Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Story Of Us

Annie hadn't moved from the desk since she first sat down. What started out as a way for her to get her thoughts out had become a mission. The small stack of papers by her side proved how hard at work she had been.

She had decided she needed to tie up loose ends. Despite how confident the others seemed in finding a way to save her, Annie didn't think it was going to happen. They didn't have any leads in how to prevent whatever was happening- they didn't even understand what was happening.

So she decided to draw. It was one thing she felt she was always good at and always able to rely on. What to draw had been bugging her for a while, until she found herself doodling a scene.

It was her, cheering on the sidelines while Lucas scored the winning basket. That's when Annie landed on drawing memories. Moments that meant so much to her. Once she finished, she turned the page over and wrote a small note to Lucas.

It was mostly telling him what she had drawn, but she also thanked him for being a great friend, and forced him to promise her something.

That he'd take care of Max.

After that, pictures just kept flowing.

She drew something for Dustin (the Arcade, duh)...

Something for El (shopping at the mall with Max)

Something for Mike (this was hard, but she landed on a movie night the Party had)...

Something for Will (the Snowball when they danced and became close friends again)...

And something for Steve (when she came out to him and he was nothing but supportive).

Everyone else- Nancy, Robin, Johnathan, Billy, and others- got notes. She didn't have enough significant memories for full-blown landscapes, but they each still had roles in her life, roles she couldn't ignore.

She left Max for last. This was the most important. She already knew what she was going to draw, and what she'd write, but she had something else for her to hold onto.

A will.

Dramatic? Possibly. But Annie could only feel comfort if she knew everything would be taken care of after she was gone. The outfit she wanted to wear, the things she wanted with her, and the things Annie wanted to go to specific people. A lot was left as, "Do whatever with it, just don't throw it all away," but she had a few things she wanted specific people to have.

As she finished up the last drawing, Annie could hear them over by the sitting area of the room. They had been talking about some Victor dude from the 50s. She honestly didn't care all that much.

Even when Nancy came hurrying down the stairs in a not-so-quiet way, all Annie did was glance back quickly. She wasn't needed in their plan, so she didn't pay attention.

However, when she was finally done, she realized she couldn't ignore everybody any longer. Annie carefully put each drawing into some large envelopes she found in one of the random drawers. Once the paper was in, she wrote the name, and moved to the next one.

Max sat on the couch, staring at the back of her girlfriend. She didn't know what to do. This kind of thing, being hunted by an inter-dimensional being, wasn't something she knew how to handle.

In all honesty, she already wasn't the best in stressful situations, but was good enough at it to keep Annie chill. This was totally out of her wheelhouse.

She tried her best to just follow how Annie was acting and go from there. Right now, she needed her space, so Max did her best to give it.

Clearly she wasn't doing too great. "I can feel all of your eyes boring into my back," Annie said, barely turning to look at them. But it was just enough to watch Steve, Max, Lucas, and Dustin all immediately pretend they totally hadn't been.

A few seconds later, Annie had all she needed in her hands. The girl stood from the desk and walked over to the couch the others all sat on. When she stopped, none of them looked at her.

"You can look now," she said quietly.

"Thank you, sorry."

"Sorry."

"Sorry..."

"I'm sorry."

They all put their fidget toys down on the coffee table and put all their attention on Annie. She looked down at the envelopes she had, two different sizes all organized for optimal handing out.

"For you," Annie started, handing a big envelope to Dustin, and then one to Lucas. "I also have these for Will, El, and Mike. Make sure they get them?" she asked, handing the stack over to them for either to grab.

Once those were gotten, she moved to Steve. "I have one for you, too." She handed him that envelope first. "Then I've got these for Nancy, Robin, and Johnathan. Just... get them to them."

Finally, she turned to Max. "Here's yours," she said, her voice much softer. Max looked into her eyes, hoping for clues as to what the Barbie was giving her. But there wasn't anything.

After they were handed out, Annie awkwardly gestured to the ones in her hands. "These I can take care of later," she said, moving to put them in her backpack.

Before she could finish that, she could see Lucas and Dustin going to open their envelopes. "Don't!" They immediately froze. "Sorry- I just- I meant... those are for you later."

"O-okay," Dustin stammered, putting the envelope in his lap carefully. "Why?"

Annie sighed. "They're um... they're failsafes. Because I know you guys are trying really hard here, I know, but... just in case..." Her voice started to break at the end and she could feel the tears coming.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Steve said, standing up right away. Max did the same, Lucas and Dustin doing so as well just slower. "You can't... you can't talk like that. It's going to work. We are going to... make this work."

Max nodded vigorously. "Nancy and Robin, they have a really good plan, Annie. They're gonna figure out how Victor lived and then we'll do that to help you live."

Annie sniffed and shook her head. "I know, I know, okay, I just..." She looked to the ground and closed her eyes. After a deep breath, she looked back up at the group. "I just need something for the 'if' because if I didn't... there would still be so many things. So many things you guys deserve to know and I wanna make sure you know."

Tears had started dripping down Annie's face. Steve was the first to move, stepping over the coffee table and enveloped Annie into a hug. She squeezed her eyes shut and accepted it, wrapping her arms around him.

He sniffed, and Annie could feel a few tears hitting her head. "It's gonna work out, okay? We're... we're gonna make this work..." he whispered.

Annie wasn't too convinced, however, because it almost sounded like he was just trying to convince himself.

A second later, Annie pulled away and prepared for the harder part of her mission. She looked to the side and saw one of the walkies- maybe Dustin's- and went to pick it up.

"Do you think this could could reach Pennhurst from almost anywhere in Hawkins? Like, even the East side?" she asked the boy.

Dustin nodded and was starting to verbally answer, but Max beat him. "Why? What are planning?" she asked.

Annie didn't say anything, she just sighed and looked from Max to Steve, and the sibling ESP was ringing in his head. "No, absolutely not!"

However, Annie didn't listen. She was already making her way up the stairs and out the door, her backpack slung over her shoulder with the other envelopes and the walkie-talkie shoved inside, as well as all the other things she had in there.

"Annie!" Steve called, following her out the garage and to the driveway. Max was directly behind him with Dustin and Lucas following a few feet away. "Annie!"

He caught up to Annie and was right beside her as they walked. "Annie, I'm not driving you anywhere, it's way too dangerous, especially if the signal doesn't reach and Nance has something important for us."

Annie didn't say anything. "Barbie, please! Just wait a second and talk to us about what you want to do," Max added. She wasn't all for the "imprisonment" Steve had wanted, but she didn't know what Annie wanted and didn't want them to do anything stupid.

"What I want is to not spend my possible last day in the Wheeler basement. That would be the saddest death in Hawkins history. Plus, we don't need to do that to Mrs. Wheeler. I do, however, want to do things on my last day alive so I'd like to go ahead and get going!"

She made it to Steve's car and pulled on one of the handles. The door didn't budge.

Annie turned to look at Steve, who stood beside the driver side door. "Unlock the car, Steve. Please."

But he shook his head. "Annie, I'm driving us away from safety into something we don't know. I can't... I can't risk your life, okay?"

"It's not like staying in Mike's basement is going to ward Vecna off," Annie said. "I don't wanna argue, Steve. You know I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't important to me."

The siblings stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Steve turned to Dustin. "That thing better reach Pennhurst Henderson, or I swear to god." He then sighed and looked back at Annie. "Where to first."

"Home," she said. "Just need to take of some things."

Steve nodded, deciding not to pry, and got into the car. Dustin sat in the front, and Max slid into the middle of the car with Lucas on the other side.

Annie started to get into the car, until a distant chime startled her. She paused her movements, then turned her head to look behind her. She almost expected to see Vecna staring back at her. At some point, she knew he would be.

"Come on, Annie," Max gently said.

It snapped the brunette from her thoughts and she got into the car without another glance back.

A/n: I don't think yall are ready for tomorrow's chapter