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Chapter Text

“A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest… because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.” —Terry Pratchett

1978

Camp Skull Rock used to be one of his favorite places in the world. But now, Steve wished he were anywhere else. All because of him. Eddie Munson, aka Steve’s ex-boyfriend. The thing is, Steve still loved him, but Eddie hated his guts. Even though it hurt, Steve knew he probably deserved it. 

“Steve!” Dustin yelled dramatically as if he hadn’t seen Steve two weeks ago.

“Henderson!” Steve pulled the eleven-year-old into a bear hug. 

“I just got checked in and made sure that I got the best counselor ever!” Dustin’s gums showed as he grinned. 

“Well, who’s the lucky bastard?” Steve asked. 

“It’s you. Duh!”

Steve laughed. “I would’ve thought you guys wanted to be in Eddie’s cabin.”

“You guys are together. At least that’s what the paper said,” Dustin explained. 

“What?” Steve frowned. “I’m supposed to be with Tommy.”

“Tommy’s with Billy.”

“Fu…dge.” Steve plastered a smile onto his help. “So, we’ve got to wait for the rest of the party. I’m assuming they’re asking to be in our cabin too.”

Dustin nodded. 

“Then I’ll help you guys get your stuff up to our cabin.”

Soon enough, Mike, Will, and Lucas had joined them. 

God, this week was going to be hell. Steve loved his kids, but goddammit, they were a lot. He grabbed Dustin and Will’s duffels, feeling a tiny sense of satisfaction that Mik would have to carry his own weight around for once. 

It wasn’t that far of a walk up to the cabins, but it definitely wasn’t fun carrying two duffels packed to the rim with whatever eleven-year-olds desperately needed for a whole week away from home. Steve didn’t even want to guess at what these idiots had smuggled in. Finally, they reached Cabin 13, technically not a cabin, but an old camper that would be their home for the week. The thing was twenty years too old, mouse infested, and a rolling pile of turd. But that was just Steve’s luck, wasn’t it?

“Ah, man! We get the reject cabin!” Mike complained. 

“It’s got character,” Will said softly. 

“There’s the two bunks, the couch bed, and a loft,” Steve pointed them out. “Pick whichever you like.”

The boys hurried to claim their favorite spot. Will climbed up to the loft as fast as a spider monkey. Dustin jumped on the couch bed and hit Mike back with a pillow. Mike and Lucas had a silent argument about who got top bunk before Mike slid onto the bottom one. 

“Where are you and Eddie sleeping?” Will asked. 

“The seats,” Steve called back, dropping his own bag on the passenger seat. It definitely wouldn’t be comfy, and it was definitely too close to Eddie, but there weren’t a lot of options. 

“Where is Eddie?” Dustin asked loudly. 

“That’s a good question.” Steve smiled tightly. “How ‘bout you guys come up with a name for our cabin? I’m gonna go find our co-counselor.” 

Steve didn’t have to look very hard for Eddie. Camp wasn’t that big, and Eddie had never been very subtle. He found Eddie in the counselor’s lounge, really a glorified shed where counselors went to fuck. And sure enough, there was Eddie butt naked being railed into by none other than Billy Hargrove. 

Behind Billy’s back, Eddie met Steve’s gaze. He moaned for effect, and Steve wanted to punch him. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Steve growled. “Billy, I’m sure your co needs help with your campers. And Eddie, you’re my co, and I’m not gonna let the kids find you like this.”

“Jealous, Princess?” Billy asked, pulling out with a loud pop. He turned towards Steve, not even trying to hide his nudity. 

“Not even a little bit.” Steve grinned wolfishly. “Eddie’s a better top than bottom. But you’re too weak of an Alpha to ever know anything about that.”

Billy took a threatening step towards Steve. 

“Leave him alone.” Eddie rumbled as if he’d forgotten he wasn’t protecting the Omega anymore. 

“Thought you were done with this slut.” Billy glared at Eddie. 

“Doesn’t mean you can have him.” Eddie pulled on a tight white tank and shuffled into his holey jeans. He didn’t say anything else as he followed Steve back to the camper. 

“Y-You stink. You should shower.”

“We’re going to play games in five,” Eddie said. “I’ll just have to shower again. 

Steve sighed. He hated smelling Billy, of all people, on Eddie’s skin. 

Eddie pulled out a joint and lit it. He offered it to Steve.

“We’re in charge of children,” Steve said tersely. 

“There’s no way we’re going to survive a whole week with the party without getting high.”

“This is exactly your problem!” Steve exclaimed. “You’re incapable of being responsible—”

“Oh, yes, it’s always my fault!” Eddie’s face turned red. “It’s not like you even gave me a chance.”

“Stop.” Steve couldn’t. He couldn’t do this right now. “We’re not talking about it. We’ll get through this week, and then I’m requesting a new co.”

“Whatever you say, bitch.” Eddie breathed out a trail of smoke. 

Steve took a deep breath and walked into the camper. He could do this. He could get through one week of hell, one summer of hell, one more painful memory of Eddie Munson… 

The kids grinned as they entered the cabin.

“Eddie!” Dustin crowed. 

Ruffling the boy’s curly hair, Eddie smiled. “You got the goods?”

“I brought everything you told me to!” Dustin was practically yipping like a puppy. 

Steve’s fingernails dug into his palm. He nearly jumped out of his skin at a soft touch on his wrist. Looking down, he found Will who smiled shyly before leaning against his side. Steve couldn’t love the pup anymore. Yes, he and Dustin had a special bond, but Will was a really special kid.  

Murray’s announcement came over the loudspeaker. “All cabins report to the field. It’s high time we get some energy out of these brats!”

 Steve chuckled. A lot of people didn’t like Nurse Murray. After all, it hadn’t been that long ago that his son Alexei had suffered a psychotic break and murdered a bunch of people. But Murray had helped Steve when no one else had. He’d lost his only child, and he was a bit odd. Steve couldn’t help feeling sorry for him…  

“Are we going to play capture the flag?” Lucas asked, breaking Steve out of his thoughts.

“Nah, it’s way more fun to play at night.” Eddie waggled his eyebrows. 

“That sounds awesome!” Dustin exclaimed. 

“Oh, it’s fu…reaking awesome.” Eddie jumped up and down. “You should’ve seen Stevie back in the day. Whoever had him on their team won every time!” 

“So, that means we’re gonna win!” Dustin shouted. 

Wincing, Steve wondered for probably the first out of a million times why they had to be outside? Steve couldn’t even tell the kid to use his inside voice!

They lined up in a field where the rest of the campers and counselors were. All of the kids were talking a mile a minute, and Steve wished he’d brought earplugs. His hearing had been consistently declining ever since his first fight with Billy. 

“Dingus!” Robin pulled Steve away from his line. “There’s my platonic soulmate with a P!”

Steve laughed, relaxing fully. He melted into her touch, nuzzling her head to combine their scents. 

“Thought Tommy was your co?” She asked quietly.

“Apparently, there was some kind of mishap.” Steve pressed his forehead against Robin’s. “I’m fine. Really.”

Robin frowned. “Just let me know if I need to make Rocky Mountain Oysters out of his nuts, ‘kay?”

“Oh, my god, Rob!” Steve giggled. 

“Hey, it’s nothing short of what he deserves!”

“I love you,” Steve whispered, hugging her tight.

Pulling away, he had his back to the directors. He already knew how to play pool ninja, so he really didn’t need instructions. Instead, he just made silly faces at Will trying to get the kid to break his dorky serious face and laugh already. He vaguely heard the director tell the counselors to hand out pool noodles to the kids. Running backward, he finally got Will to laugh. Score! Steve grabbed six pool noodles and ran back to his campers. Passing them out, he ran through the rules one more time. 

“But the most important rule,” Eddie loudly interrupted him. “Is to hit Stevie as many times as you can!”

“Hey, I’m on your team.” Steve crossed his arms. 

“Well, I’m not, and I say the most important rule is to hit Eddie as many times as you can!” Robin slapped Eddie with her pool noodle. 

“Oh, it’s on, Buckley!”

It was cabin vs. cabin, and of course, they were paired off against Robin and Chrissy’s cabin. Pool Ninja is just like the ninja game you play with your hands, only you play with pool noodles. 

Steve didn’t just have to worry about Robin’s campers but his own. He’d lost count of how many hits he’d taken. Panting, he leaned against a tree. He’d almost caught his breath when he was hit out of the blue. The pool noodle slammed into his face— crack! Blood spurted out of his nose. “Fuck!”  

“Shit! I didn’t mean to hit you that hard,” Max said. “You’re bleeding really bad. 

“I’m fine.” Steve gingerly cupped his nose. Definitely broken. There was blood on his hands… Suddenly, the world shifted. Steve blinked, and he didn’t know where he was.

“You have blood on your hands, Stefan Fier!” 

“No more than yours,” Steve found himself speaking, but it wasn’t his voice… “I confess—”

“No! No!” Someone was screaming. 

“I walked with the devil—”

“He’s lying!” 

“I lay with him. I bewitched the good pastor, and I bewitched sweet Edward. I clouded his mind. It was me. It was me. It was only me… It was always me…”

“Wake up. Dammit, Stevie, wake up!”

Blinking, Steve found himself staring up at Eddie. 

“C’mon, sleeping beauty, you need to go see the nurse,” Eddie said roughly. There was something strange in Eddie’s voice, and Steve couldn’t help but wonder if he would have sounded like this if he’d been there. 

“I-I’m fine.” Steve’s voice cracked. He couldn’t stop shaking. 

“No, you’re not.” Eddie picked him up and carried him off the field toward the nurse’s office. 

They found Nurse Murray in his office staring blankly, unseeing.

“N-Nurse Lane?” Eddie asked. 

“Oh, dear, what do we have here?” Murray shook himself. 

“Had a bit of an accident with Pool Ninja,” Eddie explained. “Think his nose is broken.”

“I’m f—” 

Eddie grabbed his lips. “He’s not fine.”

Nurse Murray nodded. “Sit still, dear. I’ll check to see if it’s broken or bruised.”

Steve tried to sit still, but he couldn’t help but fidget. He was cold, and his ears were ringing. 

The witch forever lives, a thousand voices whispered. 

Steve took a deep breath. He was fine. He was fine. He was… Suddenly, Nurse Murray was gripping his arm too tightly. “The doctors said it was a psychotic episode that he just snapped. The kids say Stefan Fier made him do it. I don’t think you go from being a sweet boy with dreams to ripping someone’s insides out with a switchblade. People I have found usually kill for a reason, and sometimes, that reason is justified. Sometimes, killing isn’t murder. Sometimes, it’s necessary. Sometimes, it is good.”

“N-Nurse Lane, you’re hurting me,” Steve whispered. 

Murray dropped his arm and acted as if he hadn’t said anything. “Your nose isn’t broken, just bruised. You’ve broken it before?”

Steve nodded. 

“I believe the previous breaks are why it bled so profusely. I’ll prescribe some pain meds, but the best thing for it will be some ice. You’ll need to hold it to your nose for about twenty minutes several times a day. You’re all set, dearie.”

A little unsteadily, Steve walked out of the nurse’s office. 

“Man, he gives me the heebie jeebies.” 

Steve jumped at Eddie’s voice. 

“I get his son went nuts and all, but makes ya think the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Steve said. 

Eddie shrugged. “I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?”

“Aren’t we all?” Steve said softly. Not one person was truly good. Even kids had something horrible within them… It was only a matter of time until it grew up, grew strong enough to hurt someone else. 

***

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Chapter Text

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” —William Shakespeare

Steve hated the dining hall. Hundreds of kids were talking a mile a minute, and there was no fucking escape. His ears were still ringing, and his nose was throbbing even as he pressed it into a frozen bag of peas. 

“You know Camp Skull Rock is where the witch lived,” Dustin said, interrupting Steve’s misery. 

“You mean Stefan Fier?” Will gulped, orange juice dripping down his chin.

“It’s where she died too.” El piped up. As part of Robin’s cabin, Max and El’s table was right next to theirs. 

“Yeah, they hanged him from the tree in the field. The one dingus bled all over!” Max exclaimed. 

“Hey! Only I get to call him dingus!” Robin slung her arms around him. “He’s mine.”

Steve huffed. But he leaned into her touch, already feeling a little bit better.  

“Oh, we know, Buckley. Steve’s yours and nobody else’s,” Eddie said sarcastically. 

“And whose fault is that?” Robin chirped. 

Sighing, Steve knew better than to get in the middle of the two Alphas. 

Robin was his best friend. It was only fair that she hated Eddie’s guts. 

Eddie flipped her off. 

“Anyway!” Dustin interrupted loudly. He looked between Steve and Eddie like he was trying to figure out why his two favorite people were acting weird. “Stefan Fier is why Hawkins is cursed!” Dustin tried to lower his voice, but the squeaky kid barely managed it. “He reaches from beyond the grave to make good men his wicked slaves. He’ll take your blood. He’ll take your head. He’ll follow you until you’re dead!”

“You really believe that hogwash?” Mike snickered.

“The curse is real! There’s so much historical evidence!” Dustin exclaimed, spitting chicken nuggets everywhere. 

Steve gagged. “Why are kids so disgusting?”

“Don’t you want like six of them?” Robin asked.

“Sometimes, dreams are just bullshit,” Steve said softly. 

Robin frowned. “Steve?”

Shaking his head, Steve turned his attention back to Dustin. 

“Oh yeah, the witch is totally real,” Eddie was saying. “The curse too.”

“Really?” El asked, leaning closer. 

“Yep.” Eddie popped the p . “Wayne swears he saw her.”

“But she’s dead!” Mike exclaimed. “How did he see her?”

Eddie shrugged. “I’m not really sure. He doesn’t like talking about it, you know. But one of the killers a few years back killed his sister,” Eddie’s voice softened as he talked about his mother, just like it always did. 

“My aunt was involved with that,” Lucas added softly. 

“Ok, that’s enough talk about murder,” Steve interrupted. “You’re depressing the whole table!”

“Oh, I forgot douchebags from Loch Nora don’t care about the poor Shadysiders from Hawkins!” Eddie glared at him. No one gets out of Hawkins, not even Mr. Perfect! For once in your life, could you stop pretending? You’re Shadyside, in case you forgot!”

“You act like I had a choice about the move.” Steve chirped angrily. “My dad got promoted. He and my mom decided to move. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t stay with you, could I? What did you call me? A stuck-up priss who hates fun, which isn’t even true at all. I like fun! I like fun! But even if I had a choice, I would’ve left. I’ve got nothing left for me in Hawkins. We were bullshit, remember?”

“I hate it when Mom and Dad are fighting,” Will whispered loudly to Dustin. 

“We’re not fighting,” Steve said. 

The pups looked at him like they didn’t believe him. 

Steve sighed. “Knock it off. You’re scaring Will and El. They don’t need to hear any more of this nonsense. They got enough of it last year.”

That shut Eddie up. 

Last year, a deranged killer went psychotic at a mall. Steve and Robin had been working at Scoops Ahoy, and that day, Erica, Will, and El had been visiting the mall. Shivering, Steve remembered hiding the kids in the freezer, doing everything in his power to keep them safe…

Robin squeezed his hand. 

“Steve, can we play soccer?” Lucas asked. 

“After you finish your dinner, don’t even try to skip the veggies. That goes for the rest of you too.”

The kids made a face. 

“They’re good for you, and you’ll need the energy with all the games and activities at camp.”

“Yes, Mom,” Dustin said sarcastically, spearing a carrot. 

Steve ruffled his hair. “Check the tone, pup.”

Eddie snorted. “Good to know Loch Nora didn’t change you too much, Harrington.”

Steve started gathering the empty plates. “After dinner, we have to clean the table, fold the chairs, and set them on the table.” With that, he dumped the dishes in the tray and picked up a coffee can filled with soap and washcloths. 

The kids were eager to play, so they quickly cleaned the table and put up the chairs. 

“Are we really playing capture the flag at night?” Max asked. 

“Yup, it’s a camp tradition.” Steve grinned. “It’s a lot of fun.”

“Can we use flashlights?” Dustin asked. 

“Not unless it’s an emergency,” Eddie explained. “Flashlights will lead the other team right to you.”

“We’re totally going to lose, though!” Lucas groaned. “Billy’s on the other team. And no offense, Steve, but he literally beat you up last year.”

“Hey, I’m the king of capture the flag!” Steve puffed up. “Besides, it’s not about winning.”

“That’s only what losers say to make themselves feel better,” Max said. 

“All that matters is that you kids have fun,” Steve tried. But he knew what a big deal it was to win the week of camp. In the end, they wouldn’t remember if they won or not. They’d just remember how much fun they had. So, it was time for a distraction. “C’mon, let’s play soccer!” 

When the other cabins joined them in the field, Steve took a breather by the fence. He was startled when arms wrapped around his waist. “Have I told you how hot you look in those shorts?” Tommy’s breath tickled his neck. 

“Not today.” Steve huffed out a laugh. 

Tommy turned him around, and Steve soon found himself being kissed. 

The truth was Steve didn’t like how touchy Tommy was. He was rarely touched by his parents and friends. Being touched by a lover was altogether too intimate. It took weeks for Steve to be comfortable with Eddie’s touch… 

But Tommy was his boyfriend. Steve’s dad approved of him, and he was a sweet guy. It wasn’t Tommy’s fault that he couldn’t compare to him . 

“I see you got your little party.”

Steve chuckled. “Yeah, they all requested me.”

“Why’s Munson sitting with you though?” Tommy asked. 

“There was some kind of mixup. He’s my co.” Steve shrugged. “We’re on Hawkins’ side too.”

Tommy frowned. “You want me to talk to Clark?” 

Steve shook his head. “The kids would be devastated. ‘Sides, it’s just for a week.”

“I don’t like you and him sharing a cabin—”

“Tommy, you’re my boyfriend. Not Eddie.”

“Ok, I trust you.” Tommy kissed him again. “C’mon, it’s time to hydrate the ankle biters.” With that, they walked back to the food hall. Steve was stuffing his backpack with seven water bottles when he noticed Nurse Lane. “Hi—”

But Murray walked past him as if he didn’t hear him, as if he were a ghost… He walked up to Tommy. His steps were unsteady, and he was shaking like he might fall apart. “I-I’m sorry, but I can’t save you.” Murray gripped Tommy’s shirt tightly. “I saw your name! I saw it on the wall.”

“What?” Tommy asked, his eyes wide and his voice frightened. 

“One way or another, you’re going to die tonight.” 

Steve screamed when he realized Murray had a knife and he was going to bury it in Tommy’s chest— But Tommy was a mouth breather, as the kids called jocks. He was strong and his instincts fast. He grabbed the hilt of the knife, cutting his palm in the process, but he managed to get it away from Murray. 

The next thing Steve knew, the police were arresting Murray and escorting him out of camp. 

“You okay?” Eddie asked softly.

Steve jumped as he hadn’t noticed Eddie coming up behind him. “M-Murray tried to s-stab Tommy. W-Why did he do that?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie said. “Guess the apple really didn’t fall far from the tree.” 

Hysterical laughter escaped Steve’s lips. “T-The fruit was rotten. I bit an apple, and its core was black.”

“Steve?” Eddie asked, but Eddie’s voice was so far away. 

“E-Edward?”

The camp was gone. In its place a forest, much thicker and darker than the one Steve was familiar with. The trees reached for him, their branches entwining around him. The witch forever lives , a thousand voices whispered. The witch returns at last. “It wasn’t me!” Steve screamed. “It wasn’t me!” 

“Steve!” Eddie slapped him. 

Blinking up at him, Steve gasped. “E-Eddie?” Eddie, not Edward. Eddie was short for Edmund. Where on earth did Edward come from? 

“What the hell, Harrington?” Eddie’s voice betrayed him; there was worry underneath all the hatred. 

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Steve whispered. “I don’t know what’s real anymore.”

Eddie squeezed his hand, his fingernails digging into Steve’s palm. “Hurts, doesn’t it? Sometimes, pain is the only thing that reminds us we’re alive. You start slipping; you just let me know.”

“Will you ever forgive me?” Steve’s voice cracked. “I should have told you. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

Eddie sighed and sat next to Steve on the cold grass. “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry too.”

But it didn’t change what happened. Neither Steve nor Eddie felt any better, and neither of them was ready for what was to come.

***

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Chapter Text

“Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft were written by men.” —Neil Gaiman

Steve’s ears were still ringing from the police car’s alarm. There has to be a reason , Steve thought. You don’t just go from being a normal nurse— not that anyone would describe Nurse Murray as normal. He was strange and somewhat sad… But you don’t just go from being a somewhat normal nurse, a healer, to trying to kill someone. 

Every time Steve closed his eyes, he could see that knife coming straight for him. Not for me , Steve reminded himself. But for Tommy.

It just didn’t make any sense! Why would anyone want to kill sweet Tommy?  Why would Nurse Murray try to kill Tommy? 

Tommy was literally the boy next door! He was a football player and one of the most popular boys in their high school. Everybody loved Tommy…  

Steve had been so relieved that both of their fathers had been promoted and moved to Loch Nora. Tommy’s house was just down the street, and the Alpha followed him around like a puppy. 

After what happened, Steve was just relieved not to be alone. But the truth was, Steve didn’t love Tommy. Maybe that guilt is why he stood unsteady on his feet and walked towards the nurse’s office, hoping he could find some answers. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Eddie asked, grabbing Steve’s elbow.

“I’m going back,” Steve said. “It doesn’t make sense. There’s gotta be a reason.”

Eddie snorted. “You can’t always pack things away in a neat little box.” Like you tried to do with us went unsaid, but Steve heard it anyway. 

“Why would Nurse Murray try to kill Tommy?” Steve asked. 

“Why does anyone try to kill anyone?” Eddie shrugged. “Life’s shitty.”

“But what’s the motive?”

Eddie laughed. “Bad things always happen to Shadysiders. Deep down, you feel it, don’t you? Shadyside, there’s something here that’s just holding us down, cursing us. We’re all cursed. But someday, it’ll be you, and this whole fake bullshit life of yours is going to come crashing down.”

“Go away,” Steve asked quietly. He didn’t have it in him to keep playing this fucked up game between them.

“No,” Eddie growled, his chest rumbling, revealing how little control he had over his Alpha. 

Steve resisted the primal need to expose his neck. He wasn’t Eddie’s Omega, and he wasn’t about to submit to him. 

The nurse’s office looked exactly the same. Shivering, Steve stepped inside. It almost looked as if nothing had happened, but Nurse Murray wasn’t there. A bottle of pills was on the floor. 

Steve picked it up and read out loud, “Acetylsalicylic acid. What’s that?”

“It’s aspirin,” Eddie drawled. “What are you even looking for?”

“There has to be a reason why Murray tried to kill Tommy.” Steve put the pill bottle down and wrung his hands. “Maybe he was on something.” 

“You think a drug turned him into a would-be killer?” 

“I don’t know,” Steve admitted. “But there has to be a reason.”

“Sometimes, there aren’t any reasons.” Eddie’s gaze was sharp like a serrated blade. 

Steve could feel that blade twisting open the wound he’d been living with for months. Ignoring the pain, he rifled through Murray’s desk, where he found an old leather journal. Steve set it on the desk and flipped through it. There were newspaper clippings of the Shadyside killers, including Alexei Lane. There were printings of the witch Stefan Fier. But what caught his attention was the map. It was the same map of the camp that all of the campers were given, but Murray had written all over it. “What on earth?” 

“Let me see that!” Eddie grabbed it. 

“Hey!” Steve chirped angrily. 

“It’s a map.”

“Yeah, I got that, Captain Obvious.”

“It’s weird though. He’s crossed out the names.”

“What are all the X’s?” Steve asked. 

“How should I know?” Eddie shrugged. “The only person we could ask is in the back of a police car.”

“He’s circled this spot.” Steve tapped it with his finger, accidentally grazing Eddie’s thumb. “Maybe we should check it out?”

“You want to follow this creepy ass map and walk into the woods?” Eddie asked incredulously.

“I want to figure out why Nurse Lane tried to kill my boyfriend!”

“Oh, yes, precious Tommy,” Eddie drawled. 

Steve tried to pull the journal out of Eddie’s hands. “It’s not like I asked you to be here. I’ll go by myself. Someone’s gotta stay with the kids—”

“Like hell, I’m letting you go alone!”

“I don’t need you!” Steve shoved him. “You’re not my Alpha. We’re bullshit, remember?”

Eddie growled.  

Steve huffed. He was so fucking sick of Alphas. Yanking the journal out of Eddie’s hands, he stormed off into the woods. There’s an eerie peace to the woods. The trees start to blend together, and the sky almost disappears. The further you walk into them, the more you lose yourself. 

Eddie hurried after Steve. The Omega was almost completely out of sight, the darkness of the trees enveloping him. That was unacceptable to Eddie’s Alpha.

There he was! In that stupid preppy polo, which was too tight. Eddie couldn’t decide whether to rip it off or force Steve to wear his vest… “Steve!”

“What do you want from me!” Steve yelled. “You broke up with me!”

“You left!” Eddie grabbed him, pushing him up against a tree. 

“I didn’t want to leave!” Steve snapped back.

Whatever he said next was lost on the Alpha. His gaze had fixated on the Omega’s mouth, and he was suddenly overcome by the desire to shut Stevie up. So, he did. Eddie slammed his mouth on Steve’s, effectively muffling anything more the Omega had to say. 

Steve floundered for a moment before he was kissing Eddie back.

Eddie wasn't entirely sure how, but the next moment, they were both on the ground, still kissing fiercely. He pulled back to suck in a harsh breath. “If you want to stop, tell me.”

“Fuck you. If you stop, I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to the next bear I come across,” Steve snarled.

Eddie laughed. He shucked his own shirt off, then pushed up Steve’s shirt, so he could bite the Omega’s nipples.  

Steve groaned at the feel of Eddie’s teeth. He hastily unbuttoned his pants. “Stop teasing me you, bastard. I want more.”

“Does Tommy not satisfy you?” Eddie asked huskily.

“Of course, he does," Steve snapped.

“But it’s not enough.” Eddie smirked. “He doesn't know what gets you going. What buttons to push to make you moan, to make you cry out, to make you beg.”

Eddie yanked Steve’s pants and underwear off in one fluid motion. He leaned over and let his breath fall on Steve’s cocklet. “He doesn’t know that the fastest way to get to you is to do this.” With that, Eddie stuck his tongue out and lightly traced around the tip of Steve’s cocklet.

Steve let out a hoarse scream. His hands clutched at Eddie’s back, and he dragged his nails down the skin. The sharp, fleeting sensation of pain sent pleasure rushing through the Alpha.

“You’re dripping, Stevie.” Eddie wiggled out of his skinny jeans. 

“Hurry the fuck up!” Steve demanded. 

“Always so impatient,” Eddie muttered. With that, Eddie pressed the tip of his cock against Steve’s pussy. “If I wasn’t such a bastard, maybe I’d take my time with you. Get you all wet and stretched out.”

 “Fuck you!” Steve cried out, arching upward, trying to get more of Eddie inside of him. 

“Well, if you insist.” Eddie grinned. He slammed his hips against Steve’s, fully sheathing inside of the writhing Omega. 

A strangled scream ripped out of Steve’s mouth.

Eddie pulled out until only the tip of his cock was still inside of Steve’s pussy. Without warning, he slammed back in. The second time he went to pull out, Steve moved with him. Their bodies pushed and pulled against each other as they fell into a familiar rhythm. 

“Fuck, you feel so good,” Eddie growled, his teeth nipping the corner of Steve’s neck. 

It was too close to Steve’s mating glands, but he didn’t really give a damn. 

“Mine.” The Alpha’s chest rumbled. 

“Yours,” Steve breathed. 

Suddenly, Eddie’s fangs sank into Steve’s neck. 

Unable to stop himself, Steve bit Eddie’s neck. “Mine.”

“Yours.” Eddie rocked into Steve’s body, chasing his high. 

Steve arched into him, pushing the Alpha even deeper. He could feel his pleasure bubbling. “So close.”

“C’mon, come for me.” Eddie slid his hand between their bodies and played with Steve’s cocklet. In tandem, he pounded into Steve’s tight heat and teased his slippery, little nub. It was too much. 

Steve screamed as he came, his walls squeezing on the Alpha so tightly he couldn’t hold back any longer. 

“Where the hell are Steve and Eddie?” Dustin asked. “Capture the Flag is about to start, and we don’t have any counselors!”

“Maybe Robin will let us hang out with her cabin,” Lucas suggested. 

“I can’t believe they ditched us!” Mike whined. 

“I don’t think they ditched us,” Will said softly. “Steve was really upset by what happened with Nurse Lane and Tommy. M-Maybe, we should go look for them. 

“But Capture the Flag!”

“Hey, where’s Dingus?” Robin asked running up to their scabbling group. 

“We don’t know!” Dustin chirped, stomping his foot. 

“Jerkface then?”

“They’re both gone,” Will explained. 

“Well, that’s just great,” Robin muttered. “Okay, you guys are comin’ with me. You’re honorary members of Cabin 7 tonight.”

“But you’re a girl cabin!” Mike whined. 

“Well, you don’t have a counselor right now, and that’s against camp rules.” Robin glared at them. 

“Do you think we should go look for Steve and Eddie?” Will asked. 

“How ‘bout we enjoy the game first? If they don’t show up, then we’ll go look for them.”

Night had fallen over Camp Skull Rock until the only light were the stars in the sky and a few flashlights waving in the distance. The mountains become almost otherworldly in the dark. This is where the monsters dwell. 

The game started off normally. The campers and counselors running around in the dark. Laughter could be heard, as well as, taunting. Occasionally, scared campers would turn on their flashlights waving them around like shooting stars. 

Will was having some difficulty navigating in the dark. He squeezed Dustin’s arm painfully tight. 

“Don’t worry.” Dutin patted his parm. “We’ve got this.”

They were attempting an ambush. A large group of their team was sneaking around the other team’s flag. Soon, they would charge, and hopefully, they’d be successful at capturing the flag. Of course, then they would have to run it across the line. But then the real fun began, two watermelons were hidden across camp. To win the game, they had to capture the flag, find the watermelon, and eat it before the other team. 

“For Camelot!” Argyle yelled. 

With that, the blue team let out their war cry and charged the red team’s flag. 

The guards pulled as many flags as they could, but they couldn’t stop everyone. 

“Robin got the flag!” Dustin crowed. 

“Now comes the hard part. We’ve got to run across the line!” Max grinned. 

The group of campers followed Robin, offering what little help they could as the other team did their best to stop them from reaching their goal. 

When they broke through the line, they were halfway through. 

“Now we have to find the watermelon!” Dustin crowed. 

“Shouldn’t we look for Steve and Eddie now?” Will asked. “They’ve been gone forever.”

“Well, I don’t see why we can’t look for both.” Robin ruffled Will’s hair. “Ok, Max, Erica, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Mike— you guys with me.” 

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,//But I have promises to keep,//And miles to go before I sleep,//And miles to go before I sleep,” Dustin quoted Rober Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” 

“Dude, why?” Mike whined. 

“What, it’s a fitting poem for our circumstances.” Dustin shrugged. 

“It’s creepy!” Will giggled. 

“It’s a beautiful poem—”

“Honestly, you’re such a dweeb.” Lucas sighed. 

“Shh, someone’s coming,” Mike hissed. 

They hid in some bushes, squinting to see in the dark. 

“Tommy?” Carol’s voice was breathy from running. “Where have you been? Off banging your little boy toy?”

But Tommy didn’t say anything. 

“Gosh, you’re such a pussy! So sensitive ever since you started dating Steve the Skank. It doesn’t matter how much money his daddy makes; he’s always going to be white trash. Once a Shadysider, always a— Tommy, what’re you doing?”

There was a strange buzzing noise. 

Suddenly, Carol screamed, and there was a terrible hacking noise. The moonlight fractured through the trees, reflecting off the axeblade in Tommy’s hand.

***

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Chapter Text

“Witch. The word drifted across his mind. We call such women so because we have no other name .” —Katherine Arden

“Why are we doing this again?” Eddie complained as they walked further into the deep, dark woods. 

“Answers,” Steve explained. “There’s a reason why Murray did what he did and said what he said. And we’re gonna figure it out.”

“And why would I want to help your boyfriend?” Eddie asked, his hands slipping up Steve’s shirt and caressing his spine. 

Shivering, Steve ignored him and continued looking through the diary. “A deal was made with the devil. Stephen Fier cut off his wicked hand on Satan’s stone in exchange for eternal life, scarring the soil beneath with the witch’s mark, bringing darkness upon the land. He emerged from the meeting house, one hand severed, lost forever… We hanged the witch, body chained and buried, but without his hand, his grip on the land holds firm.”

“That’s some next-level shit.”

“When he is near, blood will fall, and the curse will last until body and hand unite.”

“Why on earth would Murray have a diary about all this witch stuff?” Eddie asked, plucking the diary out of Steve’s hands. “Crazy Nurse Lane made a crazy diary and a crazier map. I mean, he’s written all over this thing. What’s 1666 Union?”

“Union? That’s Hawkins.”

“What?”

“The settlement before it was divided into Hawkins and Loch Nora.”

“So, camp is built in the same place as the settlement?”

“I guess.”

“Look, look!” Eddie pointed to a scribble on the map. “That’s Stefan Fier! You think that’s his house?”

“Whatever it is, that’s where we’re going.”

“What’s up with all the X’s?” 

“He must’ve been looking for something.” Steve frowned. None of this made any sense. He was so lost in thought he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking. Yanked out his thoughts, he was falling until Eddie grabbed him. Steve stared at the freshly dug hole that had almost swallowed him up. “I-It’s like someone’s digging a grave.”

“Graves,” Eddie said quietly. “Look.”

Indeed, there were hundreds of holes all around them. “Wait a sec.” Eddie flipped through the diary, revealing the map of the camp. “The X’s, look, look!” Eddie pointed at the various X’s. “Look, here, here— he was marking where he dug. Why, though? What’s he looking for?”

“But without his hand, his grip on the land holds firm, and the curse will last until body and hand unite,” Steve whispered. “Maybe, he was looking for the hand to end the curse that made his son lose his mind? B-But that’s silly. Stefan Fier’s not real.”

“There’s truth to every legend.” 

“So, you think there’s really a curse?” 

“I think a lot of bad things have happened to Shadysiders,” Eddie said quietly. “You should know a thing or two about that, huh?”

“Don’t.” Steve glared at him. “We’re not talking about that.”

“What happened to you?” Eddie asked, his knuckles brushing against Steve’s chin. “Remember when we used to have fun? Before you became a stuck-up priss?”

“Just let it go.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you lying, fucking Brutus.” 

“It’s always my fault,” Steve chirped angrily. “Not like you were a coward or anything. Don’t forget, you’re the one who was too fucking scared to cross the damn Rubicon.” 

They might’ve kept fighting, but then they emerged into a small clearing where a decrepit stone house stood. It was a haunting figure, familiar almost, but Steve wasn’t sure why. 

“How on earth is it still standing?” Eddie asked. “It’s been… what, 300 years?”

“It’s probably not Stefan Fier’s house.”

“Ye of little faith.” Eddie peered into a hole in the ground. “It’s some kind of cellar…” 

Steve felt drawn to that darkness in the ground as if someone or something was calling to him. 

“Stefan Fier!” Eddie yelled. “Hey, if you’re here, say something.” The woods were quiet and still, other than the breeze rustling through the leaves. 

“Maybe he’s shy.” Eddie chuckled. 

“Maybe you’re an idiot.” Steve retorted. 

“I wonder what’s down there.” Eddie jumped. 

“Eddie!” Steve gasped. It was as if the earth had swallowed him whole. 

“Woah!” Eddie exclaimed. “Look at all this witchy shit.”

“I-I don’t think we should be down there,” Steve called out. 

“Someone’s been down here, like recently!” Eddie called back. “Come on. You’ve gotta see this!”

Taking a deep breath, Steve jumped. 

The void transformed into a cellar. Bones and dried plants were hanging all over the place. There were strange symbols and effigies. But what was really concerning were the candles with burned wicks and wax dried around their sides. 

“This is kind of cool, huh?” Eddie grinned. 

“It’s creepy,” Steve corrected. 

“Well, you’re not wrong. Someone lit that candle.”

Steve’s hands shook. As if he were a puppet, he felt himself being pulled towards a small tunnel in the cellar. Crawling through it, he found a large room with a large stone up against the wall, but what was even more alarming was the mark on the ground. 

“Some kind of occult thing, like devil worship.” Eddie grinned over at Steve. “It’s kinda kinky, huh?” Eddie asked, having followed Steve into the new cavern. 

“It’s the witch’s mark,” Steve whispered. “A deal was made with the devil. Stephan Fier cut off his wicked hand on Satan’s stone in exchange for eternal life, scarring the soil beneath with the witch’s mark, bringing darkness upon the land.”  

“God, that’s fucked up.”

Steve didn’t hear him, though. He stared at that peculiar mark scarring the soil. He could have sworn he’d seen it before, but that wasn’t possible. Steve blinked, and everything faded. The cavern looked the same but different— Someone in a dark hood was standing in the middle of the room. 

“Steve,” a voice whispered. “Steve.” 

“Steve!” Eddie shook him, snapping him out of it. “I need to show you something.” He pulled him towards the stone wall. 

Steve realized there was another tunnel. “This place just keeps going.” 

“Look!”

Names were carved into the wall. 

Eddie began reading them out loud . 

The names covered the wall from the top to the bottom of the stone. So many names, some Steve recognized, like Isaac Milton, the pastor who went mad and killed a bunch of children. He was the first Shadyside Killer… And, of course, Alexi Lane, Nurse Lane’s son… 

“It’s the Shadyside killers. Well, all but one.” Eddie ran his finger across the last name: Thomas Hagan. 

“This isn’t funny!”

“What, you think I carved your boyfriend’s name into solid stone with my fingernails? Someone else did this. Everyone on this wall killed a lot of people—”

“Tommy hasn’t killed anyone!”

“Yet. Steve, I know you don’t want to believe any of this, but if there’s a chance Tommy’s going to snap, there’s a whole camp full of kids out there! We’ve got to do something!”

“What?” Steve asked hysterically. “What could we possibly do?”

“I don’t know, but fuck, Stevie, Dustin’s out there! Will!”

Steve whimpered. His pups… “You’re right. We’ve got to find the pups.”

Eddie’s hand entwined with his. “Hey, we’ll find them. It’s going to be okay.”

Nodding, Steve squeezed Eddie’s hand. He couldn’t lose another pup; he just couldn’t… They turned towards the small tunnel, intending to crawl through, but then a cool breeze wrapped around them. 

“Steve!” The voices were more urgent now. 

The world tilted and began to spin round and round and round again, faster and faster and faster, until everything faded to black. 

***

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