the chain

i can still hear you saying you would

You all sit in silence, watching as Nancy begins telling her what she saw. Vecna had gotten a hold of both of you. Nancy was shown mercy, she was always going to survive his manipulation - but you, the only reason you lived was because of Eddie. Letting out a breath, you lean backwards, relieved when you feel Eddie's legs hitting your back. He's sat on the couch beside Steve and Erica, as you sit on the floor in front of him.

"He showed me things that haven't happened yet," Nancy begins, staring down as she speaks, "The most awful things," she stares into the distance, her blue eyes glazed over with fear as she recounts her time, "I saw... a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire, dead soldiers, and this... this giant creature with a gaping mouth a-and this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters - an army - and they were coming into Hawkins, into our neighbourhoods, our homes. And then..." Nancy's voice breaks, you watch her piece it all together with tears rolling down her cheeks, "He showed me my mom. And Holly... Mike. And they... they were all-" she looks down, shaking her head from the images as she takes in a shaky breath.

Steve swallows the lump in his throat, his eyes cast to the ground. "Okay, but..." He begins, earning everyone's stare, "He's just trying to scare you, Nance. Right? I mean... I mean, it's not real."

"Not yet," Nancy looks up, meeting Steve's concerned gaze, "But there... there was something else. He showed me gates; four gates spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer but, they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins, this was our Hawkins... Our home."

You shut your eyes, letting out a huff of air as you run a hand over your hair. No one really knows what to say. There are no words of comfort and no acts of heroism that could fill anyone with any semblance of hope.

"Four chimes," Max notes, resting against the wall with her arms crossed, "Vecna's clock, it always chimes four times. Four exactly."

Nancy looks down, "I heard them too."

"Yeah," you speak up, your voice dry and raspy. You give her and Max a nod, "Yeah, so did I."

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time," Max realises, looking to Nancy.

"Four kills," Lucas adds, his wide eyes flicking to Max, "four gates... end of the world."

Dustin's eyes widen and he shakes his head, "If that's true... he's only one kill away."

You feel Eddie tense up behind you, his hands clenching into fists. You look back, watching as he runs his hands over his face.

Steve frowns, his eyes flicking between you and Nancy, "Wait, wait if he only needed four gates, and he had Max, then why did he go after Y/N?"

All of a sudden, people's eyes are on you. You look around the group casually, giving them a dumbfounded look. Eddie leans his head down to your shoulder, "Your cue for an exposition."

"I, uh, he..." you shake your head for a moment, "I wasn't part of his plan. He said that I was... I was a punishment - for you, for all of you. He said you were getting too close, but I... I don't know."

"What is it?" Eddie wonders softly, staring down at the side of your face.

"I don't think he chose me," you admit, glancing back at him, "I think he would've killed anyone if he had the chance. I guess he just... had the chance."

"I remember crossing your path," Nancy admits, her eyes narrowing as she studies you, "when I was in the trance state."

"I didn't know if you... were really there, but, yeah," you give her a nod, "I saw you too, Nance. I remember it."