CHAPTER EIGHTEEN — THE PIGGYBACK
PART TWO
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AFTER ERICA had signaled, the four of them crouched down underneath the play set, waiting for Eddie's music to distract the bats, which were still swarming the Creel house. It seemed like it took forever for them to finally hear the sound of his guitar playing in the distance, but when it did, the bats formed in the air, and followed the noise.
"It's working," Nancy stated. "Let's go."
They all straightened, immediately making their way to the building. The Creel house was even creepier in the Upside Down than it was normally. The electricity inside of her buzzed stronger the closer Jackie neared the front door. She closed her eyes, willing herself to focus on the music playing through her headphones as Steve kicked open the door.
To their horror, the entire interior of the house was flooded with vines. Robin shifted anxiously on her feet. "Oh no."
"You'll be fine, Robin," Nancy assured her.
"Things can't ever be easy," Jackie sighed. "Can they?"
They maneuvered through the house with great difficulty, Steve was in the front, Jackie and Robin were in the middle, and Nancy followed them from the back. Jackie watched Steve's footing before she stepped, and tried to balance herself on the naked spots on the railing, but it was close to impossible.
Steve pulled Nancy's gun out of her pack once they reached the top of the steps, and they stared at the attic entrance. Jackie flipped her own weapon out from the belt of her jeans, and Steve grabbed his axe.
They all stumbled when the house started to shake. Jackie knocked right into Nancy, and nearly sent the both of them stumbling. When it stopped, they looked around at each other, until Robin shrieked, and was yanked up against the wall by the vines.
"Steve!" She screamed. Jackie instantly jumped into action, using the handle of her gun to slice the vines in half and off of her friend. Something snagged Jackie by the wrist, and before she knew it, her head slammed against the wall, and she was staring at the back of Steve and Nancy.
Easy come, easy go
Will you let me go?
She writhed, but the vines only tightened around her. She watched as the remaining two were strung up on the wall besides her. Jackie struggled to breathe, her vision blurring, and her mouth opened with a choked gasp.
Jackie could hear the others groaning in pain, and the sound mortified her.
No, we will not let you go
(Let him go!)
She squeezed her eyes shut. This could not be the end. She needed to get back to Max. She needed to make sure Dustin and Lucas were safe. She needed to talk to her mom again. She needed to make sure her and Nancy were truly okay. And she needed about a couple of dozen more years with Steve before anything could happen.
Never, never, never, never
Let me go
No, no, no, no, no
Jackie lifted her arm up, attempting to loosen the vine that was tightly wrapped around her neck. It hardly budged, but she managed to catch sight of her friends during the process. Robin's face had paled drastically, but she was still kicking and fighting. Steve looked close to being slumped into unconscious. She couldn't see Nancy, but she could hear her determined shouts to free herself.
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me,
for me, for me
They wouldn't die here—Jackie thought darkly. They couldn't. She remembered Dustin's glossy eyes before they parted. The shared nod between her and her sister. The hopefulness in Lucas' gaze that he'd be able to save his girlfriend and put an end to all of this. She remembered Hopper only trusting her with a loaded weapon. She remembered laughing so hard with Nancy that her drink had come snorting out of her nose. She remembered the endless sleepovers with Robin that had taken place over the previous summer, because she'd felt safer at Jackie's compared to anywhere else.
"You got this," Jackie had once told Eleven, surrounded by their friends in Starcourt Mall before everything had went downhill.
"I got this," Eleven had repeated, firmly, like those three words had made her stronger.
Jackie lifted her chin, barely avoiding the vine, and she could feel her eyes narrowing. I got this.
Jackie planted her feet flat against the wall, pushing her back farther away from it. The vines tightened, and she grunted in response, but she didn't stop.
So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye?
The buzzing inside of her continued the more the vines tightened around her. The static feeling inside of her was so strong now that she felt ready to explode. Her wrist broke free of the vine, and she used her arm to her advantage, putting it on the wall to help herself escape.
So you think you can love me and leave me to die?
The snake around her neck strained her backwards. She'd been out of air for the better half of the last minute, and when she started to choke, the unexplainable happened.
Something flared up inside of her. She didn't know what, she didn't know how, and she wasn't sure that she ever would. The vines shrank back in pain—all of them, flying and smacking up against the wall. Jackie plummeted to the ground, the buzzing still pulsating in her ears. She watched as they shrunk. Literally shrunk, right before her eyes. She'd been so busy glaring at them, that she hadn't noticed the decrease in size until Robin broke the silence.
"What the hell just happened?" She asked, panting. "Are they getting smaller?"
Steve braced himself against the wall. "I would love to have an explanation for that."
Jackie swallowed. I think it was me, she wanted to say, but that would be ridiculous, right? How could something like that even be possible?
A high pitched ringing took over her senses. She hadn't realized her headphones had slipped off until just then, and when she went to put them back on, they disappeared in her hands. Panic rose in her chest, and she glanced around hopelessly, realizing she was alone.
"I told you before, Jacqueline," Vecna's voice said from somewhere, but she didn't see him. Weirdly enough, it looked like she was back in the middle school. "You are exactly what I need."
Oh, baby, can't do this to me baby
Jackie's eyes snapped back open to see Steve crouching in front of her, gaze flooded with concern. He nodded to the girls. "She's back."
She clutched at both of his hands, which were placed at either side of her head to adjust the headphones, her heart racing. He leaned down to kiss her forehead. "You're okay. I've got you."
She nodded slowly, and allowed him to pull her upright. Jackie cracked her knuckles. "Okay. Moment of weakness has passed. Let's go kill that son of a bitch."
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authors note
pop off pussy queen