Friday Night Movie

Chapter 2

When they walked into the Creel house, it was cold. Or maybe it just felt cold because they were about to do something extremely stupid and dangerous. Either way, the three of them shivered when they walked inside. 

As soon as they stepped foot inside, they took off their shoes and were left in their socks. Max put her headphones on and pushed play on her walkman. They then separated. They were using their lanterns to look for Vecna since last time they found him, their flashlights got brighter when they were close to him and went back to normal when they were farther away from him. Erica searching the first floor, Lucas searching the second floor, and Max searching the attic.

Erica was the one to find Vecna. Her breath hitched in her throat. He is right here in front of me but in an alternate dimension. Yeah cause that makes sense. Even though Erica didn't really understand it, she didn't have time to try and comprehend everything. So she went and told Lucas she had found him. Well she had to write it down to tell him since talking would alert Vecna that they were there.

The three of them stood in front of the lantern and it pulsed a bright blue and then a brighter blue with the ominous sound of the electricity pulsing. Max walked forward and examined her lamp as it started to do the same. Erica started writing something down on her notepad and showed it to Lucas. "Phase one?" it said. Lucas nodded. With that, Erica flew out of the house, relieved to be breathing air that didn't smell like a musty old house.

Back inside, Max and Lucas were waiting for the signal from Erica. The silence was deafening between the two of them. Both of their minds were flooding with thoughts. Although the majority of their thoughts were different, a few of them were the same. They were both thinking about how this is ridiculous and they can't believe they are actually do it. But the main one that stood out in both of their minds was the possibility of Max dying. 

You would think Max would be the one preoccupied with this thought. But it was Lucas instead who was pondering how he would go on living his life without Max. How he would never get to hold her close again, how he would never get the chance to ask her out again, how he would never get to kiss her again, how he would- 

Lucas was snapped out of his thoughts when Max turned her notepad around to reveal two letters: "H" and "I." Max was not about to spend what could potentially be her last moments with Lucas in silence not saying a word to him. No way. So she was gonna try and have a conversation with him through writing it. Max cringed at the thought at first but pushed her pride away and did so anyways.

"Hi :)" Lucas responded. Max chuckled at his little smiley face he had drawn. He was happy she was trying her best to converse with him. He waited for her to write her response. "I'm glad you're here." she had written. Lucas's stomach did a couple flips when she smiled at him. He quickly wrote his response of "Me too!" And then he got an idea. It might be a bad idea but it was an idea.

While Max sat there relishing in the small and sweet written conversation they had just had, she looked back to Lucas who seemed to be writing down something else. He seemed anxious too. When he turned his notebook around she understood why. "Movie Friday?" was written down. Max had to try her best to push her smile down to make him wonder what she was gonna say.

Lucas saw the expression on her face and he already knew they answer. But he was trying to keep the little flicker of hope alive inside of him. Which is why when Max turned her notebook around after a few agonizing seconds that felt more like years, Lucas was shocked. Max had drawn a picture of the two of them. With popcorn. In a movie theater. Holding. Hands.

Lucas couldn't stop his smile from spreading across his face. And Max couldn't hold back her smile any longer. As Lucas was trying to think of something else to write, Erica's flashlight started flickering into the window of the house. Meaning it was time for Max to go distract Vecna.

So she put her shoes on and went to the room where Erica's lantern sat, still pulsing. She turned around and looked at Lucas one last time. I can do this. I'm Max Mayfield. I can do this. She pulled her headphones away from her ears and slowly reached her hand down to her walkman, and turned it off. She took a deep breath and started speaking. 

"Hey! Asshole!" she said in a loud tone. "I'm here. No more music. No more games." But nothing happened. The light in Erica's lamp just kept pulsing. What the hell? Max continued her provoking. "Do you hear me? What are you waiting for, huh? Come on! Do you want me or not?" Max was beginning to get frustrated. She already was scared but the thought of her plan not working at all scared her even more. But with those last comments from her, Erica's lantern stopped pulsing. And then Max's started.  

Lucas and Max looked at each other and then Max started walking up the stairs to the attic. Lucas was never really a religious person. But he couldn't help but silently pray to something, anything, to keep Max safe. To protect her and not let anything bad happen to her. To keep her safe from death. 

As they neared the attic, Max's heart started to pound in her chest. She felt sick to her stomach. But she ignored it. She needed to do this. She had to. Otherwise, Hawkins was doomed. The whole world was doomed. And that's when it hit her. 

The entire fate of the world was resting on her shoulders right now. And it was up to her to not die.