March 26th, 1986

Hawkins, Indiana

Forest Hills Trailer Park

He didn't understand what was happening at first; it all happened so fast. She'd just let go of his hand and offered him one last reassuring grin before seizing up in her place. They were right there- "Nell? Nell, come on... Come on, wake up!" Steve carefully shook the girl in her place, placing both hands on her cheeks as he tried to pull her out of the trance she had fallen in.

"What's wrong?" Dustin called out from the other side as he stood on top of the mattress, staring up at the two teens to watch as Steve continued to try and shake Nell awake.

Coming to stand next to the boy, Max shook her head with a sad frown quickly spreading over her lips. "Vecna..." She mumbled as Steve finally looked up to the group, "Music-- We need music! Mayfield, throw me your walkman!" He called out, stepping away from Nell's twitching form and reaching a hand up to the miniature gate. "No! No, we're not throwing anything! We can't risk breaking it." Lucas called out, stopping the redhead from unclipping the cassette player from her belt.

"Do we even know what she listens to?" Max questioned with a furrowed brow, thinking over the few cassettes she had stashed in her book bag. "Wheeler... Buckley," Eddie called out suddenly before nodding towards his room. "You know what she likes, think you could find something from my collection?" He questioned as the two quickly moved past him. "Where do you keep your cassettes?" Nancy called out over her shoulder as she opened the door to his room.

Coughing awkwardly at the messy state of his room, Eddie nodded with a frown. "They're kinda everywhere..." He mumbled before moving to help them look. "Wait, wait! Munson, gonna need your help here!" Steve yelled, stopping the teen before he could follow the two. "Sinclair, you too... I need you guys to help me get her out of here." He called out, looking around the destroyed trailer they stood in, his eyes quickly landing on a chair that's wood had begun to rot away before dragging it under the gate.

Snapping his fingers in her face, he watched with a frown as her eyelids continued to flicker, twitching open and closed to reveal the foreign icy blue color of her irises. "What's the plan here exactly?" Eddie called out as Lucas mimicked Steve's actions, the chair wobbling in its place on the mattress. "There isn't one but I'm not leaving her down here for another minute, got it?" He called out, carefully picking the girl up, struggling slightly as her joints stayed locked in place.

"It's gonna be okay... You're okay..." He whispered, his grip tightening on her body as her shaking began to worsen. "I'm gonna lift her up, Sinclair you'll pull her the rest of the way through, and... Munson, just help him ease her down." He instructed as he moved to stand on the chair, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist before hoisting her up towards the gate. Lucas reached up to grab her, trying his hardest to keep his balance on the chair while Eddie awkwardly held his arms out in front of the freshman.

Falling slightly in his place, Lucas had narrowly missed his chance to hold onto Nell before losing his balance. "Careful... Careful!" Steve yelled, standing on his toes to hold her closer to the teen, finally giving him the chance to latch onto her shoulders before pulling her through the barrier.

Gravity quickly took hold as her waist crossed through the barrier, falling limply through the gate and narrowly landing on her neck if it hadn't been for Eddie who caught her when Lucas ultimately lost his balance and grip on the girl. "We've got her... How are we doing on the music?" Eddie called out to Nancy and Robin as they threw random cassettes over their shoulder; resting Nell on one side of the bed while Steve climbed through the gate.

"I'm not sure she's into this kind of stuff..." Robin answered awkwardly as she looked between the cassettes that surrounded her. "Is this all you have?" Nancy questioned before looking under his bed to find another box of cassettes. Scoffing lightly under his breath, Eddie moved to help look for a tape with Max following close behind him.

"Do you think she can hear us?" Dustin questioned hurriedly with a frown, kneeling beside the mattress as Steve began to pace around the trailer, his mind running a mile a minute. He knew her favorite song, only he couldn't help but doubt himself at the moment.

Releasing a frustrated groan, Max's braids swayed as she shook her head at the tapes she held. "I- I mean what are we even looking for, Steve?" She called out, looking over at the boy for help as he rushed into the room, picking up some of the already discarded tapes.

"Uh... Smiths, Talking Heads, Donovan... What about the Police? You know, Every breath you take? Seriously Munson, what is this crap? We need real music!" Steve yelled at the teen, only for Eddie to snatch the tapes out of his hands. "This is music!" Glaring down at Steve, Eddie dropped the tapes onto his bed before holding up two more. "I've got Metallic, Black Sabbath, Journey... She's bound to like one of those." He quirked a brow up at the boy who squinted his eyes at the tapes.

While the two continued to bicker over what would wake Nell up, Lucas froze in his place as he began to remember something, maybe something that could help Nell. Snapping his fingers to help him concentrate, Lucas approached Max with the idea as he thought back to what happened in the woods just the day before. "No- No, there was something... In the woods- She was humming something... What was it?" He stumbled over his words, confusing the rest of the group; only Max would understand what he was talking about.

"I- I can't remember... I mean, it sounded familiar, maybe? Like an old song but I'm not sure." Max mumbled in agreement as she tried to remember how the song went but the memory was faint. "Well can you mimic it?" Steve questioned, approaching the two only to earn a glare from the girl. "I wasn't exactly paying close attention to the melody, Steve." She scoffed out.

Nodding to himself as he thought over what Max had said, Eddie suddenly grabbed onto Steve's shoulder. "Wait-- Wait, I think I got something." He mumbled to the teen before rushing out of the room, disappearing into a separate room before coming back with a box filled with old records.

Furrowing his brow, Steve watched as Eddie flicked through the records, pulling a few out of their place in the stack and placing them beside him on the floor. "What are you doing?" He questioned with a frown. "Well, Nell gave my uncle most of the records in here... Said they belonged to her Dad and well she wanted them gone." Eddie rambled as he pulled out the few records that he knew Nell had handed off to him. "And the kid says she was humming an oldie, so unless you got a better idea... Be my guest."

Steve stays silent, looking over the old records that Eddie had pulled out before the boy waved for Max to look over them. "You gotta remember something... You have to." He mumbled to the girl with a frown.

Max takes a second, scanning her eyes over the worn covers before coming to a stop on a white cover that captured the image of two grinning men, Sinatra and Basie; the record read as she traced her eyes over the songs listed on the album. The memory of Nell standing frozen in the woods flashed in her mind as she tried to remember the tune. She knew what song it was... It was right there.

"Fly me to the moon... It was Fly me to the moon!" She called out to the group before quickly reaching down to grab the album. Seeing as they didn't really have the time to question the girl, Eddie was the first to move out of the room, running to grab the record player that rested in his Uncle's room, tripping over his feet in the process.

Pulling the record from its case, Steve flipped the disc between his fingers as he squinted his eyes in confusion at the numbers that distinguished the two sides. "Which is it? Which side is it?" He called out as Eddie placed the record player next to the bed, hurriedly cranking the old player as Max skimmed her eyes over the list, "It's the first song on side one." She called out, allowing him to place the record down and steady the needle.

"Any day now, Munson!" Steve yelled at the boy who continued to try and bring the old record player to life. "Okay, okay! Okay, now... Now, it's ready!" He finally called out, allowing Steve to drop the needle on the record. Leaning over Nell, Steve grabbed onto both sides of her face as the song began to crackle through the speaker.

Shaking her slightly, Steve's eyes scanned worriedly over her face as she continued to twitch and shake in her place, her breathing becoming heavier as her eyes continue to roll back into her head, the icy blue color of her iris' barely visible. "Come on... Come on, wake up... Please..." He whispered to her as the lyrics drifted through the room.

A Place Out of Time

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I could move... I knew I could move, that I could run and escape whatever Hell he had created. But... I couldn't. I wasn't confused anymore either, but for once I wished to be left in the dark... Maybe for once, that would be better than knowing.

But he had made no attempt to move either, remaining silent in his place in front of the door. The only exit to this damned hospital room that had yet to melt away like everything else in this purgatory. "What... What now, huh?" I sniffled, allowing the remainder of my tears to fall against my cheek as I glared at the man.

Peeling his eyes away from the linoleum floor, life-less gray eyes reached my own as the face of the friendly orderly melted away, slowly morphing into what he had become-- Vecna. "Now... That you remember... I need you to do something- For me." Taking a heavy step forward, he reached a deformed hand out to me.

Flinching away in my place, I shook my head in response. Whatever his words meant couldn't be good... Not for me... Not for anyone. "I won't help you." I muttered harshly, tracing my eyes past his form and onto the door that he had left unguarded behind him.

Releasing a light scoff at the response, his brow bones furrowed together as if my statement had somehow confused him. "Help me? Oh, no... Eleanor... I just want you to watch." His words did little to comfort me, they weren't meant to; his tone told me that much.

Crinkling my nose, I froze in my place as he moved his hand closer to me, fingers outstretching and locked in the same position as when he would torture those poor creatures... The way he killed Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, the way he'd almost killed Max... "No." I whispered, glaring up at him as I slapped his hand away from me and shoved past him, running to the door and out of the hospital room.

Falling through the door, I groaned out in pain as slammed into the wall in front of me after slipping on the substance that coated the floor outside of my room. Looking down at the ground, I followed the faint trail that connected to a pool of blood. My breathing grew heavier as my eyes slowly drifted away from the floor and down the hall of the deserted and nightmarish hospital that I now knew to be Hawkins Lab.

The walls were splattered with blood, while the bodies of children in hospital gowns, and orderlies dressed in white lay scattered along the floor all around me.

"Where are you going, Eleanor?" Vecna called after me as he slowly stepped out from behind the door. "It isn't time to leave..." He continued as the lights above us flickered eerily before finally shutting off.

The only thing that I could hear in the hallway was my own breathing as I struggled to navigate down the hall. Dragging my hands against the wall and flinching as I almost tripped over one of the many bodies that blocked the path before the light clicked back on. Only now, Vecna blocked the path, standing not even a foot away from me.

"It's time to stop running, Eleanor." He spoke harshly, tracing his hand back up with a glare now set in his eyes. Backing away from his looming figure, I looked back at the path behind me before sprinting to the other end of the hall and rounding the corner, only to find that the path was blocked off by planks of rotten wood. "Shit, shit..." I cried out as I ran towards the doorway anyways; where else could I go?

Fighting to pull off the planks of rotted wood. I groaned as I struggled to break the wood away from the frame, the sound of his footsteps growing closer behind me, "Come on... Come on!" I yelled out as my hand slipped away from the last plank of wood, it was the only one that still remained secured in its place.

Tearing the wood off of the door I slammed my shoulder against the door, hurriedly pushing it open and stumbling into the room that had originally been blocked off. The lights in the room blinked on and off as I scanned my eyes over the white tiled walls before landing on the past version of Dr. Brenner as he stood frozen in place next to a hospital chair. "" Vecna's voice fell out of Brenner's mouth and echoed off the walls.

The lights switched off, swallowing me in darkness. The only thing that can be heard in the room was my heavy breathing as I stayed frozen in my place; what was the point of running... At least that's what I thought before I felt something crawling along my arms and legs.

The lights turn back on, the sudden brightness blinding me. Moving to shield my eyes from the light I found that I couldn't block out the light as my arms were strapped down to the hospital chair by the black vines that made up the Upside Down, while the feeling of the vines around my legs slowly tightened as I began to struggle in my place.

"All that running... And look where it brought you..." Vecna's voice sounded strained as he emerged from the dark corner of the hospital room. "Back to me." He muttered; taking careful, calculated steps toward the chair he had trapped me in.

I sunk deeper into the chair as he leaned his face closer to mine; causing me to grimace at the proximity and take in his mutilated features. "I- Want you to tell, Eleven. I want you to tell her... Everything you see." He instructed bitterly, dragging a clawed finger across my cheek as I stared up at him with wide eyes.

Pulling the deformed hand away, he turned his palm out to face me before tilting his head back. I didn't even get the chance to scream out before a sudden pressure filled my head, and along with it came the visions... The message he wanted me to pass down.

The gates- Now comprised of four; chiseled away through the ground before forming one large gate in the center of Hawkins. Four gates to match the four chimes of the grandfather clock that rang in my ears.

Hawkins would fall.

"No!" I screamed out as I watched downtown Hawkins go up in flames. "" His voice called out as creatures began to claw their way through the gate and into Hawkins. "" He continued to instruct as a loud explosion rang through the air, flashes of the one I loved dying before my eyes; Mom, Jonathan, Will, the Party, Steve... Everyone. "No!

"Fly me to the moon

Let me play up there with those stars

Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars

In other words, hold my hand

In other words, baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song

And let me sing forever more

You are all I long for, all I worship and adore."

"It's going to be okay, Nellie... He can't hurt you." A faint voice filled my head as I squeezed my eyes shut; fighting to focus on the song that drifted through the speakers of the hospital. Jonathan... He was always my protector, even if was only ninety seconds older... And in turn, I'm Will's protector... I have to wake up. I have to get out of here for them.

"In other words ''

Please be true...

In other words

I'm in love with you..."

I have to warn them; just concentrate... Just remember the good bits; like teaching Will how to draw, or sneaking out of the house with Jonathan and running to Benny's Burgers, helping Mom get ready for her first date with Bob, or every campaign with the Party, My first date with Steve--

~~~

Taking in a deep breath, I rapidly blink away the watery tears that grew in my eyes as I stared up past Steve and at the gate that stared back down at me. "Nell... Nell, hey. Hey, you're okay... It's okay." Steve's voice cracked light as he tried to whisper reassuringly to me, pulling me into his chest and tearing my eyes away from the roof of the trailer.

Slowly pulling myself away from Steve, I shook my head as I traced my eyes over the group that stood over us. "No... No..." I mumbled softly, lips twitching as I tried to hold in my tears. "It's not okay..." I whispered before peering back up at the gate; the four chimes of Vecna's clock ringing inside my head as I allowed a tear to finally escape. "I think it's too late."