꧁꧂
ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏʀᴛʏ-ᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ʟʟ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ᴍᴇ ᴅᴏᴡɴ
From the attic, if you listened carefully enough, you could hear Kate Bush play, while the rest of us did nothing but walk around the house with the lamps. Erica passed me by as I walked through to the kitchen area, but still not getting any reactions at the lamp.
Perhaps it was far too early for anything from Vecna. It wouldn't surprise me too much.
No other sounds could be heard. Just the silence and Kate Bush.
Then a rushing sound. Like someone was searching for something. Or someone. Again, Erica comes towards me, a worried look on her face, no longer holding her lamp.
As I followed the girl, the brighter the lamp in my own hands got as I entered the living area. Erica's own lamp flashed on the side as we stared at it. What the fuck do we do now?
Finding Lucas + Max
The girl wrote on paper, only getting a nod from me before she rushed off again. I stepped closer to the lamp, watching as mine turned more intense. Shit. She was right. Vecna.
Staring at the situation at hand, I left my lamp next to it and then sat down on one of the couches. The others only joined moments later, no one still daring to make a noise. Just one wrong move and we could ruin the whole plan.
Maxine stepped towards our two flashing lights, noticing how hers began to glow and flash with them, too. Erica scribbled away on her notepad again, showing it over to her brother afterwards while Max glanced between us all.
Phase one?
We all only nod- and the two siblings run out of the house to contact the others. Leaving only us. Me and Maxine. Maxine and I.
She sits opposite me, with Kate Bush playing loud enough for me to hear each sound just perfectly. I couldn't tell if I was ever going to be able to stop listening to this song once this was over, or ever listen to it again.
What if this didn't work out? Or Vecna was smarter than we thought? We still didn't know if his only plan was to dominate. Was it just to be an ass?
The blue lights still hadn't stopped flickering. Vecna still didn't want to fuck off. Great.
Hi
Max writes on the notepad she'd brought with her.
Smiling the best I could, I reach over to the notepad I had, too, along with the pen.
Hi :)
Max writes again.
Apologies for nearly running you over outside
- even better-looking person next to you, in mr clarke's class
Trying to not make a noise from smiling or laughing too much, I scribble on my paper.
You're not THAT good-looking...
- good-looking person
And she smiles. One of those genuine smiles that had become far more rare over the years. Maxine writes away on the notepad again.
I'm glad you're here, Parker
I'm glad I'm here too, Maxine
- good-looking person
She does that smile again. God I could look at it for the rest of my life.
So... are you free next Friday?
- good-looking person
Was that a good idea to write? I have no fucking idea. But I was certainly going to shoot my shot while I still could.
Depends, might be saving the world
what're you gonna ask me?
- better-looking person
I try not to rush what a write. Don't need any spelling mistakes, now, Parker.
Movie date? Me and you ?
- good-looking person
Maxine thinks for a second before going to write something, this time taking longer than usual. As I go to take a peak, she moves it out of my line of vision. Did I fuck up? Shit. Shit. Shit.
When she shows me, though, it turns out it was nothing but me being overdramatic.
A picture of two stick people, holding hands, one with popcorn- at the movies.
I can now only smile at her, nodding. Parker Byers down bad!! Uh oh!!
In the distance, we can see a light shine through the cracks of the bordered-up windows. Erica and Lucas from the small park outside of the Creel house.
Stepping towards the window, I watch as the flashlight flickers before replying in the same way. Max, beside me, kneels down to then tie her shoelaces. Didn't need her running around and falling over in the fight for her life and the world.
When she stood, she reached over to me, hand out, waiting. It hadn't fully sunken in yet that this was happening. Max was the bait. Maxine. She was gonna be alright. Right?
I took only one more nervous thought of the whole situation before I reached out to her, taking it. She was still here. Maxine was still here. She's got this, right? Taking a step closer to her, I press my lips against her cheek momentarily. Please, be safe...
The red head gives me a smile. Almost a sympathetic one. I can't loose her. I can't.
Max's hand releases my own and we stand there, Kate Bush still playing. Then she isn't. Then, all that can be heard is the buzzing of the flashing lamps.
"HEY." Max stares at the other lamp flickering. "ASSHOLE." No reply. Not that my dumbass expected a verbal reply... "I'm here." She takes a deep breath in. "No more music. No more games." The light doesn't dim down, or stop flickering anymore than it is. "Do you hear me?!" Max asks. "What are you waiting for, huh?!"
There was still, no change in the light. "Come on! DO YOU WANT ME OR NOT?" It takes a moment, but the lantern then begins to fade, fully, now the one in Max's hand beginning to glow and buzz.
Stepping out of her way, I follow behind Max as she tries to follow Vecna's steps, all the way up to the attic.
Underneath the lightbulb we'd killed on our previous adventure at the Creel household, we stop with the lantern. Another look from Maxine comes my way before she looked back at the lantern, waiting for Vecna' next move.
The blue light then dims, the buzzing dying with it. I almost spoke out what the fuck.
Furrowing my eyebrows, I stare at the lantern before me and Max lock eyes again. What the fuck part two.
"What are you waiting for, asshole?" She asks, quieter than her previous shouts. "Hmm? I'm right here." She challenged. "I'm right here." Silence. The lantern doesn't change. "I know you can hear me." The red head says. "I know you can read my thoughts."
When not getting a response again, Max sets the lantern down on one of the crates we'd found, then sitting in front of it, legs crossed as she placed the Walkman on the side. I could find myself only staring, keeping my mouth shut.
I wasn't about to lose her. I couldn't. I wouldn't.
It was not until it went quiet, when Max abruptly stopped talking, that it occurred to me something, or anything, could be wrong.
"Maxine?" I called, kneeling beside her. The lantern was beginning to glow again. "Can you hear me?" No reply. Her eyes now rolled backwards, too. "Max?" I continued to wave a hand in front of her, but nothing changed.
Okay, Parker, stay chill. Everything is fine. She is fine. You are fine. Everything is fine.
I stood from being beside the girl, nearly tripping over my own feet as I rushed towards the further bordered up window. Before I sent the message across, heavy breathing came from Maxine across the attic. Everything is fine. She is fine.
Clicking the flashlight on and off, I tried to ignore it. She is fine. She is fine.
In the distance, a light flickers back to me from Erica and Lucas. We're gonna be fine.
There were many things that were not on my spring break '86 bingo card. Mostly everything that happens in this chapter was not on it.
Max's breathing got heavier, as if she were scared from where she was in her head.
"Shit..." I murmured, kneeling out in front of her. Was it too soon for Kate Bush? Surely the Sinclairs would've told me when the time for Kate Bush was. I must be overreacting for a scenario including a different dimension.
Turning back to the window, I flickered over at the old playground, waiting for a reply. "Come on, Erica, I swear-" But something stopped me dead in my actions.
There were two options of what was happening, here.
1) An idiot was here for a midnight stroll
2) I too was under the influence of Vecna.
I am still undecided on what I would've preferred it to be.
Staring at the door of the attic, it feels as though I was about to shit my heart out at the sight of another person present. Who the fuck was this dude?
The boy's eyes locked with the girl sat on the room's floor, while the lantern in front of her still glowed. "You should leave." I tell him, barely even taking in the fact that this was actually Jason. Yes, I'd only just noticed.
The boy looked as though for the last week he'd never even heard of the subject of sleep, sweat all across his face was far more noticeable by the one light source in the room.
Jason doesn't acknowledge what I've said, or that I'm here. "You can't be here right now." I continued, stepping towards him.
"The hell... have you done?" As I try to push him back, the boy's eyes don't fall off of Max in the room.
"You. Need. To. Leave." I repeat. What was he not fucking getting?
"Is this what you did to Chrissy?" He asks, kneeling down beside Max. I was ready to fucking start a war. What was stopping me from hurting his feelings and asking 'who's Chrissy?' right now?
"Just-" I taking in a sharp breath. "You need to leave. Now." Jason still ignores me.
His hand lays onto Maxine's shoulder, shaking her as he speaks. "Hi... can you hear me?"
"Don't fucking touch her." I warned, the words coming out of my mouth before my brain even let me allow it. A hand is waved in front of her face as he continued to try and gain Max's attention. "I fucking mean it, basketball boy." I say, taking multiple steps forward. "Jason, seriously-"
"HEY, BACK UP." Jason's voice suddenly grew in volume to a shout, standing up and turning towards me- gun in hand. Where the fuck did that gun come from? "BACK UP."
Letting out a sigh, I raised my hands almost immediately. "Look- Look, dude-" Think, Parker for the love of Maxine's life. THINK. "Can we- like... I dunno... not... use a gun..?" I asked him, trying to keep it cool. I was not keeping it cool. "'Cause... we don't have to do... this." I say, referring to the gun in his hand. If only Nance was here right now- this boy wouldn't stand a chance.
Jason's face told me he seriously was traumatised by this shit. I couldn't even imagine what the boy would look like if he'd ever come in contact with a Demogorgon. "I hope you're right." He tells me. I am not about to die to this man. I am not. "Is there anyone else in the house?"
"No..." I shake my head, eyes landing on Max again. Come on, Maxine... "Just me and her." And a monster but he's in a different dimension, so don't worry about it.
"Turn around." He instructed.
Blinking multiple times at him, I glanced again between him and the red head before asking, "What?" Did he even know what day of the week it is? (I mean, I didn't, but that's not the point).
"TURN AROUND." His voice almost could've shaken the building down.
"OKAY? OKAY." I shouted back, kind of pissed that I was having to go through any of this bullshit right now.
"And put your flashlight down." He added on, as I slowly turned around- taking my sweet ass time. I threw the flashlight, like a true pro. "And empty your pockets."
"Fucking hell, man- you want my ID and library card, too?" I asked, hands going into my pockets to reveal absolutely fuck all in either of them.
He didn't even think to comment, which was almost shocking. "Now, here's what's gonna happen." Jason tells me. "I'm gonna back away to the top of the stairs there. Then I'll watch as you wake her up from whatever the hell this is."
"I can't." I say almost immediately, then beginning to turn around to the boy. "I wish I could, but I don't know how-" The gun then lets out a single click, telling me just how far he was willing to take this. "Look, man, I don't know you personally- but listen to me- if I wake her too soon, the whole world could go to shit. You got that? We could all die."
"No." I try to keep myself under control from shouting at him. What was this dumbass not getting? "If you don't wake her up right now, you're gonna die." Okay, Parker, don't make a dumb choice now. "Just you."
Okay- now what I did next may be shocking to you. I decided to try and educate. Which was... a bad idea now that I think about it. But it was the first thing that came to mind and I didn't have all the time in the world. "We call him Vecna." I tell him. "He... kinda lives in another dimension. That's why you can't see him."
"And Eddie Munson" Jason's hand holding the gun trembles at the boy's name. "and his... his Hellfire acolytes," The lantern still glows as I shifted my feet slightly, as we moved in a circle. Anything to protect Max. "what, you all summoned this Vecna?"
I fucking hope not, mate.
"You're really not listening to me, are you?" I say, truly not understanding how much patience a teacher like Mr Clarke needed to teach thirty odd kids per hour. "There's no cult in this for some bullshit cinematic value." I tell him straight. "Just the asshole in a different dimension."
"You expect me to believe that?" He questions.
"Do you think I made this shit up? You're the one with a gun and she," I point over at Max. "is all that matters to me right now. It's. The. Truth."
"Why was Chrissy at Eddie's trailer, then?" He continues. I don't even live in this fucking state.
Thinking about how to put it lightly to the boy, I decide to just give it to him as it is. "Buying drugs."
"LIAR" He holds the gun more directly at my head. For fucks sake.
"Okay, look-" I began, hands up, again. "Okay- Jason- listen to me." How does one communicate with a straight white man? "Chrissy was seeing things. Terrible- horror-filling things. Things that douchebag- Vecna- forced her to see. She was scared-"
The boy's hand trembles as he grips the gun tighter. "No..." He murmured, shaking his head like I was the biggest fucking liar on the planet. Wait until he finds out it's a Lesbian telling the story.
"She... just needed help." This was getting exhausting. I was talking to a wall at this point.
This no longer even looked like a High School boy in front of me, it was more of a boy with murderous intent in his eyes. Fuck. "No, see, that's how I know you're lying." The older boy says. "If Chrissy was scared, if- if Chrissy wanted help, she would've come to me." His hands shake again as he raises his voice at me. Is it my problem your relationship had communication issues, sir? I think the fuck not. "NOT EDDIE. NOT THAT FREAK. NEVER."
"You need to understand," he wasn't going to understand. "you are wrong about Eddie."
"No." He doesn't even let me get another word in. Bitch? You fucking dare- "But I was wrong about him." The aim of Jason's firearm finally moves away from my head, now over at the door of the attic. Turning my head to where the boy was looking, I see Lucas stand- out of breath from what I could only assume was from running.
"Jason-" Who was gonna be the one to tell Lucas it was not worth the breath to try and convince this boy what the fuck is going on?
"I never should've let you in the door." That's fucking it. I'm done with this bullshit games. He's pissing me off, anyways.
Rushing towards the boy, I tackle him to the floor of the attic, hearing the gun go off somewhere behind me. "LUCAS?" I called, already requiring the boy's help. Sure, I hate men, but I do not have the energy at this time in the evening to be dealing with one like Jason.
He reaches up, a fist flying straight towards my face, more than once. In return, I dodge the last of the punches, trying my best to not let out a fucking cry due to the pain, kicking him... somewhere that hurts. If you know what I mean.
Lucas then gets involved, throwing punches his way as I tried to get my breathing under control. The metallic taste of blood became normal to me as I watched the younger boy then get flung across the attic. Fucks sake. Jason begins towards Lucas, but I throw myself onto his back- causing him to fall back on the floor again.
Where's his fucking gun?
The boy kicks me off, but I get up just as quickly as he does, punching the boy in the stomach. He swings, narrowly missing me, but then swinging again immediately afterwards. Shit, that one fucking stung. Staggering backwards, I see Lucas begin to fight him, while I then tried my best to kick him from the side.
Jason got hold of my leg, though, continuing to push me away as the two went on to fight. Falling nearly flat onto my face, I get a good look at Maxine- not even phased by the fact that her ex-boyfriend and girlfriend are getting their asses kicked. But something else, next to her. The feeling of something dropping in my chest had never been so heavy.
The Walkman, now in pieces, scattered all across the attic floor. Fuck.
My hands, only slightly bloody, grab all the plastic from the Walkman it can, making a small pile of it all. I stare. Who the fuck invited Jason? Why the fuck was he still even here?
Turning my head back to the two boys, I see Lucas handing Jason his ass, thankfully, each punch and kick showing more and more emotion than the one prior. But the older boy was still standing. I don't think I can handle that.
I can barely remember what happened after that. The blood, the gun- Max. It was all such a blur.
The sound of a gun going off sent all (conscious) heads in my direction, hand tightly holding the weapon. He fell to the ground, red spurting from the stomach. But I was barely even looking. He deserved it anyways. And Max. Maxine.
She floated above the air. Just like she did that time in the graveyard. No music this time though. Blood was pouring out of her eyes like they were tears. Her bones- snapping as if they were glass in front of us. Lucas shouted, I didn't even know how to react. I wanted to wake up from the nightmare I was seeing. It couldn't possibly be real. It couldn't be.
At least, that's what I told myself.
She fell to the ground, with just enough time for me to catch her. Maxine's breathing heavy, barely able to move at all in my arms. "LUCAS?" I didn't even turn my gaze away from her.
"WE NEED A DOCTOR." Lucas called over to his sister. At least, that's what I think he said. And that's who I think he was speaking to. "CALL AMBULANCE."
Max's breathing was still there, but it was getting heavier- and she could barely even move. "Park..." I didn't dare take my eyes off of her. The blood, now drying like tears down her face- and her eyes now clear like glass.
"HURRY, NOW." Lucas shouted at his sister again, before I then heard running from his own shoes, out of the room.
"I'm here." I say quietly for her. "Don't worry, I'm-" I let out a small sob. I should never have told her about it in the first place. About Will, about the Demogorgans. Maybe then she wouldn't be in this mess. "I'm right here, Maxine."
"I... I can't feel or..." She lets out the smallest gasp, but it said enough. We'd fucked up. Completely.
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