Chapter 53

Maggie Byers strolls up to Family Video with a bright smile on her face. The excitement of seeing her friends again sinks into her bones.

She opens the door, and the little jingling bell above announces her arrival. Steve and Robin are at the counter, fully absorbed in some heated debate over which 80s action movie was actually better.

“Excuse me, does anyone know where I might find the movie Fatal Attractions?” Maggie announces in a ludicrously exaggerated British accent, waving one hand.

Steve and Robin spin around, faces twisting from confusion to sheer delight in less than a second.

“Holy shit, Maggie Byers!” Steve blurts, his grin spreading impossibly wide.

Robin almost shouts, jumping slightly on her heels, “I didn’t know you were coming back!”

“Surprise!” Maggie says, strolling up to the counter, hands on her hips, trying to look casual while inside she’s practically vibrating.

Robin leans over the counter to give her a quick hug, “We missed you!”

“I bet your sad, boring lives were so dull without me,” Maggie teases, smirking.

Steve crosses his arms, trying to look unimpressed, but his grin betrays him, “As much as I hate to admit it… maybe a little.”

Maggie laughs, spinning in a slow circle to take them both in, “Well, I’m back to rescue you from your misery. Consider this my heroic act for the day.”

Robin nudges Steve with a playful smirk, “See? She’s here to save us all.”

“Clearly,” Steve mutters, rolling his eyes, but he can’t hide the warmth in his expression.

Maggie leans against the counter, looking between the,. “So… tell me everything. What’s new, what’s changed, what’s gone catastrophically wrong without me?”

Robin giggles, “Where do I even start? Steve finally learned how to make a decent milkshake.”

Steve groans, mock-offended, “Hey! My milkshake skills are improving, thank you very much.”

Maggie grins, pointing at him like a judge passing verdict, “Improving is relative, my dear Watson. Relative. Now, go on. Any major disasters?”

Robin glances around, lowers her voice dramatically, “Well… we’ve had some minor alien-related incidents, but nothing too catastrophic. You know… regular Wednesday.”

Maggie’s eyes sparkle with mischief, “Ah, so the town of Hawkins is still appropriately cursed. Good to know some things never change.”

Steve leans closer, voice teasing, “So… your first day back, what’s the plan? Save the town again?”

Maggie shrugs, feigning nonchalance, “Maybe. Or maybe I just plan to enjoy a week of chaos-free milkshakes and terrifying you both with my charm.”

Robin laughs loudly, shaking her head, “Oh, you’ve already succeeded at that.”

Steve shakes his head, muttering under his breath, “Why do I let her get away with this every time…”

Maggie smirks, leaning closer to the counter, “Because you love me, obviously.”

Steve throws a pretend glare her way, “Obvious, huh? Sure. Totally obvious.”

The three of them break into laughter, the warmth and familiarity of their friendship filling the small store.

While they talk, the television mounted in the corner of Family Video drones on, mostly ignored background noise. The screen flashes between a weather forecast and grainy local footage until a familiar, ominous jingle cuts through the store.

Steve squints, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. What is this?”

Everyone’s attention drifts to the TV. A news anchor appears, expression tight and overly serious in the way local news loves to be when something weird happens in Hawkins.

Maggie turns slightly, arms folding as she watches.

“So this is what Nancy was telling me about,” she murmurs, eyes narrowing at the footage of police tape and flashing lights.

Before anyone can fully process what they’re seeing, the door slams open hard enough to rattle the glass.

“HEY STEVE. HOW MANY PHONES DO YOU HAVE?” Dustin Henderson blurts, already halfway into the store, Max Mayfield right on his heels.

Steve jumps, “Jesus, Henderson—”

“Well hello to you too,” Maggie says dryly, one hand planted on her hip.

Dustin skids to a stop like he’s hit an invisible wall. He spins so fast Max nearly collides with him.

“…Holy shit,” he breathes, “What are you doing here?”

Maggie lifts an eyebrow, “Wow. Not even a ‘welcome back’? Rude.”

“Well sorry to disturb your peace,” she continues, clearly enjoying herself, “but I thought I’d just drop in, say hello. You know. It’s not like I’ve been gone six months or anything.”

Dustin doesn’t even argue. He just launches himself at her, arms wrapping tight as his backpack swings awkwardly to the side.

“Okay, okay,” she laughs, hugging him back, “Personal space is still a thing.”

“Sorry,” he says, muffled into her shoulder, “I’m just surprised and also actively panicking. It’s great to see you.”

“We missed you here,” Max adds quietly, her smile small and a little tired.

Maggie’s expression softens instantly. She steps forward and pulls Max into a hug too.

“I missed you guys,” she says, “And so does El.”

Max exhales shakily, “Yeah. I really miss her.”

Dustin claps his hands together abruptly, snapping back into crisis mode, “Okay. Emotional reunion later. We have a problem. Steve. Phones.”

Steve shakes his head, “What?”

“How many phones do you have?”

“Two. Why?” Steve pauses, “Three if you count Keith’s in the back.”

“Three works,” Max says immediately.

Before Steve can protest, Dustin yanks his backpack off and tosses it onto the counter, already scrambling over it as Steve shouts.

“Hey—hey! You can’t just—What are you doing, man?!”

Dustin plops down at the computer, fingers flying across the keyboard, “Setting up base of operations.”

“Base of operations?” Robin echoes.

“Get off of that,” Steve snaps.

“No, I need it.”

“Need it for what?”

“Eddie’s friends’ phone number,” Dustin replies, like that answers everything.

Steve throws his arms up, “Oh. Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?”

“Wait—Eddie?” Maggie cuts in, pointing between them.

“Yeah. Eddie Munson,” Dustin says without looking up.

Maggie’s face lights up, “I didn’t know you knew Eddie!”

Dustin freezes mid-typing and looks up slowly, “You know Eddie?”

“Know him?” Maggie grins, “Of course I do! We were total besties before I left. Met in detention. Played D&D sometimes. Got in trouble with the law.”

Steve stares.

“We’re total kindred spirits,” Maggie continues cheerfully, “Man, I miss that guy.”

Dustin’s grin fades almost immediately, “Well… then you’re not gonna like this.”

Maggie’s smile falters, “Why?”

Steve and Robin resume arguing in the background, overlapping complaints about computers and store policy. Dustin huffs and looks at Max.

“Can you fill them in while I do this?”

Max glances at the TV, then at Maggie, her expression serious.

“Fill us in on what?” Robin asks.

Max exhales slowly. Her arms fold tight across her chest, shoulders hunched.

“This morning…” she starts, eyes flicking to the TV, “I caught a glimpse of the body. Not close, but close enough. It was in Eddie’s trailer. It looked like Chrissy Cunningham.”

“And last night,” Max continues, voice steady but thin, “I saw her go inside with him. They were talking. She looked nervous. Not scared of Eddie, just… scared.”

Her fingers dig into her sleeves, “Then the lights started flickering. Like power surge flickering. And a few minutes later Eddie comes flying out of the trailer like he’s being chased. He didn’t even look behind him. Just ran, jumped in his van, and peeled out like a maniac.”

Steve mutters, “That tracks,” under his breath.

Max nods once, “Now the cops think he did it. So we need to find him before they do. Because whatever really happened in there…We need to know what happened.”

Maggie drags both hands down her face, palms pressing into her eyes until she sees stars.

“Holy fucking shit,” she breathes, “No. No way. Eddie Munson did not brutally murder a cheerleader and then just… freak out about it. That’s not who he is. I’m telling you, absolute certainty, zero percent chance.”

Max looks at her carefully.

“Which means if it wasn’t him…” she trails off.

“…then it was something else,” Robin finishes quietly.

Maggie drops her hands and glares at the ceiling, “Please don’t tell me it’s the Upside Down again. I will lose my shit right now. I just got back. I haven’t even unpacked my emotional baggage yet.”

No one laughs.

“We can’t rule it out,” Max says after a beat.

Maggie pinches the bridge of her nose, “I hate this town so much.”

“I’ve got it!” Dustin suddenly blurts, spinning around in his chair, “A full list of numbers.”

He grabs a marker and attacks the whiteboard with frantic energy, scribbling names and phone numbers in messy columns.

“Alright,” Dustin says, clapping his hands once. “We divide and conquer. If Eddie said anything weird, went anywhere weird, or breathed weirdly in the last twenty-four hours, we find out.”

Steve stares at the board, “You realize we are absolutely not qualified for this.”

“Steve,” Maggie says, already grabbing a phone again, “we’ve fought interdimensional monsters with bikes and baseball bats. This is basically community outreach.”

The phones start ringing, overlapping voices filling the store. Maggie calls Gareth first.

Maggie listens as the phone rings on her end.

“Come on, Gareth,” she mutters, “Pick up.”

The other line clicks on.

“…Hello?”

Her shoulders relax instantly, “Gareth. Thank God. It’s Maggie.”

There’s a pause, “Holy shit, Byers?”

She smiles, “In the flesh. Or at least the vocal cords.”

“Oh my God, Eddie’s gonna lose his mind—” He cuts himself off, “Wait. You don’t know, do you.”

Her grip tightens on the receiver, “I know enough. I need you to tell me where Eddie is.”

A sharp breath sounds on the other end, “We don’t know. He hasn’t come home. He hasn’t called. The cops came by this morning asking questions.”

Steve glances over, catching Maggie’s expression. The joking edge is gone.

“Listen to me,” Maggie says gently, “Eddie didn’t do this. I know that. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Gareth says quickly, “Yeah, of course. He’s not—he wouldn’t—Chrissy was nice, man. He was freaking out about her, but not like that.”

“What was he freaking out about?” Maggie asks.

“He said she was scared,” Gareth admits, “Like, really scared. Talking about something in her head. Seeing stuff. He thought maybe she was on drugs or something, but… he didn’t believe that either.”

Maggie closes her eyes.

“Did Eddie say where he might go if things got bad?” she asks, “Anywhere he talked about. Anywhere he’d hide.”

Gareth exhales shakily, “He mentioned Reefer Rick. Said if things went sideways, Rick might let him crash. But that was just talk.”

“It’s not just talk,” Maggie says, “It’s a lead.”

On the other end, Gareth’s voice drops, “You’re really back, huh.”

“Yeah,” she says softly, “And I’m not letting him do this alone.”

“Good,” Gareth says, “Because everyone else thinks he’s a monster.”

Maggie’s jaw tightens, “They’re wrong.”

She hangs up and immediately turns to the group.

“I’ve got a lead,” she says. “Reefer Rick.”

Max smiles slightly, “I got the same tip.”

“Then that’s got to mean something,” Dustin says.

“So where does Reefer Rick live?” Robin asks.

Max answers, “See that’s the thing. No one knows. He’s more of a legend than someone people actually know.”

“Last name?” Dustin inquires.

“Not a clue,” Maggie shakes her head.

“Bet the cops know the last name,” Steve pipes up.

“Huh?”

“Cops. I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you, he’s been busted at some point. Means he’s in the system,” Steve says, thinking he’s an ever-so-helpful genius.

Dustin stands, “The cops. Really, Steve? That’s your suggestion?”

Stev shrugs, “I think they should be filled in on what we know, what’s going on.”

“You think Eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” the young boy accuses.

“I just, you know,” Steve says, rubbing his hands together, “Don’t think we can rule it out.”

“That’s precisely what we’re trying to do here, Steve,” Max says.

“And maybe,” Dustin starts, “We’d have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend, and more time trying to find Eddie.”

“Some body has to attend to the customers,” Steve argues.

“Especially if they’re babes, right?” Robin winks.

Steve points a finger at her, “Hey, not fair. Okay? I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We’ve got a big selection in here. It can be very overwhelming for people.”

It’s almost as if a light bulb goes off in Robin’s head.

“Yeah, it can be,” she says with a grin and sits down at the computer.

“What are you doing?” Max asks.

Robin smirks, “Maybe we don’t need a last name.”

The computer beeps and keyboard clacks as she works.

“Twelve Ricks have accounts here,” she assesses.

“Twelve?” Dustin echoes, eyebrows rising.

“That’s a lot of Ricks,” Maggie nods, watching the computer.

“Alright, let’s narrow it down,” Robin starts cycling through profiles, “Rick Alderman. Latest rentals: Annie and Dumbo.”

“Chances our drug dealer has a family and a thing for heartwarming musicals?” Robin asks, looking at Max.

“Not likely,” Max replies, shaking her head.

Robin hits another key, “Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone.”

“Nope,” everyone says in unison.

Robin snorts, “Okay, Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease.”

Another chorus of dismissive “no”s echoes through the store.

“Rick Kimbrough: The Blue Lagoon and Splash.”

Maggie lets out a laugh, “Definitely not. Unless our dealer is a sucker for dreamy water romances.”

Robin scrolls again and pauses. Her brow arches.

“Rick Lipton. Rentals include Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams, and Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke.”

The group bursts out laughing.

“Bingo,” Dustin cackles.

Robin grins triumphantly, “We have a winner.”

“Lipton?” Max repeats, quirking a brow.

“Like the tea,” Robin says with a smirk, “Address listed as 2121 Holland Road.”

Dustin’s head tilts as he processes, “That’s way out by Lover’s Lake.”

Maggie’s face lights up with a spark of excitement, “It’s the perfect place to hide. Remote, quiet, spooky as hell at night.”

The five of them spring into motion with synchronized urgency. Robin snaps off the computer monitor while Steve flips the sign on the door from Open to Closed, locking up behind them.

“I call shotgun!” Maggie shouts.

“I already called it,” Dustin whines.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well, I didn’t hear it.”

“It’s not my fault you’re deaf.”

“I swear I will stub my toe as hard as I can and transfer it to you. Don’t test me, Dustin.”

Dustin huffs, “Fine.”

The car peels out of the parking lot, headlights cutting through the growing dusk. The drive takes about twenty minutes, and as they move away from town, the roads get darker and quieter. Pine trees line the winding route, and the moonlight shimmers faintly across the surface of Lover’s Lake in the distance.

Eventually, they pull up to a small, weather-worn house nestled near the treeline. The shutters hang crooked on the windows, and a couple of wind chimes clatter eerily from the porch.

“Well,” Maggie mutters, craning her neck to look up at the place, “This house is definitely haunted or cursed…Or both. Great choice, Eddie.”

Steve kills the headlights and reaches into the glove compartment. “Flashlights. Everybody grab one.”

They step onto the gravel, shoes crunching too loudly for Maggie’s liking. She adjusts the strap of her bag and flicks on her flashlight, the beam slicing across the porch and catching on peeling paint and warped wood.

“Why do all questionable life decisions live in the woods?” she whispers, “Like, no one ever says, ‘Hey, let’s confront potential supernatural horror in a well-lit suburb.'”

Dustin moves ahead, “Okay, stay focused. Eddie could be here. Or clues. Or—”

“Or murder vibes,” Max cuts in, scanning the tree line, “Strong ones.”

Steve walks up the porch steps first, testing the railing with his weight. It creaks in protest.

“Yep,” he says flatly, “This is how horror movies start.”

Maggie joins him, flashlight trained on the front door. Up close, it looks worse. Scratches mar the wood near the handle, and the porch light hangs dead and useless.

She exhales slowly.

“Alright, Munson,” she murmurs. “Please be alive.”