The Devil's Gift/The Bloody Handed

6

Eddie and I look at each other and nod. "Before chaos strikes.. please be safe." He pleads. I nod.

"I promise if you do too." He holds out his stone necklace and winks. I indicate that sign as a yes.

"Clary, I-" I look at him but he pauses briefly putting a hand on the back of his neck.

"You what?"

"Nothing, let's get going before they kick our asses." He laughs. Alright then..

We all file into the RV, no words said from anyone. The sun was creating a gold-orange cast on the ground and painted the sky. Eddie, Dustin, and I sit in the very back of the trailer getting together all of our stuff. Dustin and Eddie put on their armor and Eddie wraps his handkerchief over the top of his head, his bangs hanging out by a smidge. I must admit it was weird seeing his hair kept away from his face with something. Dustin stares out of the RV window to his right and grips his weapon in hand. This was the most serious I've ever seen the kid. Every one else was just sitting and staring out of the windows.

I look back over to Eddie. He's eyes were focused straight ahead out of the windshield window. The sun casted gold and orange on his face. He held his shield and spear in the same hand, and his legs sat apart. His face was tranquil and at ease, but I knew he was freaking out in the inside. The sun flickers on his eyes, bringing out the amber flecks in the brown. He had dirt smudged all over his face and he now wore a dark green coat as extra protection. The sun casted a shadow on his straight sloped nose. He catches me gazing and looks back. His serious gaze turns into a soft smile and I return it.

I grip the RV seat and close my eyes. I was scared- not of fighting, but losing someone. Losing another person I care about. I feel something rest on top of my hand and look down. Eddie's hand was heavily on mine as a reassurance. I felt his cold rings on my bony fingers and sigh. I look at him one more time and give him a thank you smile. His hand squeezes mine swiftly as he shifts closer. I close my eyes, ready to embrace calm before the storm.

I look around. There are trees everywhere. Dead trees, at that. I look up. Red lightning cracks in the sky revealing dark clouds that hid in the murk. I look at my feet, and I'm engulfed in flames. I'm standing in fire. Why am I standing in fire and can't feel anything? I look at my hands, which also seemed to be on fire. There was zero sensation whatsoever.

Dong, dong.. a clock heavily, eerily, and slowly sounds as if it was breaking.

What the hell.. was this the clock Mom talked about? The one Chrissy and Max saw? I start to panic, but I can't move my feet. I was stuck. I look out to the East and see a big house with a blue light on at the top. What the...? I squint and then see a figure appear then disappear. The figure than seemed to flicker rapidly. I look to my other side and see an abyss of nothing.

"Hello?!" I call out and my name doesn't bounce off of walls this time. Instead, it echoes through the trees. This isn't real. This is not real. I close my eyes and try to imagine the RV but it doesn't seem to give.

Suddenly, the sound of squeaking rings in my ears. I look up to see Demobats fly out of the dead trees and behind the big house. They were swarming again, and now I decided to panic. I pick up my feet trying to escape the fire but they were gravitated down by force. My hands felt like they were going through slow motion.

"Get me out!" I scream. The bats start to create one big black mass and head for me. I bend down and close my eyes tightly. No, no.. not like this. I didn't want to end up like Chrissy did. I wanted to live. Was it because I'm now carrying the burden of my parents death? Why didn't my knife protect me-

The bats start to circle around me. I open my eyes and the wind slaps me in the face from his fast they were flying. They were creating some sort of.. tornado? I whip my head around and see nothing but a blur of black wings.

"Clary.." a deep voice sounds.

I fall back.

I gasp for air, holding my chest.

"Another vision?" Eddie asks with his hand in my shoulder.

I shake my head. "Did I.. did I do anything Chrissy just did?" Eddie's eyes widen and he looks at the ground. His expression suddenly turned very dark, as if he was recalling that night over and over again in his head.

"No.. you didn't." Dustin says.

"Oh, what now?!" Steve asks.

"Steve, just- calm down." Nancy snaps.

"Yeah, Steve!" Erica yells.

"Oh shut up, you're eleven!" Steve says annoyed.

"Twelve!" She yells back.

"Guys.. just listen." Lucus says quietly.

Robin heads over to me and kneels. "Clary, what did you see?"

"I was in the upside down.. I was like.. trapped with fire. On both my hands and feet. I was helpless. I heard.. clocks?! I don't know! There was this big house with a flickering blue light to the east of me. I could have swore I saw someone standing in the window, flickering almost. Then the bats started to come out, they swarmed me but circled me instead of attacking me. Then I heard some creepy ass voice say my name. Now I'm back."

Max comes out behind from Robin. "It's Vecna. Especially if you heard those clocks."

"My parents. Is he trying to reach me because of that?" I ask.

"No, no.. I don't think so." Dustin says, thinking.

"And that house you saw was Vecna's. He showed me himself when he gave me the message. I saw the same light." Nancy sighs.

"If worse comes to worse, you could always try and use what we learned." Dustin says flatly. I look up at him and a flashing image of the torn apart and exploding demobat repeats itself in my head. I wasn't sure if I could just.. do it whenever I wanted to. 

"So what the heck does that mean?!" Eddie exclaims. "That Vecna sucked her up into his own separate reality? That knife was supposed to protect her!"

"Well, he didn't harm her." Dustin says slowly.

"And?!" Robin exclaims.

"And that means that Vecna is toying with her. He's interested, but he won't harm her. He can't with that knife." Dustin says. "He was trying to contact her."

"No. That means we kill this song of a bitch as soon as we can." I point to Dustin. I hollar out to Steve. "Drive the RV faster before I take over, grandma!" I heard him retort in response.

This was it. The beginning of the end.