chapter thirty-one – all our times have come

March 24th, 1986

"Shit, shit, shit!" Dustin's screams echoed from the passenger seat as Steve plowed through yet another yellow light. Lucas reaches to grip tightly onto anything in the backseat with one hand as his other is helping to keep Irene upright in the seat between him and Max. He catches Steve's eyes in the rearview mirror and a knot forms at the base of his stomach when he watches the way they glance over at the older teen beside him.

Max sat distraught as Kate Bush blasted in her ears. The car made a hard left turn and her hands gripped Irene tightly, hoisting her up like Steve told her and Lucas too. He'd warned what would happen if they didn't – if they let the blood pool at the base of their friend's throat and it seemed like it had occurred before. He seemed far too experienced with her visions and it made both Max and Lucas' chests ache. They'd never seen Irene like this.

Dustins' walkie talkie crackled to life at his feet, "Dust-Dustin! What's going on?! Is Max okay?" Robin questioned frantically. The four had completely forgotten about the duo who had gone on their sidequest to help them gather together pieces to their Vecna puzzle. Just moments ago they were the ones who'd figured out music was the trick to pulling people out of Vecna's trance and they'd forgotten all about it.

The brunet wiped the sweat collecting on his forehead and gulped before letting out a dry chuckle, "Uh–Well Max is fine, but uh–we kind of ran into a little problem."

"What kind of problem?" Nancy's was the next voice to come out.

Steve reached for the walkie talkie frustratedly, "It's–it's Irene. She just, shit you guys, she just collapsed right there and I–I didn't know what to do. It was Starcourt all over again and I–"

"Hey! Just take a deep breath and slow down–"

"Please slow down!" Dustin yelled as he white knuckled the handle above his seat.

Robin's sigh was audible on the other end, "Just tell us where you're headed!"

"What's going on out there, Harrington?! What the hell happened to Irene?! What did you do?" Eddie's voice came to life on the walkie talkie and Steve felt like he was going to throw up at all the feelings building inside of him.

A lightbulb went off in Dustin's head and he grabbed his device back from his friend, "Eddie? Is Officer Vasq–Is Irene's mom home?"

"No, she works the night shift on Saturdays. Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?!" His questions faded into the background as Dustin and Steve shared a look of hope before Steve floored the gas and rushed to the Vasquez home.

Eddie tugged at his curls as he paced in the living room. The house felt too empty and it made his chest ache thinking that he didn't know what had been going on all day. To think that something bad had happened to Irene–he didn't even want to entertain the thought of her falling into Vecna's hands. He couldn't fathom a world without Irene Vasquez in it. If anyone were to go, it had to be him – he'd convinced himself he deserved it.

A loud pound at the front door made him flinch, completely pulling him out of his thoughts as he rushed toward it.

Lucas practically fell through the door the moment it was opened, making way for Steve as he trailed slowly behind while carrying an unconscious Irene.

"Lay her on her side!" Dustin instructed breathily, shutting the door behind himself.

"I know!" Steve responded exasperatedly. "I remember," he whispered – he was never able to get the image out of his head.

Max immediately swiped her headphones off and placed them over Irene's ears. Everyone reached out to protest, considering she had just evaded death's icy grip because of those headphones, but they stopped the moment they heard her soft sob. She knew it wasn't Vecna, but she didn't want to take her chances either – Irene meant too much to her. She couldn't lose another sibling.

This mixture of guilt and terror gnawed away at Eddie as he watched the encounter – as he watched Irene lying there. He couldn't imagine having to deal with such a burdensome ability and at such a young age too. He couldn't even imagine the kind of weight it held. But he couldn't help but feel awestruck at the strength Irene exhibited; how she bore the weight and seemingly with pride. He was lucky to know her.

"Is it a..." He swallowed thickly, "Is this one of her...you know–"

"Yeah." Steve responded quietly as the two locked eyes.

"What do we do?"

"We wait."

There's this dull headache forming that Irene can feel when she opens her eyes. She also feels out of place, out of her own body – something is wrong and she can't tell what it is. She's home, that much she can put together when she finds pictures of her family on the walls beside the couch she's laying on.

Her eyes snag on something unfamiliar in the living room that she assumes must be new, a grandfather clock loudly ticking away right beside the TV.

"Irene..." Someone's voice drags her name out from the kitchen, pulling her away from her thoughts and she can't put a face to the voice but it sounds familiar, too familiar. Her stomach churns as she swallows thickly.

Something dings in the distance, a microwave perhaps or a timer, and the smell of hot chocolate permeates her senses entirely. The crackle of SpiderMan and His Amazing Friends on the TV across from her steals her attention momentarily.

The radio is on too. Funnily enough Kate Bush's Hounds of Love is playing softly and Irene can't tell why it feels so ironic, so strange, that this song is playing on the radio.

"Irene, you can't seriously be asleep right now!" The voice calls out again with a deep chuckle.

She took notice of the fact that she was in her pajamas while pizza boxes and movie tapes were scattered across the living room around her. A couple pieces of popcorn gently fall from her hair and lap as she brushes the blankets off of her and stands. The wooden floorboards creak underneath her.

She can't seem to remember anything, just the slight reminisce of the feeling that a nightmare brings when you wake from it. She can hear the figure from the kitchen coming toward her and when they round the corner of the kitchen wall and stand before her, she almost forgets to breathe at the sight.

"Teo?" The nickname fell from her lips in a hurry and there's this lump that forms at the base of her throat, creeping upward into a soft sob.

Mateo laughed awkwardly, staring at her like the question was obvious. She exhaled, rushing toward him before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Jesus, you act like I died or something." He snorts as his arms hover around her with two mugs clenched tightly in his hands. She looked up at him, like the suggestion had hit some kind of nerve – that fleeting feeling of a nightmare escaping her with the shake of her head.

"I just–you–we had...I think I was having a nightmare." She whispered, squinting her eyes as she tried to remember.

"I keep telling mom and dad we should take you to that sleeping clinic down on Orange, 'think it could really help." He shrugged, waltzing around her to place the mugs on the coffee table before turning to the radio and lowering its sound completely.

There's this funny feeling that tugs at her again, mom and dad? Weren't they...Didn't he leave us? She shook her head again and knuckled at her eyes that were burning while her mind raced with a million thoughts.

"If it helps, I made you some hot chocolate." She looked up at her brother who wore a smile that could light up the night sky and the world fell quiet. "Come on, I'll rewind the tape and we can finish the episode before we watch A New Hope." He beckoned, motioning his head to the couch.

She smiled warmly, about to step forward before that nightmarish feeling took a hold again.

The radio crackled to life, the volume at an exceedingly high level as Kate Bush's Waking the Witch began to play. "You must wake up," it screeched and she held her palms over her ears. Mateo rushed to turn it down and almost seemed angry as he hit the device.

He covered his frustrations with a chuckle once the volume softened, "Jesus, I keep telling dad he needs to fix this stupid thing."

"I–uh–I gotta use the bathroom." She stammered, tripping over herself as she rushed to the hallway.

"Okay weirdo...." Mateo shook his head with a smile as he crouched in front of the TV.

The bathroom looked different when she stepped inside of it, instead of the pastel yellow that had come with the house, the walls had been painted a deep maroon. Now that she thought of it, the entire house looked off, not at all like the one back in Hawkins.

Hawkins, she remembered and the feeling in her stomach was strong.

"You okay in there?" Mateo knocked gently at the door and she swallowed down her doubt.

"Y-yeah everything's fine," her clammy hand gripped the door knob and there he was on the other end with a concerned gaze that tried to swat away at her unease. "I just, I remembered that I told my friends we were gonna hang out tonight. I'm gonna call them." She rushed, pushing past him to head toward her room.

He grabbed her arm with a childish groan, "Come on, we never get to hang out."

"I-I know, I just gotta let them know I'm okay."

The hallway seemed to stretch as her anxiety reached its peak. Her brother's grip on her arm tightened.

"Mateo, let me go." She chuckled weakly, trying to pry herself away from his icy hold. The space seemed to darken under his heavy gaze.

"Since when do you care so much about your friends?" He asked and she realized that his voice wasn't his voice this time; it was deep and gurgly. Her blood ran cold at the sight of his darkened eyes. "You keep secrets from them, you get into arguments with them, they almost died because of you. Because poor Irene doesn't know how to talk to people and let them in–because she's selfish." He spat.

A lump formed at the base of her throat again as tears welled in her eyes.

"Teo–" she whispered, looking up into his eyes and trying to find some kind of light inside of them.

"You're a selfish coward and you think that you can redeem yourself by saving your friends. Well, news flash! You can't, you won't. They're going to die one by one and all you're going to do is stand there and watch it all happen because that's what Irene Vasquez does. She stood and watched her parents split up, stood and watched her poor precious brother die! Face it, that's all you're good for."

"No!" She cried, squeezing her eyes shut with the shake of her head. "Teo, please stop."

"It should've been you, Irene. It was supposed to be you!" He yelled and her body trembled with anguish and she could feel the hot tears stream down her cheeks.

When she looked up her breath caught in her throat. The clock in the living room boomed loudly, its chime sending a chill down her back. She felt sick. The tall dark figure loomed over her, its body covered in scaly veins and its hands long and taloned; resembling that of the creature from the black lagoon. She thought of death–The Reaper–coming to collect their debt, her life. But another thought sparked inside her mind and it made her skin crawl...It couldn't be, could it?

Down the long stretch of the hallway Irene could see the way the radio glowed and when Kate's Running Up That Hill played it filled her with both dread and hope. They'd both turned toward the sound and something shifted in the atmosphere.

Irene swallowed down her fear, "You're not my brother." Her voice was weak, but her demeanor was stone-ish and she knew it made Vecna momentarily tremble, she'd felt it. He turned back to her quickly with a soft smile.

"No, but I'm much worse." He tilted his head innocently while tightening his hold on her arm and digging his talons into her skin. She clenched her jaw as more tears threatened to come down. "We're not so different you know – you and I."

"I am nothing like you." Irene spat, desperately trying to wring her arm out of his grasp. She gasped at the searing sting that ensued; it felt like her skin was slowly being torn away at.

"You are exactly like me!" He snarled, pulling her closer, and she could tell there was a crack in his dark facade.

"What do you want from me?"

"It's not a matter of what I want but who I want and I think you know exactly who that is."

Irene's breath hitched at the realization and a suppressed sob escaped her, but she knew she had to collect herself quickly, his mask was falling and she needed to get back to her friends – back to Max.

"No," she protested with a stern but equally meek shake of her head. "No, I won't let you take her. I won't let you hurt my friends, not anymore." Her lip trembled but she persisted in trying to pull herself out of his iron grip. He loosened his hold, purposefully, allowing for her escape and watched as she ran down the hall with a hauntingly soft smile.

"You're running out of time, Irene."

Irene heard his voice echo as she raced toward the front door, looking back one last time to steal a glimpse at the villain they'd been tailing except it was Mateo again standing there. It felt like a blow to the chest and Irene knew Vecna was taunting her now.

"You can't save them all," were the last words she heard from him as she pushed through the front door and just...fell.

She woke up with a gasp that tangled itself into a sob when she noticed she was in her living room again and it felt like the walls were closing in on her. The air was stuffy and she couldn't take in a full breath and it frightened her more. Her fingers scrambled up toward the headphones that were pounding Kate Bush into her ears and tore them off, gasping in between her cries.

Robin and Steve were the first to spring into action when she woke, the latter quickly stumbling into the kitchen to grab his friend a glass of water while the former consoled her into steady breaths.

She was hysteric and rightfully so; it made everyone's skin crawl to think of what she saw. Little did they know this was no normal vision and that's what mostly rocked Irene to her core – the fact that Vecna had somehow infiltrated her mind, using her gift against her. For what? She couldn't help but wonder. Was she next? The thought made her chest tighten and cling to Robin harder.

"It's okay, Rena. We're here, you're safe." Steve spoke gently, laying a heavy but comforting hand on her knee. She was so wrapped up in her emotions that she wanted to snap back frustratedly that they were anything but safe – that they hadn't seen what she did, with the exception of Max which unsettled even her further. She bit down on her tongue hard, that slim rational part of her that was hanging on in this moment of panic knew that her friends were just trying to be there for her in the ways they knew.

She finally opened her eyes and looked around at her friends, their faces stricken with a slew of emotions she was starting to grow accustomed to. Except, they were two faces that almost mirrored each other, full of what could be described only as solemnity and hope; like they wanted Irene to know they didn't pity her. She knew her other friends didn't necessarily see her as weak either, but there was always that lingering stare that indicated some level of remorse – that they were sorry for her in a way.

Eddie and Max weren't looking at her like that at all. They were looking at her like she was some kind of superhero – like regardless of how debilitating her gift was, how vulnerable it made her, she was still strong. She was still her. And that meant something, that was something Vecna couldn't, wouldn't, take away from her.

She reached her arms out for Max and though it subconsciously gutted the redhead's pride to be caught dead being so soft in front of her friends, she fell into Irene's arms without hesitation.

"You took your headphones off..." The brunette murmured. "You didn't have to do that for me, Red." The teen chuckled softly but Irene could feel the tears clinging to her shoulder.

Max squeezed her tight as she placed the headphones back on her, before finally letting go and wiping away at her itchy blue eyes. She gave the boys a sharp glare worth a thousand words before the muffled sound of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill filled the void of silence, and the air didn't feel so thick inside the room anymore.

A deep sigh billowed past Irene's lips as she stood and eyed the clock, "It's late. Your parents–"

"Will understand. Rena you just–Are you–We can't leave you." Steve stammered, staring at her in disbelief. She was pushing them away, that much he was sure of. Why? He couldn't quite figure that out just yet.

"Steve." Nancy sighed.

"No, no–this is bullshit. Rena, you just had a vision and from what all of us could tell, a pretty bad one. This is Starcourt all over again and I'm not gonna wait until our backs are up against the wall for you to finally let us in. God knows how that went."

"Woah!" Robin piped up from her spot on the loveseat.

Irene scoffed, "Screw you, Harrington! I told you that night that I didn't know what was going to happen after we split up. You act like I wanted you to be beaten to a pulp and drugged."

"So that's how he got that black eye..." Lucas muttered to himself, causing Dustin to turn to him.

"What'd he tell you?"

"That he got it defending your guys' honor." They both shared a look before turning back to the chaos unfolding between their eldest friends.

"What do you want from me, Steve?!" Irene questioned exasperatedly, throwing her hands up.

"For once I just want you to be honest, Irene!"

"Dude–" Eddie tried to interject but Irene was already leaping with a response.

"Honest?! You want me to be honest?! My brother died, Steve! Right in front of me! Billy too. El and Will are gone, they all turned their backs on each other," She motioned to the three teens standing awkwardly by the kitchen. "And you both just kept going on like nothing ever happened, like last summer never existed and I couldn't do that. I can't just go on knowing that I will never get to see my brother again. That nothing will ever be the same. Do you know how that feels? Do you?!"

Her pained expression and the tears running down her cheeks were enough to make Steve shut his mouth and retreat to the corner of the living room, mulling over his poor choice of words.

That thick silence filled the room again and the tension was palpable.

Irene plunked back into the couch. Eddie watched the way she bit at her nails and tugged at her curls, arms crossed over her chest. She sighed and looked up at him, eyes swimming with a mixture of guilt and grief, but her shoulders slightly relaxed.

She rubbed her face frustratedly, hands falling into her lap before she looked up at the ceiling with itchy eyes.

"It wasn't a vision," she whispered and everyone looked over at her. "At least...it didn't feel like one."

Max stopped the tape.

"What did you see?"

"My brother."

"Jesus Christ." Eddie whispered and his chest felt hollow.

"It was so real, like he was right there," her voice was barely above a whisper. "But then something changed, he became...dark...and that's when I knew it wasn't really my brother. Then that's when I saw him..." Her voice trailed with an evident wobble.

"Saw who, Rena?"

Her glossy eyes finally looked at all of them, "Vecna."

Sofia felt like a zombie. Her head was pounding with a mean migraine and all she wanted to do was go home, hug her daughter, and curl up on the couch as Bonanza droned on the TV. She was getting nowhere with the case – the files Callahan had dropped on her desk that morning led her to a dead end that didn't make any sense.

Everyone was pinning the Munson name to it as fast as they could and packing it all together into a clean little case so they'd never have to deal with it again. It didn't sit right with her. She was beginning to wonder if everyone in town had just decided that blissful ignorance was far better than justice...the thought alone made her sick. What if something far more sinister was occurring right underneath their noses and they had no idea? Maybe it wasn't even under their noses...maybe it had been here all along, festering, and everyone just decided to turn the other way? How could people be so clueless?

"Give me something good. Everyone wants answers, Vasquez." Powell sighed, sitting at the edge of her desk. He handed her the extra mug in his hand, steam wafting from the coffee inside.

"I'm trying. Nothing is adding up."

"What's not adding up?" Callahan piped up from his desk on the far right end of the office. "We know it was Munson, it happened in his house. We should at least release his name so people know to be on the lookout."

"Just because it happened in his house doesn't fully prove it was him, there were no signs of struggle, use of a weapon, or any indication of what the hell happened inside that trailer. Until you provide me with admissible evidence to pinpoint this kid to the crime, then you are not giving his name to the public."

Powell pushed himself off her desk and shrugged smugly, "He is our prime suspect and the public deserves to at least know who we think they should look out for. The kid was clearly into something sinister..."

"Why? Cause he played a fantasy game and listened to heavy metal? My son played Dungeons and Dragons and he went down as a town hero so I refuse to believe that ass-backwards excuse, Powell." Sofia responded sourly, pushing forward the coffee cup previously offered to her.

"The murders occurred in his trailer, what more evidence do you want?"

"That's all we have. We give this to the public and they're gonna have a goddamn field day and then what? When they're terrified to leave their homes because of a crime we have no clue how to solve, what are you two gonna do?" She pointed between her co-officers, before standing and grabbing her stash of Marlboros from her jacket pocket.

"It isn't your job to defend that freak." Callahan scoffed lowly, once her back was turned.

"Don't call him that. He's a good kid, just dealt a bad set of cards — that's not his fault. You guys like to point fingers at anyone that doesn't fit your status quo and that's not what I signed up for — that's not what this badge means to me."

"Vasquez–" Powell sighed, taking a step forward.

"You put his name out and I walk."

"You can't give us that ultimatum."

She met Powell in the middle of the room, pointing at him with fire in her eyes, "You asked me to lead this case. Me. Not Callahan or McArthur or even yourself. You asked me. That is what I'm doing, I'm leading the case, but I need you to trust me and give me time to figure out what the hell happened before we go public with anything. And if you can't do that, if it's too hard for you, take me off the case and I'll gladly give you my badge if that's what this precinct is about."

"I trust you." He whispered sincerely and Sofia heaved a sigh. She gave him a short nod before heading outside for a smoke.

Eddie Munson was innocent, that much she was sure of. It was just a feeling...an intuition for better words. Chrissy had been found in his home but it just didn't seem as clear cut as everyone was making it out to be. She felt for Eddie; to be completely and utterly honest the boy had been dealt a shitty hand. His father tarnished their reputation and his son had prophetically begun to walk in his footsteps, but Sofia knew that Eddie's story deserved to go beyond his father and the Munson name.

Alan Munson ruined his son's life and no one had held him accountable for it.

She felt like she'd owed it to Wayne to prove Eddie's innocence, it was the least she could do.

She would make this right even if it would cost her everything. 

AUTHORS NOTE!

HELLO???? wowowowo, it's been what, a year (?) since I last updated this book and yet it feels like a lifetime! so much has happened, like literally, life has been one gigantic rollercoaster but I persist despite the horrors. unfortunately I am still an anxious mess but i am dealing with it a lot better now and am taking this time/break to enjoy the moment and hopefully rewire my nervous system. 

I really want to tie the loose ends with this book because those of you who have still stuck around, and those of you who are new to my little chaotic corner of the universe, deserve it more than anything.

so with that being said....what do you guys think? please be kind seeing as I haven't done writing like this in a while — it's just been all essays and apa (I know I shudder at the thought too). but yeah! how are we feeling about this comeback/chapter? 

what do you think lies in the balance for rena? how do you think sofia is going to clear eddie's name? theories, predictions — why might vecna be targeting rena? I want to know all your thoughts! 

until we meet again! 

<3