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𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗡

chapter seven:
just a small town girl

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WHEN SERENITY WAS really little, back before her parents completely left her and Spencer alone, they would take Serenity and Spencer to work with them, located at one of the buildings in downtown Hawkins. Obviously, as children, they were full of energy, and a quiet government building wasn't exactly the place for it. So, around lunchtime, their parents would take them to the field behind the building, and they would eat out of a picnic basket and run around.

Serenity wasn't exactly sure why she decided to go there with the picture of her. Maybe it was for closure — accepting that her childhood was completely gone, and she was an adult now and had to accept that her parents didn't care about her as much as she wanted them to. A huge part of it could've been Spencer — if Serenity did end up dying, Spencer would hear from Steve about where they went, and he would know where to go. Or possibly it would give her kids and the love of her life somewhere to go to remember her.

The car had been stuck in silence ever since Serenity's house. Serenity couldn't get the feeling of Vecna's skin on her, how piercing his eyes were, how scared she felt. It seemed like the others could feel the fear coming off of her in waves. She pointedly ignored all of their stares — especially Steve's — and continued staring straight out the window, watching the scenery of her home go past her.

"Stop here," Serenity said once they reached downtown Hawkins, spotting the field. Steve obliged and pulled over on the side of the road, and for the first time in minutes, she looked at all of them. "I'll just be a few minutes."

She made sure the picture of her was in her pocket before opening the door and shutting it behind her. Serenity started to walk towards the field, but she wasn't alone. There was the sound of another door opening and shutting, and when she turned around, she saw Steve walking towards her.

Serenity sighed. "Steve, I said—"

"No," Steve stated firmly. "Baby, I'm not waiting in the car."

"Steve, please—"

"Hey," Steve interrupted, grabbing her arm and making her look at him. "'Renity, I've known you long enough to see that you're scared, more than it was before. What happened back there with Spence?" He put a hand on her cheek. "Did you see Vecna again?"

Serenity's heart pounded against her chest, and she involuntarily leaned into his touch. "He's trying to get into my head, but I'm fine. Seriously. I mean, as fine as I can be, considering I'm about to die."

"It's not funny." Steve stared at her strongly. "We have always come to each other when something is wrong. That hasn't been a relationship thing, or a friendship thing — it's just been an us thing. So please, just talk to me. Tell me how I can fix this, tell me how I can make this better."

She gave him a sad smile. "I don't think there's anything you can fix right now, Steve. Vecna's after me, and we don't know how to stop him." Serenity took his hand off of her cheek and squeezed it tight. "I love you, okay? Just please, wait in the car."

Serenity, however much she didn't want to, ultimately let him go. She walked towards that field, and this time, Steve didn't follow her. He just stayed in that same spot, watching her go.

It was almost like muscle memory. Despite not being here for years, Serenity knew exactly where to go. She walked down that small hill and went to the same exact spot where they always had their picnics. Serenity swallowed a little, suddenly feeling so many emotions hit her all at once. She had been so carefree when she was little — chasing her big brother around, eating grapes, soaking in the sunshine. And now she was here, still underneath the sunshine, preparing for an absolutely gruesome death that she couldn't control.

Today was her last day on Earth. She had no idea when Vecna was coming, and she just had to accept it like everything was fucking fine. It wasn't fair.

Serenity let out a deep breath. She knelt down on the ground and used her hands to start to rip up the grass and dirt from the ground. Serenity moved the soil to the side, creating a small mound of it next to the hole she had created. She then pulled that picture out of her pocket and placed it in the hole. Serenity put the dirt back over it, burying it completely. She patted the dirt down — it was obvious where she had been now, considering there was no more grass on that part of the field. Hopefully the ones she cared about most would be able to find it.

Suddenly, there was an eerie sort of rumbling around her. Serenity looked up, only to see that the entire world had gone dark and foggy. Her breath hitched as she heard the distant chiming of a clock.

"Serenity," a familiar voice stated, but it was distorted.

She blinked in shock, seeing a figure close to her that seemingly showed up out of nowhere, a person who she hadn't seen in literal months, so why was she here now?. "Mom?"

"I've been waiting to see you, Serenity," her mother continued, walking closer to her out of the fog. "A long time. But all you give me is . . . a picture?"

Serenity felt tears start to fall down her face, noticing her mother was covered in blood for some fucking reason. "You — you don't care enough about me to get anything more."

Her mother reached up, placing a hand on her cheek, but it wasn't gentle at all — it only sent shivers down her spine. "Admit it, Serenity. You were always glad that your father and I were busy, weren't you? So that you could go out and do whatever you wanted?"

She shook her head. "No. No that's not true. I hated it."

"But not as much as you hate me." Her mother took a step closer to her, making Serenity stumble backwards. "You hate me, don't you, Serenity? You wish that those monsters would come and take us away, don't you? But you keep those feelings inside, and you don't tell your friends, or those kids, or your boyfriend. Or . . . late at night, you wish those monsters would've taken you?"

"No."

"That's why I'm here, Renny. You've dealt with so much. I want to end your suffering, once and for all."

"No!" Serenity screamed.

She stumbled back so hard that she fell onto the ground. However, right as she hit it, her mother's figure had gone away. Her eyes widened and she pushed herself up onto her elbows, her chest heaving up and down. Now, it was replaced by the same figure that haunted her mind, and the same one that she had seen back at her house.

Vecna.

"It is time, Serenity," Vecna told her, his deep voice rattling through her chest. "Time for you to join me."

Run.

Serenity pushed herself up off the ground and ran away from Vecna, further into the fog and up the hill from the field. She was basically running through an Upside Down version of downtown Hawkins now, going through the field and the streets. Serenity glanced behind her for a moment — this was Vecna's turf, not hers. She didn't know how she could possibly escape, but she had to at least try.

Her legs burned and ached as she ran, struggling to breath as she continued to cry. She let out a sob and ducked behind one of the building walls, coming off of the street she had just been sprinting down. Serenity tried to catch her breath, but when she looked back, Vecna was appearing out of the fog.

"You cannot hide from me, Serenity," he said.

She removed herself from the wall and just continued to run. However, where she was seemed never ending. She didn't know how to get out or where to go. Serenity stumbled to a stop, looking around at her surroundings.

"Steve!" she cried, fresh tears falling down her face, hot against her skin. "Lucas! Dustin! Max!" She sobbed again, her voice lowering as her heart sank. "Steve, help, please."

Suddenly, the fog in front of her started to glow red. Serenity stared at it in confusion, her head tilting. She started to walk towards it, even though it started to glow brighter, like there was lightning inside of it.

This probably was fucking stupid. And, well, it was. But she didn't have any other option right now.

She ventured further into the red fog. Serenity then heard an eerily familiar chittering noise, and her head whipped in the direction of it, only to find nothing. Her foot then squished against something wet, and it made a squelching noise. She stopped and looked down. There were multiple vines on the ground, covered with what seemed to be blood. It looked exactly like the vines in the tunnels.

Serenity looked up. The skies were red, illuminated by lightning bolts. Black spires were jutting out of the ground and seemed to be surrounding a central location. Multiple things were floating in the air, objects that Serenity really couldn't make out. She swallowed nervously, and although she probably shouldn't, she walked on.

She carefully walked through the terrain of the Upside Down until she reached that central location. There was a staircase there, broken and covered with vines. Serenity heard the ticking and the chiming again, and she looked up, only to see that stupid grandfather clock floating through the air. She moved further into what seemed to be the remnants of a broken house. A door was also floating through the air, decorated with a stained glass window with a rose on it.

"What are you doing in here, Serenity?" Vecna questioned.

Her foot crunched on something. She looked down, only to see little white balls on the ground. The one she had stepped on broke, and multiple tiny spiders scurried away. She lifted up her shoe, only to see a fuck ton of spiders. Serenity's eyes widened and she stumbled back away from it. Spiders reminded her of the Mind Flayer, and she didn't really like to be reminded of that.

"Come back to me," Vecna demanded.

However, when she backed up, she almost ran into something. Serenity turned around, only to be met with a completely horrifying sight that made her want to throw up and scream at the same time. In one of the spires was the broken figure of Chrissy, still wearing her cheer uniform. Her eyes were sunken in and her mouth was open from her jaw being broken.

She stepped away from it, only to run into the same sight — this time, with Fred. He was also encased in vines in one of the spires like Chrissy was, his eyes gone and his bones bent unnaturally. Serenity's chest heaved up and down in panic. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening—

"How do you like them, Serenity?" Vecna inquired, and she whipped around to see him walking towards her. "Would you like to join them?"

Serenity breathed heavily. This was it, this was the end, she didn't get to say goodbye to Steve, she didn't get to tell her kids she loved them, her mind was spinning, she was freaking out, she was cornered, there was no way she was getting out of this now—

"I wouldn't, actually," Serenity replied, her voice shaking.

Vecna then lifted his long finger with a sharp fingernail. In an instant, a vine lashed out from somewhere and wrapped around her ankle. It pulled her down to the ground, and she tried to tug her leg free, but it was no use. The vine pulled, sliding her across the disgusting ground of the Upside Down, staining her clothes black. It pulled her up onto one of the spires, and instantly, more vines came out and bound her arms and legs.

And then — oh, get this — a vine wrapped around her neck.

Serenity gasped for air, her eyes widening as her oxygen flow got cut off. She choked and made eye contact with Vecna, who merely tilted his head and gave her a sinister smile. Serenity whimpered as Vecna got closer to her, his eyes filled with nothing but pure evil. Her heart squeezed tight with fear.

Then, out of nowhere, she heard a familiar keyboard intro.

"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere."

Her favorite song. How was her favorite song suddenly playing in the Upside Down?

She got her answer by looking over Vecna's shoulder. As Journey echoed throughout the parallel dimension, a small hole had appeared through the red sky. It showed where Serenity was last, kneeling in that field by downtown Hawkins. Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Max were standing around her, repeating her name and telling her to wake up, and that they were right here. Even if she was so far away, she could hear the panic in all of their voices.

"Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere."

"They can't help you, Serenity," Vecna stated, his voice slow and loud over the guitar. "There's a reason you don't tell them everything. You belong here with me."

"A singer in a smokey room, the smell of wine and cheap perfume, for a smile they can share the night, it goes on and on and on and on."

"You're not here right now," Serenity protested, the words hard to get out as the vine continued to choke her. "Not really."

"Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard, their shadows searching in the night."

"Oh, but I am, Serenity," Vecna insisted. "I am."

"Streetlights, people living just to find emotion, hiding somewhere in the night."

He lifted up his clawed hand over her face, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Serenity looked through his long fingers, staring straight at the opening in the Upside Down, to her kids, to the love of her life. Her body was now levitated in the air over that field, and all of them were standing up, shouting her name.

She had so much to live for. Serenity couldn't die — not now. She squeezed her eyes shut, and suddenly, she started to remember everything that made her realize that life was worth living.

"Working hard to get my fill, everybody wants a thrill."

Sitting in the Wheeler's basement, watching Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin play D&D together, all of them enthusiastic about the game.

"Paying anything to roll the dice just one more time."

Swimming in her pool with Spencer, the two of them splashing each other at every possible moment.

"Some will win, some will lose, some are born to sing the blues."

Screaming along to songs with Jonathan in the car, Will complaining from the backseat through his laughter.

"Woah, the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on."

Giggling and running through the mall with Eleven and Max, feeling her heart practically glow.

"Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard."

Sneaking into the Snow Ball with Steve and kissing him for the first time.

"Their shadows searching in the night."

Kissing Steve in the back room of Scoops after dropping her kids off, feeling nothing but summer bliss.

"Streetlights, people living just to find emotion."

Steve laughing and Serenity not being able to look away from him.

"Hiding somewhere in the night."

Steve.

Wake up.

Before Vecna could take Serenity, before he could rip everything she had away from her, her eyes shot open. As Steve Perry held out that last word, she reached out and pulled a vine out from Vecna's neck. He groaned in pain and stumbled away, and not being able to concentrate on her anymore, the vines let her go. Serenity fell to the ground and looked up, her eyes locking on Steve's figure.

Run to him, Serenity told herself. Run to him, like you always do.

Right as the guitars and drums hit, Serenity pushed herself up off the ground and started to run away from Vecna and that stupid broken house. She was still out of breath from panicking and from running earlier, but she pushed through it and just sprinted.

"Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling."

One of the objects in the sky fell to the ground, landing right next to Serenity. It crumbled into a million pieces. The force made her fall right into that strange bloodlike substance, but she got right back up and kept on running.

"Streetlights, people. Don't stop believing, hold on. Streetlights, people."

Vecna was doing everything in his power to make sure that Serenity couldn't leave. He made more objects fall and crash next to her to thwart her attempts, but Serenity dodged all of them as she, quite literally, ran for her life. The music seemed to egg her on. She had to keep going, keep believing, keep holding on. Her veins pumped with adrenaline as she got closer and closer to the opening. She was close, so close—

"Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling. Streetlights, people."

And then she ran into the light.

Serenity gasped in shock, her eyes clearing. She felt her body free-fall, and she landed on the ground unharmed — thankfully. Serenity pushed herself up onto her hands and frantically looked around. Immediately, her breathing started to even. The world wasn't red, she wasn't surrounded by a broken house or crumbled objects. She was back in that field, not in the Upside Down.

And then her eyes set on him.

Steve was kneeling next to her, his eyes wide and glassy, because holy shit, he had almost just lost his girlfriend. Serenity let out a sob and launched herself forwards, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder. Steve immediately wrapped her arms around her back and tugged her in close, placing a hand on the back of her head. She felt Lucas, Dustin, and Max all place hands on her back as well, as if they were making sure she was still real.

"Renny," Dustin said. "Renny, oh my God."

"You . . ." Max trailed off. "Shit."

"You were floating, and—" Lucas began.

"I thought you were going to die," Steve finished.

"I'm alive," Serenity promised, her voice shaking. "I'm alive."

Underneath the setting sun, surrounded the people she loved, that was the only thing that mattered right now. She was alive.

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SHE'S A RUNNER SHE'S A TRACK STAR