Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler is cursed. He can feel it. All the signs are there, the migraines, the nosebleeds, the nightmares. It’s exactly what Max had described to them before she was taken. So yes, he’s almost positive Vecna has cursed him. Although he isn’t exactly looking forward to the attack happening, he has made peace with it. He’s ready. And he isn’t going to tell anyone. He can’t.
Everyone is already scared from everything that has happened, he can’t bring himself to add to their pain. He knows that this is probably a stupid idea, but he doesn’t want them to try to help him. He has seen this before. The Party had done absolutely everything they could to save Max and it didn’t work. So he isn’t going to bother anyone with it. The one thing he can’t be sure of was when it’s going to happen. He assumes it will happen sometime in the next week, if not sooner.
He’s sitting in his room clutching his head after another frighteningly realistic nightmare when he hears a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he says. The door opens slowly and he sees Will standing there. His heart pinches as he thinks about how close this was to the last time he would ever see his best friend's face again.
“Hey!” Mike says, trying to muster as much enthusiasm as possible with how much his head hurt.
"Hi," says Will. "Are you okay?" Shit. Mike realizes he's still holding his head and quickly drops his hands.
“Yeah I’m fine,” he replies. “Just a headache,” No point in lying. Will would see right through him. Will gives him a strange look but seems to accept this.
“Your mom wants you to come down for dinner,” says Will. Mike sighs. That means more pretending.
“Okay,” he says. “Tell her I’ll be down in a minute,” Will gives him that odd look again but leaves. Mike instantly feels bad as Will walks out of the room, worrying that he had been rude or offputting. He brushes it off though, and prepares to face everyone.
As he walks downstairs, he hears the chatter of everyone sitting down to enjoy his mothers lasagna. His favorite. Since the Byers moved in with his family, dinner has become a much bigger affair than it has ever been. He likes it a lot more than dinner was before, with his parents arguing and Nancy storming off at almost every meal. He takes his seat in between Will and Nancy and tries to block out the noise of Holly talking about her day. “Hey,” Will whispers to him. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re acting really weird.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Mike whispers back. “Just tired.” Will doesn’t look pleased with his answer but doesn’t press him.
Will has always been observant, noticing the exact time the leaves began to change from green to red and orange, and when Mike’s mom moved a lamp to a different table. But he was especially attentive when it came to his friends. He could always tell when Max had a bad day just from looking at Lucas’s face, and he always knew when El was having a hard time at school from the way she closed off and became hunched down. Mike used to love that Will noticed everything, but it was proving to make it difficult for him to hide his symptoms. He had begun to speak to Will less in order to hide it better, and he could tell that it was hurting him. But he would forget about it when Mike was gone.
Mike looks across the table at El who is also giving him a strange look. He quickly checks himself over to make sure his nose isn’t bleeding or his eyes aren't focused. But El isn’t looking at him because of his symptoms, he realizes. It was because his head is still tucked in close to Will’s, and his entire body is facing him. Will had been one of the big reasons for his breakup with El. She thought that he cared more about Will than her, and when Mike couldn’t deny it, they ended things. He couldn't choose anyone over his best friend. It was a bit icy between them for a few weeks, but they had long since reconciled and were now on good terms. Mike might even call her one of his best friends.
Neither of them told anyone that they weren't together anymore, to avoid the awkwardness that was their families, so everyone assumed that they were still dating. Mike had come close to telling Will a few times, but never did. It was stupid, and he knew it. He should be able to tell his best friend that he broke up with his girlfriend, but something stopped him every time. Mike sits up straight and forces a tight smile at El, trying to assure her that everything is normal. She shakes her head and turns back to her conversation with Hopper.
Mike feels Will’s shoulder brush against his. It should be a familiar, grounding warmth, but today it makes Mike want to scream. He wants to grab Will and tell him everything—to tell him he’s sorry for being distant, and that he is terrified. But he swallows the words down along with a dry bite of pasta.
Then, the light in the dining room flickers.
Mike looks up, his fork clattering against the ceramic plate. The chatter of the table vanishes. Hopper’s laugh is cut off mid-breath. Nancy is frozen, a glass of water halfway to her lips.
Dong.
The sound of the clock doesn't come from the hallway. It comes from inside his own chest.
"Mike?"
He turns to Will, but the dining room is gone. He is back in his basement. The air is cold and thick with floating grey spores. Will is standing by the D&D table, but his eyes are gone—replaced by the milky, hollow stares of the possessed.
He closes his eyes for a second and when he opens them he is staring at the faces of Will and the rest of The Party looking back at him. He’s in his basement, with a campaign in front of him. Eddie’s campaign. But Eddie isn’t there, and The Party is looking at him with hatred in their eyes. He hears a deep chiming in the background and turns slowly to see a large grandfather clock, with the pendulum swinging slowly, menacingly. He panics, and looks up the stairs at the door, which isn’t there. In its place is a blank wall.
He’s trapped.
“Micheal,” he hears from behind him. He turns around and sees Will moving slowly towards him. “Your time is soon to come,” he says. His voice is unnaturally deep and grating.
“Wh-what? Will, what are you doing?” Mike asks.
“You cause great pain to the people in your life,” says Will. “They will be glad to see you gone,” Dustin, Lucas, and El all nod slowly behind him. Mike chokes out a sob. He knows this isn’t real, it can’t be. But this is by far the most realistic vision he has had. His time really is soon. “N-no!” Mike says. “I’m not ready!”
“The truth doesn’t wait for people to be ready,” says Will/Vecna. Mike turns to the left and spots a small window above a bookshelf. He glances at his friends and their empty eyes again and moves towards it.
“This is the last time you will be able to escape,” he hears behind him as he reaches for the glass. Tears are streaming down his face while he struggles to open the window. He finally breaks through and takes one final look at the dismal scene behind him and sees that his friends have been replaced by three demogorgons. Will stands in front of them, but it’s not Will anymore.
His skin and clothes are slowly melting to reveal Vecna standing where his best friend once was. He lets out a scream and pushes through the window. He finds himself in a seemingly neverending abyss. He begins to run, not having a destination in mind, but needing to get as far away from Vecna as possible. He thinks of his family as he runs, remembering Max telling them that it helped to save her. Nancy, Mom, Holly. Nancy Mom Holly. NancyMomHolly. He leaves his dad out of this chant because he doesn’t have any good memories with him, but it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s not working.
He thinks of his friends. Dustin, Lucas, El, Max. And Will. These names run through his head as he runs even faster. His legs are about to give out when he sees something in the sky. It’s Will and his mom leaning over him, screaming his name. He uses his last bit of strength to push his way through the window in the sky, and fight his way back to his family.
To Will.