SUMMERTIME SADNESS | Max Mayfield

CHAPTER NINETEEN: Lover's Lake.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh...My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran." He chuckled. "Do you know what time this was? The attack?"

"Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked." He tossed his watch to Nancy. "9:27." She read the time. "Same time our flashlights went kablooey."

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asked. "That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking  Patrick." Lexi explained. "Well, we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks." Robin said. "And where he attacks from."

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart." Max shrugged. "If he has a heart." Lexi joked. "A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve asked. "It was a metaphor." Max scoffed. "A bullet should work on him, right?"

"I say we chop his head off." Lucas pretended to have a sword in his hands. "All of the above, but we can't do any of that 'til we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy explained. "We need El to get her powers back." Lexi complained. "Everything was way easier. We had this girl. She had superpowers."

"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her. Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" He pointed at pacing Dustin. "Cursed? No, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely." He sighed. "Boom! Bada... bada... boom. I was right. Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious? This is Skull Rock. Okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now." Dustin kept humming in response. "Yes. And no. This worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. Correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

"So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong." Steve scoffed. "Except it isn't faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?" He turned to Lucas. "An electromagnetic field." He answered. "Yep."

"Sorry. I must've skipped that class." Robin said. "In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..." 

"There's a gate." Lucas realized. "But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy said. "But what if, somehow, there's another gate? A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful." He explained. "Snack-size gate."

"How? Why?" Lexi asked. "No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse."

"Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go hike in the woods." Steve stopped the curly haired boy. "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

"I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire... The Shire is burning." They all began walking. 

After some walking, they finally stopped near a lake. "Watch your step, big guy." Eddie caught Dustin before he could step in the lake. "You gotta be shitting me." Lexi said as she looked around her. "I thought these woods were familiar."

"Lover's Lake." Robin announced. "This is confounding. There's a gate in Lover's Lake?" Dustin asked. "Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna's the same way." Nancy theoritized. "Yeah, only one way to find out."

"Easy. I... I said easy, man." Steve told Eddie as they took the boat out. "Sorry, dude." He apologized. "Here you go." He offered Robin a hand, but she put her hands on their heads. "Yeah, I'm just gonna do that." 

"Thank you." Nancy took their hands. "You wanna come, Lexi?" The curly haired girl asked her. "Uhm, yeah, okay." She gave Max a quick peck on the lips. The blonde took Nancy's hand and sat in the boat. "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds four people tops, okay?"

"It's better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble." Nancy told him. "Lexi should keep an eye out, it's her girlfriend and this is my goddamn theory." Dustin scoffed. "You heard Nance." Lexi demanded. "Who put her in charge?"

"I did." Robin and Lexi said at the same time. "Compass." Dustin eventually gave his compass to Nancy. "Hey, there you go." Steve tossed Dustin his backpack and he got on the boat. "You said four."

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos. Miss you already!" Robin shouted at them and Lexi chuckled. 

They kept sail for some time, until Nancy stopped them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Slow down, guys." The compass kept flicking as they stopped. "Guys, what's going on? Come on, talk to me. What's going on?"

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital aah!" Robin answered him over the walkie. "Steve, what are you doing?" Lexi asked him when he started to take his clothes off. "Somebody's gotta go down and check this out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... It's gotta be me. No complaints, all right?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I do not wanna go down there." Eddie said. Steve took off his shirt, shoes and sock and Eddie passed him a flashlight. "Hey. Good luck." Eddie wished him. "Thanks." He thanked him. "Steve? Be careful." He dived in and Nancy began to track his time. Eddie took out a cigarette and tried to light it.

"Gross." Robin said and tossed it in the Lake. "Where we at, Wheeler?" Lexi asked her. "Closing in on a minute." She answered. "Okay. Come on, Steve. Come on."

They all watched the surface and waited for Steve. "Oh Christ!" Eddie shouted when Steve appeared on the surface. "I found it." He breathed heavily. "You found it?" Lexi asked in hope. "I found it. Yeah. I found it."

"Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate." Robin announced in the walkie. "It's pretty wild. It's more a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big." Something pulled Steve in a little, but he gained his balance. "Steve!"

He looked at them, before something pulled him in the water. "Steve! Steve!" They shouted. "Nancy, what just happened?" Lexi looked at Nancy. She looked back at her and stood up. "Wait, wait, wait. You're not going in there, are you?" Lexi asked her. "Just wait here."

"No, Nancy!" Lexi tried to catch her leg, when she dived in, but she failed. "Goddamn it!" Eddie shouted. "Fuck it. I'm not gonna let you stay there. You two wait here." She pointed at them. 
"No wait, Lexi!" Robin shouted when the blonde jumped in the water.

The blonde swam towards something shiny and swam in.