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

Unexpected Visitor

When I awoke the next day, Henry wasn't beside me. I got up and walked into his parents' old bedroom again to look for something to wear. In a different drawer, I found what must have been his mother's clothes, and I picked out a dress.

As I slid my arms though the shirt sleeves, I noticed something. My skin wasn't so warm-toned anymore. Instead, it was taking on a cold bluish-greyish colour. Only slightly, but it was noticeable to me, because I was so used to seeing myself.

There was a pretty wooden vanity in the room with a large mirror above it, so I made my way in front of it and peered at myself. Along my neck and collarbone, some of my veins appeared to be protruding. I was developing like Henry had since he'd began living in the Upside Down. I didn't quite know how to feel about it. I didn't like how it looked, but I understood it made me more powerful.

I went to find Henry, but he wasn't downstairs, or anywhere in the house at all. I noticed the rear door in the kitchen had been left open, so I peered out into the back yard and the woodland beyond it. That was when I spotted Henry dragging along a large wheelbarrow towards the house. I squinted my eyes to see what he was up to, but I couldn't figure it out, so I waited on one of the kitchen chairs for him to come back.

Out of the window, I watched him pull the wheelbarrow into the shed outside, and then come in with two handfuls of bluish, fleshy sludge.

"I've just been hunting," he said as he dumped the meat in a box on the kitchen counter. "We're all stocked up now."

"Demobat?" I asked.

Henry said nothing, just picked up a large wooden stick, half as tall as him, and went back outside. He returned a few minutes later with the stick on fire, and lit something under the stove. "You have to do things manually here. I'll teach you soon. I have a huge continuous bonfire going about a hundred yards from the house that I farm fire from to cook." He threw the pieces of meat onto the stove and they sizzled as they fell into the pan. "Technically I could eat whatever I wanted raw, but it doesn't taste good, and your body is still too human-like to stomach it, so I'd have to cook for you, anyway."

"I was going to talk to you about that," I said, standing up from my chair and walking towards him. "I've noticed a few changes."

Henry turned around and smiled. "Really? Show me."

I lifted my chin up to show him my collarbone, and he started to pull the neckline of my dress down to get a better look. Then, he picked up my arm and examined the colour.

"Now you really shouldn't leave the Upside Down," he said. "You can't let yourself go back to normal."

"But I want to go back to normal," I objected.

"What?" Henry said, his expression changing to frustration. "You don't like the way we look?"

"No—I like how you look, but I don't like it on me."

"Well, it's not just about your look, Twelve, you gain power from being like this."

"But...I don't need the power. There's nothing to be afraid of here."

"That's not true," said Henry. "There is, I've just protected you from it."

"Then can't you just carry on protecting me."

Henry sighed. "We were supposed to be a team. I chose you, not just because you're attractive, but because you're strong, and I could see potential to be stronger."

I was quiet for a moment. "I know," I said. "Okay."

I realised Henry didn't need to know if I snuck out of the Upside Down, because whenever I did, I would probably be warning Eleven about his plan at the same time, which he definitely didn't need to know about.

When Henry went back to cooking, he didn't seem to be in the mood for conversation, so I told him I'd go out for a walk. I headed out of the back door towards the woods, and when I peeked back over my shoulder at the house, I saw Henry watching me from the window. It was a little unsettling, but I liked when he paid me attention.

As I strayed farther from the house, I saw the bonfire in one of the surrounding fields. I didn't walk towards it, though. I went for the woods.

For a while, there wasn't much, until I spotted a Demodog. I was still afraid of them, even after riding them. They had such an aggressive stance, and they were monsters, after all. What if they had only refrained from attacking me because Henry had been with me? What if they saw me as prey now, all alone and defenceless?

I froze and diverted my eyes, not wanting to appear threatening towards it and provoke an attack. I wasn't sure if I'd have the reflexes to defend myself using my powers as quick as it could attack—those things moved fast. It watched me intently, stepped closer, and I squeezed my eyes shut. There was no way I could run away—it would chase me and there was no way I could outrun it.

When I opened my eyes again, it was only feet away from me, but it didn't appear threatening...actually submissive. Its head was bowed, and its tail wagged curiously. I reached my hand out slowly and it held its head still and low for me to stroke it. Its tail wagged more, and I actually felt brave enough to climb on top of it and go for a ride.

I held on tight as it quickly took me deeper into the woods, and I found that if I leaned to either side, I could control which direction the Demodog took me. I wasn't sure how to make it stop...until I did so without meaning to. Just ahead of us, there was a shed, but that wasn't all. As we passed it, I thought I heard a very faint sound...almost like human humming. But it couldn't be. Henry and I were the only humans in the Upside Down...weren't we?

I leaned back on the Demodog and it stopped at a halt. Without a second thought, I stepped off it and crept towards the shed. I was right. The humming sounded louder now. What else could it be apart from human?

Actually, there were a lot of options. Just prior to this, hadnt Henry told me there were plenty of things in the Upside Down he had been protecting me from? What if this was one of those things?

I just couldn't leave it, though. I couldn't walk away. I had an idea. The Demodog seemed to have befriended me now, and I convinced myself it would protect me if I came to any danger. I looked back at it, pointed at the ground next to me, and it came bounding over, standing obediently at my side.

I moved slowly through the entryway of the shed, the Demodog following suit. It was so dark inside that it took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, they focused on something I had never expected to see.

A young boy sat crouched in the corner of the shed, swaying back and forth while singing quietly to himself with his eyes closed...then, he opened them, and he saw me.