The Stancy Files

Chapter 26: The Monster

More and more monster sighting rumors began to come to the surface of Hawkins. The heroes of the small town had no choice but to act. The plan was finally being put into motion.

While the teens fought in their minds, the adults, Steve, and Nancy fought physically.
And it didn't go so much in their favor...

"Steve! Watch out!" Murray called. A demo-lion came roaring from behind the young man. "STEVE!" Nancy cried. Steve fought the beast with the weapons he had, but Nancy began to shoot. Just don't hit HIM she thought to herself. The lion went down and something else came for Nancy.

Wet Squelching

She turned around to see the monster of her nightmares: Vecna. "You," Nancy said coldly. "Are you not happy to see me, Nancy? It is time for your friends and Eleven to end." She shook her head, not saying a word. Steve's heart started beating rapidly as the monster walked towards his girlfriend-but-not-technically-girlfriend. A strange twirl came upon Vecna's lips... almost a smile, as he looked to the boy and back to the girl. "You two are guilty, but I will not end your pain, Nancy. Do you remember what you did? Do you remember Barb?" An echo of hurt was displayed on her face. "How can I forget my best friend, who you killed? That was you, Henry. Not us." A rasping laugh came from the monster's lips. "Your naiveness will be the end of you, Nancy Wheeler. But your pain will not end any time soon... Only your family's will." She shook her head stubbornly. "No." Vecna ignored her comment. "Do not fret, Nancy. You are like me. Like William. You are different." She shook her head again. "I'm not and you know that! And Will isn't either!" Another snarling laugh came from the creature. "You will pay, Nancy Wheeler. You will pay."

. . . . . . . .

The plan didn't work. The monsters came but were defeated, yet Vecna still escaped. The monster lived on.

Nancy was disappointed in herself and wouldn't talk to anyone for two days after everyone got back home. Everyone had been staying at the Wheeler's because of how dire circumstances had become. A feint knock rattled on Nancy's door. To her dismay, it was Jonathan. She shut the door in his face. "Nancy!" He shouted. Steve and Robin heard the shout from the main floor and went to investigate. Once Robin spotted the angry boy pounding on her friend's door, her rage fumed out. "Jonathan, no! Leave Nancy alone!" She charged at the oldest Byers brother, aggressively pulling him away. Nancy opened the door after hearing the ruckus from the hall. "Robin! Whoa, what are you doing?" Robin flashed her an anxious, busy smile. "Sorry Nance, just trying to help out here!" Jonathan pulled away harder. "N-Nancy! They're insane! You have to help me!" Steve threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "I'm not even doing anything, Byers!"

Nancy's face quickly became panicked. "Robin... just let him go." Robin frowned, but listened to her friend's pleas and let the boy go.. "Well, way to take all the fun out of it." Nancy gave a little chuckle. "Yeah, I can see that." Steve breathed out a shaky breath. "Nance, are you okay? Do you— want to—" He didn't finish his sentence. Jonathan was staring him down. Nancy's eyes flickered from Steve to Jonathan. "Jonathan... could you leave, please?" The boy shook his head. "No, Nancy. I need to talk to you. Alone." She didn't meet his eyes. Instead, her eyes wandered toward the floor. "You really should go. I wasn't asking." Nancy blatantly told him. Jonathan slowly paced over closer to her, touching her shoulder. "Nancy, we have to talk. I need to talk to you." She looked up at the boy with an angry face, backtracking closer to the door. "No! I'm not talking to you. Go downstairs to your brother. I don't want to spend time with you." He tried to search her eyes. "Go." She told him stubbornly.

After the three friends watched Jonathan trudged down the stairs, Steve looked back at Nancy. She gave him the world's smallest, saddest smile. He gave her a small smile in return. Robin looked back and walked over to Nancy, with Steve following right beside her. "Nancy, what's been going on? What happened with Vecna?" The curly-haired brunette shook her head anxiously. "He's coming for my family. For Mike. And Holly. And my mom." Robin almost raised an eyebrow. "What about your dad?" A humorless laugh escaped Nancy's lips. "Honestly, I'm not even sure that Vecna knows my dad exists. Not that it matters anyways... I wouldn't have anything left." Steve put a hand on her right shoulder. "We're not gonna let that happen, Nance. We've fought him twice and we haven't lost." "Yet," Nancy commented. "We haven't lost yet." Steve shook his head. "Nothing's gonna happen, Nance. I'm going to make sure of it." Her eyes met his and they had a moment.

After a little more chatting between the three, Steve and Robin reluctantly headed downstairs. Nancy still needed to completely gather her thoughts. But she didn't have time.

Just after she'd sat on the edge of her bed, Jonathan came bursting in the door. "Nancy, we're going to talk. Now." She stood up immediately. "Get out!" He walked closer up to her. "No. We have to talk, Nancy. I have some things I need to get off my chest." Nancy rolled her eyes and remained silent, completely enraged of how intruding Jonathan was. He began to share his long thought-out monologue with the girl of his dreams.

"Look, Nancy, I get that you were mad at me. You thought I was lying to you. But I was only protecting you! I didn't want you to throw away your dreams to follow me out to California! And I know that you still love me! I still love you! You're just confused because I wasn't telling you everything! I'm so sorry, Nancy! I'm sorry that I hurt you and I'm sorry you got back with Steve and he broke your heart! I was totally in the wrong and I'm just sorry!"

Nancy shook her head, knowing exactly what this meant. "I would've left you either way, Jonathan. I was never going to follow you to California. I never broke up with Steve either. We're still together— Vecna just made things more complicated. And I don't love you like that. We're not friends right now, Jonathan. And to be honest, I'm not sure we ever will be again." Jonathan shook his head, not believing the words coming out of the girl's mouth. "Stop lying to yourself, Nancy! You know we belong together! I'm here now! I'm here!" Nancy glanced away, toward the window. "We didn't belong together then, Jonathan. And we don't now." Slowly, she walked over to her bedroom door, opening it, motioning for him to leave.

Jonathan wouldn't budge. "I love you, Nancy! Just tell me you love me back!" She shook her head once more. "Goodbye, Jonathan."