chapter thirty-four!
CASSIE HAD TUCKED THE NOTE INTO HER BAG, then stayed in her car for the rest of the night. She couldn't sleep anymore, nor did she really want to. Instead, she just listened to music and got lost in her own thoughts. It seemed Vecna had enough of her for the night, so it quite peaceful for Cassie to just relax for a moment. She thought for a little while about what her song would be if music could save her too from Vecna. Truth be told, she didn't really have a favorite song. She had several. Blackbird by The Beatles was hers and Frankie's song, and it reminded her of happier times. Heroes by David Bowie reminded her of all of her friends. She's A Rainbow had been one of her favorites for as long as she could remember. Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac was one of her favorites that she had introduced to El. It was now El's favorite, so it reminded Cassie of her. Cassie also thought about how her father would react to her death. Would he be messed up, like he was with Billy? Would it push him over the edge, or be the final push for him to get better. Cassie hoped it was the later.
She had been broken from her long train of thought when she heard the light tapping on her car door window. Cassie had looked over to see Robing motioning for her to get out. Robin had quickly explained that they were going to visit Eddie and deliver some food, to which Cassie had nodded and told her older friend to give her twenty minutes to get ready.
Cassie felt a lot better after taking a very quick shower. The cuts on her neck burned under the water, but the blonde didn't mind. She changed into a baby blue long-sleeve turtleneck and clean jeans. The group took Nancy's car, again, making Cassie sigh longingly for her baby. Cassie went in with Nancy and Robin at the grocery store, mostly just for some snacks for herself.
"So..." muttered Robin as she held the basket. "Cassie. Just for possible future reference, what is your favorite song?"
"Everywhere by Fleetwood Max," answered Cassie, almost instantly. "But Robin, I'm not sure music is going to solve anything."
"Yeah, but I just thought it would be nice to know, just in case," defended Robin, nudging her friends side. Nancy nodded in agreement as she grabbed some chips from the shelf and setting them in their basket. Cassie reached across the aisle and grabbed a box of gummy bears and shoved them in next to the chips.
"I do wonder why you are different than the others, Cas," commented Nancy, a frown on her face. SHe tilted her head, "You have the same symptoms; nose-bleeds, headaches, nightmares, etc. But you've had them for longer, and your connection and purpose to Vecna seems off from everyone else."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," nodded Cassie, "I dunno, I think it has something to do with Billy, but who knows? Maybe the dude just hates me."
"Well, we're not going to let anything happen to you," said Nancy, certainly. Cassie raised her eyebrows, doubting her words but not saying anything. "I promise."
"Can we get me a beer too? I think I deserve it," grinned Cassie. Nancy and Robin share a look before shaking their heads. Cassie groaned. If she was going to die soon, she wanted to have a beer first. Maybe some weed too, if she got lucky.
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Cassie did not, in fact, get a beer. She was actually slightly disappointed, then remembered that she could just steal one of Eddie's if she really needed it. Cassie doubted that Eddie was still at Reefer Ricks- whoever the fuck that was anyways, considering someone was murdered there the night prior. The others didn't disagree, but figured that they should at least check. Plus, they didn't know if Cassie's vision had been happening in that moment, or if it was something that hadn't happened yet but was going to. Dustin had made the point that Eddie would have radioed them if he was leaving, and especially if he had just saw someone get murdered.
"Not to be a wimp," started Robin, once they almost made it to the house. "But can I stay in the car for this visit? 'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck."
"It'll be fine," assured Nancy, making Cassie laugh out loud from where she sat beside Steve in the far back seat.
"I can't stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't," said Robin. Cassie pulled her hair back into a low bun, since it was finally dry. As she pulled it back, her elbow connected with Steve's face several times, making the older boy literally shove her out of the seat and into the floor.
"At least he can drink himself into feeling better," said Steve, stretching back out now that Cassie's elbow wasn't in his face. He shoved a handful of Pringles into his mouth, unflatteringly, as did Dustin. Cassie began to regret sharing.
"That's what my mom does," agreed Max, making Cassie snort quietly as she held a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing. Steve sent her a disapproving look as she slowly climbed back into the seat. Cassie shrugged. She knew that it was inappropriate to laugh at that comment, but she couldn't help what she found funny.
"Why don't we just give it a trial?" said Robin, almost sarcastically. ""Hey, Eddie. Good news first this time. We got you some Cassie approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh, yeah! And we found Vecna! Only, bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about, and the gates closed and we have no way of getting to him. Like, he's entirely shut off to us, so you're basically screwed. And, no, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you're like doubly, triply screwed.""
"Wait, wait," stopped Lucas, a grimace on his face. "Maybe we don't put it like that."
""We're one step closer to finding Vecna." That's what we say," corrected Nancy. "That's what's important."
"See, Robin?" called up Steve, Cassie rolling her eyes as she swatted his hand away from the Pringles can. "Positive spin can make all the difference."
"Uh-huh," replied Robin, and Cassie could just imagine the older girl rolling her eyes. Cassie reached into the can of chips, her mouth falling open in disbelief when she realized there were none left. She'd gotten like three. She slapped Steve on the back of the head and threw the empty can at Dustin's forehead with a scowl.
"Oh, shit," cursed Nancy. Cassie straightened up, looking forward as they pulled in the driveway of the house. Cassie's eyes widened at the sight of people crowded around and police cars spread throughout the area.
"Do you think they found Eddie?" asked Dustin. Cassie shrugged, tilting her head in sarcasm.
"Or maybe they found the body of the dude I saw get murdered last night?" she suggested, although everyone seemed to ignore her words as Nancy came to a stop and everyone piled out of the car. Cassie sat back, her arms crossed over her chest as she awaited them to come back and tell her that she was right.
The group was gone for less than two minutes before they came rushing back to the car. Cassie looked to Dustin with raised eyebrows as he climbed back into the car, sitting across from her once again. Steve hadn't even shut the back door before Nancy was taking off down the road, making Cassie stumble in her seat.
"What happened?"
"You were right," muttered Dustin. "They found Patrick. But they named Eddie as a person of interest. Like, on live television."
Cassie's mouth fell open at this information, a grimace slowly growing on her face, "Oh, damn. That's really not good."
"He contacted us," continued the curly-haired boy, while Steve shouted out directions to Nancy. "He's at Skull Rock, that's where we're headed now."
