••••• "Don't don't you want me? / You know I can't believe it when you say that you don't need me" •••••
"This might be the stupidest thing I've ever gotten myself involved in, but I'm in."
In which Steve Harrington and Kimberly Henderson go from be...
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Just as Kim was starting to feel like there was no hope, like she was going to die in this hell hole, the vines suddenly let go of them. They crumpled to the ground, coughing and gagging on hands and knees as they tried to catch their breath.
"I don't believe in a higher power or divine intervention, but that was a miracle," Kim gasped.
Nancy staggered to her feet and glared at the door to the attic, cocking her gun. "Then we better not waste it."
"Phase four," Steve nodded.
Robing picked up her bag. "Flambé."
They marched up the stairs to the attic to find Vecna at the top. Kim wasn't sure what she had imagined (maybe some version of Eleven's bathtub?) but the vines that suspended Vecna's grotesque body in their air was much more terrifying than anything she could have dreamed up.
Robin placed her bag on the floor, handing the first Molotov cocktail to Steve before grabbing the other two for herself and Kim. Kim pulled the lighter out of her jacket pocket, lighting the cloth in Steve's bottle on fire.
He glanced at her one last time before taking a deep breath and chucking the Molotov cocktail at Vecna's defenseless body. The fire burned bright and hot and Steve quickly shielded himself and Kim from it.
Vecna screamed in pain as the fire devoured his already burned flesh. The vines burned away, causing Vecna to drop to the floor. He looked up at the quartet, his eyes even more horrifying through a curtain of flames. He slowly stood up, looking like the Burning Man as he stalked closer to them.
Robin and Kim exchanged a look as Kim lit both of their bottles up. Nodding at each other, the two friends used every bit of strength to throw their Molotov cocktails at him. He staggered back, the fire burning even brighter.
Nancy stepped forward, ready to deal the final, fatal blow. She pressed down on the trigger of her sawed off shotgun, letting the bullet pierce Vecna's chest. She took aim again, this time shooting a hole through his stomach. Then another through his shoulder. Vecna roared in anger, approaching Nancy like a nightmarish demon. Somehow unafraid, Nancy took aim one last time. She shot him through the chest again, sending him tumbling through the boarded up window and crashing to the ground below.
Finally feeling like they could breathe again, the group exchanged a look before running back through the house, not caring about the vines this time. But when they made it to the front door, nothing was left of Vecna except a few small fires and charred dirt. He was alive. He had survived.
Just as Kim was about to let out a scream of frustration, the grandfather clock in the hallway chimed distortedly. Once, twice, three times, before finally chiming that fourth, ominous chime.
"Four chimes," Robin muttered.
"Max," Kim's voice cracked as she felt her heart breaking.
The ground shook again, and they all quickly clung to the railing. Above their heads, where Max must have died, the house split open. Steve quickly pulled Kim into his chest and out of the way of the opening gate.
Spreading from each of the four murder sights, the gates cut across Hawkins, destroying anything and anyone in its path. Houses shook, once sturdy buildings crumbled. Children wailed, people clung to their loved ones. The end of the world was upon them and there was nothing that could stop it now that it was in progress.
"We need to get out of here," Steve finally said once the ground stopped rumbling. "Now! Let's just use this gate and get back to our Hawkins."
Kim frantically shook her head. "No! We need to find Dustin and Eddie. We need to make sure they're safe."
Not wanting to disagree with her, they quickly ran through the woods, back to the trailer park. When she spotted Dusin, she waved at him, thankful he was alive. But the look on her little brother's face made her freeze.
Kim's legs felt weak as she finally caught sight of Eddie's body. She stumbled over before finally collapsing next to him. She pulled Dustin into a fierce hug, his racking sobs shaking both of them.
Without Eddie or Kim realizing it, he had wormed his way onto the list of people that she cared about most. He looked out for her little brother, he made her feel comfortable enough to open up about stuff with her dad, she had forced him to like her favorite girl rock bands like Heart and The Runaways. She might not have loved him the way he loved her, but that certainly didn't mean she didn't love him in a different way.
Steve knelt down behind the two sobbing Henderson's wrapping his strong arms around both of them while Nancy and Robin stood with gaping mouths. How had this happened? They had all known that they might not make it through this, but why Eddie? All he had wanted to do was clear his name. And now it didn't matter. None of it mattered.
Eddie was dead. Max was dead. Countless other lives had been lost. And for what? So that they could add a few new scars to Vecna's wrinkled body? They had failed spectacularly.
Kim would never stop blaming herself for things that were out of her control. In her eyes, Eddie's death was her fault. She should have told them to climb back through the gate and cover it somehow after they had drawn the bats away from the Creel house. In her eyes, Max's death was even more her fault. She should have known the plan was too dangerous. She should have never let Max be the bait. It should have been her.
A.N. i'm only cried a little while writing this, don't worry about it. so one more chapter left, but i'm gonna be busy for the next few days and i'm not sure when i'll have time to write it. thank you so much for always making me smile with your hilarious comments. love you all!
