CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR.
4x06: The Dive

Sam Hughes had been awake for far too long. Yesterday, she'd told herself she'd put aside her foolish fear of having nightmares around other people so she could finally get some sleep—she didn't know the next time they would have a calm enough night to properly get some shut-eye.

But this time, she physically couldn't sleep. Thoughts of the Creel house and the living lights and Alice's room and Lucas kept her up for so long that Dustin was waking up for the final shift of Max Watch when Sam finally felt drowsy. So now she was running on black coffee and adrenaline to get her through this off-putting Wednesday.

Sam was riding in the backseat of Nancy's car with Max and Lucas at either side of her. Nancy was driving, of course, with Robin in the passenger seat; Auggie, Steve, and Dustin were all the way in the spacious trunk. The current plan (and the first non-terrifying plan) was to go visit Eddie Munson at Reefer Rick's boat house and provide him with food (and alcohol) as he hid from the cops who thought him a murderer.

To her right, Max was staring out her window and listening to Kate Bush through her headphones. Sam didn't know what Lucas was doing to her left, but she was yawning too much to even figure it out.

"Did you sleep last night?" Lucas whispered to her, a note of concern in his voice.

Sam sobered herself up from yawning, turning her head to look at him. "Uh—I mean, I guess. I don't know. For sure."

One day Sam would get better at lying. Today was not that day.

Lucas looked at Sam like he saw right through her, but he always did, didn't he? Sam was seeing life through new spectacles recently. Not her glasses or contacts, just enlightenment. All of this she found out about Lucas yesterday, it made the world around her look a little brighter. Warmer. Happier.

"You're still having nightmares?" he asked.

Sam shrugged, feeling caught. "Yeah. I mean, it's... I'm used to them, but... Yeah."

Lucas softened, the same way he always did when Sam presented him with another concerning fact about herself. Well, concerning to him. Sam didn't really see the big deal. The inability to sleep was a constant in her life at this point. Right now, it was Sam and her lack of sleep against the world.

"You could sleep now," Lucas suggested, increasingly more worried. "Just for a little in the car."

She shook her head. "I mean, there's not really a point. We're almost there anyway."

"How do you know we're almost there?"

"My sister and her friend group are like, runners-up to Eddie when it comes to drugs."

Robin's nose wrinkled at that, and Sam worried she was being a horrible wing-woman.

"I mean, not my sister," Sam stammered, trying to save Steph's back. "Not Steph. It's more Jo and Gina than it is Steph and Warren. I just—you know—grouped them together. Guilty by association, and all that." She laughed nervously, earning an intrigued look from Steve. "But not Steph. She's not a druggie. I promise. And if she was it would just be weed! So."

Robin nodded slowly, a little confused where the sudden rambling came from, and why Sam was such a strong advocate that her sister didn't do drugs. She sighed, looking to Nancy now.

"Not to be a wimp," Robin started, "but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit? 'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck."

Nancy shook her head, eyes still on the road. "It'll be fine."

"I just can't stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie's break again! I really, really can't."

"I can," Sam said. "I'll tell him."

"Oh, but I'm still gonna have to look at those doe eyes," Robin whined.

From the trunk, Steve held up the six-pack of beer that Eddie requested. "At least he can drink himself into feeling better."

"That's what my mom does," Max muttered, and Sam had no clue that she'd been hearing any of the conversation. Both she and Lucas looked at Max sympathetically, frowning.

"Why don't we just give it a trial run?" Robin asked, still thinking too much about Eddie's feelings. "'Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food, Sam-approved healthy meals, and that six-pack you requested—oh yeah, we found Vecna! Only, the 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—no—I know that you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed!'"

Sam shrugged. "I don't see a problem with that."

"Woah, woah," Lucas interjected, much softer. "Maybe we don't put it like that."

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it?" Auggie said, and now they were seeing the influence the boy had on Sam's thinking. "He is doubly, triply screwed."

Nancy sighed, hands clenching on the steering wheel. "How about, 'We're one stop closer to finding Vecna'? That's what we say. That's what's important."

"See, guys?" Steve pointed out, munching on a Pringles chip meant for Eddie. "A positive spin can make all the difference."

Auggie mocked his words in a nerdier way, Robin rolled her eyes, and Sam muttered, "Uh-huh."

"Oh, shit," Nancy mumbled as she drove closer.

As they slowly arrived at Lover's Lake, they spotted that there was a large gathering of cars, a crowd of people, heaps of news reporters, and all the cops before a line of bright yellow caution tape.

Nancy drove slowly up to the scene before parking the car. The eight of them hurried out her vehicle to get a better understanding what was going on. They instantly heard loud chatter from the crowd before them. Nancy began leading the group behind the news reporter's van to keep them out of sight from everyone else.

Squinting, Sam could spot Chief Powell and Officer Callahan standing right in front of the caution line with reporters holding microphones up to them as the Chief spoke.

"As many of you may know by now, the Roane County line recently called a little after midnight... reporting a homicide here on the lake."

Sam's heart twisted. She looked to Auggie, who slowly pulled out Sam's drawing of Lover's Lake from his back pocket.

Four drawings, three murders. Sam had drawn a prediction for them all.

"Officer Callahan here 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. It was there that we found the victim, an eighteen-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney."

Sam's heart that was previously being squeezed just stopped completely. Patrick McKinney. He played basketball with Lucas.

Sam looked at Lucas in front of her, reached up and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to provide a little comfort. He glanced a little at her, but ultimately didn't do anything else. He didn't even move.

"His limbs... his body, it was disfigured... There were three eyewitnesses on the scene... We have also identified a person of interest." Chief Powell held up a startlingly recognizable picture that made Sam's breathing stop too. "Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward."

"Oh, man," Steve whispered, shaking his head. "This is not good. This is really not good."

"Really, Harrington? We hadn't noticed," Auggie hissed.

Sam frowned at Lucas, taking her hand off his shoulder when his stillness refused to end. She felt his heavy emotions radiating off of him in an overbearing amount—there were too many to even put a name on what he feeling.

"You've got a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer as many as I can," Chief Powell continued. "Two o'clock at town hall, where anyone from the Hawkins community is welcome. But right now, I've got work to do, and I appreciate your understanding."

Sam's throat felt clogged in guilt. A third murder that she'd predicated, but hadn't been able to do anything about. Now Eddie, as much as Sam didn't like him, was going to be found guilty for her mistakes. Just like Victor was found guilty for Vecna's evil. It wasn't fair, none of it was, and Sam just wanted to take all of the corruption and forever shove it away.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Sam's walkie sounded loudly, static buzzing and feedback whining.

Sam cursed under her breath, grappling with her walkie and turning the volume down before anyone caught them.

"Who the fuck is this?" Sam hissed into the walkie, leaving the enclave in between the trees and the van; everyone followed her, listening to what Eddie was saying.

"Dude. Eddie Munson. Who is this?"

"Shit," she cursed again. "Sam Hughes. Kinda forgot what you sounded like, my bad."

"Who else would be comming you right now?"

"I don't know! Not some long-haired, drug—"

"That's enough," Dustin muttered, taking Sam's walkie from her and electing on talking to Eddie instead. "Eddie, holy shit. Are you okay?"

A beat of silence from the walkie before Eddie's discouraged voice returned.

"Nah, man. Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay."

Dustin winced at the answer, although that was very excepted. He clicked on Sam's walkie again, asked, "Where are you?"

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?"

"Uh, yeah," Dustin answered. "That's near Cornwallis and—"

"Garret, yeah," Steve cut in with a low whisper. "I know where that is."

He began jogging for the car quickly, not wanting to waste any time. Everyone followed after him in a hurry, ready to file back into Nancy's car and meet Eddie at Skull Rock.

Sam took her walkie back from Dustin's grasp. "Hold tight, Edward. We're coming."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

They stepped on broken leaves and sticks as their footsteps trailed through the woods. The group was on the search for Skull Rock, for Eddie, but Sam didn't know how they were ever going to find it if Steve and Dustin didn't find a way to agree on directions.

"Dude, I'm telling you," Steve insisted, leading the group with Dustin at his side, "you're taking us the wrong way."

Dustin held a map and a compass in his hand, not giving up his stance on the matter. "It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map."

"You do realize that Skull Rock, it's like a super popular makeout spot?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So," Steve glared, "it wasn't popular until I made it popular, alright? I practically invented it. We're heading in the wrong direction."

Then Steve broke off from Dustin's side, going towards the left rather than wherever Dustin was trying to lead them.

"Steve," Dustin protested, but Steve continued walking away. "Where are you going?"

"Stop whining." Steve rolled his eyes, motioning towards his direction. "Let's go. Trust me."

"Steveeee!" Dustin whined, but he still followed anyway.

Sam and Lucas were making up the very back of the group. Everyone ended up naturally walking in pairs, so they were a few feet away from everyone else. Sam was so caught up in trying to act casual with her newfound feelings for Lucas that she felt compelled to speak up when they took the sharp turn.

"Okay, so apparently we're going this way now?" Sam muttered, eyes trained upon the leaves below. "I swear to God, if they get us lost..."

She trailed off awkwardly, and Lucas didn't even have the heart to respond.

Sam looked to the side to find that Lucas's entire expression was distraught. She felt his emotions. He was hurting right now.

"Hey," Sam's voice softened. "You okay?"

Lucas blinked rapidly. "Uh—yeah," he lied. "I'm fine. Just... thinking about Patrick, you know?"

He refused to look up, and Sam refused to stop watching him. She swallowed the rising guilt, said, "Yeah."

"I mean, it's... it's like, why him?" Lucas started rambling, although still keeping to himself a bit. "But then, I remember this one day, he—he came to practice with a black eye. He said he fell, but clearly he was lying."

Lucas began slowing down, so Sam stopped walking with him. Her green eyes were unwavering glints of concern on him.

"It's like everyone Vecna targets... has something in their life that's..." He tried searching for the right words. "Something that's—"

"Hurting them," Sam supplied, because she'd been thinking the same thing.

She glanced at Max who was walking away in the distance. Lucas was finally looking at Sam now, shoulders relaxing a little.

"Haunting them," she continued with a stiff nod. "I noticed it too."

Lucas exhaled, some of the pain leaving his body the longer he stared.

"Yeah," he muttered. Sam saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "I—I didn't really know Patrick, so it was easy to just... look the other way, I guess. But I did know Max..." Sam's stomach churned at the mention of her, the gravity of his voice. "I'll never forget what it felt like, seeing her floating in that graveyard. Thinking she was about to..."

He couldn't finish it. Die, he had been meaning to say.

Lucas shook his head like he was stung.

"And I keep thinking," he continued, voice slightly strained, blinking rapidly again. "Vecna, if he's... if he's going after people who..." he stared at a tree behind Sam nervously, "who have horrible trauma, then..."

Lucas looked away from the tree then, met Sam's eyes for just long enough that she got it.

"Then you're worried I'm next," she realized.

Ah.

Well.

That made Sam feel... something.

"Yeah," Lucas admitted solemnly, "I am."

He spared a glance at her B necklace. Her skin grafted torso. Her haunted eyes.

Sam fidgeted anxiously under his stare, and now she was the one avoiding holding a shared gaze. "Uh, well, I don't think the nightmares are Vecna symptoms... And I haven't had any headaches or hallucinations lately, so." She laughed nervously, trying to defuse the tension and escape any deep conversations. "I think I'm curse free."

The unspoken for now hung heavy above their heads. Sam thought it would be laughable if the fourth death she predicted was her own.

Lucas was staring and staring, and Sam couldn't do anything but look into his eyes too. There was the squeezing of her heart again, the type of constriction that had to do nothing with Vecna or her powers. It just had everything to do with Lucas.

"Look, Sam, I'm sorry," Lucas started, his voice convicted with guilt, catching Sam in surprise. "I'm sorry I wasn't there the past year."

Sam processed what he said. Then she shook her head dismissively, because this was deeper than she wanted to go.

"It's not your fault," she tried telling him, but Lucas wasn't having it.

"No—"

"I was acting different—"

"No, no," Lucas cut her off, never sounding more persistent about anything in his whole life. "You weren't. You're not different, you're still you. I just didn't look hard enough. Okay?"

His voice had cracked sadly. She swallowed, unable to look away from his eyes.

"But I see you now," he insisted. "I see you."

Sam felt frozen, and she didn't know what to say. Sometime over the past few years she'd maybe forgotten anyone could see her. It wasn't that she felt invisible, but she'd grown very accustomed to feeling misunderstood. As pathetic as that sounded.

She didn't think Lucas knew how much hearing I see you meant to her—or maybe he did, because maybe that was exactly what came with truly seeing Sam Hughes, and maybe that was why he said it.

Her heart threatened to beat out its chest.

Sam looked at Lucas, about to say something, but was cut short by Steve's voice shouting at Dustin in the distance: "Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom! There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock! In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face."

They all crept further through the woods to reach the location. Pushing out through a bush with the help of grabbing Lucas's hand, Sam spotted a giant skull-shaped boulder resting over two, other boulders, creating a small little space shaded underneath.

"Doesn't make sense," Dustin whispered in distress, eyes darting between his compass and the rock.

Steve mocked Dustin, talking with a Muppet 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 butthead."

"Oh, very mature, little Stevie," Auggie quipped.

Steve sent him a challenging look. "Funny comment coming from the guy called Auggie."

Auggie opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly a body jumped down from behind, startling them all.

They whipped around to find Eddie Munson, in the flesh, raising his eyebrows at the group. "I concur," he breathed, "you, Steve Harrington, are a little Stevie, and you, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead."

Dustin whooped gratefully, speeding over to Eddie and forcing him into a hug.

"Jesus! We thought you were a goner," he muttered in relief.

Eddie froze a little in the hug, before patting Dustin on the back and returning it finally.

"Yeah, me too, man," Eddie admitted, and Dustin pulled himself off of Eddie. "Me too."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"How long have you known Eddie was killing these kids?" a Hawkins resident asked into the mic at the town hall meeting. "It was his trailer where Chrissy was killed, and you expect us to believe he was made a suspect just this morning?"

Stephanie sat uncomfortably in her chair next to Aunt Kat. Ever since the stupid assholes (Zimmerman and Cunningham) visited Stephanie at the house, she couldn't stop thinking about the last time she'd seen Sam. Honestly, Stephanie was pretty sure it was lunch on Friday at school before Sam stormed out.

Now Sam was missing while there was a serial killer on the loose. She wasn't even at the town meeting, while Chief Powell was trying to answer the badgering questions.

"The truth is we've been following several leads, and, yes, Eddie Munson was one of them," Chief Powell explained over the angry chattering. "We are now doing everything in our power to find him."

The town clamored unpleasantly, some people even booing Chief Powell. Stephanie wanted to snort in amusement at the bad reactions the cop was getting—Hopper had been much better at the job, in Stephanie's opinion, even if he was a raging alcoholic who was now dead. She made eye contact with Gina Flores, who was sitting with her dad a few rows ahead. Gina mimicked shooting herself in the head, and that time Stephanie did snort.

"In the meantime," Chief Powell raised his voice, trying to be heard, "for your safety, we will be enforcing a strict curfew."

Everyone shouted at Chief Powell, angry and incredulous.

"What?" scoffed the lady up at the mic. "That's your solution? Hide from him?"

"We're already doing that!" another woman shouted, sitting in a chair.

"It's been days. Days!" a man who was also sitting complained. Everyone broke out into exclaims of agreement. "So you tell me why he's not behind bars right now."

"I understand you all are upset, but I promise you, we will find him," Chief Powell tried ensuring, although no one seemed to be listening to him.

"No!"

Everyone turned around, facing the voice that sounded from the back.

It was Jason Carver.

He was flanked by the remaining members from the basketball team, but also by Justin Zimmerman and Carrie Cunningham.

Their eyes were malicious.

"You won't!" Jason said as the crowd fell silent.

"Jason?" Chief Powell questioned, but there was an underlying pissed-off-ness to his voice. "Son, how about we talk about this in private?"

"Why in private, Chief? So you can keep us quiet again?"

Jason began walking down the aisle, eyes narrowed right up at him.

"You want to keep the truth from coming out?" Jason questioned. He turned, facing the citizens of Hawkins. "I don't know about the rest of you, but we can't bear to listen to any more excuses and lies."

"That's enough!"

"I agree, I've had enough!" Jason exclaimed, walking closer towards Chief Powell. "In fact, I think we've all had enough."

Carrie and Justin nodded like little minions working for Jason. Three eye-witnesses, Chief Powell had said on the news earlier. Stephanie realized he must've meant them.

The audience began applauding for Jason, although there were a few that remained resolute—Stephanie, Aunt Kat, Steph's friend group, Claudia Henderson, the Wheelers, the Sinclairs, and a few others. Everyone else though, they cheered enthusiastically in support of Jason's angry words.

Jason grabbed the microphone, while Carrie, Justin, and the basketball team began pulling out stacks of paper that Stephanie couldn't decipher just yet.

"Last night... Come up here, Justin, Carrie," Jason choked, and the two freshman stood on either side of him. The trio faced the audience, looking sickened. "Last night, we saw things—things we can't explain. Things the police don't wanna believe. And things that I don't wanna believe myself. But I know what I saw. I know. And I've come to accept an awful truth: These murders are ritualistic sacrifices!"

The entire crowd gasp, some in disbelief and some in fear.

"We've all heard how satanic cults are spreading through our country like some—some disease," Jason continued. "And Eddie Munson is the leader of one of these cults! A cult that operates right here in Hawkins! The mall fire. All those unexplained deaths over the years. Some people say our town is cursed. They just don't know why. Now... now we do. Now we know."

Jason pulled out the same paper that Carrie, Justin, and the basketball team were holding. He held it up for everyone to see, although most were too far away to analyze it.

"They call themselves Hellfire," Jason explained, and Stephanie's heart stuttered for a second.

Those were Sam's friends.

"That's bullshit!" Erica Sinclair shot up from her seat, and Stephanie beamed brightly in agreement at Lucas Sinclair's young sister. "The Hellfire isn't a cult! It's a club for nerds!"

"Erica!" Sue Sinclair hissed, forcing her daughter to sit down.

"Just the facts," Erica shot right back.

"A club!" Jason pointed out, shouting into the mic. "A club. A harmless club. That's what they want you to think!" Jason's minions began passing the fliers out, enough for everyone to have one. "But it's a lie! A lie designed to conceal the truth!"

Stephanie's breath caught in her throat when the person to her right handed her the stack of papers. She took one and passed it down, inspecting what Jason wanted them all to see.

It was a picture of the Hellfire Club labeled WANTED, which Stephane had expected to see. Underneath it, Jason and the others had scrawled out the names of all the members to alert the Hawkins community.

But Sam's name was on there too. And she wasn't even in Hellfire.

They wanted to hunt Sam.

Her little sister Sam.

Stephanie and Aunt Kat shared terrified looks.

"And now this cult is protecting its leader, Eddie!" Jason said. "Hiding him! Allowing him to—to continue his rampage!"

Justin took the microphone from Jason, and he began speaking. "Last night, I became overcome with this feeling of... of hopelessness. Then I remembered Romans 12:21. 'Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.' And God knows there's good in this town! So much good! It's in this room! It's in this room, right here, right now!"

The audience applauded, agreeing with Justin's very words. Stephanie though, she was sharing wrathful looks with Erica Sinclair. Here these horrible guys were, implying their siblings were the evil haunting Hawkins.

"Exactly, Justin, thank you." Jason took the microphone back. "We came here today, humbly, to ask for your help. To join us in this fight. Let us cast out this evil and save Hawkins together."

The crowd murmured quietly as he finished, people chattering with each other, mulling over Jason and Justin's words. Aunt Kat let out a quiet whimper, clutching onto Stephanie's hand out of fear. Karen Wheeler heard the sound, sharing the exact same expression with Stephanie's aunt.

Then, breaking the eerie quiet, the same man who had protested earlier got up from his seat. His chair squeaked loudly, and everyone watched as he began heading towards the exit of the town hall.

He faced the citizens of Hawkins, who just stared.

"Well, what are y'all just sitting around for?! You heard the kids!"

Then he turned and walked right out.

Then everyone began following him out.

"Hey," Chief Powell tried, but more people kept getting up and walking out. "I want you all to hear me loud and clear on this: Anyone interfering with this investigation will be arrested!"

But the citizens of Hawkins were storming out.

They were planning to hunt Hellfire.

They were planning to hunt Sam.

Officer Callahan scrambled out of his seat, grabbing the microphone Chief Powell was trying to talk into. "Hey! HEY! We will be implementing a curfew, so if you are not in your house after sunset with the doors locked, you will be written up! And it's gonna go on your permanent record!"

Everyone was leaving the town hall, disregarding them. Everyone, except for Stephanie, Aunt Kat, Steph's friend group, Claudia Henderson, the Wheelers, and the Sinclairs. Steph's group was watching her sympathetically, while the families of those affected were sharing startled looks.

This couldn't be happening.

Not to them.

Not to Sam, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

The family members of the four wanted kids sped to the Wheeler household at scarily high speeds. One by one, four cars filed in, and four families stepped out of their vehicles. They ran from the cars to the front door, desperately trying to check in on the teens—apparently, they'd all been staying at the Wheeler residence. It would have been nice for Stephanie to know beforehand, but she didn't have time to care about that.

Karen Wheeler marched into her house first, everyone else falling behind. She looked left and right, called out, "Guys?!"

No response.

"Are you down here?!" Karen exclaimed, looking down into the basement in search of the group.

They weren't there.

Karen ran back up to the awaiting group with a panicked expression. "They should've been back by now," she panted cluelessly. "They should be back!"

"What time was the movie?" Sue Sinclair asked.

"Uh—" Karen's face wrenched up in distress, thinking. "Four hours ago."

Erica raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Hate to break it to you, Mrs. Wheeler, but they lied to you."

"Yeah," Stephanie scoffed, arms crossing. "Big time."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Holly sang.

"Holly," Ted Wheeler chided.

"We don't think they're actually involved with this Eddie guy, do we?" Claudia Henderson worried.

"Absolutely not." Aunt Kat shook her head confidently. "No way. Not Sam."

"I think at this point, anything's possible," Ted disagreed.

"Our children are not murders, Ted!" Karen snapped.

Ted shrugged. "Don't put words in my mouth."

"Then shut up," Stephanie hissed, fuse blowing.

"Stephanie!" Aunt Kat reprimanded.

Stephanie shook her head, glare unwavering. "I'm not sorry."

Karen exhaled a large breath of air. She turned and walked over to the house phone on the wall of her kitchen. Karen picked it up, and Erica took a judgmental step forward.

"You're calling the theater?" Erica questioned.

Karen dialed the phone, taking heavy breaths. She put the phone against her ear, inhaled, said, "The police."

Stephanie and Erica shared a look, both nervous but fronting it with agitation.

Sammy, Stephanie thought, what did you get yourself into this time?

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

The sun beamed down on their backs at Skull Rock as Eddie explained what happened when Patrick died. He was camping out at the boat house before Jason and the basketball fucks stormed the place.

"Well, why'd you run?"

"Because they were fucking chasing me, dude!" Eddie cried at Steve's stupid question.

Steve rolled his eyes at the attitude. "Who?"

"Stupid—fucking Jason Carver, Justin Zimmerman, Carrie Cunningham, and shit. I don't know!"

Sam's heart stopped.

Everyone paused.

"What?" came her low, strained voice.

All eyes were on her—either confused (like Eddie) or wide-eyed.

Eddie shrugged like he didn't see what was so outlandish. "The three dickheads: Carver, Zimmerman, and Cunningham. What do you mean 'what?'"

"Why were Justin and Carrie with Jason?" Sam asked, trying to keep a calm composure. If anyone looked though, they would see the clenching of her fists.

Eddie's confusion only heightened.

"Dude, they totally wanna kill you," he said obviously.

Sam inhaled sharply, and everyone's eyes kept boring into her. She didn't have the courage to read their emotions or look at their expressions. Her face was flushed in embarrassment, and her heart was breaking in betrayal.

They wanted her dead?

Justin wanted her dead?

"Wait," Eddie broke in again, judging Sam's reaction. He pointed. "You didn't know?"

Sam stared at him for a long, few minutes: the world's biggest idiot.

"No!" she cried incredulously.

How the fuck could she have known? Why the fuck would they even want to? Was Justin that pissed off she yelled at him?

"That's bullshit!" Lucas and Max snapped together in unison. Lucas spat, "That moron's so brain-dead—Jason probably spoon-fed him those lies like a baby!"

"Fuck knows the idiot would believe it," Max agreed, looking angrier than them all.

Sam hugged her arms around herself, shaking her head. "I don't understand."Her voice cracked, and she swallowed. "Was I really that mean to him on Friday that..."

She couldn't finish. She didn't know how—that Justin thought she was capable of serial killing? that Justin wanted to hunt her for dead? that Carrie wanted to take time out of her grief to help him finish the job?

"His behavior is not your fault," Lucas said, so fiercely Sam shot him a startled look. "We're not gonna let them touch you, Sam."

Dustin nodded rapidly in agreement. "Yeah, Specks. That asshole's already done enough damage."

Sam tried smiling at both of them, but she couldn't even force herself to manage it. She felt sick in the stomach, and worried the few amounts of chips she'd digested were working their way back up her stomach.

They wanted to kill her. To death. Just like that.

It was awful. It was a horrible thought that made Sam's hope for humanity dwindle a little, a light inside dimming.

"Um," Sam choked, not wanting to think about the subject more than she had to. "So, Eddie, after—after, you know, Patrick died and everything. What, uh, happened then?"

Eddie was wincing at her, feeling so guilty that he crouched down. "Sorry, Apollo, I thought you would've known."

Sam's face screwed up in distaste at the nickname.

Eddie continued telling them about how he set out onto the lake in the dingy, little boat Reefer Rick had. As he paddled, Jason, Carrie, Justin, and Patrick swam after him, and that was when everything started going down. Patrick was sucked under the water, before he shot up, levitating in the air. Then his bones broke in every direction before he splashed back into the water.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh..." Eddie took a long swig of alcohol, grimacing before he swallowed, "my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now apparently." He sarcastically held up his hands in a rueful shrug. "I ran."

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, no, I—I know exactly what time it was," Eddie said, and Sam watched as he took off the black watch from his wrist. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

Eddie showcased his watch as an explanation before he tossed it to Nancy. She flinched to catch it, but luckily the piece of technology stayed in her hands. Her eyes narrowed on the frame of his watch, nodding.

"9:27," she read.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin noted.

"Same time Firestarter went whack," Auggie added. He nodded at Sam, who did not look pleased.

Steve's arms were crossed. He shook his head and shrugged in exasperation. "Which means what, exactly?"

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy answered.

"Well," Robin sighed, "we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks."

Lucas nodded. "And where he attacks from."

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," Max scoffed, only partially joking.

"If he even has a heart," Robin added.

"A stake?" Steve questioned, blinking in confusion. "Is he like, a vamp—is he a vampire?"

"Oh my God!" Auggie gasped, intrigued. "Like Nosferatu!"

Max rolled her eyes at the two of them. "It was a metaphor."

"Uh—a bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie wondered, still fucking crouching for some reason.

"I'd say Sam is a safer bet," Robin volunteered, nodding towards the blonde who had been quiet for a little too long. The girl in question looked up with startled eyes.

Eddie eyed her up and down, confused again. "Apollo?"

"My name is Sam," she grumbled.

Auggie shrugged. "Actually, it's Samantha."

Out of a burst of emotion, mainly irritation, an electric field surrounded Sam—she went to zap Auggie, ignoring Eddie's terrified shriek, but Nancy was standing in the middle of them like the mother she was.

"Woah, woah, woah! No electrocuting friends!" Nancy scolded.

Sam groaned childishly. The lightning around her dissipated, although she was still really tempted to shock Auggie when he stuck out his tongue at her past Nancy's shoulder.

"What the fuck just happened?!" Eddie exclaimed, having fell on his ass.

Steve just gestured at Sam nonchalantly. "We told you she had superpowers."

"I thought that El girl had superpowers!"

"They both have superpowers," Max corrected, shrugging.

"So she's not Apollo, she's Zeus!" Eddie cried.

"Henceforth," Robin brought them back on track, "why Sam should be the one to fry Vecna's stupid face off."

Lucas kept his hands on his hips, nodding as he listened. "Well if she wants to, she should fuck his shit up, but... I say we really make sure he's dead. Maybe chop his head off after."

"Then eat his fried guts like it's Lord of the Flies," Auggie agreed eagerly.

"Yeah, I'd say all of the above, but—well, except for that last part," Nancy side-eyed Auggie before continuing, "but we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down."

Max sighed. "We need El to get her powers back."

Sam frowned, guilty. "Sorry I don't know how to open interdimensional Gates yet."

"No." Max shook her head quickly. "No, that's not your fault. Don't be sorry."

"Hey—" Eddie spoke up from his sitting position on the leaves and dirt, "uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?"

They all looked behind, finally noting Dustin's lack of involvement in their conversation. Sam noted he was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself and looking out at nothing like he was insane.

"Cursed? No, no, no, no. He's fine," Steve dismissed, arms still crossed like a disapproving mother. "Mental? Absolutely—"

"BOOM!" Dustin shouted unexpectedly, causing Sam to flinch in a little bit of fear. He stayed unfazed at everyone's wide-eyed expressions though. He pointed right at Steve, finally walking back to join the group. "Bada... bada... boom."

"Someone send him to Pennhurst," Auggie whispered.

"I was right," Dustin bragged. Steve rolled his eyes dramatically at Dustin's incessant need to argue. "Skull Rock was north!"

"Seriously?" Steve demanded. "You're serious?"

"Mm-hmm." Dustin nodded, an assholish grin on his face.

Steve gestured to the boulder next to him incredulously. "This is Skull Rock!" And although Dustin agreed to that too, Steve continued, "You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now."

"Yes," Dustin agreed. But, "And no."

"Oh my God?" Steve's head shook, like he was refraining from throttling Dustin. He had to run his fingers through his hair and take a few steps towards Auggie before he actually did.

Dustin held up the compass he'd been so obsessed with for the past few hours. "This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheeler's. It was correct when we got in the car on Kerley, 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."

"So you're using faulty equipment—you're still wrong!" Steve cried, on his last straw.

But Sam was realizing something.

"Holy shit," she muttered.

Dustin looked to her, proud and grateful. He grinned. "Specks got it."

"Got what?" Auggie asked, feeling thoroughly out of the loop.

"Lucas," Dustin turned to face him, "do you remember what can affect a compass?"

At being acknowledged, Lucas startled in a little caught off guard manner. His eyes darted between Sam and Dustin, who were both wearing knowing looks.

Then it hit him too.

"An electromagnetic field!"

"Yep." Dustin nodded, facing everyone else like he just proved something.

Robin shook her head. "Sorry, I must've skipped that class?"

Dustin tried to explain, "Well, compasses—"

"No," Lucas interrupted quickly, shaking his head at Dustin but nodding it at Sam. "Let Professor Hughes explain it."

A smile snuck its way onto Sam's face as a pit of nostalgia grew in her stomach. It was an inside moment that only she, Lucas, and Dustin would understand.

"Right, well, essentially," Sam picked up where Dustin left off, "in the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle of a compass will deflect towards that power instead of True North. So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..."

"There's a Gate," Lucas and Dustin chorused.

Sam nodded, gesturing to them in acknowledgment.

"But we're nowhere near the lab," Nancy protested, confused.

"But what if," Dustin countered, "somehow, there's another Gate?"

Eddie pointed at Sam, feeling lost. "So she can open Gates?"

Dustin sighed wearily. "Not that we know of, no. It would have to be a Gate that we don't know about. Smaller and way less powerful."

"A snack-size Gate," Robin realized.

"How? Why?"

"No idea." Dustin shook his head. "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. And an answer for Specks's connection to all this."

Promptly, Dustin turned around and began walking towards the direction his screwed-up compass was telling him to take.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked immediately. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!"

"Henderson, you get back here right now," Auggie hissed, and Dustin finally listened. He turned around with an annoyed face, but Auggie was holding out a hand towards the person of interest. "Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods!"

Dustin held up his compass. "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving all of Max, Eddie, and Specks." He held out both his arms towards Eddie. "What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

Like before, everyone turned to him; although, this time they weren't listening for a story. They were looking for his decision on whether he'd be risking his life to fight Vecna or not. It was a weighted question that had everyone on edge.

Eddie scratched his cheek contemplatively. His eyes were on nothing but a random leaf.

"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."

Sam heard a thudding noise from behind her, and turned to see that Dustin was jumping up and down with the most excited grin he'd ever had on his face. If it was a cartoon, Sam would've heard little boings every time his feet hit the ground.

Eddie had a mischievous grin of his own. He finally stood up, finished, "So Mordor it is."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Published: January 24, 2024
Re-published: October 30, 2025

BAILEY YAPS...

I'm going to cry here because in the original author notes I was thanking y'all for 1k reads on this book :,))) and now it has 124k at time of publishing :,))) we've really grown so much I'm so grateful. Sam was my first girl and story and oc ever NEVER FORGET!!! Without her I never would've published any more of my writing

Anyway I can't be sappy and break my cool and nonchalant facade. I think it's funny that Sam has hella beef with Eddie. And he succesfully ragebaits her every time. And it's known that Sam usually is a sweetheart who gets along with everyone but she doesn't fw Eddie at all 😭😭😭

(Sam and Eddie to "What Is This Feeling?" from Wicked with Sam as Glinda and Eddie as Elphaba please)

I do love the Hughclair conversation in the woods A LOT especially the fact that Lucas declared he understands Sam so well, while Sam had lost hope that people could (especially with the Justin shit). But my favorite part does have to be I had to rewatch the Lumax scene to write it. And I realized that Lucas is literally holding a pinecone the entire time. For no reason. It's never addressed. It's actually so hilarious, go and watch and you'll spot it. Like why is he doing that

Take a shot every time Sam gets a new nickname