It Gets Stranger [Stranger Things x Reader]

sixty eight

"he showed me things that haven't happened yet." nancy explains, her voice hoarse. "the most awful things."

we sat around my living room, trying to calm down and relax the best we could after what we had gone through the past few hours.

"i saw a dark cloud spreading over hawkins." nancy continues.

my head shoots up. "i saw downtown on fire."

"and the dead soldiers?" nancy asks, looking over at me.

i nod. "and this giant creature with a gaping mouth. but it wasn't alone, there were dozens and dozens of monsters. like an army."

"yeah, they were coming into hawkins. into our neighborhood. our homes." nancy pauses, shaking her head. "and then, he showed me my mom. and holly. and mike. and they were all..."

she purses her lips, trying to stop herself from crying but it was too late. the tears rolled off her cheeks and down to the floor.

i looked down at my hands, twiddling my fingers. "i saw mike too."

dustin's head snaps towards me. he gives me a look and i nod. he just sighs in response.

"okay, but...he's just trying to scare you guys." steve says. "right? i mean, it's not real."

"not yet." nancy breathes out. "but there was something else. he showed me the gates. four gates. spreading across hawkins. and these gates, they looked like the one outside of eddie's trailer. but they didn't stop growing."

eddie shifts around on the couch, resting his chin in his palm. he stares at nancy, taking in what she's saying.

she shakes her head, mainly keeping eye contact with steve. "this wasn't the upside down hawkins. this was our hawkins."

steve rubs his mouth, looking down to hide the worried look on his face.

"four chimes." max says softly.

we all look up at her. she was standing in the corner, her arms crossed, and looking down at her feet.

"vecna's clock," she explains, "it always chimes four times."

i nod, remembering the noises i had heard. "yeah, four exactly. every time."

"i heard them too." nancy gulps.

max shakes her head. "he's been telling us his plan this whole time."

"four kills." lucas lifts his eyebrows as the realization hits him. "four gates. end of the world."

"if that's true, he's only one kill away." dustin puts his hands on his hips.

"oh, jesus christ." eddie mumbles, putting his face in his hands.

"try 'em again. try 'em again." steve points to max and she sighs, walking back into the kitchen and over to the phone.

she dials the byers' phone number again but i hear the same busy signal droning out. max hangs up, the phone clatters loudly against the wall.

"anything?" dustin asks.

"no." max grumbles. "it rang a few times, then went to busy signal."

"maybe you punched it in wrong, try it again." steve instructs.

"i didn't punch it in wrong." max rolls her eyes.

"well, i don't know."

"i think she knows how to use a phone." i say, defending max.

"i'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." steve just shrugs.

max picks the phone back up, quickly dialing the number again before holding the phone up to her ear again. i hear the same busy signal noise echo before max hangs up, clearly frustrated.

"same shit."

lucas furrows his eyebrows. "how is that possible?"

"i told you," dustin starts pacing around, "joyce has this telemarketer job. she's always on the phone. mike won't stop whining about it."

"okay yeah, but this phone''s been busy for, what, three days now? that's not joyce. no way. something's wrong." max says sternly.

"she's right." robin says, breaking her silence. "it can't just be coincidence."

nancy stands up, walking over to the window. "whatever's happening in lenora is connected to all of this. i'm sure of it."

"but vecna can't hurt them. not if he's dead." i say, standing up from my seat.

nancy spins around. "we have to go back in there. back to the upside down."

eddie instantly starts shaking his head and steve waves his hands around.

"nope!" eddie lays back, crossing his arms.

"woah, no, no, no. what?!" steve stands up. "let's think this through."

"what is there to think through?!" nancy asks.

"we barely made it out of there in one piece!"

"yeah, because we weren't prepared!" nancy argues, "but this time, we will be! we'll get weapons and protection! we'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."

"or he'll kill us." steve yells. "the only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. he's not scared of us!"

"and for good reason." robin stands up from the floor. "we were wrong about vecna. henry. one. sorry, what are we calling him now?"

"one." lucas and dustin say at the same time.

"vecna." erica and i say.

"henry." nancy says.

we all look at each other.

"right." robin shakes her head. "we've learned something new about vecna/henry/one. he's a number like eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. but my- my point is he's very powerful. he could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. it's not a fair fight.

"then why fight fair?" dustin says. "you're right. he's like eleven. but that gives us an upper hand. we know eleven's strengths. and weaknesses."

"weaknesses?" erica makes a face.

"when el remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. i bet the same is true of vecna"

"that would explain what he was doing in that attic." i say.

"exactly! when he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless." dustin grins at his own theory.

"defenseless?! what about the army of bats?" steve motions to the wounds all around his neck.

"true. we'll have to find a way past them. distract them somehow."

"and, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" eddie asks, starting to stand up from the couch.

"no idea." dustin shakes his head, a sarcastic smile spread across his lips.

eddie sits back down, disappointed.

"but once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance." dustin assures him, "it'll be like slaying sleeping dracula in his coffin."

"that all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to vecna's killings." robin chimes in. "not one that i can decipher. we don't know when he's going to attack next. we don't even know who he's going to attack."

"yeah, we do." max whispers.

we all turn to her.

"i can still feel him. i'm still...marked. cursed." she bites the inside of her cheek, rubbing her fingers against her arm. "i ditch kate bush, i draw his focus back to me."

"max." lucas interjects. "you can't. he'll kill you."

"i survived before." max assures him. " i can survive again. i just need to keep him busy long enough so you guys can get into that attic. then you can chop his head off. stab him in the heart. blow him up with some explosive dustin cooks up, i honestly don't care how you put this asshole in his grave."

she pauses, looking around the room sternly.

"just...whatever it is, whatever you do, try not to miss."