CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
VICTIMS

It was late by the time the group of five teenagers arrived at the school. Completely dark outside. In fact, the only source of light was the flashlight that Steve held.

Each of the teenagers were fuelled by a deep routed stress, for several reasons.

While Max was stressed in regard to finding out exactly what the hell was going on, Steve and Dustin were stressed out due to the fact hours had gone by and they were yet to hear from Nancy and Robin.

As for both Aaron and Kimmy, their main priority was the fact that they had broken into their high school and were heading to read confidential documents on other students.

Surprisingly, the blond hadn't been any where near as vocal about his concerns as the group were used to in regard to Aaron Harrington.

Kimmy didn't know why this was, but she assumed he was just so shaken up and worried about what they were actually doing that he thought it was best to keep quiet. Most likely convincing himself if he spoke too loud he'd get the group caught.

He didn't have to say anything, the entire group knew that the boy was nervous, it was written all over his face.

With his right hand, he had a tight grip on Kimmy's own hand. His fingers laced with hers in a firm hold which he refused to let falter. With his left hand, he was picking nervously at his lips, doing his best to keep his breathing steady through his internal panic.

Kimmy and Aaron were at the back of the group, leaving the blond constantly glancing behind him to make sure no one was behind them.

"Where's Lucas?" Aaron blurted worriedly, his voice taking Kimmy by surprise. Seeing as she hadn't heard his voice for longer than she was used to. "What if The Vecna has got him?"

"Vecna, Aaron!" Dustin yelled in an instant. "No The."

Aaron didn't respond, simply huffing as he rolled his eyes.

He didn't say anything else for a long time, Kimmy assumed he was simply too scared to as much as open his mouth.

But his words got Kimmy worried herself. Where was Lucas? He hadn't been around when Max had told the group about Chrissy, and not any point after either.

Of course she'd noticed that he wasn't there, but it had only just occurred to her that Aaron didn't know where he was - that no one did. While she didn't know where he was, Kimmy had assumed that at least Max or Aaron had.

It seemed the thought had only occurred to Aaron then too. Seemingly too preoccupied with all the worries and stress that day and night had put him through to think about it.

It was especially weird that Aaron hadn't heard from the boy, he usually would have. No wonder the blond was so worried.

Kimmy turned her head so she could look at the blond, doing her best from holding back her almost saddened expression at the incredibly stressed look on his face.

As gently as she could, Kimmy tugged on Aaron's hand which she held, hoping to get his attention without startling him. Of course, this didn't work. Aaron's entire body jolted, snapping his head to face her with a panicked look.

Kimmy couldn't bring herself to force a smile at him, using all her inner strength as to not show him that she was phased by his demeanour as well as her headache what so ever.

"Lucas will be fine." She nodded firmly, speaking in a quiet voice as the two trailed behind the others.

Aaron nodded at a rapid pace, as if to convince himself she was right and that he was acting stupid.

"He'll be alright." Kimmy added in a serious tone, talking him out of a panic before he could truly get into his own head. "We haven't been home much these last two days, he's probably called and you've missed it. He'll be- he is fine. Don't worry about it."

The boy made the mistake of letting his concerned look show, a small frown tugging on his lips as he looked to her.

"I know." He mumbled, not sounding entirely convinced.

Still, he didn't say anything else on the matter. A noise somewhere in the distance startled him and caused him to go back to frantically looking behind Kimmy and himself in fear someone was there.

Kimmy instead glanced to her feet, watching the ground pass by as she walked. She hadn't said anything, not wanting to worry anyone, however in the hours which had passed since she'd been sat in Steve's car outside Mrs Kelley's house, she hadn't felt the best.

The pills which she'd been taking the past few days for her rather painful headaches must have worn off, because her head was pounding violently, and it was as if it was all she could focus on.

Admittedly so, she'd maybe downplayed how much it had been bothering her to Aaron, not wanting him to stress too much over it all.

But it was bothering her. And it only seemed to be getting worse.

Everyday since it had started, she'd realised every time she'd wake up it would be worse than the day before. And every night, it would be worse than it had been in the morning.

She never told Aaron this. Not even when he would ask her how she was feeling or if she was any better. She simply downplayed it as no big deal.

And it really wasn't. Sure, it was bothering her. But she was hardly the first person in the world to have a bad headache, she didn't want to seem like she was making a big deal out of nothing. Not when there was clearly more important things to worry about.

"Do you think they have cameras?" Aaron's quiet voice dragged Kimmy away from her thoughts. "I mean, we could get in serious shit for doing this. We don't have Hopper to back us up anymore, we'll go to jail."

Kimmy's face scrunched up at his words, sighing as she scratched the side of her face. "I doubt it. And even if they do, we- there's a bigger issue. I mean- people are dying in some fucked up way. Maybe going to Mrs Kelley's office will help see-"

"Unlikely." He abruptly interrupted the girl in a mutter. "Jesus, I don't even know why I'm suddenly worried about it. The cops will be waiting outside for us, ready to lock us away for breaking in and trespassing? This is-"

"Aaron it's fine. The school won't have cameras watching us." Kimmy cut him off, hearing the way the panic forced itself into his voice more and more with every word spoken. "We won't go to jail. We'll just look at Mrs Kelley's records, and leave."

Kimmy physically cringed at how stupid her words sounded. Knowing well that being reminded that they would be snooping around confidential files wouldn't bring the blond boy any comfort.

Aaron went to disagree with her, just like she'd expected. Although the abrupt loudness of Dustin's radio cracking caught them both off guard before he could.

The brunette gasped in surprise, meanwhile Aaron jumped. Rather embarrassingly so, it seemed that they were the only two startled by this.

Both the blond and the brunette ignoring the red flush of their cheeks due to the embarrassment the pair felt over the unamused looks the others sent them.

"Come on..." Steve trailed off with a shake of his head, talking to Aaron rather than Kimmy. The older boy grabbed ahold of his younger brothers shoulder and shook it slightly, causing the blond to let go of Kimmy's hand. "Man up."

Aaron narrowed his eyes at his older brother but didn't say anything, knowing it was probably true. That he did need to man up a bit.

Even if he did want to say something back - which Kimmy suspected he did, he wasn't given the chance. Frantic voices cutting through Dustin's radio once more.

"Dustin, do you copy?" Was the first words Kimmy could make out, not particularly surprised to hear that it was Robin. Although it did get her wondering where exactly it was she and Nancy had gone.

"Yes!" Dustin exclaimed in a much louder and somewhat angry voice than he meant to, the boy instantly clearing his throat and speaking up once more in as calm of a voice as he could. "Yes, I copy."

Kimmy expected Robin to be at least semi taken aback by Dustin's tone, but she didn't appear to be concerned in the slightest.

"So, Nancy's a genius." Robin began in a slightly frazzled voice. Somehow sounding both excited and stressed at the same time. "Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959."

Kimmy's brows raised and her eyes widened in surprise, completely taken aback by what Robin had just blurted too calmly for what it actually was that the group were dealing with.

Clearly, it had happened before. But what left Kimmy puzzled, was that it wasn't common knowledge. Surely it should have been. If some... some monster or whatever was killing people in some crazy way, then surely people would know about it. Right?

It confused Kimmy to no end that this was the first the group was hearing about it. Even more so that no one else appeared to know about it either. It wasn't taught in schools, it wasn't a story that parents told children. No one seemed to know about it.

But why?

"Her shot in the dark was a bullseye." Robin continued, sounding much more delighted with herself than concerned or worried.

"Okay, cool. That's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now." Dustin replied with an anxious sigh, sounding the furthest from impressed as his main concern was evidently finding out perhaps why or how Vecna chose his victims and getting out the school as quick as possible.

"What are you doing?" Robin scoffed, sounding mildly offended.

"Breaking and entering the school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files." Dustin explained in a much calmer voice than he probably should have.

Dustin's words had Aaron groaning, Kimmy watched from slightly behind him as he ran a hand through his hair and tilted his head back, clearly stressed out once again. "Dustin, don't say that!"

Of course, Dustin ignored him.

"Can you repeat that?" Robin scoffed once more.

"Just get your ass over here, stat." Dustin sighed, as if he didn't have time for the current conversation. "We'll explain everything later."

With that said, the boy with curly hair reached up and shut his radio off.

...

In reality, it didn't take the group long at all to get to Mrs Kelley's office, a matter of minutes. But to Aaron, it had felt like years.

The entire situation stressed him out, he didn't like it one bit.

Aaron knew that whatever it was going on wouldn't be fixed just like that. Like always, the group would be dragged into some mess that had nothing to do with them, and they'd be made to clean it up.

The blond could have guessed it would be Eddie Munson's mess this time around.

Obviously, he didn't want the boy to get into trouble for something he hadn't done. Yes, he had been wary at first. Yes, he thought he was weird. And yes, he did think he was rather annoying. But that didn't mean he would want the boy put to prison. Especially for a crime - never mind a murder that he didn't commit.

"Do you think we can speed this up a bit?" The blond sighed, evidently stressed.

Aaron had expected everyone to jump into action. Although this wasn't the case.

All his friends were simply looking around the room in curiosity, walking around slowly and not actually looking for the files they were there for.

Aaron knew that Max would have sent him a remark at both his words as well as his tone, but she didn't even look his way. She simply walked across the room, directly towards a cabinet and began rummaging through it. As if she knew the layout of the room already.

Kimmy followed the redhead, however she turned to send the blond who stood near the door a puzzled expression upon noticing he wasn't going to move, as if to ask what he was doing and if he was okay.

Aaron shook his head at her, pointing behind him with his thumb as he spoke up in a quiet voice. "I'll- I'll just... stay look out. Here. By the door."

"Okay..." Steve trailed off, pulling a face at the other three and motioning to his brother as if to act like he was stupid for being somewhat worried. Aaron rolled his eyes, knowing well that Steve was probably as scared if not more than Aaron was.

"It's like a mini Watergate or something." Dustin gasped in amusement, ignoring the eldest Harrington brother. Snickering at his own joke. "Hawkinsgate."

"Didn't those guys get caught?" Steve hummed, now distracted by his flashlight that he held.

Aaron's mouth dropped slightly and his brows furrowed at his brother's words. "Obviously-"

"Holy shit." Kimmy mumbled to Max, adverting the blond's attention away from his brother and towards the brunette instead.

"What?" Aaron instantly questioned, watching as Kimmy leaned over Max's shoulder to get a good look at the folder in her friend's hand. "You found it?"

"Yeah." Max answered in a seemingly taken aback voice, still not looking up from the file cabinet. "And not just Chrissy's file. Fred was seeing Mrs Kelley too-"

Max cut herself off abruptly, standing straighter as a look of worry flushed her features.

"What's wrong?" Kimmy asked the girl with both a concerned tone and expression.

Max shook her head, yet only seemed to come to her senses when Kimmy hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing. Just- just- I'm just going to read them over." Max told the brunette, looking slightly shaken up as she grabbed the two files. "See if there's any... any connections."

The redhead then walked over to the desk in the room, sitting down in the chair almost reluctantly as she opened Chrissy's file and instantly began reading it. She had this look on her face, like she thought she should be worried but couldn't quite make up her mind if she actually was or not.

Aaron watched with furrowed brows. She suddenly seemed completely shaken up - scared almost.

Kimmy hesitantly followed her, now a worried expression on her face too. The brunette moved so she was stood behind Max, turning to face Aaron after she had done so.

She motioned for the blond to come over, and Aaron simply shook his head once more. Kimmy was visibly disappointed, but said nothing. Only glancing away from him and instead looking to Max who was frantically reading Chrissy's file.

Aaron bit his lip anxiously, suddenly feeling a heavy feeling of misplaced guilt in his stomach. He didn't know why, he hadn't done anything wrong, and he knew Kimmy didn't think so either.

He didn't know why he felt bad, but he did.

So, with one last look out the door just to double check no one was there, he walked over to her with a great reluctance.

Kimmy didn't notice him standing behind her, too preoccupied with her friend's very evident frazzled demeanour as she rapidly read the file.

Unsure what to do, the blond folded his arms over his chest, not so patiently waiting for Max to read the files over so the group could leave.

It wasn't long before she switched to Fred's, scanning his file much faster than she'd done so to Chrissy's.

"Ow!" Aaron snapped, turning to face his brother with a pissed off expression.

"What?" Steve sheepishly mumbled, having accidentally kicked the blond while jumping up to sit on the end of the desk.

"What do you mean 'what'?" Aaron scoffed, narrowing his eyes at his brother while he spoke. "You just kicked me-"

"No I didn't." The older boy teased his brother with an eyeroll.

Aaron's eyes widened in nothing but irritation. "Yes, you did!"

Steve hummed to himself as he pretended to think about it. "Pretty sure I didn't-"

"Yes you-" Aaron cut himself off abruptly, taking a breath as he bit the inside of his cheek harshly. He was aware that what was going on around them was serious, and he didn't want to distract Max by arguing loudly with his brother.

So, he lifted his own leg and kicked him in the shin instead.

"What the hell was that for?" Steve yelled at him, reaching out and smacking him on the side of his head.

Aaron hit him back. And ended up causing a chain reaction of the two hitting each other back and forth to see who would win their 'fight'.

It was Kimmy's voice that ended up breaking the twos small argument up, although, she hadn't been talking to either of them.

"Max?" She questioned in a small voice. Small, but fearful. "Max?"

Only then did Aaron turn around, taken aback to find both Kimmy and Dustin violently shaking Max's shoulders as they called out to her.

Aaron's eyes widened when he caught a look at the redhead, his heart dropping in fear as she appeared to be in some sort of trance. Like she was sleeping with her eyes open or something.

Only, she wasn't moving. Not when Dustin and Kimmy shook her shoulders, not when they yelled her name. It was deeper than sleep, it looked like she was dead.

Max wasn't dead, but it sure looked like it.

It puzzled Aaron that she'd been fine not even two minutes ago, but in the few moments he'd looked away from her and had been messing around with his brother, she was now suddenly in some sort of trance.

"Max!" Dustin yelled, very evidently panicked, just as Kimmy was. The two of them frantic with worry. "Max!"

Aaron didn't know why, but it was only when Dustin began yelling that he came to his senses and realised the seriousness of the situation. He too falling into a deep panic as the four watched their friend helplessly.

"Max!" Kimmy yelled next, panicked to the point she didn't know what to do. What to say, or what to think. Like she just went on autopilot. "Max! Snap out of-"

Max gasped, taking a deep intake of air as she began panting, as if she was desperate for some air, like she'd been submerged under water or something of that sort.

Her entire body jolted, the girl squeezing her eyes closed as she violently shook her head, covering her eyes with her hands as she tried to get herself together.

Kimmy kneeled down next to her, looking up at her with an incredibly worried expression.

"What happened?" The brunette asked in as calm of a voice that she could muster, but Aaron could hear the way it shook from nerves.

Max shifted and glanced to her friend hesitantly, going to say something but stopping herself. As if she didn't think Kimmy would believe her.

"What was it?" Kimmy pressed in a gentle voice upon catching Max's horrifically startled expression.

Max pursed her lips, took a shaky breath and shook her head. Speaking up in such a fragile voice, Aaron was sure she was holding back tears. "You won't believe me."

Aaron watched Kimmy carefully, catching the way her lips twitched downwards, like her natural instinct was to frown but she caught it before she could.

"Max, whatever it is- whatever you saw or- or felt... we'll believe you." Kimmy told her with an honest face, as much honesty in her voice as she could possibly muster. "I promise."

...

"It was here." Max insisted desperately. "It was right here."

The group were now back out in the hallway, having walked quite a bit away from Mrs Kelley's office, they had ended up taking a hallway that didn't actually lead anywhere, a dead end.

Steve had his flashlight pointed towards the blank wall that Max was referring to, as if what she had seen would magically appear.

Max had clearly been in some sort of trance, wandering aimlessly down the halls of the high school until she had made it to a grandfather clock she insisted had been stuck in the wall. Like, she had been guided to it or something.

Except, she hadn't wandered around the halls at all. She hadn't moved from her seat in Mrs Kelley's office, it had all been in her head, yet so real at the same time.

"A grandfather clock?" Dustin asked in a somewhat puzzled tone, as if just to make sure that was definitely what she had said.

"It was so real." Max nodded, not looking to any of the teenagers she was with, only looking to the wall intently as if to try wrap her head around the entire situation. "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... woke up."

Aaron had his fingers picking at his now chapped lips again, absolutely terrified in regard to what had happened to his friend.

"I was like she was in a trance or something." Dustin explained, looking over his shoulder to Nancy and Robin who had only just arrived several minutes ago.

Aaron also looked behind him, just to see what the two girls had to say about it, but Max was talking once more before the two could even let Dustin's words process.

"Just like what Eddie said happened to Chrissy." Max mumbled so quietly, that Aaron was unsure if she was talking to the group or to herself. She then turned, looking to the group of teenagers with a worried expression. "That's not even the bad part."

"What?" Kimmy blurted without thinking, nothing but fear and worry evident in her tone as she looked to her friend. "What's the bad part?"

It was as if Max didn't want to say. Like she regretted having said anything at all.

She paused for a long moment, her eyes darting between her friends in hesitation, and for a split second, Aaron thought she was going to back track. That she would say anything else, that she'd go back to how she'd been most of the past year and close herself off due to her vulnerability.

She didn't. After a long pause, she spoke once more. Her voice anything but confident. It was shaky, and the look of fear and panic never left her face once.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Mrs Kelley for help." Max began to explain, suddenly avoiding everyone's eyes as she spoke, instead looking down as she messed around with the sleeve of her sweater. "And they were both having headaches, bad headaches. That wouldn't go away."

Aaron felt Kimmy jolt next to him at her friend's words. He furrowed his brows and looked away from the redhead to see if Kimmy was okay, although with one glance, he could tell she was the furthest from it.

Aaron would have only noticed because he was stood right next to her, but her breathing had picked up ever so slightly. Her eyes had widened and she had began blinking furiously, her lips pulled into a straight line. Her face had completely dropped into an expression of pure fear.

At first, Aaron didn't understand why. But it soon clicked. And when it did, he too panicked.

He could feel his body go cold, suddenly feeling as if the temperature had dropped to below freezing as a shiver ran through him. Max's voice suddenly a blur, as if he couldn't hear anything at all.

And despite being more concerned than he had been in a long time, his face didn't portray this. Just like Kimmy, his face was blank. Like he was so scared that his face couldn't form any sort of expression.

Despite his track record of losing his cool when something stressed him out or he panicked, he tried to give the situation the benefit of the doubt. Straining to listen to what Max was saying all while looking to the brunette stood next to him with an unmoving expression.

Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself and it really was just a headache. People got headache's all the time, Kimmy wasn't the first and she wouldn't be the last. He just hoped that was all it was. Just a headache.

However, giving the situation the benefit of the doubt and listening to what the victims of Vecna had in common were, only caused him more fear.

"And the nightmares. Trouble sleeping." Max spoke up in a shaky voice once more, blinking back tears as she did so. "They'd wake up in cold sweat - crying."

Aaron tried to take a deep breath, but it was like he couldn't get air in.

The entire reason he ended up staying in Kimmy's room most nights after he'd checked in on her was because she had been having trouble sleeping. He couldn't even count how much times she'd reluctantly woken him up after a nightmare, and he was sure that wasn't even after half of them.

It was like he couldn't breathe at all, until suddenly, he was breathing too fast, the verge of hyper ventilating.

"Is there a reason for it?" Dustin hesitantly asked, sounding fairly worried at what Max had just told them, as if hoping there was something that wouldn't tie it to Max, despite the fact she'd just had some sort of vision. "Like... is there a reason it was Fred and Chrissy?"

It was clear with the look on Max's face that she knew the answer. It was also clear that she did not want to answer.

"Trauma." She reluctantly mumbled, pursing her lips before speaking in a fractured voice once more. "Chrissy and Fred were both seeing her for some sort of past trauma they had."

That was enough to tip Aaron over the edge, placing a hand to his face to cover his eyes.

He didn't know what to think or what to do. It was as if his mind wouldn't let him. His mind too much of a blurry mess to properly make sense of the words he was hearing.

Headaches, nightmares, trauma. It had Kimmy written all over it - it was Kimmy. Only, Aaron and Kimmy were the only ones who would ever actually know this.

Only three people besides her parents had known about what incident's in her past that could possibly cause her trauma - Aaron, Kimmy and Steve. But only herself and Aaron had known about her nightmares and headaches.

It didn't matter if no one else knew, Aaron could feel himself grow overwhelmed at the realisation that Kimmy would most likely be some sort of victim to this Vecna some point down the line.

His hands were shaking. So much that he had to remove the one that rested on his face. He tried to clasp his shaky hands together, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything.

"Then they started seeing things. Bad things." Max spoke once more, sounding like she could cry any moment. "These visions, they just... they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... everything ended."

"Vecna's curse." Robin mumbled.

"Chrissy's headache started a week ago." Max continued in a small voice, recounted exactly what she'd seen in the files. "Fred, six days ago."

Aaron's eyes fell to the floor as he begged the fog in his brain to clear. Desperately trying to think back to the exact day Kimmy had brought up her headache to him.

Any other moment, and he would have been able to do it. But he couldn't. He was too shaken up. But he knew it had been a couple of days, he just didn't know how many.

"I've been having them for five days." Max muttered fearfully. "I don't- I don't know how long I have."

Aaron snapped his head up at that. He knew what she had said, and he knew the severity of it, but he was struggling to keep up. The similarities to Kimmy had threw him and now he could hardly make out what Max was saying.

He knew what she was saying, he just couldn't process it fully in his current state. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't think straight.

"All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than a day after their first vision." Max panicked, breathing heavily as a stray tear ran down her cheek that she wiped away the second it fell. "And I just saw that goddamn clock, so... looks like I'm going to die tomorrow."

Aaron didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He did not want Max to die, she was his friend, he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

And if he hadn't been able to make the connection between the victim's and Kimmy before Max had finished talking, he would have reacted more appropriately to what she was saying. But he had made the connection, and so all he could do was look to the redhead with a blank yet shaken expression.

Once he came to his senses, he was sure he'd react how he would have to what Max had said appropriately if his body would have let him in that moment. But he couldn't.

He'd only been so scared that he'd felt like this once before, and it was not a memory he ever wished to relive.

Similarly so, it revolved around a certain Kimberley Jenkins.

The night she'd ended up in the hospital.

Weirdly so, it wasn't until he'd actually seen her that the extent of fear that was hitting him just then hit him all those months ago.

Yes, he was worried out of his mind for her when he'd read her letter - he was scared for her.

But it was only when he'd seen her lying on the floor half dead that his senses had failed him. In fact, when he'd first seen her that night he thought she was dead, that he'd got there too late.

She was a mess. A complete mess. And he never wanted to see her in any sort of situation remotely like that ever again. It had been so difficult for him, that he didn't talk about it with her. He didn't even think about it.

He was pretty sure he'd blocked out the sight of her on that bathroom floor, that's why whenever his mind would betray him and he'd be shown a glimpse of it, it was all a blur. Like he was watching from someone else's memory, like he hadn't actually been there to see.

He didn't react appropriately that night either, and it was the exact same feeling then that he felt now. Like his body had shut down from the amount of fear rushing through him.

It was Steve who had got her out of that house, not Aaron. The blond's mind had completely shut down on him and he couldn't do anything. Aaron couldn't even remember the car ride to the hospital. All he knew was that he'd been in the backseat with her, he didn't know anything else.

There was a loud bang in the distance, but Aaron could hardly hear it. Too lost in his own mind.

Suddenly, someone catching the group in the school was the least of his worries. He couldn't have cared less.

...

Ok so idk if my wattpad is broken AGAIN or if it's just a glitch, because I'm not getting notifications what so ever. I was until like 5 hours ago, and I haven't since. But there has been comments and votes on my story etc, but I haven't been getting the actual notification, I've only realised when I went to finish writing this part and noticed that there had been people voting etc and I hadn't been getting notifications for it. Any way it's weird but my account is always glitching lmao.

Also this ISNT proofread, so I'm sorry if there are mistakes. Please let me know if there are :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 29K READS!!!! ALL THE SUPPORT TO BOTH ME AND THIS STORY MEANS SO MUCH TO ME IM SO GRATEFUL!!

I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed this chapter!!!

Also I am trying to write as much as I can but like I said this is my exam season and I also have a job so it's hard lol. But I'm trying my best to get chapters out as quickly as I can!!

- AJ :)