WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[13]

"Max!" Lily could hear Lucas yelling after her as he got out of the car, following her up the hill towards Billy's grave. "Max, wait!"

Lily leaned back against the car as Dustin got out of his seat, leaning against the doorframe. Steve remained in the driver's seat with the window rolled down as they watched the exchange between Max and Lucas, though it seemed to be of no avail. When Lucas had finally given up in his attempts to talk to her, he walked back towards the car, standing next to Lily while Max continued her trek up the hill.

"Something happened back at your place," Lucas said. "I just know it. Was your mom home at all?"

Lily shook her head. "No," she said, "Not that I saw, anyways. She's normally at work at this hour. But Max seemed shaken, even worse than she has been today."

"I think it was Vecna," Lucas said, causing the blood in Lily's veins to turn to ice. "It had to be, if you didn't see anything to shake her up that badly."

Lily looked back over in Max's direction, where she now sat in front of Billy's grave. The letter was opened in her hands as she read it to him, but Lily couldn't make out what she was saying from where they stood.

"And Lily, there's something else." Lucas said hesitantly, causing her to look back at him. "I didn't want to say anything, with everything going on with Max, but you really need to know."

"Lucas, what's going on?" Lily asked.

"The basketball team," he said. "They think Eddie killed Chrissy, and they've been hunting him down for the past few days. "Jason, Andy... and Patrick."

Lily felt her heart drop into her chest at his words. She hadn't seen Patrick since the night of the party, but those three days had felt like an entire lifetime ago. She knew Eddie was suspect number one in Chrissy's murder, and that it was only a matter of time before others started to figure it out, but she hadn't stopped to think for a moment that Jason would've already put two and two together and put together a hunting party of his own.

"I was with them at Benny's the morning after the party, when the cops busted us and showed up to interrogate Jason. They asked him if Chrissy knew Eddie, or if he'd have any reason to hurt her." Lucas continued.

"Y-yeah," Lily stammered. "They asked me the same thing."

"I spent the next couple days riding around with them looking for Eddie. When we found his friends, Gareth told Jason that Dustin had been calling around looking for him. Nobody was home at Dustin's, so I climbed in through the window and radioed him, and he told me what happened and where I could find you guys, that you were hiding with him. I knew I couldn't let them find him, so I took them to Hopper's cabin and ran once they were distracted. I biked to Family Video where Sarah was working, and then we met up with the others at the school." Lucas explained. "But it's bad, Lily. If they find Eddie, some serious shit's going to go down. They've gone off the deep end."

Lily was quiet for a moment, taking a deep breath before looking back over at him. "Thank you for telling me." she said.

Steve tapped his fingers impatiently against the car door, looking back down at his watch before pushing the door open. "Alright, it's been long enough," he said.

"Steve, just give her some time." Lucas pleaded.

"I have, alright, Sinclair?" Steve retorted. "I'm calling it. If she wants to get a lawyer and have Lily testify against me, she can."

They watched as Steve jogged up the hill towards Max, calling her name. However, where she expected Max to look up and start yelling at Steve for interrupting her, she sat completely still, unmoving even when he knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Lily's eyebrows furrowed together when he started to clap in front of her face, but she still didn't move.

"Max!" Steve yelled. "Wake up!"

"Something's wrong," Lily said, pushing off against the car and taking off into a run up the hill after them.

"Guys!" Steve yelled as Dustin and Lucas came running behind Lily.

"What happened?" Lily asked, dropping down in front of Max as Steve still tried to shake her.

Max still sat cross-legged on the grass, but her eyes were bloodshot, her irises so pale they were almost white as they shook, threatening to roll back into her head. She instantly recognized it as the same way Eddie had described Chrissy before she died, and her heart leapt into her throat at the realization that Vecna had her sister.

"Call the girls!" Lily could faintly hear Steve screaming at Dustin, but it sounded as if Lily were underwater, as well as the faint sounds of Lucas pleading with Max to wake up. "Go get 'em, call them!"

"Max?" Lily asked, kneeling in front of her sister and she put her hands on her shoulders, pleading with her to snap out of the trance and wake up. "Max, it's me, it's Lily. You have to wake up, please! Max!"

She shook Max softly, but Max remained in the trance, with the three of them yelling and pleading with her to wake up. When Dustin finally returned from the car, he carried Max's Walkman in his hands along with a bunch of tapes, throwing them down in front of them.

"What is this?" Lucas asked.

"Her song, what's her favorite song?" Dustin asked, his voice bordering on a yell.

"Why?" Lucas asked while Lily began searching through the tapes.

"Robin said if she listens-" Dustin started, but cut himself off. "It's too much to explain now. What's her favorite song?"

"It's 'Running Up That Hill!'" Lily exclaimed, desperately sifting through the pile for the tape. "Where is it?"

"It's right here, it's right here, I've got it!" Lucas yelled, holding up the tape as his hands fumbled to open it, and Steve grabbed the Walkman, opening the device as Lucas handed him the tape and hitting play.

Dustin grabbed Max's headphones, fitting them over her ears as the song began to play. "Max, come on, wake up!" he shouted.

"Max, please wake up," Lily pleaded again, tears beginning to spill at the helpless feeling that had overtaken her, shaking her shoulders even harder.

"Come on, Max," Lucas begged.

Lily watched in horror as suddenly, Max rose up into the air, causing the four of them to stumble back as they looked up at her. Lily shot up to her feet, but her sister was already out of reach as Max hovered high above the gravesite.

"Max!" Lily exclaimed, the shouts of the other boys faintly registering in her ears.

Lily braced herself, waiting for the moment when Max's limbs began to snap as each moment seemed to stretch out for eternity, but instead, Max inhaled with a loud gasp before she dropped out of the trance, falling to the ground. As she hit the earth below, the four of them were on her in an instant, surrounding her as she began to scream and pulling her into a hug.

"Max!" Lucas shouted, wrapping his arms around her as she clung tightly to him, her breathing erratic as she started to hyperventilate. "It's okay, it's okay." he began to repeat, tears leaking from the boy's eyes. "I thought we lost you."

"I'm still here," she assured them as Lily wrapped her arms tightly around Lucas and Max, her head resting against her sister's as Max leaned back into her. "I'm still here."

On either side of the three of them, Dustin and Steve rested a comforting hand on them as the group stayed in silence. When Max's breathing finally returned to normal, Lily pulled back, rising to her feet and holding out a hand to help Max up from the ground. Max took her hand, rising to her feet before pulling Lily back into a tight hug, and Lily let her chin rest on top of her sister's head, holding her close.

"You're okay," Lily whispered, trying to keep her voice steady. "I've got you, you're okay."