(Ep. 4: Dear Billy)

"It was here. Right here."

Everyone exchanged equally confused looks as they stared aimlessly at the empty wall holding nothing but their flashlights.

"What exactly was here?" Daphne asked, glancing toward Gwen, Nancy, and Robin as they catch their breaths from having barely barged into the school.

Max took a shaky breath, "A grandfather clock."

Gwen tensed at her words.

She had also seen a grandfather clock.

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy asked.

"It was so real," Max's voice broke. "And then when I got closer, suddenly I just... I woke up," she turned around, staring at all of them with a pleading look. "You have to believe me. I swear I saw it!"

"We believe you," Gwen gently squeezed her shoulder for reassurance, refusing to let her believe she was alone in this.

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

Those words brought an intense worry and a grave fear to overwhelm Gwen. She couldn't imagine what she'd do if she were to lose someone she loved like that. Just thinking about it felt like blades cutting her open.

Max turned around, her eyes filling with tears as she recalled what each of the victims had in common. "That's not even the bad part."

An ominous silence filled the halls as all of them glanced at Max, who started heading back to Ms. Kelley's office and pulled out Chrissy and Fred's files. The group gathered around the desk and waited for further explanation to this dilemma.

Gwen slid one of the files closer to her and read over each of the descriptions. It felt uncomfortable reading their personal information, but if Max was affected by this, she didn't have time to worry about the rest when it was that Max that mattered.

"They both were having headaches, bad headaches that just wouldn't go away..."

Gwen faltered.

Her headaches had been present ever since she arrived from New York and only seemed to be getting worse. It couldn't be connected, right? It wasn't like getting random headaches meant you were now a target for this monster.

Surely, this must all just be a coincidence.

It had to be.

"And then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat."

She has been having dreams too. Extremely vivid ones. They were keeping her awake and made her afraid of the night. It got so bad that she resorted to drinking coffee and energy drinks to keep herself awake, but they never worked and she always ended up falling asleep and waking up in a cold sweat.

"Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts."

The grandfather clock from earlier today sent shivers down her spine. An instant wave of despair and horror consumed her when seeing it to the point it became unbearable. It was unlike anything she had ever felt and what made matters worse was that she had no one. If she was also cursed, then that meant she'd be dying alone.

"These visions kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually... everything ended."

"Vecna's curse," Robin pointed out.

Steve noticed the distress in Gwen's eyes and began heading to her. Gently, he placed his hand on top of hers and prayed she wouldn't reject his approach as all he longed for was to hold her and keep her safe. He would do anything to ensure her well-being, even if it was the last thing he does.

"Chrissy's headache started a week ago," Max continued. "Fred's, six days ago. I've been having them for five days."

As if his touch had been poisonous, Gwen abruptly moved her hand away. After the way she hurt him, she didn't deserve his comfort. He deserved someone worthy and someone who could give him the stars and the world. Not someone who helped destroy his light and break his spirit.

Besides, this wasn't about her. Max's life was at stake and even if she might also be cursed, it didn't change the fact that Max was the one that deserved to be saved.

"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..." Max breathed heavily, her hands firmly gripping the edges of the desk as a wave of realization hit her. "Looks like I'm dying tomorrow."

Almost like something out of a horror movie, a loud clang came from outside the office just as she said those words. Everyone quickly turned their heads, their eyes narrowing into an attentive gaze before looking to each other for some type of answer.

"Stay here," Steve ordered them as he approached the door cautiously. He grabbed one of the nearest lamps and placed his hand on the knob, but was prevented from moving forward when sensing Gwen behind him. Sure enough, when he turned around, there she was trailing after him in a protective stance. "Just stay with them. Please."

Gwen stared at him like he had said the most ridiculous thing. Not wanting to argue, she instead reached for a medium sized figurine with a pointy edge and shoved past him out the door. If there was someone or something out there, never in a million years would she let him endanger himself for the sake of her or anyone else.

For the rest of her life, she would do anything to ensure his well-being.

"Like always, you never do as you're told," Steve angrily whispered as he followed after her. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Just shut up," she demanded, holding her finger to her lips.

"Let me go first at least," he gently pushed her behind him and used the lamp to prevent her from going around him.

Before Gwen could even get a chance to argue back, a distant clattering was heard from one of the halls. She focused on the sound and moved closer to him as they inspected every corner or possible place anyone could hide in. Footsteps behind them made her glance back and realize the others also chose to defy Steve's orders.

Just before anyone could say anything, the clattering became much louder and closer. Everyone stopped and tightened their grip on the objects they brought for a weapon. The seconds felt eternal as they waited for any sudden attacks, causing Steve to raise his lamp all ready to strike whoever was heading in their direction. Gwen took a step closer and also raised the figurine to prepare herself to attack.

Lucas appearing made everyone to yell at the same time he does. Before even comprehending who it was, Gwen instinctively threw the figurine in his direction. If it weren't for Lucas' great reflexes, the stone decor would have struck him in the face and possibly knocked him unconscious.

"It's me!" Lucas yelled as he held his arms out in front of him like a shield.

"Lucas?!" Daphne yelled, already more worried that her cousin was also involved in this mess. The only thing that comforted her was knowing Erica hasn't been included like last summer. The last thing she needed was for more of her family to endanger themselves for this inter-dimensional mess.

"Are you serious?!" Gwen exclaimed, her feet kicking the floor underneath her as she ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you, Sinclair?!" Steve yelled in irritation.

"I'm sorry!" Lucas breathed out, clearly out of breath from having run here.

"I could've taken you out with this lamp!"

"Sorry, guys. Sorry, I was... biking for eight miles," he explained as he laid his hands over his knees and tried catching his breath. "Give me a second. Shit."

Everyone watched as he struggled to find the words. He breathed loudly, slowly pacing around the halls before finally saying, "We've got a code red."

"What?"

Ignoring Steve's question, Lucas pushed past him straight to Dustin. "I've been with Jason, Patrick, Andy, and Natalia, and they've gone completely off the rails."

Natalia's name caught Gwen's attention. She had completely forgotten how close Chrissy had been with her that she didn't even think to call to let her know that the Upside Down had returned. Now she must probably think Eddie was the one that killed her best friend and was looking for revenge.

"They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger!" Lucas rushes through his words, hoping everyone was able to understand him despite his struggle.

"Alright, yeah. That definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason now," Dustin calmly replied as he looked back at Max.

Lucas followed his line of sight, his eyes meeting Max's, who tried avoiding looking at him as the remembrance of what was about to unfold started filling her mind.

__________________

Being in the Wheeler's basement certainly brought a wave of memories to rush in.

Gwen hadn't been here ever since she helped the kids hide El. It was a constant switch between her and Mike on where El would be sleeping, and to prevent Mrs. Wheeler from discovering them, Gwen would drive over and sneak the young girl to her house until the coast was clear.

After the demogorgon was killed and El had been presumed dead, Gwen couldn't bring herself to come down here knowing she'd be hit with a million emotions at once. She could only imagine how terrible it must have been for Mike considering he was the one closest to her.

Now sitting here in the comfort of the smallest couch just reading articles she and Nancy printed for the others, only made everything worse since all of them only seem to gather when the world appeared to be ending again.

She bobbed her foot up and down while trying to focus on reading this article that she's read for what seemed the hundredth time now. It didn't make any sense how Vecna appeared in the '50s and then vanished for 30 years to suddenly start killing teens.

Why did he start now?

Was he somehow resting or using the rest of the monsters to do his dirty work?

None of this was adding up.

"Okay, be honest. Uh... you guys understand any of this?" Steve asked the group as he relentlessly paced around the room.

"No," Lucas responded, shaking his head in disappointment over not figuring this out already.

"Pretty straightforward," Dustin stated, lowering the article to glare at Steve.

Sarcastically, Steve looked back at Dustin in annoyance, "Oh, straightforward, really?"

"Well, what's confusing to you?"

"What isn't confusing to him?" Gwen mumbled as she rolled her eyes and slammed the article down rather too aggressively.

Steve dropped the paper from his hands as he started feeling irritated at the snarky comment she always seemed to have up her sleeve. "Sorry I don't have a massive brain like you and Einstein over there. You know I process things slower before I get it."

"Yeah, I've gathered that."

He clenched his jaw while piercingly glaring at her. Even with all of this happening, she still found a way to get under his skin. How did she do it? That he would never know.

Dustin groaned, refusing to let this little bickering start getting out of control. "Okay, 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."

"What if he was just a witness to all the killings and that's the only reason he survived?" Gwen's question revealed her pessimism since with everything wrong that's occurred to them, she was no longer hopeful they would find a solution no matter how hard they try. "What if he wasn't cursed?"

"Gee, thanks for the positivity," Lucas muttered, his eyes never once leaving Max, who was sitting on a desk writing incessantly.

Sighing heavily, instant guilt consumed her for having brought their spirits down. "Sorry, I'm just not sure how sitting here doing nothing is going to solve anything."

"Doing research is not doing nothing," Dustin snapped and used his article to smack her on her forehead. "Do you have anything else in mind?"

Returning the gesture, Gwen only shrugged in defeat and sunk deeper into her seat, "None yet."

"That's what I thought," he said before turning back to Steve.

"I actually agree with her. We can't just assume Victor was cursed," Steve pointed out. "How can Vecna have existed in the '50s? It doesn't make sense."

"As far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down. She opened a gate to it," Dustin stated. "The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn't be surprised it predated the dinosaurs."

Steve waved his hand all irritatedly before attempting to quiet the teen. "Dinosaurs? What are we-"

"Okay, but if the gate didn't exist in the '50s, how did Vecna get through?" Lucas interrupted him to ask the group.

"How is he getting through now?"

"And why now?"

"And why then? Just pops out in the '50s, kills one family, and he's like, "I'm all good." And poof, he just disappears. Just... gone?" Steve rambled on, his voice rushed and filled with annoyance at not understanding this situation. "Only to return 30 years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it."

Groaning loudly at their incessant questioning, Gwen irritatedly got up and stood next to Steve with her hands on her hips. "Haven't you guys considered that Vecna may not need a gate to get through? We've seen the way he kills and it's completely different than all the previous monsters. For all we know, he could be the mastermind behind it all and can create gates himself."

The group exchanged equally confused looks, all trying to find the smallest mistake in her theory, but surprisingly, none of them had a clue on how they could dismiss this. Maybe she was right and Vecna really was the mastermind, but if that's true, then that meant defeating him would be a million times harder now.

"What if he's just another monster from the Upside Down?" Steve finally spoke up, the faintest smile making its way to his lips when seeing the annoyance his contradictory question brought her. There would never be a time where he doesn't find the opportunity to irritate her, and even if her theory actually sounded accurate, there was no way in hell he wouldn't try to go against it just to spite her. "Your idea sounds... interesting, but as far as we know, you could be wrong."

Scoffing in offense, Gwen folded her arms across her chest defensively, "I'd like to see you come up with ideas then. All you've done is simply rant and not understand the simplest of things. Even if it's the most straightforward thing."

Steve shook his head in denial, "Straightforward, my ass. Honestly, Henderson? You and your brother could use a little humility now and then. It wouldn't hurt you."

"And a little thinking now and then wouldn't hurt you either," Gwen smirked at him all teasingly as he simply stood with his mouth hanging slightly open.

However, her enjoyment soon faded as she remembered the reason as to why they were here. She felt like a terrible person for bickering when Max was in grave danger. Instead of wasting time annoying Steve, she should focus on what was really important here, which was finding a way to rid Max from this curse.

Gwen glanced past her shoulder at Max and noticed she hadn't left her spot in all the hours they have been here. She kept writing relentlessly with no means to stop, which only made her wonder what she could possibly be writing.

Dustin seemed to be thinking the same thing, "Any idea on what she's writing?"

Steve and Lucas turned around, now joining the siblings in their intense observation of the redhead.

"Did she sleep?"

"I mean, would you?" Lucas rhetorically asked.

Gwen was very much aware Max didn't sleep since she also couldn't. She was afraid of having her night terrors and alerting the others that she might also be cursed. Refusing to shift any attention away from Max to her, she drank lots of energy drinks to keep herself awake and prayed she wouldn't have another nightmare again. Even if she was afraid to be the one that ended up dying, she would much rather it be her that goes instead of Max.

Her thoughts trailed off when the door above them suddenly slammed open, revealing Nancy and Robin have finally returned from their mission.

"Okay so... we have a plan," Nancy announced as she looked back at Robin with an excited smile.

Gwen loved the way that Nancy had decided on giving Robin a chance. She decided on not going with them earlier in hopes that some alone time would give them an opportunity to bond, and based on the now relaxed and genuine smile from Nancy, it seemed her plan worked.

"Thanks to Nancy's minions," Robin began explaining as she handed them some files. "We are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame."

Reading over the file she was handed, Gwen chuckled at the fake name assigned to her. Phyllis Smith. She'd give them credit for giving her a 3.7 GPA, even if she did have a 3.9 at NYU, but hey, she wasn't complaining.

"I'm now Ruth, Nancy's Rose, and Gwen's Phyllis."

That seemed to humor Steve as he was now trying his best to refrain from laughing, "Phyllis? Sounds like a grandma's name."

"Oh, shut it, Harrington," Gwen smiled, gently closing the file before holding it tightly against her.

Dustin was impressed at the forms, "Nice GPA."

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

"To which they said no," Robin continued.

"But we landed a three o'clock with the director."

"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk with Victor," Robin explained as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse," Nancy finished as she glanced in the young girl's direction.

"About that," Steve began, already about to start with his rambling. "We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh, we got some questions."

"Lots of questions," Lucas agreed.

"So do we," Nancy told them. "Hopefully, Victor has the answers."

Steve started looking at all three files, noticing they were only for Gwen, Nancy, and Robin and none for him. "Wait a second, where's mine?"

All three girls exchanged knowing looks, already sensing he was going to complain about having to stay back with the kids. It sure didn't help that Daphne had to return back home for a few hours just to try and not raise any suspicions as to where all of them were, officially leaving Steve alone.

Grabbing Gwen by the wrist, Nancy chose not to start an argument and simply took her and Robin up to her room. Having all four of them go to the asylum and leave the rest behind was not the best idea, so she figured that since Steve had been a great babysitter, he should be the one to stay behind.

Like expected, Steve trailed after them while complaining about his assigned duty. "Nancy, you're out of your mind if you think I'm babysitting again by myself."

"First, they're not babies anymore, and second, Max is in real danger. She needs people around her."

Gwen simply stood back and chose to watch from the sidelines this entertaining display. Only her attention shifted when Robin shook her shoulder as she pointed at a Tom Cruise poster on the wall.

"I know, but why do I have to do it alone? Why can't Gwen stay?" Steve complained while gesturing toward her, who continued gawking at Nancy's room.

"You have a Tom Cruise poster," Robin teasingly said, a wide smile spreading across her cheeks.

"That's old," Nancy tried defending herself as she rummaged through her closet for outfits for them to wear.

"You barely got it last year," Gwen pointed out, remembering when she saw her buying it at the mall all excitedly.

"Gwen!" Nancy snapped, a hint of irritation in her tone.

Raising her hands in surrender, Gwen lazily plopped down on her bed while trying her best to ignore the excitement from Robin, who was inspecting Nancy's stuff.

"Can you please not touch anything?"

"I can't do anything here, Nance," Steve continued trying to plead his case. "Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude. I don't know. I could turn on my... my charm."

"What charm?" Gwen let out a loud laugh as she tried imagining Steve attempting to charm anyone and failing in the end. "Do you not remember your failure in not getting a date with girls back when we worked at Scoops?"

Steve sighed, looking down at the floor before averting his gaze in her direction. "That's because I wasn't trying. We were dating, so obviously I didn't want to be with anyone that wasn't you."

The whole room turned silent. The pair simply stared at each other for what appeared to be an eternity as the remembrance of their time together came rushing in. Breaking up with Steve was one of Gwen's greatest regrets and as much as she wished to fix her mistake, she knew it wasn't possible when seeing he had moved on and started dating again.

She was aware how selfish it was to want him to be single, but the thought of him being miserable and alone switched her perspective. If he found happiness with someone, then she would much rather see him with another person as long as they brought the joy she wasn't able to give him. As long as he was happy, then she would be too.

Noticing the increase in tension, Nancy tried getting them back on track. "Look, umm, 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. If we're gonna to win him over, we're gonna have to convince him we are too."

Gwen took a deep breath and joined Robin in her curiosity of the small jewelry box in her hand. It had a small ballerina and as insignificant as it might seem, she couldn't help but be amazed at the little box since it was something she wanted as a little girl, but never had.

"Holy shit," Robin turned around, showcasing the box in wonder. "There's a little ballerina in here."

"Does it have a little latch at the bottom? Maybe it plays a song," Gwen raised it, peering at the pink bottom and smiling when seeing the silver handle. "There it is!"

Steve stared at them with a deadpan look, shaking his head in disappointment before gesturing to them. "Academic scholar? They're giving you an academic scholar vibe?"

"Hey!" Gwen exclaimed. "I happen to already be in college, so your statement is completely wrong."

"You see?" Nancy smiled in satisfaction and pulled out two outfits that were nowhere in the realm of Robin and Gwen's style. "And wearing this will help."

Staring at the pink blouse with small ruffles, Robin automatically started regretting this mission. If she had to wear something as appalling as that, she would much rather stay with Steve and let Nancy and Gwen take over. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Put this on," Nancy demanded before pushing Steve out the door. "And you will stay with the kids, alright?"

Still refusing this, Steve managed to enter the room again. "No. If something goes wrong, I need someone here with me and since Gwen and I have been the assigned babysitters for two years now, I say she should stay."

Rolling her eyes and sighing in defeat, Gwen was tempted to lash out and demand that he grow a pair and acts like an adult, but after reconsidering it, she realized he was right. They have been taking care of the kids ever since they lured Dart to the old junkyard. Leaving them would be a betrayal and it wasn't like Nancy and Robin wouldn't be able to handle this. Besides, staying back with Steve was definitely better than visiting Victor Creel at the asylum.

Nancy groaned in annoyance, "She's coming with us! Give it up already-"

"Nance, it's fine," Gwen's declaration took them both by surprise, but soon, Steve started radiating joy that she decided on staying. "The kids need more than one adult here, so it seems more reasonable that I stay. Besides, it helps that I'm a way better babysitter than him."

Nancy turned quiet for a few seconds, but figured it was best if it was just her and Robin. Also, it wasn't like she didn't notice how this was just a way for them to be alone, and already knowing those two still had feelings for each other, she figured this could help bring them back together. She had to help them in some way, so if letting them babysit together was what was needed, then so be it.

"Seems like Ruth and I are on our own now," Nancy peered through her shoulder at Robin, who was busy glaring in disgust at the blouse that only brought a smile to her face. Maybe Robin wasn't as bad as she thought. 

__________________

It seemed the Scooby Gang reunited after two years.

If this had been any other time and under different circumstances, they would be much more ecstatic of spending time together. From what it was worth, at least the comforting and safe feeling remained intact, which was deeply needed with Max at the grasp of Vecna.

They have been sitting cramped up on the same couch for what seemed to be forever. With Steve and Gwen in the middle, it was forcing them to be closer than they expected. Not that they were complaining. They had Dustin and Lucas to thank for since they refused letting them sit anywhere that wasn't in the middle. Seemed the two teens decided on being their wingmen.

The four of them stared attentively at Max, refusing to take their eyes off her as if it could save her from Vecna. After a while, Max seemed to have noticed and looked through her shoulder, "I know you guys are staring at me."

"What? Sorry."

"You said you needed something?"

"Just hanging out."

Gwen rolled her eyes, not bothering to deny her claim like the others since Max was not stupid to believe them. "Sorry, little red. We're just trying to look out for you."

"How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don't know," Max gathered a few tan envelopes before heading to them. She stood still for a mere moment, almost as if she was debating handing them out until eventually deciding to just give them and hope they wouldn't complain about her action. "You can look at me now."

"Thank you. Sorry."

"Sorry."

Max took a step straight to Dustin and handed him the envelope, "For you."

Right away, Gwen was quick to put the puzzle pieces together. All those hours of writing relentlessly were her way of saying goodbye. She had been writing goodbye letters to all of them thinking she wouldn't be making it out of this alive.

Now turning to Gwen, she handed her another envelope, "For you."

There was nothing more terrible than feeling entirely useless. She kept thinking on how unfair it was that this was happening to innocent children. Max still had her entire life ahead of her and she was already accepting her end was coming.

This shouldn't be happening.

This shouldn't have happened.

"And give these to Mike, El, and Will," Max handed the remaining letters to Lucas, who reluctantly took them when seeing the hopeless expression on the girl he loved. "If you can ever get ahold of them again."

The four of them stared at the envelopes. Neither knew what to do or what to say, especially from the cryptic way they were given these.

Gwen traced the perfect handwriting on her letter and was surprised she even got one. She didn't think of herself as someone deserving of such gesture, which only made her feel worse at the possibility of losing someone she loved again.

Max suddenly panicked when they try to open them, "What are you doing? No, don't. That's not for now. Don't open it now."

"Don't... okay," Dustin softly said before holding the letter back up. "I'm sorry, what is this?"

"It's umm," Max nervously played with her hands as her eyes filled with tears. "It's a fail-safe. For after. If things don't work out."

"Wait, whoa. Max, things are gonna work out," Lucas tried reassuring her, refusing to let her give up.

"No," she snapped. "No, I don't need you to reassure me and tell me it's all gonna to work out. People have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true. It's never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should've seen that one coming."

Gwen lowered the letter and approached her gently, "I can't imagine how hard this must be, but you can't give up. You can't let him win and you certainly can't be making goodbye letters. We're not giving up on you, so don't think you're allowed to. Do you understand? No one is dying."

Max stayed quiet, not wanting to get her hopes up when things usually never run in her favor. She wanted to believe her, to believe that everything would be alright, but they never were so what was the point of being optimistic when it was bound to crumble into pieces?

She took a deep breath for composure before shifting her attention toward the walkie-talkie on the table and grabbed it swiftly. "If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?"

"Of course, yeah," Dustin stated.

"Why are we talking about East Hawkins?" Steve finally spoke up as the others glanced at each other understandingly from knowing what Max was planning. That's when it finally clicked for him. "No. No. No!"

Refusing to argue with Steve, Max gathered her belongings and headed up the stairs. The others had no choice other than to follow her. It was better going along with it than leaving her alone when Vecna could strike at any minute.

"Seriously, I'm not joking. I'm not driving you anywhere," Steve tried keeping up with her pace, but the redhead was determined to get what she wanted.

"If you think I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that's Mike Wheeler's basement, you're out of your mind."

Lucas, Dustin, and Gwen glanced at each other, all three unsure of what to do since Vecna could strike anywhere. They could only hope that Robin and Nancy would be able to figure out a way to save Max as quickly as possible, because time appeared to already be running out.

Now reaching Steve's car, they stood back and watched as Max argued and threatened to prosecute him if he didn't open the car doors. "I know a good lawyer."

Steve was hesitant, afraid that if he did as she ordered then she'd become more exposed to this monster's attack. He was terrified of losing one of his kids and being handed this letter was not making the situation any better.

He tried arguing back, but seeing the despair and sheer terror on her face made it incredibly hard to say no to. "Fine. Mini Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst."