❝  Don't  touch  it  ❞,  he  says,  his  tone  firm  but  not  frightening.  He's  not  someone  she  would  have  ever  seen  before,  at  least  not  that  she  knows.  He  doesn't  appear  threatening  in  the  least.  He's  a  pleasant-looking  man,  tall  with  fluffy  blond  hair  and  warm  blue  eyes.  

The  plant  before  them  wasn't  like  anything  in  the  real  world,  just  as  this  place they've  come  to  inhabit  isn't  really  like  anything  in  the  real  world.  It  resembled  Hawkins,  of  course.  But  things  had  changed.  The  human  population  has  nearly  vanished,  and  so  have  their  settlements.  Buildings  and  houses  still  exist,  but  they  are  few  and  far  between,  with  their  shapes  and  sizes  varying.  They  are  surrounded  by  exaggerated  forests.  Forests  that  contain  many  wonders,  things  the  natural  world  was  devoid  of.  

Such  as  these...  flowers.  Pretty  on  the  outside,  sweet-smelling.  They  seem  as  if  they  are  buds,  speckled  with  colour  and  vibrant,  just  asking  to  be  touched.  But  they  were  not  entirely  what  they  seemed  and  it  was  just  as  he  finished  speaking,  this  mysterious  ''flower"  opened,  blooming  to  reveal  its  far  less  alluring  inside.  Its  petals  were  moist  and  lined  top  to  bottom  with  sharp  teeth,  like  the  inside  of  a  terrifying  mouth.  This  was  a  predatory  plant.  Maybe  it  resembled  what  a  child's  imagination  would  come  to  envision  a  venus  fly  trap  to  have  looked  like  had  they  only  heard  of  a  meat-eating  flower  and  never  seen  the  real  deal.  

❝  Fascinating,  huh  ?  ❞  He  asks  as  he  comes  closer  to  the  two  of  them,  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  plant  that  nearly  caused  them  a  nasty  bite.  It's  as  if  the  disturbing  sight  of  a  dangerous  flower  filled  with  teeth  and  a  predatory  hunger  wasn't  something  to  be  troubled  by  ━  at  least  not  for  him.  

𝔒𝔭𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔯 !

Premises : Ever wonder what happens to Vecna's victims ? Well I had an idea of their essence being trapped in a unsettling dream world, which of course Henry/Vecna can manifest himself into to interact with them. Works for Max, or Chrissy or any other Vecna victim. OC's are also welcome to interact !

There  was  no  saving  anyone  who  had  been  chosen. He  learned  that  a  long,  long  time  ago. And  yet,  still... Still,  part  of  him  tried  to  make  this  easier. Not  on  himself,  he  supposed. He  lost  the  need  for  ease  just  as  long  ago... But  for  them. Though  he  couldn't  save  them... He  could  change  them... Preserve  them.  One  final  defiance.     

Their  brutal  end  could  be  forgotten,  and  their  new  beginning  was  something  they  could  ease  into. Before  they  knew  it,  they'd  all  be  one. But  while  they  were  separate,  there  was  much  to  see  and  to  learn. A  journey  he  wouldn't  mind  acting  as  some  kind  of  guide;  it  was,  perhaps,  and  always  had  been  his  destiny.  A  collector  and  a  guide  of  these  souls,  blessed  by  the  dark.  

❝ You  have  to  be  careful  here. You'll  find  nothing  is  as it  seems. ❞   He  added,  looking  up  at  the  shimmering,  reflective  sky  that  appeared  to  move  like  waves  on  the  sea. He  seemed... Content,  despite  the  strangeness  all  around  him.  As  though  it  was  all  entirely  normal. 

Once,  not  so  long  ago,  all  he  would  have  wanted  was  for  someone  to  listen  to  him  ━  to at least  try  to  understand.  And he  had  tried  so  desperately  to  tell  them;  ever  since  he  was  a  child he was trying  to  warn  them  all.  But  they  would  not  listen to him.  They  ignored  him, they  silenced  him.  They  told  him  he  was  sick  and  that  he  was  broken  and  then  they  hurt  him.  And  now  it  was  all  too  late  to  stop  it.  

Mankind  believed  in  higher  powers;  they  believed  in  "God",  in  evil  and  in  judgement,  and  they  were  right  to  do  so.  They  wrote  about  such  things  to  great  lengths,  taught  it,  and  preached  it  to  their  societies  all  across  the  globe;  then,  they  twisted  these  teachings  and  used  them  to  suppress  and  control  one  another,  insistent  on  their  own  lies  and  their  hatred.  So  it  came  as  little  surprise  to  him  that  they  would  deny  their  failures  in  the  face  of  the  reckoning  they  had  wrought.  After  all,  what  was  society,  if  not  just  a  tremendous  lie ?  

Steve  was  just  a  boy.  A  boy  like  he  had  once  been. Confused,  unsure,  afraid,  yet  guilty  all  the  same  and  whatever  humanity  remained  inside  of  him,  whatever  compassion  he  still  felt,  had  been  eclipsed  ━  enveloped  in  a  dark,  black  cloud,  thundering  in  its  vicious  hunger.  

Slowly  ━  in a manner almost  painfully ━  his  distorted,  clawed  hand  raised  and  a  long,  thin  finger  pointed  toward  the  sky.  ❝ His. ❞  He  replied,  his voice a black hiss and  his  clouded  gaze  as  dark  and  deep  as  the  night  sky.  ❝ You  believe  that  you  are  fighting  monsters  and  saving  the  world  from  evil.  But  that  couldn't  be  further  from  the  truth. ❞  

That booming, guttural  voice of his  does  little  to  mask  the  strange  distortion that started  buzzing  in  the  air,  a  bizarre  chorus  of  muffled  squealing  and  clicking  coming  from  every  possible  direction  before,  finally,  he  begins  to  move  forward,  his  steps  echoing  as  though  he  were  a  beast  hundreds  of  times  his  own  size.  

 ❝ The  ONLY  truth  in  this  world  is  the  spontaneity  of  life  and  the  inevitability  of  death.  Time  is  nothing  but  an  endless  loop  of  one always  leading  to  the  other,  and  now  it  is  time  for  it  all  to  end, just  as  it  has  done  so  many  times  before. ❞  

He  stops,  now  standing  directly  before  the  young  man,  a  glimmer  of  something  behind  his  eyes  that  was  not  quite  as dark  as  before.  ❝ You  are  brave,  Steve. Braver than most.  But  there  is  NOTHING  you  can  do to stop this.  There  is  nothing  anyone  can  do to stop this now. Not  Eleven, not Nancy,  not  me. It  is  all  too  late. ❞

This  dark  and  twisted  world  that  was  supposed  to  be  his  tomb  had  become  his  kingdom,  his  sanctuary;  even  in  the  events  that  had  transpired  days  earlier,  this  had  not  changed.  As  it  had  shaped  him,  melting  away  his  human  form  and  moulding  him  into  something  more  malign,  he  too  had  imprinted  on  it, his  memories  of  his  broken  childhood,  his  memories  of  his  home  and  the  accursed  town  that  started  it  all,  they  all  gave  this  realm  its  shape.  

Once  the  explorer  of  a  foreign  world,  he  had  since  become  the  king  of  what  had  formed  into  Hawkins  dark  reflection.  His  design  had  come  with  perks;  like  a  spider  within  a  vast  web  of  its  personal  creation,  he  was  its  canter  and  he  could  sense  and  feel  practically  everything  around  him,  including  invaders  from  the  other  dimension.  While  most  of  them  had  retreated,  he  knew  one  remained,  tugging  at  his  strings,  enticing  him  to  come  out  of  hiding  and survey  his  prey.  

They  had  both  been  injured,  temporary  wounds  of  the  flesh.  The  days  of  "quiet"  had  given  them  both  time  to  heal   themselves,  just  that  meagre  fraction,  but  there  was  only  so  long  he  could  stand  the  nagging  jingle  in  his  mind  that  told  him  his  web  had  sagged  a  straggling  morsel.  One  that  he  was  due  to   pay  some  special  attention  to,  indeed.  As  if  manifesting  purely  from  the  darkness,  his  voice  cuts  through  the  grim  atmosphere  around  them. 

 ❝ Did  you  get  lost, Eddie ?  Or  is  it  that  your  friends  have  abandoned  you  ?  ❞

𝔒𝔭𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔯 !

Premises : Eddie doesn't die, but he does get a Vecna jump scare. Yay.