27. The Promise

A.N. Hello my lovely readers,

This chapter.... hurts.

Xoxo,Nik <3

☾.˚˖⁺✦ The Promise ✦˙⊹˚☽

TW // Horror

Song Guide: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Lucas's Pov

Time was either taking its precious walk around the park or it was starting to get too long of Max being under Vecna's trance.

He crouched down to look at the girl realizing her breaths had increased and now what escaped her lips were quick and heavy puffs of air. Her eyes were fidgeting rapidly.

Something was wrong. Everything inside of him was screaming that Max was in danger.

"Oh, shit!"

The young boy stumbled back onto his feet as he ran to the gap at the boarded up window, signaling to Erica. "What the hell is taking so long?"

He continued to flash over to his sister, but there was no response. That wasn't like Erica. His sister was known for always having something to say.

Lucas frantically clicked the light on and off until the sound of a door closing entered the room. The floorboards began to creak, someone had found them.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly spun around. "Shit."

His eyes laid on none other than captain of the Basketball team, Jason. The older boy was practically unrecognizable. His face was pale and covered in sweat. The dark bags under his eyes gave away the lack of sleep. To say the least, he looked utterly and miserably psychotic.

If things weren't bad already, they were about to get a whole lot worse.

"Jason. You can't be here right now, man."

Lucas watched as the blonde boy approached to where Max was sitting. He felt his wrist wrap around tightly on the flashlight.

Don't you fucking dare, he thought to himself.

Jason finally spoke. "The hell have you done?"

"Jason,", Lucas stepped a few steps closer, "you need to leave.

The older boy lowered himself down with bewildered eyes as he looked at Max. "Is this what you did to Chrissy?"

"Just listen, Jason."

"Hey.", he laid his hand onto Max's back.

Lucas's jaw tightened. "Jason, you need to go man."

"Hi. Can... Can you hear me?"

The younger boy warned through gritted teeth. "Jason, don't touch her."

Lucas was getting aggravated. He knew if Jason pulled anything on the girl he loved, he would be capable of beating the shit out of him. "I'm not messing around."

"Hey.", Jason continued ignore the younger boy, "Can you hear me?"

"Jason, please, just—-"

The basketball captain was quick to his feet as he held a gun pointed at Lucas now. "Hey, back up! Back up!"

Lucas held his hands up in defense. Knowing that if he got shot now, he wouldn't be able to protect Max. He kept his mouth shut.

"Not another step.", the blonde boy told him.

"Wa... Wait. We...We don't have to do this.", Lucas hesitated with his words.

Trying his best not to shake out of fear, he pleaded. "We don't have to do this."

"I hope you're right.", Jason replied.

"Wait.", his eyes drifting to Max and back on Jason.

This couldn't be happening right now. They had been so sure, no one would find him here at Victor Creel's house. How did Jason even manage to know where they were?

"Is there anyone else in the house?"

"No. No."

"Turn around."

Lucas glanced back at Max worried for her safety. He couldn't risk Vecna getting ahold of her.

Think, Lucas, Think.

"What?"

That's the best you got? , he thought to himself?

"TURN AROUND!"

He jumped at the boy's yell, he did as he was ordered to do. "Okay, okay. Relax, relax."

"And put down your flashlight."

He did so.

"It's okay. It's okay.", he whispered to himself trying to keep himself from freaking out.

"And empty your pockets."

He attempted to glance back at Jason, but only was met by more of his threatening screams. "EMPTY YOUR POCKETS!"

"Okay. Okay. Okay."

Lucas reached within his pockets pulling out all the junk that was piling up in their. There had been coins, a few pieces of gum, and lots of lint.

He couldn't keep himself from shaking, his eyes began to tear up. All he was thinking about was Max. The fear of not being able to help her was crippling him.

"Okay. Now, this is what's gonna happen. I'm gonna back away to the top of the stairs there. Then I'll watch as you wake her up from whatever the hell this is."

The younger boy shut his eyes, begging to God for a miracle to happen. "I can't."

He took two shaky deep breaths as he slowly turned around to look at the blonde boy. "Jason. If I wake her too soon, we all die."

Please, believe me, he pleaded.

"No."

A defeated sigh escaped Lucas's lips.

"If you don't wake her up right now, you die, Sinclair."

The safety on the gun was pulled back as Lucas gulped. "Just you."

He wasn't ready to die. It couldn't happen like this. Not now when he needed to protect Max.

☾.˚˖⁺✦˙⊹˚☽Victoria's Pov

The next few seconds had felt like an eternity. Back to back with the two boys she couldn't imagine her life without, they waited for the horrific creatures to make their next move.

Weapons at hand, the three of them walked closely around each other. None of them daring to remove their eyes from every crevice of the trailer.

The sounds of Victoria's heart beat was louder than it had ever been her whole life, ringing into her ears.

Her brother yelled, "Hey, dipshits! Give up that easy, huh?"

Eddie shushed the younger boy as Victoria was still too stunned to even make out words to either of them. Out of everything she had gone through, coming face to face to Vecna was nothing compared to this.

It was awful to say, but she would much rather be stuck with the horrific being who started this all than being in the dangerous position that Eddie or Dustin could get hurt before her eyes. The thought of it had welled up tears that she was forced to blink away before any of them noticed.

"They're on the roof.", Eddie pointed upwards as they all listened to the thumps above their heads.

Victoria exhaled her shaky breaths as her grip tightened around her spear.

"Shit. Shit. Shit.", Dustin spoke as him and Eddie began to follow the noises with Victoria tailing behind.

The ceiling continued to creak as the chittering noises of the bats increased.

"What the fuck are they waiting for?", Victoria managed to finally spit out.

The three of them approached a small vent found up on the ceiling. "You've got to be kidding..."

"They can't get in through there, can they?", Dustin questioned the both of them.

This was not good, Victoria knew what was coming next.

The vent imploded through as a few of the mini beasts bursted their heads inside the trailer. The three of them yelled as they pranced forward stabbing the bats with their spears.

"Die! Die!"

The sound of the creatures shrieking was all Victoria could focus on. "Just. Fucking. Die."

"Die! Die! Die!"

☾.˚˖⁺✦˙⊹˚☽Steve's Pov

Up the stairs they went, avoiding all the vines slithering around the stairwell. Steve had the stress of making sure Robin and Nancy were following his footsteps on the safest spots around each step.

Making their way to the top, he shunned his light into the doorway they would soon have to enter. The one that lead right to Vecna.

Flipping has flashlight around, he tucked it into his pocket. He turned to look at Robin and Nancy making their way too him. Robin was the closest as he offered his hand for her to take. "Easy."

He then helped Nancy to the top. They all took a few seconds to breathe. Steve reached for Nancy's shotgun as he pulled it out from behind her bag, handing it to her.

It was time to go into action and kill this son of a bitch once and for all.

Steve pulled out the ax from his bag as he tightened his grip around it. He was ready for whatever was going to be thrown at them.

They all knew the second they stepped foot into Vecna's lair, anything could happen. Creatures could come out of nowhere to attack them. The possibilities were endless of what could happen. They had to be alert at all times.

The three of them took one step forward, but was immediately met by the the ground shaking beneath them. Everything around them began to rumble.

Steve reached for both, Nancy and Robin, trying his best to keep them away from falling into any of the vines. They all struggled to remain still as they were thrown forward and backwards, but the shaking came to a sudden stop.

He looked at the two girls to make sure they were okay. Robin had her eyes shut as her hand was tightly gripping around Steve's arm. Nancy's eyes were wide as she looked up at Steve.

Looking around them to make sure they were in the clear, the unexpected happened.

Robin had let out a sigh of relief until one of the tentacles wrapped itself around her ankle, yanking her backwards. A scream escaped her lips as she was thrown up against the wall being met by more vines grasping onto her tightly.

It all happened so quickly that Steve was froze in place. His heart was thudding up against his chest as his hand hand began to shake around the ax. With widened eyes, he looked at all the tentacles that had tied itself around one of his best friends.

Robin.

"Steve! Nancy!", she cried out.

Nancy was the first to act as she ran forward, jabbing her gun into the horrific tentacles as shrieks began to sound around them.

Steve finally blinked back into reality as he ran forward lunging the ax into it. He did this repeatedly until his arm was pulled back by the same slithering creature.

It had hold of the ax as he used all his strength to pry it free, but the vines had other plans.

He felt it spread around his torso and neck, squeezing tightly. Reaching up to create space between the tentacles and his neck in order to breathe.

His eyes fell upon Nancy, who did her best to run, but was met by the same fate. The three of them struggle under grasps of the slithering beasts.

Steve's arms were eventually pulled away from his neck as he could now feel it's grip tighten. The struggle to breathe was becoming greater for all of them. All Steve could do was cough for air as it quickly escaped him.

This wasn't supposed to happen. They couldn't lose like this. They had gotten so far.

What about the rest of them?

Max?

Dustin?

Victoria?

He never got to say it.

Yes, Steve was a romantic.

Yes, he was the boy that fell harder than the girl typically did.

And yes, he was the boy that was falling so deeply in love with Victoria that if he could propose today he would.

But the only thing running through his mind right now, was that he didn't say the three words.

He would die right here, right this second.

And she would never know.

Victoria would never know that the Steve Harrington, the boy she had spent years hating, loved her.

☾.˚˖⁺✦˙⊹˚☽Victoria's Pov

They continuously stabbed through the small gap as Victoria saw Eddie pull back. "No, no, no. You don't back down now, Eddie!"

"Just give me a second!"

"Eddie! We need you!", Dustin's desperate voice followed them.

Hearing sounds coming from behind as Eddie yelled at the two Henderson siblings, "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

Victoria clung onto her brother's back yanking him away as she made room for the older boy, who had the lid with nails in hand, slamming it into the gaping hole.

Dustin nodded at him, "Nice."

"Thanks.", the two boys high fived.

They all paused trying to recover for a brief second. Victoria had this aching feeling that this was too easy. "Um, guys, is there by chance more vents?"

Eddie's face dropped. "Oh, shit."

"Of course, there is.", Victoria mumbled under her breath.

He picked up his spiked weapon from the ground as he ran through the trailer with Victoria and Dustin following quick behind. Running to where would have been his room a swarm of bats busted through the ground.

Eddie held his arm towards Victoria and Dustin pushing them both back as he shut the door blocking the bats from getting to them all. "Shit!"

They all scooted backwards not wanting to even blink. The door was caving in as scratches began to form into it. The creatures were breaking there way through.

"That's not gonna hold.", Dustin yelled.

Eddie stood in front holding the lid of nails before them all in way of security. "Let's go! Let's go!"

Victoria pulled Dustin, "Go, go, go!"

Her brother grasped hold of the rope that lead back to their world as he pulled himself upwards.

"Come on! Quickly!", Eddie yelled at him.

She watched as her brother fell through landing on the mattress. Not a second to spare, he rolled off.

"Eddie, come on, you next!", Victoria begged.

He shook his head, "Queen always goes first."

"No. I am not going through unless you both are safe."

Eddie groaned as he turned around, "Victoria, we don't have the fucking time. Go with your brother, now!"

She saw the crazy look in his eyes. This was different. He was protective, and authoritative. Typically, it was always the other way around between them two.

His jaw tightened as he breathed heavily looking at her, but there was something off about his eyes. She couldn't quite figure out the stare he had. It was as if they were filled with a million words of what he wanted to say, but none of them dared escape out of him.

He huffed with a shaky tone. "Please."

"Okay."

She nodded her head towards him as she quickly pulled herself upwards. The adrenaline was rushing through every inch of her body. Victoria let go as she landed onto the mattress where Dustin had practically yanked her off. "Come on, Eddie!"

Eddie threw the weapons aside as he hopped up onto the rope. "Come on, hurry, Eddie!"

The older boy turned his head to look at the door where soon enough the bats would be flying out of.

"Eddie, don't look, just focus on us, please!", Victoria begged him.

"Eddie, come on! Let's go! Eddie, you're so close! Let's go!", Dustin cried out.

The curly haired boy glanced upwards, but he hadn't been listening to the desperation in Dustin's screams. He was looking right at his best friend. The one person he knew was his comfort. The only person that he loved most in the world.

Victoria now knew what the look in his eyes meant. It was becoming hard for her to believe it. "Eddie, what are you doing!", echoed her scream.

He had let go of the rope as he fell back to the grounds of the Upside Down. The two best friends had ignored the screams coming from the younger boy. It was just them in this very second.

Eddie and Victoria, the freak shows of Hawkins.

For as long as Victoria could remember, Eddie was great at putting up this act of not caring what others thought of him. Shit, some days he did it so well, he had even convinced her at times.

The truth was Eddie did care about how he was viewed. He hated his immediate birthright he was handed, by his father too addicted to substances to even care for his own child. It had hurt him, knowing he could never escape this reality.

The Freak.

A label that her friend had grown to despise. He did own up to it because Eddie Munson was no pussy. But if only everyone knew how much hurt he felt that that was what people viewed him as.

This moment right now. The look in his eyes. It was his redemption. The reason of what he was about to do.

Eddie had hoped for a better storyline for his legacy. He never wanted to be the freak. Eddie wanted to be remembered for something greater. Always clinging onto for that one thing that would reveal to everyone who he truly was.

His eyes said it all to her. Painted the picture of a million words, she wished she could hear from his own lips then this. The painful stare of eyes. It all made sense now.

"Eddie, please.", she pleaded as both their eyes were glossy.

He spoke only two words in response. "I promise."

He reached over as he picked up his spear slicing right through the rope as the remainder piece fell right before Victoria and Dustin's eyes.

The brunette girl wasn't capable to even tune into the world at this moment. She knew her brother had been yelling and the creatures were shrieking there loudest at this time, but all she felt was the numbness spread all over her.

I promise.

I promise.

I promise.

His words mocked her. It dug itself a home underneath her skin. What did he mean? What was he promising?

I promise.

I promise.

I promise.

And then it hit her.

She had made Eddie promise her that he would take care of Dustin and the only way to fulfill this promise meant he had to keep her safe too.

Eddie had loved Dustin as if he had been his own brother, but there had never been a time that her best friend didn't tell her that no one else would understand Dustin more than she did.

No one could replace Victoria in Dustin's life. Not Eddie. Not Steve. Not their own mom.

No one.

It all made fucking sense.

He couldn't make the promise earlier because all he was thinking about was Victoria dying. Eddie was a smartass motherfucker who found the loophole to her own promise.

Her eyes finally fell on the pieces of the rope partially at her feet and the rest in her brother's hands. She looked back up watching Eddie push the mattress aside taking any way for her or Dustin to get back through safely. The sounds came ringing back into her ears as the crippling feeling had settled in.

Eddie was risking his life to fulfill his promise to her.

"Eddie, what are you doing!", Dustin yelled.

He looked back up at them one final time, "I'm buying more time."

"Eddie, please.", Dustin begged.

Victoria couldn't let her best friend die as she yelled after him, watching him disappear. "Eddie!"

☾.˚˖⁺✦˙⊹˚☽Max's Pov

Max was not going down without a fight. She had spent the past few minutes piling up all the chairs near the exits of the gym. If Vecna wanted to get her, she sure wasn't going to make it easy.

She walked back to grab another chair to add to the pile as her heart stopped. The whole block she had created was gone. The sight of the stained glass door found in Victor Creel's home was what had appeared.

The door began to creak open. "You can't hide from me, Max."

Glancing around the gym for any signs of an escape route. There was none. She attempted to steady her breathing. No point into caving into fear. That is what he wanted.

She glanced forward at the door as she shut her eyes closed. Taking deep breaths in and out, she began to think of some of her other favorite memories. She had a good couple of them.

Max began to think about the fun times she had spent with El over the summer. It was fun being a girl for once, and being able to show her best friend what girls like to do was the greatest treat.

"You think I don't see what you're doing?"

Concentrate, she told herself, happy thoughts.

She briefly smiled to herself as she remembered she had asked El if Mike was a good kisser. The two of them giggling.

"You think I don't see everything?"

Don't let him win, focus.

"You thought you could trick me?"

"You thought your friends could stop me?"

The memory of her and El was vanishing away from her mind. It was hard to keep her focus when all she could hear were Vecna's taunts.

"I see them."

"I see your friends."

"Just as clearly... as I... see you."

"You control where you want to be. So, stay in the happy thoughts, alright?", Victoria's voice sounded through her head again.

Stay in the happy thoughts, Max.

"I can feel them."

"I can feel them dying."

Max's eyes sprung open. Were all the people she loved about to die because of her?

Lucas?

Dustin?

Victoria?

All of them?

Her eyes looked back at the door that was now wide open. She felt the panicked breathing return.

"It's time, Max."