Chapter Text
It’s the end of the world as they know it.
Their town is set ablaze, divided into 4 sections by an otherworldly monster that wants nothing but death and suffering.
Will doesn't believe in fate, or destiny, but at this point, Will thinks that anything could happen.
Will wonders if it is deserved.
Max, her still, pale body lifeless in a hospital bed, all signs of life being the rhythmic beeping on the heart monitor.
El, her world shook upside down, traumatized and hopeless, feeling that she let down her town and most importantly, her friends.
Lucas, having to witness such horrifying things, grappling on to the last bit of hope for Max. Holding onto her as the life slowly faded from her once energetic body.
Dustin, having to watch his best friend and his role model die in front of him.
Will, getting ignored by his childhood best friend when all he wanted to do was be with him.
Will compares his situation to all the others.
They have it worse.
Yet Will still feels guilty, like he has caused harm among his friends and family. He feels like a burden. With Vecna being back, and knowing who it was behind ruining Will's childhood, Will feels seething anger but feels like he can't let it out because the others won't deem him good enough. He tells himself that this isn't true, but he still has this gripping, gnawing feeling that the little voice in his head that says that stuff is right.
Will sighs, getting up from Mike's bed, turning behind him. “I’m taking a shower.” Will exhales, walking out of the bedroom. He hears Mike yell an acknowledgement back.
Will walks into the bathroom. Shutting and locking the door behind him. He pulls back the shower curtains, reaching his hand out to the faucet. He pushes it innards, turning the water on. He reaches downward, pulling the plug for the tub and letting it fill.
Will revels in the sound for a couple minutes, until the bathroom gets humid and steamy. Wil shrugs off his clothes, and hops into the bath. Will sinks down, relaxing at the feeling of the warmth surrounding his skin.
Will takes a moment. He thinks about El, feeling endlessly sorry for her, and about Max.
He wishes he could prove (or reassure) El that Max was still in there. But he can't prove that. Will shuts his eyes, trying to get away from the nightmare that his life has become. He wishes he was normal. If it hadn't been for Vecna, Will could have lived normally. He wishes that bastard a painful fucking end.
He decides to start washing himself, so he moves his arms in front of him to push himself upwards, but his arms don't move.
His whole body feels cold now, like the water just drained out of the bathtub. He panics, and tries to open his eyes but he can't. Will’s breath comes, in fast, shallow huffs as he tries to move to no avail.
He feels as if he is already standing. Will moves his head, and he sees himself in a dark, empty void with a shallow layer of water on the ground where he stands. He recognizes this place. EL has described it a few times, back when they were searching for the flayed in the summer of 85.
He's in the void.
Will is confused. Is he dreaming? Is this all some cruel, endless nightmare that his brain made up to bring him over the edge? He denies what it actually could mean. There’s no way someone like him could be so significant, he's just, Will. A nobody. Although, the puzzle pieces do immediately fall into place in Will's mind. It makes sense why he would have powers, given everything with being able to sense the mind flayer’s presence. How though? He was never an experiment at the lab, or so he thinks. It just doesn't make sense where he would have gotten them.
Will takes a slow, tentative step forwards, the shallow water on the ground rippling on impact. He takes another, then another, before stopping. Will hears a faint crying sound, like the sound of someone in pain. He hears a voice behind it, like it is trying to sooth the wailing voice. Will turns back around, and walks towards the noise. The noise gets louder and louder as he walks towards the source of the noise. The sounds become less muffled,and Will can make out what the voice behind the wailing is saying. He recognizes the voice. One he has known for a long time. It's Lucas. He sounds as if he is crying too.
“Lucas..” Max struggles to get out, shaky breaths stopping her from talking. “Yes, yes I'm here. I'm here.” Lucas gasps out, body shaking with sobs. Will thinks he knows what this is. He looks up, and he sees 3 faint figures in the far distance. He runs towards them, until he is close enough to make out the features of the 3 there. It's El, tears running down her cheeks, with her hand on Max's chest, Max with milky white eyes and blood trailing down her face. There's Lucas, holding Max in his arms like he is never going to let go. Will feels his eyes start to well up. He is reliving the death of one of his best friends.
““I… I can't feel or…” Max gasps. “…see anything.”
“I know. I know. It's okay.” Lucas comforts, stroking her hair. “We're gonna get you help, okay?” “Just… Just hold on.”
“Lucas, I'm scared. I'm so scared. I'm so scared.”
“ I know. I know. I know.”
“I don't wanna die. I'm not ready.”
“You're not gonna die. Hang on.” Lucas seems as if he is convincing himself of the matter, too.
“I don't wanna go! I'm not ready.”
“You're not gonna die!” “Just… Just hang on!”
Silence.
“Max. Max! Max!”
“Stay with me Max! Stay with me!” Lucas shouts, voice wobbling with pure terror and sadness.
El sobs shakily, putting her hand on Max's chest, focusing all of her energy there. “No..”El sobs quietly.
Will runs over to go hug her, but they turn into fog at his touch. “No..” Will whispers.
Will shoots up in the bathtub, water sloshing with the force of him moving. He breathes heavily, looking around the room and finding himself in Mike's bathroom.
Will feels something trickle down his nose. He brings his hand up to swipe at the area under it, and when he pulls his hand back to look at it, his hand has a streak of blood on it.
–
El gets up from the bed and walks to the radio on the dresser. She switches through a couple channels, one a blasting pop song that hurts her ears, another heavy metal, until she reaches static.
El exhales, walking back and sitting on the foot of her bed. She reaches for the makeshift blindfold that she had made in a desperate attempt to find Max, grabbing Karen Wheeler's fabric scissors and cutting a strip of an old towel. She ties it around her head, taking a deep breath in and out before focusing her energy on her powers.
She finds herself in the familiar emptiness of the void, a vast, open space with nothing in sight. She walks around for a bit, not finding anything, but then she hears footsteps behind her. El swings around, her guard immediately up and ready to fend off any danger that could cross her path. Instead of seeing Vecna, or a demogorgon, she sees Will. He is walking towards something, something that El doesn't know. He seems as if he hears something, stopping and listening before continuing forward.
El furrows her brows, wondering why Will could possibly be here. She shouts his name, to no avail, as he continues walking forwards. El walks towards him, trying to tap him on the shoulder but then he starts running. He kneels down in front of something that El can't see, and he stares in what seems like mortification. “Will?” El calls out again, but Will's eyes stay trained on the thing in front of him. A tear tracks down Will’s face, as he shakes his head lightly. “No..” he lets out, andEl tries to put a hand on his shoulder, but he turns into smoke and fades away. El steps back, trying to Will herself out of the void.
She pulls the blindfold off her eyes, breathing shakily. She was so confused. Was Will really there or was it just a figment of her imagination? El had to ask him. She got up from the bed, shutting the radio off and walking out the door.
She ignores Karen's greeting as she walks out, heading straight for Mike's room at the end of the hall. She turns the corner, and sees him staring at a binder. El knocks on the doorframe, and Mike seems to jump out of his skin, shutting the binder and throwing it like it was poisonous. She scrunched her face up at Mike's weird behavior. “Have you seen Will?” El asks, “I want to talk to him.” Mike thinks for a second, before replying. “I think he is in the shower.” Mike responds. El turns around to walk out, but Mike calls her name. “El?” she turns back around. “Could I talk to you?”
She walks into the room and sits on Mike's bed. “What is it?”El questions, getting straight to the point.
“I-I just, you haven't really talked to me since the whole thing at surfer boys, and- I just want to see if you're okay and-” “we are breaking up.” El cuts him off. Mike goes silent, jaw hanging open.
“Oh.” Mike says. “Well,” he chuckles nervously. “That's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about.” “But, can we still be friends? Even if we are, Y’know, exes?”
“Why couldn't we be friends?” El asks, confused.
“Well,” Mike starts. “Usually if you break up with someone, people usually hold a grudge against them, but I think that's stupid and we’d be better off as just friends.”
El smiled at him “Oh. Okay.” “You know that I still love you right?” Mike asks. El chuckles. “Now you say it.” she says teasingly. Mike doesn't seem to take it as a joke though. “No- I’ve always loved you, El, even while we were dating I guess I just felt like I couldn't say it because then I would feel like I'm locked in this relationship forever-” “ Mike.” El rests her hand on top of Mike’s. “I was kidding. I know you love me. Just- not like that. I love you too, but just as a friend.” Mike smiles at El, relieved that she was just joking. “Yea. I love you too, in just a friend way.” El wraps her arms around Mike, and Mike hugs back. They both chuckle softly.
“El?” Will's voice comes from the door, and El pulls away from Mike to look at him. “Can we talk?”
–
“So, I shut my eyes, and- I was in this dark, empty space, and I couldn't move my real body, it was like I was in a dream, and then I heard Max crying so I went to the noise and saw you, Max and Lucas, I think it was when Max was dying in the creel house and you were reviving her, but- I think I was in the void that you described when you were looking for the flayed. I just don't understand where I would have gotten powers, if I do even have them at all.
el just stares at Will for a second, processing the information that Will had just dumped on her. “Yes.” was all she had to say, and Will understood. “I saw you there too. I think I accidentally managed to do it at the same time that you were in there. I saw you walk to something I could not see, and I was confused.” Will’s eyes widen at the new information. “So- you're saying, I might have-” EL cuts him off. She’s been doing a lot of that today. “Powers? Yes.”
“Well what do I do now?” Will asks her, and El just shrugs in response. “If I were you, I think you should tell the others. It might help us defeat 001.” Will sighs at this. “El, I'm too scared. I feel like if I tried, I would screw something up and let all of you down.” El puts her hand on Will's shoulder, this time solid and actually there. “If you mess up, we Will mess up together. I Will be with you the whole time, okay?” Will shrugs, reluctantly agreeing. “Okay.”