Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Two: Message In A Bottle

The group was gathered around Nancy, listening intently as she relayed the message from Vecna. Because that's all it was. He wasn't going after her, Nancy wasn't cursed in the way Annie is. He just wanted to send out a warning.

It got to them, that was for sure. The only question that floated around Annie's mind was did they get it? Or, like everything else, were they just going to go after him anyways? They weren't the best at listening.

"Okay, but..." Steve said, once Nancy had stopped. Annie turned to her older brother. "He's just trying to scare you, Nance. Right? I mean... I mean it's not real."

"Not yet," she whispered, sending chills through Annie's body. She and Max shared a look. "But there... there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins- and these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but... they didn't stop growing.

"And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home..." Nancy's mouth was quivering again. Annie never liked seeing anyone upset, but Nancy? One of the most badass people she's ever met? It made her feel endlessly uneasy.

Then, something came into Annie's mind. "Four chimes," she said. Although all eyes went to her, hers only went to Max's. "Vecna's clock- it always chimes four times. Exactly. Never one more, never one less."

A pause. "I heard them, too," Nancy said, and Annie looked away from her girlfriend and over to Nancy.

She shook her head and felt disappointed in herself. "He's been telling us his plan this whole time."

Steve looked at his sister in horror. "Four kills," he muttered.

"Four gates. End of the world," Max added, eyes locked to the ground. She felt so much anger inside. This... it's not like Vecna had been hiding his intentions. It was right in their face. They just never took a second to step back and figure it out.

"If that's true," came Dustin's voice, drawing all the attention, "he's only one kill away."

No one could speak for a second. It was so heavy, Annie thought she might suffocate long before Vecna tried to get her again.

Eddie muttered to himself on the couch, obviously freaking out. Annie felt her hands shaking, so she balled them up into fists, hoping to calm herself down. Not that she didn't have a reason to not be calm. It just wouldn't help at this point.

"Try 'em again. Try 'em again," Steve said.

Right. Max went back over to the landline in another attempt to get in touch with the Cali peeps. The same ones they had tried multiple times by now and yet, no answers. Nothing. It almost made Annie want to laugh the way Steve thought they might actually pick up this time.

As if the last hundred hadn't happened.

Steve looked over at his baby sister, seeing the way her fists were tight by her sides. He was close enough to reach a hand out to her and grab hold of one of hers. She uncurled her fingers and let Steve give her hand a squeeze of reassurance.

"Anything?" Dustin asked, and almost immediately Max slammed the phone back down.

"No. Rang a few times them went to busy signal."

Steve shrugged and used his free hand to gesture at the phone. "Maybe you punched it in wrong. Try again," he suggested.

"I didn't punch it in wrong," she snapped, but still picked the phone back up and redialed the Byers residence.

"Well, I don't know," Steve mumbled.

Dustin shook his head. "Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone," he said.

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong," Steve defended. Annie gave his hand a squeeze, which caused Steve to look over and smile at her.

After another second, she dropped his hand and crossed her arms tight over her stomach. As if that was the key to making everything go away.

Max held the phone to her ear a second longer this time, but it was the same. She slammed it back down on the receiver and turned back to the group, finding her spot by Annie. "Same shit."

"How is that possible," Lucas complained.

"I told you," Dustin sighed, as if this were the thousandth time he's had to explain this (it is). "Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it."

Max shook her head. "Okay, yeah, but this phone's been busy for- what, three days now? That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong."

As the redhead spoke, Nancy was nodding. "She's right. It can't be just coincidence. It can't be," she said, and got up from the chair she had claimed forever ago. As she made her way to the window, she kept going. "Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it...."

It was quiet as she thought. "But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead." Annie immediately found herself standing straighter at Nancy's thought. "We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

She was instantly met with disagreement, especially from Steve. Unsurprising. "Let's think this through-"

"What is there to think through?" Nancy interrupted.

The yelling began, and Annie's head found comfort on Max's shoulder. Max went ahead and leaned her own head against Annie's. Any time they could find comfort, they tried their best.

Max knew Annie needed it. But Annie also knew Max needed it. They seemed to have a mutual understand that they both desperately needed to hang onto each other right now.

It was moments like these that had Annie thankful she and Max confessed their feelings for each other after the Battle at Starcourt. If they hadn't then, would they have ever? Would Annie be fighting Vecna's mind games alone?

Well, not alone. Annie's eyes wandered the room and she felt a corner of her mouth attempt to turn up as she looked at everyone that was in her corner. How they were arguing over going into battle.

But her eyes landed on Max, having to look up through her eyelids to she her girlfriend's beautiful profile. Their relationship was giving her more strength than she ever realized.

Max was a pillar- Annie's pillar. When the stunning redhead was by her side, Annie felt as if she could do literally anything.

And maybe that's what gave her the idea to respond to Robin. "We don't know when he's going to attack next- we don't even know who he's going to attack!"

"Yeah we do." She lifted her head from Max's shoulder as all attention was centered on her. "The music... it can only do so much to thwart him and for only so long. The connection is still there, I can still feeling him. He's lurking- and it's far down, but he's still in my head. The second I say goodbye to Bonnie Tyler... he's back. He's refocused on me."

"Annie..." Max started to plead. "You can't. He'll kill you."

"I survived once already. Who's to say I can't again?" Annie asked, looking at Max and seeing the fear in her eyes. "I just need to keep him occupied for as long as it takes for you to get to that attic and kill him. Then you can chop his head off, drive that stake through his heart, or even blow him up with something Dustin creates, I don't care. Just... don't miss?"

But Steve wasn't having it. His head was shaking the whole time, hands on his hips. "No, absolutely not happening. No way!"

Annie's head rolled back and she sighed. "Steve," she groaned.

"Don't! There is not a single chance in hell I'm letting this happen. No fucking way," he practically yelled. The whole time, his hands were on his hips and he was pacing the floor, following the same line.

Annie sighed. "Can we talk?"

A/n: And I'm back! I am so sorry for the delay my lovely readers, but I realized I did need to give myself a little bit more time so I could really write a bunch of chapters and have a good store to start posting. That goes for this book and my other projects. But! I returned :) Hope y'all enjoy!