𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛
Words: 9,359
MASTERLIST 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫
A/N: I do not claim to, nor do I own Stranger Things; the concept, characters, plot, etc.
When Kate opened her eyes, she was standing on the deck of the community pool.
It wasn’t summertime though. The sky around her was black almost, a storm brewing behind red clouds as lightning flashed through the sky.
It was eerily quiet, she could hear the faint whisperings of the wind, and the crack of thunder. And beneath her feet the concrete was cold, turning her toes blue.
She looked down at the pool, yet no reflection in the water stared back at her. It was not water in the pool either, but instead murky, blood. Thick, still, and almost black.
The air around her was cold, goosebumps raising on her skin. She was in her lifeguard uniform, which was odd, considering she had burned it in the fire place the night before school started. She didn’t need any more reminders of that night than she had already had.
“Kate!” A voice called out, echoing through the vast emptiness of the pool grounds.
She frowned, whipping her head around to see if she could see anyone else. Nobody was there.
“Harrington, help me!” It cried again.
Her eyes widened.
“Harrington, please!”
She spun around, trying to locate him, Billy. Trying to find out where he was, where he was hiding.
“Kate!” She gasped, jumping back as he emerged from the pool at her feet, blood spattering onto the ground.
“Billy?” She shuddered, eyes wide with fear.
Billy clawed at the pool’s ledge, trying desperately to stay afloat. “Harrington, please! I need your help!” And suddenly his head was submerged.
His arms flailed, gripping at nothing, and she watched as his figure sank into the darkness. It happened faster than she could comprehend, but all she knew was, she had to save him.
So she jumped in.
The blood was sticky, and the taste of it on her tongue made her stomach churn. She could see through it, to the bottom of the pool, the bottom of the pool that was really an empty void of black.
She couldn’t see Billy, she couldn’t see the bottom. But she knew he was there, she knew he needed help, so she swam.
She kicked her legs, her arms cutting through the blood, but it was getting harder. Harder to breathe, she’d been under for so long. Harder to see, the further she retreated from the surface. Harder to think about anything other than rescuing Billy.
If she could rescue Billy, if she could just rescue Billy, then everything would be okay.
Kate swam, until the light above her had faded, and she was surrounded by darkness. “Billy!” She screamed, her voice muffled by the blood.
She couldn’t find him. She couldn’t do anything.
Her legs grew tired, and her lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. She could feel her head growing fuzzy, her limbs weakening.
She gasped, blood pouring into her throat, choking her. It filled her lungs, it was drowning her.
She inhaled deeply, letting it consume her. Letting it swallow her whole.
And just as everything grew dark, it was light again.
Kate gasped, sitting upright. She flung her hands around, feeling for anything solid. 
Beneath her hands was a soft blanket, which she gripped tightly. A strip of moonlight peeked through her curtains, casting a shadow onto the floor.
She was in bed. She was in her bed, in her house, and she was safe.
Those sentiments did nothing to quell the storm bubbling inside her, pure rage erupted in her chest, and she let out a sob. A weak, strangled, pathetic cry.
She was in her bed, in her house, and she was safe.
And that was all a nightmare.
[ᴍᴀʀᴄʜ 𝟸𝟷, 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟼]
Kate all but screamed into her pillow when her alarm finally went off. Seven AM wake-up calls never got easier, even though she’d been doing them since sixth grade.
Lately they were harder than usual. Sleep was a rarity nowadays- Let’s rephrase that; a full night of sleep was a rarity.
Kate would fall asleep, but she would always be woken up, by a dream or a nightmare, or by accidentally slipping into the void subconsciously.
Regardless of what woke her up, she never stayed asleep for very long. Which was making for an extra difficult senior year.
Nevermind the fact that she had spent the rest of the previous summer attempting to recover from the biggest traumatic event of her life, or that she had developed psionic powers and didn’t know what to do with them, senior year was a joke.
Sleepless nights made for tough days, paying attention in class, passing tests, getting homework in on time. Extracurricular activities were a bust, the volleyball team suffered without her, as did the soccer team. She had given the reigns to the AV club fully over to Dustin, bailed out on science club, and had no plans on participating in her senior track & field season.
Kate was simply going through the motions.
Wake up, go to school, come home, go to bed, repeat the next day. The mundane tasks that happened in-between the big ones were muscle memory, took little to no effort. Like opening her locker, or remembering to dump her tray of food at lunch. It was nothing.
Regardless of the roadblocks, and there were many, Kate was in the home-stretch. Graduation was so close, she could almost taste it. Walking across the damned stage, taking her diploma, and being released from the suffocation of Hawkins High was on the horizon.
But graduation didn’t mean total freedom.
There was still Hawkins itself.
Kate decided to forgo college for a year, but unlike her brother, she actually intended to pursue a career at some point, she just wasn’t sure what.
But she needed to get out of Hawkins.
Three gentle knocks on her bedroom door startled her from her thoughts. “Hey, train’s leaving in five, move it or lose it!” Steve said, muffled by her bedroom door.
Kate didn’t move.
“I need confirmation soldier!” Steve said impatiently.
“I’ll be up, okay?” Kate groaned, rolling herself out of bed.
She was dressed and ready within record-time, her backpack slung on her shoulder, ready to go.
As they got into Steve’s car, they passed the Charger, who, as punishment for Kate’s “general recklessness”, was essentially impounded to the Harrington driveway. Mom and dad removed Kate from the insurance plan for a year, so legally, she couldn’t drive.
Wordlessly, Steve drove himself and Kate to Robin’s.
Throwing her band uniform haphazardly into the back seat with Kate, Robin climbed up front, and immediately began her morning gossip.
Kate sat patiently, watching the trees go by as she half paid attention to what Steve and Robin were talking about. “There’s Heidi tomorrow night. But the problem with Heidi is that she’s going out of state for college.”
Robin sat beside him, meticulously applying mascara.
“My point is, do I really wanna start another relationship that has no point other than sex?” Kate almost gasped, sitting up straighter in her seat. “I mean, I don’t know, does that make sense to you?”
Steve glanced at Robin, who gave no answer. “Robin, are you listening!” Steve snapped.
Robin snickered, shaking her head. “Yes I’m listening!”
“Really?” Steve rebutted. “What did I just say?”
“Something about sex with Linda-“ Robin replied.
“Heidi.” Kate piped up from the back seat.
Steve groaned. “We’re talking about Heidi!”
“Cut me some slack, please!” Robin defended herself. “Your love life is one of labyrinthine complexity, it is seven in the morning, we have to go to this stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a total corpse!”
“Oh, you’re worried about a basketball pep rally? You expect me to believe that?” Steve scoffed, turning back to the road.
“Yeah-“ Robin whined, holding her face in her hands.
“So we both know what this is about- I’m not buying that bullshit, this is about Vickie!”
“It is not!”
“Ah, nope, it is! And you know what else I think?”
Robin glared at him. “I really don’t care what you think-“
“It was a rhetorical question, you’ve gotta stop pretending to be someone else when you’re around her. You just gotta be yourself.”
“You’re literally quoting me to me, right now. You do realize that?” Robin replied.
Steve shrugged. “Maybe you need to listen to yourself. Ever think about that smarty-pants? I listen to you, boom, back in business.”
“Stop talking about your business, please.” Kate mumbled, adjusting herself in her seat.
“It’s not the same thing?” Robin shook her head. “You ask out a girl, and she says no? Big deal, nothing happens. Maybe your ego’s a little bruised. But I ask out the wrong girl? Boom! I’m a town pariah!”
“I’d buy that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl.” Steve replied.
“We just don’t know that, do we?”
“She returned Fast Times at fifty-three minutes, five seconds.” Steve said matter-of-factly. “Do you know who pauses Fast Times at fifty-three minutes, five seconds?”
Steve waited for a response.
“People who like boobies Robin!”
“Steve!” Kate scoffed, smacking the back of his head rest.
“Ew, gross!” Robin groaned. “Don’t say “boobies”!”
“Boobies!” Steve emphasized the point.
“Stop saying “boobies”!” Kate pleaded.
“It’s not a big deal, okay?” Steve shrugged. “I like boobies, you like boobies, Vickie likes boobies! Definitely.”
A few moments of blissful silence passed.
“It’s boobies.” Steve shrugged once more.
Kate was one more “boobies” away from jumping out of the car and onto the highway.
Luckily the rest of the ride was relatively calm, Steve and Robin still conversed but no one continued to talk about boobs.
Steve dropped them off outside of the school, Robin grabbing her uniform and quickly joining the other band members.
Kate dragged herself out of her seat, trying to remind herself she was so close to the end. “Hey, please eat today?” Steve raised his eyebrows at her, and she nodded gently in response. “And have fun, tell the children I said hello.”
Kate nodded again, turning to the school. It was bustling, as always, but especially today. The basketball team was headed to the championship, and Principal Higgins decided to throw a pep rally in their honor.
Everyone filed into the gym, cramming themselves onto the bleachers, save for the cheerleaders, the band and the basketball team. Kate was quick to move, sliding her way through the crowd and sitting down next to Dustin and Mike.
The band and cheerleaders wasted no time getting started, as they began their pep music and dance routines, respectively. Everyone on the bleachers were standing, and Dustin and Mike were involved in a seemingly heated argument.
“Look, I’m not saying that my girlfriend is better than your’s, it’s just that Suzie is a certified genius!” Dustin shouted over the crowd.
Kate rolled her eyes at their argument. “You do realize El saved the world twice, right?”
Dustin rolled his eyes. “And yet you still have a C in Spanish?”
Mike also rolled his eyes, turning back to watch the cheerleaders.
Kate scanned the people around her, noticing Max had appeared beside Mike.
Recently, things had changed with Max.
Not only did Max change, becoming what seemed like a shell of herself, but everything around her changed too. Neil and her mother separated, causing them to move out of their house, and Susan to have to pick up two jobs, just to keep the lights on.
They had moved to the trailer park, near Kerley. It was a nice trailer, nothing special, but nice. Kate knew because she helped Max and Susan move their things.
Besides having to relocate and work two new jobs, Susan turned to drinking, making Max her full-time babysitter.
It was hard on Max, really hard. Not only did she have to uproot her entire life to move to Hawkins, but in the time she’d been there she lost her brother, her home, her family, and herself.
And things fell apart with her and Kate.
Kate felt guilty after awhile, being so stuck on Billy. Compared to Max, they had spent a minuscule amount of time together. Max was his sister! They’d known each other for most of their lives. Kate and Billy didn’t even know each other a year.
“And let’s hear it for your Tigers!” A voice sounded over the loudspeaker, interrupting Kate’s train of thought.
The band began their tune as the basketball team made their grand entrance into the room, led by team captain Jason Carver.
Kate couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile at the sight of Lucas on the court. He looked happy, truly happy.
The cheering died down as Jason approached the microphone that was placed in the center of the gym. “Good morning Hawkins High!” He flashed his perfect white smile at the crowd.
The crowd cheered in response.
“First off-“ Jason paused, clearing his throat. “First off I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here. Give yourselves a big hand!”
On Jason’s cue, the crowd roared once more.
“And of course, I have to give a special shoutout to to the best and prettiest fans of all time, the Tigers cheer squad!”
Again, the crowd cheered.
“Chrissy-“ Jason smiled again, locking eyes with his girlfriend, Chrissy Cunningham, who was sat on the floor with the rest of the cheerleaders. “I love you babe.”
Some people in the comments “awe-d” their interaction; Kate found it extremely difficult to not roll her eyes.
Jason took a moment’s pause before speaking again. “You know, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, it’s been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss.”
Kate froze, she could feel the hairs on her arms standing up, and the sickening feeling of anxiety clawing it’s way into her chest. “And sometimes I wonder, how much can one community take?”
She balled up her fist, her nails digging into her palm. What did Jason Carver know about loss?
“In dark days like this, we need something to believe in.” Jason took another dramatic pause.
“So last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team and I said, “Think of Jack”, “Think of Melissa”, “Think of Heather”-“
Kate squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could just disappear.
“Think of Billy.” Jason’s words echoed in her brain, the memory of that night trickling it’s way back in.
“Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper.”
That one was it, the nail in the coffin. Cue the waterworks.
Kate inhaled shakily, trying to make the tears go away. What the fuck would make him think it was a good idea to mention names, especially when everyone knows who was at the mall at the time of the “fire”?
“Think about each and every one of our friends who perished in that fire.”
The entire room was silent.
“What did they die for?” Jason paced again. “For us to loose to some crap school? For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? No!”
Kate clenched her jaw. There was no way Jason was using the accident at Starcourt as an analogy for their semi-successful basketball season.
Jason looked pleased. “Let’s win this game! Let’s win this game for them! And that’s exactly what we did! We embarrassed those candy-asses in their own house and now tonight we’re gonna bring home the championship trophy!”
“Tonight?” Mike questioned, looking at Dustin worriedly.
“How is that possible?” Dustin asked, exasperated.
Kate looked at them, confused. “They call it a tournament. You win one game, you go on to the next until there’s only one team left.” Max replied, sarcastically.
“What’s wrong with the game being tonight?” Kate asked, still looking for context in the boys’ agitation.
“We have Hellfire tonight and it’s the end of Eddie’s campaign.” Mike replied, rolling his eyes as they watched Lucas interacting with his teammates.
“Eddie spent the entire semester planning this campaign, it’s huge.” Dustin added on. “Tonight’s the night we’ve been waiting for all year.”
Kate nodded. She knew how important Hellfire was to Mike and Dustin, and how important it used to be for Lucas.
She also knew the importance of detail and planning it took to make a DnD campaign great, so she didn’t question their frustrations.
After the pep rally, Kate split ways with the guys, as did Max.
English went on uneventfully, Kate spent the entire duration of the class counting the amount of times the light above her desk flickered.
It was forty-two.
Surprisingly, Kate’s next period, she had with Max, it was an elective, art, specifically drawing. It eased Kate’s soul, for her to be able to keep an eye on Max, even if it was from afar.
The two of them, although so far apart now, were two peas in a pod. Both sat alone, at opposite ends of the classroom, often working alone, using their own supplies, staying just to themselves. Max kept her Walkman on her at all times, headphones over her ears, and Kate worked in silence, using her art to escape her own mind.
It was the end of the week, their final class period to work on that week’s project. And the theme of the week was perspective; their teacher told them to try and picture what you see about yourself from outside of your own head.
Kate longed to know what Max had drawn, but instead she focused on her own.
The colors were dark, all black and grey, and it was simple. Kate had drawn a brain, to the best of her ability, but the brain was sick, infested, crawling with bugs, and inky black veins. It wasn’t her own, at least, she didn’t feel it anymore.
The brain was sat inside a shell, like a clam shell.
She was a shell of herself. Just like Max. And they both knew everyone saw it.
Kate handed her drawing in with two minutes to spare.
She followed behind Max to her next class, which was a study period. She kept a good distance, watching as she weaved her way through the hallways, and towards Ms. Kelly’s office.
Max frequented the guidance wing, everyone knew that too.
Kate had nothing against guidance counsellors, or counseling of any kind, if that was helping Max, then good for her, Kate was happy.
However, counseling was not Kate’s personal favorite way of coping.
Every time she attempted to talk to a psychologist, therapist, or authoritative figure of any kind, she felt unseen. They couldn’t and never would truly understand the severity and complexity of her issues. So she stopped trying.
Before she could continue to her next class, Ms. Kelly stopped her. “Kate!”
Kate stopped, back-tracking a few steps. “Hmm…” She hummed. “Yes, Ms K?”
“Could you stick around for a moment? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Kate internally screamed, but externally, she nodded, leaning against the wall outside of her office.
She and Max exchanged glances before she disappeared into the office with Ms. Kelly.
It was only a few minutes before Lucas appeared, spooking Kate out of her daydream. “Kate, have you seen Max? She had an appointment with Ms Kelly this period.”
Kate nodded, motioning to the closed door behind her. “Yeah, she’s inside right now. Everything okay?”
Lucas’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re the last person to be asking that.”
Kate scoffed.
“You play it cool all the time, but I know you’re not. Everyone knows you’re not okay.”
Kate scoffed again. Leave it to Lucas to tell it like it is. “Lucas, I really don’t need to hear this right now, okay? I’m perfectly fine-“
“Then what are you doing standing outside of Kelly’s office?” He asked, matter-of-factly.
“If you must know, I was on my way to my study period when Kelly stopped me and asked to talk to me.” Kate chewed her lip. “Probably about my grades, if I’m being honest.”
“Right, she totally doesn’t want to talk to you about the fact that you look like a walking ghost. Or that you were almost a victim of the fire at Starcourt.” Lucas nodded, looking down at his watch.
“Basketball’s turned you into kind of a dick, Sinclair, just saying.” Kate shrugged, tilting her head at him.
“I’m not being a dick, Kate, I’m being a concerned friend.” He replied.
“A concerned friend that really has a way with words.” Kate mumbled.
Before their conversation could continue any further, the door opened, and Max quickly ducked out of the room. Lucas followed hot on her trail.
“Kate, come in please.” Ms Kelly smiled graciously. “This will only take a minute.”
Kate dreaded it, but stepped inside nonetheless.
Ms Kelly sat down at her desk, Kate across from her in a chair, still warm from its previous inhibitor. “Kate I know this makes you uncomfortable-“
“Okay, cool, so can we make it quick?” Kate snapped, growing uneasy the longer she stayed trapped inside the room.
“Right, short and sweet, okay…” Ms Kelly glanced down at a paper on her desk. “I’ll tell it to you like it is, you’re at risk of flunking out this year.”
Before Kate could rise a complaint, Ms Kelly continued talking.
“Yes, you’re acing english, art, history and chemistry, however you’re just barely making it through calculus, and-“ Ms Kelly frowned in confusion.
“Advanced placement biology… Why did you take this class?”
“I honestly have no idea.” Kate shrugged, she didn’t even remember where her textbook was.
“Kate, I know you’ve been through a lot this past year. And I am not trying to go all psychoanalyst on you-“
“Then don’t.” Kate interrupted. “Please don’t.”
“I’m not.” Ms Kelly shook her head. “I’m simply saying, if you don’t get your at together, you’re not going to walk with the rest of your class.”
Kate sighed, running her hands over her face.
“Everyone deserves to walk with their class Kate. So can we come up with a solution to this problem, please? Then I promise, you’ll never have to step foot in my office again.”
Kate exhaled, sitting up straighter in her seat. “Do you have any suggestions?”
In the end, Ms Kelly decided it would be in Kate’s best interest to drop AP biology from her roster, wiping her record clean of the class credit. Lucky for her, she had taken a double period of anatomy and physiology in freshman year, which counted as an extra credit, and had finally come in handy.
Kate had four weeks, after spring break to catch up and bring her grade up in calculus. And as much as she did not want to participate in that class, she liked the thought of not graduating even less.
“Thank you for meeting me in the middle.” Ms Kelly said as she escorted Kate out of her office. “And I know “therapy” isn’t your thing, but if you ever need anyone to talk to, my door is always open.”
Kate nodded. “Thanks.”
Ms Kelly smiled, and Kate left the hall. She looked down at her watch, the bell for the next period would ring in less than a minute, so she decided to get a jump to the cafeteria.
She took two steps, and suddenly everything went black.
When she came back to the light, the hallway was filled with students. Kate looked down at her watch, only a minute had passed, but it felt like forever inside her head.
Quickly, Kate weaved her way through the crowded hallway, stumbling into the nearest bathroom. On her way in, Chrissy practically ran out of the bathroom, knocking into her roughly.
“Hey, what the hell!” Kate grumbled, almost tripping over her own feet after her encounter with Chrissy.
Kate dropped her bag to the floor, shaking her head a few times, gripping the sink and trying to situate herself.
She had been having blackouts recently.
They were random, there were no warning signs, and always left her feeling like she was two seconds from drowning and she had made it up for air just in time.
Her hands would shake, her ears ringing, and her skin was always hot.
She looked up, staring at her reflection. Blood, trickled slowly from her nose.
Kate clenched her jaw, quickly wiping away at her skin.
El had never had blackout episodes like she did. And if she did, she never said anything about them.
It was getting frustrating, unsafe. And they were nothing like her controlled experiments.
When she would travel into the void, or practice strengthening her powers at the cabin, Kate always felt weak, but never disoriented. She never felt like she had taken a step out of her body. She could always recount every move she made.
But during the blackouts, she knew nothing, had no control, it was awful.
She didn’t tell anyone about them either.
All of her friends knew about her searching the void, Steve, Dustin, Mike, everyone. They knew her desperation for answers, that she would do anything to potentially get Billy back. So it was no surprise to them when she recounted her searches in the vast nothingness, or when they were at the Harringtons and the lights began to flicker. They knew it was just Kate.
After a few deep breaths, Kate had regained her composure enough to join the rest of the student body in the cafeteria. One more precautionary wipe to the underside of her nose, and she picked up her bag and began her trek to the lunch room.
The blackouts always bothered her, but something specifically about this one was bothering her more than others. Something nagged at her, told her she should tell someone.
Kate entered the lunch room, and her eyes fell on Max.
Max would be her first choice, in any other situation, except this one. Max didn’t need any more reminders of the night of July 4th, not especially from Kate.
So her next obvious choices were Dustin and Mike.
Her eyes scanned the room, landing on their table, which honestly, nobody within a mile of the school could miss. Especially when it had resident Hawkins’ resident DnD King, Eddie Munson, standing on top of it, walking back and forth like it was a catwalk, no doubt spewing some sort of nonsensical story to fill the kids heads.
Dustin and Mike, and the others at the table laughed at whatever Eddie was saying. Kate almost felt bad for interrupting, almost. But she felt worse about not telling anyone about her episodes.
So bad, her feet seemed to carry her across the lunchroom without any regard to her brain, and suddenly she was standing at the end of the Hellfire table.
All conversations ceased, and all eyes fell on her.
Across the table, Eddie’s eyes lit up mischievously. “Katherine Harrington, oh gracious princess of Hawkins, to what do we owe the pleasure, of you, blessing us with your presence at our table?”
Kate fought every urge she had to roll her eyes. “I’m not the “princess” of Hawkins, and I’m not here for you.” She snapped, eyes falling on Dustin and Mike.
“Oh, so sorry your majesty. Please, do share with us your qualms.”
Kate ignored his mockery, sighing. “Guys-“ She turned fully to Mike and Dustin. “We need to talk. I need to talk to you. It’s pretty urgent-”
“Uh, how urgent, is this pretty urgent issue, because we were actually about to ask Eddie about an urgent issue we had.” Dustin motioned to Mike, then turned to Eddie, smiling.
Kate scoffed, truly in shock and offended that Dustin was about to brush off her cry for help. “Seriously Henderson? “How urgent is urgent?”
She wanted to reach across the table and smack the baseball cap right off his head. “It’s pretty urgent! How often do I come asking for your help?”
Mike frowned, sensing something was truly wrong.
“Is it about the thing…?” Mike asked, trying to play it cool. “The number thing?”
The phrase, “the number thing”, was referring to Eleven.
Kate shook her head. “No, not the number thing. It’s a totally new thing, that’s quite frankly scaring the shit out of me, so if you guys could help me take care of it with a singular ounce of urgency, that would be fantastic!”
The rest of the table stared at her in shock of her outburst.
Nobody had seen her emit any kind of emotion, besides heartbreaking sadness the entire school year, so a random angry outburst was a rare occurrence.
“Can we talk to you after sixth?” Dustin spoke before Mike could. “I understand the importance of your issues, but we’re here with Eddie first and it’s probably going to be a more simple problem to fix than your new one.”
Dustin flashed a classic Henderson smile at her, pleading silently for her to get the hell away from them before she ruined everything.
Kate clenched her jaw, smacking her fist against the table once. “Fine.” She snapped. “But your ass is getting back seat the next time we go somewhere with Steve, you got that?”
“So sorry Kate, just remember that we love you!” Dustin called to her.
She turned on her heel, making a quick escape.
The next two periods went by uneventfully, history and calculus. Kate tried to ignore the lingering feeling of imminent doom that was from her most recent blackout, as she waited by the back steps for Dustin and Mike.
They both burst through the doors, looking extremely exasperated. “Listen, Kate, before you speak, we have a question to ask you.” Mike said, scrambling down the steps to meet her.
“And let us preface this with the fact that we’re sorry we turned you down earlier, and under any normal circumstances, we want you to know that you would’ve been our first choice to ask this question to. However, given your recent mental state, and general social presence, we assumed you wouldn’t be up for the challenge-“
“Jesus Christ, just ask me the damn question already!” Kate snapped, interrupting Dustin’s exasperated monologue.
“We need you to fill in for Lucas at Hellfire tonight.” Dustin finished.
Kate gawked at them. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Please Kate!” Mike pleaded. “We’ve already asked basically the entire student body. Nancy, Max, even the guys on the chess team said no.”
“Don’t forget Steve.” Dustin nodded. “We asked your brother. And Erica, Erica said no.”
“The season finale of My Little Pony is on tonight and she refuses to miss it.”
“Right, okay, shut up for like, one second.” Kate sighed. “So you want me to fill in for Lucas in your DnD club… At the end of a semester-long campaign that I know nothing about?”
“Right, that’s exactly right.” Dustin nodded. “But, but- You’re a DnD veteran. You’ve been playing since you were like ten, and you’re like what a level sixteen?”
“Seventeen.” Kate corrected.
“Level seventeen! You’re a level seventeen sorcerer, with almost eight years of playing experience. We know how good you are because you’re the one that taught us to be as good as we are.”
Dustin literally got down on his knees in front of her, wringing his hands together. “Please Kate, please play with us tonight.”
Kate pursed her lips, taking a minute to think. “You gonna talk me up like that to all your little club buddies?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Cause I know they all think I’m some sort of mentally-ill freak-“
“They don’t think you’re mentally ill.” Mike scoffed.
“Or a freak.” Dustin added.
Kate took a few more moments to consider before sighing. “Fine. Fine, I’ll play in your silly little campaign.” She shook her head, not believing what she was saying. “But only because you’re right, about how I was the one that made you as good as you are, you little assholes.”
Dustin grinned, jumping up from the ground and tackling her into a hug. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much Kate, don’t you ever forget it!”
Kate couldn’t help but smile a bit, knowing she was helping them out. “Alright Dustin get off, you’re gonna get happy drool all over my sweater.” She shoved him off of her. “So what time do I need to be here tonight?”
“Campaign starts at seven, prep is about twenty minutes before, if you wanna be punctual.” Dustin replied.
Kate nodded. “I’ll be here at six fifty-nine, okay?” She joked.
“Being punctual means nothing to you Harringtons does it?” Dustin scoffed, making his way back up the steps.
“Hey-“ Mike nudged her shoulder. “What did you wanna talk to us about?”
Kate shook her head. She had completely forgotten about the blackouts, which was the whole reason she had asked them to meet her in the first place.
Maybe she was overreacting, looking into it too much. El probably experienced blackouts all the time, she just never thought to ask her.
“Oh, oh it’s nothing.” She shrugged. “I was just overreacting. I’ll be fine.”
Mike frowned. “You sure? You can tell me whatever Kate. If something’s bothering you- You didn’t find anything in the void, did you? You didn’t find Bi-“
“No, Mike!” Kate exclaimed, more chipper than usual. “No, it’s fine, totally fine, I promise. It’s not a big deal.”
Mike nodded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Okay, but if there’s anything else you need, you know where to find me.”
Kate nodded back. “Thanks Mike.”
After school, Kate passed the time before Hellfire by searching for her calculus textbook, and begrudgingly choking down a grilled cheese sandwich that Steve made for her.
“I can’t believe you’re actually going to play DnD with Eddie “the freak” Munson.” Steve muttered as they got into the car to go pick Dustin and Mike up.
Kate rolled her eyes at him. “I thought you stopped with the prejudice shit? No more uneducated predictions or being judgy for no reason.”
“Okay, well Eddie Munson is a freak.” Steve shrugged, saying it as if, duh! Kate should’ve known!
“Why do you say that, Steve? Because he likes Dungeons and Dragons? I’ve been playing DnD since I was like ten.”
Steve shook his head. “Yeah but you haven’t played in like two years. You’ve grown up.”
“There’s nothing wrong with holding onto adolescence.” Kate replied, staring out the window. “I think you should hold onto it as long as you can. God knows I wish I would’ve.”
“Okay, I’m sorry for making an uneducated statement about your new friend-“
“Eddie is not my friend!” Kate snapped, almost offended. “I’m doing this for Mike and Dustin, okay? Not for Eddie. Eddie can fuck off!”
“I thought we weren’t being prejudice, Katherine.” Steve tsk-ed his tongue at her.
“I’m not being prejudice Steven.” She snapped. “I’m stating facts.”
Steve rolled his eyes at her again. “Well whatever the reason you’re doing this is, I’m glad you’re doing it. It feels like the old you is coming back.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kate snapped, shocked that her brother would say something like that.
“The old Kate is gone, as far as I’m concerned Steve, okay? I can’t go back, I can’t change what happened, and I can’t fix myself now, so the way I am, is the way I am, and everybody’s just gonna have to learn to live with it!”
“Kate, that is not what I meant, alright? I didn’t mean it like that, why would I say something like that-“
“It doesn’t matter why you said it Steve, it’s how you said it.” Kate turned away from her brother. “You know if I could go back, I would.”
Steve sighed beside her. “Yeah and I hate it when you say that.”
“Why?! Why, Steve? Because it’s the truth! It’s how I feel!” Kate tried to stop the tears, her lip quivering.
“Really Kate, you really wish you were dead? Six feet in the ground because that alien monster thing chewed you up? That’s what you’re saying?!”
Kate whipped her head back around to stare in shock at Steve. “That is what you’re saying, you do realize that? You are saying you wish you were dead.”
Kate couldn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say.
She had never really verbalized the thought that way, it was always just, what if it had been her and not Billy?
“Steve, I-‘
“Yeah, I know, you didn’t mean it.” He snapped. “I know you’ve had a tough year. You got your shit rocked, I get it. But sometimes you have to think of others besides yourself.
I know you wish Hargrove was here right now, I know you do. But there’s people here that need you too. Those kids rely on you to keep their sorry asses safe. So forgive me, if I’ve hurt your feelings, but you need to start thinking of what kind of example you’re setting for them.”
Kate was in disbelief.
There was actually no way her brother had just given her a speech about self-image and her impact on others. He had walked on eggshells for almost an entire year around her, helped her when she was down, essentially kept her alive and breathing.
And he finally snapped.
“You still with me over there?” He asked softly, after a few minutes of silence.
“Yes, I’m still here.”
They pulled up outside of Dustin’s house, Steve honking the horn a few times to alert their arrival. “Look, I’m sorry if I killed your vibe, but sometimes you really scare me, you know that?”
Kate looked down at her boots. “I’m sorry.”
“No sorries. Nothing to be sorry for, I’m just saying you have to be aware of what comes out of your mouth sometimes, okay? Not every thought has to be verbalized.”
Kate snickered, looking up at him. “What, like “boobies”?” She raised her eyebrows at him.
“That? That was totally different!” He defended himself.
“It was not!” Kate laughed, watching her brother’s face turn red. “Did you forget I was in the car before you started talking about the female anatomy with your best friend, Jesus Christ, it was seven o’clock in the morning!”
“I’m so sorry Kate. Sorry for talking about something that like every person on this earth has an affinity for!” Steve scoffed, now also laughing at himself.
Kate’s eyes widened. “Oh, so now you’re saying everyone likes boobies-“
The door behind Kate opened suddenly, Dustin flinging himself into the car. “Why are we talking about boo-“
“We’re not!” Steve shouted, cutting Dustin off before he could finish his sentence. “We’re not talking about them. We’re not. Don’t worry about it.”
Kate’s laughing immediately ceased, although her face was still upturned in a smile.
“What time is it Henderson? How much time do we have to get Mike? Hello!” Steve rambled on, trying to change the subject.
They continued on, to pick up Mike, and Steve dropped them off at the high school with five minutes to spare.
“Okay, so when we first get in there, let us do the talking, okay?” Dustin debriefed Kate on the way in.
“Whoa, wait? You didn’t warn Eddie that I was the sub? What the fuck Dustin?” Kate groaned, following them down the hallway.
“If we would’ve warned him it was you, I think he actually would’ve cancelled the entire rest of the campaign.” Mike said. “It’s just the facts.”
“Why does everyone think I’m that bad?”
“You gave yourself a reputation last school year.” Dustin replied.
“Excuse me!” Kate snapped, stopping dead in her tracks.
“That’s just what we’ve heard.” Mike added, covering for Dustin’s stupidity.
“What kind of “reputation” have I given myself?” Kate questioned.
Dustin looked at his watch nervously. “Kate can we table the pullaver and get back to business? Save the self-image talk for the ride home?”
“No, no, absolutely not. I already got a speech from my brother, I wanna know what people say about me. Spill.” She demanded.
Mike and Dustin shared a look, and then seemed to telepathically communicate before Mike began to speak. “We haven’t heard any specifics, okay? Just that you were like a partier-“
“You drank a lot of alcohol, smoked a shit-ton of weed, and slept with a bunch of guys, okay?” Dustin interrupted him.
Kate’s mouth fell agape. “Okay, first of all, drinking and smoking is so normal! We’re in high school. And second of all, I didn’t “sleep with a bunch of guys”, it was one. Just one. Many times-“
“Oh god!” Dustin moaned.
“Kate, seriously?” Mike also whined. “Why would you tell us that?”
“Why would you put that image into our heads?”
“I never told you to think about it!” Kate screeched, swatting at Dustin’s hat.
“Sex is a natural part of life- Stop imagining it!” She smacked his hat again.
“Stop talking about it!” Mike replied.
“I’m going to be sick.” Dustin groaned.
Kate scoffed. “Oh grow up!” She snatched her DnD manual out of his hands. “Let’s go, before we’re late. And stop thinking about it, I’m serious!”
With a string of uncomfortable groans, Mike and Dustin followed her to the room where The Hellfire Club gathered.
Kate stared down at her manual. It was old, the corners torn and weathered, and a thin layer of dust sat on the cover, mostly from sitting untouched on her bookshelf since junior year.
Before they reached the door, Dustin and Mike stopped Kate. “Okay, just stay out here until Mike comes to get you. Then, play it cool. It’s probably better if you didn’t talk as much as you normally do.”
“Dustin, you’re wearing my patience thin already-“
“Okay see you in a few minutes.” He cut her off, slamming the door in her face.
Kate only waited a few minutes before Mike reopened the door, ushering her inside quickly. “We present to you, our sub!” Dustin announced her arrival as she and Mike stepped fully into the room.
The room was dimly lit, yellowy Christmas lights cast a somewhat magical glow in the room. The board and pawns were set up on the table, and Eddie sat at the head of it, looking rather majestical himself, atop his makeshift throne.
Kate could feel the energy in the room shift as the other members of the Hellfire Club eyed her up and down. “Absolutely not.” Eddie smiled sarcastically.
“You asked for a sub, we delivered.” Dustin shrugged, stepping beside her.
Eddie sat up straighter in his chair. “This is Hellfire Club, not the Cheer Club.”
“I’m not a cheerleader.“ Kate snapped, honestly offended Eddie thought so little of her.
“My, my, the princess speaks.” Eddie chuckled. He jumped up from his chair, stalking across the room to her. “So Harrington, what’s your class and level? Level one dwarf?”
The other club members laughed at his mockery.
Kate narrowed her eyes at him. “Actually I’m a level seventeen sorcerer. And I’ve been playing DnD for like eight years now, so don’t try to convince me that I don’t know what I’m doing, okay? I’ll destroy everyone’s ass in here, without even trying.”
Eddie didn’t say a word.
“So, are we gonna finish this campaign of your’s or are we just gonna stand here and stare at each other all night?”
A few beats passed before Eddie’s face upturned in a smile. He stuck his hand out to Kate. “I guess looks can be deceiving… Welcome to Hellfire.”
Kate shook his hand.
They all took their seats at the table, Eddie propping his manual open in front of him, and he began to read from it.
So far it was a fairly uneventful finale to the campaign. The party had been traveling through the woods, when they were suddenly captured and taken to a hidden cave by a group of hooded figures.
“The hooded cultists chant, “Hail Lord Vecna”. “Hail Lord Vecna.” They turn to you, remove their hoods. You recognize most of them from Makbar. But there is one you do not recognize.
His skin is shriveled, desiccated. And something else… He’s not only missing his left arm, but his left eye!”
The room was in an uproar, although Kate failed to understand why.
“Vecna’s dead!” Mike shouted. “He was killed by Kas!”
Eddie shook his head. “So it was thought, my friends, so it was thought.” Eddie stood from his seat once again, slamming a pawn onto the pedestal on the board.
“But Vecna lives!”
Kate knew there was no time to ask questions, so she just rolled on without context.
“You are scared. You are tired. You are injured. Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or do you stand your ground and fight?”
Dustin took a look at Mike, then Kate. Non-verbally they all agreed, to learn from their past mistakes and fight. “I say we fight.” Dustin replied. “To the death.”
Kate was a little nervous. “To the death.” May actually be what happened to them in this campaign.
She had heard of Vecna before, although none of them ever encountered him in a campaign.
Kate rolled the dice, then Mike, then Dustin, and all the others. But with each roll of the dice, someone was killed, until it was just Kate and Dustin left.
They were so close to loosing, to them all dying, when Dustin called a timeout. The six of them stepped away from Eddie and the table, forming in a huddle.
“Guys…” Dustin hummed. “I hate to be the one to say this, but we gotta flee.”
Kate scoffed. “Didn’t we just agree “to the death?” Do words mean nothing to you people?”
“That wasn’t literal!” Dustin replied. “Vecna just decimated us, we can’t kill him with two players.”
“He only has fifteen hit points left, don’t be a pussy Dustin!” Kate groaned at his lack of enthusiasm. “I didn’t come here to loose-“
“A pussy, really? Because I’m not delusional?”
“Delusional? How about cowards-“
“Hey!” Eddie interrupted their pow-wow.
“Gentlemen, Lady Katherine, if I may interject; Whilst I respect the passion, you’d be wise to take Dustin’s concern to heart. There’s no shame in running…. Don’t try to be heroes.”
Dustin frowned, holding his finger up. “One sec?”
They returned to their huddle. “What do we think?” Dustin asked.
“How many hit points do you and Kate have left?” Mike asked.
“Twelve.” Dustin and Kate answered at the same time.
Mike shook his head, thinking. “It’s risky as hell, but you’re the ones on the battlefield. So it’s your call.”
Dustin turned to face her. “So what do you think Lady Kate?”
Kate rolled her eyes playfully. “Do you even have to ask?”
“Screw it.” Dustin nodded, the group breaking up their huddle again. “Let’s kill the son of a bitch.”
“The chances of success are twenty to one!” Jeff, Kate believed was his name, said, as a last ditch effort to make them change their minds.
“Never tell me the odds.” Dustin replied, confident in their decision. “Give me the D20.” He said to Eddie.
Eddie smiled, tossing the dice to him. Dustin caught it, gave Kate a glance and shook it in his palm, throwing it onto the table and hoping for success. It rolled an eleven.
“Shit!” Kate whispered.
“That’s a miss!” Eddie announced, maniacally.
The rest of them groaned in annoyance. “Kate, it’s up to you! Save our asses!” Dustin nudged her forward as she held the dice in her hands now.
Kate took a deep breath in, and began to rattle the dice in her palms. She took extra long, drawing out the action, building suspense, until the moment was just right, and then she threw them, closing her eyes and waiting to hear their failure.
“Crit hit!” Dustin squealed in her ear.
The rest of them cheered around her. “What?” She gaped, pushing her way around them to see what had landed.
The dice sat at the far end of the table, a twenty staring her in the face. Her eyes widened. She had won the game. “Holy shit.”
Beside her Eddie grinned at her, bowing down to her. She shook her head. “That’s why we play.” He said. “Gotta hand it to you princess, I honestly didn’t think you had it in you.”
Kate shrugged. “Never judge a book by it’s cover, ya know?”
“I’ll take that into consideration now.” Eddie smiled back.
“Hey, hey!” Dustin was still screaming, but this time he was practically running towards Kate. “You did it! You won that shit!” He grabbed her, almost yanking her to the floor as he squeezed her so tightly.
“You killed that son of a bitch!” Mike agree, joining them in a group hug.
Kate couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh yep, I did that, totally. All me. Thanks for the accolades.” She laughed, talking herself up.
A few more minutes of revelry continued before they all decided it was time to pack up and head out. The rest of the boys grabbed their manuals and headed out the door. “Hey Harrington-“ Eddie spoke, just as Kate was about to follow them.
She stopped and turned back to him.
“You’re welcome any time.” He spread his hands out, motioning to the display laid out before him.
Kate nodded, hand twisting the door knob. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me play... I’ll see you around.”
Eddie smiled, a genuine one this time, not a smile of mockery. “See you around.”
Kate left then, turning back down the hallway to catch up to the others. Outside, the basketball game had just let out too, the crowd dispersing to their cars.
Mike and Dustin had already made it to Steve’s car, where he and Robin were also patiently waiting. “Hey, there she is!” Dustin cheered, pointing out Kate to them.
Kate assumed he had already told them of her assistance to victory. “Hey, you have fun?” Steve asked, sounding very reminiscent of a stereotypical TV mom.
She raised her eyebrows at him. “Yes mom, I had a lot of fun, actually.”
Her comment made Robin and Dustin giggle. Steve shook his head. “Okay well any of you guys hungry? We can stop for food on the way home?”
“I could go for a burger.” Dustin shrugged.
“Oh, me too. Definitely.” Robin agreed, climbing into the passenger seat.
“Alright, saddle up amigos.” Steve smacked his hand on the side of his door. They all got into the car, Mike, then Kate, and Dustin.
Steve drove them by McDonalds, treating them all, save for Kate to food. Since last summer, Kate had developed a severe aversion to all forms of meat, specifically beef. It reminded her too much of the monster. Especially considering it was actually formed of human meat.
She couldn’t think about it for very long without wanting to throw up.
They dropped everyone off at their respective houses, and then headed back to their’s.
Kate untied her boots and kicked them off inside the door, and immediately headed up the stairs to her room. “Hey, wait up.” Steve called after her.
She didn’t close the door when she got to her room, signaling that it was okay for him to come inside.
She tossed her manual onto her vanity.
“What’s up?” She asked as she began to dig through her drawers to find new pajamas.
“I’m really glad you went with them tonight.” Steve spoke, leaning up against her door frame. Kate nodded, still looking for a shirt. “Those little shits are real pieces of work, but I’m glad you went.”
“It’s not that big of a deal Steve.” Kate shrugged, playing it off.
‘Not that big of a deal? Kate this is the first fun thing you’ve done all school year! And it’s your senior year-“
“Sorry Steve, not everybody’s senior year can be full of rainbows and sunshine!” Kate snapped, tossing her pajamas onto the bed.
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Steve shook his head. “I’m just saying, I’m happy you’re finally taking a step forward. Trying to move on. That’s all.”
Kate looked up at her brother. He really was trying to be sincere.
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m trying.”
Steve opened his arms, pulling her in for a hug.
“That’s great. That’s great and I’m happy for you alright?” Kate nodded as she and her brother shared a hug. “Now go to bed, alright? You had a long day.”
Kate scoffed as he released her from his arms. They both knew she would go right to bed regardless of if she had an eventful or uneventful day.
But tonight she decided she wasn’t going to search the void. She was tired, actually exhausted.
So she went right to bed.
Only an hour later, and Kate was having a hell of a time trying to fall asleep. She never had this issue, it was always, head hits pillow- immediately unconscious.
But tonight was different. She couldn’t shut her brain off. Maybe it was all the excitement of feeling like a normal person again, or the fact that she was finally on spring break. She didn’t know, but she couldn’t fall asleep.
Kate rolled from her side to her back, staring at the strips of moonlight cast onto her ceiling. She blinked, and then suddenly, everything went black.
She blinked again, but this time, she wasn’t in her bed. She was standing in a room, in a house she didn’t know.
“It’s time.” A voice, deep inside her head spoke.
Outside the windows a storm was brewing. She could see flashes of lightning, and hear the roar of thunder. It was cold, goosebumps arose on her skin.
She tried to take a step forward, she wanted to move but she couldn’t. She was frozen in place. It was like she was under some kind of spell.
“For your suffering to end.” It spoke again.
Kate was confused. She was so deeply confused. But when she opened her mouth to speak, to question whatever was inside of her, nothing came out. Not a breath, not a single syllable of a word passed her lips.
She was frozen.
Then, seemingly of it’s own accord, her left hand rose, her arm extending out, almost as if it were trying to grab something. And then it clamped down, clutching the empty air, it held on tightly.
Kate still couldn’t move, but something was changing. Her entire body felt like it was vibrating. A surge of energy coursed through her, making her feel like she was electric.
And in a split second, she awoke.
She shot up, gasping, her breathing erratic.
She was in her bed, her room was dark, and whatever she had just witnessed was not real. It was a dream. She was safe.
But it felt so real.
Her body was warm, and she felt like she could get up and run a marathon with no problem. And her arm was still outstretched, although no longer holding onto something.
Subconsciously, she wiped the underneath of her nose. Looking at her hand, there was significantly more blood than normal.
She jumped up, rushing into her bathroom to look at herself.
Everything was the same, except she did look a little more lively. Less corpselike. The shadows from under her eyes seemed to disappear, and her cheeks looked a tiny bit fuller.
But a stream of blood cascaded from both of her nostrils, all the way down her neck.
Kate shook her head, quickly wetting her wash cloth and wiping herself clean. She still didn’t understand.
Any other time she traveled into the void, it was only a trickle of blood. Sometimes it reached her chin but never further, and never more.
Even when she’d wake up with nightmares, even the particularly jarring ones, she never bled this much.
Kate sat on the side of the bathtub for a few minutes, the washcloth held to her nose as she waited for it to stop bleeding.
And when it did, she left the bloody rag sitting on the side of the tub, crawled back into bed, and letting sleep consume her.
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