CHAPTER EIGHT
THE HARRINGTON'S SUMMER ROAD TRIP

Steve tried his best to remain calm as his friends in Hawkins looked for any sort of music inside Eddie's trailer that could help Mavis get out of yet another trance. However, it was hard.

He had thought she was safe, that Vecna wouldn't get to her again, but... he had been wrong.

"Mav, just stay with me. Stay with me, okay?" he cupped her face gently. He couldn't lose her. Not after he had finally confessed his feelings for her.

Looking back up, more specifically at Erica who was standing there on the other side, he yelled desperately. "Whatever you guys are doing up there, hurry up!"

Erica ran off, probably towards the rest of the group, and Steve looked at Mavis again. It broke his heart to see her beautiful hazel eyes having turned white, with no hint of emotion behind them.

What if they didn't find the right music? What if Mavis didn't wake up from the trance?

He couldn't let it happen.

"Mav..." he whispered, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs softly. "Please come back to me..."

And without wasting any more time, Steve started to sing.

"Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods..."

He didn't consider himself a good singer. On the contrary. But if that song had saved her before, maybe it would save her again. Even if it was coming from him and not Bonnie Tyler. It was a long shot, but he needed to take it.

"I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night..."

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Finding herself in a strange place, Mavis fought with the feeling of a familiar sensation despite the fact that she was certain she had never been there before. As she looked around, a dense fog veiled her sight, adding an extra layer of disorientation to her predicament.

To make matters worse, she was in the middle of a storm, struggling against gusts of wind and rain as she walked around and tried to make sense of her environment, desperately searching for any clues, searching for the missing puzzle piece that would solve the mystery she was finding herself in.

And then, an unexpected revelation struck her like a bolt of lightning. A distinct aroma reached her nostrils, intertwining itself with the dampness in the air: it was the scent of water.

Mavis continued to walk blindly, stopping when her hands touched a metal railing, and all of a sudden, the fog cleared up, confirming her suspicions.

There it was.

Detroit River.

She didn't have time to think about why she was there, or about what it meant, because she was blinded by two headlights. Turning around, her eyes widened when she saw a 1981 metallic blue Volkswagen Beetle she knew too well.

As the car drove past her, Mavis was able to make out a very tired Emily Wilson behind the wheel.

God, it had been so long since she had last seen her mother...

She missed her like crazy.

"Why did I agree to pick her up? Scott could have done it..." Emily sighed, running a hand through her curly brown hair.

It seemed as if she was annoyed by the fact Mavis had asked her — no, begged her to pick her up. But that couldn't be. Her mother had happily accepted when Mavis had called her earlier that day, being excited to spend some time with her daughter after her work trip. That couldn't have been faked... right?

"Do you remember what you did, Mavis?"

She felt her body shake when Vecna's voice reached her ears. Not again...

Tears ran down her face as she shook her head violently. She didn't want to see this, but it was as if her body was glued to the ground and something was stopping her from looking away.

"Stop it... stop it..." she pleaded, feeling herself start to panic.

"Or have you already forgotten?"

In just a second, a car that was traveling in the opposite direction at a reckless speed lost control, switching to the oncoming lane and going directly towards the Beetle, the front ends of the two vehicles colliding violently. The Beetle was propelled backwards and it crashed through the bridge's protective barrier, plummeting towards the water below.

"No!" Mavis yelled, covering her mouth as she sobbed and ran towards the edge, seeing her mom's blue Beetle disappear beneath the surface in a violent splash.

"When I kill someone... I never forget."

As soon as the car sank fully into the river, the water began to stir, and Mavis watched in horror as she witnessed the water turn viscous and take on a sickening crimson tone. A metallic stench filled the air, the distinct smell of iron mixed with a repulsive one, as if something was rotting underneath the surface.

It was a horrifying scene, and Mavis wanted to stop looking. But as she turned around to walk away, her eyes widened when she saw a car speeding towards her. Her instincts urged her to move, but it was too late.

The car collided with her body, sending her over the edge and towards the dark blood river. Mavis screamed as she started to fall, closing her eyes tightly and getting ready for the impact.

But it never came.

Opening her eyes, she found herself back in Vecna's lair. The same place she had visited earlier that day. The same place she had escaped.

However, she wasn't sure if she would be able to escape again.

She hadn't had the time to look around before, but now she could. Mavis saw she was standing at the top of a staircase, and even if it was almost completely torn down, she recognized it from the Creel house. Why was this inside Vecna's mind?

Hearing a familiar clock ticking, Mavis turned around, seeing the clock from her visions floating around. Continuing to observe her surroundings, she started to descend the stairs slowly.

"I see you're still thinking about me, Mavis." There it was again. Vecna. "Was our encounter earlier not enough?"

"Shut up."

"You were so close. So close to the truth. How was old, blind, dumb Victor? Did he miss me? I've been meaning to check back in, but I've been busy."

Finally down the stairs, Mavis froze in place when she came face to face with Chrissy. Or what was left of her. She was covered by black and thick vines, her mouth opened and her extremities twisted completely, and next to her were Fred and Patrick.

"So very busy."

Mavis couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine. This was... a terrifying sight.

Is this what would have happened to her if her friends hadn't saved her?

Looking away, she noticed a very familiar stained glass with roses. And all of a sudden, she was inside the house, watching a family walk into their new home.

"What'd I tell ya?" a man wearing a blue polo shirt was the first to walk into the house, followed by a blonde woman.

"Wow."

"This is amazing," a blonde little girl walked into the house as well, fascinated by everything she was seeing. "It looks like a fairy tale. A dream."

"Alice, no running," the mother called out as the girl ran up the stairs, and realization hit Mavis as she remembered what she had heard in Pennhurst.

Oh God. This was Victor's family.

But why was Vecna showing her this?

"This is nice," Victor wrapped an arm around Virginia.

"Yeah."

It was then that Mavis noticed the little boy behind them, staring at the ground.

"I never fitted in with the other children," Vecna's voice could be heard again. Wait. Did that mean...? "Doctors and teachers said there was something wrong with me. That I was broken..."

The scene changed, and Mavis saw the little Creel boy, Henry, walk through the house. "My parents thought a change of scenery, a fresh start in Hawkins, might just cure me. It was absurd. As if the world would be any different here. But then..." she followed him, watching him go to the bathroom and looking into a vent filled with spiders. "To my surprise, our new home provided a discovery. And a new found sense of purpose. I found a nest of black widows living inside a vent. Most people fear spiders. They detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them."

Mavis felt a quick whoosh of air behind her, and it made her turn around. It had been Henry.

"A kinship. Like me, they are solitary creatures. And deeply misunderstood," he went to the attic this time, and Mavis followed him again.

There, she found him sitting on the ground, a few empty jam glasses filled with black widows in front of him, and when she approached, she saw he was drawing one. "They are gods of our world. The most important of all predators. They immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem. But the human world was disrupting this harmony."

Mavis walked back down the stairs, finding Henry in the hall, staring into the clock as it ticked. "You see, Mavis, humans are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket.  A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made-up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades," Vecna started to sound more aggressive. "Each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and die."

She felt her body shake in fear as she looked at the little boy, who was staring angrily at the clock. "Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized I didn't have to."

Suddenly, Henry closed his eyes and the hands of the clock started moving backwards. Oh no.

"I could make my own rules. I could restore balance to a broken world. A predator... But for good."

Turning around to look away, Mavis was now in the backyard, seeing a bunny fall victim to a trap as Henry approached. "As I practiced, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach into others, into their minds, their memories," he extended his hand out and the bunny started to shake, its bones cracking.

Mavis couldn't take it anymore, and so she ran back inside the house, closing the door behind her. But Vecna's voice could still be heard.

"I became an explorer. I saw my parents as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people. But like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie," Vecna exclaimed. "They had done things, Mavis. Such awful things. I had to show them who they really were," she saw the visions Henry showed Victor, panting in fear. "I held up a mirror. My naive father believed it was a demon cursing them for their sins. But my mother somehow knew. Knew it was I who was holding up that mirror, and she despised me for it."

Suddenly, Dream a Little Dream of Me could be heard faintly, and Mavis just knew what she was about to witness. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't. Instead, she followed the music, almost as if there was some invisible force pulling her there.

"She called a doctor, an expert. She wanted him to lock me away, to fix me, even though it wasn't I who was broken. It was them." Mavis gulped as she reached the dining room, seeing Victor try and fix the radio as his family sat on the table. "And so she left me with no choice. No choice but to act. To break free."

Henry closed his eyes, the lights starting to flicker, and then Virginia screamed as she was lifted into the air, her bones cracking before she fell on the table.

"No..." she looked at Henry, who just wiped off his bloody nose. "Stop it."

"With each life I took, I grew stronger. More powerful. They were becoming a part of me. But I was still a child. And I did not yet know my limits. And it nearly killed me," Henry collapsed into the floor next to his sister, and Victor rushed to help them, holding his son in his arms. However, then the scene changed and the police were pinning him against a wall. "He was arrested, blamed for the death of my sister and mother, just as I had planned. But I was far from free."

Mavis blinked away the tears, and when she opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the Creel house anymore. She was in a hospital, seeing Henry lying on a bed.

"I woke up from my coma only to find myself placed in the care of a doctor, the very doctor I had hoped to escape. Dr. Martin Brenner."

Oh no. Everything that had occurred in Hawkins, everything she had learned from her friends, everything she had experienced... It was all connected.

"But the truth... The truth is he did not just want to study me. He wanted more. He wanted to control." Now they were in a dark hospital room, where Dr. Brenner was tattooing something on Henry's wrist. "When he finally realized he could not control me, he tried to recreate me. He began a program. And soon, others were born."

"All done. Not so bad, was it?" Brenner spoke as he cleaned off the rest of the ink. "See? There's nothing to be afraid of. Is there, Mavis?"

What?

He turned to look at her, his eyes icy blue, and when he spoke, his voice sounded distorted. "Why don't you take a seat?"

She could finally move again, and so she didn't waste a second before she rushed out of the room and into the hospital halls. There, she stopped as she took in the scenery: blood decorated the walls, corpses were sprawled across the cold floor...

If she wanted to live, she couldn't stay there.

And so she ran, her adrenaline-fueled footsteps echoing through the halls. However, she couldn't get far enough as her flight was halted by an obstacle: a door that was completely covered with sturdy wood planks.

"Shit!" she exclaimed desperately as she started to try and rip them off.

"Mavis."

A chill ran down her spine as she turned around, looking at none other than Vecna as he approached her slowly.

"What are you doing? It's not time for you to leave."

"Shut up!" she yelled at him as she faced the door again and continued taking the wood planks off, struggling in the process.

Who the fuck had nailed these?!

"Now that you've seen where I've been... I would like very much to show you where I am going."

She shook her head, not letting herself be distracted by Vecna's voice, and soon enough, all wood planks were off. Opening the door as quickly as she could, Mavis ran inside, the door closing behind her.

Thank God she was safe.

"Take a seat, Mavis."

Oh no.

There was Dr. Brenner again, and Mavis' eyes widened in fear before the lights went down. She stayed still, but when the lights were working again, Mavis found herself in a chair, being tied down by the same dark tentacles that had been around Vecna's victims.

"No, no, no, no..." she pleaded as she struggled against their grip.

"I... want you to tell Eleven," Vecna spoke as he approached her again, looming over her. "I want you to tell her everything you see."

"No! Stop it!" she yelled as she sobbed, seeing Vecna's hand hover over her face like it had done just a few hours ago. "No!"

Suddenly, the clock chime could be heard again and her vision was filled with horrible sights: Hawkins being destroyed by a huge earthquake that caused a breaking on the ground, Demogorgons and other monsters entering Hawkins through that hole and tormenting every single person that lived there... God, she even saw her father be crushed down by a big piece of debris in their house, and her friends being chased and tortured by Vecna.

"Tell her... everything."

"No!"

Taking a big gasp, Mavis was on Hawkins again, falling back. However, she didn't collapse onto the floor, Steve catching her and placing her on the ground gently.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa," Steve spoke as Mavis panted, trying to regain her breath and to forget what she had just seen. "It's okay, it's okay."

Mavis looked up at him, still scared. What if she was still hallucinating?

"It's okay," he spoke softly, brushing her hair back before cupping her cheek. "I'm right here," Mavis placed her hand over his, wanting to make sure he was real. "I'm right here."

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"He... showed me things that haven't happened yet," Mavis' voice was shaky as she told her friends what she had seen.

After she had woken up from the trance, and calmed down, Steve and her went back to Hawkins together, ending up in Eddie's trailer. However, it wasn't an exactly cozy place, especially with the hole on the ceiling, so they decided to head to Max's house since it was the closest.

"Horrible things..." she bit her lower lip as she felt herself tear up, and Steve, who was sitting next to her with an arm wrapped over her shoulders, just pulled her closer and rubbed his hand up and down her arm, trying to calm her down.

"I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins, and... there were so many monsters. A-An army of Demogorgons and other scary creatures, led by this... enormous monster with a gaping mouth, marching straight into our home..."

Everyone listened intensely, looking down in fear at what she was telling. Lucas, who was sitting on the other side of Mavis and holding her hand, let out a shaky breath. Why did Vecna choose Mavis to show her his stupid plans? Hadn't she had enough?

"And... he showed me my dad," tears ran down her face. "And every single one of you... a-and you were..." she let out a sob.

Steve didn't waste a second as he pulled her even more closer to her, letting her cry onto his shoulder.

"Okay, but..." Nancy was the first to speak. "He's just trying to scare you, Mavis. Right?" she looked at the others for reassurance. "I-It's not real."

"Not yet at least," Mavis bit her lower lip as she wiped her tears off. "Because it certainly felt real..."

"Did he show you anything else?" Lucas asked quietly.

"Yes..." she nodded. "He showed me gates. Four gates. They looked exactly like the one on Eddie's trailer and the one at the bottom of Lover's Lake, but... they didn't stop growing, spreading all across Hawkins. Our Hawkins, not the one in the Upside Down."

Silence filled the room.

"Four chimes," until Max broke it. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times."

"Y-You're right... four times exactly," Mavis looked at her before realization hit her and she sighed, standing up. "God... he's been telling us his plan this whole time and we didn't realize."

Everyone looked puzzled and confused at her words, but Lucas caught on.

"Four kills," he nodded, looking at her. "Four gates."

"End of the world."

"If that's true," Dustin spoke. "He's only one kill away."

"Oh Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ!" Eddie exclaimed as he covered his face with his hands.

"Try 'em again," Steve looked at Max, who was closest to the phone, referring to the fact they had been trying to contact the Byers for a while now. "Try 'em again."

As the redhead walked over to the phone, Mavis sat down again between Steve and Lucas, fidgeting with her fingers as she replayed what she had seen over and over again.

Steve noticed this, and so he grabbed both of her hands and held them in his, caressing them softly as he smiled at her, trying his best to non verbally reassure her that things would be alright. Even if he wasn't sure.

"Anything?" Dustin asked when Max hung up the phone.

"No. Rang a few times, then went to busy signal."

"Maybe you punched it in wrong," Steve spoke from where he was sitting. "Try again."

"I didn't punch it in wrong," Max refuted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Well... I don't know," Steve shrugged.

"Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone," Dustin defended his friend.

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong."

Max rolled her eyes as she tried again, but nothing. "Same shit."

"How is that possible?" Lucas asked as he stood up, his hands on his hips.

"I told you, Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it," Dustin explained.

"Yeah, but this phone's been busy for, what, three days now?" Max countered. "That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong."

"She's right," Nancy spoke as she looked out the window. "It can't be just coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead."

What? No way.

She turned around to face the rest of the group. "We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

"Whoa, no, no, no," Steve exclaimed as he stood up. "What?"

"Nope!" Eddie agreed with Steve.

"Let's think this through."

"What is there to think through?" Nancy countered.

"We barely made it out of there in one piece!" Steve answered.

"Yeah, because we weren't prepared. But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him," she explained, sounding very determined.

"Or he'll kill us. The only reason that Mav survived is because he wanted her to."

"Mavis, you're with me, right?" Nancy looked at Mavis, who was looking at the two as they argued. "He needs to pay for what he's done."

"Nancy... I don't know," she spoke quietly. "He knows everything. He... he's planned everything..."

"Exactly," Steve nodded. "And he's not scared of us."

"And for good reason," Robin finally spoke, standing up from where she had been sitting on the floor. "We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, w-what are we calling him now?"

"One," Dustin and Lucas said.

"Vecna," Erica disagreed.

"Henry," and Nancy disagreed as well, but for another reason.

They couldn't even make up their minds about his name, so how the hell were they supposed to kill him?

"Right," Robin sounded more confused than ever. "We've learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One." See? Mavis could get behind that. "He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my... m-my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin added. "You're right. He's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Erica asked sarcastically, not being able to believe Eleven had any weaknesses.

"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna," the boy explained.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic," Lucas pointed out.

"Exactly!" he pointed his index finger at his best friend. "When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless."

"Defenseless? Yeah? What about the army of bats?" Steve asked as he motioned to the marks on his neck.

"Right. True. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow."

"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie asked.

"No idea. But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin."

"I don't know, Dustin..." Mavis shook her head. It couldn't be that easy.

Robin nodded. "That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings. I mean at least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don't even know who he's going to attack."

"Yeah, we do," Max spoke, and everyone turned to look at her. "I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me."

"Max," Lucas shook his head. "You can't. He'll kill you."

"Lucas is right," Mavis stood up. "It's too dangerous. I-I'll do it. I'll distract him."

"Oh no. There's no way, Mav," Steve walked over to her, placing both hands on her shoulders so she would look at him. "You're not risking your life, okay?"

"Steve–"

"No. I... I can't lose you, Mav," he whispered, her being the only one who could hear him.

She... she didn't want to lose him either.

"Can you still feel him too?" Max asked, and Mavis looked at her again, shaking her head.

"I can't... but I can't let you do this Max."

"He's attacked you twice, Mavis. I don't think he'll attack again."

"And if you can't feel him..." Dustin shrugged. "I don't know, you might be safe."

Mavis sighed. "It's still too dangerous."

"Please listen to Mavis, Max," Lucas pleaded, but the redhead wasn't going to budge.

"I survived before. I can survive again," she tried to reassure him. "I just... I need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly... I really don't care how you put this asshоlе in his grave. Just... whatever it is... whatever you do... try not to miss."

Everyone stayed quiet as Max's words sunk in.

"Okay so... we're doing it?" Mavis was the first to speak.

Steve sighed. "I guess we are."

"Great," Eddie said sarcastically as ran both hands through his hair.

"We'll need weapons, and lots of them," Lucas crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Yeah, but where can we find some? We can't possibly storm the police station," Robin huffed.

"Wait," Eddie spoke as he stood up, looking at Max. "Do you have a yellow page phone book?"

"Uh, yeah? It's on the kitchen counter."

Eddie walked towards it, beckoning at the rest to follow him. Once he found the phone book, he skimmed through it, looking for a specific page, and when he found it, he slammed it on the kitchen counter for everyone to see.

"Check this out," Eddie pointed his index finger at one of the ads in there. "The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for, uh... well, killing things, basically."

Mavis nodded. "I've heard of it. My dad... uh, he got his gun there."

"Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" Robin asked, her hands in her pockets. "Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?"

"Well, lucky for us it is, so..." he smiled sarcastically. "This... This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."

"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone," Erica spoke matter-of-factly.

"Normally, I'd agree, but we need the weapons. So... I think it's worth the risk," Nancy crossed her arms in front of her chest as she leaned back.

"Me too," Lucas agreed.

"There's no way we're going to make it there in time though," Mavis spoke again. "It's too far out."

"I agree with Mavis. Is it even worth it? 'Cause it'll take all day to bike there and back."

"Who said anything about bikes?"

"What? You got some sort of car we don't know about?" Steve asked, looking around in confusion.

"It's not exactly a car, Steve. And it's not exactly mine, but, uh... it'll do," he smirked, and Mavis just knew whatever idea he had wasn't good. Or legal.

He turned to look at Max again. "Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandana, something like that?"

Max thought for a bit before she raised both eyebrows, having clearly thought of something that could work. And shortly after, they all followed Eddie as he walked through the trailer park wearing a Michael Myers mask.

"Michael Myers? Really?" Steve asked.

"Yes. It was my Halloween costume in 1984."

"She scared the shit out of us that night," Lucas chuckled, being joined by Dustin and Max.

"I'm just saying. There are scarier horror movie villains."

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Mavis asked.

"That girl from The Exorcist for example. Super scary," he faked a shiver. "Used to give me a lot of nightmares as a kid."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" she chuckled.

"What about you, Mav? Who's your favorite villain?"

"Oh, Freddy Krueger. He kills you in your dreams. What's scarier than that?"

"Good point," he chuckled.

"Can you guys shut up?" They were scolded by none other than Eddie. "We're trying to be quiet here."

"Okay okay. Sorry," Steve raised both of his hands in a form of surrender, and Eddie just scoffed before he continued to walk. Steve then looked at Mavis. "Jeez. Can you believe this guy?"

She couldn't help but chuckle, having to cover her mouth with her free hand — since the other one was holding Steve's — in order not to get scolded by Eddie again.

Speaking of, the group followed Eddie up to an RV, passing a couple that was listening to the radio in front of it. See? Mavis had known his plan didn't involve anything legal. He opened a window and climbed inside, being followed by Steve who then helped Mavis up.

"Come on." Slowly but surely, all nine teenagers were inside.

Steve and Mavis walked to the front, finding Eddie messing with the cables underneath the wheel.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" the boy asked.

"Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire," he explained. "Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, yeah, I'm really living up to that Munson name."

"Eddie," Robin joined the three. "I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving."

"Same here. You're one of the worst drivers I know," Mavis nodded as she remembered that one time he had picked her up at Slatewood Records on his Chevrolet to go to a nearby town to get some new DnD supplies. Let's just say, she hadn't been in the same car as Eddie ever since.

"Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Harrington's got her. Don't ya, big boy?" he smirked, leaving Steve flustered and the girls confused.

However, there wasn't any time to respond, since the engine roared up to life, alerting the owners of what was happening.

"Hey!"

"Shit! Go," he ushered Eddie to stand up from the driver's seat before he jumped into it. "It's just a car..." he whispered to himself, trying to hype himself up.

"You got this, Steve," Mavis encouraged him as she sat down on the passenger seat.

He smiled at her softly before he turned to look at the back. "Everybody, hang on to something!"

"Oh my God! Oh my god! Let's go!"

"Drive, Steve! Drive!"

"Go, go, go!"

Without wasting any more time, Steve hit the gas pedal and the RV drove away as Up Around The Bend played through the vehicle.

"Shit, they look pissed," Dustin exclaimed, looking back at the owners.

"I mean, it's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop," Robin said.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Steve yelled as he turned the wheel to the right, the car taking the curve and finally leaving the trailer park.

Once the RV's wheels were on solid asphalt, all nine teenagers let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was fun," Mavis said sarcastically as she caught her breath.

"Oh, yeah, definitely, but can we please agree not to do it again?" Robin spoke.

"Sounds good to me," Mavis nodded.

"Now, Harrington, do you know the way?" Eddie asked from the back.

"I think so, yeah," he nodded. "But I'll let you know if I need help."

"Okay."

"Until then, you guys just sit back and relax. Get some rest. Who knows when we'll get the chance to do that again..."

They didn't need to be told twice: Robin sat down on one of the seats near the window, immediately resting her head on it and closing her eyes; Nancy sat next to her, resting her head on Robin's shoulder; Dustin and Eddie were sitting across from them, talking quietly about DnD; Erica was sitting on one of the other seats, holding her head with her hand as she tried to sleep; and Lucas and Max were in the back, sitting next to each other in comfortable silence.

"So... how are you handling it, Stevie?"

"Well, considering that this is a house, Mav... not half bad."

Mavis let out a chuckle as she hummed and nodded, not aware of Steve glancing at her.

"Yeah, it's... it's silly, but I... I've actually..." he struggled to sort his thoughts into words, scared of ruining whatever relationship Mavis and him had now. "I always had this dream that I'd have this like... this really... really big family. I'm talking, like, uh, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids."

"Six?" Mavis asked as she looked at him.

"Yeah," he nodded, glancing at her as well before he looked back at the road. "Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys," he let out a laugh, not aware of Mavis looking at him lovingly, a smile on her face.

"And... and every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and... just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something."

Steve stopped talking, losing momentum as he started to question himself. Why was he telling her all this? Well, he knew why, but this wasn't the moment for that.

"That sounds... really nice, Steve."

"Yeah?" he looked at her.

"Yeah," she nodded, and Steve couldn't help but glance at her lips. "There can't be anything better than a summer road trip."

"So... you like my dream?"

"Yes. Well, uh, except for the having to birth six kids part. I don't know if I'd be up for that," she chuckled, and he did as well.

"Okay, okay. Fair enough."

"But..." she looked at him. "I do want kids. More than one."

"You do?"

She nodded before she looked at the road again. "I grew up as an only child, and it was lonely at times, so... If I ever have a kid, I would definitely want them to have a sibling."

Steve nodded, silently agreeing with her. He knew what that was like.

"Any name ideas?" he asked.

"I haven't really given it too much thought, but, uh..." she stared off into the distance, a small smile on her face as her eyes teared up slightly. "I definitely want to name one of my daughters Emily. After my mom."

He smiled softly at her. "I'm sure she's proud of you."

She reciprocated the smile. "What about you? Any names?"

"Samuel. After my grandpa," he nodded. "Or Samantha, if it's a girl. I don't know, I just like the nickname Sam," Mavis chuckled and he did as well. It was contagious. "Plus, that way they would have the same initials as me, and I could pass down all the embroidered things my mom made me before I was born to them. Like a... family heirloom, or some shit like that," he blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed.

"That's cute. But you would have to embroider things for the other kids as well. Wouldn't want them to think you have favorites," she joked.

"Damn, you're right, Mav. Because, me? Favorites? Never," he joked back.

The two shared a laugh as the conversation ended, it turning into a comfortable silence as both Mavis and Steve thought about what it would be like to build a family together.

Maybe someday.

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"So much for avoiding angry hicks," Robin looked at Nancy, rolling her eyes slightly as they entered the War Zone, along with Mavis, Steve, Max, and Erica.

Lucas, Dustin and Eddie had stayed in the RV. Eddie for obvious reasons, and the other two boys because they were part of Hellfire, and therefore were associated with Eddie. They couldn't risk being caught.

"Let's be... fast," Nancy answered.

"Yep."

"Definitely," Erica agreed as the group separated.

Nancy went to look for some guns, Erica and Max wandered off together through the halls, and Robin and Mavis decided to go to the gasoline section as Steve went to look for some fresh clothes.

"How many of these do you think we need?" Robin asked Mavis as she threw a few gallons of kerosene fuel into a shopping cart.

"Five or six." Steve answered, coming back wearing a new shirt and jacket.

Mavis couldn't help but stare at him. What? He looked hot. Steve caught her looking and sent her a playful smirk, making her roll her eyes.

"I would get more, just in case," she disagreed with him as the two placed a few more gallons inside. "Don't you think, Rob?" No answer. "Rob?"

Both Mavis and Steve looked up at Robin, only to find her staring at Vickie, who was a few feet away from them looking at some protection items.

"What are you gonna do Robin? Just stand here and gawk at her?" Steve teased her best friend, who had a lovesick look written all over her face.

"Shut up."

"Go talk to her, Rob. It's your chance," Mavis encouraged her, and Robin was about to approach her when a blonde boy joined her, making her stop dead in her tracks.

The two were obviously flirting with each other, and then they shared a kiss. Mavis and Steve looked at each other before they both looked at Robin, seeing her tear up. God, it broke her heart.

In that moment, Vickie looked in their direction, her eyes meeting Robin, who slammed her shoulder against Steve's as she ran away.

"Robin. Robin!" he called out to her, but nothing. Sighing, he turned to look at Mavis. "I'll go make sure she's okay."

Mavis nodded. "I'll go look at the bows."

"See you later then," Steve said with a smile before he grabbed the shopping cart and followed his best friend.

Mavis just smiled, turning around and going to the clothes section to look for something clean and fitting to wear. She found a leather jacket that fit her well and a belt bag that she could use to store her things. Then, she headed towards the archery section. On the way there, she walked past the panels holding the firearms, seeing Nancy talking to the clerk as she looked at a shotgun. Shortly after, she was able to make out the archery equipment: the racks held an assortment of recurve bows, compound bows, and crossbows, while arrows, quivers, and targets completed the ensemble.

One of the crosswords immediately caught her eye, so she asked the clerk to hand it to her. Mavis was more of a longbow girl, but if they were going to go against Vecna, she needed something more precise.

"Thanks," she thanked him as she grabbed the crossbow, testing the weight before she pointed at one of the targets that were lying around.

Not bad.

"How much is this?"

"$150."

"Including bolts?" the clerk shook his head. "Hmm. How about $150 for the crossbow and, let's say... fifteen bolts?"

"... Deal."

She smiled proudly as she put the crossbow down.

"Well if it isn't Mavis Wilson."

Her body tensed up slightly, knowing exactly who had called her name. Licking the inside of her cheek in annoyance, she turned around to face him.

"Jason."

"I didn't know you were into archery."

"Yeah, well, you don't know anything about me, so..."

"Touché."

Declaring the conversation as ended, Mavis turned around to talk to the clerk again, but she was interrupted.

"Have you heard the news about Eddie?"

"It's hard not to, right? When the whole damn town is talking about it," she answered sarcastically.

Jason took a step closer towards her. "You know where he is, don't you? After all, you two are... good friends."

"I don't know where he is," she lied. "But even if I did, do you really think I would tell you, Carver?"

"He's dangerous, Mavis." Another step.

And this time, she took a step towards him as well, showing him he wasn't scared of her anymore. "He didn't kill Chrissy."

That angered Jason, who lifted his hand to grab Mavis' arm harshly, but she reacted quicker, stepping back again and aiming the crossbow at him.

"Step back."

"Mavis–"

"Step back."

The blonde boy glared at her before he stepped back, and Mavis didn't waste a second before she turned around and walked away.

"I'll find him, Mavis! And he'll pay for what he did."

With her back still facing him, Mavis sent a middle finger his way as she looked for her friends.

It didn't take long to find them, and after they all decided it was time to leave since Jason and his friends were there, they paid for their stuff and went back to the RV.

"What happened?" Lucas asked Mavis when they all rushed inside.

"We gotta go," she answered, going back to her seat.

"Your old friends are here," Erica added.

"Shit."

"Let's go! Let's go!" Dustin ushered Steve.

"I'm going! I'm going!" he yelled back. "Sit down!"

A while later, the RV was parked in a big field, the group having divided into different groups: Nancy and Max, Dustin and Eddie, Robin and Steve, and Mavis, Lucas and Erica.

"That's a really cool crossbow, Mavis," Lucas complimented as Mavis aimed her crossbow at one of the targets she had set up, shooting the bolt and hitting it straight in the middle.

"Thank you, Lucas."

"I thought you preferred longbows," Erica spoke.

"I do," Mavis confessed. "But... I need to make sure I don't miss. I can't miss."

"Wilson, how's that crossbow training going?" Eddie asked, and Mavis smiled as she sent him a thumbs up. "And Sinclairs, how are those, uh... those spears coming on?"

Lucas imitated Mavis, sending Eddie another thumbs up, and Erica snorted.

"Flip that damn thumb around."

"What?" he asked, his little sister grabbing the spear he had been making. "It's too loose, Lucas. This isn't a basketball game where they blow the whistle when your shoes fall off."

"She has a point," Mavis agreed teasingly.

Lucas glared at her slightly. "Okay, okay, for the record, my shoes never fell off."

"Okay, for the record, it's kinda hard for your shoes to fall off when you're riding the bench."

"Yet, for some reason, you show up to every game."

Mavis smiled at the two siblings bickering. A relationship like that was why she wanted more than one kid in the future.

"Mmm, except the one that mattered. Plus, Mom and Dad forced me."

"C'mon, Erica. Even I am not buying that."

"Mavis is right. That's bullshit. Mom and Dad can't force you to do shit."

"Well, even though you're a bench-riding loser, you're still my brother. Just the facts."

Lucas couldn't help his smile, and the same applied for Mavis.

"You two are adorable," she teased.

"We are not," the oldest Sinclair scoffed. "By the way. Have you thought about my offer?"

"Offer?"

"Yeah," he looked at Erica. "Remember my plan of asking Mavis to move in with us? I asked her."

"Huh," the youngest Sinclair looked at Mavis. "And?"

"I... I don't know," she said quietly. "Let's just wait until this is all over, okay? We can talk about it then."

"Deal?" Lucas asked, putting his hand down and being followed by Erica, who placed her hand over his.

"Deal," Mavis smiled widely as she placed her hand over theirs. She hadn't told them, but... they were like siblings to her. The siblings she always wished she had.

Unaware to them, Steve observed from a distance. He was more focused on Mavis though.

"I'm just saying," he said, looking back at Robin and returning to their conversation as the two filled up glass bottles with kerosene. "Fast Times was returned like a week ago, so either Vickie has a horndog brother, or she's just really into Judge Reinhold."

"Steve."

"What?"

"I don't care, and I don't understand why you do either with everything that's going on," she sighed. "Honestly, this feels like a perfect time for that little pull of the rug because... in the face of the world ending, the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low."

"Yeah. I mean, I get you there, but... I still have hope," he glanced at Mavis again.

"Not everything has a happy ending."

"Yeah, yeah, believe me, I know..."

"I'm not talking about romance, Steve. Because believe me, there's no way Mavis doesn't like you back," she chuckled, earning a small smile from Steve. "I just... I have this terrible, gnawing feeling that... it might not work out for us this time."

"You think we shouldn't be doing this?"

"I think we're mad fools, the lot of us, but..." she sighed, looking at their friends. "But if we don't stop him, who will?"

Steve looked at their friends too. Robin had a point. It was on them. They needed to put a stop to all this madness.

"We have to try, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "To killing Vecna."

"Slash Henry."

"Slash One."

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As the sun started to set, painting the sky with its golden brush, the Hawkins group, now all ready for battle, drove towards Creel House. Mavis sat on the passenger seat, her crossbow on her lap and her bag in front of her feet, as she stared out the window. This was it.

Steve glanced at her, reaching over to put his hand on her thigh and give it a gentle squeeze. Looking at him, she sent him a small smile before she placed her hand over his, caressing it softly, which brought a smile to Steve's face, who was looking at the road again.

The world might have been on the edge of ending, but both teenagers found solace on the fact that they had each other.

A while later, the RV arrived at its destination. Lucas, Max, and Erica grabbed their things, headed for the door. However, Mavis stopped them, grabbing her best friend by the sleeve of his sweater.

"Please be careful."

"We will," Lucas tried to reassure her, but Mavis wasn't letting go.

"No, I mean it. If something goes wrong, you three get the hell out of there, understand?"

"You heard her," Steve added. "We don't need anyone getting hurt."

"Okay, mom and dad," Erica said sarcastically. "We'll be careful."

"Promise?" she looked at Max.

"... Promise."

And with that, the three of them exited the RV, walking towards the house. Mavis observed them as they drove away. God, she hoped they would be okay.

No. She was going to make sure they were okay. Glancing at her crossbow once again, a determined look appeared on her face.

It was time to make Vecna pay.

『••✎••』

guess who's back...

it's been so long, & i'm so sorry, really, but life got in the way & then i had writers block so😭

but mavis is back!! & with a really long chapter lol so enjoy

i want to hear your thoughts about everything that's happened so far, & about how you think the next (& last chapter of act two) will go down!!

also, can we talk about how cute stavis' talk was in the rv? & about the relationship between mavis & the sinclairs? it warms my heart🥺

anyways, don't be a ghost reader & i'll see you next chapter! 💙

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PUZZLE © storyofanotherpaola, 2023.