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Max was zoned out listening to Running Up That Hill as she draws, attempting to show the friends that didn't see what she and Ian saw in their minds, in Vecna's world. She pauses her music as Nancy sits down with her, conversing as they talk about the pictures.
Ian is silent, zoned out into nothing as he thinks. Dustin sits beside him, tapping him on the shoulder to catch his attention. Ian quickly looks up at him with a fake smile, attempting to assure his friend that he's okay. He glances over at Holly, playing with her LiteBrite at the table. He was merely happy to see that she could at least be a kid while she could. He'd do anything to ensure her childhood wasn't ripped from her like his was.
Nancy flips through the papers, folding them as needed. Max and Dustin curiously watch as the drawings together form a house. Nancy uses a marker to fill in the gaps, mostly windows.
"It's not just any house,"
Max feels her heart drop as Nancy places the door down in the respective spot.
"It's the Creel House."
Nancy quickly stands up, heading downstairs to wake the others. Dustin steals Mr. Wheeler's coffee, dragging Max and Ian with him.
"Thanks, Mr. Wheeler, fuel for the road!"
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As they arrive at the Creel House, Ian sits on the front porch with his headphones, wanting to listen to the song he's obsessing over this week. God kid, you need to stop, it's gonna put your life on the line at some point.
He sits on the top step, slightly listening as the group enters the abandoned house.
"Ian, move for a sec" Nancy speaks, trying to get the curly haired boy to move so she and Steve didn't hit him in the back of the head with a large piece of plywood.
He quickly stands up, standing at the bottom of the steps as they reveal the door. The window was made of stained glass, a rose crafted upon it.
He sits back down in the lawn instead, wanting to just dive into the world in his head that brought The Mamas & The Papas' Dedicated To The One I Love to life. He lays down in the uncut grass, letting himself sink into another world. He needed a moment to himself, overwhelmed, needing some air, needing to be alone.
He felt himself have an out of body experience, like he was floating, like he wasn't tired anymore, like he wasn't scared anymore. It felt like he had no worries, no fears, no guilt, no sadness.
It was the first time he'd felt happy in a long time.
Shocking, as he was laying in the lawn of some abandoned, creepy house, listening to his mixtape. He feels his whole head go numb, sleep overcoming him.
Oh, yeah, he'd gotten zero sleep last night because he was so scared that Vecna would come for him again and kill him. He spent most of the night crying over it, rotating the arms through the night in which he'd cry in. Every two hours, it'd rotate from Lucas to Dustin, and to Max, they'd mostly just cry together and try to hype each other up, no matter how tired they were.
