So close.
Will was right fucking there.
Unfortunately, so was an entire nest of interdimensional monsters.
The stairway was my best option.
Which wasn't saying much.
I stayed behind the shelf for another few seconds, watching the nest.
The Demogorgon had moved farther away.
The Demodogs were still scattered amongst the eggs.
Most of the smaller creatures seemed content crawling through the disgusting organic mess surrounding them.
Nobody was looking at the stairs.
Good.
I could work with that.
I slowly slipped from behind the shelf.
One step.
Stop.
Listen.
Another.
Stop.
Nothing reacted.
I kept going.
The stairs were only a few metres away, but crossing that distance felt like walking through a fucking minefield.
Every instinct screamed at me to run.
I ignored it.
Running meant noise.
Noise meant attention.
Attention meant becoming dinner.
I reached the bottom of the stairs.
Still nothing.
Okay.
Up.
Slowly.
I placed my foot on the first step.
Then the second.
Third.
Fourth.
The nest gradually dropped beneath me.
Halfway there.
I shifted my weight onto the next step.
Creeeeak.
I froze.
Oh.
No.
The entire library seemed to go silent.
The scratching stopped.
The growling stopped.
Even the Demogorgon stopped moving.
Very slowly, I looked down.
Every fucking head in the nest had turned towards me.
Demodogs.
The smaller creatures.
The Demogorgon.
All staring directly at me.
For one horrible second, nobody moved.
"…Fuck."
The Demogorgon's head opened.
I was already reaching into my backpack.
The screech hit a second later.
I pulled out a Molotov cocktail, lit it and threw.
The bottle smashed directly against a Demodog.
Fire exploded across its body.
It screamed.
And panicked.
Instead of coming for me, it stumbled sideways and slammed straight into the nest.
"Oh, shit."
Flames jumped from its body to the membrane.
Then the vines.
Then one of the eggs.
Apparently, all that slime was flammable because the entire thing caught fire frighteningly fast.
The Demodog thrashed amongst the others, spreading the flames everywhere it went.
Demodogs scattered.
The smaller creatures shrieked.
One of the eggs split as flames engulfed it, something tiny inside writhing before disappearing behind the fire.
Another juvenile creature tried to scramble away and caught fire instead.
The burning Demodog crashed into the Demogorgon.
Bad idea.
The Demogorgon immediately lashed out, clawing it with enough force to send it flying into one of the shelves.
The shelf toppled.
Then hit the next one.
And the next.
The entire row came crashing down like fucking dominoes.
Screeches filled the library.
The entire nest erupted into chaos.
I stared for half a second.
Well.
Stealth was officially fucking dead.
But—
Will.
I turned and ran.
No more careful steps.
No more worrying about noise.
I sprinted up the remaining stairs and towards him.
"Will!"
He didn't move.
I reached him and immediately grabbed the thick vine disappearing into his mouth.
No.
Don't just pull.
I had no fucking idea how far inside him that thing went.
I grabbed my mace instead.
One swing.
The blade cut through the vine a few inches from his mouth.
The severed end writhed.
"Jesus fucking Christ!"
I almost dropped the mace.
The part still inside Will moved.
My stomach turned.
No time.
I dropped the mace beside me and grabbed the piece protruding from his mouth.
Then I focused.
My nose started bleeding almost immediately.
I didn't care.
Carefully.
Don't rip anything.
I wrapped my powers around the tendril and pulled.
It resisted.
"Come on."
I pulled harder.
Slowly, horribly, it began sliding out.
More.
More.
How fucking long was this thing?!
Then the last slimy length slipped free.
I threw it away.
Will didn't react.
"Will?"
Nothing.
Fuck.
I grabbed the mace again and started hacking through the growth holding him.
One vine.
Then another.
The cocoon loosened.
"Almost there."
Another swing.
The final section snapped.
And I suddenly remembered that the creepy fucking cocoon had been the only thing holding him upright.
Will fell forward.
"Shit!"
I dropped the mace and caught him.
Barely.
His weight slammed into me hard enough to make me stumble several steps backwards.
My injured shoulder screamed.
I nearly went down with him.
But I held on.
"I've got you."
Will didn't answer.
His head rested limply against me.
I could feel his skin against my cheek.
Cold.
Way too fucking cold.
"Will?"
Nothing.
I lowered him gently onto the floor.
His chest barely moved.
No.
No, no, no.
Removing that thing had done something.
Or maybe—
Fuck.
For all I knew, that disgusting tube had been keeping him alive.
Maybe ripping him away from it had—
Stop.
Fix it.
I dropped beside him.
CPR.
Hopper had done CPR.
Bruce had taught me CPR.
Technically, he'd repeatedly insisted that he wasn't a medical doctor.
Nobody cared.
When you had several Avengers regularly returning from missions with bullet wounds, stab wounds, burns and occasionally serious injuries, Bruce Banner became the unofficial doctor whether he liked it or not.
I tilted Will's head back and checked his airway.
Then started compressions.
One.
Two.
Three.
Come on.
I kept counting.
My hands pressed against his chest again and again.
Thirty.
I stopped.
Pinched his nose.
Covered his mouth with mine.
One breath.
His chest rose.
Another.
Back to compressions.
One.
Two.
Three.
My brain briefly registered something completely fucking ridiculous.
That had technically been my first kiss.
In either lifetime.
Great.
Wonderful.
I'd process that particular tragedy never.
Right now, I just wanted my friend not to die.
One.
Two.
Three.
Come on, Will.
Another breath.
Another.
Back down.
One.
Two.
Three.
Nothing.
"Come on."
My arms were already starting to hurt.
One.
Two.
Three.
Why wasn't this working?
I kept going.
My hands felt too small.
My arms felt too weak.
I was ten.
I was fucking ten.
It didn't matter how many months I'd spent training with the best assassins in the world.
It didn't matter how much stronger I'd become.
There were limits to what a ten-year-old body could do.
What if I wasn't pressing hard enough?
What if I physically couldn't?
One.
Two.
Three.
No.
Keep going.
Another two breaths.
Back down.
One.
Two.
Three.
My arms burned.
What if Hopper had been here?
He was an adult.
He was stronger.
Joyce and Hopper had saved Will in the original timeline.
What if changing things had made this worse?
One.
Two.
Three.
What if Will died because I got here instead of them?
A screech tore through the library.
I flinched.
The fire had spread farther.
Several eggs were burning now.
Something small shrieked from inside the flames.
A Demogorgon moved through the fire below.
Looking up.
At us.
One.
Two.
Three.
It started towards the stairs.
"Will, please."
Nothing.
One.
Two.
Three.
The Demogorgon reached the bottom.
"Please wake up."
Another compression.
"Please."
Will's eyes snapped open.
I stopped.
"WILL!"
His unfocused eyes found me.
For one second.
Maybe less.
His lips moved.
"…Erica…"
Then his eyes rolled shut again.
"Will?"
Nothing.
But he was breathing.
Weakly.
But breathing.
Relief hit me so hard I almost fucking cried.
"Okay."
I touched the side of his face.
"Okay. You're alive."
That was all that mattered.
We were okay.
For approximately the next five seconds.
Another screech reminded me of that.
Right.
Still inside the monster nest.
I got to my feet and dragged Will up with me.
He couldn't stand.
Couldn't even hold his head up.
Which meant I was carrying him.
Fantastic.
I turned around and pulled him onto my back.
My knees nearly buckled.
Jesus Christ.
Will wasn't particularly heavy.
I was just particularly fucking small.
I used my jacket to secure him against me, tying it tightly enough to keep his body pressed to my back. Then I adjusted my backpack to help hold him in place.
It wasn't perfect.
Not even close.
I used the smallest amount of telekinesis I could manage to keep his weight balanced.
The quiver went across my front.
Bow in my hand.
Good enough.
The Demogorgon reached the stairs.
Then stopped.
Because the stairs were on fire.
For one beautiful second, I thought that might actually solve my problem.
Then the fucker jumped.
It caught the edge of the second floor and started pulling itself up.
Of course it did.
"Fuck!"
I ran.
The stairs were my only way down.
And they were burning.
Flames had spread across several steps, completely cutting me off.
Think.
Think.
My eyes landed on part of a broken bookshelf nearby.
Heavy.
Really fucking heavy.
Too heavy.
I didn't care.
I reached out with my powers.
The shelf shook.
My nose immediately started bleeding harder.
"Come on!"
It lifted.
Barely.
My entire skull felt like it was being squeezed.
That thing was easily heavier than anything I'd managed to move since my powers downgraded.
The shelf dipped.
"No!"
I caught it.
Behind me, claws scraped against the upper floor.
The Demogorgon was coming.
I was carrying Will.
My backpack was dragging against my shoulders.
My powers were already strained keeping him stable.
And now I was trying to levitate a fucking bookshelf.
My body begged me to stop.
My brain wasn't far behind.
Couldn't.
If I hesitated for even a second, we died.
I threw the mace from my hand.
It clattered across the floor.
Then I screamed and shoved both hands forward.
The shelf flew.
It crashed down across the burning stairs.
"YES!"
Flames immediately started licking at the wood.
Didn't matter.
I only needed it for a few seconds.
I slapped myself across the face.
"Move."
I ran.
I didn't think it was physically possible to move faster with Will strapped to my back.
Apparently terror was an excellent fucking motivator.
I ran onto the shelf.
The fire was already spreading across it.
Three steps.
Four.
The flames ahead were too high.
Jump.
I pushed off.
And used my powers.
The extra force launched us far higher than a ten-year-old carrying another child had any right to jump.
For one terrifying second, there was nothing underneath us.
Then we started falling.
Fast.
I threw my power underneath us.
Slow.
Slow!
Our fall softened just before we reached the bottom.
My boots hit the floor.
My knees buckled.
I caught myself against the wall.
We made it.
I let myself breathe.
One second.
That was my mistake.
The Demogorgon charged straight through the fire.
"What the fuck?!"
Flames caught across its body.
It screamed.
But kept coming.
It was hurting itself just to reach us.
That wasn't normal.
I grabbed an arrow.
Nocked it.
Pulled.
Aimed for the neck.
Released.
The arrow flew.
And missed.
Well.
Not completely.
It buried itself in the creature's torso, just below the shoulder.
Dark blood sprayed from the wound.
"Shit."
Turns out shooting moving targets during training and shooting a Demogorgon charging at you while you're carrying an unconscious twelve-year-old through a burning interdimensional library were slightly different experiences.
Who would've guessed?
The Demogorgon didn't stop.
I ran.
Between shelves.
Left.
Right.
Left again.
Zigzag.
Anything to make following us harder.
It kept coming.
It should have slowed.
It was burned.
Bleeding.
Had an arrow sticking out of it.
But it kept dragging its mangled body after us like none of that mattered.
Like something was forcing it forward.
Controlling it.
Vecna.
The thought came immediately.
I didn't have time to examine it.
If something was ordering this thing to chase us, there was only one solution.
Kill it.
I reached into my backpack.
Another Molotov.
Lit.
Threw.
The bottle shattered against its chest.
The Demogorgon erupted in flames.
It staggered.
I stopped.
Turned.
Focused.
The shelves surrounding it trembled.
My head fucking throbbed.
"Fall."
I shoved.
One shelf tipped.
Then another.
Books spilled everywhere.
The first shelf crashed into the Demogorgon.
The second came down on top of it.
Then the fire reached the books.
Oh.
That worked better than expected.
Flames raced across the paper.
Within seconds, the Demogorgon disappeared beneath a burning pile of wood and books.
A giant funeral pyre made entirely out of library property.
Sorry, librarians.
I ran.
No footsteps followed.
Dead.
Or trapped.
Either worked for me.
The front entrance appeared ahead.
Almost there.
Then the vines moved.
"No."
They crawled across the doors.
Fast.
Twisting together.
Blocking the exit.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"
Movement above.
I looked up.
Three Demodogs jumped from the shelves.
They landed between me and the door.
Right.
Fine.
I reached into my backpack.
Two Molotovs left.
Two Demodogs.
Good enough.
I lit both.
Threw.
Glass shattered.
Fire exploded.
The first Demodog went down immediately.
The second rolled across the floor, screeching as flames consumed it.
The third charged.
I reached for my mace.
Nothing.
Right.
I'd thrown it upstairs.
Fuck.
I raised my hand instead.
Where was it?
I pictured it.
The second floor.
Lying beside the stairs.
Come on.
For one completely insane moment, I felt like Thor calling Stormbreaker back to his hand.
The mace moved.
I felt it.
Then—
It came flying over the railing.
Straight towards me.
Holy shit.
Maybe I should cosplay Thor more often.
The Demodog jumped.
I didn't catch the mace.
Instead, I redirected it.
The weapon shot past me.
Straight through the Demodog's neck.
Its head separated from its body.
Both hit the floor.
No time to celebrate.
The vines still covered the exit.
Some were already burning from the Molotovs.
I commanded the mace to swing.
Cut.
Again.
Again.
The burning vines snapped apart.
I recalled the mace to my hand.
An opening.
I kicked the door.
And ran outside.
Cold air hit my face.
I kept going.
Across the street.
Past the abandoned cars.
Towards the hedge where I'd hidden the bike.
Only when I was almost there did I look back.
Which every horror and action film I'd ever watched had repeatedly established was a fucking terrible idea.
Nothing followed us.
Thank God.
Then I looked up.
Second-floor window.
A shadow stood behind the glass.
Human-shaped.
Watching.
I stopped.
Vecna?
I couldn't see enough to know.
But suddenly the Demogorgon's behaviour made a lot more sense.
The way it had kept coming despite the fire.
Despite the arrow.
Despite practically destroying itself trying to reach us.
Like it had been following an order.
If that was Vecna…
Why hadn't he come after us himself?
Had he underestimated me?
Was he testing me?
Did he want to see what I could do?
I didn't know.
And right now, I didn't fucking care.
Because if Vecna had actually decided to deal with us himself, we'd probably already be dead.
So whatever his reason was for standing there and watching instead—
Thank you very fucking much.
I tore my eyes away.
This is not important right now.
Will was.
I can panic later.
I reached the hedge and found the bike exactly where I'd left it.
Getting Will onto it was another problem entirely.
I untied him from my back and sighed in relief the second his weight disappeared.
My entire body hurt.
Especially my shoulder.
The wound burned like someone had shoved a hot knife into it after having Will's weight pressed against it.
Later.
Pain later.
I positioned Will between myself and the handlebars as securely as I could.
Awkward.
Uncomfortable.
Probably incredibly unsafe.
Still better than walking.
With Will as extra weight, I wouldn't last another minute on foot.
I climbed onto the bike behind him and wrapped one arm around his body long enough to make sure he wouldn't fall.
Still breathing.
Good.
I put both hands on the handlebars.
Looked towards the road.
Then pedalled.
My legs protested immediately.
I ignored them.
Faster.
Away from the library.
Away from the fire.
Away from the nest.
Away from Vecna watching us through that window.
I didn't stop.
Didn't look back again.
Somehow, against every fucking possibility, we'd done it.
I had found Will.
I had got him out.
And we were both alive.
Mission accomplished.
Now I just needed to get him to safety.