"Sometimes memories are the worst forms of torture."
-
"Well, if it's not frostbite, then what is it?"
"It's disgusting is what it is, Carol," Gwen scrunches up her face.
"Yeah, seriously. Listen to Pengwen and get it off the table. We're eating h...
"It was here. Right here," Max says, staring at the end of the schools hallway with the rest of the group behind her as Robin, Nancy, and Gwen had rushed in a few moments earlier.
"A grandfather clock?" Nancy asks.
"I was so real," Max says. "And then, when I got closer, Suddenly I just... I woke up."
"It was like she was in a trance or something," Dustin says.
"I don't mean to scare anyone," Gwen starts. "But isn't that what Eddie said happened to Chrissy?"
Max turns around to face the group. "That's not even the bad part," she says before leading them all to the counselors office where Fred and Chrissy's files lay open on the desk. "Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help. They both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then... then the nightmares," she says, which causes Steve to glance up nervously at Gwen. "Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse until eventually... everything ended."
"Vacna's curse," Robin says.
"Chrissy's headache started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago. I've been having them for five days," Max says, while Gwen rubs a hand down her face in stress. "I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision," Max continues, her voice getting increasingly more emotional. "And I just saw that goddamn clock, so... looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."
Before anyone has the chance to speak, they're startled by a loud noise from outside the room. "Stay here," Steve tells them before grabbing a floor lamp to use as a weapon and leaving the room.
"He's an idiot if he thinks we're staying," Gwen says, walking behind him as the rest follow.
They follow Steve into the dark hallway. Steve holds the lamp while Dustin uses a flashlight to brighten their path from behind. They hear distant footsteps coming from around the corner and stop in their tracks, bracing in anticipation. Steve raises the lamp as the figure turns to them. They all scream in fear, only to realize it's Lucas.
