The Devil's Gift/The Bloody Handed

1: Hallelujah, My Ass!

STOP HERE 🛑 IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "THE DEVIL'S GAME YET, GO BACK CUZ THIS IS THE SEQUEL SISTER 🖤 OKAY BIEEE MUAH XX

⚠️SPOILER PROOF ZONE ⚠️
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"I think we did it." She smiles. I look at her and smile, even though I didn't want to. She didn't deserve going out hearing screaming- but no, she wasn't going to die- I just knew it. She was too stubborn to die. I wasn't going to let her. I blink several times to get rid of the sweat and dirt as I try to get a clear sight of the RV. I look at Dustin who limps besides me, yelling at the walkie for the group to meet us at the portal and haul us up. There was so much to think about, so much going on. I didn't have time to process it all.

"She couldn't hold off for one more goddamn minute?!" I scream, panting. The bats dropped as soon as they were finished with her. I look down. The Hellfire shirt she wore was soaked in red. Her mouth was lined with dried blood. I hold her head up by my hand, trying to prevent her from choking on it. "Dammit, Sparky." I whisper frustratedly. I look down once more and see the symbol she had carved into her stomach. The same symbol on the knife. She must have used it to escape Vecna.. except she wasn't made from oak. So how did that work? I wanted her alive and running besides me, giving me her smart remarks. But instead she was in my arms, passed out and frail, on the verge of death. Just minutes before she took the bullets, she had told me we had to run. We. But as soon as I was swept away she was all for ditching that plan.

Her screams pierce my ears still. The squelching sound of bats digging into her echoes in my mind and makes me want to purge. I should have gotten to her sooner, fought harder. Her cries were going to haunt me. More so than Chrissy's did for the first few days. Seeing her face in pure agony. This was going to haunt me for life, even if she turns out alright. I just know it.

We finally reach the RV and Dustin calls up to the group. Robin pokes her head through. "Oh my fucking God!" A rope swings down and Dustin grabs onto it and holds it still.

"We need a secure way to get her up!" I yell.

"That!" He points to a crate small enough to hold her body. "I can knot it tight enough so it won't undo." That's my boy.

"Okay, okay." Dustin quickly slides the crate over and ties it securely. I place Clary onto it, her body flopped over each end. "Fucking hurry! We don't have time!" I tell. And it was the truth. We could not waste one second.

"I'm trying!" Robin yells. Nancy and Robin are all pulling at the same time, and Steve waited at the bottom with a mattress to catch her. Eventually, she makes her way up. Safely.

I hop onto the rope with Dustin and we both climb up and through. My arms were shaking wanting to give out at any moment but the only thing keeping me going was making sure she got into an emergency room. I didn't care if the Hawkins Police Department wanted to cuff me and question me. They can do whatever the hell they wanted to at this point.

We all make way for the RV and climb in. Steve had Clary in his arms, almost a little too tight. I hated the way he carried her. Just hated it.

"Here, give her to me. You drive. And make it fast, Harrington." He hands me Clary reluctantly and starts the RV, stepping on the gas.

I sit down and hold Clary, unable to look down. She wasn't cold. But she wasn't warm. I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"What the hell happened?!" Robin walks over with tears in her eyes. Nancy was right beside her, her eyes wide open in shock.

"The bats happened. She- the bats started to gang up on me. She got them off of me and the next thing I knew she was.. getting devoured." I close my eyes and remember her screams. "She basically saved me. For what fucking reason I don't know." I scratch the back of my head and start to bounce my leg. I grab the stone necklace and look at it, seeing her bloody fingerprint on it.

"Is she still breathing?" Nancy asks worriedly.

"I don't know, Wheeler! And I don't want to know."

Suddenly, the ground beneath us begins to shake. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" I can't seem to control my emotions but Hawkins was under attack. I look outside of the window from what I could see and see people running in every direction and screaming. A orangish red light starts to come from the ground. Oh, fuck.

"What the hell is that?" Nancy looks out of the window and gasps. Robin and Dustin look out and turns back to me.

"Hawkins is cracking." Dustin says.

"Oh, fuck!" Steve yells as he swerves. "The whole damn road is splitting down the middle!"

"Avoid it!" Robin yells.

"How far, Steve?!" Dustin yells as he strips off his gear.

"A block, but I'm trying to avoid getting stuck in these gaping ass cracks!"

"Well hurry!" Dustin yells back.

"I can't just drive over these!" Steve retaliates.

"Just do it!" We all yell. He floors it and within moments we are drifting in front of Hawkins Hospital. Steve drives off as soon as I get out to dump the RV. I immediately hop out and bang on the glass door with Clary in my arms.

"Help! Help! She's dying!" A couple of doctors and nurses start to run to a stretcher and come outside.

"Put her on, put her on!" Two doctors lift her onto the stretcher and a nurse has an oxygen pump in her hand. She connects it to Clary's mouth and starts to squeeze. "Let's go, let's go!" I stand in the door way, my hands at my sides. They felt empty without me carrying her. I look down at my half torn shirt drowned with blood. Everyone rushes up behind me, panting.

"Okay, we ditched the RV by putting it in neutral and letting it burn. Got rid of evidence." Nancy pants.

"What now?" I ask. "Confess to the police about a crime I didn't commit?" I scoff and shake my head.

"No." We all turn around and see Lucas walk around the corner of the hospital with Erica at his side. Dried tears stained his face and his arms were crossed. I didn't see Max so.. that must have meant she was Vecna's last victim he needed all along. Holy fuck.

"We pin this on Jason fucking Carver."