[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗬𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞]

INSIDE THE CREEL HOUSE THE FOUR teens were walking inside the house, barefoot. sage and max were walking side by side, lamps in their hands.

running up that hill by kate bush was playing from max's headphones.

the couple heard footsteps coming up the attic. sage turned around to see erica holding up her notepad.

found vecna.

the two nod and follow erica downstairs. they meet up with lucas down in the living room where erica's lamp was glowing brightly. max walked into the room more and lucas', sage's and her own lamp glowed brightly.

max looked back at the three. erica began to write down on her notepad.

phase one?

lucas nodded. erica nodded after him and she was quick to put on her shoes, and run outside to the small park in front of the house.

she climbed up the rocket and a man who was walking his dog, watches the teen climb. he turns his head to the house, seeing the blue light.

shrugging, he walking off with his dog.

JASON SHOOTS HIS GUN AT THE HEAD of some football gear dummies. he lowers his gun once he finishes, glaring.

andy, his teammate, walks out. "hey!" he calls out, walking over to jason, hearing him reload his gun. "i think we got something,"

"send ryan," jason replies, focusing on reloading his gun. "i don't wanna waste any more time with bullshit leads."

"i don't think you'll wanna send ryan on this one," andy informs him. the blond senior turns around to face his teammate. "you know the murder house on morehead?" andy asks.

"yeah," jason nods slightly. "what about it?"

BACK IN THE CREEL HOUSE, MAX, sage and lucas were sitting in the living room. the red-head's song was playing faintly through her ear-phones as the sat in silence.

sage and lucas were next to each other playing rock, paper, scissors. lucas winning so far. just as sage got a rock and lucas a scissors, the brunette glared at the sinclair boy, slapping his hand away. when she realized what she did, she winced and looked over at her girlfriend.

the mayfield teen held up her notebook.

hi

sage's lips twitched up into a grin as she took her notebook, replying back to her.

hello :)

lucas did the same with his notepad.

hi :)

the three smile at each other before max flips over to the next clean page. lucas and sage glance at one another, waiting for her to finish writing.

i'm glad you guys are here.

the wheeler teen immediately took her notepad to reply for both herself, and lucas. she held it up between her and the dark-skinned.

us too!

max smiles at them. sage bites her lower lip, looking down at her feet, lowering her notepad to her lap as lucas begins writing.

trio movie night? like old times?

sage peaked at the notepad and smiled widely. max glanced at the wheeler teen then lucas. she takes her notepad and begins to write on it.

lucas attempts to look over at it, but max hides it. sage leans over to also attempt to look at what she's writing, but max gently shoved her head away. the wheeler teen pouted and crossed her arms, waiting for her girlfriend to finish.

max hesitated before turning over her notepad. it was a stick figure drawing of the trio. sage and max were holding hands, and lucas was on max's left. the three silently giggle at one another.

a flashing light then caught their attention. they get up from off the couch, heading over to the broken door. erica was flickering her light on and off. it was their signal. lucas takes his flashlight and copies his sisters actions.

"okay, the trio has copied. max is moving into phase two: distracting vecna." erica confirmed.

max finished putting on her shoes before getting up off the stairs, walking towards the room where a lamp stood, flickering brightly. the red-head looks over at her girlfriend. sage takes her hand into her own, squeezing it tightly.

the mayfield teen removes her hand from sage's and takes off her earphones. her hand moves over to her walkman, turning it off.

"hey! asshole!" max called out. "i'm here. no more music. no more games."

nothing.

"do you hear me?! what are you waiting for, huh? come on! do you want me or not?" max's voice gets louder. lucas and sage glance at each other.

the lantern buzzes and then the light fades away. max's lantern buzzes and the light gets brighter. the three begin to follow the red-head upstairs where vecna is leading them.

"OKAY, ALMOST DONE," MIKE SAYS AS he taped some glasses for eleven. "okay, so, hope-fully this blocks out any peripheral light, right?" he asks before putting on the glasses.

"and it's totally dark, which mean it works. but i have one more important question: do i look cool?" mike asks his girlfriend. eleven laughs at his question. "i feel like i look really cool. are you giggling?" the girl giggles, smiling at how goofy her boyfriend is acting. "you're giggling because i look awesome. i can't see it, but i know you're smiling because i look so good. right?"

"mike," eleven speaks, taking his hand into her own. the wheeler twin removes his glasses.

"yeah?"

he puts them down, placing his hand in eleven's as he speaks.

"i . . . missed you," the girl mentions. mike nods his head, exhaling. "yeah. yeah, i missed you too." eleven smiles softly at mike as he continues to speak. "you know, the last few days, i . . . i've had to think about the last talk we had." the wheeler teen sighed, preparing for what he was about to say to the girl he loved. "you know, before the cops and . . . the whole world went to shit?"

the girl looked down at the table.

"i . . . i guess i just . . . i dunno. i guess i just wanted to say that —"

a pizza was slammed on the table by argyle. the couple broke hands at the sudden movement.

"surf's up, romeo," he said and walked around the table, kneeling down next to mike. "oh, uh, too much flavor awesomeness can't overpower your battery, can it?" argyle asked eleven, glancing with his low eyelids at the teen girl.

"dude, this is pineapple," mike commented with disgust as he lifted up the pizza. "try before you deny," the older teen informed the wheeler.

eleven took a bite of the pizza before pausing on her chewing, and looking over at mike. the teen nods in satisfaction as the taste of the pizza.

"good,"

"hmm?" argyle nods in agreement with a smile.

"it's good? what do you mean?" mike asked his girlfriend. "really good," eleven replied. "what? that's insane. blasphemous. putting fruit on pizza? sage would even agree with me!"

"who's sage?" argyle questions with a goofy smile on his lips, high off his mind. "my twin sister," mike quickly answered the older teen. "did you try? try before you deny." eleven mentioned while gently shoving the pizza toward her lover's face.

"no. i—"

argyle stood up, putting mike into a headlock. "try before you deny!"

"stop! enough! i'm not a dog! no, not a baby! thank you!"

"try some,"

"try before you deny!"

"no!"

william byers stares at the trio having the time of their lives with a frown plastered on his lips. he turns back around, lazily mixing the salt with the water in the freezer. jonathan, noticing his brother's pouty face, places down the bag of salt and begins mixing it together.

the older byers teen attempted to come up with something he knew would make will smile.

"do you remember that time you told me you had a lego stuck up your nose?" he asked will. the teen looks up. "what?" jonathan nods. "yeah. like, it was like a . . . it was like a construction guy. you'd call him larry." will stares at his brother. "come on! you don't remember? he had the high viz jacket and removable hat?"

"yeah." will answered with a nod. "vaguely,"

"well, i remember it like it was yesterday. man, i was . . . i was freaked. 'cause . . . 'cause this larry . . . i mean, larry was way, way up there." will smiles at jonathan. "i don't even know how you got him that far up. i had to do surgery. i . . . i had to get tweezers to pull him out."

"bull," will tells his brother. the older byers chuckles. "no. no, no, i swear on my life."

the two byers siblings continued to mix the salt water as jonathan sighs. "i don't know, i just . . . i feel like you used to come to me for help," he says before looking over at his younger brother. "or to just . . . talk, you know? 'cause, like, you don't do that anymore. not like before. you go to sage now, and a lot of that is probably my fault. this last year . . ." a sigh escapes jonathan's mouth. "i know i've been distant."

"or stoned," will adds on. "or stoned," the older byers teen agrees with a nod. "yeah. but that has nothing to do with you. and that's me dealing with my own shit. hiding from my own problems. the truth is, i miss talking to you. i, like, really miss it. and i think, right now, we need to talk more than ever." the younger teen nods. "because things are getting just complicated. a lot more complicated than legos up the nose, you know?"
will let's out a smile with a head shake.

"i just . . . i don't want you to forget that i'm here. and i'll always be here." will's eyes began to fill with tears at his brother's words. "no matter what. because you're my brother. and i love you." will nods, on the verge of breaking down. "and there is nothing in his world, okay, absolutely nothing, that will change that. you got that?"

will was smiling tearfully at his brother. he knew jonathan wouldn't look at him differently now that he knew who he truly was. he knew that his sexuality wasn't gonna change the way his family was gonna look at him.

"yeah," he answered, voice quivering. "and i'm always here for you too."

"i know," the older teens takes the stick out of the freezer, putting it down and walking toward his brother. "i know you are. come here." the byers teens engulfed each other in a comforting, tight hug. will stifles a sob as he clings onto jonathan.

the teen's release one another, jonathan holding onto will's shoulders. "it's gonna be okay. yeah?"

"yeah," will agrees with a nod. the two look down at the freezer. "i think it's ready," the older teen informs with a nod. "all right."

the brothers walk out from the back, into the main lobby where the trio were enjoying the pineapple pizza. the three turn their heads to the byers teens, surprised by their entrance.

"it's time," jonathan declared.

the teens begin to prepare for eleven's trip to the void to see what's happening in hawkins. once it was prepared, elven put on the glasses mike made for her, and sunk down into the water, laying down flat on her back as he began to float.

the lights flickered, and that's when they knew she was in the void.

inside the void, eleven saw the trio. lucas, sage, and max. the three were walking around with the lantern in max's hand.

"i found them," the hopper teen told the teens that weren't in the void. "they're carrying a light. a blue light."

back in hawkins, the trio was walking into the attic where the lantern lit brightly. the red-head snaps her head towards her girlfriend and lucas. sage stares at her girlfriend in worry. she didn't know if it was going to work out.

max closes her eyes, sighing deeply. the lantern light dies causing max to open her eyes, and look down at the light.

"what are you waiting for, asshole?" the mayfield teen said. "hmm? i'm right here. i'm right here!"

back at california, eleven stares at the trio.

"okay, el, what's going on?" mike asks the teen girl. "it's not working," she informs them.

"what? what's not working?" will asks. "max's plan."

in the hawkins, max was still holding up the lantern.

"i know you can hear me. i know you can read my thoughts. even the worst ones." max says. "maybe even the worst ones," the red-head places the lantern down on the box in front of her. she then takes her walkman, walking over to sage, and handing it over to her gently. "you know what to do," max whispers to her girlfriend before walking back to the light, sitting down on the floor. sage frowned, gripping the walkman.

"i thought about what you said. about how i wanted my brother to die." max paused. "i thought you were just trying to upset me. to anger me. but you weren't, were you? you were just telling the truth. billy, he made my life living hell. every chance he got. so, sometimes . . . when i would lie in bed at night, i would . . . i would pray . . ." the red-head sniffs. ". . . i would pray that something would happen to him. something awful. i knew that he drove too fast, so i would imagine him crashing. dying in that stupid car." the mayfield teen sighed. "i just . . . i wanted him out of my life. forever. i wanted him to disappear. the day that he died . . . i think that's why i just stood there. watched. not because i was scared or . . . weak." max paused.

"but because . . . i didn't know if he deserved to be saved." the red-head looks down at her hands, fiddling with them. "and i've tried to forgive myself." she looks back up. "i've tried, but . . . i can't. i can't." max sniffs. "so now . . . now, when i lie in bed at night . . . i pray that something would happen to me. that something terrible would happen to me. so that's why i'm here."

sage nearly wanted to cry. she knew max was depressed. she knew she was suicidal. she knew her girlfriend wasn't in the right mindset, but it still broke her heart to hear her say that.

"because . . . i just want you to take me away. and i want you . . . to make me disappear." max fiddled with her fingers before a voice spoke up.

"is that all true?" sage questioned her girlfriend, eyebrows furrowed. "you wanted billy to die?"

"why are you talking?" the red-head didn't realize that the walkman wasn't in her girlfriends hands or that lucas disappeared. "you ever have thoughts like that about me?" sage asked max.

"what?" max stood up from the floor. "no, sage, never."

"normal people don't fantasize about killing other people, max. you realize that, right?"

"sage, please,"

"i thought you were getting better. but you're not, are you?" the wheeler teen stepped forward closer to her girlfriend. "you are sick."

"sage, you don't mean that." max watched as sage stepped closer to her. "maybe it is good he takes you. maybe it's for the best. in fact . . ." ragged breathing was heard from sage. ". . . i'm glad it's going to be you. you will be the chosen one." sage's voice went distorted. "the fourth. the final sacrifice." max gulped when she realized.

"it's going to be you that breaks the world," the voices of vecna and sage were mixed together.

"max? can you hear us?" lucas asked the red-head, waving his hand in front of her face. "max!" sage shouted, snapping her fingers.

back in the void, eleven watches the situation go down in front of her. "he has her,"

"max!" the mayfield teen turns around. "where are you going? don't be scared." sage asks, her eyes cloudy white. "stay away from me,"

"max, i thought you said you were ready. ready to disappear!" max was quick to grab something and hit vecna across the face with it. "i said, stay away!" as she ran off, sage who is now vecna stares at max running off.

sage looks over at lucas with wide eyes. "lucas, what do we do?!" she shouts at him. "i-i don't know! i guess we just wait?"

the wheeler scoffs. "lucas, i'm scared . . . what if this doesn't go the way we want it to?"

the sinclair teen stands up with his flashlight, flickering it on and off to erica. "sage, i really don't know, okay? just focus for now." he says.

sage sighs, putting the walkman in her jean pocket and placing the earphones around her neck. her eyes were staring at her girlfriend.

max, who officially made it to her safe space, opened her eyes to see she was at the wheeler's house. there were christmas lights around the house and the tree was up with presents underneath. it smelt like cookies were in the oven and the tv was on.

"holy shit," max whispered as she looked around the house. a smile made its way to her lips.

   MAX WAS SITTING DOWN IN THE living room, on the couch. she was fiddling with her hands until jolting explosion startled the red-head. max jumped off the couch, stepping back before one of the gifts under the tree exploded, blood spreading everywhere.

the mayfields eyes widen. more gifts, along with the small lights hanging around the tree continue to explode. each of the lights break, blood pouring out and max flinches every time. each gift explodes, even more blood pouring out.

max backed up into the wall away from the living room. her plan wasn't working. the radio that was playing music begins to warp and it distorts, before switching to the song dream a little dream of me by ella fitzgerald.

max watched as the christmas banner that was hung up in the house begin to soak up with blood. a retching smell then made its way up max's nose. it was the cookies that were in the kitchen. she slowly walked over to the kitchen and saw that the small desserts were rotten with mold growing on them.

suddenly, small particles began to fall around the house.

everything suddenly went dark and thunder boomed, with a red lightning streak.

back in the creel house, max was breathing heavily and sage began to get worried. she tapped lucas on the arm rapidly, handing him the flashlight.

"go warn erica!" she said, shoving him back carefully. "oh, shit," lucas mumbled and quickly stumbled back to warn his little sister.

sage removed the walkman off of her, placing it aside. her hands cup max's face. "what the hell is taking so long?" she heard lucas murmur to himself. "max, can you hear me?" sage whispered to her girlfriend, attempting to wake her up.

the floorboards began to creak causing sage and lucas to look over at where the noise was coming from.

"shit." lucas mumbled, lowering his flashlight. jason came up into the attic.

he looked horrible. his eyes were red and he had eye bags.

"jason. jason." lucas tried speaking to his captain. sage stood up in front of max. "jason . . . you can't be here right now, dude." sage warned the senior teen. "what the hell have you done?" jason asked, looking down at the red-head teenager.

"jason." lucas spoke. "you need to leave."

"is this what you did to chrissy?" he asked, getting closer to max. "back up!" sage told him, poking his chest with her finger. "you do not go anywhere near my girl,"

"just listen, jason."

jason glared at the wheeler teen before attempting to shove the girl away. sage moved his hands away, pointing at him.

"don't even try."

"you need to go, man,"

jason shoved the wheeler teen away causing her to stumble back. the senior teen kneeled down, gently