Chapter Text
The others had to watch it happen.
Everyone was involved, everyone made mistakes — but you just could think of your mistakes and they had circled themselves around your guilt, unbeknownst to you boosted by Vecna. They had kept building, stronger and stronger, until one day you disappeared.
The gang wasn’t sure where you had gone and what had happened. Your family had no idea either, but everyone knew one thing: you had been depressed, and depressed people may do reckless things.
Jim had assigned police forces to look for you, but it was hard because a lot of places were restricted because of the army — the dogs always caught your scent from places near the army bases, and they couldn’t look further.
What if you had been caught by the army because someone found out you’re friends with El? They wondered, but there was no other proof about it. You also weren’t young enough for Vecna to take you to the Upside Down, so the only option left was that you had left Hawkins, snuck past the army somehow and disappeared by your own free will, burdened by everything that had been happening lately.
Oh, how wrong they all were about it.
“What happened to them?” Holly asked when she saw you for the first time. Henry sighed, caressing your cheek gently with his forefinger, but you didn’t react, you just stared blankly ahead.
“Monsters got them,” he replied. “They sucked the soul out of them.”
Holly frowned. “Can’t you get it back?”
“Oh, my dear Holly. I would have done that long ago if I could, but monsters are too strong — there’s a fair chance I’d end up...” He gestured towards you. “I found them at my yard shortly after they had been attacked. They had flickers of sanity left and I tried to restore their mind, but they quickly ended up in this condition. Such a shame, and what a waste. But I like to think they’d want a purpose in life, even when they can’t be in control of it anymore.”
Holly looked at you for a moment longer, grazing your hand with her fingers. “I’m glad they have found a safe place to live because of you.”
Henry sighed, smiling sadly, before looking at you and nodding towards the attic. “Well. Could you go and find Holly some books to her room? I heard she likes fantasy and I remember seeing a box of fantasy books somewhere in the attic.”
You didn’t nod, didn’t take eye contact, and just started walking stiffly towards the stairs. Holly stared after you for a moment, before she was nudged towards her room by Henry.
Just a day forward from that moment, and everything Holly had thought about this place turned out to be a lie. Her brother’s friend, who was supposed to be in a coma, was in front of him, telling that the reason she’s in a coma is because she’s trapped in Henry’s mind with no way out. Holly had a hard time believing her at first, but something told her that she spoke the truth.
“Find out everything about Henry’s house, every little nook and secret you’ve found,” Max told her. “He may—”
Holly grabbed her arm in panic. “You mean I have to go back there?”
Max nodded. “If he comes back and notices you’re gone, he’ll guess you’re with me.”
“I don’t know if I can spy around his house, he has this creepy servant who he says monsters corrupted but he saved them—”
“A servant?”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding and next thing Holly said made Max’s eyes widen. She said your name.
It took a moment from her to recover. “They’re his servant?”
Holly tilted her head. “You know them?”
“I’m their girlfriend.”
“…What?”
Max shook her head. “You— you said Henry said monsters corrupted them. How exactly?”
“I don’t know, he said they sucked a soul out of them, and now they’re this, uh, they just wander around the house and always stare at my direction whenever we’re alone, I’m pretty sure Henry has told them to watch me,” Holly said, before she clasped her hand in front of her mouth. “They might have seen me go to the woods.”
Max’s eyes widened upon realising that, and she stood up. “Go, hurry back. They may have contacted Henry somehow about not finding you, make up a story where you were as long as the place is inside the mansion.”
Holly nodded fearfully, shaking slightly as she stood up and hurried away. Max leaned against the stone, watching Holly’s form disappearing between the trees as she swallowed. Returning home just became much harder.