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

chapter 31

tw for panic attack

  "No!" I yell as I look at the images of the Upside Down.

"Tell her... everything." Vecna says as it feels like my heads splitting open.

"No!" I yell as I open my eyes, going back to the real world.

"Woah, woah, woah." Steve says as he holds me.

I gasp as I look around. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.

"Hey, I'm right here. We're both here." Steve says as Nancy kneels down towards me.

I hyperventilate as I grab my hair. This isn't real. Was that real?

"Shit. Okay, we're gonna bring you up, okay?" Steve says as I nod and stand up.

Go back to the real world and then I can focus on breathing. I go through the gate as I fall down on the mattress, Dustin running towards me.

"Hey, Addy! You okay? What happened?" Dustin asks me as I sit down and hold my head.

"Hey, you need to breathe, okay? Breathe." Steve instructs as I look at him.

"I can't." I say as I gasp.

"You can. Someone get me a glass of water." Steve says as Eddie runs out of the room.

"He was there. I couldn't get out. I couldn't get out." I repeat as tears well up in my eyes.

"Okay, can you hear me? Copy me." Dustin says as he takes Steve's spot, taking deep breaths as he holds me.

I try to copy his breathing, my lungs killing me as I close my eyes.

Eddie hands me a glass of water as I drink it, my hands shaking.

I calm down a bit, my breathing still off as I sit down in a chair, the rest of the group sutting down in a couch in front of me as Robin sits on the ground.

"He.. he showed me... things that haven't even happened yet." I start as I look at the group.

I put my head in my hands as I remember what happened.

"I saw... a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Um, downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this.. giant creature with... a gaping mouth." I say as I take a deep breath, a tear rolling down my face as I wipe it away.

"It wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. So many. They were coming to Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes." I say as more tears go down my face.

"He.. he showed me my parents. They were all..." I say as I wipe away my tears.

Flashback

"Mom, dad?" I ask as I look at my parents lying on the ground.

"This is what happens when you try to hard to be the hero, Addison." Vecna says as I look at my parents, blood running down their heads.

End of flashback

"Okay, but... he's just trying to scare you, Addy." Steve says as I look at him, ignoring the fact he called me by my real name.

"Right? I mean... I mean, it's not real." Steve says.

"Steve, you don't know what I saw. It was so real. It might not have happened yet. But, um... there was something else. He showed me gates." I say as everyone looks at me.

"Um, four gates. They were all spreading across Hawkins. And they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but... they didn't stop growing. And... this was our Hawkins. Not the Upside Down Hawkins, our Hawkins. Our home." I say as Steve looks down on the ground.