HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1986.

MAX WALKED OVER TO A TABLE CLOSE by, picking up Dustin's walkie-talkie.

"If we go to East Hawkins, will this still reach Pennhurst?" she questioned.

"Of course," Dustin replied.

Steve frowned. "Wait– why are we talking about East Hawkins?"

Max turned to him, looking between Steve and Theresa. She realized what Max was wanting to do, and she really didn't have any objections.

Steve, however, was not going for that.

"No," he firmly stated, looking at the rest of them. "No, no!"

Max, unsurprisingly, did not listen to Steve. She grabbed her backpack, heading toward the basement door that led outside.

Steve scrambled to his feet to follow her, giving Tess a look.

"You gonna help me out here?"

She climbed to her feet slowly, sighing. "I think we should just go. Come on."

Lucas and Dustin were already gone, following after Max while Steve gave Theresa a look of reluctance.

"Come on," she repeated, sliding her arm around his and pulling Steve outside.

Max was already at Steve's car, but he was still trying to convince her to stay.

"Max, just wait a second–"

"Steve, if you really think I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement, then you're out of your mind. So either take me where I need to go or you're gonna have to tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute."

Tess raised her eyebrows, glancing up at Steve.

Max tugged on the door handle, finding that the car was locked. She looked back to Steve, determined.

"Open the door."

Steve scoffed. "Uh, no."

"I know a good lawyer."

He gave her a deadpan look. "Tess doesn't count."

Theresa rolled her eyes, reaching over in Steve's jacket pocket and ignoring his protests.

"Hey!"

She met his eyes, dangling the car keys. "Either you're driving, or I am. Who's it gonna be?"

Steve narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at her, finally reaching up and snatching them out of Tess's hand.

"Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst," Steve grumbled, unlocking the doors.

Theresa gave a satisfied smile, winking at Max before walking around to the passenger side. Just before she could get in, she stopped abruptly when she heard a strange sound. Like a clock chiming.

Frowning, Tess looked up and saw Max still standing there as well, looking up at her and meeting her eyes.

They had both heard it.

Theresa dismissed it at once, getting in the car. Max did the same, but Tess knew that she was onto her.

She was not sure how much longer she could keep it a secret.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE CAR WAS FAIRLY SILENT AS STEVE drove, making the first stop at Max's house.

"This better be fast," Steve mumbled, putting the car in park.

"Twenty seconds," Max returned, hopping out of the car.

Theresa was twisting her fingers, fidgety. Steve watched her warily, until Tess caught him staring. He offered a soft smile, Theresa chewing her inner lip timidly.

Attempting to busy herself, she opened the glove compartment and nosily looked through it. Steve raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it. As Tess searched, she saw a lot of tapes with a bunch of different music. She picked one up, knowing by the handwriting that it was one of her tapes.

"You still have these?" Theresa remarked, looking over at Steve.

He nodded. "Yeah, I– I figured you'd want me to keep them."

She started to smile, flipping one of the tapes over and seeing all of the songs on it.

"Diana Ross," Tess said aloud, pausing for a moment before she put the tape in Steve's stereo and pressed play. "This is my favorite song."

The song, Eaten Alive, began to play, Dustin and Lucas contorting their faces in the backseat.

"What is this?" Dustin questioned, Theresa slowly turning and giving him a look.

"What do you mean, 'what is it'? It's music, dipshit."

Dustin squinted. "...You don't listen to, like, rock music?"

Tess halfway scowled. "Do I look like I listen to rock music?"

She looked away, shaking her head. Steve grinned softly at her in amusement.

The longer they sat there, the more anxious Theresa was growing. Max had been gone for awhile now. She was worried.

Finally, Tess unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, Steve scrambling out as well.

"What are you doing?"

"Max has been gone for too long. I think we should go check on her."

Lucas and Dustin got out of the car as well, the four of them standing there when Max appeared from around the corner.

Steve shook his head. "That was longer than twenty seconds–"

"Shut up," Theresa cut off, letting out a relieved sigh.

Frowning as Max came closer, Steve said, "Hey, woah woah. You alright?"

Max rushed toward the door of the backseat. "I'm fine, just drive," she muttered.

Tess and Steve exchanged a look, the both of them getting back in the car at once.

"Did something happen?" Lucas asked quietly to Max, who dismissed him with a shaky voice.

"Can we please just go?"

Steve obliged, putting the car and reverse and pulling out of the trailer park.

Their next stop was an odd request from Max, who asked Steve to turn into Roane Hill Cemetery. Theresa glanced back at Max who stared idly out of the window, vacant.

Steve came to a stop, and Max jumped out of the car almost instantly.

Then, without warning, Lucas opened the door on the other side and got out as well, running after Max. Tess leaned over Steve, craning her neck to see what was going on. Steve looked down at her, then out of the window, then back down at her.

"Nosy much?"

"Shh."

Steve rolled his eyes, resting his chin on his knuckles. He had been on edge all day, just waiting for something to happen at this point. Either with Max, or with Tess.

Lucas finally trudged back to the car, and Max continued in the opposite direction.

"Was she alright?" Dustin asked, Lucas slightly shaking his head.

"She tried to tell me that she's fine but I'm not buying that. We just– have to wait," he mumbled.

Theresa sat back, bouncing her knee uncontrollably and pulling at her fingers. Steve kept glancing down at his wristwatch, able to see Max from a distance as she sat in front of a tombstone.

It was Billy's, obviously, and Tess could not believe how long it had been since his death. It felt like it had just happened, still fresh on her mind. Theresa could not even bring herself to feel guilty about him dying, after how horribly he had treated not only her, but Max and Lucas as well. Tess got the sense that Max might have been struggling with that same feeling, like she should have been guilty but just not being able to bring herself to do so.

Steve caved before Theresa. "Alright, it's been long enough," he said, opening the car door.

"You're right," Tess agreed, opening her door as well.

"Just give her some time," Lucas tried to reason, but neither Steve nor Tess listened to him.

"I have, alright Sinclair? If she wants to get a lawyer, she can."

Theresa was right alongside Steve, the both of them approaching Max.

"Max!" Steve called, but got no response.

Tess suddenly had a wave of nausea come over her, dropping to her knees beside Max whose eyes had rolled to the back of her head.

She gasped, Steve seeing just then and shaking the girl.

"Max!" they were both calling her name but to no avail, as Max was not budging.

"Holy shit, what do we do?" Steve placed his hands on his head frantically, Theresa quite honestly having no idea.

She had only experienced this one other time, with Will Byers. And Tess had not done anything to save him then; it had been pure dumb luck that he had somehow come out of his trance.

Lucas and Dustin were sprinting toward Max, Theresa and Steve now, having seen the panic on their faces. They were all surrounding her now, shaking her to try and wake her, but nothing was working.

Tess looked up. "Dustin, go call Nancy and Robin! Now, go!"

He scrambled to his feet, stumbling as he dashed back to the car for his walkie-talkie.

"Max, please!" Lucas pleaded, grabbing her shoulders.

Theresa's heart was pounding out of her chest, looking up again to see what Dustin was doing. He was standing on the hood of Steve's car, shouting into the walkie.

A moment later, he grabbed Max's bag from the car and dumped its contents out, grabbing something and then running back toward the others.

"What's Max's favorite song?" he shouted to Lucas, throwing a pile of tapes on the ground in front of Max.

"Wh– why? Why?" Lucas frowned, confused.

Dustin stuttered trying to explain, "Robin said if she listens to music it– it's too much to explain right now! What's her favorite song?"

Max's eyes were still lolled back, her head twitching eerily while Lucas looked through the tapes with shaking hands.

Theresa felt like she knew Max's favorite song, that maybe she had mentioned it in a letter one day. But she could not recall it now.

Lucas was panicking, hands trembling as he tried to decipher which tape had her favorite song. Tess reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," she said firmly, Lucas looking up to meet her eyes. "Focus, alright? Calm down, focus."

Lucas vaguely nodded, looking back down at the tapes he was given to choose from. He picked one up, reaching for Max's Walkman.

"It's this one," he said, putting the tape in while Theresa grabbed Max's headphones and put them on the girl's head.

Lucas pressed play, and the middle of a song began playing. Tess recognized it now, remembering that she bought the tape for herself because Max had recommended it. Running Up That Hill, Kate Bush.

It seemed like nothing was happening, and then suddenly, Max's body began moving upward. Literally levitating, right before their eyes.

Tess brought her hands to her mouth, falling backwards as Max rose higher and higher into the air. She felt helpless, watching Max fight an invisible war with nothing but a song to try and save her. They were all screaming her name, their desperate cries useless with Vecna's curse overtaking Max.

That was when it hit Theresa: she was cursed too. So maybe, she had a connection. Maybe she could see what Max was seeing.

She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking, Come on, Vecna. Take me, not her. Let Max live, I'm right here!

Just then, Tess opened her eyes again and saw Max crashing to the ground. Max let out a gasp as everyone clambered toward her, Lucas grabbing onto the hyperventilating girl who took in staggered, terrified breaths. Theresa leaned forward on all fours, taking the headphones off of Max and taking one of her hands. Max held on tightly, not daring to let Tess's hand go.

"It's okay," Lucas tried to reassure, "it's okay. I– I thought we lost you."

Max had faint streaks of tears rolling down her face, still in a state of shock. "I'm still– I'm still here," she breathed out, looking over to Theresa. The fear in her eyes instilled even more anxiety in Tess, feeling Max's rapid pulse in her wrist.

While everyone stayed where they were, giving Max as much time as she needed, Tess began to grow unnerved. She felt strange all of a sudden, trying her best to ignore it.

As they left the cemetery, Theresa kept looking over her shoulder and, of course, Steve noticed. But he did not say anything, figuring she was just shaken up like the rest of them.

Tess was hearing that damn clock chiming again.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     NANCY AND ROBIN MET THE OTHERS back at the Wheeler house, and had them explain what had happened to Max.

"No one's leaving, alright?" Steve said, pacing back and forth in the basement. "We're all staying here, and we're all gonna keep an eye on Max."

Max sat on the couch with Lucas right beside her, staring into nothingness. Theresa rubbed her temples, attempting to ignore the pounding headache she had. Things just were not adding up for her at the moment.

It had been over twenty-four hours since she had her first vision, imagining her conversation with Steve in the car. According to the information on the files, and from the experience Max had just had, Vecna should have come for Tess by now.

But why hadn't he?

Theresa finally looked up at Nancy, giving in to her headache. "Hey Nance, do you have any aspirin?"

"Yeah, it's upstairs in the bathroom."

Standing up, Tess started for the stairs when Max said, "I know it's happening to you too."

Theresa paused, turning back to Max with a dismissive head shake.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Max replied, tilting her head. "He told me, Tess. Vecna told me..."

She glanced down, Tess staring at her and timidly awaiting a response. Max brought her head back up, locking eyes with Theresa.

"He told me that he's coming for you too. He said that you're gonna be last."

notes.
not vecna saving the double homicide for last

tess is too sexy and too milf to die sorry i don't make the rules (actually i do bc it's my fanfic but whatever)

btw i think you should all go listen to theresa's favorite song, it fits her so well and the vibe of trying to run away from vecnussy

anyway i started school today, it's my senior year or whateva so i might be a bit busy, but i should still be able to update normally! season 4 is gonna be so long y'all like damn

where do you think tess & steve should live if they were to ever get married and have their kids and their pets?? personally i feel like chicago would fit them idk

i'm reconsidering the ending i have planned out rn... i kind of want to change it