ONCE THE SUN STARTED TO PEEK THROUGH THE WINDOW, CARLA GOT UP.  

Ultimately, Steve managed to calm Carla down enough and the two returned to the couch, the Harrington holding her close. He ended up falling asleep, but the Wheeler didn't even close her eyes. She still didn't want to risk falling into a nightmare, or risk something happening to Max when they were all out. 

She tried to keep Steve's words up front as she sat in silence, using the steady sound of his heartbeat to try and keep her grounded. Steve didn't think she was a burden. Steve loved her. Steve wouldn't let anything happen. 

But, when the sun came up, the Wheeler decided it was best if she just got up and tried to distract herself instead of suffering in her own pity until everyone else awoke. 

She needed something to distract her from thinking about how today could be her last day alive. 

Carla walked up the stairs as quietly as possible, cringing as the door slightly creaked. Peeking her head through the door, the scent of freshly made coffee wafts in the air and her brown eyes meet Karen standing by the coffee maker, a mug in her hands as she pours herself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, honey." Karen looks at her eldest daughter as the tall girl comes into the kitchen, offering a warm smile. She's unaware of the turmoil that's taken over Carla the past day and a half. "You're up early."

Carla shrugs, "Couldn't really sleep."

"I don't know how those boys sleep down there all the time." Karen amusedly shakes her head, setting her own mug down and grabbing another from the cabinet. "Coffee?"

This could be your last morning with your mom.

 Carla tries not to show her despair. She offers a weak smile. "Sure."

The Wheeler crosses over to her mother, taking the hot mug the blonde woman poured for her. She'd never been a huge coffee drinker—if she's honest, Steve was the one who got her into it, as he made a pot practically every morning—but today, she felt it. She was fucking exhausted.

Carla takes a sip of the steaming liquid, holding the mug with both hands. As she does so, Karen studies her daughter's face. Karen always thought Carla looked most like her. 

"You look exhausted, Carla." the mother snips, brows raising. "Are you sure you've been sleeping good?"

"I'm fine, Mom." Carla pulls her mug away to reply, brushing off her mother's concern. "Just a lot of late night assignments from school. But Steve always reminds me to sleep when it gets too late. I sleep fine." 

Karen smiles sadly at Carla. She'd grown up over the past four years—she barely lived at home anymore. She had a job, she was writing college essays, she was staying with her boyfriend majority of the time. 

"I need to trust that you take care of yourself." Karen states, "I'm not always gonna be here to do it for you. I mean, you're already living away from home..."

Carla frowns, setting the coffee mug down. Little did Karen know she'd be here a lot longer than her daughter—

"I love you, Mom." the Wheeler girl blurts out, looking at her mother. She didn't plan on saying a final goodbye to her mother, but....what if  Vecna got her today? What if she never spoke to the woman after this. "And I'm sorry about how much worry I've caused you over the past few years. Really sorry."

Karen's features soften, "Honey, you don't have to apologize about anything. None of that was your fault." She puts a gentle hand on the side of Carla's cheek. She doesn't need to know Carla feels like it is her fault. "I love you too. Always." 

Carla wants this moment to last forever, but she can't stand to sit next to her mother and act okay. She steps back, clearing her throat. "I'm gonna, uh, shower...."

Karen drops her hand, "Okay, honey."

The Wheeler heads out of the kitchen, climbing up the stairs rather quickly—a shower would calm her down. She strips off her clothes in her room before retreating to the bathroom to start the shower. It was empty, given her father and Holly were still asleep, Nancy was in the basement and Mike was in California.

She hopes he's happy with Eleven and Will, unbeknownst to what was happening here at home. She hopes he's safe, that they're all safe. That Vecna isn't plaguing them, too. 

God, she wouldn't get to say goodbye to them. 

Four of the most important people in her life were two thousand miles away. They'd be too busy to call, and no letter would make it in time. She'd be dead by the end of the night and her brother, best friend, and two sibling-figures wouldn't even know. 

That wasn't fair. Carla wanted them to know how much she appreciated them, loved them. 

Carla shakes her head and starts the shower, not waiting before  undressing and stepping in. The semi-cold water ricocheted off of her back but she didn't even flinch to the temperature, instead standing under it to try and wash away the past day and a half.

Though, it was hard to try and wash away the little voice inside her head that was reminding her today could be it.

The Wheeler had been having headaches for longer than Max. If she was going to die, she should be gone already, right? Yet, Carla can't trust Vecna. Who knew his plans with her—he could just be letting her suffer, keeping her alive so he could instead kill her by hurting Max and the rest of her friends.

Max was dying today, who said she wasn't next?

If she was, Carla doesn't know how to say her goodbyes.

Getting flayed was a decision Carla had made knowing she might not come back, but she did so quickly, in a desperate attempt to keep those she loved safe. In the moment, she didn't have time to think about how she never said goodbye. 

But now, the Wheeler girl had time to think about it—she had time to give goodbyes. 

Carla didn't know how to say goodbye, though.

The kids, Nancy, Steve.....they deserved more than just a goodbye letter. But Carla didn't know how to put what she needed to say into spoken words—she didn't know what to say, period. But she needed to say something. She couldn't leave without a final word to her friends, her sister, her boyfriend.

Scratch that. The shower isn't calming her down—it's giving her more time to think about things she doesn't want to think about. 

Carla turns off the water, and opens the curtain, grabbing the towel hanging up. Wrapping it around her figure, the Wheeler gets out and stands in front of the mirror, eyes locked on her reflection.

Karen was right. She did look like shit. 

There were noticeable bags under her eyes from the restless nights, and her skin looked paler than usual. She looked thinner. Weaker. Her whole face screamed exhausted, and she has no clue how Steve can stare at her all the time and not be concerned—no wonder he's always asking if she's okay. 

Carla's eyes suddenly squeeze closed as a burst of pain erupts in her skull—another headache. She pulls a hand away from her towel and clenches the marble of the sink, knuckles white as she tries to let the pain pass.

Through the haze of her migraine, she can hear the bathroom doorknob jiggling—someone was trying to come in.

"I'll be out in a minute!" the Wheeler calls out, assuming it to be Nancy on the other side. She tries to ignore her headache and reaches for the door handle, which continues to relentlessly jerk—Jesus, could Nancy not wait? "Jesus, I'm coming—"

Her words get caught in her throat as she opens the door to find Billy Hargrove on the other side. 

What the fuck. 

Billy was dead, Carla had seen him die. Yet, he looked pretty damn real standing in the doorway of her bathroom.

The boy looked the same as he did when he was alive. White tank top, blue jeans and a ratty mullet sitting atop his head. His eyes were just as piercing as they stared her down, a smirk toying at the corner of his lips.

Carla closed her eyes, shaking her head reluctantly. This isn't real. He's in your head. Billy was dead. 

"It is real, Carla." the Hargrove speaks, stepping into the room. He shuts the door behind him and Carla cautiously backs up, still trying to snap out of it. All of this was just Vecna in her head. "I might be dead, but soon you will be too. What difference does it make?"

"You're not real," Carla shakes her head, still. "You're not real—"

"Am I real now?"

Before the Wheeler can even process it, she's shoved against the bathroom wall. A gasp leaves her lips at the unexpected contact with the cool tiles, heart pounding in her chest as she looks up at the Hargrove. A tense hand clutches the towel to her chest, shaking as it did so. 

The situation was familiar, dragging her back to Tina's Halloween party in '84. She remembered the way Billy had pinned her to the wall,  the way he'd pressed into and started to kiss her, the way his hands roamed over her ass, the way he didn't listen to her words to stop.

"Cute towel," the Hargrove boy teased, eyes roaming over the towel she clutched so tightly to her chest. Carla squeezes her eyes shut, desperately trying to wake up. "There's no use in trying to escape. He's coming for you. And this time there won't be a way out—you'll watch all your friends suffer until it's too much for you to handle."

Carla shakes her head, "No."

"You were weak then, Carla." Billy holds her firmly against the wall, leaning in to whisper the words to her. "You're weak now."

"Get off me—"

"You won't be able to save her or yourself and you know it. Maxine is dead." the Hargrove menacingly comments, "You'll all be at the hands of him soon enough."

Carla eyes snap open and she finds herself standing against the sink, alone. 

No Billy, no nothing. 

The Wheeler feels her lips start to tremble and she puts a hand over her mouth to stop from crying. She slides down the wall to the floor,  thinking about what had just happened. Vecna had gotten in her head again. He wasn't giving up yet. 

She tries no was so fucking dead. 

After her vision in the bathroom, Carla got dressed and returned downstairs to her friends. 

According to Dustin,  Nancy and Robin had dispersed early on upstairs and left the boys to read more into the whole 'Vecna existing in the '50's!' revelation they'd discovered at the library. To which Steve, Dustin, and Lucas all listened, reading snippets of 'The Weekly Watcher' clipping that the girls had read yesterday. 

The Wheeler didn't feel like reading more into Vecna, as beneficial as it could be. So, instead, she curled up in the rocking chair with the mug of coffee and drank as everyone else read—minus Max, who was sitting in the corner, writing; which Carla didn't question. 

It was utterly silent as everyone read. 

Steve paced back and forth, brows furrowed as he fails to truly grasp the concept that the same being that killed Chrissy and Fred existed thirty years ago. Dustin and Lucas did the same on the couch, the Henderson understanding more of it. Carla continued to sip her coffee, waiting for everyone to get caught up. 

"Okay, be honest...." Steve speaks up, voice hesitant as he glances up from the newspaper clipping. "Uh....you guys understand any of this?" 

Lucas deadpans, "No."

"It's the best evidence we could find." Carla mutters, leaning back in her chair. 

Dustin shrugs, "Pretty straightforward."

The Harrington glances at the Henderson with a hint of annoyance—was he really Dustin if he didn't announce his complete understanding of everything? "Oh, straightforward, really?"

"Well, what's confusing to you?" Dustin replies, finding everything he'd read pretty simple. "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."

"Okay, but the thing is, we don't know if he was like, actually cursed." Carla speaks up again, thinking back to the article. She doesn't want to down the hope Dustin had that being cursed didn't necessarily mean death, but there's no proof that Victor Creel himself survived Vecna. "He could have just watched his kids and wife get cursed and that's why he's the only survivor. He could be like Eddie."

"Carla has a point. We can't just assume Victor was cursed." Steve agrees with his girlfriend, not only agreeing with her point but wanting to lower Dustin's ego. He scans over the article again, hand rubbing his forehead as he mutters, "How can Vecna have existed back in the '50's? It doesn't make sense...."

Dustin continues to talk, "As far as we know, Eleven didn't create the Upside Down. She opened a gate to it." Steve stares at the Henderson as if he's mere seconds away from throttling the boy. "The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs? What are we—"

"Okay, okay. But if a gate didn't exist in the '50's, how did Vecna get through?" Lucas questions, looking at the two boys and Carla. 

Steve points at the Sinclair, agreeing with his point, "And how is he getting through now?"

"And why now?"

"And why then? " Steve takes one look at the annoyed expression on Dustin's face and continues speaking, "Just pops out in the '50's, kills one family, and he's like 'I'm good', and poof, he just disappears. Just....gone?" the Harrington pauses, looking at the group. "Only to return 30 years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it." 

Dustin seems to have been silenced by Steve's words.

"Straightforward, my ass." Steve huffs, before whipping his head around to stare at Dustin, "You know what, honestly, Henderson, a little humility now and then, it wouldn't hurt you." He sits down, crossing his leg with a pointed expression. 

The Henderson fights an eye roll and mutters, "Sorry."

"Babe, you have a good point. You too Lucas,  but maybe Vecna doesn't need a gate." the Wheeler adds on to the conversation. Eddie had said Chrissy seemed in a trance, that she just started floating. Maybe Vecna didn't even need to cross over to the real world; he just needed to seep into his victims head. "He doesn't physically kill like the Demogorgan or the Mind Flayer. He just gets into the people's heads. He's more powerful, clearly, so who's to say he needs to create something like a gate to kill?"

"Maybe." Dustin sighs, glancing away from the group. He looks at Max in the corner—she hadn't joined their conversation in the slightest. She hadn't moved at all since she originally shifted locations from the rocking chair to Mike's desk. She hadn't stopped writing, either. "Any idea what she's writing?"

Lucas gives a shrug. Steve glances back at the redhead, crease growing in his forehead. 

Carla has a rough idea of what Max could be doing. It was her last day alive—she was probably writing goodbye letters, putting statements she can't express into writing to give out as a form of closure to the group.

The Wheeler wants to tell Max that she shouldn't be even thinking that today is her last day, but she isn't wrong—Carla knows that today is it. 

"Did she sleep?" Dustin questioned.

Rhetorically, Lucas answers, "I mean....would you?" 

Even after Steve eventually led her out of the laundry room, Carla didn't dare sleep. She can't blame Max for not wanting to risk it, either. 

The basement door bursts open and Nancy and Robin come barreling down the stairs with proud grins. Carla straightens in her chair, looking at her sister and close friend with a hopeful expression. Steve, Dustin, and Lucas do the same and even Max turns around in her chair.

"Okay, so...." Nancy admits, "We have a plan." 

Robin hands Steve a file and Carla stands up, crossing over to her boyfriend to read over his shoulder. However, a file then gets handed directly to her, the Buckley smiling and nodding for the Wheeler to read it over.

Carla does so, reading the name 'Reese Fletcher' at the top of the file. Scanning through, the Wheeler realizes this is the profile of some Notre Dame student—a smart one, at that. She has a 3.8 GPA.  She furrows her brows and looks and the two girls. "Nance, Rob, what is this?"

 The other file gets handed to Dustin, who eagerly opens it. Robin begins to explain what the two girls had been scheming, "Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame." 

Nancy smiles, "I'm now Ruth."

"And I'm Rose." Robin proudly admits, before pointing at the other Wheeler, "Carla, you're Reese." 

Carla hadn't agreed to following after Nancy and Robin, but they needed to find a way to stop Vecna. And if today was Max's last day she was willing to do whatever.

Steve tilts his head at Nancy, "Ruth?"

The Wheeler girl shakes her head with a light smile.

Dustin deems the file in his hands impressive, "Nice GPA."

"Thanks." Nancy smiles.

Carla closes her file, looking at her sister, "And how do Ruth, Rose, and Reese get us closer to solving Vecna?"

"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 adds, which causes the Wheeler to frown. Getting to speak with Victor Creel sounded hopeful; maybe then they could find out if he was truly cursed or just a victim of the gruesome sight that was Vecna killing; find out what really happened.

"But," Nancy brings some hope back, "We've landed a three o'clock with the director."

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

"And then maybe we can rid Max and Carla of this curse." Nancy glances at her sister and the redhead sitting in the corner.

"Yeah, uh, about that." Steve clears his throat, handing Robin's file to Lucas. He glances at his ex-girlfriend. "We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh....we got some questions."

Lucas nods. "Lots of questions."

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

Steve glances at the file in his girlfriends hands for a moment before suddenly realizing there were only three. One for Carla, one for Nancy, one for Robin......which meant he wasn't going.  But that couldn't be right, could it?

"Wait, wait, wait....wait  a second." the Harrington suddenly sputters, looking at Nancy with furrowed brows. Carla was cursed—he couldn't just leave her, even if he trusted Robin and Nance with her. He needed to be there. "Uh....Where's mine?"

Nancy sends an apologetic smile towards her ex-boyfriend, Robin trying to hold back her laughter at his expression. Carla bites her lip, ready for the whirlwind of complaining that was about to come from the Harrington boy at the realization that he was not only going to be staying still with the kids, but leaving her. 

Nancy immediately starts booking it for the stairs to evade Steve's whines, Robin following suit. The blonde grabs a hold of Carla's wrist, dragging the brunette away before Steve could try to keep her with him.

 The Harrington boy is hot on their tracks, filing right after them upstairs to Nancy's bedroom. The shorter Wheeler shoves her door open, Steve right after her with a complain of, "Nancy, you're outta your mind if you think I'm babysitting again. Not when my girlfriend—"

"First of all, they're not babies anymore." Nancy reasons, wanting nothing more than for Steve to simply understand and let her work. "And Max is in real danger. She needs people around her."

"So is Carla—"

"Are Robin and I not people?" 

Steve huffs dramatically and looks at his girlfriend, almost pleading with her to try and get Nancy to take him alone too. Carla sits on the bed with an apologetic shrug—as much as she didn't want to leave her boyfriend, given this could be her last day, Steve needed to stay here. Having all four of them at the asylum when Max was also cursed wasn't a good idea. She needed someone, too.

Besides, Carla would rather have Max safe than herself. If something happened to the redhead because Steve wasn't here, she wouldn't get over it. 

Carla sighs, "I'll be fine, Steve.  I have Nance and Rob—you know they'll find you if anything happens."

"If this is my last day with you, personally, I'd rather be spending it with you than watching over those kids—"

"For starters, Max is in danger, too. She needs someone like you to watch over her." Carla states, crossing her arms. "And secondly, what happened to those thoughts being bad?"

"I'm just being real—"

"Oh my God! You have a Tom Cruise poster!" Robin barrels into the room, cutting Steve off. Her eyes are wide and her jaw is dropped as she looks at the poster hanging in Nancy's room. Suddenly her lips form a teasing grin and she muses, "You have a Tom Cruise poster." 

Nancy cringed, "That's old—"

"You literally got it last summer." Carla couldn't help but comment. 

"Carla, not now." Nancy rifles through her closet, Robin's giggling echoing through her head. She whips around, watching as the blonde inspected and fiddled with the Wheeler's stuff. "Can you please not touch anything?"

"I-I can't do anything here, Nance." Steve continues to plead his case, wanting nothing more than to follow after the three girls. He wanted to help Max, but he more so wanted to help Carla, as selfish as it was. "Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude. I don't know. I could turn on my—" he snaps his fingers, "—my charm."

Nancy sends him a polite smile, "Not the kind of charm we need."

"Ouch."

"Carla, here—" 

Nancy takes out a white dress from the closet and hands it to her sister, Carla grabbing the item and examining it. The Wheeler takes the outfit without a word and moves over to Nancy's side to find a small cover-up for it—to give Reese a more sophisticated look.

"Steve, 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?" Nancy continues to try and stop her exes whining about staying. Steve closed his eyes, trying his best to truly listen, even though he didn't care. "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."

Suddenly, a melody of classical music starts to play. Carla looks back to see Robin looking excitedly at Nancy's music box in her hand. The ballerina inside spins around as the music plays. 

The Buckley looks at Steve, eyes wide as she whispers, "Holy shit. There's a little ballerina in here." 

"Academic scholar?" Steve questions, gesturing towards the blonde who was currently infatuated with a music box of all things. "She's giving you an academic scholar vibe? Yeah."

Robin rolls her eyes and sets the music box down.

"Does this say Reese to you, baby?" Carla comes over to her boyfriend, holding up the outfit she'd created. It was a thin white dress that went to her knees, a small tan over coat with shoulder pads covering her shoulders and creating a more put-together look. 

Steve opens his mouth to answer but is cut off as Nancy pulls out a pink frilly top and a skirt to match, smiling at the blonde girl as she hums, "Robin." 

The Buckley turns around at the ring of her name and looks at the item. She almost waits for Carla to take it before processing that it was for her. She glanced at Nancy, praying the curly haired girl was joking. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Nope." Nancy smiles before shoving the item into the Buckley's chest. Robin holds it out in front of her and grimaces—she'd much rather sit with Steve than ever put this on her body. "You two put these on, and you—" She puts a hand on Steve's arm and starts pushing him out the door, "—go and sit with the kids. We'll be in contact."

"Nancy, I'm serious." Steve continues to argue, sliding right back into the room. "Today could be it for Carla, too. Maybe even more so, because she's actually connected to Vecna and the Upside Down." He glances at his girlfriend, who frowns. "What if something happens." 

"She has us, Steve." Nancy says, gesturing between herself and Robin, who awkwardly smiled as if to reassure her best friend. 

"Nancy—"

Carla was sick of hearing Steve and Nancy talk about her like she wasn't here, as well as them argue over her own well being. The Wheeler wanted to help her sister and friend, but clearly, her boyfriend wasn't giving up until she came along, and she couldn't let Max be with only Dustin and Lucas. She couldn't.

If Steve wouldn't stay without her, Carla would just stay. 

So, Carla puts down the dress and crosses over towards her boyfriend with a statement of, "You two can stop arguing.  I'll stay." 

She could tell Steve to grow a pair and trust that she'll be fine, but she knows that he's just concerned. Carla doesn't blame him in the slightest, as over-protective he was seeming to be. 

"Seriously?" Both Nancy and Steve ring out in unison, different emotions present in their voices. 

"Nance, you and Robin can do this together. I trust that." Carla shrugs, reasoning with her sister. She knew Nancy would be upset that Steve won her over, but maybe it was for the best. "And honestly, if today is my last day, maybe I'm safer staying home than I am running around."

Nancy's frown deepened. She hated that Carla was right. She hated that today could be her last day with her sister. She exhales. "Okay, fine. You might be right."

"Thank you." Steve muttered. 

Carla glanced at her sister again before grabbing Steve's hand and leading him out of Nancy's room. The Harrington doesn't complain.

The basement was awkward.

Nancy and Robin had headed out for Pennhurst in their prissy outfits—the Wheeler promising her sister she wouldn't be dead by the time they got back—which left Max, Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Carla stuck in the basement. 

Truly, Carla would rather do anything then spend her possible final day locked in her own basement, but it was the safest option for her, but more specifically, Max.

The redhead was still in the corner of the room. She'd merely gotten up once to grab a stack of envelopes, but had done so in utter silence. Surprisingly, no one bothered her—not even Lucas. They seemed to realize that maybe the silence was for the best, even if it was awkward. 

However, it didn't stop them from staring. 

As paper rustled and pen wrote against parchment, Steve, Dustin, and Lucas all painfully stared into the back of Max's head—as if they'd be able to see Vecna take over her mind. Carla tried her best not to awkwardly train her eyes on the girl, even if her worry and protective nature yearned to do so; it would be creepy, and if she were Max, she wouldn't want to be watched so intently.  Instead, she focused on bouncing her leg to keep her mind busy. 

Max suddenly pauses in her writing and turns her head back. She doesn't quite look backwards, but she seems to catch the trio in her peripheral. "I know you guys are staring at me."

As if having been caught doing something bad, the Harrington, Sinclair, and Henderson all suddenly flee their eyes from her figure. Lucas fumbles to grab the newspaper in front of him, Dustin leans forward to pick up a random book and flips it open, and Steve wraps an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her closer as if he'd merely been cuddling up with her. His warm hand grabs hers and he traces over her palm, trying to diffuse Max's pointed expression. 

Carla has to hide to hide her smile at their 'casualness' 

"What? Sorry."

"You said you needed something?"

"Just hanging out."

Carla leans in to whisper, "You are terrible at acting casual."

"Shut up." Steve whispers back.

"How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don't know." Max grabs all the envelopes and shuffles them before getting out of her seat. She paces in front of the couch, wanting the groups attention.

Carla's the only one that glances at her, though her gaze only stays a second before her brown eyes stray towards the letters in her hands. She knew what they were. 

The boys all try to act utterly oblivious, continuing with their previous activities until the Mayfield states, "You can look at me now." 

"Thank you. Sorry."

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

Carla looks at the younger girl, and nods, almost telling her it was okay to be handing out goodbye letters. That she wishes she'd thought of it, too. 

Max sharply exhales before taking an envelope and outstretching it towards Dustin, "For you." The boy looks at the letter bug-eyed and she ushers it towards him. "For you." She hands one to Steve, who looks at the redhead with a solemn yet oddly touched look. She picks up another and hands it to Carla, barely meeting the girls gaze. 

Carla takes it, looking at her name lightly scribbled and underlined. She didn't even want to know what was written inside. 

 "And, um, you." Max hands Lucas a letter, not meeting his gaze either. She then hands three more over to Carla, the brunette taking them without hesitation. "Oh, and, um, give these to Mike, El, and Will. If you can ever get a hold of them again." 

Carla gives a reassuring nod. "I will." 

The Wheeler seems to be the only one who understands why Max handed out these letters, as Steve, Dustin, and Lucas all start to open them. 

"Hey— what are you doing?" the Mayfield exclaims, eyes widening. She didn't want them to read her truthful statements, not when she was alive. Truly, she wouldn't be able to handle it now.  These letters were meant only for when she was gone. "No, don't. That's not for now. Don't open it now." 

"Don't....okay." Dustin slowly slides the letter back in the envelope and seals it again. Max's shoulders relax. "I'm sorry, what is this?" 

Max begins to pick at her cuticles, "It's um...."

"It's a fail-safe." Carla says quietly, knowing. 

Steve glances at his girlfriend. God, he hopes she doesn't have a letter for him.

"For after," Max nods at the Wheeler, "You know, for things if they....if they don't work out." 

Dustin looks at the letter again, face falling. Steve glances at the others, Carla frowning at the girls words. Lucas' eyes immediately widen and he quickly begins to spew in weak reassurance, "Wait, whoa, Max. Things are gonna work out." 

"No." Max firmly snaps. She was tired of the group trying to sugar coat it—she was dead.  "No, I don't need you to reassure me and tell me that it's all gonna work out, because people have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true." The four sit in the firmness and truth of her words. "It's never true." 

She was told that having separated parents would be better, that she'd see her Dad more often; it never happened. She was told that moving to Hawkins would get better after a few weeks; it really hadn't. She was told that Billy was just getting used to living with her; he never stopped being an asshole. She was told the grief would go away, that she'd get better; it was still there. 

No one ever seemed to tell the truth to Max. She sure as hell wasn't going to listen to their lies now.

"I mean, of course this asshole curses me." Her waterline becomes filled with tears, liquid threatening to drip down her cheeks. "Should've seen that one coming."

Carla wants to say 'It should be me' but what good would that do? Max was set on the idea of death and the Wheeler couldn't stop her from walking that path—not when she'd been on it before.

Max lets out a breathy exhale and turns away, regaining composure. She grabs the walkie talkie that the group was using to keep in contact with Robin and Nancy at Pennhurst from the side table returns to the group. "If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?"

 "Of course," Dustin mumbles, "Yeah."

Steve brows furrow, "Wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?"  Everyone else sends him a look and the boy suddenly seems to realize what Max wanted, "No—no. No!"

Refusing to argue with the older boy, Max quickly grabs her belongings and flees upstairs. Steve immediately calls out for the girl and stands up to chase her, but Carla puts a gentle hand on his shoulder to keep him in place.

If today was it for Max, she deserved to leave Mike Wheeler's basement. To do what she wanted to do, even if being on a lock down was safer.

"Everything has been taken away from her." Carla mutters, standing up. She glances back at the boys, muttering, "She deserves this." 

She follows Max up the stairs. Steve has no choice but to follow.

Chasing his girlfriend and the redhead, Steve tries to get them back. As much as Carla was right, it was his job to keep Max safe, and letting her run around Hawkins wasn't doing that. Nothing could hurt her in the Wheeler basement, and someone would be there if Vecna entered her head. They'd be in easy contact with Nancy and Robin, and it's overall the safest place for her to be. 

"Max—Max, seriously." His feet thump against the driveway as he runs after Max. "Seriously, I'm not joking. I'm not driving you anywhere."

Max keeps pacing forward, "Steve, if you think I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement, then you're out of your mind. So, either take me where I need to go, or you're gonna have to tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute."

Clearly, Steve seemed to forget that Max was stubborn and determined. She wasn't giving up. 

Max tries to open the door, but is met to no avail as it stays locked. She sends a hard glare at the Harrington, "Open the door." 

"Uh, no." 

"I know a good lawyer."

Steve scoffs but based on the look in the redhead's eyes, he genuinely can't tell if she's joking or not. He looks at his girlfriend, practically whining for her to just make Max listen, "Carla."

"Steve." Carla says back in a similar tone, sending him a knowing look. He knew what he had to do.

The Harrington shakes his head, but he pulls out his keys and unlocks the door. Carla crosses over to the passenger seat, happy her boyfriend was letting the Mayfield do this. 

"Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst." 













mara's misc!

hey!!

sorry for the small gaps between chapters! i wish i was as good as updating this book as i am for ss but truly carla just isn't where my motivation is, especially with obx4 coming out and my need to finish eden's story. i promise when i finish writing for obx fic i WILL be back to keep writing carla (i can't give up on my girl and certainly not in s4)

yes vecna taunted her with billy!! truly carla has no safe spot because she is traumatized in every single season, but i'm very excited to get to use billy specifically after how much he put her through in not only s3, but also with how icky he was in s2! (vecna has everything to work off and he's using it to his advantage). it was pretty fun getting to write a REAL vision (there might be more to come??? no promises???).

but if there's anything in particular ya'll would like to see/think you should see in one of carla's visions feel free to drop (other than obviously her s1 trauma from the demogorgan. that WILL be apart of a vision). vecna playing as steve/another character, etc....

it's a pain in the ass writing on the spot like i wish i could tell ya'll what i'm scheming but i can't even tell you that

anywho, this was the last pre-written chapter of sighted i have and with obx4 out i'm gonna try and focus more on ss and eden.....so i low-key don't know when the next chapter will be??? hopefully soon??

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter 10!!