Hawkins Unraveling

CH 21 : Come What May

Two Months Later

There was pressure everywhere. Pushing down her body, in her head, around her neck, digging into her side. She felt breathless, at a loss for air. Her vision was hazy, and her brain was getting fuzzy, and the strength in her limbs was fading. And yet, despite it all, some things were clear: the angry, glaring expression that was right above her face, the bite of nails into her skin, the slicing burn of sharp glass cutting into her hand, the sickening slide of blade through muscle and the heat of blood pouring out-

June sat up with a gasp, tears in her eyes and with the sheets twisted around her waist and legs. It took her a few minutes to get control of her breathing, to slow her heart rate, to untangle herself from her blankets and strip off her sweaty clothing, but she did, and it took less time than previous instances before.

June had essentially changed night terrors, trading the old Vecna-created ones for the actual memories about Jason of her own making. He'd been a real asshole long before he'd started hunting after her and her friends, but she was having a hard time grasping the fact that she'd killed him, even in self-defense. It had all happened so suddenly, and she'd been so desperate to get free of him. All of her friends reminded her that she did what she had to do, and they all supported her, which was why these night terrors came less frequently than they used to, but they were still there. This was the first one she'd had in almost two weeks.

She moved through her morning routine by muscle memory, her unrestful sleep slowing her down a bit. It was Saturday, so she had to pick things up if she was going to meet Robin and Steve at Family Video as per usual. There had been a few Saturdays right after everything with the Upside Down happened that June had missed, but she didn't work there with them, anyway, so it had been fine. They had understood. But she didn't want to go back to missing their normal routine, which was why she was pushing herself to pedal faster now that she had climbed onto her bike.

The ride was easy enough, and it was familiar and comfortable. Folks had started to go back to not noticing her as much on the streets now, so she received fewer questionable gazes and looks from passersby as she went about her life. It was pretty much only the Carver and Cunningham families now that still treated their entire friend group like they all had diseases.

When June left her bike next to Steve's car, she paused at the door, taking a moment to watch her friends through the glass. Robin was perched on the counter, swinging her legs as she fired grapes one at a time at Steve, who kept dodging and leaning as he tried to catch them in his mouth. Most hit his face with little success, it seemed, judging by all of the rolling grapes on the ground at his feet, but just as she opened the door, she heard both of them cheer ecstatically over the fact that he'd managed to get one in his mouth after all.

"You did it!" Robin screamed gleefully.

"I did it!" Steve crowed proudly, spinning toward the door when he heard the bell ring to announce someone's arrival. His face lit up when he saw June walking in. "I did it!" he told her, pointing to his open mouth to show her the grape.

June laughed, shaking her head as she moved to join them at the counter. "Great job, Harrington," she told him with a smile. "I'm proud of you."

Steve grinned, practically glowing.

As the two of them resumed their grape war, June excused herself into the back storage room as she often did to set down her bag. She spied Robin's water bottle on the shelf by the wall and reached for it– she'd left her own at home after her brain-fog-filled morning and she was desperate for a drink after her morning bike ride. She had it just about to her lips when the storage room's door opened. "Rob, I'm stealing some water-"