Against all odds || Stranger Things 4 | Hellcheer

Chapter 44

Chrissy dissolves in the intensity of Vecna powers. How can it have so much after being shot, burned and buried in the rumbles of its lair? And how can she feel so empowered and drained at the same time?

But she knows. She knew all along. Vecna and the Upside Down are two separated entities, with the latter being one almost limitless battery Vecna has found a way to plug into. And since Chrissy is somehow connected to Vecna, she can tap into it too!

Yet something is holding her back...Like a warm blanket around her. This must be Eddie! He's probably the reason her mind wasn't disintegrated in this turmoil of power, and she loves him for that. She focuses her thoughts, trying to find a way to use this shied at her advantage while connecting with the hive mind of the Upside Down.

*

Eddie cowers over Chrissy. The last thing he saw was the front of his home open up like two giant hands had grabbed both sides of the doorframe and pulled out.

"Get through that goddamn hole," barks Wayne.

He peeks an eye. Regrets it immediately. Not only does he see what ought to be Vecna floating no more than twenty feet away from the trailer, but the bats are coming back! Wayne has grabbed the nailed bat and stands ready to.

"Hey," calls Harrington from the gate.

He seems to be laying flat on his side of the ceiling, only his arm sticking out onto the Upside Down.

"Hand over Chrissy!"

Eddie's brain unfreezes from the dread at her name. She's unconscious but she weighs almost nothing so he has no trouble carrying her over his shoulder and climbing the ladder. Behind him, he hears the now familiar sound of a Demobat being smashed, then a grunt of pain and what can only be the nailed bat dropped on the floor. Whatever is happening, Eddie knows if he turns to watch it might paralyze him so he keeps climbing. He stops when he feels his hair standing up on the top of his head and helps Steve grabbing Chrissy. He can see Nancy and Robin, ready to catch her. She'll be safe-

A bat lands on his back and starts pulling him away from the ladder. He feels its wings flapping, its claws digging into his jacket. A muffled chord tells him Wayne knocked it off with the guitar, but Eddie still loses his grip on the bars and falls off. They are everywhere! Until some invisible force flushes them out of the trailer.

"Eddie!", yells Wayne.

But before he can say more, they tumble from what feels like an earthquake!

*

Chrissy pushes through and through, reaching for the steady pulse of the Upside Down until finally she becomes one with it. The second she realizes why it worked - Eddie's warmth is gone! - she panics and almost loses the connection. If he let go of her, it could mean he's in trouble, or worse...Although, there's a way for her to find out. She lets herself drift into Vecna's mind and watches through his eyes the inside of the trailer. It seems Eddie is on the ladder with Mr. Munson standing nearby. She can't see her own body which surely means she's been carried over the gate. It doesn't really matter anyway. Two more urgent troubles are concerning her: the Demobats are lashing on Eddie and his uncle and now that she's immersed in Vecna's head, she knows what he's doing!

Instinctively, she reaches for the bats first and with all her willpower, forbids them to enter the trailer. The ones that were in fly away obediently and they all form a wide circle in the sky, waiting for further instructions. Without wasting a second, she dives completely into Vecna's mind and finds herself in a large room. White furniture and rainbow colors on the walls, she recognizes the playroom of Hawkin's lab despite never having set foot in it. In the middle of it, stands Vecna and a young girl in a hospital gown. She's levitating, her arm outstretched toward Vecna, blood pouring out of eyes, nose and ears.