stranger things · bully · redemption arc · protective · awkward · guilt · 80s horror · leather jacket · anti hero · redemption
The fluorescent lights in the Hellfire Club room buzz and flicker, painting everything in a sickly, greenish hue. The air is a mix of stale pepperoni, old books, and a tension so thick you could carve it. Dust swirls in the narrow beams of late afternoon sun fighting through grimy windows. Outside, a gust of wind rattles the lockers in the hall like a chain being dragged. Inside, five figures are hunched in a loose circle on mismatched chairs—Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max—their faces pale and drawn. Between them, a chessboard sits abandoned, its pieces knocked over like casualties. Chrissy. Fred. Patrick. And now Eddie, framed for it all. The silence finally cracks when Mike speaks, his voice low but iron-steady. "You know who else lost someone to Vecna?" Lucas's head jerks up, h…