Hargrove's Secret (Steve x Y/N)

Chapter 10

      It grabbed him by his neck and tried to eat him. "Shit!" I yelled. He was screaming. I used my powers to get a few off of him. There were so many.
      They just kept coming. I kept getting them off of him and ended up right by his side, shooing them away, exploding a few, mostly throwing them in big groups. I killed the one on his neck. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie hit some with oars. We ended up getting them all, but more and more came.
      They punctured us a few times, Steve got off the ground and helped get them away. We were able to take off. We made it to Skull Rock and sat, watching and making sure we were covered.
      Once we were, the pain his Steve.
      "Steve?" I said, running over to his side.
      "I'm okay." He said.
      "No you're not. You're losing blood." I told him. "Come on, sit." I instructed. He winced as he listened. I touched his injuries lightly. He winced.
      "I'm sorry." I told him. Robin went on about Rabies.
      "If you feel the need to punch me or something, let me know." Robin said.
      "Robin." Steve said. "I want to punch you."
      "Sense of humor's still intact." She laughed. "That's a good sign."
      Nancy ripped her skirt and handed it to me. "Thanks." I told her. I took it and held it up. "Ready?" I asked him.
      "Just do it." He said, raising his hands up. I wrapped it around his abdomen.
      He groaned slightly. "Sorry." I said again.
      "It's okay." He told me. He put his hands on his head. I tied it tightly, but not too tight. He groaned again.
      "Too tight?" I asked him.
      "No, that's good." He said.
      "Alright." I told him. I finished tying it. He looked at me once I finished. I smiled slightly.
      "Thanks." He said. I smiled again.
      "So, uh. This place is like Hawkins but with monsters?" Eddie asked.
      I helped Steve off the wall. "Pretty much." I told him. He started to walk down the rock he climbed on. "Wait, watch out for the vines." I told him. "It's all a hive mind."
     "It's all a what?" He asked.
      "All the creepy crawlies around here, they're like one." Steve said. "Step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat. You're stepping on Vecna." I could hear his voice strain slightly.
      "Shit." Eddie said as he struggled to get down.
      "But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people? Obviously." Robin asked.
      "As far as I understand it, yeah." Nancy said.
      "So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns, and grenades, and whatever we need to blow those bat things that are guarding the gate." Robin said.
      "Yeah, I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But, I mean, guns, yeah, sure." Steve replied.
      "Well, we don't have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom." Nancy said.
      "You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?" Eddie asked.
      "Full of surprises, isn't she." Robin said.
      "A Russian Makarov and a revolver." She said.
      "Yeah, you almost shot me with that one." Steve said.
      "You almost deserved it." She replied. Eddie threw his denim vest at him.
      "For your modesty, dude." He said.
      Then, the ground started to shake, and things fell. I fell onto Steve, who fell onto the wall. He used one arm to push me down slightly and used his body to shield my head. He held me with his other arm.
      When it had stopped, he released me.
      "Yeah, so gun's seem like a good idea to me." Eddie said.
      "Yeah, me too." Robin said.
      "So what are we waiting for?" Steve asked, putting Eddie's vest on. He got his flashlight and started walking. I followed him.
      "Couldn't we have tried a road, or something just slightly less creepy?" Robin asked as we walked.
      "I think we're getting close. We're almost out of here. Don't worry." Nancy said.
      Steve and Eddie had fallen behind us, so it was the three of us up front. 
      The ground rumbled again. I fell against a tree. A very sharp tree. I had to watch where my feet were, as the ground was filled with those vines.
      Nancy ran. We all ran after her. The rumbling stopped once we reached Nance's house.
      We walked in. I felt a pain on my hands. Nothing too serious, just some scratches. We carefully walked up the stairs and into Nancy's room.
      Nancy pulled out a shoebox and opened it.
      "Those aren't guns." Eddie said, looking at the heels in the box.
      "These heels are pointy, but I was hoping for a deadly projectile." Robin said.
      "I.. don't understand." Nancy said.
      "Maybe you left them somewhere else." Eddie said.
       "There's a six year old in the house. I know where I keep my guns." She said. "And also, I threw these away years ago." Nancy looked around.
       I noticed Steve's absence. I walked out of her room, and saw Steve going absolutely insane.
      He was wandering around a room, waving his hands around. Then, I heard a voice.
      "Holy shit, is that Dustin?" I asked. He nodded.
      "Dustin! Dus- Hello?" He called out.
      "Dustin!" I yelled. "Can you hear us?"
       "Hello! Hello!" He yelled.
      "What are you two lunatics doing?" Robin asked.
      "Hello!" He yelled, pointing his flashlight at them. "He's here. Henderson. That little shit? He's here. He's like.. he's in the walls or something. Just listen. Listen. Dustin. Dustin! Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear me?"
      "That brings us to the question you first raised." Dustin said. "How and why is there a gate at Lover's Lake? Let's analyze. What do El, Y/N and Vecna have in common?"
      "Dustin!" Nancy yelled. Soon enough, we were all calling his name.
      "Alright, either this kid can't hear us of he's being a total douchebag." Steve said.
      "Will found a way." Nancy said.
      "What?" I asked.
      "Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights." Nancy said. She flipped light switches. "It's not working."
      "Guys..?" Steve said. "You seeing this?"
      The chandelier was lit up, but not in the normal way. It was shiny. I reached up and touched it. "Whoa." I said.
      Everyone else joined. "It.. tickles." Steve said.
      "It kinda feels good." Robin said.
      "Does anyone know morse code?" Nancy asked.
      "No." Robin, Steve and I said at the same time.
      "Wait, does SOS count?" Eddie asked. "Is that good?"
      "Yes." I said.
      "If you guys can hear us, make the light spin." Dustin said. We all looked at each other. I stuck my hand out and spun it around the chandelier. "You idiots." He mumbled. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to grab a lite and brite, and you guys go up to Nancy's room and wait, can you do that?"
      I pushed my hand in and out.
      "Good." He said. We went up to Nancy's room. A few minutes later, the light was back, and on Nancy's bed. "Okay, you guys seeing this?" He asked. Nancy touched the light. His laughter echoed. "Okay, we aren't moving it, but we're going to unplug it. Stand by." A few seconds passed. "Okay, try it now!" His laughter rang out again. "H... hi." He said.
      "Hi!" Erica's voice joined in.
      "Hey." Lucas echoed.
      "That worked!" Dustin said.
     "Yes!" We all cheered.
      Nancy spelled things out for them. I had another headache in the middle of it, making my ears ring.
"Okay, seriously, How many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys trust me?" Dustin yelled, stopping the ringing.
"Jesus, this kid has got to get his ego in check." Steve said.
"It's his tone, right?" Eddie said.
"I know." Steve replied.
"Okay, so how far is your trailer?" Nancy asked.
"Seven miles." Eddie replied.
"Nancy, I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven't you always owned bikes?" Robin asked.
"Yeah." She said.
She told them we were leaving, then we ran out and grabbed the bikes. We rode off for the trailer.
In the middle of the ride, I got another headache. He knew where we were. I could tell. I could sense him. I peddled faster.
It didn't take too long to reach the trailed park. We dropped our bikes and ran inside once we reached his trailer.
"That's gotta be a Guinness World Record. Most miles traveled interdimensionally." Robin said. We walked in his trailer.
"Holy shit." I said, looking at the gate on the ceiling.
"This is where Chrissy died." Eddie said. I looked at him with sympathy in my eyes.
"I think there's something in there." Robin said. Something poked through.
"What the hell is that?" Eddie asked. It bursted through the layer of whatever it was on the gate. We stood back and once it stopped, looked through.
"No way." Steve said. It was our world. Dustin laughed.
"Hi there!" He said, waving.
"Hi." We all said in reply.
"Holy shit, this is trippy." Robin said. I giggled.
They grabbed a mattress and put it under the gate, then Dustin tossed a rope that he had made out of sheets up. Or down. "If my theory is correct." Dustin said, tugging on the rope. "Abracadabra." He said. "Okay, pull on it and see if it holds!" He yelled. Robin jumped on it.
Robin climbed through first. She fell safely onto the mattress.
We all stood there for a second. "Alright I guess I'll go." Eddie said. He climbed through next, also landing safely on the mattress.
      Then, it was Nancy's turn. With some assistance, she made it threw just fine.
      "You go next." Steve said. My head started to ache as I climbed. Once I reached the top, I fell. But it wasn't into Eddie's trailer that I fell. It was to Starcourt. That night.
       I watched as Billy was killed, all over again. I watched myself sit there idly, doing nothing.
       "Do you remember what you did, Y/N? Or rather.. what you didn't do." Vecna's voice rang out. "Or have you already forgotten? When I kill someone, I never forget." Billy's screams echoed in my head, then my mother's joining him.
       I tried to run. To escape, but the screams simply got louder, and louder, and louder until I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned against a wall, covering my ears.
       But sounds inside your head don't stop when you cover your ears. In fact, they worsen. I ran again, and when I pushed through the back doors of Scoops Ahoy, I wasn't in Starcourt anymore.
       Everything around me was red. I was on stairs. Stairs that were broken off of a house. Vecna's mind.
       I heard more screams. Different screams. Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick. I walked down the stairs.
       As I reached the bottom, I heard a clock chime. "I see you've been looking for me, Y/N. You were so close to the truth." He said. "How was old, blind, dumb Victor? Did he miss me? I've been meaning to check back in, but I've been busy."
       I looked to my side and saw Fred Benson. "So very busy." He continued. I backed away, then I saw the door. And Vecna was showing me something.
       I saw Victor Creel when he was younger. When he bought the old house.
       "What'd I tell ya?" Victor asked his wife.
       "Wow." She said.
       "This is amazing!" Alice walked in. "It looks like a fairytale. A dream."
       "Alice, no running." Virginia said.
       I saw the boy too. He stood in a corner. "Like you, Y/N, I didn't fit in with other children. Something was wrong with me. My teachers and doctor's said I was broken. My parents thought new scenery would help, so we moved to Hawkins. It was absurd. As if the world would be any different here." He said. I followed the boy. "But then, to my surprise, our new home provided a discovery. And a newfound sense of purpose." The boy opened a vent and put his hand in. "I found a nest of black widows living inside a vent. Most people fear spiders. They detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them. Suddenly, Victor rushed passed me. I watched him run to the other side of the house. "A kinship. Like me, they are solitary creatures. And deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our world." I was now in the attic, watching Henry with his jars of spiders. "The most important of all predators. They immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem. But the human world was disrupting this harmony. You see, humans are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world. All while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure." I walked down the stairs and Henry appeared at the bottom, looking at a clock. "While others saw order, I saw a straitjacket. A cruel, oppressive world. Dictated by made up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and die!" He yelled. "Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind, and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized I didn't have to." The clock sped up. "I could make my own rules. I could restore the balance to a broken world. A predator... but for good." I heard a shriek and turned around. I was outside. I watched Henry kill a bunny. "As I practiced, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach into others, into their minds. Their memories. I became an explorer. I saw my parents as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people. But like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie. They had done things, Eleven. Such awful things." I ran inside. I heard a baby wailing. I saw Victors vision. "I showed them who they really were. I held up a mirror. My naive father believed it was a demon cursing them for their sins. But my mother somehow knew." We were back in the attic. "Knew it was I who was holding up that mirror." I walked down the attic stairs. "And she despised me for it." I continued walking. I reached the dining room. Dream a Little Dream. It was that night. "She called a doctor, an expert. She wanted him to lock me away, to fix me, even though it wasn't I who was broken. It was them. So she left me with no choice." She levitated as Victor's back was turned. Her bones snapped, her eyeballs popped. "No choice but to act. To break free. With every life I took, I grew stronger." He wiped blood from his nose. Victor panicked and got both of his kids up. "More powerful." Time skipped to his daughter being dead. I watched Henry black out. "They were becoming a part of me. But I was still a child. And I did not yet know my limits. And it nearly killed me." Victor held his son. "He was arrested, blamed for the death of my sister and mother, just as I had planned. But I was far from free. I woke up from my coma only to find myself placed in the care of a doctor, the very doctor I had hoped to escape. Dr. Martin Brenner." I was now in the Hawkins lab. "But the truth... the truth is he did not just want to study me. He wanted more. He wanted to control. When Papa finally realized he could not control me, he tried to recreate me." I watched him tattoo the numbers 001 on his arm. "He begun a program. And soon, others were born. But Papa did not get all the children who were like us. Obviously. You are like me. More like me than anyone. Eleven sent me here." He explained.
       "All done." Dr. Brenner said. "Not so bad, was it? See? There's nothing to he afraid of. Is there, Y/N?" He looked at me. "Why don't you take a seat?" His voice sounded distorted. I ran.
      I heard more screams. There were children everywhere. Dead. I continued to run for a door. It was blocked off. I broke a few boards off.
      "Y/N.. what are you doing?" He walked toward me. "It's not time for you to leave. Now that you see where I've been, I would like very much to show you where I am going." I pushed through the door. It was a room. With a chair. I was back in the tattooing room.
      "Take a seat, Y/N." Dr. Brenner said. The lights turned off. I could only hear my breath. Then, they turned back on. I was strapped in the chair.
       Vines wrapped around my arms and legs, locking me in place. He stood on the other side then walked towards me. He stood over me and got in my face.
      "I want you to tell Eleven. I want you to tell her everything you see." He said, putting his hand over my head. I saw the world ripping in half.
      "No!" I screamed. I heard clocks, saw fire. Dead people everywhere. Military. I saw creatures invading. He showed me them invading my trailer. Showed Susan in fear. So many things. "No!" I yelled again. Countless people fell in the hole, or were ripped apart. Hot tears streamed down my face.
      "Tell her..." he said again.
      "No!" I continued. I saw more bodies. Susan, Max, Eleven, Steve, Eddie, Nancy, Robin, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will.
      "Everything." He continued.
      "No!" I yelled again. I closed my eyes and felt my body fall. I opened them. I was back.
      "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Steve said, catching me. I could barely breathe. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." He lowered me to the ground, propping my head up on his knee. "It's okay, I'm here." He said. I looked into his eyes. "I'm right here."
      He helped me up. I hugged him. "It was awful." I said.
      "I know. It's okay." He told me. "Come on, let's get you out of here."
      He helped me out of the upside down. Once I was out, Robin helped stabilize me.
      "We should go to our trailer." Max said as Steve jumped down. "There isn't a gaping hole that leads to another dimension in it."
       "That sounds like a good idea." Robin said.
       Steve made sure I could walk, then we headed over to my trailer.
       I sat down on the couch. "He showed me things. Things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things." I said. My voice was hoarse. "I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Fire downtown. Dead soldiers. And this.. this giant creature with a gaping mouth. And this creature.. it wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. He showed me Susan.. Max.." I couldn't get all the names out. I looked down at the ground, my eyes watering.. "Basically everyone I know.."
     "Okay, but.. he's just trying to scare you, Y/N." Steve said. "Right? I mean.. it's not real."
     "Not yet.. but I think of everything else I've seen. What's happened to me." I touched my head where Patrick threw me against a rock. "My injury came through with me. I watched Chrissy die before it happened. And Billy. And there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but.. they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the upside down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home." I shed a tear.
"Four chimes." Max said. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."
"I heard them too." I said.
"He's been telling us his plan this whole time." Max said.
"Four kills." Lucas said. "Four gates. End of the world."
"If that's true.. he's only one kill away." Dustin said.
"Oh God." Eddie said, burying his face in his hands.
"Try them again. Try them again." Steve said. Max went over to the phone and called the Byers.
"Anything?" Dustin asked.
"No. Rang a few times, then went to busy signal." Max said. I felt something. A presence, but not like Vecna. A good presence.
"Maybe you punched it in wrong. Try again." Steve said.
"I didn't punch it in wrong." Max replied.
"Well, I don't know." Steve said.
"Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone." Dustin told him.
"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." Steve said. Max called again.
"Same shit." She said, hanging up.
"How is that possible?" Lucas asked.
"I told you. Joyce has this telemarketer job. Always on the phone." Dustin said. The presence got stronger. "Mike won't stop whining about it."
"Yeah, but this phone's been busy for, what, three days now?" Max said. "That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong."
"She's right." Nancy said. "It can't be just coincidence. It can't be. Whatever is happening in Lenora is connected to all this." She looked out of the window. "I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead."
"We have to go back in there." I said. "Back into the upside down."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, now let's think this through." Steve said.
"What is there to think through?" I asked.
"We barely made it out of there in one piece." Steve said.
"Yeah, because we weren't prepared." I said. "But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."
"Or he'll kill us! The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to!" Steve said. "He's not scared of us."
"And for good reason." Robin said. "We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?"
"One." Dustin and Lucas said.
"Vecna." Erica said.
"Henry." Nancy said.
"Right. We've learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin." Robin said. "But my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."
"Then why fight fair?" Dustin said. "You're right, he's like Eleven AND Y/N. But that gives us the upper hand. We know their strengths. And weaknesses."
"Weaknesses?" Erica asked.
"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet same is true with Vecna."
      "That would explain what he was doing in that attic." Lucas said.
      "Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless." Dustin said.
      "Defenseless? What about the army of bats?" Steve asked.
      "Right, true. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow." Dustin answered.
      "And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie asked.
      "No idea." Dustin replied. "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin."
      "That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings." Robin said. "At least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don't even know who he's going to attack."
      "Yeah, we do." Max said. "I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me."
      "Max." Lucas said. "You can't. He'll kill you."
      "I survived before." Max said. "I can survive again. I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just... whatever it is.. whatever you do... try not to miss."
      I stood up and walked into our bedroom. I sat on my bed and put my head in my hands. "Why her?" I thought. "Why?"
       Steve knocked. "Come in." I replied. I could tell it was him by the way he knocked.
       "Listen, I know you don't think this is a good idea.." he said.
      "It's a great idea. I'm just slightly pissed off that Vecna.. Henry.. One.. whatever, is going after my sister. There are, like, thousands of people in Hawkins, and he chooses her?" I said. "It just feels like he's going after everyone I love. Steve.. I'm scared."
       "I know you are." He said. He sat on my bed next to me.
       "Steve, I meant what I said at the school. I don't know if I can take losing her. Or anybody else." I told him.
      He put his arm around me. I put my head on his shoulder. Then, Eddie called out. "Hey guys! Come here." He yelled. "Quit making out in there!" I rolled my eyes.
      Steve and I walked out. "The War Zone." Eddie said.
      "The what?" I asked. We huddled around him.
      "They've got everything you need for, uh.. well, killing things, basically." Eddie said.
      "You think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" Robin asked. "Is that a grenade?" She pointed at the picture. "I mean, how is any of this legal?"
      "Well, lucky for us it is, so.." Eddie said. "This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."
      "If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone." Erica said.
      "Normally, I'd agree, but we need the weapons." Nancy said. "I think it's worth the risk."
      "Me too." I said.
      "But is it worth the time? It'll take all day to bike there and back." Dustin said.
      "Who said anything about bikes?" Eddie asked.
      "You got some far we don't know about?" Steve asked.
      "It's not exactly a car, Steve. And it's not exactly mine, but, uh.. it'll do." He said.
      "Hey, Red, uhm, SuperPower girl, uh, you guys got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?" Eddie asked. Max gave a look of 'that might work.'
      She brought out her Michael Myers mask. Eddie put it on and we ran to the RV we were about to steal. We snuck in through a window. Eddie locked the door and jumped in the seat, then hotwired the car.
      "Uh, Eddie, I don't know if I like the idea of you driving." Robin said.
      "Oh, I'm just starting her. Harrington's got her. Don't cha big boy?" Eddie asked. The RV started. They quickly switched spots and floored it.
      "Go!" We all yelled.
      "They look pissed!" Dustin said.
      "Well it's not everyday you lose your house and car." Robin said.
      Once we got out of the trailer park, things were a bit smoother.
      "Holy shit." I said. "We just stole an RV."
      Robin and I made eye contact and started laughing.
       "We stole an RV." She said, laughing more.
       Everyone else looked at us like we were insane. "Why are you laughing?" Dustin asked. We laughed more, falling onto each other.
       "Would you two stop?" Eddie said. We both tried to make a straight face.
       I walked up to the front where Steve was. "How does she handle?" I asked him, sitting down in the passenger chair.
       "Pretty good, considering that this is a... house." Steve replied. I giggled slightly."Yeah it's.. it's silly, but I.. I've actually... I always had this dream that I'd have this really.. really big family. I'm talking, like, uh, a full brood of Harringtons." He said. I smiled. "Like, five, six kids."
       "I have too.." I said.
       "Six little nuggets." He said. "Three girls, three boys. And.. and every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California." I smiled. "Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something."
      "That sounds nice." I said. He looked at me with a smile.
      "Yeah?" He asked.
      "Yeah." I said with a smile. "Especially the six kids part."
      "I've had some practice." He said.
      "Yeah." I said. He kept looking at me and the road. I looked back to see Max and Lucas talking. "Steve?" I started. He looked at me. "What do I do?" I asked him. He looked at me confused. "If.. something happens to her." I said.
       "We kill the son of a bitch, and get her fixed up." He said.
      "What if she can't be fixed up?" I asked.
      "Nothing will happen. Y/N, what could possibly go that wrong? I mean, we'll put someone with her and if push comes to shove, they Kate Bush her and she's okay." He reassured me.
      "Yeah.." I said. But I couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling something bad would happen.
      A few minutes later, we reached 'War Zone.' Everyone but Eddie, Lucas, and Dustin got out. We walked in.
      "So much for avoiding angry hicks." Robin said the second we walked in. Steve, Robin and I headed off to find some things.
      Steve went to buy new clothes, and I went to the knife section. I grabbed a nice buck knife. I headed over to the guns after that. Nancy was looking at one.
      We were looking at a gun. It was 129 bucks.
     "Hey, can I see this real pretty .357, please?" A familiar voice asked. Nancy and I looked at each other.
      We both looked over. Jason.  We both tried to avoid eye contact.
      "Nancy Wheeler. Y/N Hargrove." He said. We looked at him. "Wouldn't expect to find you two here.
      "Yeah, well, it's just.. scary times." Nancy said. "I'm uh.. sorry about Chrissy." I winced slightly at her name.
      "Want my advice?" Jason asked. "Shotguns are not good for much of anything past killing small birds." He got closer to her. "I mean, they got power, sure, but not much range. And that's just gonna force you into close-range combat, then someone can just grab that barrel like this.." he grabbed it. I lifted my hand slightly. "And redirect it."
     He looked at me. "You both look nervous." He said.
      "Like she said, scary times." I replied.
     "Now, your brother, he, uh.. is he here with you, by chance?" He asked.
      "Mike?" She asked.
      "Mike." He repeated.
      "No."
      "I only ask because he's... he's in Hellfire, isn't he?"
      "I don't know what you're talking about."
      "What about his friends? They here with you?"
      "Would you let go?" His hand was still on the gun. He didn't.
      "Let go." I told him. He let the barrel go.
      "Y/N." He looked at me again. "I heard that you saw.. I'm sorry." He said.
      "I am too." I replied.
      He walked away. We rushed to pay for everything, then ran back to the RV.
      We busted in. "You're old friends are in there." Erica told Lucas.
      "Oh shit." Lucas said. Steve and I got in the front
      "Let's go! Let's go!" Dustin yelled.
      "I'm going! I'm going! Sit down!" Steve yelled. We pulled out. We drove to a field nearby.
      "Keep the RV running." I told Steve. Everyone piled out and I turned the radio on to a channel with nothing. Just static.
      I turned the static up and took a picture of Jonathan on the ground. I covered my eyes and focused on the sound. Then, I focused on Jonathan.
      They were driving. Somewhere. There was someone else I didn't recognize. They were okay though. That's what mattered. Eleven wasn't with them. Something must have happened.
      I took the blindfold off. I thought for a second. I was going to do it. I put it back on and focused yet again on the sound. Then, on the creature that has haunted me for so long. Vecna. As I focused, I saw him sitting in his living room.
      He was waiting. Waiting for something. Once I walked in, he spoke.
      "I can see you, Y/N." He said. I jumped back slightly. "Why are you spying on me?" He asked.
      "I wanted to test it out." I told him.
      He stood up and walked towards me. "The time is coming." He told me. "Shouldn't you be protecting your sister?"
       "I am." I told him. "You pull anything, and I'll kill you."
       "Such spark you have, Y/N. You really shouldn't be using that against me. You should be joining me. Maybe then, I will guarantee his safety."
      "Steve?" I asked.
      "Yes. Steve.
      "You won't hurt him. No matter what. I'll kill you before you even have the chance."
       "While I appreciate the.. fire.. you should know that I have considered it. Would you like me to show you? What I've considered? What I wish to do?"
       He grabbed my wrist and put his hand over my eyes. Another vision. Steve was the only thing I saw. He was just lying there. I walked towards him. He was dead.
       I saw myself. I saw myself grieving. I sat next to him. The floor was filled with his blood. I felt hot tears on my cheeks. "Steve!" I yelled.