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tw: descriptions of gore
(i don't think it's that bad but just to be safe)
They rode all the way to the trailer, traveling to the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. It was where all of Max, Auggie, and Eddie resided, but right now, they were only worried about the latter. The night had grown even darker in the time it took them to bike there, even if they were still speedy. Clouds overtook the night sky, blocking out the stars and moon so that a dull dimness hung over their heads.
The group of five didn't stop rushing, not even once they made it outside of Eddie's trailer. Lucas hopped off his bike and opened the trailer door for them, politely granting them all access inside.
The Gate was impossible not to notice.
A few of them instantly cursed upon seeing it — Sam could've even been one of them; she wouldn't know, she was so baffled right now. It was unlike anything Sam had expected to see. She barely even knew how to describe it.
In all honestly, Sam was assuming the Gate would just look like a more extreme version of the hole they dropped down to enter the Upside Down tunnels two years ago.
It wasn't.
It was a large gaping hole on the ceiling; those thick, living vines that had been in the tunnels were spreading out from it like a disease, covering the entire roof of the trailer. Some sort of slime-like substance created a thin layer atop the pulsing red glow that bridged the gap between the two dimensions. The red light shone down on them, bathing them in the luminous color — it was the only source of light until Sam used her powers to turn all the lights in the trailer on. The whole act drained her further, but Sam still didn't think much of it.
While Sam was focusing on turning the lights on, Dustin was searching throughout the house for an instrument long enough to reach the ceiling.
"I don't like this," Max muttered. "Shit's weird."
"Super freaky," Erica agreed, but she sounded a little awed, staring up at the Gate.
Sam clenched her fists and forced herself to look away from it.
She didn't like it, either.
Then, Dustin thankfully reappeared with one broomstick in hand. He announced, "All right, I think I'm gonna try breaking through that layer with this. It'll work... hopefully."
"'Hopefully'?" Lucas raised a dissatisfied eyebrow.
"Just trust me," Dustin groaned. He stepped right underneath the Gate on the ceiling, everyone else stepping a little bit away from them — they didn't know what would happen once Dustin broke the barrier. What if slime fell down from the raptures and gave them a chronic illness?
What? It was a plausible theory.
In a sense.
Sam watched as Dustin began to poke at the glowing Gate with the wooden end of the broomstick. She stood in front of Max, the back of her shoulder brushing with the front of Max's — it was both a precaution to keep Max safe, and to comfort Sam herself, because there was too much swarming through her head right now. Pain and anxiety became intertwining things, and she couldn't tell if she was feeling them separately or if one was a side effect of the other.
Wet squelching sounds broke through the silence as Dustin kept jutting up the broomstick. Sam's nose wrinkled in disgust, but then that made her head throb again, so she had to stop and focus. He finally tore the barrier of viscous cobweb, and Sam was almost correct about the slime — Goo splattered down to the floor underneath, which they all jumped away from, while the same thing happened on the other side of the Gate. The Upside Down side.
(Say that ten times fast.)
Once substance stopped falling from out the roof, the group of five slowly starting walking back towards it. They watched the Gate breathe, still pulsing in and out, a living thing. In their huddle, Sam craned her head up to spot Eddie's Upside Down-trailer on the other side. It defied all laws of gravity, because the roof of Eddie's trailer was also the roof in the Upside Down, meaning that — from Sam's perspective — the Upside Down's floor was actually the ceiling for her, and vice-versa. It was very confusing and, to a girl who favored science, frustratingly illogical.
Eddie's trailer in the Upside Down was vacant, until, slowly, footsteps creeped closer towards the Gate.
Steve came into view first — he was still without a shirt, except now, there seemed to be bloodied and torn fabric wrapped around his torso; Sam also noted he was wearing a jean vest that once was worn by Eddie. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie looked the same (minus the fact Eddie donated away his jean vest to a better cause), then Auggie hobbled forwards, making up the back. His shirt was cropped a good six inches, and Sam was astounded to see it was his favorite shirt that was ruined (a shirt Sam bought him, by the way). Upon further inspection, it looked as if the missing fabric from Auggie's shirt was the same fabric around Steve's torso. Finally, Sam saw that there were two bloodied socks wrapped around Auggie's left ankle.
Sam let out a small grin. They looked a little worse for wear, but they were there and they were alive.
Dustin laughed in glee at how astounding it all was. The five, older teenagers above — or was it below? — wore wide mouths and baffled expressions. "Hi, there!" he cheered. Sam, Lucas, Max, and Erica waved as he did so.
The theory that they couldn't hear noises from the Upside Down but the Upside Down could hear noises from the real world stood true — It looked like the older group were mouthing back greetings, but Sam couldn't hear them actually saying anything. She also saw they were laughing a little incredulously, and Sam didn't blame them.
"Holy shit, this is trippy," Erica huffed, grinning.
Dustin burst into cheers, grabbing Sam excitedly and shaking her (Sam's headache throbbed excruciatingly but she put on a smile for Dustin's sake). "Bada-bada-BOOM!" whooped Dustin.
Sam tried communing in his energy, nodding at him encouragingly. "Come on," she spoke quietly. "Let's find a way to bring them all down."
"Wait—" Lucas's smile fell quickly, looking around in a stunted manner. "How exactly are we going to do that?"
Dustin faltered too, shoulders dropping. "Oh. I didn't... think that far ahead..."
"Are you serious, Dustin?" Max snapped. "You dragged us all out here for nothing?"
"Hold up, hold up, I'm thinking," Sam told all that people that could hear her. She tried ignoring the pain in her skull, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.
Then, her head snapped back up with astounded eyes.
"Equilibrium."
From the real world, Lucas, Max Dustin, and Erica shared looks. From the Upside Down, Auggie, Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie were doing the same.
"Um — what?" Lucas asked.
"Okay, just," Sam tried thinking of a way to explain in simple terms so they wouldn't get confused, "imagine we have some sort of rope, and we throw it up the Gate on the ceiling. It should hang from both our ceiling and their ceiling. We'd have to put it exactly in the middle so one gravity force doesn't pull on the other. If we were to climb the rope — it would be able to hold us, because, technically, this is still the ceiling if you pretend the Gate isn't there. Gravity should pull both ends down." Henceforth Sam concluded, "Equilibrium."
Max's nose wrinkled in confusion. "All right, I have no clue what you just said, but I'm just gonna trust your word."
"Wouldn't the force just cause them to fall, though?" Dustin asked.
Lucas shrugged, "I mean, it's worth a shot."
"Yeah, and the statistics that she's ever wrong are astonishingly low," added Erica, factually, and the amount of confidence she said it with suddenly had Sam doubtful of herself.
"It's just a theory," Sam recoiled shyly, crossing her arms around herself.
Dustin sighed, realizing both Lucas and Erica were right. Plus, it wasn't like he had anything better to come up with. Dustin tilted his head up to look at the older teenagers on the other side of the Gate. "Are you guys all right if we try that?" he asked loudly.
Sam wasn't sure they caught on to anything she had said, because they just shared unsure looks before they shrugged cluelessly and nodded slowly.
"Okay, sunshine," Max looked back down at her. "Tell us what to do."
And so Sam began leading the group in a fast, yet efficient, plan. She advised for Max and Lucas to retrieve all the sheets they could find from both Eddie's and Wayne's beds — when they were finished, they joined Erica in tying all the ends together to create one, long rope. As they did that, Sam and Dustin went into Eddie's room with the intention of snatching the mattress from his bedroom.
Sam got a little distracted through, trying not to freak out about Eddie's amazing guitar. Seriously, it was the most beautiful thing Sam had ever seen.
Dustin had to put her back on track, unfortunately.
Together, they walked up to Eddie's bed that was now lacking sheets. Both of them cringed at the suspicious stains splattered everywhere, and Sam's nose even wrinkled up in disgust again.
"Luke, could you come here a second?" Sam called out for him, just staring at the mattress judgmentally.
Lucas ran into Eddie's room in a matter of seconds.
"Yeah, I'm not touching this," she motioned to Eddie's stained mattress. "You and Dustin can have fun, though, bye!"
"Wait, Sam—!"
Sam ignored their protests, speeding out of Eddie's room so she can take Lucas's role of helping the girls tie the sheets together. Max and Erica both looked at her curiously, wondering why Sam had she and Lucas switch.
"Eddie's gross," she shuddered. "You don't want to know."
A few moments later, Lucas and Dustin were coming out of Eddie's room, arguing about how to transfer the mattress correctly. They weren't very coordinated, especially together, but they were managing well enough. By the time they figured out how to throw Eddie's mattress directly underneath the Gate, Sam, Max, and Erica had finished tieing the knots. The mattress was to act as a cushion while they climbed up (down?) the rope.
Sam bunched the makeshift rope together in her hands like a lasso. She walked forward, standing on the mattress so she was underneath the Gate.
"Not sure if the physics are gonna work," Sam muttered, "but, uh... here goes nothing."
Then she proceeded to launch half of the tied sheets upwards while still keep a grip on the other half. The chain of fabrics fell through the Gate, and from the older teens perspective, hung from the ceiling with the end dangling to the ground. From Sam's perspective, she kept a grip on the rope as it did the exact, same thing — hang from the ceiling with gravity pulling the end down.
"There we go," she breathed, tugging it once to check the sturdiness of it. Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Erica stepped onto the mattress, closer to her. All five of their heads craned up to watch and see what was to happen. "And if my theory is correct..."
Sam let go of the sheet chain.
It continued hanging down in perfect equilibrium, just like she'd speculated.
"Voilà," she whispered, more-so to herself, sharing a small glance with Lucas.
"Holy shit," Max huffed in astonishment.
Sam looked back up to address the older teens. Loudly, she shouted, "All right, pull on it! See if it holds!"
They watched Robin step forward, closer to the makeshift rope. She grabbed it with two firm hands before pulling her entire body weight down like it was a desperate game of Tug-O-War.
The tied sheets continued to hold.
Sam laughed incredulously; she really hadn't expected her theory to work. Her friends all grinned in awe and excitement. It was so weird, but it was so cool.
"This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life!" Erica grinned. "And I've seen some crazy shit."
Sam high-fived Erica with a twin smile. She stepped back from the mattress with the rest of the four, giving the older teenagers room to fall down.
Robin appeared to be the one to offer herself up as the guinea pig. Her hands were still on the chain of sheets, and she was staring up (down?) at the kids, a little fearful.
They watched as she jumped onto the rope, curling her legs around it to stay on. When the rope didn't falter under her weight, Robin slowly began climbing it to the best of her abilities. Eventually, her head of brunette hair peeked through the other side of the Gate — gravity immediately switched for Robin, and it hung towards the ground of the real world.
Robin fell from the ceiling and off the ceiling. "Oh, my god!" she yelled, and her back landed onto the cushioned landing pad that was the mattress. She laid flat for a moment, winded and astounded. Sam took a few worried steps closer to Robin, but Robin sat up with an excited grin. "Oh, thank god," she breathed. "That was fun."
Sam stuck out a hand for Robin to grab, which she easily took, and Sam proceeded to help Robin stand back up.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Dustin greeted.
Then, Eddie was shrugging in the Upside Down. He was next to step forward and hold the rope of sheets with firm hands. Admittedly, Eddie was a thousand times better at climbing up the sheets than Robin was; he didn't shake and struggle like she did. Next thing Sam knew, Eddie was falling through the Gate in the same way Robin had. He flailed in the air until his back thudded onto the mattress lightly.
Eddie shot up sitting with wide eyes. Again, Sam worried he wasn't okay, until he marveled, "That was fun!" He shared an excited look with Robin, and she held his hand as an offer to aid him in standing up. Eddie cheered, "Shit!"
By the time Eddie stood up, Sam looked to see that Nancy had already begun climbing the rope. Again, she was a little slower than Eddie, but still more athletic than Robin. She went through the identical process of climbing to the roof of the Upside Down before falling from the roof of the real world.
"That was not fun," Nancy grunted, teeth clenched.
"Well don't get stuck in the Upside Down next time," said Dustin, sassily.
Nancy rolled her eyes, but still grabbed a hold of Dustin's hand when he offered it to her. Dustin pulled Nancy up so she stood with everyone else.
The only two left now were Auggie and Steve. Upon further inspection, Sam noted that the boys just seemed to be talking, both a little disgruntled. She urged to ask about it, but the thought of speaking amidst her excruciating headache made her want to pass out.
"What's going on?" Lucas asked.
Nancy, Robin, and Eddie looked up, not knowing what Lucas had been talking about. But then, once they did see, it was easy to put together.
"Oh, I know," said Eddie. "The bats fucked up Santos' ankle. Dude can barely walk. Harrington's, like, a worried wreck."
In any other instance, Sam would've snorted and made an amused comment, but this time, she hadn't even heard what Eddie said. She was at the back of the group of eight, heels of her hands rubbing her forehead painfully. No one seemed to notice her pained and quiet behavior, too focused on Auggie and Steve as they figured out how they were going to get Auggie through.
"This is like Poltergeist," Auggie commented, trying to distract Steve from the inevitable task Auggie was about to have to take on.
Unfortunately, Steve was not falling for Auggie's feeble attempts.
"Here," Steve kneeled on the ground, cupping his hands together to make a firm step for Auggie to take. "Step up with this on your good foot, and I'll spot you."
"I'm gonna fall down and break your nose," Auggie panicked.
Steve huffed fondly, not relenting in his crouched position. "No you're not, dude. Just come on. I won't let you get hurt." Then, "Again."
Auggie's stomach twisted at I won't let you get hurt. Somehow, it gave him enough courage to limp forward and place one hand on Steve's shoulder to stabilize himself.
Steve looked up and Auggie and Auggie looked down at Steve.
"See you on the other side," Steve grinned softly.
Auggie nodded back at him, mirroring Steve's smile. "On the other side."
Then, Auggie let out a pained wince as he stepped onto Steve's cupped hands with his good leg, because it meant that his bad leg had to take all his weight and stand on the ground. To get it over with quickly, Auggie used the makeshift step Steve created and heaved his body onto the rope. He climbed with his knees so as to not set off the burning pain in his ankle. Steve spotted him the entire time Auggie scaled up the tied sheets.
He fell down onto the mattress with a soft, "Oof." Max was the one who offered to help Auggie stand back up. Auggie smiled at her gratefully, and when he stood, he captured both Max and Erica in a hug.
"It's so good to see you guys again," Auggie sounded like he was about to cry, so ecstatic to not be in the Upside Down. "I missed you, Red. And you, Little Girl I've Never Met Before."
"Thanks," Erica deadpanned with a monotone face, squirming out of the hug Auggie forced her into.
It was in no time at all that Steve was leaving the Upside Down last, the most athletic of the bunch. He was grunting up the chain of rope before gravity was forcing him back down onto the cushioned mattress.
But Sam never got to see Steve return.
She screwed her eyes shut, pain of the headache taking over.
When she opened her eyes back up, she was in a lab.
Hawkins National Laboratory, to be exact.
"Sam?"
Lucas was the first person to notice something was up with Sam. When he looked behind and towards her, he saw Sam was standing completely still. Her eyes were rolled to the back of her head. It seemed as if she was in a trance, a waking nightmare.
"Hey!" Lucas put his arms on Sam's shoulders, trying to gently shake her awake. "Hey! Stay with me. Sam! Hey!"
Everyone whipped around to see what was going on, but finally they noted the exact same thing as Lucas.
"Sam, wake up!"
"Wake up! Sam!"
"Vecna," Max muttered, heart clenching out of fear.
Back in Sam's trance, she whipped around, looking around the lab in terror. Her face was screwed up fearfully and tears almost immediately threatened to fall down her face. In the hall of the lab, a warning alarm was blaring; a yellow light blinked rapidly to alert them all. Lining the corridor was blood and dead corpses of scientists and guards alike.
She's been here before.
"No, no, no," Sam muttered under her breath, voice cracking miserable. Her breath caught in her throat when she pivoted on her heel to spot something much more scarier than dead bodies and crimson, red blood.
There was an open closet door; right outside it, a pool of ammonium and a wooden broom fallen into the puddle.
She's been here before.
Further down in that direction, two metal doors were creaked open. Slowly — oh, so slowly and oh, so shakily — Sam creeped towards the end of the hall. She stepped over corpses and the broomstick; she tried not to slip on the blood or ammonium. A part of Sam was convinced her legs were going to buckle. There was a familiar feeling of being so gutturally afraid as the warning, yellow light shone down on her.
She's been here before.
Sam reached the barely-open doors at the end of the corridor. She couldn't open them with her hands — they shook so rapidly that her arms were actually quaking — so Sam had to open it with her foot.
In the lobby, there was just as much blood in here than there was down every hallway.
There was also a silhouette a little bit's away on the floor.
"No," Sam choked on a dry sob.
Sam grew closer and closer, each step more excruciating as the next. The headache was gone, but the amount of fear to replace it felt much more horrible than any physical pain she could ever endure.
She felt her torso over her layers of clothes.
Even having her flesh being ripped apart by an interdimensional monster.
Sam grew closer and closer, and—
A horrified shriek let from her lips. Sam stumbled backwards out of pure horror, distress, and panic.
There, lying on the floor, was Bob Newby's dead body. His guts were out on display for Sam to see, most of his skin removed due to sharp teeth in multiple mouths. Blood pooled on the floor around him and soaked the fabric that still remained on his body. Intestines of Bob's were spread onto the ground, and Sam realized that when she flinched back, she'd accidentally stepped on something squishy. She flailed away again once she realized it was one of Bob's organs that had been ripped out by the Demodogs.
Sam backed away, but she didn't have the strength to go very fast. Her eyes were glued onto Bob's disfigured corpse, eyes swelling up wetly.
"Do you remember what you did, Samantha?" a deep, grovelly voice that Sam has heard before rung in her ears like a wake-up call. Vecna was speaking to her.
—Bob smiled, making eye contact with Joyce at the fact they'd found each other, but then his expression went slack with horror, eyes fixed somewhere behind Sam.
"SAM, WATCH O—"
She didn't catch the last word as she turned around, just barely seeing it before it hit her—
Sam placed her hands against her eardrums hard, trying to deafen everything; trying to forget any of it happened.
Unfortunately, she heard Vecna clearly as he questioned, "Or have you already forgotten?"
—Hot white pain shot through her side, and Sam screamed as the Demogorgon dog's teeth dug into her, clamping down and then tearing the flesh with a sickening ripping sound that brought bile to Sam's throat. The gun clattered out of her hands, and Sam couldn't do anything about it. Her shout was different, this time. It was a sob, heavy and emotional, a beg for help.
Her hands came up uselessly to defend herself, gun lying somewhere to her right, but she couldn't move, couldn't do anything but get mauled by a — a fucking literal hellhound.
"PLEASE! PLEASE STOP, I'M SORRY! I-I'M SORRY—" but she was cut off by a blood-curdling shriek pushed past her lip straight from her gut. It was laced with pain and horror; the torture had become raw and consuming—
Sam's fingers tried digging impossibly further into her ears. Her eyes screwed shut — a few tears fell down her face — and she shook her head weakly. "No, no, please, no," she choked, but Sam was alone now. No one cared to help her.
"When I kill someone..." continued Vecna.
—The next part happened in a blur. Suddenly, somehow, someone was tackling the monster in Sam's wake, forcing the creature off top of her. The moment the force was no longer pinning Sam to the ground, she was flailing and kicking away, scrambling backwards. Her hands automatically shot to her side, pressing down, and her breaths came in heaving gasps. The pain felt like it was digging into every nerve in her body, and Sam grit her teeth, trying to blink away the white spots blossoming across her vision.
She was able to see who had sacrificed himself for Sam in a mess of blood tears—
"I never forget."
"—NO!" Sam reached for him. "BOB!"
Hopper was wrapping his arms around her. Sam tried to pull away as she shouted and cried.
"DON'T LEAVE HIM! NO!" she sobbed, fighting back—
All doors of the lobby suddenly SLAMMED shut, locking Sam inside. From the floor above, blood began pooling down the top of the walls. It flooded onto the floor of the level Sam was on. Sam instantly felt suffocated with even more gut-wrenching panic at the sight. She hated blood, she hated blood, she hated blood.
Where was Lucas?
Sam desperately ran for the glass doors that granted an exit out of the lab. She didn't want to be back here. She couldn't. Sam slammed herself against the door to find it was locked, though she still tried pushing and pulling as hard as she could with the feeble hope she'd be strong enough to break the lock.
The door wasn't budging. Sam was foolish to believe she could be strong enough.
So, she did what any desperate person locked in a massacred laboratory would do.
Sam grunted as she pulled a fist back, then rammed it straight into the door. She punched the glass with as much force as she could muster, bare skin colliding with a thick layer of glass.
She screamed out in pain, intertwining with the sound of glass shattering. Sam doubled over, cradling her bleeding fist as the shards of glass from the door shot down to the floor. Her mind yelled at her, the logical side of Sam saying the she needed to keep going — she needed to get out of here — but her fist throbbed in pure, raw pain. There were shards of glass lodged into her skin and crimson blood fell profusely from the wounds.
Sam was used to being alone, being in pain, so she tried straightening up as much as she could. She cried out as she kept going forward — Sam stepped over the doorframe due to the now-shattered glass. Agony rose as she desperately tried exiting the hospital.
But then Sam found herself somewhere completely different.
She was not outside the laboratory's entrance. Instead, Sam was at the top of a broken, wooden staircase. Red fog surrounded her, overwhelming her. Debris hung floating in the air, defying all laws of physics.
Then she remembered what Max said: And then there was this red fog everywhere... It was like a dream. A nightmare.
Vecna's mind.
Sam winced as she continued cradling her fist, taking a look all around. It was just like Max had tried depicting and describing. A clock ticked faintly in the background; there was distant wailing from an unknown source that had Sam's breath catching in her throat. Red lightning struck above, and it was almost like the red fog was just a storm that Sam was caught in the middle of.
She finally mustered enough courage to begin walking down the old stairs — stairs that she knew were a dismantled part of the Creel household. Each step was slow as Sam soaked it all in, keeping her fist supported and bleeding.
The clock suddenly chimed loudly instead of ticked. Sam whipped her head behind to find that same, old grandfather clock that was at the Creel house; that Max had seen in her visions.
"I see you've been looking for me, Samantha," Vecna began as Sam creeped down the stairs. "You were so close. So close to the truth. How was old, blind, dumb Victor? Did he miss me?"
Sam choked on air fearfully as she finally made it to the bottom of the staircase. The ground was covered in the nasty, gorey vines; and the ground itself was almost wet and squelchy.
"I've meaning to check back in with him, but I've been busy."
She slowly turned her head a few inches to the side, a little way's up. Sam let out a horrified gasp as she saw Fred Benson and Chrissy Cunningham's disfigured bodies before her. Their corpses were intertwined in pillars of those same vines; they were still in the exact same position they died in, although as time passed, they decayed more and more.
"So very busy."
It was like they were on display or something, Max had explained once.
Sam's breaths sped up rapidly. It was absolutely horrible; nothing could have prepared her to see an abhorrence this great. Bile rose in her throat, and Sam felt sick amidst the pounding pain of her fist.
Fred and Chrissy's pillars were separated, a few feet away from each other. Right in between it, was a new sight that Sam couldn't have avoided even if she wanted to. It was a pristine, wood door perfectly intact.
On it, a beautiful, stained glass window of a rose.
And then, the real story played out right before her:
Vecna's mindscape faded away. Sam blinked once, and suddenly she was back inside the Creel house. Only, this wasn't the household she'd seen before. It wasn't old or decadent or repuslive — it was grand and beautiful and larger than life itself.
She was back in the 50s.
A husband opened the door up first. Into the house he stepped, followed by his wife, and their eyes were wide in awe.
"What'd I tell ya?" Victor Creel glanced back at his wife.
Virginia beamed. "Wow."
Two kids were filing in afterwards — two kids Sam knew to be Alice Creel and Henry Creel. The twelve-year-old boy seemed rather unamused by the large house, but the fifteen-year-old blonde was absolutely amazed.
"This is amazing," Alice stunned, eagerly speeding further into the house. She stopped right in front of Sam, analyzing the room before her. "It looks like a fairy tale! A dream."
Sam felt like she couldn't breathe.
Because Alice...
Well, Alice looked exactly like Sam.
Nearly identical.
Sam's eyes were green instead of blue, and Alice's face was slimmer, but the resemblance was eerily similar.
A fifteen-year-old blonde screaming awake from constant nightmares. A fifteen-year-old blonde stared back at Victor in the present, frowning.
Alice, oblivious to the revelation Sam was having, passed Sam up and excitedly started up the ascending stairs. Sam's head followed the sight of Alice the entire way; there was something caught in her throat. She was distracted by it all that the pain and bleeding of her fist was a distant epiphany.
"Alice, no running!" Virgina reminded her daughter kindly.
Alice cheered, "It's so big!"
Sam coughed, completely choked up at what was playing out before her. Her arm dangled back by her side, so astounded that she allowed her fist to drip blood on the floor. Alice was far up the stairs, so Sam finally peeled her eyes away and turned her head back forward. Victor and Virginia were embraced in each other lovingly as they analyzed their new fairytale of a home.
They didn't notice, that a couple feet behind them, young Henry Creel didn't commune in being awestricken.
Henry Creel, a boy who didn't fit in with other children. Henry Creel, a boy who had something deeply wrong with him. A boy who was told he was broken. A boy, who was the reason his parents moved, because they believed a change of scenery might just cure him.
The scene shifted slightly, and suddenly Henry was creeping further into his new house. Sam followed him, though keeping a slight, disturbed distance. Her bloodied fist came up to clutch at her chest that constricted in all-consuming cold.
Henry lingered in a certain room, but by the time Sam caught up to Henry, he was already exiting it. The only thing she caught note of was a flickering, orange light — but it stopped its blinking when Henry was no longer nearby.
Henry Creel, a boy who believed his new home provided a new discovery and a found sense of purpose.
Sam watched through the crack of a doorframe as Henry Creel wandered into a bathroom. He crouched before a vent on the floor and pulled off the metal frame. Henry slowly but surely stuck his hand in the vent; when he pulled it out, there was a young black widow crawling up and down his skin. Sam's pained fist clenched onto her chest tighter.
Henry Creel, a boy who found a nest of black widows living inside a vent. A boy who found spiders endlessly fascinating and, more than that, found a great comfort in them.
Something fast ran behind Sam, causing her to whip around in vigilant awareness at what it could be. Turning, Sam saw that the scene was changing, and it was Henry running past in a different outfit. Again, she walked away from the bathroom and to the direction he was heading in.
Henry Creel, a boy who related to the spiders because they were misunderstood and solitary creatures. A boy who believed they were gods of the world and the most important of all predators. A boy who was awed by a spider's ability to immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem.
Sam found that Henry had run all the way up into the attic. Instead of the highest room being lit by a single, dangling light, Henry used individual, long candle flames for a source of light. They surrounded him like a seance, or a ritual. Before him were glass jars, and every single one was filled with a home for the black widows to stay. Sam watched hesitantly as he set one jar down and instead picked up a binder of looseleaf. She had to get closer in order to see what Henry drew, but then she spotted the large and spindly black widow Henry depicted.
Henry Creel, a boy who saw the human world as one disrupting harmony. A boy who saw humans as a unique pest, multiplying and poisoning his world, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A boy who thought the structure deeply unnatural. A boy who saw this order as a straightjacket.
In a new scene, Sam descended down the firm, wooden stairs. At the very bottom of the staircase, little Henry was facing the grandfather clock inhabited in the Creel household. The clock ticked as time passed, and still, Henry faced it. Sam walked around to his front, trying to discern any expressions on his features.
Henry Creel, a boy who saw this world a cruel and oppressive one, dictated by made-up rules. A boy who believed that each life was a faded, lesser copy of the one before. A boy who claimed that everyone was just waiting for it all to be over, all while performing in a terrible play, day after day.
Sam eyed the face of the grandfather clock, confused. This whole time, she'd been so confused at what was so important about the furnite. She glanced back at Henry, eyes furrowed subconciously.
Henry Creel, a boy who could not perform in the play. A boy who couldn't close off his mind and join in the madness. A boy who couldn't pretend. A boy who realized he didn't have to.
Suddenly, Henry let his eyes flitter shut. Then, a distorted chiming sounded from the grandfather clock — a noise Sam had just heard back in Vecna's mindscape. Out of nowhere, the hands on the clock began turning counterclockwise, quickly, without a finger touching them. Underneath Henry's closed lids, his eyes moved back and forth rapidly as the clock hands continued to whirl.
Sam's throat felt thick.
It was Henry's doing.
Henry Creel, a boy who could make his own rules. A boy who could restore balance to a world he claimed was broken. A boy who believed he was a predator, but for good.
A shrill shriek sounded from behind Sam. She flinched around, and next thing Sam knew, she was outside on the lawn of the Creel house. Her heart pounded faster and miserably as she caught sight of a poor rabbit struggling and squealing. Stepping up right behind it, little Henry Creel crouched down and stuck out a hand. The rabbit was painfully forced into the dirt. It squealed as Henry broke its bones, cried as Henry tortured it to death. Sam's eyes felt glassy again, and she couldn't even swallow through the lump in her throat.
"We had one month of peace in that house. And then it began."
A bright, blonde girl playing. A smile faltering at the sight of a dead bunny.
"Dead animals — mutilated, tortured — began to appear near our home. Rabbits, squirrels, chickens, even dogs."
Henry Creel, a boy who would one day come to be known as Vecna.
Sam booked it away from the lawn — she couldn't bear to see the dying rabbit any longer. She couldn't bear to see such a young boy take an innocent life, just like that, with no remorse, even if it be a bunny. Her fist screamed in pain as she turned the doorknob and slammed the beautiful door shut behind her. Sam leaned her back against the stained glass and panted heavily, in and out, trying to regulate her breathing.
Then, to her left, she heard the sound of a baby wailing.
Sam slowly turned her head towards the noise. In the sitting room, Victor Creel stared fearfully at a forced, waking vision. In the fireplace, a cradle was set aflame instead of logs. A baby was burning inside of it, dying.
"It wasn't long before I began to have encounters of my own."
A husband hearing a baby crying. A cradle in place of the wood underneath the fireplace, set alight by flames and the baby wailed louder.
The tears began to form more prominently, collecting in Sam's green eyes. She screwed them shut, furiously wiping the wetness away with her bloodied fist — by now, there was blood smeared across her face and stained over the chest of her shirt. The scene shifted and Victor disappeared from the sitting room.
There was a crackling static noise that Sam followed, despite her gut instictively telling her to run from it. She slowly found herself entering the dining room. There, she found Victor, Virginia, Henry, and Alice eating dinner. There, she found a stereo being turned on upon its own will — Henry's will.
Stars shining bright above you...
Victor stood to inspect their radio. All eyes were turned to it, and Henry took this as a perfect oppurtinity. His eyes narrowed dangerously on his mother before they shut.
Night breezes seem to whisper, "I love you..."
A series of lights flickered overhead. Electricity was being manipulated all around.
Birds singing in the sycamore tree...
Then Virginia shot up into the air with a terrified scream, bones breaking and cracking and bending in ways that shouldn't be possible. Sam yelped out of fear and surprise, startling backwards and craning her head up towards Virginia before her. Her limbs dismembered and her jaw broke open and her eyes were sucked out of her sockets, blood pooling down from them. Once dead, Virginia fell down onto the table with a thud, and granted Sam a perfect vision of Henry. There was blood pouring from his nose, to which he discreetly wiped away before anyone noticed.
Dream a little dream of me.
But Alice noticed.
Sam was familiar with what happened next — Victor tried getting his children out of the house to save them, not knowing it was his own child causing all the madness. As he would attempt to pry open the front door, he would be caught in a waking nightmare, distracted.
Henry took this as an oppurtunity to try and kill Alice.
Alice would fly in the air, and she would strain, but she would utter a few, last desperate words.
"Henry — please," Alice choked, limbs labored as Henry was just about to break them. "I know. You're so — powerful. But — please. I love you. Let me — go on. Let someone live — knowing how great — you are."
She was playing into Henry's ego. She was telling him what he would want to hear in a frenzied attempt at staying alive.
She was smart.
"Alice," Henry managed out sadly.
Then they both dropped to the floor, unconscious. Henry, a boy who didn't know his limits. Alice, a sister spared for her intelligence and drained from the power her brother exuded.
Sam watched, utterly distraught as Victor snapped out of his trance. He dropped to the ground toward both of his children; sobbing, he tried shaking them awake.
Then time skipped in the story — Sam caught Victor being arrested and Henry and Alice being rushed out of the house into ambulances. Henry, a boy who was taken from a hospital much different from anything medical. Alice, a sister who experienced the exact same.
"Horrible things happened to your family, Ms. Creel," an older figure told Alice. He could've been a doctor or an officer or a scientist, Sam didn't know. Alice sat in her hospital bed, utterly distraught. She was no longer the radiant teen that Sam once watched — her light was dulled and she refused to meet anyone's eyes. "There is going to be a spotlight on the name Creel that we don't want you to go through the burden of bearing."
"I understand," Alice rasped, like she hadn't used her voice in weeks.
"We've found a great foster family for you. An older man and a woman, who would love to accept you into their home."
"Okay," she said, despondently, wishing for it all to be over.
"They're the Reynolds family," the man said, sympathetically eyeing Alice as the story went on. "And I... Well, I think it would be safer if you went by their name instead of Creel. Alice Reynolds, how does that sound?"
Alice shook her head firmly.
"No."
"No?" the man echoed, confused. "Honey, you've got to understand—"
"I don't want Henry to ever know me again," Alice choked out, though her eyes were determined and unwavering. "I want to be called Diane."
Diane Reynolds.
The maiden name of Sam's mother.
Alice Creel, a girl who would one day come to be known as Diane Hughes.
Alice Creel, the late mother of Samantha Hughes.
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
um
surprise????
at least i hope it was surprise LMAO
did anyone see that coming...?
i sure didn't! (i've been planning this plot for years before i even wrote the story)
um.........
what do we think gang........
also idk if that was confusing or not HELP i tried to write it in a comprehensible way but if i didn't and anyone has questions please lmk ... :)
okay i'm just gonna do my chapter recap now DLGJDFL
sam immediately piecing together auggie cut his shirt for steve just by LOOKING at them??? her gaydar is pristine and she is too smart for these idiots
then she came up with the equilibrium theory! i always love writing genius sam bc she is genius mother x100
then all of max, lucas, and erica instantly trusting her>>>>>
sam making lucas lift eddie's mattress LMAO
sam and erica high five! sam being super concerned about robin! in-law-ism all around
another cute little stauggie moment. i really just found out i love them a lot ever since "fucked by the bats, fucked by the law" like someone stop me from giving them a scene every chance i get LOL
auggie: "I missed you, Red. And you, Little Girl I've Never Met Before." goodnight he's so unserious
and then sam gets caught in the vecna trance....
i literally feel so bad for her all the time why do i put her through this pain (it's a necessary evil)
like her being back to the lab:((( the constant "she's been here before" :(((( her refusal to see it all :(((( being forced to look at the aftermath of how bob ended up :(((( putting her hands over her ears and closing her eyes to try and make it all stop :((((
she's literally just a kid. i'm ill.
then she just fucking punches the glass door and shatters it. i can't tell if that's badass or hilarious like girl don't you have powers???????
(she didn't even think about that because she was so distressed and upset and horrified)
so now u see why i had sam going to pennhurst!! she needed to get victor's side of the story so i could have her get vecna's correct story
and um
so that happened
alice surviving because of her intelligence (an intelligence that sam noticed because sam communes in the wisdom). alice losing her radiance like sam lost hers at the beginning of this season. alice refusing to be known by henry again
ALICE BEING SAM'S MOM THIS WHOLE TIME?!?!?!?!?!?! VECNA IS LITERALLY HER UNCLE?!?!??!?!!
and y'all thought uncle dan was the evil uncle.......
chapter title is so real for sam rn
what'd you think?