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BATTLE-READY WAS THE ONLY word to describe the mixed group as they stood on their ground for the very last time before they rode into the darkest night of their lives. After a day of preparing, they packed all their things away into the stolen trailer and drove up to the Creel house, totally silent. Because, despite their determination, there was an eerie sense of foreboding floating around them all. They all masked their anxieties in different way, by giving themselves silent pep talks and fiddling with the spare cotton on their clothes.
Kali was able to hide hers by holding onto Nancyʼs sweat hand, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. Once this was over, she would have everything she ever wanted. Once this was over, she could go back and undo all the bad things she'd done over the year. Once this was over, everything would be good again. Those eight months of bliss she once had could become a reality again. Maybe this time it would be eight years. Hopefully, forever.
Once Steve parked outside the haunted house, Erica, Lucas and Max stepped out, holding onto their lamps. The dog followed after them, as Kali didn't want them to have to go into this completely alone. That was what probably worried her the most — they had no supervision and if something happened to one of them, she'd never forgive herself for letting them do it alone. Still, though, not a single person spoke. And then Steve turned the gears back on and they were driving to the trailer park.
"Okay." Nancy opened her mouth for the first time in hours, turning around to face the group seriously, seeing that for the first time ever, not a single one of them was smiling or cracking jokes. "I wanna run through it one more time. Phase one."
"We meet Erica at the playground," Robin answered, not a single hint of the usual humour in her voice. "She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready."
Nancy nodded. "Phase two."
"Max baits Vecna," said Steve, and the reminder of the risk the young girl was taking made them all nauseous . "He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance."
"Phase three?"
"Me, Eddie and Riley draw the bats away," Dustin answered this time, gesturing between his trio and their creative weapons and shields. Eddie patted them both on the heads.
"Four."
"We head into Vecnaʼs lair and blast him," Kali said, still holding onto Nancyʼs hand as she sat down. Robin nodded, holding up the homemade flamethrowers she and Steve spent all afternoon on.
Nancy nodded at them. "Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," she told them lastly. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what." Her eyes flickered to Kali, who she knew would stop everything if she knew one of them was in trouble, especially the kids. "Got it?"
"Got it," they all answered, and suddenly it was time to go back to the Upside Down.
Riley Minh was a bag of numbing nerves as she flipped through the gate for the third time in twenty four hours. Her body didn't feel like her own and her mind was far gone, but she continued to push herself through with it, refusing to give up. She kept reminding herself that she'd been through worse, but that's wasn't true. That was far from the truth.
