Four Chimes

"Max…" Nancy breathed as the last of the four chimes rang out around them. She looked over at Robin who in turn looked at Steve. They all knew what it meant, a crashing wave of dread came over them all in that moment.

"No," Steve said, shaking his head and was about to start for the hall when the world around them started to fall.

Nancy grabbed onto the handrail to keep from falling as booming sounded out all around them. As if the sky was falling.

Reaching out she grabbed hold of Steve before she felt Robin grab onto her shirt a moment later, a yell piercing out from one of them as suddenly the sound of wood cracking filled the air. Wood raining down all around them not seconds later, and she felt it cut into her.

She felt Steve move them to the side and away from whatever was happening before they fell to the floor into a side room as dust clouded their vision.

For what felt like hours the three of them grabbed onto one another as the world-shaked until finally it stopped, and the world fell quiet. Too quiet.

"Jesus Christ," Robin said, "Was that-"

"The gate," Nancy said sitting up and looked at them with horror, images of what Vecna had shown her flashed across her memory.

Within moments they were up on their feet.

"Well the door is a no-go," Robin said, fear, clear in her voice as the dust settled and they saw what the house now looked like. Deep lines carved their way up and down the stairs as if someone had cut into them, the door gone but there was no way they were going to try walking close to what looked like a fall into nothingness.

"Window," Steve said and moved back into the dining room. She and Robin followed after them.

They watched as he grabbed a chair and threw it at the already cracked window.

It shattered a moment later before he looked at them. "We need to get to Dustin and Eddie and find out what happened up there."

Nancy swallowed hard, staying in place as Robin went to join Steve at the window where he grabbed the table runner and placed it hurriedly over the remaining glass and Robin started open the window, back into the night.

"Nancy come on," Steve shouted to her, a hand reaching out.

She moved then, her heart in her stomach. "What if it's all happened already? What if it's too late?"

"No, no we can't think like that right now, it's bad enough to think Max is-" he cut his own words off but she knew what he meant.

"We just have to get back to Dustin and Eddie okay and then we will figure everything out."

She nodded and took his hand before he helped her out of the window and back out into the outside before he joined her a moment later.

Robin was already waiting by the bikes at what once had been the rocket looking back at the house. Steve and Nancy went over to her picked up their bikes and got on.

Steve started first Robin joined him but Nancy looked over her shoulder one last time to see the house now split in two. A new horror within itself as that had come true, but she could only hoped the rest hadn't.

She started after her friends all riding as fast as they could, the vines were now gone but from the corner of her eye things moved. She didn't dare look to see what hid in the shadows, this place was still very much alive even with Vecna hopefully dying somewhere out there.

Thankfully they reached the trailer park after what felt like forever in the dark, no light to speak of, not even the red lighting.

"Dustin!?" Steve yelled into the dark, getting off the bike and dropping it as they reached Eddie's trailer.

"Eddie?" Robin shouted alongside Steve as they looked at the now broken trailer home.

"You don't think they were in there do you?" Robin asked, looking at Steve.

But this time he didn't have comforting words to say as he simply looked at where they should have been to keep safe.

That's when Nancy heard it. The sound of someone... crying…no sobbing. It was the sound of someone warren down from it. Fear coated her vines as she turned towards it and there in the shadows was someone kneeling over something dark.

"Steve, Robin over there."

Together as if in slow motion, they turned, and she saw Steve's face turn white with pure panic.

"Henderson," he said his words barely more than a whisper before he took off towards them leaving Nancy and Robin to follow in a chase after him.

He ran, the world blurry around him as he jumped over the dead remains of bat-like things before the scene in front of him came into view making him stop dead.

Dustin was coated in blood, tears rolling down his face as he looked down at a man Steve would have never known about if it hadn't been for the world ending. Eddie Munson lay in a slowly growing pool of blood and he knew he didn't have to ask if he was okay, he knew better.

"Holy shit," Robin said, coming to a stop next to him.

Letting out a broken breath Steve moved carefully over to Dustin and spoke as quietly as he dared as he moved to kneel next to him. "Henderson are you okay?"

Dustin looked up finally as Steve looked down at him, tears still fell down his face as he tried to speak but his words were choked and broken.

"He-he went back out there to keep them away. He knew you guys needed more time and...and I didn't get to him in time, and th-they got hi-." His words were cut off by a broken breath mixed with a sob.

Nancy could only look on with tears reaching her own eyes. She hadn't known Eddie, none of them did, he was known as a weirdo in school, known as a freak.

But he had been none of those things and now who would know but them?

Steve said nothing as Dustin turned into Steve's side and all he could think to do was wrap his arm around him. This was a kid. They were all just kids playing a very grown-up game and they had lost.

For a long moment, the world was so quiet and then there was that moving again at the corner of her eye. Turning Nancy saw one of the demo bats move its wing. It was only a twitch but then the one next to it moved its head.

She felt her eyes go wide as one by one they started to move again. "Guys we need to get out of here," Nancy said moving back as one next to her feet started to crawl.

Robin let out a scream that cut through the silence. Nancy spun to see one of the bats starting to crawl up the back of her leg, slowly but still its claws digged into her.

"Get it off!" She shouted trying to swipe it off, but it was no use as it climbed higher.

Nancy moved, grabbing a piece of wood from the ground.

"Don't move!" She yelled at the other girl as the bat sunk its teeth into the back of her knee just as Nancy swingged out for it. Robin let out a pained scream as she hit the ground but the bat was sent flying into the shadows.

In a hurry, Nancy went and helped the other girl stand as Steve got to his feet alongside Dustin shouting Robin's name as bats all around them started coming back to life.

Kicking out Steve got one of the bats and together they started to move back towards the trailer. Nancy hitting at the air as some of them started to fly again.

"Henderson, come on we need to get to the trailer!" Steve shouted not moving away from Dustin as he kicked at the ground to keep the bats back as they started to try and fly again.

"We can't just leave him!" Dustin said trying to grab at Eddie's limp arm to pull him but with his leg, it was no use. "Steve, help me get him!"

Steve turned back and at the look on Dustin's face, he knew they couldn't leave him here. He hadn't known Eddie, but he had saved their lives, had been a friend to Dustin and it wasn't fair they he had died here, but he wouldn't be left here in a hell world.

"Damn it," Steve said, but pushed the younger boy out of the way, "I'll get him, you go with Nancy and Robin!"

Dustin slowly walked backward for a second pain lacing his face.

"Go!" Steve shouted at him and a moment later he was running the best he could with his leg.

Letting out a breath Steve grabbed the other teen under his arms and started to pull him towards the trailer. He had played hero and died one.

Looking back he saw Nancy, Robin and Dustin had made it back to the trailer, the door open and Nancy shouting at him. But he couldn't hear the words as more and more bats started to take flight, the sound of their wings as loud as the booming of his heart in his chest.

And it was only then as he felt teeth in his arm did, he hear Nancy. "Steve run!"

Pain shot through him and he dropped Eddie as he swiped at the thing biting into him. Slower the bat released him but there had to be hundreds more now.

Steve was about to grab Eddie again, but he knew there was no use, they wouldn't make it. That's when he saw the chain on his neck.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," was all Steve could think to say as in a blur he reached for it and pulled the necklace off with a snap before someone was grabbing him by the arm and pulled him away.

He didn't have to look to know if Nancy was pulling him back and away from the person he hadn't gotten to know yet, the feeling of cooling blood on his hands still.

Before he knew what was happening they were back in the trailer leaning against the wall. For a second Steve was looking out into the black of the world demo bats now swarming Eddie's body before Robin slammed the door close and then Nancy was in front of him cupping his face.

"Are you okay? Did they bite you?" She asked turning his head to look at the bite on his neck but it didn't hurt in that moment.

"I'm fine," Steve said, batting her hands away from him, their eyes meeting before the sound of a falling chair made them look away.

Robin was picking up a chair from where it had fallen and placed it back on four boxes trying to make it stay up. Dustin remaking the makeshift rope as fast as they could because they didn't have much time.

When the gate opened the front of the trailer had fallen in, a small opening giving them a window to the world outside.

"There I think it will hold up but the first person that goes through needs to be careful the mattress is gone.

"I'll do it," Steve said, going to Dustin to take the rope.

"No, I'll go," Nancy said, moving in front of him.

"Nancy -" Steve started but she cut him off.

"Someone needs to be on this side to help Robin and Dustin, they're hurt."

Steve bit into his lip hard but nodded she was right.

"Okay," Nancy said and turned to look at the chair, swallowing hard.

Carefully she stepped onto the boxes before the chair, it took her a moment to get her balance before she took the rope from Dustin.

She tied it around her waist, and let out a breath before she jumped.

For a moment as she reached out for anything to grab onto, she thought how much it was going to hurt when she fell back, but then her hand grabbed onto the edge and pulled herself up thankful for the first time for all that gym class as her world turned upside down.

She was in the air for only a second before she hit to the ground, hard.

Pain shot through her, stars dancing as she let out a pained moan. She turned to her side trying to suck in a deep breath. But she didn't have time to lay there they needed to find Max and the others.

She sat up seeing that the trailer looked much the same here as in the upside down, as if it was about to fall in on them. But there was the mattress in the corner, now covered with dust and wood. Hurriedly she untied the rope and let it fall into the under side before pushing the mattress back into place.

Steve grabbed the other side of the rope holding onto it and looked at Dustin and Robin. "Who's first?"

"I'll go," Robin said, looking so tired and hurt. Steve nodded and as gently as he could help her onto the boxes and helped her grab onto the rope easier all she had to do was pull herself up a little bit more before she fell into their world.

He watched as she hit the mattress before Nancy helped her up and off.

Steve looked over at Dustin then and found the kid looking outside where the bats still swarmed.

"Dustin, we need to go."

Dustin nodded and turned to him. "He didn't have to go back, but he did."

"You're right," Steve said, "He didn't but he did, and he saved us."

Dustin could only nod before he stepped onto the boxes and Steve helped him up until he was back in their world.

Now it was just him. Outside the sound of wings batting against one another sounded like a storm and with one last look out into a hell they had been fighting for far too long now he grabbed the rope. But as he was about to look away a shadow caught his attention. Something was moving within the bats but he wasn't dumb enough to stay and find out.

As fast as he could he climbed up and fell back into the real world Nancy helped him up a second later.

"We need to get to the creel house and find the others," Nancy said as they all made their way towards what had been the door, now a piece of broken wood hanging off the hinges.

Without missing a beat Nancy kicked the door and it was sent to the ground but what awaited them outside knocked the air from her lungs.

"No," Robin breathed as everyone joined her outside, to see their town was burning.

"We lost?" Dustin asked, looking around himself and doing the same Nancy saw that no matter where you looked there was chaos. Fires burning everywhere, buildings now nothing but dust and sirens sounded all around

Nancy couldn't say he was wrong but how bad was the real question? "Let's go," she said and started for the car with the others following after her. They needed to find Lucas, Erica, and Max and find out what had happened, but in the back of her mind she knew what awaited them and it wasn't good.

An

I do not believe they would just leave Eddie in the Upside down unless they had to! Not after everything that had happened with my boy! Okay yes, they most likely believed Max was hurt really bad or even dead so that's probably the real reason within the show that they didn't get Eddie out. But still, they hadn't known Eddie had died until they reached Dustin so I decided to work the Kas theory in a little with the bats ;) Anyway, the next chapter will be about Lucas, Erica and Max so look out for that in the coming days