An extra chapter...as a treat! I was excited to get this chapter out since it's the start of huge changes that Sonni is causing.

There's not much to say about the chapter other than expect some changes ;)

Let me know what you think! Again, thank you for reading~

Sonni sighed, staring at the fire. The same fire that was started when she got out to the backyard. And the same fire that had been burning in the same place for over three hours now.

That had prompted her to find lighter fluid in the shed to see if that would burn up. Answer? No. Now she had a fire in the shape of a heart just burning away in the corner of the yard. What she'd concluded from these test and many more, some involving hurling herself off the porch steps was that this hell dimension was sort of suspended in the moment Will had been pulled inside.

Everything stayed the same unless a force acted upon it to change it. This force could be her, could be Will, could be DFH, or, it could be the vines. That fact alone let her know that something was controlling them. If they effected the suspended world then it was a conscious act to change things. What, or who, that was she didn't ever want to find out.

The vines tended to stay inert unless they knew someone was there. The few in the backyard had shrunken away from the fire, staying under the bushes or dried twigs. It worried her a bit, knowing they were surrounded by something alive, and sometimes hostile. There was no telling what the vines were connected to nor what they perceived about the world. Anything done near them could be transmitted somewhere and used against them.

Not like she could do anything about it, so Sonni pushed it from her mind. Now, she sat on an old milk crate trying–and failing–to not think about her situation. Injured, hunted, and now responsible for a fucking twelve year old's survival, she was overwhelmed and freaking out. She needed a shwoer, medical attention, clean clothes, and a good long cry.

Yes, in that order.

Once again she felt her eyes water and pushed down her panic. She'd already spent too long crying, both lastnight and a little bit ago when she'd finally brushed the dirt and blood from her hair. Some of it was still there. Only hot water and a good scrub would get it completely out, but it was at least better. Brushing her hair was surprisingly therapeutic, even if that therapy consisted of violent sobbing on the cold damp ground in a hell dimension.

So despite the new braids down the sides of her head, Sonni could say with certainty she was still a mess. Her clothes were still dirty–in more ways than one–ugly–her grandmother would be crying tears of blood at her outfit. Hell, Sonni wanted to too–and stolen–were they really stolen if no people existed here? She was covered in bruises and wounds and she just knew her eye makeup had run down her face with all her crying.

But, looking good would come later. She needed to focus on finding information about what was going on and whether or not they could make it out alive.

No sooner has she had that thought that a scream tore through the air from the house. Head snapping towards the sound, Sonni didn't hesitate. She snatched the katana she had sat next to her and strapped it to her back again before booking it inside, dragging her bag up from the ground and dropping it back across her body as she went.

The scream was coming from the room Will had pointed out as his, light filtered into the darkened hallways. Sonni slammed through the partially opened door to be greeted with a tearful Will, the DFH halfway out of a ripped and torn wall, and a boom box–holy shit how retro–blaring The Clash knocked over on the floor. Why Will was playing music at the time, she'd ask later. There were more important things to focus on, if she was honest. Very faintly, if she strained her ears, Sonni could hear someone saying Will's name.

His mom. She was still, hours later, callinng for him.

"Will! This way. Now" She commanded, pulling her sword from its sheath and held it on front of her. Will, who was standing in the middle of the room, took a step back, near tripping over the boombox. This seemed to signal DFH to lunge. Before the wide open flower mouth could get close, Sonni jumped forward, near retching Will's arm out of it's socket in her act of putting him behind her. Raising her sword, she slammed the blade through DFH's right arm joint.

Screeching, DFH pulled back, giving itself even more danage as the sharp blade sliced through move of it's shoulder since she refused to let go and lose her main weapon. Both hands gripping the hilt, she yanked it free again. Head turning slightly, keeping DFH in the peripheral, she frowned. "Will, go. There's a pathway through the woods to the house next to yours, the really big one. Go to the backyard and wait for me there."

"What about you? I can't just leave!"

"I'll be fine. I promise. No go!"

Will's chin wobbled but he nodded and ran from the room leaving her along with the DFH. The head followed Will but Sonni waved her sword knocking a lamp over in the process, to grab it's attention. Once it's…eyes? Attention was on her, she zig zagged around the room, occasionally knocking something off further away from her with her sword's reach in an attempt to confuse it so she could get in closer. DFH had retreated somewhat, or paused, last time she majorly injured it. All she needed to do was finish slicing off the right arm. It was already hanging off halfway.

As more and more things fell and broke, some due to her clumsiness–those incidents nearly got her sliced through on more than one occasion–some on purpse, DFH got more and more confused. It had moved from the giant hole in the wall to the center of the rom, trying and failing to figure out where she was not that her wounds were closed up and no blood smell hung around her.

Dancing around until finally DFH's back was to the open door, she took her chance. Zooming forward, she sliced down, cutting through tendons that attached the arm to the shoulder. DFH shrieked, throwing itself away from her and back into the hole in the wall,

Sonni frowned. She hoped it just retreated somewhere else in the house or the dimension(?) but knowing their luck so far, it had found a way to the other side. The side that Will was from. Where Will's mom still was.

Grabbing the boom box, she strained her ears, trying to hear Will's mom's voice over the music playing in both dimensions. Very faintly she could hear her asking what Will need. What did she need her to do?

The song 'Should I stay or Should I go?' was playing. Tapping her fingers on the volume knob she got an idea.

Darling, you got to let me know. Should I stay or should I–

GO?

The minute the word crossed the speakers she cranked the volume up as high as it could go. Through the air the cound crackled as it crashed through the walls, getting her vague and confusing message to Will's mom.

"Go? Baby, Will, what do you…What?" Her voice cut off with a scream, getting quieter as she ran from the room. Something Sonni decided she needed to do now too. She'd done what she could for the woman. If she was as stubborn and determined as she came across, no way would DFH get her. But if her and Will didn't get a move on towards the other house, it may very well get them.

Standing back up from her crouch, she ran from the room, out the back door, and straight to a pacing Will. "Where-"

"Hold it," She held up her hand, grabbing the lighter fluid she had been testing stuff with. "Get onto the path and wait there for a minute."

Will gave her a strange look but did as she asked. She followed right after him, spraying lighter fluid behind her as she went, drenching the shrubs and woods at the front of the part that they would be running. Stopping once she knew it was drenched–she decided to pocket the left over bit just in case–she grabbed the matches she'd stuffed in her pocket from Will's kitchen. Striking them, she raised a hand to cover her face and threw them down.

With a woosh, Sonni was hit with a hall of heat and light, blocking this path from anything wanting to follow them. Blinking, she turned around. They needed to book it. In every horror game or movie, the minute people thought they were safe, they were not. This was exactly that type of moment. Wall of flame for protection? Nothing could get them.

LIE

Everything could. They needed a roof and walls. Maybe even some locks.

Jogging over to a shocked Will, she crouched down. "Get on. We gotta go and I have a feeling your tiny ass legs won't be getting you nearly as far as mine could."

"But what about your injuries?" He asked.

"I can ignore them."Would she pay for it later? Probably, especially with her ribs and shoulder, but those could heal. If they got caught in the woods in the dark, Sonni doubted she could outrun DFH with Will on her back. And as much as she wanted to just save herself–the thought had crossed her mind more than she wanted to admit if she was honest with herself–she wasn't a monster.

Though she couldn't see it, she assumed he nodded because quickly she had about a hundred extra pounds on her back. Grunting, she silently thanked herself for doing all those had longer and stronger legs after years of gymnastics. Running through the woods wasn't easy even with a path. Running through the woods with a twelve year old on her back while her only source of light is the red lightning? She was lucky the pathway was rather straightforward or else they would be laid out in the dirt waiting to be eaten. With her focused on running, Will was tasked with watching their back. Eyes in the front and in back, Sonni didn't have to worry as much, so it didn't take long to make it through the woods.

Breaking through the trees they were greeted by a looming house. Modern for its time with harsh angles and large windows. Where they'd ended up was halfway up the uphill driveway, so she didn't pause to think before making her way to the front door, Will tightening his arms around her neck as running uphill was a bit more bumpy than a level dirt path.

Once they were on the front porch, Will slid off and took up sentry at the steps, ready to warn her if anything moved in the dark. Testing the door, she cursed at it being locked. No other choice, Sonni crouched down to pick the lock. Taking a second to catch her breath and stop her legs from shaking in overexertion from running with a child on her back. As she did, she double checked the front door, but sadly it was just as locked as it was upon her first try. So it was up to her to get them inside. Silently if she could, so breaking a window was out of the question as it would alert DFH where they were.

Thankfully for them, Sonni's brother had gone through a zombie apocalypse phase a couple of summers ago and had forced her to learn how to pick locks amongst other things with him. So the lock that was, to her, forty years out of date didn't stand a chance. They were inside within minutes, possibly seconds.

Inside was pitch black with only the occasional splotch of sparkles indicating if the home owners were home, then they weren't downstairs. Sonni, cursing as she realized she forgot to grab a flashlight at the store, dug into the side of her bag for her phone. Checking the battery, she frowned at the 30%. She had a charger so maybe since lights work, she could charge her phone. Plugins haven't changed by her time, so she didn't have to worry about that. Rolling her stiff shoulders, she decided that after finding them a place to sleep safely, or as safe as this place was, she'd test her theory.

"Alright, Bug, they're your neighbors, where do you think the safest place to sleep is?" Sonni asked, turning her phone's flashlight on to sweep it through the entryway. Just like Will's house, vines and grime were everywhere, including ash floating in the air. Biting her lip, she made a mental note to find something to put around their faces. They'd been breathing the shit in for hours, days in Will's case, but it wouldn't hurt to have protection.

Will shrugged, looking around as well. "They don't really socialize with my family, so I don't know anything about the house."

"Really? I thought the 80s were all about community and all that kumbaya shit."

"Not with my family."

Sonni grimaced awkwardly. "New money assholes, huh?"

Will turned to her, head tilted. "What do you mean 'new money'?"

"Eh, that's just me being a Monroe. We're a rather snobby family, sometimes, despite my mom drilling class consciousness into us." She shrugged, using her phone to check the room next to them she was greeted by a living room with uncomfortable furniture, walls of windows, and a fully stocked bar. "Basically I said it because they're flaunting their wealth in a gaudy way and acting like assholes just because they have a tiny amount of money. At least they could be classy with it. You don't have to be cringe if you have money. It's embarrassing for other rich people with taste."

To the left she found a large kitchen but not much else. Coming back to the stairs and a fidgeting Will, she gestured up the stairs. "We should probably get off the ground floor. More of a heads up if the monster does break in."

"But then we'll be stuck upstairs." Will said.

"That's where you're wrong, Bug. I'm assuming a family that lives in a house like this is a walking stereotype, including the jock teenager? And what 80s teenager doesn't have a way to sneak out?" She grinned down at him, shadows from the light making her look a bit sinister.

Will furrowed his brows at her, skepticism evident. "You want us to sneak out the window?"

"Only if DFH attacks. Otherwise the doors work perfectly fine."

Her words didn't seem to convince him but he did move to stand behind her. Which was good enough for her. Flashlight scanning up the stairs, she bit her lip. There was more clear space the further up she saw, but down at the bottom they would have some difficulty not stepping on any vines. "I'll lead the way. Only step in the same places I do. I don't want to test if touching those things alerts DFH to our positions right now. I'm more interested in getting some shut eye."

Will agreed, hand reaching out to grab the back of the hoodie she was wearing. Treating his arm as sort of a makeshift leash. "Like an arcade game."

"Exactly like a platforming video game."

Careful step after careful step, the pair of them slowly made their way up the stairs. Height obviously affected the vines as the higher they got the less they had to watch their feet. By the tie they got to the landing area, there wasn't even one on the ground. Most were attached to the walls and they were skinny and small looking.

There were around six doors on this floor that she could see. Two were open, both bathrooms. Maybe, if the rooms looked cleanish she could at least wipe her body down with a rag after they woke up. Sonni could literally feel the layer of grime on her skin. Heading to one of the other rooms, this one with a bright blue 'S' on the door,

Hand on the door, she paused. "You good with sharing a bed, Bug?"

"Yeah, I don't want to be alone." Will froze before backtracking. "But if you don't want to or want to find your own room or-"

"Woah, breathe, dude." She chuckled. "I wouldn't have offered if I minded. Even then, I'd just make a pallet on the ground. Who knows what could pop up while we snooze."

He smiled up at her. "Oh, good."

Opening the room, she immediately winced at the wallpaper. It was like someone took graphing paper, made the lines red and blue and slapped it on the walls. Not even the grime and few vines in the room took away from the ugliness. The only saving grace this room could boast was everything else was plain. Probably in an effort to counter the wallpaper.

"At least we can be sure DFH won't be coming into this room. If only to spare it's eyes." She snorted as the pair of them stood in pain together.

Will side eyed her. "It doesn't have eyes."

"That's just how ugly this wallpaper is. It transcends the senses." And she walked away into the room to fluff the dirt off the blankets and pillows, trying in vain to make it less gross to literally exist in this world.

Will was left to explore the room. She watched him out of the corner of her eye pick up some papers and other stuff off a desk. After she'd remade the bed and gotten half the ick off, she finally asked him what he found.

"Nothing exciting. Just Steve's homework and some notes girls passed him in class." Will rolled his eyes.

"Steve?"

Will looked up from what looked to be an English paper and waved it at her. "That's who's room this is. The Harrington's have been out neighbors forever. Not that they'll admit to it."

Sonni crinkled her nose at his words. An ego was okay as long as you knew when it was needed and when to tone it down. She knew being rich caused an ego, hell her family had generational wealth. But these new money people were just tacky and needed to be reminded they weren't the best thing to happen to the world. "Rich people are annoying to everyone around them."

"Aren't you rich?"

Sonni grinned as she went over to snoop as well. Stopping to 'boop' him on the nose, she grabbed the paper he was holding. "No, these people are rich. I am wealthy. There's a lot of differences, including class."

"You mean your family has better manners than them?" Will asked confused.

"That's one way to put it. But I meant class. They're upper middle class, at best, trying to appear richer than they are. The Monroe family has millions. And we have for generations." Sonni shrugged, ignoring the wide eyes Will sent her as she read the rather terrible English paper. "Wow, this dude sucks at English. He writes like a freaking elementary student."

Will chuckled before leaving the desk. She watched him lay down on the side closest to the window without saying anything. Poor kid was traumatized. At least she got food and water into him and more layers on him to deal with the cold. He was already better than he was earlier, but no kid–herself included–should have to deal with whatever was going on.

While he fell asleep, Sonni spent some more time snooping. It was a good way to keep her mind off everything while winding down after the encounter earlier. But besides some rather atrocious grades, a pack of condoms, and way too many girls' phone numbers, this Steve dude was kind of boring.

Bummer. She was hoping for something juicy. Maybe a pregnant ex or proof his parents were ebezzling or something. Yawn escaping her, Sonni figured it would be good to get sleep while she could. Who knew when the next time they'd get a break.

Rolling the chair in the room over to the closed door, she angled it under the knob as a makeshift wedge while laying two aluminum bats on top of it. This way, if the monster breaks in, the metal bars will make noise and wake them up before DFH can make it to them. Checking to make sure doing that didn't wake Will, Sonni finally laid down herself, gym bag right beside the bed and her katana in the sheath next to her in bed.

Not long later, Sonni was shaken away by a frightened Will. "I heard something." He whispered the second her eyes were open. "Outside."

She groaned, blinking the sleep away before bolting up. "Did you look outside?"

"No, I-I was too scared. I just woke you up."

Sonni waved it away. "You did goo-" A bloodcurdling scream cut through what she was trying to say. Gasping, she softly pushed Will back down on the bed while she jumped up–happy she'd slept with her shoes on–sword already in hand. "Stay here. And keep the gym back with you."

Will, trembling, nodded as he leaned over the bed and grabbed her bag, settling it on his lap. "What if something happens to you?"

What if something did happen to her? "Take the bag and book it."

Hurrying to the window, she looked down just as another scream tore through the air. In an in-ground pool she didn't realize the house had, a tall strawberry blonde girl was backing away from DFH, terror on her face. That was where the scream was coming from. "Son of a bitch."

Eyes scanning the roof, she was grateful for the predictability of teenagers no matter the generation. There was a clear route from the window, across the roof, and down the lattice. Speeding back to Will, she grabbed two of her throwing knives from it before she shot him a reassuring smile despite her own fear bubbling in her stomach. "I need you to go downstairs to the bar in the living room. Get a bottle of alcohol and remember the strips of shirts I cut up? Put one in there. Then camp out at the door."

"You're going to light it on fire?" Will asked, reconginzing that she'd essentially tasked him to make a back ally Molotov Cocktail.

"Damn right I am." But first she needed to save the librarian in the pool. Sliding her sword onto her back, she sped out of the window and across the roof. Checking on what was going on, she winced at the sight of DFH essentially playing with its food. He'd backed the girl into a corner, injured if her tight grip on her arm told Sonni anything, and was talking toward her.

She didn't have time to climb down the lattice, instead Sonni gritted her teeth, coruched down, and jumped off the roof. Instead of just landing and fucking up her knees, she immediately went into a roll to distribute the force of her landing. Standing up, she ran to the edge of the pool and, without even thinking, threw one of her throwing knives, hitting DFH in the back of its neck.

It spun around to her, flower head blooming with drool and shaking with the force of it's roar.

"Oh, I really didn't think that through." She cursed before yelling out to the girl "Up the ladder! Now!"

The girl just stared, eyes wide and glassy behind her cracked glasses. She was in shock. Sonni's eye twitched.

DFH by now had started stalking toward Sonni, causing the blonde to speed to the other side of the pool. Again she tried to get the girl to move. "Girlypop, unless you move your ass, its gonna get eaten and not is a fun way. It's time to move!"

The strange saying must have pulled her out of her shock since Girly blinked before gasping out a sob. "What…What is that? Where's Nancy?"

Sonni tried not to roll he eyes. She failed as she once again ran to the opposite side of the pool, keeping away from Girly and the ladder. DFH must have been in a hunting mood since it wasn't running after her. Instead it was like the thing was playing a damn game. Like it enjoyed her playing keep away with her life. "I don't know Nancy, but that thing's a monster. Now unless this was some insanely elaborate way to commit suicide, get your ass up the ladder so we can run."

Girly took a shuddering breathe before turning on the spot and sprinting to the ladder. The crunch of her shoes on the dead leaves attracted DFH's attention. Seeing it's mean try and run away, it abandoned Sonni's keep away game and instead ran toward Girly.

Sonni, not about to let someone get torn apart in front of her, also ran to the ladder. Somehow, probably since she was closer, she made it before DFH. She looked around to something to wack DFH away with, but all she had was her sword and that would slice before knocking it back. But she did have a throwing knife.

Biting her lip, Sonni decided. She had one shot.

By now Girly had jumped and grabbed the ladder and was hefting herself up, but DFH was right behind her. Deep breath to calm her nerves, Soni sheathed her sword and grabbed the throwing knife by the hilt, pulled her arm back–ignoring the pain–and aimed at the center of the open flower head.

Shink

Screeching, DFH jerked back as the hot pink knife slid and disappeared into the middle of its…face? Flower? Either way, she'd injured it something fierce. Head shaking back and forth like an animal with something stuck in its throat, DFH was officially distracted from the hunt.

Reaching down with her good arm, Sonni clasped her hand around the collar of Girly's jacket, helping pull her up and onto her feet. Both girls stared for a moment, amazed that the red head had actually survived. At least before DFH let out a hacking yell.

"This way." Sonni stated, yanking Girly behind her towards the front. Behind her, she could hear Girly try to start talking but each time a sob or her panting got in the way.

As they rounded the corner to the front door, Will stepped out, the improvised Molotov cocktail in his hand and worry in his eyes. "She's bleeding."

"Yes, I know."

"It'll be able to tell where we are if she's bleeding."

"I'm aware, Bug." Sonni frowned, side eyeing Girly. He wasn't wrong. She had pinpointed that tidbit early on. Predators love blood. "How badly are you bleeding?"

Girly was bent over trying to catch her breath, but still answered. "It…got…my…arm…"

Sonni hummed as she thought. Girly was tall, like near a head taller than her, let alone Will. Nothing they owned would fit but maybe… "Will, hand over the makeshift Molotov. I need you to run up to the room and grab at least three long sleeved shirts and a large jacket please?"

Will nodded and, after handing over the flammable weapon softly, took off up the stairs, jumping over vines as he did. By now Girly had stopped panting so harshly and instead had taken to crying silently, sobs wracking her frame. Sonni rubbed her back, trying to calm her down both because it was awkward comforting someone she didn't know and also because if DFH found them, she would be toast with tears blocking her ability to see.

Sonni didn't think she could save her a second time. She'd been insanely lucky so far with her interactions with DFH. Testing if that luck would hold out now would be stupid.

Sonni peeked around the corner to check for DFH, but it was clear. Ears staining, she could hear back towards the pool what sounded like a demonic cat hacking up a hairball; wet and dread-inducing. They had more time. "Take off your jacket and shit."

"What? Who are you? Was that Will Byers? The missing kid? Did you take him?" Girly shot back instead of doing what she'd asked.

"Quite frankly, we don't have time to play catch up. I'm assuming you want to live? Then listen to what I'm telling you." Sonni glared, her own fear making her mean. "When we're in a safer position I'll answer some questions until then, take off the shirt and jacket, we need to stop the bleeding and fast."

Girly studied her for a moment, looking for what Sonni didn't know, but ultimately started taking her jacket off. She winced as the fabric pulled on the wound. Now that Sonni had her right in front, she could see that DFH had gotten a good swipe in on her arm. Unlike Sonni's wound, Girly's started at her shoulder and ran down her arm, ending just before her wrist. Though luckily it was just two slices and not the full five.

Sonni had a feeling if DFH had gotten that good of a hold, Girly wouldn't be standing in front of her. Watching her struggle with her shirt, Sonni stepped up with a sympathetic smile. "Here, raise your arms as much as your can and bend over. I'll pull it off you."

"Thanks," Girly muttered. She let out a groan as Sonni pulled the bloody sleeve off first, fabric caught in the wound. Once the shirt was off, Girly wrapped her good arm around her chest, blush obvious even in the shit lighting. An awkard silence settled around them as Sonni started ripping the ruined shirt into usable strips, mostly to use on Girly's wound. All the bloody ones were set aside in another pile. She had an idea for a trap.

"Um…I'm Barbara. I guess I should thank you for saving me." Girly, or Barbara, smiled uncertainly.

"No biggie. Turns out being chased by a monster really makes your consciousness act up." She huffed. "I'm Sonni, by the way. Shitty place to meet you, I guess."

Barbara looked around, familiar fear in her eyes. "Where is here? This looks like Steve's, my friends boyfriend, house…but wrong?"

Sonni dug into her bag that Will had left with them for a bottle of clean water, pouring some on the clean strips of the ruined shirt before grabbing Barbara's injured arm softly. With a quiet 'sorry' she started wiping at the wound, attempt at cleaning it. She could feel the red head trembling as she held her arm. "I've been calling it a Hell Dimension. But I'm open to suggestions. Will explained that this is the town he comes from but it's all wonky in pretty obvious ways."

"Yeah, the giant man eating monster isn't in the normal Hawkins." Barbara muttered as Sonni stifled a chuckle. "So that really was Will? He's been missing for two days now. His family is worried sick."

"Yeah, we know. We can hear his mom call for him sometimes if we're in his house." Sonni explained. Studying the wounds, she was happy with the cleaning. It didn't look like there was anymore specks of grossness in them and the bleeding had basically stopped at this point.

She held the bundle of wet fabric to the wounds for a few moments more until Will came running back out, arms full of clothes. "I didn't know if she cared about fabric feels so I grabbed a couple."

Barbara stared at the pile of clothes apprehensively. "Steve's pretty skinny. I don't know if they'll fit me."

"Eh, they don't need to look nice. They just need to cover you up. It's freezing in here." Sonni said, grabbing the clothes and dropping them at their feet. "By the way, Bug, how many layers do you have on?"

"Four up top, three on the bottom."

Sonni shot him a grin, happy he'd listened to her when they were at his house and grabbed more clothes. Contemplating the pile at their feet, she held one up to Barbara's front. It looked the smallest so best put that one on the bottom. "Good, we all need layers to keep warm. It's probably near or below freezing in this place."

Picking the three biggest shirts, she handed them over to the girl before pocketing the other two. The wool jacket would fit fine on Barbara too. Grabbing her arm again, Sonni took some of the clean shirt strips and started wrapping them around the wound. Barbara grunted as she tightened the fabric a bit, but it was better to be tight than to have blood out in the air. That's asking DFH to find them.

Once the wound was all wrapped up and Barbara was pulling the clothes on, Sonni walked over to the edge of the porch and peered towards the side of the house and the pool. The hacking noise had calmed down, only occasionally happening now, so she wanted to make sure DFH wasn't sneaking toward them.

The coast was clear but she didn't know for how long. Turning back to the pair of them, she was happy to see the two of them chatting. Barbara more than likely telling him about his family looking for him.

"So," She clapped her hands together quietly. "Who wants to help with a trap?"

"What kind of trap?" Will asked turning to her from his conversation with Barbara.

"A trappy trap."

Barbara looked unsure, teeth gnawing on her lip. "A trappy trap? Do you actually have a plan?"

"Yeah…sort of. I have an idea and know how to execute the idea, so that's basically a plan." She shrugged, turning to go back inside letting the two follow her. Without pause, she headed right to the bar in the living room she'd seen. Filling her arms with alcohol, she turned back to the skeptics. "Take some alcohol and pour it everywhere. The floors, the walls, on the vines, everywhere."

"...Why?" Barbara asked slowly, though Sonni felt like she was already putting their trappy trap together.

Sonni grinned, teeth flashing in the red light. "We're gonna blow the house up with DFH inside it."

"You're insane!"

Will shook his head, finger tapping his lip in consideration. "No…she figured out earlier that the vines don't like fire. If we assume that DFH is like those…then fire probably harms it more than other stuff. It could maybe work."

"Good, now that we're-"

"It's still insane, though."

Sonni waved that away, handing them each at least six full bottles of alcohol. Why these people had so much damn alcohol in their house, she didn't know. But she was thankful for it since it now allowed her to blow their home up. "I'll handle down here, why don't you guys take the upstairs? We'll meet back at the front door. Make sure you get the stairs and walls good. After all, the fire won't spread so we gotta cover as much as possible."

Barbara sputtered, disbelief rolling off her. "That's it?"

"For now. After we meet back up I'll explain more."

Will tightened his hold on the bottles. "Can I stay with you? What if it comes back?"

"Yeah, that's fine, Bug." She shot an apologetic look to Barbara, who wasn't looking the best if she was honest. But it wasn't like she could tell the child 'no, suck it up and go at it alone'. Looking around the bar area, she was happy to see a flashlight in the under part next to a lighter and some other things. Pulling that out, she tossed it to Barbara, who barely caught it.

Barbara shook her head, flipped the flashlight on, and walked off toward the stairs, nodding to her call about jumping over the vines.

She watched her go, worry in her gut, but couldn't really do anything. Not only did she not know the girl, but they had to get this set up. If it worked correctly then they would have some time to regroup and recoup. Deciding to check on her if she was still up there when her and Will were done, Sonni popped open the vodka. "You want to handle the kitchen? Be careful the light in there is rather weak so it's hard to see. Maybe look for a flashlight for yourself?"

Will took a deep breath, fortifying himself, and nodded. "If something happens I can yell for you right?"

"Damn right."

As she started pouring alcohol, she internally started yelling. How the hell had she taken another person under her wing? Was she collecting people? Some type of hell dimension survivor group? This wasn't her. She didn't put her life on the line for other people.

But…neither of them had any survival skills. Sure, Will was resourceful and probably had been camping a time or two if his knot typing abilities said anything, but that was the extent of it. While she wasn't certain about Barbara, based on her reactions Sonni didn't think she was too far off with the librarian quip.

She was the only one out of the three of them that had an idea of what to do. Which was wild since she was just emulating horror movie main characters and relying way too heavily on her athletic skill and passive ability to use sharp objects. Nothing she did was done with confidence it would work. She was flying by the seat of her pants and she was terrified that once she made the wrong call it would get one of them killed.

Shaking her head she focused back on what she was doing, finishing off two bottles, the living room was covered including the furniture. Moving on to the bathrooms, she quickly coated both of them and headed to the kitchen. Will should have been done by now.

Tiptoeing in the room, she could smell the alcohol so at least she knew he'd done that, but standing in the middle, empty bottle and flashlight in hand, was Will. Like something straight out of orphan, he was staring out the window, blank faced.

"Hey, Will-I-Am, you wanna come back down to the ground?" She said, waving a hand in front of his face.

Will blinked, eyes zeroing in on her hand, before swallowing hard. "Are we going to die in here?"

"Oh damn, heavy." She muttered to herself. "I'm not letting us die in here if I can help it. That's why we're doing this plan. Need to keep DFH busy for a while, hopefully for at least a day, to try and find a way out. Or maybe contact your mom in ways that aren't the top 100 of the 80s or random light flashes."

"But we're getting out?"

"Please, I refuse to die looking as bad as I do right now."

Will giggled. "So we just need to make sure you stay in cheap clothes to survive?"

Sonni mock glared at him, ruffling his greasy hair. "Make fun of my vanity all you want but at least if I die I'll be a pretty ghost." She checked her phone, noting Barbara had been upstairs for a while as she frowned. "Hey, I'm gonna go check on Barbara. You stay down here at the door. This won't take long."

His eyes darted toward the windows and back to the door but agreed to stay there. Sonni sped up the stairs, bouncing around the vines as she went. Once upstairs she scanned the doors, each one was open now, but she could see Barbara's foot in the one they'd determined was this Steve dude's.

Knocking on the door, she peeked her head into the room. Sitting in the chair that Will must have put back at the desk, Barbara was hunched over quietly sobbing, some paper clenched in her hand. "Hey, Red…"

"Sonni…are we dead?" Barbara asked suddenly.

What was with people and asking if they were dead or dying? Did she seem like some type of death god? Why was she the one comforting everyone? Sonni wanted her own breakdown, dammit! "Considering I'm in a decent amount of pain from my own injuries, I'm going to go with no."

"Then where is this place? What is this place?" She raised the paper up, shaking it harshly. "I remember Nancy helping Steve with this paper! Hell, it has her handwriting on it! How is that possible?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "Hell, I'm just as scared as you guys. I'm just dissasociating from it and hoping I'm in a safe place when I finally crack."

Barbara huffed, throwing the paper back on the desk before standing. "Then how do you know what to do?"

Sonni blushed a bit, looking out the window. As her eyes met the pools, her stomach sank.

DFH was gone.

"No time," She said quickly. Grabbing the girl's hand she pulled her from the room. "You poured the alcohol in there, right?"

"Yes, I got the whole upstairs. Why? What's the hurry?" Barbara asked, brows furrowed from the mood change.

Sonni ran down the stairs, taking two at a time, barely remembering the miss the vines. Once downstairs she delivered the bad new. "The monster isn't in the pool. That means it's probably coming for us. I did kind of stab it in it's face-throat."

They froze, Barbara's hand going to cover her mouth as Will started breathing heavier. "What are we going to do?"

Improvise. Improvise. Think, Sonni.

If this was a game then the monster would come either from above or the side. Behind and in front is too predictable. If all three of them stay it's harder to cover all the spots. One person though…

"You guys need to sneak out. You're both wearing black and now that the blood stopped and you're in clothes that smell like this world, you probably blend in with the background." Sonni started.

Will shook his head. "What about you?"

"Red's got you. I need to execute the plan. I was always going to be the one staying. Timeline is just hurried up now."

Barbara squeezed Sonni's hand that was still in her grasp. "This is stupid. You need to go with him. I can't fight or do anything. I'm not even athletic. I fall playing dodgeball."

"We don't have time to fight." She huffed, pushing them together and towards the front door. "Keep to the shadows on the side that Will's house is on. The woods are easier to blend with." She pulled off her gym bag, digging through to grab the left over lighter fluid, matches, and the bloody strips of clothing. Items in hand, she handed the bag to Barbara. "This has about six water bottles and a kind of eaten bag of almonds. Try not to ingest anything from this world. Anything else in there is mine, so please don't break them. And honestly, if possible get some sort of face covering to keep the ash out. Who knows what that's doing to our lungs."

"You're talking like you're going to die!" Will cried, pushing away from the now open door. "In D&D you never split that party! That's exactly what you're doing right now."

Sonni sighed, catching his eyes. "Will, I told you I'm not dying in cheap clothes. But I do need you guys to know the important parts just in case something happens and I can't make it back immediately. I'm just being overly cautious."

Barbara put her hand on Will's shoulder, pulling him toward her and the door. "Come one, Will. She's kind of a badass. She saved me from the monster. I'm sure she'll be okay."

She gave Barbara a grateful look. "We'll meet back at Will's house in," She checked her phone to see the time. 1 AM…technically. "Three hours. Do either of you have a watch?"

Barbara held up her wrist, silver watch ticking away. "I'll keep an eye on the time."

Sonni nodded, hugged Will, and pushed them out the door. She used the small window in the door to watch as they disappeared around the side before turning back to the house. Time to set a trap.

She needed the center most part of the house, it would cause the most damage and maybe even make part of the house collapse on it.

Walking around the stairs, she double checked there was a route to escape on both side before dropping the bloody fabric in a pile and pulled out the lighter fluid. Shaking the bottle she frowned. There wasn't enough. Running back to the bar, she grabbed the last bottle, a cheap bottle of red wine.

Popping open the lighter fluid, she poured a circle around the fabric and started spraying a line towards the door. Stopping before she was out, she switched to the red wine, pouring it in a line until she got to the door. Taking a deep breathe, she slowly turned the handle, peeking out a crack in the door to make sure DFH wasn't anywhere. Seeing no movement, she slipped outside and switched off to the lighter fluid to finish off the line to the end of the steps.

A crash sounded in the backyard, making her flinch and squeeze out the rest of the lighter fluid in a giant spray all over the porch. Stifling a curse, she threw the bottle away and sprinted to the fabrics. Pulling out her sword, she used that to slice her arm on the side, biting her lip to swallow the cry of pain. Blood swelling, she squeezed it until the blood dripped onto the fabric.

One.

Two.

Three.

Quickly using a rag she'd snagged from the kitchen, she wrapped her wound, cutting off the smell from the air. From the kitchen she heard glass shatter and wood crack as DFH most likely slammed through the window. Turning on her feet, she sprinted to the other side of the stairs, hiding from view of the kitchen.

Within seconds, she could hear DFH's claws clicking on the hard wood. Heart pounding, she covered her mouth and nose to muffle her breathing. Step after step DFH got closer to the pile sniffing as it went. With each step the monster took, Sonni took one toward the door.

Step and sniff

Step and sniff.

She didn't know how long this back and forth went, but finally her hand was on the door and behind her she could hear fabric being ripped apart. Sliding the door open, her heart dropped at the creak it let out. Head slowly turning to look behind her, Sonni wasn't surprised to see the tips of DFH's gross flower petal things.

As she was caught, there was no reason for discretion. Sprinting to the end of the porch, she pulled out the matches, fumbling a bit at the sight of DFH hurrying to the door, before striking them, flame flaring.

Dropping them right on the lighter fluid, she turned and sprinted down the driveway. Behind her she felt the heat grew and as the force of the flames grew it pushed her forward causing her to stumble, catching herself before continuing her sprint. Wails of pain she hoped coming from DFH echoed in the air as the flames followed the fuel they had covered the house with. Feet pounding on the pavement then gravel, she didn't stop to look back until at the end of the driveway.

All around her light flowed, making the forest look at if it was daytime for the first time since she'd been here. Finally, at the end of the driveway, she stopped and turned.

Laughter falling from her involuntarily, Sonni stared at the absolute bonfire they'd created out of a whole house. She was at least two football fields away and the heat was still nigh unbearable in all her layers. Wood crackling loud enough she could hear it down on the road.

Sonni couldn't stop laughing. The sounds being pulled from her quickly transforming from incredulous glee to body wracking sobs.

What was her life? How had she went from a drive home to fighting monsters? She wanted to go home. She didn't want to be doing this. She wanted someone to hug her, tell her it would be okay. Above all, she wanted her mom.

Hyperventilating, she raised her arms to her head, trying to get air in her lungs.

Five things she could see.

Fire, trees, gravel, vines, leaves

Four things she could touch.

Her sword hilt, rough cotton of her hoodie sleeve, sweat covered socks in her shoes, the pain from the cut on her arm.

Three things she could hear.

The crackling of fire, her heavy breathing, The sound of thunder

Two things she could smell.

Her sweat, the musk of this world

One thing she could taste.

Blood from biting her lip

Breathing back down to a manageable level, Sonni turned on her heel and ran back towards Will's house, hoping the other two would be there to make some kind of plan.

Thank you for reading~