Strawberries and Cigarettes // Max Mayfield x girl OC

Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse

Chris awoke the next morning to find Max lightly thrashing in her sleep. She knew her girlfriend had been suffering from nightmares lately, and as much as it concerned her, it wasn't much of a surprise. Honestly, Chris would have been more shocked if she didn't have frequent nightmares. She felt the same way for everyone else who had been involved with all of the Upside Down shit the past few years. I mean, who wouldn't have nightmares after all that?

Nonetheless, Chris hated that Max was having nightmares, and she wished more than anything that she could take them away.

"Max, babe, wake up," Chris spoke softly, shaking the redhead ever so gently, trying to pull her from her dream.

After a few more minutes of shaking, Max shot up, her head quickly leaving the pillow that was Chris' shoulder. Chris sat up with Max, ready to do anything to comfort her girlfriend.

"Hey, it's okay," Chris soothed, rubbing Max's back. "It was just a dream, I'm right here, it's okay."

Max let herself sit and breathe for a few minutes before getting up to grab a glass of water and some Tylenol for her headache, Chris following behind her.

As Max downed the little white pills, Chris looked out the window, suddenly feeling more alert as she saw several cop cars turn onto the street.

"Hey, Max? You might wanna come check this out," Chris gulped.

The two girls stepped out onto the front porch, watching as the cars stopped in front of where Eddie lived.

"Looks like that Munson boy's up to no good again," Ms. Mayfield spoke, startling Chris, who didn't know she had come outside.

"He's actually not that bad of a guy," Chris shrugged, refusing to believe that Eddie had done something bad enough to warrant four police cars. "He's more just... misunderstood."

Susan Mayfield didn't respond to Chris' comment, but Chris figured she wouldn't. Ever since the mall incident last summer, it was almost as if she'd retreated into herself, becoming a mere shell of who she was.

Chris saw officer Powell — technically Chief Powell, but Chris was sensitive about calling someone else chief — approach Eddie's uncle, but she was too far away to hear the conversation taking place. As she was watching intently, she felt Max move next to her, and after adjusting her line of sight, she noticed Max was trying to get closer to the scene, following quickly in her footsteps.

Curiosity killed the cat, Chris' common sense shot at her. Yes, but satisfaction brought it back, she bit back, almost laughing at the fact that she was having an internal argument with herself.

Soon enough, Max and Chris had made it onto Munson property. A couple of officers had entered, and, through the cracked door, Chris saw what appeared to be a dead body. Scratch that, Chrissy's dead body. Chris immediately gasped, and from the look on Max's face, she knew she saw it too. It was definitely a terrifying sight. Chrissy's eyes looked like they had been sucked into her skull, her jaw was clearly unhinged, and all four of her limbs were bent at very unnatural angles.

"Hey!" An officer exclaimed, grabbing both Chris' and Max's shoulders and making them both jump. "You can't be out here. Get back inside," he ordered.

Chris stole one last glance at Chrissy before she and Max took off running back across the street.

•••

In the quick thirty minutes that it took for Max and Chris to get dressed and ready for the day, the crowd outside the Munson trailer had grown to an overwhelming level. Not wanting to draw attention, the two girls slipped out the back door and headed to the one place they could: Dustin's house.