Chapter Text
It was an ordinary spring day in small town Hawkins, Indiana - a pleasant morning, which you were still getting re-used to, after a two-year teacher training program in New York your parents managed to buy for you with the meager savings they had gathered. Hawkins High stood proud before you as you walked in, and there was a certain Friday cheer in yours and everyone else's steps, even though you still had to survive a full day of work. You only had one class, though, because of the Tigers vs Eagles basketball game, and that opened a slot for the finale of your "Cult of Vecna" campaign, which you hosted for a small group of your students, in your own classroom, with great joy. You were told Lucas' little sister would stand in for him today, since he would be at the game, which was a bit of a shame, but you were also curious what she would bring to the table. You walked to your classroom, with little time to set up everything. Since you started working here, it had been a nice place. It was nostalgic when you were given your old English classroom as your own, yes, but it was also in dire need of re-decoration. Now, Medieval maps were hanging all around the walls, as well as quotes from poems, grammar cheat-sheets, and anything else that could help your students or at least keep their attention on SOMETHING English-related as they looked around aimlessly in your classes. In the corner you had put a huge treasure chest which cost you a fortune, but proved extremely helpful, both as a prop that students loved, and as a container for all your Dungeons and Dragons supplies that you would whip out and set around the room as soon as classes were over. It was thrilling, like you were a double agent. When you started teaching, you caught rumors of a Dungeons and Dragons club in need of a dungeon master, as the old one had graduated, so you asked the biggest literature nerd, Mike Wheeler, about it, and sure enough, he spilled everything with starry, wide eyes. You agreed to host for them and moved the club to your classroom, which allowed you to make it into a cozy space for the band, where you would all gather to have some fun after school. However, all that had to wait for just a little bit more, as you had work first.
Your first class went well, it was good that most students were still asleep so you didn't have to deal with shouting and fights. You would even let students sleep during class, as you couldn't blame the poor souls, they just wanted to live, party, fall in love and not be caged in your classroom learning about Shakespeare, or even worse, grammar. So you let them be. However, as you spoke, you noticed one of your students, Chrissy Cunningham, was lacking her usual aura of joy and carelessness. She looked troubled, occasionally wiped her nose and clutched her head, which made you speak up. "Hey, Chrissy, are you okay?," you asked, concerned, ready to send her off to the nurse if needed. "I'm fine, Mr. Y/n(Last name), just anxious about the game," she said hesitantly, which in your mind meant she lied. You grit your teeth, knowing you can't force anything out of these stubborn teenagers, and moved on with the lesson, paying closer attention to her now. She was wiping her nose because it was dripping blood, you noticed, probably related to the headaches. And she had bags under her eyes, but she didn't sleep like half the class did, which was the weirder part...
The bell rang and students started filing out the classroom, giving you their half-smiles of gratitude and a few enthused goodbyes from your star students. Chrissy was last, not in a hurry at all, which was extremely weird, she had a game to prepare for. But this was okay, because you waited for everyone else to leave and called out gently. "Chrissy." She turned around sharply, looking scared now, more than anything. Your concern only grew from that. "Please, come here," you urged her closer to the desk so you could speak more softly, rather than half-shout. She approached cautiously and you barely resisted the urge to rest your hand on her shoulder for support. You clenched your jaw as you started speaking, thoroughly thinking your words through "Hey, look... I know I can't force you to talk to me, and there are people who can do this better, and you've probably got a lot on your mind," you started rambling, but you caught yourself, closing your eyes and pausing, then looking back at her. "But, please, just... if you need a friend," you began hesitantly, hoping not to be breaking some kind of school code, "...I'm here, okay? I worry about you," you finished, praying that this would get through to her. She stood still for a moment, but then pursed her lips and just nodded. "Thanks," she said absent-mindedly, before slowly heading off. You wondered for a long moment if you could have said or done anything better, but ultimately decided it was her choice to reach out now. With a long sigh, you closed the door, shut the blinds, and started rearranging the room in preparation for the finale of your DnD campaign, hoping this would help recover your mood.
The scene was set, snacks laid out on the long table you made out of all the desks, pieces in place, except for that of Lucas' sister. The first to come in was Mike, obviously. He walked in with the cheer you realized you still were kind of missing, but both your faces lit up as you saw each other. "Mr. Y/n(Last name)!," he exclaimed, coming up to the desk like a first-grader and standing there, looking around the room. You chuckled as you put your hand out "Mike! I told you just Y/n is fine!" He groaned a bit as he clapped your hand. "I knoww, I'm sorry, it's not every day your DM is your teacher, you know," you exchanged laughs and he took his place, taking in the setup you made for them. "It's a shame Lucas' game is also today..." you said, sighing, but spring break was coming up, and it couldn't wait any longer. "It'll be fine, we'll figure it out," Mike mused, obviously a bit torn up between missing his friend, and being excited to wrap up the campaign, but you gently shook him by the shoulder. "You gotta apologize to him with some pizza or something later," you half-joke, and you shared another laugh.
Slowly, Mike's friends, as well as the few seniors from the club came in, and you greeted them excitedly, letting them all settle in their places. You looked around, hands on your hips as you did a head count. "So, where's, uhh-" "-Erica," Dustin cut in, of course. "Erica," you repeated, nodding as you mentally noted the name. "No clue..." he shrugged, which is new for him, but you just sighed and looked at the door. "I hope she won't keep us waiting." Then, the door opened and a preppy-looking middle school-aged girl walked in. You were a bit taken aback by the confidence in her stride and how she carried herself, but you shook it off. "Oh, are you here for arts and crafts? That's down the hall, sweetie," you dismissed her with a court smile, looking behind her for the esteemed Erica. "Arts and crafts?," she asked sassily, frowning as if you had just said the stupidest thing ever. "I'm Erica Sinclair. You're Mr. Y/Ln?," she emphasized on the question, like YOU could ever be a teacher, like she was exposing your every insecurity. You staggered back a little. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie-" "-don't call me that," she interrupted with that frown again. "I'm Erica, or Lady Applejack," she stated matter-of-factly, sizing you up. "Oh... then it's nice to meet you," you hesitantly put forward your hand, like a little kid unsure if it knew its manners right. She took and shook it confidently, which relieved you, for some reason, and she sat down at the table, the adventure resuming as planned.
...
"...Betrayed by his servant, Kas, Lord Vecna falls, utterly broken in body, but not soul. He hastily retreats into the darkness, wrapping himself in the robes of his acolytes, and slips away from the party," you narrated dramatically, and the tension broke, everyone moaning and groaning. "Man, all that for nothing?!," shouted Dustin, who seemed the most disappointed out of everyone, after having planned the fight and everything to a T. A silence befell the room for a few seconds, before a certain sassy voice cut it. "Not if I have anything to say about it. I chase him down and finish him off before he escapes," she stated, as if she already knew what would happen, rolling the die and throwing it onto the table. Everyone, even her, grew tense as they watched it roll around seemingly forever, until it landed on a clean twenty. Everyone exploded in cheers and you looked at her smug little smile, pointing at her and nodding, quietly saying "I see you," before resuming the narration. "...BUT LADY APPLEJACK IS NOT DONE," you shouted through the cheers and people quieted down. "She dives through the crowd of acolytes, rolling and dodging past all their attempts to stop her, she leaps into the air and STABS her blade straight into Lord Vecna's head!" The cheers resumed and everyone hugged. Erica looked at you, clearly proud of herself, but you also noticed a little spark in her eye, which you hoped was caused, at least partly, by your narration of her epic victory.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of the basketball game and the club's meeting, everyone started heading out, chattering about the campaign. "Say hi to Lucas from me, guys!," you exclaimed to the group. They gave you a thumbs up and waved goodbye, talking about their teenage topics or murmuring about the game, which brought a smile to your face. You were truly fulfilled knowing that you helped bring this joy to the kids, even though you also knew DnD wasn't exactly the most popular activity, or the most well-liked one, which put them at some risk...
Right as you were about to start putting away the DnD stuff so you could go home, you heard a knock on the door. "Coming!," you shouted and hastily rushed to open the blinds, as you knew this kind of activity was, in fact, making people pretty suspicious around the town, even if you had the authority of a teacher. You couldn't put away the figurines and just went for the door, opening it to see a frightened Chrissy, along with her boyfriend, Jason. Your smile from before faded right back into that concerned face, but part of you was happy she came to you after all. "Chrissy, Jason, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," you noted, seeing Jason look behind you, into the room, frowning a little in disapproval, presumably. Chrissy was just looking down, walking into the room, and Jason was about to walk in, too, with some rush in his step, but she stopped him. "I need to talk to Mr. Y/Ln. Alone." He stopped, clearly unhappy with this, but stepped back, and you looked at him, shrugging as you closed the door gently. You gesture to the table. "I'm sorry for the mess, just-" "- I saw something in the forest," she interrupted, clearly not concerned with the state of your room, just looking down. "What...?," you asked, more confused than anything. "Ms. Kelley is gonna think I'm on drugs and call my parents, but I saw things, after your class, and-" she paused and looked up to you. "-it was horrible, Mr. Y/Ln..."
You stood there, frozen. "Look... Do you want to wait a few minutes while I clean up, and you will go show me what you saw?," you asked, hoping to bring her some calm by accompanying her. "Is that okay?" "Yeah.... okay, I'll show you... You probably think I'm crazy..." she trailed off. "No, Chrissy, I don't. While I was away, I read about some weird things happening here," you reassured her, in a weird way, finally reaching out with a hand to her shoulder, at which she recoiled slightly, but you held it firmly, not backing off. You would never allow your student to live in such fear. A fear which was, in fact, justified. You had read about people going missing, the mall burnt down seemingly out of nowhere, rumors about Russian spies... "I don't think you're crazy. I think you need someone to confide in. I'll come with you, just give me a minute, okay?," you reassured her, again, and she nodded. You hastily stuffed your things back into the prop chest, losing any sense of order. "Come on," you lead her out the room and she followed quietly, briskly. You locked the door and headed out of the school with her.
You stood at the edge of the forest with her, looking at a tree trunk. "Lead the way," you prompted her, determined to figure out what had been disturbing her so deeply. "...It was right here..." she said, looking at the tree, stunned. "In that tree. A... a clock, the big one-" "-a grandfather clock?" "...Yeah." You fell silent. What was so horrible about a grandfather clock? If anything, they looked cool. Was there really something wrong with her? You went to check out the tree, even knocked on it. "Is it here now?," you ask, growing more concerned by the second. "No, it isn't..." she shook her head, looking absolutely devastated, like she has just outed herself for being insane. You rushed back to her, squeezing her shoulder again. "Hey... maybe.... maybe someone's playing a prank. Let's look around, yeah?," you tried, assuming you failed, to calm her, but she nodded, which gave you some confidence that maybe you were doing the right thing.
You walked deeper into the forest, as Chrissy grew scared, as if for her life. "It's not here..." she said quietly, stopping in place, as if she had resigned. You sighed, rubbing your forehead, running out of ideas, and you turned around. "Okay, let's head back and... call your parents, or something," you said, already walking away, but when you turned around to look at her, your eyes went wide.
She stood in place speechless, arms lifted slightly, and her eyes closed, but not peacefully, they were... trembling? You tried to shake her awake. "Chrissy?" Gently at first, then with some more force. "Chrissy! Wake up!," you started shouting, growing more worried by the second. "Help!," you started calling out, running around the place, but you were too deep into the forest for anyone to hear you and you knew it. "Help!!!," you tried again, but no answer or person came. Then you decided you have to carry her to the hospital, this was out of your expertise.
You grabbed for her, but her body had suddenly risen above the ground, out of your reach. Your eyes grew wider in fear, hand over your mouth, now looking on in shock. You tried to jump up to catch her and pull her down, but she was too far up. You looked around, no one still.
Then, you heard a snap. It was from her. You looked up, her head was twisted up, neck broken. You gasped, but it all happened too fast for you to look away or do anything. Her jaw snapped apart to the side. Then her forearms shot up, breaking at the elbows. Her calves snapped to the sides with a certain crunch you had never heard or imagined before, the breaking of tough bones leaving loud bangs reverberating through the air.
You couldn't do anything, you stepped back, as if touching her or getting close to her would do the same to you, but you looked on, unable to break your stare. Her eyes exploded, splashing blood on your shoes. Her body fell to the ground and you saw her face, utterly malformed and bent in ways which shouldn't be possible.
You stared for maybe a minute in shock, before looking around yourself warily, to see if anyone had seen any of this, or maybe the person who did that would come after you next. You couldn't run, it would make too much noise. You crawled through the forest, painfully, carefully, your heart twisting and aching, but your brain too scared for your life to bring attention to that.
After what felt like hours, but was probably ten minutes, you walked out of the forest. You looked around one last time to make sure no one would shoot you from behind the trees, and then ran. You sprinted across the neighborhood, all the way to the police station, the adrenaline fueling you like never before. While crossing the road, a car honk broke you out of your frenzy, and you looked at the source, the vehicle rushing toward you, which made you jump forward, landing on the pavement painfully, hitting your head on a sign post, making a small wound. You barely registered the voice of a driver cursing at you as he passed by for a fraction of a second. You got up and walked the last few steps before entering the police station, the receptionists already looking at you with wide eyes, hanging up their phones without a word.
After you recounted the story in excruciating detail, the view still fresh in your mind, they told you to stay there while they go check the scene, but you thought that they were about to take you to a psychiatric ward. Time was a blur, though, you just remembered... The sight of arms and legs bending, the crunch of bones... you stared at the floor, but you just saw it.
At some point, policemen came in and tapped you on the shoulder, telling you that you can go home while they investigate. They would probably blame you for it. Who else could have done this? You could just hope that the state in which you came in and still were was enough of an alibi that you hadn't done it.
One minute you were walking home, and the next, fumbling with the keys, then you were on the inside, locking the door, and then you were in your bed, staring at the celling.
By the time you stopped, it was dark out. You rubbed your eyes and got out of bed, struggling to navigate through the mess of building materials and bags of trash that was your house under renovation for the last ten years. You went to the "kitchen", which was really just a storage space for boxes of furniture, a small fridge and a microwave to heat up instant meals in. First you made sure the door is locked and all the blinds are shut, then you made your sad little dinner and went back to sit down on your mattress, eating it quickly before trying to get some shut-eye, not even bothering to wash up, brush your teeth or change clothes.
You didn't sleep. You almost drifted away at one point, but the snapping of bones and the honk of cars in your ears made sure to keep you wide awake.
At some point, your alarm clock rang, it was time to go to the school. You rubbed down your shoes with some wipes so the kids wouldn't ask you why there was blood on you. You wiped down the blood from your forehead wound, too, and headed off to school on foot, as you had left your car parked there yesterday.
You didn't have classes, as it was Saturday, but you had a meeting with the Hellfire Club, and fortunately this time Dustin was going to be the master, because you were not in condition to do it this time, and Mike was off to Lenora, California, to meet his middle school friends.
You walked into the classroom and automatically, as if your limbs moved on their own, put together the most basic props for the room and sat down at the table, just staring at it as you waited for the students to come.
First was Dustin. He walked in, smile wide and he shouted "Y/n!," he corrected himself, and you looked at him, managing a small smile. "Morning, Dustin..." He frowned. "Y/n, what's wrong?," he asked, and you tried to shake your head and muster an answer. "I... just hit my head yesterday, and didn't sleep well," you lied, but it seemed enough as Dustin sighed, his concern fading a little. "I'm sorry, do you need anything? Maybe we can cancel today's game?" You shook your head. "No, no, please. I insist we play it." He nodded and sat down next to you, waiting for the others in silence.
"Where's Lucas, by the way?" You asked. Dustin shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Probably off partying with his new friends in the team. It's like he forgot about us..." he muttered and you sighed, not sure what you could say to help.
The rest walked in one by one, asking you what was wrong, and Dustin kept replying "He hit his head, we shouldn't bother him," which you were partly grateful for, but also every time someone asked that question, you bit the inside of your cheek, like you could hear it again, but you also valued your career and their sanity, so you stayed quiet, clutching your head and wincing from time to time.
The game started and Dustin was narrating. You managed to stay sort of composed, at least.
"The warlock grabs a group of civilians in front of you, and they look on in horror as he balls his hand into a fist, and their bones snap loudly. Arms breaking! Heads falling!" He exclaimed, followed by snarky, grinning oohs and aahs and winces by the group, but as you heard this you were not endeared at all, and you closed your eyes, trying shaking your head to put the images away but it didn't work. You curled into yourself and heard yourself let out a painful, desperate groan, like you were begging for it to stop. Next thing you knew, everyone was calling your name and you opened your eyes, first seeing Dustin examining you with a deeply concerned expression. "Y/n!," he called out, and you realized what was happening. You bit the inside of your lip again, straightening up. "I'm sorry, just... you're very good at this," you tried to lie, but it didn't pass this time as he frowned, shaking his head, and sighed. "The warlock suddenly collapses, dead from his own magic and you win, everyone is happy," he rushed the ending, to your dismay, obviously cutting the session short. Everyone groaned, displeased, but they sighed after, knowing you couldn't go on like this. They got up and started leaving, each of them saying their goodbyes and curtly adding "Get well soon." But Dustin stayed. He sat and stared at you intently, which you realized and you looked up at them. "I'm sorry, I ruined your campaign..." his frown deepened. "What?! No!," he exclaimed, like what you just said was the most offensive thing ever. "You need to tell me why you reacted this way, right now." he insisted. "You'll think I'm crazy, there's no way," You try to reflect but he just huffed.
"Try us." You heard a feminine voice from the door. It was your student Max. Your eyes widened as you got up, closing the door behind her. "Max?!"
She shook her head. "Oh, sorry, I... I was looking for Dustin after seeing the news today and his mom said he's here, but I overheard you, and... Try us." She repeated, making you step back in shock. "Um... sit down, then." And she did, warily, looking around the room. Dustin looked at her quizzically, but she made a sign for him to wait. Clearly they both knew something you didn't.
A long pause.
"I.... I saw Chrissy, my student, die," you mustered the courage to say.
Dustin and Max's eyes went wide.
"Chrissy's the girl from the news all morning?!" Exclaimed Dustin. Max looked even more troubled. "You were there...?" She asked, as if terrified. You looked at her, worry washing over you. "The news...?" "Yeah, man, don't you have a TV? It's on every channel," Dustin almost scolded you. "The police came to the trailer park, they thought it was my neighbor, Eddie Munson," added Max, worried.
"I know him," you nodded. "He was the Club's old leader, we spent some time talking about it as he handed me the role. He even came to some of our sessions, even though he graduated last year. He seemed to spend some time around school." You thought out loud, confused. "But why him...? He wouldn't do that..."
"Maybe we should talk to him?" Max suggested. "Are you implying he did it?" Dustin asked defensively. He really liked Eddie in the little time they spent in your room. "I'm saying we can't rule it out," Max said, raising her hands. "Yes, we can!" Dustin shouted in response, clearly getting agitated.
"Guys!" You shouted, too, to stop them from bickering. "He didn't do it.... He didn't." You said definitively. The kids just looked at you, confused. "Well, he's still gone, and maybe he knows something." Said Max adamantly. You sighed. "Is he still there?" "No, they questioned him and let him go, but he drove off after that, and he looked scared."
"...I know where he's hiding. They won't find him." You said, confidently. He had shared with you about his... side-hustle, including where he and his friend would hide from the cops, and you didn't approve, told him to stay away from your students with it, but he was too high to register it and just laughed it off. But you knew his living conditions, so you decided he was doing what he could to survive.
"Well.... Good. That's one less thing to worry about," Dustin said, relieved."
After a long pause, everyone lost in thought, Dustin spoke up. "Maybe the others know something more," he thought, already too deep in thought to ask you about more details, even though you saod you witnessed it... It was probably for the best, anyways. You couldn't bring yourself to talk about it just yet.
"Maybe we should gather everyone and think of what to do," Max suggested. "But how are we gonna contact them so quickly?," Dustin countered. "I have a car," you interjected, pointing at Dustin like you solved everything, and they looked at you in a similar way. "But... who's 'everyone'?," you added.
"We'll introduce you as we go," said Dustin as he got up. "We should go before this happens to someone else," he added and headed for the door. You had little time to recover but also got up and headed out, locking your room.
It was already going dark out as you lead the kids to your car, filled with a new sort of determination. You got in and set off, leaving the school, your eyes drawn to the forest where it all started as you passed by and turned into the road to begin gathering these other people, who apparently could help.