Demise of Mayfield

Chapter Eleven: Action

Lucas sat by himself downstairs, his face buried against his palms as he took in slow, deep breaths. He slowly dragged down his hands away from his face, and he faced up - seeing Max in front of him. His breath stiffened at the top of his throat, and he swallowed down his nerves. "H-Hey."

Max only stared at him with dull eyes, a small tilt to her head as she looked at him with an intense gaze. "Did you say anything?" Her voice was a poison, filling Lucas with dread and fear. It was a bit quiet, yet it was dry - raspy. Slightly distorted. Her eyes began to blank out, simply clouds resting where her irises were.

"N-No!" Lucas said as he raised his arms up in defense. His arms were wide, feeling tears crawl up as he stared at the girl he loved - the girl who hardly controlled herself, was hardly herself.

She was like a puppet, toyed with pairs of strings. She was forced to follow commands, watch from the darkness of her mind as words left her mouth - words that did not belong to her. She could only watch as her hands did things she didn't want to do, causing a storm within herself as she screamed for it to stop.

One eyed Lucas through Max's eyes, and he pursed his lips, "Doesn't sound very convincing, do you? Does Maxine's life really not mean anything to you, Sinclair?"

Lucas stood up, and his hands began to shake. He mustered up his words, hesitation tugging them back down and into his stomach, but he choked them out. "I do care!" He stepped closer, tears beginning to spill out. "I care," his heart felt heavy with every bang, "I swear I didn't say."

Immersed in tantalizing the boy, One hardly heard the footsteps that drew closer from the stairs. He simply laughed dryly, his voice distorting and becoming more rough, "I suggest you keep everything regarding Maxine to yourself."

"Lucas? Max?"

One's eyes widened, and he dropped the strings that controlled Max - kicking her into the spotlight.

Max staggered forward towards Lucas, and she fell into his arms as he opened them up for her. The pair looked towards the stairs, and they saw Mike with knit eyebrows and pressed lips.

"What is it, Mike?" Lucas let out a laugh, his lips open wide as he forced a grin, holding Max in his arms. "Something up?"

"I just… thought I heard something." Mike gave Lucas a look, soon eyeing Max carefully. He observed her, noticing the way her chest rose and sunk a bit quickly. He rubbed his temple, humming softly. "Everything's okay then?" He rested his hands on his hips, staying on the last stair of the staircase.

"Yeah!" Max breathed out, gasping a bit for air soon after. She turned back to Lucas, her face a bit red. "We're good." She looked at Mike again.

"Okay." Mike walked back upstairs.

Max pushed herself off Lucas although one of her hands grabbed onto his hand. She strained a smile, opening her mouth to speak, but her words shifted into a sob - a broken apology murmured from her mouth.

Lucas could feel the way his heart tore apart and split in two, watching as she struggled to keep control of her body. She twitched and stretched, her face red as she tried to stay clung onto him.  His eyes were glued onto her, watching the tears she shed as she slowly stiffened into place and her eyes fogged.

Max stepped forward, leaning towards Lucas's ear, and she grit her teeth, "Make sure he heard nothing." It was Max's voice, yet it was a different tone to it that did not belong to her.

-

Haydn peeked through the blinds and watched as a gang of demodogs and demogorgons rallied up outside the house. He bit down on his lip and glanced at Eddie, "So, uhm."

"Hm?" Eddie scavenged through the drawers, finding anything he could throw into the small backpack. "What is it?"

"Demogorgons." The younger responded, looking back out the window. He gulped, feeling his stomach churn as he thought about running past those. His mind couldn't help but think they wouldn't make it.

Eddie didn't find much, slumping in defeat, and he scratched his hair - looking over at Haydn. "Don't fret so much. There's a backdoor."

Haydn turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Who's to say they're not guarding the back either?"

Eddie looked around, his head slowly turning down, "Me…"

Haydn propped his head onto his hand, his mouth turned down at the corners, and he soon facepalmed - a groan leaving his mouth. "We're doomed." He buried his face into his palms, feeling a vacancy in his chest.

He could hear Eddie's footsteps leaving the room, so he briefly took a look and saw him gone. He sighed and got off the couch to pick up his small backpack, zipping up the pockets, and he noticed his charm was missing. Haydn sulked, putting it on since there was nothing else that could be out inside, and he went to find Eddie.

He stumbled past pieces of debris and knocked down furniture, and he found himself in the kitchen, watching Eddie look through the windows.

"We can leave through these windows." Eddie dusted off his hands, smacking the palms against each other. "The backdoor was guarded, but these windows are out of view from the little shits."

"Are you suggesting we go now-?" Haydn got closer to the windows, feeling his palms begin to sweat.

Eddie looked at him, smacking his hands on the counter, and he pushed his head forward. "What do you suggest then?"

Nervous, Haydn swallowed down his doubts. "L-Let's just get this over with."

"Okay." Eddie looked away and slowly pulled the window open.

Haydn took a deep breath, and he went out the window, watching as Eddie came out.

Eddie stuck close and whispered, "If my directions are correct, my place no," he pointed straight ahead, slightly towards west. "We just… gotta run." He looked at Haydn in the eyes.

"Oh man." Haydn secured his backpack. "Well, let's go."

Eddie checked his shoelaces, and he gave the other a firm nod. "Let's."

They ran.