Hawkins Unraveling

CH 18 : Surprise Complications

June didn't know exactly how she did it. She fought against Vecna, fought against her fears and her worries, and latched onto the truths about her friends for strength as she did so, and somehow someway, it worked. He was ready to end her, ready to complete his task to open the gates to the Upside Down and rip right through Hawkins, and somehow, someway, he wasn't able to finish the job this time.

June came back to herself, back to her body, just as it began to drop from levitating. She landed hard on the Creel House's attic floor, gasping for breath as it was knocked out of her. Pat Benatar blasted in her ears, and she gripped the headphones against her head for something tangible– and safe– to hold onto. And then Lucas and Max were there, calling out her name at her side, making sure she was okay, alive.

She assured them once– "I'm okay, I'm okay"– before rolling to her side. As she moved into a seated position, she saw Max smile at her quickly before suddenly her expression went blank, and the whites of her eyes became visible as they rolled back into her head.

"Lucas," June gasped, reaching out for Max. "What's she-" She saw the way the younger girl's body twitched, the way she shook in her trance, and realized that Max had cast aside Kate Bush after all. "No."

Lucas pulled on June. "We didn't know if it was enough time," he said, worry laced in his tone. He was shaking, too. "You were in for a while, but then you started floating, and-"

"I know," she told him. "It was hard. He almost-"

"Max didn't want to take the chance." He stared at her, watched her twitch in her trance. "As soon as we started your song, she stopped hers. We had to buy them more time."

"Put me back in," June said, shaking her head at the situation. "We can pull her out, put me back in. This time I can-"

"She knows what she's doing," Lucas argued. "She made me promise to let her do this if it came to it. She knows how."

June knew that, too, and she knew Max was capable, but she didn't like it. She gripped Lucas's hand, made him look at her for a moment. "If she starts to float, we pull her out. I go back in. Got it?"

Lucas nodded adamantly. "Yes, okay, yes."

Satisfied with that answer, June let go of Lucas and leaned back, releasing a heavy exhale. She turned up the volume of her music, willing to let Pat Benatar's voice drown out every thought in her head as she watched Max intently. She was so focused on the sound she didn't even hear the footsteps behind her, but she did see the fear in Lucas's expression as he rushed to put his hands up. Alarmed, June fumbled to turn down the volume as much as she dared, twisting to look behind her just in time to hear a familiar, angry voice say, "Get up, Sinclair."

June's body tensed as Jason Carver stalked into the attic, his movements calculated and his expression dark with fury. "I said get up!" As Lucas scurried to his feet, hands still up, Jason turned to June, fixing her with an ugly look of hatred. "On your fucking feet."

June got up slowly, showing her own hands. Her pulse thundered in her ears as loudly as her music. "Jason, just wait-"

"Shut up!" he snapped, and his hands moved, brandishing a gun. June froze, as did Lucas. Jason glanced over to where Max sat twitching, the whites of her eyes still visible. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"We didn't do this-" Lucas began.

"Bullshit!" Jason yelled. He jerked his head and his gun at Max, then centered his aim right on Lucas. "Pull her out of it."

"I can't," Lucas said, shaking his head as much as he dared.

"I said, pull her out of it! Right fucking now!"