Alice the Amazing ⇒ STRANGER THINGS

[57] F You Darth Vader

{Vecna's Curse, Part III}

Back at the Family Video, Alice stood in front of Dustin, Robin, and Max, shuffling from foot to foot. Steve, by her side, held her hand for comfort.

"I talked with El's friend," Alice began. "Her name's Kali. She can do this thing called illusion manipulation. She can make people see things that aren't really there. For a while, I thought that ability was something I got because of MKUltra, like my healing. And I thought the reason no one else could see the rabbits was because I wasn't strong enough yet. But Kali has a theory."

She held up her left palm.

"The bunny rabbit illusions and visions started after this," she said. "After the Mind Flayer flipped my powers around in 1984."

"What do you mean 'flipped' them?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She couldn't heal," Dustin explained. "And she started freezing."

"Her shoulder was covered in ice," Max said. "It was like, purple."

"It was bad," Alice said. "And it happened because I tried to stop Will from getting flayed. Kali thinks the reason I can't control my illusions is because the Mind Flayer put them there. And if the Flayer put them there, maybe he's...in my head. He could be controlling them. Even to this day. The things I've been seeing and hearing are lately...terrifying. I think Kali's right."

"And I said that was crazy," Steve cut in. "Impossible. Right, Henderson?"

Dustin looked wary. "Logically," he said, "it makes sense."

"Fuck logic!" Steve said. "There's no way the Mind Flayer did this. Plus, he's dead, so jot that down."

"Unless he's not," Max said. "And he got Chrissy."

"Maybe he is dead," Robin said, "and something else got Chrissy, but whatever the Flayer did to Alice's mind is still there, like an echo. Maybe he doesn't have to be alive for the effects to take hold."

"So, what do we do?" Alice said. "How do we...free my mind?"

"Maybe we can't," Dustin said quietly.

Alice's lip quivered as she tried to hold back tears. Was she going to be haunted like this forever?

"Enough!" Steve said. "You're scaring Alice—"

"She should be scared," Max snapped, "after what happened to Billy! But we won't give up. I don't want to lose anyone else to the goddamn Mind Flayer."

"I couldn't save Billy from him," Alice said, throat constricting with unshed tears. "It's haunted me to this day. Now, maybe I can't even save myself."

Max's expression softened. She moved from behind the counter. "Alice," she said, "do you feel guilty that you couldn't save Billy?"

Tears rolled down Alice's cheeks, and she nodded. Steve squeezed her hand for reassurance.

"I was too weak," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Max."

"No!" Max blurted out. "You weren't weak. You fought for him, and for El. You shouldn't feel bad, because you tried. Okay?"

Max wrapped Alice in a hug. Alice stiffened, before dropping Steve's hand and hugging back.

"At least you tried," Max repeated into Alice's shoulder. The full meaning of her words didn't register to Alice or anyone else.

"We have two major things to figure out," Robin said, bringing the conversation back to their main concerns. "Question One: is the Mind Flayer nesting in Alice's mind? Sub-question: If he is, what's his angle?"