A Threnody of Tears | Steve Harrington ✓

Chapter Seventeen

"Uh... I don't mean to freak anyone out, but I swear we've seen this tree before." Robin started, tapping the tree in question slightly as she passed, careful not to touch any vines. 

The group had been walking through the Upside Down on their way to the Creel House, trying their best to remember the route whilst staying off any roads. 

 Nancy shook her head. "That's impossible."

"That would suck, right?" Robin continued, ignoring her. "If Vecna destroyed the world because we got lost in the woods?"

 "We're not lost, Robin," Maggie reassured, surprised when Robin took her hand dragging her away at a run. "What are you doing?" She questioned. 

"The faster we go, the sooner we know we definitely aren't lost," Robin said, running at such a fast pace that Maggie struggled to keep up with her. 

 "Robin, Maggie!" Nancy shouted. "Watch out for the vines! Hive mind. Remember?" 

Maggie was merely able to shoot Nancy a small thumbs up in response as Robin pulled her out of sight.  

"Uh, don't worry about them." Steve started, turning to Nancy. "Robin's just stressed and she always seems to wrap Maggie up in it." 

"Yeah, I'm not super worried about Maggie, I know she can handle herself and Robin. It's just...." 

"Robin's a super klutz?" Steve finished. 

"She did tell me that it took her longer to walk than most babies, so..." Nancy trailed off as Steve chuckled slightly. 

 "I really shouldn't laugh." Steve started. "When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards."

"Crawled backwards?" Nancy questioned.

Steve nodded. "You know, I'd push with my hands like this." He said, mimicking the action. "Beep. Beep. Always in reverse, you know? Come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?"

Nancy tilted her head slightly. "No, no, it doesn't make sense."

"Well, it did to my tiny little Harrington brain. That is until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head really good."

Nancy laughed. "Wow. That explains so much."

 Steve nodded. "Yeah, I think it kinda does. I think, like, right out of the gate, like, I'm super confident. 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 thump 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... is thank you. 

"Thank me?" She asked confused. 

 "Yeah."

 "For...?" 

"For giving my head the biggest thump of its life two years ago." Steve started earnestly. "I needed it. It's changed my life. And now I'm crawling forward. I've found Maggie and now I'm better, I'm a much better person than I was back then, a better person that she would actually want to be with, and that's mostly thanks to you. 

"You know I'm happy for you," Nancy said earnestly. "I don't know much about her other than what I've learnt in the last few days, but I can see how happy she makes you and vice versa. You two deserve each other." 

"Hey, guys!" Robin called, still dragging Maggie around who couldn't help but playfully roll her eyes at her friend's antics. "Awesome news!  Looks like we weren't going the wrong way after all. Come on. Let's go!" She said, running back in the direction she and Maggie had just come from until the Creel House fell into view. 

Maggie quickly waved everyone over to the playground as they took shelter underneath the slide, waiting for Erica's voice to signal the start of the next phase. Steve placed himself close to Maggie, playing slightly with her hair, an action that comforted them both in the dreary atmosphere of the Upside Down.

"Okay, the lovebirds have copied. Max is moving into phase two: distracting Vecna." Erica's slightly distorted voice informed them.

"So far, so smooth," Robin said, trying to keep herself calm with the few positives they had. 

Steve sighed. "Yeah, we're not even at the hard part yet."

"Take the bait, you son of a bitch." Nancy muttered. "Take the bait."

After waiting what felt like forever, Erica's voice called once more. "Okay, she's in. Initiate phase three."

Maggie nodded, picking up Dustin's extra walkie-talkie. "She's in. Move on to phase three."

"Copy that," Dustin replied. "Initiating phase three."

The group passed for a second as the first few chords of Master of Puppets echoed across the Upside Down, drawing the bats' attention immediately. 

"Okay, it's working. Let's go." Nancy said once the bats were out of sight. 

The group quickly moved their way across to the front door of the Creel House, the sight of an endless amount of vines covering the walls and floor causing Maggie's nerves to spike. 

"Oh shit," Steve said, voicing Maggie's exact thoughts. "That's not good." 

He paused for a moment, before cautiously making his way over to the staircase by stepping into an open space. He turned around, nodding at them as Maggie made her way in his direction, Steve pulling her out of the way and close to him just in time before she almost stepped on a vine. 

 "Shit," Robin muttered, knowing that she couldn't avoid the situation any longer. 

 "It's okay. You got this." Nancy reassured, the two of them helping each other across the floor.

Once everyone had made their way up the stairs and onto the second floor, they prepped their weapons, ready to head up to the attic when another earthquake hit, shaking everything. 

Maggie looked around in fear, unable to grab onto anything to steady herself other than the people around her, all of them terrified to step on a vine. The shaking stopped once more, everyone breathing a sigh of relief until Robin's shouts interrupted the moment. 

"Steve! Maggie! Nancy!"

Maggie whipped her head around only to see Robin pinned against the wall, as vines wrapped around every inch of her body. She immediately moved to attack the vines, wanting to free her friend but she was no match against the vines. 

The vines pulled her against the opposite wall, her back hitting the wall roughly as vines immediately moved to restrict her from moving her limbs or torso, before finally, a vine wrapped itself tightly around her throat, making it impossible to breathe. She choked, trying her best to pull the vine away from her throat as it only grew tighter with her struggles. Her wide eyes looked around at the room, only to find the others in the same position. It felt like the end for all of them.