Opposites attract (Mike W.)

CHAPTER SIXTY THREE

Act 4~Chapter sixteen: The final victim

(TW: The majority of this chapter contains mentions and descriptions of abuse and violence. If this may trigger you, skip this chapter)

After preparing all of the weapons for the battle, they had gotten back into the RV to drive to the Creel house. The ride there was completely silent, only the sound of the tires driving along the road to fill their ears. Avery and Mike were sat opposite each other at the table, holding each other's hands as a silent sign of comfort.

The RV eventually stopped outside of the large, broken house. Erica, Lucas, Mike, Max and Avery had gotten out of the vehicle after grabbing lanterns to make their way through the dark house. Before Avery could shut the door, the older teens plus Dustin said good luck to Avery. The younger brunette smiled and slammed the door shut, turning around and following the others into the house, taking a deep breath before stepping inside.

The five had split up to look for Vecna. Avery and Max had their favourite songs blasting through their head phones as to not allow Vecna to strike too early and take either one of them when they weren't ready. Erica held up a piece of paper towards Lucas and Mike, who were searching the living room, saying "Found Vecna". The youngest girl got a nod from the two boys, who ran to get Max and Avery who were in the attic and brought them to where Erica had left her lantern to show where Vecna was. Max walked over to it, and her lantern began to flicker. Erica took the lid off of her pen and wrote on a notebook and lifted it up. The four of them read "Phase one?" making Lucas nod at his sister. Erica ran outside and went to the park opposite the Creel house and went to the highest point she could, to flash her torch and signify to Robin, Steve and Nancy that they were ready for phase one.

They had gotten themselves comfortable in a different room waiting for confirmation that phase two can begin. They were sat in silence, not wanting to tell Vecna that they were there. Max and Lucas were sat opposite each other, writing little notes to each other on their notebooks whilst Mike and Avery were sat next to each other, Avery with her head on Mike's shoulder. Mike eventually grabbed his notebook, writing the word "hey" on it. Avery smiled, writing the same on her notebook. Mike then wrote "I love you" on his, showing his girlfriend and giving her a kiss on the head. They were interrupted by Erica flashing a torch into the window, Lucas flashing one back, showing he understood the message. Phase two could begin.

They made their way back into the room with Erica's lantern, which was still flashing, showing that Vecna was still there. Avery gave one last smile to Mike, who was looking very worried. She put the lantern down next to her. She took a final deep breath before taking her headphones off and turning off the music.

"Hey!" she shouted, talking to Vecna in the Upside Down, "Asshole! I'm here. No music." Avery waited for Vecna to do something but the lantern only continued slightly flashing, "Do you hear me? What are you waiting for? You were gonna get me today anyway, why not now? Come on, do you want me or not? I'm ready!" Erica's lantern slowly stopped flashing, then Avery's on the ground began flashing, then it stopped. Then Max's. Max followed the light, with Avery, Lucas and Mike behind her, leading them up to the attic. Vecna's place of killing. He was falling for it. Once arriving at the attic, Max's lantern turned off.

"What are you waiting for asshole? I'm right here," Avery stated, "I'm right here! I know you can hear me. I know you can read my thoughts. Even the worst ones. Probably only the worst ones."

Max put her lantern down next to Avery, as the brunette sat down, reluctantly taking off her headphones and placing them next to the lantern, Mike grabbing them without her knowing.