You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man

chapter 28

  We drive back to the Wheeler's, as I catch my breath.

I sit in the passenger seat as I look at Steve.
"How'd you know my favorite song?" I ask.
"Uh, Nancy." Steve replies as I leave the car, Nancy running towards me.

"Addy! Are you okay?" Nancy asks as he looks at me.

"I'm okay, Nancy, really." I say as she hugs me.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again! You don't know how I felt when I had to say your favorite song!" Nancy asks as I smile.

"It's okay, Nancy. I'm fine." I say as she takes me inside.

"Okay, Addy. Listen to Kate Bush when you're awake." Dustin says as I nod and turn on my headphones.

—

"Nancy?" I ask. They all switch between "Addy watch."

"Yeah?" Nancy asks me.
"Um... what Vecna showed me. At first, it was Mike. And, it seemed so real. He kept telling me I cared about Will more than I cared about him. Did Mike ever talk to you about that?" I ask Nancy.

"No, he never did. And even if did, we all know you love Mike more than anyone else."

"I still do love him. I... if I get through this. I need to talk to him. Like badly." I tell Nancy.

"You will get through this. You're strong, Addy. You can get through this." Nancy says as I nod, closing my eyes as I lay down on the couch.

I wake up, to see everyone asleep. I sigh as I close my eyes, not being able to go to sleep. Great.

I go upstairs, and see Karen and Ted in the kitchen, Holly in the dining room.

"Hey, Addy. You wanna sit?" Karen asks me as I nod, sitting down next to Holly.

I look at Holly, who's coloring on a piece of paper.

"Do you think I can draw too?" I ask Holly as she looks at me.

"Yeah." Holly says as she gives me a piece of paper and crayons.

I start drawing what I saw yesterday. Red fog, clocks, doors, Fred, Chrissy.

"Everything's okay." I hear and I turn around, looking at Dustin and Nancy.

Running Up That Hill continues blasting in my ear as Nancy sits down next to me. I take off my headphones and turn off the music.

"Hey." I say to Nancy.
"Hey. You okay?" Nancy asks.
"Just couldn't sleep. People kept blasting music in my ears, for some reason." I say as Nancy chuckles.

"But, Holly, over here, let me borrow some of her crayons. We've been having fun, right Holly?" I ask as she agrees.

Nancy looks at my drawings, pointing at one of them.

"Is this what you saw yesterday?" Nancy asks me.
"Well, it's supposed to be. I thought it'd be easier to draw it out, since that's what worked with Will." I say as I remember when Will couldn't explain what he saw, so he drew.

"Is that?" Nancy asks, looking at the drawing of Fred and Chrissy.

"It was like they were on display. And there was like, this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare."

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

"With Mike? Yeah. But when I made it here... I don't know. It was like, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like... like he didn't want me there." I explain to Nancy as Dustin sits down.

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room." Dustin suggests.

"Freddie Krueger?" Holly asks.