Freaks

Chapter 13

"Everyone move!" Eddie busted open the door of the trailer, guiding me to the mattress where I sat down cross-legged, the gateway squelching and squirming above my head.

"Tell me you have figured something out!" Dustin yelled, grabbing Eddie's shoulders.

"Ari's got it covered." Eddie removed Henderson's hands from him.

"I need to know what her trauma is," I figured, "Where's the weakest point in her mind where Vecna could have got in."

"Barb!" Steve yelled through the gateway, "Look for Barb!"

Immediately I closed my eyes, hurrying into Nancy's head. I could tell Vecna was there, all her memories were tainted, an eerie atmosphere radiating off of them all.

"Nance if you can hear me," I whispered in the darkness, her thoughts billowing round my head, "Fight him off a little bit longer."

I travelled through her mind, trying not to be too overly-invasive, keeping an ear out for any mention's of Barb. When I heard it, it was faint, but definitely there. I latched onto it, breathing heavily I formed an image of the memory.

I stood on the main street of Hawkins, rain battered down. The clouds making the sky dark. Squinting through the haze, I saw Nancy standing at an electrical pole. Her hands were limp by her sides, her head low.

I knew this was a memory, and that she couldn't see or hear me, but I was still gentle with my approach. The closer I got, the more I could see her body shivering, at first I thought it was the cold, but then realised she was crying. Her body hitching with every sob.

Slowly her hand reached out to the electrical pole, tracing gently the missing persons poster that was threatening to fall off it was that soaked. The name Barbara Holland lay in bold lettering at the top.

"I'm so sorry Barb. I'm so sorry." Nancy managed to say in between breathy sobs.

This was it. I was in the right memory. My head swivelled round, looking for Vecna's entry point. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a red glow coming from the edge of the forest.

Sprinting through the puddles, I left memory-Nancy standing in her grief. I realised too that in here, my ankle was of no issue.

Quickly I slid to a stop beside the red glow. It was a small crack, formed on the surface of the forest, remenants of the Upside Down leaking out. I kneeled beside it, it gurgled back at me.

"Close the door." I muttered to myself, placing my hand over the crack.

"A..." A voice reverberated through me.

"No. No." I panicked, looking round as the memory began to fade, or more like I was being pulled out of it. Vecna had found me.

Before I could even blink, I found myself standing in a tiled room. It looked almost experimental. Nancy was tied to an operating chair, thick black vines keeping her in place.

"Arianna!" She cried, tears staining her face.

I stepped forward, but was immediately pulled off my feet, a black vine latched itself around my ankle. I grunted as I hit the cold floor, another few vines snapping themselves around me.

They pulled me towards the wall, and although I struggled against them it was no good. The vines suspended me in the air, keeping me glued firmly to the wall.

"I see you've been learning." Vecna stepped from the shadows, slithering towards me as I tugged against the vines. With a flick of his finger another came sliding towards me, wrapping around my neck firmly. I choked as it tightened.