Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks Remix - Journey, Steve Perry
❝Someday love will find you
True love won't desert you
You know I still love you
Though we touched and went our separate ways❞
╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗
IT'S TIME
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝
The group crowds together nervously under a small playground slide in front of the bat-covered Creel house, waiting for Erica's signal.
"Okay, she's in. Initiate phase three," Erica says from the other side.
"Oh, god," Gwen sighs nervously.
"She's in. Move on the phase three," Robin says into a walkie talkie.
"Copy that. Initiating phase three," Dustin says back.
The group starts to eat distant sounds of Eddie playing his electric guitar, which gains the bats attention as they begin to fly away from the house.
"Okay, it's working. Let's go," Nancy says before they all start to approach the house, all while Gwen shakes her hands out with nerves, thinking about the bats making their way toward her brother and Eddie.
Getting into the house, Gwen cringes at the sight. She's never seen more sickly vines in one place. They all criss cross together along the floor and walls, leaving only a little of the original house untouched. "Jesus Christ," she whispers. She sighs before she begins to hop around the vines, carefully making her way through the house with the others behind her. Sweating bullets, she uses her flashlight to light the way up the stairs until they all make it to the top.
Staring at the door that holds Vecna, Gwen pulls her knife out as the others bring out their weapons. They're about to go in before the ground below them begins to shake. Steve tries to balance out the three girls as they all close their eyes tightly. It's not long before the ground stops shaking and silence overcomes them.
They let out sighs of relief, but it doesn't last long before a vine attaches to Robins foot. Robin stares wide eyed before she's pulled to the wall as more vines hold her in place. "Help!"
Gwen rushes forward using her hunting knife to slash at the vines while Nancy hits at them with the end of her shot gun, and Steve does the same with his axe. Bringing down his axe again, Steve's arm is yanked by another vine with pulls him onto the opposite wall. Nancy yelps as her foot is caught, and Gwen tries to grab onto her, only for another vine to reach out and connect around her arm.
Gwen is yanked onto the wall beside Robin and opposite Steve as more vines attach to her limbs and one attacked around her neck. Gwen gasps for air as the vines get tighter, but with her limbs caught, she's not able to get free.
Steve and her lock eyes and they stare at each other in fear. Suddenly, Gwen stops gasping and looks at Steve through sad eyes. 'I love you," she mouths.
Steve tries to scream out, but it's no use. Gwen's eyes go purple and her face becomes blank.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Gwen falls to her knees onto a hardwood floor, coughing and gasping as air enters her lungs.
"Gwen?!" Max exclaims before rushing toward her and crouching down next to her.
Gwen coughs a few more times before looking up. She's in the middle school gym that was decorated for the Snow Ball dance, the same dance that Steve volunteered them to supervise. It's also the place where they said 'I love you' for the fist time. Playing lowly in the air is the same song that Victor Creel had hummed in his cell.
Gwen looks at Max. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," Max helps Gwen stand. "Why... Why are you here? You're supposed to be at the house."
"Yeah, I was until a bunch of vines started choking us."
"Well, how are you here?"
Gwen looks around in confusion. "I used my powers to get into Vecna's head. I don't know what happened, but I'm here now, so... What are you doing?"
"I've been using these chairs to block the door," Max says, gesturing the the folding chairs in the gym.
Gwen looks behind Max with a dropped face. "You mean that door?"
Max's eyebrows pinch together before she turns around. Instead of a gym door with chairs oiled against it, it's the door from the Creel house. The door slowly opens with a creek.
"You can't hide from me, Max," Vecna's voice drawls.
Max grabs onto Gwen's hand. "Happy memories," she whispers. "Think of happy memories."
Gwen looks between Max and the door before slowly breathing out and closing her eyes.
Watching TV at the cabin with Hopper and Eleven.
Singing in the car with Dustin.
Giving Eleven a makeover at Mikes.
"You think I don't see what you two are doing?"
Painting with Ten at the lab.
Stargazing with Steve on Halloween.
Steve playing the guitar before kissing her for the first time.
"You think I don't see everything?"
Suddenly, flashes of Jason holding a gun find their way into Gwen's mind.
"You thought you could trick me?"
Gwen flinches as she sees Steve, Nancy, and Robin tied to the wall with vines. She sees Steve painfully cry out to her own limp body which instead of lavender eyes, now has cloudy white ones.
"You thought you could stop me?"
She sees Hopper run from a demogorgon in a dirty hallway. She sees Dustin and Eddie shout with their weapons held high.
"I see them. I see your friends... just as clearly as I see you. I can feel them. I can feel them dying."
Clock chimes cause Gwen and Max to open their eyes. The door is completely open now, showcasing the inside of the Creel house.
"I am so very disappointed, Nine. You are one of my favorites."
Gwen tightens her hold on Max's hand as they begin to back away from the door.
"It's time, Max."
"I won't let him hurt you. I won't," Gwen tells Max through shaky breaths as they look around.
"You can't stop me, Nine," Vecna's says from behind them. They turn quickly, only for Vecna to extend his hand and use his powers to send Max flying into the opposite wall and Gwen across the right side of the gym.
Gwen grunts painfully as her back and head hit the wooden bleachers. "Shit," she groans, trying to gather her bearings after the hard hit.
"You are brave, Maxine," Vecna's says, causing Gwen to looks toward where he's standing in front of Max who is held to the wall by an invisible force. "Much braver than your brother. But in the end... you are weak and fragile, just like him. Like all the rest of them. And you will break."
"Gwen!" Max screams desperately.
Once Gwen can finally stand without her head swimming, she starts to rush over to Max, but a hand grabs her wrist before she can make it far. Gwen turns swiftly before staring at Eleven with wide eyes. Eleven's head is shaved and she's taller than the last time Gwen had seen her. Before she can say anything, Eleven holds a finger to her lips, silently telling her to stay quiet.
When Gwen nods, Eleven lets go of her wrist and brings her hand up toward Vecna. Before Vecna can hurt Max, Eleven uses her powers to pull him into the middle of the gym where he hovers a few feet from the ground.
Gwen wastes no time in sprinting toward Max who had fallen to the gym floor. "Are you okay?" Gwen asks quietly. Max only nods as she stares as the scene in front of them.
Eleven walks toward Vecna with a glare as blood seeps from her nose. She slowly turns Vecna toward her by twisting her hand.
"You," Vecna seethes.
"Hi," Eleven smirks before sending Vecna flying through the bleachers of the gym and through the wall.
Gwen helps Max stand as Eleven rushes toward them.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah," Max breathes out.
"What the hell happened?" Gwen asks, bringing a hand up to touch Elevens head. "How are you... what?"
"Are you real?" Max asks, glancing between Eleven and Gwen. "Are either of you real?"
Eleven smiles and grabs both of their hands. "I'm real."
"How are you here? You're supposed to be in California," Gwen says.
"I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer," Eleven explains.
"You mean... Are you with Argyle?" Gwen asks, remembering when Jonathan told her about his new friend on the phone a few months ago.
"Yes," Eleven nods with a grin. "He's very funny."
Max glances between the both of them with confused eyes. "Who's Argyle?"
Before they can answer, wood begins to creek from where Eleven threw Vecna. The three of them hold hands with Max in the middle as they watch. Vecna grunts as he pushes himself back into the gym. Standing up straight, he cracks his neck before slowly walking closer.
"Both of you, stay back," Eleven says before letting go of Max and walking toward Vecna.
Gwen and Max tighten their hold on each others hands as they watch. Gwen doesn't want Eleven to put herself in danger, but she knows that she can handle herself. Besides, Gwen doesn't even know what she can do in this situation. When she was being held against the wall at the Creel house, she just intended to use her powers to hurt Vecna even a little in order for the vines to let them go, but instead, she was brought into Vecna's trance.
Vecna saw her coming, and for some reason, he wants her here.
"If you touch them again, I will kill you again," Eleven threatens slowly with a forceful tone.
"Is that what you did? Hmm? Did you kill me?" Vecna asks. "I am so glad you are here, Eleven. This is going to be... beautiful," he slowly begins to raise above the ground, pieces of splintered woods floating with him. "So beautiful. And it's all thanks to you."
Vecna throws the wood at Eleven, but she redirects it into the bleachers. She doesn't have time to think before Vecna throws Eleven into a table behind her before throwing her across the room into another table.
"We need to help," Max says, picking up a piece of broken wood.
"Yeah," Gwen sighs out. "Get ready."
Vecna slowly walks toward where Eleven lays on the ground, and just when his back if fully turned toward them, Gwen nods and her and Max begin to run. Max yells out with the wood held in her hand and Gwen stops to use her powers, but before they can do anything, Vecna throws Max aside until she crashes into the wall and falls unconscious. Gwen tries to infiltrate his mind, but it's like Vecna blocks her own mind from moving, causing her body to lay still and blank while her mind stays stagnant in the air.
Vecna uses this to his advantage and keeps her prisoner where she stands before turning to Eleven and making her pause, unable to move. He opens his palm which causes both Eleven and Gwen to float in the air. He moves both of them closer and while Eleven grunts, Gwen stays still with purple eyes and a trail of blood leaving her nose.
Internally, Gwen is screaming for her body to move, but she can't do anything while her mind is disconnected.
Vecna leans close to the girls faces. "Before I kill you... I want you both to watch," he says before throwing them back.
Eleven screams as they're thrown and as they hit the ground, Gwen gasps as she finally is able to connect her mind back into her own body. Gwen isn't able to get a good look at her surroundings before vines tie themselves to the girls arms. The vines drag both Eleven and Gwen along the floor until they get them situated onto the Creel's door.
—an
Originally this chapter was over 5000 words so I decided to split it in half. (Also, I almost deleted all of it after writing so I just had a moment of panic holy shit)
In other news, it's my birthday! So, I'll be doing a double update today :)
Word Count: 2050