Chapter Ninety-Three: Vecna/Henry/One

Once we had both caught our breath, Steve helped me to my feet before turning to face me.

"You scared the life out of me." He said, putting his hands on my arms and looking me over. "That one...that looked different than the other times. Before you seemed vaguely, somewhat conscious, but this time you were like, completely dead to the world-"

"That's because it was," I told him, looking up through the hole at the others before meeting his eyes again, "It was different this time. I wasn't witnessing someone else's attack, that one...this one was mine." 

"But you're alive," He pointed out, confused, "We didn't play music or anything, you just woke up." I nodded.

"Yeah, um...there's a reason for that," I replied, "Let's get back into our world and I'll sit down and explain everything."

He nodded in agreement, and I turned towards the sheet rope, jumping up onto it again. I pulled myself upwards through the opening, and once again, just like it had in my nightmare, my hair fell over the top of my head as the direction of gravity changed. I tightened the grip of my hands as the rest of my body came through, swinging down and landing on my feet on top of Eddie's mattress.

"That wasn't terrifying at all." Eddie said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back, and as soon as he let me go, Nancy and Robin had their arms around my entire body, crushing me between them. I smiled.

"I'm ok, guys. Honestly, its ok." I said, pulling away from them as Steve came through the portal. "But um...I've got quite a bit to fill you in on, so you might want to take a seat."

I sat down in a chair that sat in front of the window, while Nancy, Eddie, and Erica sat down on the couch across from me. Robin sat on the floor and Dustin and Max stood on either side of the couch, all of them watching me intently. Steve opted to sit on the floor beside me, putting a hand on my knee.

"For starters, I know who Vecna is," I told them, tucking my hair behind my ear, "He's actually Henry Creel...Victor Creel's son."

"I thought he died." Robin said. I nodded.

"Victor only thought he did,because that's what he was told," I explained, "He actually ended up at Hawkins Lab with Dr. Martin Brenner...he's Number One, he's the one that all the kids in El's program are based off of. He is the reason that they all have powers...and apparently why I have mine."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked. I bit my lip.

"Apparently, I was born...different, I guess. My Dad, when he was in the war, they had him working with Chemical Warfare. He spent hours at a time working with Agent Orange without gloves or masks or anything. He and everyone else they had working with that stuff thought they were fine because they were told that they would be. But then those soldiers grew up, and  they started having kids, and they were the ones reaping the consequences. Deaths, birth deffects...Cancer, in my little sister's case."

"But not you." Eddie pointed out. I nodded. 

"Apparently instead of facing the same side-effects as the other kids, I just...I don't know, absorbed it? Essentially, I was some kind of mutant freak before I ever went into the Upside Down. Its why I ended up with these powers, I assume its how Vecna was able to open his first gate, and...its why he took me to the Upside Down in the first place."

"Wh-Vecna knew?" Dustin asked. I nodded.

"He said we're the same," I continued, "He looked at the crappy circumstances of my life back then, mixed with my bizarre biology and he thought he could get me on his side. He's been planning all of this, my entire screwed up life from the very beginning. Probably since I moved to Hawkins."

"But that's crazy." Nancy stated.

"Yeah, I mean unless Vecna knows something we don't, you would never side with him." Max agreed. I shrugged.

"I'm hoping he's just underestimating me, to be totally honest," I stated, "But aside from my demented origin story, as well as his true identity...Vecna showed me what he's planning. He showed me what's about to happen...things that haven't happened yet. It was more just images, like my first visions while I was awake, but I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown was on fire, there were dead soldiers and some...giant creature with a gaping mouth. But it wasn't just this creature, there's a whole army of monsters; hundreds of monsters coming into Hawkins, our Hawkins and they...they infiltrated everything."

"Ok, but...he's just trying to scare you Riley. Right? I mean...its not real." Steve theorized. I shook my head.

"No, this wasn't like that," I told him, "This was a message for Eleven. Specifically for Eleven, he said he wanted me to tell her what I saw. I've gotten used to the feeling of Vecna's hallucinations, but this...this was real. I mean, it isn't yet but...it will be. The monsters, the cloud, all of it is going to happen...along with the gates."

"Gates?" Lucas asked. I nodded.

"I saw four gates ripping through Hawkins," I explained, "It wasn't like the other gates we've seen, it didn't stop. It tore through the ground and it just kept growing."

"Four chimes." Max said. I raised my eyebrows, thinking back to the clock.

"Four gates." I said, realizing it along with her. She nodded.

"Vecna's clock," She continued, "It always chimes four times. Four exactly. He's been telling us his plan this whole time."

"Four kills," Lucas stated, "Four gates. End of the world."

"If that's true," Dustin replied, "he's only one kill away."

Eddie buried his face in his hands.

"Try 'em again," Steve said, gesturing Max towards the phone, "Try 'em again."

"They're not going to answer," I told him, "You guys know how this works. If something is happening to us, I'm sure something is happening to them, especially since Vecna called Eleven out specifically. I'm sure they're in the middle of their own unique problems that will eventually connect to a much bigger picture."

"But Vecna can't hurt them," Nancy spoke up, "Not if he's dead. We have to back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

"Whoa, no, no, no, no, no." Steve arued.

"Nope," Eddie agreed, "Nope."

"Let's think this through, ok?" Steve stood up, turning to talk to Nancy.

"What is there to think through?!" 

"We barely made it out of there! If Riley wasn't thinking ahead-"

"But I was," I interrupted, causing them all to look at me, "And this time, we all will. I mean come on, guys. I've survived in their twice, both when I went in prepared and I wasn't, but if we all went in there knowing what to expect? Weirdly enough I like those odds."

"You can't be serious," Steve said, "You, of all people cannot be serious about this!"

"But I am," I said, standing up, "Look, we...we have never ever chosen the safe option. We have always done whatever was necessary to save our friends, and we're not just talking about our friends now, we're talking about our entire town. Potentially the entire world, and we can't just sit here and do nothing because its dangerous."

"Yeah, but Riley-"

"We're the only ones who have fought anything like this," I interrupted, "its exactly why we're the only ones who can." He shook his head.

"Don't...don't quote my own advice back at me. That's my thing." I smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"We'll get weapons and protection," Nancy theorized, "We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."

"Or he'll kill us." Steve said, seeming significantly less argumentative now. "The only reason Riley survived just now is because he wanted her to. He's not scared of us."

"And for good reason." Robin chimed in, standing up from her spot on the floor. "We were wrong about Henry...Vecna...One, sorry what are we calling him now?"

"One." 

"Vecna."

"One."

"Henry."

"Right, we've learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin, but my-my point is, he's super powerful, he could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers, it not a fair fight." Robin ranted.

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin asked. "You're right, he's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Erica asked skeptically.

"There aren't many, but they exist." I said, putting my hands on my hips.

"When El remote travels," Dustin continued, "She goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna."

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic." Lucas said. I raised my eyebrows, turning to look at Steve.

"How did you word it?" I asked. "When Vecna took me, you said I was..."

"Dead to the world." He repeated. I nodded.

"Sounds like a vulnerable target if I've ever heard one." 

"Exactly," Dustin continued, "When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, Physical body defenseless!"

"Defenseless? Yeah, what about the army of bats?" Steve asked, pointing to his bruised throat and holding up my bandaged hand. 

"Right, true, we'll have to find a way past them," Dustin said dryly, "Distract them somehow."

"And uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie questioned, rising to his feet.

"No idea," He sat down again, "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin."

"That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings," Robin replied, "At least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next, we don't even know who he's going to attack next."

"Yeah, we do." Max told her, arms wrapped around herself. "I can still feel him. I'm still marked...cursed..."

I furrowed my eyebrows, the hair on the back of my neck standing up as another feeling hit me...though this one was different. It was like, something was watching us, but it didn't feel like Vecna. It was something different, and yet...familiar. 

"I ditch Kate Bush," Max continued, "I draw his focus back to me."

"Max," Lucas said, "You can't. He'll kill you."

"I survived before," She argued, "With Riley's help. If we work together, I can survive again. We just...we need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic."

"Great, so now we're going back into the Upside Down without our resident expert." Steve said, gesturing to me. I shook my head.

"You guys can do this," I said, finding it difficult to focus on the conversation at hand, "You guys fought the demobats all on your own, you hardly needed my help."

"Then you can chop his head off...stab him in the heart, blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up, I honestly really don't' care how you put this douchehole in his grave, just...whatever it is...whatever you do...try not to miss."

My feeling intensified and I winced, putting a hand on the back of my neck.

"What is it?" Steve asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Vecna?" Eddie asked, tensing up and rising slightly off the couch.

"No...its not Vecna, but...I think something is...I don't know. Something's watching us." I said. Everyone started looking around, peering out the windows of the trailer. "No, not...I don't think who or whatever it is is here, its like..."

I held up a hand, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. I took a moment to center myself, focusing on the feeling and allowing myself to follow after it, searching my body and my mind for its true origin.

Once I felt as though I'd found it, I opened my eyes again. Everyone was still sitting there in silent anticipation but...everything else was gone. The furniture, the walls of the trailer, all of it was replaced with empty black nothingness.

"What is she doing?" Eddie asked, his voice echoing around the room.

"Shh," Nancy warned, her eyes stuck on me, "Quiet. I think she's focusing."

I looked away from them, searching for anything that wasn't one of us. I turned completely around, fully expecting to see more black nothingness...only to find a figure standing right behind me, staring at me with wide eyes. I gasped.

"What?" Steve asked, stepping up behind me. "Do you see something?"

"What do you see?" Nancy asked. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out why I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. 

"Eleven?"