Chapter Fifty-Eight: Don't Blame Me

Steve pulled up outside the Harrington home. When he parked, Annie let go of Max's hand and unbuckled. The others started to move as well, but Annie stopped them.

"I need to go in alone, okay? I promise I'll be fine," she added on quickly when she saw Max and Steve open their mouths to protest. "This is just... personal and stuff, okay? Give me just a moment."

Annie stepped out of the car and hurried to the front door. She pulled out her key and unlocked it, before shutting it behind her. With a couple glances into the kitchen and living room, both coming up with no one, Annie hurried upstairs.

In her room, Annie felt somewhat calm for the first time since Max first told her about everything, and that's exactly what she wanted. There wasn't anything in particular she needed, maybe to grab a change of clothes and shove them into her backpack. Just in case it works.

But really, it was about having a moment to breathe. To be in her own space for possibly the last time. All she wanted to do was get the others in here and have them all hang out in here, in a place where she'd be comfortable.

This wasn't the only stop she needed to make, though.

Annie set her bag on the ground by the door and walked over to her closet. There, she started rifling through for some different clothes. She ended up pulling out a purple sweater and some dark blue denim pants to go with them.

She folded the outfit up carefully, sticking a fresh pair of socks in the pants pocket, and then placed it at the bottom of her backpack.

Once that was done, she stood. She slowly spun around her room, taking all the details in. Before, she didn't want to, hoping to avoid Chrissy's presence and not think about her death.

Now, however, she just wanted to remember everything. All the posters, and the polaroids, and the drawings Max taped up that she liked. Annie wanted it all ingrained in her memory.

"Annie?" She spun to face the door and sighed when she saw Steve.

"I told you I needed a moment, go back out to the car and wait, please," she said, upset but not trying to take it out on him. He was just worried.

He sighed and looked at the ground. "I know, and I'm sorry, I just..." He cleared his throat and looked back up at her. "What'd you need from here anyways?"

Annie shrugged. "Some clothes, maybe, but... mainly to look around. To be in my own space for a second and not have to worry."

"Everything's going to be fine, Annie," Steve said, taking a couple more steps into her room. "You'll be fine."

"I know," she said, shaking her head fiddling with her hands. "I just worry that if it's not fine, then I'll regret things. I'll regret not seeing my room again as stupid as it sounds."

He came a few more steps closer and opened his arms, Annie almost instantly falling into them. "It's gonna be okay, Annie."

She nodded into his chest, eyes closed as she took it in, and she felt him squeeze her, like he usually does to comfort her in hugs. But something about this one felt... off. Annie opened her eyes and noticed her room was noticeably darker.

"What the..." she mumbled.

Annie looked over at the polaroids on the wall and saw splatters of blood covering nearly all of them. Her breathing became more labored as she realized what was happening. Steve kept squeezing, harder and harder, and Annie felt like he was going to crush her ribs.

"Steve- Steve you're hurting me," she forced out since it was too hard to take in a full breath.

The fabric that was under her hands suddenly became a strange flesh. "Oh, Annie..." came a growl. The voice that used to belong to Steve was suddenly Vecna, and Annie felt the terror clinging to her. "Nothing can stop this. Nothing can save you. Especially not these things you call memories on your walls... no matter where you are, I will find you."

She was struggling under the grasp now. "Let me go!" she yelled, pushing against him. Chiming filler her head as she pulled her head back and saw all of Vecna's face for the first time. "No..."

"Your time is up."

"No!"

Annie stumbled back into her bookshelf, knocking into it pretty hard. When she looked at where Vecna had been, he was gone. The polaroids were back to normal. Everything was normal.

The hallucinations were getting stronger.

In a panic, Annie hurried out of her room and down the stairs. She was barely thinking, just enough to grab her bag and take it with her.

Just as she reached the bottom, a new voice said her name. "Annie?" She turned and saw her mother standing in the kitchen, a glass of wine in her hand. Unsurprising. "Annie, where have you been?"

There was the mother she knew. "I've just, uh, been with the Party a lot. We've been hanging out and stuff," she answered, still shaken up.

Mrs. Harrington set her glass down on the kitchen island and sighed. "You know, I get that it's spring break and there are no rules and whatever, but you still live under this roof with me and your dad, and we have rules, Annie."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I know, and I'm sorry, okay? We've just been hanging out and I haven't really thought about coming here and filling you in on every hour of my day."

The other woman sighed. "You've never been allowed to be M.I.A. for days at a time- never. Especially not after the mall fire, and most definitely not while some crazed psycho is murdering kids every night," she said. "I only know you're not dead because I haven't been contacted by the police yet."

Annie laughed- she laughed at her mother's words. "Are you really going to try and parent me now? Seriously? I can think of maybe four times you and dad have been in town since the mall fire. And none were for longer than two weeks. Only one managed to be a week. So don't try and act like you care about where I am all of a sudden, it's basically insulting."

Mrs. Harrington's mouth was wide open, disbelief on her face. "Really? You are still my child and you are still under my roof, you will listen to me and not yell at me for having things to do."

"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves, pretty sure out of all of us, it'd be dad's roof, and he's not here, so I have no rules to listen to," Annie said. She didn't even realize she had gotten further into the kitchen. "And on the list of 'things to do,' parenting should be the literal top. But for you, it's barely making top ten."

"You know, you have always been ungrateful. Your father and I don't want to be away from you two all the time, but we are, and we have nice and comfortable lives because of it. I've never seen you sit and complain about having a big house or enough money to go shopping or having enough food for six meals in one day!"

Annie ran a hand through her hair and shook her head while laughing in disbelief. "Really? It's because you barely see me! How would you know what I complain about if you're never here?" she yelled, the words bouncing off the walls.

"Because it's our jobs! And it's not like we ever come home to happy children. You two always become so mad as if you can't stand us."

"We can't!" Annie screamed. "That's the first time you've gotten right about me in years! I can't stand you two! Any time you're here, I just feel like the disappointing kid who is always reminded that she doesn't have an A plus in every class, no matter how hard she's trying!"

Her mother scoffed. "Trying? Trying gets you those grades, Annie. What you're doing is half-assing and calling it a day. You wanna not be so disappointing? Put in real effort. You have been with cheer, something you've never talked to me about, despite the fact that I was one, too."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've known I was a disappointment to you ever since I was eight, mom. That's the first time I realized you and dad hadn't cared in a really, really long time," Annie said, her throat getting thick with emotion.

"That's not fair," Mrs. Harrington said, and it made Annie furious to see tears in her eyes. "Apologize."

"You know what? You're right," Annie said, throwing her hands up. "I'm so sorry. Sorry for not being the daughter you always wanted. I'm so sorry I've turned into someone you can barely tolerate. And you know, I'm sorry for not being the magical solution to fix you and dad's marriage. So all of this is pretty much my fault, right? You and dad hate each other, and me, and Steve, and that's all my fault. Because you thought giving a child- no, a baby- the responsibility of fixing all the problems in your fucking life. So, sorry I couldn't that! Sorry I disappointed you and that I'm a shit child! I'm sorry for existing, because it clearly didn't work out the way you hoped. So, so, sorry, mom!"

Annie's throat was burning from her yelling. Mrs. Harrington hadn't moved a muscle, not even to respond. It wasn't like Annie was giving her a chance, though. The second after she finished yelling, she was turning on her heal and heading right out the door.

Her mother's calls fell on deaf ears. Annie practically slammed the door shut and hurried back out to the car.

Steve- the real one- was standing outside the car, waiting. The second he saw his sister's face, he knew shit happened. "Annie, Annie, what the hell happened?" he asked. At first, he was mad about her taking too much time, but it became concern almost immediately.

But she just shook her head. "Nothing, okay? Let's just go."

Annie got into the car and slammed the door shut, buckling quickly. Steve got back in, too, and looked over at the front door to see his mom stepping outside, trying to get to Annie. He didn't wait, though, and drove off.

As Annie saw her mother from the corner of her eye watch them leave, she hoped she would turn into Vecna.

But she never did, which made everything even worse.

A/n: this was an emotional chapter to write, y'all. I always sort of "act out" conversations to make sure they sound natural and boy that was rough. It won't get better lol