Olivia could see the trailer park coming into view. It was much darker in the night and the air held a large sense of fearfulness and cold. Her feet eased on the pedals as they slowed to Eddie's trailer, the yard filled with trash and a wrecked car park. She assumed him or his uncle got into repair and, well, it didn't go so well.
She sighed in relief as her left foot stomped on the pavement, stopping the bike from moving any farther.
She shivered in the slashing cold wind, the feeling of being scared all too familiar. It didn't help that they had passed the Creel house just minutes ago. It looked completely ruined, vines stuck against the dusty exterior walls, even some shattered through the stained windows.
"Right here." Eddie hollered over the wind, his hair blowing in his face as he turned his head towards them.
Olivia dropped the bicycle onto the grey-ish grass, careless for any damage it would cause. She knew it wouldn't matter, especially since it was the Upside Down. Nobody would be there to claim it.
"That's gotta be a Guinness World Record." Robin snickered. "Most miles traveled interdimensionally."
Olivia choked a laugh at the tall girl before following after Eddie and Robin, the metal-head moving to step into his worn down porch.
"Just inhaled a bunch of that crap.", Steve coughed out, spitting something onto the ground. "It's stuck in my throat." Olivia smirked, stopping in her tracks to let her boyfriend catch up to her. He smiled at the small gesture before grasping her hand and intertwining their cold hands.
As she looked back at Steve, her eyes couldn't help but trail over at thr trailer she stayed in with Max. Her smile fell slowly and her brows turned upside down softly. Steve noticed her change in expression, her thumb moving on her skin and his head tilting slightly.
"You okay?" He questioned, watching as she reminisced. She knew now was not the time at all, and she didn't have many memories with Susan, but that didn't mean she didn't have any with Max. They are sisters and she would do anything for her. Even diving into interdimensional worlds and risking her life to stop a monster.
"Yeah..." She whispered, turning back around once they got to the porch, her feet patting at the steps.
As soon as they got inside of the small building, Olivia could immediately see why the trailer was so important. Apart from the vines and mold spots plastered on the corners of the walls, on the top of the ceiling, a humongous gate shone above them. Vines were tethered all around the remaining ceiling, helping to keep the gate in place.
There was a small seal in between the opening, a thin sheet of transparent goo. "Ew," was all Olivia could mutter as she trailed behind the others, her nose scrunched in disgust.
A soft thrumming came from the portal, it's vines pulsing slightly.
"Goddamn." Steve muttered in agreement, his brows furrowed. Beside them, Robin has her mouth agape and her eyebrows raised in bewilderment.
"This is where Chrissy died." Eddie whispered, the topic still a soft spot for him. "Like, right where she died."
The gate continued to writhe wetly, it's vines pulsing and the gooey seal casting a glare, almost like a bubble. "So our theory, well, Dustin's theory is confirmed." Olivia nodded with pursed lips, her eyes not daring to leave the gate. Is shined a dark red glow upon all of their contorted faces as it continued producing odd noises.
"I think there's something in there." Robin was in fact right, because right after she mentioned it, a wooden pole shot through the pulsing fissure and popped the thin layer.
"What the hell is that?" Eddie questioned, the group huddled together and were all standing s considerate amount away from it.
When it popped, goo flung everywhere, the layer breaking and revealing the wooden pole. Olivia jumped back, along with the others, her hand tightening around Steve's.
Steve, being the courageous one he is, cautioudly stepped forward, letting go of Olivia's hand so she didn't follow after him. His breathing remained heavy as he steadily crept towards the opening. When his shoulders eased and his breathing settled, Olivia began stepping forward, followed by the others.
Her brows knitted together tightly, but upon seeing above them, she quickly smiled. What she saw was trippy. The opening revealed Erica, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. Except, to them, they looked upside down, as if they were looking up at them, too.
"No way." Steve whispered, his brows raised in shock.
"That's trippy..." Olivia smiled up at her younger sister, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "Hi!" She chimed, the others also laughing with her.
Dustin let out a cheeky laugh, his hand moving up to wave at them. "Hi there."
"Hi." Robin chuckled.
"Hi!" Nancy smiled, her cheeks in small balls and her teeth showing. Another reason Olivia was so jealous of her and Steve's past relationship was because she was pretty. So pretty. How wouldn't anyone be able to fall in love with her?
"Holy shit, this is trippy." Robin smirked.
"Very." Olivia agreed.
"Bada-Bada-Boom!" Dustin shouted, his voice a slight echo. It was probably from the amount of energy traveling around them, Olivia assumed it must take a lot of power for something like this to be possible.
"You guys wanna help us out now?" Olivia questioned, her head raised high.
"Stay here." Dustin chuckled, laughter still bubbling from his chest. He was always a nerd for certain scientific discoveries, Olivia assumed this was one of those things. "We'll get a mattress and I'll tie some sheets!"
Olivia turned her mouth upside down, a curious nod coming from her. She pursed her lips, she supposed that would work.
Olivia stood back slightly, the others standing beside her. She sighed, her neck beginning to ache from her constantly staring upwards. Eventually, Lucas and Max returned from Eddie's bedroom where they stripped the mattress of it's sheet and gave it to Dustin.
They held the mattress on its side as they slid it into the main area, right under the gate. Max grunted as they dropped the mattress, revealing numerous yellow stains. Olivia furrowed her brows, instantly turning to look at Eddie.
"Those stains are, uh..." He mumbled, his eyes looking around nervously. "I dunno what those stains are."
"Mmm." Robin hummed, a sly smirk on her lips. It seemed that her and Olivia found it quite funny, because the brunette choked a laugh, her hand moving to cover her mouth.
"Why are you laughing?" Eddie turned around, his head tilted in confusion.
"Nothing." She immediately shook her head, trying to strip any look of humor out of her face. "I'm not."
The metal-head turned back around embarrassedly, his lips pursed and his head low. Olivia smirked, shaking her head softly. Eventually, after what felt like hours, Dustin and Erica finished tying dozens of bed sheet and towels, then moving to the middle of the mattress.
"Not quite sure how these physics work." Dustin shrugged, his hands holding the chain of sheets. "But, uh... here goes nothing."
The curly-haired boy took a deep breath before tossing the sheets up into the air. Olivia raised her brows, shocked that he suddenly had the urge to do that, but stood back nonetheless. She assumed that in whatever physics world, the chain would be used as a rope for them to climb up.
The other end of the chain of sheets and towels landed chaotically onto the floor in front of Olivia, Steve, Nancy, Eddie and Robin.
"There we go." Dustin nodded, the other younger teens moving to form a circle around the gate. "And if my theory is correct..."
Slowly but surely, Dustin released the rope and slowly moved back from it, almost as if any movement would disturb it. And to their surprise, the rope stayed held between both worlds, like the two worlds were fighting for dominance, but it didn't move.
"Huh." Dustin hummed. "Abracadabra."
"Holy shit." Max mumbled. She still had her headphones strung around her neck and her Walkman hooked to her pants. It sent a wave of relief over Olivia to know that she was still using precautions until all of this was over.
"All right, pull on it! See if it holds!" Dustin shouted, his hands in the air in case he had to catch the rope at any given moment.
When nobody moved forward, Robin shrugged, stepping towards the rope and giving it a rough tug.
"This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life." Erica chimed, her lips turned upwards into a large smile. "And I've seen some crazy shit."
"Guess I'm the guinea pig." Robin shrugged, her arms going to wrap around the rope. Olivia could tell that Robin was scared, her breathing slightly unsteady and her hands shaky.
They all quickly moved to help her, Robin grunting softly as she did majority of the work, pulling herself up towards the opening. It looked obviously hard to Olivia, and she knew, that when it came to it, she would be struggling. But she knew it would be okay, Steve would help her up.
Once Robin made it half-way through, her hair rose upside down and she fell swiftly onto her back with a soft thud. She let out a relieved sigh upon laying dreamily on her back. "Oh, thank God. That was fun."
As soon as Robin was out of the way, Nancy, Eddie, Olivia, and Steve all exchanged questioning looks, waiting for someone to step up and do the honors.
Eventually, Eddie took the initiative with a curt shrug, his hands moving to grasp the rope. "All right, I guess I'll go." He didn't waste a second to step in front of them, his arms going to pull himself up.
Once he got through, he flipped upside down, his back landing softly onto the mattress. "That was fun. Shit."
Olivia smiled just barely before waving her arm for Nancy to take the rope. She was still slightly angry with the girl, for no apparent reason besides the fact that Olivia was jealous, but she still would make sure she got out safely.
But before Olivia could say anything, she noticed Nancy didn't move from her spot, the girl's arms straight at her sides and her head facing forward. "Nancy?"
She stepped in front of the girl, and immediately her blood went cold and her eyes widened. Nancy's doe eyes were glazed over, a soft white hue covering her usually blue eyes. "Nancy!"
Steve rushed over to her, watching as Olivia planted her hands into Nancy's shoulders, lightly shaking her. Although, she realized that that technique never helped.
"Vecna." Max muttered, the others at the top surrounding the rope worriedly as they watched Olivia shout at Nancy to wake up, of course it didnt work.
"Nancy, wake up!" She shouted, shaking her skinny shoulders desperately. Olivia realized she would never be able to apologize for being so bitter towards her, and that she would never talk it through to clear the air between them. "Shit!"
They didn't know if she would wake up. If she would ever recover from this. It had Olivia thinking aboit Max, wondering if this would ever truly be over. The brunette exchanged a shaky glance with Steve, but he had the same worried look plastered onto his face. "Nancy! Nancy, come on!"
"Guys! We need music!" She shouted up above, her eyes only leaving Nancy's blank face for a second.
Eddie was the first to run into his bedroom, apparently where he knew he would have music. Although it frightened Olivia, who knew if there was even anything Nancy would like in his taste for metal.
"Whatever you guys are doing, hurry up!" Steve shouted from beside Olivia, his eyes widened st Erica. The pressured girl ran back to the others, but Olivia didn't hear anything they were saying. She was too focused on Nancy's fluttering eye lids.
Only minutes after Olivia began considering cursing the others out, Nancy's eyes flashed open and she let out a terrified cry, her body falling to the ground. Olivia rushed to catch her, holding strongly onto her shoulders. "Nancy, thank God!"
She continued to hyperventilate as Olivia held onto her, Nancy's head buried into Olivia's neck. The brunette held her tight, her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth letting out relieve breaths.
"It's okay." She whispered, holding one hand on the back of the girl's head. "You're okay."
After a while of Olivia holding the hysterical girl, they decided it was best to get out of the Upside Down. If they wanted to form a plan to stop Vecna, they would have to hurry. "Are you ready?"
Nancy nodded, her hands moving to grab a hold of the rope. She pulled herself up most of the way, but Olivia still had to help lift her. Once she got out and landed on the mattress, Robin pulled her up and cleared the space.
"See you on the other side?" Steve muttered, his eyes staring passionately into hers.
"See you on the other side." With that, Olivia took a step forward, wrapping her hands around the rope snd pulling herself up. It was a lot harder than she thought jt would be, but since Steve held her waist and pushed her upwards, it became a lot easier. She sighed, bracing herself for impact before flipping backwards and landing softly onto the stained mattress.
She didn't dare comment on the fact that it was fun, and decided to stand up and move out of the way. It was way too tense in the room for jokes.
She moved around the others to get to Max, who quickly wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a comforting hug. Olivia sighed, laying her cheek into Max's red hair. She felt safe knowing that she still had her sister, and that was all that mattered to her.
"We were thinking of going to our trailer. Mom isn't home and nobody feels like hanging around that." Max mumbled, gently pulling away from Olivia and standing beside her.
The older girl nodded once, her eyes landing on Steve who had just gotten through the gate. God, this was gonna be a long day.
***
"He showed me things that haven't happened yet... The most awful things." Nancy whispered, sitting directly in the middle of the room so everyone could watch her as she explained everything that happened and why Vecna let her go. Olivia wished it was that easy for Max, and she was sure Max wished it herself.
Olivia sat on the floor beside Robin, the two girls sitting in the exact same position, with their knees high and their arms resting above them. The others were either taking up space on the couches or standing up.
"I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this..." As she hesitated to speak, Olivia realized that the room was absolutely silent. Nobody dared to speak. Nobody knew what to say. Mostly everyone was too shaken to say anything. "... giant creature with... a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes."
Olivia looked up from her lap, her eyes instinctively meeting Steve's. He had the same worried expression on his face that she did, but he still managed to send her a small smile, to which she returned.
"And then... he showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they... they were all..." She looked down at her shaky hands, not able to finish what everyone was thinking. Dead. They were all dead. Nancy's eyes were full of tears, and Olivia swore she would be on the verge of tears, but she held it together anyways.
"Okay, but... he's just trying to scare you, Nance. Right? I mean... I mean, it's not real." He tried to ease the tension in the room, but even Steve didn't know if he believed his own words.
"Not yet." Robin and Olivia both turned to look at eachother at her words, fear written in both of their eyes. "But there... there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And there gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but... they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins."
Not for long. Olivia thought to herself. She knew she shouldn't, but she just couldn't help it.
"Our home."
"Four chimes." Everyone turned at the sound of Max's voice, her eyes slowly moving to look at everyone else's. Olivia furrowed her brows. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."
"I heard them too." Nancy realized.
"He's been telling us his plan this whole time." Max shook her head in disbelief, her arms wrapped around herself.
"Four kills. Four gates." Lucas met Max's eyes, almost as if he had a feeling she would be involved. "End of the world."
"If that's true... he's only one kill away." Dustin sighed.
"Oh Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ." Eddie mumbled underneath his breath, running his hands down his fear-stricken face.
"Try 'em again. Try 'em again." Steve urged, pointing towards the phone, clouding his fear with orders. Usually what he would do in situations like this. Max sighed, having no choice but to try and call the Byers again for the fourth time.
"Anything?" Dustin questioned, watching as Max moved back to them.
"No." She sighed. "Rang a few times, the went to busy signal."
"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try again." Steve persuaded, his hands clasped together tightly.
"I didn't punch it in wrong."
"Well, I don't know."
"I think she knows how to use a phone." Dustin argued, causing Olivia to drop her head into her hands in frustration. This wasn't getting them anywhere, but she felt to tired to speak up.
"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." Max then came back after calling again, her eyes rolling and her shoulders shrugging.
"Same shit."
"How is that possible?" Lucas inquired, his hands moving as he spoke.
"Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it." Dustin shrugged.
"Yeah, but this phone's been busy for, what, three days now?" Max quickly shook her head, her brows drawn in. "That's not Joyce. No way. Something wrong." She was right. Why would Joyce not answer her phone for three days if she had such an important and busy job?
"She's right. It can't be just coincidence. It can't be." Nancy spoke up, her voice still low and shaky. By the time Olivia's eyes fell onto her, Nancy was already walking to the trailer window. "Whatever's happening in Lenora I'd connected to all of this. In sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead."
Olivia could tell by her voice that she wasn't downhearted anymore, she was vengeful. "We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."
"Whoa, no, no, no. What?" Steve quickly yelled out, shaking his head vigorously, and Eddie seemed to have the same idea as he waved his arms around.
"Nope. Nope."
"Let's think this through." Steve stood from his seat beside Eddie and Erica on the couch, instinctively walking towards Nancy. God, Olivia hated when he did that.
"What is there to think through?" Nancy argued.
"We barely made it out of there." He shouted back. Great, now they're arguing. She sighed, dropping her chin onto he knees.
"Yeah, because we weren't prepared. But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."
"Or he'll kill us." Steve retorted. "The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He's not scared of us."
"And for good reason." Robin jolted up from her spot beside Olivia, her arms moving as she spoke. "We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?"
Dustin and Lucas both agreed on 'One', Erica proposed 'Vecna', and Nancy debated 'Henry'. The others however, stayed silent, Olivia resting her chin on her knees.
"Right. We've learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, make, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my... my point is, he's super powerful. Could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight." She ranted, her eyes wide. It was always something she did when she was scared. Olivia picked up on it over the two years they'd known one another.
"Then why fight fair?" Dustin questioned. "Your right. Hes like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses."
"Weaknesses?" Erica retorted, her fsve scrunched in a puzzled expression.
"When El remote travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna."
"That would explain what he was doing in that attic." Lucas realized, pointing his finger at Dustin's intelligence.
"Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless."
"Defenseless? What about the army of bats?" Steve argued, pointing at his still red ring around his neck. Olivia smiled, nobody even noticing since she was balled up in the corner by Robin, who continued standing.
"True. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow."
"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie questioned, standing up from his spot by Erica.
"No idea." Eddie sat back down with a huff, annoyed by the lack of knowledge any of them have considering they've been fighting monsters for years. But this was completely new to them, and it was only the beginning. "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin."
Robin nodded. "That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings. Not one that I can decipher." She stated, referring to last year's Russian translation. "We don't know when he's going to attack next. Don't even know who he's going to attack next."
"Yeah, we do." Max spoke up, everyone tirning to face her. Olivia sat up straight, he brows drawn together. "I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me.
"Uhm, excuse me?" Olivia had finally spoken up ever since they had gotten to the trailer, and everyone turned their heads, almost forgetting she was even there since she had been so silent. "No, you won't." She stood up quickly, walking over to her sister.
"I survived before. I can survive again." She explained, looking at Olivia. "I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just... whatever it is... whatever you do... try not to miss." She said the last part as she looked Olivia directly in the eyes, the brunette rolling her eyes angrily and looking away.
"This is such a stupid plan." She mumbled, shaking her head while standing between Max and Steve. She wouldn't risk Max's life after everything they've worked for to keep her safe. She can't.
"It isn't stupid!" Nancy snapped, raising her voice at Olivia. The brunette grimaced, looking at Nancy as if she's crazy. She didn't understand she could have so much attitude towards her after being there for her after Barb died, after she almost died at the hands of Vecna, despite her jealously. Olivia still stood up for Nancy through everything and now she suddenly so hostile. Olivia didn't know if it was the fear talking, but doing that isn't going to help anything.
"Shut up, Nancy!" Olivia snapped back, sighing before grabbing Max's wrist and pulling her outside of the trailer where nobody would get in the way.
"Uh..." Lucas slowly mumbled, scared that anyone else would start yelling.
"Max, you can't do this." She spoke quietly so nobody could hear if they eavesdropped, but it didn't matter if they did. She couldn't risk her sister's life. They connected in a way Olivia never thought they could and now it was all going down the drain over a stupid plan. "He could kill you."
"He won't." The red-head shook her head. "Because you won't let it happen. You will be there to stop Vecna."
"I'm not gonna leave you!" Olivia spoke with her hands. "We didn't do all of this for nothing. Look," Olivia stared at the ground for a minute, trying to think of anything else. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if anything happened. "Okay, I'll be the bait. We'll trade roles."
"No." Max quickly refused. "How do you even know Vecna wants you?"
"Trust me, I have issues." She mumbled with raised brows, but Max have her a deadpanned look.
"Liv. I can't let you do this because you feel guilty. Let me do this. Nothing will happen. I ditch Kate Bush and then you guys kill Vecna."
"Max-"
"It's okay, Liv." She nodded. "I know it's not safe, but we don't have any other choice. He tried killing me before. If he wants any of us as the fourth kill, it's me."
"Promise me you won't be stupid and lose your life for any of us." Olivia spoke sternly, yet so calm that she thought her voice would break if she was any louder.
"I promise." She smiled softly.
"And if this is really happening, then I'm coming with you. I'm not letting you out of my sight until this is over." Max nodded in agreement, staring into Olivia's saddened eyes. She could tell that Olivia wanted to cry, she always held things in until eventually it was too much and she hit rock bottom. That's exactly whst would happen if she lost her sister. Without anyone word, Olivia grabbed Max and pulled her into a hug, her face buried in her red braids.
Max did the same, hugging her tightly and dropping her forehead onto Olivia's shoulder. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Max sniffled.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
*spoiler warning*
wow, Max's 'death' is gonna be depressing. :(