Chapter 47

The sun is setting. The demogorgon is burnt. Will is still unconscious. Robin and Sofia have barely talked since she held her sleeve.

And now was November 6th, and the two girls were sitting far from each other, chatting with Lucas and Mike.

“So let’s just assume for a second that everything that Will saw was real. He saw Max. He saw Holly. They’re in three disparate locations, the Squawk, the hospital, and some presently unknown place in the Upside Down. Right?” Robin said, trying to explain her theory.

“Right” Mike replied.

“But they share one very essential thing in common. They’re all unconscious. What happens when Vecna captures you?” Robin said.

“You go into a trance” Sofia said, quietly, trying to understand where the theory was going.

“Which would look a heck of a lot like a coma. No wonder the doctors are so clueless. Max was never in a coma” Robin added.

“She was in a trance” Lucas realized.

“Just like Will. Just like Holly. It is hitting me like a Whitney Houston high note. What if their minds… are all in the same place? In Vecna’s mind. Imprisoned. At least, they were. If Will’s right, then Max and Holly are now making a prison break. And if they succeed, they will return to their physical bodies, and Max will come back to life” Robin said, making the three of them understand.

“They’ll know everything” Sofia said, nodding slowly.

Sofia parked her car in the hospital parking lot, and as they entered through the main door, the two members of security looked at her weirdly, before picking up their walkie-talkies. 

As they passed by the desk, Doris got off the phone. “Sofia, you’re feeling better?” she asked, as the three rushed by.

“Yes, thanks. I’m just going to take them to meet our… cousin” Sofia made up the excuse, before they reached the elevator.

They anxiously waited for the elevator door to open, and when it did, Sofia felt a hand on her shoulder. “Sofia Henderson?” the voice asked.

Lucas and Robin were already inside the elevator. Sofia first looked at Robin, and she looked alarmed. And because they couldn’t waist any more time, Sofia pressed the close door button on the inside of the elevator and turned around.

A military man. 

“Yes?” Sofia said, hearing the door close and then someone next to her. Robin.

“Are you affiliated with Gareth Fuller?” he asked, bluntly.

Shit. “We went to the same school” Sofia replied, which wasn’t a lie.

“He’s missing. We had a warrant for his arrest. We found this on the inside of his house” the military man said, before his partner showed her an open notebook.

She stared at it blankly. “I’m sorry, what does this have to do with me?” she asked, her voice growing more nervous.

“We believe this is a list of his partners. There’s your name. You’re under arrest” the military man said, before reaching for Sofia’s hands and putting them behind her back.

“What? No, you’ve got it all wrong” Robin said, a rush of confusion washing over her. 

“Do I honestly look like a drug dealer?” Sofia said, loudly, over Robin.

While the two girls yelled at the military, each man was holding Sofia by one arm, dragging her through the corridor.

But when the lights started flickering, the men let go of Sofia and she rushed to Robin’s side, but didn’t quite make it, as the military grabbed her again, harder.

“You don’t understand. We need to evacuate” Sofia yelled, fearing the worst, fearing death.

 “We don’t need to do shit. Keep moving, junkie” one of them said, pulling her harder, but she kept on complaining and yelling.

The the snarling noise came. And Robin, though focused on Sofia, was the first to notice it and screamed.

The two men let go of Sofia and started shooting the demo. With adrenaline pumping, she barely realized the demo was running towards them until she watched it kill the man.

She then felt paralyzed.

But Robin rushed to her side, grabbed her hand and ran.

They ran, but not to the right side. Technically they were trapped, but the demos passed right by them.

“They’re not after us” Robin said, and then repeated it while grabbing Sofia’s arms, trying to take her out of her anxiety.

“Shit” Sofia whispered, once she realized what was happening. “The basement! It leads to staff parking!”.

Robin nodded and rushed towards the phone, trying to get a hold of Lucas. Sofia, now back to the real world, now not trapped by her own mind, walked to the phone and pressed a button. “It doesn’t need to be private” she said, and Robin nodded.

After giving Lucas the message, Sofia grabbed Robin’s hand and ran to the basement. 

There, they ran into Lucas and Max, still unconscious, in his arms. They also ran into two demos, which made Sofia guide them to the laundry room, but the door that led out was closed shut.

So they hid behind the washing machines. Robin was on Sofia’s right. They were all tangled in each other. There was banging on the door.

In that moment, Sofia felt like giving up. Truly defeated. And despite the banging, the smell of detergent and the song that was too loud, the thing that gave her a bigger rush was the warmth of Robin’s body and how their hands had stayed glued together.

“We are going to die” Sofia whispered, defeatedly, close to Robin’s ear.

Robin turned to face her, and met blue glassy eyes with a completely unreadable expression. “We are not going to die” she whispered back, squeezing her hand. 

“You don’t deserve that nasty bruise” Sofia whispered, head shaking.

Another bang on the door made Robin look back.

“I promise you, Sof. We are going to be so free” Robin whispered, her nose brushing against Sofia’s cheek.

“Yeah?” Sofia whispered back, tears silently rolling down her face, and eyes that said I don’t believe you.

Robin looked at her and nodded. And that’s when the door burst open.

A chill ran down Sofia’s spine. She could feel her heart on her throat and Robin’s rapid breath. “We have to turn it off” she whispered to Lucas, with such sorrow on her face.

“She’s coming back” Lucas whispered back, with such sureness that made Sofia hold back a sob.

“We have to” Robin whispered, begging so silently. But then her gaze shifted from Lucas to Max, and the two girls had the same thought. 

It would be worth it to die for Max.

And so they just sat there for what felt like ages, hearing the demos walk around the room, getting closer and closer. 

Sofia’s grip on Robin hardened, her eyes were shut against her neck. 

I need you to know that ever since you came into my life, everything’s better. I will love you ’till I reach the end, I will see you in the sky. What if we’re just trauma bonded? If I ask you, with an actual ring, far away from this town… Will you say yes?

An explosion brought her back to life. Robin screamed right into her ear. 

Slowly, they got up. Behind the curtain of smoke that lingered in the room was a figure. It was Karen?

And in the middle of all of that mess, Sofia looked to her side as her ears kept on ringing. “I think she’s trying to open her eyes!” she told Lucas, right as she saw some movement. It could’ve been just a twitch, but the adrenaline wouldn’t let her think straight.

Lucas put her down. They all stared at Max as her eyes started to slowly open. Sofia couldn’t believe it.

Robin ran her hand up and down Sofia’s back, to console her. The two were trying not to cry, not to ruin Lucas and Max’s moment.

Such pure, pure love.

Sofia looked at Robin. Her face was still bruised, her hair was sticking on her neck. They escaped death once again.

A/N: hiii just a short chapter i wrote so yall know im still working on this story 🙂 next chapter is very byler and though it doesn’t affect sof and rob directly, i think they deserve some justice so expect a slightly different byler storyline :p

btw im watching the men’s world cup while writing this so bare with me