Stranger Things Imagines

Bait And Betrayal

How has my life come to this? These kids have been dealing with monsters from another dimension since Will went missing. Somehow I've been dragged into it with Vecna terrorising Hawkins. I'm way out of my depth here.

Everyone is gathered at my house to try and come up with a plan. We can't seem to agree on anything other than how risky this whole thing is. I briefly break off from the group to find one of my adoptive brother's shirts for Eddie and grab a drink. However, before I leave the kitchen, I hear them formulating a new plan.

"We have to use Y/N as bait." Nancy states.

"What? No." Dustin protests.

"Absolutely not." Eddie sides with him.

"I said I'd do it - so let me do it." Max is the only other person who strongly disagrees and is willing to say it.

"It's too much of a risk. It has to be her." Nancy doubles down.

"It doesn't. I've already survived him - I can do it again." Max insists.

"You could die." Steve joins Nancy.

"So could Y/N." Dustin points out.

"Yeah, but we've known Max longer - it'd hurt a lot more if we lost her." Steve blurts out.

"You didn't just say that..." Dustin is disappointed by his attitude.

"I've known Y/N most of my life." Eddie fires back. "I'm not letting you take her away from me."

"I don't want anyone to die. None of us do." Steve tries not to make things worse.

"But this is the best option." Nancy finishes his thought.

"No. No! Nope! Absolutely not!" Eddie rages.

"You're not even giving her a choice. She's not even here and you're throwing her out to the wolves." Dustin continues.

"Shut up!" Erica silences them.

"Someone's life is on the line either way. It really doesn't matter if it's Max or Y/N. He's after both of them. If something happens, it'll hurt no matter who it is. But if we stick to a plan, nobody will get hurt." Robin rants.

"We need a plan first." Lucas states.

"Robin's right." Max sighs.

"Red, not you too."

"Fine but we have to be careful." Dustin caves in.

"Henderson..."

"We'll be careful - we'll be with her the whole time if things start going wrong." Dustin reassures him.

"Unbelievable." Eddie mutters and he realises that he's outnumbered and can't change their minds.

I can't believe what I'm hearing. They're so willing to make me their sacrifice and they aren't even planning on letting me have a say in the matter. I take a deep breath and wipe away a stray tear before rejoining them.

"Here. I had to dig to find something you'd actually like." I hand Eddie the Bon Jovi shirt and pretend I didn't hear anything.

Now that I'm in the same room, they tell me the plan. Just as I suspected, they aren't giving me a choice - though Eddie constantly shows his lack of support. They swear to stay by my side to save me, but it somehow feels like an empty promise.

While everyone is gathering weapons, Eddie and I are hiding out in the motor home he hotwired and stole. All I've been able to think about is how they gave in so quickly.

"Hey, I'm not gonna let him hurt you."

"What if he does?"

"I promise I won't let that happen. If anything happens, I will press play faster than I ever have." I give him a small smile.