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"EXOTIC MATTER," Dustin said simply. He quickly grabbed hold of Brenner's journal, flipping it open to show Jonathan and Nancy. "It's a lot to explain right now. But basically.. cliff notes.. Holly isn't on the other side of that wall."
Nancy opened her mouth to respond, but Jackie was hit with realization. "And she wasn't at the Creel house."
Several heads cocked to the side. Steve was the only one who questioned her. "Uh, what?"
"Also a lot to explain but, um.." she shook her head. "Basically, that remote travel thing that El can do? I can do it too, I met up with them in.. my mind? When the ladder fell through. And I saw the Creel house. I saw all of the kids, but I didn't see Holly. Vecna is keeping the kids in the memory of his house, but if Holly isn't there, then..."
"She escaped," Nancy whispered.
"And the last time I saw Holly, she was with Max. Vecna showed me." Jackie tried not to shudder, the image of the girls sitting in a cave while Vecna taunted Jackie with them. "So if Holly escaped, that means Max did, too."
"But where did they escape to?" Jonathan asked.
Nobody quite had an answer, but a distant scream echoed from somewhere outside of the lab and it interrupted them from theorizing. Nancy's head snapped up—and Jackie recognized that look. From one older sister to another, there was only one expression that could mirror the sheer panic of realizing your younger sister was in trouble.
"Holly!" Nancy yelled, dropping Brenner's notebook and scrambling up the nearest flight of stairs. They all had no choice but to follow, sprinting after her.
Reaching the roof of the lab didn't take long, they were already practically at the top anyway. What did shock Jackie, however, was the sight of Holly Wheeler dangling mid-air over the exotic matter. She cried, sobbing Nancy's name, though she was hundreds of feet away from them. They couldn't reach her. Helplessly, all they could do was stare, watching an invisible force yank her back toward the sky and pulling her out of sight.
Dustin grabbed the walkie. "Hello?! Hello, is anyone there?! I repeat, is anyone there?! This is Dustin!"
"Dustin?!" A voice crackled from the other end, Jackie whirled at the sound of Mike's voice. "Holly's escaped from Vecna, and she's in her way to my house in the Upside Down. I need you to get there as fast as you can and rendezvous with Holly. Do you copy?"
They all shared a look. Jackie glanced back to where Holly had been seconds prior. "Holly's not at the house. We found her. We found Holly. Repeat, we found Holly."
"Dustin, I'm losing you."
"Found Holly!" Dustin yelled into the walkie. There was no response from the other end, and he groaned. "Stupid. Stupid!"
