Chapter Six : Crooked Spider
EPISODE TWO OF SEASON FOUR
━━━ vecna's curse

"SHIT, SHIT, WATCH OUT!"

The string of curses rang brightly in the sunken mind of Moonie Carver, her knees slamming into the carpet below as Eddie Munson shoved her out of the way. The lights were no longer flickering, and the onslaught of chaos had substantially subsided. For the time being, that was. Only a second had passed since the death of Chrissy Cunningham, and Moonie had just realized what happened. She came rushing from the ceiling, her broken body now curled up in the floor. She fell so fast. Eddie barely made it to his feet in time to shove the distraught eighteen year old out of the way.

Yesterday morning she thought she caught whatever Chris had. Now the girl was laying dead at her feet. Her eyes were gone, and her arms were twisted at a backwards angle behind her twisted spine. Moonie was on her knees, the rough, burgundy carpet digging into her skin. She wasn't upset at Eddie for pushing her, she actually felt like she was hollow on the inside. She had no answers for what she saw, she was just in the deepest state of shell-shock. She couldn't claw her way out, she couldn't scream, she couldn't feel. Nothing.

Eddie Munson on the other hand, he seemed to be feeling everything. The boots he wore carved marks into the living room carpet as he paced, filling the air with a repetitive string of curses that didn't seem to bother Moonie. Or reach her. His hands were on his head until he eventually slowed to a stop, sliding his palms down to cover his face where he released a muffled scream. Moonie didn't even flinch.

She just sat there, tired and slow eyes glancing behind her to look at him. Her mouth opened to speak, and Eddie started to think that she was about to ask him if he was okay.

He wouldn't know what to say.

But then her features changed, and she suddenly looked perplexed. Eddie felt his face shift in confusion at the sight, brows furrowing slightly as Moonie shook her head. "What am I gonna tell Jason?" The inquiry fell from her lips, a troubled look splashing across her features as she sunk her head into the palm of her hands. "Oh my god. He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me." She whispered, rocking forward on her knees. "Chrissy's dead."

Eddie had never seen her like this.

He still didn't know what to say, and he most certainly didn't know what to do. Reluctantly, he pulled his eyes from Moonie━━ who couldn't even open hers due to the body next to her. He, for one, chose to completely ignore it. Block it out. That strawberry blonde cheerleader is not dead on his living room floor right now. Except she was. She was very dead, and his wide eyed stare turned to the cluttered table by his trailers door, spotting the keys to his van that laid atop its surface.

Instinct. That's what acted first, a quiet screw this tumbling from his mouth, body trudging forward. Moonie turned at the sound of Eddie's voice, sniffing quietly as she climbed to her feet with the help of the wooden coffee table. "Are you leaving?" Her eyes followed his hands with her question, watching him retrieve the set of keys that sat next to an ash try. He didn't answer. Instead, he stepped to the side and tugged the main door to his trailer open.

"Eddie." She repeated, voice cracking before she cleared her throat and his arm moved towards the screen door. "Eddie." Moon was clear this time, desperation clinging to her features as he stopped with his eyes failing to meet hers. The night air blew in through the mesh screen, dancing across the legs of Moonie Carver from where she stood in the center of the living room, the dead body of Chrissy Cunningham laying still and twisted a few inches away from her.

Eddie kept his eyes on the handle, "I can't be here, Moonie. Not here, not with her." the information seeped into her mind as he spoke. "Not like that." He added, words trembling before he pushed the door open and stepped out of the trailer, leaving her alone. The hinges groaned, the springs slowly sealing the mesh screen shut against its frame. Night air whispered through it, the bigger door creaking quietly as the wind blew in to further open it.

Hesitation held Moonie in a chokehold. Chill bumps scattered across her skin, her palms sore from her fingernails digging into them. She anxiously tightened her hands into fists, shifting in her spot, avoiding the sight of Chrissy's body. Her dead body. When Moonie closed her eyes, she felt that panic swell in her chest, swarming around her heart that quickened in its pace. She saw Chrissy's bones snapping, eyes bursting out of her skull.

A sudden trickle of thick liquid made its way through Moonies' brow, falling right past her eye and onto her cheek where it continued to move. She flinched at the feeling, instinctively raising her right hand to touch it━━ silently following the sticky trail until she was met with the source. Centered in the middle of her forehead, dripping down. From standing underneath Chrissy, she guessed.

She noticed some of it had dried, her fingers hastily running through the fresh trail down her face before lowering her hand. Her breath hitched in her throat, crimson red coating her once clean skin. The mark of death.

"Are you coming or not?!"

The sharp yell of Eddie Munsons voice tore through the silence that had started to smother Moonie, her body flinching at the unexpected sound. A sigh fell from her lips, reluctance filled eyes falling to Chrissy who laid crooked on the ground. She felt her stomach drop, fear running down her throat and into her body like sharp venom. She couldn't stop looking at her wrists, her hands. Each finger was bent at an odd angle, laying awkwardly against the carpeted floorboards. It looked like a dead spider. Flipped over, on its back with each leg stuck up in the air. Twisted.

A shuddering breath left Moonie at the morbid thought, her head shaking in denial. But she knew it was true. It happened. She saw it. "I'm sorry." Were the last words she spoke to Chrissy Cunningham, her friend. The girl her brother loves.

That was actual. Her body levitating was actual. Her skeleton shattering was real. Nobody would believe them. How could they?

She wanted to crawl up in a ball and cry, but the only thing she could will herself to actually do was tug at the sleeves of the dark grey jacket she wore, pulling them off her arms. Moonie lowered the material it onto the floor, gently covering the cheerleaders upper body before stepping back and making her exit from the trailer.

Only now, she wouldn't be alone.

☪︎

"WE'RE IN FOREST HILLS TRAILER PARK in east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not yet released the victims name although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family." The newscaster informed, her voice trailing through the old run-down and supposed to be abandoned building that was once Bennys Diner. A man that committed suicide in his own restaurant.

Now, the windows were boarded up and the main eating area had been turned into a living room of sorts. The kitchen was still the kitchen, of course. But no matter that, Dylan Cornett was now, officially, worried. The words that left the news anchors mouth were one thing, but the familiarity in it all was what scared him. Forest Hills Trailer Park is where Moonie lived with her mom, and she didn't come to the after party last night. He fiddled anxiously with the blue cast that found its way around his wrist last night at the hospital, the couch he sat on creaking quietly as he stood to his feet.

He also could've swore that he saw her car in the back ground of the newscast.

The other boys didn't seem to have that big of a reaction to the news. But that might have been because the majority of them were either still passed out or suffering from a serious hangover. Dylan only arrived when the rager was ending and he got the amazing job of making sure that everyone was safe and alright. That was when Jason told him that Moonie couldn't make it to the party, it was then when he noticed that Chrissy was absent, too. And that was just weird. They never hung out, now all of a sudden they're skipping parties together? It just didn't make any sense to him.

But if there was one thing that Dylan knew about Moonie, it was that she stuck to a schedule. A strict one, at that. A routine that she followed to a T, every single day. If she fell off that? Then something was wrong. Because it would take a lot to make that happen. And he knew, for a fact, that she was supposed to meet with Nancy Wheeler this morning. AKA, a way to test his theory. Did his girlfriend just accidentally sleep in? Or did the creepie crawlies of Hawkins, Indiana catch up to her? Your usual start of Spring Break.

There was a phone line by the open arch that led into the kitchen, one that he made a beeline towards as he racked his mind for the high schools phone number. It took him two tries to figure it out and then one more for the weekend receptionist to pick up before he was phoned in to The Weekly Streak's classroom. "This is Nancy Wheeler." The reply was immediate, recognization clicking in Dylan's mind as he glanced over the cluttered counter.

"Oh, hey, Nancy." He started, his eyes catching sight of Jason Carver who started to make his way over to the kitchen. Dylan cleared his throat, securing the phones cord in his hand as he snuck around the arch and lowered his voice. "This is uh, it doesn't matter who this is. You probably wouldn't even know me." He spoke, suddenly facing a nod sent his way by Jason that basically said what's up, man? Who the hell are you talking to?

As a silent response, Dylan rolled his eyes, mouthing Mom as he annoyingly pointed at the phone. Keep it cool. Keep it all cool, he repeated in his head, hearing a confused━━ "I'm sorry?" from the other end whereas Jason nodded knowingly before walking off.

A wave of relief washed over Dylan, a soft oh my god falling from his lips before he straightened his back out against the wall. "Sorry, Nancy. I just have a quick question and I'll be out of your hair. Promise." He assured, carefully glancing around the space he stood in.

"You know, we have a lot of work to get do-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Dead teen, I heard. This'll only take a second." Dylan cut the editor off, leaning against the archway that led into the kitchen. "Did Moonie Carver come in this morning? I was just wondering, cause... well, I'm sure you can probably guess." He inquired, stretching out the phones cord that sat in his grasp.

There was a scoff, "No. Moon did not come in this morning."

His stomach dropped, a bundle of nerves nesting underneath his skin. "Oh. Alright. Thank you for informing me of that, Nancy." Dylan forced the words from his lips, his eyes falling to a distant Jason Carver who poured milk into a bowl of cereal just a few feet away. His mom always taught him that lying was bad. Something to be frowned upon. For the most part, Dylan listened. But then there he was, head racked with too many unfortunate facts that just so happened to match up. And he only got to them through lying.

"You're welcome. Dylan." Nancy Wheeler spoke from the other end, causing his brows to raise in surprise as he was met with the sound of a dial tone. She hung up before he could even respond, or say goodbye, for that matter. Dylan firmly believed that that was one of the best parts of a conversation; leaving it. Yet Nancy seemed to be the exact opposite, she loved leaving someone on the edge of their seat before disappearing into thin air.

Jason Carver picked up his bowl from the counter, his spoon clinking against the side which happened to gain the attention of Dylan who slid the phone back onto the receiver. "What's this?" He questioned, crunching the cereal between his teeth as he talked. He entered into the sitting area where Andy, Patrick, and Chance filled up the space of the old couch and lawn chair.

"I thought we were watching Thundercats." Jason continued, stopping between the two seats to eye the three boys. Dylan trudged back into the room, crossing his arms over his chest to listen in on their conversation, prepared to input his opinions if necessary.

"Hawkins student got murdered." Patrick lazily informed, holding the remote in his hand.

Jason swallowed the food in his mouth, ceasing his chewing. "What?" He inquired, his features turning more serious at the revelation. Andy nodded from where he sat on the halfway busted lawn chair, "Yeah. It's on every channel." He spoke, motioning towards the newscaster that continued to talk.

"As you can see behind me, Chief Powell and the Hawkins Police Department are actively investigating the scene..." The woman explained, the shot focusing in on the familiar trailer park.

Dylan moved his stare back to Jason, catching the way his eyes widened slightly upon realization of where that was. "Did they say who it was?" The Carver boy questioned, shifting in his spot to look at Patrick from where he sat on the couch. "No, not yet."

A laugh came from Andy, "Maybe Chrissy and Moonie didn't stand you guys up after all." He joked, quickly receiving a scold from McKinney who told him to knock it off. The conversation seemed to drift into background noise for Dylan who scoffed underneath his breath, kicking the tiles with the converse he wore before sparing one more look in Jason's direction.

Only he wasn't standing where he was supposed to be, his attention droned in on the boarded up window of the abandoned restaurant. Dylan watched as he neared it, the distant sound of police sirens growing ever so closer. The news broadcast drifted back to the surface of his mind, his arms that were crossed over his chest growing tighter with worry. Police have not yet released the victims name, but they're currently in the process of notifying the family.

Why else would they be here?

☪︎
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