𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘛𝘐𝘔𝘌 - 𝘌𝘋𝘋𝘐𝘌 𝘔𝘜𝘕𝘚𝘖𝘕

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘

As Eddie explained everything, Amanda couldn't help but wonder how this had happened. More importantly, why Chrissy? A normal teenage girl, one with normal ambitions and a great amount of friends.

As Eddie spoke, Amanda noticed the trembling in his voice. She could feel the fear radiating from his words, as if that was confirmation enough that what he said was true. In fact, she'd never heard anything as gruesome as this.

"We believe you." Amanda spoke soothingly, to which Eddie responded with hostility. And as much as Amanda wanted to yell at him for it, she understood why he did.

"Don't bullshit me, I know how this sounds." Eddie shouted back, before covering his face with his palms.

"Eddie, you know how people say Hawkins is cursed? Well, they're not that far off..." Dustin explained everything, some things Amanda had never heard before. The mention of a girl with powers, one with a shaved head that escaped from Hawkins Lab.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO:

"This right here, I call it the rainbow room. Kids come in here to play games, much like the ones you play at home. Except..." The man opened the door, exposing young Amanda to plenty of games and toys she'd seen before, while others she hadn't.

"There's something special about the kids who play these games. A sort of inner power brings them to a more advanced stage of life that all of humanity has not yet experienced," The man explained, motioning to the children wearing hospital gowns. Amanda couldn't understand what he meant, and maybe it was because she was young, but she figured it was unimportant. Her eyes fixated on a boy that looked to be her age, his hair buzzed and a gritty smile on his face as he played with a chess piece.

"Who are they?" Amanda questioned, looking up to the man as he sent her a kind smile.

"They're all like you, Amanda. They all have learned to channel their emotions to do great things, things I want to teach you to do." He explained, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"What things?" Amanda asked, watching as a young boy put pieces of a puzzle together. Though, the puzzle had no image, it was solid white.

"To put it in a way you understand, superpowers."

PRESENT:

Amanda watched as Eddie became more relieved, somehow listening to the terrors that unfolded onto his friends made him feel less alone. Amanda, however, hadn't remembered the last minute of anything that was said, as if she'd had a flashback of something she had never remembered until that very moment.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve questioned, his nostrils flared.

"An undead creature of great power." Dustin spoke as if he'd somehow figured everything out, as if fear had completely consumed him.

"A spell caster." Eddie added on.

"A dark wizard."

Amanda could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand, as if she was in great danger. And for a moment, she didn't want to believe it.

"Wait, but Vecna is from the campaign we did. So you're saying what happened in the campaign is going to happen in real life?" Amanda questioned, turning to Dustin who shook his head slowly.

"Not necessarily, but Vecna himself does exist according to my hypothesis." Dustin explained, causing Amanda to groan loudly.

"What, you're going to throw a fit now?" Steve's annoyance was apparent in his voice, though Amanda didn't care.

"I'm sorry, I've just never had to fight monsters from a different dimension before. Excuse me if i'm a little stressed out about it, Harrington." Amanda squinted her eyes at him, to which Eddie let out a very brief laugh.

"Fair point." Steve said quietly, before turning the opposite direction.

"Okay, so how do we kill Vecna?" Eddie questioned, looking to everyone.

"We don't exactly know yet, but we'll figure it out. We always do." Max did her best to instill confidence within the group, though her attempt ultimately failed.

As they all sat in the house, Amanda could feel herself getting a terrible headache, providing a pain she'd never felt before. She decided to search for some sort of pain relief medication, thought after searching through the bathroom cabinets she came up empty-handed.

"What're you looking for?" Eddie questioned, his voice annoyed.

"Pain relief medication, I have a nasty headache." Amanda spoke softly, wincing at the pain which had suddenly gotten worse.

"I don't think Rick has anything like that." Eddie stated, closing the cabinet door for her. He sent her a soft smile before walking away, to which she realized she had to respond to.

"Hey, Eddie?" Amanda called out, causing him to turn around.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry for everything I said to you Friday night. I didn't mean it and... I'm sorry about first grade, too." Amanda stood there for a moment, watching as a small smile appeared on Eddie's face.

"Yeah, well it's whatever. I mean, you're kind of a freak now, too. I guess we're even." Eddie tapped his fingers on the doorframe, his voice amused as he watched her roll her eyes.

"Maybe I take it all back." Amanda retorted.

"You can't take it back, you already said it." Eddie teased before walking away.

Amanda woke up with a rush, shooting forward from the ground as she felt a substance drip from her nose. Bringing her index finger towards her upper lip, she wiped away the liquid and took a glance at it. Through her blurry vision she saw red, though she was too exhausted to head to the bathroom to get any toilet paper. However, just as it began it ended, leaving her with a line of blood against her index finger. Amanda took a look around the room, noticing Eddie asleep on the couch. 

She'd been left to stay with him, which she didn't find surprising in the least. Her and Eddie were the ones to discover the upside down the latest, meaning they were better waiting things out. Amanda appreciated how caring they all were for her wellbeing, though she had felt the overwhelming urge to help them. 

As she looked to Eddie, it seemed as if he was at peace for the first time in a while. She couldn't help but feel somehow relaxed by that, knowing that in this very moment it was like any other day. 

Amanda stood herself up slowly, feeling the familiar pounding headache she had felt just a few hours ago. Stumbling towards the kitchen, she noticed the time was around seven in the morning. As much as she wanted to sleep in, she knew it was no longer possible with the pounding in her head. 

It took a lot out of her to refrain from waking Eddie, eager for some sort of conversation to keep her mind occupied. So, instead, Amanda decided to scavenge for a piece of paper and a pencil. If there was one thing that could take her mind off of everything, it was drawing.