voyager // max mayfield

TEN: IM GONNA DIE TOMORROW

Robin and Nancy had arrived to see Max, Eve, Dustin and Steve standing looking at a wall at the end of a hallway - Max looked afraid, and the others were just very confused. After her brief moment, she tried to explain what happened to everyone, but the more she tried to explain it, the more insane she sounded.

"It was here, right here," Max said to them, shining her torch on the very dull wall.

"A grandfather clock?" Eve asked, still a little confused, but having a growing concern for the girl. The state Max was in while in the counsellor's office had them all on edge, they felt powerless.

"It was so real," Max breathed out, reliving her memory, "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."

"It was like she was in a trance or something," Dustin explained to Robin and Nancy, who were both staring at Max with a lot of concern, "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy."

They were all silent for a moment, Eve feeling her own heart dropping out of her chest.

Did this mean that Max was gonna die?

"That's not even the bad part," Max mumbled, turning around to face all of them, her eyes falling onto Eve, before walking past all of the group and back to the councillor's office, Max grabbing the two files on the desk, "Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms Kelly for help. They both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then... then the nightmares."

Max's voice cracked as she spoke, her eyes filling with tears as she realised her symptoms matched up with those who had been targeted by Vecna.

"Trouble sleeping," Max continued as Eve moved to take a seat on the desk, facing her body away from Max as she tried to process what was going on, "They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. And these visions, they just... they kept getting worse and worse until eventually... everything ended."

Eve's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the floor, playing with her hands that lay on her lap. There was no way that Max was dying, there was no way all this terrible shit was happening, there was no way she was gonna stand by and watch another person she cared about die.

"Vecna's curse," Robin realised.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago, Fred's six days ago. I've been having them for five days," Max admitted to them, making Eve close her eyes. The whole time Max was talking, she was staring at Eve's back, the hunched up figure making her heart sink slightly - did she really not care this close to death? "I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty-four hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so..."

"Fuck," Eve muttered as she shook her head, Steve looking over at her, just as worried.

"Looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow." Max finished.

The air in the room had been ripped out as Eve kept her gaze firmly on the floor - she could not believe this was happening. Although her and Max weren't together anymore, and Eve often found herself uncomfortable in the same room as Max, she did care. She would always care, and to hear that Max had the possibility of being gone by the next day was absolutely horrifying.

Before anyone could speak to try and start formulating a plan, a loud bang was heard, making them all jump and turn to the door.

"Stay here," Steve said quietly to the group, heading towards the door slowly. He grabbed a lamp on the way, holding it like a baseball bat before leaving the room. The others ended up following him out to the hallway.

It was silent, and everyone was on edge - for all they knew, it could be a Demodog or something. Clearly nothing from the upside-down ever stayed dead anyway.

There was another clatter, making everyone even more nervous. Steve raised his weapon, yelling when something came round the corner. His yell made everyone else scream and jump back, only to see Lucas holding his arms out in case he got hurt.

"It's me!" Lucas yelled as torches were shone on him.

"Lucas?" Nancy asked, her voice high from shock and adrenaline.

"It's me!" He repeated.

"Jesus, what is wrong with you, Sinclair!" Steve yelled as he took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," Lucas breathed out, trying to catch his breath.

"I could've taken you out with this lamp!" Steve continued to yell, much like a mother yelling at her kid - it was kinda funny.

"Sorry, guys!" Lucas apologised, hand on his hip as he panted, "I was... I was biking for eight miles. Give me a second," he held up a finger, "Shit. We've got a code red."

"What?" Steve then asked, confused.

"Dustin," Lucas panted, walking over to his friend, "I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger!"

"Alright, yeah, that definitely sucks," Dustin breathes out, shaking his head a little, "But we've got bigger problems than Jason now."

His eyes then fall onto Max, whose eyes were slightly bloodshot from tearing up. The sight of her made Eve sad, she didn't deserve all of this. A part of her wished she had never moved here, at least then she would've never been involved in all of this mess, at least Billy would be alive.