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Nancy had washed blood off her hands more often than she would've liked to, and so many times that she'd lost count, but this was different. It was human, and worse, blood she'd spilled. He'd slapped her little sister. She kept reminding herself why, as if that made it okay. Nobody else was awake yet.
"Hello, Byers house?"
"Joyce, I've done something awful. And I don't know what to do." she spluttered.
"What happened?"
"Joyce, there's a body in the living room. " I whispered, scared, looking at him.
"What?! Whose body? Nancy!"
"I killed him. He's just lying there. Joyce, I'm going to prison."
" Nancy, I'm coming over. "
"Bring Hop so he can arrest me, just be quiet. Nobody else can see."
Joyce looked into the room. "Oh!" she sighs, unsurprised.
"He...He smacked my sister. I-I finally did it. Little 8 year old Nancy would be proud."
Hopper sits me down. "Why did you kill him?"
" He's never treated any of us kindly. He insults us, makes us feel ungrateful, he acts like he owns us and we're possessions he would sell without a second thought. And he hit my mom. He started making remarks about all our bodies. He knew nothing about us. And he hit Holly across the face, hard enough that she fell, so I waited till everyone was asleep and used a knife, quieter than a gun. I'm sorry. He truly deserved it but it was wrong. "
"I need details on how he treated you and your family. Is that alright!?"
"No. No it's not."
Joyce put her hand on my shoulders. "Hop, she's in shock. If somebody else can prove abuse, can it be considered like...justified enough for no sentencing?"
"Oh, I was never going to take this to court. I was planning to call it a failed robbery."
"We need to move him. Before anybody wakes up."
So they all picked up the chair and took it out into the woods. They could figure it out in a bit. Mom was up when we got back. "Nancy, where's your father?"
" He won't bother us anymore. "
"Nancy. What have you done?"
Joyce say Karen down. "I know you're clearly angry and upset, but she did it for a good reason. He was abusing you, wasn't he?"
" Y-yes. He was"
"Could you go into details?"
" He used to beat Nancy as a kid, to get her to fit into the mould he created. He hit me sometimes, called me fat, old, ugly. He left Mike alone for a while until he started playing DnD and things. Holly...She was alright. He commented on her appearance but he barely ever physically hurt her. Till last night. I was furious, and he was drunk. He'd drunk so much fucking beer. He collapsed on the couch, and I went up to bed. "
"Could you describe any other major incidents?" She
"Not today Joyce. Another time. I just found out my daughter killed her own father."
" He was hardly a father. He aided in the first stage of my birth and then bullied me relentlessly. "
"DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE DEAD, NANCY!"
And it hit her. That's what Ted Wheeler was now. Dead.