"She would never buy drugs from that freak, Steph," Jason stated, sitting across from Stephanie as she told him what had happened.

"I saw her ask him for Special K, Jason," Stephanie replied, her tone serious. "I figured you'd want to hear this from me before the cops come to ask you questions."

"I can't believe she's dead," Jason sniffled, his eyes welling up with tears. "Are you sure this Munson freak did this to her?" he asked. Stephanie nodded.

"The police still need more evidence that it was him, but for now, he's just a suspect," Stephanie explained.

"That's bullshit," Jason muttered. "Believe me, I know," Stephanie agreed.

"You should have stayed with her," Jason said, frustrated. "You think I don't already feel guilty enough! My best friend died. My only real friend is dead. You don't get to pin this on me, Jason."

"Okay, okay. Arguing isn't going to do anything. We need to go after this Munson freak," Jason said. "I agree, but we don't exactly know where he is."

"We could start with the others who are in this Hellfire club," he suggested. Stephanie nodded in agreement.

"Hellfire isn't a cult," they both turned to see Lucas Sinclair standing in front of them.

"It's a club where you play D&D." Stephanie and Jason exchanged confused glances.

"And how do you know so much about this, Sinclair?" Jason asked. Lucas hesitated for a moment. "Uh...my sister is in it."

"Well, whatever it is, we're starting a search party for Eddie Munson. And when I find him...I'm gonna kill him," Jason said.
________

"Hey, Steve, Ariana," Dustin greeted as he swung open the doors to Family Video with Max and Danny.

"Did you guys see this?" Ariana asked, referring to the news. "How many phones do you have?" Dustin asked.

"Someone was murdered," Steve added.

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin repeated his question.

"Two. Why?" Robin chimed in. "Technically three, if you count Keith's in the back," Ariana pointed out.

The three of them exchanged glances before Max spoke up. "Yeah, that works," she agreed. Dustin then removed his backpack.

"What are you doing?" Robin questioned.

Dustin slid his backpack across the counter, causing movies to tumble out of it. "My pile!" Robin protested.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked.

Dustin vaulted over the counter, knocking over Steve's tapes. "No, no, no! My tapes, dude!" Steve exclaimed.

Max emerged from behind the counter, briefly making eye contact with Juliette before standing next to Dustin, who was seated in front of the computer.

"What are you doing, man?" Steve questioned.

"Setting up a base of operations here," Dustin replied. "Base of operations?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

Ariana and Robin began collecting the fallen tapes. "Get off," Steve demanded. "No, I need it," Dustin insisted.

"For what?" Steve asked. "Eddie's friends' phone numbers," Dustin clarified.

"Oh, Eddie, your 'new-best-friend-who-you-think-is-way-cooler-because-he-plays-your-nerdy-game'?" Steve asked.

"Yes-I never said that," Dustin said.

"Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around in here like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day," Ariana interjected.

"Ariana, I sympathize, but this cannot wait," Dustin argued.

"Calling all of Eddie's friends is an emergency?" Ariana questioned. "Correct!" Dustin said.

"Do you want me to strangle him, or do you want to?" Steve jokingly asked Ariana. "We could take turns," Ariana playfully replied, smiling at Steve.

Robin pointed to Danny, asking, "Who's this?" Dustin responded, "This is Eddie's sister."

Then he pointed to Alex. "Who's that?" Steve introduced her. "This is my sister."

"Sister?!" Dustin stopped what he was doing. "Yes! I told you about this weeks ago. I'm not explaining it again," Steve said.

"Can you fill them in while I do this?" Dustin asked Max. "Fill us in on what?" Robin asked.

Max turned to Alex and asked, "Can we trust her?"

"Yeah, Alex? Totally. She's cool." Steve said.

Alex nodded."Yeah, my lips are sealed on whatever you need to tell us."

Max proceeded to explain everything to the group, telling her the same information she had shared with Danny earlier.

Ariana's stomach filled with that familiar sense of unease that usually occurred when these events were happening. Steve noticed her tension and put his arm around her for comfort.

"You're fucking crazy," Alex stated. "That's what I said, but it's true. Every last word," Danny confirmed.

"Prove it," Alex said, crossing her arms.

"We can't just prove it to you," Max replied. "So I'm just supposed to trust you?" Max nodded.

"Alex..." Steve turned to her, who wore a serious expression.

"Oh shit,"
__

The gang started making calls to Eddie's friends, hoping to find any lead on where he was hiding.

Alex paced back and forth, struggling to digest the shocking information she had just heard.

Danny, on the other hand, appeared fine, even though she had been filled in on the same details.

"Hey, guys. I might have a lead," Max interjected. All eyes turned to her. "Seriously?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes he crashes there," Max explained.

"I've heard my brother talk about some guy named Rick, but I didn't know he was his drug dealer. He doesn't share that stuff with me, he's kind of private about it," Danny admitted.

"That sounds promising. Where does Reefer Rick live?" Juliette asked.

"See, that's the thing. No one knows. He's more of a...legend than someone that people actually know," Max revealed.

"Last name?" Robin asked. "I don't know that either," Max admitted.

"I bet the cops know a last name," Steve chimed in. "What?" Max looked confused.

"The cops. I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. That means he's in the system," Steve explained.

"The cops? Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" Juliette put her hands on her hips.

"I just think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on," Steve replied.

Danny crossed her arms and challenged, "You think my brother's guilty, don't you?"

"Woah. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out," Steve clarified.

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve," Max added.

"And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time screwing around and more time trying to find Eddie," Dustin criticized.

"Well, somebody has to attend to the customers," Steve defended himself. The group looked around and realized there were no customers in the store except for them.

"What customers?" Ariana asks.

Just then, a customer walked into the store. "Ha! Look!" Steve pointed at the person who had just entered.

"Pure luck," Ariana rolled her eyes.

"Hey, we have a very big selection in here. It can be very overwhelming for some people," Steve reasoned.

Ariana had an idea and moved to the computer, prompting everyone to gather around, including Alex, who had stopped pacing.

"What are you doing?" Juliette asked.

"Maybe we don't need a last name," Ariana replied. Steve looked at her, confused, and joined her at the computer.

Ariana began searching for all the Ricks who had accounts at the store.

"Twelve Ricks have accounts here," Ariana announced. "That's a lot of Ricks," Alex said.

"So, let's narrow it down," Ariana suggested, clicking on each Rick's account to see their purchase history.

"Rick Alderman. Last rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" Ariana said.

"Not likely," Robin replied.

Ariana moved on to the next Rick. "Alright, Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing The Stone." The gang shook their heads.

"Okay, Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease." Once again, they found no connection.

"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash." Max chuckled, "Definitely not."

"Okay, Rick Lipton. Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech and Chong's Next Dreams. Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke."

"Bingo," Steve declared.

"Lipton?" Robin questioned. "Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road," Ariana said.

"That's out by Lovers Lake," Danny noted.

"Middle of nowhere," Juliette added.

"It's the perfect place to hide," Robin concluded.

Robin, Ariana, and Steve changed out of their work clothes, closed the store, and rushed to Steve's car to head to Rick Lipton's house.
__

By the time they reached Lover's Lake, it was nighttime. The sun had set, leaving them in darkness. Since they were in the middle of nowhere, there were no lights around.

They parked in the driveway and stepped out of the car. Approaching the doorway, Dustin rang the doorbell repeatedly, but there was no response.

"Alright, well, that's settled. I guess he's not here," Steve said, sounding annoyed. Ariana lightly hit his chest.

"Eddie, it's Dustin. Look, we just want to talk, okay? Danny's here, your sister. We want to help." Dustin called out.

The group peered through the windows, attempting to spot any signs of life.

"Rick! Reefer Rick!" Dustin shouted.

"Don't scream that." Ariana said.

"Rick!" Dustin called out again. "He's not there," Steve said. "He could just be really high."

Juliette had wandered away from the group and discovered a large storage house behind Rick's residence.

"Hey, guys!" she yelled, prompting everyone to rush over. They all pointed their flashlights at what she had found.

"Any chance he's in there?" Max asked. Juliette turned to her. "Only one way to find out."

They proceeded towards the storage house, inspecting its windows for any clues.

Robin cautiously opened the door. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

The rest of the gang entered the storage house to continue their search.

"What a dump," Steve said, turning off his flashlight and picking up a wooden oar, confusing Ariana.

"What are you going to do with that?" she asked. "Nothing..." Steve replied but proceeded to strike a tarp with the oar.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked. "He might be in here," Steve explained.

"So take the tarp off," Ariana suggested. "If you're so brave, you take it off." Steve said.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang explored the storage house. Max called Juliette over, pointing out wrappers and beer bottles on a table.

"Someone's been here," Max observed. "Maybe he heard us, got spooked, and ran." Juliette suggested.

"Don't worry. Steve will get him with his oar," Alex said.

"I know you think you're being funny, but considering almost everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-" Before Steve could finish his sentence, Eddie suddenly appeared and attacked him, pinning him against the wall. The group gasped and panicked as Eddie held a broken beer bottle near Steve's neck.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Danny shouted. The group rushed to Eddie and Steve to handle the situation.

"Eddie! It's me. It's Danny. This is Steve. He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right. Yeah," Steve gasped out.

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Ariana suggested, and he dropped it.

"He's cool. He's cool," Dustin assured Eddie.

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

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked.

"We're looking for you," Danny explained.

"We're here to help," Dustin added.

"Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin from the band, and your sister, Danny. This is my sister, Ariana. This is Steve's sister, Alex. And this is Max and Juliette," Dustin introduced everyone.

"Eddie, we're on your side," Danny said.

"I swear on my mother, right, guys?" Dustin added.

"Yeah, we swear on Dustin's mother." Steve said.

"Eddie, please let Steve go," Ariana requested.

Eddie finally released Steve after a minute and rushed over to Ariana, breathing heavily.

"You okay?" Ariana asked.

"Yeah, I'm just great," Steve replied sarcastically. Ariana examined his neck. "You look fine."

"Oh, so I'm just fine?" Steve joked. Ariana playfully hit his head.

Steve sat down and sighed, with Ariana joining him. Eddie, now calmer, listened as Dustin leaned down in front of him.

"Eddie, we want to know what happened," Danny said.

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

"Try us," Juliette said.

Eddie began explaining what had happened, describing how Chrissy and her best friend had come to his trailer to get drugs.

"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air, and she just...hung there, in the air. And her bones...her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It was like there was something inside her head, pulling. I didn't know what to do, so I...I ran away," Eddie explained.

"What about her best friend?" Juliette asked.

"Stephanie Carver. She...She wasn't in the room when I saw Chrissy like this. She was outside."

Eddie scoffed, "You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No, we don't think you're crazy," Dustin reassured him. "Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds," Eddie insisted.

"We're not bullshitting you," Ariana said.

"We believe you," Juliette added.

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

"Okay," Eddie nodded.

"You know how people think Hawkins is...cursed? They're not...way off. There's another world, a world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it blends into ours," Dustin explained.

"Like ghosts and stuff?" Eddie asked.

"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max said.

"These monsters from this other world...we thought they were gone, but they've come back before," Dustin continued.

"That's why we needed to find you. If they're back again, we need to know," Ariana added.

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

Eddie shook his head. "It would almost look like dust, swirling dust," Dustin said.

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or...or touch," Eddie said.

"You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she was...in a trance or something," Eddie added.

"Or under a spell," Dustin said.

"A curse," Eddie concluded.

"Vecna's Curse."

"Who's Vecna?" Alex asked.

"An undead creature of great power," Dustin explained.

END OF CHAPTER