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

Take Me Home

Hello, everyone! I'm so sorry for the late upload—I'll definitely upload more regularly from now on! I'm case you've forgotten where the story left off, the main character, Twelve, along with Eleven, came across three boys in the woods...and I suspect you've guessed who they are already! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

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"Are you okay?" asked one boy, pale with shaggy black hair. "Do you need help?"

"Where are you doing out here?" asked another, a boy, suspicion on his face.

"Have you seen our friend Will?" asked the last, and as he spoke I noticed a lack of teeth.

I looked at Eleven, at a loss of what to say. I felt my heart beating out of my chest, and the rain now tipping down.

"Well, what are you doing?" the second boy repeated.

"We ran away," I said quietly.

The last boy laughed. "Wow, what?! From where?!"

"Probably a mental asylum!" said the second boy. "Come on, let's go."

"But, wait, we can't just leave them," the first boy said, and I saw he was looking at Eleven while he said it.

"Yes, we can," the second boy disagreed. "Go home," he said, looking right at me.

"We don't have a home," I said.

"Yes, you do. The one you ran away from."

"Look at their clothes," said the first boy. "They're dirty, they've been out here a while."

"Two nights," I whispered.

The first boy turned to the others. "We gotta take them home and let them get cleaned up."

"What?" the other two said in unison.

"Let's just call the police, and they can help them," said the second boy.

"No," I said quickly.

"Why?" asked the third boy eagerly.

"We'll get in trouble," I insisted.

"What?" the second boy exclaimed. "See! They're fugitives!"

"If it makes you feel any better, they might know something about Will," said the first boy. "We can't risk missing out on that."

"Yeah, you know what, they probably do know something about Will. They probably killed him!" said the second boy.

"Don't be ridiculous, they're girls," said the first boy.

"So what? It doesn't matter! And, besides, Will isn't the most masculine boy to exist," said the second boy.

The first boy turned to us again. "I can take you home and try to help you out, but we have to go now, before my mum gets back."

So, we did. We followed the boys out of the woods while they walked ahead of us, talking about things we couldn't hear. At the edge of the woods, we hopped onto what they called 'bikes': Eleven on the first boy's, and myself on the third's.

*

Soon, we arrived at a building, which the first boy called his 'house', and I almost fell as I stepped off the bike.

The first boy led us inside. The building was so foreign to me, with little objects and furniture everywhere, so decorated. My eyes didn't know what to focus on, the pretty papered walls, the dark oak floor, or anything in between. It felt like a home...something I had never felt before.

We followed the boys into a basement, and, though I had never heard of the word 'cozy' in my life, I still felt it.

The boys made themselves comfortable, sitting on the couch and standing around. They looked at each other tentatively for a few seconds, before the first one spoke. "Okay, so...I'm Mike, he's Lucas," he said, pointing to the second boy, "and he's Dustin," he said, pointing to the third. Dustin gave a gummy smile. We smiled back, but said nothing. "Sooo...what are your names?" Mike prompted.

"...Twelve," I said, "and she's Eleven."

"You look way too old to be Twelve," said Dustin. "I would've guessed, probably, like, sixteen."

"That's my name," I said.

"What?" said Mike.

I pulled up my sleeve and revealed my number tattoo.

"What?" the three boys said in unison.

"She's got a tattoo!" Dustin exclaimed, grinning.

"It's not funny, Dustin, it's weird!" said Lucas.

Then, I lifted Eleven's sleeve for her and they all fell silent.

"Why do you have tattoos? And who are you running away from?" Lucas demanded.

I thought for a moment. I didn't want to risk say anything. I didn't want to risk being sent back. "We can't tell you," I said, "and you have to keep us a secret. From everyone."

"But why?!" said Lucas. "I'll keep your secret, but only if you tell me why."

I looked at the ceiling, trying to think of the best way to go about it. "We've been held captive. By bad men. If we say anything, they could find out where we are, and we could be sent back."

"What?!" the boys exclaimed again.

Dustin put his hands either side of his face. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

"You have to tell the police. Or even my mum—just tell my mum," Mike pleaded.

"They could have Will!" Lucas said.

"They won't have your friend," I said.

"How do you know?!" said Lucas.

"I just do. They only take certain people."

"But, these men are still out there!" said Mike. "We have to tell someone!"

"NO," I said. "If you do, we'll have to leave, and we'll have nowhere again."

Mike looked at Eleven, and something flashed across his eyes—maybe sympathy. "Okay," he breathed. "But I have to tell my mum about you. I won't tell her about the men, I promise—"

"Promise?" Eleven said.

And everyone fell silent. I realised then that it was probably the first time Eleven had said a word. Everyone stared, especially Mike.

"Y-yeah," Mike said, shrugging. "I promise."

Eleven stared, confusion on her face."

"Y-you don't know what it means? Well, it means...like, I mean it. Like, I will definitely do what I say I'll do."

"You can't tell your mum," Dustin said to Mike out of nowhere. "She'll definitely call the police."

I wasn't completely sure who the 'police' was, but from what I gathered, it was someone higher up, and I knew just from that that it was a bad idea to let them know.

"Yes. Don't tell them," I agreed.

"Fine," said Mike, "but you can't both stay here. My mum will be home soon, and hhere's only room for one of you in that little den," he said, pointing at a soft fortress in the corner of the room, and I could tell who he wanted to leave out of the two of us, because he was looking at me.

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