Chapter Text
All Nancy and Robin had wanted was to get on with their deaths. Was that so much to ask?
It wasn’t so bad - dying. Sure, Nancy couldn’t speak to anyone outside of the house, but Robin could win a gold medal at talking, so she didn’t really need to.
Plus, she didn’t have to pay the bills anymore. Yeah, Nancy didn’t mind death. And Robin had holed herself away in the attic, working on the miniature town again, so not much had change in all aspects.
Except the weird stuff. Nancy didn’t know what to think of the weird stuff.
She’d read through the Handbook for the Recently Deceased about a dozen times now, and usually she’d consider herself book-smart, but not this book. But she didn’t need to follow it, not when she had her house, her Robin, and the rest of forever to do whatever the hell she wanted. And she could get past the occasionally waking up floating in the air, and sometimes falling through the floor, and the only fresh air being that of the one open window in the house. Those were all minor inconveniences, and a whole lot more minor than the ones she dealt with in life.
Everything would be okay.
Except today she woke up to the front door slamming shut.
“Robin, come on, we know the rules!” Nancy called out to no one. “No going outside without the other person keeping guard.”
It was actually Robin who had made the rule, after finding Nancy missing for hours on end time and time again because Nancy thought that this time, she could take on the sand worm. She never could. In fact, it was usually her making the feeble attempts at getting out of the house. Robin rarely stepped foot out the front door.
“I’m right here.” Robin grumbled, half asleep, until suddenly her eyes widened. “…I’m right here.”
Nancy sat up, the muffled sound of footsteps downstairs hitting her ears. “So who’s in our house?”
Nancy didn’t know why she was scared, why she instinctively grabbed the candlestick to whack someone with, like in a game of Clue. But for all she knew this was a demon come to drag her to hell, but what good would a candlestick do against one of them, anyway?
“It’s… nice! A fixer upper!” Nancy could hear the man’s voice from behind the wall as she and Robin crept downstairs. “Trust me, it’ll be sweet in a year or two.”
“Oh, please don’t tell me I’ve gotta stomach living here for that long.” A woman replied. “It’s horrid, covered in cobwebs and god knows what.”
“Honey… what happened to being positive? For the children.” The man replied.
“The children are not blind, Charles.”
Nancy dared to take a peak at the newcomers. A family of four - a mom and a dad, a teenage boy and a younger girl.
“Well, I guess I’ll be positive, then.” The boy said. “It’s like an adventure.”
“If you can call eating spiders in your sleep an adventure.” The young girl retorted. “People don’t eat eight a year, the previous owner of this house did and jacked up the average. That’s probably how they died.”
Nancy glanced over at Robin. Drowning suddenly didn’t seem as bad.
“They’re gonna renovate the house.” Robin whispered. “All our stuff gone.”
Nancy looked down at the family, at the young girl wiping dust from her finger in disgust, at her mother doing the same. “Maybe they’ll change their mind.”
They didn’t, and soon Nancy and Robin’s house was being turned upside down. Nancy learnt a lot about the Sinclairs she didn’t care to know. The father, Charles, flipped houses for a living, and apparently this one was his holy grail. Nancy had no clue why, because it really was falling apart at the seams, but clearly he saw something in it no one else did.
Except Robin, Robin saw the same thing as him, and would do anything in her power to protect it. But she wasn’t monstrous or demonic, and any good attempt at warding off these people was met with nothing. It didn’t help that no one could see ghosts.
Almost no one.
One day, someone knocked on the attic door, and Nancy was just about to tell them to fuck off before realising that people don’t knock on doors to empty rooms.
“Maybe it’s that social worker, Juno.” Nancy suggested.
“You really think someone from down there would knock politely?” Robin replied.
“Please don’t say ‘down there.”
“You saw what I saw.” Robin continued, and she’d been on about this for months now. But Nancy could not deal with the thought.
“We’re not in hell, Robin.”
“Certainly feels like it.”
“I’ve read the bible, this is not Hell.” Nancy affirmed.
“I’ve died and experienced the afterlife.” Robin replied. “Checkmate.”
“Hello?!” The young girl’s voice called from behind the door. “You do realise I can hear both of you, the walls are incredibly thin.”
Robin took a deep breath. “Goooo awayyy, you’re not welcome hereee!”
“You’re both shit ghosts.” Erica said. “I’ve seen all your goofy party tricks, tryna scare away my parents. Face coming off? Eyes falling out? It’s budget, I’ve seen scarier movies.”
Nancy decided to throw caution to the wind and open the door. “You could see us this whole time?”
Erica waltzed in like she owned the place. “I didn’t wanna clue you in until I was sure you weren’t poltergeists, because they can be tricky. But you’re just… nerds.”
“So did you come up here to just to belittle us, or…?” Robin said.
“Listen,” Erica crossed her arms. “You want me out of this house, I want me out of this house. So I’m thinking we need to find a way to make that happen.”
“We’ve tried everything.” Nancy said. “I literally tore my face off and no one even saw it.”
“Come on!” Erica said. “Humans have been telling creepy ghost stories since the dawn of time. Why? Because they’re real! People have lost their minds because of paranormal activity.”
“We pulled out all the classics.” Robin said. “Turning all the art upside down, writing ‘LEAVE NOW’ on the walls with blood… we even tried putting bedsheets on our heads.”
“Yeah, and half the time my parents thought it was me or Lucas pulling stupid pranks. Thanks to you I got grounded.” Erica scoffed. “You need irrefutable evidence of something that cannot be produced by a living person.”
“Well, we have nothing.” Nancy slumped onto her chair, and she must’ve sat on the TV remote because suddenly the television turned on.
“Having trouble with the living? You tired of having your home violated? You wanna get rid of them pesky living critters once and for all?” The TV man - at least Nancy thought it was a man - said, sitting atop a cow, swinging a lasso. “Well, come on down and see me, folks. And hey, if you act now, you get a free demon possession with every exorcism. Ah, you can’t beat that, can you? So, say it once, say it twice, third time’s the charm.”
“Say what once?” Erica asked.
“I- I don’t know about that guy.” Nancy stammered. “He looks… weird.”
“Yeah, no shit, he’s a demon.” Erica said. “He’s exactly what we need.”
“Or exactly what we don’t need.”
“I’m with Erica.” Robin chimed in. “I mean… it couldn’t hurt to try.”
“We don’t know that! We don’t know anything about this world we’ve found ourselves in, accept that at any given moment, something weird and fucked up could happen.”
“Betelgeuse.” Erica exclaimed. “That’s what he meant, right? Say the name on the screen three times.”
“Right, right.” Robin nodded. “Nancy, come on. These people are going to tear apart our home, and then where will we be?”
“We’ll learn to like it!” Nancy said. “Who knows? Maybe their renovations won’t be so bad. I am getting sick of the spiders.”
“You don’t get it, Nance.” Robin sighed. “It’s like that riddle, with the ship. If you completely replace each part then is it still the same ship? Nancy, we’re bound to this home forever, but at what point is it no longer this home.”
Nancy paused. She hadn’t thought of that. “…It might not happen. We don’t need to do anything drastic just yet.”
“Betelgeuse.” Robin shrugged. “Ball’s in your court. I won’t say it again.”
“Neither will I,” Erica agreed. “Your call.”
Nancy liked to think she was a good judge of character, and something about this Betelgeuse guy was just wrong. Although, the same could be said for a lot of the people she’d met since her death. And Juno seemed nice enough, sometimes.
But no, when you want something doing you do it yourself. “Not yet.” Nancy told the two. “I think there’s something we haven’t tried yet. Something that Erica and Lucas definitely can’t be blamed for.”
𓆙
“A real, genuine haunted house!” Charles gasped. “House, no, think bigger, hotel.”
Things hadn’t gone as planned.
Well, no, that wasn’t strictly true. Things had gone exactly as planned, Nancy and Robin made the Sinclairs dance and sing, they had controlled them as if they were marionettes on strings bur somehow, by some wicked stroke of luck, the one family that decided to move in was the one family who weren’t even a bit scared.
In fact, it just made it all the more worse.
“I have to say, I was doubtful, but when do we ever get an opportunity like this?” Sue said. “The Most Haunted House in America. It has a real nice ring to it, sweetie.”
“Most haunted?” Erica said. “It’s just two losers who made you sing a song.”
“Come on, Erica, I know you’re usually a Negative Nancy,” Lucas said, to which Nancy muttered a harsh word under her breathe. “But even this you have to admit is pretty mind-blowing. Real life ghosts.”
“You know what I think?” Erica gave a sarcastic smile, and locked eyes with Nancy herself. “I think the only way my mind will be blown is if I see something real impressive.”
Nancy shook her head. There had to be another way.
“You’re only saying that because the ghosts didn’t get you to sing.” Lucas laughed. “Trust me, when it happens to you, then you’ll be impressed.”
“Oh, it’ll happen.” Erica kept her eyes fixed on Nancy. “You know, Lucas, we’ve been learning astronomy in school recently.”
“…Okay?”
“About this star, that could go supernova at any moment, and it’s so close to Earth that we could see it with the naked eye. Now that would be impressive. You know what it’s called? It’s called Betelgeuse.”
“Erica, no!” Nancy shouted.
“Wouldn’t it be cool, Lucas, if we could see Betelgeuse with our very own eyes?”
“Have you lost the plot, what are you talking about?” Poor Lucas asked, caught in the crossfire.
“Erica, don’t.” Nancy pleaded weakly, because the fact was she didn’t have many other options. “…please.”
Erica paused, looking Nancy in the eye and seeing something desperate in her. “I just think that’d be cool, is all.”
Lucas smiled. “You’re so weird, sometimes.”
“Don’t throw stones in glass houses, Lucas.”
“I do get it, you know.” he said. “Moving here, away from everyone, all our friends. I miss home, too.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.” Erica said.
“I know. I just figured I could find a way to enjoy it, and then maybe you’d start liking it here, too!” Lucas said.
Erica turned away from Lucas, and Nancy could swear she saw a stray tear from from the usually stoic girl’s cheek. “I just wanna go home. To our real home.”
𓆙
“So… what’re you thinking?” Robin asked, sneaking up on Nancy a little.
“How do you know I’m thinking?” Nancy replied.
“Come on, how long have we been together? You sitting on that attic window, staring into space, big signs that Nancy Wheeler’s having a thought.” Robin smiled, taking a seat by Nancy on the windowsill. The town’s small lights were illuminated below them, everything looked so far away from up here.
“I never cared about this house.” Nancy said. “Not really. Not in the way you did.”
“I was the one who chose it.” Robin reminisced.
“Yeah, and I was the one who was unsure.” Nancy said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’ll suck if the Sinclairs turn this home into a get rich quick scheme, but…”
“…but…” Robin nodded. “But you said this home. Not your home.”
Nancy turned to her, fighting the watery feeling in her eyes. “I did like our life, Robin. I really did.”
“I know you did.” Robin replied. “I couldn’t wait to get out of Hawkins. Leave my crappy one-story place behind, working minimum wage in a town that only cares about keeping up tradition. This town, this house, it was me. I could see it, I could see our future, all laid out in front of us. I could work on all my little, stupid projects in the attic, my own space, the space I never got in Hawkins. And you’d commute to work, and I know how stressed you get and how wrapped up in work you get, and I just thought you could come home, to this house on the hill away from everything. And you could forget. And we would be family. I never really had that before you, not properly, not one that loved me for who I am.”
Nancy cupped Robin’s cheek, wiping a tear away with her thumb. “And I do love you, I love every single part of you, including your house. And I wish we had the time to turn it into the home you dreamt of. But we didn’t. We barely got any time at all, and even before we died I used to lay awake at night thinking about my bed back at home- my parents house. I miss fighting with my brother, and talking to my mom, and having a full, busy family.”
“I’m sorry.” Robin sniffled. “I took you away from them.”
“Hey, hey, come on.” Nancy shook her head. “What was I gonna do, live in my parents house forever? I wanted to come here, but I also wanted to visit them on Christmas and Thanksgiving and now I’m never gonna get to do that and that is not your fault, Robin. But I just wanna go home. I really want to go home, and that’s never going to happen, but downstairs there’s a little girl who wants the same thing, and maybe… maybe I can make it happen for her.”
“You mean… you’re on board?”
“You want this house to stay the same, and Erica wants out of here. And I don’t wanna be the person that keeps you two from having a real home. So yeah… I’m in.” Nancy nodded, clenching her fists and preparing herself. “…Betelgeuse.”
“Betelgeuse.”
Nancy grabbed Robin’s hand. “Betelgeuse.”
Nancy expected something strange to happen, a door that didn’t used to exist to open, or for Betelgeuse to pop out of the TV, but instead…
“Is he… here?” Robin asked, and soon enough a piercing scream from downstairs answered her question.
Nancy almost tripped running down the stairs when she found the banister completely missing. And once she saw the snake with a grotesque, almost human head, wrapping itself around poor Charles Sinclair, she realised where the banister had gone.
Nancy had to admit, Erica was right, she couldn’t do what Betelgeuse could.
“Holy shit.” Robin exclaimed, watching as the snake lifted Charles as far as the ceiling was tall, dangling him over the edge of the stairwell.
“I didn’t ask for you to kill him!” Erica yelled from downstairs, she, too, finally realising this Betelgeuse guy was bad news. “Do something!”
“Y- you didn’t ask?” Charles choked out, watching his daughter from high in the air. “What on earth do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” Erica said. “I just wanted to scare you guys away from the place! I didn’t think this would happen.”
“Erica, you could’ve had everything you ever wanted with the money we would’ve gotten from this place!” Charles shouted from the chaos.
“I don’t want everything!” Erica yelled back. “I just… want to go home.”
Charles sighed. “Oh, Erica. We can go home… I think we might have to.”
“Nancy, something tells me this Betelgeuse guy isn’t one for letting people go.” Robin said. “We have to stop him.”
“I know, I know.” Nancy said, eyeing the front door. “If we can’t fight fire with fire…”
“What are you thinking?”
“We fight snakes with snakes.” Nancy turned the doorknob and stepped out into the abyss, the sandy dunes and garish blue sky Nancy had unfortunately come to call ‘the outside’. “Hey, asshole!”
A screeching and movement of the sand below responded, hills rose throughout the dunes as something barrelled towards her. Nancy made her way back inside just in time for the sand worm to burst out, through the front door at into the foyer. It grabbed at Betelgeuse’s rattling tail, pulling him into the hell-scape it called home.
Robin sighed, putting her arm round Nancy. “Well, now we know what a bio-exorcist is. Think we’ll ever need one again?”
Nancy looked past Robin, at the teary family embraced in a hug. “No, I don’t think we will.”
𓆙
“I got an A!” Erica squealed. “Take that, Mindy Novak, officially the second smartest kid in my class.”
“What happened to not being a nerd?”
“You’re the nerd, nerd. I can’t help being bright.”
“I wish I could say it was thanks to my help, but I think you might’ve been the one tutoring me.” Nancy laughed. “Oh, hey, Robin’s in the attic, she says she’s got something for you.”
Robin had been working on it all day, she held it up to Erica with pride. Erica narrowed her eyes. “It’s… me?”
“Bingo!” Robin grinned.
“I mean, it was a lucky guess.” Erica said, but smiled all the same.
“Here.” Robin placed the figurine in front of the house. “You can play in the front yard.”
“Actually, could I be in the attic? With you guys?” Erica asked.
“Of course! Here, you do the honours.” Robin handed Erica the figurine, letting her slip it through the window and by tiny Robin and Nancy’s side. “Now I just need to make Lucas and your parents.”
“I’m real glad you decided to stay.” Nancy told the girl.
“Yeah, well, I figured not many people can say they live in a real haunted house. It’s hard to let go of the bragging rights.” Erica smiled. “Plus, you know, for nerds you two are pretty cool.”
“And for living people, you guys are pretty cool, too.” Nancy said.
“Right… and because I’m pretty cool, do you promise not to be mad at me?” Erica’s face suddenly looked worried.
“Oh no…”
“It’s nothing bad, I don’t think. I just-”
The doorbell downstairs rang.
“Were we expecting someone?” Robin asked.
“Nancy is.” Erica pulled a yellow piece of paper from her pocket. “I found them, in the phonebook. I found your family’s number.”
“Oh.” Nancy took the paper, reading her mother’s name and number for the first time in what felt like ages.
“I can send them away, if you want.” Erica suggested.
“No, don’t.” Nancy sighed. “I’m guessing they won’t be able to see me.”
“Probably not…” Robin rubbed Nancy’s back soothingly.
Nancy laughed wetly. “Good. I hate this outfit. Should’ve picked a better one to die in, huh? What am I supposed to say to them? Oh, right, nothing. They can’t hear me either.”
“But they can hear me.” Erica said. “You’ll end up regretting it if you don’t see them. And just think, maybe if it goes well they can visit regularly.”
“Nancy, this is what you wanted.” Robin cupped her cheek. “I wanted this house to be for a family, our family, and I got one. Erica wanted to feel at home, and she does. And you… now it’s your turn.”
Nancy made her way downstairs, gripping the solid, wooden banister with white knuckles. She could see her mother in the foyer, gripping her arm just as anxiously as Nancy gripped the banister.
Nancy met Karen’s eyes.
And Karen’s met Nancy’s.