chapter nine:
❛ max is in danger ❜

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Scarlett's eyes fluttered open, her consciousness returning in fragments, as if pulled from the depths of a suffocating sea. The sharp sting of cold hit her skin first, then the jarring sensation of wires and electrodes strapped to her body. Her chest ached as if a weight had been pressing down on it for too long.

Panic surged through her veins.

Her eyes shot open, and her lungs heaved violently. Above her, blurry figures surrounded the tank. Doctors. Scientists. Brenner.

She'd coded.

They'd been resuscitating her.

Her heart, still racing with erratic beats, pounded in her ears. Scarlett's fingers twitched as her body's instinctive response was to react-fight or flee. And in that moment, fight surged ahead.

In a burst of motion, Scarlett shot upright in the tank, her hands grabbing and shoving every wire, tube, and restraint off of her. The harsh beeping of machines turned to shrill alarms as she yanked herself free. Her breath came in gasps, but something was different-something had changed inside her.

Her heart pounded, but not with fear-rather, with newfound power.

Her body surged with energy, her hair, once damp and plastered to her face, now rose around her like a wild halo. But at the ends, blue flames flickered and danced, the color of pure, uncontained electricity. Her breath steadied, but her eyes-they glowed with an otherworldly intensity, electricity coursing through them, blue veins of light pulsing with each heartbeat.

Scarlett could feel the power humming beneath her skin, buzzing at her fingertips. Her palms turned upward, almost involuntarily, and a whirlpool of electricity swirled between them, crackling in the air with fierce blue energy. It spun faster, a growing tempest of power, and she reveled in it-finally in control. Finally harnessing what had once torn her apart.

Without warning, she shot the bolt of electricity toward the tank that had held her-Stanisława. The crackling bolt hit the glass with a deafening shatter, obliterating the tank into fragments that scattered across the room. The room's lights flickered in response, the power surging through her also beginning to control everything around her. The flicker turned into a full-blown strobe effect, lights blinking on and off, casting the room in rapid flashes of light and shadow.

"Seven!" Brenner's voice echoed through the chaos, trying to pierce through the electrical storm that had enveloped the room. His face was a mix of surprise and concern as he watched the display. "Seven, stop!"

But Scarlett didn't stop. She wasn't trying to escape-no, not this time. She was showing them-showing him-that she was no longer just the scared girl they could control. She wasn't a broken experiment.

The electricity twisted and coiled, shooting out from her fingertips and into the ceiling lights, the walls, the monitors. She controlled it all now. The power obeyed her.

But Brenner's voice, filled with calculated fear, rang out again. "Scarlett, enough!"

His warning fell on deaf ears. Scarlett lifted her chin, eyes still glowing with that electric blue hue, her lips curling into the smallest hint of a smile. This wasn't chaos. This was control.

She turned her gaze toward Brenner, and for the briefest moment, he hesitated. She wasn't escaping. She wasn't breaking free-she was showing him what she had become.

But Brenner didn't see that. In his mind, she was still dangerous. Still unpredictable.

Before Scarlett could react, something sharp pierced the air, followed by a brief stinging sensation in her neck. Her breath hitched as her vision blurred instantly. Brenner had acted swiftly, sending a dart flying into her before she could stop it.

Scarlett stumbled back, the whirlpool of electricity faltering in her palms as her knees buckled beneath her. The world spun, her heart still thrumming with power, but the sedative worked fast. The lights above her stopped flickering. The electricity faded from her fingers, her hair falling limply around her face once more.

As she fell to her knees, barely conscious, she caught Brenner's gaze-calm, cold, calculating.

He'd misunderstood. He thought she was trying to break free. But all she wanted to show was that her powers were no longer a burden. She was in control now.

And yet, even as the darkness took her, a single thought pulsed through her fading consciousness: They'll never understand.

The world went black, and the last thing she heard was Brenner's voice, distant and detached: "Contain her."

Scarlett's eyes shot open, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. The room was pitch black, and for a brief, disorienting moment, she didn't know where she was. The silence pressed down on her, broken only by the sound of her frantic breathing and the faint hum of electricity buzzing through the collar fastened around her neck.

Her fingers instinctively flew to the metal band, tugging at it, but it was locked tight, unyielding. Panic surged in her chest, her heart pounding like a drum in her ears. Tears blurred her vision as she stumbled to her feet, disoriented and terrified. The cold metal of the collar was a cruel reminder of her confinement.

"Let me out!" Scarlett screamed, her voice hoarse and shaking. She slammed her fists against the door, the sound echoing dully in the small, suffocating room. "Let me out!"

Silence answered her cries. She could feel the familiar spark of power stirring within her, the electricity she could control with such precision and force. Desperation clawed at her, and she pushed her hands forward, trying to summon her power, to escape. But the moment she felt the electricity crackle to life beneath her skin, the collar activated. It snapped around her throat with a violent shock, sending waves of searing pain through her body.

Scarlett screamed, her legs giving out as she collapsed to the cold, hard floor. Her body twitched involuntarily, the aftershocks leaving her trembling and weak. She lay there, curled up on the ground, tears streaming down her face. The collar's punishment was relentless, designed to subdue her, to keep her powers in check.

Her body ached, her mind racing. Why was Brenner doing this? She thought she had finally proven she could control her abilities. She thought she had earned his trust.

But this... this was worse than any experiment, worse than any test. This was a prison.

Scarlett choked back another sob, her fingers trembling as she pressed them to the collar, feeling the cool metal against her skin. It was too tight. Too close. Her mind screamed for freedom, but her body was locked down by pain.

Suddenly, a voice, eerie and familiar, cut through the darkness.

"Scarlett... poor Scarlett..."

She froze, her heart skipping a beat. Her eyes darted around the dark room, but she saw nothing-just an endless, oppressive void.

"Who's there?" she whispered, her voice trembling, fear creeping into every syllable.

The voice was soft, mocking. "Show them what you're made of."

Her breath caught in her throat. The voice-it was Henry. Her heart pounded harder, confusion flooding her mind. She whipped her head around, her pulse racing as she searched the shadows for him.

But there was no one.

Her panic deepened, sweat clinging to her skin as her eyes darted from corner to corner. "Henry?" she whispered again, but her voice was swallowed by the darkness.

The room remained empty, and yet, Scarlett couldn't shake the feeling that he was watching her. Her heart raced faster, thudding in her chest like a drum, and she stumbled back, pressing herself against the cold metal door.

And then, out of nowhere, a ticking sound.

She turned her head sharply, her eyes locking onto a small, red clock that appeared in the corner of the room. Its numbers flickered, counting down from ten.

But... how? It hadn't been there before.

Scarlett's pulse quickened as she stared at the clock, the numbers ticking away faster than they should. Her breaths came in shallow gasps. Was this real? Or was it another one of Brenner's mind games?

Before she could make sense of it, the clock blinked out of existence, vanishing as if it had never been there at all.

Her back hit the door, and she let out a shaky breath, her heart hammering in her chest. "What's happening to me?" she whispered, her voice small, broken.

But there was no answer. Just the suffocating silence.

And then-alarms. Loud, blaring, and shrill, piercing the darkness and filling the room with panic.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Scarlett pushed off the door, adrenaline kicking in. She had to get out of here. Now.

She ran to the door again, her hands shaking as she pounded against the metal, but it wouldn't budge. The fear clawed at her, but determination flared in her chest. Her power-it was still there, still inside her, waiting to be unleashed. She could feel it beneath her skin, crackling, desperate to be set free.

Her eyes flickered down to the collar. The electricity it emitted was designed to control her, to subdue her-but maybe... maybe she could use it.

It was a risk. A painful one. But she didn't have any other choice.

With trembling hands, Scarlett pressed her palms together, forcing herself to focus. She could feel the electricity humming inside her, despite the collar's grip around her neck. Slowly, she began to summon it, pulling the energy into her palms. Her muscles strained, her entire body shaking as the electricity formed a whirlpool between her hands, swirling blue light dancing at her fingertips.

The collar reacted immediately, sending shocks of excruciating pain coursing through her. Her vision blurred, and she bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming, but she wouldn't stop. She couldn't.

The whirlpool grew, pulsing with power, and with a defiant scream, Scarlett threw the energy at herself, channeling it into the collar. The shockwave that followed sent her body jerking violently, but the collar cracked, the metal breaking apart and falling to the floor.

Gasping for breath, Scarlett collapsed to her knees, clutching at her neck where the collar had once been. The pain was still there, lingering, but she was free.

She didn't have time to recover. The door was still locked.

Forcing herself to stand, Scarlett raised her hands and shot a bolt of electricity at the door. The metal groaned, then exploded open in a shower of sparks. Scarlett stumbled into the hallway, her body aching but her mind focused on one thing: escape.

Gunshots echoed down the hall, and Scarlett's heart leaped into her throat. Soldiers. The military was here. They were closing in.

A guard appeared in front of her, rifle raised, but before he could pull the trigger, Scarlett unleashed another blast of electricity, sending him flying backward. His body hit the ground, convulsing.

She didn't stop. She couldn't. Every step felt like a marathon, but she pushed forward, fighting off anyone who stood in her way. The facility was a war zone, chaos erupting in every direction.

After what felt like an eternity of running, Scarlett burst through the facility's main doors, stumbling into the harsh desert air. The sun was setting, casting long shadows over the sand, and her lungs burned with every breath.

But she wasn't safe yet.

The sound of a helicopter whirring above caught her attention, and her eyes shot upward. There, in the sky, Eleven was standing on the ground, her hands raised, veins bulging as she lifted the helicopter into the air, making it spin wildly.

Scarlett's heart clenched. Eleven was fighting alone.

Without hesitation, Scarlett raised her hands, electricity crackling between her fingers once more. Her powers were stronger now, more controlled, and she could feel the surge of energy building within her. With a scream of fury, she unleashed it, sending a massive bolt of electricity toward the helicopter. It struck the metal frame, and in an instant, the helicopter exploded, debris raining down in fiery shards.

Scarlett's chest heaved, her body trembling with the exertion. But she had done it. She had helped.

Eleven turned, her wide eyes locking onto Scarlett's, and before Scarlett could say a word, Eleven rushed forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

They stood there for a moment, holding onto each other, both of them exhausted, both of them victorious.

But before Scarlett could say anything, before she could process what had just happened, she heard a voice-familiar and panicked.

"Scarlett!"

Her heart skipped a beat. It was Mike.

But as she turned, the world around her blurred, and the chaos of the battlefield faded into a distant hum.

Scarlett's breath came in shallow gasps as the darkness of the desert loomed ahead. The van rattled as they drove away from the chaos they had just escaped, but her mind was far from settled. She felt Mike's hand still wrapped around hers, his thumb rubbing circles against her skin, trying to offer some kind of comfort, but her heart was pounding too fast. Too much had happened. She'd barely had time to process it all.

Suddenly, Scarlett bolted upright, her eyes wild with panic, as everything that had happened in the last hour flooded back in a rush. The facility, the collar, Brenner lying on the ground in his own blood. Her head throbbed as memories of being held captive washed over her, and the steady grip of Mike next to her felt both grounding and surreal.

"Mike," she croaked, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Tears blurred her vision as she squeezed his hand tighter, as if fearing he might disappear like the others. "Mike, I remember everything before I escaped," she sobbed, her voice cracking under the weight of it. "It was so bad, and Br-Brenner, he just... he did it again. He cut my hair, Mike. He put the collar on me again. It was like I was nothing to him."

Mike's eyes softened as he pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her trembling form. "I'm here now, okay?" he whispered into her hair. His voice was soft but firm, like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. "I won't let anything else happen to you. I promise."

Scarlett let out a shaky, humorless laugh through her sobs. She pulled back just enough to look at him, wiping at her tear-streaked cheeks. "Mike, you always say that," she sniffed, her voice catching. "And every time you say that, chaos happens."

Mike chuckled softly, leaning his forehead against hers, the warmth of his breath calming her frayed nerves for a fleeting moment. "Okay, maybe I jinx us a little, but I mean it this time," he whispered, his eyes locking onto hers, filled with nothing but love and determination. "You're safe now."

Scarlett smiled through the tears, and for a brief second, the weight of the world seemed a little lighter. Mike's presence, his unwavering belief in her, kept her from spiraling completely.

"I love your hair, by the way," Mike added, his tone lighter now, teasing.

Scarlett gave him a disbelieving look, running a hand through the short strands of her pixie cut. "You don't hate it?" she asked, incredulous. "I didn't have a choice, Mike. Brenner knocked me out and-" she shuddered at the memory, "-I woke up, and it was just gone. I barely recognized myself."

Mike tilted her chin up, his eyes searching hers with a quiet intensity. "I love it. And I love you," he said, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, cutting off any more doubts she might have voiced.

Before Scarlett could respond, a voice interrupted, awkward and familiar. "Hey, Scar."

Scarlett turned, her eyes widening with surprise and relief as she saw Harvey standing there, hand in hand with Will. "Harvey!" She laughed, wiping her face hastily as she approached them. "Did Will drag you into this mess?"

"Yeah," Harvey chuckled, casting a teasing glance at Will. "He kind of did."

Scarlett rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was genuine. Even amidst the chaos, seeing her friends brought a strange comfort, like some things still made sense.

As Scarlett shared a light moment with Harvey, Eleven and Mike stepped up, and Eleven immediately pulled Will into a tight hug. The connection between them was undeniable, both of them crying softly, leaning into each other for support. Scarlett watched, her heart aching for everything they'd been through.

"Eleven..." Will's voice broke as he pulled back just enough to look at her. "Are you okay?"

Eleven nodded, though the weight in her eyes said otherwise. "I'm okay," she whispered.

"Guys." Jonathan's urgent voice cut through the moment as he approached. His face was grim, eyes flicking between them. "We need to go. Now. It's not safe here. They'll come after you both."

Eleven's collar beeped softly before unlocking with a click, dropping to the ground. Everyone turned to see Brenner lying in the distance, gasping for breath, blood pooling beneath him from a gunshot wound. The man who had terrorized Scarlett for so long, the one who had hurt Eleven and others like them, was now dying before them.

Eleven walked toward him, her face expressionless. Scarlett, however, stayed rooted in place, her stomach churning with a mix of anger and fear. She could barely stand to look at him. The pain he had caused her, the way he had manipulated her, the way he had forced her to feel powerless... it was all still too raw.

Mike's hand tightened around hers as they both watched Eleven crouch beside Brenner. The words exchanged were too quiet to hear, but whatever it was, Eleven soon rose, leaving Brenner behind as she made her way back to the group.

"Let's get out of here," Jonathan said, already heading for the van.

Scarlett, Mike, Eleven, and the others piled in, the van speeding away from the facility, the desert stretching endlessly around them. Scarlett leaned her head back against the seat, her heart still racing as they sped further from the nightmare. She could barely catch her breath, but there was a flicker of hope inside her now.

"Hawkins," Eleven suddenly said from the backseat. "We need to get to Hawkins."

Scarlett's eyes snapped open, frowning as she turned toward Eleven. "What? Why Hawkins? We need to get as far away as possible."

Mike nodded in agreement. "Exactly. We need to get somewhere safe. Not to Hawkins where the military is going to look next."

But Eleven shook her head, her expression steely, as if she had already made up her mind. "No. We have to go to Hawkins. Tonight."

Scarlett's chest tightened at the urgency in Eleven's voice. "El, we'd never make it! That's over 2,000 miles. There's no way we can get there in time."

Eleven's jaw clenched, her gaze hard and unwavering. "We have to find a way."

Mike, sitting beside Scarlett, furrowed his brow. "Find a way for what?"

Eleven took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly. "If we don't, they're going to die."

Scarlett's breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding in her ears. Her whole body tensed at the weight of Eleven's words. "Who?" Harvey's voice was barely a whisper.

Eleven's silence was deafening, her gaze distant.

"Eleven!" Scarlett's voice rose in panic as she grabbed Eleven's arm, shaking her slightly. "Who's going to die?!"

Eleven sighed, her eyes heavy with sorrow. "Max."

Scarlett's world shattered. Her heart stopped, her blood ran cold. Max-her stepsister, her friend. "No..." Scarlett whispered, her voice breaking. "No, that can't be right. We stopped him. Henry... we stopped him."

Eleven shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "We didn't. He's still out there, Scarlett. And he's going to kill her."

Scarlett felt like the air had been sucked from her lungs. Her mind swirled with disbelief and fear. Henry-Vecna-was still alive. And he was coming for Max. Her step-sister. Her blood. Her cousin.

"No..." Scarlett whispered again, her voice lost in the whirlwind of emotions. She could feel herself spiraling, the terror of losing Max overwhelming her.

She couldn't lose her. Not to Henry. Not like this.

ASH SPEAKS!

i apologize for the short(ish) chapter!! i just felt like most of elevens scenes didnt match with scarlett... scarlett needs to have her little own storyline yk? but mike and scar finally reunited! also, scar knows max is in danger now...

one more chapter and ill be done with this fic until next year :((

PLEASE DONT BE A GHOST READER!!
COMMENT AND VOTE! IT HELPS US WRITERS STAY MOTIVATED:)