Chapter Ninety-Seven: You Will Break

Lucas, Max and I reconvened in the living room as we waited for Erica to give us the ok.

Max and Lucas were perched across from each other on the arms of each couch, and were using their notepads to write notes back and forth while 'Running Up That Hill' continued to blare from Max's headphones. I was sitting on the other end of Max's couch.

I smiled at the goofy, dopey grins on their faces as I thought back to what Robin said about them in the woods before turning back to my own legal pad.

I absently drummed the tip of my pencil against the pad, reading over the list of potential baby names that I'd been writing for the past several minutes. 

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Max and Lucas both looking at me. Max held up her own notepad. 

What are you writing?

I smiled sadly, adding a small message to the bottom of my list before ripping it out and handing it to her. She looked down at it, furrowing her eyebrows before looking up at me. I nodded towards Lucas, asking her to give it to him.

Married one day. A little early?

I bit my lip, writing out my response.

Not exactly.

I showed it to her, causing her to raise her eyebrows, glancing at Lucas, who looked equally shocked. I nodded. 

When? Lucas wrote.

Depends, I responded, What time is it?

Max made a face, hitting me in the arm with her notepad. I smiled, rubbing the place she'd hit me before writing yet another message for Lucas.

Hold onto that list for me. Just in case. Want him to know I was thinking about it.

I turned the pad to look at him and he nodded with a solemn look on his face before writing out an answer.

I will, but I won't need to.

I smiled, glancing between them.

Have you two gotten back together yet?

Max smiled at this.

Movie Date Friday.

I smiled back, earning yet another note from Lucas. 

Writing notes. Takes me back. First night we met.

I nodded in agreement.

Too bad we don't have that 'mute telepathy'.

He nodded, remembering the reference when all of a sudden the flashlight came shining through the window, prompting all of us to jump up and run over to it.

Lucas grabbed his flashlight, flashing it back to her and I led Max back into the entryway, where we both sat down on the stairs to put our shoes back on. She glanced over at me nervously, and I smiled, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and hugging her into my side. She leaned her head on my shoulder before we got up and made out way back into the room where we'd left Erica's lantern.

She paused in the doorway, looking back at Lucas and I. We both nodded as she turned to face it again, and Lucas reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it nervously. I squeezed back as Max removed her headphones and stopped the tape. 

"Hey!" She called. "I'm here. No more music, no more games. Do you hear me?! What are you waiting for, huh?! Come on, do you want me or not?!"

Erica's lantern faded, the brighter light moving to our lanterns instead. I felt a shiver pass through me, and we slowly moved out of the doorway and up the stairs, following the lantern and my gut feeling to the attic.

Once we reached it, the feeling changed, and not only could I feel Vecna, I could also feel the exact same feeling that told me Eleven was watching us back in the trailer.

The lantern glowed brighter for a long moment, then died back down to the original brightness.

"What are you waiting for, Douchebag?" Max asked. "I'm right here. I'm right here! So is Riley!" 

"Hey Number One." I taunted. "That's what 'Papa' called you, right?"

"I know you can hear me," She continued, "I know you can read my thoughts...even the worst ones. Maybe mostly the worst ones. "

She set her lantern down on top of a box, taking her walkman off and setting down on the one beside it. She sat down, cross-legged on a small rug, and it was only now that I realized that it was this little section where Henry Creel used to sit and draw his spiders. I got down, sitting down across from her and holding my hands out to her. She took them.

"I thought about what you said," She pressed, avoiding my gaze, "About how I wanted my brother to die. I thought that you were just trying to upset me. To anger me. But you weren't, were you? You were just telling the truth. Billy, he made my life a living Hell...every chance he got. So, sometimes...when I would lay in bed at night, I would-I would...pray. I would pray that something would happen to him. Something awful. I knew that he drove too fast, so I would imagine him...crashing and dying in that stupid car. I just...i wanted him out of my life. Forever. I wanted him to disappear. The day that he died...I think that's why I just stood there. Watched. Not because I was scared or...weak. But Because...I didn't know if he deserved to be saved. And I've tried to forgive myself. I"ve tried, but...I can't. I can't. So now...now when I lie in bed at night...I pray that something will happen to me. That something terrible will happen, to me. So that's why I'm here. Because...I just want you to take me away. And I want you...to make me disappear."

"Is that all true?" Lucas asked, staring off at the wall. "You wanted Billy to die."

"Why are you talking?" Max asked, glancing at me. I shrugged, looking up at him.

"You ever have thoughts like that about me?" He questioned. "Or Riley?"

"What?" She stood up, moving to face him. "No Lucas, never."

"Normal people don't fantasize about killing other people, Max. You realize that, right?"

"Lucas, please." I slowly stood up, beginning to realize that this did not sound like Lucas.

"I thought you were getting better." He said. "But you're not, are you? You're sick."

"Lucas, you don't mean that."

"Max..." I said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to look at me, and I shot her a knowing look.

"Maybe it is good he takes you," He continued, "Maybe its for the best. In fact...I'm glad its going to be you. You will be the chosen one. The fourth. The final sacrifice. Its going to be you that breaks the world."

"He has her." I heard a voice say. I looked around the room, recognizing it as Eleven, but I couldn't see her, putting both hands on Max's shoulders and pulling her back away from fake Lucas as he moved towards her.

"Max! Where are you going? Don't be scared."

"Stay away from me." She swallowed.

"Max, I thought you said you were ready. Ready to disappear!"

"I SAID STAY AWAY!" She grabbed an old table leg from the floor, hitting Lucas upside the head with it before grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the attic.

"Max, its ok, I'm coming. I'm coming, just hold on a little longer." Eleven's voice said again. "Riley, can you hear me?"

I can hear you. I thought to myself as we ran.

"Do you think you can help me? You can co into people's minds, so do you think you can help guide me into Max's?"

I can try, I reported, But I'm not entirely sure if I know how.

"I know that you can feel me," She said, "I can feel you too. Focus on that feeling. Focus your energy on me, and begin pulling it towards you. Guide it to the front of your mind.

Ok. I'll try. I think my powers work best with memories, so...maybe I can send you Max's memories, and you can follow them to us. Just hang on...let them come to you.

"Ok."

Despite the fact that Max was dragging me away, I squeezed my eyes closed for a brief moment before opening them again. Once I did, the slide projector wheel was back, and images of Max's memories were surrounding me. I placed my hand in front of the closest one, which was her talking to Billy in the cemetery. Once I knew I had it, I closed my fingers into a fist and tried to focus on Eleven's energy. Once I was sure I could feel its true origins, I released the memory, sending it flying away from me. 

I did this several more times, sending her images of Max hugging her Mom, singing Never Ending Story with Lucas, hanging out with Eleven, and trick or treating with the boys, dressed as Michael Myers. I showed her Max in the arcade and Max moving to Hawkins, finally landing on a memory of a young Max in a skate park in California before I lost track of her location. 

Max led me down the stairs, ripping open the front door, only to find that it was blocked off by planks of wood just like it was with Chrissy.

"There's no way out through the door. Chrissy treid that." I told her.

"Where are you going, Maxine?" Vecna grumbled, appearing on the first landing of the stairs.

We veered left, rushing through the dining room as all of the lights began to flicker around us. Max ripped another door open, only to find another door inside of it, rather than a room. It was metal and had a giant window in it, with a very sweaty and angry looking Billy standing on the other side.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" He yelled. "MAX! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR!"

He put his fist through the window, reaching for the handle.

"Max, I really don't think running is an option here," I told her, "We need to get out of this house and into one of your memories, I think we can hide there, but it has to be a good one. One of your best, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." She agreed, moving to face me. 

"Do you have one in mind?" She nodded and I stepped forward, putting my hands on her face and closing my eyes.

A couple of different ones flickered through our heads, but in the end she kept coming back to the Snow Ball. I saw her dressed in a sweater, slow dancing with Lucas under streamers and string lights, surrounded by tinsle and balloons.

I latched onto that memory, pulling it farther and farther forward into Max's mind. I could still hear Billy hammering on the door behind us, but I tuned him out, keeping my focus on the memory. I began focusing on specific details, making them more and more prominent to Max, such as the smells, the song that was playing, the temperature of the room, etc.

A loud crash sounded behind me, followed by a gust of wind. I screamed, pulling the memory towards us as quickly as I could with as much energy as I could until the only sound that I could hear was Every Breath You Take by The Police.

I opened my eyes, taking my hands off of Max's face and looking around to see that, rather than the Creel mansion, we were standing in the middle of the Hawkins Middle gymnasium, all decked out for the Snow Ball.

"Holy crap." Max stated, looking at me.

"Don't lose focus," I said, pulling her over to the nearest table and sitting down, pulling her into the chair beside me, "You need to continuously recount every single detail of this memory in order for it to hold. It can't seem like anything is out of place or he'll be able to find us. What you heard, what you smelled, how you felt, everything has to be exactly the way it was."

I grabbed her hands in both of mine, just like I had back in the real world, hoping that my powers could act as a conductor for these memories and make them appear even stronger to her. 

I closed my eyes again, putting every ounce of my mind, energy, and focus on this moment, when all of a sudden there was an exploding noise, causing both of us to jump.

I stood up, looking around to see that the balloons taht were scattered about the memory were popping, splattering blood wherever they did.

"Did he find us?" She asked. I shook my head.

"I don't think so," I answered, "Not yet. He still feels...distant. I think this is just a side-effect of his presence in your mind. He's leaving his footprint on everything, even your happiest memories, in an attempt to use them against you."

She began began backing away from the balloons, back towards the DJ station, when all of a sudden Every Breath You Take turned into Dream A Little Dream of Me. The Snow Ball sign began to darken, and turn red, and the streamers began falling from the sky. The center pieces on the tables wilted and turned black, while Upside Down particles began falling from the sky. Red lightning appeared just outside of the windows.

"Max, stay focused!" I warned. "Don't lose it!"

"I don't know, should we, barricade the door or something?" She asked. I shrugged.

"It couldn't hurt, but its more important that you don't lose the details of the memory. Start grabbing chairs but keep your mind on the dance." She nodded and we both rushed away from the record player, the lighting in the room going dim.

I dragged on of the smaller tables over in front of the door, and Max and I quickly began grabbing the nearest chairs and putting them in a pile around it. 

"Every breath you take," I began singing quietly, glancing at Max every so often, "Every move you make. Every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you."

"This song is kinda creepy, isn't it?" She asked, clearly fighting to stay optimistic. I smiled, nodding in agreement, but I kept singing rather than verbally answering her. She nodded to, beginning to hum along with me. 

I ran out of chairs closest to the door, walking to the far end of the gym to grab another one. When I turned around to carry it back, however, our barricade was gone, and the double doors of the gym had been replaced with the Creel's rose door.

It slowly began creaking open.

"You can't hide from me, Max." Vecna's voice filtered in. "You think I don't see what you're doing? You think I don't see...everything?"

Max closed her eyes and I ran over to the door, pulling it shut again and clasping both hands around the doorknob.

"Happy memories Max!" I screamed.

"You thought your friends could stop me? I see them. I see your friends...just as clearly as I...see you. I can feel them. I can feel them dying."

The doorknob jerked from my hand and I ran back to Max in the center of the room, pressing my back against hers and holding her hand as we glanced around the room looking for Vecna.

"Its time, Max...its time."

I whirled around a little too late, and as soon as my eyes landed on Vecna my legs were pulled out from under me and I was pinned to the floor. His hand hovered over me, holding me down as he used his other one to throw Max against the far wall and pin her there.

"REMEMBER YOUR FRIENDS, MAX!" I screamed. He moved the hand that hovered over me, pushing me harder into the floor. I screamed out in pain as the force that held me in place intensified, causing the wood of the gym floor to begin cracking around me. He did this for several seconds before throwing his hand out to the side, sending me sliding across the gym floor, where my back collided with the bottom of the bleachers.

He turned his attention back to Max, slowly trudging across the gym towards her.

Eleven! I called out in my mind. Eleven, where are you?! We're hiding in Max's memory of the Snow Ball, we need you! He's here! He's got Max!

I struggled to stand to my feet, already feeling the drain that using my powers had caused. That, mixed with Vecna's attack on me just now, I don't know how much longer I can go.

"You are brave, Maxine," Vecna said, coming to a stop directly in front of her. "Much braver than your brother. But in the end...you are weak..."

I glared at the back of his head, dropping my arms from my aching sides and letting them fall to either side of me. As I did so, I heard a quiet clattering of metal off to my right.

I turned my head to see that one of the chairs positioned around the table was vibrating slightly, causing me to furrow my eyebrows.

"...and fragile," He continued, "Just like him."

I felt the panic beginning to rise in my chest as I realized I was running out of time, so I took a shot in the dark and extended my hand towards the chair.

"Like all the rest of them. And you..."

The chair started vibrating harder, causing a loud clanging noise that luckily, Vecna was too distracted to notice.

"Will..."

I turned completely towards the chair, directign all of my energy towards it, same as I had with Max's memories. The chair slowly began to rise off of the floor and I smiled, just barely managing to turn my head back towards Vecna and Max.

"...Break."

I flung my arms towards him, sending the chair flying through the hair, making a direct beeline for the back of his head. I felt a small moment of triumph at this new development in my powers, only for Vecna to whirl around so that he was standing sideways in front of Max and throw out his free hand, stopping the chair in mid-air. I glared, back, breathing heavily as that small act had taken just about everything that I had left out of me. 

"How disappointing." With a small flick of his wrist, the chair went flying back towards me twice as fast, colliding with my chest and sending me onto my back and skidding across the floor. The legs hit the gym floor so hard that they broke grooves through it, trapping me between the chair and the floor as he turned towards Max again, placing his hand over her face.

"No, Max! MAX DON'T LET HIM DO THIS! MAX, YOU HAVE TO-"

My screams were interrupted by Vecna flying across the gym away from her as if being pulled by a rope. I looked up, pushing against the chair and watching, fully expecting him to go completely across the gym and slam into the opposite wall. What happened instead however, was that he stopped in mid air, just beside the disco ball, removing his grip on Max and allowing her to fall onto the floor.

I craned my neck, trying to see the entrance of the gym in order to get some idea of what was holding Vecna hostage, though I already knew the answer.

Sure enough, walking towards the suspended villain, with her arm outstretched towards him and her feet completely bare...was Eleven. 

Blood dripped from her nose as she moved to stand directly behind him, and it was only that realization that made me notice I had blood caking my face from both sides. I continued pushing back against the chair, attempting to dislodge it from the floor as Eleven slowly rotated her wrist, spinning Vecna around so that he could finally see the person who was going to destroy him. 

"You." He growled, in his low, meanacing growl.

"Hi." She moved her arm sideways as if she was swatting a fly, sending the fully grown, superpowered man flailing sideways until her crashed through the bleachers, leaving a gigantic, splintering hole in his wake.

"Oh...thank God." I said, relaxing the back of my head against the gym floor. "I am so glad to see you, truly, but we have got to work on your timing."