Chapter Ninety-Nine: Because of Me

I clung to Eddie's energy, pulling it forward as hard as I could, only to be ripped out of the vision by the feeling of the ground rumbling beneath me.

My eyes shot open and I sat up just in time to see a bright red crack ripping through the center of the attic. I quickly crawled backwards, looking up in time to see Lucas pull Max out of the way of its trajectory...or rather...

Max's body. Which could be presumed, since this was happening in the first place. I knew this because I had seen it...the crack, it was exactly like the one Vecna had shown me...the one that would rip through Hawkins. It was here, it was happening now...Max had been the final sacrifice. 

Lucas stared at me with wide, terrified eyes, and I shook my head, unable to offer him any comfort or explanation in that moment.

I had an explanation though...the explanation was me. My fault, my doing, my powers, they had caused this.

I have broken everything.

The rumbling stopped, and I stood up, jumping over the crack to drop down beside Max. Lucas was crying, and I lifted my fingers up to the side of her neck, searching for her pulse. 

I didn't find one. 

"I'm sorry," I said, looking up at Lucas, "I'm so, so sorry, I-"

I was interrupted by a loud gasp as Max sat up, still heavily leaning against Lucas, but breathing, nonetheless.

"Max!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, thank god." I cried, putting my hands on her face and trying to wipe the blood away. "I am so sorry, I don't know what happened. I should've been there, I am so, so sorry."

"Erica called an ambulance," He said to both of us, "We'll get you to a hospital, its all gonna be ok."

"Eddie..." I remembered, looking up at Lucas. "The others."

"Go, we'll be fine." He said. I nodded, standing up and looking over into the crack. I ran over to the nearest window, ripping one of the planks off of it and rushing back over, stabbing it through the red strings of slime that filled it. Once I could see through to the other side, I laid on the floor on my stomach, slowly lowering myself through the hole head-first.

I came through right side up, pulling my body through the gate and onto the Upside Down version of Creel's attic. Once I managed to get my knee up and onto the floor, I jumped up and ran through the door, taking the stairs two at a time. I was in such a hurry that I tripped on the last one, toppling face-first towards the floor.

Before I could fall completely though, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back onto my feet on top of the last step. I turned around in the arms, looking into the face of who else, but my husband.

"Oh my gosh!" I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him as tightly as I possibly could. He hugged me back just as tight with his arms around my waist, tangling one hand into the hair at the back of my head.

"Thank God." He said as I looked over his shoulder, where Robin and Nancy were standing.

"Did you do it?" I asked, pulling away from him. "Vecna...is he dead?"

"Not exactly," Nancy said, "He fell out the window...disappeared just before that happened." She gestured to the crack on the floor of the mansion. I nodded. "Max?"

"Waiting for an ambulance," I said, "She was dead...I mean, her heart stopped but then she just...woke up."

"So wait, what are you doing here?" Robin asked. 

"Eddie," I told them, "He got attacked by the Demobats, I saw him, and...he was dying. I don't know if he made it or not."

"Ok, Robin and I will get back to Max, you two go after Eddie and Dustin." Nancy said. I nodded in agreement, grabbing Steve's hand and dragging him towards the front door. 

"Do you know for sure how to get there from here?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I've got this." I assured him, heading into the trees.

"I know this isn't exactly the time for a Status update," He said, following after me, "But what happened in there? In Max's mind?"

"Uh..." I swallowed nervously. "A lot...like...everything we've gone through for the past four years finally making sense a lot."

"So you know why he's doing this?" He asked. "Why all of this has been happening to us?" I nodded. "Well...can you tell me? In as simple terms as possible?"

I bit my lip.

"Not right now," I told him, "Let's see if Eddie is ok, and then we'll see if I'm mentally capable of getting into all of that."

~~~

We broke through the trees just outside of the trailer park, but Eddie and Dustin were seemingly nowhere to be found.

"EDDIE! DUSTIN!" I screamed, cupping my hands around my mouth. "DUSTIN!" 

"WE'RE HERE! OVER HERE!" Dustin screamed back. I took off running in the direction of his voice, not bothering to check if Steve was following me. I ran around the other trailers, finally spotting Dustin sitting in the middle of the wide open area that was behind the trailer park. I took off sprinting, my feet drumming painfully against the ground as I rushed over to them.

"Eddie?" I called, toppling to the ground beside him, across from Dustin, just as I had in the dark place. 

"He didn't make it," Dustin said, looking at me with teary eyes, "He died."

I shook my head, looking down at Eddie's face, only to find him staring up at me with a smile on his face.

"Died...as in past tense," Eddie explained, groaning slightly, "I died and came back to life...how Metal is that?"

"Oh my gosh." I hung my head, burying my face in my hands as Dustin and Eddie laughed. Eddie immediately regretted doing so, his laugh fading into a cough. 

"See?" He said. "I told you '86 was my year, Henderson."

"Yeah, that is if we can actually get you out of here," I pointed out, "I mean, even if we do, even with everything that's happened above ground, there's still a chance you'll be arrested for murder."

"Do you think you can fix him up?" Dustin asked. I shrugged, looking down at him.

"I mean, I can try, sure," I said, "But he's lost a lot of blood, and I'm sure as heck not a Doctor."

"Here." Steve said, dropping my Upside Down duffle bag beside me. I nodded, unzipping it and pulling out my first aid kit.

"I can at least dress it, and try to slow down the bleeding," I told him, "Get you in a well enough condition that we can move you."

"Whatever you say, Riley," He coughed, "I trust you." 

"I think I have pain meds too." I stated, pushing his shirt up.

"Oh, bless you Hopper-Harrington! I could kiss you...but your husband could probably wipe the floor with me."

"Dang straight." Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest as I poured peroxide over the wounds. He groaned in pain, pushing his head back into the ground.

"Ooh, sorry! I should've warned you about that." I winced. "Hey Dustin?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a canteen and a bandanna in the duffle bag, can you get that wet and try to get some of that blood off of his face?" I questioned.

"Yeah, sure." He jumped into action as I pressed a square of gauze over the bites, taping it into place.

"What's the verdict, Doc?" He coughed.

"I'm not a doctor, remember?" I argued, "I have no idea how severe your injuries are."

I finished taping up the wounds, leaning back on my heels as I waited for Dustin to finish cleaning up his face and neck. Once he did, I grabbed a roll of bandages. 

"Ok, I'm gonna need you to sit up now so I can wrap you up." He nodded, and Dustin and Steve got down behind him, helping to push him up into a sitting position. I crouched down in front of him, wrapping the bandages around his waist as tightly as I could. "Ok, how's that? Does that hurt?"

"Nah, nah its good." I took the canteen from Dustin, pouring a couple of pain pills into his hand and giving it to him. He first chose to rinse his mouth out, spitting blood onto the ground before downing the pills. "Thanks, kid."

"Don't thank me yet," I said, standing up and gesturing for the boys to help him up, "Let's get you out of here first."

Dustin and Steve each grabbed one of his arms, wrapping it around their shoulders and pulling him to his feet. He groaned painfully, but still managed to do so successfully.

"So how do we get out of here?" He questioned. I waved my hands over the crack going through the field.

"Take your pick." I stated. 

~~~

Once we managed to get Eddie back through the gate, Steve and I brought him back to our apartment. 

Everyone else had family members desperately searching for them amidst the chaos of what had just happened, so most of them headed back to their homes, with the exception of Lucas and Max, who headed to the hospital. I planned on joining them there once I got Eddie settled in. 

Our apartment was trashed, due to the ground shaking when the gate opened up, but we were considered lucky. There were other buildings split in half, caught on fire, several of them crumbling and falling to the ground. At least our building was still in one piece. 

I got the couch set up, making it up with sheets and blankets before helping Steve lower Eddie onto it. He slowly leaned back until he was laying down.

"Nice place you got here." He said. I nodded, putting my hand son my hips and looking around at our apartment, which looked as though a tornado had been through it.

"Thanks. It normally looks a lot better than this." I joked, pulling the blanket over him. "Get some rest, ok?"

"Don't have to tell me twice," He replied, pulling the blanket higher up on his body, "Thanks Riley."

"Sure thing, Eddie. Let me know if you need anything." He nodded and I walked back into our bedroom just as Steve was in the process of dragging our mattress back into it. He put it back onto the box spring with pretty minimal effort, and I pushed my hair out of my face with both hands. 

"Something happened in there." He said, sitting down on the end of the bed. "You're stressed, I can tell."

I bit my lip, sitting down beside him. 

"Eleven showed up." I said, turning to look at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"In Max's mind?" He asked. I nodded, facing forward again. 

"I guess she and Vecna know each other. She's faced him before, most likely before she ever met us. She sent him into the Upside Down, and he...he's basically in control of it. He's created everything."

"Ok," He said, processing this, "So Vecna has been causing all of this?" I nodded.

"Basically, but um...its a bit worse than that." I averted my eyes to my lap. "Um...the reason that Vecna was able to open those gates? The reason Eleven was able to do it by accident when Will was taken, its...its because of me."

"What do you mean, its because of you?" He questioned.

"I mean, when I ended up in the Upside Down, it was because I opened the gate," I swallowed, "I opened the gate I escaped from too, and because I did, I...I weakened the barrier between our world and the Upside Down. My powers, I didn't end up with them because I was in the Upside Down, I was born with them, and Vecna kept me there in the hopes that it would strengthen my abilities, just like it did his so that...he could take my powers and use them to open his own gates."

"Wait, what?" He asked. "I-I mean, how is that possible? You've never exhibited signs of having powers before."

"They were dormant before," I told him, "Opening the first two gates was an accident. I was upset, and under extreme stress, and I guess being in such a heightened emotional state caused me to use my abilities without realizing it. They were always there, I just...I didn't know. But he did, and even with the gate that El opened, he wanted to ability to open them himself, so he sent the Mind Flayer after me to try and steal my powers. He never meant to possess Will...he only took Will to try and get to me, and when those didn't work, and when Eleven closed the gate, he sent the Monster from last year and decided to steal Eleven's powers instead. That's what he's been using to kill the others and open the gates, and that's his reasoning for doing all of this...he wanted me."

"Riley..." He reached up to put a hand on my shoulder, but I moved out of his grasp.

"Everything that's happened," I whispered, refusing to look at him, "Everyone we've lost, it...it was my fault. It was because of me."

"No, it wasn't," He argued, "It was because of powers that you were born with. You didn't get a say over any of this-"

"But could I have stopped it?" I asked, finally looking up at him. He paused, staring at me. I swallowed, shrugging my shoulders. "I mean, if I had just...stayed in the Upside Down, stayed away from everyone, none of this would have ever happened. Will would be living a normal, un-traumatized life, My Dad, and Barb, and Bob and Countless others would still be alive right now, and all of this could've been avoided if I had just stayed away-"

"What would have happened if you had?" He asked. I shook my head, looking away from him. "Vecna would've gotten your powers a long time ago, and he would've opened the gates, and done who knows what to Hawkins and the rest of the world. By you being here, and fighting him along with us, we bought the entire world an extra five years. Not to mention the fact that you can't exactly see the future."

I closed my eyes, blowing out a breath.

"We have to stop him," I said, "I mean, I can't...I can't undo everything that has been done, but I can...I can make it right somehow, I can kill him once and for all and-"

"And every single one of us is gonna be right here beside you the entire time." He told me, drawing my eyes back to him. "Look, Riley, I...I know that there's nothing I can say to make you stop feeling guilty, or being so hard on yourself because that's just who you are. You feel personally responsible for other people and as much as I sometimes wish you were a more selfish person, you're not. And I love you, so all I can do, no matter what you feel, is stick by you and help you to do whatever it is you need to to make you feel as though you've made things right."

Tears welled up in my eyes and he smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"I love you too." I whispered. He nodded, putting his hand on my face and leaning his forehead against mine.

"We'll let Nancy and Robin and the others go to the hospital and look after Max," He said, "Not only do we need to keep an eye on Eddie, I think you need a break. We'll go visit her in the morning."

I nodded against his head, moving to lay my head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pressing his lips against my forehead.