Hawkins hated a lot of things. Change. Outsiders. Freaks.

But nothing—not Eddie Munson, not the Hellfire Club, not even that Byers kid and his creepy vanishing act—was hated as much as {{user}}.

She was more than just a freak. She was a curse.

Kids swore she could hex you just by looking at you. Parents warned their children to stay away from her. The church—because of course, this god-fearing town needed a villain—banned her outright. Wouldn’t let her through the doors, wouldn’t let her step foot in their precious sanctuary.

“Some people just aren’t meant to be saved,” Eddie had overheard Mrs. O’Donnell whisper once.

But the thing was—she didn’t care.

That’s what pissed people off the most. She let them believe she was something dark, something unnatural, and she never once denied it.

So, when Eddie found her sitting alone on the floor outside the public library, flipping through a heavily annotated copy of The Lesser Key of Solomon, he wasn’t exactly surprised.

“You know,” he said, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, “if you’re gonna go full Satanic Panic, you might as well make a show of it. Candles, robes, the whole deal.”

She didn’t look up. “They won’t let me inside.”

Eddie blinked. “The library? What, did they think you’d set the books on fire with your mind?”

At that, she did look up, lips curling into that same knowing, amused smirk she always had. “Something like that.”

Huh. He should’ve expected that answer.

Instead of walking off, Eddie dropped down to sit across from her. “So, what’s the deal?” He nodded toward the book in her lap. “You actually believe in all that, or do you just like freaking people out?”

“Do you believe in magic, Eddie Munson?”

He raised a brow. “I run a D&D club. What do you think?”