Chrissy rode past her street, out of her neighborhood, into Forest Hills. She turned and dropped her bike with a thud. She didn’t bother with the kickstand, she was in too much of a hurry. She ran up to the porch, holding her hand up to knock, hesitating. The door opened and Chrissy jumped back. A man stood in the doorway, and stared and observed Chrissy carefully. “Can I help you?” The man asked. He had gray hair, and he was bald at the top. He was wearing a red flannel and grungy jeans. “Hello, I- '' Eddie appeared in the doorway. He did a double take before looking at Chrissy. His eyes bounced up and down, like they do. It seemed to be a habit of Eddie’s. He did it every time he saw her. But Chrissy didn’t mind. “Chrissy-” Eddie looked at the man standing in the doorway next to him, and smiled. “Come in,” Eddie kind of shoved the man out of the way, so Chrissy could walk through. “Last chance, Eddie,” The man said. “Do you need anything?” Eddie shook his head and the man walked out the door. “That’s my uncle,” He said, and he looked at Chrissy the way he did again. “So…” “I heard it again-” Chrissy said. “The ticking, the chime, I don’t know what to do, Eddie!” Chrissy’s head fell to her hands. Eddie walked a little closer, but he was afraid to touch her. He hadn’t been the other night, but that was because- Well it was different. He got out of his head and put his arms around Chrissy, and she hugged him back. “I can’t imagine how much this sucks for you,” Eddie said. “Did you tell anyone else?” Chrissy shook her head, arms were still tightly wrapped around Eddie. She was scared to let go. She feared that if she let go, it would happen again. She felt safe around Eddie, as if he could protect her. But he couldn’t. She knew he couldn’t. Chrissy was suffering, and he hated it, and on the surface he liked to act tough, but deep down he knew he couldn’t and it killed him. “I’m sorry,” He said as if it would help. Later that day, Chrissy was sitting in her living room, reading a book in the living room while her parents were watching the news. “The body of a Hawkins High senior was found late this afternoon,” Chrissy looked up from her book, the television grabbing her attention. “The victim was an eighteen year old male, Patrick McKinney,” Chrissy felt the color draining from her face as her frown deepened. Patrick had been kind to her, but mostly because he was Jason’s best friend. She should go talk to Jason. She put her bookmark in her book and closed it. She looked at the TV again, but she noticed something. The house the reporter was standing in front of looked familiar. She looked- No… It couldn’t be… It was Eddie’s trailer. There was a man standing in the background, it was Eddie’s uncle. Eddie wasn’t there. She dropped her book and stood up. “I have to go-” Chrissy said. Her dad looked at her before she left and exchanged looks with her mother. “Chrissy, are you serious?” Her mom said. “Someone was just murdered, for God’s sake!” “Okay, I’ll be careful, mom! Bye-” Chrissy walked out the door before her mom could stop her. She hopped on her bike and started to ride to Eddie’s trailer. She was thinking on the way there. She thought about Eddie. What was Patrick's dead body doing at Eddie’s trailer? Did he- He didn’t. Chrissy showed up at Eddie’s trailer, there was a crowd around it. News reporters, people of Hawkins, police, and an ambulance. She dropped her bike, and she saw Eddie’s friend looking over the crowd. He sat with him everyday at lunch, he was in Hellfire, one of Eddie’s best friends. Chrissy shoved through the crowd, trying to get to him. “Where’s Eddie?” She asked him. He turned around, and did a double take before staring directly at Chrissy. “Why-” “Doesn’t matter. Where’s Eddie?” Chrissy looked at him with urgency. He pulled her aside. “I need to talk to Eddie,” She said firmly. “I don’t know where he is,” The boy said. “It’s Dustin by the way,” He told Chrissy. She nodded “When did you see him last?” Chrissy asked, but Dustin wasn’t listening. He was staring, thinking. “Hey,” Chrissy jumped, and looked behind her to find a girl about her height with red hair. Wait- didn’t this girl date Lucas in middle school? Chrissy remembered over hearing about it. It was Max, she thought. Billy’s little sister. Billy was in Chrissy’s STEM class junior year. He was an jerk. Max looked at Chrissy then at Dustin, with a look like, What the hell? “Can I talk to you?” Dustin looked at Chrissy then left with Max. Wait- Max’s voice… The girl from the bathroom! Maybe she was nice? They went into what Chrissy figured was Max’s place. They came back about ten minutes later “Let’s go,” Dustin motioned over to Chrissy and he bike and Max’s expression soared.
“She’s coming?” Max glanced at Chrissy. Chrissy looked at her. Maybe she isn’t nice. “Yes.” Dustin shot Max a look. He looked over at Chrissy. “I’ll explain on the way,” They picked up their bikes and Max hopped on the back of Dustin’s. They rode to the video store and Dustin told Chrissy about everything. She almost didn’t believe anything. Their crazy friend with superpowers? The Upside Down? Monsters and dark wizards? Crazy. Insane. But, with the sh1t that has been happening to Chrissy, it seemed… not so unbelievable. They arrived at the video store, and Dustin dropped his bike and ran into the store. Chrissy and Max followed close behind. “How many phones do you have?” Dustin asked the store clerk. His name tag read Steve. A girl appeared behind him. Robin. Isn’t she in band?” “Um, two, but three if you include Keith’s in the back,” She said. “Good,” Dustin threw his bag across the counter, and jumped over it, knocking over a pile of movies. “Hey!” Robin yelled. “You know, maybe on a Monday, you guys can play around in here like children, but it’s Saturday. Our busiest day.” “This can’t wait until Monday. We need to call Eddie’s friends.” “Yeah, your cool new best friend,” Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah, why is calling all of Eddie’s friends so important?” Dustin looked at Chrissy and made eye contact. “Fill them in while I do this!” Dustin looked at Max, who looked at Chrissy, who looked back. They both looked at Steve and Robin.
