strange-thing

Seven

After Henry’s attack, you somehow survived, but you had lost almost all ability to speak. It didn’t matter if you were only one of two left, Papa hated you. You were always the weakest and he despised you for it. He only kept you around after the massacre as incentive for Eleven; his pride and joy. When she didn’t, or couldn’t do as he said he would hurt you. Papa decided that if you couldn’t use your powers then he would make you stronger in other ways and appointed you a tutor to strengthen your mind. When an opportunity to escape came you took it. You grabbed Eleven and the two of you ran as far as you could. You thought you were safe, but when Papa’s men came you and Eleven you were forced to run again. You lost her in the woods, but you stumbled upon someone else. A boy who appeared to be your age. He said his name was Steve.

Another Henderson

You had gone missing a month ago. An entire week where your mother and your brother and the entire town searched endlessly for you. But you didn’t remember any of it. One moment you were riding your bike home from a party and the next you were lying in a hospital bed. You thought that you had crashed, that you had gotten into an accident, but when the Chief of Police explained that an entire week had passed you didn’t know what to think. Apparently, someone had found you in the woods and had called the police. But you didn’t remember a single moment of it. There was nothing, not even the flicker of a memory. Not even a dream. You moved on with your life, blocking out the weird stares and snide comments. The only thing you cared about was your little brother. He was your entire world and you would do anything to protect him, you had done everything to protect him. But Dustin didn’t know that. Dustin didn’t know anything. Not about your disappearance and not about your late father (curse his soul). And you were not about to let him know any of it. You were not gonna taint the perfect family image he had in his head. You were going to move forward, a happy smile on your face. Even if it was fake. But there was something preventing you from pretending. Something that kept cracking your perfectly crafted mask. Something that had made you forget, and something that you wanted to forget.

Damn Mayfield

You hated having to move halfway across the country. A fresh start? Yeah, right. It was just another way for Neil to have control. He wanted you to act like the picture perfect family; happy and content. Neil was an asshole, Billy was a jerk. Your mom put up with it for God knows what reason and poor Max just wanted some peace. Not a day had gone by since your mom had married Neil that you felt like you could breathe. And as much as you hated leaving California, maybe Hawkins wasn’t as bad as you thought. It had its downsides and secrets, but maybe not all of the people were so bad. Maybe this Harrington guy that Billy was so intent on hating actually had a heart.

Fourth Wheeler

You had just recovered from a year long battle with cancer. A brain tumor that you had luckily found just in time. But it had been a long and hard recovery. Now you were back to normal, back to school, and you somehow found yourself dating Steve Harrington of all people. You weren’t even quite sure how the relationship started. One day he sat next to you in class and then a week later he was kissing you in his car. He was already a lot sweeter than you had imagined, and you were finally starting to feel normal again. But when Will goes missing it seems like your newfound normalcy was about to be turned on its head.

Y/N had went over to the guy when he walked in, asking if he needed any help, just like they did with every customer. And then something was said. Steve was too far away to hear what, but something was clearly said because Y/N laughed. Which was fine, good even, but not when the cause of his laugh was leaning into his personal space, nearly brushing their shoulders. That guy was clearly flirting right now, it was so obvious, but Y/N didn’t even seem to notice.

Steve knew he was already overreacting despite the fact that he hadn’t said anything, his jealousy boiling beneath the surface as he angrily stacked the pile of tapes on the counter. He was watching the conversation out of the corner of his eye, his lips already pursed. It was stupid to be reacting this rashly, Y/N was Steve’s boyfriend, reminded him of that with every loving kiss in the morning and every wrap of arms as they fell asleep. They fought monsters together, they saved each other’s lives, so why the hell would he ever leave Steve for somebody so annoying?

But he wasn’t just annoying, he was good looking, and apparently Y/N found him to be funny. Was Steve still gonna be funny enough after that? Was he ever funny enough? He certainly wasn’t as good looking as that guy, that was for sure. Y/N always said he liked Steve’s moles, but looking over at someone who was absent of them, he felt like maybe that sentiment was only half true.

The guy leaned in and Steve froze, breathing so heavily that he was sure Y/N could hear him. Y/N’s head bowed slightly as the guy spoke, his shoulders tensing slightly. Steve didn’t like that, not one bit. Y/N was starting to get nervous. That guy needed to shut the hell up and check out his tape before Steve’s anger got the better of him and he rushed over there.

Y/N left, finally, backing away from the guy with one final goodbye before turning around and heading for the back room. Steve watched over his shoulder as he disappeared behind the door, and then he followed after him, not caring about the fact that the guy was still out there, tape in hand, waiting for someone to check him out. He didn’t deserve his movie.

“What was that about?” Steve asked the moment the door had shut itself behind him.

“What was what about?” Y/N echoed, standing up from where he was putting one of the returned tapes into the vcr.

“That… that guy.” Steve gestured vaguely at nothing. “That guy out there you were just talking to. You were laughing.”

“What?” Y/N smirked. “I’m not allowed to laugh.”

“No. That’s not… that’s not what I meant.” Steve sighed, frustrated, but not with Y/N, never with Y/N. “I just meant that, you know, it’s, like, really obvious he was flirting with you. And you were just going along with it.”

“You’re jealous.” Y/N stated, a wide, giddy smile crossing his face, and Steve had to fight everything in him to smile back right now.

“No, I’m not.” Steve defended, but it fell flat.

“Yes, you are.” Y/N drawled out, crossing over to him. “It’s cute.”

“It’s not cute.” Steve shot back in disbelief. “And, you know what, of course, I’m jealous. Some hot guy was flirting with you.”

Y/N laughed. “Hot?”

“Well.” Steve crossed his arms over his chest, a nervous feeling washing over him as he fidgeted from leg to leg. “He’s better looking than me.”

“Better looking than you?” Y/N echoed, his face scrunching in the way it did when he didn’t believe something, and he scoffed. “Yeah, right.” He waved a dismissive hand in the air. “And, besides, how could anyone ever be better than the guy who’s saved my life on multiple occasions?”

“He was still better looking.” Steve muttered, but he could feel his cheeks getting hot.

“He didn’t even have any cute moles.” Y/N exclaimed exaggeratedly, taking a step closer. “Or perfectly styled hair.”

Steve could hear how genuine Y/N was being, but he still didn’t fully believe it, couldn’t quite wrap his mind around it. Yeah, sure, he saved Y/N’s life a few times, but that didn’t change the fact that that guy was better looking, especially with the lack of moles. And not to mention he probably didn’t fidget as much as Steve did, or even at all probably.

“I mean, what would I do without your fidgeting all the time?” Y/N said, like he could read Steve’s mind, which, honestly, he kind of could. He always knew when something was wrong, and he always knew the right thing to say to make it better. “I think I’d go crazy without it.”

Steve’s face heated up even more, and he knew there was no way to hide the blush. Y/N could always make him blush, even just by touching him Steve still sometimes got flustered. But how could he help it, Y/N was just so damn pretty and Steve still didn’t quite believe he was his.

“You wouldn’t go crazy.” Steve said, eyes dropping to Y/N’s chest.

“I’d go crazy if I couldn’t see that blush.” Y/N smiled. “You’re so in love it makes you look stupid.”

“Cause you’re gorgeous.” Steve mumbled, face burning so hot he was sure the room was heating up.

“What was that?” Y/N joked, one hand cupping around his ear as he leaned in slightly.

Steve sucked in a deep breath and looked up, being met with the most perfect face he had ever seen. “I said, it’s cause you’re gorgeous.” He announced, his nerves holding no power over his need to make sure Y/N knew just how amazing he really was.

Y/N smiled back, trying a bit to hide it, but the love was shining in his eyes. “And you’re perfect.”

Y/N’s hands reached up and cupped Steve’s face, holding on so gently that Steve’s arms dropped to his side, his entire body melting at the touch. His touch was the most calming thing in the world. Steve would probably go crazy if he couldn’t touch Y/N at least once a day. He honestly didn’t know how he managed to survive the first sixteen years of his life without him.

Y/N leaned in, his lips connecting with Steve’s, and Steve’s face burned under the touch. God, Y/N was so pretty that it physically hurt, he was just so perfect, everything about him, and he wanted Steve, he chose Steve. And he continued to keep choosing him, just like Steve would always choose him. Time and time again Steve would choose Y/N, because no one else could ever even come close to his perfection. God, Steve knew he was just a giant sap, but he was just so in love.

The rest of you were to make your way to the Upside Down, the four caverns now glowing red. It was likely Vecna was going to send the Demos through them, attacking the town and drawing all the attention onto the monsters as he focused his attention onto whatever it was he had planned.

The plan was to go to the Upside Down Byers house first, setting up multiple traps all around the house, going all the way down the road and way into the woods. El would go to the Creel house with Hop, Joyce, Jonathan, and Lucas, leaving the rest of you to draw the monsters away.

The boys had a theory, a pretty solid theory, that when El attacked Vecna he would then draw on you and Holly, using his battery to make himself stronger. The two of you would feel it, probably Will as well, and when that happened you would radio Hop, who would relay the message to El, and she would abandon the fight, leaving the others to hold Vecna off while she did her mind walking. The hope was that would be able to locate you and Holly’s minds and then push the two of them together, connecting the positive and negative ends and causing a short circuit.

“Remember.” Hop said, him and the others geared up and prepared to leave. “Don’t play the music until we’ve signaled you. I’ll radio a second time when the bats are on their way.”

“Got it.” Dustin nodded.

Hop gave Dustin a pat on the shoulder, the best type of ‘good luck’ he could do. The rest of you made your goodbyes, the boys all giving Lucas a hug while filling him with encouraging comments and promising they’d get Max back. You hugged them all goodbye in turn, leaving El for last and holding on for just a moment longer.

“I need you to promise me something.” You whispered against her ear. “Whatever happens in there, you protect Holly. Okay? Don’t worry about me, just protect her.”

“Okay.” El whispered back before pulling away, a sad look in her eyes, but she pushed it aside.

The five of them set off after that, making their way down the gravel driveway and disappearing down the dark road. The rest of you could do nothing but wait, pacing back and forth, checking over weapons, running the plan over in your minds for the hundredth time.

You knew El would listen to you, that she would protect Holly for you. You would fight tooth and nail to get back home, to make it out alive. But Holly was different, she had fought the monsters off in her dreams before, but she had never fought them off for real. Above all else, she needed to live. You had already gained more time than you had ever believed you would get.

“Hey.” Robin called out, bumping her shoulder with yours. “Look, I know what you’re gonna do when you’re in there.” She whispered, glancing to the side and over to Steve, who was standing with Erica, him critiquing her form with her own nail bat. “And I’m not blaming you, or gonna try and talk you out of it, but I just need you to tell me that this isn’t gonna be some type of suicide mission. That you’re actually gonna fight. Cause, I mean, I love Steve and all.” She started laughing a bit. “But you cannot leave me alone with him for the rest of our lives.”

“Don’t worry.” You laughed. “I’ll try to come back, all right? I’m not gonna let him win.”

Robin bumped your shoulder again. “You don’t sound very convinced.”

“Well, I don’t know…” You shrugged. “I mean, I’ve already lived longer than I thought I would. I didn’t think I’d survive the cancer, thought that that was it for me. I had made my peace with it, got in as much time with everyone as I could, and then I just… I woke up. I was fine, completely healed, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with that.”

“You just live.” Robin smiled, gracing you with a warmth that was absent in this hellish dimension.

You rolled your eyes playfully. “You sound just like all the doctors. Always telling me to just enjoy the fact that I get to grow up.”

“Well, look what you got out of it.” Robin gestured towards the group.

“What?” You joked. “Fighting monsters in hell?”

“No.” Robin mocked. “I mean them. You found a boyfriend, someone you wanna spend the rest of your life with. You got to see the boys grow up, got to see Nancy become a badass.” She laughed, causing you to laugh too. “And you got to meet me. And, let’s be honest, that’s the best part.”

“You’re right.” You drawled off, a genuine smile crossing your face. “Meeting you was the best part.”

“Look.” Robin said, laughter fading away. “You need to talk to him, tell him whatever it is you need to tell him, before it might be too late.”

You looked back over at Steve, who was watching in amusement as Erica argued with Dustin about something. You didn’t even know what you would say to him, but Robin was right, you needed to say something. Just in case. You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves, and made your way over to the trio.

“Hey, Steve?” You called out, causing his head to whip in your direction. “Can we talk?”

“Um, yeah.” Steve nodded quickly. “Yeah.”

You motioned for him to follow you and led him over to the front porch, sitting down on the steps and getting out of earshot of the rest of the party. Steve sat down next to you, his nervousness obvious by the way his fingers started picking at his denim clad knees.

“Look, Steve.” You said slowly, trying to figure out the right way to say it. Whatever it was you were going to say. “I know this plan… well, it sucks. But we have to do it. I know you know that. But I promise you that I am going to fight. I won’t just lay down and take it.”

“I know.” Steve said sadly, eyes trained on his fidgeting fingers. “I’m just scared… for you.” He looked over at you, eyes glassy. “And I know you’re gonna protect Holly. I’d do the same thing. I just… I don’t even want to think about losing you.”

“I don’t want to think about losing you either.” You said. “You’re the one who’s gonna have to fight off monster while protecting me. At least I’ve got El to watch over me in there.” You regretted saying that last part as soon as it left your lips. You wouldn’t have El looking over you, well, sort of, but she agreed to protect Holly first.

Steve’s hand reached over, grabbing yours and giving it a light squeeze. You squeezed him back, surprised that you had been able to get through to him so quickly. But that was good, because you didn’t know how long you would have before the others made it to the Creel house.

You looked up and met Steve’s gaze, his eyes locked on yours. They weren’t glassy anymore, they were just staring at you. It was probably just your nerves getting the better of you, but you couldn’t even read him right now. He always wore his heart right on his sleeve, eyes always showing off his love every time he looked at you. But you didn’t see any of that love now, you saw nothing.

You looked back down at Steve’s hands, trying to be discreet, trying not to set his anxiety off again if you were just freaking yourself out for no reason, but when you looked at Steve hands they were stock still. There was no nervous shake, there was no gentle brush of his thumb. There was no fidgeting.

“Steve?” You announced, eyes glancing back up to meet his still vacant ones.

“Yeah?” Steve said, scooting closer, his hand tightening its grip.

You scooted yourself over, trying to put back that previous distance between you, but he just followed you over again. That was wrong, all of this was wrong. Steve should’ve asked what was wrong, he always asks what’s wrong, he always knew when something was off. But if he didn’t ask, then that meant that he didn’t know. And if he didn’t know… that wasn’t Steve.

You ripped your hand from Steve’s grip, shooting up to your feet in an instant. You kept your eyes trained on him, slowly backing away, inch by inch. You should’ve accounted for this, you should’ve seen it coming. Did the others see what was going on? Were the monsters attacking them right now? Where was El? Was she okay? And what about Holly? Where was Holly?

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, tone distant, and he made no move to follow you. He was wrong.

“Where is she?” You demanded, hand slowly reaching for the gun on your hip. It probably wouldn’t do anything, certainly wouldn’t kill him, but maybe it could slow him down.

“Where is who?” Steve asked, a small laugh escaping him.

You whipped the gun from its holster and pointed it right at Steve’s body, flicking off the safety as you rested your finger on the trigger. Steve just looked at the gun for a moment, only half taken aback by the action. But even that didn’t look genuine.

“Where is Holly?” You demanded again, fixing your aim on Steve’s body for emphasis.

Steve stood up slowly, his form flickering a bit, going in and out of reality. He changed, he turned into Vecna, and then it was Henry, and then it was back to Steve. He kept shifting, back and forth, back and forth, and you weren’t sure if it was really Vecna, or if it was just an allusion. You shot anyway, a loud bang echoing throughout the dark yard and fading behind the crack of thunder.

Steve’s body dropped to the stairs, still flickering, but this time it was just him, no other face taking his place. And then the flickering stopped, and you pulled back on the hammer for the second time, not daring to take your eyes off of the body. But it wasn’t Steve who was laying there anymore, and it wasn’t Vecna or Henry either. It was Holly.

You felt like you couldn’t breathe, like the air had been ripped from your lungs in one fell swoop. Tears burned at the back of your eyes, your legs threatening to give out beneath you. But it couldn’t be Holly, not really. It had to be an allusion, a trick, just another way for Vecna to screw with your mind. But looking at the tiny body, the one that bore Holly’s face and her ever present pigtails, you just didn’t know.

“Holly?” You called out, voice barely a choked whisper as you unsteadily stepped forward. “Holly?” You tried again, but still no response came.

Holly’s body laid there, sprawled out across the front steps, a bullet hole ripped right through her chest, her clothes splattered with blood. But it couldn’t be her, it couldn’t. Why would Vecna have you actually kill her? What purpose would that serve? She was the other end of the battery, she was needed. She had to still be alive.

Your eyes refused to leave the tiny body, too afraid that it was Vecna and that he was playing a trick on you, stabbing you in the back the moment you dropped your guard. You tried to think of what to do, on how to get out of there. You were in your mind, or maybe it was Vecna’s mind, but, nevertheless, you were in someone’s mind. When Max let herself be taken, she said she would find a happy memory and hide in it. But how did she do it? How did she find it?

There had to be somewhere you could go, somewhere you could run to, just anywhere that wasn’t here. But there were no doors around, nothing out of place. The only thing there was the house, but the door was blocked by the body, and you couldn’t bring yourself to step any closer. Even if it was just an allusion, and the real Holly was still safe and sound in the real world, it still looked exactly like her.

You think you can win just like that?

Vecna’s voice blasted through your mind, making you go stock still for a moment before slowly turning around, the gun still raised as your eyes scanned the area. But there was nothing there.

She’ll die if you go through with it. Is that what you want? Is that what you were hoping for?

As you completed your scan of the area your eyes landed back on the body, the body that was bigger now, that had lost its hair. El was splayed out on the stairs, soaked in blood, and you felt your own run cold.

You know she isn’t strong enough.

You could feel eyes, their sight boring right into the back of your skull, and you whipped around, finger hovering on the trigger. But still no one was there. It was just you and the ever changing dead body.

She’s too weak. She will fail. And it will be all your fault. Just like everything else was.

The body flickered again, growing in size, hair turning red, and it was Barb who appeared in front of you. But it wasn’t a bullet hole that caused her eyes to go vacant, it was slash marks, caused by the Demogorgon, crisscrossing her entire body.

You ran forward, the dead body be damned as you jumped right over it and up the stairs. You threw open the front door, rushing straight inside when you came to a sudden halt. Standing in front of you was Billy, a large whole in his chest and his mouth dripping with blood, the same way he had looked when he had died.

“It’s your fault.” Billy said, voice sad and accusatory as he stalked forward. “You did this to me. You let him kill me.”

“You promised me you would make him pay.” A second voice called out, and Eddie stepped forward from the shadowed hallway, his torso ripped to shreds and blood dripping from his mouth the same as Billy. “You said you would win.”

“Max saw the lights.” A higher pitched voice, a girl’s voice. “Why didn’t she help me?”

Chrissy emerged from the shadows, limping, her bones twisted and contorted at all the wrong angles. Her eyes were completely gone, just blood filled sockets. You felt like your heart physically stopped, your feet trapped in place. You knew it wasn’t real, that Vecna was just trying to torture you, to distract you. But it looked and sounded so real, the blood, the broken bones, the utter heartbreak in their voices.

“Why did Nancy leave me?” It was Fred that time, body just as disfigured as Chrissy’s, and his glasses broken and perched on his nose. “Why didn’t she look for me?”

“Why did Lucas run away?” Patrick came into the light, jaw crooked and body distorted. “Why would he abandon me?”

You raised your gun, breathing shaky and ragged. The five of them stalked forwards, encircling you. Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick were half limping and half dragging their broken legs across the wooden floorboards, a nightmarish scraping echoing throughout the house.

You didn’t want to shoot them, even if they were just tortured recreations of themselves, you couldn’t bring yourself to pull the trigger. None of them should’ve died, not a single one of them, but it was too late for that now. All you could was keep going, keep fighting, and stop Vecna before he could kill anyone else.

You spun around on your heel, turning back towards the front door and yanking it open, running out into the night as you slammed the door shut behind you, trying to stall the walking dead if they were following you. But it wasn’t the Byers’s driveway you stepped out onto, it was your own driveway, the sun shining brightly in the blue sky above you.

You felt lighter, no heavy bag strapped to your back, and no cool metal held in your hands. Your gun, your bat, all of your weapons, they were gone, vanished. You looked down at yourself and saw that you were dressed in a suit, the same suit you had worn to Will’s funeral.

Whatever Vecna was trying to do, you were fearing it was working, but you couldn’t exactly tell. If he was trying to worm his way into your mind and make you go crazy or something, then it was only half working. If he was just trying to distract you in a labyrinth of bad memories while he sent his monsters to attack the party in the real world, then it was fully working.

You had to find a way out of there, a way back to the real world. But Vecna was the one in charge right now, and he wouldn’t even show his face. The party surely should’ve seen what was happing, your eyes probably rolled into the back of your head so far that only the whites were showing. They had to have radioed El by now, her probably mind walking right now to find you. But how the hell was she supposed to find you when you didn’t even know where you were?

You needed to hide, you needed to find a happy memory to run to. Maybe if you just focused on it then you would go there. If you were in your mind, then you should be the one in control. Right?

You closed your eyes and focused, trying to find something from your past that brought you pure joy. Childhood memories flashed through your mind, Nancy and Barb dragging you around, making you play dress up and house with them. There was Mike, before he got all angsty, even before the Upside Down. He was rambling about his newest D&D campaign he was putting together, asking you for story ideas and his eyes lighting up when you provided them. You thought of Holly, the day she was born, how tiny and chubby she was. You remembered her older, toddling about as she followed you around, her eyes wide as she simply watched you go about your business.

You peaked your eyes open, but you were still stuck outside in your driveway. It wasn’t working. But it had to work. If it worked for Max, then it had to work for you. You closed your eyes again, focusing on more recent memories. You focused on Steve, on that first kiss shared in his car late at night. You thought about your one year anniversary, he had cooked you dinner and the two of you had laughed about buying each other the same watch as a gift. You thought about the simple moments, of the two of you content to just silently do the chores together. You could feel his love even through a memory, the words always spilling so easily from his lips.

The world dimmed outside your closed eyelids, the bright sun blacked out in an instant, and your eyes flew open. But it wasn’t a memory, it wasn’t anything remotely close to good. You were back in the Upside Down, standing at the bottom of Steve’s pool, vines slithering about as blood poured from the vents, quickly filling up around your feet.

They were back, Billy and Eddie. Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick. Even Barb was there, her body wrapped up in vines over in the corner as the others slowly started encircling you once again. You were still dressed in the suit from Will’s funeral, and the collar of the dress shirt started feeling like a noose around your neck.

You couldn’t breathe, you could barely even think. Your heart was pounding in your chest, the sound hitting your ears so loudly that it blocked out the small splashes of blood as the dead stalked forwards. You could feel your vision going hazy, but not from Vecna and his pain, from fear.

You thought you could hide from me? You thought it would be that easy to run?

Vecna’s voice hit your mind straight on, a small stabbing, that nail, entering your brain. But it wasn’t as bad as the last time. It was lighter, way less intense. It was like the first time it had happened, when you had went to Steve’s house. A clock had chimed on the wall, and the pain had instantly lit up.

You let me in. You opened the door for me.

The dead bodies were only a few feet away, the pouring blood now all the way up to your knees. You searched around for the ladder, hoping that maybe you could overpower the dead just long enough to make an escape. But there was no ladder. It was just you and the blood and the vines.

You are the one who let all of this happen.

You squared your shoulders, planting your feet on the slick surface. You could barely even move the blood was so thick. But you had promised that you wouldn’t just lay down and take it, that you would fight back. And that’s exactly what you were going to do. You were going to fight.

Billy lunged forward first, arms outstretched as he prepared to grab you, but you quickly pivoted, ducking down as you jumped, more waded back a step. Billy went surging through the blood, the red liquid splashing up into the air and spraying across your white button up. He whipped back around, face contorted into rage.

Eddie rushed at you next, arms reaching out just as Billy’s had. You quickly jumped to the side, body weighted and slowed down by the pooling blood that was now at waist level. You managed to avoid Eddie, him splashing to a halt in the middle of the circle of dead as you managed to take over Billy’s empty spot on the outer edge.

The five of them were in front of you now, all of them sending you death glares, even Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick with their missing eyes. But it was their eyes’s absence that made them even more sinister, their twisted limbs and broken jaws even more terrifying than a Demogorgon with its flowered face open and baring down on you.

The five of them stalked forwards, the blood swishing around at their steps, but they didn’t appear to be having as a hard a time as you were walking through it. You backed up slowly, never tearing your eyes away from them as you readied yourself for the next attack. You could feel the wall behind you getting closer, the sound of the slithering vines growing louder.

Something grabbed your submerged ankle, fingers wrapping around you like a vice. You tried to rip your leg out of its grasp, but it was either too strong, or your movements didn’t hold enough power against the weight of the blood. You tried again, kicking out desperately as you forced your eyes away from the dead to see what was holding you. It was Barb, her previously vacant eyes now staring up at you with fury.

Mismatched splashing sounded out, as loud as a tsunami, and a second hand clamped down around you, grabbing at your arm and pulling it so far to the side that you were sure it was going to be ripped straight out of its socket. A pained noise escaped you as the pressure refused to let up, and you turned to see Eddie.

“Let me go!” You screamed, pulling and twisting and wriggling your body around, just trying to do something to make the grip loosen. “Let me go!”

Billy’s hands wrapped around your other arm, pulling it to the side just as harshly as Eddie. They pulled, tight, a scream tearing through your throat from the flaring agony. Barb’s hand disappeared from your ankle and then you were suddenly thrown forwards, Billy and Eddie’s hands leaving you as you splashed forward, landing right in front of the disfigured bodies.

The bodies surged forwards before you even had time to react, their twisted arms wrapping around your own, one even encircling your neck. And then the strength was too much for you to bear, the chest level blood too strong to move against, and you were pulled beneath the red.

Your lungs were already burning from the lack of oxygen, you having taken none of it down with you as you had been dragged below. The broken arms were wrapped around every part of your body, encircling you like vines. The one around your neck squeezed down tight, leaving no room for what little oxygen you had to even escape.

You could do no more than spasm out beneath the surface, the blood too thick and the arms too strong. Your heart was pounding in your ears, begging you to relieve your lungs of their torture. Your body wanted to listen, your mouth fighting to open and take a breath, the innate will to live overtaking any rational thoughts. You fought back against it as hard as you could, trying to get reason to overpower instinct.

A memory. You had to get to a memory. You weren’t going to make it out of there through brute force. But you had tried that already, your mind running through every happy memory you had ever had, and it hadn’t worked. But you had other memories, normal ones, bad ones. A bad one, that could work. Instead of light against dark, you could fight fire with fire.

You forced your mind to forget about the pain, to forget about the desperate need for oxygen, and you focused on your worst memories. Will’s funeral came to mind first, the grief you had felt even when you knew it wasn’t him in that casket. You remembered the kiddie pool, El mind walking for the first time, and the way she started hyperventilating when she found Barb, dead. You thought about the Russian base, about the torture that you had been sure would kill you. You thought about all of those threats from Tommy, about the beating he had dished out to you behind the gas station. You remembered seeing Max in the hospital right after you had lost the fight, all four arms and legs wrapped up in giant white casts. You thought about your cancer, about that torturous year where you had to come to terms with your own death. You thought about your recovery, about your inability to do anything except lay there and stare off into space.

You were still drowning, still suffocating. Vecna was going to kill you. Even if he didn’t kill you physically, this would surely kill your mind, make you weak and pliable, the perfect battery. Wasn’t that all you were good for, providing for everyone else while you were left the suffer? You were just an object to be used. You weren’t even a positive object, you were the goddamn negative end.

Wait. How were you the negative end? You were the one in pain since the beginning, you were the one with the headaches and the blurry vision and the dissociation. It was like Dustin said, Vecna was draining your life force. He was stealing your energy just like the power flowed out of the positive end of a battery. A higher electrical potential energy. You were the older one, the one with more years and more experience. You were the positive end and Holly was the negative end. She was the one who was maintaining the balance, who was attracting your energy and facilitating the movement.

Holly. You needed Holly. This whole plan hinged on bringing your minds together. It needed both of you to work. You focused on Holly, on any and every memory you had of her. The way she used to listen to only you when she refused to eat. The way she would ask you to play with her and of course you always did. You remembered what your mom said last summer, about finding Holly asleep in your empty bed, searching you out after a nightmare. You remembered that first nightmare, when she had come to you late in the night, talking about monsters. You had calmed her down, you had told her how to fight, how to outsmart them. And she did that, she did it every single time. So why the hell couldn’t you do the same? Why couldn’t you be the tough Wheeler you had told her you were? Why couldn’t you protect her from the monsters like you promised? Why couldn’t you just fight back?

Screw it. If you couldn’t run and hide in your memories, then you would just have to figure out some other way to escape. You had to outsmart the monsters. You needed wits, just like you had told Holly. There had to be something you could do, someway you could breach the surface.

You didn’t have any weapons on you, no gun, no bat, nothing sharp and no fire around. And even if you did breach the surface there was still no ladder to climb. The dead were not going to let up their hold, just apparitions sent to do Vecna’s bidding, sent to kill you. They were sent to kill you.

You let your body go limp, you stopped every futile attempt to wriggle yourself free, not even allowing your fingers or eyelids to twitch. Your heartbeat was already slowing down, the prolonged lack of oxygen now making it go thready and weak. If Vecna wanted you dead, then you were going to give him exactly what he wanted.

The disfigured arms slowly let up their hold, their broken bones brushing across your body before finally disappearing. Your body floated upwards through the thick blood until your face finally breached the surface, but you still refused to let yourself breathe. You could feel the cool area around you, the blood that was soaking your face beginning to dry on your skin. You kept your eyes closed, your body still, and your lungs absent of oxygen. And then your eyes snapped open, and you were staring up into the dark sky, but you were dry, and your back was resting against grass.

“Holy shit!” Mike screamed, his terrified face hovering above yours. “You’re alive! You’re really alive!” He surged forward, arms wrapping around you and pulling you into a bone crushing hug as he laughed away happily in your ear.

“I’m alive.” You whispered, arms reaching up to hug him back. “I’m alive.” Over Mike’s shoulder you could see the entire driveway, the entire empty driveway. “Where are they?” You asked shakily. “Mike, where are they?”

Mike pulled away slowly, his laughter shifting to a deadly silence. “The Demos, they showed up. It went wrong, all of it.” He shook his head, like he didn’t quite believe it. “We radioed Hop, but El couldn’t find you. She searched everywhere, but you were just… you were gone.”

“She needs to do it now.” You said sternly, hands planting themselves on the ground as you pushed yourself to your feet, Mike following you up.

“We can’t!” Mike argued. “You’re too weak. We’re gonna have to figure out another way.”

“There is no other way.” You shot back. “If we’re still Vecna’s battery then we can’t beat him. We have to do it. Radio Hop.”

“No.” Mike exclaimed. “There’s no way I’m letting you back in there again! The plan changed, that’s it! We’re fighting him like this!”

Gunshots sounded from the distance, cutting you off before you even got a single word out. You and Mike both whipped your heads towards the tree line where small flashes and more gunshots sounded. There was some screeching, shouting, and then a loud, guttural roar.

You snatched your bat up off the ground and went to make your way towards the noise to help out whoever it was when you were stopped by a hand on your arm. A body came running out of the woods, a machine gun held in front of them as they came sprinting towards you. It was Nancy.

“Run!” Nancy shouted. “Run!”

Mike tried to pull you away, but you refused to move. Even if you did run there was nowhere to go. The monsters were surely surrounding every inch of the property. All you could do was hold your ground and hope that the others were all still alive and fighting.

“What are you doing?!” Nancy shouted as she grinded to a halt in front of you. “We need to go. Now!”

“There’s nowhere to go!” You argued.

A loud growl echoed from the woods, and then three Demo-dogs came bursting through the tree line. They rushed right towards the three of you, flower faces already open and barred as they prepared to catch their prey.

Nancy spun around, raising the machine gun up in the air as you readied your nail bat. Beside you, Mike slung his backpack off of his shoulders, ripping it open and pulling out a firework. Mike lit the firework up as Nancy shot at the Demo-dogs, the shots only bouncing off their skin, but slowing them down just enough.

Mike reeled back his arm and threw the firework straight at the monsters. Two of them were too distracted by the gunfire to see the oncoming attack, the firework exploding on the ground beside them and sending them flying through the air. But the third had seen it coming, and it sprinted towards safety.

You planted yourself in front of Nancy and Mike, preparing to swing out at the monster, but then it turned to the side, completely ignoring you, and ran right up the porch steps and straight through front door. You didn’t understand why it didn’t attack you, why it had had you set right in its sights and then decided to ignore you. It ran right into the house. It ran right inside where… where Holly and Max were waiting on the other side.

You took off towards the house, bounding up the stairs and following the Demo-dog’s path of destruction until you saw it clawing at the wall in the hallway. Nancy and Mike were hot on your trail, coming to the same conclusion as you.

The Demo-dog was ripping the wall away, a glowing red seeping through the shreds. You rushed forward, bat raised, and you swung out at the monster. It went flying down the hallway, skidding to a halt against the far wall. Nancy raised her gun, finger pulling on the trigger, but only a few bullets flew from the muzzle before just an empty click sounded out.

“I’m out.” Nancy announced, feeling around her gear for more magazines, but coming up empty.

Mike reached into his bag, pulling out another firework. But he didn’t even get the chance to light it before a loud screeching echoed from behind you and a bat’s tail shot out, wrapping itself around Mike’s wrist and making him drop the makeshift bomb.

“Duck!” You shouted.

The two of them obeyed, crouching down as far as they could, and you swung out at the Demo-bat, nails digging into its wings and sending it screeching and fluttering about in pain, but it refused to let go. You swung again, even more force behind it that time, and the bat’s tail slipped from Mike’s wrist and it went crashing into the floor. You pushed the two of them aside, raising the bat over your head, and you swung down, once, twice, three times, nails digging in and ripping out of its head until it was just a mangled pile of dark flesh and blood.

“Holly.” Mike said urgently, head whipping in the direction of where the Demo-dog should’ve been, but all that was there was a glowing red gate.

“It’s on the other side.” Nancy announced shakily.

“We boarded them up.” You said sternly, trying to keep yourself calm. “It went through the hallway, so it’s still in the hallway. Come on!”

You ran over to the gate, not hesitating as you pushed away the slimy film and clambered your way through. It only took about two steps before you were on the other side, the empty house lit up in an orange glow from the setting sun.

Bang!

The Demo-dog threw itself at Will’s bedroom door, the wood already broken and splintered. You could hear as Nancy and Mike emerged behind you, and you raised your bat and stepped forward when…

Bang!

The wood around the handle split, the door swinging wide open, slamming against the plaster wall as the Demo-dog rushed inside.

The three of you rushed after it, you with your bat raised, Nancy prepared to swing with her gun, and Mike unsheathing a hunting knife. A loud, ear piercing scream sounded out as you all bursted through the open doorway, your heart running a mile a minute as you feared for whoever’s life was on the line. Was the Demo-dog going after Max? Was it after Holly? Was it after both of them and just saw your mom and Vickie as collateral?

You grinded to a halt the moment you set foot in the room, Nancy and Mike doing the same and crashing right into your back. The Demo-dog was lying on the ground, blood pouring from a large gash across its torso. And there was your mom, bloody ax in her hands and a look of pure rage on her face as she stared down the monster.

The Demo-dog kicked out at the air, fighting for its life. But your mom was having none of it, and she swung down, the blade of the ax imbedding itself deep within the Demo-dog’s neck and causing its blood to spray across her face. She yanked the ax out with an angry scream, and then she swung back down again, the blade making a clean break, and the Demo-dog’s head went rolling lifelessly away from its body.

“Mom.” Mike announced, in complete and utter disbelief.

Your mom just panted heavily, head turning up to look at the three of you, and then she whipped around, rushing towards Holly who was hiding behind Vickie in the corner. Vickie had a shotgun in her hands, completely terrified, but clearly not afraid to use the gun if it came down to it.

“Who was it after?” Nancy asked urgently, but your mom didn’t answer, too wrapped up in looking over Holly. “Mom!” Nancy shouted and your mom finally turned back around. “Who was it after?”

“I don’t know.” Your mom panted. “I didn’t give it enough time to find out.”

“Holly, are you okay?” You asked, and she just nodded shakily in response. “Holly, I need you to answer me. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m—I’m okay.” Holly stuttered in response.

“Has she been awake this whole time?” Mike asked.

“What?” Your mom said.

“Holly.” Mike explained. “Has she been awake this whole time?”

“Yeah. Yeah, she was awake.” Your mom said, confused. “Why?”

Mike glanced at you, and you glanced back, and then you spotted the radio on the bed. You snatched the radio up, extending the antenna and praying that it would reach the others, the ones not directly on the other side.

“Hop, do you copy?” You said into the radio. “Hop, it’s Y/N, I need you to respond. Do you copy?” You waited a few seconds for an answer, but none came. “Hop, do you copy? Joyce? Lucas? Jonathan? I need someone to respond. Right now. Does anybody copy?”

I copy, kid. Hop’s voice crackled through the speaker, low and distorted.

“Hop, we need to destroy the battery.”

No way. Hop argued. You barely managed to get out of there. I’m surprised you’re even still alive.

“I don’t fucking care!” You shouted. “El needs to do it right now!”

Listen to me, kid, the whole plan got screwed. We can’t risk losing El right now.

“You’ll lose her anyway if we don’t do it.”

It’s too risky.

“I don’t care.”

There was a long, deadly silence, no one on either side of the radio speaking. Was he really not gonna do it? Was he really going to seal your fates just like that? Your plan was the only plan. Vecna wasn’t Vecna without his battery, without you and Holly. Why couldn’t he understand that?

You threw the radio on the bed in frustration as it remained completely silent. Holly was watching you from her spot in the corner, your mom’s arms wrapped around her from behind. You crossed over to them, trying to find some way to explain what was going on, to tell them that there was a new plan, whatever the hell that was. But the moment you dropped to the floor in front of them your knees hit water.

Your head whipped around, your mom, Nancy, Mike, everyone was gone, even the room was gone, just an endless black void surrounding you and a small layer of water beneath your knees. You turned back around and saw Holly still standing there, a mix of shock and fear on her face. And then her eyes drifted behind you, fixing on something above your shoulders. When you turned to follow her gaze, you saw El standing there.

“El.” You sighed in relief, pushing yourself to your feet and sending out a silent thank you to whoever that Hop had actually listened.

“We don’t have a lot of time.” El said hastily. “We have to do it now.”

You nodded in response and turned back around to Holly. “You ready?” You asked her, but she provided no answer. You knelt back down again, hands gripping her shoulders gently. “Holly, I know this is scary, okay? And it’s probably gonna hurt, a lot. But I need you to be brave. You remember what I told you about us Wheelers?”

“We’re tougher than we look.” Holly whispered.

“Exactly.” You smiled softly. “You’ve already beaten these monsters before, in your dreams. If you can do that, I know you can do this.”

Holly shook her head. “No. You can’t do it. He said it would kill you.”

“Who said that?” You said, trying for a lighter, more playful tone, the fairytale voice you used the first time you the monsters came for her. “Did Henry say that? The man in the suit?”

“He said you’d die.” Holly said earnestly, eyes flickering up to El. “He said you’d all die. And he hasn’t been wrong.”

“Hasn’t been wrong about what?” You prodded.

Holly fidgeted, eyes flickering around the endless void before finally settling back onto you. “He knew about the mall fire. He said you were hurt. And then mom got a call and it was true. It was all true.”

“That’s because he caused it.” You said, being as stern as possible without it sounding harsh. “But it wasn’t a fire, it was another monster. A monster that killed a lot of people. And he’s gonna do the same thing if we don’t stop him. And we can’t do that without you.”

“You’ll die.” Holly’s voice was barely a whisper, choked behind her forming tears.

You took a deep breath, steadying yourself as you fixed her with a determined look. “I am not going to die. I promise.”

“You already did.” Holly argued, eyes starting to go red as she tried not to let her tears fall. “When you had surgery, he said you died three times.”

“So, what?” You shrugged, voice even more determined than before. “My heart stopped three times. But guess what?” You leaned in closer, giving her a comforting smile. “I’m still here. I came back. I’m still alive.”

Holly’s eyes raked over you, like she almost couldn’t quite believe it, like the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind, like the thought hadn’t been allowed to cross her mind. You had been so prepared to die for her, to do whatever it cost to make sure she made it out alive, but hearing her now, you couldn’t do it. She almost lost you once before, she wasn’t gonna lose you again.

“Okay.” Holly nodded.

“Okay?” You repeated hopefully.

“Okay.” She said again.

You rose back up to your feet, hands dropping from Holly’s shoulder before you grabbed her hand. She squeezed you back with all of her little might, her attention fixed determinedly on El.

El took in a deep breath and raised her hand out towards you. You could feel something, a tugging at the back of your mind, and Holly squeezed you even tighter. El closed her eyes, her other hand raising in the air as blood began to trickle from her nose. Her face contorted, as if in pain, and then your head exploded.

Your hand slipped from Holly’s grasp before you could stop it, your legs giving out from under you and sending your knees crashing into the hard ground, the faint sound of splashing water echoing out. But it was distant, already fading away as your view of El blurred.

You entire head was on fire, from the base of your neck all the way through your eyes, the nail driving itself straight through the burn and intensifying the pain to a degree that outmatched any pain that ever came before. It was crushing you, your skull breaking into a million little jagged pieces that slashed away at your fragile brain.

You couldn’t feel anything, couldn’t hear anything, and there was nothing to see except for black. You surely had to be screaming, both you and Holly letting out agonized cries of pain that only El could hear. You wanted to reach out to Holly, to comfort her, to just place a single hand on her and let her know you were still there, that you were right there alongside her. But you couldn’t move, your entire body curled up in on itself.

The world began to flash before your eyes, the haze clearing up and becoming a still black, a slightly distorted reflection staring back at you through the thin layer of water. But it wasn’t your reflection that was looking at you, it was Holly’s. The world flashed again, your vision going back to your own, eyes staring into themselves. And then you were back in the Byers’s house, Nancy and Mike staring at you with worried eyes. And then it was your mom’s worried eyes, above you, and behind her was your body.

The world continued to flash back and forth, from you to Holly, from Holly to you, in and out of the void and the real world. Your head was ripped apart and set ablaze, your mind melting away and reforming, doubling in size. It was connecting with Holly’s, both ends of the battery joining together and short circuiting.

The world kept flashing, your ever changing vision mixing with memories, memories viewed through both you and Holly’s eyes, everything slowly beginning to blur again until the haze had completely overtaken you. And then your brain jolted, like an electric shock straight to your mind, and the world went black.

~~~~~

Your eyes slowly blinked open, heavy and weighted as a bright light shone down above you. There was something soft beneath you, and when you shifted, more like barely moved your shoulders, you could feel a blanket draped across your body.

You forced your eyes to open fully, being greeted by an annoyingly bright overhead light and white ceiling tiles. A steady beep, beep, beep filled your ears as you took in your surroundings. You could feel something on your hand, and when you looked over you saw a needle sticking out of the skin, a tube attached to it. And iv.

“Hey, hey.” A familiar voiced called out soothingly, Steve’s voice. “You’re all right. You’re all right. Try not to move so much, okay?”

“Holly.” You croaked out, throat dry.

“She’s okay.” Steve soothed, his warm hand landing on your arm. “Holly’s okay. You’re in the hospital. It’s over.”

You turned your head until you saw Steve, looking just as utterly exhausted as you felt. Your whole body felt exhausted, your arms heavy and weighted. Steve’s hair was completely messed up, his clothes all wrinkly. It looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Just relax, okay?” Steve’s thumb brushed across your skin. “Everyone’s alive. The plan worked. We were pretty beat up, but it worked.”

Holly was alive. The party was alive. The plan worked. And you were still alive. A few tears escaped your eyes, a small, exhausted smile crossing your face. You had won, and you had lived. Everyone lived.

“Max woke up as well.” Steve smiled softly at you. “Her arms and legs are still healing, so she’s in a wheelchair right now, but she’s okay. You fell into a coma after the short circuit.” He laughed a little bit. “That’s what Dustin’s calling it, anyway.”

“Holly.” You rasped out again.

“She was in a coma, too.” Steve said sadly. “But she woke up a few days ago. You’ve been out for a week.” His eyes glanced up, past your own, up to your head. He sucked in a shaky breath, and then looked back at you. “The doctors, they, um… they did a scan.” His thumb brushed over your arm again. “They found a tumor. A small one. They had to do surgery.”

You could swear your heart stopped, but the monitor just started beeping faster. You had a tumor, another tumor. How was that even possible? The doctors had said you were fine every time you suspected it. Your hands flew to your head as fast as they could, which was rather slow in your state, and you gently prodded at your head until you could feel the staples.

Steve reached up slowly, gently taking your hands in his and lowering them from your head, a heartbroken look on his face. He cupped your hands in his and brought them up to his face, placing a soft kiss on your knuckles.

“You’re okay.” Steve soothed. “You’ll be okay. I promise. You’re alive and that’s all that matters.” He pressed his lips against your knuckles again, just holding them there a moment as his eyes went glassy. “I’m just glad you’re better.”

A few tears escaped your eyes again, the smile refitting itself on your face as you couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. “That’s… the same thing… you said… when I first told you… about the cancer.”

Steve laughed. “Well, it’s true.”

“You’re an idiot, Harrington.” You laughed.

Steve just continued to smile. “And you’re beautiful, Wheeler.” He lent down and kissed your knuckles again. “You’ve always been beautiful.”