Chapter Fifty-Six: False God

No one spoke. No one moved, either. It was like they were all stuck in their own grief all of a sudden. Nothing being able to pull them out.

The connection had been made that Fred and Chrissy experienced their first visions, and then less than a day later were dead. It wasn't comforting to any of the teens.

Because starting now, Annie had possibly one day left. Less than, really.

Steve and Max were tied for being the worst takers of this news. The former was more jittery, shaking his head as if that would ward away all the bad. The latter was silently crying as she thought about what she had heard and seen with Chrissy, and how she'd go through that with Annie.

The one thing connecting them all was the same idea: they were going to do everything they could to stop Vecna from taking Annie.

Nancy went to open her mouth to say something, but a loud squeak caused everyone's heads to snap to the door. There was no immediate follow up noise other than the heavy breathing coming from each person in the office.

Steve looked at them all. "Stay here," he said, his voice scratchy. He gave Annie a pointed look before going to leave the office. Before he was out the door, Steve stopped and picked up a lamp from the corner as his weapon of choice.

It was a few steps later when Dustin looked at the others. "We're following, right?" he asked, his flashlight already being turned back on in his hand.

"Duh," Robin answered.

The ones sitting got to their feet and the group moved to follow Steve, flashlights lit up. Max stayed with Annie toward the back of the group. If the intruder was Vecna or someone related to "him," Max felt it necessary to keep Annie the farthest away.

Annie was just trying to process everything. Learning her death was basically set, with a time and date basically, was making her go nuts. How were they going to stop it? It's not like anyone had any growing ideas. Or anything.

Just some old dude whose family was murdered either by him or by Vecna. And Annie wasn't exactly ready to bet her life on the old dude.

There was another clang, the sound of someone slamming a door open, followed by rapid footsteps. Whoever it was, they were running- sprinting.

Steve geared up to smack the intruder, his grip adjusting and he raised the lamp a bit higher. He was ready to swing.

The person came running around the corner. Steve let out a cry, the person stopped, Dustin and Annie let out screams, and everyone jumped.

"It's me!"

"Lucas?"

"Its... me..."

"Jesus- what's wrong with you Sinclair!"

"I'm sorry!"

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

Lucas stood up straight, his hands on his hips as he tried to catch his breath. He apologized a few more times, but still struggled to catch his breath. "I was... I was biking for eight miles... give me one second... shit..."

Max looked at Annie, but found the brunette wasn't paying too much attention to what was happening. Her hand was on her chest, taking in deep breaths, and she was clearly lost in thoughts. Probably of what everyone expected to jump out from that corner.

Thank god it was just Lucas.

"Hey," Max whispered, placing her hand carefully on Annie's shoulder. She didn't jump, just turned to look at her. "You okay?"

Annie shook her head. "I don't think that's a good question to ask me right now. Or ever again."

"We've got a code red," Lucas managed out, finally starting to catch his breath.

"What?" Steve asked.

However, Lucas bypassed him and went to Dustin. "Dustin..." he breathed out. "I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone, like, totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger."

No one knew how to respond to that. Even Dustin had the thought in his mind that he really wasn't the right person to tell that phrase to.

But Lucas didn't know.

"All right, yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason right now," Dustin said. He then looked back at Annie, drawing Lucas's attention to her.

She didn't know what to do, so she just looked to the wall beside her. It wasn't a very interesting wall, but tonight it would have to be.

Lucas still looked confused. "We should... probably catch him up," Max suggested, her voice quiet.

Steve looked back at his sister. "Not right now." The others gave him questioning looks, but he kept his eyes on Annie. "We need rest. It's been... it's been a long day."

No one questioned him. "Let's go back to mine," Nancy piped up. "We need to stay together."

The group left the school. Nancy and Robin took Dustin and Lucas's bike and led the way while Steve had Lucas, Annie, and Max.

Lucas was up in the front seat so the girlfriends could be together. He never minded, understanding they didn't get a lot of "couple time" out in public. Tonight, however, he couldn't stop glancing back to see if they were okay.

He wasn't close to Annie when they first met. She was more Will's friend that Dustin also enjoyed hanging out with. She was cool, and he and Mike would always be down to hang out with her, but they never sought her out.

But this school year, with them both deciding to try and fit in, they became a lot better friends. He didn't know how to feel about her relationship with his ex at first, but then it stopped mattering. Annie Harrington was actually a really great person.

Most of his basketball games on the bench went with good conversations between him and Annie. He also did his best to keep the other guys from making comments about her, even though it didn't stop their whistling at practices with the cheerleaders.

He was so glad to have really gotten to know her. So whatever was keeping her in a quiet trance was freaking him out. Especially if it had to do with Chrissy's murder.

When they arrived at the Wheeler house, Nancy managed to sneak them all down to the basement without making too much noise. She lent some pajamas to the girls and managed to find something of Mike's for Lucas and Dustin. Steve didn't have many options, so he said he was all good.

They all made little beds around the basement, expect for Nancy and Robin. Steve was offered Mike's bedroom, but he refused. Nancy didn't even need to wonder why.

Seeing the way Steve was protective of Annie, she wondered what it'd be like if it were her and Mike in the same situation. They weren't as close as the Harrington siblings, sure, but she'd lose it if something happened to Mike.

It made her glad he was in California right now, and not here dealing with this shit.

Annie laid wide awake on the ground. She got maybe one hour of sleep before she jumped awake. All she could think about or hear in her dreams was the stupid clock and it's ticking and chiming.

"You okay?" Max asked from beside her. Well, more like mumbled in her sleepy state.

She hummed. "I'm all right. Just... can't sleep," Annie whispered back.

Max made a noise. "Then I'll stay up with you."

But Annie could tell Max was exhausted. If the way her voice sounded wasn't enough proof, it was probably the way Max merely curled up closer to Annie- a sure sign she was going back to sleep.

So, Annie smiled in the dark and shook her head. "No, go to sleep. If you're gonna protect me, I need you to be well rested," she whispered.

A content noise came from the redhead, and after a few seconds, the steady breathing told Annie her girlfriend was asleep once more.

But Annie couldn't do it. So she laid awake and stared at the ceiling, thinking.

If tomorrow was her last day, there was so much left she wouldn't be able to say. But she wasn't a great writer, or even a talker when it came to emotional stuff. Even so, her friends needed to know things.

Annie looked over and could barely make out a clock on the wall. 5:36. She figured she could go ahead and get out of bed. Not like she was sleeping.

She got herself set up at the desk in the back corner of the room. There were pieces of paper, a few crayon boxes, and some other writing utensils of all kinds scattered on top and in drawers.

With her supplies, she got to work.

What she didn't realize was Steve also being awake. He had gotten more sleep than Annie, but not by a brag-able amount. He heard her and Max whispering, though he couldn't make out the words.

Her getting up definitely caught his attention. He barely sat up to watch her. When he saw her go to the desk and sit down, he wasn't worried anymore. More like curious. As she got out some paper and a pencil, he figured out she was drawing.

Steve wished, practically begged whatever higher authority was out there that she'd be okay. That she'd make it through all this alive.

He could only hope someone was listening.

A/n: I always wondered what Billy would be like if he could see what was happening to Max in the show. Like, from "the heavens" or whatever. I feel like he'd care enough to be upset and freaking out. I'm kind of trying to emulate that with Annie and Steve. Some of how I think Billy'd be. IDK I'm just spouting words here.