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"IT WAS HERE. RIGHT HERE."
It was no secret that anyone who had ever battled the Upside Down and survived against all odds had trauma that followed them in the ensuing months and years. It haunted them in the form of nightmares, flashbacks, sudden disturbances that could be equated to the presence of supernatural beasts, the pressure that it took to maintain a fake smile for the rest of the world – their loved ones included – and the occasional headache. The Upside Down broke their skin and bones, leaving them soldiers returning from war half their weight. But none of them had it worse than Max, whose PTSD made her the ideal next target in Vecna's twisted game.
"A grandfather clock?" Nancy questioned, directing her flashlight at the empty stretch of wall Max claimed an ancient clock had been lodged into minutes earlier.
"It was so real," Max's voice quivered, tears cascading down her cheeks. She wanted to believe it was merely a trick of the mind, but it was just that – a warning from Vecna that her hours were numbered, just as Fred and Chrissy's had been. They'd both been prisoners of their own minds when Vecna had slain them. "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."
"It was like she was in a trance or something," Dustin added grimly. "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy."
Max pivoted around to face them, utterly lost and broken. Amara felt sick to her stomach, like she'd seen the clock as well. They now understood how Vecna chose his victims and that someone had managed to escape his curse, but at a terrible price; Max's fate was in his hands and she would be dead soon if they didn't act fast. They were in a race against a clock of Vecna's own creation.
"That's not even the bad part."
Amara wondered how it could get any worse than that. She didn't want to know how it could get any worse than that.
"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help," Max explained once they were cocooned within Ms. Kelley's office, crowded around her desk as they peeked at the files she had drawn commonalities of her symptoms from. "Uh, they were both having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then... then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... everything ended."
"Vecna's curse," Shaelynn realized, her fingernails pressing indents into the chair Robin was occupying. She felt like she was going to throw up.
"Chrissy's headache started a week ago," Max continued, terrified out of her mind. Everyone thought of dying but when the time came around, no one wanted to accept their fate. Certainly not when a supernatural mastermind had cursed them long before they were supposed to go. Certainly not when they knew ahead of time just how violently and painfully they were going to perish. "Fred's, six days ago. I've been having them for five days. I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so... looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."
