Chapter Text
"Another day without their fearless leader!"
"What are you gonna without him huh? Cry?"
"Good riddance he's gone!"
The basketball team, in their green and gold jackets, passed by their table. Jason Carver led the pack. While his buddies were elbowing each other at their oh-so-clever jokes, he just stared at them. His mouth hung slightly open in a cocky smile, and his eyes... he looked like a predator stalking his prey. The laughter faded as they all congregated at their usual table. Lucas Sinclair turned his head back toward the table, mouthing the word "sorry" to the group before turning away.
"This is ridiculous." Dustin muttered, his curly brown hair pulled back in a baseball cap. His gaze turned downward.
The table was silent. Scarlett's eyes darted to the head of the table, Eddie's seat as of only two weeks ago.
When Eddie didn't show up to school for a few days, no one batted an eye. It wasn't unusual for Eddie to play hooky for days at a time. It was when he didn't show up for Hellfire club when they were a concerned. Eddie was a stickler about their meetings, usually berating other members when they couldn't attend. And then the next day Grant, Gareth and Jeff, the Hellfire club members who were also part of Corroded Coffin, said that Eddie didn't show up for band practice. That's when they knew something was wrong.
"Are we really just going to wait for the police?" Dustin banged his fist against the table, the bits of corn on his lunch tray flew up.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Jeff looked up at him, the corner of his lips turned downward. His voice was barely above a whisper.
"The police don't care. They hardly spent an hour looking for him before calling it quits." Dustin reminded them.
He wasn't wrong. The Hellfire group joined the search party. It was only them, Eddie's uncle, and two lower-ranked police officers who spent more time making snarky remarks than actually looking.
"Dustin's right." Mike piped up next to him, his eyes lowered as well. "We need to look for him... He would do the same for us." He lifted his head, his shoulder length black hair cascading down his face.
The table was silent for a few moments before Scarlett spoke up. "I'm in." She locked eyes with Dustin through her round-framed glasses.
"So am I." Grant pounded his large fist on the table.
"Same." Gareth nodded, his wavy blonde hair bouncing as he did.
"Me too." Jeff finally chimed in. He smiled, his metal braces contrasted with his deep brown skin.
The group all smiled at each other, a hopeful glimmer in each of their eyes. That was Dustin, the youngest of the group always knew how to rally everyone together. Whether it was to defeat one of Eddie's sadistic campaigns, or for a real life mission, like this one.
"So, where do we start?" Gareth asked.
***
Scarlett sat in Ms. O'Donnell's class later that day. She sat in the front row, like she did in all her other classes. She turned her head to the back of the class, to Eddie's empty desk. The desk had pen marks from the amount of time Eddie spent graffitiing versus paying attention.
"Aww look, she misses her boyfriend." These two cheerleaders whispered to each other, side-eyeing Scarlett and snickering.
"Actually I talked to him yesterday! We were just planning our next sacrifice for the ritual." Scarlett shot back at them. She wasn't usually one to respond to the flock, she usually just kept her head down, maybe shot them a glare or two. But she about had enough of everyone's joking remarks for one day.
"All right, settle down everyone." Ms. O'Donnell placed her magazine down and got up from her desk, the light from the window shined through her teased but thinning blonde hair.
Scarlett had her pen in hand and notebook open, but her attention was elsewhere. Her mind floated back to the last time she saw Eddie in the same room.
"She sooo has it out for me." Eddie crumbled up the piece of paper in his silver-ringed fingers as they walked out into the hall, the red F on the top corner of the paper still sticking out slightly.
"I told you to sit next to me, I would've let you peak at my answers." Scarlett tucked her A- test into the pocket of her green folder.
"Oh yeah, Eddie Munson, sitting in the FRONT of the class? That wouldn't be suspicious at all." Eddie snickered, rolling his eyes.
The two walked side by side in the hallway. It was the middle of September, which meant the school still felt like a dutch oven. That didn't stop Eddie from wearing his long black jeans and leather jacket over his Hellfire shirt. Pieces of his long wavy hair clung to his face with sweat.
"At least let me help you study for the next one." Scarlett pleaded. She already felt bad about sitting in the front of the class, where she couldn't help him. But just like Eddie sitting in the front would be weird, so would Scarlett Sanders sitting in the back. Scarlett was nowhere near the Nancy Wheeler's of the school in terms of grades, but she wasn't a back-of-the-class student either.
"Nu-uh." Eddie shook his head, his hair shaking with it. "I'd rather get eaten alive by Vecna than study for Chemistry."
"Well you're gonna get eaten alive by the next test, I'll tell you that much."
They arrived just outside of Scarlett's class. They stood there for a moment while other students flocked by them.
"Always looking out for me, aren't ya Sanders?"
Scarlett felt the heat rush to her cheeks. It was moments like these she regretted cutting her hair short the summer before senior year, there was no more curtain of long hair to hide behind. Instead she glanced down at her sneakers and ran her hand through the few inches of brown curls she had left. "I just want you to graduate this year, that's all."
And just like the bell rang that day, the bell rang in real life as well. Scarlett jumped, snapping out of her daze. She stared down at the blank page in her notebook.
When she looked up, she could Ms. O'Donnell frowning at her. Scarlett quickly grabbed her backpack and rushed out the door.
***
The group decided they could cover more ground if they split up. Besides, they knew Eddie's uncle would be wary if all six of them showed up at his front door.
Scarlett and Dustin pulled up to Eddie's trailer. The breaks on Scarlett's decade old sedan squeaked as they halted to a stop. The white and baby blue trailer sat perched in its little plot of land, contrasting the red and orange leaved trees around it. The two stepped out of the car and knocked on the front door.
Mr. Munson swung the door open. He was wearing a red flannel, gray T-shirt, and beat up jeans. In his hand, he was holding the top of an almost-empty bottle of beer.
"Hello! Uh, Wayne, is it?" Dustin flashed his usual charming smile. Scarlett stood behind him, smiling in unison. She was a couple inches taller than Dustin, so her head just barely popped over his baseball cap.
"Mhmm..." the older man nodded, his eyes half open.
"We — we wanted to ask you if you've heard anything from Eddie. We were with the police during the search party and then—"
"He left town." Eddie's uncle cut them off.
Scarlett and Dustin stared at the old man. Wayne leaned against the door, gripping the bottle of beer tighter. His knuckles were white and the tendons in his hands looked like they were about to pop.
"Left town?" Dustin raised a brow.
"Y-yeah, he... called me." Wayne sniffed, wiping the back of his free hand underneath his nose. "Told me he was done with school. Since he ain't a minor no more, I couldn't stop him."
"He didn't tell you where he went?" Scarlett pressed.
"Nope."
The three of them stood there in silence again. A breeze flew by them, sending a chill down Scarlett's spine.
"Anything else I can help you with?"
"Guess not..." Scarlett replied. "Thank y—"
Eddie's uncle slammed the door.
***
"He knows something." Dustin stared straight ahead. Scarlett glanced over at him in the passenger seat, she could practically see the gears in his head turning.
"He has to." Scarlett nodded, staring back at the road. "Eddie wouldn't just leave without telling us, right?"
"There's no way." Dustin agreed. "Sure, Eddie hates school. But he wouldn't just... skip town."
Scarlett pulled up to Dustin's house. The sun was just beginning to set, the sky was a faded blue with streaks of orange and pink.
"Dusty!" Dustin's mom ran out from the front of the house.
Dustin sighed and opened up the passenger door, climbing out. "Mom, it's not even past my curfew—"
"Thank goodness you're okay!" His mom threw her arms around the smaller boy.
"Yeah of course I am, why?" Dustin squirmed out of her embrace.
"You didn't hear?" His mom looked at both of them, her bottom lip quivering. She then turned her gaze over to Scarlett. "You better get home soon, I'm sure your parents are worried sick."
"Why?" Dustin pressed.
His mom fidgeted with the golden cross on her necklace. "A student was found, murdered."
***
The next day Scarlett, Dustin and Mike were back at Forest Hills trailer park. This time they were at Max Mayfield's house. The freshmen that lived across the street from the Munson trailer.
On the small staticky TV, a news reporter with teased black hair and a blue blouse stood in the middle of the frame. "In other news, the identity of the murdered Hawkins High student found late last night has been revealed. The student's name is Jason Carver. Carver was 18 years old and captain of the Hawkins High basketball team..."
The four teenagers stared at the TV in silence. Jason... She recalled the last interaction she had with him. That look he gave as he was walking past their lunch table.
It was a few minutes before anyone spoke.
"I didn't see much..." Max shook her head, looking out the window. "But I saw Eddie leave in his van. He..." she paused, glancing down at her hands.
"What is it?" Dustin interjected.
"I think..." she started back up again, her brows furrowed. Her eyes told a thousand stories, and this one was painful. "I mean it was dark, but... he was..."
It was a couple more moments before she finished her sentence. "He was covered in blood."
The group sat in silence for a moment. Scarlett's mind immediately went to the news "...murdered Hawkins High student..." she recalled the woman's words.
"No!" Dustin shot up and started pacing. "There's no way Eddie would do something like that!"
"I'm not accusing him of anything." Max glared at Dustin, her voice took on a defensive tone. "I'm just telling you what I saw."
"Well there's gotta be some other explanation." Dustin continued to pace. "And besides, it's not like he went missing after Jason died. He's been missing for over two weeks."
"It would make sense why his uncle acted so weird when you guys questioned him." Mike's eye narrowed, placing his hand on his chin.
"There's... something else" Max spoke up. "He looked..." Max looked down at the floor. "I don't know he... he looked like he was in... pain." She looked back up, her eyes held the same look as earlier.
"Pain?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah like..." Max pursed her lips. "I mean he's always driving like a maniac but before he got in his van he looked... hurt. Maybe it was because he just murdered someone? But he was keeled over."
After more deliberation, which frankly lead nowhere, Scarlett, Dustin and Mike left Max's trailer. The sun had started to set, creating dark shadows over the wooded area. They started walking out and then—
Scarlett gasped when she saw him.
Eddie's uncle stood right outside of the Mayfield property. His silhouette was dark but she could see the outline of his gray beard. His brows were furrowed, causing the lines in his forehead to deepen. She could also make out the faint orange light from the cigarette in his hand.
"I told you, he's gone." Wayne's voice was hard. He threw his cigarette on the floor and stomped it with his boot, all while locking eyes with Scarlett.
"Stop. Looking."