𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

006. One Last Cry

"Do-- do you want me to see if I can find Max in the void?" Eleven asked the others. Steve shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to give it a chance." Nancy nodded. "Steve's right. It can't hurt." Their eyes met, and Steve smiled softly. Dustin rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys. Flirting in front of everyone? Really?"

Both of their faces flushed into deep red colors. "Really, Henderson?" Steve asked abruptly. "Just ignore him," Nancy said with a smile and an eye roll. "Gosh, you two really should get a room," Dustin muttered. "Are you not dating Jonathan anymore?" Eleven asked Nancy. Nancy looked at the ground. "Yes, I'm still dating Jonathan. Like I said, Steve and I are just friends for now."

"That doesn't really make sense. Why don't you just break up with Jonathan?" Lucas asked. "It's more complicated than that," Nancy replied. "Well, you wanna take the time to explain it to us, Nance?" Robin asked. Nancy smiled awkwardly. "I don't think it's important. We should really just try to help Max right now."

"I agree," Mike said. "This isn't really the place or the time to talk about love triangles." Robin raised an eyebrow. "You seem pretty unsure about that." Dustin sighed. "Come on, guys. Can we just get this over with? If we help Max, maybe she'll be able to help us find a way to defeat Vecna." 

Eleven gently sat on the edge of Max's bed and took her hand. Before closing her eyes, she realized that she needed to use something as a stimulant and needed some kind of bandana to help cover her eyes. Maybe that's why she couldn't find Max before. Maybe she just hadn't tried hard enough!

The others quickly turned the radio to the fuzzy sound to help. There were extra hospital gowns in the room too so they ripped one of them, folded it up a few times, and tied it around Eleven's eyes. "El, you can do this. I believe in you. You can find Max," Mike told her. El nodded before putting a single finger over her lips, silently telling everyone to stay silent.

She held Max's hand and focused on finding her in the void. She quickly found herself in complete darkness. It was just like it was before. "Max? Max, are you here? You-- You don't have to hide. I'm here to help," She called out in the empty void. 

Tears struck her cheek as she fell to her knees continuing to cry out Max's name. "Max! Max! You have to be here! MAX!" Just before she was about to leave the void to go back to reality, she heard something in the background. It wasn't a voice saying anything, but it was a voice singing. 

🎶You don't wanna hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
But see how deep the bullet lies (yeah, yeah, yo)
Unaware I'm tearin' you asunder (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, there is thunder in our hearts (yeah, yeah, yo)🎶

Eleven frowned, not understanding why the song was playing and where it had even come from. "I-- I hear someone singing," she muttered to the others. "Someone singing?" Lucas asked. "What... what does the song sound like? Have you heard it before?" 

"No. The words are strange. They do not make sense," Eleven replied. "El, can you tell us what it's saying?" Nancy asked. "Yes," Eleven replied. "It is a girl singing. Her voice is pretty. She is singing, 'And if only I could make a deal with God and get Him to swap our places, Be running up that road, Be running up that hill, Be running up that building, If only I could.' I do not understand what she is talking about."

Tears began streaming down Lucas's face. "That's Max. It has to be. It's... It's her favorite song. Can you see her?" Eleven stood up in the void and looked around. "No. But I can follow the voice. Maybe she is hiding. Maybe this is her swan song." Steve raised an eyebrow. "Swan song?" Dustin smiled sadly. "It's a warning that something is going to end."

🎶You (yeah, yeah, yo)
It's you and me
It's you and me
Won't be unhappy (yeah, yeah, yo)🎶

Eleven followed where the voice was coming from in the void. No one understood what was happening, but she knew that it might lead her to Max, and that was all that mattered.  As she followed the voice, it became stronger. At first it had almost been.... distorted. Now it was clear and even more beautiful.