Trapped

THe Nina Project

Max and Lyn were at the Wheeler's dining table. Max was drawing with her headphones on. Lyn had Mike's cassette player. Tina Turner was blasting through the headphones wrapped around her neck. She was playing with Holly on her new toy, Lite Brite. She looked up when she heard someone running up the basement stairs. Dustin and Nancy rushed into the kitchen to let out a breath of relief at seeing them. "Good morning... is everything okay?" Mrs. Wheeler asked when she saw her daughter's face.

"Yeah, everything's great." She stares at Max and Lyn.

"I think it's sweet that you guys are sticking together like this." She put some pancakes on a plate.

"Try sticking together at someone else's house for a change." Mr. Wheeler grumbles. Everyone gave him an unimpressed look.

"You know you're welcome here anytime." She told Dustin.

"Of course, we are like family. May I?" He pointed at the pancakes.

"Absolutely." She smiled.

"Yeah, why not? Take us for all we are worth." He drank his coffee. Lyn bites the side of her cheek. She wanted to remind the man that she drove his kid everywhere. It wasn't like gas was cheap.

"Okay." Dustin piles the pancakes on his plate. Lyn snickers at his actions.

Nancy sat between them. Max turns off the music. "Are you guys okay?"

"I just couldn't sleep. People kept blasting music in my ear for some reason." Max smiled, making Nancy snicker. "But, Holly let me borrow some crayons."

"We've been having a fun morning." Lyn put in a colorful peg.

"Is this what you saw last night?" Nancy looks at the drawing that Max was doing.

"I mean it's supposed to be. I thought it would be easier to draw it out than explain it but, not so much." She couldn't make it detailed enough.

Lyn moves to sit closer to them. Nancy picked up a drawing of people being stuck in some type of red tree. "It was like they were on display," Max explained. "And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare." Dustin joins them at the table.

"Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" Nancy asked. Lyn looks at the drawings of the ruined-looking area.

"With Billy, yeah, but when I made it here, I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost like he didn't want me there." She noticed the shift in his attitude.

"This is his domain. Everything up until now has been personal. This has nothing to do with you." Lyn knew all the mind games he played.

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invades your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his?" Dustin suggested.

"When you have a mental connection with someone it goes both ways. He probably didn't even realize he was leaving himself vulnerable." Lyn didn't see why it couldn't go both ways.

"Oh, this is like Freddy Krueger's boiler room." He said with excitement in his voice.

"Freddy Kruger?" Holly thought that was a funny name.

"He's super burnt up...." Lyn punched his shoulder before he could finish.

"He's just someone from school." She told the child. She nodded her head before going back to the toy.

"Just think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing." He picked up a drawing that had red dots and a door with a stained glass mirror with a rose on it. "God, we need Will."