𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐘

"It was here," Max said, staring at the wall. 

Robin and Nancy had joined them, both out of breath from running through the halls. Robin stood next to Margo, pointing her flashlight at the spot on the wall where Max claimed she'd seen a huge grandfather clock. 

"Right here." Max's voice was edging on panic.

"A grandfather clock?" said Nancy. 

Max nodded. "It was so real. And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up." 

"It was like she was in a trance or something," said Dustin. "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy." 

Max turned to face them, breathing hard. "That's not even the worst part. Come with me." They followed her back into the guidance office, where she showed them Fred and Chrissy's files side by side. "Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help. Uh, they were both having headaches- bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then..." Max took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "Then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their past. And these visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... everything ended." 

Now, she was really crying. Her cheeks shone with tears. She wiped them away with shaking hands. Robin stared up at her. "Vecna's curse." 

"Chrissy's headache started a week ago," said Max, bracing herself against the back of a chair like Vecna might come and get her at any second. "Fred's, six days ago." She paused. "I've been having them for five days." 

Nobody said anything. Steve ran a hand over his face and stared at the floor. Margo's eyes widened and she pulled her knees to her chest. Next to her, Robin let out a gasp and shifted a little closer to Margo. 

"I don't know how long I have," said Max. "All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty-four hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so..." She let out a shaky breath. "Looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow." 

Margo felt like she couldn't breathe. She couldn't just throw herself at a monster to save Max this time. There was nothing she could do, absolutely nothing. 

Somewhere deeper in the school, something clanged loudly. Everyone jumped. Steve moved for the door. "Stay here," he said over his shoulder. He grabbed a lamp from beside the door and went out into the hall. Everyone else followed him, not wanting to let anyone be alone just then. 

There were fast footsteps down the hall next to theirs. Steve raised his lamp a little higher. Margo's breath quickened and she took a cautious step in front of Robin and Max. Dustin stayed ahead of her, ready to help Steve if he needed it. 

Then, someone pounced into the hall right in front of them and for a second, all Margo could hear was screaming.

"It's me!" a voice finally said, and the screaming stopped. 

"Lucas?" said Nancy, stepping forward. 

Lucas seemed halfway to tears. "It's me!" 

"Jesus, what's wrong with you!" cried Steve, his voice cracking with fear. 

"I'm sorry," Lucas said breathlessly. 

"I could've taken you out with this lamp!" 

Lucas struggled to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, guys. I was... I was biking for eight miles." He coughed and held a finger up for them to wait. "Give me a second. Shit." He turned back to them. "We've got a code red."