riding through Hawkins at night making my stomach twist.

"No, we're okay," Max said. I nodded, before pulling each of them into a hug.

"Be careful, please."

They both nodded before riding off, their bike lights disappearing down the street. Once they were gone, Billy and I climbed into the car together. It was silent as Billy drove home, and I stared out the window, my thoughts spiralling as I watched the trees passing by us. Suddenly memories flashed through my mind of a possessed Billy and the Mind Flayer towering over me, and I gasped as my hand flew to my chest.

"Issi?" Billy asked, as he glanced over at me. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine," I said, but even as I said it, my voice wobbled. I didn't want to tell him that the thing we'd destroyed still lived in my mind, lurking in the corners of my thoughts. I didn't want to sound crazy, even to myself. Billy didn't look convinced, but he didn't push, and we drove on in silence for a few more minutes.

"Do you believe them?" He finally asked. "That this Vecna thing could be behind what happened to Chrissy?"

I looked down at my hands, tracing meaningless patterns on my jeans, "I don't really know what I believe anymore. None of it makes sense."

Billy let out a sigh before glancing at me again, "Do you really think going back to see Eddie tomorrow is a good idea?"

"Yeah, I do. Eddie needs us and we can't just leave him alone with this," I said. Billy nodded, though the concerned look didn't leave his face as we drove home. Neither did the feeling that something terrible had already started, and that we were standing right in the middle of it.

♡ ⋆。˚☽˚。⋆ ♡

Once we got home, Billy headed straight upstairs to shower, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I opened the fridge and reached for the bag of vegetables, and just as I did, there was a knock on the door. I quickly wiped my hands on my jeans before going to answer the door, and as I opened it, I smiled when I saw Max standing on the other side of the door.

"Hey!" I smiled at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought we could have a movie night," she said, as she held up a VHS tape for me to see. "And I picked up dinner for everyone, and before you ask, yes, Issi, I got you a salad."

I laughed and stepped aside to let her in. "You really do know me too well."

We made our way into the living room and set the room up for a movie night. Blankets were tossed over the couch, a mattress was dragged onto the floor, and I started laying the food out on the coffee table. I was halfway through setting up when Billy appeared at the top of the stairs, fresh from a shower, a towel slung low around his waist. Max almost immediately froze.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," she groaned, slapping a hand over her eyes. "That is not something I needed to see tonight."

Billy let out an awkward chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh sorry?"

I tried, and failed, to stop myself from laughing, "Maybe you should put clothes on before joining us for a movie night?"

He nodded quickly and disappeared back upstairs while Max and I finished setting up. By the time Billy came back, we were already starting to dig into dinner. He served himself food and then watched as I poked around at my dinner with a smirk.

"I see Max got you a salad from your favourite place. Do you eat anything besides salads, Issi?" He asked teasingly, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"Yes, William. You've seen me eat other foods."

Max paused mid-bite, "Wait, William? Since when do you let people call you that? I thought you hated it."

Billy shrugged, as he smiled at me, "It's different when Issi says it. It's kinda cute."

I shook my head and then reached over and stole a piece of chicken from his plate. He raised an eyebrow as I popped it into my mouth.

"Mm, that tastes good."

"Yeah, that's because chicken is better than a salad."

"It's a chicken salad," I argued. "But for whatever reason, the chicken on your plate tastes better than the chicken on mine."

Billy chuckled and shook his head as we finished eating dinner, and once we had finished, we settled in for the movie. I curled up against Billy, resting my head on his chest, and he wrapped his arm around me automatically. I glanced over at Max, who was sprawled out on the mattress we'd set up for her, and I smiled to myself. For the first time that night, everything felt normal.

Once the movie ended, Billy and I made our way upstairs, and got ready for bed before slipping into the bed together. I nestled close to him under the covers, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing, and soon I found myself drifting off into sleep.

But the moment I closed my eyes, the nightmares began again.

This time, I was running.

The ground beneath my feet shifted and cracked as Hawkins streets melted into Starcourt corridors, then dissolved into something dark and endless. Billy was there first, though it was not the Billy I loved. This version was the one with empty eyes. He chased me without saying a word, and every time I looked back, he was nearer, his hand reaching for me.

Then the Mind Flayer rose behind him, its shadow swallowing everything in its path. It wanted me to stop running. It wanted me to give in.

And then there was Laura.

She stood ahead of me, blocking my path, her eyes hollow. Blood stained her clothes, her expression unreadable. I tried to scream her name, tried to tell her I was sorry, that I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but no sound came out. She remained motionless, simply watching me and seeming to dare me to try and pass her.

I jerked awake and jolted upright with a gasp, my heart slamming against my ribs.

For a moment, I just sat there, soaked in sweat, trying to convince myself I was awake, that I was safe. I wiped my forehead with a shaky hand and glanced beside me. Billy was still asleep, his breathing slow and even.

I didn't want to wake him.

Quietly, I slipped out of bed and padded downstairs, making my way to the kitchen, where I poured myself a cup of water, and took a few sips, before deciding to head back upstairs. When I walked back into the bedroom, I saw the bed was empty and I froze.

Then I heard the rush of water coming from the bathroom and I let out a relieved sigh. Okay, he just woke up too, I told myself. He's fine.

But minutes passed and he didn't come out.

"Billy?" I asked, as I knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"

There was no response. I gulped and knocked again.

"Billy, please. Open the door."

There was still no response, and I couldn't help feeling panicked. I pressed my ear to the door, trying to hear anything, but there was nothing except the sound of running water.

"Billy, please, you're scaring me."

After what felt like forever, the lock clicked before the door opened and Billy stepped out, water still dripping from his hair and shoulders, his skin flushed an angry red from the heat. He didn't look at me as he brushed past me, heading straight back into the bedroom. I followed him, and frowned as I got closer, the redness on his skin standing out even more.

"Oh, Billy," I whispered, sitting down beside him. "Did it happen again? Are you oaky? Do you want to talk about ii"

"No, I don't, Isadora," he snapped. I flinched and nodded, before sliding under the covers and turning away so he wouldn't see my tears.

The room went painfully quiet.

I tried to keep my breathing steady, but a few quiet sobs slipped through anyway. I hated that I couldn't help him and hated that I felt like I made him feel worse by asking about it. After a moment, I felt the mattress shift as Billy rolled over and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into my hair. "I didn't mean to snap at you, Princess. You didn't deserve that."

I stayed tense for a second longer before finally melting into him, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That's all."

"I know," he said quietly, holding me tighter. "I just ... I don't always know how to deal with this."

I turned to face him and brushed damp strands of hair away from his forehead, "I'm sorry too. I wasn't trying to push. I just worry about you."

He kissed my forehead and held me as we both fell back to sleep.

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When I awoke the next morning, I let out a soft groan and rolled out of bed, making my way to the bathroom, and splashing water on my face before picking up my brush. As I worked through my shoulder-length hair, I caught movement in the mirror. Billy appeared behind, wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Morning," he murmured, his voice still rough with sleep.

"Morning," I replied softly, leaning back into him. I closed my eyes for a moment, before my eyes flicked to the faint redness still lingering on his skin. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he nodded, though I saw the stiffness of his shoulders, but I didn't push. Instead, my fingers brushed lightly over his skin, and he pulled me closer, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead, before leaving the bathroom and heading downstairs to make breakfast.

Once I was ready, I made my way downstairs and saw Billy sitting at the kitchen table, already halfway through breakfast, a slice of toast in hand. I smiled and walked over, stealing a piece right off his plate and taking a bite.

"Seriously?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow at me.

"I just wanted a bite," I said with a grin, setting the half-eaten toast back down. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me, but his smile didn't fade. I kissed his cheek before going to the cupboard to grab some cereal, and soon I was seated beside him, eating the cereal.

At that moment, Max appeared in the doorway, and I couldn't help noticing that she looked off. She looked pale and there were dark shadows under her eyes, and I frowned as I looked toward her.

"Morning, Max. You okay? You look kinda pale," I said gently.

She shrugged, "I'm fine."

Before I could say anything else, a car horn blared from outside. I glanced at Billy, who was already standing up as he finished his last piece of toast.

"That'll be Steve. We should go."

I nodded and we grabbed our jackets and headed out to the car together. Steve's car was idling at the curb, and I got in, joining Dustin and Robin, who were talking quietly. As Billy and I got into the backseats, I frowned as I noticed Kendra wasn't with them.

"Where's Kendra?"

"Nancy called her and said she needed help with something," Steve told me, checking the mirror as we pulled away from my place.

"With what?"

"No idea. Kendra just said she'd meet us later."

I nodded and leaned back in my seat, forcing a smile as the car drove forward, but the uneasy feeling didn't go away.

The drive back out to Reefer Rick's cabin was eerily quiet, and when Steve finally pulled up, we piled out quickly, gravel crunching under our shoes as we headed straight for the boat shed. The door creaked open, and Eddie nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning around to face us.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Delivery service," Dustin told him as we walked into the boat shed.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?" Dustin asked, as we sat down together.

"Bad news first, always," Eddie told us.

"All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy," Dustin told Eddie.

"Like, 100% convinced," Max added in.

"And the good news?"

"Your name hasn't gone public yet, but if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do, and once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

"Hunt the freak, right?"

"Exactly," Robin nodded.

"Shit."

"So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence," Dustin said, like it was that simple.

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?"

"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it."

"Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a ... a few times, and ... and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh based, theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this," Robin told Eddie. Like Robin, I had only been through this once before too, and at the mention of hers being more human flesh based, memories of the Mind Flayer flashed through my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I moved closer to Billy.

"You okay, Issi?" He whispered, resting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," I nodded as I forced myself to focus on the conversation taking place in front of me.

"We usually rely on this girl who has superpowers, but, uh, those went bye-bye, so ..."

"So we're technically in more of the ..."

"Kinda ..."

"Brainstorming phase."

"Brainstorming."

I frowned as Max, Robin and Steve all spoke at once.

"There ... There's nothing to worry about," Dustin tried to reassure Eddie, but he didn't sound very convincing. Before anyone could respond or say anything further, the distant wail of police sirens cut through the woods.

"Shit. Tarp. Tarp. Tarp."

As the others hurried to cover Eddie with the tarp, I rushed to the window and watched as police cars screamed past, heading in the direction of the trailer park.

"Shit," Billy whispered from beside me.

It was quickly decided we should follow them to find out what was going on, and so we scrambled back into Steve's car, leaving Eddie hidden in the shed. As we drove, I clenched my hands in my lap, my nails digging into my palms.

"Something's wrong," I said.

"How do you know?" Robin asked me.

I shook my head, "I don't know. It's just a feeling I've been having ever since –"

"Chrissy died?" Max asked me.

"Yeah."

The car fell silent as we got closer, but soon we came to a roadblock and Steve stopped the car before we hopped out. The moment we did, I could see the body laying in the middle of the street, covered by a yellow blanket, and surrounding the area were onlookers, police, and reporters. Everything went numb as I pushed through the crowd and moved closer to the body.

"Issi –" Billy said, as he caught up to me and gently tried to pull me away from the grizzly scene, but I couldn't look away. Nearby, I could see Kendra and Nancy talking to a police officer, but my mind wasn't making much sense of anything that was happening right now.

Suddenly, everything came crashing down on me at once. If this death was connected to Chrissy's, and I had a bad feeling that it was, Eddie was done for. I knew the town would tear him apart. All at once, I had a horrible, sinking feeling that this was only just the beginning, and that whatever was coming next was going to be so much worse.

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Enjoy! Xo

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