CHAPTER FOUR
THE SLAUGHTER AT CREEL HOUSE

"It was here. Right here."

Mavis pointed her flashlight at the wall Max had led the group to, situated at the end of one of the high school halls. Just a while ago, her, Steve and Dustin had been able to get Max's attention again after she had been in some sort of trance, and shortly after that, Nancy and Robin joined them. And now here they were: trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy asked.

"It was so real," the redhead's voice was shaking. "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up."

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

Max turned around to face the others. "That's not even the bad part."

A few minutes later, they were back in the shrink's office.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help," Max explained as Robin and Nancy read the files, catching up. "Uh, they both were having headaches... bad headaches that just wouldn't go away. And then..." she sighed. "Then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. And then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. And these visions, they just... They kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... Everything ended," Max was on the verge of tears.

Mavis started to tear up as well. She was deeply worried about the girl. Steve glanced at her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders and giving it a squeeze, trying to comfort her.

It worked.

"Vecna's curse." Robin said.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago. I've been having them for five days." Realization hit the group, uneasiness creeping in. "I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so..." she let out a shaky breath. "Looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow."

Suddenly, they heard a distant clang, everybody turning their heads to look at the door.

"What was that?"

"Stay here," Steve looked at the group before he grabbed a lamp and walked into the hall.

Mavis didn't waste a second before following him, grabbing her flashlight as a weapon. The others followed after her. Footsteps were heard, and it seemed like someone was running towards them, because they were approaching rapidly. And then, from around the corner, Lucas appeared, making everybody get scared and therefore, scream.

"It's me!"

"Lucas?" Mavis asked, surprised to see him.

"It's me," he said, panting.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you, Sinclair?" Steve screamed, reprimanding the teen.

"I'm sorry."

"I could've taken you out with this lamp!" Steve screamed, placing the lamp back down.

"Sorry, guys. Sorry. I was... I was biking for eight miles," he held a finger up as he tried to catch his breath. "Give me a second. Shit. We've got a code red."

"What?" Steve asked.

"Mavis," he walked over to her, worry written on his face. "I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone like totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger."

"Uh, I certainly know where he is, so... that sucks," she rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "But, we have bigger problems than the jocks right now," she looked back at Max, and Lucas followed her gaze.

"Why? What happened?"

"We'll explain later," Steve chimed in. "We need to get out of here first."

Leaving everything as they found it, the group left Hawkins High. Nancy got into her car, Robin next to her, while the rest of the group got into Steve's BMW, Lucas' bike being put in its trunk. During the ride to the Wheelers' house, no one dared to talk. Everybody was too worried about Max, trying to figure out a way to help her.

As she tried to look for any helpful information in the library inside her brain, Mavis felt a sudden and sharp pain in her head. She closed her eyes tightly as she looked out the window, not wanting Steve to notice. She had been having headaches for a few days now, but she didn't want anyone to be concerned. They were due to all the stress she had been experiencing lately so, it was nothing to worry about.

Right?

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The next morning, Mavis was in the Wheelers' basement alongside Steve, Lucas, Dustin and Max while Robin and Nancy were upstairs. They had spent the night there, but to be honest, none of them had been able to sleep. The concern about Max was too big.

Mavis was sitting on the couch between Lucas and Dustin, reading through the copies Nancy and Robin had gotten at the library. It was an article published in The Weekly Watcher in 1959, titled Victor Creel Claims: Ancient Demon Killed Family. The Murder That Shocked A Small Community. It was an interesting article, so she read through it rather quickly. Most of it made sense to her as she connected the dots, but some pieces of the puzzle were still missing.

Apparently, Victor Creel firmly believed that his house was haunted by an ancient demon. In fact, he even hired a priest to exorcise the demon from his home. But it failed, and the demon only got angrier, murdering his family. He also believed he was spared as punishment.

Steve grumbled. "Okay, be honest. Uh... You guys understand any of this?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Lucas shook his head. "No."

"Pretty straightforward," Dustin said.

"Oh, straightforward, really?"

"What's confusing to you? So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He's the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him," he explained.

"Yeah, that's assuming that he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know. How can Vecna have existed back in the fifties? It doesn't make sense," Steve said as he rubbed his temple with his fingertips.

"I mean, El didn't create the Upside Down, right?" Mavis spoke, the boys looking at her. "She just opened a gate. So, who knows, maybe the Upside Down has been there for... millions of years."

Dustin nodded, agreeing with her. "I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs? What are we–"

"Okay, okay," Lucas interrupted. "But if a gate didn't exist in the fifties, how did Vecna get through?"

Steve pointed at Lucas, agreeing with him. "Oh, and how's he getting through now?"

"And why now?"

"And why then? Just pops out in the fifties, kills one family, and he's like, 'I'm good.' And poof, he just disappears. Just... gone? Only to return thirty years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it," he sighed.

"Yeah, that's what I don't understand either," Mavis shook her head slightly. "It just... doesn't make sense."

Steve looked at Dustin. "Straightforward, my ass. You know, honestly, Henderson, a little humility every now and then, it wouldn't hurt you."

"Sorry," Dustin apologized as Steve sat down.

Mavis looked up from her copy to look at Max, who was sitting in front of a wooden desk, her arm moving rapidly as she wrote something down. "I wonder what she's writing..."

The boys just shrugged, looking at the redhead again.

"Did she sleep?" Dustin asked.

"I mean, would you?" Lucas countered.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. And then, Robin appeared, looking at the group. More specifically at Mavis.

"Mavis, could you come with me for a second?"

She nodded, handing her copy to Steve before following Robin upstairs. There, Nancy was sitting in front of the dining table, documents and files lying open on it.

"Okay, here she is," Robin sat down next to Nancy, and Mavis took the free seat.

"If you had to choose a name to go undercover, which one would you choose?" the Wheeler girl asked, making Mavis widen her eyes.

That had been random. But she knew which name she would choose if that ever happened: her mother's.

"Uh... probably Emily," she replied.

"Perfect," Nancy smiled before she stood up, walking over to the phone to make a call.

Mavis looked at Robin, confusion written all over her face. "Okay, what's this all about?"

"Well, we found out Victor's in Pennhurst Asylum, and we want to talk to him. To help Max," Robin explained, and Mavis nodded slowly. "But obviously they're not going to let three teenagers waltz in there to talk to a supposed serial killer. So..."

"We are going undercover."

Robin smirked. "Exactly. Nance is calling some of the people in the school's newspaper so that they can falsify us some documents."

"Impressive," Mavis smiled.

"I know, right? She's full of surprises," she chuckled. "And if you're wondering why you're here, well, I told Nance you're one of the smartest people I know, so we definitely need you to come with us."

Mavis' smile widened. "I'm flattered."

"Okay," Nancy came back, sitting back down and putting more documents on the table. "We got everything we need. We are no longer three teenage girls from Hawkins, we are psychology students at the University of Notre Dame. The next step would be to call Pennhurst Asylum."

"Let's do it then."

Mavis stood up and grabbed the phone, dialing the number to the asylum after Nancy had told her what to say. "Pennhurst Mental Hospital, how can I help you?"

"Hello!" she said as she walked into the living room, wanting some privacy for the call. "I'm a student at the University of Notre Dame, and I'm co-writing a thesis on paranoid schizophrenics with two fellow students. We were wondering if it would be possible to speak with Victor Creel for it."

There was a long silence on the other line. "I'm afraid that's not possible."

She frowned. "Isn't there any way we could?"

"No. Nobody speaks to Creel."

What now?

"It's okay, I understand. Would it be possible if we at least got a chance to talk to the director? I'm sure our thesis would greatly benefit from it."

Another silence. "Yes, that would be possible. Would three o'clock work?"

Bingo. "Yes, three o'clock would be perfect."

"Then I'll write you down. Can I get your names?"

"I'm Emily Hoffman, and my friends are Ruth and Rose."

"Perfect. We'll see you soon."

"Yes, see you soon. And thanks again!" she exclaimed happily before hanging up and walking back to the dining table.

Robin and Nancy looked at her expectantly when she came back.

"So?" Robin asked.

Mavis smiled. "We're in."

After working out every single part of their undercover plan, the three girls walked back into the basement.

"Okay, so... we have a plan," Nancy said as Mavis and Robin handed the fake documents to the boys.

"Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame," Robin smirked.

"I'm now Ruth."

"I'm Rose."

"And I'm Emily," Mavis spoke, earning a soft smile from Lucas. He knew how much her mother meant to her.

"Nice GPA," Dustin complimented Nancy as he looked through her file.

"Thanks," she smiled. "So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics..."

"To which they said no," Robin interrupted.

"But we were able to land a three o'clock with the director," Mavis smiled.

"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor," Robin explained.

"Anything to rid Max of this curse..." Mavis looked at the girl.

"Yeah, about that. We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh..." Steve sighed. "We got some questions."

"Lots of questions," Lucas agreed.

"So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers."

"Wait, wait, wait... Wait a second. Uh..." the older boy closed the folder he was holding. "Where's mine?"

The girls just exchanged a look before Nancy stood up and left the basement, Steve following after her immediately.

"Uh... we should probably go with them," Mavis suggested as she walked up the stairs, Robin doing the same.

"Nancy, you're outta your mind if you think I'm babysitting again," Steve's voice could be heard in the staircase, coming out of what Mavis assumed was Nancy's bedroom.

"Okay, first of all, they're not babies anymore. And Max is in real danger. She needs people around her," Nancy spoke.

"I know. But why does it always have to be me?"

"Because you're the best babysitter in Hawkins," Mavis leaned against the doorframe, a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Steve looked at Mavis. God was she pretty. He quickly looked back at Nancy, not wanting Mavis to see him blush.

"Oh my God," Robin walked inside the room. "You have a Tom Cruise poster," she looked at Nancy with a smirk, ready to tease her. "You have a Tom Cruise poster."

"That's old. It's just..." Nancy sighed, and Robin just laughed as she knelt down to look through her stuff. "Can you please not touch anything?"

"I think it's too late for that," Mavis chuckled slightly.

"I just... I can't do anything here, Nance," Steve complained. "Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude. I don't know. I could like, turn on my, like..." he snapped his fingers. "My charm."

"No offense Stevie, but that's not exactly the charm we need," Mavis smirked.

"Ouch, Mav," he looked at her, a small pout on his face. "You're hurting me."

"Mavis is right," Nancy intervened. "I did a little digging last night, and it turns out this Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world. And if we're gonna win him over, we're gonna have to convince him that we are too. That, like him... we are true academic scholars."

"Holy shit," Robin whispered, gaining looks from the others as she lifted a music box. "There's a little ballerina in here."

"Academic scholar?" Steve asked incredulously. "She's giving you an academic scholar vibe? Like I get Mav, she's super smart. But Robin?"

"Okay, she does not give academic scholar, but she will," Nancy smiled as she grabbed a pink blouse from her closet and held it up for everyone to see.

"Oh, please, tell me that you're joking," Robin complained.

Mavis covered her mouth as she let out a laugh, laughing about the horrible shirt her best friend had to wear.

"What are you laughing about?" Nancy smirked slightly. "You're getting a makeover too."

"Oh hell no."

"If I'm going to suffer, you will too," Robin smiled, finding solace in the fact her best friend was going to get an awful makeover alongside her. "Now, dingus, you need to leave."

"What?" Steve frowned.

"Rob's right," Mavis smiled slightly as she grabbed his shoulders and pushed him out of the room softly. "Go back to your kids, Stevie. We'll see you soon," she closed the door in his face.

"This isn't fair!" Steve complained before he walked down the stairs, the girls hearing his footsteps.

Mavis turned back to face Nancy. "Do we really need a makeover?"

Nancy sighed. "Look, there is nothing wrong with your guys' clothes, but they don't really scream 'I have a 3.9 GPA.'"

Robin sighed. "I hate to say this... but she has a point."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed too. "Well, Nancy, hit us with your best academic scholar looks."

The Wheeler girl smiled before she looked through her closet and took out a few pieces of clothing. Robin and Mavis looked through them, deciding which ones they would wear. Mavis wasn't going to say it out loud, but she thought this whole makeover thing was really fun. It reminded her of the sleepovers she used to have when she was younger, making her feel nostalgic.

After choosing their respective outfits, it was time for some makeup and new hairstyles.

"Do we really need makeup?" Robin complained.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Nancy exclaimed excitedly. She missed having some girl time.

"I agree with Nance," Mavis smiled slightly. "And either way, we really need to play the part if we want them to let us talk to Victor."

"Ugh, okay."

And lo and behold, around fifteen minutes later the three girls were all dressed up. Mavis looked at her reflection in the mirror inside Nancy's room. Her hair had been curled slightly, all gathered together in a half updo. She was wearing a beige blouse and a long pink skirt, along with some small heels and a white BBC and pink striped blazer.

Definitely not her style.

The three girls walked back down the stairs, headed for the basement again. And Mavis was nervous. She didn't want Steve to see her like this. What if he liked this version of her and not her true self? She was already struggling with her one sided crush, so she really didn't need him to like her just because of her new look.

However, she couldn't be more wrong.

As the girls walked down the stairs to the basement, Steve looked up, his gaze immediately stopping on Mavis as his mouth opened slightly. She looked... beautiful. But then again, she always did. And if he was being honest, he preferred her usual style over this. It was more her.

"Oooh," Dustin smirked. "Mavis, Robin, the makeover suits you."

"Shut up, Henderson," Mavis retorted, a smile on her face.

"What? It's the truth!" he looked at Steve. "Wouldn't you agree that Mavis looks good, Steve?" he asked teasingly.

Mavis looked at him expectantly, her heart going a hundred miles an hour.

"Yeah, Mav looks good," he agreed. "But... she always does."

The blood rushed into her cheeks, turning them a scarlet color. Had he actually just say that?

"I would love to stay here and talk about Steve's feelings, but we really need to go," Robin intervened.

Nancy looked at her watch and sighed. "Yeah, we really need to get going," she looked at Steve. "Keep an eye on them, okay?"

He was still blushing, so he just nodded.

Robin and Nancy walked back up the stairs and Mavis went to follow them, but she stopped when she felt a hand wrap itself around her wrist. She turned around to see who it belonged to: Max.

"Is everything okay?" she asked the young girl.

"Yeah, it's just..." she sighed, handing Mavis a brown envelope with her name written on it. "This is for you. But don't read it now. It's just in case... things don't work out."

She smiled reassuringly, taking the letter and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Things are going to work out, okay? We'll help you get rid of this stupid curse."

Max didn't seem to believe her, and Mavis couldn't blame her, so she just gave her shoulder a slight squeeze before she left the basement.

It was time to get some answers.

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"I can't breathe in this thing, and I'm itchy. I'm itching all over," Robin complained.

"It's not all about comfort. Okay?" Nancy explained. "We're academics."

"Who are coming straight from church," Mavis said sarcastically.

"Exactly!" Robin exclaimed. "Also, this bra that you gave me is really pinching my boobs. Is yours not pinching your boobs?" she asked Mavis, who shook her head.

"Mine is surprisingly comfortable."

"You're so lucky.

"Okay," Nancy sighed. "Could you guys just let me do the talking? If that's even possible?" she looked at Robin.

"It's not only possible, it's inevitable. Because shortly, I'll be dead from strangulation."

Mavis let out a chuckle. "Nancy's right. We need to put on our best show, so..." she smiled at the girls as she opened the door to Pennhurst Asylum. "Let's break a leg."

They walked inside and greeted Doctor Hatch's secretary, stating their names and business. And shortly after, they were sitting in his office, Nancy to the right, Robin in the middle, and Mavis to the left.

"3.9 GPAs. All of you. Impressive," Doctor Hatch said as he saw their documents.

"And this is a recommendation from Professor Brantley," Nancy handed him another document.

"Yeah, I know Larry. Quite well, actually. Eh, you know what they say... 'Those who can't do, teach,'" Robin chuckled alongside him.

"That's actually the reason we're here," Mavis spoke softly. "I mean, there's only so much one can learn in a classroom. And studies show that learning by doing is the most effective technique."

"True. And believe me, I'm sympathetic to your struggle, truly. But there is a protocol to visiting a patient like Victor. You have to put in a request and then you have to undergo a screening process, at which point the board will make a decision."

Mavis frowned slightly as she looked down at her lap, Robin and Mavis sighing. "I can see you're disappointed. But I'm more than happy to give you a tour of our facility. Perhaps you can even speak to some patients in our low-security wing."

"And we'd... we would love that," Nancy smiled. "It's just that, um... our thesis is due next month."

"And you're out of time," she nodded. "Whose fault is that?"

"It is certainly our fault," Mavis said. "We apologize..."

"Don't apologize, Emily. Screw that," both Mavis and Nancy turned to look at Robin. "The fact of the matter is, we did put in a request months ago and were denied. And then we reapplied and were denied again. And coming here was our last-ditch effort to save our thesis. And I really... I can't breathe in this thing."

"Well, Rose, maybe you'd like to go outside and get some air," Nancy spoke through her teeth, afraid Robin had ruined their cover.

But Mavis had a small smile on her face.

"Maybe I should, Ruth," Robin stood up. "Because I'm starting to think this whole thing is a colossal mistake. I'm breaking out in a rash. My boobs hurt. And I'll tell you the truth, Anthony. May I call you Anthony? These aren't actually my clothes. I borrowed them because I wanted you to take us seriously. Because nobody takes girls seriously in this field. They just don't. We don't look the part or whatever." Mavis was so proud of her. "But can I tell you a story? 1978, I was at summer camp. And my counselor Drew told me and everyone in Cabin C the true story of the Victor Creel Massacre. And little Petey McHew... You know Petey, right, Emily?" she looked at Mavis.

"Of course I know Petey."

Robin then looked back at Doctor Hatch. "Little Petey McHew started sobbing right there on the spot. Full-on hyperventilating. And all the other campers, they couldn't sleep for weeks. And I couldn't sleep either, but not 'cause I was scared. Because I was obsessed with the question, 'What would drive a human being to commit such unimaginable acts?' Other kids, they wanted to be astronauts, basketball players, rock stars. But I wanted to be you. I wanted to be you. So, forgive me if I'll now try anything in my power, including wearing this ridiculous outfit, if I might get the chance to speak to the man that ignited my passion and learn a little bit more about how his twisted, but let's face it, totally fascinating mind works. So, yes, we don't have the official paperwork, but don't tell me that cry-baby Petey McHew wouldn't have gotten an audience with Victor in a matter of moments if he'd asked politely, because you and I both know that he would. So... ten minutes with Victor. That's all I ask."

If she could, Mavis would have bursted in applause right there.

Doctor Hatch was moved by Robin's speech, and so he nodded before standing up and leaving his office, the three girls behind him.

"I'm back in thirty," he told his secretary, who just hummed.

Mavis, Robin and Nancy shared a look, all smirking as Robin put both her hands out on each side of her body, Mavis and Nancy giving their respective hands a high five.

They were in.

"These are our gardens," the Doctor spoke as the four of them went outside. "Beautiful, aren't they? We allow them two hours of outside time a day."

"Isn't that... dangerous?" Mavis asked. "I mean, they could escape."

"They could. But the vast majority choose to be here. They like it here."

Shortly after, they were inside another building.

"This is one of our more popular areas. The listening room. We found that music has a particularly calming effect on the broken mind," Doctor Hatch explained. "The right song, particularly one which holds some personal meaning, can prove a salient stimulus."

Mavis nodded. "I've read about it. Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory."

He looked at her, a proud smile on his face. "Exactly. I'm glad to see you've learned about it. However, there are those who are beyond a cure," he said as they walked through a door and down some stairs.

"Uh, Dr. Hatch, do you think it might be possible for us to speak to Victor alone?" Nancy asked.

"Alone?"

"I... I think that we would just love the challenge of speaking with Victor without the safety net of an expert such as yourself," Robin intervened. "Then we could really rub it in Professor Bradley's face when we go back to campus–"

"Professor Bradley? I don't believe I know a Professor Bradley."

"She meant to say Brantley," Mavis smiled, giving Robin a look.

"Didn't I say Brantley? What did I say? Sorry, silly me. Words, letters," the two of them chuckled. "Guess I'm just nervous. I mean, excited. So excited to speak with Victor. Preferably, as Ruth said, alone?"

There was a long silence, and Mavis was scared their cover had been blown. However, she didn't have anything to worry about.

"Yes. Why not? You've caught me in a rebellious mood," he chuckled, the girls chuckling alongside him. "And there's something rather urgent I need to check on anyway, so... Sure," he turned to the guard after he checked his watch. "Keep a close eye on them."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Hatch," Mavis smiled at him as he walked back up the stairs.

"Thank you," Robin said before letting out a small sigh.

The guard used his keys to open the door and the girls followed him inside. Mavis looked around: the cells were to the left, and none of them were empty. It was... definitely creepy.

"Do not startle him. Do not touch him. Do not pass him anything. Stand five feet away from the bars at all times. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," the girls said in unison.

"Victor," the guard spoke as he clung his baton against the metal bars. Behind them, there was a man sitting on a desk, but you could only see his back. "Today's your lucky day! You got visitors. Real pretty ones."

Ew.

Victor just used his nails to scratch his desk. "Must be in one of his moods," the guard shrugged before he started to walk away. "Have fun."

"Victor?" Mavis called out to him as she took a step closer to the cell. "I'm Mavis. Mavis Wilson. And these girls with me are Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley."

"Um, we have some questions," Robin said, her voice a bit shaky.

"I don't talk to reporters. Hatch knows that."

"We're not reporters," Nancy spoke, taking a step closer, just like Mavis had done before. "We're here because... we believe you."

"Whatever killed your family, we think it's back," Robin took a step closer as well, standing now next to Nancy and Mavis.

"And we definitely need your help if we want to defeat him."

Victor stopped scraping his nails against the desk, slowly sitting up before he turned around, facing the girls completely.

Mavis gulped and her eyes widened slightly. Victor was blind. And his eyelids were filled with scars, almost as if he had tried to... rip his eyes out of his skull.

"One of our friends, Max Mayfield, she..." Mavis sighed. "She's been cursed by the same monster that killed your family."

"When he attacks, our friend described it as a trance," Nancy explained. "Like a waking nightmare. That's why we think he's coming for her next. Does any of this sound like what happened to your family?"

Victor just let out a shaky breath.

"Victor... I know this is hard–"

"You don't know anything!" he screamed.

"You're right," Mavis spoke softly. "We don't know anything, but that's exactly why we're here. We want to understand."

"We need to know how you survived that night," Robin said.

"Survived?" he let out a laugh as he stood up from his chair. "Is that what you call this? Did I survive? No, I assure you, I am still very much in hell."

Mavis took a deep breath, her eyes welling up with tears. She wasn't scared of him. She pitied him. She was so sorry he had to go through all of that...

"I had been back from the war some fourteen years," he started to tell them his story. "Her great-uncle had died, leaving us a small fortune. Enough to buy a new home, a new life. It was a magnificent home. Alice said it looked like it was from a fairy tale," he smiled slightly at the memory.

"Alice. Was this your daughter?"

"Yeah. But Henry, my... my boy, he was a sensitive child. And I could see he felt something was wrong. We had one month of peace in that house. And then it began. Dead animals, mutilated, tortured, began to appear near our home. Rabbits, squirrels, chickens, even dogs. The police chief blamed the attacks on a wildcat. This..." he let out another chuckle. "This was no wildcat. This was an evil. And evil neither animal nor human. This was a spawn of Satan," he approached the metal bars, looking at the girls. "A demon. And it was even closer than I realized."

The girls were listening intensely.

"My family began to have encounters conjured by this demon. Nightmares. Waking, living nightmares." That certainly matched the symptoms... "This demon, it seemed to take pleasure in tormenting us. Even poor, innocent Alice. It wasn't long before I began to have encounters of my own," he was slightly shaking. "I suppose all evil must have a home. And though I had not a rational explanation for it, I... I could sense this demon, always close. I became convinced it was hiding, nesting, somewhere within the shadows of our home. It had cursed our town. It had cursed our home. It had cursed us."

Chills ran down Mavis' spine, knowing the story was about to take a much darker turn.

"It took Virginia first," Victor said as he sat down on his bed, tears filling his eyes. "I tried to get the children out, to save them. But I was back to France, back in the war. It... it was a memory. I had thought German soldiers were inside. I ordered its shelling. I was wrong," he used his hands to cover his ears, panting. "This demon, it was taunting me. And I was sure it would take me, just as he'd taken my Virginia. But then... I heard... another voice. At first, I believed it was an angel. And I... I followed her, only to find myself... in a nightmare far worse," he sighed. "While I was away, the demon took my children. Henry slipped into a coma shortly after that. A week later, he died. I tried to join them. I tried," he started to sob as he brought his fists to his eyes. "Hatch stopped the bleeding. He wouldn't let me join them," Victor continued to sob as he laid down on his bed.

"The angel you followed, who was she?" Nancy asked.

Victor didn't answer. Instead, he started to hum a song. A song Mavis recognized very well.

She was about to speak when suddenly, the doors opened and Doctor Hatch walked towards them, the guard from before behind him.

"Is he everything you hoped he would be? I just had a very interesting conversation with Professor Brantley. Perhaps we should discuss in my office while we wait for the police."

Oh no.

They didn't have a choice but to follow the two men, who were then joined by another guard as soon as they left the cells.

"You need to understand. We needed to talk to him!" Mavis tried to explain their situation. "It's urgent!"

"Yeah, right," was all Doctor Hatch had to say.

"You're not listening. Our friend is in danger," Nancy exclaimed.

"Do you really expect me to believe anything you have to say at this point?"

"It's the truth!" Robin screamed as they walked through the listening room again.

"You are free to tell your sob story to the police."

Mavis slowed her walking down, her eyes fixating on the patients in the room, who were intensely listening to the music.

"Move along," one of the guards put his hand on her back.

"Don't you fucking touch me," she glared at him before she followed the others outside.

Doctor Hatch was walking ahead of them, and the guards were behind them, so there wasn't really a way out. But Mavis needed to tell her friends about her theory.

"Girls," she called out as she ran up to them, positioning herself between the two. "Do you remember that tune Victor was humming? When we asked him about the angel that saved him? Well, it was Ella Fitzgerald's song Dream A Little Dream Of Me."

"The voice of an angel."

"Exactly," she smiled. "And music can reach parts of the human brain that words can't. So maybe that's what saved Victor."

"A lifeline back to reality," Nancy nodded.

"It's worth a shot."

Nancy looked behind her at the guards before looking back at her friends. "I think we can beat them."

"What?"

"To the car."

Mavis nodded. "Let's do it."

"Okay. I'm warning you two right now, I have terrible coordination. Like it took me six months longer to walk than all the other babies," Robin explained.

"Just follow my lead," Nancy said before she started running, Mavis running after her without wasting a second.

"No, my God!" Robin yelled as she followed them.

"Hey! Get back here! Stop right there!" The guards called up to them as the girls ran through the garden. Nancy lost both of her shoes, Robin was having trouble with her coordination, and Mavis was running out of breath.

Thankfully, Nancy's car was close by. Nancy got the keys out of her purse, opening the car. Robin sat down on the passenger seat while Mavis climbed in the back. The guards started to knock on the windows, telling them to get out of the car, but they didn't listen. Nancy turned the engine on, and they drove away.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" Robin exclaimed, a smile on her face.

"I can't believe we actually did it," Mavis chuckled, running a hand through her hair.

"You really are a weird runner," Nancy smiled at Robin, and soon after, the three girls bursted in laughter.

But that was soon interrupted by Dustin's voice coming from Mavis' walkie talkie.

"Mavis, where the hell are you? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red!"

She grabbed the walkie out of her backpack, starting to get worried. "Dustin, it's me. We're here," she was still panting from the whole running.

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

She looked at Nancy and Robin from the backseat, a smile on her face. "We have. So, music can impact the brain's function, activating every part of it, and therefore, it can also influence human behavior. In fact–"

"Mavis, I love your random facts, I really do, but we don't have time for that!!" Dustin screamed, and Mavis sighed as she extended her arm, moving the walkie away from her ear.

"Just play Max her favorite song!"

"What? That doesn't–"

"Just do it!"

"Okay! Fuck!" Dustin cursed on the other line. "We'll do that. Over and out."

Mavis let out a deep breath as she put her walkie back in her backpack and looked out the window as Nancy drove back to Hawkins. Suddenly, she started to feel dizzy, and then, she felt something run down her nose. She brought her hand to it and when she brought it back down, her eyes widened slightly as she saw her fingers filled with blood. In a swift motion, she wiped the blood away with her hand.

"Everything okay?" Nancy asked, having seen Mavis shift slightly through the rearview mirror.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine," she smiled slightly before she looked back out the window.

Everything was not fine.

『••✎••』

oops... i think another member of the hawkins gang might be cursed🤭

what do you think of this chapter? tbh, i just finished writing it & i haven't proofread it yet, so there may be some mistakes lol; also, i don't know if i quite like how it turned out, but oh well

mavis joined ronance in pennhurst! at first i was thinking on leaving her with steve, but i decided some girl power was necessary, & tbh, i love these three (also, mavis' outfit during this episode is in the lookbook now!)

also, i'm sorry that it took me so long to get a new chapter out, college has been keeping me busy😭 but i will try my best to update more often

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

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PUZZLE © storyofanotherpaola, 2022.