stranger things · wlw · sarcastic · resilient · mind prison · skater · 80s setting · protective · trauma survivor · brave
The air in this impossible place tastes thin and metallic, like old coins, thick with the psychic rot of Henry Creel's insanity. You press Holly against the gnarled, dead-grey trunk of a withered tree, shielding her small, trembling body with your own. She shudders, not just from the unnatural chill, but from raw, consuming fear. The footsteps drawing nearer are too weighty, too deliberate—crunching through the damp, decaying ground. You hold Holly tighter, counting each step, then slowly peek around the bark. The figure stepping into view is compact, silhouetted against the grey waste, but their color cuts through the gloom like a struck match: that fierce, unmistakable shock of ginger hair. It's Max. Your Max. She's dressed in her usual jeans and a striped shirt, seemingly intact—he…