Cal's eyes shot open, a heavy gasp escaping his lips, as he sat up on the couch. His breaths were heavy as he looked around his surroundings, noticing he was back in the Wheelers basement.
The boylet out a sigh of relief, his body visibly relaxing, as he was about to close his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, before he noticed a certain red head missing.
Cal's eyes widened, turning towards the curly haired boy, who was calmly snoring away, before letting out a groan, "Last time I trust you Henderson." He mumbled slightly annoyed.
He quickly got up from the couch as he made his way over to the stairs, making sure to not wake anyone, deciding that he should check if Max is still in the Wheeler house before freaking out.
The young Harrington silently made his way up the stairs, opening the basement door, and made his way towards the kitchen, noticing the room being filled with the golden light from the rising sun.
Cal could see the Wheeler parents in the kitchen, though not focusing on them, as he heard the sound of someone drawing. He turned his head towards the sound as he saw Max and Holly sitting down at the table while Max drew on some paper with crayons.
A relieved sigh escaped Cal's lips as he walked over to the girl. He wrapped his arms around her, Max tensing a little before relaxing
"Morning Red," Cal softly whispered, his voice husky from waking up, causing shivers to go down Max's spine as he placed his head on her right shoulder.
"Morning Blue." Max whispered back, turning her head to Cal and planting a quick kiss on his lips, before continuing with what she was drawing.
Cal looked at the table to see papers with different areas of what they encountered with Vecna.
"Nice drawing, where'd the crayons come from?" Cal asked.
"Holly gave them to me." She answered, "I know it's not the best, but it'll show the others." Max stated
"I can help if you want?" Cal suggested, causing Max to shake her head.
"No, it's fine. You can keep me company though." Max told the boy, earning a smile from him.
"Of course, I would love to." Cal said in a posh accent, grabbing a chair and sitting down next to Max, before grabbing Max's hand, intertwining them, and resting them on her thigh.
The two sat in silence, Max continued to draw as Cal helped with describing what to draw. They continued until Max put the Crayon down, Cal turning to her noticing an apologetic look on her face.
"Hey, what's wrong Red?" Cal said, squeezing her hand in comfort.
Max looked at him before sighing, "I'm sorry."
Cal gave a quizzical look, "Sorry? What could you be sorry for?" The boy asked.
"I... I know that for the past five months or so I've been... difficult." Max began, "And, I just wanted to say sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that." Max apologised, her head looking towards her lap.
"You don't have to apologise Max," Cal said, gently grabbing her chin and lifting it up to face him, "You were grieving, I'm sure there've been other people who've done the same thing, just for different situations of course." Cal explained.
Max gave a small smile before it turned into a frown, "But still..."
"Nope, nuh uh. Not letting you apologise for something you had no control over." Cal said, a small smile on his face, "You were grieving, you did what you thought was best, so don't apologise." Cal told her, a smile making its way to Max's face.
"Okay, I won't." The redhead replied with a light chuckle, "I love you Blue." Max said, nuzzling into Cal's hand that now rested on her cheek.
"And I love you Red." The boy replied.
The two stared at each other, silence overcoming them, before they both slowly started to lean in, their lips about to connect, until a door was slammed open, both of them leaning back in embarrassment, as Max went back to drawing, pressing play on her cassette that Cal didn't notice.
The boy looked over his shoulder to see Dustin and Nancy standing at the basement door, looking at him and Max with their faces filled with relief.
"Morning, guys," Mrs. Wheeler greeted the two newcomers while she made some pancakes, "Everything okay?" The mother asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, everything's okay," Nancy responded, letting out a breath she'd been holding, her eyes darting between Cal and Max. The latter turned around as well, offering Nancy a small smile, who returned it shakily.
"I think it's so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this," Mrs. Wheeler continued the conversation, not noticing anything was off about the kids as she went to put the pancakes on the plate.
"Could try sticking together at a different house for a change," Mr. Wheeler grumbled. Cal looked over at the older man with a 'serious' look, rolling his eyes, before turning back to Max's drawings.
"You know you're welcome anytime," Mrs. Wheeler corrected as Nancy made her way over to the couple.
Max paused her cassette as Nancy took a seat next to Cal, lowering the headphones from her ears. She looked up towards the older girl, offering her an awkward smile. "Hey."
"Hey," the older girl responded, her voice quiet and gentle, the same as the smile she flashed at them. Her eyes darted between each of the girls before settling on Max, the lines between her eyebrows deepening as she leaned forward carefully. "You okay?"
"Just couldn't sleep that much. People kept blasting music in my ears, for some reason," Max attempted to joke, earning a half-smile from the other two. She turned back to gesture to her paper as she spoke, crayon still in hand. "But Holly let me borrow some of her crayons and Cal's been keeping me company." She said, nudging the boy a little.
Nancy nodded, although she seemed to be distracted as she placed her hand on one of Max's many drawings, examining it as she did so. "Is this what you saw last night?"
"I mean, it's supposed to be," Max stammered, not looking either of them in the eye, as she spoke, her eyes roaming the drawings. "I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but... Not so much."
"Well I think it looks great Red." Cal complimented, causing the redhead to smile, growing a blush on her cheeks.
"Is that...?" Nancy trailed off, pulling one of the drawings closer to them, the one of the people twisted in the trees.
"It was like they were on display or something," Max explained.
"And there was red fog or mist or whatever it was, everywhere as well," Cal added.
"It was like a dream. A nightmare." Max finished.
"Do you think Vecna's just trying to scare you?" Nancy asked, looking from the drawing to Max.
"With Billy? Yeah," Max nodded, seeming sure of her answer, "But when I made it here... I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there.
"Maybe you infiltrated his mind," Dustin theorised as he took a seat at the table with a full plate of food. He set down his meal as he spoke, all of their attention now on him. "He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his?"
"That's what I was thinking. It must've been his mind, or a part of it at least." Cal agreed with the curly haired boy, who nodded.
"Yeah, like Freddie Krueger's boiler room." Dustin said.
"Freddie Krueger?" Holly asked, having overheard their conversation.
"He's a super burned-up dude with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams," Dustin explained, stopping when Nancy cut him off, signalling for him to shut up.
"Nice going Dust." Cal said, giving Dustin a deadpan look.
"Sorry. Freddie Krueger is from a movie. It's not real," Dustin attempted to reassure the young girl, before turning back to the others, as he reached for one of Max's drawings. "Just... think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing. Gosh, we need Will."
"No shit. But I tried them again this morning, and it's the same busy signal," Max explained, as Dustin placed down the drawing he was holding, only for Nancy to pick it straight back up.
"Hey, she's not that bad though. I can tell what's in these," Cal defended Max, lips set in a frown, as his eyes began roaming over the various papers spread across the table.
"Like, uh, this right here." He said, grabbing a drawing with a window on it, "This is obviously a window, and it has stained glass with roses." Cal said.
Nancy looked at the paper shock spread across her face, "Stained glass with roses."
"Yeah," Max responded, turning to Dustin, raising her eyebrows as she did so. "See? I'm not so terrible after all." The redhead said, Cal and her high-fiving with smug expressions
"Yeah, well, it helps that I've seen it before," Nancy muttered, before she started folding the paper, focusing on her task at hand.
Cal's eyebrows furrowed, watching the older girl grab various drawings, as she folded them over to only display certain aspects. Nancy then started laying the papers together in a certain pattern.
"Uh, Nance? What exactly are you doing?" Cal questioned as he gained no response for the older girl.
He continued to watch as the curly-haired girl grabbed a Sharpie, drawing a basic outline around where the points of Max's drawings met.
"It's pieces of a house," Max spoke up, all of them watching as the full picture came together, with Nancy drawing the finishing touches.
"Not just any house," Nancy responded, finishing the final window, as she placed the stained glass rose door on top, revealing that all the pieces make a house, "It's Victor Creel's house."
"Holy shit," Cal let out, his jaw dropping a little, as he stared in awe. He could hear a muffled Holly telling him not to curse, but ignored it, as Nancy stood up from her chair.
"Where are you going?" Dustin asked, a mouth full of food as he spoke.
"I'm waking the others."
Cal stood in front of an old abandoned house with his brother and friends, the house once belonging to Victor Creel.
As they walked up the stone steps, Cal could feel his heart begin to race, a numinous feeling washing over the boy.
"Yeah, that's not creepy." Steve said with sarcasm.
The group walked up to the house, Steve and Nancy walking ahead of the others, towards the door, holding hammers to pull the nails out of a wooden board blocking the door.
"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?" Steve asked, pulling a nail from the wall.
"We're not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna." Nancy stated, a nail flying out from the door.
"Because Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" Steve asked
"Basically."
"Great."
"Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is." Cal said, still not liking this one bit, as Dustin nodded his head.
"Exactly. This place could tell us why he's back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes for Max." He looked over to Cal, "Or Cal if he feels like it."
"We don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas mumbled.
Max shrugged. "Guess we'll find out."
"And if he is, I'm gonna show him why he shouldn't mess with us." Cal said looking over at Lucas as a smirk appeared on his face, cracking his knuckles as well.
Max playfully rolled her eyes as Cal and Lucas looked at each other, big grins resting on both their faces.
Steve nodded and turned back towards the boarded door, getting ready to pull the board forward. "Ready?" He asked, turning to Nancy. Nancy hummed and nodded. The two threw the board down onto the floor, a wave of dust coming from it.
The group flinched back, as the board hit the floor, before averting their eyes to the door which had the same stained glass window that Max's drawing had, while Cal sighed.
"I flinched from a falling piece of wood. How?" Cal mumbled to himself, a look of comical disappointment on his face.
Steve put his hand on the door knob, trying to open the door, but it was locked.
Cal rolled his eyes, thinking to himself why Steve would try that. "It's locked." He pointed out a small teasing smirk on his face
Steve turned towards his brother, "Should I knock, see if anybody's home?" He suggested in a playful tone as Cal shook his head in amusement, about to say something before-
"No need." Robin spoke up before the boy could, a smirk on her face as held a red brick up to show the group. Robin looked at it before looking back at the teens and shrugging, "I found a key."
She then threw the brick right through the glass, successfully breaking it. Steve reached his hand in and twisted the door knob, unlocking it, as Cal looked over to the brick thrower.
"You know I could've used my powers right?" He said, cracking a grin, as Robin shrugged.
"I wanted to break something, sue me." She simply said, Cal laughing at her bluntness.
The door screeched as it opened. Steve walked into the Creel house first, followed by Robin and Nancy, before the kids followed behind them. The door creaked closed as Lucas twisted a lamp, trying to turn it on, but failing "Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill." He joked.
"Honestly, the nerve of some people." Cal joked back, both boys sharing a stupid grin, as Max hit the back of their heads, earning a 'ow' from the two.
Dustin gave a thin lip smile, turning on a hand-held flashlight, while everyone, besides Steve, got out their own.
"Where'd everyone get those?" Steve asked like a clueless child. Cal looked over at his brother with an annoyed deadpan look. Dustin turned around as well, facing Steve, as he shared the same look.
"Do you need to be told everything?" Dustin asked the older Harrington, earning a snort out of Cal, "You're not a child."
"Thank you." Steve said sarcastically, looking over at Cal and giving him a glare, the boy smiling innocently in return.
Dustin removed the backpack he wore off his back and gave it to Steve. "Back pocket."
Steve opened the bag and grabbed a flashlight before dropping the bag to the floor. Cal followed behind Max, wanting to keep an eye on her, before they stopped.
The two looked in front of them to see an old grandfather clock.
"I know you're probably the wrong person to ask, but you see this as well right?" Max asked Cal, turning her head towards him.
"Yeah. Yeah I see it." Cal nodded as he studied the clock. What was so special about this clock? "You should probably ask the others as well." Cal suggested in case this was a vision.
Max nodded her head, "Hey, guys?" The red head called out, the other members of the group walking back to the couple, as Max shines her flashlight on the clock, "You all see that, right?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
Cal placed a hand on Max's shoulder, "Is this what you saw? In your visions?" Nancy asked looking over at the couple, both nodding their heads.
"I mean, it's just a clock." Robin leaned over Cal's shoulder slightly, "Right?" Cal looked over at her before moving a little towards Max to let her squeeze through.
Robin walked up to the clock, swiping her hand across it making a squeaking sound and leaving a dustless trail. She turned around and looked at the others, "Like a normal old clock."
"Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?" Steve mumbled. "Maybe he's, like, a clockmaker or something?" Steve questioned, causing Cal to roll his eyes.
"Good job Steve, you've solved the mystery of Vecna." Cal teased his brother
Steve looked over at him and gave him a glare, Cal mouthing 'Love you too' in return, before Nancy spoke up, "All I know is the answers are here. Somewhere."
Nancy backed up a bit. "Okay, there'll be two groups of two and one of three." She instructed the group,
"Robin," Nancy pointed to the girl who made a saluting movement. "upstairs." Nancy made her way towards the stairs.
Max turned towards Cal. "Come on, let's go." She marched away from the three boys, her hand in Cal's dragging him away.
The red-head led Cal into a random room before they began to look around, shining their flashlights in front of them.
They continued to look around in silence before Max's walkman clicked, making the music stop playing in her headphones.
Cal looked over to the girl as he watched Max reset the tape, "Wish we had a longer loop, to be honest." Cal said as the redhead looked back up at him.
"Forty-six minutes isn't bad." Max told him, adjusting the walkman on her pants, "I think there are bigger concerns. Like, what if, by listening to this over and over, I get sick of it, and suddenly it's not my favourite song anymore?" Cal cocked an eyebrow, keeping eye contact with Max, "Will it still work? Or will Kate Bush, like, lose her magic power or something."
Cal scoffed, "Kate Bush losing her magic?" Cal said. "Nope, can't happen."
Max's eyes widened. "You're a Kate Bush fan?" She asked, a little surprised at this. Cal nodded and looked away, flashing his light on the wall.
"I mean, I'm not a huge fan, but her music is really good. Plus it helps when someone listened to her for the past three to five months, straight." Cal teased Max, earning a playful shake of her head, "But, maybe I should become a fan, after all, she did save you." Cal said, winking at the girl.
"Cal you saved me as well, remember?" Max said.
"Yeah, I saved you from the falling debris, but Katie over there, she helped you escape those vines before I could." Cal stated, "Besides we're really close now to finding Vecna. And when we do, we're gonna put him six feet under before he even think about messing with you again or starts to mess with me." He said, his voice filled with confidence.
Cal turned away from Max as he noticed something, walking towards an old, cobweb-covered piano.
"Watch, I bet if we hit these bad boys in the right combo, we'll open a door to his secret lair." Cal began to play the piano, trying to make a tune, as it sounded awful
He winced at how bad he was before looking up at Max, who watched the boy in amusement, "Uh... Ta-da." Cal said, taking his hand off the keys, and making jazz hands.
Max shook her head as a small laugh left her lips, "You're such a dork, you know that?" She teased the boy
Cal playfully scoffed, "Yeah, you tell me that every second day. Besides-" He chuckled before placing his hands around her waist, pulling Max closer, "I'm your dork." Cal grinned.
Max let out a laugh, the most genuine and real laugh Cal had heard from her in ages, causing the boy to smile.
"Well would you look at that." Cal started as Max calmed down from her laugh, "I haven't heard you laugh like that in ages, I've missed it."
Max froze, her heart beat sped up as her cheeks became hotter. Cal noticed, leaning in, and connected their lips together for a small, passionate kiss.
The couple pulled back, smiles on their faces as the tape clicked, making Max look down at it, "It's done." She smiled, pressing the play button before looking back up at Cal. "Work your magic Kate." Max said as she went to put on her headphones, before the flickering of a light stopped her.
Cal followed her gaze, seeing the flickering light as well.
"I promise I'll stop asking this, but.... you're seeing that, right?" Max asked, walking towards the flickering lamp.
"Yeah, I see it." Cal confirmed watching as Max put her hand up to touch the light before it stopped flickering, the room becoming dark once again, as The lights from the boarded up windows peaked through in certain places.
In the corner of Cal's eye, he saw another lamp flickering, "Hey, over there." Cal said, pointing towards the new flickering lamp, as a headache began to start up for him.
Max turned around, seeing the flickering lamp, before the duo walked forwards. They watched as the light travelled from the lamp, then to the chandelier, then to another lamp across the hall, sitting on a dusty old desk, before finally a light hanging overhead in the hallway.
The couple slowly turned to look at each other before Cal groaned, causing Max to worry.
"Shit, Cal. Are you alright?" She asked, watching the boy groan in pain.
"I've got a headache." He mumbled.
"Shit. That's not good, is it?" Max asked, turning her eyes to the lamp that just shut off.
"No, it's not." Cal said, "Guys you might want to come see this!" He called out to the others.
Everyone gathered in the house's living room, watching as a chandelier flickered on and off. Cal felt a rush of coldness across his body as he watched the flickering light.
"It's like the Christmas lights." Nancy mumbled. Robin furrowed her eyebrows.
"The Christmas lights?" She questioned.
"Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights... came to life." Nancy whispered in response.
"Vecna's here. In this house." Lucas mumbled.
"Just on the other side." Cal added on
The chandelier flashed a few more times before going out.
"I think he just left the room." Robin mumbled.
"Did he hear us?" Max asked.
"Can he see us?" Steve asked, looking over at Max.
"Headphones." Cal nudged Max's arm, the redhead quickly placing her headphones onto her head.
"Wait, wait." Nancy said, "Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out." She ordered the group, Multiple clicks being heard afterwards,
"We're not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flash...lights." Steve complained, everyone ignoring him, as they walked away,
Max pulled Cal into an empty room, searching for a new light before they heard Robin call out to everyone.
"I got him!" Robin yelled. "Got him!"
The teens instantly ran towards her voice. "I got him!" Robin repeated before her light slowly dimmed, "I... I had him." She corrected, bringing her flashlight to the side of her torso.
Suddenly Steve's flashlight began to light up, "Oh, woah. Oh, I think he's moving. He's moving." Steve told the group
The older Harrington walked with the flashlight, trying to keep it on, as the group followed behind him.
They continued up a set of stairs where Steve lost him, "Shit. I lost him."
"No, you didn't." Max said, walking away from Cal's side and towards a room, the door being open enough where they could see light peak through. The red-head opened the door the rest of the way before slowly walking through the door, the others following behind her
"It's an attic. Of course it's an attic." Robin mumbled to herself, making Cal chuckle quietly, "Oh, shut up." Robin whispered, flicking Cal's head.
"Hold up, guys. What if he's leading us into a trap?" Dustin called out, being ignored, as the group walked up another set of stairs, "Guys, guys." He called after them before following behind them.
Once they made it up the stairs, a small lightbulb in the middle of the attic was on and glowing, lighting up the room. As the group got closer all their flashlights began to light up.
"Flashlights." Dustin mumbled.
The group stood in a circle, holding their flashlights up towards the small lightbulb.
"Okay, what's happening?" Steve asked as they got brighter.
"Those better be playing." Cal said, looking over at Max cautiously as the red-head nodded. The group stayed in the circle, watching the flash lights grow brighter and brighter.
Cal let out a groan, his headache acting up, catching everyone's attention.
"You okay dude?" Lucas asked his friend, watching as Cal held the side of his before looking up at him and nodding.
"Yeah, yeah I'm-"
Zero.
It felt as if time froze for Cal. A cold shiver made its way down his spine once more as Vecna's voice continued speaking.
Your resistance, is weakening.
Before Cal could question what Vecna meant, Steve's flashlight suddenly blew up, the glass breaking, as the light went out.
One-by-one each person's flashlight broke as well, the same thing happening to theirs as it did for Steve's. They all covered their faces, stopping glass from cutting it, when, suddenly, the light bulb above them grew brighter before breaking as well, sending glass everywhere.
Darkness engulfed the group as Cal tried to calm himself down, blood falling from his nose, knowing that someone else had been killed. He quickly wiped away the blood before looking at the others, barely able to see them thanks to the little light peeking through. He was about to ask if everyone was okay, until...
TICK-TOCK
Cal's eyes widened at the sound
TICK-TOCK
He slowly turned around to wear the noise was,
TICK-TOCK
Embedded in the wall, there stood the face of a grandfather clock, no body, just the face.
TICK-TOCK
Cal stared at it, ticking of the clock filling his ears, as his arms once again began to shake.
Soon, you will understand, everything.
"Cal?" Robin asked, noticing the boy had turned away from the group, causing everyone to face him.
No response.
"Dude?" Lucas asked next.
Nothing.
"Blue?" Max softly called out.
Silence.
Not liking this, Steve walks to Cal, placing a hand on his shoulder, before Cal let out a sharp gasp, the boys eyes looking around frantically
Steve's face shifted to concern, "Hey, you okay?" He asked his brother. Cal looked at Steve before rushing out of the attic.
Steve's eyes followed Cal's figure, turning around to the group, before running after his brother, the others following
"Cal!" He shouted, making his way down the main stairs, finding Cal looking at the grandfather clock as if he was inspecting it.
The group made their way down the stairs as Steve walked up to Cal once more, "Cal?" He called out.
Everyone watched the boy turn his head towards them, all of them being able to see the fear within him.
"I saw it." Cal mumbled.
"What?" Nancy asked, unable to hear the boys mumble.
"The clock, I saw it." Cal told them, all of their eyes widening, "But, but it was... different." Cal said
The group all looked at each other, each of them confused.
"What do you mean 'different'?" Dustin asked.
"It-it wasn't the whole clock, like the body and stuff wasn't there, it was just the face." Cal explained, the group staying silent, "I also heard Vecna."
"What did he say?" Max hesitantly asked, worry visible on her face.
Cal looked at her, catching each other's gaze, "He said, I'll soon understand. That my resistance is weakening."
The group all stayed in silence, not knowing what to say, as Max hugged Cal, the boy wrapping his arms around her instantly, the cold feeling never leaving the boy.
Vecna has a plan and whether or not he liked it, he's involved in it.
To be continued.
A/N
Another chapter for you all! Cal is starting to get visions now, but why did he see only the face? What is the 'resistance'? It will soon be revealed.
Also this I haven't proof read this, so yeah. I'll probably go over this when it's not 1 in the morning.
Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for the support for this book!
So until next time my friends, bye bye!