Here's chapter 17, hope you enjoy! I do not own Stranger Things


He froze, not for long but for a moment he was just rooted to the spot with Nancy's lips slanted against his own. Odette's heartbreaking smile popped into his head, the soft lavendar scent of Nancy was wrong. It wasn't her. His brain finally sent electricity down him, he grabbed her hands and pulled them from his neck. He pushed her away firmly but gently "That's not ok."

She blinks at him for a second "Steve, I know you've not been ok since we broke up but we can fix it together"

He lets a humorless laugh fall from his lips "Nancy I wasn't ok when we were together. When you decided to be with Jonathan...it was a wake up call." He set his shoulders back, taking a step away from her. "Speaking of...what about Jon? He could be dead for all we know, and you're kissing me? You'd regret it anyway Nance and I won't entertain it. Odette..." a smile creeps onto his lips as he speaks her name "Odette is an amazing girl who doesn't deserve to be cheated on. And you're right I haven't known her long. But I don't intend to break up with her any time soon. She's good for me."

He looks towards the house with a hand rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly and he sees Will standing on the path from the basement door. "Shit" he groans and flips the bat onto his shoulder as he approaches the younger boy "Steve-"

"No Nancy. I've moved on...maybe you should too." Steve says over his shoulder, not stopping his approach to the younger teen. "Will it's not what it looks like" He says softly, cringing at the cliché words that came out of his mouth. Will's thin fingers are pulling at the feather necklace that hung over his heart, his dark eyes were wide but sparkling with resolve. "You pushed her away?...Right?"

Steve nodded almost frantically "She's dating your brother kid...I wouldn't ever want to-" He paused as Will held his hand up, "I...I trust you Steve. I remember..." He shifted his gaze to over his shoulder to where Nancy was standing awkwardly at the trunk of Steve's car. "I remember how bad you were when you guys broke up."

Steve stiffened a little "I thought I hid it pretty well"

Will smiled a little sympathetically "You did mostly...I could just tell...sometimes I could feel it." Will kicks a clump of grass off of the pavement leading to the basement door, leftover from the last time Ted had mowed the lawn. Shifting on his feet, Will looked back up at Steve "I know you and Jon don't get along...not well." He's still pulling at the necklace, Steve briefly wonders if there's some sort of charm on it to keep it from breaking. "But I also know you wouldn't want to hurt him or Odette by getting back with Nancy...not like this."

Steve threw an arm around the younger boy, steering him towards the still open basement door. Once inside he closes it, finally losing the feeling of Nancy's eyes on the back of his head. "I don't want to get back with Nancy, Will. Even if Odette dumped me and they broke up..."

Will nods, raising his dark eyes to meet Steve's "You're going to tell Odette right?...That Nancy kissed you?" Steve felt a lump form in his throat, he'd not thought about telling her...but he knew he had to. It would be awful if she found out from someone else, or god forbid, Nancy. "I will...I" He groaned slightly "I know she won't love it..."

Will bit his lip before replying to Steve's silence "I'll back you up...I'll tell her you didn't kiss Nancy back!" Steve smiles a little at that "I appreciate it Will, but I'll handle it...I'll give you a call if I need it though." He ruffled the kids hair, pulling a playfully sour face from him as he shook it to fix it. He made his way back over to the couch where Robin and El peered at them curiously. "Everything ok Dingus?"

Steve leaned against the wall by the door, nodding quietly as he heard the front door upstairs slam shut. The seconds turned into minutes slowly, Steve finding a seat in a chair at the small table as he waited. He kept his eyes on the door, wondering when Eddie would waltz back in with Max, Odette, and hopefully Jonathan. He checked his watch, it was inching closer to 2am as he waited longer and longer. Finally the door handle jiggled lightly before being thrown open by Eddie's hoodie clad arm. "Fucking-" He grunted, he had Jonathan's arm thrown over his shoulder as he half carried, half dragged the poor teen into the basement. "Can you fucking slow down?!" Jonathan grunted back, slamming his hand on the wall in an effort to do just that.

"Clear the couch rugrats!" Eddie called out, Mike shushing him aggressively with a furtive look to the upstairs door. Eddie waved him off and managed to deposit Jonathan onto the old couch sitting there. Steve went to help but was stopped by Odette slamming into his side. Her dark hair wild and tangled under his nose as she wrapped herself around his middle. "You're safe!" She whispered into his shirt, disbelieving despite the warmth of his skin under hers. "I was so worried, Eddie said your house got sucked in!"

Steve petted her hair gently, closing his eyes as he breathed in her scent of mint and candle smoke. He pressed a kiss to her hair, finally opening his eyes to look at the still open door. He froze, Dustin stood there, in a soaked green hoodie, his curls dripping onto the collar, and his face wearing a mildly sheepish grin. "Hey Steve..."

Steve released Odette and stared at him, like he'd seen a ghost. He's wordless as he walks up to the boy, almost glowering down at him.

"Eddie said-" But Dustin didn't get to finish, his words were muffled by Steve's shirt when he was overly aggressively yanked into a bearhug with the older boy. "Henderson you ever scare me like that again you'll wish you were it?" Steve's voice was low and gravelly as he spoke, keeping a tight hold on the teen. Dustin's voice was still muffled by Steve's shoulder but he nodded fervently, hugging Steve back.

When he was finally let go, Steve pulled the crumpled and damp Camp Know Where hat from his back pocket. "Where was your mom tonight?" His voice is still gravelly but he held his chin up, an air of confidence coming back to him. "She was working late...I...I was sneaking out when the house started crumbling." Dustin wrung the hat in his fingers, little droplets of water falling silently onto the carpet. "I'd felt the earthquake...and I looked at a map and there weren't any significant fault lines near Hawkins...so I was worried it was...the Upside Down." He bit his lip hard as he continued, "I got downstairs with my pack...I was putting rations in there when I saw that my Walkie was still upstairs." He sniffled a little "I was going to go get it when the...the cracks opened up in the backyard. I saw it through the kitchen window...I just grabbed my pack and ran. I got out the front door when the house went down." He swept a hand through his wet curls. "I must have lost my hat when I took off on my bike. I rode towards Steve's...and I saw his house was gone...but I didn't see his car either so I thought maybe he was at the mall closing for Scoops...so I started riding there...then I found Odette and Jon."

Odette had taken Steve's hand in both of her own but she was shaken off, she didn't have a chance to shoot him a hurt look before he'd wrapped a warm arm around her shoulders and pulled her close again with a kiss to her temple. "Thank you" His whisper was only barely there in her ear.

Robin was sat nearby on the floor, hardly paying attention as she tended to Jonthan's wounds with various jars she'd pulled from the bag she'd taken from the Munson trailer. "What happened to him?" Steve whispered in Odette's ear, she shivered but didn't have a moment to answer. "Demogorgan" Jonathan sighed tiredly, hardly wincing as Robin's thin hands began to rewrap his stomach. "Hopped out of knowwhere and swiped at me twice...but it looked like I...it didn't try to get me...more like I was in the way. It was running scared" His voice was a whisper, but it thundered through the room of terrified teens. Will held his brother's hand worriedly, peering down at the leg that still looked a little rough. "What would scare that thing?"

"Peter?" Robin looked around the room as she spoke the name. "He was possessing Billy...he's got more power than one of those things right?" She looked to El who nodded slowly "Maybe he figured out how to open all the gates at once?"

Steve sat down slowly onto one of the armchairs across from the couch, pulling Odette with him and onto his lap. Eddie gives the pair an unimpressed look but shakes his head "We heard something at the park man...it sounded like a fucking dinosaur." Eddie collapsed onto the other armchair beside Steve and his sister. "We didn't see it...but it sounded big."

Steve's grip around Odette's waist tightens and he glares at the metalhead "Didn't think to mention that before?!" he grits out indignantly

"I was more focused on getting my sister Harrington" Odette leans back onto Steve's chest and sighs "We didn't see it...Robin could you hand me the seeing stones from my bag?"

"Of course" Came the almost timid voice of the now drained Robin. She'd stopped fiddling with Jonathan's wounds, bags seeming to form under her eyes. She reached into the bag and pulled out the pouch of stones out for them. Ignoring Will as he leant down to whisper something in his ol"What are you looking for?"

Odette thought for a moment, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she did. "What it is...where it is..." She took the pouch in her fingers and opened it just a little to let a handful of the small pebbles tumble into her palm. She closes her digits around them, the soft clacking the only sound in the room as the group fell silent. Steve let his hands stroke her sides gently, absentmindedly as he watched over her shoulder. Dustin took a seat on the floor beside their shared easy chair, hugging his knees to his chest. She brought her closed fist up to her lips, closing her eyes in concentration. With her other hand she grips Steve's at her side, after one squeeze of his hand on hers she holds her fist out to hover over the floor and releases her fingers. The seeing stones clatter to the floor and her eyes shoot open. The witches in the room begin to lean forward scanning the scattering of stones. Odette's lips begin to move wordlessly still holding her hand out above the stone covered carpet. "It's...it's at the mall...but it's" Her eyebrows furrow and she screws her eyes shut again "It's...-"

The door to the basement opened and shut rapidly above them, the soft but determined slaps of Nancy's shoes sounded down the steps. "Steve we need to- What the hell?" Her brown eyes widen as they land on her boyfriend laying across the couch looking haggard despite the healing scratches on his abdomen and leg. When Will had caught sight of her he'd immediately leaned down to Jonathan's ear, beginning to whisper to him. She scanned the room and found Eddie again, her mouth thinning as she pressed her lips together again, but it all but disappeared in annoyance when her eyes landed on Steve's occupied lap. Steve rested his chin on Odette's shoulder and whispered something in her ear before turning to Nancy "We're a little busy Nance." Odette had turned away after he'd whispered in her ear and closed her eyes once again. Her lips moving without sound.

Nancy felt herself turn a little red, coming the rest of the way down the steps, "Jonathan what happened?"

He sat up and opened his mouth to begin retelling the story one more time but Will shushed him and pointed to Odette with a look that clearly meant She's got to concentrate. "Pft" Nancy scoffed and walked through the middle of the circle, kicking one of the stones off to the side as she strode to the couch. She balked a little at the glare from Will...she'd not seen him truly angry before then. He stood, letting Jonathan's hand fall from his own and he skirted around El and Robin to take a seat beside Eddie's chair. "Will-"

"I don't get it" Odette whispered, her blue eyes open once more and staring at the floor at the remaining stones bewilderedly. Robin looked over the stones "What is it?"

Odette held out her hand for the stones, watching as they all flew into her hand, even the one that had been carelessly punted across the floor joined the rest. "It's...people."

Nancy rolled her eyes and turned to Jonathan "What is she doing here?"

Jonathan exchanged a look with his little brother, he; unlike the rest of the room was very accustomed to Nancy's dislike of the eldest witch. He'd heard her rants more than anyone else, feeling like it was a betrayal to her to contradict, but feeling like he was allowing his little brother's newest interest to be trod upon. "Nancy give it a rest?" His voice was as soft and soothing as it could be with the dry crackle of the pain in his throat in the way. Any sympathy she'd had on her face slid off to make way for annoyance. "Jon-"

He groans and lifts up his shirt to truly show off the bandages lining where the demogorgan had slashed him open. "Nancy an hour ago I was lying half dead in what was left of the house. A demogorgan had sliced me open here and on my leg. She came to the house so Will didn't have to. She fixed me up as best she could in the pouring rain and dragged my ass past a pit of lava. So forgive me if I thought it was cool for her to be here for a while." Jonathan had narrowed his eyes at Nancy, daring her to argue with him. Nancy shut her gaping mouth tight, sitting back against Jonathan's feet with crossed arms. "Go ahead..." He smiled tightly at Odette and Steve, nodding awkwardly as his eyes met Steve's.

After her wordless admittion of defeat the group had turned back to Odette. Steve still had his chin on her shoulder but now he'd allowed one arm to circle her waist. "El" She whispered, holding her free hand out to the younger girl. El took her hand and in turn held her other hand out to Will, then he connected hands with Robin. Odette smiled tiredly "Close your eyes and concentrate on...it" They all closed their eyes, squeezing their fingers comfortingly. The room quieted, the smell of the burning candles filling the room. The only sound was that of the burning wicks and the idle pacing of the Wheeler matriarch upstairs.

El was the first to speak "It's a lot of them...it used to be people" Her voice was a siren in the near silent room. Will nodded along with her, his dark eyebrows furrowed in concentration "It's...Bruce Lowe is one of them?" He sounded a little uncertain but he nodded to himself after a second. Nancy's head shot up and her lips dropped open again. "No way-"

"Who's that?" Steve asked, still tiredly running a hand up and down Odette's arm as she sat stock still on him. Nancy shot him a glare before she spoke. "He works at the Hawkins Post...he's a jerk."

Jonathan nodded at that but didn't elaborate. "So how is someone as dull as Bruce Lowe a monster" Nancy's mocking tone drew weary looks from Steve and Eddie but the witches didn't react. Odette spoke next "Heather Holloway too...and...and so many more." A solitary tear fell from beneath her eyelid and slid down her cheek. "It's...it's taken them and...melted them together" She gasps, her hand holding El's in a death grip another tear escaping her other eye and glinting in the soft candelit basement. "God..."

The others have now opened their eyes and are staring at her anxiously. "Detta" Eddie reaches out and touches her arm but she doesn't move. She doesn't acknowledge his call, her eyelids flutter but they only saw the whites of her eyes as they rolled back.

"Detta!" Eddie's leapt from his seat, now standing in front of her to shake her. "Odette Althea Munson you open your fucking eyes now!" He's starting to get louder now, Mike rushing to the stairs to listen for his parents approach. Steve's still got an arm around Odette's middle and he's brushing her hair out of her face when he feels the tug on his arm. She'd started to float upwards towards the ceiling.


Odette's turn to walk the Upside Down

The air is muggy and the sky is burnt a fiery red. The acrid smell of decaying leaves and rotting meat burns her nostrils as she breathes in and out. "Odette" His voice is cold and cool...deep like she'd always assigned to the devil in her mind. "We'll be meeting sooner than I'd planned" She turned to face him, his flesh was gnarled and pink, as though he'd been in a fire or been turned inside out. There was no nose on his face, instead there was a gaping hole like on a clean skull. His eyes were sunken but a brilliant shade of icy blue.

"Peter" Her voice wavers as she speaks "What did you do?" She took a step back, or she tried to. Her feet were rooted to the ground. When she looked she could see vines overtaking her feet, looping around in a tangle of black tentacles until her sneakers were no longer in view. "I'm coming back." His voice snapped her head back up to look at him again, he grinned in a feral way. "It's been too long, really." He's stepping closer, off in the distance she can hear the thundering of some gigantic beast. He was so close now she could take in the elongated fingers on his left hand "How?" She whispers, not feeling the tears of fear now running down her cheeks until one dripped off of her chin. She reached up to wipe it away only to realize her hands had now been bound by her sides.

The low chuckle of Peter rumbled through her like a shudder as he neared, the elongated fingers reaching out to wipe away the tears almost tenderly. "My pet broke through first, I doubt you've seen it just yet." He chuckles again "It would have devoured you whole." He allows his unnaturally long taloned pointer finger to lift her chin up, examining her face almost like a rancher with a new mare. "But humans...I've always said humans are a unique type of pest. Forever pushing the boundaries for the sake of scientific discovery...although they're far more...knowledgable of this world than I think they enjoyed" His slimy skin slid out from under her chin, leaving a string of something she didn't want to know of. He stepped behind her where she could no longer see him, not even able to turn her head to follow him. His long fingered hand and cupped her jaw, turning her head for her towards a pit...it was far off in the distance but she could now somehow see it. Inside were 30 or so soldiers wearing dark green...but they weren't american soldiers. The small red and gold embellishments on the uniforms that they were probably soviet. Russians. She shuddered as she took in their mangled forms. None had eyes to speak of, their limbs were bent in odd positions and their jaws cracked open in a constant scream. "Those that weren't needed for my pet" She choked back a sob of horror, unable to look away from the one nearest to her sight. He was young, no more than 22...his hair was thick and dark...his skin pale...marred only by the blood that had dribbled from his empty eye sockets.

"For years I've wandered this plane...seeing the world untouched...untainted by humans. And I've decided to free the world from the confines of what you call order" His hand with normal sized fingers closed over her shoulder unexpectedly "And their souls...they helped me to open the gates...bringing me just that much closer." His hand slid down her chin and began to wrap the long fingers around her throat, she could feel his breath puffing past her ear. "Join me, and we'll burn the world...rebuild it to our own liking...if only you'd join me girl." The hold on her throat tightened ever so slightly only to loosen a second later. He stepped around to her front once more but now his face was inches closer. His eyes were colder and he dragged his taloned finger over her wrist, cutting it slowly. She hissed at the pain, blood beginning to flow from the wound. He swiped some of the crimson away with his gnarled thumb, bringing it up to his lips and licking it. Odette closed her eyes "I know women are fickle things Odette. Open your eyes love." She didn't want to, but she did anyway, fearing what he'd do if she didn't. When her eyes met those ice ones they were no longer surrounded by gnarled pink flesh. Instead he stood there, tall, pale and beautiful. High cheek bones, a strong jawline, and fluffy blonde hair...almost close to Steve's hair. His skin was smooth, if she didn't know who he was...she wouldn't have suspected a thing...savefor the little trickle of blood...her blood sliding down his bottom lip.

"No" Odette shivered again, "No I won't do it" The beautiful face of Peter...perhaps his original appearance was now twisted in fury "Don't mistake this as an offer with no expiration girl." He reached up to grip her jaw again, his fingers digging into her cheeks as he brought himself nose to nose with her.

Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and wouldn't you love to love her? Peter's grip loosened on her cheeks, his piercing eyes left hers as he looked around for the source of Stevie Nick's voice

Takes to the sky like a bird in flight and who will be her lover? His grip left her face completely now as his eyes flicked to over her shoulder. He'd straightened up now, he towered over her...much like Steve did.

All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind. Odette felt the vines around her wrists and ankles loosening as the music began to swell to an almost deafening level. Would you stay if she promised you heaven? Will you ever win? Odette now able to look around herself turned her head to see off in the distance an image of herself raised off of the floor, her eyes rolled into the back of her head all while the teens in the room with her seemed to be panicking. Steve and Eddie were both grabbing a hold of her ankles in an attempt to pull her down.

She is like a cat in the dark and then she is to darkness

She broke free of her bonds, feeling the edge of Peter's fingertips grasping at her wrist but not able to close around it. She took off in a full sprint the music still ringing in her ears. Her wild dark hair flew out behind her as she ran for Eddie and Steve. She rules her life like a fine skylark and when the sky is starless

She could hear their voices now, Steve and Eddie calling her name. Robin and Will desperately pawing through the few spellbooks they had for an answer. El was whispering to herself, holding a small stone in her fingers. All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind. Would you stay if she promised you heaven?

Odette reached a pit in her way, stretching across the landscape like a canyon to stop her. She didn't stop her feet, desperately leaping forward and almost reaching the other side. Her stomach is what meets the edge of the other side roughly, she only grunts in response to the pain, clawing at the damp earth in front of her to get up. Her feet desperately searching for a foothold beneath her but finding none. She can hear his approach behind her, the soft chuckle of a predator laughing at its prey. "Take my hand!" Came a soft feminine voice in her ear, warm fingers gripping her wrist. She opened her eyes and saw no one there but still felt the hands. It pulled her forward harshly, dragging her up onto the ground. Once she was on her knees again she no longer felt the hands on her wrist. She tore off like a track star at the start of a race, running even as her lungs burned and her stomach churned. She seemed to reach her own vision of their world and she tumbled into it and back into her own body. She felt herself falling through the air, being roughly caught by Steve and Eddie who were still calling her name, begging for a response.


Steve

The room was shocked into total silence as Odette floated up towards the ceiling, her eyes rolled back and her mouth shut tight. Eddie was the first to gain his speech back "Detta! Detta wake up!" Pulling at her legs hard, one of her shoes being tugged off in the process. Steve looked around, grabbing a chair to get up higher only for the electricity buzzing back to life in the house to startle him. The lights blinked back to life and the radio turned on, a tape continuing to play in the player. Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac ending softly before beginning to play Rhiannon. Nancy turned to Mike questioningly "What are you listening to?"

"Will's mix tape" Mike muttered with a soft pink flooding his cheeks. He moved to turn it off when there was a sharp twitch from Odette that pulled a surprised gasp from the rest of the group. Robin dove for the bag and nearly threw a book to Will who immediately went to rifle through it. Mike looked in horror up at the floating girl before he moved to get to the radio when the door at the top of the steps opened. Nancy made a mad dash for the stairs as her mother's voice floated down them. "Mike, Nancy, I want you two to get to bed. The power's back on so I think we're going to be alright for the night. We can worry in the morning. Are you going to be alright down there Steve?"

Steve choked out a "Yes ma'am" As he got on the chair he'd retrieved, pulling at Odette's hand worriedly as a cut appeared there and began to bleed onto the carpet below them "I can bring down some of Ted's clothes and a blanket for you honey-"

"I'll bring him something mom, you go ahead to bed." Over the Stevie Nicks the group who was very quietly attempting to pull Odette back to the ground could hear Mrs. Wheeler tsk under her breath before saying "Nancy I know you two are on again off again...but I want no funny business under my roof." Nancy immediately began to reassure her mother that there was nothing happening and that Steve would just be sleeping on the couch. All the while El had grabbed onto one of the white seeing stones that had been dropped by Odette when she'd risen from Steve's lap and was now whispering softly to herself. The door to the upstairs shut, Nancy going with her mother to presumably go and fetch something for Steve to wear from her father's closet. Only another moment had passed with Rhiannon playing softly before Odette had gasped. Her eyes popped open and she began to fall, Steve clumsily caught her upper half while Eddie caught her legs. Quietly they struggled to get her to the ground without Steve tumbling from his place on a chair. El who's nose was now slightly bloody had reached out to help support her. They got her onto the floor where Steve and Eddie each took one of her hands, softly calling her name, hoping the owners of the house couldn't hear them over the soft hum of Fleetwood Mac.