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Dylan curled her body into limbs, tucking her chin into her knees. She was watching a memory of herself on a loop, berating her sister for being a loser, running off with her boyfriend, then watching Barb be attacked in the pool. The last part was not a memory of hers, but an addition that Vecna had added to taunt her. Dylan would've preferred to go her whole life without seeing her sister in that much pain and terror, but now she'd seen in more times than she could count.
Dylan tried to breathe and relax, to ignore the trauma in front of her. She knew the second she broke that it was over for her.
Dylan wanted to cry or scream, anything, but instead she let the memories play in front of her as she held onto herself tight to help soothe.
She attempted a new method. Ignoring what Vecna wanted her to see and instead thinking of lighter memories.
The last time her and Barb had been good to each other, a few weeks before her disappearance.
For once in her life, Barb had needed Dylan's help. Barb had only told Dylan that she wasn't into boys, and she had a date with a girl from an opposing school's debate club. Dylan had still made fun of her a little, two debate club nerds on a date?, but she'd admit she was a little giddy at playing dress up. They'd bought a semi-cute (not Dylan's taste) blouse at the mall and Barb even let her put a little makeup on her face (blush, mascara, lipgloss). After the date, Barb had thanked her. Dylan felt like an older sister for once, as it was Barb who was smarter and better at everything else.
This helped a little, but slowly, Vecna's chosen memories seeped back into her consciousness.
Dylan tried again.
This time she thought of Steve.
There were a lot of memories of Steve that she could use to make herself feel happiness. He had a knack for that.
Again, Dylan thought of the easiest one that came to mind. The Snow Ball, senior year, when he'd ensured they'd both win, even though Dylan hadn't even tried to campaign at all. Afterwards, he'd kissed her on the dance floor, not their first kiss, but their first real, meaningful one.
The mental torture stopped as she repeated the memory in her head over and over, and she was met with pure darkness again. Only for a moment, then a familiar gold glow appeared in front of her.
The string was back.
Dylan quickly stood to follow it, scared it would fade away.
She reached out to touch it again and it sparkled again, filling the room with gold dust.
After her touch, Dylan could hear music again. Age of Consent, of course.
She headed further down the trail, holding onto the string.
She could make out a light at the end of the tunnel again. She couldn't see Steve but she could see Jonathan and it was as if her view was turned upside down.
"I need to be there," she could hear Steve say softly. "I need to be there when Dylan wakes up."
He was gone after that and the light seemed further away.
Dylan continued to follow the string. Without sight of Steve, Dylan went back to conjuring up memories of him.
Her favourite song put her mind a little more at ease so it was easier to think.
Flashes of her sister and Billy continued to appear, but Dylan didn't focus on them.
She thought of her eighteenth birthday. Steve giving her the locket with a picture of Barb. She remembered it now, it was the day after the Snow Ball, and they were together. Dylan reached up to her chest to grab it with her free hand and twirl it with her fingers. The music got louder as she did so.
She continued to think of other memories. Her and Steve's road trip to California, the weeks they spent secretly in her dorm room before finding an apartment, she even pictured them as kids and all the mischief they used to get up to.
The flashes of Barb and Billy got fewer and fewer in between; the music was blasting in her ears.
She still couldn't see the end of the tunnel anymore, which scared her, but the string kept her hopeful.
Somehow though she couldn't see him, she felt closer to Steve than when she could. As if she could almost feel him, at least his mind.
Dylan was surprised by how long this had been going on. She was sure of Vecna had any inkling she was fighting through his torture, he'd show up again to strike fear in her. What was stopping him?
Dylan wondered if this was another trick. That Vecna was instilling hope into her to yank it away. She'd been travelling in the darkness for a while but the end, which had once seemed so close, never appeared.
Dylan hated not knowing what was going on, not only with herself in her mental purgatory, but all the others. She didn't even know how much time had passed. Had they all gone on to enact the plan without her? Were they all in danger? Were they all okay? Dylan couldn't be sure of anything. It couldn't been hours, days, months. All her friends and family could be dead or alive.
These thoughts brought back memories of pain so Dylan shifted focus.
She thought of the last time they had been in a supernatural predicament. The Battle of Starcourt.
Steve walked her home, or at least he had tried to, but it had been such an emotional and physically tasking experience Dylan didn't want to be alone. Even though they had broken up, Steve let her follow him home and stay with him for comfort. She remembered the rush of emotions being alone with him again brought. He was incredibly hurt himself but all he cared about was the stupid bump on her head. She'd kissed him in the shower and cleaned all his wounds and then they fell asleep in each other's arms.
He was always there for her even when she caused him pain. It was that moment Dylan knew that she never wanted to be separated from him again.
They hadn't separated after that, maybe for a couple days or so, but other than that it was only Vecna that kept them apart. She had to get back to her body and out of this hellhole mind trick.
Dylan followed the string, determined that the tunnel would open again. The music continued to get louder so she assumed she was right.
When the music was so loud it felt like it could make her ears bleed, she saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and it was so close.
She could make out her physical body's surroundings: an unfamiliar room with wood panelling and light peaking in through white lace curtains. It wasn't what she had seen the last time the tunnel appeared to her.
Then, a mop of hair moved into view. Messy, dirty, but still long and full of volume. He turned to look up at something out of frame and Dylan could see a glimpse of his face, not that she needed it to figure out who it was.
Dylan used all her will to let go of the negativity Vecna had bred in her mind, hoping it would be her release.
The blackness began to crumble.
Dylan noticed the gold string attach itself to Steve as she got close to the end. When she took her last step out of the tunnel, the gold string that was tethered between her and Steve turned a bright red and then seconds later, disappeared completely.
The next thing she knew, she was lying on Dustin's sofa, blinking at the ceiling.
