Chapter Nineteen: The Trance

"Okay. She's in."

"I'm missing collarbones, not eyes."

Lydia released a heavy sigh, her narrowed stare scrutinising the semi-detached house that Max had just stepped inside. It was a modest place, in a nice suburban, picket-fence neighbourhood. It looked so unassuming and unthreatening, even belonged to their school guidance counsellor. But Lydia felt nervous.

What didn't help was that Steve and Dustin had been bickering the entire way there. The added stress had prompted Lydia to be approximately one loose thread away from wringing their necks.

Dustin leaned forwards, poking his head in the gap between the two front seats. "So, we gonna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Steve asked exasperatedly.

"Uh, Lydia's temporary insanity earlier," Dustin clarified. "When she basically tried to fight Marnie."

"That's not what happened," Steve defended. He cast a conscious look at his girlfriend, who was still preoccupied peering out the front window.

"Pretty sure that's what happened," Dustin insisted. "It was public. There were a lot of witnesses."

"I was protecting you and Max," Lydia replied, not once removing her stare from Ms. Kelley's house. "And anyway, it was Marnie's fault. Shouldn't have started on you both like that."

Steve nodded along. "Exactly."

Dustin faced him. "You really do just agree with everything she says, don't you?"

Steve placed his hand on Dustin's forehead and shoved him into the backseats. "Shut up. Or I'll punch you so hard your teeth will fall back out."

The car went quiet.

Dustin's expression dropped. "Whoa. Too far."

"Not cool. Sorry," Steve acknowledged, holding up his hands apologetically. "Not cool."

"It's okay."

The boys fist bumped in consolation.

Lydia rolled her eyes.

They sat in silence for a short while, watching and waiting. Lydia was leant forwards against the dashboard. Her eyes flickered from Ms. Kelley's house to her wristwatch.

"Okay, does anyone else have a bad feeling about this? Like, something just feels odd."

"I mean, there's a creepy, wizard monster roaming Hawkins," Steve reminded.

"It's not just that," Lydia said.

"You worried about Max?" Dustin asked.

Always. "I just...can we trust Ms. Kelley?"

"I mean, she's a guidance counsellor," Steve pointed out. "It's, like, the least threatening job a person could have."

"Shit–" Dustin cursed. "Here she comes. Here she comes."

Max hurried to the car, briefly glancing back over her shoulder. Once she reached the vehicle, she flung the back door open and clambered inside.

"What'd she say?" Steve questioned.

"Nothing, just drive," Max urged. "Steve, drive."

"Okay."

He pulled out the parking spot and set his foot on the gas. Lydia swivelled round, brows raised expectantly at Max, who lifted a set of keys from her pocket and dangled them in the air.

Lydia grinned. "Genius."

Steve spared a glance into the rear-view mirror. "You stole her keys?"

"Relax, Steve," Dustin said. "This is perfect. We can go to the school and search through her files."

"So we're breaking and entering the school now too? Great," Steve replied sarcastically. "That's just great. We'll add that to the list of harbouring a fugitive and–"

Lydia frowned at him. "What's crawled up your ass?"

"What's crawled up–" Steve cut off, taking his eyes off the road to look at her. "What's crawled up my ass? Really?"

"It's a valid question," Dustin backed up.

"Two people just died," Steve emphasised. "There's some freaky dude going around killing people, literally to death, sucking their eyes out their skulls and we have no idea why or who's next or–"

"Dustin." The muffled voice of Lucas interrupted, sounding through the walkie's radio static. "It's Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin."

Dustin snatched the device. "Lucas? Where the hell have you been?"

"Just listen," Lucas ordered. "Are you looking for Eddie?"

"We found him, no thanks to you."

"You found him?"

"A boathouse on Coal Mill Road," Dustin replied. Lydia gave him a warning look. She trusted Lucas wholeheartedly, but anybody could be listening. "Don't worry. He's safe."

"You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?"

"That's bullshit," Dustin shut down. "Eddie tried to save Chrissy."

"Then why do all the cops say he did it?"

"Lucas, you're so behind it's ridiculous, okay?" Dustin responded exasperatedly. "Just meet us at school. We'll explain later."

"I...I can't," Lucas replied. Lydia outstretched her arm towards Dustin, prompting him for the device. "I think some real bad shit's about to go down."

Clutching the walkie-talkie in her left hand, Lydia pressed on the side button and brought the device towards her mouth. "Lucas, what are you talking about? What bad shit?"

She was met with static.

"Lucas?" Lydia prompted, fiddling with the antenna. "Lucas?" Nothing. She lowered the device into her lap. "He's gone."

"Bad shit?" Steve repeated unsurely. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I'd say it was pretty self explanatory," Dustin said sarcastically.

"Man, you are really getting on every last one of my nerves today–"

"Do you think he's is in trouble?" Lydia interjected. "He sounded scared. And I don't trust Jason."

"I mean, Betty mentioned they were organising some sort of hunt for Eddie, right?" Max said. "They seem pretty convinced that he's guilty."

"If Marnie's teaming up with Jason that means serious business," Lydia said.

"You think she'd actually hurt Eddie?" Dustin wondered.

"She did almost try and fight you," Steve reminded. "I don't know, I've been at school with Marnie, she's not afraid of violence. Trust me, I know it firsthand."

"I have so many questions," Max said.

"I'll tell you all about it later," Lydia promised.

"What about Betty?" Dustin asked, setting the back on track. "I mean, she and Marnie are best friends, right? If Betty defends him then she might change her mind. Maybe Jason's too."

"Marnie doesn't just change her mind," Lydia stated. "She wants justice for Chrissy and she's not gonna let anyone else get in her way."

"Okay, this might not be a popular opinion but I'm gonna say it anyway," Steve started. Lydia had absolutely no idea where this was going, but Dustin let out an audible sigh in anticipation. "Are we sure we can trust Betty?" He asked. "Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I remember about school, she hated Eddie."

"She doesn't hate him," Max defended, the conviction in her voice surprising Lydia. Their attention turned to the girl, expecting an explanation. "I saw them after school yesterday. They looked...close."

"Close how?" Steve pressed.

"They were hugging," Max recalled. "I don't know how to explain it, there was just this kinda...energy around them."

Lydia's eyes almost lit up in glee. The sexual tension – someone else had noticed it too!

"I get what you mean," Lydia said. "I felt it today in the boathouse."

"Yeah, no, Eddie's in love with her," Dustin blurted.

"What?"

Dustin pulled back slightly as Lydia and Max whirled on him. " I mean, he's never said it explicitly but it's pretty obvious."

"Okay, just because he's in love with her doesn't mean we should automatically trust her," Steve countered suspiciously. "In fact, that makes her more dangerous."

"Dude, what's your problem?" Dustin shot back. "She's known where he is for a full twenty four hours now, I think we can trust her."

"She's mean, Dustin. That's my problem."

Lydia scoffed. "You're just bitter because she broke your heart in freshman year."

Max's eyes widened. "Steve dated Betty?"

"Why do you sound so surprised, Mayfield?"

"I'm already having a hard enough time registering the fact Lydia is dating you."

Dustin snickered at the comment. Lydia grinned subtly.

"You are on thin ice today," Steve warned the redhead, who simply rolled her eyes.

"Ooh I'm scared."

"How long did you and Betty go out for?" Dustin asked curiously.

"Only for like a month," Lydia answered for him. "She broke up with him in the cafeteria in front of everyone. I'll never forget the way his soul left his body."

Steve's cheeks flushed pink. "You finished?"

"Yeah."

"Great," he snarked. "Can we get back to the actual problem at hand now?"

Lydia patted his thigh comfortingly.

"Sure," Dustin shrugged, moving on. "Okay, bottom line is, Eddie trusts Betty and so should we."

"Agreed," the girls said.

"Jason and Marnie..." Dustin trailed, exhaling heavily through his nose. "Well, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

—

"Ouch," Lydia complained as someone's entire body weight squashed the toe box of her sneakers. "That was my foot."

"Sorry," Steve apologised. "Can't see a thing."

A sudden crash sounded behind them, making Lydia's heart leap into her throat.

Something clattered to the floor.

Followed by a hiss from Max. "Fuck."

"Max," Lydia and Steve chastised in unison.

"Sorry."

Dustin's flicked the flashlight button, pointing it directly ahead – in Steve's face.

He squinted, throwing a hand up in front of his eyes to shield them. "Dude."

"My bad."

Guided by their torches, the group headed down the school corridors.

Lydia thought the building looked incredibly eerie, a cold blue hue radiating from the walls. And the pitch black darkness in the far distance disguised any dangers lurking. It was practically the perfect setting for a horror movie – though, perhaps she watched too many of those.

The walkie-talkie beeped, making Dustin jolt. Robin's voice crackled as it came through. "Dustin, do you copy?"

Switching torch into his other hand, the teenager pulled out the device and flicked up the antenna. "Yeah, I copy."

"So, Nancy's a genius," Robin said excitedly. Lydia's eyebrows raised. Her flashlight swept past the others as she shared a passing look with Steve. Personally, she was very surprised Nancy hadn't actually murdered Robin yet. "Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull's-eye."

"Okay, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now," Dustin replied.

"What are you doing?"

"Breaking and entering school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files."

"Can you repeat that?"

"Just get your ass over here, stat," Dustin instructed her. "We'll explain everything."

"Wait. Is Lydie there?" Robin asked.

Dustin responded with a sigh. He rolled his eyes impatiently, handing Lydia the walkie-talkie before stalking ahead.

She grinned as she spoke into the device. "Hey hot stuff. How's it going without me?"

"Don't hit on me in public, you know how embarrassed I get," Robin said bashfully. Lydia chuckled. "My separation anxiety's creeping in, but Nancy's been filling the void."

"Replacing me already?"

"Maybe. She's much smarter than you."

"Asshole."

Robin laughed. "You guys surviving okay over there?"

"Just about," Lydia said. "Steve and Dustin have been bickering like an old married couple."

"Glad I didn't have to endure that all day."

The others stopped in front of a door ahead. Max fished inside for Ms. Kelley's keys. She picked them out and unlocked the door.

"Hey Rob, I gotta help commit a felony."

"Have fun."

"See you soon."

Lydia cut the transmission, returning the device to Dustin.

Steve pushed open the office door. It creaked. He waited a moment, then took a cautious step inside. Instead of waiting, Max brazenly headed straight past him, making a beeline towards the filing cabinet. Steve's arms flung out in exasperation. She pulled a draw open and flicked through the files.

The others filed inside. Lydia scanned the small office curiously before joining the boys in watching over Max's shoulder.

"Holy shit."

"You found it?"

"Yeah, and not just Chrissy's." Max pulled out two additional files. "Fred was seeing Ms. Kelley too."

"Wait," Lydia interrupted. "Is Ms. Kelley, like, working for Vecna? 'Cos that's a huge fucking coincidence if she isn't."

"Holy shit," Steve stated. "You might be onto something. Babe, you're so clever."

"There's just something so off about that woman," Lydia said. Maybe her suspicions really had been correct after all.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lydie, she's a guidance counsellor," Dustin dismissed.

"Always the ones you least expect."

He shook his head, clearly not even bothering to entertain that comment. "Who's the other document?" Dustin asked.

"It's, uh, Betty Angel," Max said. "Big file too."

Given the link between Betty and Chrissy, their close friendship and shared guidance counsellor, Lydia was slightly concerned that they'd left the girl in trouble.

"Do you..." Lydia caught herself, realising that she was just about to suggest opening someone's private file. Albeit, her intentions were pure; she just wanted to see whether anything in Betty's documents matched with Chrissy's. But still. "Nevermind."

Dustin's jaw dropped. "Were you about to suggest snooping in Betty's private file?" He accused teasingly.

"No."

"You totally were."

"Okay, maybe I was, but then, critically, Dustin, I realised it was wrong."

"I mean, we're already looking at Chrissy and Fred's," he pointed out. "What's the difference?"

"They're dead," Steve reminded. "It's...it's different."

"Yeah, but it's still not a great thing to do," Lydia argued. "You know, morally."

Steve's eyebrows raised. "You're choosing now to have your crisis of moral code?"

Ignoring them, Max slid onto the desk chair, skimming through the pages of Chrissy's file. "Guys shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."

Lydia glared at Steve. She leaned an arm against the table, watching over the redhead's shoulder as Fred's documents were splayed out too. Her attention flickered between both sets of paper, searching for any notable similarities written down.

That was when she noticed Max tense.

"What is it?" Lydia prompted. When she received no response, she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Max?"

Steve frowned, leaning over. "Max?"

Lydia exchanged a worried glance with him, realising, as Max stared ahead, entirely despondent and unresponsive, that she was in some form of trance.

The kind of state that Eddie had said Chrissy had fallen into. Which meant–

Vecna.

Unable to keep the panicked edge from her voice, Lydia frantically shook the girl's shoulder. "Max?!"

"Max!"

"What's happening?!" Dustin shouted, waving a hand in front of the girl's face. "Max!"

Frantically, Lydia looked up at Steve. "Vecna. This is Vecna right?" She rushed out. "I mean, it has to be–"

"I don't– I don't know," he said, hands placed against the back of his head. "I don't know what to do. Fuck."

"MAX!" Dustin yelled.

Lydia wasn't sure how long it had lasted. It felt too long. Like it was going to go on forever.

Every second that ticked by was a threat.

Until Max's eyes burst open.

"Max!" Lydia was in front of her almost immediately, both hands on her shoulders. "Max, hey, hey. You okay?"

Max's forehead creased. She blinked a few times in fast succession. "Where...what happened?" Her brows had pulled together, blue eyes darting between them. "The clock. Where's the clock?"

"What clock?" Steve asked gently.

"The grandfather clock."

Although Lydia knew better than to completely believe his calm composure, Steve managed to collect himself fairly swiftly and somewhat calm Max down. Dustin, too, managed to swiftly shake himself out of his state of shock.

Lydia, on the other hand, was having difficulty forming sentences. All she could think about was her nightmare. Had it been a warning?

Max had kept mentioning a grandfather clock. She was convinced it was in the hallway. So, in an effort to prove that she wasn't going insane, they had followed her down every corridor, scouring each corner of the school.

Even when Robin and Nancy joined them half an hour later, and Max explained the entire situation all over again, they weren't any closer to finding answers.

"It was here," Max insisted, gesturing to the wall in front of them. "Right here."

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy questioned.

"It was so real. And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just..." Max trailed. "I woke up."

"It was like she was in a trance or something," Dustin added. "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy."

"That's not even the bad part," Max whispered.

Lydia could tell the girl was still jittery, shoulders tight, chin lowered. She wondered whether Max had seen something else, something that had really scared her.

Max motioned for them to follow her. She led them back into Ms. Kelley's office and indicated to the files on the desk.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help," Max began to explain. "Uh, they both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then...Then the nightmares."

Lydia's stomach dropped.

Nightmares.

"Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat," Max carried on listing. "Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just– they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually...Everything ended."

"Vecna's curse," Robin stated.

"Chrissy's headache started a week ago," Max informed them, fingernail tapping against the sheet of paper. "Fred's, six days ago...I've been having them for five days."

Fuck.

Lydia clutched the side of the desk and thought about her vision. Of Max. Dead.

It had tormented her, over and over. And now it was threatening to become a reality.

"I don't know how long I have," Max continued, her voice thick with emotion. Lydia lowered her head, eyes closing. Steve placed a reassuring hand on her back." All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty four hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddam clock so...looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."

The dread was eating away at her, shredding at her insides. Festering on her fears and paranoias.

Lydia felt nauseas. Like it was crawling up her throat.

Her hands started to shake. She placed them flat on the table, shaking her head in refusal.

Before any of them could form a response to Max's dire situation, they were distracted by a noise in the distance. A door opening.

Steve comfortingly squeezed Lydia's shoulder before moving past her. He grabbed a floor lamp from the corner of the room and stepped into the doorway. "Stay here."

Obviously, none of them listened.

The group crept cautiously through the empty corridors. Every sound, including their shallow breaths, sounded amplified.

The heavy, approaching footsteps grew closer, picking up speed as they neared them.

Steve's fingers tightened around the middle of the lamp stand. He held a hand out behind him to warn the others. Lydia grasped onto his jacket. Before rounding the corner, Steve cast a brief glance back at them for assurance. Then he raised the weapon, ready to strike.

Lucas came hurtling into them.

They screamed.

"It's me!" He shouted.

Lydia's heart was. She released a slow breath of relief, loosening her grip on Steve and allowing her arms to drop back to her sides.

"Lucas?"

"It's me."

Steve stomped his foot petulantly, grasping a tighter hold of the lamp. Lydia thought he might actually smack Lucas with it.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you, Sinclair?! I could've taken you out with this lamp!"

"Sorry guys." Lucas panted. He hunched over, hands on his knees. "Sorry. I was– I was biking for eight miles. Give me a second. Shit. We've got a code red."

"What?"

"Dustin," Lucas addressed. "I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone totally off the rails..." He paused, catching his breath. "Some of the cheerleading squad are with them. Marnie and Jason, they're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger."

"All right, yeah, that definitely sucks," Dustin said, sparing a glance at the others. "But we've got bigger problems than Jason now."

—

"What the hell are you doing?"

Dustin jumped. The file almost slipped from his hands. He clutched it close to his chest, turning to face the firm expressions of disapproval from Lydia and Steve.

"Jesus. Why'd you sneak up on me like that?"

"Whose file is that?" Lydia interrogated as they approached closer.

She already knew the answer.

Dustin confirmed it when he hurriedly hid the document behind his back. "No ones."

Steve reached around him to snatch it. Dustin sidestepped him, darting out the way.

"Give it here you little shit–"

"Please tell me that isn't Betty Angel's file," Lydia said exasperatedly. She had warned him. And he hadn't listened.

Dustin backed up against the wall. "It's not."

Lydia outstretched her arm. "Then you wouldn't mind handing it over."

"I..." Dustin hesitated.

Lydia placed a hand on her hip, brows raised expectantly.

Steve folded his arms. "Give it to us. Now."

Dustin deliberated, eyes darting between them, measuring how serious they were. Eventually, he relented, begrudgingly offering it over.

Lydia snatched the file out his hands and held it up in front of his face. "This is private. You have no right snooping through it."

"Neither of you had a problem looking at Chrissy and Fred's," Dustin countered.

"That's totally different," Steve dismissed. "We needed those to figure out how Vecna's choosing his victims."

"Everyone is out there searching for a way to help Max. Meanwhile, you're in here nosying through this." There was a loud slap as Lydia smacked the file on the desk. "And for what?"

"I just...wanted to...make sure she wasn't in danger," Dustin stammered. "Her connection with Chrissy, the fact she even has a file here in the first place..."

"And?"

"Nothing," Dustin answered. "There's a whole lot of stuff about her dad. Few things about Marnie. Even you're mentioned once Steve," he reeled off. "Oh, and there's loads about Eddie."

"You shouldn't know this," Lydia chastised. "This is so wrong, Dustin."

"It's not okay dude," Steve added.

"I swear, I just wanted to make sure she wasn't a target." He indicated towards Lydia. "I mean, you thought about it yourself."

"But I didn't actually do it," Lydia snipped. She drew in a breath. Composure. "Listen, right now, we need to focus on Max, okay? If this follows the same pattern as before, we have less than a day to figure this shit out."

"I agree," Dustin said, hands flying out to urge them towards the door. "So let's stop wasting time lecturing me and actually do something."

"Lecturing you is not a waste of ti–"

Steve cut off when Lucas stormed inside the room. He flew past the trio, standing in front of the cabinets, back facing them.

"Lucas?" Lydia asked in concern.

"Hey. Everything okay?" Steve questioned.

Lucas ran a hand over his face. "I can't.l He started to pace. "I can't do this."

"What do you mean?" Lydia prompted.

"I can't lose her."

Lydia glanced at Steve, nodding in assurance. Understanding, he escorted a slightly defiant Dustin from the room, leaving them alone.

"Lucas," Lydia approached, placing a hand on his shoulder to prevent the fast pacing. It was making her a little dizzy. "Breathe."

"I can't."

"You can."

Lucas wiped hastily underneath his eyes. "She is everything to me," he stated, turning to face her. "Everything. I mean, you have Steve, you know what that's like, right?"

"I know."

Lydia understood his distress. The whole situation was heart wrenching. She couldn't imagine – in fact, she didn't ever want to conceive the thought of losing Steve.

And she couldn't fathom losing Max. That possibly hadn't sunk in, and she wouldn't let it.

Or what about not having her mom around? Dustin or Lucas not being a part of her life.

And the way Lydia's entire fucking world would crumble without Robin.

"Ever since last summer, Max has been slipping further away," Lucas said, his voice trembling. "I can't lose her. I just can't."

Lydia shook her head defiantly. "We're not gonna let that happen."

"You can't– you can't promise that."

"I know this feels like the end of the fucking world right now, but it isn't," she said determinedly. "I promise you, we're gonna do whatever it takes to save her."

That was the thing. If Vecna wanted to take Max, he would have to get past Lydia first.

A/N

Lydia and Steve coparenting fr but Steve is mum and Lyds is dad.