8

The Bloody Cold

December 17th, 1986

Jonathan

Jonathan opened his eyes and saw pale light filling his bedroom, turning over in his warm bed he looked up at his clock and saw it was 7:30 am.

"Hey want to go get breakfast, just me and you?" He whispered as he ran a hand through Nancy's chestnut hair that had gotten so much longer than the last time he had seen her, it was halfway down her back now and he liked to run his fingers through it.

"Five more minutes, " She moaned sleepily.

"They have the best coffee and pancakes you'll ever have," he said as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

She opened one eye and narrowed it at him. "Fine you win this time and only because of the coffee," she said and looked up, catching him off guard as she met his lips with her own.

For a moment they laid there and simply kissed one another, the heat waking them both up and for a moment, he wished they could stay there forever like this, but even so he pulled away even if he wanted more he had promised coffee.

"Get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs," he said grabbing his warmest outfit and headed for the bathroom.

"Are you saying you don't like me in this?" Nancy asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked down at herself. She was in one of his old long sleeve shirts and nothing else, the shirt just covering her bottom. He couldn't help a smile. "I don't mind but I think the old lady who owns the diner will," he said as he started for his bedroom door and heard her laughter follow after him.

After getting dressed he headed downstairs and stepped into the kitchen finding the lights on, a note on the counter. He went over and read it and found that his mom was already out at work.

As he sat down the note he couldn't help but be amazed at how their life had changed from only a year ago.

They were now living in a house two times the size of their old one, now sold to an older couple back in Hawkins, not to mention the money they were getting from the government after everything they had been through. It was paying for his college to become a forensic photographer and his mom's police training.

Still, he wasn't sure if it had been the right thing, though he never said as much. He knew his mother had wanted them to have a new start at life, for El to have a new life, one where she can be normal...But had ripping her away from the family and friends she had made helped? Had it helped any of them really?

"So where too?" Nancy asked from behind him.

Jonathan looked up to find Nancy entering the kitchen in his sweats, her messy hair a hint at what they had done last night.

"To a little diner down the road, It's not too far," he said.

"Are you sure? Your mom is out after what if they need us?" Nancy asked, seeing the note.

"Nancy, they're not kids anymore, their teenagers, they're almost the same age as we were when….everything happened….plus Steve is here."

Nancy's only reply was a sad smile before it turned into a real one as he went over and took her hand into his own just wanting to be with her and only her for an hour or so and he knew she wanted that too.

"Fine, let's go get that coffee," she said.

After a short drive they pulled up outside an old but well-kept diner, the name "Della's Diner" stood atop the building in red neon letters .

They both got out and made a run for the doors as snow crunched under them. Jonathan opened the door for Nancy and they were both greeted with the smell of coffee and pancakes.

They quickly found a booth and sat down, the warmth from the kitchen making the cold from the weather melt away.

"Well if it isn't Jonathan Byers" Katy, the older waitress and owner said, her voice laced with a southern accent as she came over to them.

"Morning," Jonathan said, taking the menu she handed to him.

"And who is this beautiful lady?" she asked, handing Nancy one next.

"This is my girlfriend," Jonathan answered and he watched Nancy's cheeks pinken a little.

"Well it's very nice to meet the lucky lady who got this one, I'll get you two some coffee as you look over the menu," Katy said before she turned and headed to the counter where some men had just come in and sat down at.

He looked up from his menu and saw the smile on her lips and he couldn't help his own.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked.

"I've just missed this, I've missed being with you, i've missed being called your girlfriend," she said.

"Really?" he asked, "That's a relief, I was scared I wouldn't hold up to those journalism boys, Miss future reporter."

"They don't hold a candle to you," Nancy said.

For a moment they were at peace happily drinking their coffee. But it was broken only minutes later as one of the men sitting at the countertop started raising his voice.

"I'll ask you this one more time, have you seen this girl, and if so where?"

Jonathan felt his body tense and so did Nancy's as they heard the Russian accent.

He met Nancy's eyes with his own and knew they were both thinking the same thing. Act normal, act like nothing was wrong.

"Well, I already told you I don't know who the hell that girl is and you will not bug my customers! Now get the hell out of my diner," Katy said.

For a moment no one moved, even the air seemed to stand still.

"Very well," the men said, anger clear in his voice but he and the other two men they had come with remained calm as they turned away and walked out into the snowy day.

A moment passed and suddenly everything went back to normal as everyone started talking about how rude they had been or simply eating. But not them.

"Do you think.." Jonathan started, but his words were cut off as Nancy started getting up from the table clearly wanting to go after the men but he grabbed her hands keeping her seated. He knew Nancy wanted to follow them, wanted to see if it was El in that photo. It's why she would make a great reporter someday, she was always ready to follow a story and he wanted to knew who was in that photo too, but they couldn't just jump those men, what if they had guns. "What are you planning? We don't know who those men are or who their after," he hissed at her in a whisper

At this point, he knew Nancy too well by now, knew what she was thinking. There was no stopping her but he still had to try and come up with a plan so they won't get hurt, needed to keep her safe. Like he always tried too.

"We have to know who they're looking for," Nancy hissed right back.

She was right, it could be nothing but it could also be a nightmare returning, they could be after El.

For a moment Jonathan bit at the inside of his cheek, thinking before making up his mind.

"Follow after me, we're going to play concerned citizens," he said getting up and started for the door after them.

As he went he felt the eyes of the other customers on them, probably wondering why they were going after the creepy men. Little did they know it had become their job four years ago to go after the creepy dangerous thing. They slowed their pace as they pushed open the door, the cold sending a shiver down his spine as snow hit him in the face.

But they stopped as they found a mostly empty parking lot, the same cars that had been there when they had arrived still sat there but no new cars or tracks cut through the snow.

"Where did they go?" Jonathan asked looking at the sidewalk where no cars were parked.

Instead of answering Nancy grabbed at his arm and when he turned his head he saw she was pointing to the side of the building where gray wet tire tracks led too.

He nodded and started down the side of the building slowly feeling his heart beating...no racing in his chest now even knowing it could be nothing and even if it was something they were just concerned citizens they knew nothing so why worry?

They reached the end and stepped into an alleyway where a big white van sat, the men talking on a walkie-talkie.

"You have her?" One of them asked their voice was laced with a heavy Russian accent.

"We think he went in after her, now we're waiting."

"Good tell-" the man stopped talking then as another man hit him in the arm as they spotted them.

Jonathan put on a bright smile as did Nancy next to him as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

The guy that had been on the walkie-talkie stepped up to them making them stop halfway to the van. "Can I help you two?"

"Well we overheard you in the diner talking about a girl that you're looking for and we wanted to know if we could help in any way," he said.

The taller, far stronger man simply looked down at them with raised eyebrows before handed them a collage of blurry photos put together.

All of them were in color, the woman's red hair standing out next to her black clothing and for a moment Jonathan felt his heart slow. It wasn't El. They weren't after her, just some random woman...that's what he thought as he looked at the first two photos that sat next to one another then he saw the bottom photo. It had been zoomed in to see the back of this woman's wrist where the number 002 stood out black against her pale skin.

He felt his eyes go wide for a second. It had really been just one second as he locked eyes with Nancy knowing they both understood those numbers.

It had only been a second, just a moment, but as he looked back up he saw the far taller and stronger man saw their look, and he knew they realized something. That moment Jonathan knew they were fucked, and it was in that next second that he tried to figure out how to get away but it was a moment too long as he heard Nancy scream his name as the man's fist hit him right in the face and the next thing he knew was the cold of the snowy ground as he hit it full force, his head hitting the wall behind him.

Through blurry eyes he watched his own blood drip onto the snow from a deep cut on his forhead then he heard another yell of his name. Turning his head throuh the pain he watched with horror as another man grabbed Nancy around the waist and pulled her into the van, her feet kicking out but he was far stronger then her and was able to hold on. Fear hit him in the chest as what they would do to her went through him but it didn't last long as the man that had hit him in the face came over to him, a new fear filling him as from the ground he looked even taller than before and Jonathan knew he had to stand up, had to fight, had to get to Nancy, had to get the hell out of there.

As he made it to his knees he saw the man's boot coming right at his stomach. Reaching out in a flash Jonathan grabbed on to the other mans leg and pulled it forward, the force sending the man to the ground.

A momentlater Jonathan was on top of him, his hand in a fist hitting the other man over and over again, blood streaming from his nose and lip. But than he heard Nancy yell. He turned his head to see she was raking her nails down that other guys face just as he took out a knife and plunged in into her side.

The sound of her pained scream over took him just long enough for one of the other men to hit him in the side of the head with the butt of a gun and all he could do was cry out in pain as he fell to his side. His eyes landed on Nancy who had fallen to the ground, a pool of blood growing under her from the stab wound, the next thing he saw was the boot coming right at his face before everything went dark.

AN

Sorry about missing last week's update but work kept me a little busier than I had hoped but here's the new chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it. Of course, feel free to comment and tell me what you think. See you all next week.