𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. || M. Mayfield ||

Chapter 19: The Nina project

"Where'd everyone get those?" Steve asks in confusion, as Dustin looks back at him, "Do you need to get told everything? You're not a child," Dustin says, getting his bag off his shoulders, handing it to Steve, "Back pocket," Steve grabs a flashlight as we start walking around the house.

"Hey, guys?" Max says, staring up at a clock, as we approach her, "What is it?" I ask, pointing my flashlight to the clock, "You all see that, right?"

"Yeah," we all answers, as she doesn't budge from her place, "Is this what you saw? In your visions?" Nancy asks, as Max nods at her.

"I mean, it's, just a clock, right?" Robin says, leaning forward, before walking to the clock and wiping away the dust.

"Like a normal old clock," she glances back at us, as we silently look at her, "Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he's, like, a clockmaker or something?" Steve furrows his eyebrows, as I confusedly look at him, "What?" I say, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I think you cracked the case, Steve," Dustin says ironically.

"All I know is, the answers are here, somewhere, okay, everyone stay in groups, Robin, upstairs," Nancy says, going upstairs with Robin.

Lucas approaches Steve and Dustin, as Max taps my arm, "Come on, let's go," she says, I follow her around the house, as she puts her headphones, listening to the music.

I walked in front of her, glancing at her every now and then, pointing my flat around, when I hear the tapes deck clicking off I quickly turn to her as she rapidly rewinds it.

"We should make a longer loop," I concernly say, as she shrugs, "Forty-six minutes isn't bad, I think there are bigger concerns," she says, as I look at her in worry, "Like what?" I ask, trying to understand what's bothering her.

"Like, what if, by listening to this over and over, I get sick of it, and suddenly it's not my favorite anymore? Will it still work? or will Kate Bush, like, lose her magic power or something?" she asks, as a bunch of questions were in her mind.

"Nah, Kate Bush? No way, that's literally impossible," I say with a smile.

"Didn't think you liked her that much," she teases, as I furrow my eyebrows, "Of course, I do, I mean, she saved your life after all. And, we're gonna find this Vecna person and kill him before you could even get tired of the song," I smile at her, before wrapping my arms around her, kissing her head and running my fingers through her hair as she hugs me back.

"And I'll do my best to save you from that wizard, or whatever it is," I say, as she lightly chuckles, before we pull away.

"And, if you get tired of that song, you can ask me to play a song, I might be helpful," I joke around, going towards a piano, playing discordant notes, as she follows me with a smile.

"I think I'll stick with Kate Bush, because this was horrible," she laughs, as I raise my eyebrows, "Come on, it's not that bad, is it?" I tilt my head with a smile.

"It is, it is that bad," she laughs, as I nod, "Well, I think you're right, like always," I say, thinking of the notes.

"You're such a jerk," she chuckles, as I smile, seeing her being happy for a moment, "And I thought you were, the cool and popular Harrington, just like your brother," she says smiling.

"So, you don't think I'm cool? Damn Max," I sarcastically say, as she laughs happily, while I look at her with a smile.

Then the tape's deck clicks, "All done," she says, as she grabs her headphones, ready to put them on, until we both turn to the right, seeing a lamp flickering.

"I promise I'm gonna stop asking this, but, you're seeing that, right?" she asks while approaching it, "Yeah, I am," I answer, as I carefully stay behind her.

She puts her hand forward, ready to touch the lamp, until it turns off, she quickly puts her hand down.

While we confusedly look at the lamp, I hear something flickering, I glance behind us, and notice another lamp, "Max, look," I say, she quickly turns around, as I point at the lamp.

She glances at me, before we walk to the lamp and when we arrive there, it stops flickering, and other lamps started going on and off while she looks at me before we follow the lights and head upstairs.

We end up in the dining room, meeting all the others, as we look up at the only lamp flickering, "It's like Christmas lights,"

"Christmas lights?"

"Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights, came to life," Nancy explains to Robin, as I keep my flashlight pointed up.

"Vecna's here, in this house, just in the other side," Lucas says, before the lamp turns off.

"I think he just left the room," Robin mumbles from my side, "Did he hear us?" Max glances at me, before looking at the others, as I shrug my shoulders, "Can he sees us?" Steve asks, as I quickly glance at him, before looking back at Max, "The headphones," I say, as she rapidly puts them on.

"Wait, wait, everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out," Nancy says, as we all do as told, except for Steve, "We're not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flash.. lights," he mumbles, as I follow Max in a room, quietly walking around it.

"I got him! Got him!" We hear Robin yelling, as I let Max run in front of me, as I follow her tracks, meeting the others too.

"I, I had him," she says, putting down the flashlight, as it turned off, "Oh, woah," Steve mumbles, as his flashlight started flickering, "Oh, I think he's moving, he's moving, he's moving," he says, walking around, as we follow him.

We walk up the stairs, and a while after the flashlight turned off, "Shit, I lost him,"

"No, you didn't," Max says, walking in front of us, opening a door, glancing at us, before quietly entering there as we follow her.

"It's an attic. Of course it's an attic," Robin comments, while we walk up the stairs, as Dustin stays behind, "Hold up, guys, what if he's leading us into a trap? Guys, guys, shit. Shit, shit, shit," he mumbles, walking up to us.

We arrive up, and see a single lamp buzzing in continously, "Flashlights," Dustin mumbles, as his torch went on, then all our flashlights started flickering, we approach the lamp standing below it, pointing the torches at it.

"Okay, what's happening?" Steve asks in confusion.

Suddenly, the flashlights' glass start exploding, one by one, just as mine explodes, I turn to Max, quickly snatching the torch from her hand, and right after it exploses, while she yelps.

"Shit, you alright?" I ask Max, glancing at her while letting the flashlights fall on the ground, as she nods, "Thank you, I'm fine, are you okay?" she worriedly asks, as I nod back.

"Yeah, yeah, just some scratches, but it's nothing," I say, quickly showing my hands and shrugging it off.

"Holy shit," Steve mumbles in shock, looking down at the shattered glass, "What was that?" Dustin asks, with wide eyes.

"It was like, a blast of energy," I mumble, looking up at the lamp, as Robin nods, "Exactly, maybe he found a new victim, or he killed someone," Robin thinks out loud.

"In that case, it confirms the fact that he kills people from afar, like a spell, precisely, with a curse, like we said." Dustin says, glancing at us, as we stay silent, not knowing what to do or say.

"Alright, we need to go to Eddie now," Nancy says, starting walking away, as we follow her, we get down the stairs, leaving the house, going to Nancy's car.

Dustin and Steve sit all the way behind, Max sits between me and Lucas, as Nancy starts the engine, heading toward Eddie.