Finally, the plane has landed.  Amelia looks out the window, gazing at the night's sky that carried a harsh winter-like weather.  Even with the plane engine, she could hear the howling of the wind as it carried snow with it.  Hitting the window like soft pebbles.  During the flight, the three of them managed to change into winter clothes to be on the safe side since this was Alaska and it was predicable it was going to be cold, but...they weren't expecting this kind of cold.  As everyone was beginning to exit the plane, Amelia and Joyce gathered their stuff together...but Murray was still fast asleep. 

"Murray.  Murray." Amelia shakes him awake.

With a loud snort, Murray jolts awake, "Huh?"

"We're here." Amelia says as Joyce was getting up. 

"Already?" He mutters groggily. 

"Yeah, come on.  Let's go." Amelia grunts as she gets up with him. 

The Hostess and Stewardess were both saying their goodbyes and welcomes to the passengers.  Murray grunts as he gets near the door, barely hearing the women say 'Welcome to Alaska'.  The wind was deafening as much as how blinding the snow was. 

"Oh, God. This is spring?!" He exclaims and follows Joyce while helping Amelia down the stairs. 

"I warned you it was going to be bad here." Amelia shouts over the wind.

"But I wasn't expecting this bad!"

"Let's just find a taxi and get to the nearest hotel so we can get this over with!" Joyce shouts as they head towards airport to the nearest taxi service. 

Murray grunts as he carries their bags into the small hotel room and sighs at the sight of it.  It wasn't the Ritz, but it'll do.  He grunts louder as he throws the bag on the nearest bed. 

"Thank god for small comforts." He sighs and sits on the bed. 

Joyce shuts the door behind Amelia and heads to the small heater near the door, shivering at the cold, "Jesus, it's colder in here than outside." She fumbles with the knobs and managed to get the heat going. 

"So, how are we gonna handle this sleeping arrangement.  Two beds, three people." Amelia asks as she sits on the other bed.

Joyce looks at Murray as they share a look, "Uh..."

"I call this bed.  You two can share that one." Murray states.

"Murray..." Joyce sighs and gives him a look that said it all.

"Oh, no.  Don't you dare pull the 'pregnant woman' card on me.  She can share the bed with you."

"Why should I share a bed while you get one all by yourself? Hmm?" Amelia crosses her arms over her chest. 

"Because...if you take the bed, then that means me and Joyce will have to share one.  And I don't share beds with married women...or pregnant women.  I fumble around when I sleep, I snore and god knows what else.  It'll be safer and less awkward for everyone if you two shared one bed and I sleep in the other."

"Or you take the floor." Joyce suggests. 

Murray gives her a glare, "I have a bad back." He lies.

Amelia snickers, "Joyce, it's fine.  It's a big bed, we can share it.  Besides, I don't know if I'm gonna be do a lot of sleeping tonight." She sighs softly. 

Joyce sighs and moves to sit next to her, giving her a side hug, "He's gonna be okay.  I strongly believe it."

"I know, I feel it, too.  I just...it hurts to be so far apart from him.  Being away from him for so long and, now, discovering that he's still alive...trapped in another country." She stops and scoffs, "It's making my head spin.  I can't think, I can't function.  Not until he's back in my life and I'm in his arms.  Then it'll be okay."

Joyce gives her a soft smile and pulls her close to hold her, rubbing her back in comfort.  Murray sighs, feeling bad for Amelia.  A woman like her didn't deserve this.  Those kids of hers, growing in her belly, they were innocent and deserve to have their father in their lives before they come out.  He groans in annoyance and rolls his eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'll take the floor." He scoffs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Try that one."

As they reached the school grounds, they had to wait for security to take off as their shift ended. Night has fallen as the last security guard heads home. The four of them pace towards the door and begins to go through the keys to get inside, but which one was the problem.

"Nope, not that one." Max sighs as she tries another key.

"You know, we could save time if I could just...." Theo sighs.

"No." "No." Steve and Max say.

"He's got a point." Dustin says.

"Got it!" Max exclaims as the key unlocks the door. "Let's go."

Everyone rushes inside the building, but Theo stomps behind them, pouting that he couldn't break anymore locks. As they all roamed the hallways, towards Ms. Kelly's office, Dustin's radio, suddenly, erupts static and voice calls out.

"Dustin, do you copy?" Robin calls.

"Yeah, I copy." Dustin grabs his radio and answers the call.

"So, Nancy's a genius. Vecna's first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull's-eye."

Steve, Theo, and Dustin all frown at the new information, "1959?" Theo mutters.

"Okay, that's totally bonkers, but I can't really talk right now."

"What are you doing?"

"Breaking and entering school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files." Dustin answers and grunts when Theo grabs his radio...and his hand.

"Pretty much to usual bullshit they always do."

For a pregnant silence, "Can you repeat that?" Robin scoffs.

Dustin grunts and yanks his hand out of Theo's grip to answer, "Just get your ass over here, stat. We'll explain everything." He cuts the call and places his radio back on his belt. 

Theo was so deep in thought about what the girls discovered, he was barely paying attention to what Dustin and Hair-boy was talking about.  Something about Hawkins being a Watergate or something.  He snorts softly as he thinks about the time frame of the killings and how the gate first opened in 1983.  It just doesn't make sense. 

"Didn't those guys get caught?" Steve frowns during the discussion with Dustin. 

Max went ahead of them to find the office.  Theo rushes to catch up as she was opening the door to the office.  The four of them tear through the office, going through the desk, the cabinets, anything that would give them some sort of clue.  Max skims through the file cabinet, finding Chrissy's file, but another name catches her eye.

"Holy shit." She whispers and pulls out the file, bringing them to the desk. 

"You found it?" Dustin perks up.

"Yeah, and not just Chrissy's file. Fred was seeing Ms. Kelley too." She says and opens the files to see what Ms. Kelly wrote about them.  She scans through Chrissy's file, reading the notes Ms. Kelly took down.  She frowns when she sees something similar.  Chrissy carried symptoms of nausea, headaches, nosebleeds, a series of nightmares that lead to cold sweat, and hallucinations that seem to be related to personal trauma.

"Let me see Fred's file." She says.

Theo hands it to her and she sits down and dives right into the notes.  Exact same symptoms. She freezes as she thinks about her own experience.  Days ago, she had this horrible headache.  It started a week ago.  A sharp headache came out of nowhere and it caused her to have a nosebleed in class.  It never went away.  No matter what she did.  No matter how many Tylenols she took.  It wouldn't stop.  Then she had nightmares.  Horrible nightmares. 

Theo frowns as he smells Max's terror, "What's wrong? You smell like fear."

"Max, what is it?" Dustin asks.

"Max?" Steve frowns when she was quiet. 

Theo kneels next to her and sees that she was spaced out, "Max. Max!" He shakes her, but she wasn't responding.

"Max!" Dustin shouts.

Max, suddenly gasps in fright, looking around frantically as she shoots up from the chair.  Panting heavily, she  storms out of the room and rushes down the hallways.

Dustin stutters in confusion, "Max!"

"Max!" Theo calls out and rushes to follow her. 

"What's going on?" Steve frowns, throwing his hands up. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wasn't long till Nancy and Robin made it to the school.  Theo could hear the tires screeching from a mile away.   They both rushed into the school, racing down the hallways to find everyone. 

Max stutters in confusion as everyone points their flashlights at a wall.  She claimed she saw a grandfather clock, wedged in the wall, as if it was...a part of the wall.  She could still hear the chimes.

"It was here. Right here." She says.

"A grandfather clock?"

"It was so real." Max's voice trembles as tears fall down her cheeks, her whole body was shaking, "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just...I woke up." She shudders.

"It was like she was in a trance or something." Theo says to Nancy and Robin, "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy. And what I saw what happened to Fred."

Max turns to face everyone, "That's not even the bad part." She heads back towards Ms. Kelly's office and shows them all what she found, "Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help.  Uh, they both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away.
And then then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually...everything ended."

"Meaning...Venca strikes." Theo sighs.

"Vecna's curse." Robin gasps.

"Chrissy's headache started a week ago. Fred's, six days ago." Max's lips begin to tremble in fear, "I've been having them for five days. I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that ***damn clock, so looks like I'm gonna die tomorrow." She sniffles.

Theo snorts and moves to pull her into a hug, "Hey, I'm not gonna let that asshole get you.  He'll have to go through me."

"Through all of us." Dustin says.

Max lets out a trembling sigh and hugs Theo back, "You, I believe, Theo.  But, guys...this...Vecna..."

"I protect my friends.  I made that promise the moment we met, Max." Theo states, using her name for the first time.  "I never break that promise."

Max sighs softly, feeling a little better, but still...she was scared to death.

Suddenly, a distant clang was made.  Everyone jumps and turns towards the sound.  Steve turns towards everyone.

"Stay here." He moves to head out to find the source of the sound, he stops and grabs the lamp next to the door. 

Theo snorts, "Does he easily forget you guys have a supernatural bodyguard?" He scoffs and moves to follow Steve.

Steve sighs as he sees Theo walking down the hallway with him, very slowly and cautiously together.  Soon, everyone walks out of the office to follow, shining their lights to find what was causing that nose.  The noise grows louder as they approach another hallway.  Theo flings out his hand, making his nails grow into talons.  Ready to strike. 

Suddenly, a figure rushes from around the corner, making everyone scream.  Theo charges at the figure and shoves him against the wall with a roar, making the figure scream. 

"It's me!" Lucas yells.

Everyone finally stops screaming and Theo stops himself from huring Lucas.

"Lucas?!" Nancy exclaims.

"It's me.  It's me, Theo." Lucas looks at Theo in fear as he sees Theo's hand reared back with sharp claws. 

Theo drops his hand and brings him down to his feet gently, "Good goddess, Lucas! I could have killed you!" Theo glared at him. 

"Jesus, what's wrong with you? And I could've taken you out with this lamp!" Steve yells.

"I'm sorry,  I'm sorry, Theo." Lucas says.

Theo sighs deeply and pats Lucas' shoulder, "Next time, Lucas...announce yourself.  Say 'hello? Anyone there?'" He turns towards Steve, "And you couldn't even kill a cat with that thing, Hair-boy." He snorts and shakes his head. 

"I'm sorry, sorry, guys." Lucas pants, "I was...I was biking for eight miles." He says breathlessly.  "Which is why couldn't call out.  I couldn't catch my breath." He explains to Theo and bends over, "Give me a second." His heart was racing.  "Shit. We've got a code red."

"What?" Steve frowns.

"Dustin." Lucas paces over towards Dustin with fear in his eyes, "I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger."

"Well, we kinda figured he was out for Eddie. But him looking for Dustin, that's new." Theo mutters. 

"Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we've got bigger problems than Jason now." Dustin states and looks over to Max. 

Lucas frowns as they all eye Max.  What was going on?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting Lucas into the loop, which nearly took all night long, Nancy and Robin shows everyone what they found at the library about a man named Victor Creel, who was supposedly, the first victim of Venca.  He was a family man who lived in Hawkins, moved into a house with his wife and two children.  Everyone was normal.  He seemed like a normal man. Until that night in 1959, his wife was killed first before him, then...according the this article, he said he fell into some sort of trance. Blacked out and before he knew it, his daughter was killed like his wife was and his son fell into a coma...and died.

"Okay, be honest. Uh You guys understand any of this?

"No." Lucas scoffs as he reads a copy of the article.

"Pretty straightforward."

"Yeah, it basically describes the exact same shit we're going through right now. How is that confusing?" Theo scoffs.

"Oh, straightforward, really?" Steve scoffs.

"What's confusing to you?" Dustin frowns at him.

"It's all there, Hair-boy. So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He's the only known survivor." Theo says.

"If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him." Dustin states, agreeing with Theo.

"That's assuming he was cursed, which we don't even know." Steve says as he paces the floor, thinking how insane this all sounded to him .

"How can Vecna have existed in the '50s? It doesn't make sense." Lucas frowns.

Theo claps his hands and sighs deeply, "Ok, here's what we do know. What we all know. Eleven didn't create the Upside Down. Right?"

"Right." Dustin says."She opened a gate to it. That tells us that the Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years."

"Actually, millions." Theo corrects him.

"Millions?!" Everyone exclaims.

"The Underworld has existed since God stepped forth and said 'Let there be light'. Creatures have existed way before you humans evolved from monkeys." Theo snorts.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs." Dustin says.

"Dinosaurs? What are we..." Steve scoffs.

Lucas sits up, stopping the argument, "Okay. But if a gate didn't exist in the '50s, how did Vecna get through? How's he getting through now?"

"And why now? And why then? Just pops out in the '50s, kills one family, and he's like, 'I'm good'. And poof, he just disappears. Just gone? Only to return 30 years later and start killing random teens? No, I don't buy it. Straightforward, my ass. Honestly, Henderson, a little humility now and then, it wouldn't hurt you." Steve snorts.

"Sorry." Dustin mutters sarcastically.

"Okay, as much as I hate Hair-boy's point of view, but he holds a valid point. And so do you, Lucas. How is the question. How is he getting through this world from Upside Down. And why the gap between years?" Theo says and stops and sighs, "There are creatures of the underworld who only feast certain times of the years. A lot of us only pop up once a year. Halloween. But there are others who are forced to go into waiting. A hibernation. I know one guy who eats kids during summers, but once the summer is over, he's forced to go back home and can't come back until every 27 years. Another creature who feeds on fear every 23rd spring. But I never heard of any creature who just randomly kills people like this Vecna character."

Everyone looks at him weirdly, some in fear, knowing that there were others out there and not know it...that's horrifying and Theo was just announced it as if it was just a casual thing of his.

Dustin leans over and checks on Max, who was sitting at a desk. Writing something.

"Any idea what she's writing?" Dustin asks.

Everyone looks over to her, worried about their friend, especially Lucas. Even though they broke up, he still cared about her.

"Did she sleep?" Lucas asks.

Theo scoffs, "I mean, would you?"

Nancy and Robin rush down the stairs towards everyone with big grins.

" Okay, so we have a plan." Nancy states.

"Thanks to Nancy's minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame." Robin states as they both show off forged resumes and recommendation letters to the boys.

"I'm now Ruth." Nancy says.

"And I'm Rose." Robin states with a big smile.

"Ruth?" Steve couldn't help but snort and Nancy smiles, rolling her eyes at his humor."

Dustin looks over the resume and his brows raise in impress, "Nice GPA."

"Thanks. So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics To which they said no. But we landed a three o'clock with the director." Nancy states.

"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor. Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse." Robin says, hoping this will work out.

"About that. We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh we got some questions." Steve says.

"Lots of questions." Lucas adds.

"So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers."

Steve stutters, holding up a hand to stop them, "Wait Wait Wait a second. Uh...Where's mine?"

"Yeah and where's mine? You must be crazy not to invite the demon on this possibly dangerous situation. I mean, going into the nuthouse to meet the survivor of Vecna alone?" He snorts, "Yeah, right." He scoffs with a crooked grin, but his grin slowly falls when Nancy clears her throat.

"Oh, come on!" Theo exclaims disbelief, they were actually leaving him out of this, too!

Robin holds up a hand as Steve and Nancy go upstairs to argue while she looks through her closet for professional clothes for herself and Robin.

"Max is our main concern, Theo. She needs to be protected at all times. That's where you come in, dude. If Vecna tries anything, you do whatever you set your demonic mind and stop him at any chance he gets. We'll get the info we need that can break the curse. Okay?" Robin states and gets up to follow Nancy and Steve.

Theo sighs out a groan and slumps against his chair while Lucas and Dustin both watch him.

Dustin clicks his tongue, "Welcome to our world, Theo."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia snaps her eyes open and sighs as she sits up in her bed. She didn't sleep at all last night. It just felt like she was lying there with her eyes closed. All she could think about was Jim, what was happening to him in that place. She could only think of how horrible it must be for him there. She crosses her legs and looks out the window, the sun was up, shining through the clouded sky. The snow never stopped, but the wind calmed down a little bit. And it was still freezing. The heater kept the three of them warm during the night, but nothing can calm their nerves. Today was payday for whoever Yuri is. This Enzo better keep his word along with Yuri. Or hell will come to Russia. She'll make sure of it.

Soon, Joyce and Murray rises from where they slept, if they slept at all during the night and it was pretty obvious that Murray didn't. He seemed...tensed. Amelia dresses up in her thickest coat and places her winter hat over her head and ears, but it was still too cold. Joyce was calling the kids, but the phone was busy, been busy since last night. Amelia's heart clutches in her chest as she could see what was happening in California. Starshine was arrested for what she did to that bully. The military invaded Joyce and Bob's home, scaring the hell out of her kids and Mike along with Argyle. She could see that son of a bitch's face as clear as day in her mind. He was out for blood. For Starshine's blood and he'll stop at nothing to kill her.

Whispering softly in Latin, she focuses on that man's face...sending his name through the skies and the darkness. She curses him. Making his mission difficult. She'll never let him touch Starshine. Ever. Whispering more harshly, she watches the man jerk in pain, clutching his head as his nose bleeds. Panting softly, she sighs as she calms her anger. That'll keep him at bay until they meet, and she's going to make sure they do. Boy, does want that to happen.

"It's busy." Joyce's confused voice snaps her out of her thoughts, "It's still busy." She stutters, "Did I do something wrong? It says dial one, then the number, which..."

Murray waves her off as he gathers the bag full of cash, "You can check on your kids later." He was ready to get this over with.

"I don't understand why it's still busy." Joyce slowly hangs up the phone.

"Now you know how we feel when we try to call you." Amelia giggles as she throws her bag over her shoulder and moves to place a calm hand on her shoulder, "They're okay. Trust me."

"Yeah, listen to the witch. Joyce, there are certain things one can be late to in life. A dentist's appointment. A one-year-old's birthday party, because who cares? Little idiot's not gonna remember it. But for what is essentially a ransom exchange, for that, for that, I think you very much need to be on time." He says as he urges them both out of the motel room and sighs deeply, "I'm sorry. I'm very tense."

"Clearly." Amelia scoffs. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a thermos. "Coffee?"

"Please." He sighs out, desperate for coffee, especially hers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max continues to write down several letters, all made out to different people, everyone she knew.  If Vecna does kill her...she didn't want to leave this Earth without saying one last thing to everyone she cared about and loved.  But the burning stare everyone was giving her from behind her back was annoying her to death. If Vecna doesn't kill, that sure will.

"I know you guys are staring at me." Max sighs out in irritation.

Steve, Lucas, and Dustin all jump and begin to randomly keep themselves occupied by looking away, anywhere but her.  Dustin buries into a magazine, Lucas looks at the article again, while Steve looks up, tossing a baseball in the air and catches it. 

"What, sorry?" "You said you needed something?" "Just hanging out." They all muttered together. 

Theo was unaffected so he kept staring at her, "Can't help it, Zoomer, we care about you and we're worried." He says bluntly.

"How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don't know." She snorts and gathers up her letters and heads towards them.  She frowns as she watches Steve, Dustin, and Lucas continue to be 'occupied' while Theo just...for once...acted normally.  "You can look at me now." She scoffs at them.

"Thank you. Sorry." "Sorry." "Sorry." They say. 

Theo looks over to her with a look, "And you complain I don't act human enough?"

That made Max smile just a little, but she sighs and begins to hand out the letters.  First, to Theo.

"For you."

Theo frowns and takes it, holding it in his hands.

Dustin, "For you."

"For you." Steve.

"And, um, you." Lucas.

Max turns to Theo, "Oh, and, um, give these to Mike, El, and Will.  And Amelia.  If you can ever get a hold of them again." She sighs out.  She frowns as she watches the three boys begin to open the letters, "What are you doing? No, don't. That's not for now. Don't open it now."

The boys frown and Dustin stutters, "Don't...Okay. I'm sorry."

"What is this?" Steve asks.

"It's, um it's a fail-safe. For after. If things don't work out." Max says, her voice trailing off with a small shake in her voice, she was scared of the outcome but she must prepare for the worse. 

"Wait, whoa. Max, things are gonna work out." Lucas says.

Max scoffs at him, getting angry, "No! No, I don't need you to reassure me and tell me it's all gonna work out. People have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true. It's never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should've seen that one coming."  She scoffs. 

Theo sighs and gets to his feet, "Hey, if it works out or not, we're there for you, Zoomer.  And we're going to do everything to keep this asshole off you.  No one messes with my friends.  No one.  I don't care how evil, how powerful he thinks he is...he's messing with the wrong demon friend.  If he's cursing you...he's cursing all of us." He walks up to her and place a soft hand on her trembling shoulder, "I'm not gonna say it's gonna work out.  We don't know if it is or if it's not, but we're gonna make damn sure it does.  Okay?"

Max's bottom lip begins to tremble a little, but she struggles to keep her tears at bay.  She nods her head, afraid to say anything to might make her cry. 

"Come here, Zoomer." Theo says and pulls her for a hug, holding her tight and rubbing her back in comfort.  Max sighs and hugs him back, in a way, she felt protected.  Mainly because he was a demon and he could protect her.  "We got you." He says softly. 

Lucas watches Theo hold Max, rubbing her back.  That should be him, not Theo.  Why didn't he do that?  He tried to comfort her, but she keeps shoving him away.  But why Theo?  Why is she holding on to him? 

Max sighs and moves out of Theo's arms and turns to Steve, Dustin, and Lucas, "If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?" She asks as she moves to pick up Dustin's radio.

"Of course. Yeah." Dustin nods.

"Why are we talking about East Hawkins?" Steve frowns but realizes as everyone looks at him. He begins to furiously shake his head, "No. No. No!" 

Max rolls her eyes and grabs her bag as she heads out the door, Steve jumps to his feet and rushes to catch up with her as Dustin, Lucas, and Theo rush to follow. 

"Max, Max. Seriously. Seriously, I'm not joking. I'm not driving you anywhere." Steve says as he follows her towards the car.

"If you think I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement, you're out of your mind." She says over her shoulder and turns swiftly to face him as they reach the car, "Either take me where I need to go or tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute." She threatens and reaches to open the door, but it was locked, "Open the door."

Steve scoffs, "Uh, no."

Theo moves and leans on Max's shoulder, "I know a good lawyer.  He's a real devil in court." He leans in with a smirk as Max grins, knowing he wasn't kidding at the 'devil' part, and gives Steve a challenging look. 

Steve scoffs at them both and rolls his eyes, "Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst." He grits his teeth as he unlocks the door for them all. 

Theo chuckles, "That wasn't so hard.  Was it, Hair-boy?" He gives his cheek a love tap, making him wince and grit his teeth. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After renting a car, and finding directions to their destination, Murray manages to drive the three of them to Yuri's Fish N' Fly.  What a dump! That's all Amelia could think.  It looked like a Rent-A-Plane airline.  She could see the plane from where she sat in the car and it looked like it has seen better days.  They pull up towards the building and all get out.  Murray grabs the bag and walks with Joyce and Amelia towards the entrance of the garage. 

"If things go sideways, I should mention I'm now a black belt in karate." Murray states.

"Yeah, that makes us feel so much better." Amelia scoffs sarcastically. "And I'm a witch with powers beyond imagination." She pats his cheek, "I think that tops that." She whispers and walks with Joyce.

"You never know when we might need my skills." Murray snorts.

"Hello?" Joyce calls out, searching for the infamous Yuri. 

"Hello?" Amelia calls out.

Suddenly, they hear sparks coming from a welding tool, it sounded like it was coming from the plane.  The three of them walk cautiously towards the plan.

"Hello?" Murray calls outs.

Suddenly, a man with a welding mask walks towards the entrance of the plane and freezes at the people before him.  He shoves the mask off his face, seeing them more cleaner.  His face was coated in soot and sweat.  His short brown hair stuck up in spikes as his brown eyes frowns in confusion and curiosity.

"Who are you?" He spoke with a Russian accent. 

"I...Uh..." Joyce stutters, obviously intimidated by the man.

"We're looking for Yuri." Amelia says.

"Why do you need to see Yuri?"

"It's actually, uh...It's a private matter." Joyce stutters.

"Is Yuri here?" Murray asks.

The man sighs and hops out of the plane, carrying a disappointing, sad look, "I'm sorry. I don't know how to tell you this, but you're a day late."

Joyce frowns in concern, "What?"

The man gestures at his plane, "You see damage to this hull? Yuri was on sightseeing trip to see polar bears. And then bears got into plane and pull him out of cockpit and kill Yuri."

Murray and Joyce look at him in shock and dread, "No." She gasps.

"Yeah. And he loved bears. They broke his heart. Or rather punctured it with their bear claws." He jerks his hands out, pretending to pull a heart out, making Joyce and Murray jump.

Amelia rolls her eyes, "Yuri, I presume?"

Joyce and Murray both frown at her as the man grins and begins to let out a wheezing laugh, "I got you. I got you good." He points at Joyce and Murray's scared looks.  Making them both chuckle uneasily.  He looks over towards Amelia, "You are one smart little bird. Could see right through me." He chortles and points at himself, "I'm Yuri. I'm Yuri." He grins, showing off his crooked teeth that looked like they haven't been brushed in a while.  He turns to Joyce with a grin, "You must be....Little Lia..." He grins.

"Actually, that's me.  I'm Amelia."

Yuri stutters in surprise, "You are the big American oaf's girlfriend?" He wheezes again in laughter.  "You American women must really love ugly mugs like his."

Amelia says nothing, just impatient to get this over with.  She watches him turn to Joyce and Murray, eyeing Joyce up and down.

"Then who is this little beauty?" Yuri purrs.

Joyce gives him a disturbed frown, "Joyce.  Just Joyce." She mutters. 

"Ah! And, uh, you are?" Yuri asks Murray.

"Murray." Murray mutters.

"Murray?"

"Yeah."

"Yuri." Yuri chuckles as he points at himself and Murray, "Yuri, Murray, Yuri, Murray. We rhyme." He wheezes.

Murray gives him an uncomfortable laugh, "Yeah. I hear it."

Amelia sighs, "Can we please just get this over with?" She asks.

Yuri chuckles, "Now, now, little bird, don't ruffle your pretty little feathers." He says and leads them towards his relaxing area.  He sits in a chair as Murray places the bag full of money in front of him. 

"Forty thousand American dollars, as promised." Murray says. 

Yuri grins and opens the bag wide, shoving his face against the bills and sniffs loudly, "Ah!  I love the smell of cash in morning." He wheezes. 

"Right." Amelia mutters and hugs herself as she shivers. 

"I hope you do not mind if I count. You three seem very nice, very trustworthy people. But so did my brother before he stole my wife!" Yuri says and raises his voice to an angry shout, making Joyce and Murray stiffen in alert and fear.  Amelia wasn't afraid of him.  Yuri eyes Amelia with sympathy, "Poor bird, you're freezing. Please, have some coffee. Still hot. This could be a while..." He grins as he points at the table that carried coffee as he begins to count the money. 

Murray looks over towards the table and shrugs at Joyce and Amelia, "I could go for a cup." He says. 

"Yeah, anything to get warm." Joyce shivers and walks with Murray to the table.

"I can't drink coffee." Amelia whispers as they stand in front of the table.

"Do you have anything in that bag of yours that could help us all get warm?" Murray asks sarcastically.

"In fact, I do, but I'm not pulling anything out until we're away from the Russian Norman Bates." Amelia says sarcastically.  "And he didn't even noticed my stomach.  They don't know I'm pregnant.  Jim doesn't know.  I found out months after he was captured." She states. 

"What do you think will happen if they find out Amelia is pregnant?" Joyce asks Murray.

"Uh, I don't know.  But it won't be good.  We're all wanted by the KGB, if they find out about her pregnancy, they'll keep her alive until she gives birth and possibly sell her children." Murray mutters. 

Amelia sighs, hating this already, "If anything goes wrong," She pats her bag, "I'm summoning Theo."

"Just pretend to drink coffee so it won't seem suspicious." Joyce says as she fixes herself a cup. 

Amelia sighs deeply, "I'm not liking this.  I have a really bad feeling."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First place Max wanted to stop at was her trailer.  To drop off letters for her mom and dad and her family members.  She didn't want to leave anyone out.  Steve skids to a halt in front of the trailer and Max jumps out of the back. 

"This better be fast, Mayfield." Steve warns. 

"Twenty seconds." Max scoffs and heads on inside. 

Steve eyes the Radio in Dustin's hands, " That thing's got batteries in it, right?"

Dustin gives him a scoff and disbelief look, does he know him at all? "I'm not even answering that question. Yes, it has batteries." He says sarcastically.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Never doubt the radio man, Hair-Boy." Theo says as he pats Dustin's shoulders.

"Yeah...Hair-Boy." Dustin scoffs at Steve, making a funny face at him.

Theo sighs as they wait for Max to be done with dropping off the letters, but...a dark feeling begins to set inside his chest.  He frowns as he feels a dark cloud covering the trailer.  Something was here.  Something evil.  He quickly gets out of the car. 

"What...where are you going?" Steve calls out.

"Gotta take a leak." Theo says and rushes around towards the back of the trailer.

Dustin and Steve frown, "Well, when you gotta go...you gotta go." Dustin shrugs. 

Theo runs around the trailer and sees Max, just standing there in the middle of the yard.  Near a laundry basket and clothes on the line. 

"Max?" He walks up to her.  "Max." He calls out, but she never answers.  He moves to stand in front of her and sees her spaced out face.  "Max!" He grabs her shoulders and shakes her.  "Max, wake up."

He frowns as he could hear her voice inside, "I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm being silly."

She was talking to someone.  Theo frowns as he continues to listen. He could hear a woman's voice.  It almost sounded like her mother...but...he knew it wasn't.

"Max. Oh, sweetie. Shh. It's okay. Nothing is going to happen, baby. I promise."

"Max, that's not your mom!  Max!" He calls out, giving her cheek light slaps.   "Come on, wake up!" He shakes her again.  He grips her head and closes his eyes shut, begging for the Goddess to help him. 

Theo snaps his eyes open and finds himself several feet away from Max's trailer.  He could see Max hugging her mom as a dark cloud rolls in.  Max gasps and looks up as she hears the thunder.

"Nothing you don't deserve." Max's mom says harshly. 

Max frowns as she feels her mom's arms tightening around her, hurting her, "Mom, let go of me. Mom? Let go." She whimpers and struggles, but gasps as she feels something slimy crawling over her back.  A hand larger than her mom's pressed against her back. 

"Maxine." Vecna's dark voice causes her to freeze and look up in that horrifying face.  His black body covered with tendrils, his withered skin coated with the same ooze from Upside Down.  He was like a human version of a Demogorgon.  His eyes...so cold...so evil.  She whimpers in terror as she struggles out of his grip.  "You think some letters...are going to make things right? You've broken...everything." Vecna says as he forces the memories of Billy's death in her mind, making her hear her own voice call out as the replay of Billy being stabbed by the Mind Flayer invades her mind. 

"Billy!"

"Your time is almost...at an end."

"So is yours."

Vecna snaps his head towards the voice in surprise and grunts as a fist flies into his face, forcing him to let Max go and fall backwards.  Theo grabs Max and pulls her away, both of them falling backwards on the grass and the sun was shinning once again. 

"You okay?" He asks as he sits up with her while she frantically looks around in terror.  "Hey!  Max!  Look at me.  Are you okay?" He snaps her out of her terror and grabs her face to make her look at him.

Panting heavily, she nods.

"You sure?"

"Yeah.  Yeah." She sniffles and hugs him tight.  "Thank you." She trembles. 

"I got you. Don't worry." He rubs her back, calming her down.  "I got you."

Soon, after calming her nerves, both of them rush towards the car, seeing the boys all leaning or sitting on the car impatiently.  Max looks over her shoulder a couple of times but Theo urges her to get to the car. 

"Come on.  Let's go." Theo says.

"Hey, that was longer than 20 seconds." Steve scoffs. 

"Hey, whoa, whoa. You all right?" Dustin asks.

"I'm fine. Just drive." Max says as she gets into the backseat.

"Did something happen?" Lucas asks.

"Can we please just go?" Max says impatiently.

Theo sighs and gets into the back with Max and Lucas, "Vecna said hi."

"What?!" Dustin exclaims. 

"He was here?" Steve asks, looking around.

"He made her space out again." Theo says as he flexes his fist, seeing a bruise forming on his knuckles. 

"What happened?" Lucas frowns. And Dustin and Steve turn to look.

"I said 'Hi' back." Theo smirks and watches the bruise fade away.

Steve, Dustin and Lucas all look at each other in shock, Dustin was smiling as Lucas grins.  Knowing exactly how Theo says 'Hi' to bad people.  Steve scoffs and chuckles as he starts the car and drives off towards the next stop. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce, Murray, and Amelia all sat together on the couch and watched Yuri counted all the bills that were in the bag.  Amelia couldn't believe he was actually serious about counting the money by hand.  You would think smugglers had counting machines by now.  He chortles in triumph as he slaps the last bill down and grins.

"Forty thousand. Wow, all there."

"Okay, now your turn."  Amelia says as she holds her hot mug in her hands, not touching a drop.  "Go...get...Jim Hopper."

"I will. But first, I will call Enzo. If your friend is dead, I could save myself trouble and fuel." Yuri scoffs.

Amelia grips her mug too hard and it shatters in her hand, making Joyce, Murray, and Yuri jump in shock.  Amelia sighs and brushes off the hot coffee on her jacket. 

"Ooh, little bird has sharp peck.  I'm only kidding." He grins and wheezes.  "I'm sure he's not dead. But still, I should check." He holds a finger up and gets up to head into his office.

Murray leans in, "I don't like him."

"Join the club." Amelia scoffs and gets up to follow, leaning in against the door to listen. 

"Enzo. It is Yuri." Amelia could hear Yuri talking on the phone.  Speaking to the mysterious Enzo.  "I know. I am very sorry. I just felt you should know that there has been a slight change in plans." She frowns at this. "I just got off the phone with your warden. A very productive call. It turns out, escaped prisoners are worth quite a bit of money."

Amelia's eyes widen in shock.

"So Yuri thinks, why not keep the forty grand and make extra money? But it is a better deal for Yuri, yes? And you know what is worth even more than escaped prisoner? Corrupt guards."

Amelia turns fast and rushes towards Murray, who lies against the couch, "Murray. Murray! We gotta get out of here." She shakes him.

"Hey, 'Mila...Boy what was in that coffee?" He murmurs and slowly closes his eyes.

"Murray!" She slaps him but he was out cold. She grabs his mug and sniffs it. "Narcotics." She whispers in shock and looks over to Joyce who stood by the coffee table to refill her mug, but she begins to sway back and forth. "Joyce!" She rushes towards her, catching her before she could fall. "Joyce. Joyce, fight it." She slaps her hard.

Joyce grunts and mutters intelligible and slowly falls to the ground with Amelia's help.

"Shit!" Amelia and shakes her, "Come on, Joyce!"

Suddenly, she grunts as a cloth covers her mouth, muffling her shouting as she struggles to fight Yuri who wraps his arm around her, smothering her with a chloroform soaked napkin. She screams and steps on his foot, elbows his gut, anything to get him off her, but she was slowly losing the fight as her body grows limp. She grunts as she's slowly placed on the ground.

"I'm sorry, poor bird." Yuri grins as he strokes her hair. "Don't worry, you will be reunited with your American boyfriend very soon." He chuckles as she finally loses consciousness. Falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.