How has my life come to this? These kids have been dealing with monsters from another dimension since Will went missing. Somehow I've been dragged into it with Vecna terrorising Hawkins. I'm way out of my depth here.
Everyone is gathered at my house to try and come up with a plan. We can't seem to agree on anything other than how risky this whole thing is. I briefly break off from the group to find one of my adoptive brother's shirts for Eddie and grab a drink. However, before I leave the kitchen, I hear them formulating a new plan.
"We have to use Y/N as bait." Nancy states.
"What? No." Dustin protests.
"Absolutely not." Eddie sides with him.
"I said I'd do it - so let me do it." Max is the only other person who strongly disagrees and is willing to say it.
"It's too much of a risk. It has to be her." Nancy doubles down.
"It doesn't. I've already survived him - I can do it again." Max insists.
"You could die." Steve joins Nancy.
"So could Y/N." Dustin points out.
"Yeah, but we've known Max longer - it'd hurt a lot more if we lost her." Steve blurts out.
"You didn't just say that..." Dustin is disappointed by his attitude.
"I've known Y/N most of my life." Eddie fires back. "I'm not letting you take her away from me."
"I don't want anyone to die. None of us do." Steve tries not to make things worse.
"But this is the best option." Nancy finishes his thought.
"No. No! Nope! Absolutely not!" Eddie rages.
"You're not even giving her a choice. She's not even here and you're throwing her out to the wolves." Dustin continues.
"Shut up!" Erica silences them.
"Someone's life is on the line either way. It really doesn't matter if it's Max or Y/N. He's after both of them. If something happens, it'll hurt no matter who it is. But if we stick to a plan, nobody will get hurt." Robin rants.
"We need a plan first." Lucas states.
"Robin's right." Max sighs.
"Red, not you too."
"Fine but we have to be careful." Dustin caves in.
"Henderson..."
"We'll be careful - we'll be with her the whole time if things start going wrong." Dustin reassures him.
"Unbelievable." Eddie mutters and he realises that he's outnumbered and can't change their minds.
I can't believe what I'm hearing. They're so willing to make me their sacrifice and they aren't even planning on letting me have a say in the matter. I take a deep breath and wipe away a stray tear before rejoining them.
"Here. I had to dig to find something you'd actually like." I hand Eddie the Bon Jovi shirt and pretend I didn't hear anything.
Now that I'm in the same room, they tell me the plan. Just as I suspected, they aren't giving me a choice - though Eddie constantly shows his lack of support. They swear to stay by my side to save me, but it somehow feels like an empty promise.
While everyone is gathering weapons, Eddie and I are hiding out in the motor home he hotwired and stole. All I've been able to think about is how they gave in so quickly.
"Hey, I'm not gonna let him hurt you."
"What if he does?"
"I promise I won't let that happen. If anything happens, I will press play faster than I ever have." I give him a small smile.
"Just remember only to do it if I start levitating otherwise it could mess things up." He nods at my reminder.
"You have a happy memory in mind?"
"Yeah."
"Am I there by any chance?"
"Maybe..." I laugh. Before I can tell him what it is, I feel his presence. Vecna...
"Y/N? Shit."
When I awake, I find myself standing inside the Creel house. My heart is beating out of my chest. Why would I be here? It doesn't make sense.
"Hello, Y/N. Or should I say 012..." I hear Vecna's familiar low growl as his eyes appear in the darkness.
"Henry. What am I doing here? Surely you should kill me where I am. You've already killed in front of Eddie - why not do it again? Seems like the kind of shit you'd pull."
"I am not here to kill you."
"What?" I give him a confused look. "Killing is your thing - you've been setting me up to kill me."
"I had a change of heart." Didn't think that was possible. "I'm here to make you an offer."
"What could you possibly offer me?"
"Join me. Together we can reshape the world."
"Why would I join you?"
"Because the world has rejected us. They see us as monsters or they don't see us at all. We are alike - you and I."
"We aren't the same, Henry. I have friends here who need me."
"Friends? Is that what you call them?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"They were so quick to disregard you. They didn't waste a second to offer you up as bait."
"They didn't want to."
"They didn't think twice. They didn't fight for you. They gave up on you."
"That's not true. Eddie never gives up on me. Never."
"He will soon enough - they all do."
"No. You're wrong."
"Your naivety blinds you, Y/N. Your whole life you have been alone. I've only ever been kind to you. I saved you that day. These 'friends' don't care for you. They rarely invite you to anything. They ignore you unless they need you. Why do you think they keep you around?" I stay in silence as I reflect on my life. "They are using you, Y/N."
"No." I cry as I realise he could be telling the truth.
"They are using you to get to me." I stare at the ground as the tears fall. "Join me. We can work together and be what we were born to be." He lifts my chin gently with his gruesome and unnatural hand.
"Even if I said yes, I don't have my powers anymore. What use would I be?"
"I can give you your power back."
"You can?"
"Yes. Come home and I will help you."
"I don't know."
"Either you are with me or against me. I'll be waiting." He suddenly disappears and I find myself gasping for air as Eddie panics by my side.
"Holy shit! Y/N, you okay?" Eddie cups my face as I come to my senses.
"Yeah... I'm okay..." I catch my breath and spring out of my seat.
"What are you doing?" I ignore him and grab a pen and paper to write the new plan without Henry hearing. I hand him the paper.
'Don't read any of this aloud! Ask where I'm going then let me leave. Don't read further until the others come back and don't let anyone read out loud - especially with Max around. He's listening. I love you.'
"Where are you going?" Eddie looks extremely confused.
"I need some air. I'm gonna take a quick walk."
"But that's really dangerous right now."
"I'll be fine. I just need a few minutes."
"Y/N." I quickly leave the motor home.
I can't believe this is happening. After taking a deep breath, I start speed walking 'home'. Here we go. Slowly, I make my way into the old Creel house.
"Henry? I'm here. You were right - they don't care, they never did. I want to join you." I call out as I walk up the stairs.
"Welcome home, Y/N." I hear him as I reach the attic. "I knew you would come to your senses."
"Were you telling the truth? Can you really bring my powers back?"
"I can make you stronger than you have ever been."
"Then let's get to work. They'll be here soon."
Back with the group.
They all manically flood onto the home after seeing Jason and his friends. Steve drives like a madman before pulling over when they're in the clear.
"Wait, where's Y/N?" He asks Eddie.
"She needed some air because he came for her again."
"And you let her go?" They look at him like he's an idiot.
"Yeah." He hands the paper over to him. As they ask what it says, Steve remains silent as the writing tells him to before passing it around for the others to read.
Don't read any of this aloud! Ask where I'm going then let me leave. Don't read further until the others come back and don't let anyone read out loud - especially with Max around. He's listening. I love you.
I heard you guys planning to use me as bait. I'll be honest, it stung that you seemed as willing as you did. But Vecna heard too. He put me in a trance and offered to let me join him. He claims that he can give me my powers back. I've agreed to join him. With my powers I can fight back. I can take him out - double cross him. That's why I wrote this down and why you can't utter a word of this. There is a chance it could go wrong, but if this works, nobody else will be hurt. If he senses that I'm not loyal to him, he will kill me.
You all need to head to the gate. I'll meet you there - DON'T GO THROUGH UNTIL I GET THERE! We'll go to the upside down version of the Creel house. That's where his body is. Bring fire and guns. We need to end this. I love you guys. See you soon.
"Jesus..."
"We need to go now. We're running out of time." Nancy looks at Steve before rushing to the driver's seat.
Y/N's pov
I can't believe it. I actually have my powers back. After some tests, it's evident that I really am stronger than before. Henry believes I will lead them to him for him to create another massacre. I won't let that happen. I know when he's being truthful - so I know he'll keep his promise to ease off on demobats and stuff so we can get to him.
As soon as I exit the house, I race over to the meeting point. When I finally arrive, I notice them hanging around on edge. Eddie is pacing nervously before he sees me and sprints to me.
"There you are. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where'd you go?" He sticks to the plan as he frantically searches for injures.
"I'm okay. I just went for a walk in the woods so I didn't run into anyone. I came back but you guys had left - I assumed you'd come here." I give him a knowing look before he pulls me into a bone crushing hug and brings his hand to my head as a means of comfort, protection and a way to hold me closer.
"Y/N, we just wanna say we're sorry." Nancy speaks up.
"We should've asked you and talked about it." Steve adds.
"It's okay. It was the right choice. I'll be the bait/sacrifice."
After hugging and reconciling with everyone, we filter through the gate. As the key part of the plan, I lead the gang to the Creel house. Though minimal, we are still attacked by demobats. Luckily, we easily knock them out of action.
Here it is. Somehow it looks more intimidating down here - probably because of the bats and red lightning. Walking into the building, they follow me up to his body. He must have sensed we were here since he isn't being held up by his vines when we enter the room.
"Henry, let's end this." I approach him as the others stay where they are. God, I hope they're good actors.
"You have proven yourself in this partnership."
"Partnership?" Max questions.
"Yes, Maxine. Y/N has come to her senses. You have treated her poorly - so she has joined me to get revenge on society. To get revenge on people like you. Together we will reshape the world however we see fit." Henry stands besides me and delivers his speech.
"Y/N?" Dustin speaks up.
"You betrayed us?" Eddie looks heartbroken.
"I'm just getting even. You all were so eager to let me die. Now it'll be the lot of you that perish."
"We're sorry." Robin states.
"You don't have to do this." Steve adds.
"No. But I want to."
"That's the Y/N I knew." Vecna interrupts. "As a gesture of our new partnership, I will let you decide who is first to die."
I walk forward and face the group. Standing between the enemies, I give them all knowing looks. They subtly prepare to fight as I mouth a countdown.
"You!" I yell as I jump around and use my regained power to pin Henry to the wall.
"No! What are you doing, you stupid child!" He struggles to fight back against my improved strength.
"Did you really think that I would join you? After everything you've done!" I scream.
I use all my strength to keep him away from my friends. Although he manages to fight back, I overpower him and beat him at his own game by breaking his limbs. Now on the ground, he tries to regenerate and continue the fight. However, the Scoops troop launch molotov cocktails at him knowing his weakness to fire. Nancy then empties her gun, putting every bullet in his body. To add insult to injury, Eddie throws a homemade spear right into his eye.
With his movement and groaning now halted, they all swarm me and partake in large group hug. This was extremely taxing, so we leave as fast as possible and head back to my house. They're all staying the night, so we put on a movie, order food and try to recover from this nightmare. It's finally over.