A Hero's Song

Chapter 15

TW!

Implications/mentions of abuse

===

"Hello, Blue,"

I stood there, looking around frantically as though there is something I can do if I do find Vecna.

He took me. I thought in disbelief. He took me back again.

The first time Vecna brought me in a trance, I was scared—no. I was petrified. I had only gotten back in Hawkins then, only been there a week or so. The memories I had in Lenora were pushed at the very back of my mind, and I was careful to lock them away and hide the key. I didn't want them to ruin my plans of reconnecting with Steve and building myself back up again, given that those memories weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows.

This time around, seeing the change of environment didn't frighten me as much as it did the first time.

Then again, Vecna torments his victims with whatever they've been repressing. Now that. That is what scares me. The things I shoved to the very back of my mind are not pretty.

"Taking me when we're just about to get back was a dick move, Vecna!" I screamed, feeling sour about my too-close moment to freedom. Eddie has a bunch of tapes in his room that inconveniently do not exist in this world. I could have borrowed one and protect myself, had I just been able to jump back to Hawkins.

"Let me out of here!"

I stormed out of Eddie's bedroom, and expected to see my brother and Eddie on the other side. It didn't matter if they were the asshole versions of themselves—I just needed something, anything, to ground me. Something to remind me where I should return. They were only assholes here anyway, never in the real world. I should have known that. I shouldn't have—not even for a second—thought that they will ever speak to me that way, let alone look at me that way.

They were and will always be the ones I want to return to.

But there was no Asshole Eddie nor Asshole Steve that greeted me with harsh words and cold stares. I would have preferred that a hundred times than what I saw.

Lenora. He brought me back to Lenora.

I scoffed. Of fucking course. Because where else could Vecna take me? There's nowhere like the nightmare of my life.

Even amidst feeling sour towards Vecna, the sight of the torn wallpaper, empty bottles and cigarette butts were quick to melt my previous resolve. I immediately took a step back, desperately hoping to be in Eddie's bedroom again. It didn't matter for a second if I were to return to the Upside Down version of it. Anywhere is better than here.

But there were no vines and spores as I reentered the room. It was a clean room, which was even scarier because I am aware that I was just in the Upside Down. Somehow, I'm transported to some other room. It wasn't even Eddie's bedroom anymore, it was mine.

"I'm aware of all the shit I got in this place, Vecna!"

Really, he dug deep. Because of all the parts in our house in Lenora, my bedroom is the safest yet most hated place there. Then again, there weren't much safe spaces to choose from. I would get beaten up in the basement, get a slap or two in the kitchen when the food I cooked didn't taste a certain way, get a bottle thrown at me across the living room.

My bedroom was a safe space for a good few hours when Julio isn't home. I can stay there and pretend he doesn't exist in my life.

I can stay there and imagine a different life for me. One where I didn't leave Steve. One where I didn't get beaten up for the smallest of mistakes. One where I was loved.