Chapter Thirteen: The Clock

Clara startled as Steve shook her shoulder roughly. She opened her eyes to see herself back in Ms. Kelly's office. She looked over at Max, the red-head equally confused.
"Where did the two of you go?" Steve demanded. "It's like you both went into a coma or something!"

Standing, Clara pushed him away. She ran out of the room, the group following her. She stopped at the end of a hallway, staring at where the clock had previously been embedded. Oh good! The nightmares were affecting her when she was awake now.
"It was here. Right here!" Max said from behind her. Clara spun around, staring wide-eyed at Steve.
"What was?" Steve asked confused.
"A clock. A grandfather clock," Max whispered.
"What grandfather clock?"

Nancy's voice carried down the hallway, the group jumping as they noticed Nancy and Robin's presence.
"It was right here," Max repeated, voice faltering slightly. "And when I got closer… I just—I just woke up."
"What's going on?" Robin asked.
"Apparently, Max and Clara came down this hallway and saw a grandfather clock embedded in the walls," Steve said.
"Yeah, it was like they were in a trance or something," Dustin murmured. His head shot up to stare at Clara in horror. "Exactly like what happened to Chrissy!"
"That's not even the bad part," Max sighed.
"What? Not the bad part?" Robin yelped. "What else is there?"

Trying to take a deep breath, Clara rubbed at her forehead. She could feel a headache coming on. Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Are you okay?" he whispered. She shook her head, leaning her head against him.
"I'm so tired, Steve. So, fucking tired."
"I know, Clara. I know." He kissed the top of her head, leading her gently back to Ms. Kelly's office where Max and the others were.

Max ruffled through some paperwork, spreading it on the desk for the others to see.
"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelly for help. Uh, they were both having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then…" She took a deep breath, rocking herself slightly. "Then the nightmares." Clara moved away from Steve, wrapping an arm around Max.
"Trouble sleeping," she added. "They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things… from their past." She willed her mother to disappear from her minds-eye. "These visions, they just… they just keep getting worse and worse until eventually everything ended." She swallowed harshly as something moved in the shadows.
"Vecna's curse," said Robin.

Clara rubbed at her head as the headache began and Max looked away from her friends.
"Chrissy's headache started a week ago," Max said. "Fred's, six days. I've been having them for five days. I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty-four hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so… looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow." Clara looked sharply at the red-head.
"You are not going to die," she hissed.
"It's not like I'm dying alone," Max shrugged. "You'll die with me."
"No, I won't."
"Clara," Steve said, his voice breaking slightly. "How long have you been having headaches? How long have you been seeing things?"
"Since the day I came back to Hawkins," she replied.

Everyone jumped at the sound of a distant clang.
"Stay here," Steve told them, walking towards the door. He grabbed a lamp as he went, holding it defensively. The rest of the group looked at each before bolting after him.

They all tip-toed down the hallway as footsteps got close. Steve lifted the lamp to strike just as someone darted in front of them. Everyone screamed as the stranger lifted their hands in defensive.
"It's me!" it wailed. Clara blinked, realizing it was Lucas standing in front of them, panting from heavy exertion.
"Lucas?" Max said.
"It's me!"
"Jesus, what's wrong with you Sinclair?" Steve yelled.
"I'm sorry!"
"I could've taken you out with this lamp!"
"Sorry, guys. Sorry." Lucas gulped for breath. "I was… I was biking for eight miles." He took another breath, bending down. "Give me a second. Shit… We've got a code red."
"What?" asked Clara. She walked closer to be beside Steve who wrapped an arm around her without a second thought.

Lucas moved around them, stopping in front of Dustin.
"Dustin! I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger."

Dustin nodded slowly, "All right. Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems then Jason right now."
"Yeah, and as much as I'm sure we'd like to catch Lucas up," said Clara. "I'd like to get out of here."
"We can go to my place," said Nancy. "Reconvene in the basement like old times."

A few hours later the boys and Clara were in the basement reading through old articles that Nancy had found. Max was across the room, working at a desk. Steve was pacing as he read, a confused expression on his face.
"Okay, be honest," he said. "You guys understand any of this?"
"No," answered Lucas.
"It's pretty straightforward," Dustin shrugged. Clara turned her head to blink at him.
"Oh, straightforward, really?"
"What's confusing to you?" Dustin questioned. "So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He's the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse it's him."
"Yes, but that's assuming he was cursed," Clara reminded him.
"Yeah, which we don't even know," Steve said. "How can Vecna have existed in the fifties? It doesn't make sense."
"Far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down," said Dustin. "She opened a gate to it. The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn't be surprised if he predated the dinosaurs."

Steve lowered his article to frowned at Dustin.
"Dinosaurs? What are we—"
"Okay," Lucas cut in. "But if the gate didn't exist in the fifties, how did Vecna get through?"
"How's he getting through now?" Steve asked.
"And why now?" Lucas asked.
"And whey then?" Steve added. "What? He just pops out in the fifties, kills open family, and he's like, "I'm good." And poof, he just disappears. Just… gone? Only to return thirties years later and start killing random teens? No, I don't buy it." He went back to pacing. "Straightforward my ass. Honestly Henderson, a little more humility now and then, it wouldn't hurt you."
"I don't know about that Steve," Clara yawned. "Would probably hurt his ego."
"Hey!" Dustin exclaimed.

She winked at him as Steve sat down in the chair beside her. Clara looked over to Max, sighing as she watched her scribble down notes.
"Any idea what she's writing?" Clara asked.
"Did she sleep?" asked Dustin.
"I mean… would you?" Clara asked. He shook his head as the basement door opened. Robin and Nancy came downstairs, looking far more refreshed then the others. Nancy gave them a tight smile.
"Okay, so, we have a plan."