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The Creel House was as quiet and as creepy as the last time they'd walked in through its doors. The thick layer of dust that had settled on everything made the rooms even more quiet somehow, the only sound the creaking of the floorboards as Lucas and Max slowly made their way through the house, looking for signs of flickering lights. Max was walking ahead, and for the tenth time since they'd entered the house, Lucas checked to see if she was wearing her headphones. She was.
They continued on, quietly scanning the rooms for signs of light. They'd reached the piano room when Max suddenly screwed her eyes shut, bringing her hands up to press her headphones flat against her ears.
"No no no, we're not doing this right now," she muttered out. Lucas was instantly at her side, setting his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture.
"It's that damn clock again, it just keeps ticking," she explained, her eyes still closed, going to crank up the volume on her Walkman. Lucas started to nod in understanding but stopped midway as confusion flooded him.
"Max?" he voiced, apprehensive, looking around them in the room. It looked the same as before, abandoned and worn out, every surface covered in cobwebs. But there was something they must’ve missed the last time they were here. Because he swore he could hear it. A ticking noise.
"Max, I hear it too."
Max's eyes sprung open, instantly snapping to meet his.
"What?" she asked in utter confusion.
"I can hear a clock too. It must be real if we're both hearing it, there must be a working one somewhere here," he reasoned, turning to walk away, his gaze scanning the room, trying to spot the clock on a shelf or side table somewhere. Or maybe it was the grandfather clock all the way in the entry hall? Behind him he could hear the Kate Bush song getting louder as Max put down her headphones.
"But that doesn't make any sense. We would’ve seen it last time. Believe me, I would’ve noticed it," she argued while he continued to walk around the room, shining the flashlight at the dusty old furniture lining the walls. He was getting closer to the doorway leading out to the hall, and he was getting more and more convinced this was the old clock they’d seen there, since the ticking noise was only getting louder.
"I'm pretty sure it’s the clock in the hall, I’m gonna go check it out," he told Max. The ticking noise was going to drive him crazy if he didn’t figure out where it was coming from.
"Lucas…"
"Don't worry, it’s just gonna take a second, I’ll be right back," he assured her.
"Lucas I can't hear it anymore."
Furrowing his brow in confusion, the unmistakable ticking noise getting louder and louder in his ears, Lucas swung back around to look at Max, to ask her what she meant, to see if the panic that had seeped into her words was visible on her face.
"What do you—"
But as he turned, swinging the beam of his flashlight as he did, Max was nowhere to be found. Instead, his light hit the face of the familiar grandfather clock. Standing right in the middle of the room.
"Lucas…"
He felt a freeze traveling up his spine, felt the hairs at the back of his neck standing up on end, as the cold, terrifying voice whispered from the darkness of the room around him. It had already been creepy there, going back to the creepy old house in the middle of the night, but now it seemed as if the shadows were moving, creeping up towards him from the corners of the room.
"Did you really think you could avoid me, Lucas?" the voice spoke again as pitying and mocking as it was cold. He tightened his grip on the flashlight in his hand. He would find a way to fight this. He had to. He had to fight his way out of here, Max needed him. His friends needed him.
"Do they really?" Vecna's voice said, echoing around the room, and Lucas turned in place, shining his flashlight around to try to catch him. Nothing but shadows and cobwebs.
"You really think you can help them?" the mocking voice continued its drawl and Lucas furrowed his brow, trying not to listen. He couldn't let it get to him. He knew Vecna was trying to use his fears against him. He couldn't let it. So he planted his feet on the floor, his eyes on the doorway out to the hall where the front door led outside, ready to run.
"Go to hell!" he yelled out and then took off, running out to the hall and reaching the door, pulling it open and slamming it closed behind him. But as he turned to run down the porch steps, he stopped on his tracks. Because he wasn't outside. For a split second he didn't recognize his surroundings, and then he did, turning back around and suddenly he was twelve again, backed into a corner at the back of the middle school science room, facing the Demogorgon with just a weak little slingshot and a handful of rocks.
But it wasn't just the Demogorgon this time. The classroom seemed to stretch out forever, filled with angry blood red smoke, a horde of Demodogs running towards him, bat creatures with leathery wings circling overhead, disgusting vines slithering along towards him, making the ground shake. Lucas spread his arms, trying to find balance, and looked back behind him. But it wasn't just Mike, Dustin and El this time. It was everyone: Steve, Nancy, Robin, Eddie, Erica, his parents, Patrick… And they all looked terrified, petrified in place, their eyes on the monsters running their way. And the only thing between them was Lucas and his little pile of rocks.
"You can't protect them, Lucas," Vecna's voice came in an echo, and Lucas tightened his grip around the slingshot in his hand.
"You really think you can defeat us? You ?" the voice continued, mocking him.
"Shut up!" Lucas shouted out. This wasn't really happening. This wasn't real! He didn't have time for this! Frustrated, he picked up a rock, setting it to the slingshot and slung it towards the monsters running towards him. But all of a sudden the elastic of the slingshot was just gone, the rock pathetically falling at his feet.
"No, no, no, no," he repeated, panicked, turning back to his friends behind him, about to tell them to run for their lives. But they actually started to walk towards him.
"No! Turn back! What are you—" he started to yell, trying to push them back but they just kept walking. And as they got to him, they all parted around him, walking right past him, none of them even looking at him.
"Guys? Wait, where are you going?" Lucas yelled out, trying to grab Dustin's shoulder but his hand went right through him. And suddenly he was in the school parking lot again, watching the Hellfire club celebrate their victorious campaign without even a single look his way. It didn't matter that he'd been with them at every step of the way, had been there, fought alongside them for all the campaigns leading up to this one. It didn't matter that he'd pleaded with them to move the campaign, just this once, just by a day. None of that seemed to matter. They'd replaced him and forgotten about him.
"See? Even they don't believe you can do anything to help them," Vecna's voice echoed.
"Just give up."
"Give up."
"Give up!"
The red smoke engulfed Lucas and he soon found himself running along dark school hallways, people pushing past him, shoving him aside. Trying to reorient himself, he suddenly noticed a flash of red hair further along the hallway.
"Max!" he yelled out, a sense of panic flooding over him. He needed to make sure she was okay.
"Max! Wait! Max!" he yelled, fighting against the crowd pushing him back, keeping him from reaching her. A crowd he just now noticed was formed of people waving bright green and orange Hawkins Tigers banners, cheerleaders with their pom poms and uniforms, his teammates in their jerseys. And none of them had faces.
"Wait for me! Max please!" he screamed, finally breaking free from the crowd and falling onto the floor, scrambling up and running towards her.
"Turn around Max, please! I'm right here!" he yelled out, running as fast as he could, but she just kept getting further and further away. And as she did, her shoulders started to slump lower and lower, her steps beginning to stumble, like she was just one step away from falling down. And she still hadn't looked at him.
"I'm right here Max! Just look at me!" he continued to plead with her, his lungs burning from overexertion. But all of a sudden he reached her, his sneakers skidding on the linoleum of the hallway as he stopped right behind her.
"Max, finally, can you please—" he let out, relieved and out of breath, reaching his hand out to touch her shoulder. She turned around, moving her headphones down from her ears, and Lucas took a breath of relief, seeing she was fine, looking at him with an expression that was a little confused but mostly peaceful, like he'd just stopped to talk with her on the way to class.
"What is it, stalker?" she asked, the nickname and her slightly teasing tone warm and familiar and Lucas smiled softly.
But then the world was tilted on its axis, the ground shaking, the red fog rolling back in. Both of them fell to the floor as the hallway around them started to turn.
"Lucas, what is this?" Max asked, panicked, her eyes wide, her arms reaching out, as if trying to feel her way through the smoke.
"Max I'm right here, just grab my hand!" he told her, reaching out to take her hand but once again it went right through her.
"Lucas! Where are you?" she screamed, her voice frantic as she continued to look around herself in the hallway that was starting to tilt dangerously, both of them sliding along the floor, the row of lockers now above them, doors starting to slam open and piles of textbooks starting to fall out.
"I'm right here, Max! I'm right here!" Lucas screamed back, ducking the falling objects and crawling his way over to her. He needed to get to her.
"Can't you see I need your help, Lucas! Why aren't you here?" Max continued, her words forming into a wail that echoed in the red smoke around them.
"I'm right here, I'm going to help you, I swear!" Lucas yelled, finally reaching her again, grabbing ahold of her arms, holding her up. But it was like she still couldn't see him, continuing to frantically look around.
"Max I—" he started to say but then she suddenly tensed up, her face violently tilting up, her eyes rolling back into her head. He'd seen this before.
"No no no no no," he let out, panicked, trying to shake her out of it, trying to bring her headphones back up.
"Please Max, don't do this! Come back to me, please!"
Her bloodshot eyes suddenly snapped to meet his, the gaze of them empty, so empty and cruel.
"Why didn't you help me, Lucas?" her voice screamed like a siren in his brain, and he winced, ducking his head down.
"I needed your help! I needed you! Where were you?!"
"I'm right here, Max! I'm right here!" he assured her in desperation, starting to feel tears falling down his cheeks.
"I'm here!"
But before he could say anything else, there was a sick sound of cracking bone and he had to watch, horrified, as her face crumbled right in front of him, her mouth cracking open, her cheeks caving in. And then her eyes, her beautiful, sad blue eyes, burst, blood rushing out, spraying onto his face. And it just kept coming, the thick hot blood covering him as he tried to reach out for her, to hold her, to fix this. But the more he did, the more he felt her bones crack and break under his hands, her body convulsing and breaking apart in his arms. And he screamed, a horrified, desperate, blood-curdling scream that echoed in the smoke around them, echoed in all the blood drowning them. He was never getting out of here, he would never be able to save her, he would never be good enough. Never.
This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening! This whole time she'd just been occupied with keeping herself out of Vecna's reach. It was what everyone had been focused on. The thought of Vecna coming after all of them had crossed Max's mind for a fleeting, terrifying second, but she'd pushed it down. It was too scary to even think about. But now it was coming true.
Lucas was standing in the middle of the dusty wooden floor of the piano room, frozen in place, his eyes rolled back into his head, clearly in a trance. She should've known it was coming the second he'd said he could hear that damn clock. But she had been so confused, it had taken her a second too long to understand what was going on. And now he was paying for her mistake.
"Lucas, please! Can you hear me? Please wake up!" Max repeated for what felt like the thousandth time, shaking him by the shoulders. She felt so unbelievably helpless. He was right there, but his mind was somewhere far out of reach, and it felt like no matter how hard she tried, he couldn’t hear her. And her heart was breaking, painfully cracking into two as she realized this was what he’d had to go through that day at the graveyard. What she had put him through for the last weeks and months.
“Lucas, I’m so sorry, please come back to me! Please!” she begged, panicked tears full of regret rising into her eyes.
“Please come back!”
But it was no use, he stayed stuck in place, his eyes shifting/fidgeting back and forth, ugly bloodshot veins covering the brown eyes she knew so well.
“Shit, shit, shit,” she muttered, taking a step back, bringing her hands up to her head, trying to gather her thoughts, think of something, anything, to do to help him. This was all on her, she had no idea when the others would be back. And even if she did, it was still her responsibility. She’d been the one to get herself cursed and dragged Lucas into this, guilted him into wanting to stick by her, even at the creepy Creel house. If you’d been the one to go last summer, he wouldn’t be in this situation .
Max screwed her eyes shut, focusing on the music playing, pushing off that dark thought. It was no use now, she had to focus on figuring out a way to help Lucas. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her mind enough to think of something, focusing on the familiar drumbeat of the music playing on her headphones down around her neck.
Wait.
The music!
“You’re a Kate Bush fan?”
“Uh, yeah? Now I am!”
She quickly took the headphones off, weighing them in her hand before looking back at Lucas. It was such a long shot. But it wasn’t like she had a ton of other options. So she stepped up to him, reached her hands up to set the headphones over his ears. Her hands stayed up, holding the sides of his face, her eyes glued to him, praying this would work.
“Come on, work your magic…”
Lucas couldn't see anything. The thick, dark blood was drowning him, numbing his senses. The only thing left was his hearing, and that was the worst part of it all. Because there were voices screaming in his ears, the voices of all his friends, his family, crying out in pain and distress, cursing at him for not helping them.
"Why didn't you stop me from getting involved with this?" Erica cried out.
"Why did you abandon the party? We needed you but you left us! You traitor!" Mike yelled in a cold voice.
"Sinclair, I thought we were friends! Why didn't you do anything to stop this?" Patrick screamed.
"Lucas, I needed you! Where were you? Where were you?" Max sobbed, her voice breaking.
"Join me, Lucas."
He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut even more, trying to ignore the echoes of Vecna's voice getting stronger and stronger. But it was getting harder. He kept fighting. He kept getting back up every time he got knocked down. Every single time the nightmarish horrors descended on the town, he gritted his teeth and fought through it, pretended it was nothing he couldn’t handle, pretended he was all okay afterwards. But what use was it? Who was he to think he could face the horrors of the Upside Down and win? Who was he to think he was a fighter who could keep his friends out of harm's way? Who was he to think he was some knight, or a paladin, or a ranger who could save Max and make everything alright again? He was just one person, a lame, nerdy Freshman, way in over his head and scared as all hell. Maybe it really was time he gave up.
"Yes, you can stop fighting now. Give up, join me…"
Vecna's voice echoed in his ears and Lucas felt his body going limp. Maybe it was for the best.
But then suddenly he heard something else, the sound muddled under Vecna's poisonous whispers, under the screams still echoing around him. The sound was low, a rhythm of some kind, a drum. It cut through the dark mass around him, he could feel it vibrating through him. He furrowed his brow, confused, focusing on the sound. The rhythm was faint, but still familiar. It was almost like…
His eyes sprung open. Max.
He couldn’t give up. Not when his friends needed him, when she needed him.
He started to move, his movements slow against the heavy weight of the sea of blood surrounding him. But he kept on going. He had to swim up, to get to the surface. As he slowly got closer, the music began to get louder, and along the music he could also hear Max's muffled voice, calling out to him, begging him to come back to her. Using all the strength left in him, he pushed himself through the darkness surrounding him, straining as he made his way up. He had to get back to her. He had to. He reached the surface, his head breaking through and...
"Oh my God!" Max exclaimed in shock as Lucas's eyes burst open as he shook all over, drawing in a desperate breath of air.
"Lucas! Holy shit!" she continued, intense relief and shock coursing through her as her hands frantically moved to feel his face, dropping to his shoulders as he continued to heave in breaths, looking around himself. His eyes were blown wide in panic, his gaze wild and frantic as he tried to understand what had just happened. And her heart felt so heavy she was sure it was going to fall right through her. She knew how scared he must've felt, how disoriented, how panicked and relieved and unsure all at the same time. When she'd managed to break herself free of Vecna's curse, she'd found herself falling through the air, the world a loud disorienting blur around her. She hadn't know which side was up, if the world around her was real or not, if she was still hallucinating. But he'd been right there, catching her as she fell, holding her tight in his arms, grounding her to reality. She needed to do the same now. It was the least she could do after all he'd done for her.
"Hey, you're okay. You're okay," she told Lucas, lightly squeezing his shoulders, wanting to make sure he knew she was there.
"You did it, Lucas, you're back, you're okay, you're safe now," she repeated, her gaze searching his as he continued his labored breathing, looking around the room.
Then his eyes finally found hers, the look in them terrified.
"Max," he let out, his voice strained, an echo of a question in his words, like he wasn't sure if it really was her.
"I'm here," she replied, bringing her hands back to hold his face, her gaze steady on him. She wasn't going anywhere, she needed him to know that.
"Are you okay? You're not—" he asked, his voice rising in panic again. Max shook her head with force.
"Everything's good, I'm okay."
His eyes scanned over her, checking if she was telling the truth, if she really was okay. The clear worry in them made her heart ache. She couldn't even imagine the terrors Vecna could've showed him.
"Was it him?" she asked, her voice quiet. Maybe a redundant question, but she needed to know. Lucas's gaze snapped back to her and his face tensed up as she could almost see the images from the vision flashing back to him.
He nodded.
"You were— I couldn't—" he started to explain, his voice unsteady as she could tell the panic began to build up in him once again. But before it could take over him, Max sprung forward, wrapping her arms tight around him, pressing his head to lay against her shoulder.
"I'm okay, it wasn't real, it's okay," she quickly assured him, her grip tight on his shirt.
"This is real. We're real."
There was a ragged breath from Lucas and then he buried his face to her shoulder, clinging onto her closer as his shoulders started to shake as he quietly cried against her. Max could feel the tears forming in her own eyes. She hated seeing him hurt. She felt helpless and distressed, but also furious. Furious at Vecna for what he had done. To the town, to everyone he'd tortured and killed. None of them deserved it. Lucas didn't deserve it.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," she muttered to the side of his head after a moment.
"It wasn't real. You're okay."
"I—" Lucas started, stopping to clear his throat, his voice hoarse.
"I couldn't save you. He made me watch as you—"
Max grabbed onto him that much tighter, burying her face to his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she whispered against his shirt.
"I couldn't do anything, I tried but it just wasn't enough," he continued, his voice cracking from the helplessness in it.
"No. It's enough. You are more than enough."
Max lifted her head and drew away a bit, looking at him.
"Okay?"
She needed to make sure that he heard her. She should've told him that a long time ago. He looked down at her, his eyes puffy and glossy from tears as they focused on her, holding her gaze like only his eyes ever could. She wanted to hold him and never let go.
"Okay," he said along with a shaky breath, closing his eyes as if trying to steady himself. When he opened them again, he looked at her with fragile relief and hope and something else, something heavy that shined in their depths. And Max felt her breath catch in her chest, realizing how close his face was to hers, illuminated in the dark room by the glow of the flashlight she'd dropped to the ground when she'd rushed to help him. Suddenly nervous, she wet her lips, and his gaze flicked down to them for just a second before he focused on her eyes again. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She hadn't planned on this, her focus on just making sure he was okay and safe. But the relief of him coming back to her was coursing through her, humming in her ears and thrumming along her skin and it was getting hard to ignore.
So she nodded, just a tiny little movement of her head, her eyes never leaving his. His eyes widened just a bit, a question, a check to make sure she meant it. She did. No questions needed. His eyes got impossibly softer then as he started to duck his head down towards her. Her eyes fluttered shut.
She met him halfway, her lips finding his again. It felt so natural, the warm feeling that erupted from his touch familiar and comforting even if it had been months since they last kissed. She could tell as a breath of relief left him as he leaned further into the softness of the kiss, his fingers gently squeezing her sides through the heavy corded fabric of her jacket. She pulled him closer by her hands wound around his neck, wanting to feel him close, to make sure this was real. He kissed her like the town wasn't burning to the ground around them, like there was nothing else in the whole world he'd rather be doing. And she echoed it all back.
He was here, he was alive, he was safe. And she'd make sure he'd continue to be that way. She'd do whatever it took to defeat Vecna, to make sure he couldn't hurt him, or anyone else ever again.
An eerie feeling was starting to build in her gut, a suspicion that in order to keep him and all her friends safe, she would have to pay a price.
But after everything they'd done for her, what Lucas had done for her… she would do it.
But that could wait, for just a moment. The clock was still ticking for her, it didn't matter how long she ran from Vecna, she'd have to face him again eventually. But for just a moment she let herself push the fear of impending doom aside, selfishly clinging onto the happiness and comfort that was Lucas, and his steady warmth and his soft familiar kisses. She’d missed him so much.