Chapter Seventy-Four: Base of Operations

Unfortunately for us, Lucas was MIA and Mike had left for California already, so as soon as Max's mom left for work we got in the truck and immediately headed over to Dustin's house to see if he was there. By then, the news vans and reporters had already set up camp outside of the house and were reporting the death of a 'Hawkins High Student', though they had yet to release her name.

We rang the doorbell upon our arrival and Dustin opened it, looking confused and concerned. I could hear the news playing on the TV in the background.

"We need to talk." I said. He nodded, stepping aside for us to step into the house.

"Riley, Max, what brings you two here?" Mrs. Henderson asked, holding her new cat in her arms as she sat on the couch.

"Oh, I just wanted to come and check on Dustin, and I had just been to pick up Max, since her place is kind of a crime scene right now." I said, gesturing towards the TV.

"Oh, that's so sweet of you," She said, "Amongst all of this tragedy, it does my heart good to know that Dusty has someone like you watching out for him." I smiled politely, nodding in agreement as Dustin grabbed our wrists, dragging us back into his bedroom and shutting the door behind him. 

"Ok, so first things first, you live across the street, right?" I asked Max, crossing my arms over my chest. "Did you see anything last night?"

"Not really," She said, "I mean, I saw Chrissy pull into the driveway with Eddie, and then I saw them walk inside."

"Chrissy and Eddie?" Dustin asked. I nodded.

"Chrissy Cunningham was found dead in Eddie Munson's trailer." I explained. 

"Chrissy Cunningham?" He asked. "You're sure it was Chrissy?"

"Yes. She was in her cheerleader outfit. It was the same thing she was in when I saw her with Eddie." Max told him. 

"Did you tell all this to the cops?" Dustin questioned, beginning to pace.

"No," She said, "No, but I can't be the only one that saw them together, I mean they stood out."

"Eddie the freak with Chrissy the cheerleader?"

"Exactly. I know his name's not in the news yet or anything, but I guarantee you Eddie is suspect number one right now."

"That's crazy," He argued, "Eddie didn't do this, no way. No way."

"Well we can't rule it out!"

"Yes we can."

"Dustin!"

"You don't know him like I do, Max! When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Mike and me? I mean, no one was nice to us. No one except Eddie."

"Ok, well they said the same crap about Ted Bundy," Max argued, "Yeah, he's a super nice guy, but then he's murdering women on the weekend-"

"So you're saying Eddie is like Ted Bundy?"

"No, that's not-I'm not saying-I'm saying that we can't presume anything, ok? But it doesn't look good for Eddie." Dustin through his hands up in the air, walking over to his bed and flopping down on it. 

"Why haven't you told the cops this?" Dustin questioned. 

"That's probably my fault," I admitted, "I dragged her out of there kind of fast."

"I wouldn't have anyway," She said, going over to sit next to Dustin, "After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go in the trailer...something else happened. The lights flickered," She glanced at me, "and Eddie ran out and peeled out of the trailer park. Nothing that weird or anything, I mean Eddie always drives like a maniac and the power goes off at my place all the time. Its a piece of crap, but...This morning, I started to think back, and...I don't know. The look on his face...He was scared, guys. Really scared. Maybe he was scared because, you know...he just killed someone or-"

"Eddie didn't kill Chrissy." I said, leaning back against the desk. Max narrowed her eyes curiously at me.

"You said you were confident that something weird was going on," She remembered, standing up from the bed, "Why?" I sighed.

"I had a dream," I said, "Only it wasn't a dream, it was like...when Eleven spies on people, but the people could see me and hear me...its like I was there with them, as impossible as that is and last night...Chrissy was in my dream."

"So you talked to her, in your dream, the night before she ends up dead?!" Dustin asked. I shook my head.

"No, it was more like...I was with her...while she was dying. " I said. "Its complicated, and its hard to explain, because I don't get it myself but something was chasing Chrissy, and we were in this old house, which doesn't make sense because she didn't leave Eddie's trailer, but regardless this thing, it got her and...it killed her. And I was powerless to stop it, I just had to sit there and watch."

"Ok...so this is definitely not a normal occurrence." Dustin concluded. I nodded.

"I don't understand it but...When Chrissy died, I heard someone scream, and the lights flickered wherever we were so...I'd be willing to bet that Eddie saw something, and if we can just talk to him, maybe he can tell us something that might help us make sense of all of this."

"Ok so our next order of business," Dustin said, "Find Eddie."

"You know him best," I pointed out, "Any idea how we do that?"

"We call his friends. Surely one of them has to know where he is." Dustin said, grabbing his backpack from the floor. 

"Ok, do you have their numbers?" I asked.

"No, but you do." He said, causing me to furrow my eyebrows. "In the database at Family Video." 

I nodded, finally catching on as Dustin threw open his bedroom door to lead the way out into the hallway.

"Have you guys talked to anyone else?"

"No. Riley told me to radio, but I can't find Lucas or Nancy and Mike's in-"

"California, crap, crap, crap." Dustin muttered as we booked it towards the front door. 

"Dusty, where are you going?!" His Mom called.

"To see a friend." He said, opening the front door for us."

"You heard the news, its not safe!"

"That's a good point, we'll be extra careful, Riley's with us, thanks, Mom love you, bye." He shut the door and we headed out to my truck, climbing in and driving to Family Video.

~~~

We burst through the door at Family Video to find Steve and Robin behind the counter, their eyes glued to the TV.

"Hey, Steve," Dustin greeted.

"You see this?" He asked, looking up at me. "Riley, is it-"

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin asked, ignoring him. 

"Two up front, a third in the back." I told him.

"Three works." Max said. Dustin took his backpack off, sliding it over the top of the desk.

"What are you doing? Whoa?! What are you-"

"My pile!" Robin exclaimed, as Dustin hopped over the desk while Max and I chose to walk around it.

"No, no, no, no, not my tapes! Dude! What are you doing man?!"

"Setting up base of operations here." Dustin said, sitting down at the computer.

"Base of operations?" Robin questioned.

"Stop, get off."

"No, I need it."

"Need it for what?"

"Eddie's friends' phone numbers." Steve glanced at me, and I nodded.

"Oh, Eddie. Your new best friend who you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy little game?"

"Eddie, yes. I never said that!"

"Seriously guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around in here like Toddlers but today's Saturday. Its our busiest day." Robin scolded, picking up all the stuff Dustin had knocked over.

"Alright look Robin, I totally empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday."

"What, calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?"

"Actually yes." I said, drawing all of their eyes to me as Dustin continued writing down phone numbers. "Yes, it really is an emergency, and this is coming from me, so...you know what that means."

"Max, Riley, can you guys just fill them in while I do this?"

"Fill us in on what?" Robin asked, glancing between us. Max and I shared a look and I swallowed nervously.

"Well...basically..."