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Mike is running.
Running for his life, actually, the sound of his shoes hitting the floor in his haste to escape, to get away, echoing through the space as he speeds through the twisting hallways of the Creel House. He pants and gasps for air as he runs, his chest burning with not only exertion but also terror.
Terror, at the booming footsteps he can hear behind him, following him like how a predator slowly hunts down its prey. There is no desperation in the sound, not like there is in Mike's panicked footsteps, there is only assurance, as if the predator knows that catching up to its prey and sinking its claws into it is inevitable. And the prey acutely knows that too.
Mike runs and runs and runs but it feels as if the hallway never ends, which can't be right, Mike knows the real hallway in the Creel House was not this long, and that throws his mind into even more of a panic. His thoughts are disjointed and hazed over with the force of his fear and confusion.
Mike wasn't supposed to be the one Vecna possessed. He didn't expect it at all, none of them did. For a moment, he spares a thought to his friends in the real world, wondering what they're doing and if they're okay (Can Vecna possess multiple people at the same time? Is Max okay? Is the group in the Upside Down version of the Creel House getting ready to kill Vecna?), whether they're trying to wake him up right now (They didn't even pick up a casette of his favourite song, shit, shit, shit-), but he can't ponder upon it all for too long since he's still kind of getting chased by a terrifying Upside Down monster/powerful lab experiment/crazy child who murdered his whole family except for his dad who is currently also trying to kill him.
He finally reaches a doorway, a small sense of relief filling him at the sight, and he scrambles to open the door and throw himself into the room, quickly closing the door behind him as he heaves for air. He immediately spins and takes in the rest of the room, or tries to take it in since it's dark and cold and extremely creepy. He spots a window hidden behind curtains and perks up, shooting towards it and almost tripping along the way.
His violently trembling hands throw open the curtain and his heart sinks as he's greeted by the sight of multiple floorboards blocking the window.
"No, no, no!" He yells, his voice cracking embarrassingly, but there is no time to get embarrassed about it like he usually does, not when he can still hear Vecna's intimidating footsteps inch ever closer.
His hands fumble with the floorboards, desperately clawing at them in an attempt to get them off. The wood splinters dig into his hands, no doubt injuring them and making them start to bleed, but he doesn't pay any attention to it. His body tenses at the sound of the door handle being turned and the door creaking open, but it's the voice that rings out afterwards which makes him freeze.
"Mike?" The voice of Will Byers calls out, the way he calls Mike's name sounding so familiar in his mouth. Instead of unconsciously relaxing like it normally does when it comes to Will (though, perhaps that has not been true for a while), Mike's body stiffens.
He can't help but slowly turn back towards the doorway, feeling like a puppet being pulled along by its strings, like he doesn't have full control over his body anymore, as the fear and desperation and helplessness he feels mixes in his stomach and creates a truly nauseous mix at the thoughts of what he might see.
Maybe he'll see Vecna's disgusting true body, standing right behind him, his claw held over Mike's head as he gets ready to kill him. Or maybe he'll see Will's tear-stricken anguished face, as the rain beats down around them, or his corpse pulled out from the quarry which Mike now knows wasn't real but it looked so real and still haunts his dreams and sleepless nights. Somehow, it's those two possibilities that scare him more.
But instead, he just sees Will. Normal Will, who Mike had seen again for the first time in months this week. The bowl cut he had always had on his head, wearing a yellow and blue shirt, his hazel eyes fixed on Mike, staring at him with a frown on his face.
The space around Mike suddenly seems brighter again, as if he had been thrown into another memory, or as if Vecna was attempting to lull him into a false sense of security, allowing him to see the face of his best friend better as it was forcibly twisted into something unrecognizable in front of him.
He and Will silently stare at eachother, the former's expression twisted in fear and shock, and the latter's set in a frown. Abruptly, the expression on Will's face changes into a cold look, the glare Mike gets sent his way making his heart jump to his throat.
"Why are you running away again, Mike?" Will- No, Vecna in Will's visage says, stepping closer to Mike. He moves forward slowly, deliberate and intimidating, his head tilting slightly as he pins Mike down with his cold gaze, eyebrows furrowed and mouth tense.
Mike's hand continues to fiddle with the floorboards he can still feel behind him, but it's a weak action and not actually accomplishing anything. He's frozen in place, feeling like he can't look away from the sight of Will's body slowly approaching him, not when he looks at him like that.
"You're always running," Will's voice rings out in a harsh tone, as Mike backs up against the wall, futilely trying to get away. There is nowhere to run. "In an attempt to escape your own feelings like a coward, you hurt everyone around you. You hurt me."
The look on Will's face is deeply unfamiliar. Mike has never seen Will look at him like that before, not even during the times they were not getting along well, with so much frost in his expression, sharp glare boring into Mike and pinning him against the wall, taking his breath away. Will's body moves closer and closer as Mike's back is pressed against the floorboards behind him, having inched back as much as he can but unable to escape anymore. He's trapped.
Will's arm rises but instead of grabbing or hurting Mike like Mike expects Vecna to do, his hand presses against the surface right next to Mike's head, as he cages him against the wall and his body. "You can't run away anymore, Mike." He says. "I won't let you."
I won't let you...
For some reason, a part of Mike's mind buried right at the back of his head chooses that time to register the fact that Will's voice had gotten deeper since the last time they saw eachother before El and the Byers moved away. Mike had already noticed before now of course, but at this moment, with his back pressed against the wall and caged in by Will's arm, the ways Will has changed as they grew up become even clearer.
While Will is still shorter than him, his shoulders have broadened, and he has gained some muscle during the period of time they haven't seen eachother. Which is a bit weird, since Mike really doubts the idea that Will joined a sports team in California or something, but then again, Mike had always been thin and struggled to gain weight, so him being slimmer than Will makes sense.
Besides Will's body, other parts of him like his face and voice had noticeably matured as well. Gone is the small, cute, doe-eyed boy who would meekly look up at you and whose smile shone like the sun, and in his place is a handsome young man. Though, Mike thinks absentmindedly, Will's smile still shines like the sun.
Instead of wasting time thinking about stuff like this, Mike should really get a move on already and start struggling, push Vecna away from him, make a run for it, and not just stand there gawking like an idiot. But when he's being pushed against the wall and looked at like that by Will, even if the one in front of him is not Will but instead Vecna impersonating him, his gaze making Mike feel as if he's being towered over despite Will being the shorter one, his voice cold and degrading in a way Will's voice had never been and that tone making a strange feeling start to swirl around in Mike's stomach, his arm which Mike can't help but notice has now actually gained some muscle definition compared to when they were younger trapping Mike against the wall...
Suddenly, inexplicably, Mike's ears start to redden.
He doesn't know why but he can feel himself slowly flushing, body growing redder and redder as the blush on his ears spread down to his cheeks, and then down his neck. He blinks down at Will like a deer caught in headlights, frozen in place. It feels like there is a lump in his throat and he tries to swallow it down to no avail. He does end up swallowing a lot of his saliva though. Why is his mouth producing so much saliva right now, even though it feels dry too all of a sudden?
He feels like a fragile butterfly being pinned against a table and being closely studied by a scientist, or like a prey about to be jumped by a predator. The terror and panic in his stomach is still there, but it's mixing in with something new, that new sensation lighting up a fire in there. His body cold with dread and the freezing temperature of the house starts to grow warmer. Hotter.
Will's gaze is still on him, tracking his movements. Vecna, Vecna's gaze. Right. Why isn't Vecna doing anything? Why isn't Mike doing anything? He should move. Get out of this situation and run away as fast as he can. Like, right now. But something about that look in Will's gaze, the unfamiliar sharp tone and mean words coming from his mouth, directed towards Mike...
(Even if this sort of thing had never happened between them before, Will's gaze on him has always made Mike simultaneously want to run far away, from his feelings towards Will and his own self and everything and everyone else, but also want to stand in place next to Will, forever together with him, facing everything head-on and taking whatever Will will give him, since after all, it'd all be okay as long as he was with Will. So maybe the feelings this situation makes him feel aren't entirely unfamiliar after all.)
For a split second, Mike imagines being in this situation with the real Will. Being pinned against a wall by him, the warmth of his body next to Mike's, so close that Mike can feel it, being stared at by him like this, being talked at by him in that voice...
(Will's gaze on him has also always made him feel a little flustered.)
Mike feels his body flush even more.
Besides the other feeling Mike can't name (refuses to name, you're always running-) swirling inside his body, embarrassment also rears its head and he suddenly gets a strong urge to hide himself. He brings up his hands to his face to cover his tomato-red cheeks, gaze meekly falling down to the ground, his eyes flitting around nervously. He feels like he may be overheating.
"Um." Mike croaks out.
Shit, maybe Nancy was right during the times she called him stupid while they were bickering. He's never telling that to her though, he hates the smug little look she gets on her face whenever he realizes she's right.
Will's body infront of him shifts and slightly moves back, making Mike remember the monster infront of him who is currently trying to kill him. He probably shouldn't just be forgetting that. Why are his thoughts spinning in circles like this right now? He doesn't know. His face feels so red.
Mike's gaze snaps up to meet Vecna's at the motion, but instead of being met with the sight of Vecna's terrifying true face or just getting murdered immediately, he sees Vecna still in Will's normal body, the expression on his face seeming... somewhat baffled?
They both stare at eachother for a second.
Great, Mike thinks a bit hysterically, he, Mike Wheeler of all people, was probably the first one ever to genuinely catch Vecna completely off guard, the Vecna who is, y'know, the Upside Down monster who can literally see every single thing inside a person's mind, due to how much he likes the thought of his best friend caging him in somewhere with his arms (which Mike really wants to touch and feel with his own hands, by the way-) and then being mean and domineering towards him, and the sheer amount of attraction he feels towards said best friend.
...Oh god he's attracted to his best friend, to Will-
Mike sees Will's mouth open and his face start to change into something else, their surroundings turning darker again, and in that moment he finally pushes Vecna away and darts towards the door, opening it and starting down the annoyingly long hallway once more.
Mike continues running.