Stay or Go

Chapter 71

Once we have been given the signal, the four of us head inside the creepy building. We dodge the vines going up the stairs, there are more here than we expected and it takes us a while to get to the top. Once there, however, we brandish our weapons and get ready to go into the attic. There is a part of me that is screaming at us to run and never look back, to move out of Hawkins and never look back, but the stronger part of me is urgering us forward, the end this finally. After several years of torture. There is an earthquake that sends up flying around but we all latch on to one another for support. 

Suddenly, a vine latches itself onto Robins ankle and pulls her onto the floor, then pinning her to the wall. Nancy rushes to try and break the vines off of her with the shotgun while Steve goes at them with his axe. I brandish my knives, keeping an eye on our surroundings but then Steve gets lifted off of the ground by his neck, the vines choking him. I gasp, watching as he rises, I don't want to risk stabbing him with my knives while trying to catch the vines. Nancy then gets caught and the vines wrap around my torso before pulling me to the stairs, I wince at the pain of the steps pushing into my back. I use all of my strength to try to free myself but it seems like the vines, that Vecna is stronger. We are all choking with no way to escape. 

The last time I felt this helpless, was when I was strapped to a medical table and I never wanted to feel that way again. My mind goes to my brother, back at Eddie's trailer, keeping the bats distracted while we suffocate to death in here. For all we know, the two of them are already dead, being eaten by the bats. Then my mind goes to my mum, who has no idea anything is happening, oblivious to everything we have gone through since our father died. She wouldn't realise for a while that she lost both of her children, they would never find our bodies of course so we would become missing persons. Then my mind goes to Jonathan, thousands of miles away, oblivious that the Upside Down is back, that Hopper died for nothing. 

My eyes lock with Steve as we continue to choke. His eyes wide, panicking about how quickly our plan got ruined. Max is sacrificing herself for nothing. All of this is for nothing. 

Just as my vision is starting to blacken, the vines start to slowly unravel themselves from us. All of us start to cough as air rushes into our lungs. I kneel over, clutching my throat tightly for a moment before standing, being able to heal quickly has its perks. I rush over to Steve and help him up "Are you okay?" I ask, my voice still slightly gravelly. He nods, clutching my hand tightly in his own "i'm okay." He barely manages to get out, the vines clearly having done some damage to his throat. "I don't believe in a higher power or divine intervention." Robin manages to make out as we watch the vines recede "But that was a miracle.

I turn to look up at the attic "Then we better not waste it." I say and we all head up the stairs, more confident than before somehow.  

Up in the attic, we find Vecna virtually hanging from the roof by what looks like spider legs. As though the man couldn't get any more creepy. Robin and Steve light the Molotov cocktails they created earlier, Steve then throws it at the creature in front of us. Hoping that Max has managed to evade being captured, hoping that our plan actually worked. Vecna becomes englufed by the flames and I grab onto Steve's arm "We gotta go, now." I say but then we watch as Vecna rises, almost completely unaffected by the flames. 

Robin lights another one and throws it at him, Nancy steps forward and shoots him with her shotgun angrily. Again and again and again. The fourth shot, launches him through the boreded up window behind him. We race down the stairs and I can hear Vecna moaning in pain, I move slowly over to him and he is still on fire. "This is for Max." I say through gritted teeth "And Will." I then sink my knife into his head. Before I can get there however, he smirks up at me and vanishes. 

The clock in Vecna's house starts chiming and we rush back in to look at it. "Four chimes." Robin says and we all share a look of sadness and Nancy whispers "Max." There is a frenzied ticking sound just as the ground starts to shake again. Then the world starts to split down the middle, in an angry red line.  Our group try to hold into the bannister, trying not to fall into the gap that has just appeared, the ground still shaking.

-

The ground has stopped shaking and we race back to the trailer. Eddie is lying on the ground and Dustin is holding him making my heart jump in my chest. We head over to them and I can see Dustin crying. "What happened?" Nancy asks quietly, Dustin looks up with red eyes, still sobbing as he explains "He tried to buy you guys more time." I step closer to my brother and ease him up "Dust, we gotta go." He is crying and trying to fight against me as I lead him into the trailer "We can't just leave him here." He cries.

I stop him next to the rope but he keeps trying to fight me, the others stay silent around us. "I will come back for him Dustin, I promise. But right now I need you to get out of here okay?" I ask gently, finally, he caves and nods his head. Climbing back through the portal, the others following behind. 

Steve stops just before he goes up "I'll take him back home" He says and I give him a grateful look, nodding my head "Thank you." Steve tilts my head up slightly and kisses me gently on the lips. "I love you Lorelei Henderson," he says before climbing to join the others.