dark red- max mayfield

xxv. a trade of the guilty

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

"WHAT THE hell is going on?" exclaimed Jayson fearfully as he jumped backwards into the wall. "Why-Why is he... why does he look like that?"

Nancy had sucked in a deep breath only minutes after being taken, and suddenly, Colby had gone strangely rigid. Nancy had turned to him, her eyes wide and fearful, and that fear had only gotten worse as she'd seen Colby's state.

"Colby!" she screamed loudly, grabbing his face in her hands. "Holy shit! No, no, no, no..."

"Oh, God." muttered Steve worriedly, quickly grabbing the rope and pulling himself back into the Upside Down. Everyone else followed suit, watching as Steve bent beside the youngest Martin, slapping his face lightly. "Hey. Hey, come on, wake up, Martin. Buddy... hey, hey! Come on!"

"How did he switch them?" asked Robin breathlessly. "Oh, oh God. Oh, God. Oh, God. We need to figure out his favorite song really fast. Really, really fast."

"I'm so confused," cried out Cassie, trying to hold back her sobs with her hands as she shook her brother's limp shoulders. "I thought he took you!"

Nancy looked back at her pitifully, her heart in her throat. Maybe it had been her fault that Colby had been taken by Vecna. She didn't know what caused it. She didn't know if she and Colby had swapped places. None of them knew.

"What the hell is his favorite goddamn song?" demanded Josh, smacking Colby's head. "We are not losing him, okay? We can't."

Everyone turned to Nancy, Cassie, Jayson. The three looked at each other blankly. Jayson and Nancy thought the hardest. Cassie was far too heartbroken.

"He likes... Last Christmas by Wham." reminisced Jayson, clearly thinking back to a previous conversation. "He's not a huge Wham! fan, but still. He likes I Want You Back by the Jackson 5. In fact, he's a pretty big Michael Jackson fan. I think he likes ABBA... shit! I don't... I don't know!"

"Do you have any of those on you?" asked Max, gesturing to her Walkman. "If he's focused on Colby, I can take a break from these." Josh wasn't too fond of the idea. He was willing to take off his Walkman, although as he reached for it, Max grabbed his hand and pulled it back down.

"I... not on me, no." Jayson shook his head frantically. Then, he turned to Eddie. "What do you have in your trailer?"

"Nothing really, man." shrugged Eddie, his face paling by the second. "Metal. Ozzy. Colby didn't even know Ozzy. It's not going to help."

"Shit, this is crazy." Dustin had his head in his hands. Lucas had a hand over his mouth, and his eyes seemed to be watering a little. Robin was on her knees beside Colby, and as soon as Eddie had told them he didn't have Colby's favorite music, Steve had exited the trailer and slammed the door behind him. "Just let me think... I need to think... he's had to have brought it up before... oh, God..."