Chapter 58

as promised, another chapter <3

Victor Creel finishes his life story with a broken whisper, “He wouldn’t let me join them.”

The man collapses inward on himself, sobbing. Nancy steps closer, speaking urgently.

“The angel you followed,” she asks, “Who was she?”

He doesn’t answer. He just rocks back and forth on the narrow bed, humming softly to himself.

“Victor?” Nancy tries again, “Victor.”

The three girls whip around at the sound of the door to the high-security wing sliding open.

“Is he everything you hoped he would be?” Dr. Hatch asks, stalking toward them with a thin smile, “I just had a very interesting conversation with Professor Brantley. Perhaps we should continue it in my office. We can wait for the police there.”

Before any of them can respond, three guards step in. Rough hands grab their arms, dragging them back through the doorway and toward the stairs.

“You have to listen!” Maggie shouts, fighting against their grip, “We’re in danger. Our friend is in danger!”

Nancy adds desperately, “She’s going to die if we don’t figure out everything Victor knows!”

The men don’t slow. They don’t even look at them.

As they’re hauled up the stairs, Maggie mutters darkly, “If Hopper were still alive, I’d be out of this so fast.”

They’re marched back through the listening room. Nancy twists toward Dr. Hatch, still trying, “You’re not listening. Our friend is in danger.”

He doesn’t bother turning around, “Do you really expect me to believe anything you have to say?”

“It’s the truth!” Nancy snaps.

“You’re free to share your sob story with the police.”

The guards finally release them once they’re outside. As they start walking again, Robin leans in close to Nancy and Maggie.

“Victor said that the night of the attack, everything went on inside the house. But he kept mentioning music. Music was playing. And when we asked him about the angel…He started humming.”

Robin quietly sings the tune of Dream a Little Dream of Me.

A lightbulb detonates in Maggie’s head, “Holy shit. Hatch said music can reach parts of the brain that words can’t. That’s it. Music is the key.”

“A lifeline,” Nancy says, a tense smile tugging at her mouth, “Back to reality.”

“Exactly,” Robin nods, “It’s worth a shot.”

Nancy flicks a glance over her shoulder at the guards following them, “I think we can beat them.”

“What?” Robin asks.

“To the car,” Nancy says.

Maggie grins wickedly, “Nothing says adrenaline rush like running from the authorities.”

“I’m just going to say,” Robin starts, panicked already, “I have terrible coordination. It took me six months longer to walk than all the other babies.”

“Follow our lead,” Maggie says, and then she’s gone.

She bolts forward, yanking Nancy with one hand and Robin with the other.

“No. Oh my God!” Robin screams.

They kick off their shoes mid-run. Guards shout behind them as they tear across the courtyard. They pile into the car, breathless and shaking. Maggie dives into the passenger seat. Robin scrambles into the back.

The doors lock just as guards slam against the windows.

“Nancy, drive,” Maggie says, terrifyingly calm.

A guard pounds on the glass.

“Nancy,” Maggie snaps, “drive.”

“I’m trying!”

The pounding gets louder. Maggie’s voice finally cracks, “NANCY, DRIIIIIVE!”

The engine roars to life and the tires screech. They shoot forward, leaving the guards behind in a blur.

“Maggie, where the hell are you?” a voice crackles from the backseat, “This is a code red. I repeat, code red!”

Robin grabs the walkie-talkie, “Dustin, it’s Robin. We copy.”

“Holy shit, finally!” Dustin yells, “Please tell me you guys figured it out!”

Maggie snatches the walkie-talkie, “Dustin! It’s music. A favorite song. That’s the key. It pulls you out of the trance. At least… we think it does.”

“Roger that! Thank you! Now get your asses back here, stat. Something’s happened.”

Maggie’s blood runs cold as she lowers the walkie-talkie, “He’s trying to take Max.”

Robin exhales shakily, “God. I hope we’re right.”

The car settles into a steady speed once they hit the main road. The sirens never come. The world, annoyingly, continues as normal.

Nancy keeps both hands tight on the wheel, knuckles pale, eyes fixed straight ahead. Her chest is still heaving, but her voice is steady when she finally speaks.

“Maggie.”

Maggie looks out the passenger window, jaw clenched, knee bouncing like it’s trying to escape her body.

“When we were with Victor,” Nancy continues carefully, “you said, this is happening to you and Max.”

Maggie doesn’t answer.

Robin shifts in the backseat, immediately clocking the tension. She stares very hard at the headrest, suddenly fascinated by literally anything else.

Nancy presses on, “You didn’t say us. You didn’t say our friend. You said you.“

Maggie doesn’t answer, more concerned about the fact that Max could be dead if they’re wrong and that she would be next. Plus, the fact that if Max really did escape his grasp, he’s going to be pissed and way more hell-bent on killing one of them.

“Maggie,” Nancy says again, “What did you mean?”

Maggie exhales slowly through her nose. When she finally turns, her expression is tight.

“I’ll tell you,” she says, “When we get back. When we know Max is safe.”

Nancy frowns, “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting right now.”

Robin finally can’t help herself.

“For what it’s worth,” she says gently, “I am extremely in favor of not unpacking trauma while fleeing a mental institution.”

Maggie snorts, “Thank you, Robin. Voice of reason.”

Nancy doesn’t smile. She keeps her eyes on the road.

“You’re asking me to trust you.”

“I know,” Maggie says, “And I’m not doing that lightly.”

“And also,” Maggie adds, glancing pointedly at the speedometer, “you’re driving perfectly normally. Which is honestly disappointing given the circumstances.”

Nancy huffs despite herself, “I’m not getting arrested today.”

“Big fan of that plan.”

Robin leans forward between the seats, gripping the headrests.

“Just so we’re clear,” she says, “once we confirm Max is alive and not actively being haunted, then we panic. Right?”

“Yes,” Maggie and Nancy say at the same time.

The car speeds up just a little.

And Maggie turns back to the window, the weight of what she hasn’t said sitting heavy in her chest, counting the minutes until they know whether Max is dead.

Because if she isn’t, then Nancy is going to need answers she can’t dodge anymore.

The Wheeler house comes into view, feeling like a threat of the unknown.

Nancy pulls into the driveway and kills the engine. Maggie is already out of the car before the doors finish unlocking.

They don’t bother knocking.

Nancy shoves the front door open, calling Max’s name as they rush inside. Their footsteps thud down the stairs to the basement urgently.

“Max?” Nancy calls again, “Max!”

Max is sitting on the couch, knees pulled to her chest, headphones hanging uselessly around her neck. Her eyes snap up at the sound of their voices, wide and glassy.

She looks intact, but not unphased. Far from it.

“Maggie,” Max says, her voice thin and wrecked.

Maggie crosses the room in three strides and drops to her knees in front of her, hands cupping Max’s face.

“Oh my god,” Maggie breathes, “Hey. Hey. I’ve got you.”

Max breaks. She lunges forward, arms wrapping tight around Maggie’s shoulders, fingers digging in like she’s afraid Maggie might vanish if she lets go. Maggie holds her back just as hard, rocking them slightly, pressing her cheek into Max’s hair.

“You’re okay,” Maggie murmurs, “You’re here. You’re safe. He didn’t take you.”

Max’s breath stutters against her shoulder.

“I thought he was going to,” she whispers, “I thought that was it.”

Maggie squeezes her tighter. Her jaw clenches.

She can feel the fear still clinging to Max. The echo of Vecna’s grip hasn’t fully let go yet.

Maggie closes her eyes. She shifts just slightly, forehead resting against Max’s temple.

“I’m right here,” she says quietly, “Okay? Let me help.”

Max just nods, clinging tighter.

Maggie lets herself open up to it.

The fear comes rushing in like cold water. Jagged flashes hit her all at once. The feeling of being watched. The certainty of falling. The awful calm right before something terrible happens.

Maggie’s fingers curl into Max’s jacket as she takes it on, pulling the fear out in slow, careful waves.

Her breath catches once. Nancy watches from a few steps back, heart pounding, eyes locked on Maggie’s face as it tightens with concentration. Robin stands beside her, silent for once, understanding exactly what she’s seeing and choosing not to comment.

After a few seconds, Maggie pulls back.

Max’s breathing has evened out. Her shoulders aren’t hunched up by her ears anymore. The panic has dulled, fading into exhaustion instead.

Maggie forces a small smile, “See? Still you. Still here.”

Max swallows, “You always do that.”

“Because it’s always needed,” Maggie says softly.

She leans her forehead against Max’s again for a second longer, then finally lets go.

Only then does Maggie’s own hands start to tremble. She turns away quickly, rubbing at her arms like she’s cold, as she absorbs the leftover fear under her skin. Nancy notices immediately.

“Maggie,” she says carefully, “What did you just—”

“I’m fine,” Maggie cuts in, a little too fast, “She needed it more.”

Max frowns, “You don’t have to do that for me.”

Maggie looks back at her, expression gentler now, “Yeah. I do.”

Silence settles over the basement. The worst moment has passed for now.

Nancy steps closer, eyes never leaving Maggie.

“We need to keep the music going,” she says, “Constantly. No gaps.”

Max nods, “I won’t take them off again.”

Robin clears her throat, “Cool. We have a plan, Max is alive, no one got possessed in the last ten minutes. That’s a win.”

Maggie sinks down onto the floor beside the couch, back against it, finally letting herself breathe.

The fear she took on curls in her chest, and Nancy watches her, the question from the car still very much alive.

Maggie sinks down onto the floor beside the couch, back against it, finally letting herself breathe.

Nancy watches Maggie with sharp intensity. She glances at Steve hovering near the stairs like a very tense guard dog, clocks Dustin pacing with his hands in his hair, Lucas watching everyone, hoping that no one disappears.

“Maggie,” Nancy says.

The room quiets immediately. Every head turns.

Maggie closes her eyes for half a second. Then she exhales and looks up at Nancy, already knowing there’s no dodging this anymore.

“You promised,” Nancy says with her arms crossed.

Steve looks at her confused, “Promised what?”

Nancy doesn’t break eye contact with Maggie, “You said this was happening to you and Max at the asylum. We need to know what you meant.”

Dustin frowns, “Uh. Should we be concerned about the phrasing there?”

Lucas straightens, “What do you mean, happening to Maggie?”

Max’s fingers curl into the sleeve of Maggie’s jacket.

The silence that stretches is deeply uncomfortable.

Maggie finally nods tensly, letting out a deep exhale.

“Yeah,” she says quietly, “Okay.”

She shifts, pushing herself up so she’s sitting properly, back still against the couch but facing the group now.

“Nance,” she says first, softer, “Do you remember last night? When I woke up from that nightmare?”

Nancy nods slowly, “You were shaking.”

“That wasn’t just a nightmare,” Maggie says, “That was Vecna.”

Dustin freezes. Steve’s jaw tightens instantly.

Max’s eyes widen, “Wait. What?”

“He’s been in my head too,” Maggie continues, as her hands start to fidget in her sleeves, “He’s bringing my memories back. From before. From my past.”

Lucas frowns, “You said you didn’t remember anything before Hawkins.”

“I didn’t,” Maggie says, “Not until now.”

Robin shifts uncomfortably, “Define ‘bringing back,’ because that sounds… bad.”

“It is,” Maggie replies, “He’s showing me things I buried. Stuff I couldn’t remember for a reason.”

Steve steps forward, “Okay, pause. Are you saying Vecna is after you too?”

Maggie lifts her gaze to him.

“Yes.”

The word lands like a gunshot.

“No,” Dustin says immediately,. “Nope. Don’t like that. I vote we undo that sentence.”

Max shakes her head, “How long?”

Maggie hesitates.

Nancy’s stomach drops, “Maggie.”

“Two days,” Maggie says quietly, “That’s all I have left.”

The room erupts.

“Two days?” Dustin yelps, “That’s not a lot of days!”

Steve runs a hand through his hair, “You were just not going to tell us?”

Lucas snaps, “Why wouldn’t you tell us?”

Maggie’s voice cuts through the noise, “Because you already had Max.”

Everyone stops.

Maggie looks at Max, her expression softening instantly, “He was already inside her head. I wasn’t going to make this worse. I was trying to protect you.”

Max stares at her, “Trying to protect me from knowing I’m not going through this alone? You don’t get to decide that.”

“I know,” Maggie says, “I know that now.”

Nancy steps closer, anger and fear twisting together, “So when you said this was happening to you and Max—”

“I meant it,” Maggie says, “We’re both marked. We’re both on his clock.”

Dustin’s voice cracks just a little, “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

Maggie looks down at her hands. “If I said it out loud, it became real. I’d have to fully accept that my death was coming. I’ve escaped death before, but I think my luck is starting to run out.”

Silence settles again.

Steve finally exhales, “Okay. Then we don’t let him take either of you.”

Lucas nods, “We beat him.”

Robin lifts a finger, “With music. Constantly.”

Max reaches down and grabs Maggie’s wrist.

“We have two days,” Nancy says tensely, “Then we use every second.”

Maggie nods.

Vecna is coming, but he didn’t just pick one of them.

He picked someone who remembers too much, and someone who’s about to remember everything.

Maggie stares at the floor as the others bicker quietly about plans, music, and timelines. The panic from the group is almost unbearable..

“I need a minute,” she mutters, more to herself than anyone else.

Nancy glances up, concerned, “Where are you going?”

“I need to… call my family,” Maggie says, forcing a small, shaky smile, “Just to let them know I’m not coming home as soon as I thought.”

The group doesn’t press further. They know when to back off. Maggie stands and hurries upstairs to grab the phone from the receiver..

She dials the Byers’ number. One ring. Two rings. Nothing. She tries again and again and again.

Twenty calls in, each one ending in the same answering machine. Her stomach twists into knots.

“No, no, no,” she mutters, pacing the small hallway, “They should pick up. They should—”

Max’s soft voice interrupts from the top of the stairs, “Hey.”

Maggie spins to see her, cheeks pink from worry.

“Hey,” she says, forcing calm she doesn’t feel.

“You’ve been pacing forever,” Max says, taking a cautious step closer, “Everything okay?”

Maggie shakes her head, biting her lip.

“I just… I wanted to let them know. Just in case,” she swallows, voice barely above a whisper, “I wanted to give them a final goodbye if… if something happens. And now… I can’t get through to them.”

Max tilts her head, frowning, and walks closer until she’s beside Maggie, “You know… it sucks. I get it. I wrote my letters just in case. It’s horrible, but… it gives you a little bit of control. A little peace.”

Maggie’s eyes glisten. She bites the inside of her cheek.

“I just… I didn’t want them to worry. I wanted them to have a chance to say goodbye if…”

Max rests a hand on Maggie’s shoulder.

“I know,” she whispers, “That’s why you wanted to call. And it’s okay that you can’t reach them right now. You can… write it. Just for yourself, for them, for peace. It doesn’t have to leave your hands yet.”

Maggie nods slowly, a lump in her throat. The weight in her chest eases just a little, the tension in her shoulders loosening. She leans back slightly against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment.

“Thanks, Max,” she murmurs, “It’s… it’s hard, you know? Just trying to… prepare for the worst while everything’s still happening.”

Max squeezes her shoulder gently, “I get it. But you don’t have to do it alone.”

Maggie opens her eyes and gives a small, grateful smile, “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

That night, Maggie settles on the floor of the basement beside Nancy, everyone else scattered around in various places. It’s quiet, shadows stretching across the walls.

Maggie closes her eyes, just for a second and it hits her.

Darkness twists into sharp shapes, a pressure behind her eyes, and the pull of Vecna invading her mind. She doesn’t fight it this time.

The world is a blend of chaos, fire, and explosions left and right.

Maggie ducks behind debris, heart hammering like a drum in her chest. Around her, Avengers and heroes alike clash with the army of Thanos’ forces. The air is heavy with the clang of metal, the crackle of power, and the shouts of combatants.

She presses herself against the rubble, trying to make herself smaller, trying to disappear, though she knows it’s impossible. She’s alone, at least she thinks she is.

Then a shadow moves. It’s barely visible at first, just a shift in her peripheral vision, but instinct screams look up.

Something enormous descends toward her. Its eyes gleam, full of intent to kill. Its hand reaches for her.

Maggie raises her hands automatically, fingers trembling, ready to push, strike, do anything, the movements feel disconnected like she’s wading through molasses. Her mouth opens to scream, but the sound is swallowed by the roar of the battlefield.

The shadow lunges. Pain explodes in her side as a beam of red energy slams into her, throwing her out of the way and backward across jagged stone. Her ears ring.

Then, a sudden flare of gold light slices across the chaos. The fight and the screaming all freezes for a fraction of a second. A figure materializes in front of her. Stephen Strange. His cloak ripples around him, eyes glowing with otherworldly power.

He gestures sharply. A portal opens, spinning and shimmering in the air, edges rippling.

“Go!” Strange commands, “Now!”

Maggie hesitates, frozen for just an instant, caught between disbelief and instinct. The shadow before snarls, lunging at her.

Strange reaches for her, hand firm on her shoulder, pulling her toward the portal. Sparks crackle along the ground. She can hear screams, but it’s muted, distant, as if underwater.

He shoves her through.

She’s ripped from the battlefield in a heartbeat. The world stretches and warps around her. She can’t see where she’s going. She doesn’t know where she’ll land.

The battlefield is gone. The danger, the red flash of energy, the shadow, all of it swallowed by the portal. She’s still trembling, heart hammering, hands shaking uncontrollably. She doesn’t know where she is, who will find her, or anything except that she is alive.

The memory ends.

And suddenly, like a cold rush of ocean water, everything else comes back.

It hits her all at once. Names, faces, voices, smells, moments she thought she’d forgotten, click together once more.

Natasha, telling her to trust herself.
Steve, fighting beside her, shield raised, yelling something she can’t quite remember.
Clint, quipping even when the world was burning.
Bruce, calculating, yelling at her to duck.
Tony, screaming her name, trying to keep her alive.
Pepper, hands pressed to her mouth, heart breaking.
Peter, small and wide-eyed, asking if she’s okay, if she’s scared.

Her own father, her family, her friends, everyone she had loved, everyone who had ever mattered flood back into her mind as a tidal wave.

And then grief comes. It crashes over her. Tears spill freely down her cheeks. Her chest aches as she gasps, remembering all she lost, all she survived, all she was ripped away from before she even knew this new world existed.

A voice slithers through her mind, taunting her.

“Do you remember? Do you remember everything you tried to forget?”

The voice undulate down as Maggie pulls herself back to consciousness. She’s trembling, exhausted, heart still pounding. The basement is still. The light flickers slightly.

She knows what she has to do. She didn’t get to say goodbye to her old family, but she can at least say goodbye to this one.

She drags herself up, retrieves a notebook and pen from her bag, and sits at the small table in the corner of the basement.

the next chapter may be long but it’s just going to be all of the letters she writes to everyone and she has like 12 to write 😭 so it’s just gonna be a full chapter of letters