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

Solidifying

It continued that very night. The plan.

Will was dead. I hoped that Mike and his friends would back off a little now so that Henry and I could get the killing over and done with quickly and easily...allowing us to love happily ever after, alone, with the whole world to ourselves.

Henry whistled to a few Demodogs, and showed me how to command them using his training. This time, we hopped onto the backs of one each, and searched for a Demogorgon.

It was a successful search, because we found one. At first, I was terrified. Henry, on his Demodog, raced forward towards it, but I held back, watching, my heart in my mouth. But, of course, like most things, Henry handled it perfectly. He whistled and motioned for it to follow us towards one of the portals, which it did. I kept glancing back in fear as it raced behind us, but I soon relaxed as I accepted the thought that the Demogorgon didn't see Henry as a human, but as a monster like itself, and also a master, so if Henry wasn't hurting me, it wouldn't do so either.

I did wonder at which point Henry's body would stop changing. I didn't want him to turn into a full-on creature like a Demogorgon. But then I remembered...we would be able to go back to the Rightside Up, the normal world, after killing everyone, which meant that Henry's skin would return to normal. That was another perk. I felt guilty that I was beginning to feel not just okay, but happy with this plan.

At the time we reached the portal, which was at the base of the trunk of a tree, Henry didn't send the Demogorgon through it right away, but stood still for a moment, eyes closed, listening. I supposed he was listening for voices in the Rightside up, to hear if there was anyone to kill. He pointed to the portal, and the Demogorgon went charging through it. Then, Henry faced me, placed a palm on the side of my face, very still, and quietly told me to listen.

I did. And heard a voice. It was faint, and far off, but it sounded like a girl calling someone's name...followed by an abrupt scream.

Then, Henry grabbed my arm and pulled me gently behind a tree. We watched, secretly, the girl emerge through the portal, frantic, screaming her lungs out.

With a start, I recognised her.

Henry looked down at me concernedly, feeling my startled movement, my sharp gasp.

She was Nancy, Mike's sister. The girl whose clothes I wore when I had escaped from the lab with nothing. The girl who had given me a lift to Mike's house that time.

How could I do this to her? How could I repay her with death?

"What is it?" asked Henry, still peering down at me.

"I know her."

"It's all right," he said, standing close and holding both of my hands. I could tell he sensed I was going to rebel, which was why he held onto me so tight.

"It's not, she doesn't deserve this."

"Let it be. Are you with me on this plan or not?"

"Yes, but not with her. I just can't allow myself to stand back and watch her die."

"You will."

But I wouldn't. Nancy was stood, her back pressed up against a tree. The Demogorgon was nearing her, but, thinking on my feet, I whistled, and pointed in the opposite direction. It accepted my command and raced off.

Henry dropped my hand. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm the normal one! It's not normal to be as cold-hearted as you are."

"It might not be typical, but it's better to be like me. You achieve more. Empathy simply gets in the way."

I shook my head. "But you don't achieve connections. You don't experience love and compassion!"

"We have each other, don't we? We don't need anyone else. You were never going to speak to that girl again, anyway. You've never even mentioned her. She was nothing to you!"

At that moment, as we watched, a brunette boy, Nancy's age, came crawling through the portal, ran towards the tree Nancy leant against, put his arms around her, guided her back to the portal, and helped her through.

"But she means something to other people."

"They'll all be dead soon, anyway, so no one will be suffering with grief. They're better off dead than living such a pitiful existence in the corrupt society that they do." I could see how much the plan meant to him. I could see his expression filling with disgust as he said the words.

"That's your opinion. I doubt they feel that way," I argued.

"It's the truth. Most people are depressed. Why do you think that is? If society wasn't formulated that way, maybe it would be different. But it's so ingrained in people's minds now, there's no point in trying to change them. There's no point in reforming people. I'm starting afresh. Erasing everyone, apart from us, and, as I said, perhaps some babies, who haven't been corrupted by the world's views yet. We could raise them as our own. Raise them differently...better. Create our own society." He paused for a moment, looked down at the floor, and then at my eyes. "But I'm starting to think I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?" He couldn't mean wrong about his plan—he was still defending it...and defending it well. I could feel myself falling back into his mindset...agreeing with him again.

"Wrong about what I thought of you. That you'd be a good partner. I'd be better off doing this on my own."

"No...you won't. I'm sorry." I took his hand. "I'm with you. I'll help, properly this time. I'm devoted to you, and devoted to your plan...our plan."

Henry squeezed my hand, and a small smile graced his lips.