Angelica "Freak Two" Munson

Chapter 77

"Whoa," she grins, wiping Max's hair out of her face, "What's this for?"

Max pulls back to look at her, "I know it sounds stupid, but I felt so alone when he died. I thought none of you guys cared-- that I was the only one mourning him."

"Of course, I mourned him Max. He was one of my closest friends when he died." Angie sighs, her smile falling, "He was trying to better himself for you and for me."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she nods, letting her tears hit the ground, "He needed a little push from me," she jokes, "But he really did want to be better."

Max lifts her envelope from the ground, "If I read this out loud, do you think he would hear it?"

"It never hurts to try." she shrugs, rethinking her plan, "I'm gonna head back to the car-- let you speak your peace."

"Actually, Ange," Max grasps her wrist, "could you stay here with me while I read it? You know, for moral support."

She smiles, wrapping a soothing arm around the girl, "Of course,"

"Dear Billy," she begins, "I don't know if you can even hear this. Two years ago, I would've said, 'That's ridiculous, impossible.' But that was before I found out about alternate dimensions and monsters, so... I'm just going to stop assuming that I know anything. So much has happened since you left. Your dad was..." Max stops, looking at Angie for a brief moment, "a total mess. He and my mom started getting into fights-- bad fights. I don't think he could stand being here without you... so he left. And he didn't leave Mom much. She's taken an extra job, and we moved to the lovely trailer park off Kerley. Right across the street from Angie."

She pulls Max closer, crying over her shoulder as she reads.

"Basically, ever since you left, everything's been... a total disaster. And the worst part is I can't tell anyone why you're gone. I can't tell them that you saved El's life-- That you saved our lives. I play that moment back in my head all the time. And sometimes I imagine myself running to you, pulling you away. I imagine that if I had, that you would still be here. And everything would be..." Max sobs, "everything would be right again. I imagined that we... that we could've become friends-- Good friends, like... like a real brother and sister."

Angie grabs her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"And I know that's stupid. You hated me. I hated you," she aggressively wipes her running nose, "But Angie says that you were trying to be better, so I thought that maybe... maybe we could try again." Max pauses, her voice lowering, "But that's not what happened. I just... I stood there and I watched."

She opens her mouth to correct the girl but eventually decides to let her finish. It's the least she could do.

"For a while, I tried to be happy. Normal. But I..." she gulps as her face flushes red with tears, "I think that maybe part of me died that day too. And I haven't told anyone this. I... I just can't. But I had to tell you," Max pauses, quoting Angie, "before it's too late... If you can even hear this. I really hope that you can." she sighs, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Billy... Love, your shitty little sister, Max."

Angie faces the girl to comfort her when she notices the trance-like state she's in.

"Max," she calls softly, becoming increasingly worried, "Max! Wake up!"

When she doesn't receive a response and Max's eyes rolls back, Angie stands, sprinting toward the car.

"Steve!" she shouts, tripping down the small hill, "Steve!"

He dashes for her, pulling her up from the ground, "What? What is it? What happened?"

"It's Max," she mutters, "She won't wake up. I think Vecna has her."

Lucas is first to get to her, not wasting another moment, but when Dustin runs to follow, Steve grabs him by the collar.

"Call Nancy and Robin!" He yells, "Go get them! Call Nancy and Robin! Go!"

He rushes back to the car, muttering a string of cuss words, "Nancy? Robin? Do you copy? This is a code red. Do you copy?"

Steve helps Angie back up the hill as Lucas grabs Max by the shoulders, shaking her.

"Please, Max," he pleads, "Please wake up."

"You have so much more life to live," she sobs, "please."

Steve turns, facing the car, "Dustin, hurry!"

"I'm trying!" he shouts, "Nancy! Robin! Code red. Code red. Do you copy-- Robin, where the hell are you? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red!"

"Dustin, it's Robin." her voice rings out, "We copy."

"Holy shit. Finally!" he inhales roughly, "Please, please tell me you guys have this figured out. We think Vecna has Max. What do we do?"

Nancy snatches the cerebro from Robin, "Find any music you can and play it for her. If we're lucky, it'll reach a part of her brain that we can't get to. Maybe it'll snap her out of it."

"Steve, where's the music in this thing?" Dustin yells, standing on the hood of the car.

He pauses with a confused expression, "Why do you--"

"Glove box!" Angie interrupts, "Check the glove box!"

Dustin grabs everything he can find from the car, alongside a walkman, "What's her favorite song?" he asks, throwing it all on the ground in front of them.

"Why?" Lucas questions with a scoff, "Why?"

"Nancy said that if she listens-- It's too much to explain now. What's her favorite song?"

He fumbles with the tapes, scrambling through them.

"What's her favorite song?"

"I'm looking. I'm looking."

"Which one?"

Lucas lifts one high, "It's right here! I got it!" he pulls it from the case, shoving it into the walkman.

"Go, go, go!" Angie rushes, "Put the headphones on."

The music begins playing loudly.

"Max, wake up!"

"Come on!"

"Max," she pleads, grabbing her cheeks, "please come back."

Her body raises from the ground, lifeless and fleeting.

"No, no, no!"

"Max!"

Her eyes fly open as her body shakes.

"Steve, catch her!" Angie yells as she begins to fall. He doesn't seem to register in enough time, so she slips underneath her, making sure that she doesn't crumble onto the ground.

Max thrashes against her, breathing heavily.

Lucas grabs her, holding her tight, "It's okay," he mutters, "I thought we lost you."

Her hands scramble across her body as her eyes widen, "I'm still here... I'm still here."