'tis the damn season

Forty-Five: Labyrinth

"I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?" 

It was almost completely dark by the time we pulled up to Eddie's trailer. My heart was pumping heavily as I stepped out of the vehicle and on to the grass. I didn't want to admit that I was a little scared of what we were about to do.

We filed into Eddie's trailer quickly, seeing our bedsheet rope was still hanging, suspended in the air between the two worlds. When we'd gotten out of there last night, I'd hoped we wouldn't be going back; but here we were.

Steve went first, pulling himself up through the ceiling, flipping himself over just in time to land on the other side on his feet with no problem.

"Woo, what does he want us to do, applaud or something?" Robin remarks, glancing between Nancy and I.

Steve looked up at us and smiled, obviously hearing Robin, before leaving to grab a mattress for the rest of us to land on like the one we had over here.

Once Steve had moved the landing pad over for us, we took turns one by one, pulling ourselves up the rope, and landing on our backs in the upside down.

Once all of us were over, we made our way outside, into the all too familiar cold darkness. Eddie and Dustin were going to be staying at the trailer, and from there, are going to be calling the bats away.

"You guys be careful," I say, looking at the two boys.

"Yeah, if things go south, you leave through the gate, got it?" Steve says seriously. "Don't try to be cute, or be heroes or anything. You're just the—,"

"The decoys, we know," Dustin finishes for him. "Don't worry, you can be the hero Steve."

Steve nods, as he ruffles Dustin's hair. The group of us turn to leave them, when we hear Eddie's voice call after us.

Nancy, Robin, Steve and I, all turn to look at him. "Make him pay," Is all he says.

That was certainly what I wanted to do.

As nervous and scared as I was, all of that was overshadowed by wanting to end this—once and for all. Vecna wasn't going to hurt anyone else after this. We wouldn't let him.

As we made our way back to the forest, memories of the past flooded my mind, making my blood boil under my skin. It had been Vecna this whole time. He's been here since the beginning. He was the one that took Will, he was the one that clung to him and turned him into a spy, he was the one that took over Billy and the rest of the people from around the town, turning them into part of his army and then using them to build a monster to fight us. He wasn't going to stop. Not until our world was his. It was like Robin said, "If we don't stop him, who will?" It's a lot of weight to carry over our shoulders. Literally the entire fate of the world, is in our hands, right at this very moment. I didn't even want to think about the possibilities of Nancy's plan not working. I'd seen it with my own eyes, if we didn't fix this, Hawkins was going to fall.

"Sorry your trip has been so shitty Lauren," Robin says, suddenly, as we're walking along towards the Creel house.

The look I give her for some reason doesn't align with how she thought I'd react. "What?" She asks.

"It hasn't been all that bad, those first couple days were normal," I reason. "And plus I told you guys not to stir shit up without me before I left for California, so I'm glad you kept your word."

Steve widens his eyes at me. "I don't think I've ever heard you so optimistic Laur," he chirps.

"Well maybe your blind optimism has rubbed off on me," I suggest, making Robin roll her eyes.