Wheel of Fate

55.

Robin and Olivia were almost at the school when Dustin told them through the walkie talkie about something that happened to Max.

Olivia drove faster to get to the school. Passing a few stop signs on the way. Robin held on tight.

Max saw a grandfather clock at the end of one of the halls of the school. "It was so real and then, when I got closer, suddenly I just...I woke up." Max explained to the group what she saw. "It was like she was in a trance or something. Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy," Dustin said.

That didn't sound good. Olivia looked at Max with concern.

"That's not even the bad part," Max said, looking at the group avoiding looking at her sister.

"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. Then they started seeing things. bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just.. they kept on getting worse and worse, until everything ended."

Olivia didn't know any of this. Max didn't tell her she was going through this.

"Vecna's curse," Robin stated, and Max nodded at her.

"Chrissy's headache 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. I just saw that goddamn clock."

Max breathes rapidly and ends up saying, "So it looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow," Max said, looking at Olivia for the first time since she started explaining what she was going through.

Olivia felt like she couldn't breathe. This can't be happening not to Max, not to her little sister.

Steve looked at Olivia; he knew how much Max meant for her mostly after Olivia became Maxs legal guardian; she was so happy that day. They went out to celebrate the good news. He thought their relationship was going well. He was even planning on giving her a promise ring for their anniversary but not too long after that she broke up with him.

The group was quiet, no one knew what to say when they heard a loud sound coming closer to them.

"Stay here," Steve told the group; he grabbed a lamp on his way out and walked down the hall. No one listened to him, and the group walked not too far behind him.

Footsteps started approaching the group rapidly. Steve raised the lamp and held on tightly as someone was approaching around the corner; he was ready to hit that person when Lucas yelled, "It's me!" He had his hands up and took a few steps back from Steve.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you, Sinclair?"

"I'm sorry," Lucas said out of breath, holding his side.

"I could've taken you out with this lamp!" Steve dropped the lamp, making a loud sound echoing through the halls of the school.

"Sorry, guys. Sorry. I was... I was biking for eight miles," Lucas explained, trying to catch his breath. He's panting and sweating, "Give me a second. Shit. We've got a code red."

He rolled up his sleeves and walks up to 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," Lucas explained rapidly.

"All right. Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason now," Dustin said, looking back at Max. Lucas focused his attention on Max.

She couldn't look at him in the eye. She looked down awkwardly.

The group left the school later that night. Max and Olivia were in the same car. Lucas volunteered to go with both girls. He took a seat in the back of the car.

The drive was quiet; they were lost in their own thoughts; from the rearview mirror, Olivia could tell how Lucas was worried about Max's safety the same way she was.

Even though both teens weren't dating anymore, they still had feelings for each other. Lucas cared so much about Max, more than she could even think of. But Max was too caught up in her own mind to see it the same way that Olivia was; they are sisters after all.

The three of them got out of the car and closed the door. "Max, wait," Olivia said. Lucas walked ahead, letting the two sisters talk alone. He could talk to Max another time.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this? Why didn't you tell me about what you were going through?"

Max moved a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Olivia, you have so much going on already that I didn't want to bother you. Besides, what could you have done."

"You are supposed to tell me these things, Max. You will never be a bother to me. No matter how old and annoying you get," she said the last part jokingly trying to lighten up the mood.

"Whatever you need, I'm right here," she said more seriously.

Olivia placed her hands on each side of Max's shoulder. "I'm not letting that thing take you away from me. I'll go to the upside down myself and drag you back here. I'll kill Vecna if I have to, but you're not dying, Maxie. I'm not letting you," Olivia said firmly.

Max shook her head with tears forming in her eyes "you can't promise that, O."

Olivia held her breath for a second and exhaled slowly. "I am, and I will. If there is a magic spell or some shit that makes me take your place, I'll do it in a heartbeat." She kissed Max's forehead and hugged her tightly.

Olivia let go of the hug and moved her hands up to Max's cheeks, "I'm not letting you die. Did you hear me." Olivia's voice broke at the end.

Max hugged her again.

Two boys, side by side, looked through a window not too far, caring for the one they love.