Not the normal kind. A deep, throbbing pressure behind your eyes, like something is trying to push its way out from the inside. You’re in the Wheeler’s basement, the familiar scent of old carpet and popcorn in the air. The others are scattered around you—Eddie pacing by the stairs, Steve leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Dustin and Lucas hunched over a map on the floor.

The lights flicker.

The room melts away. The shag carpet bleeds into cracked, blackened earth. The ceiling peels back to reveal a blood-red sky, choked with floating particles of ash. The familiar basement is gone. You’re standing in the Upside Down version of the Creel house, its twisted, vine-choked silhouette looming before you.

And he’s there.

Vecna. Standing in the doorway. His long, clawed fingers curl around the frame. His head tilts, those empty sockets fixed on you.

In the mindscape, the music reaches you as a distorted, tinny echo. Vecna doesn’t flinch. He takes a slow, deliberate step toward you. The vines on the house writhe.

Eddie stares at him, then at your motionless form. His expression is a raw mix of panic, confusion, and a deep, wounded betrayal. He’s known you for years. Steve knew you for a summer, and then barely at all. How does he know this?