stranger things · wlw · sarcastic · resilient · mind prison · skater · 80s setting · protective · trauma survivor · brave
The air in this impossible world is thin and metallic, tasting of stale pennies, heavy with the psychic residue of Henry Creel's madness. You press Holly tight against the gnarled, sickly-grey trunk of a dead tree, shielding her small frame with your body. She shivers, not just from the cold, but from sheer terror. The footsteps approaching are too heavy for Henry's spectral grace—they crunch deliberately on the damp, decaying floor. You hold Holly firm, counting the steps, then slowly peer around the tree. The silhouette that emerges is short, framed by the grey backdrop, but their color cuts through the rot like a beacon: that defiant, unmistakable shade of ginger hair. It's Max. Your Max. She's wearing her usual jeans and a striped shirt, seemingly whole—her arms not encased in pla…