I am so happy i finished this chapter as fast as i did. Even better i have two more chapters set up just need to fill it :) That will bring us to the end of season 2...
Then on to season 3.
Errors are probably there, and i accept them all as they only make us grow.
By the time we reached the Byers, I had broken out in to a cold sweat. I was exhausted, shaking and felt like I could sleep for days. Jim parked the car and quickly got out instructing the kids to get inside and stay there. Pulling his seat back, he reached into the back and pulled me forward until I was out of the truck and standing beside him. Steve followed and quickly pulled my arm around his neck and lifted me into his.
"I can walk." I argued but made no further effort to move.
"Not a chance." He whispered. Jim followed behind us scanning the area before shutting the house door behind us.
"Steve take her to Jonathan's room." Nancy instructed the moment we hit the entryway. "Jonathan, first aid kit and alcohol or peroxide. Jim can you find any towels that I could use?" Everyone was moving faster than my spinning brain could take and I closed my eyes as Steve walked us to one of the rooms in the back and set me down. Nancy was right behind him.
"Here." Jonathan came in handing Nancy a box and a stack of towels. "Um should we… I mean I don't know if you want…"
"I am going to need help." Nancy interrupted and both Steve and Jonathan looked at me.
"I don't give a shit." I rolled my eyes. "Don't want to make it awkward just don't look."
"Okay, Jonathan I need you over here, Steve just keep a hold of her and keep her still." There was a lot of shuffling, but I didn't want to look. If I knew, I would tense up and that would just make the pain worse. "Roni, I am going to start with your arm, I'm gonna cut the sleeve."
"Go for it." I said with a nod and closed my eyes as she took my wrist and slowly stated cutting up my sleeve. I felt her pull the cloth as far away from my skin as possible as she reached the torn portion. Chancing a glance I watched as she pulled the blood soaked clothing away from my arm at my shoulder. Blood was running down my arm to my finger tips from a large open gash that went from the middle of my upper arm over my shoulder and around to my back. However, in hindsight this was the lesser of the two injuries I had, the worse still being staunched by the blanket and mine and Steve's hands at my side.
"This is going to need stitches." Nancy said using one of the towels that she soaked in water gently over my arm and around the injured area. She used her fingers to push the skin together and I cringed sucking in a breath. "Sorry, honestly it could be worse. I'm gonna wrap your arm and bandage your back and shoulder."
"Sounds good." I breathed out. Steve kept a hand on my side and the other on the small of my back keeping me upright while Nancy ran alcohol over the wounds, and I cringed biting my tongue hard enough to taste blood. After several minutes, I heard her step away.
"Okay, take a deep breath. The more relaxed you are for the next one the better." She said and I tried to stand a bit taller but winced as my side tugged painfully. "I am going to start cutting the rest of your shirt." I nodded and let my forehead rest on Steve's shoulder as I heard the scissors cut into the back of my shirt and up to the neck. When she was finished, she started peeling the shirt away from my left arm. Steve stepped away enough for the shirt to fall away and he pulled it off my good arm, leaving me in a bloody tank top. "You ready?"
Slowly she lifted the bottom of the top up, beside her Jonathan reached for the blanket still pressed to my side and pulled it away gently. Some of the fabric stuck to my raw skin and I cursed, Steve tightened his grip to keep me from pulling away.
"Jesus." Nancy said quietly once the damp clothing was pulled away from the wounded area and she could see all the damage. My whole side and abdomen was covered in blood. Looking down there were three large claw marks running from the bottom of my rib to the top of my hip. "Jim she needs a hospital." I looked up not realizing Hopper was standing in the doorway. He had a deep scowl on his face as he looked at the bloody mess.
"No." I shook my head meeting his eyes before looking at Nancy. "It's not an option right now. Just help me wrap it as best we can… once… once this is over I'll go."
"Roni…" Steve started.
"No!" I said firmly. Looking back at Nancy, she nodded and started to clean the affected areas. The pain was excruciating and if Steve hadn't been holding me up, I would have fallen to a heap on the ground. Jim left when I couldn't hold my tongue anymore and started to yell. Finally, Nancy was able to start wrapping my injured side. Tears still in my eyes I had my arms lifted to help her reach around me. "It should have been me." I said softly. Steve was standing nearby and Jonathan had left the room to toss the bloody towels out.
"What?" Nancy stopped wrapping and looked up at me. "You don't mean that."
"You said it yourself Nancy… you were right." I sighed and Steve looked angry as he opened his mouth. "I couldn't get to Barb in time, and I couldn't save Bob two steps in front of me… he didn't deserve to die like that… it should have been me."
"What I said… I was wrong Roni," Nancy shook her head, but I just closed my eyes tears of failure and pain spilling down my cheeks.
"Hey I found this." Jonathan came in and stopped looking around the room. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." I answered shaking my head and pointing to the shirt in his hands.
"Uh, yeah, it's a button up should be loose so it won't aggravate anything." he said handing me one of his shirts. Nodding I took it just as Nancy finished. Blood was already seeping through the bandage, but the pain was currently at a dull ache for the time being.
"Thanks…" I said. "Can you guys give me a minute?" Nancy stood up. She looked like she wanted to argue but eventually followed Jonathan out of the room. Steve still stood a few steps away, arms crossed. "Steve, just go." I sighed. Once he finally left, I looked around the room. The ground had blood staining it from where it had dripped, and the towels had been thrown earlier. With a sigh, I peeled the rest of my tank top off… what was left of it anyway…. The white bandage was stiff and made moving hard. It ended at the waist of my jeans, which had bloodstained halfway down my outer thigh. Taking the shirt Jonathan had given me I slowly pulled my injured arm through the sleeve wincing. Once it was fully on, I slowly started to button the shirt up.
"We need to talk kid." Jim said behind me as I finished my last button.
"I'm really not in the mood." I said stoically without turning around.
"To bad." He said and came further into the room and shut the door. "We need to talk about this whole 'should have been you' mentality you have."
"Eves dropping now Jim?" I sighed grimacing as I held my side sitting on the end of the bed.
"Your damn right I am." He stated. "I just watched you get torn apart by those things, and you're in here acting like it's no big deal. Do you have any idea how it felt watching those dogs jump on you and rip into you?"
"It's not a big deal… It shouldn't have felt like anything."
"You don't get to walk around and push people away, so they don't care Veronica. We get to choose, and I care…"
"I didn't ask you to!" I stated standing a bit too quick and Jim was quick to grab my good arm to keep me from falling over.
"You didn't have to." He answered back. "Dammit Veronica this whole being the martyr, it needs to stop."
"Why?" I asked, "What good am to anyone? I was made for protecting, that's my whole purpose, but Barb is dead, Will was taken, El disappear and Bob is dead…. What the hell good am I?"
"Veronica… Bob wouldn't have made it down to the breaker room and we wouldn't have gotten out of there without you. You were right, he needed you…" I scoffed and rolled my eyes trying to pull away from him but he kept a firm grip on my arm, "And those kids in the junk yard, from what they said, you kept every one of them safe. You protected them a year ago from the Demogorgon… You have already done so much and you mean more then you know to every one of them, to me."
"Why?" I repeated, "I don't understand why, why you care, why they care, I am not good enough for any of you, for any of this… I don't deserve…"
"You're right, you don't deserve any of it." He finished and I scowled stepping back shocked at his words. He had said what I was about to, and as much as I thought that, I hadn't expected him to say it out loud.
"I…"
"You didn't deserve to have grown up in that lab, you didn't deserve to be weaponized, you didn't deserve to be told you wouldn't be good enough, you didn't deserve to have had to be alone, you don't deserve to feel alone." He said and as he spoke tears filled my eyes and I let out a shaky breath, "You didn't deserve to have watched Bob die, to feel the burden of his death. You don't deserve to feel worthless, because you aren't Veronica, and I am so sorry I didn't see this sooner.
"You deserve every bit of love that is out in that living room waiting to make sure you are okay. You deserve to be happy. Don't give up on us, because we haven't given up on you and we want you to stay with us…we need you to stay." I stared back at him tears in my eyes as I let his words hit me. No one had ever stood up for me the way Jim was right now. He gave me a small sad smile before he stood up straight and left the room. Taking a deep breath, I slowly sat down on the bed finally letting the sob out and tears fall freely.
After several minutes, I was able to compose myself enough to stand carefully and slowly make my way out of the room.
"Sam Owens, Dr. Sam Owens!" Jim yelled into the phone. Standing in the hallway I gently leaned on the wall with my good arm and held my side as I watched everyone in the room. Jonathan was in the living room beside his brother, Nancy sat beside him trying to comfort him. Steve was watching them, and I felt sympathy for him, watching the girl he wanted, and fought for beside someone else. He turned and met my eyes and I gave him a small smile before looking away. The kids were in the kitchen intently watching Jim as he continued his phone conversation. "I don't know how many people are there! I don't know how many people are left alive!... I am the police! … Chief Jim Hopper… yes the number I gave you… yes… 6767. I will be here!" He hung the phone up loudly and groaned turning towards the kitchen.
"They didn't believe you did they?" Dustin commented.
"We'll see." Jim said shortly.
"We'll see?" Mike burst and I watched him size Jim up, "We can't just sit here while those things are loose!"
"We stay here, and we wait for help!" Jim stated firmly before turning away from the kids and walked towards me. Without a word, he put a hand on my shoulder lightly as he passed me and walked back towards Joyce's room. A pang of guilt hit me as I watched him pause in front of her room and walked in. After taking a shaky breath, I turned back towards the kitchen where Mike was standing moving towards the living room.
"Did you guys know that Bob was the original found of Hawkins AV?" Mike said and at the name of the man I had watched die, new tears burned at the back of my eyes and I was forced to look at the ground as Mike continued.
"Really?" Lucas questioned.
"He petitioned the school to start it and everything." Mike continued. "Then he had a fund-raiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him… pretty awesome right?"
"Yeah." Both Lucas and Dustin agreed. I felt a hand touch my arm lightly and I looked up to find Steve beside me looking at me before pulling me into him gently my head on his shoulder.
"I really tried Steve." I whispered softly. I wasn't even sure if he could hear me.
"I know." He stated with as much softness and sincerity he could.
"I would have traded places with him."
"I know that too." He said his voice strained, "I don't know if I would have been okay if you had though." I shifted and looked up at him but he wasn't looking at me, his jaw was set and he was looking out at the kids. I wanted to question him but my attention was pulled back to Mike as he turned back to his friends in the kitchen.
"We can't let him die in vain." I heard Mike say and I turned towards him as he walked determined towards his them.
"Well, what do you want to do Mike?" Dustin asked, "The chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-Dogs on our own, I mean look what happened to Roni, if she couldn't stop them what makes you think we can?
"Demo-Dogs?" Max asked ignoring the rest of what he said.
"Demogorgon. Dogs. Demo-Dogs." Dustin explained. "It's like a compound, it's like a play on words."
"Okay." Max rolled her eyes annoyed.
"I mean when it was just Dart, maybe…," he continued.
"But there's an army now." Lucas finished and Dustin nodded.
"Precisely."
"His army." Mike said coming to a realization and I stood up straighter scowling.
"What do you mean?" Steve asked from his spot beside me.
"His army." Mike repeated. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army too." Before he could explain, he ran quickly down the hall to Wills room. Jonathan and Nancy caught sight of the movement and slowly stood scowling at me. I shrugged instantly wincing before walking after them. Mike was in Wills room shuffling through the papers of drawings on his desk. Finally, he held up a picture drawn in black of a spider like creature. Standing in the doorway, I crossed my arms and waited.
"The shadow monster." Dustin recognized the drawing immediately.
"It got Will that day on the field." Mike nodded and I scowled looking at Nancy and Steve both shaking their head and shrugging. "The doctor said it was like a virus it infect him."
"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked. As I looked around the room, it seemed that the kids were all on the same page.
"To the tunnels, to the monsters, the upside down… everything!" Mike stated excitedly.
"Wait a second." I said stepping into the room and looking at the picture. "What does that mean for Will?"
"And the Demo-things?" Steve added.
"Okay, so the shadow monster's inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will?" Mike explained.
"And so does Dart." Lucas added.
"So you're saying it's a hive mind." I said and all the kids and Steve looked up at me surprised. "I had Mr. Clarke too." I rolled my eyes.
"What's a hive mind?" Steve asked.
"Like a shared brain." I answered.
"Yeah a collective consciousness, it's a super organism." Dustin said.
"And this is the thing that controls everything." Mike agreed.
"Like the mind flayer." Dustin said and I was instantly lost again, but whatever he had said had connected with the others because Lucas looked up and snapped his fingers. As they ran from Wills room, Jim came out and looked at me for an answer. I just shook my head and followed the kids to the kitchen.
"The Mind Flayer." Dustin stated dropping a magazine like book on the table and pointing to a creature in it.
"What the hell is that?" Jim asked.
"It's the monster from an unknown dimension." Dustin explained. "It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home. Okay? It enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains and using it's highly developed psionic powers."
"Oh my God! None of this is real." Jim groaned rolling his eyes. "This is a kid's game."
"No. It's a manual." Dustin said defensively pointing to the book. "And it's not just for kids', and unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor…"
"Analogy." Lucas quietly corrected and Dustin turned to him in disbelief.
"Analogy? That's what you're worried about?" he asked before continuing, "Fine an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."
"Okay so this mind flamer thing…" Nancy started.
"Flayer. Mind Flayer." Dustin corrected.
"What does it want?" Nancy ignored him and continued.
"To conquer us basically." Dustin said, "It believes it's the master race."
"Like the Germans." Steve tried to contribute but everyone stared at him.
"The Nazis?" Dustin said in disbelief and I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Steve nodded adding a 'yeah' a bit embarrassed. "Uh, if the Nazis were from another dimension, totally."
"Okay we're off topic." I shook my head pulling the attention to me. I was standing against the wall by the phone quietly listening to the discussion. "You said it would believe it's the master race, which would make any other race, like ours, inferior right?"
"Exactly, it wants to spread, take over other dimensions." Mike nodded.
"We're talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas added.
"That's great." Steve scoffed standing up and turning away from the manual, "That's really great… Jesus."
"Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then…" Nancy picked up the book and looked at the page about the Mind Flayer. "Then if we kill it…"
"We kill everything it controls." Mike finished.
"We win." Dustin stated with a smile.
"Okay, alright. Great. So how do you kill this thing?" Jim asked not entirely on board with the concept. "Shoot it with fireballs or something?"
"No, no, no… no fireballs." Dustin chuckled and something told me his response was about to discredit everything he had just defended. "Uh, see you uh summon an undead army and uh… because zombies you know they don't have any brains and the… the mind flayer, it… it… it likes brains… it's just a game." Dustin finished and I stood up and turned towards the living room leaning on the wall and watching Will on the catch as Jim groaned loudly.
"What the hell are we doing here?" Jim said.
"I thought we were waiting for military back up." Dustin stated snidely.
"We are!" Jim shouted frustrated.
"Even if they come, how are they gonna stop this?" Mike asked, "You can't just shoot this with guns."
"You don't know that…" I tuned them out as I watched Will. He was connected. He knew more we just needed to access it. As they argued back and forth, I saw Joyce exit her room from the corner of my eye and watched as she listened.
"They're right." She finally spoke her voice quiet and raspy from emotion. "We have to kill it." She looked at Jim and then at me determination in her eyes. "I want to kill it."
"Me too, me too Joyce, okay." Jim addressed her with softness and comfort, "but how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with."
"What about him?" I asked as I nodded towards Will. "We don't know anything, but he does."
"He's connected to it, he should know it's weakness." Mike nodded coming up to stand by me as we looked at Will.
"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore, that he's a spy for the Mind Flayer now." Max said unsure.
"You said that he apologized to you when he sent those men into the tunnel right? That was Will." I said turning to Mike and Joyce. "It would make sense that he's still in there. The Mind Flayer may be running the show but Will is there, we just need to figure out how to reach him."
"But how do we do that without the Mind Flayer coming after us in the process?" Jonathan asked.
"He can't spy if he doesn't know where his is." Mike stated and I looked up at Jim raising an eyebrow before looking at Jonathan.
"The shed?" I questioned and Jonathan shrugged as I started to head outside ignoring the nagging pain in my side. Jim was right beside me as we made it outside and opened the shed of the door looking into it. "We pull everything, empty it and cover all openings…"
"Should work." He nodded. Everyone was up and moving pulling sheets from bedrooms and emptying out the shed. I had made a feeble attempt to help but Jim quickly ordered me inside after he caught me holding my side and trying to keep myself standing. Reluctantly I went inside and sat beside Will keeping an eye on the sleeping kid and out the window into the night. At some point, I went into the bathroom and undid the buttons on the shirt Jonathan had given me. The side of the shirt was already stained, and the bandages below were soaked.
"Shit." I cursed placing my hands on the sink feeling my head spin.
"Hey." I voice startled me upright and I winced grabbing the sink again for stability. "Sorry, I didn't mean to… I just wanted to see if you needed help changing those." Nancy pointed to the red bandage around my waist.
"Um…"
"Just to change them see if I can make a tighter hold on it to help with the bleeding." She said holding up the bandage in her hand. Sighing I nodded and she smiled walking in and closing the door. Slowly I pulled my arms from the sleeves of the shirt and let her unwrap my side. I winced as some of the blood stuck the bandage to my skin. "Jesus Roni, I don't know how you're still standing right now."
"Not really a time to be weak." I said my voice strained. "I'm no good to anyone sitting on my ass unable to help."
"You're no good to anyone dead." Nancy said finally pulling the soggy wrap off and putting it in the sink. I forced myself to keep my eyes on the sink and not at my injury. I choose not to respond to her comment. "Roni…"
"Please don't Nance." I shook my head.
"I was wrong about what I said about Barb and you. I may have been drunk when I said it, but I said it and it was wrong. I knew that and was too embarrassed to say anything." She said apologetically and I tried to shake my head, but she placed her hand on mine resting on the counter. "I am not saying this because of everything that happened. I should have said it at school when I found out."
"I keep thinking about what it would be like if I had been at the lab with El, or if I had made it to Barb… if it had been me instead. Maybe we would have a chance, or …"
"There wouldn't even be a chance if you weren't here." She interrupted and I looked up at her. "I guarantee we would be in more danger." She gave me a small smile and then started to wrap the new bandage around my waist. I clenched my teeth as she wrapped it tight and felt tears sting my eyes. Looking up at the ceiling, I let out a shaky breath with each wrap around. "You know I never meant to hurt Steve, I honestly thought I loved him, but I think… I think I just wanted to feel…"
"Safe?" I answered her quietly and she looked up at me pausing before nodding. "Steve made you feel safe and you didn't want to lose that. Jonathan was an unknown and it was scary."
"Exactly." She sighed. "I feel awful because he deserves to be happy and…"
"I get it, and if it helps, I don't think he resents you for it." I said, "He wants you happy and I think this woke him up to how you were feeling."
"Thanks Roni." She said finishing the wrap and grabbing the shirt helping me slip it over my injured shoulder. "He really cares for you, you know that right?"
"Steve?" I questioned with a scowl. "We're friends I care about him too."
"That's… not what I meant." She sighed and I just searched her eyes hoping for an answer but a knock at the door pulled us from our conversation. As if on cue, Steve poked his head through the door.
"Hey, sorry." He cleared his throat seeing both of us and watched as I buttoned the rest of the shirt. "Um, there about to start."
"We just finished." Nancy nodded and I smiled before following her out. Jim had Will in his arms and carried him out the back door. Once the door shut, we were left in silence waiting for something to happen. The kids sat in the kitchen around the table and Nancy paced around them. I moved to stand by the back door.
"How's it going out there?" Steve asked coming up behind me.
"Not a clue." I whispered.
"What were you and Nancy talking about?" he questioned leaning on the doorframe without meeting my eyes.
"She apologized for the party."
"Wow…" he said nodding.
"And how she really didn't want to hurt you."
"Hmm." I looked at him at a side glance but I couldn't gage his emotions. "You know I fought so hard to try and prove to her I changed, but I think… I think I was proving to myself I wasn't the douche I had been you know."
"Trust me, you are nothing like you were a year ago." I said quietly and gave him a genuine smile. As he turned and our eyes met, lights began flickering from the shed and we both turned to the shed.
"What the hell…" Steve whispered.
"Somethings happening." We waited a few minutes longer before we watched Jim, followed by Jonathan, Joyce and Mike leave the shed. Stepping away from the door Jim burst through the door and started searching the room.
"What happened?" Dustin asked quickly.
"I think he's talking, just not with words." Jim said as he sat down at the table and started writing out dots and dashes on the back of an old envelope.
"What's that?" Steve asked.
"Morse Code." Mike, Lucas and Dustin answered in unison.
Pointing to each set of dashes and dots over Jim's shoulder, I said each letter. "H.E.R.E."
"Here." Everyone read as Jim wrote out the letters.
"Holy shit."
"Will's still in there. He's talking to us." Jim said with a little hope looking at Joyce. Jonathan moved quickly into his room to grab his radio. Jim handed a walkie-talkie to us and the kids took it while Jim ushered me into his seat before going back out to the shed with Joyce, Mike and Jonathan. It didn't take long before we heard beeps coming through the walkie-talkie.
"Dash, dot, dash, dot." Dustin said to Lucas.
"Okay got it." Lucas nodded looking at their key with Max.
"C" they yelled, and I wrote it down. Slowly we were able to get all the letters until we were left with two words.
"Close Gate." We read aloud. Before we could start working out what we needed to do the phone, hanging on the wall rang loudly, making us jump.
"Shit!" Dustin exclaimed, running to the phone, picking it up and slamming it quickly against the receiver. He looked at us with a smile until the phone rang again. I was standing and with my hand raised in an instant. I ignored the tug at my side as I stared at the phone and clenched my fist, crushing it before tossing it down the hall. Everyone looked at me as I grimaced putting my hand at my side and wiped the new blood dripping from my nose.
"Do you think he heard that?" Max asked.
"I mean it's just a phone, it could be anywhere, right?" Steve offered and it was a good optimistic thought until a monster screeched in the distance pulling our attention to the front of the house.
"That's not good." Dustin commented. I grabbed Steve's bat from against the wall and tossed it to him as we moved into the living room.
"Stay away from the windows!" I ordered.
"What are you doing?" Nancy called out but I didn't answer as I walked out the front door slamming it behind me. Standing on the front porch, I squinted through the dark but the fog had rolled in making visibility near impossible. Taking the steps down I stood at the bottom and closed my eyes. In my mind, I searched the forest following the screeches and growls of the creatures racing towards us. I counted four on the forest floor racing towards us, thinking quickly I pushed my abilities out and forced a tree down on one, the tree hitting the ground with a thud and the monster screeching in pain before laying still beneath it.
"Hey." A hand squeeze my shoulder and my eyes shot open. Gasping my vision began to swim and I staggered sideways grabbing the railing for support. "Whoa, what happened?"
"Shit." I cursed closing my eyes shaking my head trying to clear the spots from my vision. "There's at least three headed this way, I was able to stop one, but I couldn't project further to see any more." I explained swallowing hard and pushing myself upright again looking at Jim. He stared back at me concerned. "Jim…"
"Don't ask." He shook his head.
"Listen, if these things are anything like the Demogorgon, they are attracted to blood and I am covered in it." I said holding out my hand that was holding my side revealing its red color. "This isn't a martyr suggestion; this is me logically thinking it out. In there I am only putting a bigger target on your backs. Out here maybe I can slow them down, give you a chance to prepare."
"Is there any point in arguing with you?" he asked with a sigh.
"If you don't agree then I will go in, but can you honestly tell me it's better for me or them for me to go in?" I asked.
"You better get your stubborn ass inside the moment they get too close." He stepped forward pointing a finger at me.
"Go," I nodded and turned away from him. I could feel him hesitate for a second before I heard his footsteps up to the house and then the door shut. Taking several deep breaths, I calmed my heart as it beat wildly in my chest, the screeching from the creatures getting closer. A branch snapped behind the cars in front of me in the driveway and I could see the outline of one of the creatures running towards me. Without hesitation, I tilted my head up and the creature crashed into the side of the house thudding against one of the trashcans laying limp where it fell. I didn't bother to check on it and turned my attention back towards the trees and two other monsters closing in. Stepping back my foot slipped on the bottom step and I fell backwards, hitting the stairs hard, jarring my injured arm and shoulder painfully.
One of the two monsters took the momentary slip up as an opening and was within inches of me. With my good arm, I held it up and pushed my abilities forward pushing the creature back as hard as I could and it screamed out when it hit a tree. Unfortunately, the third monster was leaping toward me while I was focused on the second one. I had time to flinch and turn my head away as it came at me. But, where I should have felt ripping of skin and pain there was nothing, just loud screeching inches from my ear. Slowly uncovering my head I turned and found the Demo-Dog hanging mid-air in front of me, its mouth opened and claws swiping aimless towards me. Breathing heavily I watched as the thing was lifted higher in the air and a girl stood several feet from me her arm out, eyes training on the beast. I watched as she swung the thing into the ground to one side before throwing her arm to the right and the monster flew broken and dead through the front window of the house.
There was a collective scream inside as the creature crashed inside but my eyes were focused on the girl. I knew who it was, but she looked older, less childlike as she approached me. Wincing and grimacing I slowly pulled myself up just as she reached me. She stood in front of me unsure and I stared at her nervous. Without missing a beat, she wrapped her arms around me and I ignored the searing pain as she hugged me tight.
I had so much guilt built up inside of me, but for this moment I was relieve and a weight was lifted off my shoulders as I held Eleven. As she pulled away from me, she looked down at her hand and scowled at the blood.
"You are hurt." She stated concerned.
"Let's get inside." I shook my head turning and she wrapped her arm around my back helping me up the stairs, her eyes scanning my face with each step. Reaching the front door, she let me go and I leaned on the frame as she stared at the door, focused on the locks. I heard the click and slide of each lock as she released them from the inside before she finally turned the handle and let the door swing open. Looking at me unsure, I sighed and took a step through the door. Two guns were trained on the door, Steve held his bat high ready to swing, Lucas had his slingshot loaded and Mike held some sort of object all looking scared. As soon as they saw me they relaxed but I moved to the side looking out the door waiting as El, slowly stepped forward into the room. There was a collective gasp as she came into view and the room was silent as Mike stepped forward shocked, and happy as El and him finally hugged each other.
Thank you for continuing on this journey with me. I hope this is not disappointing anyone and you are just as excited as i am for the next chapter.
I will post soon.
Any comments or suggestions are always welcome :)