Tʜᴇ Fʟᴀʀᴇ ꕥ Lɪᴢᴢɪᴇ Jᴏʜɴsᴏɴ

sᴇʀɪᴇs ғᴏᴜʀ ꕥ 17

El ran across to help Lizzie and Max up. She had thrown Vecna under the wooden stands, so it would take a minute for him to regain his balance.

"Lizzie? Max? Are you okay?!"

"Huh-" was all Lizzie could manage.

"Are you okay?" El asked, holding Lizzie's head with her hands.

Max, meanwhile, was holding El; feeling her. "Are- are you real? Did we make you?"

El stopped her hands, holding one of hers and one of Lizzie's. "I'm real," she looked into both girls' eyes. "I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer."

Lizzie did a double take. "What the f-"

She stopped at the sound of rolling thunder.

Vecna had appeared again, climbing out from the stands.

He gave a raspy growl and cracked his neck.

El didn't care. "Stay back," she warned loudly, advancing towards him.

As he advanced towards her.

They met in the centre of the gym.

"If you touch either of them again," El warned in a low voice, just loud enough for Lizzie and Max to hear. "I will kill you, again."

"Is that what you did?" Vecna snarled back. "Hmm? Did you kill me?"

El started hard at him. "Go get him," Lizzie muttered loudly. "Go fucking kill the son of a bitch."

"I am so glad, that you are here... Eleven," Vecna's head tipped to the side then back. "This... is going to be... beautiful. So very... beautiful." He raised his arms up, all the broken wooden parts of the stands suspending up. They all pointed like arrows towards El.

"And it's all thanks to you."

"Argh!" He sent all the arrows towards El, but the girl rerouted them, sending them into the hole Vecna had made in the stands.

But Vecna was too quick for her, and, raising an arm, he sent El flying across the room-

Then brought up again and slammed down on one of the blood soaked tables.

She cried out as he threw her through the empty notice board that once showed all the pictures of people at the ball.

And, seeing El, rolling about and choking on the floor, Lizzie was tempted to cry too.

But she knew she couldn't.

She picked up one of the wood arrows and ran at Vecna, yelling.

"ARRRRGH!" Then she yelled in pain as she was thrown backwards, hitting the ground with her head and sliding against the wall.

Max ran to her. "Lizzie? Lizzie, are you alright? Lizzie, get up!"

Lizzie lolled around on the floor, holding her head. The world spun around her...

El, meanwhile, had got up, and was trying to stop Vecna.

But he was holding her back with his power, lifting her off her feet and bringing her forwards-

El was inches away from him when he halted her, tears falling and gasps forming.

Vecna held a hand up to her chin. "Before I kill you... I want you to watch.

"Watch me kill your friends."

And, with that, he threw her through the balloon arch and into his red mind world, where vines got her by the legs, arms and neck, dragging her up and pinning her to the stained glass door.