chapter fifty-five
nothing cuts like a mother
✧
There were parts of herself Rue didn't understand. She didn't know how her brain worked or why her body reacted in certain ways. She didn't understand why her thoughts shifted so quickly, or why she'd feel hopeless one second and fine the next.
Rue was sick and twisted in more than one way. She knew she was a freak, and she knew she had a mental problem. She had suspected that she had not been born in the same way as many other babies, or that she had been dropped as a baby too many times to count. Rue knew she had many things wrong with her and if she started counting them off, it would be a never-ending list.
Her mother's behaviour, while she was a child, didn't help the alienating feeling. Rue's mother had always treated Rue as if she were glass, a ticking time bomb ready to explode within any second. She handled her daughter as if she were an unknown species. As if she were a science project to study.
There were times when she was younger when Rue believed her condition was the reason her dad left when she was six.
It was a relief to realize that his leaving hadn't had anything to do with his daughter, but rather the woman he'd once called his wife.
Emilia Davis.
But he never loved her, not really. Whatever love there was, it wasn't real. None of it was. The love he had harboured was created by the woman, who placed the idea of love into his mind to keep him wrapped around her finger. Bob never loved Emilia, not truly. But he did love Rue, and he also loved Joyce Byers and her sons, and that was real love.
Ever since her father left, Rue had never felt what real love was. Only the manufactured love produced by the woman who birthed her, twisting her daughter's mind to love and cherish her because no one else would.
And the rare nights, she would cry at her feet. She'd ask her to stroke her cheek, to kiss her forehead. Please look after me, mom. Please stop yelling at me. Please tell me what to do right. Please, mom, will you ever love me like other moms love their daughters?
Mom, please. Love me as I love you.
She'd be a child asking her mother to love her.
But what is a mother?
Should she kiss you goodnight?
Do mothers do that?
Even when she's gone, she's not really gone. Emilia was everywhere Rue went. Her face was engraved in memory to the last freckle and speck in her eyes. And the smell of her perfume and the sound of her voice. And the softness of her skin. And how her eyes would light up when she smiled. It hurts. Because she was gone, she wasn't there. She was only a memory now.
She had never loved her daughter, and the daughter loved her nevertheless.
It was the complex type of love a child couldn't understand. Emilia Davis was a person Rue was told to love because she was her mother, but there was no other real reason to love her. Emilia had hurt her. Mothers are not meant to hurt their daughters. And yet.
And yet.
There's still the child in her that loves her mom.
And at the same time, Rue never wanted to be like her mom.
She refused to use her powers on people because of it.
And she never wanted to hurt people the way she had.
But there she is, standing at the center of a deserted room with mutilated bodies at her feet.
Rue was everything her mother was and worse.
Hot tears had pricked her eyes the second she stepped into the household on the Wheelers once again. Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair's mothers had run up to their sons, wrapping them into their arms, cupping their cheeks, kissing their faces, and stroking their heads as they frowned at them in worry once they saw their bleeding wounds and bruised skin.
Rue stood there watching it all occur, her stomach twisting with furious jealousy because she wished to be held that way. A part of her hoped Joyce Byers had been there, and Rue would have preferred to hear her yell at her after being chased by officers if it meant she knew someone was concerned about her. That someone cared. Joyce Byers seemed to be the only person who could love Rue like a mother should, even though Rue wasn't her daughter.
Sheriff Powell shut the front door behind him once everyone had walked into the house, and he immediately led the teenagers into the living room with officer Callahan.
The living room of the Wheelers housed about half of Hawkins. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the Hendersons, Sinclairs, and Wheelers were all sitting there, as was practically the whole police department.
The children sat on a couch, wincing as their scraped skin and bleeding cuts shifted and hurt with every movement. Mrs. Wheeler had also winced as she saw the grime, blood, and dirt-covered teenagers crammed together on her beautiful, expensive, new, clean couch.
Chief Powell grabbed a chair from the kitchen and placed it right before the couch. He sat down as Callahan stood next to him, his arms crossed over his chest. Chief Powell sighed, folding his hands on his lap. "And what exactly were you all doing at the lake?"
Dustin was hugging onto a cushion and nearly flinched once he heard the question. He glanced at Lucas first, then at Max, then at Rue, and then at Lucas again. His mouth opened and closed as he shrunk under the burning gaze of the cops and his mother. "Uh... it's comp-"
Lucas locked his gaze on his younger sister, Erica, who was staring at him keenly with her hands on her hips and a snarky look in her eyes. He then avoided all eye contact with her as he pinched the skin on his hands. "We... were..."
Max curled the cord of her headphones around her fingers, hoping the two grumbling boys would see her knowing look and follow her lead, but they had been looking all over the place. She then casts a helpless glance towards Rue, who is seated by Lucas' side, but nearly scoffs when she notices her staring blankly at her mud-covered shoes. Max turned to face the Chief, her voice strong and confident. "We were... we were just going for a walk."
"A walk?" Officer Callahan scoffed in disbelief, "At 9:00 p.m.?"
"To the lake," Dustin squeaked, his voice growing a higher pitch with every sentence. "We were gonna take a little swim.... Little night swim."
"Dusty!" His mother was pale, "Someone was just murdered there."
Rue had finally looked up from the ground at that point. Her skin beneath her clothes was aching and felt like it was on fire, and the cut on her cheek numbed the side of her face. She wondered if the cops had even looked in the Creel's old house, and what would happen if they discovered the room. Will they continue to blame Eddie? Would they refer to it as the Devil's lair?
Rue glanced at Lucas, who had swallowed thickly at Dustin's mother's remark, and he even dared to pick at the gash on his forehead.
Rue had tuned out the rest of the world after understanding her mind was racing faster than the interrogation before her.
"Yeah, we..." Dustin was speaking, on the end of a long excuse to his mother's remark, probably. God, Dustin was a terrible liar. Instead of listening, Rue had been pulling on the torn fabric of her pants, staring at the burning graze on her knee as a movie she had watched with El about a week ago passed through her memories. "We didn't realize that until we got there."
"That's why we didn't swim," Lucas added quickly.
Officer Callahan shook his head, "Why would you even be swimming in a dark lake, at night?"
"We were gonna go skinny dipping," Rue said without thinking.
Her eyes widened once she realized what she had said, and her face burned up with embarrassment once all heads had snapped to look at her. She even felt Lucas kick her leg at her abrupt excuse. Rue tried to play it off, her voice breathless "Because... because that's what teenagers do. In the movies."
Lucas scowls, "Rue..."
"Sorry."
Rue decided she wouldn't speak anymore.
"And Nancy?" Mrs. Wheeler starts and slowly tears her eyes away from Rue to look at Dustin, "...was she with you at this night swim?"
"No," Max said.
At the same time, Dustin nodded confidently. "Yes! Oh..."
He glanced at Max, startled as the girl sent him a pointed glare" Uh..."
"We're not sure..." Lucas muttered.
"She was there," Dustin tried, "Then... she left. It's all a little confusing."
"That's when you guys came!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Right!" Max nodded and followed his lead, "Then they dared me to say what I said. About the killer."
"Oh, yeah," Lucas lied, a fake laugh bubbling from his stomach as he glanced at Dustin, who was also laughing. Dustin's laugh seemed terrified and nervous compared to Lucas' childish one, and the sight of it made Rue snort from her seat.
"You're lucky you didn't get shot," Ted Wheeler said suddenly, making the kids stop their laughter abruptly. They froze and turned to the man, their faces dropping at his statement.
Lucas shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked away as Chief Powell began to talk again. "Have you had any contact with Eddie?" He asks.
"That psycho... freak killer?" Dustin exclaimed. His lisp made his words almost ununderstandable. "God, no! Nope. Absolutely not!"
The Chief and Officer Callahan shared a tired, knowing glance once Max and Lucas had jumped in with Dustin before Chief Powell raised his hand to stop them from talking. He glanced at Rue, "You, the quiet one."
"Hm?" She mumbled on instinct, tearing her eyes away from Erica Sinclair's burning and intimidating gaze. "Me?"
"Yes. You." Chief Powell sighed tiredly, and he leaned back in his seat. "Do you have any contact with Eddie?"
There was a beat of silence where Rue grimaced and tilted her head, confused. "...Who's Eddie?"
"Munson. Edward Munson."
Rue looked around the room, clueless. It didn't help that Lucas had been chuckling quietly at her side while Dustin stared at her in disbelief. "I don't know..." she shrugged, "I got here, like, three days ago."
"What about Richard Maguire? Ricky?"
"...What about Richard?"
"He's best friends with Eddie Munson. Ricky's been missing all week."
"That sucks, do his parent's know?"
"Yes, his parents are aware." Chief sighed, "I'm asking if you know where he could be."
"Okay, I've heard of Richard, because he's the older brother of a friend of mine, but I don't know who Eddie is. Like, his name is ringing in my head but I don't know. Do you have a picture? Maybe a face to the name could help."
"Cut the bull!" Erica Sinclair suddenly exclaimed. She stepped forwards from where she had been leaning against a doorway, dropping her arms from having them crossed over her bright pink dress with blue and white hearts and stars all over them.
Her parents immediately turned to scowl at her, "Erica."
"I mean, you realize they're all lying." She said, "The whole couch is on fire! The skinny dipping, Nancy, the dare. It's all lies!"
"Erica!" Her parents scoffed again.
"Just the facts!"
Dustin's mother turned to the group on the couch again, and there were tears in her eyes, "Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?"
"No!" Dustin screeched.
"Lying to the cops is a crime, son," Mr. Sinclair stated.
Lucas's eyes widened, "I'm not lying!"
Erica rolled her eyes, "The fire is consuming us."
"Threaten them with a little jail time," Mr. Wheeler suggested, "Maybe that'll loosen their lips."
Dustin glared at him, "Okay-"
"You wanna send our kids to jail?" Mrs. Sinclair raised her brows challengingly at the man.
"We need to take this seriously," He shrugged.
"He didn't mean it like that," Mrs. Wheeler defended him.
Then, there was an overlapping argument between the parents. And then there was Erica, who still yelled at the four on the couch, calling them a liar and taunting them with the phrase, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Lucas and Dustin were shouting, Dustin's voice cracking after every other word as he tried to defend himself and prove he was not lying to Erica.
Rue looked away from the arguments when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she leaned her head back and turned to spot Max raising her brows at her, a look in her eyes that said, "Can you believe this?"
"SHUT UP!" Chief Powell had shouted, and he stood up from his seat. Everyone in the room had fallen silent after his exclamation, and he rubbed his hand on his head, obviously tired of the long night he had to deal with. He sighed, frowning, "We're going to try a more civilized approach. One at a time." He told the group of parents, who then nodded in agreement. Powell turned to the teenagers on the couch and pointed at Max. "You first."
"Wait, what?" Max scoffed, "Why me?"
The chief doesn't answer her, "Follow me."
"I'm not even in the Hellfire club!" Max defended herself.
Officer Callahan stepped forward. He pushed his glasses higher up his nose before placing his hand on his hip. "Do I need to cuff you?" He raised his brow, stunning Max into a confused silence. She glanced at Rue before rolling her eyes. "Up. Chop-chop!"
"Yeah, whatever," Max grumbled, stomping her way down the hallway and following where Chief Powell had gone, leaving behind muddy footprints all over Mrs. Wheeler's carpet.
To be in the face of death tends to tear away the rest of your fears. You begin to believe that nothing can scare you anymore. How could it be? How could you be afraid of anything you used to be after experiencing something far worse?
For kids like Dustin, Lucas and Rue, the law had no longer been something they feared. Kids like them trembled at the sound of a squirrel in bushes because a squirrel in a bush could also be a blood-thirsty monster. Kids like them didn't mind facing the fury of their parents or whatever consequences they could suffer with the police. Those things were obstacles they'd have to work around in their lives.
While Max was integrated on her own, Lucas and Rue waited for Dustin to return from the bathroom after he claimed he would try to call Nancy to let them know they'd gotten arrested after being left alone for five minutes.
"Never have I ever eaten an entire pizza by myself," Lucas and Rue leaned over the kitchen's center island. The two were across from each other and held up their hands for a game of Never Have I Ever as a way to waste time as they waited for Dustin.
Rue's jaw dropped as she watched Lucas put a finger down, and she giggled, leaning closer, "What? No way! An entire pizza?"
Lucas shot her a pointed look, "You're trying to tell me you haven't?"
"I barely get two slices at all. Will and Jonathan eat them all before I have the chance." She shrugged. The chatter from the living room continued, her friend's families asking the officers a buttload of questions, and they even wondered if they should get lawyers. Rue cleared her throat and nodded at Lucas, "Your turn."
"Okay..." He hummed, shifting around in his spot. Lucas stared at the room and puffed out his cheeks as he thought. So far, he had three fingers down, and Rue had two. "Uhm... never have I ever gotten a hangover."
They both stared at each other challengingly before they slowly put down a finger and burst into hushed surprised giggles. Their eyes widened as they pointed at each other in shock, "Lucas Sinclair!" Rue teased, her voice dropped into a whisper as a wide smile painted her face, "You drink?"
Lucas had a guilty smile, "Not always. Only at the parties after my basketball games." He shrugged, "And you? You're apparently a party animal."
Rue pursed her lips, "I don't think I can enjoy them without a drink or two. Everyone there are a bunch of assholes."
"Tell me about it," Lucas nodded. "I wish you were there. At the parties I've been at. I would have totally enjoyed them more with you."
Rue grinned, and she didn't bother trying to hide it. There was no denying that Lucas Sinclair made her happy, he was forgiving and compassionate, and he always pointed out whenever Rue was being an ass. He was different from Will, but he was her best friend nonetheless. When he laughs, it reminds her of summer afternoons, biking down the street with the warm sun against her skin and the birds singing from the trees.
She rolled her eyes, sliding her elbows away from him on the marble. "You're such an emotional sap." She told him, her words reeking of hypocrisy, "But yeah, I guess I would've enjoyed them with you too."
"You know you love me, Newby."
"Mhm, keep telling yourself that, Sinclair."
Dustin Henderson had returned to the kitchen, grabbing their attention as they turned to him. He put his walkie-talkie down on the counter between Rue and Lucas and leaned on the island, sighing.
"Anything?"
He shook his head, "Nothing."
Lucas and Rue shared a knowing glance. If no one from the older group had been responding to their calls, it meant that something must have happened to them because Nancy was too anxious to leave them hanging with nothing.
"You don't think they went through...?"
"Through Watergate?" Dustin echoed. "Without us? Without a plan? Without Rue? Without weapons?" He scoffed, "They wouldn't be that stupid."
"I beg to differ," Rue tapped her fingers on the counter and she shook her head. There was a ghost of a frown on her lips as she imagined the group had betrayed their promise and took off to face Vecna without saying anything. "Maybe not Dick or Nance, but Steve, Robin and Eddie seem pretty stupid. They don't have much going on up there."
"Richie says Eddie's too much of a coward. And Robin would do the opposite of what Steve does," Lucas stated, "So, it's really just Steve."
"Right."
"They must just be laying low 'cause the law got to us," Dustin theorized.
"The law?" A new voice had entered the room. The three teenagers looked up and turned to find Erica Sinclair approaching them from behind the staircase. There was a Minute Maid juice box in her hands as she raised her brows at them in disbelief, and she leaned on the counter at Rue's side with a snarky smirk. "What is this, Gunsmoke? The Stupid, the Idiot and the Ugly? Should I round up the posse? Saddle the horses?"
Rue hadn't been sure if she should be offended or not, and Dustin dropped his head. Lucas glared at Erica, an inner fury in his eyes as his little sister seemed proud to have pissed him off so easily.
"Erica." He grumbled, "Please, just go away."
She scoffed and put down her juice box. "Here's the deal," She started, smacking her hands on the orange marble of the kitchen island. "Either you tell me what's happening and why you guys look like you got into a fight with Bigfoot and lost, or I tell Dustin and Rue what I found under your bed."
Erica's deal had perked Rue's interest, and even Dustin seemed intrigued once the two of them had shared a glance before turning to Lucas, whose eyes were wide amidst terror, and he shook his head. "Please, no."
"Spill your guts, cowpuncher."
"What did she find under your bed?" Dustin asked, leaning closer to Lucas.
"Nothing!"
Rue smiles cheekily, "I have four guesses."
"It's not like that," Lucas pushed himself away from the island. "It's not."
Dustin turned to Erica again, "Is it gross?" He suspected, and when she nodded, he pushed another question. "On the sale of one to ten?"
"A hundred."
Dustin gasped, "A hundred?"
Rue perked up, "I have two guesses! Can I say them? They're not really P.G, though."
"Stop."
"Was it a magazine?" Rue nudged Erica's side, raising her brows teasingly, "Or was it a...?"
"The serial killer is a dark wizard from the Upside Down." Lucas stopped Rue from asking any further questions. He talked as if he wanted to get it over with so Erica could leave them alone again. "And we've been looking for him, but he's in the Upside Down, which we can't reach. At least we thought we couldn't until we found a gate at Lover's Lake. That was the reason why we were there, but these stupid cops found us and we were running, and then Dustin tripped over a log, then we all fell over each other." He paused for a breath, still glaring daggers at his sister.
"And if you tell anyone about this, that's including Mom and Dad and Tina..." Lucas stared at the counters, shaking his head slowly in disgust. "Especially Tina." He grumbles. "I will smother you in your sleep. Do you understand?"
Erica slurped from her juice box, oblivious to what her elder brother had said, but she was pleased with herself for getting a rise out of him so quickly. She put the drink down and put her hand to her cheek, "Hmm?"
"Erica?" Lucas scowled, and he slid closer to her over the counter. "Do... you... copy?"
"The smothering in my sleep part but not much else," She shrugged, "Though, I can beleive all your stupid, clumsy asses thought it was a good idea to run around in the woods in the dark. But anyway, why would they open up a gate at Lover's Lake?"
The three shared a look of confusion between them, and Lucas nearly exploded with annoyance, "What?"
"The commies," Erica stated as if it were obvious.
"The commies didn't do this."
"Then who did?"
"Nobody."
"So it just opened up? For fun?"
"Erica, you have no idea what you're talking about!"
"No, she doesn't." Dustin agreed, "Yet, she raises an essential question." When Rue and Lucas turned to him, both clueless, he sighed and began to explain himself, "How did Watergate open up? Only two gates have opened, so far as we know. One by El, one by the commies. But it's not the commies or El this time, and Rue doesn't know how to open gates, so it..." He paused, and slowly a look of realization dawned on him. "Holy shit." He said breathlessly. "Wait, wait, wait, wait."
Lucas frowned as he watched Dustin step away from the counter and start to pace around the floor. "What?"
"There's one thing we've never understood," He started. "Which is why Vecna's killing people. We know how, but what's his motive? Killing teens? It always just seemed too random. Too prosaic. On top of that, how does the Mind Flayer figure into all this? How does Rue? What's the connection?" He asked. "Maybe this is it. This is the answer."
Rue rubbed her eyes, "What are you talking about?"
"What is the answer?" Lucas exclaimed.
Before Dustin could explain, Mrs. Wheeler had walked into the kitchen with another officer. She pulled open the fridge and offered him a choice of drinks. Dustin signalled for his friends to follow him and Erica, Lucas, and Rue scrambled to chase after him until they huddled next to the grand staircase.
"Okay, just hear me out," Dustin pleaded, "How did El open the Mothergate?"
"She contacted the Demogorgon," Lucas answered slowly.
"With psychic contact." Dustin tapped Rue's temple, "Just like..."
"Vecna when he casts his spells."
"Exactly." Dustin nodded, "So, what if, with each kill, he's not simply killing them, he's making a powerful psychic connection with his victims? A connection powerful enough to rip a hole in the fabric of time and space."
"He's opening more gates," Lucas whispered.
"Bingo."
At the sound of growing footsteps, the four of them snapped their heads towards the entryway of the house to spot another officer pacing about. He had been speaking to his radio, distracted, and the four had snuck past him.
"Why would he be opening gates?" Dustin questioned.
"To take over the world."
"Who do we know that wants to take over the world?"
"The Mind Flayer."
Rue begins to have a sense of realization. It's a dreadful process because as she starts putting the pieces together, she recognizes how she's involved. "Guys..."
Dustin mustn't have heard her because he had continued to theorize with Lucas. "So if the Demogorgon was just his foot soldier... Vecna's his five-star general." His words start to make her feel sick to her stomach, "A five-star general with the power to open gates."
"...Guys," Rue says again, a little louder than the last time. The two boys turn to her, and she feels smaller than she did seconds ago. Her hands ball into fists at her sides, dirt-covered nails and fingers pressing against the grazes on her palms. She swallows thickly, "I need to tell you something," Rue says nervously, "And you might want to sit down."
Dustin and Lucas look at each other nervously. The tension in the air grew thicker as they sat down around the breakfast table, where Dustin nearly knocked over a chair to get there. And Erica struts her way across the room to sit, an expectant look on her face as she stares at Rue.
She sucked in a breath, "No more secrets, right?" Rue tried to be humourous but dropped the attempt instantly. "Uhm... I've been seeing this guy..."
Lucas squints at her, "You're seeing a guy? I thought you're-"
"Not like that, jackass," Rue shakes her head. "Listen, this guy... he's... he's speaking to me, telling me things. At first, I thought I was probably hallucinating, but I think he's reached me telepathically. Or I reached him. I don't know. But he refers to me as the Celestial and his Fallen Angel. At first I thought it was crazy but after Dustin's theory, I couldn't stop thinking about it."
"Wait a damn minute," Erica butts in. "Are you trying to tell me that you're a Fallen Angel in real life? Are you pulling on my leg right now? I nearly died the last time I encountered a demon like you-"
Lucas chokes, his eyes wide as he glances at his sister. "What?!"
"It was Eddie's campaign," Dustin says, "It's not real."
"You nearly had your head on a stick if I didn't save your ass," Erica grumbled, and she stood up. "And this is real! If she's a real one then... how can we trust her?"
"Erica," Lucas starts, but Rue steps in.
"She's right." She says, "You can't. That's what I'm trying to say. Ever since I started seeing this man, listening to him, the nightmares started. I think this man... I don't know, it's a reach but-" Rue stops once she realizes Dustin and Lucas weren't understanding. She decided to start over.
"Two years ago, my mother died. As she died, I absorbed the Celestial's ability. That's Dustin and I's theory. Now, months later, I'm in Hawkins, and Will Byers is the Mind Flayer's spy and we're all trapped in the lab. To me, he had no noise, static or whisper. He was a void, a body until he wasn't. It was suddenly static again, and at first, I thought it was Will. And when I tried to reach for him, it got louder, really loud. Will just stared at me, like, it was so weird. And all I felt was this dark and evil something. It was calling me.
"It happened again when everyone was in the tunnels at the pumpkin field. And again at the sauna test with Billy. I tried to help El by making him stop but he... it wasn't Billy. Will tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. And then when El tried to look for Billy, I was brought in with her. But she wasn't the one who brought me in... it was the Mind Flayer. I think what finished me off was the battle of Starcourt.
"This whole time, the Mind Flayer or Vecna, they've been with me. I've been connected with them since Will was Flayed. They've told me repeatedly that they've been waiting for me. Some prophecy of being his fist of vengeance and his fallen angel."
"That's a lot to unpack, Rue. And you thought keeping all of that a secret was a good idea?" Lucas raised his brows. "For the past two years? Really?"
Rue holds her breath, "I didn't want to bother anyone with my problems."
He rubs his hands over his face, "You can't be serious right now."
"Fist of vengeance?" Dustin echoes with furrowed brows, "Vengeance?"
"That's what he says," Rue tells him, "My fist of vengeance, my fallen angel, you'll lead them all to their defeat."
"This is some sorcery shit." Erica remarks. "Witchcraft."
"Vecna is a dark witch," Lucas points out as he taps his chin in thought.
"Wizard," Dustin corrects.
"Same thing."
"Okay, but what does Vecna possibly want revenge for?" Dustin asks. "What did this world ever do to him that made him so angry to join an evil shadow monster to destroy our universe?"
Rue shrugs, finally taking a seat and dropping her head in her hands, defeated. "Beats me."
"This man you're seeing," Lucas starts, "What else did he say to you?"
"He said he knew my mother. He said he's not my enemy. A lot of weird stuff."
"He knew your mother? That doesn't make any sense. . . . Does it?"
"I don't know. I barely know anything about my mom."
"This is a lot to contemplate. For instance, are you a spy like Will or a stooge like Billy? Why doesn't the concept of closing the gate and killing the hive mind work for you? Why is this the case? What differentiates you? Is it because you're a Celestial, from this world? That didn't seem to be the case with everyone who was Flayed last year. Why did Vecna hesitate so long to utilise you? There are so many questions!"
"And I'm sure you'll get the chance to ask Vecna all of them yourself," Erica remarks. The older kids turn to her, spotting the girl with her head tilted upwards as she stares at the hanging chandelier in the small hallways between the staircase and the kitchen. "You said you followed him through the lights, right?"
Dustin frowns, "Yeah...?"
"He's here right here," She says casually.
Her words send shivers down their spines, and their heads snap to look in the direction Erica was pointing. Dustin flinches when he notices the light from the chandelier flickering, and the three adolescents rush to their feet. They linger behind Erica, watching the yellow-tinted light turn on and off repeatedly.
While Dustin and Lucas were pallid, Rue was skeptical about Vecna's presence. There was no invisible string tugging on her finger. There was no magnetic attraction, nothing like that. There was no sense of wrongness or the shudder that ran down her spine while they were in Creel's House. The only thing that reminded her of it was the flickering chandelier.
Dustin continues to step closer to the light, never tearing his eyes away from it. "S." He mutters under his breath, and he waits for a beat, "O." another pause, "S." The lights still flicker and he curses. "Hey, uh, remember when I said they wouldn't be stupid enough to go through Watergate?"
"Yeah?"
Dustin turns to them, "I overestimated them."
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"I don't think I've ever met anyone as stupid as any of you."
Inside Nancy Wheeler's lilac-painted bedroom, Rue was pacing back and forth. Posters and images of Nancy's friends, Jonathan, and herself hung in practically every corner. Rue was plucking twigs from her hair and letting the strands fall loosely on her shoulders as she placed the scrunchie Max had used to tie her braid on the bedside table.
She knew that somewhere through the abyss of space and time, in the same room, only in an alternate universe, Nancy Wheeler herself could hear her rant. Somehow. Along with Ricky Maguire, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley and Steve Harrington.
Rue felt a bitter edge thrumming inside her, and she had no idea why it had suddenly erupted or where it had come from. But, as Doctor Cordelia had once told her, emotions are spontaneous and uncontrollable, and you must cope with them and let them out.
"Who in their right mind thinks it's a good idea to dive to the bottom of the lake? Even if there was no gate at all! But there was a gate, and instead of coming back to say something you all decided to just go through it? No weapons, no plan, and no backup. No thoughts either, apparently. Not one at all. You all have empty, clueless brains. Now look where that got you, stuck. Honestly, I'm glad it happened to you. Maybe now you'll learn a lesson that you should always listen to Dustin and I."
Rue suddenly stops her pacing. She starts to realize she sounds a lot like her mother, and everything else she wants to say quickly dies at the tip of her tongue. She grows lightheaded and sits at the edge of Nancy's bed, staring at the floor as she remembers herself as a child, watching her mother tower over her and blood rolling down her nose and bright flames of blue rage lit up her hair.
Rue had never realized how similar her mother's anger was to her own. Her outbursts, her indignation, all of it was just like Emilia's, and she wondered whether she had that same look in her eye that her mother got. How they fade, nearly lifeless, with nothing but rage. She wondered if she scared others the same way her mother used to scare her. Worse, if she'd ever unintentionally exploited her abilities to her advantage.
The prospect of it scared her to silence, and she felt like a child again, waiting for her mother to calm down and turn around so she could make everything right again. Waiting for her mother to brush her hands through her hair and kiss her cheek, burying the agony so deeply that it was virtually forgotten.
As Lucas and Dustin burst inside, the door to the bedroom swings open and collides with the wall behind it. Rue hardly jumped at the noise, and she only paid attention to them after they were on their knees in front of the bed, setting down Holly Wheeler's LiteBrite and two boxes filled with the toy's colourful pegs. Erica jumps into the room, joining them, and the three scramble to get every peg into the holes.
Rue eventually joins Erica's side to assist them until her fingertips ache. She had initially offered to be their means of communication for the group in the Upside Down, but Dustin quickly turned down her offer, already thinking of another way. He was aware Rue had never tapped into the consciousness of a being in another universe on her own before, and they all agreed they didn't like the idea of her trying it for the first time without El to help guide her.
Now, there they are, shoving small coloured pegs into the LiteBrite tablet because Dustin mumbled something about electricity and energy and whatever else he said. And none of them stopped until Holly's bunny was merged somewhere in the rainbow-coloured chaos.
"Okay, that's it—that's it—that's it," Dustin sputters, nudging at Lucas, "Go, go, go!"
"Yeah, okay," Lucas grunts, grabbing the cord of the LiteBrite to plug it in. He throws himself to the floor and slides under Nancy's desk.
The LiteBrite flashes to life, a bright mess of colours glowing against Rue, Erica, and Dustin's faces. Dustin sucks in a nervous breath, "Okay, you guys seeing this?" He shouts.
There's a pause before the glow of the LiteBrite becomes brighter than before, almost blinding. Rue's eyes widen as Dustin laughs loudly at his victory.
"Holy shit!" Erica exclaims as Dustin jumps in his spot, wrapping his arms around her.
Once the boy calms himself again, he pats his hands against his cheeks, nodding to himself. "Okay, we're not moving it, but we're unplugging it!" He informs, "Stand by!" Dustin turns to Lucas, "Yank it."
Lucas pulls the cord, shuts off the light and joins the rest at the edge of the bed. The four huddle closer together, staring at the dark LiteBrite.
Rue balls her hands into tight fists to stop them from shaking. Dustin shouts into the air again, "Okay, try it now!" And then they kneel in stunned silence as the Lite Brite starts to glow again, a long colourful line glows it on its own, and while Dustin lets out shocked cheers, more lines start to appear until it spells out:
HI
"Hi," Erica grins.
"Hey!" Rue and Lucas lean closer to the Lite Brite at the same time, and they speak to it as if it were a phone. "Hi!"
"That worked!" Dustin can't wipe the smile from his face.
The light eventually fades, and the tablet is dark again. The group waits patiently for what else they will say, and then more letters appear.
"S... T... U...?"
"Stupid? Stupid?"
"It's okay guys. We know you're stupid."
The three letters take up the entire space of the tablet, and they wait for them to fade again before more appear.
"...C... K."
"Stuck!" Lucas says. "Okay, they're stuck in the- the Upside Down!"
Dustin nods, closing his eyes for a second, "Uh, you can't get back through Watergate?!"
Rue can't help but grimace, "I still don't get it."
"It's a gate underwater," Erica tells her.
"No, I get that. I just feel like there's a reference I'm not getting."
"It's the Watergate Scandal," Lucas explains, and when Rue stares at him helplessly, he gasps, "You don't know the Watergate Scandal?"
"I'm not a history dork."
"Better history dork than science freak."
As their bickering continues, the LiteBrite begins to glow again. They turn towards it and watch more writing appear.
"Is that a six? Six?" Lucas asks.
"G," Erica corrects him.
G... A... U... R...
"Guar?" Dustin makes a face, "Guar?" He says again, hoping it would sound more like an actual word. "Guar."
"Guar," Rue joins him, "Guar."
Then Lucas does it too while the letters fade again, "Guar. Guuuaaarrr."
Erica rolls her eyes.
"Guarded," She scoffs, reading the last three letters. "It's guarded."
"Oh," Dustin purses his lips, "Uh, okay. Watergates guarded. Okay, we think we have a theory that can help with that! We think Watergate isn't the only gate. That there's a gate at every Vecna murder site!"
There was no response for a few seconds before a question mark appeared, and the four collectively groaned in annoyance.
"Okay, seriously?!" Dustin shouts. "How many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys just trust me!"
"Dustin, calm down a notch."
He sighs, shoulders dropping. "It's just so frustrating that they always doubt me when I'm literally always right."
When the LiteBrite begins to shine again, the gang shifts their attention back to it. It piques their interest when they realize they must locate the gate at Eddie's trailer. A strategy was formed, and Lucas raced to his feet, helping Rue stand and urging everyone to hurry.
They chose to flee through the window, while Dustin went to find Max and meet them in the Wheeler's garage. Rue's foot stepped into the roof shingles, and despite her complaints, she turned around to assist Erica in climbing off.
When they get to the front of the open garage, Erica tilts her head up at Rue, lifting her brows as the older girl dusts her hands off.
"You're suspiciously good at climbing out windows."
Rue glances at her as Lucas finally comes down, nearly tripping over his feet once he lands. "It's one of my hidden talents."
"Is it talent or is it that you've had a lot of practice?"
Rue doesn't respond, but she smirks maliciously as she follows Lucas into the garage. Fortunately for him, his bike, as well as Dustin and Max's, were already there after Nancy had retrieved them from her trunk the day before, so Erica and Rue had to make do with whatever was in the Wheeler's garage.
Rue was rushing to find something to use after Erica had already claimed Mike's bike, and as she searched the rear corner, she nearly gasped, turning to Lucas.
"Why does he have our old bikes?" She whispers, pulling the old bike she swore she had thrown into the donation pile before moving. The baby pink paint wasn't as vibrant as it once was, and the front basket was slowly falling apart, but it was her bike. Will's old bike is also there, leaning against the wall beneath Mr. Wheeler's tool shelf.
"Yeah, Mike kept them," Lucas tells her, "Took them from the donation pile last minute. I had to help him bring them here."
"Why would he do that?" Rue asks as she checks the tires to see if they still work.
Lucas has an incredulous look on his face, "Why wouldn't he? It was something to remember you guys by."
"Yeah, yeah, cut the sappy crap," Erica grumbles once Dustin and Max rush into the garage. Rue is surprised to see a knife in Erica's hands because she hadn't seen her pick it up on their way there. "Let's go!" Erica urges them, already running down the driveway.
The rest of the group follows her, suddenly aware of Officer Callahan's voice shouting at them from Nancy Wheeler's bedroom window. He starts to scream in panic when Erica stops to slash all the tires of the cars parked in the driveway. "I guess it's just a minor misdemeanour!"
They were already down the street when they heard their parents scream into the wind, and Lucas was the only one who bothered to apologize to his mother before they turned the corner and vanished.
They pedalled with a sense of urgency, never stopping even when their legs began to cramp. Their friends were trapped in the Upside Down, an alternate dimension where monsters lurked around every turn, and Will Byers was the only person known to have survived there after a long time.
The headlights of all their bikes except Rue's lit the dark and empty street, and the flickering of the orange street lights let them know their pals were also on their way to the meeting site, and for the first time, glowing flickering lights were a comforting sight.
The trailer park is located on the outskirts of Hawkins, away from the city centre and neighbouring suburbs. The night sky had darkened, and clouds had crowded in, concealing the stars and moon that had before been spread across the dark canvas of the sky.
The group of five slid off their bicycles with aching legs, breathless lungs, and flushed faces after coming to a sudden stop in front of Eddie Munson's trailer. The gravel ground crumbles beneath their feet, creating dust clouds as they run under the yellow tape and up the three stairs to the trailer.
The trees surrounding every corner of the trailer park swayed in the night wind, the rustling sound continues even after they pry the trailer's door open and step inside. Branches are tapping against the glass windows while the lamplights from outside lit the dark room.
While Dustin searches for a light switch, complaining about the absurd number of mugs all over the living room, Rue can't tear her eyes away from the gate on the roof, and she lets her bag fall off her shoulders as she takes a step to stand under it.
It comes to her mind that she'd never seen a gate to the Upside Down before, and whatever she had imagined it to be like, it was nothing like this. It was a hole with thick black sticky vines spreading out from it like cancer, covering the entire roof of the trailer. Slime, a mucus-like substance with a pulsing red glow emanating from the inside, had covered the opening. The red glow engulfed the whole room until Dustin finally flicked a light on, and Erica handed him a broomstick.
Staring at the gate felt wrong, yet strangely familiar. It was pulsing with energy that was hard to miss, and it somehow... it almost.... the entire thing felt alive.
If Rue could reach it, there was no doubt in her stupid mind that she would have tried to touch it. She would have been the first in the group to stick her hand through it out of curiosity.
"I've never seen one before," Max admits from Rue's side.
"Me neither."
"I kind of expected a doorway or something." Max snorts, pulling Rue out of the way as Dustin and Lucas start to poke at the glowing hole with broomsticks. They break through the goo, and it makes disgusting squelching, wet sounds. Dustin tears it apart and some of it splatters on the floor by their feet, and the rest falls to the other side of the gate.
"A doorway? Really?"
"Everyone keeps calling it a gate. What else was I supposed to expect?"
When the hole is clear of the slimy cobweb, it still moves and breathes as if it were alive. The group huddles under it, and they look up to see the floor of Eddie's trailer through the gate, but it is blue, dark, and vacant, entirely belonging to the alternate dimension.
"That's so freaky." Erica whispers.
When they hear footsteps on the other side of the gate, the first person they see is Steve, his lips parted in surprise as he stares through the gate. He's caked in filth and muck, and his shirt and shoes have vanished, replaced with Eddie's denim vest with cut off sleeves. Ricky then appears, slightly in better shape than Steve and wearing what appeared to be Eddie's leather jacket.
"Holy fuck!" He laughs, mouth wide open, and Ricky grins at Lucas and the kids. "Hey, guys!"
They all wave back, unable to stop the growing smiles from their faces after Nancy, Robin and Eddie also appear, they were all a little rough looking and beat up, and the relief in their faces was evident once they saw their friends.
"Hi there!" Dustin chuckles.
"Hi." Steve waves.
As Rue grasps his shoulders playfully, Dustin can't help but burst into cheers. "Bada-bada boom!"
"This is great and all," Robin shouts, her head tilted up as she stares at the kids, her arms wrapped around her torso as she shivers. "But can you figure out a way to get us out now?"
"Oh, right," Dustin curses, and he begins to lead the group with a fast yet efficient plan. Max and Erica were tugging all sheets from Eddie and his Uncle's beds, along with the ones found in the closets, handing them over to Dustin, who began tying them together to make a rope long enough to toss through the gate. Rue and Lucas had stepped into Eddie's bedroom to grab his mattress.
When they enter the room, they can't help but grimace and exchange amused glances when they notice the condom wrappers and porn magazines erratically placed on the desk beneath a large mirror and a fine guitar.
Rue flipped through one of the magazines, cringing when she noticed several pages were stuck together, and Lucas muttered in disgust. "That's so gross."
"She's hot, though. Don't act like you're not thinking about it either."
Lucas rolled his eyes, snatching the magazine from her hands and throwing it on the floor. He grabs onto one side of Eddie's mattress and stares at Rue expectantly. "Come on, are you gonna help me or what?"
Rue held up the other side and snickered at Lucas's flustered state as they turned the mattress on its side, revealing many more magazines tucked under it.
"Oh, Jesus, what the hell is wrong with this guy?"
"Are any of them familiar to the one you have under your bed, Luke?" Rue teased.
Lucas glared at her, pulling the mattress out the door. "Very funny, Ruby," He huffs. "Very, very funny."
"I know I'm funny," Rue tells him as they re-enter the small living room.
The two let the mattress fall beneath the gate, where no one questions the stains on the yellow and orange flower-patterned covers. Dustin completes tying the rope, and Erica assists him in carrying it as he steps onto the mattress and looks up through the gate. "Not quite sure how these physics are gonna work," He says, "But, uh... here goes nothing."
He throws half to the gate, where it falls through it effortlessly, then drops with the gravity of the other side. Dustin smiles, then tugs on a rope to make sure it's steady, "There we go," he says breathlessly.
Rue and Max share glances before they join Dustin's sides. They look up through the gate, where they see the rest of the rope crumble against the floor by Nancy's feet. "And if my theory is correct..." He starts while Lucas and Erica also step onto the mattress, and then he lets go of the tied sheets, where they dangle on their own. "Abracadabra!"
"Holy shit!" Max chuckles.
"All right, pull on it!" Dustin shouts, "See if it holds!"
They watch as Robin steps forward, putting her entire weight onto the tied sheets. To their delight, the rope holds itself together. "This is the craziest shit I've seen in my life," Erica exclaimed, "And I've seen crazy shit."
Dustin high-fives her before stepping back. "All right, let's clear the landing pad," He tells everyone as Robin starts to climb the rope.
When she pokes her head through the gate, her hair falls in the direction of their gravity, and she falls from the roof into the mattress. Robin lays flat for a second, gathering her breath and staring at the gate with wide eyes. "Oh, thank God," She says breathlessly, pushing herself up to sit. Robin takes Dustin's helpful hand and stands up. "That was fun!"
"Fun?" Erica scoffs, "You had fun?"
"I didn't mean it like that," Robin tells her while Eddie has started to climb through.
"Mmm-hmm," Erica hums as she stares at Robin judgingly, "Sure."
Eddie falls harder than Robin, slamming onto the mattress and nearly rebounding off it before Lucas catches him. "Shit!" Eddie sputters, scrambling to his feet as Lucas helps balance him. "That was not fun."
"Bombs away!" Ricky yells, already tumbling through the gate and onto the mattress before anyone can react.
He falls to his feet, staggering slightly before stepping away. Richard, like Steve, swaps his shirt with one of the layers Eddie had once worn; an unzipped leather jacket. Max is flustered when Ricky suddenly hugs her and Erica, and her face becomes warmer when she catches Rue's searing gaze from across the small room.
"It's so good to see you guys again." Ricky hums, "Little red and a little girl I've never met before."
"Yeah," Erica shoves him off her, and she wipes her dress clean. "And I thought I'd finally get a break from Xander."
"God, I'm never doing that again," Ricky mumbles as Eddie joins his side, throwing his arm over his shoulder.
A joke dies at the tip of Rue's tongue, and it begins to taste bitter. She senses a heavy surge of panic coming from the other side of the gate; it's weak and distant, and she assumes it's because it's from another dimension. What makes her most anxious is that she can hear the noise of one less person in the group.
Steve's cry from the other side of the gate confirms her fears. "Nancy?! Nancy?! Hey, Nance, wake up!" He's screaming in distress before calling Rue's name along with Dustin's. "Guys! Guys!"
Dustin and Rue stumble onto the mattress, looking up to see Steve clutching Nancy's shoulders as she stands next to the knotted sheets, staring blankly ahead of her. They can only see the top of her head, but the dread in Steve's eyes tells them exactly what's going on.
"SHIT!"
Rue jumps at the sound of Dustin shrieking in her ear. Then he pushes everyone out of the way and dashes into Eddie's room. The group looks at him with concern before turning to Rue. As she looks at them, a thin line of blood runs down her nose, and tears sparkle in her eyes.
"Vecna got to Nancy," She breaks the news, watching everyone's expressions drop with dread as they realize what is going on. Nancy's curse was unexpected and out of the norm for Vecna, and while it raised doubts for everyone in the trailer, they all sprang into a dash to retrieve the only cure to the curse they knew of thus far.
Music.
i survived faye's 2 and a 1/2 week drought.
i've never had writers block hit me this hard in such a long time omg.
RUE AND LUCAS MAKE ME SO FUCKING FERAL. I'M LITERALLY BANGING MY FIST ON MY DESK. they are platonic soulmates. i want to have a friendship like theirs so bad.
rue, lucas & dustin all share one brain cell. i love that trio sm <3 like, their lil murder mystery moments and their stupid theories.
"bro max literally left rue on read for months 💀" KFSKJALDSKJF YOU GUYS ARE SO FUNNY
you guys asked for my top 10 comments so i will be making a list! i'm gonna round it down to only act 3 comments cause if i do the entire book there are too many to choose from. (over 200k comments)
mfs be like "rue's evil era is so slay" when it's literally suppressed trauma and mommy issues
i finally finished vol 1, PHEWW this took for-fucking-ever!! you guys are gonna be bawling next chapter and here's a sneak peek at the dialogue i have planned:
[REDACTED]
I should've known. I should've fucking known.
RUE
I... I can explain just... please stop yelling at me.
[REDACTED]
Explain?! You left us! You left all of us when we needed you. You're a traitor, a liar, and-
RUE
I didn't! I wouldn't! Please, [REDACTED], listen to me. Please!
[REDACTED]
...I can't believe I trusted you.
oh that kinda looks corny in this format but, yeah. it's still all over the place and i'll likely change it some more so it fits the character's personality and how they would react in that situation. but clearly, rue got herself into some more shit! YAS YOU GO GIRL
( word count: 9 019 )