third person

     Max Mayfield paced back and forth inside her mobile home. The nail of her thumb was between her teeth as the flashes of red and blue hit her peripheral vision. The young ginger didn't know for sure what was happening over at the Munson trailer, but she knew it couldn't be good. 

   Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she strolled out of her trailer discreetly and made a move toward the direction of the trailer. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach the more the crime scene tape became clearer. 

   She forced herself to bite back the vomit threatening to leave her guts as she saw a body on the floor of the trailer, the bones snapped and misplaced. 

   However, she also found herself relieved at the sight of the light hair and cheerleading outfit. 

   It's not Veda, she thought to herself. 

   Max knew Veda in one way or another. She first met the older girl through her step-brother, Billy Hargrove. She remembers wandering down the hallway of her old home to find the raven-haired girl in her brother's bedroom. At first, she thought that Veda was just one of the girls Billy typically brought home until she saw him hand something to her and watched how he exploded with anger when he saw Max snooping. 

   She only saw Veda again when she met Dustin Henderson who turned out to be Veda's younger brother. She never told Dustin what she saw, no matter how close she got to him. Mostly because she could take an educated guess as to how Veda knew Billy. 

   Max snapped back to reality when the sight of a police uniform entered her sight, her blue eyes snapping upwards to see a deputy from the sheriff's office giving her a stern look. The girl glared up at him before turning around hastily and running back to her shed where she grabbed her bike and zoomed off. 

   She needed to talk to Dustin, maybe even tell him everything she knew about Veda Henderson. Especially since the last she had ever heard of the girl was when she was screaming and being dragged into a van by the town weirdo who now has a dead girl in his house. 

   It didn't take her long before she arrived at the Henderson's house, knocking on the door and waiting anxiously for someone to answer. Dustin swung the door open, staring at the girl in front of him in shock. 

   Ever since Max's brother died and she broke up with his friend, Lucas, Dustin had hardly seen Max at all and when he did, it was as if they had never known each other. "Max? What are you doing here?"

   "I need to talk to you about something,"

   "Can it wait? My sister's run off somewhere again and I'm trying to find her without letting my mum know and it's really freaking hard-"

   "Have you heard the news? About the body of a Hawkins student found?" Max cut him off, holding her hand out to push the door open wider. She watched as the colour drained from his face, realising how she made it sound, she corrected herself. "It's not Veda, but she could be next," 

   Without waiting for any more information, Dustin stepped to the side and let his friend through the doorway before they quickly scattered to his room for some privacy. Both of their eyes lingered on the closed white door opposite Dustin's, the letter V hanging from the middle of the door. 

   "What do you know?" Dustin asked, trying to keep himself from envisioning his sister lying dead in a ditch somewhere around town or even worse, stuck in the upside down. 

   "She was at the trailer park last night, I saw her," Max began, seeing Dustin get frustrated with the slow speed she was speaking in but making no effort to fasten her pace. "She was there to see Eddie Munson,"

   "Eddie? Why the hell is she with him?" Dustin repeated, looking to the roof to try to envision any sort of relationship that Eddie could possibly have with his sister. They always seemed close at the club meetings, but Dustin just assumed that was because of their close age and similar personalities. He couldn't imagine it going further than the walls of the hellfire club. 

   "I've seen her there a few times, actually. I have a theory, but you're not going to like it," Max hesitates, watching for Dustin's reaction.

   "Well, spit it out!" Dustin exclaimed, moving his hands in circles to try to hurry his friend up. 

   Max rolled her eyes at his impatience, crossing her arms over her chest for comfort before continuing. "I think Veda is a drug addict and Eddie has been supplying her ever since Billy..."

   Dustin's eyes softened at the mention of Max's late brother, watching as her eyes moved to the floor. Much like everyone else, Dustin hated Billy and thought he was a dick, but he felt sympathy for Max and what she lost. 

   "Veda doing drugs? No way, I would notice," Dustin defended, waving away the idea with a scrawl when Max raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. "Okay fine, she's very secretive but that's just what she's like. She would tell me if she was into drugs,"

   Max stood there silently, not dropping her raised eyebrow even slightly. Defeated, Dustin sighs dramatically "Shit. Veda's doing drugs,"

   "I didn't know for sure until last night when I heard them arguing about it," Max confessed, looking at Dustin sadly. He tried his hardest to contain it, but he couldn't hide the slight dullness in his eyes at the realisation of how deep his sister has fallen. 

   "Wait, what has this got to do with the body they found?" Dustin asked, suddenly remembering how Max mentioned it earlier.

   "It was found in Eddie's trailer," Max revealed, swallowing hard in preparation for what she was going to say next. "I saw Eddie dragging Veda into his van and I heard her screaming," 

   "She's been missing since last night...." Dustin trailed off, his gut sinking in dread. He shook his head and sealed his eyes shut "No, Eddie would never hurt anyone let alone Veda. There has to be something else going on,"

    "They think he did it--the girl in his trailer--Chrissy Cunningham. They think he killed her. They have no idea about Veda yet but I'm pretty sure other people heard Veda screaming too so it's only a matter of time," Max explained, thinking back to the previous night and remembering lights turning on in the trailers. The light was soon snuffed out when the car skidded off and the nosey neighbours assumed it was a lover's quarrel or drug addicts going off on each other. 

   "Why haven't you told the cops this?" Dustin asked, eyeing Max suspiciously as they both sat down on the edge of his messy bed. She kept her face turned away from him, staring at the floor. 

   "Right before I saw Veda and Eddie arguing....something else happened," Max began, turning to look at Dustin with a haunted look in her eyes. "The lights started flickering and uh... I looked out the window and saw Eddie speeding off like he didn't even know how to drive. I mean, the lights in my place always go off it's a piece of shit and Eddie always drives like a manic but, I don't know. He looked... scared," 

   "You don't think?" Dustin hesitated, his voice quiet as if he was scared to alert anyone or anything that might be listening. Max just looked at him, a sense of dread becoming evident on her face. "Something...else killed Chrissy?" 

   "It can't be, right? That's impossible," Max shook the thought off her head, feeling crazy for even starting the suspicion that something else was responsible for Chrissy's gruesome death.

   "I don't know," Dustin replied, thinking deeply to himself, "But, there are only two people that know what really happened to her."

   "Well, that's if Eddie isn't responsible and dangerous because if so then there's only...one," Max trailed off, slightly cringing when she saw Dustin looking at her with a 'what the hell' look on his face. 

   "Have you talked to anyone else?" Dustin asked with determination, speeding out of his room with Max hot on his trail 

   "No, just you. I can't find anyone else and Mike is in-"

   "California. Shit. Shit. Shit," Dustin cursed, suddenly feeling alone and like he had no idea where to start. 

   "Dusty? Where are you going? It's not safe!" Dustin and Veda's mother exclaimed from the couch, holding her cat close to her as if the small animal could protect her. 

   "Just going to meet Veda. We'll be extra safe, love you, bye!" Dustin rushed out, quickly shutting the door before his overbearing mother could ask any more questions. 

   The mention of his older sister got him thinking as the two teens mounted their bikes and set off for their destination. Had Veda really been struggling this whole time right under his nose? He saw the signs, her constant confusion, drained look and disappearances. But, he always brushed it off as Veda being Veda.

   Maybe, a part of him wanted to believe that everything was normal--everyone is safe and that he didn't ignore his own sister risking herself just across the hall. She had accidentally revealed to him the other day about her father's abuse, another thing Dustin didn't press when he should have out of fear of pushing his sister away like he did the last time.

   Maybe a part of him felt responsible for any pain her father had caused her considering she only left to be with her father as she felt left out of his relationship with their Mother. Even Dustin could see she favourited him in a way she shouldn't. But, deep down she was just overcompensating for the child she failed. 

   He was determined to make it up to her.