Hidden Within the Shadows

all for freedom and for pleasure

Adrian had been through a lot of pain in his life. He'd been beaten by Ted Wheeler, had been emotionally abused, and had even spent time as a lab rat. He'd undergone surgery to remove his breasts, and he had gained supernatural-like powers. He'd spent hours upon hours stuck in a sensory deprivation tank, pumped full of every drug known to mankind.

But this pain? This was different.

Adrian looked down at the large cut in his t-shirt. He pulled it up and saw a long gaping wound in his abdomen. Faintly, he registered the pain in his back, the entry wound. His world spun dangerously, and he felt sick, the bile coating his tongue.

"You cannot defeat me so easily," Vecna's voice hissed, and it felt like the ground was shuddering, like an earthquake was going to tear them apart.

"Adrian," El whispered, coming to kneel beside him, her hands hovered over the wound, and she didn't know what to do. "You need to leave,"

Adrian shook his head, terrified. "This wound - El it's on my real body too. I'm - you have to kill him."

Eleven looked at him, and her gaze steadied and her eyes grew cold. "Yes." She stood up and turned to look at Vecna as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Hawkins will burn and fall," Vecna said, unbothered by the two in front of him. "And the rest of this senseless, broken world will follow."

"No." Eleven said, and she screamed, hands pushed out toward Vecna.

Adrian could feel the sheer intensity of her powers. The desperation in her, the anger and fear and sheer will she had in her. She was putting everything she could behind her powers, forcing Vecna to his knees.

The pain was immense, and Adrian could feel the blood leaving him, pooling around him in the sludge. His vision was starting to go blurry around the edges, and he looked around. There was nothing he could do, and he knew he was trapped until Vecna was dead or cursed them out of his mind to escape. He'd been keeping them there, trapped in his mind, but El's surge of power seemed to have him changing his mind; Adrian could see a few escape routes now.

He could hear Vecna screaming, desperately trying to escape El's wrath, but she wasn't relenting and wasn't giving him a chance to flee. Adrian could sense El's need for his assistance, and it was like they were connected, that they were a hivemind. He grunted with effort and felt his power going to her, giving her the strength that she needed, the power she needed to put Vecna in his grave.

Adrian looked around and saw Chrissy's body against a black, vine-covered pillar. He grunted to himself as he forced himself to move towards her, part of him thinking about his plan. He couldn't get all of them, but he could get her.

Blood left a thick trail as he forced himself in her direction. He grunted and coughed, and blood spilled out over his lips, dripping onto the ground. He made it to the pillar, and turned around, gasping in pain and whimpering. He was desperate and didn't want to leave her like this. Her death had destroyed Eddie, and he couldn't let that be a permanent fixture in his life.

He gripped the tendrils and pulled himself up. He could feel his legs going numb, and he was going dizzy, but he was so desperate and foolish.

He held his hand up, and the tendril shoved down her throat twitched and shuddered before it slithered out of her mouth like a snake. The rest of the tendrils keeping her trapped against the dark pillar slowly edged away, loosening their hold on her, and Chrissy collapsed into him. He fell under their combined weight, even though Chrissy was almost as light as a damn feather.

He pushed her over and coughed and blood splattered the ground and her hair. "Fuck," he said around the blood. He put his hand over her, concentrating as hard as he could. Her legs snapped back in place, bones unbroken. Her wrists snapped back, and then her forearms and elbows. Her jaw jerked back in place. The sounds were gross and horrifying, but Adrian kept going, even though it felt like he could feel his life leaving him.