Chapter Twenty-Three
Red Roses & Apologies
Veronica followed down the aisle of the small flower store that was near the middle of downtown with Steve. All around her were the vibrant colors and the sweet smell of the different varieties available. Steve stopped in front of a cluster of different bouquets and looked between them and Veronica.
"Which one?" He asked, placing his hands on his waist.
"Which one...what?" She asked, her brown eyes slightly widened as she looked up toward him.
Steve sighed heavily and moved his hand through his hair. "Which one for Nancy? Which one looks pretty enough?"
"Oh..." Veronica spoke softly and looked over the different bouquets. She didn't know what the different types meant but saw a cluster with varying colors of red and white. "That one?"
Steve stepped forward and grabbed the flowers wrapped in plastic, "Yeah. These ones are pretty." He started to lead her toward the front of the store to check out. "Now just on what to say for the apology."
"Well...what is she truly upset about," Veronica asked, looking through the different covers of the magazines sitting beside the checkout.
"She called our relationship bullshit and said that I was bullshit. Along with pretending to be in love with me." Steve shrugged, reaching into his pocket to pay. "Don't really know what I should be apologizing for,"
"You can't start the apology out with that. In the movies, the guy always talks about how he's sorry and going to do better for her. Maybe start off with that?"
Steve nodded his head as the two of them walked out of the store and headed out to his car. Veronica walked tightly beside him and frowned when she felt another ache within her chest, feeling like something was tightening around her ribs.
"Thanks for doing this, Veronica. I know you aren't exactly the biggest fan of Nancy, but it's nice to have you helping me out." Steve spoke as they got into the car.
"I'm not really doing much," Veronica shrugged, looking over to watch as Steve drove down the street away from downtown.
"Are you kidding? You're being a good friend to me, that's the biggest help." Steve spoke.
"Friend? W-We're friends?" Veronica smiled slightly, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
"Of course, I think you might be my best friend right now. Don't really have anyone else to lean on." Steve shrugged with a smile, looking over to her when he pulled up to a red light "All my other friends kind of dipped the moment Billy came into town...I-I don't know...seems I'm pushed out."
Veronica frowned when she saw the forlorn look come across his face, "Your friends are pushing you out?"
"Tommy doesn't really like that I have a girlfriend...thinks I've 'turned bitch' – his words not mine. And then Billy came into the picture and ever since then," Steve shrugged his shoulders again as he drove the car forward, "I haven't really had friends around...except you."
"I'm happy to be your friend, Steve." Veronica blushed and looked down at her lap.
A comfortable silence fell over the two as Steve continued to drive through the cul-de-sacs of Hawkins. The streets were quiet even with school being out for the weekend. But as Steve pulled onto the street that the Wheeler home sat on, Veronica began to shake with another round of coughs. She gripped tightly to her chest as her body knelt forward with each violent cough.
"Woah," Steve spoke with concern, pulling up in front of the Wheeler home and parking the car quickly, he patted his hand onto Veronica's back as she coughed more and more, her lungs feeling constricted within her own ribs. "Are you ok?"
She couldn't speak, only shaking her head with her hand cupped over her mouth. Minutes ticked by before her coughs began to calm down and she rested back into the seat, her eyes closed, with tears running down her cheeks. Steve sat there and watched her for a moment with his face pinched tightly concern, waiting for her small frame to shake again with dry coughs. But instead, Veronica sat there silently with each harsh breath.
"Are you sure that you're ok? Those don't...sound good." Steve spoke
"Maybe I'm coming down with a cold? I-I don't know...things haven't exactly been normal for me," She spoke after a few deep breaths.
Veronica looked down at her hand and stared at it in confusion. Sitting within the palm of her hand were little white specs of debris, looking almost like ash. But quickly she wiped them away from her hand before Steve could see them and ask questions. Cause they would only be added to the pile that she already didn't have answers to. Her eyes looked toward the Wheeler home and then back to Steve.
"Ok, go...you've got this." Veronica smiled, bringing his focus to the reason they were there originally. Steve nodded his head, grabbed the flowers from the cup holders, and got out of the car.
Veronica watched from her seat on the passenger side and could hear Steve repeat to himself what exactly he was going to say. But another movement by the front door caught her attention and soon enough Steve's as well. It was a Dustin, angrily walking down the front path of the Wheeler's home with his walkie headset over his baseball cap.
"Steve...are those for Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler?" He asked, pointing to the roses in the older boy's hands.
"No?" Steve asked, confused, as Dustin snatched the flowers from his hand. "Dude, what the hell."
"Nancy isn't home," Dustin spoke, making his way to Steve's burgundy BMW, spotting Veronica sitting in the front seat. "Oh good. You're here too."
Veronica felt the salty bitter taste of anxiety and fear rolling off of Dustin the closer he got to the car. "What's going on Dustin?"
"We have a problem, a bigger problem than Steve's love life," Dustin spoke opening up the back door, and turning around to Steve, who was already walking back to the car. "You still have that bat? With the nails?"
"Why?" Steve asked, still confused
"I'll explain on the way, we're going to need it." Dustin slid into the backseat behind Veronica, tossing the roses into the seat beside him.
Steve rushed back behind the wheel of his car, before turning to head back away from the Wheeler's. Veronica turned in her seat to face Dustin better, apparent confusion still on her face.
"What's going on that's going you all...anxious," Veronica asked
Dustin's brows pinched together, before nodding his head with realization. "Freaky super powers...almost forgot...that's gonna come in handy."
"With what exactly? Kinda wanna know what we're getting into right now, dude." Steve asked
"So...kinda thought I discovered this new sort of slug...reptile, thing. I named him Dart and everything. But when I showed Mike and the others, they think he's part of the Upside Down...all cause Will supposedly heard Dart in one of his episodes."
"Heard him?" Veronica questioned.
"He makes this chirping sort of noise, as a way to communicate or something...it spooked Will. So when Dart escaped, I lied and took him back home with me. Well..." Dustin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking down at his fidgeting hands. "He molted a few times over and got large enough to where he ate Mews...my cat."
Both Veronica and Steve's eyes widened at Dustin's revelation.
"I'm sorry...did you just say that this slug reptile thing ate your cat?" Steve asked, looking through his rear-view mirror to speak to Dustin. "You're joking right?"
"I wish that I was. It's an image that I would like to burn out of my brain currently." Dustin muttered
"How big is Dart? You said he molted a few times?" Veronica asked, trying to grasp the full story.
"Like the size of a medium-sized dog, probably." Dustin shrugged "I got him trapped in the shelter at the back of our house, locked the hatch so that he couldn't get out."
"So what do you want Steve and I to do?"
"Take care of it? Kill it? I don't know...I can't imagine it's going to be a good thing if he gets bigger."
Steve sighed heavily and pulled up into his driveway, before parking the car.
"Stay here," He spoke, before getting out and jogging toward the side door at the garage.
He was gone for no longer than a few seconds before coming back with a bat tightly in his grasp. It was a standard wooden bat with nails of different sizes and lengths sticking out of the top of it and moving down toward the middle. Steve was back into his car and pulling out of the driveway in a matter of seconds. The entire drive to Dustin's house was tense not knowing what could be waiting for the three of them when they finally reached there.
"Maybe you can kill it with your mind?" Steve spoke, "And I can swing if something happens."
"Yeah, that could work." Veronica shrugged her shoulders.
Steve pulled his car upfront of the Henderson home and they all got out quickly, with Dustin leading the way into his backyard. The night was starting to fall over Hawkins so Dustin used a flashlight to lead the way. Veronica walked closely behind the younger boy with her entire body feeling like it was buzzing with the anxiety, adrenaline, and fear coming off both Steve and Dustin. She wasn't sure if her stomach was in knots because of their feelings or her own. Dustin stopped only a few feet away from a hatch that was at the back of the backyard, with two silver chains wrapped around the handles to keep it tightly closed.
"I-I don't hear anything," Veronica spoke up first, looking between Dustin and Steve. "Are you sure that it's in there?"
"I smacked him in the face with my hockey stick, I'm pretty sure he's down there." Dustin sighed
Steve stepped up with the bat tightly in his grasp and tapped the top of the doors a few times, the only sound was the jingle of the chain and the lock. Steve paused for a moment before smacking it harder, fully expecting some sort of noise from the creature inside. But they were all welcomed again with silence.
"Alright, listen here, kid," Steve spoke looking directly at Dustin, a stern look across his face, "If this is some sort of Halloween prank, I swear to God..."
"It's not a prank," Dustin sighed heavily with a roll of his eyes.
"And Halloween was nearly two days ago," Veronica shook her head, "I think if this was a prank, he would've timed it a little better."
"Don't sass me, Hopper. Ok. You're new to the game, but this screams prank." Steve spoke. "Now can you unlock this thing?"
Veronica stepped forward and with a slight tilt of her head, the lock gave with a small click. Steve sighed softly and grabbed at the chain to slowly unravel it from the door.
"Dustin, stay up here," Veronica spoke as Steve opened the hatch door quickly. She took the flashlight from his hands as she looked down into the dark abyss of the shelter. "I'll go first, Steve."
"W-What do you mean you're going first? I should go first." He spoke, holding up the bat. "I have the weapon."
"I'm the one with the superpowers, as you all like to point out. I think I win when it comes to defense." Veronica smiled slightly, before taking the first few steps down into the shelter.
"She has a point," Dustin spoke from behind her, prompting Steve to mutter a soft "Shut up," to him.
Veronica slowly moved the flashlight from side to side to make sure if that monster that Dustin spoke of was down there, it wasn't going to be able to jump out and surprise her. Behind her, she was able to hear Steve's footsteps follow. Her eyes spanned around the dark room and didn't hear or see anything even in the shadows. A soft click was heard and the room quickly filled with a yellow light from the bulb hanging overheard that Steve had found.
"I don't see anything," Veronica frowned.
"Uh..." Steve continued to step forward in front of her, using his bat to pick up the slimy substance that was sitting in the corner of the room, turning around to face Veronica. "I would say this is something."
"Oh, god." She jumped back slightly as the slimy shed of some creature dripped onto the concrete floor beneath them. "It smells horrid."
From behind Steve, the flash of her flashlight caught something, causing her to step around and get a better look. Steve watched as her thick dark brows pulled together in confusion, causing him to slowly turn around. He half expected to see the creature behind him and was ready to rip the flesh from his bone. But instead, he was greeted with an opening into what looked to be a tunnel. The hole is big enough for a large animal and disappears into the ground surrounding the shelter.
"Steve? Veronica?" Dustin's voice echoed down. "What's going on down there?"
Veronica shot her eyes to Steve for a moment before turning to head back to the base of the stairs, shining her light up on Dustin.
"Get down here," She spoke, in a tone that made Dustin slightly afraid of what awaited for there for him.
But what he didn't expect to see was Steve standing in the middle of the room, holding a slimy shed that was obviously from Dart – indicating that he'd grown bigger.
"Shit," Dustin cursed as he spotted it.
"We have another problem," Veronica spoke, before pointing the light toward the large hole that now resided at the back.
"Oh...shit..." Dustin spoke with a groan
"God only knows how deep that thing goes...or where it leads to." Steve sighed "So you're little reptile, cat-eating friend is now running wild through Hawkins."
"So we gotta go looking for it," Dustin spoke turning and looking to the older teenagers, "W-We get some meat or something and lure him to a place...a-a place we can take care of him."
Veronica sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "This is nuts. Maybe we should call Hopper? This feels like something that my dad should know about."
"No. No, Hopper!" Dustin spoke, "We can take care of this...this stays with us..."
Veronica sagged her shoulders and nodded her head, deep down knowing it was a bad idea, but was going to trust Dustin. Out of all of them – he knew what they were dealing with.
"Let's get out of here," Steve spoke, dropping the slime to the ground, before turning to head back up the stairs. Veronica and Dustin followed close behind.
As she got to the top of the stairs suddenly an ache started to make its way through her body before becoming more and more intense with each step that she took. The moment that Veronica reached the top, she bent forward with a cry of pain and dropped to her knees. Steve and Dustin stopped quickly and turned around, watching as she withered and screamed on the floor beneath her.
"Veronica! Veronica!" Steve spoke with a panic, moving to kneel down beside her, "What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong?"
"I-It burns...It burns..." She cried, her eyes tightly closed, her body twisting slightly as she fell against the dead leaves on the ground. The pain moving through her was exactly like when she was in the girl's bathroom. A pain ripped through her entire body like it was set on a flame.
"What's wrong with her!" Dustin screamed in a panic, watching as her back bent sending her chest toward the sky. "Steve!"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Steve screamed back, feeling panicked, not able to help his friend. "Veronica, talk to me...come one..."
Her eyes blinked awake slightly with hot tears running down her temples, reaching to grab tightly to Steve's forearm.
"I-I...make it stop...make it stop...please, Steve...please..." She cried with her eyes soon rolling into the back of his head.
Steve sat there holding her shaking frame as she withered and cried against him, feeling tears well up in his eyes. It broke him to hear her cries of pain like that and not be able to stop them. Her cries soon turned into whimpers before her body released and she passed out in his arms. Steve sat frozen for a moment, with Dustin watching with bated breath, waiting for some sort of sign. But when she laid there unmoving in his arms – a new panic set in Steve.
"Veronica? Veronica..." Steve spoke, shaking her shoulder slightly, "Veronica...come one, wake up."
No matter how much he called out her name, the panic seemed to make his voice rise. Nothing could wake her. She lay limp in his arms sending a new fear through his chest.