Michelle Farley finds herself caught up in the horrors of the Upside Down as she is forced into hiding with Eddie Munson. With what seems like the whole town against them, will Michelle be able to help the Hawkins crew prove Eddie's innocence? (Eddi...
Michelle pulled herself out of the water and onto the far shore of the lake. She was shaking so badly that she leaned up against a tree, sliding down it until she hit the ground. Eddie was on all fours, coughing up water not far away but Michelle barely heard him. All she could hear was the snapping of bones over and over in her head. Tears started streaming down her face as her chest tightened, making it hard for her to breath.
She screamed, when a hand reached out to touch her shoulder. Eddie's ringed fingers wrapped around her own.
"Michelle, we've got to get out of here. The police could show up at any minute, and they'll be looking for us."
Michelle looked up into Eddie's eyes, terrified, still unable to make herself move.
"Come on Farley, we've got to go."
Sirens sounded from across the lake, and Michelle could make out the faint glow of red and blue lights through her tears, but again she couldn't make herself move. It was all too much. Eddie looked at the cops across the lake, then back to Michelle. He bounced on the balls of his feet debating his next move before groaning and taking a few steps back.
"Michelle, I need you to come with me."
He must have realized he was getting nowhere with her.
"Stay here," he said. "They'll find you soon and then this whole nightmare will be over for you. I just... need to go."
With that he took off running into the forest, leaving Michelle at the edge of the lake. As Eddie predicted, the cops quickly found her, carting her back across the lake in her boat and sitting her down at the kitchen table in Reefer Rick's place. Jason sat next to her, wrapped in the same scratchy blue blanket. Across from them sat Chief Powell.
"Now I know it's been a traumatic night for you both but I need to ask you some questions. Is that ok?"
He looked to Michelle. She couldn't meet his gaze but nodded her head slightly.
"Ms. Farley, we know that you had nothing to do with this but I need to know what happened to you. Let's start at the beginning. Were you at Eddie's trailer on the night of the basketball game?"
Michelle again nodded her head, keeping her eyes locked on the mug of tea someone had set in front of her.
"Ok good, and did you see Eddie murder Chrissy?" She shook her head no. "Are you sure? Did you see anything at all?" Another shake of her head. Powell looked to his partner out of the corner of his eye.
"Ok, let's move on. What about the past two days, you were with Eddie correct?" Michelle nodded. "Alright good. Now did he do anything to hurt you or keep you against your will?"
"No!" Michelle burst out. "We were just scared. Our friend had died and we were worried we were next. So we hid. Eddie didn't do anything wrong. You've got to believe me."
"Alright, alright. Calm down. Where was Eddie heading after he left you?"
"I don't know! He was there and then he was just gone, but you need to be out looking for the real killer. Not Eddie. He's innocent." Michelle broke down into tears again.
"Clearly you're not in the best state to be talking to us right now," Powell said. He turned his attention to Jason. "Now you said that you were out on the lake when Patrick was killed. Where was Eddie when it happened?"
"He was in the boat, like I said."
"Right, but then who lifted Patrick out of the water?"
"It was Satan. Eddie is a vessel, just a vessel. He's made a pact with the devil and now he has his powers. That's how he was able to kill Patrick and Chrissy, and how he was able to convince Michelle he'd done nothing wrong."
"Eddie did do nothing wrong!" Michelle cut in.
The cops looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
"See?" Jason said, pointing to Michelle. "You don't believe me? She's obviously under some sort of spell."
"No it's not that we don't believe you. We're just processing all this. That's all. Ok?"
"How do you expect to stop the devil if you don't believe he's real?"
Michelle stood up abruptly, throwing her blanket down as she did.
"I want to go home," she announced.
"Ms. Farley, we are sure to have more questions for you."
Michelle started crying again, this time more for show than anything else. "I just want to go home, I'm cold and scared and want to sleep in my bed."
Powell sighed and nodded to his partner. "Alright Ms. Farley, Officer Rick will take you home. We'll have police surveillance outside of your house all night and we'll bring you back in in the morning."
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Michelle crashed the moment she got home, still in her damp clothes from the lake because she didn't have the energy to change. Despite being exhausted she only slept for a few hours before she was up and showered, pacing back and forth in her living room calling everyone she could think of. She eventually got an answer at the Wheeler's house.
"Michelle?" Nancy sounded surprised to be hearing from her. "I thought you were with Eddie." She whispered his name.
"I froze. I let everyone down and I'm sorry," she said ashamed at how easily she had broken down. "But listen, I need your help. I'm stuck at home with a police officer parked outside of my house. I need to be back out there helping you . Helping Eddie. I owe it to him." She was feeling much braver in the light of day.
"I don't know Michelle, maybe it's better if you sit this one out now."
"Please Nancy?"
Michelle heard a sigh over the phone and some muffled sounds as Nancy spoke to someone standing beside her. "Ok stay there. We'll be there soon. Dress for a memorial but bring a change of clothes."
Michelle was confused by the strange request but quickly started packing anyways. She threw on a simple black dress for the time being and stuffed some more practical clothes into a backpack. She sat in her grandma's arm chair picking at her nails, waiting for Nancy to arrive.
There was a sharp knock on the door and Michelle lunged forward, throwing it open to reveal a police officer accompanied by a teary eyed Nancy and an uncomfortable looking Robin, both dressed in black formal wear. Nancy rushed forward pulling Michelle into a hug.
"Oh Michelle, I'm so glad you're alright," she said, ramping up the tears. "We were so worried about you. We were talking to Officer Rick here and he said it would be alright if we took you to the memorial service today."
Michelle looked to the police man who was clearly moved by Nancy's kind nature.
"That's right Ms. Farley. You should be with your friends today. We can talk to you down at the station after the service."
Nancy grabbed the backpack from the floor and hooked an arm through Michelle's, leading her to the car that sat idling on the street. As they walked Robin awkwardly patted Michelle on the back, forcing an uncomfortable looking smile onto her face.
"Is he following us?" Nancy asked as they pulled away. Robin turned around in the back seat and started out the back window.
"No it looks like he's heading towards Reefer Rick's. They must have more work to do there today."
"Great," Nancy said pulling her hair from it's nice updo. "Get changed. We're meeting them at Skull Rock."
