mercy ; peter ballard

15. g l i m p s e o f u s

march 26, 1986

beatrice and nancy were in the room where brenner tattooed one's number on his arm. the boy tried not to squirm in pain as the doctor.

suddenly, vecna's voice booms.

"beatrice. you've seen enough. wouldn't want you to ruin nancy's fun."

beatrice looked over to nancy who looked panicked. "wait, no-"

beatrice vanished from the mindscape, entering back into her physical state back in the upside down.

"god, beatrice!"

she screams in anguish, looking at nancy's still body. "shit! nancy's still in there!"

"nancy! just stay with me! stay with me, okay!" steve shouted, holding nancy's head. he looks up through the gate at erica. "whatever you guys are doing, hurry up!"

"nancy!" bea tries to help as erica runs out of sight of the gate.

steve turns to bea, shouting, "what the hell was that, bea?"

"not the time, steve! i'll explain when we get out of this goddamn situation!"

after what seemed like forever, nancy's eyes became normal and she gasped as she fell back into steve's arms.

"it's okay," steve reiterated over and over again as she caught her breath. "i'm here. i'm right here."

bea sighed, looking down at two on the floor. she remembered how that used to feel. when she would get nightmares in the orderly wing. she also remembered how much she hated him for all of this. his once warm touch now ran cold.

[REDACTED], 1970

bea was running quickly. the beams from flashlights chased after her.

"no!" she cried as she ran. it was a never-ending forest. it seemed like she would have to run forever or surrender.

she looked down at her feet and the green grass began to melt into a thick, red substance. it was like blood. it was blood. her eyes widened. she wanted to scream, but she just needed to run.

a cloud of darkness began to swell, surpassing the soldiers running behind it. she tried to escape it but it was faster than she was. it consumed her as she screamed out in terror.

"no!" she jolted awake. peter quickly got up with her sudden jump, turning on a small light next to the bed.

"what's wrong, dear?" he asked, concerned. he brought a hand her cheek. she leaned into his hold, scared he was going to disappear.

"it's fine," she sniffled. "just another bad dream."

he opened his arms for her. she laid her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"it's alright. i'm here," he whispered, gently. he laid them back so they were laying more comfortably on the pillows. he planted a kiss on the top of her head.