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.
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Ahh, only two chapters left of Fourth Wheeler! I can’t believe it’s almost over! And I already have three chapters written of my Hopper story with the fourth currently in progress! I’ve never been ahead in my writing before lol! I’m always writing the day I post it lol! I am so excited for my Hopper story, especially for my quality of writing plus all of the deviations I’m doing with the plot. And I’m doing a lot of deviations, a lot of major and minor ones. It’s gonna be so much fun! So self indulgent lmao!
You dropped Max, Lucas, and Erica off at the Creel first before the rest of you made your way back to the trailer park. Nancy had run through the plan about a hundred times, but she still kept insisting on going over it, not wanting to risk any mistakes. Not that you could blame her, not after that pain you felt at the field.
“Okay.” Nancy said. “I wanna run through it one more time. Phase one.”
“We meet Erica at the playground.” You answered. “She’ll signal Max and Lucas when we’re ready.”
“Phase two.”
“Max baits Vecna.” Steve said. “He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance.”
“Phase three?”
“Me and Eddie draw the bats away.” Dustin said.
“Four.”
“We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and…” Robin held up one of her Molotovs. “Flambé.”
“Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied.” Nancy said sternly. “Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?”
“Got it.” You all responded.
You all grabbed your gear and made your way out of the RV. You and Steve both had your nail bats with you and you even had Nancy’s revolver while she had the Makarov and a shotgun. Robin had the backpack full of Molotovs and Dustin and Eddie had the spears and shields.
You all ducked down low as you quickly and quietly passed by the trailers to get to Eddie’s. Steve reached the trailer first and opened the door, the rest of you filing inside behind him. Steve slipped off his backpack, getting ready to make his way through the gate so that he could drag the mattress over on the other side.
“Be careful.” Dustin said.
“Thanks, buddy.” Steve patted him on the shoulder and then grabbed the rope. “Here goes nothing.”
Steve climbed his way up the rope, pausing for a moment as he hung in the air between the gate before dropping down onto his feet. He looked back up at you guys and just shrugged before walking off.
“Whoa.” Robin mocked. “What does he want us to do, applaud?”
To be honest, he probably was looking for some praise from you, always having to show off just because he could. And because he knew you couldn’t help but smile every time he did something he considered cool. Though, you would never tell him, he always looked more dorky. It was adorable watching him try, though.
Steve returned a moment later and dragged the mattress into place under the gate. “All right.” He said. “Let’s go.”
You stepped up first, tossing your backpack with the nail bat inside to the floor before hoisting yourself up the rope. Nancy and Robin had their hands hovering around you as you climbed up, making sure you didn’t overwork yourself and end up slipping. Once you hit the other side you felt gravity change directions and you released the rope, allowing your weight to take you, and you fell backwards onto the mattress. Steve held his hand out immediately and you took it.
“Gotcha.” Steve said as he carefully hauled you to your feet, the two of you coming face to face for a moment, eyes locked in a soft gaze, before letting each other go to help everyone else across.
Nancy climbed through next, and then all three of your bags and weapons. Next up was Eddie, and then the shields, and then Robin. Dustin’s backpack was tossed through and then his and Eddie’s spears, and then Dustin dropped down last. He was a bit shocked by the drop, so you and Steve grabbed his shirt and hauled him to his feet.
You all grabbed your respective weapons and gear and strapped it back on before exiting the trailer. You kept thinking back to that small pain back at the field, and Robin’s worrying words. You hoped that she was wrong, that it was just her nerves getting the better of her and that you really were gonna win this time. Because you couldn’t fail, you had to win. You had to kill Vecna. And you had to save Max.
“Hey, guys, listen.” Steve announced and turned on his heel to Dustin and Eddie. “If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep them busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just—“
“Decoys.” Dustin cut him off. “Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve.”
“Absolutely.” Eddie said. “I mean, look at us. We are not heroes.”
Dustin and Eddie turned and smiled at each other before turning back to Steve. But you could see the unease in their eyes. You had known Dustin long enough to tell when he was lying.
You stepped over and wrapped your arms around Dustin, pulling him into your chest. He immediately hugged you back, and you were just grateful that you at least got to hug one of the boys before walking off to what might potentially be your death. At least Mike wasn’t here this time. Even if something was going on in Lenora, it couldn’t be as bad as this.
“You kill that son of a bitch.” Dustin said into your chest.
You ruffled his head before pushing him away, holding him at arms length. “I promise.”
You let go of Dustin and turned back to Steve, Nancy, and Robin and you all started to take off again when Eddie suddenly stopped you.
“Hey, Wheeler?” Eddie called out and you turned to face him. “Make him pay.”
You took a deep breath, steeling your face, and gave Eddie a curt nod in response before turning back around again. The four of you finally took off, making your way into the woods as you headed for the Creel house, careful not to step on any of the vines along the way.
~~~~~
The walk from the trailer park to the Creel house was long, and dangerous. You weren’t as exhausted as the first time, but you were still lagging behind everyone else. Steve had your hand in his, your fingers laced together in a secure grip, keeping each other close.
“Uh… I don’t mean to freak anyone out.” Robin announced after a while of walking. “But I swear we’ve seen this tree before.”
“That’s impossible.” Nancy said.
“That would suck, right?” Robin asked shakily. “If Vecna destroyed the world because we got lost in the woods?”
“We’re not lost, Robin.”
Robin chuckled nervously and started to rush out ahead of the three of you.
“Robin, hey.” Nancy called out. “Watch out for the vines! Hive mind. Remember?”
“Thank you!” Robin shouted as she jumped off up ahead and Nancy quickly rushed after her.
“Don’t worry about her.” Steve said as he gave your hand a comforting squeeze. “She’s just stressed. You know, scared.”
“Yeah.” You nodded. “I know. It’s just…”
“She’s a super klutz?” Steve provided and you let out a small laugh.
“Did you know that it took her longer to walk than most babies?” You asked.
Steve chuckled. “I really shouldn't laugh. When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards.”
“Crawled backwards?” You echoed.
“You know, I'd push with my hands like this.” Steve started walking his hands backwards. “Beep. Beep. Always in reverse, you know?” You didn't quite know what to say. “Well, come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?”
“No.” You laughed. “It doesn't make sense.”
“Well, it did to my tiny little Harrington brain.” Steve sighed. “That is, of course, until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head real good.”
“Wow.” You mused. “That explains so much.”
“Yeah.” Steve chuckled. “I guess you're right. I think, like, right out of the gate, like, I'm super confident, you know? But I'm also, like, an idiot. Which is just... I mean, it's a brutal combination. But, I mean, the good news is, I get a big enough bump on my head, I can change, you know? I can learn. I can crawl forward. Listen, I guess what I'm trying to say in a really stupid, roundabout way is, um... thank you.”
“Thank you?” You asked as the two of you stopped walking and turned to each other, your hands still laced together.
“Yeah.” Steve said quietly. “I mean, after we fought the Demogorgon, and you put me in my place and all. I guess I just… it made me realize that everything that I had done before, you know, all that shit with Tommy and Carol, it wasn’t good. Not for anyone. And, I just… I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. Of breaking up. Cause, I just… I love you. More than anything.”
“I love you too.” You said softly. “And…” You drawled out. “I never told you this, but I had a crush on you for a while. I’m talking, like, first day of high school when you tried so hard, but utterly failed at doing your hair.” You laughed as you remembered the frizzy mess. “I mean, not that anyone said anything. You were already popular.”
“Oh, god.” Steve groaned in embarrassment, his cheeks turning pink. “It was really bad, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” You shrugged. “Which is why I just couldn’t believe that I thought you were cute.”
Steve’s embarrassment grew. “I didn’t even notice you like that until junior year.” He confessed.
“It’s okay.” You reassured. “I never expected you to. I mean, I never even expected you to like guys.”
Steve smiled shyly. “That first day, when you walked into class, I was just, like, transfixed. You know? Had butterflies and everything. Couldn’t believe I never noticed you before. It was like I was feeling the sun for the first time ever.”
You opened your mouth to say something, but you couldn’t get any sounds to form, too stunned. Steve had always been so open with his affection, always complimenting you, on your looks, on your brain, on your achievements. But you didn’t know just how deep his love ran.
“I was actually nervous about taking to you.” Steve continued. “Took me about two months to even work up the courage to switch seats. I just… I didn’t think you liked me. Didn’t even think I was good enough for you. But I had to do it because I just… I… you were just so damn gorgeous, more beautiful than anything else in the world. Honestly, I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle it if you rejected me.”
“Steve.” The word came out like a whisper, tears forming in your eyes from the overwhelming amount of affection.
“Hey, guys!” Robin shouted as her and Nancy suddenly came running back over. You quickly sniffed back the unshed tears as you and Steve turned to them, you holding onto Steve’s hand just a little bit tighter. “You guys! Awesome news! Looks like we weren’t going to wrong way after all. Come on.”
You and Steve followed after Robin and Nancy until you hit a break in the tree line. You had made it to the Creel property, the house just off in the distance on the other side of the road. Your eyes raked over the area, landing on the run down playground, and you could see a small golden glow illuminating the air.
“Erica.” Steve said.
You all took off towards the playground and you stuck your free hand into the glow, tapping out the signal for Erica. It was silent for a few seconds as you waited for her to signal Max and Lucas.
Okay, the lovebirds have copied. Erica's voice echoed through the air. Max is moving into phase two: distracting Vecna.
“So far, so smooth.” Robin said.
“Yeah, we're not even at the hard part yet.” You commented.
The four of you stood around for a good few minutes, anxiously waiting for Vecna to take the bait. To take Max. You still weren’t feeling any pain, and you had pieced together that it had only happened when Vecna was actively killing, not when he was just tormenting. So, as long as you weren’t in pain, then Max was still alive.
Okay, she's in. Erica's voice echoed a few minutes later. Initiate phase three.
“She's in.” Robin said into the radio. “Move on to phase three.”
“It’ll be okay.” Steve reassured as he dragged you under the playground. But you didn’t know if you quite believed him.
Nancy and Robin huddled up beside the two of you as you laid low and out of sight, waiting for Dustin and Eddie to initiate their distraction.
The sound of Eddie’s electric guitar sounded from the distance, the chords to Master of Puppets filling the air. Some of the bats that were circling the house screeched, having heard the noise, and began flying towards it, leaving the house unguarded.
Nancy shot up from her spot and started making her way across the yard, Robin hot on her trail. You and Steve followed after them, hands still holding securely onto each other as you made it to the front door.
Steve used his free hand to slowly push the door open, still refusing to let go of you as he glanced over after seeing the state of the place. The entire house was covered in vines, the slimy things writhing around and leaving almost no surface untouched. You knew what you would have to do, you were gonna have to jump through them all.
“Oh, shit.” Steve breathed. “That's not good.”
Steve glanced over at you again, a pained look on his face as he had to physically tear his hand away from yours before turning his attention back to the house. He then jumped forward to an empty space, and then another. He nearly lost his balance for a second before recovering and jumping to the next spot.
You took a deep breath, focusing on the fact that there was still no pain in your head, and followed after Steve. You carefully jumped your way from one space to the next, making sure to be quick but also cautious.
Robin jumped inside after you, and Nancy took up the rear. You could feel your nerves starting to act up as you worried about Robin’s terrible coordination getting the better of her. But, to everyone’s luck, she managed to get through without a single problem.
You made it to the bottom of the stairs, the vines in your way and making the simple step now a large, hazardous hop. You took a small breath, eyeing up the clear step you were aiming for, and you jumped forward. Your foot landed on the wood, avoiding the vines, but your other was still in the air, and you went wobbling to the side. You went to reach out for the banister, but it was covered in vines. Suddenly, a hand grabbed yours and steadied you out.
You looked up and saw Steve fixing you with a terrified look, his fingers trembling against you. You slowly pulled your hand from his grip, silently urging him forward, and he listened, turning back around and making the last few jumps to the top.
You hopped up the rest of the stairs easily, the girls following closely behind as you all made it to the landing. The attic door was already wide open and you reached over and slipped out Nancy’s shotgun for her, handing it over before grabbing your nail bat, Steve doing the same.
Just as you were about to make your way forward the entire house started to shake, sending you all stumbling around. Steve reached out and grabbed onto your arm, his other hand grabbing onto the railing. You reached out with your free hand and grabbed a hold of Nancy as she got a hold of Robin. The four of you held tightly to each other, huddling up close as the house continued to shake. And then it stopped.
You all slowly let go out each other and took in a deep breath, relieved that it was over and no one disturbed any of the vines. And then you felt something, could hear slithering, and you looked down to the floor and saw a vine. It was slowly wrapping itself around your ankle, making its way up your leg. But before you could even get the chance to react you were yanked to the floor and then thrown backwards up against the wall, the nail bat falling from your hands and clattering to the floor.
“Steve!” You screamed as a vine wrapped itself around your throat, its pressure strong enough to cut off your words, but not your breathing.
Steve swung his bat down at one of the vines as Nancy jabbed the butt of her shotgun against another. The vines squealed in pain from their attack, but their hold refused to loosen, the one on your throat squeezing down tight enough to leave you wheezing, but overall still breathing.
A vine suddenly shot out from the opposite wall and grabbed the bat in Steve’s hands, pulling him up against the wall. Steve tried to yank it free, but more vines flew out and wrapped around him, pulling him up and off the ground as they pinned him against the wall. One came down around his throat and he struggled for pry it off.
Nancy and Robin whipped around to Steve, temporarily letting down their defenses, but just that split second was long enough for more vines shoot out and wrap around their ankles. They were yanked to the floor, Nancy managing to crawl forward a bit before the two of them were yanked back again.
The vines were strong, too strong for any of you to fight off on your own, and they easily pulled the girls up against the wall, pinning them in place as they began to choke them. You kept wheezing as you struggled against their hold, starting to get a bit lightheaded at the minimal oxygen.
And then you were free. You were standing on the floor, your floor. You were in your bedroom, in the past. You and Steve, younger versions of yourselves, were sitting on top of your bed, the stack of flash cards you had given him already long discarded.
“You’re cute when you try to hide your laugh.” Steve smiled at you, whose head was bowed slightly as you bit your lip.
“And you’re cute when you’re saying sorry.” Your past self laughed, openly, freely.
Steve smirked at you. “Sorry.”
Your past self fixed him with a playfully stern look before grabbing your pillow and lightly hitting him in the side of the head.
“My hair.” Steve exclaimed.
“Oh, stop being so superficial.” You waved him off.
“It’s my best feature.” He argued.
Your past self shrugged with a look of feigned innocence. “I like your moles.”
Steve froze for a moment, a small look of shock gracing his face. “You like my moles?” He asked quietly, hesitantly, and your past self hummed in response. But you knew now how self conscious he was about his moles, how embarrassed he was at having them. But you loved them, always had.
You spun around, turning your back on the memory as you reached out for the door, swinging it wide open and stepping through back into your room again. There was no hallway, just another memory. What the hell was Vecna trying to do? Was he trying to hurt you? Was he trying to distract you? It didn’t make sense.
“Are monsters real?” Holly, tiny, little, four year old Holly asked, curled up in the bed beside you.
“Well…” Your past self drawled out, trying to think of the right thing to say. You still weren’t sure if your choice was words were right. “If they are, then I’ll kill them. Do you know how to kill a monster?”
“No.” Holly shook her head.
“Well, guns won’t work.” Your past self said with a small smile, trying to explain it all in a fairytale type of way. “You need fire and something sharp. And most of all, you need wits. You need to outsmart them.”
“What if I can’t?” Holly asked, voice so small and scared as she curled up a bit that it nearly broke your heart. She was so tiny.
“I know you can.” Your past self reassured. “Because us Wheelers are a lot tougher than we look. You can beat any monster that comes your way.”
“Can Mike beat a monster?” Holly asked, causing both your current and past selves to laugh a bit at the omission of Nancy.
“Yes.” Your past self confirmed. “Even Mike can beat a monster.”
You turned towards the door again, hating to tear yourself away from the sweet moment, but knowing that you needed to get back. But the moment you walked through the door your eyes snapped open and your body dropped to the wooden floor of the Upside Down Creel house.
Steve ran over instantly, dropping to his knees beside you as he checked you over for any injuries. But there were none, just the memory of memories. What the hell did those memories have to do with anything? Was Vecna trying to tell you something? Was he taunting you? Showing you the happy life that he planned to rip to shreds?
“Hey.” Steve shook you gently, eyes and voice dripping with concern as he knocked you out of your thoughts. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“I… I was in my head.” You explained. “I saw my memories. You and me studying for chemistry. And then me comforting Holly after a nightmare.”
“Those aren’t bad memories.” Robin pointed out.
“Exactly.” You agreed.
“So why show them to you?” Nancy asked. “Why show you something good instead of showing you something bad like with everyone else?”
“I… I don’t know.” You shrugged, still at a complete and utter loss.
“Well.” Robin announced. “I don’t believe in a higher power or divine intervention. But that was a miracle.”
Nancy took the silent push and cocked her gun. “Then we better now waste it.”
“Phase four.” Steve said as he helped you up to your feet.
“Flambé.” Robin finished.
You and Steve picked your fallen nail bats up off the floor and then the four of you headed up to the attic. The vines weren’t blocking your path anymore, none of them covering this part of the house, and you were able to easily run up the stairs and into the room.
You all slowed to a stop as you made it into the room. Hanging there from the ceiling, with vines sticking out of every part of his body and holding him suspended in the air, was Vecna.
Robin slipped off her backpack and her and Steve each picked up one of the Molotovs. Steve held his bottle out to Robin and she lit the fabric. Then Steve drew back his arm, the Motolov alight, and he threw the bottle. It hit Vecna square in the chest, shattering on impact and engulfing him in a burst of flames. You all instantly reeled back as the heat of the flames licked at your faces.
Vecna awoke, a loud, pained scream escaping him as the vines sizzled and retracted themselves from his body, and he dropped to the floor, flames licking at every square inch of his disgusting skin.
Vecna growled lowly, dangerously, and slowly pushed himself up to his feet. He stared right at you, eyes full of rage, and you glared right back, all you could think about being Max, outrunning and outwitting her death just for you to make it this far, and Holly, the dreams of monsters and the drawing of Henry. You were doing this for them, whatever happened to you tonight made no difference, just so long as they survived.
Next to you, Robin lit up her Molotov. She switched hands, gripping the bottle tightly as she drew back her arm, and then she threw it straight towards Vecna. It hit him square in the chest, knocking him back a step as the fire bursted through the room, and you all flinched back.
Nancy recovered first and stepped forward, her gun aimed, and she took the shot. The slug blasted through Vecna’s shoulder, knocking him back again. She wasted no time in cocking her gun again and taking the next shot, this one hitting Vecna in the stomach. She shot again, hitting his shoulder. But Vecna was strong, too strong for a few bullets and fire, and he started stalking towards her again.
Nancy cocked her gun and released another shot, knocking Vecna to the side. But he recovered quickly that time, and he regained his footing. He screamed out at Nancy, his anger palpable, and she took another shot, landing the hit right in his stomach again. But he only stumbled. She hastily released another shot and the force sent him flying back against the wall. He tried to move forward when she shot again, and he went flying through the boarded up window.
You all instantly spun around and flew back down the stairs and into the main house, running as fast as you could straight for the front door and out to the porch, but you all froze when you got out there. In front of you, the grass was sizzling away, blackened and charred. But there was no Vecna.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The grandfather clock in the house chimed and you all whipped around to it. It chimed again and you all ran back inside. The clock chimed again. And then it chimed one final time.
Four chimes. Four deaths. End of the world. But that couldn’t be right, he couldn’t have gotten Max. You didn’t feel anything, no pain, no blurry vision, nothing. He had used you during every other death, so why not this one?
“Four chimes.” Robin said.
“Max.” Nancy whispered.
“But I… I didn’t… there wasn’t…” You stumbled over your words, too confused, too shocked, too full of grief to spit them out. “The pain… there wasn’t… I didn’t… no pain.”
“What?” Nancy asked pointedly, her head whipping in your direction. “Then how?”
You opened your mouth to respond, to say something, even if it was just more broken words of confusion, but you were cut off before you even got started. The entire house started shaking violently, sending you all stumbling around. Steve reached out and grabbed onto your arm, using his other hand to steady the two of you against the wall. You reached out for Nancy, clamping down on her own arm as her and Robin held onto each other, Robin grabbing the railing for support.
It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. You were supposed to be in pain when Vecna killed someone, you were supposed to feel it when he used his powers, when he used you to amplify them. You were supposed to be his battery. So why didn’t he use you? Why did he choose now to finally leave you alone?
~~~~~
It had been two days since the gates had opened, ripping four deep caverns straight through the town. Countless people had died and the body count just kept on rising. Numerous people were still missing and unaccounted for. Hundreds of families had lost their homes, sucked down straight into the earth—if that was even what was down there. People were fleeing town left and right, but one person who was still here, who wasn’t on the list of those lost, was Max.
It still didn’t make sense to you, her dying and then her coming back to life. The doctors said it was a miracle, but you had other suspicions. But you still didn’t understand how she even died in the first place if you had never felt it.
You had all gone to your house that day to help pack up donation boxes. You were all gathering any items you could; clothes, blankets, toys. Anything you could do to help out.
You grabbed a box from the couch, some of Mike’s old stuff in there, when you spotted Holly sitting over in the corner. She was hunched in on herself, a notebook in her lap as she drew furiously on the pages. Your mom said she had been really shaken up from the earthquake, sitting wide eyed for hours after the fact. You thought there was probably something else going on, Vecna taunting her with another nightmare as you executed your futile attack on him.
You turned around, deciding to leave Holly alone for now. You’d talk to her later, when you were alone and had plenty of time. She didn’t look like she would answer you right now anyway, probably just giving you more ‘I don’t knows’ just like she had done last summer when you asked her about the drawings.
Your knee bumped into the coffee table and you let out a small hiss of pain just as the little robot figure in the box came to life. Its red lights started flashing in your face, little whirs and clicks sounding out to mimic machinery. You reached a hand up and knocked it upside the head, trying to get it to shut up, but it refused.
You huffed in annoyance and set the box down, taking the stupid toy out and turning it over to remove the cover. There were two batteries inside and you took them out, tossing them into the box before tossing the robot back inside.
With the stupid toy now quieted down you picked the box back up and made your way out to the driveway. Everyone else was standing around as they waited for you to bring the last box out. You handed it over to Steve to put in the trunk.
“Did someone order pizza?” Your mom asked.
“Pizza?” Dustin echoed.
You all turned your attention to the top of the driveway and saw a yellow van with a red surfboard on top pulling to a stop. The doors opened and out stepped El, Mike, Will, and Jonathan. And some other guy with extremely long hair that you didn’t know. You felt relief wash over you as you saw them, all of them, alive.
They all ran towards you, everyone wrapping someone else in a hug. Mike ran for you mom first, Jonathan over to Nancy, and Will and El made a beeline straight for you and Dustin. You and Dustin wrapped them up in your arms, both of you squeezing them tightly.
You hadn’t been able to contact any of them in over a week, completely cut off when you had needed each other the most. But they were alive, they were all alive. And that was all that mattered.
When you finally broke away from Will and El you felt another body crash into you from the side, stunning you for a second before you realized that it was Mike. You hugged him back quickly, his head dropping to your shoulder as you pulled him close. He was never this openly affectionate, ever. But you didn’t say anything, not wanting him to let go any sooner than you both needed.
~~~~~
Nancy went with Mike, Will, El, and Jonathan to the hospital to see Max as you, Robin, and Dustin packed into Steve’s car and headed to the school that had been turned into a relief center.
You carried the boxes of donations into the packed gym and brought them over to the donation table, Dustin limping along beside you as his leg still hadn’t fully healed yet.
Dustin had been a wreck, full on breaking down in you and Steve’s arms when you had found him. He had been kneeling on the ground outside the trailer, Eddie, eyes glossed over and body stained with blood, hugged closely in his lap. It had taken a lot of convincing to get him to agree to leave Eddie in the Upside Down, the prospect of bringing him back to Hawkins being both too technical and surely to draw unwanted attention.
“Hi.” Robin said to the lady behind the table as you all set the boxes down.
“Hi.” The lady said back.
“So these are blankets and sheets. And some... some clothes and... and some kids toys.”
“Wow.” The lady said as she checked out the boxes. “It's already so organized. We appreciate that. Do you want a tax receipt for it?”
“Um... no. I don't think we need one. Thank you, though. But is there anything else that we can do to help?”
The lady was taken aback for a second, stunned that you all wanted to lend a hand, and then she sent you all off to different stations. You and Steve went over to help sort the clothes while Robin went off to make sandwiches and Dustin helped to pass out water.
You were busy folding some of the shirts as Steve worked on the blankets. It hurt to see the town like this, to see so many people seeking shelter all because you had failed. You had never failed before, you had always won. You lost some people, something you wished desperately that you could reverse, but you still won. You won every single time. And then you didn’t.
You turned to grab another shirt from the box by your feet when you felt gravity shifting, your body stumbling to the side as the world blurred and swam in your vision. You reached out instantly, arms flying blindly to where Steve was, but you couldn’t find him. You couldn’t find anything.
Did you really think that you were my only source?
Vecna’s voice blasted through your mind, the only noise you could hear as the rest of the world was drowned out to an eerily still silence.
Batteries have two sides, you know. Positive and negative.
You tried to reach out for the table, for anything that could help steady you and bring you back to reality. But it was like you were floating through a haze of color, nothing except for you and the sound of Vecna’s voice.
You need both to create a charge.
The world snapped back into focus and you found yourself staring down at a half folded shirt, your eyes trained on your unmoving hands.
“Steve?” You called out, turning slowly towards him, unsure of how to even tell him. But his focus was elsewhere, his eyes trained on the wall of windows. Outside the clouds had darkened, and there was ash raining down from the sky.
“Are you seeing this?” Steve asked, looking back at you over his shoulder. And then he saw it, your face, the fear in your eyes. “What happened?” He asked urgently, rushing over and grabbing onto your shoulders. “What happened?”
Boom!
A strike of red lighting struck a jagged line through the sky, the entire world flashing red for a moment, and your head exploded. The nail drove down through flesh and bone, slicing right through your eyes and sending you straight to your knees with a loud, anguished scream. The world faded to nothing, only a blank haze. And then it was there again, the line of grey beneath your knees, soft. It flashed before you, flickering in and out of existence, and then it stopped, coming into crystal clear view. It was a carpet. But not just any carpet. It was the carpet in your living room.
Once you had calmed down enough and regained your lost energy you climbed through the gate, and then you all snuck across the way to Max’s trailer to regroup. You were still shaken up as you explained to everyone what you had seen. What Vecna had shown you.
They had sat you down on the couch between Steve and Eddie, with Erica squished on Eddie’s other side. Steve had your hand wrapped in his, his fingers lightly fiddling with yours, for no other reason than he knew you found it calming.
“He showed me things that haven’t happened yet.” You started slowly. “Terrible things. I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then… it showed me my mom. And Nance. Mike. Steve.” You glanced up at Nancy, catching the questioning look in her eye at your omitting of Holly. “And you were… you were all…” You couldn’t even say the words, you didn’t want to. If you said it, then that just meant it was real.
“Okay, but… he’s just trying to scare you.” Steve said. “Right? I mean… I mean, it’s not real.”
“Not yet.” You said, eyes dropping to the table as you gripped tighter to Steve’s hand. “But there… there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie’s trailer, but… they didn’t stop growing. And this wasn’t the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home.”
“You didn’t mention Holly.” Nancy said slowly, but you refused to look up and meet her gaze. “What about Holly?”
“I… I don’t know.” You confessed. “He wouldn’t… he refused to tell me.” You glanced up at Nancy, tears burning at the backs of both of your eyes.
Nancy, despite being covered in dirt and grime and with an air of authority surrounding her, just looked like a kid to you. Only a year younger, but she looked like that little girl that would grab your hand and drag you into your parent’s bathroom so she could steal your mom’s makeup and paint your face. She looked like the little girl who would challenge you to a bike race on the way to school—she always won. She had a fear in her eyes that hadn’t been there since your mom first told her about the cancer.
“Four chimes.” Max announced, breaking up the silent moment between you and Nancy as all heads turned to her. “Vecna’s clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly.”
“I heard them too.” You said.
“He’s been telling us his plan this whole time.” Max said.
Lucas’s eyes widened. “Four kills. Four gates. End of the world.”
“If that’s true…” Dustin said shakily. “He’s only one kill away.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Eddie whispered. “Jesus Christ.”
“Try them again.” Steve gestured to Max. “Try them again.”
Max picked up the phone and punched in the number. She waited and waited. And then she slammed the phone back down.
“Anything?” Dustin asked.
“No.” Max said. “Rang a few times, then went to busy signal.”
“Maybe you punched it in wrong.” Steve suggested. “Try it again.”
“I didn’t punch it in wrong.” Max argued, but picked the phone back up anyway.
“Well, I don’t know.”
“Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone.” Dustin mocked.
“I’m just saying.” Steve sighed. “She could’ve typed it in wrong.”
Max dialed the number again, waiting and waiting as she held it against her ear, and then there was no answer and she slammed it back down.
“Same shit.” Max huffed.
“How is that possible?” Lucas asked.
“I told you.” Dustin said. “Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it.”
“Okay, yeah.” Max interjected. “But this phone's been busy for, what, three days now? That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong.”
“She's right.” Nancy agreed. “It can't be just coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead. We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down.”
“Nope.” Eddie said.
“Whoa, no, no, no. What?” Steve waved his free arm around in the air while the other gripped tighter onto you.
You took a deep breath and turned to Nancy with a steely look. “She's right.” You knew the only way to finish this fight was to finish Vecna. The only way to save Max, cut yourself off from him, and save Hawkins from being destroyed as to kill Vecna. And you had to do it all now, before he got the chance to do whatever it was he had planned for Holly.
Steve turned to you, shocked. “Let's think this through, okay?”
“What is there to think through?” Nancy asked.
“We barely made it out of there in one piece.” Steve shot back.
“Yeah, because we weren't prepared. But this time, we will be. We'll get real weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him.”
“Or he'll kill us. The only reason that Y/N is still alive is because he’s being used. He's not scared of us.”
“And for good reason.” Robin added as she pushed herself up off the floor. “We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?”
“One.” Dustin said.
“Vecna.” Erica shot back.
“One.” Lucas argued.
“Henry.” Nancy said.
“Henry.” You agreed.
“Right.” Robin shook her head. “We’ve learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He’s a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my point is, he’s super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. And he’ll probably use Y/N to do it all in one swift blow. It’s not a fair fight.”
“So then why fight fair?” Dustin announced. “You're right. He's like El. But that gives us an upper hand. We know her strengths. And weaknesses.”
“Weaknesses?” Erica echoed.
“When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state." Dustin explained. "I bet the same is true of Vecna.”
“That would explain what he was doing in that attic.” Lucas said.
“Exactly.” Dustin agreed. “When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless.”
“Defenseless?” Steve echoed. “What about the army of bats?” He gestured to the large red mark around his throat and then to the red marks around your wrists.
“That is true.” Dustin stammered. “We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow. And figure out how to pull his plug from Y/N.”
“His plug?” You echoed, hating the stupid metaphor even though it was accurate.
“And, uh, how do we do that exactly?” Eddie asked.
“I don't know.” Dustin said honestly. “But once they're gone, and he can’t use Y/N anymore, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin.”
“That all sounds good in theory.” Robin said. “But there is no pattern to Vecna's killings. I mean, at least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don't even know who he's going to attack next.”
“Yeah, we do.” Max whispered and all heads turned to her again. “I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me.”
“Max.” Lucas said shakily. “You can't. He'll kill you.”
“I survived before.” Max argued. “I can survive again. I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. And then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly really don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just... whatever it is... whatever you do... try not to miss.”
“But how do we cut his connection to me?” You asked.
“I don’t know.” Dustin shrugged sadly. “This isn’t like Will, we can’t just burn it out of you.”
“But what if he’s not plugged in?” Lucas announced. “Not right now, at least. What if he doesn’t steal your life like flicking a light switch? What if he’s just plugging in whenever he deems it necessary?”
“Like jumpstarting a car.” Erica chimed in. “Plug and unplug each time he needs power.”
“So, I’m screwed.” You sighed.
“You’re not screwed.” Nancy stammered, clearly not believing her own words. “You won’t die because he hasn’t won yet, meaning he still needs you. As long as he still needs you, you’ll be okay.”
Eddie suddenly shot up from the couch and ran off, rummaging around for a moment before returning with Max's copy of the Yellow Pages. He flipped through it and then threw the book down on the table as you all huddled around him.
“Check this out.” Eddie said as he pointed at one of the ads. “The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything we need for, uh... well, killing things, basically.”
“Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns there?” Robin joked lightly. “Is that a grenade? | mean, how is any of this legal?”
“Well, lucky for us it is, so...” Eddie said. “This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks.”
“If we're trying to avoid angry hicks.” Erica sassed. “Maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone.”
“Normally, I'd agree.” Nancy's agreed. “But we need more than a couple nail bats. So I think it's worth the risk.”
“Me too.” You agreed.
“Yeah, but is it worth the time?” Dustin asked. “It'll take all day to bike there and back.”
“Who said anything about bikes?” Eddie said.
“What, you got some sort of car we don't know about?” Steve asked.
“It's not exactly a car, Steve.” Eddie smirked. “And it's not exactly mine, but, uh... it'll do.” Eddie whipped around to where Max was hanging back. “Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandana, something like that?”
Max thought about it for a moment before she shrugged and walked off to her room, emerging a minute later with a Michael Myers Halloween mask. She handed it over to Eddie and he slipped it on while you slipped on the backpack of weapons and you all slowly crept out of the trailer, being sure to stay low and out of sight as you followed Eddie to whatever vehicle he had in mind.
You slowly edged your way behind trailers and cars and quickly ran across the open lawn over to an RV. You all silently rounded around to the back side in order to avoid the couple sitting out front from seeing you.
Eddie reached up and opened the back window and then climbed through. Steve went next and then you passed him the backpack before following. Steve grabbed onto your hand and helped to lift you up and through as you had trouble getting enough strength to do it on your own, still exhausted from everything.
Once you had made it into the small space Steve helped to pull you off of the couch and quickly get you out of the way for the rest of the party to climb through.
You made your way to the front of the RV where Eddie was sitting in the driver’s seat holding a handful of wires and a pair of pliers. Steve came up behind you, half of his chest going flush with your back as you both watched Eddie work.
“Where’d you learn to do this?” Steve asked.
“Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name.”
“Hey, Eddie.” Robin whispered as she threw herself next to you, her side pressing against you and Steve. “I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving.”
“Oh, I'm just starting this sucker:” Eddie said. “Harrington's got her. Don't you, big boy?” Eddie joked and Steve just stared at him, dumbfounded.
Eddie tapped together the two open wires in his hands and the engine roared to life. The couple outside started screaming and ran up to the door, their fists pounding against the flimsy metal, but, luckily, Eddie had already locked the door.
Eddie flew out of the seat and ran off to the back of the RV as Steve jumped to take his place and grabbed the wheel. You threw yourself into the passenger seat as Robin quickly followed after Eddie into the back of the RV.
“Everybody, hang on to something!” Steve shouted.
“Drive, Steve!” Dustin shouted back. “Drive!”
Steve threw the RV into gear and slammed the pedal, knocking the couple and their table over in the process as you sped out of the trailer park and down the back roads of Hawkins.
Steve steadied out after a little while, slowing down to a normal pace once you had made it to the middle of nowhere. The silence in the RV was weirdly calming and you could feel your exhaustion starting to take over, so you leaned forward and turned the radio on, hoping the noise would wake you up a bit. It seemed to work, and then you suddenly felt eyes on you and turned to see Steve looking at you softly.
“How's it handle?” You asked.
“Not half bad.” Steve said. “Considering that this is a... house.” You smiled at him, but you could tell that Steve wanted to say something. “You know, l've never told you this, but I... I've actually, um... well, I've always had this dream that I'd have this really... really big family. I'm talking, like, uh, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids.”
“Six?” You laughed.
“Yeah.” Steve laughed. “Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. And... and every summer, l figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and... just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone.”
You smiled even wider. You liked the sound of Steve’s dream, of a big, happy family all driving across the country together, not quite sure where you’ll end up next, but enjoying the ride anyway.
“End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something.”
“That sounds nice.” You said softly, still smiling.
“Yeah?” Steve said quietly as he turned to you with those soft, doe eyes.
“Yeah.” You confirmed, and then thought about it for a moment. “But, uh, six kids?” You liked the sound of a house full of kids, in theory at least.
“Yeah, it's a lot.” Steve laughed and then gestured towards the back of the RV. “But at least we've had some practice.”
“That's fair.” You laughed. “I think if we can manage to handle them, then we can manage to handle a bunch of normal kids.”
“They better be normal.” Steve joked. “I’m not getting dragged into some life or death adventure again, I can tell you that.”
“You don’t like our adventures?” You asked sarcastically.
Steve laughed. “I think I’ve done enough running around fighting evil to last a lifetime.”
“Yeah.” You sighed. “Maybe a bit of peace wouldn’t be too bad.”
Steve glanced over at you again, still smiling widely as he just gazed at you in that way he tended to do when he was on the verge of sleep. He was studying you, taking in your features and committing them to memory. You studied him as well, the way his hair was still holding its form despite the water and dirt. You could still see his freckles and moles through the layer of grime. He looked perfect, just like he always did.
~~~~~
Steve pulled up to the War Zone about half an hour later and pulled around back to keep yourselves hidden. You, Steve, Nancy, Robin, Max, and Erica all went inside to grab the supplies while the others stayed behind in the RV. Erica pushed the doors open and you all froze for a moment. The store was crowded, overflowing with customers.
“So much for avoiding angry hicks.” Robin commented.
“Let’s be… fast.” Nancy said.
“Yep.” Robin agreed.
“Definitely.” Erica added.
You gave Steve a reassuring pat on the back before splitting off with Nancy to go check out the guns while him and Robin went to go find him some new clothes and shoes.
You picked up a couple of hunting knives on the way over to the gun counter before spotting a display of batteries. You walked over to them, still staying in Nancy’s sight. You weren’t sure why you went over, probably just the constant battery talk getting to your head.
You inspected the packages, the positive and negative ends, but there wasn’t any positive or negative end to you, you were just power. It was weird to even think about, that you were to Vecna what these tiny objects were to a flashlight. But with you there was no way to simply take you out and remove the power source.
“Hey, can I see this real pretty .357, please?” You whipped around to the voice and saw Jason standing at the counter. Nancy was only a few feet to his left, her eyes trained on the shotgun in her hands as she tried not to draw his attention.
“Sure thing.” The worker said as he grabbed the gun from the wall and handed it over to Jason. “Here you go, son.”
“Thank you.” Jason took the gun and inspected it for a moment before turning to Nancy who had her back turned to him. “Nancy Wheeler.” Nancy slowly turned around, a polite smile plastered on her face as Jason pointed the empty gun and shook it in her direction. “Wouldn't expect to find you here.”
Jason nodded and then glanced down at the shotgun in Nancy's hands. “Want my advice? Shotguns are not good for much of anything past killing small birds.” Jason slowly stalked towards her. “I mean, they got power, sure, but not much range. And that’s just gonna force you into close-range combat, and then someone can just grab that barrel like this…” Jason snatched the barrel of the gun and yanked it forward. “And redirect it.”
Nancy hardened her face for a moment and then her eyes flickered to you briefly. You gave a look in return, silently telling her that you were right there in case she needed you.
“Well, you look nervous.” Jason continued, hand still holding the barrel of the shotgun.
“Like I said.” Nancy said quietly. “Scary times.”
“Now, your brother, he, uh... he here with you, by chance?”
“Y/N?” Nancy said, and you sidled your way over to her, Jason’s eyes flickering to you for a second, hand still gripped tightly to the barrel of the gun, and you put yourself slightly in front of Nancy.
“No.” Jason shook his head and turned back to Nancy. “The other one.”
“Mike?”
“Mike.”
“No.” Nancy shook her head.
“I only ask because he's... he's in Hellfire, isn't he?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“What about his friends?” Jason asked and you squared your shoulders. “They here with you?”
“Would you let go?” Nancy whispered and Jason still didn't move. You felt anger wash over you, but you forced it down, to keep yourself from making a scene. “Let go.” Nancy said forcefully.
Jason held on for another moment, eyes flickering over to you, and you fixed in a with a stern glare. Nancy was fine, she was the toughest person you knew, but she was still your little sister, and if Jason didn’t step back in the next few seconds then you were gonna do something stupid.
Jason finally released his hold on the gun and stepped back, turning his attention onto the counter as he waved the worker back over. You grabbed Nancy’s arm and quickly pulled her away. You met back up with the others and hastily paid for the gear before rushing back out to the RV.
“What happened?” Lucas asked as you all bursted through the door.
“We gotta go.” Steve said.
“Your old friends are here.” Erica explained.
“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Dustin yelled.
“I’m going! I’m going!” Steve yelled back. “Sit down!”
Everyone rushed to their seats as Steve threw the RV into drive and pulled out of the War Zone parking lot as quickly as possible without drawing anymore attention to yourselves.
~~~~~
A little while later, you had arrived at an open field, all of you spreading out as you readied all of your weapons and gear. Max was over with Nancy, holding the shotgun for her as Nancy sawed off the barrel. Dustin and Eddie were hammering nails into some trash can lids to use as shields. And Lucas and Erica were off to the side tying the hunting knives onto sticks to create spears.
You, Steve, and Robin were sitting right outside the RV as the two of them got to work putting together Molotov cocktails. You were next to Steve, busy disassembling and cleaning Nancy’s guns for her, just like she had taught you.
“I mean, it just doesn't make sense.” Steve said.
“What doesn't make sense?” Robin asked.
“That was Dan Shelter.” Steve explained. “He graduated, like, two years ago.”
“So?”
“So he's in college. Which means he was visiting on spring break. Fast Times was returned, like, I don't know, a week ago? Right? Unless she's got some horndog brother that we don't know about. Which is possible. Or she's just, like, really into Judge Reinhold?”
“Steve.” Robin cut him off.
“What?”
“I don't care.” Robin shook her head. “And I don't understand why you do either with everything that's going on. Honestly, this feels like a perfect time for that little pull of the rug because... in the face of the world ending, the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low.”
“Yeah.” Steve said. “I mean, I guess, but... I still have hope.” Steve passed Robin the filled bottle and she put it aside with the others.
“Not everything has a happy ending.” Robin said.
“It does if you make it.” Steve smiled at her comfortingly. “I mean, did you think our whole relationship has been sunshine and rainbows?” He gestured over to you and Robin just fixed him with a look.
“It’s true.” You shrugged. “I mean, there was a lot of shit between us getting together and us staying together. Like his fight with Jonathan.”
Steve whipped around to you, a ‘seriously’ look on his face despite the fact that Robin already knew about the fight.
“Okay.” Robin said. “But you guys were together before that. Before the world was ending.”
“The world was already ending.” You pointed out. “We were looking for Will, remember? And fighting the Demogorgon. And then the next year there was Tommy being an asshole.”
“And then all of your headaches.” Steve added. “Before we knew what they really were.”
“Yeah.” You agreed. “I mean, I got mad at him about the constant worrying cause I thought it was just nothing. Turns out it was something, but the point is, we had fights and arguments and we fought monsters, and we still put focus on the two of us. The love didn’t disappear as we were trying to save the world.”
“Which means yours doesn’t have to either.” Steve said earnestly.
“Yeah, okay, but Vickie isn’t a part of this.” Robin argued.
“Neither was Steve at first.” You said. “The only reason he is, is because he showed up at the Byers house to apologize to Jonathan while we were waiting for the Demogorgon to show up.”
“Vickie isn’t gonna come running into the Upside Down to apologize.” Robin tried to argue again, but she smiled despite herself.
“Who knows?” Steve shrugged. “Maybe she’ll magically appear and release the final blow.”
Robin full on laughed at that, Steve’s joke doing its job and cheering her up. Even if Vickie didn’t just magically appear and save you all, you still had hope for Robin that that her feelings were reciprocated. You saw the way Vickie had laughed at Lucas’s game.
“Even if she doesn’t save us.” Robin said, laughter dying down as she began to get serious. “We better win, because… I just… I have this terrible, gnawing feeling that… it might not work out for us this time.”
“You think we shouldn’t be doing this?” Steve asked.
“I think we’re mad fools, the lot of us, but… but if we don’t stop him, who will? We have to try, right?”
“Yeah.” Steve said and held up his bottle. “To killing Vecna.”
Robin picked up a bottle. “Slash Henry.”
You picked up your own bottle. “Slash One.”
You all clinked your bottle together and the noise went straight to your head. It wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t a blinding, stabbing pain. It was more like a quick, sharp sting that hit you suddenly. And then you saw it, that grey beneath you, covering the grass. It was soft, you could feel it, and then it all disappeared, and you were back to normal.
You opened your mouth to tell Steve and Robin was happened, to warn them that Vecna was probably up to something, but the words died on your tongue. Who cared? You were heading off to kill him anyway. Him using his powers right now wasn’t at all surprising. And it wasn’t the pain like before, so it was probably nothing. Maybe.
You gripped tightly to the nail bat as you ran towards Steve, pushing your legs way past their breaking point, your adrenaline overtaking any sense of fatigue that was left. You could hear Eddie and the girls running up behind you as you closed in on Steve, because of course none of them would listen to you.
You skidded to a halt as you finally made it to Steve, drawing back on the nail bat at the same time and swinging forward with all of your strength. The bat-creature went flying into the air before slamming down and skidding across the ground, motionless.
“Hey there.” You said simply, too out of breath for more words as you swung the nail bat out again, sending the second bat chomping away on Steve flying through the air.
The other three ran up to you and Robin ran straight for Steve’s head, where the third bat was still choking him, and she stomped down on it.
“Quick!” Nancy shouted. “Hold it, Robin!”
Nancy reeled back with an oar and then started beating down on the bat with it as Robin continued to hold it in place, throwing out her own hits with the flashlight in her hand.
“Kill it! Kill it!” Eddie shouted as he gripped tightly to his own oar.
The loud screeching of another bat echoed through the air and you whipped around to see it heading straight towards you. You drew back your nail bat, prepared to swing out and knock the creature out of the sky, when Eddie beat you to it, his oar appearing in front of you and knocking the bat to the side as the girls continued beating on the bat on Steve’s neck.
“Nancy, behind you! Watch out!” Eddie yelled right as a bat landed on Nancy’s back and knocked her to her knees.
Robin quickly released her foot from the bat around Steve’s neck and grabbed onto the one on Nancy, trying to pry it off her. You wanted to reach out and help Nancy as well, to get that disgusting creature off of her, but there was still a bat choking Steve, and Robin was already helping Nancy.
You spun back around towards Steve, nail bat raised over your shoulder as you prepared to swing down at the bat around his neck when a loud screeching echoed from behind you. Before you could even turn to the noise something wrapped around your wrist and yanked it backwards, making you lose your grip on the bat and sending you stumbling backwards.
You craned your neck to the side and could see one of the bat creatures flapping around in the air above you, its tail wrapped tightly around your wrist as it continued to pull your arm taut. You still had the nail bat in your other hand and went to swing out at the bat holding you when a second bat came flying down from the opposite side, its tail shooting out and wrapping around your other wrist, pulling that arm to the other side and making the nail bat clatter to the ground.
The two creatures were holding your arms taut in the air above you, pulled in two opposite directions and causing your muscles to strain. The tension hurt like hell, and you grit your teeth at the pain. You had been in worse pain before, you could handle this. The damn headaches were worse than this. You just had to get these stupid bats to let go of you.
As you struggled to keep your feet planted on the ground you saw a bat heading straight for Eddie, but he saw it too, and he swung out, knocking the creature out of the air as his oar broke in half. Robin finally managed to rip the bat off of Nancy’s back and slammed it into the ground. Nancy scooped up her fallen oar and stabbed it straight through the bat’s face.
The bats holding you tightened their grip as the sound of their wings flapping filled the air around you. You could feel yourself loosing your footing, feet raising a bit and sliding uselessly against the ground as you tried to keep yourself still.
“Nance!” You called out, soles of your shoes scraping against the ground as you tried to lock yourself in place.
Nancy whipped around to you, eyes going wide as she saw what was happening and she bolted over, oar drawn back over her shoulder. She swung up and managed to knock one of the bats right in the head, causing it to loosen its grip slightly, but not entirely.
You then caught sight of Robin running up to you, her own weapon held over her shoulder. When she swung out, you saw that it was the nail bat, and it dug right into the other creature, causing it to screech in pain as it flapped up and away, the previous strain making your arm feel heavy and causing it to fall limp at your side.
Next to you on the ground Steve finally got the upper hand with the bat around his throat and bit down on its tail, managing to keep a hold of it as it tried to fly away. Another bat swooped down straight towards Robin, but she managed to spin around and swing out with the nail bat just in time, sending the creature skittering across the ground.
Another bat flew down and circled around for a moment before setting its sights on Eddie and heading straight for him. He turned around, watching it movements before jabbing out with his broken oar as the bat came in for the kill. He stabbed it straight through the face and jammed it down into the ground.
Nancy drew back on her oar again, face filled with rage, and she swung out again. The oar slammed right into the side of the bat’s head, dazing it and causing its grip on you to disappear. Your arm fell limp to your side along with the other one as Nancy swung out at the bat again, knocking it into the ground before stabbing it through the face.
Beside you, Steve was on his feet, his bat held in his hand as he threw it around, slamming it back and forth on the ground. The bat was weakened now, and Steve planted his foot on it and ripped it in half before tossing its tail to the side, blood dripping from his mouth.
“Jesus Christ.” Eddie breathed. “Jesus H. Christ!”
You quickly rushed over to Steve, your arms a bit tingly and weighted from the earlier strain, but you pushed your pain aside as you finally took in the damage on Steve. He had multiple bite marks on his stomach, all of them oozing and bleeding slightly, and a nasty red mark around his neck. You gently touched around the wounded areas, inspecting to see if any of it was life threatening. Luckily, he was fine. For now.
“Steve.” You said shakily. “Are you okay?”
“Well.” Steve glanced down at his wounds. “They took about a pound of flesh. But other than that, yeah, never better.” He looked back up at you, a sad, pained smile on his face. He was trying to reassure you, and he knew it wasn’t going to work.
“Uh, do you guys think that these bats have, like, rabies?” Robin asked shakily.
“What?” Steve asked incredulously as all of your heads turned to her.
“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear.” Robin rambled. “And I think that we should probably get you to a doctor, like, really soon because once the symptoms set in, it’s too late. You’re already, like, dead.”
You all just stared at her for another moment when you realized that she was still holding your nail bat. You reached forward and motioned for her to hand it over. As you took your weapon back from Robin you felt as Steve pulled the other nail bat out of the backpack you had on.
Screeching suddenly sounded in the distance and you all whipped around to see a hoard of bats heading straight for you. You all huddled up quickly, you and Steve holding the nail bats at the ready. But the bats didn’t attack, they just landed in front of the gate, encircling it. Guarding it.
“All right.” Steve said. “There’s not that many. We can take them. Right?”
More screeching echoed from the distance and you looked up to see a whole swarm of bats starting to make its way over to you.
“You were saying?” Robin said.
“The woods.” Nancy announced. “Come on.” She grabbed your arm and started dragging you along as she took off towards the woods, the other three quickly following behind.
You all ran as far and as fast as you could, trying to put as much distance between yourselves and the bats as possible as you jumped over vines and fallen tree limbs, being careful not to disturb the hive mind as you went. Your adrenaline was beginning to fade and the fatigue started to settle in again. But you couldn’t let yourself stop, you had to keep going. Finally, you saw Skull Rock up ahead and you all quickly huddled beneath it to get out of sight as the bats flew by and away over your heads.
“Okay.” Robin said shakily as you all stood up from your crouched positions. “That was close.”
“Yeah.” Eddie agreed. “Too close.”
“Oh, shit.” Steve whispered as his body leaned to the side and he fell against the rock.
“Steve?” You called out and ran over to him.
“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Steve lied.
“You’re not fine.” You said sternly. “You’re losing blood.”
You grabbed the nail bat from Steve and dropped it and your own on the ground before grabbing Steve’s shoulders and gently guiding him to the ground. He grunted in pain as he removed his hand from the oozing the wounds, the sound breaking your heart. You looked around for something to wrap his stomach with, but there was nothing.
“Hold on.” Nancy said, tearing off a piece of fabric from her shirt as Robin knelt down beside you.
“Uh, so the good news is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies.” Robin said. “But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive, like you wanna punch me or something then you should totally let me know, okay?”
“Robin.” Steve cut her off.
“Yeah?”
“I kinda wanna punch you.”
Robin laughed uneasily. “Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.”
Robin nervously wrung her hands out in front of herself as she stood up and walked away. Nancy held out the piece of fabric she had torn from her shirt and passed it over to you.
“Ready?” You asked Steve.
“Yeah.” Steve groaned. “Just do it.”
You pushed the fabric against his stomach and wrapped it around his middle, crossing it behind his back as you pulled it tight. Steve whimpered at the pain, and the sound broke your heart even more, but the wounds needed pressure. You brought the fabric back around to the front and securely tied it off.
“Thanks.” Steve whispered and you looked up at him with a soft, pained smile, mirroring his one from earlier. His eyes drifted down and landed on your wrists, on the two large red marks encircling them. “You okay?” He asked as he gently took your hands in his, inspecting the damage.
“I’ll live.” You smiled, but Steve just frowned. Even with him bleeding out in front of you he was still worried about a little bruise on you.
“So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” Eddie called out and you turned to see him standing on top of one of the boulders.
“Pretty much.” Nancy said.
You grabbed Steve’s arms and helped him to stand up, leaning him back against the rock again. Eddie started making his way back down the boulder when Nancy hastily stopped him.
“Wait.” Nancy called out. “Watch out for the vines. It’s all a hive mind.”
“It’s all a what?” Eddie asked.
“All the creepy crawlies around here, dude.” Steve explained. “They’re, like, one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.”
“Shit.” Eddie nodded and proceeded to carefully maneuver himself around the vines and off of the boulder.
“Wait, so everything from our world is still here, right?” Robin asked. “Except people, obviously.”
“As far as I understand it, yeah.” You said.
“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.”
“I mean, yeah.” Steve said slowly. “But I highly doubt that the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But, I mean, guns, yeah, sure.”
“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns.” Nancy announced. “I have guns in my bedroom.”
“You, Nancy Wheeler.” Eddie said slowly, in disbelief. “Have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”
“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin said.
“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” Nancy stated plainly.
“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.” Steve muttered.
“You almost deserved it.” Nancy joked and you laughed a little as you remembered that incident, how you had grabbed the nail bat and joined Nancy in threatening Steve to leave.
Steve looked over at you, his own genuine smile on his face now when he suddenly stumbled a step back as something hit his chest. Steve caught the item just in time and you saw that it was Eddie’s denim vest.
“For your modesty, dude.” Eddie said.
Steve was just about to put the vest on when the world started violently shaking, an earthquake ripping through the ground. Steve threw out his arm and pulled you into his chest as he steadied himself against the rock with his other hand.
You reached out for Nancy and managed to wrap an arm around her back, catching her before she could fall over and pulling her into your side. In front of you, Robin went stumbling backwards and knocked right into Eddie, the two of them falling to the ground on top of each other.
You all gripped tightly to each other as the shaking continued for a few more seconds before finally stopping, and you could hear monsters screeching and growling off in the distance.
“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.” Eddie announced, freaked out.
“Yeah, me too.” Robin agreed.
“So what are we waiting for?” Steve asked as you released Nancy from your hold and Steve released you from his.
Steve slipped Eddie’s vest on as you picked up the nail bats from the ground, handing one to Steve and keeping the other for yourself. He threw the nail bat over his shoulder, grabbed your hand, and took off into the woods.
~~~~~
You had been walking through the woods for about an hour and there was still no sign of your house. You practically had to rip your hand from Steve’s grip as you had picked up your pace a bit, him still lagging behind. He only let you go because you were going ahead to walk with Nancy. If you weren’t, you were sure that Steve would’ve never let you go.
“Couldn’t we have tried a road?” Robin asked. “Or something just slightly less creepy?”
“I think we’re getting close.” Nancy said. “We’re almost out of here. Don’t worry.”
“We better be.” You sighed. “Cause I’m getting tired again.”
“I still don’t get it.” Robin announced.
“What?” You and Nancy asked in unison.
“The battery thing.” Robin explained. “I don’t get it. I mean, why you? What’s so special about you? Why wasn’t it Nancy? Why wasn’t it literally, like, anybody else in this town?”
“There has to be something about you that piqued Vecna’s interest.” Nancy said, that inquisitive tone to her voice.
“You said you had cancer, right?” Robin suddenly announced, causing you and Nancy to both give her a weird look, but you allowed her to continue anyway. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, like, make you feel bad or anything. I just mean that, like, you said it was brain cancer, right? What if that’s it? What if that’s why Vecna chose you?”
“But it was cancer.” You pointed out. “How would cancer make me a good battery?”
“Trauma.” Nancy stated, eyes going wide as she started to put the pieces together. “Some people get tougher due to trauma. Maybe your energy or brain or whatever it is exactly that Vecna’s draining, got stronger because of the cancer.”
“From the frying pain into the fire.” You said distantly, your stride slowing a bit. You went through a year of hell just to get thrown right back into it. It was bullshit.
“You’ll be fine.” Nancy reassured, slowing her own steps to match your pace and bump her shoulder into yours.
“Yeah.” Robin agreed, slowing down to join the two of you. “Cause now we know how Vecna’s using you, and we know why. All we need to do now is figure out how to stop him.”
“Oh, is that it?” You sassed.
“Well, it’s one step closer than we were this morning.” Nancy provided hopefully. “And if you survived the first time, then you’ll survive this time.”
“Besides.” Robin smiled. “Vecna’s not just gonna drain his battery in one simple go. If you really are the way he’s able to be so strong then he’s gonna want to keep you around for as long as possible. If he still has more planned than this curse then he’s gonna need his jump start.”
You and Nancy both turned and scrunched your brows at the weird metaphor when the world started shaking again. Robin quickly grabbed onto you for her own support, both arms hugging yours as Nancy grabbed your other, steadying the three of you against a tree.
“Okay.” Robin said shakily. “Second on my list of least favorite things, earthquakes. Seriously, I’m unsteady enough as it is.”
The world continued shaking when Nancy suddenly let go of you and started walking away, leaving you to reach out to the nearest tree as Robin continued to grip tightly to you.
“Nance!” You called out after her as you pushed yourself off the tree and followed after her, dragging Robin along as she clung to you.
“Where are you going?” Robin shouted after Nancy. “Nancy!”
Right as Nancy stopped walking the world stopped shaking. You stepped up next to her as Steve and Eddie came up behind you, Robin finally releasing you from her hold now that the world wasn’t trying to knock her off her feet. You recognized the area now and when you followed Nancy’s line of sight you could see your house off in the distance.
“Come on.” Nancy said determinedly and took off down the road, the rest of you following.
As you crossed the street over to your house you felt Steve appear beside you, his warmth hitting you before he even grabbed your hand. You looked over and he just smiled at you. An easy, dopey grin that didn’t fit your situation at all, but eased your frayed nerves anyway.
“Thanks for saving me.” Steve said shyly, a blush forming under the grime on his face.
“You kinda saved yourself.” You shrugged.
“Only after you got those bats to stop eating away at me.” Steve pointed out, and then he leaned in a bit, voice going soft as he whispered. “Thanks for coming after me.”
You gripped tightly to his hand and pushed your arm against his. “You would’ve done the same for me.”
“Well, no shit.” Steve laughed lightly. “I’d never leave you. I promised you that. Even without the promise, I still wouldn’t leave you.”
“Always such a sap.” You joked.
“Always terrible at taking compliments.” Steve shot back playfully. “You’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re a total badass. And you’re mine.”
“It feels more like you’re mine.” You laughed. “You’re very clingy, Harrington.”
“It’s just cause I love you, Wheeler.” Steve smiled at you, wide and full of love and showing off his adorable dimples.
You finally made it to your house and stepped up to the front porch as Nancy slowly pushed the front door open. The entire place was covered in vines and a slimy film. It looked exactly like your house, but also the exact opposite. None of the warmth was there, none of the happy memories. The place was just filled with death and decay.
“Might be time to get a maid, Wheelers.” Robin joked lightly.
“Come on.” Nancy said. “I don’t want to stay here longer than we have to.”
You all started following Nancy up the stairs when you saw Steve suddenly stop. He looked at you, like he expected you to know something, like he expected you to hear what he was hearing. You strained your ears against the silence, and then you heard it. It soft, faint, a bit echoey and distorted, but it was Dustin. It was Dustin’s voice.
“Dustin!” Steve shouted as the two of you raced back down the stairs, your fatigue forgotten once more as your excitement took over. If you could just get Dustin’s attention then he would know how to get you home. “Dustin!”
“Dustin!” You tried calling out. “Dustin!”
“Dustin!” Steve yelled, eyes wide as he spun around. “Dustin! Can you hear me?! Dustin! Hello?! Hello?!”
“What are you doing?” Nancy hissed and you whipped around, a big smile on your face as you saw her, Robin, and Eddie standing in the doorway watching Steve spin around the room. “Steve, what are you doing?”
Steve spun around and shined the flashlight right in their faces. “He’s here.” He said happily. “Henderson. That little shit, he’s here. He’s like… he’s in the walls or something. Just listen.” They all went silent as they strained their ears, and then recognition dawned on their faces. “Dustin. Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear me?”
You all started shouting Dustin’s name as you searched around the house, Eddie even pulling back the curtain to see if he was hiding behind it. Dustin had to hear you, he had to. You had heard Nancy when she went through that tree. If you could just get Dustin’s attention then you’d finally have a way out of here.
“All right.” Steve sighed. “Either this kid can’t hear us or he’s being a total douchebag.”
“I heard Nance when she went through that tree.” You pointed out. “Did you hear me?”
“Not really.” Nancy shrugged, and then a knowing look crossed her face. “But Will found a way.”
“What?” Steve asked.
“Will.” Nancy repeated. “He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights.” Nancy walked over to the lamp and clicked the switch, but nothing happened.
“The switch.” You said and pointed at the wall. “Try the switch.”
Nancy flicked the switch on the wall up and down, but, again, nothing happened. “It’s not working.” She complained.
You turned around, trying to figure out another way to get the lights to work when you saw Steve pointing his flashlight at the chandelier, a glowing gold dust sparkling in the air around the bulbs.
“Guys?” Steve called out. “You seeing this?”
Everyone’s heads turned towards the light as you stepped forward, raising one arm and swiping your hand through the golden glow. It swirled around at your movement, light and airy and tickling at your skin slightly. Everyone else walked over and slowly raised their hands to the light.
“It… tickles.” Steve said.
“It kinda feels good.” Robin laughed.
“Does anyone know Morse code?” Nancy asked.
“No.” You all said.
“Wait, does SOS count?” Eddie asked. “Is that… is that good?”
“Yeah.” Nancy nodded. “That works.”
You all lowered your hands from the light and stepped back to give Eddie some room as he tapped out SOS. You hoped this would work, you needed this to work. Dustin would see your message and understand that it was the five of you who were sending it and that you needed help. He was too smart not to notice.
After a few tries Dustin finally saw your message and he got to work on a plan.
~~~~~
You were all huddled up on the floor beside Nancy’s bed, waiting for Dustin to turn the lights to Holly’s Lite Brite on. He said the glow should stay and that you would be able to write with it.
“Come on.” Steve muttered. “Come on.”
A few seconds later a golden, slightly sparkling glow appeared above the bed.
You guys seeing this? Dustin’s voice echoed through the room.
Nancy reached out and began swirling her hand around and the light started glowing with her movement. You heard Dustin’s excited laughter echoing throughout the room and the sound instantly put a smile on your face.
We’re not moving it, but we’re gonna unplug it. Stand by. The bright glow disappeared, but the faint gold was still present. Try it now.
Nancy thought for a moment before slowly tracing a ‘HI’ into the glow.
That worked!
You all laughed happily, relieved to finally have a real way to communicate. You wrapped one arm around Steve’s shoulders as he wrapped an arm around your middle, and the two of you pulled yourselves into each other, too giddy with excitement to contain yourselves.
“Okay.” Nancy said. “Um…” She slowly traced out a ‘STU’ before running out of room and then tracing ‘CK,’ combining to say ‘STUCK.’
You can’t get back through Watergate?
“What the hell’s Watergate?” Steve asked.
“Cause it’s in the water and it’s a gate.” Robin explained slowly.
“Oh.” You, Steve, and Nancy said.
“That’s cute.” Eddie commented.
“Um, no.” Nancy said to herself. “It’s…” She thought for a moment before tracing ‘GUARD’ and then ‘DED,’ spelling ‘GUARDED.’
“Perfect.” Steve said as Eddie clapped in approval. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
We think we have a theory that can help with that.
“Genius child.” Robin whispered.
We think Watergate isn’t the only gate. That there’s a gate at every murder site.
“Does anybody understand what he’s talking about?” Nancy asked.
“No.” You all said.
Nancy traced a question mark.
Seriously? How many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys just trust me?
“Jesus Christ.” Steve said. “This kid’s gotta get his ego in check.”
“It’s his tone.” Eddie leaned forward and looked over. “Right?”
“I know.” Steve agreed.
“It used to be cute.” You commented absently.
“Okay.” Nancy said. “So how far is your trailer?”
“Seven miles.” Eddie said.
“Wheelers?” Robin chimed in. “I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven’t you guys always had bikes?”
“Yeah.” Nancy said happily. “Yeah, we have bikes.”
~~~~~
You all turned the corner and glided into the trailer park. You were sitting on the back of Steve’s bike, arms wrapped around his middle. He insisted that he peddle so that you could try and regain some of your lost energy. Not like there were enough bikes for all of you anyway. But it was a sweet gesture.
You all pulled to a stop in front of Eddie’s trailer and dismounted the bikes, tossing them haphazardly into a pile on the ground.
“That’s gotta be a Guinness World record.” Robin said, out of breath. “Most miles travelled interdimensionally.”
Steve coughed. “Just inhaled a bunch of that crap.” He coughed again, and your hand quickly flew to his back. “It’s stuck in my throat.”
Eddie opened the trailer door and you all followed him inside, but you froze when you saw the red, glowing gate in the middle of the ceiling.
“Goddamn.” Steve whispered.
“This is where Chrissy died.” Eddie said. “Like, right where she died.”
“I think there’s something in there.” Robin said.
A shadow crossed behind the film and then it started pushing against it. You gripped tightly to your nail bat, getting ready in case something jumped out at you.
“What the hell is that?” Eddie asked.
The film suddenly burst open and Robin yelped out in terror. You grabbed her and yanked her backwards as you readied your bat, Steve doing the same beside you.
You all cautiously took a step towards the gate and looked up at it or, rather, down at it. You were looking down at the living room of Eddie’s trailer, everything on the other side upside down.
“No way.” Steve breathed.
Standing on the other side of the gate, safe and sound in normal Hawkins, was Dustin, Lucas, Max, and even Erica. Dustin laughed happily as he saw you all approach.
“Hi there.” Dustin waved.
“Hi.” You all waved back at him, letting out your own shaky laughs.
“Holy shit, this is trippy.” Robin said in awe.
Dustin laughed excitedly. “Bada-bada-boom!” He exclaimed.
The kids then ran off to configure you all a way to climb through the gate. Lucas and Max dragged over Eddie’s stained mattress and placed it right under the gate while Dustin and Erica got to work tying together as many sheets as they could find in order to make a rope.
“Those stains are, uh…” Eddie said as you all stared at the mattress. “I don’t know what those stains are.”
Dustin walked over to the gate, the rope of sheets in hand, and he tossed one end through. It fell down from the ceiling and held there, suspended in between worlds.
“All right, pull on it!” Dustin shouted. “See if it holds!”
Robin stepped forward and grabbed the sheets, tugging on them, but they didn’t move. You all laughed excitedly. You were finally about to get out of there and breathe some fresh air.
“Guess I’m the guinea pig.” Robin said and grabbed a hold of the sheets again, hoisting herself up. She struggled a bit as she climbed through and dropped down backwards on the other side. “Oh, thank god.” Robin breathed. “That was fun.”
The rest of you glanced at each other, trying to decide who should go next.
“All right, I guess I’ll go.” Eddie shrugged and grabbed the sheets, climbing through and landing backwards on the mattress. “That was fun.” Eddie said excitedly and hurried out of the way.
You motioned Nancy forward next, and she had a much easier time climbing than the other two, and landing much more gracefully as well.
Steve glanced over at you, silently telling you to go next. You didn’t want to, you didn’t want to leave him alone in here. But you knew arguing was futile, Steve wouldn’t budge, and you were still too fatigued to get stuck in the Upside Down alone.
Steve grabbed your hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he smiled. “See you on the other side.”
You smiled back at him. “On the other side.”
You handed Steve your nail bat and stepped forward and grabbed the sheets, pulling yourself up towards the gate. You weren’t a terrible climber, but your drowsiness wasn’t doing you any favors, and you were having a bit of trouble pulling yourself up. But you managed to do it, and you passed through, and then you suddenly felt all of your blood rushing to your head and you lost your grip on the sheets.
You fell backwards. And then you kept on falling; down, down, down. The world turned into a black, never ending void as you continued falling and falling and falling. And then you crashed down into a hard surface.
You groaned out in pain, slowly pushing yourself to your feet. Your entire body was aching and you saw walls all around you, covered in vines. Thunder rumbled and the sky flashed red. You were back in the Upside Down. But how? And why?
You glanced around, trying to figure out where exactly you were, when you finally realized. You were standing in Steve’s pool. It was empty, save for the vines, and… oh, god. Over in the corner, wrapped up in vines, was Barb.
Do you remember what you did? Vecna’s voice blasted through your mind. Or have you already forgotten? You spun around, trying to find the source of the voice, but nobody was there. When I kill someone… I never forget.
Blood started pouring from the drains, quickly filling up the empty pool. You spotted the ladder on the other side and rushed over to it, climbing up as fast as you could, your heart hammering in your ears and your body still aching and sluggish.
When you emerged on the other side you found yourself in a weird red world, standing on top of a flight of stairs. You recognized it from Max’s drawings. You were in Vecna’s mind.
A clocked chimed next to you and you cautiously descended the stairs.
I see you’ve been looking for me. You’ve always been so close. So close to the truth. How was Nancy’s visit with old, blind, dumb Victor? Did he miss me? I’ve been meaning to check back in, but I’ve been busy.
You looked over and saw Chrissy’s distorted body, limbs and jaw all bend and twisted and her eyes just empty sockets, wrapped up in vines and stood up on a spire. Like she was on display.
So very busy.
You looked over at the door, the one with the stained glass rose. The door that belonged to the Creel house. The red world slowly faded away and turned into the house itself. Clean and new. The front door opened and a family walked inside, all dressed in 1950s clothing.
“What’d I tell you?” The father, young Victor, said.
“Wow.” The wife said.
Two little kids walked into the house, a boy and a girl. Brother and sister.
“This is amazing.” The girl mused. “It looks like a fairytale. A dream.” She took off towards the stairs and ran up them. She reminded you of Nancy when you were kids, when she would have you play house or dress up with her.
“Alice, no running.” The mother chided.
“It’s so big!” Alice called back.
Victor wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her into his side. “This is nice.”
The boy just stood back, his head hung low and a sad look on his face. It looked like he had no interest in being here.
The boy started walking out of the foyer and you began to follow after him when you caught sight of a light flickering down in the hallway.
You could see through a crack in one of the doors and saw the boy, dressed in different clothes and kneeling down next to a vent on the floor. He removed the grate and held his hand out. When he removed it there was a large black spider crawling along the back of his hand.
Footsteps echoed from behind you and you whipped around to see the boy again, this time running towards the door to the attic.
You followed him again, bounding up the stairs behind him and saw him sitting down on the floor. There were multiple glass jars littering the table in front of him, all full of spiders. In his lap was a notebook where he was drawing a black widow.
You slowly backed out of the attic and went back downstairs to the foyer. The boy was there again, and you watched as he stepped up to the grandfather clock in the corner and stared up at it. The boy then closed his eyes and the hands on the clock started spinning backwards.
You heard a pained screeching from behind you and turned around to see where and who the noise was coming from when the world changed in an instant, and you were now standing in the backyard.
The screeching from coming from a rabbit, who had its leg caught in a snare. The boy walked over to it, his face devoid of all emotion. He knelt down and held his hand out towards the rabbit. It started screeching in pain and you could hear the echo of its bones snapping. And then it was dead.
You ran back towards the house, throwing the door open and rushing inside, and you found yourself back in the foyer. You heard the crackling of a fire and the cries of a baby and when you looked over you saw Victor sitting in the living room, eyes trained on the fireplace where a cradle burned, engulfed in flames as a baby cried out.
You went to back away, to try and find a way out of this seemingly labyrinth of memories, when you heard music playing softly. You took a deep breath and followed it into the dining room where the family was all sat around the table eating dinner.
The radio on the mantle suddenly cut out and Victor stood up and went over to check it out. The boy, still seated at the table, looked over at his mother, emotionless, and closed his eyes.
The lights in the house began to flicker violently, and then the mother shot up into the air, her limbs pulled back taut by an invisible force before they snapped, one by one, and her eyes were sucked inwards. And then her body fell from the air, slamming down into the table.
The boy just watched on, blood trickling from his nose as Alice screamed in horror. He wiped away the blood as Victor pulled him out of his chair and ran for the front door.
By the time you had followed them to the door Alice was already lying on the floor, eyes gone and body disfigured. Victor was staring at the door, immobile as the boy had his eyes closed, eyes flickering around beneath his lids as blood trickled from his nose again.
And then the boy collapsed, dropping to the floor, unconscious. Victor snapped out of his trance and ran over to him, picking him up into his arms.
You ran for the front door and yanked it open, trying to find some sort of escape, but when you stepped through you found yourself standing in Hawkins lab.
You were standing in a room, the boy, dressed in a hospital gown, sat in a padded chair, his arms bound so he couldn’t move. Next to him was Brenner, a younger version of him as he tattooed something on the boy’s wrist, the ominous buzzing filling the air.
Brenner put down the needle and wiped away at the boy’s wrist, revealing a ‘001.’ “All done. Not so bad, was it? See? There’s nothing to be afraid of. Is there, Y/N?”
You took a cautious step back as Brenner turned his attention onto you, his eyes blue and vacant.
Why don’t you take a seat? Vecna’s voice said through Brenner’s mouth.
You turned and ran out of the room, finding yourself in a tiled hallway. There were dead soldiers and orderlies laying everywhere, blood splattered along the walls and floors. It was a massacre.
You started running. You ran as fast as you possibly could. You had to find a way out of there, an escape. You just wanted to wake up and see your mom. You wanted to see Nancy and Mike, wherever he was right now. You wanted to see Robin and Dustin. You wanted Steve.
You skidded to a halt as you came up to a dead end, a set of double doors barricaded shut by wooden planks. You reached forward and grabbed one, yanking it as hard as you could and successfully pulling it free and you threw it to the floor.
Y/N. Vecna’s voice called out and you heard footsteps approaching you from behind. You glanced behind you to see a fleshy, vine covered body walking towards you. Vecna. What are you doing? It’s not time for you to leave.
You turned back around and started yanking at the wooden planks again. You managed to get another one loose, and then another.
Now you’ve seen where I’ve been… I would like very much to show you where I’m going.
You ignored him and yanked the last plank of wood free and bursted through the doors. But you found yourself back in the first room, Brenner standing in the corner, eyes still blue and vacant.
Take a seat, Y/N. Vecna’s voice said through Brenner.
The lights suddenly shut off, plunging the room into complete darkness. When they turned back on you found yourself in the tattoo chair, arms and legs wrapped up and bound by vines.
You struggled against their hold, desperately trying to pull yourself free, but their grip was too strong, and they refused to budge. You then saw someone standing in the corner. You looked over and froze when you saw Vecna staring at you.
Vecna stalked forwards, heading straight towards you as he breathed heavily, and you quickly went back to trying to free yourself from the vines. Vecna came up right in front of you, leaning down so you were at eye level.
I want you to tell Eleven. His clawed hand came up to the side of your face, hovering just inches away in the air. I want you to tell her everything you see.
He turned his hand until the palm was facing you, claws baring down on you but not touching, and your head was yanked back by an invisible force.
Images of the Creel house flashed through your mind. A gate, opening, ripping the house in two. Eddie’s trailer. The gate there ripping it open, destroying it. A grandfather clock. It chimed. The road where Fred was killed. The center of town. Gates opening up and swallowing everything whole.
Tell her…
“No!” You screamed.
Everything.
Images of your mom, of Nancy, of Mike, all dead, all bleeding out. Steve, chest ripped to shreds. Monsters. Monsters everywhere. The whole town on fire. Robin and Dustin, dead. Lucas, Max, Erica, Eddie. Everyone was dead. Everyone except for you. Everyone except for you and Holly.
The images finally stopped and you found yourself standing upright again. But you weren’t in the lab anymore, you were in the hospital, in an operating room, the table covered in blood and surgical tools strewn about the place. It was your operating room, the night you were rushed to the hospital. You didn’t know how you knew, probably Vecna putting that information into your head.
“This is why I chose you.” A voice said, one that didn’t sound like Vecna, and you turned around to see a man standing behind you. He had blonde hair and was dressed in an old three piece suit. It was the same man from Holly’s drawings. It was Henry. “Your mind is strong.” He mused as he stalked forwards and you quickly stepped back to get away from him. “You should’ve died that night. I saw it, all of it.” He smiled, but the look was more sinister than caring. “It was a miracle.”
A miracle? You supposed it was a miracle. You were in critical condition, way past the point of critical. But what did he mean by miracle?
“Did you save me?” You asked cautiously.
“No.” Henry drawled out, taking another step forwards as you took another step back. “You saved yourself. Those doctors didn’t know what they were doing. Your heart stopped three times.”
Three times? Your heart stopped three times? You were dead three separate times as they were operating on you? Why didn’t you know about that? Did your mom know? Did Nancy and Mike know? Why wouldn’t they tell you?
“They didn’t want to worry you.” Henry crooned, and you felt your heart drop. He knew exactly what you were thinking. He was in your head, he was in everyone’s heads. He saw everything. “You were just dead weight. Couldn’t even use the bathroom without your mother’s help.” He frowned, a vain attempt at sympathy, and then he smiled again. “But look at you now.”
“What about Holly?” You demanded, taking a step forward, squaring your shoulders. “Why are you in her head?”
“Holly?” Henry repeated, and then he went quiet.
“Why are you in her head?” You demanded again, but Henry just smiled at you. “You asshole! Why are you in her head?!”
You rushed forward, your anger overtaking any of your previous fear as you were prepared to take Henry on one on one. But the moment you got within hitting distance your body suddenly went flying backwards.
The world flashed to black as you continued flying backwards. And then the world snapped back into focus and you were back in Eddie’s trailer in the Upside Down. Steve was standing in front of you, his hands gripping desperately to your shoulders as he stared at you with terrified, tear filled eyes.
You fell to your knees, too exhausted and too confused to keep yourself upright. Steve followed you right down, his hands never leaving you as he pulled you into his chest. His arms wrapped around you, one hand rubbing your back soothingly as the other cradled your head, shielding you from the world. You wrapped your arms around his middle, gripping tightly to the denim vest as you buried your face into the crook of his neck.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Steve whispered against your ear. “You’re safe. You’re safe. I’m right here. I’m still right here.”
You let yourself cry, not even caring that the rest of the party was surely seeing the entire display. You were too exhausted to keep up the stoic act for them anymore. Henry was using you, had been since the very beginning. And he was in Holly’s head, too. And you didn’t even know why.
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The chapter is written. I’m giving my eyes a quick break and then I just have to edit it. And then it’ll be posted! I can’t believe that this story will be over in a week! Only four chapters to go! Crazy!
I’m not gonna be able to get the next chapter out until tomorrow cause I had a late start today and it’s such a long chapter lol. I always forget just how long The Massacre at Hawkins Lab is. I think it might be the longest chapter of the entire story lol. Anyway, it’ll be out tomorrow!
Steve was basically half dragging you down the driveway that night, his arm wrapped securely around your waist and your own laying limp over his shoulders. You felt completely out of it, eyes heavy and movements scattered like you had been up for over forty-eight hours.
“Almost there.” Steve reassured as he carefully maneuvered you up the front steps.
Steve pulled out his key and began unlocking the door and you let your head fall against his shoulder, too tired to even try and keep it held upright anymore. Your entire body was aching, your head throbbing. You just wanted to lay down and forget about all of the pain, to go back to a week ago when you were all happy and healthy and there was no interdimensional serial killer on the loose. You just wanted this to be over.
Steve closed the front door with his free hand and then fixed you with a soft, understanding look before reaching down and scooping you up into his arms. He didn’t say anything, just held you close to him as he walked you up the stairs and into your bedroom. But you could tell he was freaking out, that he was completely and utterly worried sick right now.
Steve gingerly laid you down on the bed, still not saying anything as he started untying your shoes and slipping them off. He was completely focused on the action, trying to keep his attention on you, but not on your delirious face. You could tell he was starting to crumble.
“Steve?” You called out quietly, voice a bit hoarse.
Steve instantly froze in his spot, one hand still on your foot and the other holding your shoe midair. You slowly reached a hand out towards him, too tired to say anything else, but needing him to know that you were okay. Steve got the message, and he placed your shoe on the floor, kicked off his own, and climbed into bed beside you.
“I’m sorry.” Steve whispered as he helped you turn over to lay on top of him.
“No.” You whispered back. “M’ fine.”
“No.” Steve insisted quietly. “No, you’re not fine. None of this is fine.” The tears started falling before you could stop it. The pain and confusion of the past few years barreling down on top of you in one night. “Hey. Hey.” Steve called out gently, his hand rubbing up and down your back soothingly. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what to do.” You confessed, the words coming out more like a broken sob.
Steve pressed a kiss to your head. “What do you mean?”
“The pain.” You cried, squeezing Steve as tightly as you could with your weakened muscles. “I just… I just want it to stop. It hurts so much. It’s always hurting. I just want it to go away.” You turned your head and buried your face in his chest. “I’m scared.”
“I know. I know. I’m scared, too.” Steve whispered soothingly, squeezing you just a bit tighter so that all you could feel was him. And then his hand found yours and he began to fiddle with your fingers, the restless movement grounding you more than anything else could. “But I swear to you that we are going to figure this out. We’re gonna kill Vecna, all right? We’re gonna kill him and fix you. I’m not gonna let anything take you away from me, okay? I promise.”
Steve continued to hold you as you cried yourself to sleep, his grip on you never faltering for even a second. You didn’t know if he was gonna be able to keep his promise, but you did know that he was going to do whatever possible to make it happen.
~~~~~
Nancy picked you all up the next day and you were stuck in the trunk of the car with Steve and Dustin. You had a backpack with your and Steve’s nail bats inside, nail side down as to avoid obvious suspicion. You guys weren’t gonna take any chances anymore. Who knew when some Demogorgon or Demo-dog might come ripping its way through a wall.
Steve and you were pressed up against each other, everyone still freaked out over what happened last night. You were still worse for wear, but you pushed yourself through it, chugging down two cups of coffee that morning that didn’t do much besides bring your reaction time back to normal levels.
You had some bags of food for Eddie that Steve and Dustin were munching away on, Steve more so out of anxiety and Dustin more so out of actual hunger. They were going through the bag so fast that you were pretty sure there wasn’t gonna be any food left for Eddie by the time you got to him.
“Not to be a wimp.” Robin suddenly announced. “But can I maybe sit in the car for this visit? Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck.”
“It’ll be fine.” Nancy stumbled over her words.
“I just can’t stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie’s break again.” Robin said. “I really, really can’t.”
“At least he can drink himself into feeling better.” Steve said halfheartedly through a mouthful of chips as he held up the six pack.
“That’s what my mom does.” Max muttered.
“Why don't we just give it a trial run?” Robin announced nervously. “Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six pack that you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna.” She started rambling on. “Only, the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about and the gate's closed, so we have no way of getting to him. Like, he's entirely shut off to us so basically you're screwed. And, no, no, I know that you're already screwed, but now you're doubly triply screwed.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” Lucas cut off. “Maybe we don't put it like that.”
“We're one step closer to finding Vecna.” Nancy said. “That's what we say. That's what's important.”
“See, Robin?” Steve announced as he tapped Dustin's arm with a chip. “A positive spin can make all the difference.”
“Uh-huh.” Robin sassed.
“Oh shit.” Nancy breathed out.
You turned your attention towards the front of the car as you pulled up to Reefer Rick’s house and could see cops and reporters all swarming the area. You slipped the backpack with the nail bats on and hopped out of the car where there was a crowd already forming at the police line.
“Come on.” Nancy said. “This way.”
You all followed after Nancy as she led you to the other side of a news van where you all huddled up and watched as the police worked.
“As many of you may know by now.” Powell addressed the reporters. “The Roane County line received a call a little after midnight reporting a homicide out here on the lake. Officer Callaghan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lovers Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, an 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney.”
Lucas’s face fell in an instant. You weren’t sure exactly how close Lucas was to Patrick, but they were both on the basketball team. You knew he must be hurting.
“We have also identified a person of interest.” Powell continued. “Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward.”
“Oh man.” Steve whispered. “This is not good. This is really not good.”
“You've got a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer as many as I can.” Powell tried to placate the buzzing crowd and eager reporters. “Two o'clock at town hall, where anyone from the Hawkins community is welcome. But right now, l've got some work to do, and I appreciate your understanding.”
Dustin, can you hear me? Eddie's voice suddenly crackled through the radio. Wheelers?
Dustin hastily picked up the radio and backed away from the crowd. “Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?” He whispered.
Nah, man. Pretty... pretty goddamn far from okay.
“Where is he?” Robin asked.
“Where are you?” Dustin repeated into the radio.
Skull Rock. Do you know it?
“Uh, yeah. That's near Cornwallis and—“
“Garrett, yeah.” Steve cut him off. “I know where that is.”
You had been trudging through the woods for what felt like forever, Dustin in the lead with his map and compass. You and Steve kept brushing up against each other, both of you just trying to feel the other as the stupid hike through the woods began to take its toll on you.
“Dude, I'm telling you.” Steve complained. “You're taking us the wrong way.”
“It's north.” Dustin argued. “I'm positive. I checked the map.”
“You do realize that Skull Rock, it's, like, a super popular makeout spot?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Yeah, well, it wasn't popular until I made it popular. All right?” Steve spat back. “I practically invented it. We're heading in the wrong direction.”
Steve reached out and wrapped his hand around yours, fingers lacing together instantly and he pulled you along with him as he began to take off ahead of Dustin.
“Steve.” Dustin called out. “Where are you going?”
“Stop whining.” Steve waved him forward with his free hand.
“Steve!” Dustin whined.
“Let's go. Come on. Trust me.”
“Let's go, Dustin.” You tiredly waved him forward as Steve continued dragging you away.
Steve had taken you to Skull Rock a few times. It was actually where you had your first official date after all of the Upside Down craziness that first time. Steve knew its location by heart, and you were able to recognize some bigger landmarks, but you were overall lost.
A few minutes later, Steve was pushing aside the overgrown bushes as he crawled his way out into the clearing, his hand still securely grasping yours as he helped you through. And there, right in front of you, was Skull Rock.
“Bada bing, bada boom.” Steve announced, never removing his hand from yours. “There she is, Henderson, Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face.”
Dustin glanced down at his map and then back up at Steve. “Doesn't make sense.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Steve mocked. “Even with it staring you right in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead.”
You heard leaves rustling and whipped around to see where the noise was coming from, your adrenaline kicking in and making your lethargic state just a bit more bearable. And then you saw Eddie jump down from a rock, and you instantly relaxed, your drowsiness returning.
“I concur.” Eddie said. “You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead.”
“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” Dustin sighed happily and gave Eddie a hug.
Eddie was taken aback for a moment before hugging Dustin back. “Yeah, me too, man. Me too.”
The rest of the party finally showed up when they broke away from each other. Nancy gave Eddie the bag of food and he quickly retreated under the boulder and took a sip from the canteen as Steve started rubbing his thumb across your knuckles.
“When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh... my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently, I ran.” Eddie chuckled nervously.
“Do you know what time this was?” Nancy asked. “The attack?”
“Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was.” Eddie unclipped his watch and tossed it over to Nancy. “My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked.”
“9:27.” Nancy nodded as she read the time.
“Same time our flashlights went kablooey.” Robin said.
“Which means what, exactly?” Steve asked.
“That that surge of energy and my pain was Vecna attacking Patrick.” You explained
“Well, we're one step closer.” Robin breathed. “We know how Vecna attacks.”
“And where he attacks from.” Lucas added.
“And that he draws on Y/N’s life force to make himself stronger.” Dustin chimed in.
“So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart.” Max said.
“If he even has a heart.” Robin glanced around.
“A stake?” Steve echoed. “Is he like a vamp... is he a vampire?”
“It was a metaphor.” Max rolled her eyes.
“A bullet should work on him, right?” Eddie suggested.
“I say we chop off his head.” Lucas said.
“Can we just burn him?” You sighed.
“Yeah, I'd say all of the above.” Nancy cut off. “But we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down.”
“We need El to get her powers back.” Max complained.
“Yeah, everything was, like, way easier.” Steve said as you nodded along. “We had this girl.” Steve explained as he looked down at Eddie. “She had superpowers.”
“Superpowers.” Eddie cut him off. “Yeah, you mentioned her. Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?”
You looked over and saw Dustin, compass in hand, pacing back and forth across the area and mumbling away to himself.
“Cursed?” You echoed. “No, no. He's fine.”
“Mental?” Steve added. “Absolutely.”
“Boom!” Dustin shouted and all heads whipped to him in surprise. “Bada... bada... boom.” Dustin whispered as he pointed a finger at Steve. “I was right. Skull Rock was north.”
“Seriously?” Steve asked, frustrated. “You’re serious? This is Skull Rock! Okay? You’re totally, absolutely, one hundred percent wrong. Right now.”
“Yes.” Dustin said. “And no.”
“Oh, my God.” Steve huffed and ran his free hand over his face. You gripped his hand tighter and began to rub your thumb over his knuckles to help calm him down.
“This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers.” Dustin explained as he held up his compass. “It was correct when we got in the car on Kerley. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was.”
“So you're using faulty equipment, dude.” Steve argued. “You're still wrong.”
“Except it isn't faulty.” Dustin said. “Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?”
Lucas's face lit up in understanding. “An electromagnetic field.”
“Yep.”
“I'm sorry.” Robin shook her head in confusion. “l must've skipped that class.”
“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards the power.” Dustin explained. “So either there’s some super big magnet around here, or…”
“There’s a gate.” Lucas finished.
“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” You pointed out.
“But what if, somehow, there's another gate?” Dustin said. “A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful.”
“Snack-size gate.” Robin suggested.
“How?” Steve asked. "Why?”
“No idea.” Dustin said honestly. “All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse and taking away his battery.” Dustin turned around and started walking away.
“Where are you going?” Steve called out. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” Dustin stopped and turned back around. “Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike through the woods.”
“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max, Y/N, and Eddie.” Dustin gestured towards all of you. “What's say you, Eddie the Banished?”
Eddie was staring off to the side, still squatting underneath the boulder. “I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire... the Shire is burning.” Eddie pushed himself to his feet. “So Mordor it is.”
You turned to see Dustin with a giddy smile plastered on his face as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet from Eddie's confirmation. You bit back your smile at the sight.
Everyone started heading out and Steve looked over at you. “What is Mordor?” He whispered.
“It's from Lord of the Rings.” You explained, tugging his hand to get him to move.
Eddie suddenly came running back and snatched up his radio and canteen.
“Get your stuff, dude.” Steve complained. “Let's go.”
The eight of you trudged off into the woods, Dustin retaking the lead with his compass, the thing now actually leading in you in the right direction. You squeezed Steve’s hand tighter, the thought of another gate terrifying you, but the need to end this once and for all overtaking you and forcing you to keep moving.
~~~~~
The sun had set a while ago, leaving you all to try and navigate your way through the woods in complete darkness. Dustin suddenly took off from the group, running off ahead to who knows where.
“Something's happening.” Dustin mumbled to himself.
“Dustin?” Eddie called out. “Can you slow down? Dustin?”
“I think we're getting close.” Dustin announced as you all broke through the clearing.
Eddie ran forward and pulled Dustin back before he nearly stepped into the lake. “Watch your step, big guy.”
“Oh, man.” Steve groaned. “You gotta be shitting me.”
“Yeah.” Eddie agreed. “I thought these woods looked familiar.”
“Lovers Lake.” Robin announced as you all stared out at the vast expanse of water.
“This is confounding.” Dustin said.
“There's a gate in Lovers Lake?” Max asked.
“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked.” Nancy explained. “It always left an opening. Maybe Vena's the same way.”
“Yeah, only one way to find out.” You said.
Eddie walked over to the boat he had arrived in and removed the tarp and him and Steve dragged it over to the shore and pushed it into the water.
“Easy.” Steve complained. “I said easy, man.”
“Sorry, dude.” Eddie mumbled.
“Yeah, I'm just gonna do that." Robin muttered as she put her hands on Steve and Eddie’s heads to help lift herself into the boat.
Eddie hopped in after Robin, Nancy following after him. “Wheeler Junior.” Eddie said as he held out his hand to her and she took it.
“Thanks.” Nancy said.
“Wheeler Senior.” Eddie extended his hand towards you next and you gratefully accepted the help while following Robin’s earlier action and using Steve’s head as a bit of extra support as your sore body protested the large step.
Once you were successfully on the boat you turned back around to see Dustin starting to walk over, but Eddie reached out and pushed him back.
“You trying to sink us?” Eddie said. “This thing holds four people tops, okay?”
“It's better this way, okay?” Nancy placated. “You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble.”
“You keep an eye out.” Dustin complained. “It's my goddamn theory.”
“You heard Nance.” Robin said.
“Who put her in charge?”
“I did.”
“Compass.” Nancy held out her hand and Dustin reluctantly handed over the compass.
“Hey.” Steve called out and tossed Dustin his backpack, nearly knocking him over. “Here you go.” Steve pushed the boat into the water and then quickly hopped in.
“You said four.” Dustin called out angrily.
“Sorry.” You whispered back.
“Bedtime at nine, kiddos.” Robin joked and you could see Dustin flipping her off from the distance. “Miss you already!” She stood up and waved over at the kids before sitting back down.
You were only rowing for a few minutes, having gotten about halfway across the lake, when Nancy suddenly brought you to a halt.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Slow down, guys.” Nancy called out and Robin and Eddie stopped rowing.
“Whoa.” Steve exclaimed as you all looked at the rapidly spinning needle of the compass.
Guys, what's going on? Dustin's voice came through the radio. Come on, guys, talk to me. What's going on?
“Uh, Dustin.” Robin said into the radio. “Your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital 'aah.'”
Next to you, Steve suddenly started taking off his shoes and socks. “Steve, what are you doing?” You asked, concerned.
“Somebody's gotta go down there and check this thing out.” Steve explained. “Unless you or anyone else here can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... it's gotta be me. No complaints, all right?" Steve reached over and gave your arm a comforting squeeze before standing up.
“Hey, I'm not complaining.” Eddie said. “I do not wanna go down there.” He took a plastic bag out of his pocket and emptied its contents onto the floor as Steve ripped off his shirt. “Here.” Eddie said as he placed a flashlight into the bag and lit it up as he handed it to Steve. “Good luck.”
Steve tossed his shirt over to you as Eddie slipped a cigarette between his lips. You caught the shirt, your movements a big sluggish, and you blamed your eyes for being sluggish too as they stayed trained on Steve’s chest for just a few too many moments. Eh, who cared? Eddie? Yeah, right. You then heard the flick of a lighter and turned just in time to see Robin pluck the cigarette from Eddie’s lips and toss it into the lake.
“Gross.” Robin complained.
You placed a hand on Steve's leg and he looked back at you. “Be careful.” You said.
“Always.” Steve smiled and then turned back to the water and dived in.
You all just sat there in silence as you waited for Steve to return. You had your eyes trained on the dark water, like you could somehow see if something went wrong way below the surface. You should’ve made him take one of the bats with him. Something he could use to defend himself with in case things went south.
“Where are we at, Wheeler?” Robin asked shakily and you whipped your head around, but she was talking to Nancy.
“Closing in on a minute.” Nancy said as she looked at her watch.
You turned your attention back to the water as you continued waiting and waiting and waiting. Steve could hold his breath for a minute and a half, you knew that. But you didn’t know how long it had been. How long had it been? Was it over the ninety second—suddenly, in a loud burst, Steve shot up from the surface.
“Oh, Christ!” Eddie shrieked.
“I found it.” Steve panted as he grabbed on to the side of the boat.
“You found it?” You echoed, planting your hands on top of his arms, afraid that if you didn’t then he might just disappear.
“I found it. Yeah, I found it.”
“Dustin, you're a goddamn Einstein.” Robin said into the radio. “Steve found the gate—“ The connection cut off.
“It's pretty wild.” Steve said quietly as he still fought to catch his breath. “It's more of a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big.”
Steve suddenly sank back down below the surface, his arms slipping from your grasp as you felt your heart stop. And then he reemerged a moment later, glancing down behind himself, confused, and then looking back at you. You were just about to reach out, to grab onto him and pull him into the boat where it was at least safer than the water, when he was pulled back under again.
You jumped up from your seat, adrenaline coursing through your veins and pushing away any lingering fatigue you were still feeling. You all started calling out to Steve, but he was nowhere to be seen. No, no. Not him. Please, not him. Not anyone. But not him. You weren’t gonna leave each other’s sights, you both promised that.
You tightened the straps on the backpack and took in a deep breath, one foot already planted on the side of the boat when everyone started reaching out to you, trying to get you to stop, but you shoved them all off.
“Wait here.” You said sternly. “Contact the others.”
You turned back towards the water, took a deep breath, and dove in after Steve. You were a strong swimmer, always had been, and you were grateful that you were because if not your fatigue probably would’ve screwed you up and caused you all kinds of hell as you hastily made your way towards the bottom of the lake. But your need to get to Steve was stronger, and you pushed yourself forward.
You could see a red glow from up ahead or, really, down below, and you pushed yourself over to it. You reached out, looking for something to grab onto, when your hands broke the surface of the water. You quickly pushed that out of your mind as you grabbed onto the hard surface and hauled yourself up and over and around as gravity twisted all around you.
You jumped to your feet and saw that you were standing in the bottom of the empty lake. You saw the sky flash red as thunder roared in the distance. And then you heard Steve crying out and whipped around to see him off in the distance as he struggled on the ground. A bat-like creature had its long tail wrapped around Steve’s neck, choking him, while two others were chomping away at his stomach.
You took off running towards Steve, your fatigue, your pain, your fears, your worries, all of it pushed to the side as you reached behind you and pulled out the nail bat.
Im so excited for hopper reader, can you give us a small teaser of what this reader will be like?
The reader is gonna be a lot like the chief; gruff, protective, goes it alone. Someone suggested a while ago for a reader to have a mind that Henry would be afraid of, so I’m gonna do that with Hopper reader lol. I’m just having a lot of fun with this reader and he’s gonna basically go from more mysterious to start with and turn more eerie as the story progresses. He’s also gonna be one year older than Steve, but still in the same grade in school cause he got held back after moving to Hawkins.
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Is season 4 the last season for wheeler reader or will you rewrite season 5 again?
Season four will be the last season for Wheeler. And I think season four will be the last season for all of my stories from now on. They will be getting an extra chapter or two to wrap it up, but, yeah, that’ll be the end.
i’m just hella curious, but will you ever make a story where it’s a bad ending? like reader dying or something. this sounds dark but i’m just wondering yk 😁😁😁😁
I have thought about it, but probably not. I mean, it would so fun to explore, but I’d feel bad for everyone reading after all that build up lol.
So, I know a lot of people sent in requests for POVs, and I promised to write almost all of them, but I just can’t find the motivation for all of them. I still love to hear everyone’s ideas, and I know I’m not obligated to write all of them lol, but I’m sorry if I responded to yours and don’t end up getting to it. They were all great, but, unfortunately, I can’t get the motivation for them all. So, there will still be a couple more POVs that will be posted before the end of Fourth Wheeler. I’m thinking one more Steve pov and one pov of the party as kids, where it alternates POVs as the reader teaches them D&D and they create their characters.
Now, I know you guys really want a Will pov of him finding out about the reader, or coming out to the reader, but, unfortunately, it won’t be for the Wheeler story. I really do want to write it, but I think I will save it for my Byers story. Possibly, maybe not, but possibly, also have that pov happen during the Hopper story. But definitely for Byers reader. Sorry it’s taking so long to make and I keep agreeing to it, but I just can’t find a way to write it right now unfortunately. But it will definitely happen in the Byers story.
Thank you all for continuing to read these fics! I appreciate you all so much!
Robin couldn’t get over how cute they were. It made her sick to her stomach to see her two best friends be all sappy and lovey dovey with each other, but it was also absolutely adorable.
They were sitting over behind the counter, no one else except for the three of them in the store as they took their lunch breaks together. Steve was smiling like an absolute idiot, the dimples that he had and that Robin had only seen a handful of times out on full display as his face started to get redder and redder. Steve was a sap, a complete and utter lovesick fool when it came to Y/N. He was so in love that Robin was pretty sure he might actually die if they ever broke up. Like that would ever happen.
The two of them looked like an old married couple, only eating half of their food and leaving the rest for the other. They brought their lunch in two separate bags, but they always ate together. Sometimes they’d bring treats for Robin—like she was some dog or something. There would be a cookie or a brownie or some other dessert that Steve had wanted to try out that week. It was delicious, every time. Steve was an amazing baker.
Steve looked over at Y/N, still smiling widely, and lightly bumped his shoulder with his, sending Y/N leaning to the side before he came back up and did the same to Steve. And then they just sat there, arms pressed against each other as they continued to eat their shared lunch.
Robin couldn’t quite believe that the two of them had found each other in this town of all places. That, not only did they find someone like them, but they found someone to be with as well. And, God, were they perfect for each other. Who knew high school sweethearts could last that long? But it gave Robin hope that she could find someone for herself in this town. That she could find someone who loved her the way that those two loved each other.
But Robin sucked. She absolutely sucked. She had already met the girl of her dreams and, yet, she couldn’t even talk to her. She would manage to say something that got Vickie to smile, and then she would just keep rambling on and on and on until Vickie had completely lost interest. She needed help. She needed to know how Steve had done it, how he managed to work up the courage to ask a guy out. But, really, whatever it was that Steve had done, there was no way Robin would have the courage to do the same. Maybe Vickie would just make the first move. If she even liked girls, that is. Oh, God, Robin hoped so. Vickie was so amazing, Robin couldn’t lose her to some guy.
“Hey, Robin!” Steve called out.
Robin jerked her head up towards Steve just in time to see him throw something at her. She reached out, trying to grab whatever it was, but she was terrible at catching, just like she was terrible at throwing, and the object slipped through her fingers and landed on the floor. Robin just stared at the item for a moment, defeated, and then she slowly bent over and picked it up to find that it was a chocolate chip cookie.
“It’s fresh.” Steve announced. “Made them last night.”
“Thanks.” Robin tore open the plastic bag and immediately took a huge bite out of the cookie. As always, it was delicious.
“Is it good?” Steve asked.
“Of course it’s good, dingus.” Robin sassed through her mouthful of cookie. “You’re, like, some kind of genius or something when it comes to the kitchen.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a genius.” Steve stammered, cheeks tinging red again, but this time from embarrassment.
“Yeah, you are.” Y/N chimed in, a hand reaching up to ruffle Steve’s hair. “And I think these cookies are even better than last time.” He took a huge bite of his own cookie, just for emphasis.
That dopey smile returned to Steve’s face as he turned his attention back to Y/N. God, he was so disgustingly in love that it was almost ridiculous. Just a year ago Robin would’ve said she was crazy for saying that Steve Harrington of all people was actually a really sweet and caring guy. But, now, she couldn’t imagine him any other way. And she definitely couldn’t imagine him without Y/N.
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You had woken up lethargic that morning, contorted awkwardly on the chair in the basement as Steve took the floor by your legs. You should’ve just gone upstairs and slept in your bed, but you were too afraid to leave Max alone, even with the others around and her forty minute loop of Kate Bush playing on repeat.
“So, headaches, eyes, dizziness, blurred vision, a cold feeling.” Dustin listed out as Nancy drove you all to the Creel house, intending to check it out and see if there was any evidence. “And now the nosebleeds, too.”
“Don’t forget the loss of hearing.” Steve chimed in from beside you in your seat in the trunk, Dustin sitting across from you.
“Right. Loss of hearing.” Dustin repeated as he mulled the symptoms over in his head.
“Wait.” Lucas suddenly announced, turning himself around in the back seat to face you. “What if Vecna is, like, draining you?” He suggested. “I mean, you are tired now after each attack. That didn’t happen before.”
“But why would he be draining me?” You asked.
“To make himself stronger.” Dustin said, eyes going wide in the way they always did when he was coming up with an answer.
Lucas snapped and pointed at him. “Like Rogue.”
“Who’s Rogue?” Steve asked.
“She’s a superhero.” Dustin explained. “Part of the X-Men. When she touches people she’s able to steal their memories, life force, skills. And if she touches someone else with powers she’s able to use those powers herself.”
“Okay.” You waved your arms around in order to stop his rambling. “So, what exactly does that have to do with me?”
“Well, Vecna’s not stealing your powers.” Lucas said. “And I don’t think he’s interested in your memories. I mean, if he was, I’m pretty sure he would’ve cursed you.”
“Right, but he’s been in my head since we first took on the Demogorgon.” You pointed out.
“Exactly.” Dustin nodded. “I think he’s using you in order to amplify his own abilities.”
“Why would he need to amplify his abilities?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know.” Dustin shrugged. “Maybe he’s not powerful enough to do all this killing and stuff on his own. Maybe he needs to, like, draw on someone else’s life force.”
Lucas snapped and pointed at Dustin again. “Like a battery.”
“Exactly like a battery.” Dustin pointed back at Lucas before looking at you. “Just like when El drains her own battery by using her powers, Vecna is draining his when he attacks. So, maybe the power needed for these attacks is too strong to handle on his own. Maybe he needs you, your life force, to make it happen.”
“But a battery runs out of energy eventually.” You pointed out worriedly and everyone’s faces fell, their excitement for figuring it all out now being weighed down by the reality.
“All batteries die.” Dustin stated emphatically.
“Is he…” Steve’s voice wavered as he turned to you, a glassy look in his eyes. “Is he gonna die?”
“I don’t know.” Dustin breathed out. “He’s not recovering anymore. Each attack is weakening him. If we don’t kill Vecna, then…” Dustin trailed off, no one wanting to voice the obvious out loud.
“I’m not gonna die.” You stated determinedly. “I am not going to die.”
The car skidded to a halt as Nancy slammed on the brakes, the Creel house looming above just outside the window. You turned towards the front of the car to see her looking at you worriedly through the rearview mirror. But she didn’t say anything, she didn’t chime in to the dreadful conversation. She took a deep breath, hardened her face, and focused on the task at hand. And you were grateful for it; to see that tough Nancy there. Seeing her break down right now would just cause you to do the same, and you didn’t have time for that.
Steve threw open the trunk door and climbed out first, lending a hand to Dustin. He then lent his hand to you and he almost refused to let go once you had your feet under you, the worry etched into every feature. You hated having to do it, but you pulled your hand from his, pushing your arm against his instead.
Honestly, it probably wouldn’t even matter if you just decided to hold hands for the rest of the day. The only people here who didn’t know about you and Steve were Lucas and Max. And there was no way you could see either of them hating you for it. Maybe a disgusted look cause it was the two of you, but not for other reasons. Maybe you should just keep holding Steve’s hand, especially if this Vecna might actually be trying to kill you.
You turned your attention onto the house and a deeply unsettling feeling washed over you. The place was a murder site, an innocent family targeted for God knows what reason and left abandoned, boarded up and rotting away.
“Yeah, that’s not creepy.” Steve said sarcastically as you all walked up the front steps. Dustin pulled out a hammer and handed it to Steve who started ripping out the nails on the boarded up door. “I mean, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” Steve asked as he passed you the hammer, and you began ripping out the nails on your side of the door.
“We’re not sure.” Nancy answered honestly. “We just know this house is important to Vecna.”
“Because Max saw it in Vecna’s red soup mind world?”
“Basically.”
“Great.”
“Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is.” You suggested.
“Or a clue to why he’s back.” Dustin added. “Why he killed the Creels. Why he chose you to be his battery. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max.”
“We don’t think he’s in here, do we?” Lucas asked slowly.
“Guess we’ll find out.” Max shrugged.
You and Steve let go of the board and let it drop down onto the front porch, sending dust, dirt, and leaves flying up into the air and around your faces.
Steve yanked the handle, but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked.” You all sighed. “Should we knock, see if anybody’s home?”
“No need.” Robin announced with a smiled as she held up a brick. “I found a key.” She shrugged.
You held out your hand for the brick and Robin huffed exaggeratedly as she handed it over, clearly wanting to be the one to throw it. But she had terrible aim. Everyone took a step back from the door and you threw the brick right through the window, glass shattering and leaving a large hole in the stained glass rose.
Steve stepped forward and reached through the hole, unlocking the door and slowly swinging it open. He stepped inside cautiously, the rest of you following his lead. The house was dark and damp and covered in decades worth of dust and cobwebs. The smell of dirt and mildew hung heavily in the air. It was disgusting.
Lucas reached for a lamp and clicked the switch, but nothing happened. “Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill.”
Dustin held up his flashlight and turned it on, signaling for the rest of you to do the same as you all started to take a look around the house.
“Where’d everyone get those?” Steve asked.
You and Dustin turned to Steve at the same time, both of you doing a double take to the flashlights in your hands. “Do you need to be told everything?” Dustin sassed. “You’re not a child.”
“Thank you.” Steve said sarcastically.
Dustin slipped off his backpack and handed it to Steve. “Back pocket.”
Steve ripped the flashlight out of the bag and rolled his eyes at you as Dustin walked away. You just smiled and patted him on the back before pushing him along. Steve smiled back at you, his worry gone for a moment as he fixed you with that adorable dopey grin.
“They just left everything.” Nancy said as her and Robin checked out the living room.
“I guess a triple homicide isn’t good for resale value.” Robin joked dryly.
“Hey, guys?” Max called out and you all made your way over to where she was staring at a grandfather clock in the corner. “You all see that, right?”
“Yeah.” You, Steve, and Dustin all said.
“Is this what you saw?” Nancy asked. “In your visions?”
Max nodded.
“I mean it’s… it’s just a clock.” Robin said uneasily. “Right?” She stepped forward and wiped away the dust on the glass face. “Like a normal old clock.”
“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?” Steve whispered. “Maybe he’s, like, a clockmaker or something?”
“A clockmaker?” You echoed incredulously. “You think the evil wizard is a clockmaker? Really?”
“I think you cracked the case, Steve.” Dustin sassed.
“All I know is the answers are here. Somewhere.” Nancy said. “Okay, everyone stay in groups. Robin, upstairs.”
Robin gave Nancy a two fingered salute and followed after her up the stairs. Next to you, Max quickly turned to Lucas, grabbed his arm, and started dragging him away.
“Come on.” Max said. “Let’s go.”
Dustin turned to Steve and smiled up cutely at him. Steve just sighed and walked around him, heading up the stairs.
“Was that a sigh?” Dustin asked incredulously, and you couldn’t quite believe it either.
“No, I did not sigh.” Steve lied.
“Why’d you sigh?”
“I didn’t sigh. Just come on, dude.”
“I heard you.”
“Well, we’re just always partners, okay?”
“What, you have a problem with that?”
“It’d be nice to, I don’t know, mix it up a bit.”
“So, what? I’m boring you? Is that it?”
“No, the opposite.”
“Am I boring you?” You joked.
“What?” Steve whipped around so fast that it nearly gave you whiplash. “Why would you say that? Don’t ever say that. You never bore me.”
“Wow.” You drawled out playfully. “So adamant about it. Kinda sounds like you’re lying.”
“No.” Steve pointed a finger at you, his tone desperate. “I’m not lying. I don’t lie to you.”
“I don’t know.” You continued to joke, drawing out your words as you looked over at Dustin, who was enjoying watching Steve’s freak out. “What do you think, Henderson? Think he’s telling the truth?”
“Doubt it.” Dustin played along. “His voice is getting all high. That’s how you know he’s lying.”
“Hey.” Steve exclaimed. “Both of you better stop it. I’m not lying.” He looked on the verge of freaking out now, and you decided that, for his sake, you’d end the joke.
“All right. All right.” You threw your hands up in mock surrender. “I guess you’re telling the truth.”
Steve seemed to relax after that, his tense shoulders loosening. It was adorable how freaked out he got. How, despite him knowing that you were joking, he was still so adamant about you knowing that you didn’t bore it. It made your heart soar. He really was a lovesick fool.
The three of you continued on down the old, decrepit hallway. The house was almost entirely empty, just some old furniture still sitting around. And you weren’t seeing any signs of an evil wizard.
“Hey, uh, Henderson?” Steve asked as the three of you entered one of the rooms.
“Yeah?” Dustin replied.
“Could you maybe, uh, clarify what sort of clues we’re supposed to be looking for here?”
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” Dustin drawled out in a British accent. You smiled and rolled your eyes at the stupid quote as Dustin smirked up at a confused Steve. “Sherlock Holmes.” Dustin explained, but Steve just continued to stare at him. Dustin’s smile dropped and he let out a light scoff before walking away.
“That’s great.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Thanks. That’s great. Really helpful.”
You decided that the two of them had the room covered and headed back out into the hallway. There was a single table sitting against the wall, but, other than that, it was empty. Suddenly, the other door opened and Steve came rushing out backwards into the hallway, swatting away at himself.
“What’s wrong?” You asked as you rushed over.
“There was a spider.” Steve breathed out shakily. “It’s a black widow.” He grabbed the door and slammed it shut. “Don’t go back in there.”
Steve started to walk away when you spotted a cobweb stuck in the back of his hair. You reached out to try and get it off of him, but he just kept on walking, oblivious.
“Wait.” You called out. “Steve, hold on.”
“What?” Steve asked as he finally stopped. “Shit. What is it?”
“You have some…” You reached forward and plucked off a piece of cobweb, showing it to him.
“Thank you.” Steve smiled as you began working on the rest of it.
“If there’s a spider nesting in there, you’re never gonna find it till it lays eggs and all the babies spill out.” Robin joked as her and Nancy emerged from the other room.
“What’s wrong with you?” Steve asked uneasily. “Robin, seriously?” Robin just laughed as she walked away. “She’s got problems.” Steve whispered back to you.
“Yeah.” You laughed lightly as you continued pulling off the cobwebs. “Don’t worry.” You reassured. “If there is a spider in here, I’ll find it.”
Steve was terrified of spiders. He was actually scared of a lot of things. Spiders, obviously. And then there were bees and snakes and sharks. He also wasn’t a big fan of horror movies. Plus the occasional fear of the dark, but who wouldn’t be after all you’d been through? It took him a while to admit any of those fears to you, afraid of seeming like less of a man because of it. But he wasn’t, and you liked to tease him from time to time because of his fears, sometimes sneaking up behind him and lightly crawling your fingers up his back. He’d jump, eyes wide, and then you’d laugh and give him a kiss to calm him down.
“You know.” Steve said. “Maybe after we find Vecna, kill him, save the world and stuff, maybe we could all go out or something.” You smiled as you continued working. “You know? Me, you, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, when he gets back. Be able to go on a proper date for once.”
“That sounds nice.” You said softly as you pulled off the last piece of cobweb. “All done.”
“Great.” Steve turned around, staring at you with that adorable dopey smile. “Thanks.” He just continued to stare at you, like it was physically impossible not to.
“We should get back to the investigation.” You said, taking his hand in yours as you started to pull him along, a blush crawling up his neck.
You led Steve into the room where Robin and Nancy had emerged from and only just started checking the place out when Max and Lucas came running up the stairs, rounding everybody up and telling you all to meet them downstairs where the lights were apparently turning on.
When you all arrived in the kitchen you saw the chandelier above the table glowing faintly, its soft light slowly fading in and out as you all stared up at it. It reminded you of Joyce’s Christmas lights.
“It’s like the Christmas lights.” You whispered.
“The Christmas lights?” Robin whispered back.
“Yeah.” Nancy said. “When Will was in the Upside Down, the lights… came to life.”
“Vecna’s here.” Lucas said. “In this house. Just on the other side.”
The lights faded and then shut off.
“I think he just left the room.” Robin said.
“Did he hear us?” Max whispered.
“Can he see us?” Steve asked.
“Headphones.” Lucas said hastily and Max threw them on.
“Wait, wait.” Nancy announced. “Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out.”
You all clicked off your flashlights and everyone filtered out of the room, but you stuck behind with Steve. You promised not to leave each other’s sides right now, and that is exactly what you planned on doing.
“We’re not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flashlights.” Steve argued, but everyone was already gone.
Steve sighed and turned his flashlight off and you led him off to another part of the house. Not even a minute later, Robin was shouting.
“I got him!” Robin’s voice echoed through the house. “Got him!” You all ran to where Robin was, but, as soon as you got there, her flashlight turned off. “I had him.”
Steve’s flashlight suddenly turned on. “Oh, whoa. Oh, I think he’s moving.” Steve took off, trying to keep the flashlight lit as he followed the trail. “He’s moving. He’s moving.”
You all followed Steve out into the foyer before he headed up the stairs, the flashlight buzzing softly as its light started fading in and out. And when you reached the first landing it shut off.
“Shit.” Steve hissed. “I lost him.”
“No, you didn’t.” Max said and crossed over to the door on the landing. When she opened it, there was a light shining from inside.
You all followed after Max as she took the lead, heading up the stairs and towards the source of the light.
“It’s an attic.” Robin breathed shakily. “Of course it’s an attic.”
“Hold up, guys.” Dustin called out from behind you. “What if he’s leading us into a trap?” You all ignored him and kept walking. “Guys, guys.” He hissed, and then his footsteps chased after you.
When you finally reached the top you saw a single lightbulb dangling from the ceiling, buzzing softly as its yellow light pulsed in and out, illuminating the room and then taking away its light. As you got closer your flashlight flickered to life.
“Flashlights.” Dustin announced and you glanced around to see everyone else’s flashlights also coming to life.
You all circled around below the dangling lightbulb and held up your flashlights as their lights all grew stronger with the proximity.
“Okay, what’s happening?” Steve asked nervously.
You reached out to grab Steve’s hand for comfort when you felt your legs give out from under you, sending you straight down to the floor. There was only a single second of clarity where you could see the party rushing to action, could feel Steve’s hands grabbing onto you, and you screamed out, the sound silent to your ears, but no doubt deafening to theirs.
That nail, that goddamn nail drove straight through every muscle, bone, and tissue in your entire head, lighting it on fire from the inside out. All feeling was gone. All sight was gone. You knew Steve was still holding you, probably trying to call out, a few tears escaping him just as surely as there had to be tears escaping you. And you desperately wished you could feel it. That you could feel him. It was pure and total torture, agony. Your skull crushed and on fire, nothing to see except a dark haze, and nothing, absolutely nothing, that you could hear.
And then there it was, that strip of grey that appeared beneath you, even softer and more distinct than before. It stayed longer, too. Holding there for a good ten seconds before it disappeared along with everything else, and you were left only with pain.
