wires, steve harrington

thirty-eight.

when the car pulled in front of the creel house, meadow was already feeling sick to her stomach. she was fine with most things, but haunted houses were not her style. especially not when they potentially held demons that wanted to kill her friends.

"yeah, that's not creepy." steve said from next to her, and she nodded her agreement but led the way up the steps nonetheless.

steve and meadow then began to pull the nails from the plywood that held the door closed, and he paused for a moment to look at her. "what exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?"

"i.. don't think we've figured that part out yet." she replied.

"oh, so we're winging it."

"yeah, i mean kind of."

"no, we're definitely winging it."

"well we know the house is important.. somehow to vecna." she explained.

steve nodded. "because max saw it in.. vecna's red soup mind world?"

meadow thought for a second. "i mean, yeah. and this is where his first attack was, so maybe there's a deeper connection than we think. and maybe if we find something that connects him to the creels.. that would be a lead."

he nodded again, biting his lip. "you know, if you're serious about the whole cop thing.."

"no, stop, it's just an idea, don't try to flatter-"

"-no, no i think you'd be amazing at it." he assured her. "you haven't seemed.. confused by any of this. you just keep going and keep figuring out more things than i could even.. like.. you are so smart."

meadow could feel her cheeks flush as she looked away. "thank you."

the two of them dropped the wood, revealing the stained glass door that max had drawn. "it's locked." steve groaned after trying to open the door. "should i knock and see if anyone's home?"

"no need." robin said, holding up a brick. "i found a key."

the stained glass window crashed as steve tossed the brick through it, and he then hesitantly reached his hand down to open the door through the inside. meadow followed close behind him as the door opened with an ominous creak. "yeah. yeah this place isn't creepy. at all." she said, looking around at the dust and cobwebs that surrounded her.

lucas attempted to turn on a nearby lamp, but then chuckled. "looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill."

"very funny." meadow responded under her breath, shining her flashlight on the various discarded paintings on the wall.

"wait where'd everyone get those?" steve asked as dustin turned on his own flashlight.

the boy turned to look at him, incredulous. "do you need to be told everything? you're not a child."

"are you sure about that one?" his sister asked, though her gaze remained focused on the artifacts of the room.

steve was silent for a second. "thank you." he then said sarcastically, taking a flashlight from dustin's backpack.

"hey, guys?" max asked. "you all see that, right?" sure enough, a grandfather clock stood proudly by the stairs.

"is this the one you saw?" meadow asked, though she was certain she already knew the answer. max nodded.

robin walked over to them. "i mean, it's.. just a clock. right?" she moved closer to it, wiping her hand over it to clear some of the dust. "like a normal old clock." she added when nothing happened.