A Threnody of Tears | Steve Harrington ✓

Chapter Five

Hawkins High School held many good and bad memories for Maggie Fulmer. There had been a time when she had loved coming to school, her love for learning at the forefront, yet it was Hawkins High School that had been the backdrop to one of the worst events of her whole life and she hadn't been back until now.

The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end, goosebumps covering every inch of her skin with a persistent shiver down her spine she couldn't seem to shake, yet she tried her best to keep up with the group who were hurrying down the halls towards Ms Kelley's office. 

"Hey, you okay?" Steve asked, falling back from the group to check on Maggie. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." She dismissed him immediately. 

"You're shaking, Mags." Steve returned, pointing out where her body shook involuntarily. 

"Oh," She muttered, looking down at her body. "I guess I am. I'm okay though, just don't like being back here." 

"Yeah, I didn't think I would ever be back here either. Looks like I'll never be done with high school." Steve returned, trying to get Maggie to crack a smile. His own smile widening once he noticed the corners of her mouth twitch in amusement. 

The moment was soon interrupted by the sound of Robin and Nancy getting back to them on their findings. "So, Nancy's a genius. Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull's eye." Robin revealed, her voice sounding slightly staticky from the radio. 

"Okay, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now." Dustin returned. 

"Wait, what are you doing?" Robin replied. 

"Breaking and entering school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files."

"Can you repeat that?"

"Just get your ass over here, stat," Dustin said as Max fitted the stolen key into the lock on Ms Kelley's door. "We'll explain everything."

The counsellor's office was soon unlocked, Max soon retrieving Chrissy's file from the filing cabinet. "Holy shit."

"You found it?" Maggie asked, looking up towards Max.

"Yeah, and not just Chrissy's file. Fred was seeing Ms Kelley too."

The two files were soon laid out side by side, as Max searched for similarities between the two. Maggie still hadn't quite stopped shaking, something that Steve was noticing but like most areas in the school, the counsellor's office held bad memories for her. 

A girl who couldn't cry even after everything she had seen, sitting in the same chair that Max sat in now. One long-haired boy walking past that open door, refusing to make eye contact with the girl inside. Waiting for her Dad to come and pick her up, but he never showed, forcing her to walk home.  She had never felt so alone.  

"Can I see Fred's file?" Max asked, looking up at Maggie. 

Steve nudged Maggie, gesturing towards Fred's file that she had been holding and looking over. "What? Oh, yeah." She said, handing over the file. 

Silence filled the room as Max continued to scan over the documents until she went tense, almost too tense. "Max? What is it?" Maggie asked, looking down at the redhead only to see that her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and almost appeared to be in a trance. 

Dustin quickly realised that something was wrong, moving to shake his friend's shoulders. "Max! Max!" 

Max's eyes flew open, looking around the group before leading them to where she had just seen a grandfather clock stuck into a wall.