Here's chapter 5, I hope you enjoy. I do not own Stranger Things
Sorry for the short chapter, it just felt right to end it there.
Eddie
Eddie was dead to the world that morning, the night before had been a long one at Hellfire. His three new minions had drastically thrown the entire party off course from what he'd planned. So instead of being able to introduce all of his well thought out, meticulously laid plans; the little gremlins had gone in literally the complete opposite direction. So he'd been flying by the seat of his pants mentally for the better part of 6 hours. The little shits had ended the night with huge smiles on their faces, high fiving over killing a goblin hoard he'd haphazardly thrown at them. They'd also informed him that their fourth little gremlin was due back in just two weeks. He had no fucking doubts that he'd be just as derailing as the rest of them. A sound broke him from his sleep, the door opening and slamming on the hinges, followed by Odette's soft cursing. He glared at the clock on his bedside table. 8:37 am
He groaned and sat up on the bed, eyeing the door he'd left open. Had she gone to get the mail this fucking early or something. He was thinking about just laying back down when she came into view, she was in the clothes he'd seen her in yesterday although much more rumpled. He blinked blearily at her, her hair was in knots and was so frizzed it was double it's usual volume. As she pushed open her bedroom door her he saw that her make up was still on her face, although considerably more smudged. "Detta?" He called, his sleep filled voice scaring her.
"What?" She looks into his bedroom and fidgets with her purse idly, a tic he'd picked up on when she was nervous.
"Whatcha doin?"
"Just coming in from Robin's" She calls, heading into her room and shutting the door behind her. Eddie groans and flops back down onto the bed tiredly, not bothering to close his door.
Steve
He sighed, leaning against the counter boredly as he gazed into the emptiness of Scoops in the morning. "Hey dingus. Looking for Odette?" Robin asks as she comes in late, rushing to clock in in the back.
"I don't think she's working today." He shrugs, going to his nonexistent people watch. She comes back a moment later, her hat askew on her head as she catches her breath. "So you two still going out?"
"Yep. We went to the lake last night" Steve allows a smile to come up to his lips "She's...she's great." He rubs at the stubble on his chin, not having had a chance to shave that morning before he'd scrambled to the mall to open scoops.
"I don't need to hear all the icky details man" Robin scoffs, tapping absent mindedly on the showcase glass with her fingernails. They stand there for a while in comfortable silence, her nails clicking every so often. "So how has your dating life been lately?" Steve asks finally, realizing he didn't talk to her much about her own dating life. Suddenly feeling a little selfish.
"Dead" She shrugs, chewing at her gum boredly
"Oh...really?" He looks back at her over his shoulder "I mean...you're pretty..."
"And?" Her tone is gaining more sass now as she speaks
"I don't know...guys flirt with you...are they just like-"
"They're not my type Steve." Her voice is sharp as she answers, jutting her chin out as she spoke his name aggressively. "Can we drop it?"
Steve nodded, grimacing at the now tenseness in the air. "Sorry..."
She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring out into the mall at large. "Why do they even need us here this early?!"
He let his chin rest on his hand "No clue." They stood there in the tense silence for what felt like an hour but thankfully was broken by his kids running into the shop. "I'm not renting another movie for you shit heads."
Mike rolled his eyes as Lucas and Will argued in whispers behind him. "We didn't come for that Harrington."
Steve looked at his watch skeptically "No movies are on at this hour"
"We know!" Lucas said, turning from his whispered conversation with Will to glare at the older boy. "Then what do you want?!"
Will gives Lucas's shoulder a little shove with a grimace that just screamed Just do it. Lucas rolled his eyes and shot them both glares before turning to the older boy with a grin "So...we need a ride somewhere."
Steve looks at the three, clearly unamused. "And?...I'm kinda at work boys"
Lucas tries not to lose his confident smile "You could take us after work..."
Steve pinches the bridge of his nose "Ok...why can't you ride your bikes there?"
"It's too far! It's in the next town over and Will's mom will have a cow." Mike pipes up, his arms crossing as he leans against the ice cream display counter. "We need new minis for Hellfire and they've got a bunch."
Steve sighs tiredly "And how do you guys even know about this magical store in the next town?"
"Eddie told us" Will smiles, he knew he was the sweetest of the bunch and after Dustin, he was probably the favorite. Steve looks at them all with the air of an exasperated mother before nodding with a yawn. "Fine."
Lucas grins and high fives Mike while Will steps up closer to the counter. "You ok?" he asks Steve quietly "You look tired..."
"He had a late night at the lake with the new lady friend." Robin smirks from her place leaning against the back counter now, hopping up to sit there with the smug smile plastered firmly on her lips.
"Girlfriend now. It's official" Steve gives himself a small proud smile as Will slaps his arm playfully "That's nice Steve"
"Wasn't it a little cold for swimming last night?" Mike asks with a smirk
"Shut it. Steve Harrington doesn't kiss and tell." Steve rolls his eyes as Mike and Lucas snicker behind their hands but doesn't have a chance to go all mom on them when another voice pushes it's way into the chaos in front of the register.
"I hope not. He'd have a lot to tell." Odette smiles as she walks past the boys who all seemed to recognize her from the time they'd caught her and Steve locking lips over the counter. Today she looked a little different, she'd forgone her usual flowy skirts and off the shoulder shirts for a pair of worn out jean shorts, a dark purple bikini top, and a white sweater over top of it. She had her fluffy dark hair in a high ponytail, showing off her long neck and the feather earrings once again. She holds up a jacket he'd lent her sheepishly "Sorry I've been forgetting to give this back to you Stevie" She walks past the boys and leans over to hand over the jacket and brush Steve's lips with her own.
"Going swimming again? Last night wasn't enough?" Steve teases, his eyes solely focused on the odd girl in front of him.
"I got a taste for it and I heard that Hawkins actually does have a pool, so my Uncle lent me the truck for the day to do as I please...so these are the kids you've been telling me about?"
"He's got more apparently too!" Robin chimes in snarkily
Odette giggles and pulls herself so she's sitting on the counter by the register and facing the three boys. "So...I'm going to guess...Lucas...Mike...and Will?" She points to each of the boys respectively but as her gaze lands on Will she stills ever so slightly. Her face is completely blank for a split second, just her wide blue eyes meeting his owlish brown ones. Steve is about to say something when she simply smiles at the boy before turning back to Steve. "So what were we talking about?"
"You two getting steamy at the lake" Mike smirks and she gives the boy a stern look, but before Steve can interject angrily she rolls her eyes "More like you were speculating. I heard Steve say nothing about our date." She puts her hand on his as she leans back into him. "So what are you boys doing here so early, need sugar to get through the day?"
Steve let one of his hands creep around her waist and rubbed his thumb over the exposed skin of her stomach, not really listening as the three younger teens explained their predicament.
"Oh that's really sweet of you to take them Steve" She looks over her shoulder at him and meets his lips with hers for just a second before she turns back to the three. She didn't miss the scoffing of not only two of the boys (Mike and Lucas) but Robin's from behind Steve. "So do you boys have anything else planned for the day?" She asks conversationally, not loving the fact that two of his friends were scoffing at her behavior.
"We were probably going to just hang out till Steve's off work" Will says with a shrug and she looks at Steve then back to them. "really? That's like another five hours"
"We don't feel like biking home." Mike shrugs with a sour look on his face.
"Why don't you three come to the pool with me? I don't mind driving you and the bikes can go in the back of the truck." The hand around her middle tightens slightly as Steve pulls her closer "You don't have to do that Odette-"
"What kind of person would just leave three kids to wander a mall for five hours with nothing to do? That's just cruel." She looks at the three with a grin "Want to?"
The three exchanged looks but agreed a second later, all clammering that they'd need to get their swim suits from their houses. Steve smiled ever so slightly as she giddily told them to go get their bikes and she'd meet them at the entrance. The three set off, leaving Steve, Robin and Odette alone at the counter.
"You really don't have to-" Steve started but she waved him off, hopping down from the counter with a smile. "I'm not going to miss a chance to 1. Make a good impression on the kids my boyfriend won't shut up about, and 2. Ask them about embarrassing stories about you!" She grinned cheekily at him before kissing his cheek and following the boys out of the store.
"I don't know how you do it dingus" Robin mumbled, her arms still crossed over her chest.
"What?"
"You not only got a girlfriend that'll put up with your weird kid friends...she adopted them."
Later at the pool
Odette laid on a lounge chair, reading a worn out copy of Carrie by Stephen King as the three boys enjoyed themselves in the pool. Every so often she'd look up to make sure all three were still there, she'd gotten an odd feeling the moment she'd stepped foot into the local pool but thought it was maybe that she didn't know anyone. She turned back to her book, the sun heating her pale skin although she was sure it had no chance of getting through the thick sunblock she'd put on to protect her skin. The smell of chlorine was thick in the air, the humid wind pushing it straight into her face. Despite her sunglasses she found herself squinting to see her book with the sun still streamng over her form...until it wasn't. The sun was suddenly blocked out after a moment and despite the heat still present in her skin she felt goosebumps rise, cold filled her heart and she looked up to find the source. A tall, tanned, muscular man stood in front of her, his aviator sunglasses perched on his golden curls and his whistle hanging from his neck on a red string.
"Hey there...not sure I've seen you around here." He grinned, his white teeth glinting down at her although the smile was predatory. She sat up, dropping her book to the concrete beneath the chair. "Hi"
"I'm Billy Hargrove...you're new aren't you?" He's giving her what he must think is a very seductive smirk, she can tell by the eyes of all the women around her that it certainly should be. But she shivers at the sight of it. Odette nods, not knowing what to say. She moves to get up but stumbles, her foot getting stuck in the bands across the frame of the chair. She almost falls forward but Billy catches her with ease, but she wished he'd have just let her fall. She's no longer standing on the side of a pool filled with excited children, teens and adults. Blue water sparkling beneath the summer sun.
Instead she stood in the center of a dark red wasteland. The sky was dark and foreboding above her, the air filled with the scent of decay and rotten flesh. She would have gagged if it weren't for what she could see before her. It was a beast; no eyes, no nose...no ears...just a gaping mouth filled with long, jagged teeth. It's flesh was pink and gooey, as though it's skin had been ripped from it but it could still live. She opened her mouth to scream but couldn't. Instead she could hear Billy's voice next to her; low and panicked. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck " He whispered, she turned her head to find him held, wrapped in thick black vines that rooted him to the spot before the beast. "Help me" His eyes meet hers, they're wide and terrified as she gets sucked out of the world, falling forward and finding herself in the other Billy's embrace. She gasps and pulls her foot from the chair and rights herself, not looking at the taller man.
"You ok darlin?"
"I'm fine. Thank you so much" She says quickly, she stoops to grab her sweater and her book when she realizes he's still standing there. "You busy tonight?" He asks with a smirk, attempting to seductively place a stick of gum between his lips. All she could see was the gaping maw that had flashed before her. "I am actually. Thank you though. I actually think I'm running late. My mother's going to kill me" She says, completely avoiding his gaze. "Boys! We need to go!" Her shout to the three boys who had worked their way over to the edge of the pool when they saw Billy approaching her.
"Why?" Mike asks loudly but shuts his mouth when Lucas punches his shoulder, looking pointedly at the boy who'd threatened to kill him not so very long ago.
"I totally forgot my mother asked me to help with this charity bake sale she's doing. I'll drop you guys off at home ok?" She picks up all of her things as the boys make their way out of the pool and to their towels. "Well can I get your name at least before you go running off hot stuff?"
She turns back to Billy reluctantly, "I'm Odette" She says quietly, she didn't think the boys could even hear her "Odette Munson"
She manages to usher the three boys out of the pool, all the while feeling the predatory gaze on her back. When they all pile into the truck she doesn't hold back anymore and begins to sob, her forehead against the steering wheel. Lucas who's sat next to her looks back at the boys shoved in the back seat before giving her back a tentative pat "Did he say something-"
"No." She whispers, shock taking over her whole body and beginning to shake. "No he didn't...not him." She takes another few moments, ignoring the questioning of the boys in the car. She wipes her running eyes on her sweater as Mike finally pesters her loud enough to gain her attention back "What the fuck is going on?!"
"Language." She mutters on instinct. "I...you won't believe me" She puts the truck into gear and begins to drive, she doesn't know where but she needed to be moving she'd decided. "I don't need Steve's friends thinking I'm nuts..." She's more or less speaking to herself at this point but the three boys exchange worried looks "Did you see something?" Will asks quietly, she almost hadn't heard him.
She slams her foot on the break and turns to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"She definitely did" Lucas groans. "I thought we shut the gate!" He thumps his fist on the dashboard, Odette flinched at the noise but didn't move her eyes from Will's "What are you talking about?"
"Not here. We can go to my house...we'll explain" Will says, earning nods from the other two. "We can't do it out here...too many people don't know." She lets out a shuddering breath "Lucas get in the back. Will, take shotgun and get me to your house."
She was shaking again, she sat on the Byer's couch nervously bouncing her legs and playing with her hair. Alternate dimensions...monsters...girls with super powers...she let out a long slow breath.
"You ok?" Will asked her
"You got...you got taken?" She whispers, meeting his soft brown eyes for the first time since their tale had begun. He nods solemnly "Yeah...I was there for days...it was the worst...and then it still...it had it's claws in me after I left even."
She nods and springs up from the couch, beginning to pace "I can't...That guy's been taken then...its got its claws in him. And it's planning something" She's no longer really thinking about the boys in the room as she thinks aloud.
"We need to call Steve"
"Nope. No. NO" She says, getting more intense as she speaks. "He can't know"
Lucas looks at her incredulously "He knows about everything else."
"He can't know that I saw something!" She whispers, almost begging the younger boys who all look confused.
She begins to bite at her nails nervously "Why is that an issue?" Will asks, almost gently from his seat on the floor opposite where she'd been sitting.
"He'll ask how I saw it" She sits back on the couch tearfully, feeling like a complete idiot. Lucas nudges her shoulder with his own awkwardly "Well we gotta know now..."
She takes a deep breath and looks at Will "Magic"