Summary: Come on, baby (and she had no fear)
And she ran to him (then they started to fly)
They looked backward and said goodbye (she had become like they are)
She had taken his hand (she had become like they are)
Come on, baby (don't fear the reaper)
- Blue Oyster Cult (1976)
A/N: Hello everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. I've been dealing with some health issues as well as an incredibly unexpected family death. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
DISCLAIMER:This is a work of fiction. As the author I do not always agree with the actions the characters take. The MC has Haphephobia. The depiction of such in the story may not be entirely accurate and I do not claim it to be so. The depictions of anxiety and OCD are based on my own personal experience and do not apply to the illnesses as a whole. As always there is a violence and gore warning. There will be mentions of various sensitive topics which are updated in the tags, read at your own risk.
November 12, 1983
The screams that rent through the air had finally gone silent, leaving behind an eerie quiet that was punctuated only by the creaks and groans of the old bus. Until it wasn't. Tris and Eddie had made sure all the kids kept their heads down, eyes closed, and ears covered. Especially El.
Who the hell knew what she would do if she saw the carnage Mads unleashed mere feet from them. Eddie and Tris hadn't seen a single thing yet, and they already knew it was bad. Very bad.
Those screams tore into them and carved a place in their brains, latching onto the empty spaces and filling them up with terror. There was no other way to describe the cries but horrifyingly animalistic. They could only imagine the violence Mads had unleashed only a flimsy rusted metal hull away.
But the horrified shouts coming from the outside of the bus didn't belong to the men Mads had killed. They most certainly didn't belong to Mads herself.
"Okay guys, let's go," Hop's voice called from the open door, causing Eddie to throw himself protectively in front of Tris and the kids. "C'mon out now. Keep your eyes closed, I'll guide you."
Tris' fingers dug into the sleeve of Eddie's leather jacket, her brown eyes wide and shining. Yet again she was reminded that this was no longer a cool little game. That her very powerful friend had brought her into something almost incomprehensible. That her town had been the hub for unimaginable horrors long before she was born. That Robin's childhood friend was permanently disabled and traumatized because of the arrogance of one scientist and the United States' government.
And Eddie… Eddie's dark eyes were wild with terror, his throat bobbing with each terrified gulp of air. How in the fucking world did Hop expect them to just walk out there? Was Mads even okay? That thing in her mind was getting to her, it was obvious. Had it done something to her to make her do… whatever she did out there?
He knew she'd killed in self-defense before – or killed some people that hurt her in the past who most definitely deserved it – but to this magnitude? When she had divulged some details from those occasions, it hadn't been more than a quick snapping of the spine or stopping of the heart – maybe turning some brains to mush.
This… This was something else.
And he did not like whatever it was.
"Let's go," Hop insisted, gesturing for them to follow once again.
Eddie nodded his head, ushering the kids ahead of him and Tris whispering for them to keep their eyes tightly closed before the moved past. Tris wouldn't listen of course, he knew that. She was naturally curious and, well, she needed to know what happened out there as much as he did.
They were not prepared for what they saw. Jamie Wilson cradled Mads in his arms, blood gushing down over her lips and chin onto her neck like a gory waterfall. Her head lolled back like her neck was broken and her skin was so, so pale, almost giving the appearance that she was dead. Oh God, please don't let her be dead.
Scattered around them were the bodies of the three men the man she once called Papa sent to track them down – and probably kill the rest of them, let's just get that out of the way. If Mads hadn't done… this, they would all be dead, so they couldn't be upset with her. They shouldn't.
Their faces – holy shit, their faces – were broken and their fucking eyes were gone. Bile rose in the back of his throat, his gag reflex kicking in as Tris latched onto his arm looking just as green as he felt.
"Eddie…" She whispered and he didn't have the energy to register that she hadn't called him "Munson" like she usually did.
"I-I know," he stammered, putting an arm around her and pulling her close to his side, almost as though he were trying to shield her from the horrific sight in front of them.
There was so much blood.
"Is she okay?" Tris whispered.
He didn't know. But Jamie heard her and answered. "She's breathing, but it's shallow."
"That's…" Tris swallowed, letting out a shaky breath. "That's good."
Eddie took a stumbling step towards them, dragging Tris along with him, their feet crunching over something hard.
"Are those—" Tris gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth in horror.
Eddie looked down at the ground, at the white things scattered all around them. "T-teeth…"
Holy fucking fuck! They were walking on teeth!
Air was snaking through his lungs in shallow, unsubstantial breaths, making him feel light headed. Out of control. Sure, he was a huge coward. He hated confrontation unless he could make a joke out of it. But this? This was Mads, his best friend. He was her best friend. Chickening out on her was out of the question, no matter how much he wanted to run and hide under his bed like he did when he was a kid.
"C'mon," Eddie jostled Tris, flinching at the crunching sound of teeth beneath their shoes. "We need to help Mr. Wilson with Mads."
"R-right," she agreed, snapping out of it quickly, and allowed him to guide her to their friend's prone body.
It was difficult to shove down the terror that threatened to consume them at the sight they left behind, Mads limp and bloody in Eddie's arms, but they did. They had to. If they didn't, it would make continuing on impossible. And they had to continue, for Mads. She was just as important to them as they were to her. They couldn't abandon her now. They wouldn't.
When they arrived back at the Byer's residence Pam was beside herself with worry, tears streaming down her face. Joyce was doing all she could to comfort the older woman, to no avail. As soon as Pam caught sight of Mads' limp, bloody form she gasped, nearly slumping over in her chair.
"She's alive," Eddie choaked out, struggling through Joyce's cluttered living room to place Mads on the couch.
"What happened?" Pam asked, though she didn't appear to want to know the answer.
"That girl of yours tore apart three grown men with her mind," Hop growled while the children trailed in behind him, El rushing to Mads' side.
Pam's already pale face grew even paler.
No one said anything, they all stared at the two psychokinetic girls in Joyce's living room. At least until Tris' face screwed up in anger and she whirled on the police chief.
"She saved our lives, no thanks to you!" she shouted, amber eyes flashing. "Those bastards were going to kill us, so she got to them before they could."
"Is that really the kind of person you want hanging around?" Hop countered, hands-on-hips. "One who can just kill at the drop of a hat?"
"Says the man with the legal authority to carry a gun and shoot anyone who defies the law," Eddie shot back, stepping up next to Tris.
What the hell had come over them lately? They usually kept their heads down and their noses somewhat clean, but now they were nearing a shouting match with a cop? It was her; she had gotten her sharp little claws into them. Made them braver, maybe stupider, but braver nonetheless.
"Yeah!" Dustin shouted, rushing to Eddie's side, and shot him an adoring grin.
Great, now he had another sheepling to deal with.
"They're right," Mike agreed quietly, moving to stand by his friend. "She saved us. She's not dangerous to anyone here."
"You don't know that," Hop insisted. "None of you know that. You're all kids!"
"Kids who figured out what was going on a long time before the adults did, much less the cops." Eddie crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.
"They've got a point, Hop," Jamie interjected from behind his wife's chair. "They've been trying to solve all of this before we even caught wind of it."
"Because she brought it here!" Hop gestured to Mads, red-faced in anger and frustration. "All of this started when she showed up here!"
"No." Pam swallowed; her eyes trained on Mads' motionless body. "No, all of this started long before Madison came here. Long before she was born, I think."
Terry had mentioned an angel that wasn't an angel. The despondent, but lovely face of a little boy she once knew – when she and Jamie were just married – refused to leave her mind. The now abandoned home that sat rotting away not too far from her motel and farmhouse…
This all started so, so long ago.
With a murder that may not have been what the town thought. With a mad scientist, drugs, and people who didn't have the clarity of mind to say "no". Possibly even before that. This other world existed before this Gate was opened… so, most definitely before that.
Pam turned back to look Hop in the eye, the steel returning to her spine and the color to her face. "Madison isn't going anywhere."
Eddie had to give it to her, the woman had mettle.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Hop asked, scrubbing a hand over his face.
"We need to find Will…" Lucas said, looking between the adults and teens with trepidation.
"And Barb!" Nancy interjected.
Tris and Eddie exchanged a look.
"Okay, okay," Hop said. "And what does everyone know?"
The boys launched into an excited explanation about the flea and the acrobat, Mike even producing an identical stick figure drawing to Mr. Clarke's. Eddie and Tris only supplied the basics of what Mads had told them, leaving out 001 entirely. That wasn't their secret to share.
Through it all, she remained unconscious, El sitting stalwart at her side and staring intently at her as though she were trying to reach her.
"And this gate… Is it underground?" Hop asked.
Only then did El speak, though her gaze remained on her sister. "Yes…"
"Near a large water tank?"
"Yes."
They all turned to Hop, confused. How did he know all that unless he'd seen it himself? Dustin asked as much, but he didn't respond. Only stared at the two girls. One of whom was beginning to stir.
Tris, who had been leaning against Eddie for some time now, shoved away from him and rushed to Mads' side. Blinking in confusion, Eddie followed. How had they ended up like that? He'd hardly noticed until her warmth was gone.
"Is there any way that you could… That you could reach Will?" Joyce began, pushing her way closer to the two girls. "That you could talk to him in this—"
"The Upside Down," El supplied as Tris and Eddie said, "The Vale."
"Right…" Joyce's brow furrowed. "C-can you do it?"
El only nodded as Mads began thrashing weakly on the couch. Tris placed her hand on her forehead. She was burning up, like she had a fever, but she was shaking too. Eddie's face crumpled and he grabbed Mads' hand, pulling it into his own.
"And my friend, Barb?" Nancy asked quietly. "Can you find her too?"
El nodded once again as Mads gave one more weak thrash, and was still. A silence permeated the room, heavy and laden with anxiety. Mads didn't move again.
It was dark there. Darker than dark. The glowing thing with its blue fire eyes was gone, leaving her in utter blackness. A blackness that threatened to consume her from the inside out, like burning acrid smoke.
Frozen limbs held her body down on the black, black water. She was completely and utterly petrified laying there. She couldn't even move her eyes.
Perhaps that's what she got for exploding those men's eyes in their skulls.
Though… she wasn't entirely sure how that happened. She had killed before, but never like that. Never so violently. And the feelings she experienced while she did it – the euphoria – she'd never felt that before either.
Mads had never felt particularly guilty about killing people, but that was mostly because the people she killed were very wicked themselves. The kind of people who took pleasure in harming or experimenting on children. They deserved what they got.
But what they deserved was not exactly what she gave today. That was so different. It felt thick, but also light and weightless, like someone was guiding her from behind. Or like she was a marionette on a string.
But there was no way for that to happen… was there?
The soft sound of feet splashing in water alerted Mads to the presence of another. Shit, she still couldn't move! She struggled against her immobile body thrashing, screaming, anything to get herself to move and prepare for whoever was coming, but she couldn't even twitch an eyelid.
Soon enough, a soft glow joined the pattering footsteps and a small face with a shaved scalp came into view. A face smudged with hours old makeup done on a messy bedroom floor.
"Mads," El said in a serious tone, holding out a hand.
Unable to open her mouth or indicate any sort of consciousness, Mads screamed into her mind.
No reaction.
Dammit.
"Mads," El repeated with more intensity. "It's time to go."
Mads screamed again, begging El to help her as the little girl's brow furrowed in confusion. She couldn't move! Why couldn't El see that?
El's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she cocked her head to the side, observing Mads with a shadow in her eyes that belied her youthfulness. As she did so, that ugly dark thing inside Mads arose, thrashing against the barrier of her skin and muscle, reaching out with such potent rage she was sure she would combust.
"What's… wrong?" El asked, reaching her small hand towards Mads' frozen body.
That thing inside Mads sang with delight and fury, making her dizzy with the volume of it.
No, no, no! It was going to get El! It was going to get her some way and she couldn't move a muscle. This thing – it wanted El. It wanted to destroy her, devour her, to take her away from Mads as though she belonged to it.
But El was hers. She had just found her and she wasn't about to let her go again.
With all the strength she could muster – and a hot burning rage even more powerful than the thing that hungered for El – Mads reached down inside of herself and grasped that thing's scrawny vaporous body and wrenched it from the place it was clawing into her soul, her very essence.
It didn't come away easy though.
It ripped and tore and screamed, tearing at the jagged edges of her as she fought to remove its fetid, disgusting presence. Its desire for ruin. Its need to devour El. Those dark, evil things cleaved through Mads' very being, threatening to break her. To take those uneven, broken parts of her and seep into the fissures, destroying her from the inside out.
When El saw, when she finally saw what Mads was trying to show her, she recoiled. The pain, the rage, the fury coursing through Mads drowned out El's frightened gasp, but not the terror on her face.
The thing thrashed inside Mads, reaching for El – who in spite of her fear reached back, placing her small hands upon Mads' prone body, determination mingling with the fear in her eyes.
"Get out," she demanded of the formless thing fighting them. Fighting to own them, to consume them.
A bead of blood trickled from her nose, dripping onto Mads as she fought, corpse-stiff, from below. Then another. And another, until a crimson stream ran into El's mouth as she cried, begging Mads to hold on. To keep fighting.
As the shadow that clawed into her soul began to shrivel up, its darkness dissipating in the light El's own telekinetic attack wrought. One Mads was too weak to fight by herself. That same light she felt earlier in the afternoon, sitting in Mandy's room with El and her very best friends in the whole world. When she stood outside, smoking a cigarette observing them as though it would be the last time she ever saw them.
And she woke up.
"I'm sorry," El whispered, her voice cracking.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Joyce stammered, grasping Jonathan's hand over her shoulder. "Wh-what happened?"
"I—" El began but was interrupted by a hand with long, painted fingernails curling over her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
Pam jumped up from her seat next to Joyce to throw her arms around Mads, but hesitated a fraction of a second before grasping her free hand tightly. As though she were afraid to let her go.
"She can't find them," Mads said with a rasp in her voice, staring down Hop who glared suspiciously with his arms crossed. "She's been on all day, like a remote-control toy. Her energy – her 'battery' – is too low, even if she hops herself up on sugar and calories."
"Well, what about you?" Nancy asked, pleading.
Mads bit her lip and shook her head. "I barely had the energy to wake myself up from… whatever that was."
"So, what do we do?" Joyce asked, face full of despair. "How do we find Will?"
Mads met the eyes of her wary, but overjoyed friends and nodded imperceptibly, squeezing Pam's hand. A shudder swept through her at the thought of the shadow that had found a temporary home in her – and at the thought of what she was about to let herself endure.
"We build a Bath."
Dustin all but strangled her for suggesting such a thing without knowing how to construct it. But Mads was the only one who had firsthand knowledge of sensory deprivation tanks – besides El who's articulation skills were lacking for the moment. Instead of committing murder, he called Mr. Clarke who was understandably annoyed.
However, Dustin was nothing if not persistent, and ended up getting an incredibly detailed set of instructions. Probably to get him off the phone as quickly as possible. Looking over the list and directions, Mads was impressed at the simplistic but thorough way Mr. Clarke had explained the process. He could have worked with Pa—Dr. Brenner. He was that good.
Lucky for her, Mr. Clarke had no idea people like Dr. Brenner even existed. And even luckier for him, because if he did his life would have much more misery than a twelve-year-old interrupting his date to ask a science question for "fun".
Soon they were on their way to Hawkins Middle to prepare, the school having stockpiled rock salt in case of inclement freezing weather. Mads found it humorous that this would technically be breaking and entering, but was glad Hop wasn't a by-the-book cop. Even if he was a bit of an ass.
Her head was resting on Eddie's shoulder, hands clasped tightly in Tris', and El nestled between her knees on the floor of the Wilson's station wagon. All was silent in the vehicle save the sound of breathing. And Jamie's impatient tapping at the steering wheel as they followed Hop's Blazer.
Sure, there was probably a lot she could say – should say – but her spell slots were all used up. That strange encounter in the in-between space left her feeling more drained than she ever had. Like something had bled her as though she were an energy Capri-Sun.
She nearly snorted at the thought.
No, she couldn't talk about that now. She had a boy to find. And all that salt was gonna fuck with her stitches and cuts. Lucky, lucky her.
The gym was a flurry of activity, children and adults both running back and forth gathering supplies and shouting harried directions at each other. Mads would have laughed at the boys struggling to set up the kiddie pool had the thought of immersing herself in that very thing not turned her stomach to lead. Instead, she sat huddled into Tris' side on the bleachers while Eddie attempted to help the boys right the contraption.
Seeking physical comfort. That was new, strange even. Obviously, it had been happening for a while now, but the desire for it – the ease in which she reached for another – was still surprising.
The warmth of Tris' well-worn leather jacket pressed into her cheek, the taller girl's strong arm around her torso. The faint smell of cigarette smoke, weed, and the strong scent of her musky, woody perfume that clung to her hair and clothes. It felt more like home than any hideout Mads had ever lived in with Kali. Hawkins – as much as she hated to say it – felt like home, like she belonged there.
It only strengthened her resolve when Pam and Joyce walked into the gym, El in tow. When they reached her, they handed her a pair of duct-taped safety goggles that matched a pair El carried.
"In case you need them," Pam said with a smile as Tris' arm tightened around her encouragingly.
"I hope I won't," Mads rasped, but smiled as Eddie plopped down on the bleachers beside her.
"We're right here if you do," he murmured too low for anyone else to hear.
Hot tears sprang to her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. Instead, she grasped his pinky finger with her own and pulled him close to her side, his long curly hair tickling her cheek. She was not planning on getting in the pool unless it was absolutely necessary, but their encouragement only emboldened her.
"If something happens, we will be here to pull you out of there," Joyce promised, eyes shining with unshed tears.
"She promised," El confirmed gravely, brushing Mads' unruly hair from her face.
The gesture made her heart flutter with affection for the little girl that stood before her. El smiled and patted her cheek before turning away towards the pool – a determined set to her shoulders – Pam and Joyce following close behind.
El met her gaze only once as she lowered herself into the pool then fixed the goggles over her eyes. The lights flickered and electricity surged, causing most of the present company to jump, but not Mads. She sat; gaze transfixed upon the little girl in the pool. A little girl who was braver than any of them in that moment.
"Barb?" El's tiny voice echoed through the empty room.
Mad's eyes flickered to Nancy, who tensed at the sound of her friend's name.
"Barbara?" El called again. Even through the barrier, trepidation leaked into her voice.
Guilt punched through Mads' chest when she imagined what El must be seeing. Was it the wreckage of Steve Harrington's living room? His storm cellar, caked in Barb's blood and the infectious pus that leaked from her wounds?
Was she seeing her in the hospital, lying unconscious and ravaged, unable to remember a thing from her time across the Vale?
"Gone…" El breathed, panicked.
"What?" Nancy gasped, scurrying forward to hear El's hushed words. "Is Barb okay? Is she okay?"
El only repeated the same word over and over, "Gone!"
Shakily, Mads stood to her feet and strode to the pool. She reached it just as Joyce gripped El's hand in her own, soothing her with the voice of a practiced mother.
"El," Mads whispered, falling to her knees. "I'm here. You can do this. I'll even get in that damn pool if you need help. You can do this, it's okay. We're all here. Nothing's gonna hurt you, I promise."
Pam's hand slid up the back of Mad's leather jacket and stayed there, giving her the same reassurance she promised El. From across the pool, she could feel Hop's intense gaze boring into her, and instead of ignoring him, she met it head on. What she saw there was not the unkindness she expected. In fact, she could hardly discern the gruff expression on his face.
She looked away, back down at the little girl in the pool. Her sister. The bond between them forged in captivity, but also in choice. They could have rejected each other. Mads could have decided to forget about the Lab, about the children kept there. El could have forgotten her.
But they didn't.
And Mads would never let a single thing hurt her again.
"Castle Byers…" El whispered, voice once again soft, detached.
A murmur rippled through the small group, then El called out, "Will?"
Will… Will.
El found him. This would all be over soon, if Hop's plan to rescue Will worked and none of them ended up dead, or worse – captured by Dr. Brenner.
Mads shook her head as if banishing the thought. She would die before she let herself be captured by that man. Her life was hers, and she would do anything in her power to keep it that way. Anything.
Will's weak voice filtered over the radio as Joyce begged El to relay her promises of safety and reassurance. That they were coming for him. That he was only moments away from being saved.
"Hurry," came his tired whimper.
Then something must have happened in that dark place because El began screaming, screaming, screaming.
Without thinking of the thick nauseating feeling of salt water gliding over her skin, Mads shucked off her jacket and boots, plunging herself into the pool. She didn't waste a second gathering her sister into her embrace and tugging the goggles from over her eyes.
"Shhh…" Mads murmured as she pressed her lips to El's shorn scalp. As the salt sank into her wounded flesh, stinging and burning. She didn't care. "I'm here, I'm here."
"And so are we," Tris whispered – voice thick with tears – reaching over the lip of the pool to grasp El's shoulder.
Eddie too, taking El's small wet hand in his own and squeezing it gently. Then Joyce, then Pam until the little girl's breathing evened and her eyes fluttered open to gaze up into the soft expression on Mads' normally severe face.
"You're safe," Mads whispered, fingers trailing over El's soft, cherubic face. "I promised I'd keep you safe."'
Though she was fatigued, El reached up with her free hand and grasped Mads' fingers in her own. "Friends don't lie."
A soft laugh escaped Mads' lips. "No, no. Friends don't lie."
They stayed like that for a moment, while the adults argued about who would be doing what. Joyce wanted to go rescue her son, but as Chief of Police Hop had a bit of a tragic hero complex and was refusing to let her. That was when Jamie stepped in and said they would all be going.
"No way," Hop protested. "Not happening."
"Now look here, Hop," Jamie scolded. "You may be Chief of Police, but I outranked you in the military. I am going. Not only to save Will, but—" he paused, looking over his shoulder at Mads for a fraction of a second before turning back. "That place has taken too many children from Hawkins. They took my Mandy, they took Barbara, Will, and El. They even took Madison from her parents, and I'll be damned if they're still standing to take another."
"You mean…" Hop began.
"I want to burn that place to the ground."
Hop looked between Joyce's blazing determination and Jamie' stoic posture, then over at the shivering girls in the pool clutching at each other like lifelines. He sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this fight.
"The kids and I will stay here and wait," Pam interjected, much to Jonathan's protests.
"I want to go, I can help!" he shouted, attempting to rise, but Eddie stopped him.
"Let it go, man…" he murmured, a large ringed hand on the other boy's shoulder.
Jonathan attempted to shake him off, but Nancy slipped her hand into his, shaking her head at him almost imperceptibly. Eddie patted Jonathan's shoulder awkwardly
"As I was saying," Pam said wryly, glancing back at the group of kids. "I'll stay here and look after the children. I know my way around a shotgun just fine. I'll keep them safe."
With that, it was settled. Joyce, Hop, and Jamie piled into the Blazer and headed off in the direction of the Lab. Pam pulled El from Mads' arms and led her and the younger boys to the cafeteria to find them snacks, but not before making eye contact with Jonathan who nodded subtly back at her.
"Alright," Eddie said, holding his hand out to Mads. "You're gonna turn into a prune in there, c'mon."
With the salt still clinging to her wounds, Mads grasped Eddie's hand and allowed him to pull her from the pool. Once she was out and steady on her feet, he abruptly wrapped his arms around her, pressing her face to his chest.
"Eddie—" she started to protest, but he cut her off.
"M' scared, Mads," he whispered into her wet hair. "All of this is so fucking weird and I've got a bad feeling. Just let me hug you for a second."
So she did, slipping her arms around him to tighten the embrace. It was almost too much, the smell of him – weed, sweat, deodorant, and all those fucking hair products he used – and the feeling of his warmth against her freezing body. The sensation of the water seeping through her clothes – invading her cuts – was terrible. It was like being forced into the Bath all over again. But El had needed her.
And now Eddie needed her.
So, even though it was almost too much she let him hold her.
Even as they heard the soft squeaking of tall boots hurrying out of the gym. And Mads felt the faint trace of overwhelming sorrow following in their wake. Guilt panged through her chest for the umpteenth time that day, but she did not break her hold on her friend. She couldn't, no more than she could control Tris' feelings towards him.
Moments later, when Eddie ran to grab his rifle from the trunk of Pam and Jamie's station wagon – how he had the soundness of mind to remember it when they went to rescue the kids was beyond her – Mads hurried out of the gym, wet socks slipping on the polished floor. She yanked them off in frustration, balling them up in the pocket of her jeans.
Tris, she needed to find Tris. Apologize. For what? She didn't exactly know, but she felt bad and she wanted to make things right.
Instead, she came face to face with Nancy Wheeler, those big doe eyes brimming with tears and anger.
"You could have done something!" she said accusingly, small hands balled into fists at her side.
Mads didn't have to ask what – or who – she was talking about. The guilt in her chest grew, settling heavily around her shoulders until she felt like she would be crushed by the weight of it. She should have told Nancy first thing, but when had she really had an opportunity?
Hey, your friend you think may be dead isn't actually dead, you're welcome?
Nah. That would have been a bullshit way to break that to her. And Mads' heart wasn't so hardened as to behave like that. Even to Nancy, who she found more than a little annoying.
"I have to tell you something…" she admitted finally, fidgeting with the rings on her fingers.
"What?" Nancy snapped, stepping closer into Mads' space.
One deep breath, then another. "Barb's alive."
Confusion, anger, shock, and disbelief cycled over Nancy's pretty face over and over again. The Mads could see the muscles of the other girl's jaw working, trying to form words that would not come.
"El… Doesn't have the most advanced vocabulary," Mads tried to explain. "So, when she said gone…"
"She meant Barb is still alive?" Nancy snapped finally, frantically. "Why didn't you tell me? Call me? I've been worried sick!"
Anger began to bubble up inside of Mads' chest. Of course Nancy's feelings were justified. Of course they were. That didn't mean Mads knew how to handle them. She barely knew how to handle her own.
"Because," Mads hissed. "The same people who are after El are after me! They've got the phone lines tapped, maybe even your house!"
That statement didn't phase Nancy in the slightest. "Where is she?"
"In a hospital a few towns away," Mads admitted after a beat. "Wheeler…"
"Nancy, my name is Nancy."
"Nancy… She was in rough shape. I wasn't sure she was going to make it."
"How- how rough?"
Should Mads tell her? Could she tell her? That her best friend in the whole world was laying scarred and broken? And not just physically either.
One of those small hands came up to point directly in Mads' face. "You tell me right now, Johnson."
"Fine!" Mads exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "Like missing a leg rough! An eye gouged out rough! Festering wounds rough! Jesus, Nancy, what do you want me to say? I was trying to be delicate!"
The steely hardness of Nancy's glare faded away into horror and her hand snatched back to cover her mouth. It looked as though she were going to be sick.
"Holy shit," she breathed.
"I-I had to suppress her memories from her time in the Vale," Mads told her, immediately regretting the harshness of her words. "A-and it's different than altering or erasing them. It puts less strain on the mind, I was afraid altering or erasing them completely would kill her. They'll come back and she may not do well."
Nancy nodded, as though she understood what Mads was trying to explain, even though it was pure and utter crazy. All the same, this freak of a girl had saved Barb when she couldn't. She had to believe her. And believe that Mads could make Barb's mind better too.
"Then can't you go in and fix it?" she asked in a small, but strong voice.
"If we survive this," Mads promised.
"Then we survive."
"Then we survive."
There was a second of hesitation before Nancy stuck her hand out – all soft and manicured – and only a second more before Mads grabbed it in her own with a gruff shake, her rings gently digging into Nancy's skin. Their eyes met, determination flashing between them, and Mads nodded, releasing her.
Nancy returned to Jonathan's side and they made their way towards the door. Suddenly Mads knew what that exchange between him and Pam meant. She said she would keep the children safe. Put emphasis on that word specifically. Meaning the teenagers had free reign to get up to whatever trouble they wanted. Which meant revenge for Nancy and Jonathan. They planned to keep the monster off the adults in the Vale. Good. Then she could do her part here.
Shouting from the gym gave her pause when she turned to continue her search for Tris. Angry shouts, not scared. Like whoever was in there was arguing. Abandoning her search for her friend, Mads hurried back into the gym to see what the commotion was about.
What she saw surprised her.
Eddie, her sweet and gentle Eddie, had Tris by the shoulders. His hands were clenched so tightly into her leather jacket that his knuckles turned white, making the silver of his rings stand out in dark contrast to his skin. His eyes were blazing dark fire, lips mashed into a thin angry line. And Tris was staring defiantly up at him – her tall frame making it so she didn't have to look up too far – her chin set in that familiar stubborn way of hers.
Neither looked up when she entered, so she quietly edged herself into the shadow of the bleachers, willing herself to become one with the background – afraid to interrupt.
"You're not going," Eddie snapped, giving Tris a slight shake.
That's when Mads noticed the hunting knives strapped to Tris' belt loops. She was going after the monster too. No. No, no, no! Tris couldn't! Not with just a pair of hunting knives! Who cared if Jonathan had a gun and Nancy had a fucking baseball bat? That thing would tear Tris to shreds. The monster had scented her, associating her with Mad's own scent. It would target her.
"And what're you gonna do about it, Munson?" Tris seethed, the leather bracelets on her wrists creaking as she reached up to pull at his hands. "Hold me at gunpoint? Have Mads incapacitate me? Newsflash, buddy, I'm my own goddamn woman and I'm gonna do what I fucking please. And that entails incinerating that monster for what it did to Robin's friend."
"But, Tris—"
"No, Eddie. I'm going and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
With that, she yanked away from him in a flash of leather and shaggy dark hair. From her place behind the bleachers, Mads could see her swiping a hand across her eyes, but didn't dare move a muscle. Eddie did not follow.
Tris was right. She had as much right to go after the monster as Nancy and Jonathan. And there wasn't anything short of knocking her unconscious that would stop her from doing so.
"Besides," Tris sighed as she pushed open the door with shaking hands. "It's not like you'd care that much if I died, would you Eddie?"
The air snatched from Mads' lungs. How could Tris think that? After all this time they spent together? All the D&D sessions, running around Hawkins like they could save the world, the night on the roof of that rusty old bus where they reached for the stars as though they could capture their light in their hands.
How could she think that Eddie didn't care for her?
She wanted to reach out, to grab Tris and tell her how stupid she was. But – like the spineless coward Mads knew she was – she let her go.
"Dammit!" Eddie yelled, kicking the side of the kiddie pool, sloshing the water over the edges slightly.
"Fuck!" he shouted, then slumped to the ground. "Shit…"
Mads chose that moment to step from behind the bleachers, quietly inching her way forward. The cold air of the gym prickled over her skin along with the feeling of drying salt. Before she reached Eddie, she knelt to grab the goggles Joyce and Pam had made her and slipped her rings, necklaces, and earrings off before slipping the goggles around her neck.
"Eddie," she whispered, prodding his knee with her toe. "I can help keep them safe."
"We're not going after that monster," he snapped, lifting his gaze to meet hers. There was an odd, determined light in his eyes.
"No," she agreed, crouching in front of him. "I'm going to the Vale."
"What?" he asked in disbelief.
Mads smiled at him and picked his hand up to dump her jewelry into. "I'll keep them all safe, but I need you to stand guard."
"No," he protested, clutching her jewelry tightly in his hand. "No way. What if he comes after you?"
Mads smile turned sad as she straightened and turned away, stepping one foot and then the other into the kiddie pool. The water somehow felt warm, comfortable even; though she hated the feeling of it soaking through her jeans. Gliding over her skin. Seeping back into her throbbing wounds.
"That's what I'm planning on."
Affixing the goggles over her eyes, Mads let herself sink into the water. Her body, made buoyant by the salt, floated at the surface. Lifting a hand backwards, she felt Eddie's pinky finger wrap around her own. He knew better than to pull her out. Knew better than to stop her once she had her mind made up.
"Protect me," Mads breathed, the tugging at the back of her mind opening into the dark blackness she escaped earlier. She barely caught his soft words, "I promise" before the Vale opened up in the expanses of her mind and swallowed her whole.
A/N:Yeah, so... I'm recovering from TMJ which caused some really bad tinnitus. My anxiety has been through the roof along with grief. That's probably why this chapter feels so melancholy to me. I went through and edited it then added some stuff... so that will account for the sad shit, sorry lol.
Song title is taken from "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult on their studio album "Agents of Fortune" released in 1976.
Thanks for the subscriptions, bookmarks, comments, and kudos! I appreciate each one! (Please don't forget to leave a comment if you liked the story so far!)
Also, here is the mini mixtape for the final chapters, since we're about to wrap things up soon!:
playlist/2w0Fg6UPmVvj5L3EIMRYfw?si=fd523c888f364bc5
This is the "mixtape" I created for this fic. It's not entirely period accurate, but I feel like these songs fit the theme of the show and characters.
playlist/2w0Fg6UPmVvj5L3EIMRYfw?si=d8e38810c96f4875