[REWRITING] When He Sees Me, Steve Harrington

034 Choices

CHAPTER 034. CHOICES

     HIS NAME IS VECNA.

An undead creature from another world, a dark wizard with unfathomable powers that are unbeatable, it seems. He's the reason Chrissy is dead, the root of all the fear Laurie is feeling. The unknown is paralyzing because for all she knows, he's a bloodsucking monster, a formidable being that finds thrill in death, in the torment he's caused — is going to cause.

     The Upside Down is back and they've got nothing to stop it from weaving its way into their town and sinking its claws into their community. No telekinetic powers, no supply of government weapons, no backup— nothing. It's just them, and Laurie can't help but think that they've lost the battle before it's even really begun. More people are going to die, and she's probably going to be one of them.

The revelation made Laurie's blood run cold, a weight pressing harder and harder onto her chest because the theory Dustin had suggested meant that everything they'd been through, every sacrifice, every life lost, every ounce of pain they'd felt was all for nothing.

     Laurie couldn't sleep at all last night— not that she tried, anyway, because how could she? She could barely bring herself to blink knowing that Vecna is on the prowl in the Upside Down, bloodthirsty and unforgiving. It makes her feel like a helpless child again, her understanding of what's real and what's not melting into one big pool of terror as she checked under her bed and made sure her doors and windows were locked tight like it'd protect her from the monsters lingering in the dark.

     Her mind was even louder than usual. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about what Eddie had said, how horrifically Chrissy died because her bones contorted and snapped, how her eyes sank into her skull. It made Laurie sick, a twisted, sharp sensation in her gut, and she would've cried herself to sleep if she could have stopped how the image of a dead Chrissy bled into her head over and over and over again.