"and if i only could, i'd make a deal with god."

★・・・・・・★

Max had slipped out of her trance, got up, and went down the hallway. The rest followed her, meeting up with Robin and Nancy along the way.

"It was here. Right here," Max explained.

"A grandfather clock?" Amber questioned.

"It was so real. And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."

"It was like she was in a trance or something," Dustin said. "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy."

"That's not even the bad part," her breath shuddered.

All of them went back to Ms. Kelley's office, looking at Chrissy and Fred's files.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help. Uh, they both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then... then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. And then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. And these visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse until eventually... everything ended."

"Vecna's curse," Amber realized.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago, Fred's, six days ago. 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 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so... looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."

For the first time in months, Amber and Max actually looked at each other. Max looked scared while Amber had a face of worry. That ended when all of them heard a distant clang.

"Stay here," Steve said, grabbing a lamp and walking into the hall. All of them followed him anyway.

They started walking down the dark hall, unaware of what could happen. They heard more clattering, causing them to be on edge. They all started screaming when someone came sprinting, almost knocking down Steve. Amber got in front of Max, instantly wanting to protect her.

"It's me!" Lucas said, mid-screaming.

"Lucas?" Amber said in question, surprised by the Sinclair boy.

"It's me," he said again. Amber walked over to him, wanting to slap him for scaring everyone, but hugged him.

"Jesus Christ, Lucas," Amber breathed while he hugged back.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you, Sinclair?" Steve shouted.

"I'm sorry," he said panting as Amber pulled away.

"I could've taken you out with this lamp!"

"Sorry, guys. Sorry. I was... I was biking for eight miles. Give me one second," he said as he tried to catch his breath. "Shit. We've got a code red."

"What?"

"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."

"All right. Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason right now," he said as everyone looked at Max.

-

Amber sat on the couch with Dustin and Lucas, trying to find more on Vecna and this Victor Creel dude, but she just ended up looking at the back of Max's head the whole time and didn't even bother to engage in the conversation.

"Okay, be honest," Steve paced back and forth. "Uh... You guys understand any of this?"

"No," Lucas admitted.

"Pretty straightforward," Dustin said.

"Oh, straightforward, really?" Steve spoke.

"Well, what's confusing to you? 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."

"Yeah, that's assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know. How could Vecna have existed in the '50s? It doesn't make sense."

"As far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down. She opened a gate to it. The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs? What are we—"

"Okay," Lucas injected. "But if a gate didn't exist in the '50s, how did Vecna get through?"

"Oh, and how's he getting through now?"

"And why now?"

"And why then? Just pops out in the '50s, kills one family, and he's like, 'I'm good.' And poof, he just disappears. Just... gone? Only to return 30 years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it. Straightforward, my ass. You know what? Honestly, Henderson, a little humility every now and then, it wouldn't hurt you."

"Sorry," he apologized. He followed Amber's gaze and saw Max writing something.

"Any idea what she's writing?" Dustin asked Amber as she shook her head. "Did she sleep?"

"Would you?" she asked.

The door to the basement opened as Nancy and Robin came down to join the rest.

"Okay, so... We have a plan."

"Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rockstar psychology students at the University of Norte Dame," Robin smiled.

"I'm now Ruth," Nancy introduced.

"I'm now Rose," Robin introduced.

"Ruth?" Steve questioned as Nancy smiled.

"Nice GPA," Dustin complimented.

"Thanks," Nancy smiled. "And we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like the speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on a paranoid schizophrenics—"

"To which they said no," Robin finished.

"But we landed a three o'clock with the director."

"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor."

"And then maybe we can rid Max of this curse."

"Yeah, uh, about that. We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh... We got some questions."

"Lots of questions."

"So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers."

"Wait, wait, wait. Wait a second. Uh... Where's mine?" Steve questioned. He followed them upstairs, leaving the younger teens downstairs.

-

"I know you guys are staring at me," Max spoke slightly startling the boys as they murmured sorries. "How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don't know." She got up, letters in hand, and walked over to them. "You can look at me now."

"Thank you. Sorry."

"For you," Max said as she handed Dustin a letter. "For you. For you. And, um, you." Max said, handing Amber a letter. "Oh, and, um, give these to Mike, El, and Will. If you can ever get ahold of them again. Hey, what are you doing? No, don't. That's not for now. Don't open it now."

"Don't, okay. I'm sorry. What is this?"

"You idiots, it's a fail-safe," Amber spoke. "It's in case something goes wrong."

"Wait, whoa. Max, things are gonna work out," Lucas said.

"No!" she snapped. "No, I don't need you to reassure me right now and tell me it's all gonna work out. Because... People have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true. It's never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should've seen that one coming."

Amber looked Max and her heart raced as she mustered the courage to approach her ex-girlfriend. "Max, can we talk? It's important," she said, hoping Max would agree to follow her to the back of the basement.

Max hesitated for a moment before nodding and following Amber to the back of the basement. "What's this about, Amber? It's been a while since we talked. Last time we actually talked you told me you never wanted to see me again. You hate me." Max said, her tone guarded, hinting at the lingering hurt from their breakup.

"I have never hated you." Amber took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly. "I need to tell you the truth about what happened to me," she began, her voice steady despite the nerves. "I was kidnapped by people, and he put me through experiments."

Max's eyes widened in shock, concern washing over her features. "Amber, is that why you have the tattoo? Why didn't you reach out to me? I would have helped you."

"I wanted to, Max, but he threatened both of us," Amber confessed, tears welling up in her eyes. "He said he'd hurt you if I didn't break up with you. I never wanted to end our relationship, but I was terrified for your safety and mine."

Max looked taken aback, a mix of emotions crossing her face. "So you broke up with me to protect me?" she asked, her voice softening.

Amber nodded, her heart aching as she remembered the pain of that decision. "Yes, I thought it was the only way to keep you safe. But I never stopped loving you, Max. I still do."

Max looked conflicted, the wounds of the past reopening as she considered Amber's words. "I don't know what to make of all this, Amber. It's a lot to process," she admitted, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

"I understand, Max. I don't expect you to forgive me right away," Amber said, reaching out to touch Max's hand gently. "I just wanted to be honest with you and let you know the truth. I miss you, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make things right."

"Are you just now telling me this because there's a 90% chance that I'll die in the next 24 hours? Amber, we've waited months. Months for you to open up to us."

"I know. But, Bre— the people... they said... they said that if I told someone, they'd get me again. And El. And all of you. I couldn't risk that. When I first started opening up to Lucas, I was so scared. Ask him. He could barely make out any word I said."

"Wait," Max said before Amber could walk away. "What about Lucas? Aren't you two..."

"Together?" Amber asked as Max nodded. "No. Just friends."

Amber wanted to hug Max, but didn't know how she would react. So, she just gave her a small nod and went back to the group. Max stood there, not knowing how to feel.

She was happy because she finally learned the truth, but also confused because she didn't know how to feel.

"What'd you tell her?" Lucas whispered in her ear.

She looked at him and said, "The truth."

Max came back over to the group and saw the walkie lying on the table.

"If we go to East Hawkins, will this still reach Pennhurst?" she asked.

"Of course," Dustin said. "Yeah."

"Wait. Why are we talking about East Hawkins? No," Steve said as he realized what Max was thinking. "No. No!"

Max grabbed her stuff and started walking out the door as the rest followed her. She got outside and continued to walk towards Steve's car while he called her name.

"Max, Max. Seriously," Steve tried. "Seriously, I'm not joking, okay? I'm not driving you anywhere."

"Steve, if you think I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement, then you're out of your mind. So, either take me where I need to go or you're gonna have to tie me down which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute."

She tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Open the door."

"Uh, no," Steve said as he looked at her like she was crazy.

"I know a good lawyer," she said as she looked him dead in the eye.

"Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst," he said as he unlocked the door for everyone to get in. Steve had no idea where they were going, but he hoped it was worth it.

-

Steve eventually stopped the car in front of Max's trailer. Amber knew that Max had moved, but she had no idea she moved to a trailer park.

"This better be fast, Mayfield," he spoke.

"Twenty seconds," she said, getting out of the car and going inside.

"That things got batteries in it, right?" Steve asked Dustin about the walkie.

"I'm not even answering that question," he sighed. "Yes, it has batteries."

"Yeah, I got it."

It had been more than twenty seconds, so Amber wanted to go find her. She got out of the car, the boys instantly gave her weird faces.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked.

"To find Max," she said, walking away.

Amber saw Max standing there, doing nothing. She walked in front of her, seeing her stare forward, her eyes slightly glossed over like at school.

"Max?" Amber said, lightly shaking her shoulders. "Max, are you okay? Can you hear me? Max?"

Max fell backward, landing on the ground as Amber stood above her, making sure she was okay.

"Max, what happened?"

"N-nothing," she lied as she got up.

"Max, this isn't the the time to lie, especially with Vecna cursing you. What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I'm fine," she said as she walked back to the car and Amber followed.

"Hey, that was longer than twenty seconds," Steve said as they walked to the car. "Hey, whoa, whoa. You all right?"

"I'm fine," she said once more. "Just drive."

"Did something happen?" Lucas asked as Amber sat in between him and Max.

"Can we please just go?" she said, lightly sniffing as they pulled say from the trailer.

-

On the car ride to wherever Max needed to go, Amber knew something wasn't right. All of them knew. Amber knew she probably didn't have time to do anything with Max, so she decided to do something with the time she has left.

The backseat in Steve's car was small, so the three in the back were squished. Amber's knee was touching Max's and their hands were so close to each other.

Amber slowly started moving her pinky to touch Max's. It startled the redhead, but once she noticed it was Amber's, she hooked their pinky's together. Max slowly started moving the rest of her hand to be on top of Amber's, and she let it happen.

For the first time in months, Amber felt a little happy. She missed the touch of the girl she loved. And she finally got it back.

"Turn here," Max said, breaking the silence.

"Here?" Dustin questioned as Max nodded.

Roane Hill Cemetery. Billy.

Max let go of Amber's hand as she got out of the car. Amber quickly got out of the car, following her.

"Max," Amber said.

"Amber, please, just wait in the car," Max sighed.

"Max, just wait. Max, please."

"Amber, just wait—"

"Max, please, just listen to me. Just please," she lightly begged. "I know something happened back there with your mother. Was it Vecna?"

"I told you, I'm fine," she said, faking a smile. "Okay? I mean, as fine as someone who's hurtling towards a gruesome death can be."

"Max... you know you can talk to me. Right?"

"Yeah. I know that."

"Okay, then why do you keep pushing me away? I know I haven't been here, but come on," she said as she took the letter out of her pocket. "Okay, look, I don't need a letter. I don't want a letter. Just talk to me. To your friends. We're right here. I'm right here. Okay? I'm here." her voice broke as she spoke and she hated being so vulnerable. But she couldn't let Max die.

"Just wait in the car," she said again. "This won't be long."

"Ten minutes," Amber said, her voice wavering a little. "I'm giving you ten minutes to do whatever, and then I'm coming to get you, okay?"

"Okay," Max agreed.

"Time her," Amber spoke to Dustin, wiping a stray tear from her cheek as she leaned against the car. "Ten minutes."

-

Max sat down in front of Billy's grave, opening the letter and started to read it.

"Dear Billy,
I don't know if you can even hear this. Two years ago, I would have said, 'That's ridiculous, impossible.' But that was before I found out about alternate dimensions and monsters, so... I'm just going to stop assuming that I know anything. So much has happened since you left. Your dad was a total mess. He and my mom started getting into fights. Bad fights. I don't think he could stand being here without you. So he left. And he didn't leave Mom much. She's taken an extra job, and we moved to that lovely trailer park off Kerley. Basically, ever since you left, everything's been a total disaster. And the worst part is, I can't tell anyone why you're gone. I can't tell them that you saved Amber and El's lives. That you saved my life. I play that moment back in my head all the time. And sometimes I imagine myself running to you, pulling you away. I imagine that if I had, that you would still be here. And everything would be... everything would be right again. I imagine that we... that we could've become friends. Good friends, like... like a real brother and sister. And I know that's stupid. You hated me. I hated you. But I thought that maybe... maybe we could try again. But that's not what happened. I just... I stood there and I watched. For a while, I tried to be happy. Normal. But I... I think that maybe a part of me died that day too. And I haven't told anyone this. I... I just can't. But I had to tell you. Before it's too late. If you can even hear this. I really hope that you can. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Billy.
Love, your shitty little sister, Max."

She folded up the letter and put it back in the envelope. It quickly became dark in the atmosphere and it sent a shiver down her spine.

"Max," she heard him say. She heard Billy say.

~

"All right, it's been long enough," Amber said, getting out of the car.

"Amber, just give her some time," Dustin said.

"I have, all right? Steve," she said, signaling for him to come with her.

"She wants to get a lawyer, she can," Steve said, agreeing with the smaller kid.

"Max," Amber said, kneeling down by her.

"Time to giddy up, yeah?" Steve said, looking at Amber's face. He looked at Max and saw the same thing.

Her eyes were glossed over.

"Max? Max. Max," Amber kept saying her name, hopeful that she would snap out of it like before. Her eyes were rolling to the back of her head and they were completely glossed over. Her once dark blue eyes were now light blue.

"Max!"

~

"Max," Billy said. "I've been waiting to hear those words, Max. Waiting so very long."

~

"Wake up!" Amber yelled, getting choked up. "Max, wake up! Max! Wake up!"

"Max! Guys!" Steve yelled as Lucas and Dustin came running over. "Come on. Wake up."

~

"But it wasn't the full truth, was it, Max? You know, I think there's a part of you, buried somewhere deep, that wanted me to die that day. That was maybe even relieved. Happy."

"Billy, no, that's not true," she denied.

"That's why you stood there, isn't it, Max? It's okay. You can admit it now. No more lies. No more hiding."

"Billy, that's not true, I swear. I swear it's not true."

"That is why you feel such guilt."
"No."

"Why you hide from your friends."
"No."

"Why you hide from the world."
"No."

"And why, late at night, you have sometimes wished to follow me. Follow me into death. That is why I'm here, Max."
"No."

"To end your suffering once and for all."

"No," she said as she fell. She looked back up and saw him. Vecna.

"It is time, Max. Time for you to join me."

Max started running, hoping to get away from him. She eventually found a spot to hide and cover herself.

~

"Max! Come on!"

"Max! Can you hear me?"

"Max!"

"You gotta get out of there!"

"Call Nancy and Robin! Go get 'em! Call Nancy and Robin! Go!" Steve yelled at Dustin.