𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 | ᵐᵃˣ ᵐᵃʸᶠⁱᵉˡᵈ

CHP30- Don't Die On Me

VAL HUMMED A SONG WHICH SHE COULDN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF, as the basement door slammed open, making Val jump, she looked up towards the door  to see Robin and Nancy. "Okay, so," Nancy looked at Robin before continuing.  "We have a plan,"

The two girls took their seats, and Nancy opened up a document, as Robin explained. "Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame," the girl explained. "I'm now Ruth," Nancy said. "And I'm Rose," Robin said. Steve looked at Nancy. "Ruth?" Nancy nodded. Dustin was looking down at the files. "Nice GPA," He said. Nancy smiled. "Thanks," She said. "So we called  Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on a paranoid schizophrenics- "

"To which they said no," Robin finished  for her.

"But we've landed a three o'clock  with the director," Nancy said as she reached out to grab the fake files from Steve.  "Now all we have to do is  charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor," Robin finished for her again. "Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse," Nancy said, looking over at the girl who was sitting at the desk. "Yeah, uhm, about that," Steve said, eyeing his sister, who was playing with her fingers. "We've been doing our Victor Creel homework and uh...  we've got some questions,"

"Lots of questions," Lucas said."So do we. Hopefully, Victor has answers," Nancy said.  "Wait... wait...wait a second .. uh," Steve said, closing the file. "Where's mine?" Val rolled her eyes as the three ran up the stairs of the basement. 

VAL WAS SAT ON THE FLOOR HER EYES ON MAX, who seemed to be writing something.  She stood up and began pacing up and down the room. "V, calm down," Lucas said. "How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when Max is in danger, everyone is in danger because we don't know how to get rid of this curse and we don't know how many people this asshole is going to kill, and I'm worried for Max because I don't want her to die." Val snapped.

The three boys kept staring at Max while Val was staring at her knees. "Fuck it." she muttered, she stood up and walked over to Max. "Hey, " She said, scaring the redhead, Max's eyes looked up at the girl. "Val. Hi," Max said. "How are you feeling?" Val asked, leaning on the table. "Fine, Val look, I just.... can I ask you something?" Max asked, placing the pen down.  "Uh sure," Val said,  in a confused tone. "Why are you seeing Ms. Kelley?" Max asked. Val sighed. "Oh, that's what this is about, well, my parents and eating stuff," Val answered. 

"Oh, sorry for asking." Max mumbled. "No, it's cool." Val told her before walking away.
 "I know you guys are staring at me," Max mumbled, and the boys, gazes, looked away from the two.

"You said you needed something?"
 
"We're just.... hanging out," Val walked back to where she was sat before , on the floor. Steve gave her a reassuring smile. Max sighed. "How you think staring your eyes to the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna," She picked up the pieces of paper and stacked them, and tapped them against the desk so they would line up. "I don't know," She stood up and walked away from the desk. The boys didn't look at Max and kept their gaze away from her. "You can look at me now," Max said. "Thank you, sorry,"

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

Max leaned forward and handed Dustin a piece of paper.  "For you."

"For you." She said, passing one to Steve. 
"For you," Lucas grabbed the paper in front of him. She walked over to Val, "And uh for you," She spoke softly, handing an envelope to her. "Oh, and um, give these to Mike, El and Will," She said, passing the envelopes to Lucas . "If you can ever get a hold of them again,"

The boys looked down and began to pull back the seel when Max stopped them. "Hey! What are you doing?" Max asked them, making them stop. "No, don't. That's  not for now. Don't open it." She said. "Don't.. okay," Dustin said, putting the envelope down. "I'm sorry. What is this?" Dustin asked. "It's um.."Max looked down nervously. "it's a fail-safe," She said. "For after. If things don't work out." Val sighed, holding back tears. "No, don't say that. Things are gonna work out."

"No!" Max snapped, making Val flinch. "No, i don't need you to reassure me and tell me it's all going to work out. Because, people have been telling me that my entire life, and it's almost never true. It's never true. And I mean, of course this asshole curses me," She said. "Should have seen that one coming," Max mumbled.

Val took a deep breath and let out a sigh. She sat there staring at the wall in front of her, the cream walls that seemed so familiar yet so unfamiliar. The nights she spent in this room laughing and playing games, the memories that they had made, she wished she had become friends with the boys sooner, maybe they would have made more memories, maybe she would have been happier, maybe they would have stopped her.

But all these memories would just soon, sixteen years of her life would be over ,just like that. If they knew how to get rid of this curse by then, Val wished her friends wouldn't save her,  put her out of her misery, end her suffering, she never even planned being here this long and if she lived any longer, Val wouldn't live to see her seventeenth birthday. Val didn't want to, but she just couldn't anymore.

The room was silent, quiet , Val liked it. But Max broke the silence . "If we go to East Hawkins, will this still reach Pennhurst?" She asked, looking over at the group. Dustin nodded. "Of course. Yeah," Steve face stiffened, "Wait why are we talking about  East Hawkins?" Max stared at him as he slowly released what was happening.  "No. No. No!" but  Max didn't listen and went up the basement stairs. The group followed the redhead.

"Max. Max, seriously." Steve said, running after the girl. "Seriously, I'm not joking. Okay? I'm not driving you anywhere,"Max continued to walk towards Steve's car. "Steve, if you think I'm going to spend what is likely going to be my last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement,  then you're out of your mind." Max said. "So, either take me where I need to go, or you're going to have to tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute,"

The girl stopped by the back door of the car and pulled on the handle. She looked at Steve with a stone cold expression. "Open the door,"

"Uh, no."

"I know a good lawyer," Steve stared at her for a second before turning to Dustin.  "Henderson,  that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst," the group climbed in the car, Lucas, Max and Val in the back, and Dustin in the front.

STEVE PULLED UP OUTSIDE  Max's trailer, Val hadn't been inside, ever. "This better be fast, Mayfield,"  Steve said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Twenty seconds," He said before the door shut. Val was playing with the envelope on her lap, fighting the urge to open it. She was looking out the window at Max's trailer, waiting to see her come out. "Val, hey, are you okay?" Lucas asked  as he tapped her on the shoulder. Val took a deep breath . "I had a vision of him before," She said. "What?"

"A vision? A vision of who?

"Vecna, it was just vision. Max is gonna to be fine. We're not going to let her die." Val muttered. "Hey, V, it's going to be okay. Don't worry." Lucas reassured her, bringing her in for a hug. "Thank you,"