9 | Investigating

"Help me get this straight. Eddie's uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he's the one running around Hawkins, committing all these murders?" Robin asked, still confused. "Pretty much." Nancy smiled, opening the door to the library. "But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like way...back in the fifties" Robin said. "Well, fifty-nine." Nancy corrected. "So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside down, by about thirty years? Which makes spooky, Victor Creel like seventy years old." Robin wondered, following behind her. Nancy nodded, sighing and pressing the bell to get some help. "So, he's a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air." Robin joked, resting her head on her hand. "It doesn't make sense, I know. That's why I said it was a shot in the dark." Nancy reminded, tapping the bell again.

"I know. I just thought that by 'shot in the dark', you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later. But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who've been spun around fifty times." Robin rambled, Nancy growing impatient and tapping the bell multiple times in a row. "Hi, sorry we're in a bit of a rush." Nancy apologised, the worker coming around the corner to the desk. "Could we get the keys to the basement archives?" Nancy politely asked, the lady nodding as she told them to wait while she grabbed them.

"Did I come off mean or condescending or something?" Robin confronted, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way Nancy was acting towards her. "No..." Nancy assured, turning back. "Right. Sorry, it's just you seem annoyed. You don't know me very well, I don't really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues. So, if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it's a flaw, believe me, my mother reminds me daily." Robin overshared slightly, Nancy not caring. "Got it." She said, silently thanking the lady for coming back. "Right, here we go ladies. Have fun!" she smiled, handing the keys over. Nancy took the keys and nodded. "Yep, we'll try." she sighed, walking over as the lady sent Robin an apologetic smile to which she returned, shrugging and holding her hands in the air.

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Max rocked her heels, pressing the doorbell three times. It finally opened, revealing Ms. Kelley. "Max. Hi." she said confused, looking at the red head. "Hi. I'm so sorry to bother you over break but...do you have a minute to talk?" she asked, fiddling with her hands. Ms Kelley moved to the side and gestured for Max to step in. "Um, yeah, of course. Of course. "Okay, she's in." Y/n called, watching Max give a thumbs up behind her back and walking in. "I'm missing collarbones, not eyes." Dustin joked, making Y/n laugh and Steve roll his eyes. Silence swept over the car. "So, we gonna talk about...it?" Dustin mentioned, y/n turning back to look at him and grin. "Huh? Sorry, talk about what?" Steve questioned, snapping out of his zoning out. "Your temporary insanity earlier today, when you basically threw yourself at Nance?" Y/n commented, Steve scoffing. "First of all, that's not what happened!" he defended as y/n turned around to look at Dustin who agreed. "Pretty sure that's what happened. It was pretty public, there were like a lot of witnesses." Dustin said, y/n holding in their laugh as they listened to the two, picking at their nails.

"Are you implying I still have a thing for Nance?" Steve groaned, looking at the pair. "No, I'm not implying, I'm stating. And, as it relates to your steadfast refusal to date Robin, it's pretty much the only logical explanation." Dustin confessed, Y/n looking at Steve and nodding to Dustin, silently saying he's got a point. "That's not the only one. And as for Nance, I was just trying to protect a friend. A friend, Hendersons, okay?" Steve cleared up, neither of them buying it. "Don't wanna find her in the morning, with her eyes sucked out of the front of her skull by this Vecna creep." Steve defended, Y/n and Dustin looking at each other before bursting into laughter. "You're bright red in the face right now." they both laughed, Steve flipping them off. "No, I'm not, I don't wanna talk about it. I'll punch you so hard your teeth will fall back out and as for you y/n, I'll expose you to Dustin and tell him what I saw." he retaliated, shutting both of them up quickly. "Woah, too far." Y/n huffed, turning away from him, Steve frowned and sighed. "Not cool, sorry." he apologised, y/n nodding. "Not cool, it's okay." they accepting, Steve fist bumping them and Dustin.

"It's just, with everything that's happening, with all the murders. It's...it's making everything worse again." Max half lied, Ms, Kelley nodding at her and listening. "You've experienced trauma, Max. And when you keep your feelings, your pain, bottled up the way you do, it doesn't take much to trigger them again. So now, when it rains, it storms" Ms Kelley admitted, Max nodding. "Do you think you're ready to talk more about that night?" Ms. Kelley asked, giving Max flashbacks to the events that happened in the mall, witnessing her brother's death. "I live next door to where it happened." Max said out of nowhere, Ms, Kelley not following along. "Sorry?" she asked. "To where Chrissy was murdered. The cops asked me a bunch of questions. Did they talk to you? I mean, I know you were seeing Chrissy." Max asked, hoping for an answer. Ms, Kelley leaned forward.

"Max, you know I can't talk about Chrissy, or any other student." she reminded. "Yeah, but I mean what if there was a serial killer on the loose in my neighbourhood? Did Chrissy mention anything? Anything about who might have done this?" Max tried, Ms Kelley shaking her head. "Max, I'm...I'm sorry, I... I really can't discuss this. You wouldn't want me talking to any other students about you, right?" she defended, Max biting her tongue. "If I were dead and it would help catch the killer, then yeah. I most definitely would." Max argued, annoyed by her. "Well, let's leave that up to the police, shall we?" Ms. Kelley reasoned, Max giving up. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. The police totally have this under control. Can I use the bathroom?" Max covered up. "Sure! Up the stairs, to the left. " Ms Kelley told her, Max thanking her before going.

She laid eyes on the keys sat in the bowl in the kitchen, right outside. She took the office keys and looked at her, making sure she was doing something else before walking out, jogging to the car. "Here she comes, here she comes." Steve repeated, y/n looking up. "What'd she say?" Dustin asked, Max shaking her head. "Nothing, just drive." Max finished, y/n nodding and driving away. "Dustin?" a voice called from his walkie talkie - Lucas. "It's Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin." he carried on. "Lucas? Where the hell have you been?" Dustin grumbled down the walkie talkie. "Just listen. Are you guys looking for Eddie?" he questioned, Dustin scoffing.

Steve took the walkie talkie away, knowing he wouldn't be nice and held it for y/n to talk into. "Yeah, we found him." Y/n responded, nervous for what he was going to say. "You found him?" Lucas mumbled, y/n humming a yes. "A boathouse on Coal Mill Road. Don't worry, he's safe." Y/n assured the younger male. "You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?" Lucas gasped, the whole group rolling their eyes. "That's bullshit. Eddie tried to save Chrissy." Dustin answered, having calmed down a tiny bit. "Then why do all the cops say he did it?" Lucas argued, not knowing what to believe. "Lucas, you're so behind it's ridiculous, okay? Just meet us at school, we'll explain later." Max said. "I... I can't. I think some real bad shit's about to go down." he admitted, Y/n feeling uneasy at his words. "What are you talking about? What bad shit?" Steve asked. "Sinclair." they heard faintly in the background before it went silent.

"That was Jason's voice."