𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

max's drawing

Spending the night in Mike's basement is not fun. What is also not fun is the fact that there was seven people sleeping down there, which meant that everyone but Max was sleeping on the floor. Well, everyone was sleeping apart from Asher. Like the night before, Asher had refused to sleep, knowing that Vecna could come back for Max at any time. Yes, they had a way to protect her, but Kate Bush couldn't stop Vecna forever, and Asher knew that. So, he spent another night sleepless, keeping an eye on Max. The rest of the group had decided to take turns in staying awake with Asher to also keep an eye on Max, as well as trying to convince Asher to sleep. However, when it was Dustin's turn to keep an eye on Max, he had ended up falling back asleep. Asher didn't bother to wake him up, knowing that the kid needed sleep, so Asher just stayed awake by himself.

"How long have you been awake?" Max asks Asher as she wakes up, seeing Asher sat on the edge on the couch.

"I haven't slept" Asher tells Max as he turns to look at her, showing his very obvious eye bags.

"Ash, you haven't slept in two days" Max says to him as she sits up "Go to sleep. Now."

"I'm not tired" Asher says with a shrug.

"Oh yeah? Read this" Max says as she holds a piece of newspaper in front of Asher, where the words were just blurs in Asher's eyes.

"I can't read" Asher says with a sigh.

"See, you need to get some sleep" Max says to Asher "Why haven't you slept?"

"I can't sleep until I know that you're gonna be safe" Asher mentions as he looks down at his feet "Even if I tried to go to sleep, I just couldn't."

"Well, if you're not gonna sleep, do you want to raid the fridge?" Max asks Asher "I'm starving... and I know that you haven't ate in the past couple days."

"I'll be up for raiding the fridge" Asher says with a smile as the two walk upstairs, to see Karen, Ted and Holly already in the kitchen.

"Max, Asher, nice to see the both of you" Karen says to the two with a smile "You know, I love that you all are sticking together at a time like this."

"It's scary times, Mrs Wheeler" Max says with a fake smile.

"Are you two hungry? I'm making pancakes, they won't be long" Karen says to the two with a smile.

"Oh, Mrs Wheeler, you know the way to my heart" Asher says to her with a smile before Max and Asher sit down at the dining table with Holly.

"Hey, Holly, can I borrow your crayons?" Max asks Holly, who just nods, making Max pull the crayon box over to them as well as grabbing a few pieces of paper.

"What are you doing?" Asher asks Max.

"I'll tell you later and the others later, okay?" Max says with a shrug.

For the next hour, Max sat drawing while Asher was entertaining Holly. Asher didn't really know what to do to entertain a child, so he just ended up playing Connect 4 with the kid, which was entertaining enough. Even though Asher had pretty much lost every game, he was having fun.

"How do you keep beating me?" Asher asks Holly as Nancy and Dustin both walk into the kitchen "Have you rigged this?"

"Rigged?" Holly asks, not knowing what the word means.

"Have you made it so you win?" Asher asks Holly, making the girl laugh.

"Not my fault your bad at the game" Holly says, while she's still laughing.

"No, you just rigged it" Asher tells Holly "You found a way so you always win. Tell me how you always win."

"Why are you arguing with my sister?" Nancy asks Asher as she sits down at the table, making Max take her headphones off.

"Because she rigged Connect 4" Asher tells Nancy.

"You're just a sore loser" Holly tells Asher as Dustin sits down next to Asher, passing him a plate of pancakes.

"Hey" Max bluntly says to Nancy.

"Hey. You okay?" Nancy asks her.

"Just couldn't sleep" Max says with a shrug "People kept blasting music in my ears, for some reason. I'm just more worried about him" Max says as she looks over at Asher, who is busy eating pancakes "He's not sleeping either."

"He's just worried about you" Nancy tells Max before looking at all of the drawings on the table "Is this what you saw last night?"

"I mean, it's supposed to be" Max says "I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but... not so much."

"Is that--" Nancy goes to ask as she picks up one of the pieces of paper.

"It was like they were on display or something" Max tells Nancy "And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare."

"Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" Nancy asks.

"With Billy? Yeah" Max says, making Asher start to pay attention to their conversation "But when I made it here... I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there."

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind?" Dustin suggests "He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddy Krueger's boiler room."

"Freddy Krueger?" Holly asks.

"Oh, yeah, he's a super burned up dude with razors for fingers and he kills you in your dreams" Asher explains to Holly.

"Ash, seriously?" Nancy asks Asher "She's six."

"It's just a movie. He's not real" Asher tells Holly before looking back at the group "I mean, Dustin has a point. If he didn't want you there, then you must have got into your mind. Like, why would you have all this in your brain? Maybe you just found a way to get into his head."

"Maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague looking drawing" Dustin says as he picks up one of the pieces of paper "God, we need Will."

"Yeah, no shit" Max tells Dustin "But I tried them again this morning, and it's the same busy signal."

"How much is Joyce working?" Asher asks with a laugh "They better be getting rich or something or I'm going to be pissed."

"Is this a window?" Nancy asks Max as she picks up one of the pieces of paper "Stained glass with roses?"

"Yeah" Max says before looking at Dustin "See? I'm not so terrible after all."

"I mean, that's pretty debatable" Asher jokes with a shrug "I can't even tell what I'm looking at here."

"Says the person who can't even draw a stick-man" Max argues back with Asher, making him roll his eyes.

"Yeah, well it helps that I've seen it before" Nancy says as she starts folding up the pieces of paper and puts them into place to show a house.

"Isn't that the Creel house?" Asher asks "That place has been abandoned for years."

"Yeah, it is" Nancy says as she gets up.

"Where are you going?" Dustin asks, in the middle of eating a pancake.

"Waking the others" Nancy says before walking away, back to the basement.

1200 Words