My Number One (001/Henry Creel/Vecna x Reader)

New World

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***

I knew the sun shone through that drain, and not the lights of a room, because of the way it was so blinding. If I stayed very still in the right position, it would shine directly through, so blinding I couldn't look at it.

"We're almost out, Eleven," I said, breathing heavily from all of the swimming.

I craned my neck up and pushed the drain out with my mind. When it dropped back down on the ground above, I had my first glimpse of the world outside.

I didn't have time to take it in just yet, though. I propelled myself upwards as far as I could, grabbed onto the circular opening, and pulled myself out, before reaching my hand back in and helping Eleven follow suit.

Then, I stood, my hands on my waist, and looked around me.

My throat began to swell inside of me, and tears coming out alongside a hysterical laugh.

"Are you okay?" asked Eleven, coming up beside me.

"Yes," I choked.

I was atop of a hill, looking down it into vast woodland. Wind, birds, and bugs all made noise around me.

Then, another noise came from behind.

I turned around to see a small building in the distance, and a group of guards springing away from it who I recognised from their whit uniforms, even from a distance. Wow, so that was what the laboratory looked like from outside.

"Quick, we have to go, we can't lose now!" I laughed, grabbing Eleven's hand and pulling her down the hill with me, towards the woods.

Eleven was now laughing too, seeing that I wasn't worried. We were so far ahead, and this was the most blissful thing I had ever experienced.

We had never ran down a hill before, and we weren't expecting the reaction it would cause on our bodies. In order to keep from falling, we ran faster, gaining speed until, it was too much for us. My legs bucked first, and I brought Eleven falling down with me. We rolled until we reached the bottom, and it wasn't the pain that stopped us from finding my feet again after—it was the laughter.

But we did. And we ran again, through the trees, this time, our bare feet crushing leaves and gathering dirt as we did so.

*

By this time we were deep into the woodland, and we began to slow down into a walk and catch our breath.

"I just can't believe this," I said, shaking my head.

"Me neither," said Eleven quietly. "Why were you going to escape with...Mr Ballard, anyway?" It seemed to me that she hesitated saying his name, knowing she'd killed him.

"He asked me," I said. "I couldn't possibly say no, it was the only opportunity I'd get."

"No, I don't mean that," said Eleven. "I mean...why you? Why were you talking to him?"

I was quiet for a moment, thinking of what to say. The truth was, I didn't really know myself. It frustrated me, then, realising that I'd never find out now he was gone. I wondered about explaining the 'attraction' think to Eleven, but how could I if even I barely understood? "I don't know. He just talked to me...and it came into the conversation."

"I think he was going to kill you,' said Eleven.

But I didn't think so. It annoyed me because I couldn't explain to Eleven the connection he had with me. It was understandable for her to see him as a cold-hearted serial killer, but he was different with me, and I knew it. "Maybe," I said, anyway. "But why wouldn't he kill me with the others?"

"Maybe you were his favourite so he wanted to make it special...or worse. Papa has a favourite, too. But his favourite is dead."

I squeezed my eyes shut. I know I used to think I felt no empathy towards anyone other than Eleven and Mr Ballard...but maybe I was wrong. Now that it had happened, what I'd always wished for, they'd all died, I felt sorry for a few people. One of them being Papa's favourite test subject, Ten. I had always felt resentment towards him for the favouritism Papa showed, but now I knew that it wasn't his fault. Perhaps he was favourite for a reason—he could've been so sweet—but I'd never know because I'd refused to get to know him. And it was my fault he'd died. If I hadn't convinced Mr Ballard to go back for Eleven, we would have escaped and left everyone else unhurt. Eleven coming with me wasn't worth it. I would rather have went completely alone than have all of the others die. Their blood was on my hands.

"I'm glad I killed Mr Ballard," whispered Eleven. "And I'm glad I got to escape with you."

I was silent for a moment. Eleven was proud of what she had done, and she had every reason to be. But I just couldn't agree with it. I was sure he had a reason. I was sure he wasn't psycho. But what could possibly justify killing a group of children? "I'm glad you escaped, too," I just said.