Hello! I'm back with another edited chapter. I'll hopefully have a new one updated as well, since I've been way behind on everything.

The monster before me turns, and I feel it stare at me. It sees me, and my heart clenches in fear. I'm powerless as one of the monster's limbs turns into a black tornado, shooting towards me.

I can't help it. I scream, and wait for the storm to take me.

Black smoke surrounds me, blocking anything I might be able to see. But it doesn't actually attack me. Not in the way I thought it would. It's more of a power move than anything else, a warning for me to fall in line. To bow down to an alpha. I mean, physically I already am thanks to the vines. I wish I was able to spit on the tornado, tell the monster it has no power over me. But that would be a lie.

The wind it creates howls in my ears, the smoke twisting around me like I'm in the eye of the storm. I clench my bound wrists and bite my lip to hold in my screams, not wanting to give the shadow monster the satisfaction of knowing I'm the most scared I've been in awhile.

Then, as quick as it came, it's gone. The whole monster is gone, taking its smoke and storm with it.

But the Upside Down isn't. I'm still on all fours. The vines are still holding me in place, though they're starting to slither away. I stare down at my bruised wrists, knees singing in pain and gauze-wrapped palms darkened in certain spots. I stand up, slowly, and look around. In confusion. I shouldn't be here. There isn't another demogorgon around to create a tear. I wasn't pulled through goo. I just blinked and I was here. Stuck in my own damn head.

I grunt in annoyance and limp towards my car, attempting to open it. I can't, though, because there are vines wrapped around it like a boa constrictor, wrapped so tight I can't even break my windows.

"The hell do you want from me?" I growl, tugging on the vines. They don't budge. "Seriously? Haven't you little shits messed up my life enough?" I tug again. Nothing.

I walk around my car, closer to the vine-covered woods. I watch - mind blank - as the tendrils snake away from each other, creating a path in the woods.

The same woods I haven't entered in a year. Well, same and different.

I turn back to my car, hoping the vines have moved so I can get back in. I pinch my arm so I can wake up from whatever I'm seeing. But my car is still wrapped up and I haven't left the Upside Down.

With a heavy sigh, I turn back to the path, the thick white particles falling around me like snow. "I'm so royally screwed." I mutter, then with dread in my stomach begin my journey down the road less traveled.

It's strange, being back here. In the woods, be it the Upside Down or my normal world. Sure, I would go on hikes at Camp Know Where, but the forest there was different. It lacked the history I have with this place. Plus, I had a bunch of kids to distract me from any potential panic attacks.

The vines move every few minutes, guiding me the right way. Their way. Whenever I try to turn back or move in another direction, the vines block my way, rooting me in place as they do.

It takes me ten minutes to figure out where I'm going. It's someplace I'd always considered safe. Well, up until the Demogorgon climbed down from the ceiling. So five minutes later, I'm walking out of the woods towards the vine-covered Byers house, looking even more run-down than in normal Hawkins. I carefully walk up the steps to stand on the porch, vines on the ground parting for me like the students at Hawkins High.

I reach my hand out to twist the knob when something rumbles behind me. "Veronica?!" Someone shouts, and I turn around, Upside Down gone. I'm back in Hawkins, staring down at a more-than confused Joyce Byers and in-shock Will. I look around, lost. "Veronica, sweetie, what's wrong?" Joyce asks, walking up the steps with Will tucked into her side, shaking in fear.

"I-I-I…" I stammer out before rushing over to her, letting my best friend's mom pull me into her with one arm.

"Okay. Okay, let's go inside."

She lets go of me briefly to unlock the door to her house, but her arm returns to its spot around my waist as she ushers us inside to sit at the kitchen table. I sit on Will's other side, the two of us quickly holding the other's hand, anchoring each other just like our visit to Hawkins Lab on Tuesday. "Veronica, can you… can you tell me what happened?"

I blink and look around, still expecting to be in the Upside Down. "I-"

"What happened to your hands? And your knees? Your wrists - oh honey." She murmurs, reaching out to touch my free limb, and I wince. Looking down, I see the bruising, then the big holes on the knees of my jeans, bloodied and dirty. "I'll be right back. Let me get the First Aid kit." I nod at her words and hear her walk away.

"You saw it too." I comment, not even looking at Will.

He squeezes my hand. "Yes."

"Four times."

"Four times."

We go quiet again when Joyce returns, and she carefully twists my seat. I let go of Will's hand so my body isn't twisted in an uncomfortable position, and vaguely register the blood on said hand.

As Joyce unwraps the gauze and cleans my wounds I turn my head to look out the window. The sun shines through, but it does nothing to warm me.

"There." She finally murmurs, and I look down at my bandaged knees, then my hands. Gauze is wrapped from just below my wrist to the base of my fingers, white and a little thick. "Make sure you rewrap them after your shower, and in the morning. There will be no infections on my watch, okay dear?" She gives me that warm, motherly smile of hers and I nod, my lips twitching up a bit. Her eyes turn sad and wet, and she presses her lips to my forehead before standing up and returning my seat to its original position. As she walks around the table to sit in her chair, Will reaches over and carefully takes my hand once more, a little more gentle. I prefered the original roughness of it, though. The pain was my anchor. "Can you tell me what happened?" She asks us, and Will and I turn to each other.

We share a non-verbal conversation, our eyes and eyebrows conveying our messages. With a sigh I look back at her.

"I was driving home from the range. It's why my hands were already bloody. I was there for three hours -"

"Oh, Veronica." She sighs.

"I. I needed an outlet. It was either archery, or someone's face. Um, I was driving. Then I realized I wasn't even going the right way home. It was like a magnet was pulling me in another direction. I felt this chill at the back of my neck. Goosebumps. It's a warning, for an episode. So I pulled over, next to Mirkwood. As soon as I got out of my car, I was in the Upside Down. This… this Shadow Monster was there. The one I saw Monday. But it wasn't close. Close-close I mean. But it was so big that distance didn't matter. The vines, they… they tugged me onto the ground. Bound my wrists so I couldn't get up. The monster turned my way, and it became this-this tornado. It swirled around me. I thought it was going to come in me, but it didn't. It was gone in the blink of an eye, but I was still in the Upside Down. I thought I was going to be stuck there, again." I wipe away some tears before they can fall, sniffling. "The vines let me go, but then they lead me through Mirkwood. So I followed them - I tried to go a different way, but the vines kept stopping me. I ended up here. When you called my name, you snapped me back. Or brought me back. I'm not even sure." Joyce nods and leans forward, taking my free hand. "I was so scared, Joyce." I admit.

"Oh, Veronica. Sweetheart." She takes my free hand, making no further comments but still comforting me through a motherly touch. After a few seconds she turns to the still-silent Will. "What about you? What did you see?" She asks patiently, worried.

"I can't remember." He mutters, but I know it's a lie. I'm not about to say that out loud, though.

Joyce sighs. "I need you to try."

Will looks at me again, and I nod in support, squeezing his hand. "I… I was on the field and… and then it… it all just went blank, and… and then you were there." Still not the truth, buddy.

Joyce sees the lie, too. "I need you to tell me the truth." She gently prods.

"I'm here, Will." I promise him.

"I am!" Will argues. I breathe in through my nose. He looks at me as Joyce briefly walks away, smoke from her cigarette trailing after her. My hands itch to grab one, so I wiggle my free fingers instead. She returns fairly quickly, setting down a piece of white paper. There - drawn with a blue crayon - is a sketch of the shadow monster.

"This shape, I saw it on the video tape from Halloween night. It's the same shape as… as your drawing. Veronica, is this what you saw?" She gives me a gentle look and I nod, mouth moving wordlessly. She nods. "These episodes you're both having, I think Dr. Owens is wrong. I think they're real. But… but I can't help you if I don't know what's going on." She directs towards her son, who looks away in fear. "So you have to talk to me. Please. No more secrets, okay?" He nods. "Okay." She whispers back, voice shaking. "Did… did you see this thing again on the field?"

"Yes." He mutters, barely making eye-contact with his mom.

"The Shadow Monster? Is that what it is?"

"I don't know." He tearfully responds. "I guess? But it's almost more like a feeling. T-to me." He stammers.

"Like the one you had that night at the arcade?" Joyce asks.

He looks off into space, briefly, before nodding and looking at her. "Yes."

"Do… do either of you know what it wants?" She asks us.

"N-not me. I know it doesn't want me." I tell her, looking directly into her chocolate-brown eyes. "It's terrifying, though."

"It came for me." Joyce and I turn to Will, his eyes wet. "And… and I tried. T-tried to make it go away. But it got me mom!" He cries out, Joyce nodding behind the hand covering her mouth.

"Well, what does that mean?" She asks, removing her hand from her mouth.

"I felt it… everywhere. Everywhere. Like… like Veronica. But… but I still feel it. Inside me. I just want this to be over!" He cries out, detaching his hand from mine so he can wrap his arms around his mother.

"It's okay. It's okay. Hey." She tries to comfort him, sending me a look to match her voice. She pulls back a bit and cups her son's face as he sniffles. "Listen. Look, look at me. I will never, ever let anything bad happen to you ever again. Either one of you." She smiles at me. "Whatever's going on in you, we're gonna fix it. I will fix it." Joyce promises. "I promise. I'm here." She holds her son closer and I nod, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Joyce asks, giving me a concerned look.

"I, uh. I left my car at Cornwallis."

"You shouldn't be going -"

"Joyce, this thing isn't after me. It had the perfect opportunity to hurt me, but it didn't." She shakes her head.

"Okay. Alright. But the minute something happens, you come here, okay? Or you call Hop."

"Alright." Vaguely, I wonder if I should suggest telling Jonathan what happened, but then I realize I don't actually know where he is. Where he or Nancy are. What they're in the middle of.

God, was it only a few hours ago that they decided to go on their "Exposition Mission"?

"Sweetheart, if you're thinking about Jonathan… I'll tell him about Will, okay? It'll be better, coming from us. You know how he can get." I nod at her words. "But you should tell him about yours. He should know. Does he know about the others."

I shake my head. "No. No, the only people who know are you, Will, Hop, Dustin, and Nancy."

"Why haven't you -"

"I didn't want to scare him. Don't want him to worry more. And I thought… I really hoped it was just PTSD. Not this shit."

Joyce snorts and nods, her smile sad. "Okay. Okay, dear. The minute it gets worse though -"

"I'll call. Promise. Um, I'll stop by tomorrow. After school. Maybe we can all explain it to Jonathan."

"That's fine. Of course. Please, get home safe. Call me when you get there, okay?"

"Okay." I promise, then wrap her in a hug. "Thank you."

With that I'm walking away, no less heavier than I was before.

I didn't sleep. At all. I couldn't. I mean, nothing went wrong when I went to get my car. It was still there. I drove home without another episode. My mom fussed over my wounds, but when I explained - in way less detail - what had happened she simply gave me a few kisses around my face and made me promise to be more careful. Dustin was quieter than usual, but shakily explained to me as we were getting ready for bed that he'd seen Will, when he was having his episode.

So, because I do this now, I lie and say nothing happened to me. He believes, or maybe he wants to believe me.

As soon as the sun begins to rise, I slip out of bed, decision made after hours of staring up at the ceiling. I grab my camping bag from the back of my closet and pack what I'll need, toiletries and a roll of toilet paper included. I can spend the night at the Byers house, and the next I'll stay in Castle Byers, so I only pack up my thicker sleeping bag. Double-checking I have my survival kit I zip everything up, throwing it on my bed. Next, I open my duffle and remove my practice arrows, compiling my hunting ones instead and tossing in my small whetstone. I toss in Jonathan's old hunting knife for good measure.

I change into my baggy jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. With a heavy sigh I pull on my old hunting jacket - my dad's old one, so it dwarfs me. I slip on my hunting boots and quietly take care of business in the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush on the way out. The last thing I do is change my bandages, confused at the fact my blisters have already begun to scab over, and the now olive-green bruising. The rapidness of my wounds' healing takes me back to the year before, when I'd recovered from my injuries faster than doctors deemed possible. Just how much was my DNA changed?

It isn't until I'm marching down the hall that I remember Billy's picking me up, which means no Millenium Falcon. Shit.
Okay, alright. I can ask my mom to just drop off my stuff on the porch of the Byers house. I've done it enough times that Joyce won't say anything. In fact, she knows me so well, she'll probably figure out my plan as soon as she sees my gear.

"What's all this?" My mom asks, my brother quickly chowing down on his eggs and bacon.

"Twihp?" He asks, mouth bulging. I'm so used to it I don't even flinch.

"I decided to go camping. Tonight through Sunday, and I'll be back that night. Is that okay?"

My mom doesn't say anything. She simply drops the pan in the sink and rushes over to me, pulling me into a crushing hug. I hug her back, more than a little confused. When we separate, she wipes away unshed tears. "I'm just so happy! You… you're going camping!"

I nod, then think it over. Oh. It's been over a year. Oh. "Yeah. I just… I'm tired of being afraid." Is the answer I finally settle on. She nods, all proud. "But, um, could you maybe drop these off at the Byers house? Just on the porch?"

"Aren't you driving?" She questions, but Dustin swallows his food and responds before I can.

"She's probably going to school with her boyfriend!"

My mom raises an eyebrow, and I run my hand through my messy curls. "Yeah. I am. But his car's pretty small, so there's no room for my stuff." I give her a pleading look, and she sighs.

"Oh, fine. Of course. Do you want some food, or -"

Before she can finish, the doorbell rings. I point at it. "Billy. I think."

"Okay. Here, for the road!" She tosses me an apple and I easily catch it, reshouldering my backpack. Pocketing my house keys, kissing my mom's cheek, and ruffling my brother's hair I sluggishly walk towards the front door and open it.

Billy's leaning against the wall, and he stands taller when he sees me. "What's with the look, Rambo?" He questions. I tiredly snort.

"I'm camping. After school."

"Without me?" He asks as I close the door behind me and let him throw his arm around me.

"Have you even been camping before, California?" I question as we walk to the Camaro.

"No. But I'm sure it's easy… and we'll be all alone in the woods. You'll keep me safe, right?" He purrs, and I snort again.

"Cool it, bad boy."

"And what the fuck happened to your hands?" He growls out. I shrug.

"I was a little too focused at the range. I'm okay, promise." I kiss his cheek, and he dimples at me.

"Alright. Where's all your stuff, then?" He asks as he opens the passenger door.

"My mom's driving it to Jonathan's house. There's a lot, so." I shrug. "And why are you so early?"

"We lost something that belongs to Mr. Clarke." Max answers, and I jump a bit in my seat. "And I promised the boys I'd help find it. Where's your brother?"

"Getting ready. He's biking. I'm sure he'll be there." I promise the redhead, who only huffs and sits back in her seat.

"Hey, shithead, don't be a bitch to my girl." Billy warns. I roll my eyes and slap his shoulder.

"Jesus, Billy. She wasn't being a bitch. And I don't need you defending me from a 13-year-old girl." He huffs, all offended, until I lean forward and tug the collar of his jean jacket. Our lips meet, a struggle for dominance. I let him win, knowing he needs his ego stroked a bit. We part. "You heard Max. She's got shit to do. Step on it, Hargrove."

"Don't tell me what to do." He still starts the engine, though, and I turn my head to send a wink to Max. She gives me a small smile before frowning once more, glaring out the window.

I try not to doze off in the car, pinching my leg every now and then. "Baby girl, did you even sleep last night?" Billy asks, all quiet.

"Nope." Is my simple answer. He doesn't question further, just moves one hand onto my thigh to squeeze it.

When we get to the school I'm shooting out of the car, moving the seat up so Max can get out. With a fist-bump she's riding towards school, and I close the car door.

Billy walks around to stand behind me, turning me so my back is propped up against the passenger side. "Veronica, are you sure you're okay?"

"Mmhmm. I'll take a nap during break. And maybe during math - you know that shit puts me to sleep." Billy snorts and nods, pressing his lips to my neck. When he straightens though, he has a twisted smile. I turn my head to follow his gaze, and see a dejected Steve sitting on the hood of his Beemer, the most alone he's been in a year. I want to go over and talk to him, hold him, reassure him.

But that's not my place. Even with Nancy and him being over - I'm sure they're over - I'm not who he needs.

I have Billy, though, and we want each other. Which means more. Right?
"That's just depressing." My boyfriend mutters, and my mind flashes back to a year before, when Steve had said the same thing about Jonathan as my best friend was hanging up missing fliers. "He's gonna be like that during practice. It's not fun winning if the competition sucks."

I nod. "Should I -"

"No. He was a dick to you, Jett." Billy reminds me, finger hooked under my chin so I look up at him. "You said you didn't forgive him. He doesn't deserve your care, not after the shit he pulled. Okay? Harrington's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

I nod. "Yeah, you're right. Walk me to my locker?"

"Always." Billy winks at me, pulling me into a deep kiss before dragging me towards the school. As we pass Steve, he puts his hand on my ass, and for the first time in our relationship a blizzard forms in my stomach. But then, as if apologizing, Billy removes his hand and kisses my forehead, the lightest kiss he's given me yet.

I let it go, far too tired to make a fuss. There are worse things on my mind than possessive boyfriends.

3rd Person POV (Steve)...

Steve stepped under the warm spray, washing off the bullshit of the day. He managed to ignore Nancy, knowing her schedule so well he could dodge her usual routes. He had to watch his best friend get whisked into the school by her possessive jackass of a boyfriend, that same asshole wiping the floor with him at practice.

Seriously, Hargrove's a dick. And Steve has no idea what Veronica sees in him, because she deserves better than some mullet-wearing asshole.

"Plant your feet. Draw a charge." Bitch.

Steve raises his head under the spray, washing away his sweat. The shower next to him turns on, and he groans when his companion speaks, sniffling a bit first. "Don't sweat it, Harrington. Today's just not your day, man."

Another shower turns on, Tommy joining in. Steve rolls his eyes a bit, Billy shutting off his shower in the meantime and starting to towel off. "Yeah. Not your week." Steve lathers on some soap, wishing he'd just gone home and washed off. He still doesn't know how he managed to be friends with Tommy for so long. "You and the Princess break up for one day, and she's already running off with the freak's brother." Steve stops rubbing soap on himself, eyebrows furrowed a bit as he looks at Tommy. His ex-best friend looks too smug, his freckled face begging to be punched out. "Oh, shit. You don't know. Jonathan and the Princess skipped yesterday. Still haven't shown. I mean, our Ice Queen left early too, but she's got class. Ain't that right, Hargrove?"

Steve chances a quick look at his best friend's boyfriend, who looks just as smug as Tommy. "What can I say? My girl's got standards."

Clearly not. She's dating you.

"But Princess and Byers, that must just be a coincidence, right?" Tommy leans an arm against the shower post. He laughs, loud and obnoxious, before shutting off his water and strutting across the room to his towel.

With a sigh Steve runs shampoo through his thick hair, wishing it was Veronica running her hands through his locks. That he was with her.

"Don't take it too hard, man. A pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about. Plenty of bitches in the sea." Billy steps closer and turns off Steve's shower, nice and slow. Steve tilts his head back to avoid shampoo getting in his eyes, then turns his head to stare down at the - thankfully - shorter male. "Am I right?" Billy asks, all smug. Tommy and the other boys walk off to go change. "I'm sure someone will leave you some." Hargrove steps even closer, flaring his nostrils a bit and voice low and burning. "But not Veronica. She's mine. That just kills you, right? Huh, Harrington? That I'm the one who gets to touch her. Feel her. Take care of her. She's never going to be yours. See, you spent so much time trying with Wheeler that you let the real prize slip away. And I won her. She's mine."

Steve's stomach flares with anger, a monster inside him trying to claw its way out. "Veronica's not a prize, Hargrove. She's not someone you win. And she's not someone you own."

Hargrove only snorts and steps back, giving Steve more space. "Maybe not. But she still chose me. Me, over the great King Steve. You have a nice weekend." With a slap on Steve's shoulder Billy struts away.

Steve watches him go, and with a smack to the handle of the shower tries to wash away his burning rage.

Veronica's POV…

While not happy about the fact I'd be camping from today until Sunday ("It's Friday, baby girl!"/"Well, I'll be back by 7. Pick me up at 9?"/"Alright. 9 on the dot.") Billy left me for his car, hair still wet after his shower post-practice.

I simply shoulder my backpack and walk up to the school, waiting by the bikes. I'm small enough one of these twerps will take me with them, and hopefully one is going to visit Will.

I'm not waiting too long. Mike comes up to me, worry all over his face. "What happened to you?"

"Long story." I mutter. "You going to Will's?"

"Why would I be -"

"He wasn't going to school today. Not after the episode he had." I explain.

Mike stares at me, mouth open. "How did you know about that?"

"Because I've been having episodes, too."

"You have 'True Sight', too?" Mike asks, leaning forward to whisper it. I shrug.

"Sure. Whatever that means."

"It means you can see through the ethereal plane. See both the Upside Down and the normal world." I suck in a breath. "So you do have it?"

"Yeah. I do. I think. Sort of."

He nods at my indecisive confirmation, then pulls his bike out of the rack and slides forward. "Hop on, then, Huntress. I guess we've got some shit to take care of."

I laugh at his language but climb on behind him, letting the taller but younger boy carefully bike us to the Byers house.

We ride in silence, not even saying a word to each other when we get off the bike and walk up the steps of the porch. I smile when I see my gear next to the front door. "You're going into the woods?" Mike carefully asks me.

I nod up at him. "Yeah. It's time for me to be 'Huntress' again."

Mike just nods, then begins to pound on the door. "Hello?" He shouts. "Will? Mrs. Byers?"

The door unlocks, Joyce peering around the slightly-open door. She sees me, briefly, giving me a slight nod before focusing on Mike.

"Oh, you gave Veronica a ride? That's so sweet. Should I call your mom and tell her you're -"

"Is Will here?" He interrupts.

Joyce steps outside, closing the door behind her just a bit. "No-now is not really a good time."

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, you know, he's just not feeling real well. He's laying down. So I'll let him you stopped by, okay?"

"Joyce." I cut in, leaning on the wall next to the door. "Let him stay."

"What? I -"

"It's about the shadow monster, isn't it?" Mike asks, and Joyce turns to look at him, confusion and shock written all over her face.

She turns to me and I nod. "Come in. Both of you."

With a heavy sigh I wrap my arm around Mike's shoulders, happy Will isn't going to be without one of his best friends. Not when he needs him the most.