Whispers of a Ghost

Chapter 19-

You all ended up sitting around at Skull Rock while Eddie drank water and ate the food that Dustin had in his backpack while he explained what happened at Reefer Ricks house.

Vecna had killed Patrick in the lake. Right in front of him and Jason. Eddie took the boat and got the hell out of there, hiding the boat under some bushes so nobody would find it before he made his way to Skull Rock.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran." He said chuckling softly at himself and shaking his head.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, I know exactly what time it was." He answered, pulling off the watch from his wrist and tossing it to her. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

"9:27." She read off the watch.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey in Victor's house," Robin realised.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asked in confusion.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Nancy answered and you nodded, joining the conversation.

"At least we're one step closer, right? We now know how and where Vecna attacks from."

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart." Max responded.

Well, that would be one way to do it.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve asked, but Max shook her head.

"It was a metaphor."

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie asked, pointily looking at you as he spoke. "You still got that gun?"

You nodded before Nancy continued talking.

"We can't do that until we find a way into the Upside Down."

Max sighed, "we need El to get her powers back."

"Everything was way easier. We had this girl. She had superpowers-" Steve started to say before Eddie cut him off.

"Yeah, superpowers. You mentioned her." He said, looking at Steve before glancing over at Dustin who was pacing behind the group and staring at his compass. "Hey, uh, Henderson's not cursed, is he?"

"Cursed? No, no. He's fine." Steve answered, looking over at the kid. "Mental? Absolutely."

"Boom!" Dustin suddenly shouted causing you to flinch, not expecting that as the kid turned to the group, his voice echoing through the woods as he pointed at Steve. "Bada... bada... boom. I was right. Skull Rock was north."

Steve lolled his head back, rolling his eyes. "Seriously? You're serious?"

"Mm-hmm."

"This is Skull Rock. Okay?" Steve said, motioning to the rocks around you. "You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong."

"Yes. And no."

"Oh my God." Steve mumbled, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Dustin, what are you talking about?" You asked in confusion.

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. It was correct when we got out the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

"So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong, dude. You're still wrong." Steve responded, but Dustin shook his head.

"Except it isn't faulty. Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?"