Don't Let Me Go

Chapter 2

They had no idea how they were going to kill Vecna since their previous plan had failed. I mean they lit him on fire, shot him, and he fell out of an attic 3 stories up. And he survived. So now, they had to think of something crazier and way more epic. As if there was something crazier than that.

"Ok ok so what if we used our same plan, lighting him on fire and all that, but this time we go a step further. We chop his head off or something like that." Nancy said. "Ok that sounds like an amazing idea but we don't have enough people to be there to do that." Max said. "Yeah because Eddie and Dustin are at his trailer, Lucas, Erica, and Max are in the real world, me, Nance, and Steve are in Vecna's attic. We don't have enough." Robin said.

"But you have more people now." El said. "Yeah we have Mike, El, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle here now." Lucas said. That was a fair point. As long as they have enough people to be outside and safely chop Vecna's head off, the better. "So we can have all of them outside the house ready to chop Vecna's head off. And for good measure, we can have El explode him or whatever to make sure he's dead." Lucas finished.

"Ok well even if we make sure he is 'dead'," Dustin said as he held up air quotes when he said "dead", "We won't truly know if he stays dead. Because if he doesn't stay dead, then we have and even bigger problem on our hands. Because if we have El shut the gates and everything, Vecna will start over with his killings. And all of our progress that we thought we made, it would all go to shit."

They pondered that for a moment. "What if he can't die when he is in the Upside Down? What if we somehow have to get him out of there in order to take him down?" Robin said. It was a good thought. He had been in the Upside Down for almost a decade and he had survived. So it would make sense if it was basically impossible to kill him whilst he was still inside.

"Ok well how would we even get him out? He can attack people with psychic contact so he has no reason to leave." Erica said. "Maybe we just have to like drag him out brochachos." Arglye said. "Jonathan how are we supposed to take that dude seriously when he's always high?" Steve said, glaring at Jonathan. Jonathan just rolled his eyes in response.

"No no but he might have a point." Dustin said. "Maybe, we have to like tie him up or something and drag him back through a gate." Dustin finished his thought. "And how exactly would we do that?" Mike asked. "Well same plan, throw him out of the attic and whatnot. But this time tie him up, drag him through a gate, chop his head off, burn him to a crisp in our world. Then El closes the gates and we say goodbye to the Upside Down forever." Dustin said.

"That all sounds like a good idea but what if there is more to Vecna than meets the eye?" Will started. "Now that I'm back in Hawkins, I still feel that same connection to him. And I can tell how he thinks but I can't help but feel like there is something missing." Will finished. "Well right now Dustin's idea is the best one we got. So I guess we just go with it and hope for the best because we dont really have another option right now." Nancy said. "But what if Will is right?" Steve said. "We don't have time for what ifs right now!" Nancy snapped. "Max is in danger and Vecna is out for revenge. We need to act and we need to act fast. We don't have time to ponder everything that could go wrong because if we waste time doing that, everything that could go wrong, will go wrong. So we need to figure out this plan and do it. Now.

They continued to talk about this plan throughout the night. But Max was mostly silent. She couldn't stop thinking about her vision from earlier. She was zoned out when she felt Lucas grab her hand. "Hey you ok?" he asked. "Wha- Oh yeah. Yeah I'm fine." she replied. Lucas gave her a look. "Max we have been talking for an hour and a half and you haven't said a single word. Everyone is passed out." Lucas said gently. Oh shit had it been that long? "Oh uh its- I'm fine." Max responded very unconvincingly. "Max, you know you can tell me whatever is running around your mind. It's just you and me right now."

Max took a few moments to think and then finally spoke again. "I just don't want to see what I saw in the kitchen again." she said sounding scared. Lucas pulled Max closer to him until she couldn't be any closer. "Max it's ok. I know it probably seems really real but remember, you're safe here. We won't let anything bad happen to you ok?" he said comfortingly. Max just nodded and snuggled closer into Lucas's chest. They had never been a super touchy couple, but when they did cuddle like this, they both soaked up every moment of it. 

Lucas pulled a blanket from next to him and put it over him and Max. "Lucas?" she said after a few quiet moments. "What's up, MadMax?" he asked. She smiled to herself as she thought back to their conversation on top of that old, rusty bus in the junkyard. I like talking with you MadMax. "Please," she said in such a soft voice, Lucas thought her words would get lost in the silence of the basement. "Please promise me you'll always stay by my side, even if we aren't dating." she pleaded with him. "I won't Max. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. I swear it." And with that, Max drifted off into a dreamless sleep, knowing she was safe in Lucas's arms.