The Clock

Chapter Four: The Ticket

"Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo. Wake me up, before you go-go. I don't wanna miss it when you hit that high..."
"HELLO?!" A boy said. My mind was focused on the sound of the song.
"Oh, sorry I dozed off," I apologize.
"What the hell??"
"What do you want, kid?"
"Pac-Man is broken again," he said.
"What's wrong with it this time?" I say.
"I put in two quarters and the game never started."
"I'm currently busy doing something else, I'll come fix it later."
"Come fix it now before I get your manager dipshit!" The psycho kid says.
"It's okay, I'll come fix it for you," Max says.
There's no other way to describe it, I hated my shitty job at the arcade. I was paid minimum-wage, and it wasn't worth it. This was the only place I could get a job for the summer, so I'm stuck with it. Max loves her job here. She gets along so well with the kids. I don't get it. Keith just sits on his ass and eats shit from the vending machine all day.
After Max unclogs the tickets intertwined in the Pac-Man game, she walks back over to the front counter with me.
"I need to go grab more rolls of tickets from the back," Max says.
"Okay," I reply.
I place the 'Be Back Soon' sign on the counter, and make my way to the closet. As I walk in, Max has a confused look on her face.
"What're you doing here?" She says angrily.
"I didn't think you could reach the tickets," I say.
"They are literally eye level. You knew that. Why did you really come in here?"
"I-I have been really wanting to talk. We've been going through things nobody should ever, ever have to experience. It's okay if you don't wan-"
"Yes," she says, cutting me off. "I'd like that."
There was a slight pause, as we stare into each other's eyes. As I focus on her eyes closely, I can see an old memory of hers. She was at a beach, most likely in California where she previously lived. She was swimming around in the ocean. The sun reflected on the calm waves, making her blue eyes sparkle. I can hear her laughs as the waves come and go. Her face expressed true and genuine happiness.
As I start to think, I realize it's getting easier to focus on things and expand my hearing. Maybe I should take advantage of this?
Max further explains the pain and despair she's felt after Chrissy's passing.
"Can I tell you a secret?" She says.
"Anything, of course."
"You pinkie-promise you won't tell anyone?"
"I pinkie-promise," I say.
    "Are you sure you want to hear this?"
    "I'm ready," I say nervously.
    "So, the police won't release this information to the public. But- her death, Chrissy's death, was not Eddie. I saw it with my own two eyes. It was something else, something not from this world. I saw her Carson," she says crying. She couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
    "It's okay Max, it will be okay. I promise."
    "You don't get it. She wasn't murdered like any other person. Whatever this 'thing' did to her, belongs in hell. When I saw her lying there, inside of the front door, something was wrong. Her-her arms and legs were snapped in half, and it looked like her eyes were bleeding out."
    My heart drops.
    "Carson, what's wrong... Carson please, you're scaring me..."
    I take a deep breath and say, "I-I know what did this."

🕰

    I sat next to Mike and Nancy to watch E.T. Our whole family was here too. Dad slept the whole time with Holly sitting on his lap.
    "I need to use the bathroom, I'll be right back," I say. On my way there, I heard something. The sound was coming from my bag. Something was moving around inside of it. I slowly approach it with fear. I grab a knife from the kitchen as I move closer. Whatever is in there, is still moving. I kneel down and put my hand on the zipper. I open it as fast as I can when a small creature leaps out at me and into my mouth. I am terribly freaking out. It slithers down my throat. Words can not explain the throbbing pain I'm in. It is suctioned on the side of my throat, cutting off my breathing. I fall to the floor, trying to cough it up and struggling to breathe. After much choking, it finally wiggles its way out. As soon as it flew out of my mouth, I sliced it in midair. I watch it fall to the ground, black blood spilling out. I look at it closely to see what it was. Then I remember, Vecna's finger.
    I clean up the mess quick before anyone sees me here. I walk back into the living room.
    "Everything okay?" Mom says. "You were gone for a while."
    "Yeah sorry, my stomach was acting up."
I sat there, anxiously for the rest of the movie picturing what could happen next. If he could control a detached limb from a different world, only God knows what else he is capable of.
After the movie, I make my way to my room to go to sleep. Before I shut my eyes, once again, I hear the menacing and gut wrenching sound... "DONG!"
I look outside my window to see the clock face up in the concrete. Then, I hear some of the most petrifying words I have ever heard in my life...
"Your time has almost come to an end."

🕰

    Steve Harrington was hosting an Easter break party at his house. For some odd reason, the theme was to dress up like it was Halloween? I don't know why.
Max and I dressed up as zombies, cause why not.
"Don't you think all of this fake blood is a little much?" Max asks.
"Of course, which is why it's perfect," I respond.
As we approach Steve's house, we can tell that it is filled to the rim with drunk druggies. Cars were parked along the road for miles. Before we can even finish walking up the driveway, we step across broken glass.
"Well, this is a Steve party that's for sure," I say. Max chuckled as we walked through the front door. It's hard to explain how much was happening at once. To sum it up, after our first steps inside, there were bubbles, beer, butts, bellies, balloons, bitches, boobies, bunnies, and much, much more. Over by the fireplace, which was thankfully turned off, we saw Steve, vigorously making out with Ella against the wall. On the stairs, we saw Eddie making out with somebody. His poofy hair was covering who he was kissing. As we get closer, we can see the blonde hair of Hailey Byers. His hands were running down her bare waist.   
"Hey look who else is here!" Max says. She points out Will over by the food and drinks, talking to someone surprising, Mike. After a couple minutes, Will leans in closer to Mike, and gives him a brief kiss on the lips. I was truly happy for him confessing his true colors.
Max and I decided to be stupid teenagers for the rest of the night.
"Carson, wanna go upstairs to get some peace and quiet?" Max asks.
"Yes Maxie, yes please."
On our way over to the stairs, I see Will frozen in the hallway. I pause for a moment to see if everything was okay. He slowly lifts up his hand and touches the back of his neck. This can mean one thing, and one thing only.
"Are you coming?" Max says.
"Yeah, sorry." I decide to not make a big deal of it and just keep going. We make our way about halfway up the staircase when, "DONG!" The sound of the clock was extremely louder than ever before.
The sound bursts my eardrums. My vision becomes blurry. It is hard to stand up. The pain and weakness I'm in is indescribable. As I try to slowly walk up each stair, a massive force flings me off of the stairs and up into the air. My body slams into the floor gravely. Everything goes black. My eyelids open steadily as my body lays on the ground to see the terrifying sight of the Upside Down.