Chapter Sixty-Two: Question...?

They were silent as they stood and stared at the glowing chandelier. It wasn't a steady glow, though. It almost had a pulse, which didn't make Annie feel very comfortable. What was worse? It was already pitch black outside.

Nancy was the one to break the silence. "It's like the Christmas lights," she whispered, not taking her eyes off the chandelier.

"The Christmas lights?" Robin asked in a whisper, voicing Annie and Max's question.

"Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights... came to life," she explained.

"Vecna's here. In this house. Just, on the other side," Lucas concluded. It made sense. He had to be standing there for the light to work. Why? Annie didn't care to know. She knew too much already.

It went quiet, and they all watched the light turn off. They were in pitch blackness. "I think he just left the room," Robin commented.

"Did he hear us?" Max asked, looking around.

"Can he see us?" Steve asked as well. He then looked over at Annie, who had removed her headphones and paused her music when the kids told them about the lights. "Headphones!"

Annie looked at him, then nodded quickly. If Vecna was here, they were in plenty of danger. No need to toy with that. She put the headphones back over her ears and clicked play on her music. Bonnie Tyler filled her ears once more.

"Wait, wait," Nancy said. "Everyone turn off your flashlights and spread out."

They all did, ignoring Steve's weak protest in the background. He followed along with the others, rather begrudgingly, and kept Annie in his eyesight at all times.

They crept around, making very slow footsteps to avoid creaking floorboards that would give them away.

"I got him!" Robin yelled. "Got him!" Annie's head snapped in the direction of the noise and she hurried off, Steve steps behind her.

When they all ran into the room, they could see Robin's flashlight lit up, but it was already dimming. When it went out, she said, "I- I had him?"

But then, Steve's lit up. "Oh- whoa." They all looked at it and then he started to walk. "He's moving! I think he's moving."

Without question he group followed Steve to see where Vecna was going. They went up the stairs, quickly walking and keeping up with Vecna.

Until they got to the last platform, where Steve's flashlight went out. "I lost him," he said, disappointed.

But Annie looked over and saw something glowing under the bottom of the door. "No, you didn't," she replied, moving toward the door. She pushed it opened to reveal a light glowing inside.

Annie went in first, Steve and Max side by side walking right behind her. The others came in after, Robin not the most pleased about it being an attic they were going in. Annie always thought basements were creepier.

"Hold up, guys, what if he's leading us into a trap?" Dustin asked from the bottom. "Guys! Guys! Shit shit shit..."

The singular light bulb in the center of the room was going nuts. It was glowing bright, but pulsing so much faster than the others had been.

"Flashlights," Dustin said. Annie looked down at hers and noticed it was on. Around the room, everyone's was glowing.

They gathered around the center, flashlights pointed up at the light bulb. "Okay, what's happening?" Steve asked, definitely freaked out.

The lights seemed to be getting even brighter, making them squint. Chills were running up and down Annie's back like crazy. Something was freaking her out, something was happening. She just had no idea what.

Holding Out For a Hero continued in the background as she watched the lights do their thing. She shared a look with Max, who was just as confused, then with Steve, who was confused and freaked out.

He moved an arm around her shoulder. Just in case anything happens, he told himself.

The lights were so bright, way brighter than any of those bulbs could possibly go. And the bulbs seemed to remember that, because one by one, each flashlight burst.

Annie held her away from her face just as the glass shattered. Her other hand blocked her face, and she felt bits of glass bounce off.

They all lost their lights one at a time, the only one not shattering being the bulb hanging from the ceiling.

And then it all stopped. "What the hell just happened?" Lucas asked, as the middle bulb slowly dimmed into pitch black.

"I don't know... but... this has to be some kind of center. Something happens here," Nancy responded.

Despite everything that just happened, Annie found herself trying not to yawn. She failed miserably, and tried covering her mouth so the others wouldn't notice.

Steve, of course, did. They were siblings after all. He noticed pretty much everything. "Hey, looks guys, we just lost our only source of light in this creepy ass house. Plus, we need to rest for tomorrow. Let's just... let's head back to Nancy's and figure all this out later, okay?"

"Oh shit," Dustin suddenly said. "Eddie! We need to bring him more food and that six-pack he wanted."

Steve sighed. "Shit, okay, lets... let's just get out of here first," he said.

No one protested that. They carefully made their way out of the Creel house in a group, then got out to Nancy's car. Dustin grabbed his backpack on the way, having left in by the front door.

They all piled into the car in their original spots and left. "We should... probably change," Robin said, taking a pause to sniff her shirt.

"You're right, we've been in, like, the same clothes for two days," Annie said, suddenly feeling super gross.

Nancy stopped by a couple houses, so each kid could grab a change of clothes. Lucas and Dustin snuck in and out pretty easily. The Harrington's didn't worry about that, though, considering their parents must've left the night before to go somewhere.

"I'm all good, you can grab something from my closet, though," Annie said to Max. She happily agreed and went in with Steve for some stuff.

After they were all set, Nancy took them back to her house and they carefully went to the basement. When they got in there, everyone let go of their collective breaths and got ready to go to sleep.

Annie managed an hour more than she did the night before, but it still wasn't great sleep. She did notice having the music playing made the nightmares not so bad. Now it was just her own memory plaguing her, not Vecna. Well, at least she didn't think it was him.

Max took the first 'Annie watch' shift and let the others get their sleep. "Tired of Holding Out For a Hero yet?" she asked, remembering their earlier conversation.

The brunette hummed. "Mmm, not quite. But you never know. Bonnie Tyler could very well lose her magical powers."

The redhead shook her head. "No way. I don't think she ever could, not to you."

"You're probably right," Annie said, nodding. "But even if she does, I've got plenty of happy memories to ward off Vecna."

"That's right," Max said. She shifted a bit to sit closer to Annie. "You mentioned you had some happy memories that helped you get loose from him. What... what were they?"

Annie tilted her head on Max's shoulder. "Well, I kind of just started thinking. Like, the song was playing, so I thought of Footloose, then it kept expanding from there. The nights I watched it, who I was with, and then my memories with those people. Like you."

Max gasped dramatically. "Like me? Oh, how I feel honored to have had a hand in saving your life," she said.

It caused Annie to laugh quietly. "You should be very proud."

Max could feel her girlfriend's breathing slow down. Ensuring the headphones were somewhat secure, Max started to draw patterns on Annie's leg to help her drift off to sleep.

"Goodnight, Barbie."

"Goodnight, Red."

A/n: I had all the time in the world to write yesterday. Did I? Not as much as I could have.