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

End of an Era

Hey guys! My previous chapter (Long Way to Go) has a lot more views than the one before it (Journey) so I just want to make sure everyone has read both in case anyone gets confused!

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"Tell me what's going on," Henry demanded, his emotion unreadable.

My heart rate began to increase. This was it. Eleven was going to die. My best friend. My longest friend. The only friend I'd had for years while growing up in the lab. Even if I wasn't her friend anymore, she was still mine. All of this sneaking around was for nothing, because she was about to be killed. If only I had managed to keep the secret for another month, then she would have probably been safe and sound forever. Or, perhaps if if went about it a different way, such as somehow getting a Demogorgon to transport Eleven to Fiji in the Upside Down, instead of on the ship with us. "Don't hurt her, Henry," I said with a sigh, almost like I had given up already. If we wanted to kill her, right that moment, he could. He was far stronger than I was, and at that moment, Eleven's powers were completely subdued.

All of a sudden, I felt a bitter rush of nostalgia. It was just like before, on the day we'd escaped the lab, when Eleven and Henry had went head-to-head with each other, with me in the middle, not wanting to take a side, not wanting either party to get hurt.

But, now, if I had to choose one person to win, it would be Henry. I supposed that if I removed Eleven's Soteria device and let her out of the cage, it would be a pretty fair fight between the two. It had been a fair fight that day we escaped the lab. But I didn't want to. I was more afraid of Henry getting hurt than I was of Eleven dying. I'd bonded with him more than I had with anyone else in my life, ever, including Eleven. We'd planned out our entire lives together. We had children now to bring up together. We eradicated the entire human race together for the purpose of having the whole world for the two of us to live in.

"I have no choice, Twelve. I'm sorry."

Henry slowly rose his arm and held out his hand to me. I took one glance back at Eleven. She cowered in the corner of her cage, her eyes filled with tears, and her mouth grimacing in fear. I couldn't even bear to think about how I'd never see her smile again. I'd never see her again. The thought was too torturous to even allow it to surface. I felt almost numb as I took Henry's hand, and he pulled me into him. I was facing away from Eleven, with my head on Henry's chest, and my hands gripping onto his back as I tried to block out what was about to occur. Then, I felt one of his hands reach out to use his power, and I heard the sharp crack of Eleven's neck break into two. It at that moment when the first tear fell from my eye, before my emotions suddenly swelled to the surface, and the tears began to pour like they were emptying the sea.

Henry held me tight, comforting me. He was patient, and stood for ten minutes, holding me while I wept, until I began to collapse to the floor in agony, and Henry sat down with me in his lap. I wailed, thinking about how my last promise to Eleven was already broken. I'd told her that I'd build her a beautiful house to live in, fit for a queen. I'd told her that my promise wouldn't go unfulfilled. She'd been right—in her last moments, she'd watched her terrible thoughts about me proved in the flesh as I'd stood by and allowed my boyfriend to murder her. Everything I'd tried to convince her of had turned out to be a lie. I was exactly who I'd thought she was, and she was right to hate me for it. I'd failed her. But I'd had no choice. I was stuck in the middle of two people I'd loved, and forced to choose one. I simply couldn't blame myself.

And I couldn't blame Henry either. He'd done it for us. He'd killed Eleven because she was a threat to his life, and our lives together. It was true. I was sure that if Eleven ever found a way to escape her captivity, the first thing she'd do was kill Henry, and the second thing she'd do was probably kill me. That was a risk I'd be living with for the rest of my life if Eleven would have survived. Perhaps it was for the best that Henry had ripped the band-aid off and taken her out. Now we had nothing left to threaten our existence. We could truly live in peace.

But not yet. I was still grieving. As much as I knew it was the right decision, I still felt hurt. It was still a lose-lose situation for me, either way that it could have panned out; one outcome was just a bit better than the other.

I cried harder when I thought about how this boat trip towards mine and Henry's new lives together was supposed to be the most joyful experience we'd ever had. And it almost was. The beginning of this trip had been perfect; the horses and carriage, the beautiful boat, the ocean, spending time with each other...even the fact that everything with Eleven had been going smoothly. But now, with one wrong move—Henry discovering Eleven and me talking in the storage room—it had all been ruined. My happiness destroyed. There was no way the rest of this one month-long trip was ever going to be as perfect as it could have been.

It might take a while, but I knew I would get over it sooner or later, once we'd properly begin our new lives on Fiji with the babies...but Eleven would always hold a loving place in my heart.