This was it. Potentially the end of everything.  A.l the things we had ever been used to. Once we made it to our destination it was time for the plan. "Okay. I wanna run though it one more time. Phase one." Nancy said as we'd all prepared for battle. The biggest one so far.

"We meet Erica at the playground. She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready." Robin said to her. I looked at Hunter. I hated that he was here with us.

"Phase two." I said to them all.

"Max baits Vecna. He'll go after here, which'll put him in his trance." Steve said to us and I looked at Nancy.

"Phase three?" Nancy asked us all.

"Me, Hunter and Eddie draw the bats away." Dustin said and I hope they had this.

"Four?" I asked them all.

"We head into Vecna's newly bat-free lair, and...flambé." Robin said and she shakes the Molotov. I looked at Steve. This could be the end.

"Nobody moves onto the next phase until we've all copied. Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?" Nancy asked and I looked at her.

"Got it." We all said. There was no way I was straying. We then ran to Eddie's trailer. Steve flipped the light on. And there was the rope. Still through the gate. All going up one at a time.

"Be careful." Dustin said to Steve before he went up.

"Thanks, Buddy. Here goes nothing." Steve said and he went up. I looked at Eddie. Hugging him.

"If something happens, I want to thank you for being one of the best friends I could've asked for." I said to him and he hugged me back.

"Thank you for seeing me other than an outcast but we'll be okay." He said to me and we pulled away I then went to Hunter.

"I know be safe blah blah blah but you need to be safe I know you." He said to me and I ruffled his hair.

"I will don't worry." I said and that's when I saw that Steve had made it up.

"All right. Let's go." He said after he got the mattress ready. Nancy was next followed by all the stuff. Then it was Eddie. Then Eddie's things. I was next. "I gotcha." Steve said and he pulled me up our face inches away. We closed the gap between us with a short but sweet kiss. Maybe the last one. Soon all my stuff came down followed by Robin. Soon it was Hunter which meant that Dustin was the last of us to drop down. We then exited. I went looked at the three of them starting behind. "Hey, guys, listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just- -" Steve started lecturing them.

"Decoys." Steve and Dustin said at the same time.

"Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve." Dustin said to him sarcastically.

"We won't take that title from you." Hunter said to him.

"Absolutely. I mean, look at us. We are not heroes." Eddie said and we walked away. "Hey, Steve and Solace?" Eddie said stopping us we looked at him. "Make him pay." He said and I nodded at him.

"We will, don't worry." I said and we kept walking. This would have to work. Who knew what the outcome would be like if we didn't. It felt like we'd been walking through the forest for ages. There was no sign of the Creel house so far.

"Uh...I don't mean to freak anyone out, but I swear we've seen this tree before." Robin said and I looked at her.

"Hopefully it's just similar." I said to her. I was hoping that we weren't just walking around in circles.

"That's impossible." Nancy said and it had to be impossible.

"That would suck, right? If Vecna destroyed the world because...'cause we got lost in the woods?" Robin asked and she was panicking but we weren't lost. We were just trying to find the right direction.

"We're not lost, Robin." Nancy said making Robin chuckle.

"We aren't. Don't worry." I said to her and she powered ahead.

"Robin, hey. Watch out for the vines! Hive mind. Remember?" Nancy asked her and this was like parenting all over again.

"Thank you!" Robin shouted and Steve looked at us.

"Uh, don't worry about her. She's just stressed. You know, scared." Steve said and I looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm scared too." I said to him. I was just hiding it. I didn't want anyone to know.

"Yeah. Yeah. I...I know. It's just..." Nancy started saying to us and Steve looked at us.

"She's a super klutz and your a super stressor?" Steve asked and we both chuckled. He was right about that. I stressed over anything.

"She did tell us that it took her longer to walk than most babies, so..." Nancy said and Steve started to chuckle.

"I really shouldn't laugh. When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards." Steve said and I looked at him curiously. That was something I'd never heard of before.

"Crawled backwards?" Nancy and I asked him at the same time.

"You know, I'd push with my hands like this. Beep. Beep. Always in reverse, you know? Come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?" Steve said and I shook my head at him.

"Not at all but if it makes sense to you. It'll make sense to me at some point." I said to him although it would never make any sense to me at all.

"No, no, it doesn't make sense." Nancy said to the both of us and she was really talking for us both.

"Well, it did to my tiny little Harrington brain. That is, until I reverse my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head really good. Yeah." He said to us and I looked at him.

"Makes a lot of sense. Clears a few things up." I said to him and he shook his head at me with a smile.

"Wow. That explains so much." Nancy said and Steve chuckled. It was two against one here.

"Yeah. I think it kinda does. I think, like, right out of the gate, like, I'm super confident. But I'm also, like, an idiot. Which is just...I mean, it's a brutal combination. But, I mean, the good news is, I get a big enough thump on my head, I can change, you know? I can learn. I can crawl forward. Listen, I guess what I'm trying to say in a really stupid, roundabout way is, um...is thank you." Steve said as he stopped to look at me. Nancy kept walking. She was detecting something I hadn't known.

"You're thanking me?" I asked him. I've never been more confused.

"Yeah." He said to me and I looked at him.

"But why?" I asked him and he looked at me.

"For giving my head the biggest thump of its life two year ago. I needed it. It's changed my life. And now I'm crawling forward. Slowly. I just wonder sometimes...you know, if...some other girl had given me a proper thump before we'd met, would things have been different? Like, if we were meeting together for the first time right now, part of me...I dunno, part of me thinks we still would've made it like we have done. You really changed me Y/n and I'm glad I still have you." He said to me and I stopped and looked at him.

"Steve..." I said to him and he looked at me.

"Remember the dream I told you about? About the Winnebago? Seeing the country with my six lil' nuggets? It's all true. Every last word. But I left one part out. It's the most important part. You're there. You've always been there." He said to me and I smiled at him.

"Then I guess we need to live to make that true." I said to him with a smile. He smiled back at me.

"Hey guys! You guys! Awesome news!" Robin shouted as she ran over. Nancy walking behind her. "Looks like we weren't going the wrong way after all. Come on. Let's go!" Robin shouted and we started after her.

"Okay." Steve said to her. "Ro...Slow down! Ro...Robin!" Steve shouted and we kept walking. Following Robin. We then saw it. The house. Then the climbing structure with a light.

"Erica." Steve and I said at the same time. This was it. The start of the end. Or maybe the start of the new beginning for Hawkins. We signaled to Erica and now we waited for the others.

"Okay, the lovebirds have copied, Max is moving into phase two: distracting Vecna." Erica said and this was working well so far.

"So far, so smooth." Robin said to us.

"Don't jinx it just yet." I said to her, a lot could happen.

"Yeah, we're not even at the hard part yet." Steve said before there was a thunderclap. I'd gotten used to them by now. I wasn't scared anymore. We heard the swarm ahead of us.

'Take the bait, you son of a bitch. Take the bait." Nancy said and the bats needed to.

"Just move already." I said to the swarm. Hopefully the others were doing well. We needed all these plans to work. Especially if we needed this to work and everyone knew this needed to work. And if we didn't do this Hawkins would never be the same. It felt like an eternity before we could start moving in.

"Okay, she's in. Initiate phase three." Erica said and that's when Robin got ready to make the call.

"She's in. Move on to phase three." She said to Dustin and Hunter.

"Copy that. Initiating phase three." Dustin said back and now it was time for the distraction soon all of these bats started flocking. Thank god.

"Okay, it's working. Let's go." Nancy said and I was glad about this.

"Time to kill Vecna." I said with a smile. "And save Max." I got out this was more important. Nothing else mattered. Now that these bats were distracted. We had to hope that it would last. Last for as long as it could. When we entered into the Creel house. It was vines everywhere. It was hop scotch in here.

"Oh shit. That's not good." Steve said and he then made the first few jumps around.

"Shit." Robin said to us.

"It's okay. You got this." Nancy said and I looked at her.

"And if anything gets you. We'll attack it." I said to her and that's when I entered into the building. Robin behind. She was doing well. This whole thing was a nightmare. We'd never be able to get up to the attic. Especially if the whole place was covered like this. We then started on our way upstairs.

"Easy." Steve said as he helped Robin and I up. Nancy followed after us. We then saw the red light coming from upstairs. That was when the earthquake hit and we grabbed onto Steve. That's when Robin looked down. A vine had started to wrap around her leg. Then she was thrown up against the wall get tangled.

"Steve! Y/n! Nancy!" She shouted and we started to help her. Steve was next.

"Steve!" I shouted. I was next. Followed by Nancy. We were being suffocated. This was it. This was our end. The vines around our bodies. Cutting off our breathing and our circulation. Constricting us. There wasn't even a point of empty to break free. We couldn't move. Everything was being help in place. Soon I was gasping for air. I wanted this sensation to be over with. To just kill me already and get it over with. Nothing anyone could do could help. We would be a lost cause. That's when they started. That whole flashing of my life started. I always thought it was a myth but it wasn't. I saw everything from my childhood back at Bakers Falls to the start of my time here at Hawkins. All of my heartbreaks before finding Steve. Everything was there. Was this it? I had to be right. And these vines were only getting tighter and tighter. When I'd started to lose hope that's when the vines released and we dropped to floor. I instantly started gasping for air. The vines they were...leaving.

"I don't believe in a higher power or divine intervention. But that was a miracle." Robin said to us and I had to agree. We all then stood up once we got our breath back.

"Then we better not waste it." Nancy said before she cocked her gun. I did the same. Time to take down this son of a hitch. Once and for all.

"Phase four." Steve said and I looked at Robin.

"Flambé." She said and we all got ready. This was definitely going to be one for the books. Although I think I'd we wrote a book on all of this no one would believe us. We then went to the attack. There Vecna was. Suspended in the air with his vines attached to him.

"Let's get this thing over with." I said and Robin got the Molotov out. Passing it to Steve. She lit it alight and that's when he threw it. Straight at it. It was like watching one of Hunter's games. It went in slow motion. That was until it hit him. Setting him on fire. We all backed away as we watched it happen. It was over with. He collapsed on the ground before standing up. Walking to us. It was time for the second one. Robin's throw this time. It hit him. Now it was me and Nancy's time. Shoot him. As much as we could. We had to take him down. Make sure that he was truly gone. He came over to us one more time   Nancy and I took our final shots and he was gone. He fell back out the window. I then approached the window. He was gone. Over for. In pieces. He'd never be able to hurt anyone again. We than ran outside to the steps. There was nothing left of him. Or was he gone. Did we not kill him?

"I hope we made it in time for Max." I said to them and that's when we heard the clock chime. Shit. We ran inside.

"Four chimes." Robin said to us and this wasn't good. We failed. Our plan had failed.

"Max." Nancy and I said. That's when it started.

"Guys we need to get back. It's starting." I said to them but we couldn't move. There was an earthquake here. As the Hawkins we knew would be torn apart. Everything we would ever loved would be gone. I was hoping that my Mom would be okay. That nothing would've effected her. Although we'd never know until we got back out again. It would be something we'd discover. The worst way as well. Who knew if all we'd ever loved would still be there. And our houses. Some of us might not even have them anymore. We would never be able to tell the truth to anyone. Because people would all believe it was a fantasy thing. We'd all made up to explain it. Once the earthquake was over we started making our way back. That was when I saw the thing I didn't need to see. Hunter and Dustin crying. No Eddie. "Where's Eddie?" I asked them, my throat cracking. I had a feeling that I knew the answer already.

"He saved us all. He sacrificed himself to the bats. He didn't run away." Hunter said and I broke. I broke down knowing what that meant.

"No. No. Not Eddie." I cried as Steve hugged me. That was when Dustin came over to me.

"He wanted you to have this. He said it was in agreement that when he graduated you got to have it. And he graduated." Dustin said and he passed it over to me. It was Eddie's jacket. I didn't even know that he remembered that. "He wanted you to have these as well." Dustin said as he handed me the bracelets that Eddie used to wear. All the ones related to his band and to other things.

Hawkins 1983

Eddie and I we're currently walking to my house. He was coming over to help me pick out what to wear for the performance Corroded Coffin was doing tonight. It was the first show I was going to of there's. "You know I really do love your jacket. But I still have no idea about D&D so I don't think I'll be able to join Hellfire." I said to him and he started laughing.

"How about I give you one of the shirts? Same design but it's not the jacket." He said to me and I smiled at him.

"I'll take that. So, will this year be your year do you think?" I asked him. He hadn't graduated yet, held back a year but he didn't complain. Well only a little.

"God I hope so Solace. How about I make a deal with you?" He asked me with a smile. I smiled back at him. Hopefully this wasn't a huge deal.

"As long as it's not a serious deal involved I'll see what it is." I said to him and he smiled at me.

"I was hoping you would say that. Solace, here's the deal. You want my one of a kind signature jacket. Everyone knows that. So how about, the year I graduated you can have for your own. But if I don't, I get that pink cardigan of yours. The one you never wear. I think pinks my color anyway." He said making me laugh. I'd forgotten I even had that cardigan in my closet.

"You have yourself a deal Munson." I said to him and we shook on it.

Back to now

It had been two days since everything had started. Since the Hawkins we had known had been completely destroyed and put into a quarter. The Solace house was still there and thankfully Mom was alright as well. I'd hung Eddie's jacket up in my closet. It felt different now that I had it. We meant it as graduating school not from life. I didn't even know what to think anymore. As for the bracelets. I'd worn them everyday. I was never taking them off. People had started to leave Hawkins as well. I didn't even know where Dad was, he still hadn't come home yet. Steve had been staying at mine, I'd been a wreck since Eddie's passing. This morning I saw that Mom was watching the news and I looked in as I waited for Steve.

"It's been less than 48 hours since a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked the quaint town of Hawkins, 80 miles outside of Indianapolis, in an event that seismologists are calling 'a natural disaster of near-unprecedented scale.' The death toll now stands at 22. But with hundreds more filling Roane County hospitals and many more still missing, officials expect those numbers to rise." The reporter said. Steve then came down with a box. A box of my stuff, I was donating some of it. "This is only the latest tragedy to befall this once-safe town. Most recently, a string of high school students were killed in a series of ritualistic murders, which have been linked to a local satanic cult known as 'Hellfire.' Eddie Munson, the leader of this cult and prime suspect in the murders, has been missing since the earthquake and is presumed dead. But this offers little comfort to the people of Hawkins, who are scared, angry and searching for answers. Why their town? What have they done to deserve so much suffering? A growing chorus believes the two recent tragedies are linked, claiming the Munson murders opened a doorway between worlds. A doorway, they say, into hell itself." The reporter added. Steve hugged me when Eddie's name was mentioned.

"Eddie was such a sweet kid, he wouldn't do anything of the sorts. It's all lies." Mom said and she came over putting a hand on my back.

"Exactly, they don't know anything." Steve said and I looked at him and then the box.

"We gotta go." I said to him and he nodded at me.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked me and I nodded at him. "And you want to donate all of this?" He asked me and I looked at him.

"Yes, people need it more than I do." I said to him and Mom looked at us both.

"If you see Hunter, let him know that once Dad is back we're leaving." She said to me but I wouldn't.

"I will but Mom, I was thinking I could stay with Steve for a bit. Help out here whilst I can." I said to her with a nod. Steve looked at her.

"My parents are happy for her to move in. It won't be a problem." Steve said and Mom nodded at him.

"As long as it's ok then I see no problem. I know your safe then." She said and we started leaving. Walking next door to Nancy's. Steve had his car there so we could all go to the donation station.

"I found some more of your old stuff in the attic." Mrs. Wheeler said as she came out with a box. Steve was putting everything else away.

"Mr. Rabbit." Nancy said as she picked something up.

"It's okay if you wanna save him, you know?" Mrs. Wheeler said to her daughter.

"No, he'll be more loved in a new home." Nancy said as she approached us.

"Someone order a pizza?" Mrs. Wheeler asked us and I definitely didn't.

"Pizza?" Dustin asked and that's when we looked behind. Surfer Boy Pizza. We definitely didn't have that in Hawkins. That's when we saw them. Mike, Will, Jonathan and Eleven. There was another guy as well but they were here. Eleven and Will went to Dustin and Hunter. Johnathan to Nance and Mike to his Mom.

"You are never going on vacation again, you hear me? In fact, you can forget about college. You are staying right here." Mrs. Wheeler said to her son. Steve put his arm around me. Everyone had someone back but I didn't.

"Dad's not here. He's not there." I got out. Did he lie. Steve, Robin and I then walked back to the car.

"He'll be okay. We know your dad. If he's not here there's a good reason." Steve said to me and there had to be.

"I just wish I knew what he was doing." I said to them, I'd lost my best friend and there was no way that I was losing my father as well. El, Mike, Will, Jonathan, Hunter and Nancy then went to the hospital. They went to see Max. I was hoping that she'd be okay. She hadn't woke up as far as I knew. Lucas said that her heart had stopped but she came back. A miracle amongst the darkest times we went through. The rest of us started towards the school. All carrying a box each. I saw the missing person board. Eddie should be there. Buy we knew the truth.

"Hi." Robin said to the girl that was working the donation counter.

"Hi." She said to us.

"Uh, so these are blankets and sheets. And some...some clothes and some more clothes and...and some kids' toys." Robin said to her and she smiled at us.

"Wow. It's already so organized. We appreciate that. Do you want a tax receipt for it?" She asked us and we didn't need one.

"Um...no. I don't think we need one. Thank you, though. But is there anything else that we can do to help?" Robin asked as she looked around. Hopefully there was. Steve and I were put on clothes duty. We had our name tags and were shown to our table.

"Okay, then we sort by age. We've got infants, girls, boys, men, women...oh, if anything is in too bad shape, we really don't want that." The volunteer told us as she started to explain what we were doing. When she left we started sorting out the clothes. I saw all the baby clothes folding them before seeing Robin with Vicki.

"Now they are so cute together." I said to Steve with a smile as I was folding a pair of jeans.

"Hopefully one of them makes a move before the day ends." He said to me and I was hoping so too.

"Now that might be a stretch." I said to him and he looked at me as I picked up baby clothing.

"Is that for the first lil' nugget in the Harrington family?" He asked me and I looked at him with a smile pushing slightly.

"Maybe one day but not now. We need to focus on clothing." I said to him with a smile. He looked at me. I could see the look in his eyes.

"I really do love you." He said to me and I looked down.

"I love you a lot too." I said to him and he looked at me.

"I'm really sorry about Eddie as well. I know he was your best friend." He said to me and I kept folding.

"I'll never forget when me and you started dating and he said that he'd never seen me happier. That you had changed me. He could see the change even in knowing me for such little time. He thought you had some kind of magic or something and I have to agree you did change me." I said to him and I kept folding.

"Y/n! Y/n Solace!" I heard a voice shout and I recognized it.

"Papa!" I shouted as I turned around and saw him. I ran straight towards him hugging him. Crying.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay. Shh." He said as he hugged me. I couldn't stop. "Y/n, what's wrong?" He asked me and I looked at him. He then saw my bracelets. Eddie's bracelets.

"Eddie's dead." I said to him and he hugged me again.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry." He said to me and I couldn't stop the tears from falling. Once I did we pulled away and I wiped my tears away.

"I'm putting my name down and I will help you with volunteering." He said to me and I nodded. I went back over to Steve. That's when the thunder started and I stopped. Scared. This shouldn't be normal. I then put my arm around his. This wasn't normal thunder. When we went over to the window that's when we saw it. The white stuff from the sky. Dad put his hand on shoulder as he saw it.

"It's happening." I said and Steve looked at me. I started shaking my head.

"What's happening?" Dad whispered to me.

"Hawkins is changing. The Upside Down is integrating into our world." I said to him and that's when I saw the red thunder in the distance. We weren't free. We never would be free. The areas that had opened up. It has poisoned our world. We were all going to suffer. Every single one of us.