"Turn here." Max says as she guides Steve where to drive. She wanted to deliver her last letter. Her final letter to someone she desperately need to read it to. To apologize so she can die in peace.

Steve frowns as he realizes they were heading towards the cemetery, "Here?" He asks as he pulls up towards the entrance. Stopping the car near a hill.

Max shudders as she eyes that hill. Knowing who was buried at the top. She had to do this...to be at peace. She gets out of the car and begins to head up until Lucas rushes out of the car to follow.

Theo scratches his head and sighs, "I'll never understand the whole ritual of burying the dead."

Dustin sighs, "It's a way humans find comfort when losing someone very close. Either a pet or...a person. Burying them is like tucking someone in their bed, safe and sleeping in peace."

Theo snorts, "What a strange custom."

"What do you do when you lose someone?" Steve asks and shrugs out a scoff.

"We burn them. So their ashes can be reborn, either as a new demon or..." Theo clears his throat, "Into a human."

Steve and Dustin both stutter in confusion, talking at the same time, "Woah! Woah! Woah!" "Are you serious?!" They both exclaim and give him a shocked look.

Theo looks at them and shrugs, "What? You think demons are so evil they just perish into the hellfires or live forever? Sure, I'm immortal, but becoming human is like a punishment to some. Others...when they grow tired of their routine....which is very rarely...they see it as a way out of the underworld. Most serial killers and murderers are former demons."

Steve and Dustin looked at him with their jaws hanging open.

"But, some are very old fashioned. They eat their dead." Theo says and looks out the window as they give him a disgusted and disturbed look.

"Wait in the car. This won't be long." Max says as she emotionally pushes Lucas away and turns to head towards where she needed to go. Needed. Not wanted. Needed.

Lucas sighs deeply and watches her walk away, struggling with what he really wanted to tell her. But he didn't know how to make her listen to him. Really hear what he's trying to tell her.

Lucas gets into the car, sitting next to Theo, feeling...abandoned. He grunts as Theo wraps an around around his neck.

"Love hurts...doesn't it?" Theo jerks his arm around, making Lucas grunt and struggle to get out of his grip.

Lucas shouts when Theo sticks his nose in Lucas' hair, "Augh, Theo, get off me!" He groans and hears Theo inhales loudly.

Theo lifts his head away and scoffs as he lets go of him, gently shoving him away, "You stink of worry and jealousy." He snorts.

Dustin frowns, "'Jealousy'?"

Theo leans in close to Lucas, "'Someone's getting mad'..." He sings, taunting Lucas as he watches him tighten his fists, digging his nails into his palm.

Lucas breathes heavily in anger and irritation, he shoves Theo away, "Get off!" He shouts and storms out of the car, slamming the door shut.

"Don't slam the...door." Steve sighs.

Theo chuckles as he gets out of the car and walks around to face Lucas, "You're seriously getting mad and jealous...over me. You seriously don't find this funny?" He snorts and looks at him in disbelief. "Lucas...it's me for crying out loud. I have absolutely no attraction to Max. I'm a friend. I'm your friend. And she's got no attraction to me! She's all for you, man. She doesn't show it, but she does. She got a lot of mad love for you...but you see it in those fiery eyes of hers. She's scared. When someone has a lot of walls up, they rather push people away...than lose them in the end. That's what she's doing with you, dude." He sighs and places his hands on his shoulders, making sure he had his complete attention. "Don't stop trying, Luc. Your love for each other...might be the only thing that can actually save both of you."

Lucas sighs as Theo lets him go and leans on the car next to him, folding his arms over his chest, practically mimicking him.

"Can't believe you got jealous of me." He snorts as Lucas begins to chuckle at how stupid he felt, elbowing his arm to make him laugh and swipes around him to catch by his neck again, but Lucas surprises him by ducking and holding him a headlock, noogieing him. "Hey! No fair! Cheater!" Theo grunts and slips out to give Lucas some pointers about fighting, both of them facing each other in challenge, watching each other's moves. "Never take your eyes off your enemy. Always be ready for anything. Sometimes the unpredictable..." He turns one way and then dodges another, catching Lucas from behind, trapping him in a grip with his arms forced up behind his head. "...can become the predictable." He lets go of him and pats his back, "Always remember that."

Soon, possibly half an hour has passed, and Max was still up on top of the hill, healing herself by reading the letter she had for Billy. But time was running out for her, they needed to keep her safe. Somehow and being out in the open...Steve didn't like this. He gets off the car and sighs heavily.

"All right, it's been long enough." He shakes his head and heads up the hill.

"Steve, just give her some time." Dustin protests.

Steve turns and puts his foot down, "I have, all right? I'm calling it. She wants to get a lawyer, she can." He scoffs and heads up the hill, towards Max as she remains on the ground, facing the headstone. "Max. Time to giddy up, yeah?" He claps his hands and urges her to go. But he frowns when he moves to see her. Max?" He kneels next to her and frowns at her face. Her eyes were rolled back all the way, all he could see was the white of her eyes, the veins growing red. Even with her eyes rolled back, he could see her eyes. They were pale, as if she was dying.

"Max. Max. Max!" Steve shouts as he shakes her, but she wouldn't wake up, she was trapped inside her mind...with Vecna.

"Max. I've been waiting to hear those words, Max. Waiting so very long."

Theo perks up as he hears Billy's voice in the distance. He slowly stiffens and looks up at the hill, "Something is wrong."

Lucas and Dustin stiffen at his words and both of them snap their heads up as they hear Steve shout from the hill.

"Wake up! Hey! Max, wake up! Max! Wake up! Max! Guys!" Steve shouts for them in panic and continues to try and help Max, "Come on, wake up!"

Fear builds in Lucas's heart for Max as he rushes up the hill to her, Dustin and Theo race behind him.

Lucas slides to her side and shakes her, "Max, you gotta get outta there! Can you hear me? Max! You gotta get outta there!" He shouts.

Theo shakes her shoulders, "Come on, Max! Hear us! We're here!"

"We're here, Max!" Lucas calls out.

Steve grabs Dustin's arm, "Call Nancy and Robin! Go get 'em! Call Nancy and Robin!"

"Go!" Theo shoves Dustin to run. "Go, Dustin!"

"Please, Max!" Lucas begs her, calling out to her to listen to him.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Dustin mutters as he rushes toward the car and grabs his radio, "Nancy? Robin? Do you copy? This is a code red. Do you copy? Shit! Robin!"

Theo places his head against Max, "Don't listen to him. Don't give in. Don't let him win, Max!"

"You cannot hide from me, Maxine."

Theo moves away and looks at them, "She's trying to run from him. But he's always there. Come on, Max." Theo listens to what's going on in Max's mind.

Dustin continues to call out to Robin or Nancy, hoping they found something, "Robin, where the hell are you? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red!" He yells into the radio.

"Dustin, it's Robin. We copy." Finally, after an eternity, they answer.

"Holy shit. Finally! Please, please tell me you guys have this figured out." He begs.

"The key is music!" Robin says.

"What?"

"Victor survived because music brought him back. It became a key line to help him back into reality. Find Max's favorite song and play it for her. Trust us!" Robin exclaims.

Theo grabs Max's head and calls for the Goddess' aid again, he could hear her screaming for them to help her as she runs and runs away from Vecna. He frowns when he couldn't feel Max anymore.

"Shit! I can't find her." Theo panics.

"What?" Lucas exclaims in terror.

"He's got her somewhere. Way beyond my reach. She went into a red fog...and she disappeared." Theo says, looking at them both in fear. Fear that he might not be able to save her.

"Guys!" Dustin shouts as he runs towards them, carrying Max's bag and dumps it out. Several cassettes fall out, along with her Walkman.

"What is this?" Steve frowns at him in confusion.

"What's her favorite song?" Dustin demands as he looks at Lucas.

"Why?"

"Robin said if she listens..." Dustin waves it off, "It's too much to explain now. What's her favorite song?" He asks strongly.

"Uh, 'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush." Lucas stutters.

Together, the four of them scramble around to find the cassette, but Max had so many of them, "Which one is it?"

"Come on! Find it!"

Theo snaps his head up as he hears the distant sound of choking, "Oh, god!" He grabs Max's arm, "Oh, you sick, son of a bitch!" He yells, spit spraying out of his mouth in fury.

"What?!" Lucas yells.

"Find the ***damn tape!" Theo urges.

They continue to scramble around till finally, Lucas grabs a tape, "It's right here! Got it!"

"Give it to me." Dustin urges as he takes the tape and places it into the Walkman.

"Go, go, go!"

"Okay, headphones!"

Theo places the headphones over her ears, "Now!"

Music blares in Max's ears, and Theo grabs her head again. As if the sun burst through a thick cloud, he could see her. And Vecna was with her.

"I see her!" Theo shouts.

Lucas, Steve, and Dustin all wait anxiously for Theo to help her. Calling out for her still to wake up. Max was trapped, tied to a column by tendrils, wrapping around her neck. Choking her as Vecna stood before her.

"They can't help you, Max. There's a reason you hide from them. You belong here, with me."

"Don't listen to him, Max. You belong with us. With your friends. Your family. Listen to my voice, Max. Listen to my voice..." Theo's voice echoes around Max.

Max struggles to fight Vecna, "You're not really here."

"Oh, but I am, Max. I am." Vecna lifts his large hand, hovering it over her face as he calls forth his power, his eyes rolling back in pleasure.

Suddenly, Max lifts into the air, slipping out of Theo's grip. Dustin, Lucas, Steve all watched in panic as she continues to float into the air, hovering more than 10 feet in the air.

"Max!" Dustin calls out.

Theo closes his eyes and holds his hand out, calling forth the Goddess Ozark for her aid, to save Max. His friend, "Max..."

"Max..." Theo's voice echoes loudly around her. "Fight him. He wants you to be hopeless. To give up and give into him. Don't...remember the good times. Remember your friends. Remember Lucas...."

Tears pool down her face as she shuts her eyes tight, letting the memories of Lucas fill her mind. How they met. Him and Dustin. Her and Eleven...hanging out at the mall. Bonding. Having their picture taken. Spending time at Amelia's. Feeling Amelia hug her warmly. Laughing with Eleven as they dressed Theo up when he was a cat. Laughter echoes around her, giving her the strength to fight.

"Now, get away from that son of a bitch!"

Max yells as she yanks her arm free from the tendrils and reaches out grips a tendril-muscle attached to Vecna's shoulder, ripping it off him and making him yell in pain. Distracting him. She yanks herself free from the bondage and takes off running.

"She got away from him! Go! Go! Go! Run, Max! Run!" Theo shouts.

"Max!" Lucas shouts.

Max runs as fast as she could to reach the exit that was waiting for her. She could see them and herself. She runs through the wet, oozing ground, covered with vines. Vecna recollects himself and glares at her back. With a twitch of his fingers, he forces the setting around them to fall, crashing to block Max's path, but she never gave up. She kept running and running.

Growling, Vecna calls for the tendrils to stop her. To trip her. To catch her. Max yelps when a tendril strikes her foot, making her fall. She struggles to get up. Another reaches to grab her, but a hand shoots out before it could touch her. Theo stood before Max's way, catching the sight of Vecna's evil glare. Theo growls and yanks the tendril from ground, making squeal in pain and tosses it away.

"The thorn...in my side." Vecna growls.

"Come on!" Theo moves and helps Max to her feet, running with her.

"You may escape for now...Maxine. Tell...Amelia...that I'll...see her...soon. Theodore..." Vecna's voice echoes behind them as they jump through the opening.

Max, suddenly, gasps and yelps as she falls from the sky, but grunts when arms catch her. She finds herself in Theo's arms and he slowly places her down to her feet as everyone rushes to hug her and hold her tight.

"Max! Max!"

Max whimpers as she holds on to Lucas, tears streaking down her face, "Oh, my god!"

"It's okay. It's okay. You're okay." Lucas soothes her as she hyperventilates in his arms.

"Jesus!" Theo sighs in relief and rubs his face, "I thought we lost you for a moment there."

"I'm still...I'm still here." She gasps out. "I'm still here." She whispers and scrambles to Theo's arms. "Thank you. Thank you!" She cries softly.

"Like I've said, Zoomer. No one messes with my friends." Theo grins and moves her back into Lucas' arms. "This is where you need to be." He says as he places her hand over Lucas', giving them both a knowing grin.

"He said Amelia's name." Max gasps out. "He said her name."

Everyone stiffens as they hear this news. Vecna did say Amelia's name. They already knew that the Mind Flayer had his eyes on her. Why was Vecna's going for her, too?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia stirs from her sleep as she hears a man whistling very poorly, out of tune. She gasps and snaps her eyes open as the loud sound of tools rattling was made. She groans softly, her head was killing her. She tries to move but her hands were bond behind her back. She grunts and struggles to get loose, she could, but she didn't want to risk anything with Murray and Joyce. She looks up and sees them bound together in front of her. Slowly waking up.

Joyce gasps and struggles with her binds, "What happened?"

"Yuri betrayed us. And not just us, he betrayed Enzo, too. I heard him talking over the phone. He turned Enzo in to the warden. Jim tried to escape where he was, but...." Amelia sniffles, "They got him."

Murray groans as he stirs, sitting up in alert and grunts as he yanks on his binds, "Oh, that commie son of a bitch! I knew it! I knew this was going to happen!"

"What is he going to do with us?" Joyce asks as he voice shakes.

Amelia sighs, "He's taking us to the place where Jim is. As prisoners. To collect the reward that they have on us."

"We gotta get out of here!" Joyce exclaims.

"I'm not leaving without Jim. We came all this way...I'm not giving up." Amelia states.

Murray scoffs, "We're at the hands of Russians right now. They hold the cards."

Amelia glares at him and brings her hands around to show them both that she managed to get untied, making them both look at her in shock.

"I think we know who holds the cards here." She grins.

"But why aren't you stopping him from taking off?" Joyce frowns.

Amelia puts her hands behind her back again, pretending to be tied up, "He knows where we have to go. Neither of us can fly. Well..." She stutters and gestures at herself, "But it's too cold and this plane is bigger than a broomstick. I hate to say it...but Yuri is our only chance."

Suddenly, the plane engine squeaks and the whistling stops. The three of them jump at the loud sound of a fist hitting the metal and soon, the engine begins to sputter.

They could hear Yuri chuckling in triumph, speaking happily in Russian and a loud kissing sound. Soon, footsteps begin to approach and Yuri hops onto the plane, smiling down at the three of them.

"Why the long faces? Are you not excited for your journey across the Iron Curtain?" He wheezes with a grin as he prepares for takeoff.

"Yuri, I have a family. I have two kids waiting for me. And Amelia has a daughter." Joyce begs.

Yuri pulls out a jar of Jiff Peanut Butter and holds it up proudly, "Did you know? Peanut butter is banned in motherland. I buy for dollar-thirty here, sell for $20 there. "

"Your mother must be very proud. " Murray says sarcastically, giving him a bitter smile.

Yuri's smile drops to a glare, "My mother is dead. Dead..." Suddenly, his grin was back on his face, "Tired of living like a bum!" He wheezes in laughter. "You see? Yuri has family too. And with money I earn from selling you, I will buy her a new house. I will buy my daughter a pony. Whatever they desire from now on, they will have. And, yes, for that, my mother will be very, very proud." He shuts the door, locking it up.

"Amelia is pregnant! You can't do this to a pregnant woman!" Joyce exclaims.

Yuri looks at her in surprised and turns towards Amelia, "Is that true, little bird?" He looks down at her covered stomach, "Are you...carrying chickees?"

Amelia glares at him, "Yes. I'm pregnant."

Yuri burst into wheezy laughter, "More money for me!" He says excitedly and moves towards the cockpit, but turns to Amelia, "With your child, I can sell it to the highest bidder. Or sell him to an orphanage...whoever is willing to pay for a child of a fugitive American." He turns back to the controls and begins to start it up with the radio blaring.

"Hold tight. This is not American Airlines. Is going to get bit choppy." He shouts over the engine as it begins to rev up.

Joyce sighs, looking defeated and in disbelief, "What are we going to do?" She exclaims.

Amelia sighs heavily, "Sit back and enjoys the ride. When we're close enough..." She trails her eyes towards Yuri. "I'm getting Theo."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting Max back to Mike's basement safe and sound, everyone took turns watching over her as she slept. Theo grunts in his sleep and snores softly as he lies in a recliner. Pretty much everyone was fast asleep in the basement.

"Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished. You there?"

The radio crackles as Eddie's voice erupts in the air, calling out to them.

"Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin? Earth to Dustin."

Theo snorts as he hears Eddie's voice and groans as he rubs his tired eyes and moves to grab the radio as Nancy was waking up. He sighs as he picks up the radio and sees her watch him.

"Hey, Eddie." Theo clears his throat, "It's Theo."

"Theo! Hey! Um...I'm gonna need a food delivery, like, really soon...unless you want me going out into the world."

Theo mutters in Latin, calling Eddie in names and cussing him out.

"Was any of that in English?"

"Do not! I repeat, do not! Go anywhere. Stay where you are, and we'll be there as soon as we can." Theo states.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, um... can you pick me up a six-pack? I know, it's stupid as shit, drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves."

Theo growls lowly and demonically, probably making Eddie piss himself right now, but he was annoying Theo greatly.

Nancy reaches and grabs the radio out of his hands, "Hey, we're gonna have to call you back.

"No, don't you da..."

Nancy cuts the radio off and places her hands on Theo's shoulders, "Calm, Theo. I know, he's annoying, but you need to watch your temper. Your 'demon' is showing."

Theo sighs and breathes deeply, "I know. That guy...Vecna...he's getting to me. God, if you saw what he did to Max..." He frowns and looks around, "Where is Max?"

Nancy frowns and looks towards the couch, where Max should be sleeping, but she was gone. She gasps and rushes to Dustin, shaking him awake.

"Dustin!"

Dustin snorts as drool was trailing down the corner of his mouth, "Mm."

"Wake up."

"What?" Dustin jerks awakes.

"Aren't you supposed to be on Max watch?" Theo scoffs.

"Yep. Yep, yep, yep. Sorry." Dusting clears his throat.

"Then where is she?" Nancy demands.

"She's right there." Dustin points at the couch, but his eyes widen as he sees she was gone, "A second ago. I swear, I just dozed off for..." He looks at his watch, thinking it was just a few minutes, but his eyes widen at the time, "...an hour."

The three of them rush upstairs, scrambling around to find Max, but they both skid to a halt when they find her in the kitchen with Mike's parents.

Karen smiles at them, "Morning, guys. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's okay." Nancy stutters.

"I think it's so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this." Karen smiles, completely touched with their friendship.

"Could try sticking together at a different house for a change." Ted says with a bitter smile.

Karen sighs and rolls her eyes but turns to them all with a smile, "You know you're welcome anytime."

"Why thank you, Mrs. Wheeler, for your warm hospitality. Do you need any help with making breakfast?" Theo smiles and asks.

"You are my guest, Theo. I'm sure you do enough cooking at your aunt's shop." Karen smiles.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be a work? Which is not here?" Ted asks.

Theo chuckles, "Since Aunt Amelia has no orders today or for this week because of the...you know...it's a very emotional time for everyone, I'm going to close the shop until she gets back. To be safe. I don't think anyone should be alone while a murderer is on the loose." He says with a fake concern look.

"I completely agree. Your aunt would probably be scared to death if she knew what was going on right now. I mean...she's due for labor any day now. That's so exciting. But last thing I ever want is for anything to happen to her or her family. You can stay with us until she gets back."

Ted lowers his newspaper to glare at his wife, "What?!"

Karen gives him a scorn and smiles and them all, "Dig right in, there's plenty for everyone."

"Totally. You're like family." Dustin smiles and turns to Mr. Wheeler, "May I?"

"Absolutely." Karen nods and hands him a plate.

"Yeah, why not? Take us for all we're worth." Ted scoffs.

Dustin and Theo grin cheekily, "Okay."

Ted watches them in shock as they both fill their plates up with bacon, pancakes, eggs. Theo grabs a few piece of fruit. Ted scoffs at the two boys. He regrets his words so much.

Nancy walks over towards Max, who was drawing disturbed pictures. Nancy assumed it was what she saw when Vecna came for her. She used a lot of red and black. Most dark settings with red background and sky. Tendrils and mountains of black oozy boulders.

"Hey. " Nancy sits next to her.

Max clicks her Walkman off and rewinds the tape, "Hey." She says, giving Nancy as small smile.

"You okay?" Nancy asks gently.

Max sighs and continues to draw, "Just couldn't sleep. People kept blasting music in my ears, for some reason." She says sarcastically as Theo moves to sit next to her.

Nancy and Theo both chuckle, "Sorry about that Zoomer. Can't be too careful." He sighs, "You sure you're okay?"

Max sighs, knowing what he means, she nods, "It was scary. It was...really scary. It felt so real. I...I can still feel..."

"Yeah, that's his motivation. Your fear and your hopelessness." Theo states.

Max sighs shakily, "Yeah. Thanks again, Theo. I would still be in there if it wasn't for you."

Theo snorts and waves her off, "You would have gotten out of there without me anyway, but I never turn away from a fight. I was really hoping to punch him again." He chuckles and looks at the pictures. "Someone has been busy."

"Holly let me borrow some of her crayons. We've been having fun, right, Holly?" Max smiles at Mike's little sister, Holly, as she was busy with her new toy, a lite-bright.

"Mm-hmm." Holly nods.

Nancy frowns as she picks up a few pictures, especially, the ones that looked like Chrissy and Fred who looked like they were in giant cocoons. "Is this what you saw last night?"

"I mean, it's supposed to be. I thought it'd be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but... Not so much." Max sighs.

Theo moves and leans to look at the picture that Nancy was staring at with a disturbed look, "Is that...?"

Max nods, "It was like they were on display. And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare." She shudders at the memories.

"You think Vecna's just trying to scare you? With Billy?" Theo asks.

Max sighs, "Yeah. But when I made it here... I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn't want me there." She says as she frowns in confusion, remembering the tone of Vecan's voice.

Theo, Nancy, and even Dustin perks up at this, "Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his?" Nancy asks as Dustin sits with them.

"Like Freddie Krueger's boiler room." Dustin suggests.

Holly frowns, "Freddie Krueger?"

"He's a super burned-up dude with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams...." Dustin says as he recalls the movie, but Nancy cuts him off.

"Seriously?" She scoffs at him as she nods at her little sister, who was looking scared.

Dustin stutters in apology, "Sorry. It's a movie. It's not real. Just..." He waves it off and looks at Nancy, Max, and Theo, "Think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna's world? Like, maybe the answer we're looking for is somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing." Dustin says as he picks up one of the drawings, winces at how poor it looked to him. "God, we need Will."

"No shit. But I tried them again this morning, and it's the same busy signal." Max scoffs.

Theo frowns as he picks up one picture, he holds it up for Nancy, "Why do I know this?"

Nancy frowns and takes it from his grip, "Is this a window?" She asks Max.

Max nods, "Yeah."

Nancy traces her fingers over the picture, "Stained glass with roses." She says softly.

Theo leans in, "Yeah, it does look like that."

"Yeah." Max looks over to Dusting with a smug look, "See? I'm not so terrible after all."

"Yeah, well, it helps that I've seen it before." Nancy states as she begins to take every picture and begins to fold them, putting them together as if it was a puzzle. For the missing spots, she takes a black market and connects the pieces. She places the picture of the window with the stained glass in the middle, creating a door.

"It's pieces of a house." Max gasps.

"Not just any house." Nancy says and looks at everyone in shock, "It's Victor Creel's house."

Theo points at the picture, "I know this house. It's almost outside of town."

"You know the address?" Nancy asks with hope.

Theo snorts, "Address? I could walk there right now."

Nancy perks up and gets up to rush back to the basement while Dustin was stuffing his face with pancakes. Syrup sticking to his fingers.

"Where you going?" Dustin calls out.

"Waking the others." Nancy calls out.

"Come on, Zoomer. Field trip." Theo says as he gets up with Max while Dustin rush to get more food off the counter.

"Sorry, fuel for the road. Thanks, Mr. Wheeler!" Dustin shouts as he rushes out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brakes screeched loudly as Steve pulls up on the on road that led them all towards the Creel House. As they drew closer and closer, they all could feel the cold, eerily chill that was swarming around the neighborhood. The house was located right up at the top, away from civilization. From across the street of the house was a rusted down playground that was part of the property. Steve slowly parks right in front of the house and everyone looks out to see the large Victorian style house that was boarded up, faded paint and vines covered it from top to bottom. But the unsettling feeling it carried...just one look at it and you could tell the devil lived there.

Everyone gets out of the car and walks up the small steps that led towards the house, seeing the door completely boarded up, no way of getting inside, but they were determined to put an end to this.

"Yeah, that's not creepy." Steve says sarcastically.

Theo walks towards the board and begins to yank the boards off. Nails clattered near his feet.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?"

"We're not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna. " Nancy states.

"Because Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" Steve scoffs.

Nancy shrugs, "Basically."

Steve scoffs, "Great."

Theo grunts as he pulls another board, turning to face Steve, "Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he's back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max." He sighs as he tosses the board away.

"We don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas asks worriedly.

Theo grins, "Guess we'll find out."

"Are you actually smiling over that?" Robin looks at him weirdly.

"Hey, you know me, I love a good fight." Theo shrugs and grips the last board, "Everyone ready?"

"Mm-hmm."

Everyone watch with worry as Theo rips the large board off the door, revealing the wooden door with the stained glass. Max's heart leaps into her throat at the sight as Vecna's voice echoes in her mind.

"Max. What are you doing in here, Max?"

Steve grabs the knob and turns it, shaking it, but it was no use, "It's locked. Should I knock, see if anybody's home?" He asks sarcastically and grunts when Theo pushes him away.

"No need." Theo reaches and grabs the knob, twisting it hard till it snaps and breaks. "You're looking at the key." He grins and opens the door. Everyone winces as it screeches loudly.

Together, they walked into the spider infested, dust covered creepy house with rotting wood. The wall paper was peeling and half eaten by bugs. Steve lets out a whistle as he scans around the house.

Lucas walks up to a lamp and tries to pull the switch, but nothing, no power, "Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill." He pulls out his flashlight.

Steve frowns, "Where'd everyone get those?" He sees everyone carrying a flashlight, except him.

Dustin scoffs at him, "Do you need to be told everything? You're not a child."

"Thank you." Steve says sarcastically.

Dustin sighs and rolls his eyes as he takes off his backpack and hands it to Steve, "Back pocket."

Steve reaches and pulls out a flashlight, he scoffs and sees Theo didn't have one, "Hey, Dustin might have one for you. Glad I'm not the only who doesn't have one." He says as he hands him the backpack.

Theo snorts, "Are you that forgettable?" He flashes his yellow feline eyes. "I can see in the dark." He moves and joins everyone ahead.

Steve slowly drop his hand and scoffs, mocking Theo's voice, "'I can see in the dark. I'm the key'. Blah, blah, blah." He drops the bag near the door, which carried Dustin's radio.

Nancy and Robin moves towards a room and shines their lights around, frowning at the sight, "They just left everything." Nancy says as she notices how much stuff was left behind.

"I guess a triple homicide isn't good for resale value." Robin mutters sarcastically.

Max was in the hall, looking around, but she freezes when's he comes across a very familiar setting, "Hey, guys? You all see that, right?" Her voice trembles as she shines her light in front of her.

Everyone moves to see what she was so scared of. It was a grandfather clock. The EXACT same grandfather clock she saw in her visions.

"Yeah." "Yeah."

"Is this what you saw? In your visions?" Nancy asks.

Max nods, trembling in fear.

Robin moves to look at the clock, "I mean, it's... just a clock. Right? Like a normal old clock." She says as she wipes the dust off the glass.

Theo moves closer to stand next to Robin, "It has a meaning...to Vecna." He slowly lifts his hand and hovers it over the glass. He slowly closes his eyes and begins to see flashes of the past. The chimed four times. He could see a family screaming. Spiders. A little boy watching the clock. Theo jumps in fright as he watches a woman's eyes get sucked into her head.

He pants softly and turns towards everyone else, "I saw it. I saw what happened to Victor's family."

"But...why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he's, like, a clockmaker or something?" Steve frowns.

Theo and Dustin both look at him with a frown, "I think you cracked the case, Steve." Dustin says sarcastically.

"Nice try though, Hair-boy." Theo snorts and ruffles Steve's hair, making him groan and slap his hand away.

"Don't do that!"

"Okay, enough. All I know is the answers are here. Somewhere." Nancy states as she looks around and sighs, "Okay, everyone stay in groups of two."Theo clears his throat, "Oh, right. Um...Robin, you're with me. Lucas and Max. And Theo, you're with Dustin and Steve. Come on, Robin. Upstairs."

Robin gives her a salute and follows her up the stairs as Lucas and Max go another way.

"Come on. Let's go." Max says as she leads Lucas towards a room.

Steve sighs heavily as he stands with Theo and Dustin. Dustin frowns at him, at his sigh. Steve turns and goes up the stairs to the second floor while Robin and Nancy took the third.

"Was that a sigh?" Dustin frowns.

"That was definitely, Dustin." Theo frowns.

"No, I did not sigh." Steve scoffs.

Dustin and Theo follows Steve up the stairs, "Why'd you sigh?" Dustin asks.

"I didn't sigh. Just come on, dude." Steve rolls his eyes.

"We heard you."

"Are you not satisfied with the choice of group?" Theo gives him a dramatic frown.

"W... We're just always partners, okay?" Steve scoffs.

"And you have a problem with that?" Dustin shrugs, become offended.

"I have no problem with teaming up with you and Hair-boy." Theo throws his arm over Dustin's shoulders, "Do you you?"

"I do not, Theo. I'm very satisfied with the choices made." Dustin states.

"It'd just be nice to, I don't know, mix it up a bit." Steve scoffs.

"Mix it up, meaning...spending more time tag teaming with Nancy." Theo snorts.

Steve sighs and turns to shine his light in Theo's face, who simply smirks and makes kissing noises.

"Let's just look around. Be useful." Steve glares at Theo and turns towards a hallway.

"I'm boring you? Is that it?" Dustin accuses as he follows Steve.

"No, the opposite..." Steve waves him off, trying to stop this misunderstood argument. He didn't want to admit what he was feeling. He didn't want to admit...what he wanted.

With the group split up, no one realized that the lights below began to buzz very softly. As if...something was awakening in the house, knowing that they were there. Waiting...in the darkness for them all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia sighs as she rests against the plane, shifting around in her seat as she grows uncomfortable. She was tired. Hungry. And really need to pee! Her children were active in her belly, moving around, growing restless. She whispers softly to them both, she'll find food for them soon. They just need to be patient. She looks over towards Yuri and watches him open a jar of peanut butter and begins to dig in with a spoon.

"Ah. Hey, Yuri. Yuri, I need to take a piss here." Murray calls out.

Amelia scoffs, "Just give it up. He can't hear you." She says as she eyes the noise cancellation headphones he wore.

"I really do have to go, Amelia. This isn't some ploy to escape." Murray states and sighs.

"So do I, but what can we do? I'm not even sure how much longer before we land." Amelia scoffs.

"Then call Theo and threaten Yuri and...and..." Joyce stutters.

"Joyce, if I call Theo now, then Yuri will freak out. Possibly abandon the plane to get away from him. And we'll be stuck 10,000 feet in the air with no pilot to land us down." Amelia states the facts.

Joyce sighs and looks at Murray, "Wait, Murray could take him."

Murray stutters in surprise, "I could what?"

"You know karate. You said you were a black belt." Joyce points out, reminding him what he said to them yesterday.

"Again...we're 10,000 feet in the air, Joyce. I take him, who flies this plane?" Murray says sarcastically.

"All right, so don't knock him out. Just get his gun and make him turn us around." Joyce demands.

"No! I said we're not going back without Jim." Amelia says strongly. "Just...get his gun. And demand him to land the plane. And let's work out a plan."

"Get his gun. Just like that, huh?" Murray scoffs.

"Is black not the highest color?" Joyce scoffs.

"Yes. It's just..." Murray stutters.

"It's just what, Murray?" Amelia grits her teeth.

"I've never fought in a real-world scenario, okay? I've only sparred with the other students." Murray stammers.

Amelia drops her head in disbelief, groaning in annoyance.

"How old?" Joyce grimaces.

"It doesn't go younger than 13."

"13?!" "13?!" Joyce and Amelia both exclaim.

"But Jeremiah is 16. Almost. His birthday is next month. And... And Jeremiah is a ferocious fighter. Lightning fast. Very skilled. And I beat him. That one time." Murray stops and, suddenly, realizes something. "And certainly Yuri is not trained or skilled like Jeremiah. So, yes. Yes, you're right. You're both right! I can defeat Yuri. Absolutely. Thank you both for talking it through. I feel much better now." Murray smiles big and laughs.

Joyce and Amelia both look at each other with a scoff. Amelia slowly gets up, watching Yuri with caution as she moves to help Joyce out of her bonds.

"Just get the gun, Murray. Simple as that." Amelia grunts and grabs a peanut butter jar, smashing it on the ground and grabs a big broken shard and begins to cut.