I had this chapter done last week, but I wanted to finish the next chapter before posting it.
The next three chapters are all set up and I just need to add more details to them, but I am super excited... which I feel like I say a lot.
All errors are mine :)
We had beaten Steve and the others to the Wheelers house, and Nancy quickly snuck us in through the basement door. Robin followed me into the bathroom forcing me to sit on the closed toilet while she grabbed the nearest towel and soaked it in the sink before lightly dabbing at the cut on my cheek. Nancy came in with a first aid kit and helped me pull my sweatshirt off.
"It doesn't look too deep." She commented, examining my shoulder before taking some gauze and placed it over top of the bleeding area.
"He was sending a message." I grimaced.
"What was his message? Thanks for stopping by, remember me?" Robin asked leaning back against the sink after she put a bandage on my cheek.
"His world, his rules." I answered looking up at Nancy, who looked up from my shoulder and met my eyes. Before either one could respond the door to the basement slammed open and then the chaotic sound of feet running down the stairs before Steve and Dustin turned the corner and then into the doorway of the bathroom. Steve looked anxious, angry, concerned, relieved, there were so many emotions on his face I wasn't sure which he was truly feeling.
"Max?" Nancy asked, looking up at them.
"On the couch with Lucas." Dustin said pointing over his shoulder. "Did you really see Vecna?"
"Dustin…" Steve hissed.
"What was he like… Max wouldn't say," Dustin ignored his friend and looked at me with a smile. "Was it the Upside Down? Did he say anything to you...?"
"Dude, shut up." Steve state stepping through the doorway and turned to Dustin. "Go check on Max and Lucas."
"But…"
"Now!" Steve exclaimed pointing in the direction of the main room. As he passed Robin in the small bathroom, she gave him a sympathetic look before leaving pulling Dustin with her. Nancy was just finishing bandaging my shoulder as Steve walked up behind her. Standing with her I tried to avoid Steve gaze as he stood, arms crossed behind Nancy.
"I'm gonna go check on Max." Nancy said giving me a quick glance before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Is uh… is Max, okay?" I asked, clearing my throat and turning towards the mirror above the sink. I glanced up through the reflection as Steve was staring directly back at me. I watched as he nodded before shaking his head and looked towards the closed door.
"Shaken up," he answered turning back.
"Understandable." I answered back.
"Said she wouldn't have made it out without you." He added and I closed my eyes taking a deep breath.
"She would have, she's strong…" I said quietly.
"What if you hadn't?" he asked, and I looked up surprised.
"What?" I scowled confused.
"What if you hadn't made it out…?" He asked the questions slower and had his eyes trained on me, "What if he had killed you? Just like Chrissy, just like Fred."
"He didn't..." I tried defending with a sigh, trying to deflect the concern and anger I could feel radiating from him.
"But he could have," Steve exclaimed frustrated pushing off the wall and uncrossed his arms gesturing to my shoulder, "Obviously made a point that he could."
"I realize that..." I started to say but I knew it wasn't the answer Steve wanted.
"I don't think you do." He interrupted shaking his head. "You have no regard for your own life, you realize that right. You jump in, regardless of the outcome, and you leave everyone around you on the sidelines to watch."
"Steve..."
"No, seriously, three times," he let out an exasperated chuckle before running his hands through his hair, "I have watched you do it three times now, and nearly lost you every time..."
"I know..." I interrupted groaning in annoyance but wasn't sure who it was to.
"No, you don't!" He didn't reply quietly or calmly, this was loud, and I knew everyone outside the door could hear it. I stared at him shocked at the outburst but wasn't sure what to say. "I..." He started but had to close his eyes and let out a breath before continuing. "You have no idea how that feels, and no matter how many times I bring it up you still do it, regardless of who you leave behind."
"What was I supposed to do, let him take her?" I scowled, starting to get defensive.
"You said it you're self she could have done it." He scoffed.
"Steve, you knew who I was before this started happening," I said gesturing between the two of us. "You can't expect me to change just because we started dating, that's not how it works, not how I work."
"I'm not asking you to change Veronica, I'm asking you to slow down, I'm asking you to let me help." He exclaimed. "I'm asking you to not run off on a suicide mission where you don't come back. And I get it, that's the only thing you think you're good for because the lab screwed you up, but Jesus! You are so much more than that and I am tired of trying to convince you you're good enough."
"Then stop." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, and his face showed his surprise. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes, "Look, I'm just saying you didn't sign up for all this, you're not under any obligation to stick around or stand by me."
"Obligation?" he breathed out repeating the word stepping forward and putting his hands on my shoulder. "You're not some obligation I think I have to meet. I'm not here because I think I have to be, dammit, I'm here because I..." He paused as he let breath out of his nose before dropping his hands and stepping back. "You know what, forget it." He didn't wait for me to respond, he turned and went out the door, shutting it behind him, leaving me staring at the door in confusion and frustration. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head up, pushing the stinging feeling from my eyes back.
"Dammit." I cursed under my breath. I stayed locked in the bathroom several minutes after that, not sure I wanted to see the looks on everyone's faces that had just listened to Steve and me. My chest hurt, not because of Vecna's injury, but it was something else, it was an ache I wasn't used to. An ache I had felt when I lost Jim and watched El drive away, but this time it was because I wasn't sure if I had just lost Steve.
Steve avoided me the rest of the night, and as much as that hurt, I couldn't blame him. He was right, I actively kept him at arm's length, and whether that was for me or him I wasn't sure. I knew how I felt about him. I cared about him a lot more than anyone, and I think that scared me. I had told him to basically leave, that we weren't good together… but I didn't believe that.
It was no surprise to me that I didn't sleep much that night. We all found a place around the basement, Max was curled up on the couch and I chose a place just below her, for my own piece of mind. Which is why when she got up early the next morning, quietly moving towards the stairs, I followed her up to the first floor.
"Good morning girls," Mrs. Wheeler smiled as we entered the kitchen. "You two are up early."
"Snoring." I commented, giving her a small smile as she handed me a cup of orange juice. "Thanks for letting us stay last night." I added.
"Of course, it's so nice you guys are all sticking together with everything going on." She nodded turning into the kitchen as Max and I went to sit at the table next to Holly who was coloring.
"You could have slept longer." Max said quietly as I lifted my uninjured arm to pinch the bridge of my nose.
"I wasn't sleeping. Between flashbacks from yesterday and my shoulder..." I sighed.
"Are you and Steve, okay?" she asked, and I lifted my head up and opened my eyes to scowl at her. "I mean you two were pretty loud." I chuckled softly but didn't respond instead reached forward and grabbed some of the paper on the table and a crayon. As Max followed suit, we fell into a comfortable silence and soon Mr. Wheeler came into the kitchen with his paper. He regarded us with little expression on his face before sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee.
I went back to the page in front of me. It wasn't long after that Nancy and Dustin came bursting up the stairs and through the basement door into the kitchen. I turned in the chair and raised an eyebrow at them as they both looked from me to Max, and I could see the relief on their faces.
"Morning guys." Mrs. Wheeler smiled at them. "Everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah...yeah." Nancy nodded. "Everything's okay."
"I was telling Veronica that I think it's so sweet that you guys are all together like this." She smiled at Nancy as her daughter passed her. Nancy moved to sit beside me, and her gaze moved to the paper in front of me. I had sketched out a stained-glass rose, similar to the one that had been floating around the Upside Down. The image was stuck in my head.
"Could try sticky together at a different house for a change." Mr. Wheeler added, and I stifled a laugh as I went back to shading the edges of the rose.
"You know you're welcome here any time." Mrs. Wheeler ignored her husband and as I turned, she handed Dustin a plate.
"Totally, you're like family." Dustin smiled pointing to the plate of pancakes and bacon. "May I?"
"Absolutely." Mrs. Wheeler nodded, and I turned back to Max and Nancy.
"Hey," Max said taking her headphones off, acknowledging Nancy.
"Hey, you okay?" Nancy asked.
"Yeah, just couldn't sleep." Max shrugged. "People kept blasting music in my ears for some reason. But Holly lent us some of her crayons. We've been having a fun morning right Holly?" Holly just hummed a response without looking up.
"Is this what you saw last night?" Nancy asked, reaching for one of the pages in front of Max. I had been so focused on my own thoughts and drawing that I hadn't realized she had gone through several pages, all with red images that were eerily familiar.
"I mean it's supposed to be." Max nodded. "I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it but... not so much."
"Is that..." Nancy started to ask as she pulled one of the pictures towards her. I looked at the drawing and recognized it as the pillars around the broken home, vines wrapped around each of them, and in the center were the bodies of Fred and Chrissy.
"It's like they were on display or something." Max explained. "And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream."
"A nightmare." I inserted and Max looked at me and nodded in agreement.
"Do you think Vecna was just trying to scare you?" Nancy asked, handing the drawing back to Max.
"With Billy? Yeah." Max started; she had told us what had happened prior to my arrival retelling what had occurred in her version of the Upside Down prior to the song playing. "But when i made it here," she paused to look at all the pages of drawings. "I dunno, something was different, he seemed surprised almost. Like he didn't want me there."
"Maybe you infiltrated his mind... like Roni." Dustin stated, sitting beside Nancy with his plate of food. "He invaded your mind, right? I mean I get Roni has a leg up on this and all but is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room."
"Freddie Krueger?" Holly spoke up curiously.
"He's a super burned up dude with razors for fingers," Dustin started explaining excitedly. "and he kills you in your dreams..."
"Jesus Dustin." I hissed just as Nancy smacked his arm.
"Seriously?" She questioned.
"Sorry." Dustin turned to Holly apologetically, before adding, "it's a movie."
"He has a point though." I finally said after Holly turned back to her own pictures. "I was focused on Max not Vecna, Max may have found his origin point without meaning too, the only reason I ended up there was because I was looking for her."
"So, what if you like, somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing..." His voice trailed off as he scowled at the scattered papers. "God, we need Will."
"Yeah, no shit." Max shot at him sarcastically. "But I tried them again this morning and it's the same busy signal."
"Roni... is this, is this a window?" Nancy asked, turning her head, looking at the paper in front of me.
"I guess..."
"Yeah, no, I remember seeing that there." Max nodded.
"Stain glass? With roses?"
"Uh, yeah." I nodded, handing her the paper with a scowl.
"I've seen it before." Nancy said quietly, reaching for Max's papers and started to fold them and organize them around the table.
"Nancy?" I raised an eyebrow looking at Dustin and Max but they both seemed just as confused. Finally, all the pages were used before she grabbed the stained glass rose and folded it so it could fit into place in the center. Grabbing a crayon from across the table she drew an outline around the sketched images to reveal an old house.
"It's pieces of a house." Max said quietly.
"Not just any house." Nancy stated with a small smile. "It's Victor Creels house." She was up from the table and walking away before either of us knew what was happening.
"Where are you going?" Dustin asked.
"Waking the others."
We didn't arrive at the Old Creel house until well into the afternoon and I could feel the start of a headache form behind my eyes. I was hoping it was from lack of sleep, or residual pain, from my shoulder, but considering it didn't start until we pulled in front of the boarded-up house I knew that hope was ill felt.
"Yeah... that's not creepy." Steve said under his breath. I couldn't help but agree. Every window was boarded, but some boards had rotted away, fallen or broken, and the pillars outside the house were covered in vines that seemed to encase the entire house. Standing back Nancy and Steve began pulling the nails away from the door.
"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?" Steve grunted as he pulled another nail from the board.
"We're not sure." Nancy answered. "We just know this house is important to Vecna."
"Because Roni and Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" He asked.
"Basically." Nancy shrugged.
"Great."
"Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is, why he's back, why he killed the Creels..." Dustin started shooting out the questions we had with no answer. "Oh, and how to stop him before he comes back for Max."
"Have we considered this to be a trap?" Robin asked and we all turned to her. "I'm just saying Vecna's made it pretty clear he can manipulate his victims and I mean; we're going to the house because two of them are standing right here."
"Not one of his victims." I stated.
"No, but weirdly connected." Robin shot and I just rolled my eyes.
"We don't... we don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas ventured and as he looked around, I found all eyes landed on me curiously.
"I'm not a Vecna detector, we are aware of that right?"
"I mean you seem to know when he's about to attack so..." Dustin started.
"Really?" I glared at him before looking around and my eyes finally finding Steves. We hadn't talked, and we were doing a good job keeping ourselves separated, but still I found him looking at me, waiting for a response. Groaning, I closed my eyes. "Fine. He might be in there." That seemed to send a wave of concern through the group as they moved their gazes warily to the old house.
"Guess we'll find out." Max finally said.
"Ready?" Steve asked as he pulled the final nail from the wood blocking the door and looked at Nancy. I watched as both reached up and pulled the board away from the door frame and let it crash to the porch. There, perfectly preserved behind the wood, was a stained-glass window of a rose. I walked up the steps of the porch and approached the door, slowly running my fingers over the rose, tracing each line. The image hadn't changed from what I had seen in Vecna's head, it was the same, still intact. Beside me I heard the handle on the door jiggle and turned to see Steve trying to turn it.
"It's locked." he said, looking up at me and then out at the group. "Should I knock see if anybody's home?"
"No need." Robin stated, and I turned to see her behind the group walking towards the door with a brick in hand. "I found a key." Stepping away I stood by Nancy and waited for Robin to throw the brick through the glass. It shattered and Steve stepped forward and put his hand through the opening to unlock the door. Twisting the handle again he pushed the door open and it made a haunting squeak as it slowly opened. Walking into the dark dusty home, there was a dark cloud that seemed hang over the place leaving shivers going down my spine. Lucas quickly tried one of the lamps by the door, but nothing happened.
"Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill." he commented. Reaching into my back pocket I pulled out a flashlight I had swiped from the Wheeler home and turned it on. Around the entry way of the house Dustin and the others seemed to do the same.
"Where'd everyone get those?" Steve asked and I looked up to see him looking around at the flashlights.
"Do you need to be told everything?" Dustin snarked at him. "You're not a child."
"Be nice Dustin." I rolled my eyes walking towards them. Without asking I pulled the backpack from his back and dropped it to the ground. Kneeling, I unzipped the back pocket and found the extra flashlight holding it out to Steve.
"Thanks." he said as I stood up, his eyes locked onto mine and we stood staring at each other before Dustin cleared his throat. Rolling my eyes again at the kid I turned and walked away.
"They just left everything." Nancy commented looking at the dining room table.
Guess a triple homicide isn't good for resale values." Robin agreed, I smiled to myself as I continued through the main area noticing Max stopped by the stairs. Her flashlight shone on an old grandfather clock, one that made my heart drop and stomach flip.
"You, uh... this is real, right?" Max asked as I approached her.
"I..." I shone my light on the old clock face and my brain flashed to the old clock that was floating in Vecna's Upside Down, and then to the one I had seen on the side of the road when we were looking for Fred. Here it was dusty but preserved, in front of me.
"Hey guys..." Max called when I didn't respond further. As they approached, they all seemed to stare at the old clock. "You all see this right?"
"Yeah," there was a combined answer from everyone.
"Your vision, is this what you saw?" Nancy asked and Max nodded.
"I mean it's just a clock," Robin tried to brush off the creepy feeling we had as she stepped forward shrugging, "Right?" Without any hesitation she moved closer to the clock and wiped the glass that protected the clock's face, removing the dust that was covering it revealing the hands of the clock. "Like a normal. Old. Clock."
"Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?" Steve asked out loud, "Maybe he's like a clockmaker or something?" and just like that the tension eased and I broke my gaze away from the clock to give him a look with a small smile shaking my head.
"I think you cracked the case there Steve." Dustin said sarcastically.
"All I know is the answers are here." Nancy stated, "Somewhere." I was already moving upstairs as she gave instructions to stick together and her and Robin started following me to the second floor.
"Hey you okay?" Robin asked once we reached the landing.
"Hmm?" I glanced at her over my shoulder as I went into one of the rooms. "Just uneasy."
"Well walking around a murder house will do that to you." She replied and I gave her a small smile and laughed under my breath. She walked around a corner following Nancy into another room as I examined what I thought to be a little girl's room. The bed was still made, stuffed animals were on it and there was a jewelry box on the dresser. Brushing dust from it, I opened it revealing a tiny dancing ballerina. Lost in thought, the sound of cursing and shuffling along with a door slamming made me jump. I quickly walked out of the room, nearly running into Steve, who was reaching over his shoulder and turning in a circle.
"What is going on?" I asked quickly, "Are you okay?"
"Wha..." He stopped spinning to look at me. I was staring at him concerned and his features seemed to relax a little. "There was a spider." He breathed out looking at the door.
"A... spider?" I raised an eyebrow at him trying to hide my amusement.
"A black widow." he nodded looking at the door, "Don't go in there."
"Noted." I replied. He turned to look at the door again and I saw cobwebs stuck in his hair. "Hold on a second." I requested and reached for his arm stopping him from walking away. Switching my flashlight to my other hand, I winced as the movement jarred my injured shoulder before lifting my free hand up and started pulling cobwebs from Steve's hair. "Relax, there just cobwebs." I said softly when he started to turn around in a panic.
"Oh, thanks." he breathed in relief.
"If there's a spider nesting in there, you're never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out..." Robin commented as her and Nancy walked around us, with a playful laugh.
"What is wrong with you." Steve asked, watching as they turned the corner. "Seriously that girls got problems."
"It's her coping mechanism." I said as I got the final cobweb from his hair. "There, you should be good now." The silence between us grew when he turned around thanking me. I opened my mouth slightly to say something, and he seemed to do the same but the hall light behind his head got my attention. The lightbulb inside was flickering. Steve turned and watched it flicker before it went dark. He turned to me for an answer I didn't have.
"Guys!" Max called from downstairs and without any words said we all quickly went down the staircase, finding Max in the dining room staring at the chandelier as it flickered.
"It's like the Christmas lights." Nancy commented.
"Christmas lights?" Robin questioned.
"Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights... came to life." Nancy explained.
"Vecna's here." Lucas voiced the thought I immediately had as I felt a small tug in my subconscious as my head started to throb. "In this house. Just on the other side." And just as he said that the lights stopped flickering and went dark.
"I think he just left the room." Robin whispered, still staring at the light.
"Did he hear us?" Max asked.
"Can he hear us?" Steve added looking at me. I just shrugged.
"Headphones." Lucas looked at Max and she quickly pulled her headphones up and turned on her tape player.
"Wait, wait…" Nancy stated quickly turning her flashlight off. "Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out."
"We're not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flash…" Steve argued but everyone had already turned their lights off leaving him talking to himself. "…lights." Everyone seemed to spread out waiting to see if their lights would light up. As I moved around, I felt something pull me towards the stairs. Standing at the bottom I looked up into the darkness of the second floor, but still I moved forward without lights.
"I got him! I got him!" Robin yelled below the stairs, and it forced me to pause, but I didn't turn around. There was more commotion, and the group was slowly coming up the stairs, led by Steve, whose flashlight was lit up. As they met up with me the group stopped as the light flickered off.
"Shit, I lost him." He scowled before looking up at me, the scowl deepening. "Roni?"
"I don't think we lost him." I said turning around so my back was to him staring at the door I had stopped in front of. Max moved towards it, twisting the handle, she pushed the door open to reveal the lights leading to the attic flickering.
"How'd you know…" Steve questioned quietly, standing directly behind me, staring at the open door.
"I just had a feeling." I answered shaking my head. Max looked up the stairs before slowly ascending the steps.
"It's an attic… of course it's an attic." Robin commented, before following Max, Nancy behind her. Moving to follow them Steve put his hand on my shoulder, not to stop me, but rather let me know he was right there.
"Hold up guys." Dustin whispered harshly at the bottom of the attic steps. "What if he's leading us into a trap? Guys… guys… shit, shit, shit."
At the top of the attic there was a chime from a grandfather clock that echoed, but no one in the room reacted. This was in my head. Frozen in place I blinked several times as each chime seemed to make my head throb more. Squeezing my eyes shut an image of a boat house… the boat house Eddie was supposed to be hiding in flashed behind my eye lids, and then another flash showing a teenage boy, it was Patrick from the basketball team. I remembered seeing him the night of the championships.
"Hey." There was a voice by my ear that pulled her from the image. Sucking in a sharp breath I looked over her shoulder. Steve was standing directly behind me still, his eyes watching me with concern. "What happened…"
"Guys…" Max called before I could answer him. Turning, we both looked at the group now standing at the light in the center of the room. The light was glowing brightly, letting out a light hum as it flickered. Stepping closer we stared at the light.
"Flashlights." Dustin stated and we all looked down at the object in our hands as they also began to flicker.
"Okay, what's happening?" Steve asked and as he spoke I could feel a trickle of blood drip from my nose. Reaching up and touching it, I knew what was happening and what was about to happen. It felt like arms grabbed me as I was jolted into Vecna's world again. I was standing in the attic in front of Vecna. He had arms suspending him in the air holding him up.
'Watch.' His graveling voice said, and then I was jolted back to the attic with my friends, all who were still staring at the light.
"He's attacking." I said, taking a step back and Steve turned towards me. Our eyes met for a second before I turned and moved down the stairs. I needed to get out of the house, far away from Vecna, his attack, but just as I made it half was down the main staircase my eyes fell on the grandfather clock and I heard the chimes again. Loud enough to make my knees buckle. I leaned against the wall staring at the clock, breathing heavily. Air seemed to be sucked from my lungs as the darkness tried to take me in, as Vecna tried to pull me in.
"Roni." As I struggled to breathe Steve stood in front of me, blocking my view of the clocks, the chimes continuing. "Hey, I'm right here. Stay right here." He said and put his hands on either side of my face, cupping my cheeks. As he spoke the darkness seemed to fade away slightly, but not enough. I felt another jolt, making my head throb and my eyes close. I saw a flash of a lake and Patrick's body shooting below the surface of the water and then into the air.
"No, no, no…" I rasped feeling the tears fall from my eyes.
"Don't watch. Open your eyes. Focus on me." Steve said, and I felt his thumb brush my cheek as I forced my eyes open. "I'm right here. I'm right here. You're right here." He continued and I tried to focus on him, on his face, his eyes but there was another jolt, and I heard Vecna's gravelly voice groan and snarl, and I saw the image of Patrick's bones breaking and then his body fell back into the water.
"Veronica." Steve was saying my name quietly, he was repeating it, continuously stroking my cheek, the images never lasted, always interrupted by his words, "Open your eyes. Don't let him pull you in." My vision was brought back to him as he spoke, as he put pressure on the side of my face, in hopes of pulling me back to myself. I wanted to reply but it felt like I was paralyzed on the stairs. There was still a pull at my subconscious that I was too weak to fight and before I could stop them my eyes shut again.
Opening them, I was standing at the opening of several hallways just as a girl ran towards me, several guards around her. They grabbed her and were trying to stop her, but before they could do anything more the girl yelled, and the guards flew back. Falling to her knees she looked up, seemingly looking directly at me and I felt my mouth fall open.
"El?" I whispered. Her hair was shaved, she looked like the Eleven from my childhood. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but she yelled even louder and the lights around the hall and tunnels around exploded. As the chaos around her calmed she was breathing heavily, and she looked over her shoulder. I followed her eyesight to a man walking towards her. There was a pit in my stomach as I recognized him. He reached his hand to her El regarded it cautiously before reaching up and taking it standing, and I watched as Dr. Brenner took El back down the hall.
As they disappeared, I came back to myself on the stairs of the Creely house, Steve still kneeling in front of me, still talking to me quietly, still holding my face. Blinking several times as my head slowly stopped pounding, my eyes found his.
"He…" I started swallowing the lump in my throat. "He killed again." My voice was small, but I watched as Steve processed my words and he took a deep breath. There were footsteps at the top of the stairs, and I turned to see Nancy and Robin looking at us followed by Max, Lucas, and Dustin.
"Who?" He asked softly, he didn't turn to the others, his focus was solely on me, on my breathing, on my tears, on my answer.
"Patrick." I answered turning back to him. I didn't know Patrick, didn't know his story, but I knew he was dead, that Vecna had killed another teenager from Hawkins.
Let me know what you think :)