Henry Creel - Short Stories

Pt 4 - Hope in the past

Henry was excited to follow that plan. He didn't even see her using her powers, but her tattoo seemed enough to make him have faith in her.
They found two gas masks and wore them. Then Henry grabbed her hand and guided her to an empty control room.
He banged his fist on a big red button and a scary mist quickly filled the room.
They ran out, seeing that the mist had filled the whole building.
They reached the front doors.
El stopped Henry and pointed at his clothes, then pointed at a fainted guard on the floor.
He understood and quickly removed his white uniform, to replace it with the guard's clothes.
Then they reached the doors, that were unlocked.
They removed their masks, holding their breaths.
El focused on the lock and used her powers to melt it.
She winced when she felt Henry's fingers wipe the blood under her nose.
"Beautiful" he whispered mesmerised, then his fingers entwined with hers "Are you ready?".
She swallowed hard and nodded.
He pushed the doors open and they gasped for fresh air. Then they marched towards the gates.
The guards didn't look alarmed by their attire, but El didn't want unexpected trouble so she focused on their minds, creating mindscapes to distract them.
"If you free me, I can help you" Henry squeezed her hand to get her attention.
"Not now" she said strongly.
"It won't take much before they wake up and find out we are gone. You can't control their minds for too long".
"I know. Keep walking" she ordered, pulling him towards the forest, leaving the lab behind.
"Jane, why can't you trust me?" he asked letting her hand go.
She kept walking until she spotted the pond.
"I think I can take you where they can't track you" she revealed, upset for disappointing his expectations.
"You're from the future, aren't you?" he asked staring intently at her "In Brenner's project the numbers are just up to eight by now. You're number eleven. You know the lab as well as I do. How did you time travel? Why helping me?".
"I have to tell you a story, that doesn't have a happy ending. I'm trying to save my world" she said feeling her energies being drained by her control over the distant guards "I don't know how it worked. I just needed it to work. And I resurfaced into this pond. And I found you here. Twenty years earlier than my time".
"Twenty years?" he repeated dumbfounded.
She nodded "You've been here since you were twelve. I know your story. And I have to stop you".
He stared at her like he was exposed "So you came here to kill me? You let me kiss you, grow attached to you, just to trick me and make me come here?".
She shook her head "No. I came here to save you. Because the monster was created into that lab. You couldn't stay there. You deserve to be free".
Henry stepped closer to her "Jane, you're close to exhaustion. You can't take us anywhere if you collapse now. Free me. Let me help you. Trust me".
She hesitated. She recalled Vecna, the Upside Down. But she owed him. She owed to the Henry she had sent into the Upside Down.
"Trust me, Jane. Not whoever you knew in your time" he begged cupping her face.
"It will be painful" she warned faintly.
"I'm ready" he said resolutely and exposed his neck.
"Bite something" she said.
He ripped a piece of cloth to gag himself and sat on the ground.
El focused on the chip. She was going to regret it, she bet.
But she was too tired to think clearly and wanted it to be over.
She released her control over the guards and focused harder on the chip, feeling his skin making resistance. She insisted, until his skin broke and the chip was snatched away from him.
She bowed to pick it before he could take it and hid it into her pockets.
Henry touched his bleeding wound and stood up.
El stood petrified, expecting the monster to reveal itself.
He breathed deeply, blinking several times, then he looked at her and cut their distance.
He pulled her into a harsh kiss.
She was so tired that she almost fainted into his arms. But he held her and his kiss kept her awake.
"Thank you" he said with gratitude, kissing her more softly.
She felt the need to sit down and he imitated her, sitting next to her.
"What happened in your world?" he asked carefully "Why sending only you in this mission?".
"Nobody sent me. I did it all by myself" she explained "It is all my fault. I did something that created the monster that as revenge is burning my world down, killing my friends".
"All by yourself? What about Brenner?".
"Papa's dead. I saw him dying".
He exhaled "I don't feel bad at all".
"Same. He caused so much trouble".
"But why coming to save me? There are other subjects trapped into the lab?".
"You're the key, to save the future or see it burn".
"How? You mentioned that there's no happy ending? Do you want me to sacrifice or what?".
She sighed heavily "I don't know. I'm just so desperate. I'm trying anything to stop the hell I've seen".
"Jane, you mentioned a monster" he said carefully "You meant me, right? You did something against me and I became your enemy?".
She held his stare, pushing out the awful story that had brought her there.
"In your future, in my past, we knew each other. You acted friendly and pretended to let me escape, but you needed someone to remove the chip from your neck. Then you went to kill all the children. Once I said I wouldn't join you, you tried to kill me. I fought back and opened the gate to the Upside Down, exiling you there. Until you found a way to break the walls between the worlds and make the Upside Down burn this world as we know it".
Henry stared at her speechless, but didn't let her go, didn't move away from her.
"And yet, after all of this, you decided to help me" he whispered incredulous.
"I don't think that killing you now can solve anything".
"You allowed me to be close to you, this close. Although you've seen me as a monster" he continued.
"I still believe that the monster was created by Brenner into that lab. That there's still some good in you. I needed to try".
He nodded and said strongly "I won't disappoint you, Jane. I'll try to help you. You freed me. I owe you this".
Hope blossomed in her heart.
"Are you sure? Would you fight against yourself? I don't even know how to go back there".
"How did you come here? What did you focus on?".
"On you".
"Then focus on your time. Find the path back to your time. I'll be with you, I'll share my energy with you, so you won't get lost".
He wiped her tears on her cheeks.
"I won't disappoint you this time, Jane. Let me prove you that you were right about me. That I can be a hero if someone gives me a reason to be one".
"Just don't make me regret this" she begged and grabbed his hands.
He helped her stood up and together they faced the water.
El looked at him like they were about to be divided. She didn't know how to say goodbye.
He was like a dream. And she didn't want to wake up but she couldn't control it.
They walked together into the water, until theit feet couldn't touch the bottom anymore.
The water was freezing.
If it didn't work, they most likely would drown there.
"Find me in your mind" he said, squeezing her hand.
She closed her eyes and focused, trying to forget how the cold water was making her struggle to breathe. She was almost panicking.
She felt a pull in her mind and in the dark void she found Henry.
"Focus on our destination" he said with urgency, shaking her shoulders "Focus on your friends that you want to save. Let them pull you back to them. I'll follow you".
"And if it does not work, you'll drown in that pond?" she asked hysterically.
"I'll follow you" he repeated confidently.
El focused on her friends, murmuring all their names, until a stronger force pulled her down.
She was drowning into the cold water.
Henry's grip on her hand was still there, but she felt pulled away from him.
It was like a black hole was trying to swallow her.
She screamed into the water and tried to use her powers, but she was losing.
She didn't notice the difference of temperature. She just realized that suddenly she broke the surface and her lungs claimed painfully the air she needed.
She vomited the water she had swallowed and a force pulled her towards the shore.
It wasn't night anymore. It was sunset. And the world around them was burning, warming even the pond's water.
"What the hell" Henry said staring at the red sky and then at the burned forest and the smoke coming up from what was left of Hawkins.
He wrapped an arm around her and shaking they stammered to get out of the water.
"We need to hurry before it's too late" El said weakly, after coughing badly to get her voice back.
"Wait" he pulled her hand "I can feel it. There's something so dark around us".
"Welcome to hell" she said, fighting the fear that maybe Vecna could feel his presence too and strike right away.
She guided him to where her friends were camped.

"El! We've been looking for you for hours! What happened?" Mike's voice welcomed her as a small crowd gathered in front of her.
Just hours? She was gone for days. But it didn't need to make sense.
Mike ran to her to wrap her into his arms, although she was still drenched.
"What happened?".
"I looked for help" she said quietly.
"Who's that guard?" Nancy asked alarmed "Do I know you?".
El moved to cover Henry and protect him from them.
"He's Henry. He's here to help us" El explained.
"Henry?" Mike repeated shocked "As One? As Vecna?".
"So you called the monster Vecna?" Henry asked with the same irritated tone.
Everyone stood like he was a menace.
El waved her hands "No. Can't you see he's not Vecna? Brenner was right. I'm not strong enough to fight Vecna. So I found the only one who can match his powers. Himself".
Hopper stepped forward holding a rifle "And why would he fight against himself?".
"Because Jane showed me that there is more than anger and revenge. The monster me that she knew made her suffer unbearable pains. She could have simply killed me to solve the problem. Instead she chose to save me".
Nobody knew how to reply to Henry.
Hopper turned back to El "Is it even possible? Doesn't it create something like a paradox?".
"I have no idea. But I want to try" El said and touched her pockets, pulling out the chip "And I want to try to place this into Vecna's neck. It should be still capable of blocking his powers".
"I can do that" Henry said frowning at the chip on her palm "Tell me how to find this Vecna and we'll speak face to face".
"You won't like the reflection of yourself" Dustin mocked.
"I know he is a monster. He made Jane suffer. I expect him to look like a reflection of his rotten soul".
"Let's get changed. I feel we're going to catch a cold" El suggested to Henry. She needed to get out of that inquisition trial.
"If you can't believe me now" Henry challenged them "Come to cry on what's left of me once I've saved your world".
"He means it" Will intervened.
Everyone turned to him with worried expressions.
"He knows you're a menace" Will spoke straight to Henry "He is waiting for you to meet him".
El grabbed Henry's arm and pulled him towards the house as a scary silence fell around them.
"Why do they call you by your number? Is Jane your real name?" Henry asked once they were alone.
"Yes, Jane is the name my mother gave me. But when they found me, I didn't know it yet. So they called me El since then".
"One and Eleven" he said with a smile, then noticed her worried face and took it gently into his palms, making her look up at him "I know you're scared. But I have a feeling that you and I can defeat this Vecna. Together. I can sort of sense his sudden fear, now that he knows that I'm here".
She rested her hands on his arms "We both have sins to atone. We have this last chance to become heroes".
He nodded and finally she didn't feel alone and helpless anymore. They were a team. And they were going to wipe away Vecna from history.

The end

A/N

Wednesday 7th September 2022

So this story reflected my wish that Henry and Eleven can somehow work together in the end, to defeat Vecna 🥺
I like paradoxes so why not?

Also, this 111 story fixed the age gap that troubled most of the fanfics on this ship that I've encountered so far.

I hope you appreciated this little story, I'd love to hear your opinion on it, so please let me know what you think of it 😊❤

New stories coming soon 😎