Struggling to get her hands planted flat beneath her, Sadie pushes herself up on trembling arms, her entire body protesting the movement after being tossed like some sort of ragdoll into the bleachers at the side of the gymnasium. But she has to move. She has to, because she can no longer see Max. She doesn't know if she lost consciousness for a beat, or if Vecna is simply that fast, but the two of them are no longer visible.
Panic claws at her chest as she tries to stand, because now that the ringing in her ears is subsiding, she can hear Vecna taunting Max. Baiting her. Terrifying her.
"You are brave, Maxine. Much braver than your brother. But in the end, you are weak and fragile, just like him."
No—no, Sadie needs to move because this cannot be happening. Vecna can't have Max…
"You are weak, like all the rest of them. And you. Will. Break."
Had she really failed Max so quickly?
Sadie stumbles a bit as she finally stands, a fear so potent she can almost taste it propelling her forward in haggard, uneven steps. She can't seem to shake the feeling that she is moving in slow motion. That her own sluggishness will be Max's undoing. And as she pushes her way through some longer streamers blocking her view of the younger girl, what she sees very nearly rips the breath right out of her lungs.
Max is pinned to the wall, Vecna towering over her, one hand hovering over her head, and Sadie knows what is coming. She can feel it in her bones.
She wants to tear Vecna away from her friend. Wants to beg him to take her, instead. Anything to keep Max alive.
Almost as if something senses her panic—her need for action—Sadie watches, stunned, as Vecna is dragged backwards through the air. She hears the distinct thud that can only be Max's collision with the floor. Sadie scrambles, trying to figure out what on earth could be doing this because it most certainly isn't her.
And then she sees her. A girl with close-cropped hair, in white pants and a long-sleeved shirt, moving to the center of the gymnasium—towards Vecna—with an expression that might have honestly terrified Sadie, if she wasn't already so spent by everything that has happened thus far.
If the girl notices Sadie at all, she doesn't give any hint of acknowledgement, her focus entirely set upon her would-be adversary, still hovering in midair. A hand is outstretched before her, and a familiar trickle of blood drips down from her nose toward her upper lip, but she doesn't seem to notice it.
At the back of her mind, Sadie knows she should go to Max. Make sure she is okay. But she can't stop staring at the girl. At Vecna as he rotates until he is facing the newcomer…
Sadie takes note of the flare of recognition in his expression, but nothing prepares her for the utter venom—the loathing—behind the single word that escapes him.
"You."
"Hi."
As the girl manages to fling Vecna into the bleachers at the other side of the gymnasium with enough force to actually shatter a portion of them, Sadie marvels at the sheer power behind the move. The control it must take to execute it.
It takes her a moment to realize she is almost envious of that, when her own attempts at defensive maneuvers seem so uncoordinated and infantile, by comparison, but before she can get too lost in those musings, Max appears, her wide eyes going almost immediately to Sadie for a moment before turning to the other girl, instead.
"Max—are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"Are you okay?" The girl repeats, looking Max over as though she is searching for any sign of obvious injury, once again not particularly seeming to care one way or another about Sadie's presence at all. A part of her feels relief over that. Over the ability to simply observe, and figure out for herself whether this girl is a friend or a foe.
Another part, though, is only growing more confused—more apprehensive—by the second, and it is that part that is almost tempted to interrupt, but for the fact that Max speaks out first before she has the chance.
"Yeah. Are—are you real? Did I make you?" Max inquires, haphazardly patting her hands over the girl's face, the bewildered expression she receives in response coming very close to making Sadie laugh, despite not having a clue how Max could possibly have 'made' the girl in the first place.
Of course, in hindsight, what the girl says next is stranger, still.
"I'm real."
"How?"
"I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer."
"I'm—I'm sorry, you what?"
"Sadie, this is Eleven. El," Max explains, the way she is clearly trying to bite back her amusement over Sadie's sudden outburst causing the older girl to flush slightly, whether she cares to admit it or not, "She's the friend we were telling you about. The one with—"
"Super powers. Got it."
"And how are—you here?" The girl—Eleven—asks, turning to look at Sadie with the sort of unflinching curiosity that would have seemed invasive, but for the honest sincerity in her tone. And Sadie wants to tell her. She wants to explain, but before she can, a low growl reaches their ears, effectively diverting their attention in seconds, flat.
Both Sadie and Eleven move so they are standing in front of Max on instinct, sharing a brief glance, before Vecna emerges from the destroyed section of the bleachers, and Sadie opens her mouth to encourage Max to stay behind her, only to find Eleven beating her to the punch once again.
"Stay back."
Max nods, and Sadie moves in step with Eleven almost without giving it any conscious thought, the familiar tingling sensation in her palms giving her some manner of security in spite of the terror that threatens to overwhelm her at the thought of facing Vecna at all. She continues to mimic Eleven's movements, despite the chill brought about by Vecna's gaze flitting from her, to her companion, and then back to her again.
He looks as though he is sizing up who to taunt first. Who to threaten. And Sadie is more grateful than she expects when Eleven takes the matter out of his hands entirely, her tone even—confident—everything Sadie wishes she could be—as she speaks.
"If you touch her, again—I will kill you. Again."
"Is that what you did? Hmm? Did you kill me?" Vecna demands, his focus now almost entirely on Eleven, giving Sadie a chance to move slowly—painstakingly—to the side, hoping to somehow find a way of catching him off guard. Eleven seems to catch onto this, and she continues moving forward to keep Vecna's attention fixed on her, never even flinching as he comes to a stop a mere few steps away.
"I am so glad you are here, Eleven. This is going to be—beautiful."
Sadie thinks he will attack Eleven, and so she tries to steal that chance away from him, the tingling in her palms growing more intense as she tries to make a move. And she almost does it. She has one hand lifted, red light flickering against her palm, prepared to strike.
As quickly as the act seems to come to mind, though, Vecna reacts, extending his own hand towards her, and sending her catapulting backward with a shriek…
Sadie tries to slow the unexpected momentum, but nothing works, her body slamming into something hard. Unyielding, a glimpse of red lightning flaring against her eyelids before everything goes black.
…
"Eddie!"
The scream comes from somewhere that seems like it's almost right on top of him, but also miles away, and Eddie tries to turn towards it but a white-hot pain searing through his abdomen stops the act in its tracks. He isn't sure if he actually whimpers, or if that's just what he tries to do, because his throat is sore. Raw. On fire.
He coughs halfway through another attempt at dragging in a breath, and something that tastes like metal registers at the back of his throat.
Fuck, he might actually be dying.
He might be dying and he is alone.
Well—alone, except for that screaming voice that may or may not be coming closer.
"Eddie!" The scream repeats, and this time Eddie thinks he can actually say with some confidence that it is actually getting closer. He coughs again, and tries to work past the screaming agony in his sides to push himself upright. But even though he thinks he should be moving by now—making any kind of progress at all, really—nothing changes.
Eddie's entire body goes limp, and it feels like the bats are tearing at his skin again. Clawing. Biting. Shredding.
That isn't possible, though. The bats are dead. And now Eddie thinks he can hear footsteps. Running footsteps getting closer, along with ragged breathing.
The breathing could just be him, though, because even though he isn't exerting himself at all it feels like every breath is like dragging his lungs over a field of nothing but bits of glass.
"Eddie, oh my God—"
Dustin. That is who has been screaming this entire time.
Shit, he shouldn't have to see this…
"Bad, huh?"
Almost as soon as the words come out, Eddie regrets them, but not because of the utter horror reflecting in Dustin's expression. Rather, he regrets them because speaking seems to hurt just about as much, if not more than breathing.
It's almost like someone is taking little knives and dragging them around his throat, but even then he can't restrain the instinctive chuckle that grates out of him, causing pain to erupt so suddenly that his vision nearly fades to black.
"You're gonna be fine, okay? Just—just gotta get you to a hospital," Dustin soothes, a sudden shuffling and then more pain giving Eddie every reason to believe the kid is trying to snake an arm under his shoulders to haul him upright. And he tries to accommodate. To help. He really does. Because he wants to live. Dustin doesn't deserve to watch him die, and Eddie wants to kiss Sadie again. He wants that more than anything.
Maybe if he just—focuses—if he tries to think about anything but the pain, and how it feels like every last inch of his body is slowly turning to lead, he can make it out of this alive.
As soon as he tries to let Dustin push him forward, though, the blinding pain is back again, and it is all that Eddie can do to keep breathing.
Trying to devote any of his waning energy to anything else is just not possible.
"I think—I think I just—I think I just need a second, okay?" He says, wincing as that sandpapery feeling grates against his throat like wildfire, leaning back and forcing himself to look Dustin in the eye. The kid is crying. Actually crying, and that's when the last little bit of Eddie that has been clinging to the hope that this is all just a really wacked out dream starts to fade.
The desolation in Henderson's reply, though?
That is what kills that hope altogether.
"Okay."
It's probably better that the hope dies. Better, because if Eddie can wrap his mind around this—around these being his final moments—maybe he won't be so scared. And he can't be scared, because Dustin is already handling that in spades.
The kid should've stayed put after going through the gate, but he wouldn't be Henderson if he didn't refuse to do anything even remotely close to following the rules.
"I didn't run away this time, right?"
"No. No," Dustin murmurs, something in his expression giving Eddie every reason to believe he senses the shift in perspective. The change in direction to something more resigned. And there is a flare of panic in his eyes. A tightening of his features as though he thinks he can will Eddie to stay alive with nothing more than stubborn determination, "No, you didn't—you didn't run."
"You're gonna have to look after those little sheep for me, okay?"
"No, you're gonna do that yourself."
Eddie shakes his head, and the movement provokes another cough, the sound jarring in the silence surrounding them. He nearly chokes on that metallic substance again, and Dustin props him up so that he can catch his breath.
The realization that it's blood—his blood—causes the terror he is trying to keep at bay to rear its ugly head, and Eddie clings to Dustin's arm, trying to tug the kid closer with all the strength he has left.
"Nah, man. Say it. Say—say I'm gonna look after them."
Eddie hardly hears Dustin's repetition of the words, and he can't tell if the moisture on his cheeks are from the kid's tears or his own. He doesn't want him to see this. Never in a million years would he have wanted Dustin to see death firsthand. But foolishly—selfishly—he is also more than a little relieved that he isn't alone, even if the one person he does want at his side is not anywhere nearby.
He wants Sadie to be here so badly it sets off another sort of ache in his already exhausted body, and his grip tightens on Dustin's arm as he struggles to speak again before another fit of coughing renders him too absorbed in pain, and the need for more air.
"Sadie too."
"Eddie—"
"She's not—she's gonna hate me for this, man. I told her—I told her I wouldn't leave."
"And you won't," Dustin says, his own fingers twisting into Eddie's vest, doing anything he can to hold him here. To keep his friend from slipping away, "We're gonna—we're gonna get you out."
"You need to tell her. Tell her I—that I'm sor—"
The attempted apology is cut off by still more coughing, and this time it takes longer for Eddie to regain the ability to breathe, the way the coughs wrack his body only sending more pain through every last nerve ending he has. His skin feels like it's on fire. Or maybe the fire is actually in his veins. Red lightning cracks across the sky, and he chokes on more of his own blood.
His eyes meet Dustin's, panic accelerating his heart rate but the kid seems to understand what he needs, even if the words he needs to hear come out choked and teary.
"I'll tell her. I will, Eddie, I'll tell her."
"Th—thanks, man."
"And she isn't gonna hate you."
Eddie doesn't realize exactly how much he needs the words until they are out there in the open, and even if he can't really say breathing comes easier, relief settles in, regardless. He allows himself to relinquish his stranglehold on Dustin's arm, and some of the strength he is using to prop himself upright fades away.
Dustin seems to realize this because his grip on Eddie's shoulders tightens a bit in response. Or at least Eddie thinks that is what happens, because the peripheral feelings he was so aware of mere moments ago seem to be fading, too.
And he can't tell if that is a good thing, or something he should worry about.
"I—I love you man," Eddie wheezes, another flare of relief consuming his energy after the words come out in a clear whisper, despite his initial fear that they would be nothing but a garbled mess. That horrified look is back on Dustin's face, but he doesn't say anything to indicate he intends to provide any more false reassurances.
"I love you too."
"It is over, Eddie. You have lost. And you will never see Sadie again."
Eddie shakes his head, trying to get the other unwanted voice out, but the words echo in his mind over and over again. And the movement provokes more wracking coughs. More blood.
He is choking, now, completely unable to breathe, and Dustin is watching in open-mouthed horror as it ends.
"Eddie—Eddie, wait, stay—stay with me, please—"
"You have lost everything you fought so foolishly for. Everything. Your friends. Your home. The girl you love."
"No—"
The word is choked out as a last ditch effort at protesting, but Eddie realizes with despair that Dustin cannot hear the taunts echoing in his mind. He thinks Eddie is telling him no. Refusing to stay.
Eddie wants to curse, but he's choking again, black spots filling his vision, a strange burning sensation overtaking his chest as though his lungs have suddenly caught fire.
"I can give you a way to survive. I can give you everything you want, Eddie. I can save you from death."
"Eddie c'mon, don't do this—" Dustin pleads, giving Eddie a little shake, and sending another blaze of pain to ricochet through him as a result. The impact has Eddie groaning. Choking and groaning. But it grounds him a bit. Enough to remind himself that this is really the end. He is actually dying. It's almost over.
Unless it's not.
No. No, he can't think like that. Vecna is just trying to get in his head. Trying to lure him in with false promises.
"You want this, Eddie. You want what I can give you."
He doesn't. Or at least he doesn't think he does.
"Eddie, stay with me!"
"Give in. Take what I offer. You did all of this for Sadie. And I can give her to you forever."
Eddie struggles again, still choking, and his vision has gone completely black. He can barely feel Dustin's hold on him, and the kid's voice is now a dull murmur, like he has somehow been submerged under water.
He doesn't want to die but he is, and suddenly every instinct he has is screaming for him to do anything to stay alive.
"Do it, Eddie. Give in. Join me."
It would be so easy to just do as he says…
To give in.
He is so distracted by the struggle between what Vecna wants, and what he knows is right that Eddie doesn't notice right away. He doesn't realize he is no longer breathing. He can't hear Dustin anymore.
Eddie is alone in the blackness. Alone. No Dustin. No Sadie. Steve. Robin. Wheeler. No one.
He is alone, and scared, but he doesn't want to be scared. He is so very tired of being scared. Of running.
But maybe he has enough sense left in him to run from his own death.
"Give in."
Or maybe it is too late, even for that.
Eddie tries to fight. He tries to get back to Dustin, because that is where he belongs. He doesn't belong with Vecna. But he's tired. He's so, so very tired. And in the end, he can't fight anymore, no matter how badly he wants to try.
So he just…
Gives in.
"Join me. Together, we will build something—beautiful."
…
When Sadie comes to, she is immediately filled with a chilling sense of dread. Because she recognizes this place. She's seen it before, the red hues of the landscape jump-starting her heart as she drags in a choked gasp for air.
She tries to move, but a sudden constriction at her wrists and ankles—even her neck—bring her to an almost immediate stop, her brow furrowing as she realizes she is pinned in place to one of the pillar-like structures interspersed at odd intervals along the ground.
Sadie doesn't turn her head, but she knows the motionless figure displayed on her immediate right is Chrissy. She knows it. Bile burns in the back of her throat because of it.
But that isn't what fuels her panic. Not really, because she's seen Chrissy's body before. What sends her heart into overdrive once again, is the sight of Max, pinned in a similar fashion across from her, just hanging there, motionless. Motionless, and unable to see Vecna moving in for the kill.
She has no idea where Eleven is, at least from this particular vantage point, and Sadie's every instinct is to distract Vecna. To divert him from Max in whatever way she can.
Her head still seems too fuzzy. The first time she tries to call out, it comes out as nothing more than a hoarse sort of croak.
Sadie swallows, trying to focus on the here and now. On getting that tingling sensation back to her palms but nothing happens. Nothing at all.
Even trying to do so has her head spinning, and she forces herself to ignore the sudden suspicion that she is next to useless here. Because if she gives into that, she will never recover. Never.
And Max deserves far better than that.
"Take—take me."
The words are nothing more than a croak again, but at least this time they have some audible clarity, and Sadie finds her breaths coming faster as a phantom pain spreads through her right leg. Her left arm. Left leg…
"Come on! Take me. Who can give you more power in the long run? Me? Or her?"
Sadie isn't sure of the exact moment when she slips into Vecna's mind, but she is suddenly there, hollering the words so loudly they seem to echo against the blackness that surrounds them. She is there, without giving it any sort of conscious thought at all. And she is aware of when he stops focusing all of his attention on Max. When he turns it on her, and she is vulnerable to every last facet of his rage. His desire for power and revenge.
She welcomes it, though. Welcomes it, because she is already terrified that the lingering pain in her limbs means something terrible has happened to Max.
Sadie absorbs it. Faces it head-on. Doesn't back down.
"You know it's true. You know it. It's why you threatened me in the first place after I refused you, so why don't you just do it already?"
Sadie knows it's reckless. Stupid. Insane. But without knowing what happened to Eleven—without knowing if she has any form of back up at all, she is out of other options, or at least so it seems.
She has no idea what is happening with the others, either. Steve, Robin and Nancy. Lucas and Max. Dustin.
Eddie.
If he is really dead—if any of the others are dead—
What reason does she have to refrain from doing anything in her power to stop one more death, even if it brings about her own?
Vecna seems to sense her despair, because he is no longer looking at Max at all, her body crumpling to the ground as he takes slow, measured steps towards Sadie instead. She straightens as much as she can, despite being held in place by the vines, because if nothing else, Sadie wants to go out brave. Fearless, or at least seeming to be that way on the surface.
If this is going to be the sum of her last few moments, she isn't going to give Vecna the satisfaction of knowing she is terrified out of her mind.
He's in front of her, now, head tilting to the side as he considers her demand. And Sadie swallows thickly, willing herself to refrain from looking away, even when Vecna's clawed hand is hovering over her head. Even when her breath catches in her throat.
Even as she feels herself pulled, once again, into the unknown.
…
"You're not going anywhere until you answer my question!"
"Yeah? Watch me," Vincent snaps, pushing past the Harrington kid, his entire body tensing as a hand reaches for his shoulder to stop him in his tracks, "Get your hand off of me, kid."
"I'm not a kid."
"Do you want to save your friends? Do you want them to have a shot in hell of getting out of this?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then let. Go."
"Steve!" Nancy exclaims, clearly sensing exactly how unwilling he is to relinquish his hold on Vincent, one of her hands reaching up before she can stop it to rest, palm flat against his back. And she can feel the tension in him. It practically radiates like a fire from his skin.
She needs to drag him back to the present. To make sure he is every bit as focused as she is. As Robin is.
"Steve, let him go. Window of opportunity, remember?"
"I'd listen to your girlfriend, kid. We aren't going to have this opportunity for long."
Steve wants to jerk Vincent back. To hit him. To do something to wipe that arrogant damned smirk off of his face. But he still feels Nancy's hand on his back, a surprising source of reason despite the worry and frustration that threaten to tear him apart.
He yanks his hand away from Vincent and follows the older man up the stairs to the attic, hoping with everything he has that they are not too late.
Vincent is the first to get a full picture of what awaits them, and Steve would be a liar to pretend he doesn't see the flash of anger in the guy's expression as he comes to a stop. And for a moment, it is almost easy to feel empathy for what Vincent has been through. For what a relation to Vecna has put him through.
Steve spends another moment considering the future Sadie might have, as well, if they don't succeed here, and then whatever frustration he has over Vincent's sudden appearance fades in favor of what is more important.
Ending Vecna now. For good. Making sure he never comes back again.
They can't fail. And that means they need all the help they can get.
"So what's your plan?" Steve asks, risking a glance at Vincent, who is still staring at the honestly daunting figure hanging suspended in midair, "Because we kind of had something already set in—"
"Give me a minute."
"Oh I'm sorry, did you miss the part where Nance said we had a time window, here?"
"Steve!"
Vincent ignores the muted bickering going on around him in favor of closing his eyes, desperation to end this and a desire to figure out what the hell is going on with Sadie since she cut free of their connection the only things that matter. And he hates how easy it is to slip back into this. To follow a connection that he swore never to use again.
And it does exactly what he hopes it will. It distracts Henry just as he had hoped. Vincent gets a momentary glimpse of Henry towering over Sadie before all of that concentrated rage is directed towards him, instead…
"You."
"Yes. Me. Come and get me."
It is surprisingly simple to wrench himself away and back to the present, despite wanting nothing more than to check on Sadie. Simple, because he cannot afford to get sentimental over personal connections at a time like this.
If he lingers for too long, Henry can trap him in that world too. And that is something he and the three kids standing with him cannot have. Not when the goal was to lure Henry back to them, instead.
And by the looks of things, it just might have worked.
It may have worked, because Henry is no longer suspended, motionless, in midair, and Vincent shifts his attention to Steve, the kid's eyes meeting his own as though he can tell, somehow, that the next part is going to be up to him.
"I'll cover you."
"Okay," Steve nods, sucking in a breath that feels like it is coming through a very thin straw, the fingers of one hand tightening around the glass bottle as the other hand withdraws a lighter from his jacket pocket. Vecna is slowly coming to. Moving bit by bit. But still, Steve looks at Robin standing beside him, her expression wavering between determined and apprehensive, despite the utter surety in the single word she repeats to him from earlier that day.
"Flambe."
…
Okay guys, again I implore you! TRUST THE PLAN! Please? While it's true that me putting you all through this angst and drama could be considered evil, I am not completely heartless, I promise! And even though all of your questions and heartache may not be relieved by the end of this particular story (because I think I only have a chapter left), I promise answers will come in the sequel! So I hope you don't all run away screaming from my temporary burst of cruelty, never to read about Eddie and Sadie again, because I am every bit as attached to our two lovebirds as you are! The road forward for them may not be easy but I swear it will get better!
As always, my heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of you that has taken the time to read, follow, favorite and review this story so far! And special thanks to last chapter's reviewers: SailorErinViz95, StrangestThing21, acutemoose, and mistyagami, for leaving such wonderful encouragement the last time around! I am so, so grateful for your constant support and feedback, and I cannot wait to see what you think of this chapter as well!
Until next time…
MOMM