Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4, Vol. 1.

Stranger Things season 4 has already revealed the twist of all twists, and there might be another looming regarding Vecna's secret human host. The backstory of Number One, a.k.a Henry Creel, becoming the wicked Vecna is a shocking reveal, and it could change the show's history in the best possible way. Yet, Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 could top it by revealing that Vecna has actually had an accomplice in Hawkins all along.

The friendly orderly, now known as Number One, takes a liking to Eleven in the Hawkins Lab and even helps her on a few occasions, even when it is to his detriment to do so. He is convinced that El would go with him after the brutal massacre of the other test subjects. He offers El his hand so they might order the world together in a way they see fit. El denies, but it's made clear that Henry Creel/Number One/Vecna was originally open to accomplices, so long as it meant he could achieve what he wanted.

Related: Stranger Things 4 Explains 6 Mysteries From Season 1

The school counselor, Ms. Kelly, seems fairly innocent and kind. She's eager to have Max meet with her after lunch after missing a previous session and merely seems like a teacher who really cares. However, as the Stranger Things season 4 episodes go on, some clues leave her clouded in suspicion and wariness. Max struggles to fully open up to her, and that might well be because of the intense trauma she's suffered. It could also be that, deep down, Max doesn't trust Ms. Kelly for reasons not yet known.

Stranger Things Theory: Ms. Kelly Is Secretly Working With Vecna

Grandfather Clock in Stranger Things Season 4

The biggest indicator that Ms. Kelly could be Vecna's host is that three of his victims have been teenagers that she counselled. More so than this, all three of them reported the same symptoms to her. Yet, she doesn't flag this coincidence with anyone, despite Hawkins' weird past occurrences. She asks Max if she's still having headaches and nightmares but also doesn't give her any advice on how to cope, which is odd. Further evidence comes in that Chrissy's torment seems to get worse directly after her session with Ms. Kelly. She comes out of her office visibly distressed before being tormented by Vecna's curse with hallucinations of her abusive mother in the bathroom stall. If anything, the session with Ms. Kelly should have given her a certain amount of comfort, but she seemed more vulnerable than ever.

Then, when Max visits Ms. Kelly's home, the first shot is a close-up of a ticking clock. The ticking sound remains in the background for the entire time that the two are talking, and the ticking only stops when Max leaves Ms. Kelly's home. She's also wearing a necklace with a clock on it, which, given that the symbol is directly linked to Vecna seems far too coincidental in Stranger Things. Ms. Kelly begins to ask more invasive questions regarding Billy Hargrove's death and seems more intent than ever on getting answers. It almost seems like she knows when someone's time is almost up and wants to make them as vulnerable as possible, so they have no chance of fighting Vecna off.

It could be that Ms. Kelly is working with Vecna willingly; she could have been a worker at Hawkins Lab who knew him, or perhaps, the only one to show him kindness, given the fact that she is a counselor and it's her job to be understanding. Maybe Vecna is possessing her and using her as a human host, much like the Mind Flayer did to Will; it would be beneficial for him to have access to Hawkins' most tortured teens, after all. It's apparent that Vecna's villainous powers make him capable of conjuring very lifelike visions. Thus, Ms. Kelly might not be real at all, perhaps simply a conjuring of Vecna's to help aid his reign of terror. If this is to be true, then the bracelet that Ms. Kelly permanently wears on her left wrist could be to cover up the 001 tattoo. If the tattoo still appears on Vecna despite his body being warped beyond recognition, it's plausible that it would still appear on his conjuring of Ms. Kelly.

Related: How Max Really Escaped Vecna (It Wasn't Just The Music)

Stranger Things' Ms. Kelly Theory Makes Vecna Even Better

Stranger Things Hawkins Lab Massacre Number One Talks To Eleven

Vecna himself was once human, which makes him even more terrifying in many ways because it means that he once knew reason, comion, and perhaps, even love. He had a childhood, parents, a sister, and a family home, yet now, he's been entirely corrupted and turned into an Upside Down monster. Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer were, assumingly, born monstrous, but Vecna's human roots make him even more unsettling. Therefore, his having a human assailant makes everything even more personal and horrifying. It means Ms. Kelly is cold, calculative, and manipulative; rather than having a monstrous instinct to kill, she could be doing it willingly. If this is the case, it will also be harder to suspect her as the enemy because the Stranger Things group is used to monsters that look like monsters rather than monstrous humans.

More: Every Clue To The Vecna Identity Twist In Stranger Things 4

Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 releases July 1st on Netflix.

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