His Red, Her Blue || Max Mayfield

Dear Billy

"Max!" Cal yelled, his hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her.

"Cal, what's wrong with her?" Steve asked the boy.

Cal looked over at him, his expression one of worry, "I don't, I don't know." Cal uttered before turning his attention back to Max, "Max! Max, snap out of it!" he yelled.

A sharp gasp for air filled the room as Max snapped back to reality, her eyes glancing around the room frantically. Her eyes eventually landed on Cal's worried expression.

"Cal?" Max asked, her breaths heavy as Cal sighed a breath of relief.

"Yeah, it's me." Cal reassured the girl, gently cupping her cheeks, "What happened?" He asked Max softly, watching as she calmed down.

Max looked at him, her eyes filled with fear. Cal looked over at Steve and Dustin, the three sharing a concerned look.

"It was here. Right here," Max shone her torch down to the end of a hallway at an empty wall as Cal stood next to her. Steve was right behind her, Dustin on her other side, while Robin and Nancy brought up the back.

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy asked.

"It was so real." Max told them, "And then when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."

"It was like she was in a trance or something." Dustin added as Cal looked at Max in worry, "Exactly what Eddie explained happened to Chrissy." Dustin finished.

Max grabbed Cal's hand and squeezed it before turning to face the group.

"That's not even the bad part." Max admitted, walking back to the office, Cal's hand still interlocking with hers, as she motioned for the others to follow her.

The group entered the office as Max shared what she knew.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms Kelley for help. They both were having headaches." Max explained as Robin looked at a file, "Bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then... then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things."

"Bad things." Max stated, "From their past. These visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... everything ended."

"Vecna's curse." Robin commented.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago, I've been having them for five days." Cal looked up at Max, the pieces clicking into place, "I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty four hours after their first vision."

"And I just saw that Goddamn clock, so..." Max sniffled, Cal felt his hearback her own tears at the thought of losing the girl. "Looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."

A long silence fell over the group as they all stared at Max, different emotions upon their faces, all of them within the range of despair and anguish. The silence was broken when one word was spoken.

"No." Cal said, letting out a chuckle of disbelief, "No" He repeated, a smile on his face as he held up his arms.

"That, that's not happening. I mean, come on guys, headaches, nosebleeds, nightmares? I've been getting them as well, I've even had them for way longer than Max and look," He gestured to himself, "I'm still standing. So-so there's no way, alright? This is just-" Cal shook his head, trying to find the right words as the others watched on with sympathy and concerned looks etched onto their faces,

"It's-it's just..." Cal paused, "fuck... God, Fuck!" Cal yelled, throwing his hands into the air in frustration, a cup on Ms Kelly's desk flying up and smashing against the ceiling, as everyone flinched from Cal's yell.