Strawberries and Cigarettes // Max Mayfield x girl OC

Chapter Four: Dear Billy

"It was here," Max said, staring at a blank wall. "Right here."

Max's trance had lasted a few minutes, but to Chris' relief, she snapped out of it, explaining everything once Nancy and Robin had met up with them. Max explained to them that, in her vision, she had left the room and walked down the hall, where she saw a grandfather clock coming out of the wall.

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy confirmed.

"Oh, my god, Nancy, don't you listen?" Chris snapped. She wasn't actually mad at her sister, but Max's life was on the line. The sooner they made sense of everything, the sooner they could save her. Chris just wasn't handling the stress very well.

"It was so real," Max said, more to herself than anyone else. Chris assumed she was trying to convince herself that she wasn't insane, even though nobody thought she was. "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."

"It was like she was in a trance, " Dustin told Nancy and Robin. "It was exactly what Eddie said happened to—"

"Don't say it!" Chris cut him off. "Do not even begin to compare this to that, because we all know how that ended, and this is not going to end the same way."

Max turned away from the wall, facing the group. "That's not even the bad part."

Max led them back to Ms. Kelley's office, where she flipped through Fred and Chrissy's files.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help," Max told them. "Uh... they both were having headaches. Bad headaches that just wouldn't go away. And then... then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. And then they started seeing things. Bad things... from their past. And these visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... everything ended."

Chris had also read Fred and Chrissy's files and had already pieced that all together. She was just too afraid to say anything about it.

"Vecna's curse," Robin said.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago," Max went on. "Fred's, six days ago."

"And you've been having them for five days," Chris spoke. Max tried to hide them from Chris, not wanting her girlfriend to worry, but Chris wasn't blind. She could clearly tell Max was struggling.

"Right," Max confirmed, her voice breaking. "I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty-four hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so... looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."

Chris reached out a trembling hand and grabbed Max's. She knew nothing could calm her girlfriend down, but she needed to feel close to her. Almost as if, if she just kept holding on to her, Max would stay safe forever.

"Max, don't say that," Chris pleaded, tears prickling her eyes. "Please, don't say that. You're gonna be fine, okay? We're gonna find Vecna, and we're going to stop him before he gets you."

Their moment was cut short by a loud clang coming from down the hall, causing Chris to curse under her breath.

"Stay here," Steve said.

He hastily grabbed the lamp next to the door and prepared to use it as a weapon as he ventured out into the hall.

Of course, the rest of the group didn't listen and followed Steve, Chris holding onto Max the whole time.

More clattering came, followed by the sound of frantic footsteps drawing nearer. Suddenly, Steve screamed and nearly swung the lamp in front of him before realizing it was only Lucas.