𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 , 𝐬. 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝟎𝟎𝟗. 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊

― ❝ oh no ! ❞ ―

...

▍As Steve's car pulled up to the guidance counselors house, Max started unbuckling herself from the car seat, ready to get out and steal the woman's office keys.

"Hey," Claire started, anxiety filling her deep brown eyes as she looked up at Max. "Uhm, don't.. get caught? That's all I got." She laughed at her own awkwardness, waiting for Max to do the same.

Max laughed as well, nodding her head and biting the inside of her cheek. "Got it." She stepped out of the car and walked towards the Ms. Kelly's house, only looking back once.

Steve, however, looked back at Claire with a smug smile on his face. Claire was looking down at the floor of the car, smiling to herself. He turned back towards the house just as Max was walking inside.

"She's in." He said in a dramatically deep tone. The boy was staring intensely at the house, despite the fact that their bait had already gone inside.

Dustin tilted his head as he stared in the same direction. "I'm missing collarbones, not eyes."

Mirren turned from the passengers seat and looked at Dustin with her eyebrows drawn in utter confusion. "You're missing collarbones?"

"Yeah. He has this weird disease where he can bend like gumbo." Steve said, turning towards the brunette next to him. 

Summer turned to Dustin enthusiastically. "Woah! That's so cool!"

Dustin nodded and smiled to Summer before groaning and turning back to Steve. "No it's Gumby. Not gumbo. We've had this conversation before, Steve."

"Whatever. Same thing." Steve argued, rolling his eyes with a frustrated sigh.

The boy in the back shot back an argument. "It isn't the same thing at all, actually. Gumbo is a food-."

"Okay, okay!" Steve threw his hands in the air to show surrender. "Whatever, you're right! Is that why you wanna hear?"

Summer and Claire's distant giggles could be heard from the back of the car. Claire's chipped fingernails fiddled with the hemline of her Hawkins Cheer uniform, which she still hadn't changed out of.

Though, Steve didn't pay much attention to that, because he was busy looking at Mirren, who was laughing lightheartedly.

"That kid I swear to God," Steve mumbled to her quietly. "Always thinks he's right."

Summer's eyes went wide and she laughed. She answered for her sister, even though Steve wasn't talking to her. "He is right, Steve. He's completely right!"

"You too?! Seriously?" He shook his head in disbelief and acted upset, even though there was a slight smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

Mirren noticed it, and it made her smile to herself as well. It was cute how he treated the kids. How he messed with them and made them laugh.

Suddenly, Max knocked on the car door, waiting for Steve to unlock it. Once he did; she climbed in beside Claire and flaunted the keys she was now holding.

"Good job, Max." Claire smiled, looking directly into the redhead's eyes. The bright blue of them seemed to absorb her like a sponge, and she could only look away when Max yelled at Steve to start driving.

———-

As they walked through the dark school, which Mirren and Summer had barley even seen with the lights on.

Max inserted the key into the door of Ms. Kelly's office, turning the knob and allowing themselves into the room.

"Bingo." Claire said, walking in behind Max.

They immediately made their way over to the filing cabinet, and Claire watched as Max went through the files. She pulled out two files with different names on them.

"Did you find it?" Steve asked from across the room. Claire turned towards him and nodded.

Max spoke, though, holding the multiple files in her hands. "Yeah, but it isn't just Chrissy. Fred was seeing Ms. Kelly too."

She quickly sat down, opening the files with the intent of finding out what connected everything. Mirren and the others sat around her, watching intensely.

Suddenly, the light in Max's eyes went out, She stared blankly at the page, her heart beating out of her chest. "Headaches.. nightmares.."

The group looked up at her, and Max ran out of the room. Of course, they got up quickly to follow her, but when they found her, she was standing in the end of a long hallway, looking blankly at an empty wall.

Nancy and Robin arrived back from the library, and found them in that hallway. They stood in the back of the group, confused as to what was going on.

Max turned towards them; tears in her eyes. "There.. there was a clock. Right here." Though the others couldn't see anything but a blank wall.

————

They made their way back to the room, where Max sat them down to tell them about her experiences. "Chrissy and Fred's... visits, both started a day apart. Chrissy had been having headaches and nightmares for a week before she.." Max glanced up at Claire. "you know."

Mirren looked up and her eyes were wide. She tried remembering when her headaches had started, it felt very recent. Four days. Yeah, it was four days.

"Fred's started six days ago." Max continued, her eyes welling up with tears. "I've been having mine for five days." She said blankly, avoiding eye contact with everybody in the room. Especially Claire. "It looks like i'm gonna die tomorrow."

Summer must have had the same though as Mirren, because she quickly turned to her sister, a anxious glare cast over her eyes. "Mirren-."

The older sister shook her head. She turned to the group and coughed to get their attention. "I've been having headaches too. Since I moved here, I mean. Four days."

Steve stared blankly up at her, his eyebrows furrowed together. "Are.. are you sure that it's the same thing?"

Mirren just nodded as she made her way over to stand beside Max. She took a quick glance over the two files and bit the inside of her cheek. "Yeah. It's the same. The nightmares.. the headaches. I've seen small things.. but nothing like this. Yet, I mean."

Max looked up at the girl beside her, a wave of understanding went between the two girls. A understanding that jo one else in the group had for each other, because they both knew:

Their deaths were scheduled, and they were approaching faster than imagined.

————
AUTHOR SPEAKS !

uhm yeah!! :D

xoxo, kenn.