she was fine with most things, but haunted houses were not her style. especially not when they potentially held demons that wanted to kill her friends.

"yeah, that's not creepy." steve said from next to her, and she nodded her agreement but led the way up the steps nonetheless.

steve and meadow then began to pull the nails from the plywood that held the door closed, and he paused for a moment to look at her. "what exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?"

"i.. don't think we've figured that part out yet." she replied.

"oh, so we're winging it."

"yeah, i mean kind of."

"no, we're definitely winging it."

"well we know the house is important.. somehow to vecna." she explained.

steve nodded. "because max saw it in.. vecna's red soup mind world?"

meadow thought for a second. "i mean, yeah. and this is where his first attack was, so maybe there's a deeper connection than we think. and maybe if we find something that connects him to the creels.. that would be a lead."

he nodded again, biting his lip. "you know, if you're serious about the whole cop thing.."

"no, stop, it's just an idea, don't try to flatter-"

"-no, no i think you'd be amazing at it." he assured her. "you haven't seemed.. confused by any of this. you just keep going and keep figuring out more things than i could even.. like.. you are so smart."

meadow could feel her cheeks flush as she looked away. "thank you."

the two of them dropped the wood, revealing the stained glass door that max had drawn. "it's locked." steve groaned after trying to open the door. "should i knock and see if anyone's home?"

"no need." robin said, holding up a brick. "i found a key."

the stained glass window crashed as steve tossed the brick through it, and he then hesitantly reached his hand down to open the door through the inside. meadow followed close behind him as the door opened with an ominous creak. "yeah. yeah this place isn't creepy. at all." she said, looking around at the dust and cobwebs that surrounded her.

lucas attempted to turn on a nearby lamp, but then chuckled. "looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill."

"very funny." meadow responded under her breath, shining her flashlight on the various discarded paintings on the wall.

"wait where'd everyone get those?" steve asked as dustin turned on his own flashlight.

the boy turned to look at him, incredulous. "do you need to be told everything? you're not a child."

"are you sure about that one?" his sister asked, though her gaze remained focused on the artifacts of the room.

steve was silent for a second. "thank you." he then said sarcastically, taking a flashlight from dustin's backpack.

"hey, guys?" max asked. "you all see that, right?" sure enough, a grandfather clock stood proudly by the stairs.

"is this the one you saw?" meadow asked, though she was certain she already knew the answer. max nodded.

robin walked over to them. "i mean, it's.. just a clock. right?" she moved closer to it, wiping her hand over it to clear some of the dust. "like a normal old clock." she added when nothing happened.

"why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?" steve asked.

meadow shrugged her shoulders. "maybe he's doctor strange." she joked.

steve looked down at her. "who?"

"doctor strange. comic character from the 60s. marvel comics." she tried, soon realizing he didn't understand a single word coming out of her mouth. "he's a wizard that likes clocks, but it was a joke."

he then nodded. "i'm sure it was funny, i just didn't get it."

meadow shook her head. "thanks, appreciate it, steve."

"maybe he's a clockmaker." he then suggested.

dustin turned to him. "i think you cracked the case, steve!" he said sarcastically.

"all i know is, the answers are here." nancy said. "somewhere. okay, everyone, two groups of two, one group of three." she immediately claimed robin, and it was pretty obvious then that max and lucas would go together.

"dynamic trio back at it again." meadow teased, ruffling her brother's hair under his hat.

"we are always partners, aren't we?" dustin realized, following his sister and her boyfriend up the stairs.

steve shrugged. "i mean, i guess, i don't see the problem though. earlier you wanted us to.. get married so that you'd stay close to us forever, now you want-"

"no, no, no, i'm fine with it. just ironic i guess."

meadow nodded. "yeah. ironic." she shined her flashlight on each spot of the wall as she passed it, trying not to let anything jump out at her. "i love you, steve, but if something pops out of the wall, i'm using you as a human shield, okay?"

he moved slightly closer to her as she said this, grabbing onto her hand. "are you okay?" he asked.

"yeah. yeah, i'm fine. just not everyday you get the immense pleasure of being in a super haunted, super old, super- fuck!" she cursed as she saw a spider, nearly jumping out of her skin. "sorry. spider." she said, and steve and dustin (who had been terrified for her) both loosened.

"don't scare me like that, dude." dustin muttered.

they then began to walk through the rooms, and meadow eyed each cobweb warily after her previous encounter with the spider.

steve looked up and down the bookshelves. "hey, henderson, could you maybe.. clarify what sort of clues we're supposed to be looking for here?"

"you already asked that." meadow reminded him.

"the world is full of obvious things," dustin quoted in a british accent, "which nobody by any chance ever observes." he turned to steve, who was eyeing him blankly. "sherlock holmes." he explained.

"you don't know who sherlock holmes is?" meadow asked, looking over at steve, whose face was blank of recognition.

"am i supposed to?" he countered.

"dear god."

they then continued looking through the room, and steve paused at a register vent, reaching in it to pull out a mason jar. he examined it for a second before feeling something moving on him. he panicked as he saw a black spider, slapping at his shoulder in an attempt to get it off.

meadow looked over at him, her brows furrowing in concern. "hey what happened, are you okay?"

he patted at his shoulder, which had been rid of the spider. "yeah. yeah i think so. just.. spider."

she nodded, walking over to him. "it's like.. it's all in your hair, steve."

"what? what's in my hair?"

"the cobwebs." she said, reading up to try to pull them out.

robin walked beside them. "if there's a spider nesting in there, you're never gonna find it til it lays eggs and all the babies spill out."

"what's wrong with you?" steve asked as she laughed, going back to her own business.

meadow shook her head, pulling the last web from his head. "okay, i think that's all of it, pretty boy, you're good."

he turned back around, smiling at the name. "you sure?" he asked, looking up at his own head and attempting to fluff his hair back up. "thank you." he looked down at her, and they both seemed to be worried about the same things. the stakes hadn't felt as high before as they did now. they'd been near losing each other before, but this felt different.

"yeah." meadow said, her eyes locked on his. "um, this probably isn't the appropriate time or place, but i love you."

steve raised a brow. "not that i don't love hearing that, but what brought on-"

"i just.. i want to keep saying it. you know. in case something goes south in all of this."

"hey, hey." he took her hands. "nothing's gonna go south. okay? we're gonna be okay. everybody is." when she nodded, he kissed her nose. "i love you, too. oh, and i think it was a black widow, so don't go back in that room." he pointed at the door.

"oh, my gosh, yeah, no i'd rather burn in hell than go in that room. where's dustin?" she asked, immediately shining her flashlight in his face.

dustin threw up his hands. "clues? anything? i did not get put onto a group of three only to be working by myself, okay?"

"right, yeah, sorry." steve mumbled, following him down the hall.

the first people to find something genuinely of importance were lucas and max. the light fixture in what meadow could only assume had been a kitchen was flickering on and off, and she watched it.

"it's like the christmas lights." nancy said.

"the christmas lights?"

"yeah, when will was in the upside down." she said. "the lights.. came to life."

"vecna's here." meadow looked over at steve, who grabbed her hand. "he's in this house, but on the other side."

the light slowly faded out, and robin cleared her throat. "i think he just left the room."

"did he hear us?" max then asked.

"can he see us?" steve added.

meadow shook her head. "probably not, he's in a different dimension, right?"

"wait, wait, everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out." nancy suggested.

steve sent her a look. "we're not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flash-" he cut himself off as he realized that everyone else had immediately turned them off and had left the room. "-lights." he finished before he followed suite, and joining meadow and dustin down the hall.

"i got him!" robin cheered, holding up her flashlight. the rest of the group met her in a room, but her light went dark almost immediately. "i.. i mean, i had him." she frowned.

steve's flashlight then lit up, and he looked down at it. "woah, i think he's moving. he's moving." he said as he walked, attempting to keep the light on. they all followed steve upstairs until his flashlight dimmed. "shit, i lost him."

max shook her head. "no, you didn't." she reached out in front of him and opened a door to another room.

"it's an attic." robin said. "of course it's an attic."

"hold up, guys. what if he's leading us into a trap?" dustin asked, the last to try to walk in. he was too late, though, and followed the rest of them to where a single light bulb flickered. soon, all of their flashlights had turned on, leaving them in a huddle of light.