A Threnody of Tears | Steve Harrington ✓

Chapter Thirteen

MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING!! 

THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN GRAPHIC THEMES OF S*CIDE. IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO THIS TOPIC IN ANY WAY PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE. THIS IS THE LAST TIME THAT THIS BOOK WILL COVER THIS THEME SO PLEASE JUST SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF THAT SUITS YOU. IF ANYONE EVER NEEDS A CHAT PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME. 

It felt like she had been falling forever, yet she had no idea how close she was to the ground or even her current position in the air, she simply couldn't see anything. She shut her eyes tightly, hoping for this to be over. 

She had initially dismissed the headaches and the nightmares, no different to what she usually experienced, and had pushed away the nose bleeds, refusing to tell the others as they were all too focused on Max, but now she simply couldn't escape it anymore. She was Vecna's newest target.

Maggie landed with a hard thud on the cold floor, the Hawkins High School bathroom swimming into view. It was cold, the bone-chilling cold seeping into every pore of her body. She caught a glimpse of her dishevelled state in the mirror, only to find her sister's reflection staring back at her. 

The reflection morphed into Kaira's human form, taunting Maggie over her shoulder as Maggie followed her through the school halls and out to the phone booth on the outside of the school. 

Kaira reached forward, dialling in a number that both sisters knew by heart. The dialling tone echoed loudly in the empty school parking lot, Maggie leaning forward with interest as the voice of a half-asleep Eddie Munson called through the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Eddie." Kaira returned, Maggie's eyebrows raising at the lack of excitement in her tone, her voice merely flat and monotone. 

"Oh hi, babe." He answered, immediately picking her change in tone as well. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She dismissed. "Listen I'm at school now and I just wanted to say thank you for such a wild ride. I love you and I'm sorry that it had to end like this." Kaira continued, her voice trembling as Maggie's eyes pricked with tears. 

"End like what?" Eddie questioned, suddenly wide awake. "Kaira, what are you going on about?"

"I'll see you on the other side, my love. I love you." Kaira said, hanging up the phone, while Eddie immediately began to move around in a panic at his trailer, her final words sending true fear to stab at his heart. 

Kaira took one last look at the phone, before moving away. Maggie moved to follow her only to find herself stuck in place. "Margaret...." A low voice echoed. "She didn't even tell you. You didn't even get a goodbye."

"No!" She shouted, shaking her head, refusing to let Vecna take her, not yet anyway. "No!" 

Maggie immediately broke free, sprinting down the school hallways and into the first stall of the school bathrooms, locking the door tight, although she knew that was unlikely to deter Vecna. 

She could hear the sound of crying. Maggie immediately moved several stalls over only to come face to face with Kaira, who had tears streaming down her face. 

"Kaira," Maggie said softly, reaching out to her sister to comfort her, only for Kaira to be unresponsive to her attempts. Maggie's eyes caught something shiny and sharp laying on the ground next to her sister. Her expression morphed into one of horror as Kaira moved to reach for it. "No, come on Kaira!" 

While Maggie was reliving her worst nightmare, Steve immediately noticed her paralysed body and white pupils, shaking her desperately. "Come on Maggie, wake up, wake up! Don't do this now." He was in an absolute panic, not wanting to lose her, he couldn't imagine his life without her now. Tears pricked at his eyes, refusing to give up on her. "Mags, just stay with me, okay?"

Above them, everyone watched the scene anxiously. "What's her favourite song?" Robin started, terrified for her friend. "I can't believe we never asked her."

Eddie watched the scene with confusion, he didn't understand why Maggie's favourite song could possibly save her. In his mind, she was moments away from floating with broken bones, dead, another person gone from his life just like that. Yet somehow he managed to drag his eyes away from Maggie's still form, moving down to his bedroom to grab the mixtape that held the one song that would never fail to make Maggie smile. 

"Here." He shouted, chucking the tape in Max's direction who immediately put it in her Walkman, throwing it up through the hole to Steve who caught it, placing the headphones on Maggie's ears carefully. 

"What song?" Steve asked desperately, looking down at the tape titled Kaira and Eddie's Greatest Hits. 

"Landslide."

Maggie shook her sister's shoulders desperately, completely at a loss from stopping her sister holding the blade to her left wrist, cutting a jagged line across before immediately moving to her other wrist.

"Kaira!" Maggie screamed, inconsolable, desperately pressing her hands around Kaira's wrists only for blood to pool underneath them. The stream so thick and steady that it fell to the ground, gathering in the grout.

Her eyes were stuck on Kaira's evergrowing pale face, her breathing becoming shallower until she exhaled for the last time. "Kaira," Maggie wept, slowly moving away, her shaking hands stained with blood. Her eyes never moved from her sister, as she walked out backwards of the stall, only to have the form of Eddie Munson break through the door in a hurry, pausing at the sight, the heartbreak cler across his face. They were both too late.

"Margaret..." The voice called once more, a figure appearing in the open doorway. "It's time for you to join her," Vecna said, taking slow, menacing steps towards her. 

Maggie looked around in a panic, there was no escape for her, this was the end. Until the familiar guitar strumming echoed around the bathroom making her pause as she smiled instantly, happy memories flooding her mind. 

She whipped her head around, only to see an opening in the mirror to her left, it was small, a tiny crack of light and she sped towards it, praying that Vecna wasn't following her as she closed her eyes. 

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the Upside Down, collapsing into Steve's arms who immediately wrapped his arms around her tight. 

"Oh my god," Steve breathed. "I thought you were gone." 

"I'm okay," Maggie replied, unable to get the haunting images out of her head. "I'm okay." 

Steve nodded, pulling her closer until he suddenly pressed his lips to hers. Maggie froze in shock for a moment, before reciprocating, knowing that this was all she needed right now. The pair broke apart, Steve immediately meeting Maggie's eyes guiltily.

"Sorry, that was probably the last thing you wanted right now."

"It's okay." She said, pressing her lips against his once more briefly. "I wanted it."

He grinned as Maggie went to move Max's headphones off her ears, the final chords of Landslide ringing out. "I didn't know you were a Fleetwood Mac fan." 

"I'm not," Maggie said, looking up to where the rest of the group was watching them, meeting Eddie's gaze with a thankful nod. "Landslide was Kaira's favourite song though." She continued, knowing that her love for her sister had saved her in more ways than one. Maggie could just never quite forgive herself that she would never be able to save her sister in the same way. 

"Hey, guys..." Eddie trailed off, catching everyone's attention. "Wheeler's gone too." He finished, Maggie looking up only to see that Nancy was in the same state she had been in moments ago, Vecna had taken hold of her as well.