The Deal [Eddie Munson] 1

023

"Okay, okay- slow down. Why do you think Patrick is cursed?" Dustin asks as I get out of my car, trying to explain everything to them quickly.

"He said it. I literally listened to him say it. And when we were at the funeral he was staring off into space weirdly and he jumped when I touched him." I answer, looking up at the house as we walk towards it.

Of course it's at this creepy house.

"That doesn't mean he's cursed." Steve chimes in, and I stop walking, turning and looking at him. "I saw the look on his face. I know he's next, and we need to warn him."

"So we're going to go to Jason and tell Patrick we can save him? Yeah, no- Terrible idea." Steve replies, and I roll my eyes at him, stopping in front of the door. "Do you have a better idea? Or should we just let an innocent person die?"

"I'm not saying to let him die, Sam, I'm saying that we can't just walk up to him, you know that." He sighs, and I take a deep breath, calming down. "I'm sorry, I know. I just don't want anyone else to die." I reply, and he nods, starting to take down the boarding on the door.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?" Steve asks, pulling at the nails on the door, and no one answers me so he looks at me. "We're not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna."

"Because Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" He asks, and I shake my head at his questions. "Yes. That means something, it wouldn't have been there for fun." I reply, trying to help him remove the guarding on the door.

"Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he's back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max." Dustin says, and I look back at him, nodding.

"We don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas questions, looking around at all of us. "Guess we'll find out." Max answers as Steve finally pulls down the block on the door. He looks back at me, and I nod, so he reaches out to open the door.

He tries to open it, but it's locked. I sigh, watching him continue to try to open it. "It's locked. Should I know, see if anybody's home?" He says, and Dustin groans.

"No need." Robin says, holding up a brick before continuing, "I found a key." She smiles, walking in front of us and throwing the brick through the door. We all jump at her actions. Steve reaches his hand in and unlocks the door.

I immediately get an uneasy feeling walking into the house. Dusty and creepy, just our luck. I reach down, turning on my flashlight and looking around. "Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill."

Dustin turns on his flashlight when he says that, and Steve looks around at us confused. "Where'd everyone get those?" Steve asks, and I snort, looking away from him. "Do you need to be told everything? You're not a child."

"Thank you." Steve says, and Dustin rolls his eyes, holding up his backpack and handing it to him. "Back pocket." I turn away from them and I start to walk around the house, trying to figure out if anything around the house can be of any help to us.

"You guys see that right?" Max asks, pointing her flashlight at the clock on the wall. Well, I definitely see it. "Yeah." I reply, and everyone else answers that they see it as well.

"Is this what you saw? In your visions?" I ask, and Max nods, her eyes not leaving the clock. "I mean, it's just a clock, right?" Robin asks, walking up to it and wiping the dust off of it. "Just a normal old clock."

"Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he's, like, a clockmaker or something?" Steve says, and we all fall silent at his words.

"I think you cracked the case, Steve." Dustin replies, and I laugh, covering my mouth to stop my voice from echoing. Robin looks at me, and I can see that she's holding in her laughs.