Here's chapter 11, hope you enjoy! I do not own Stranger Things
"I'm fine" Odette's exasperated voice carried down the hall from the bathroom as she tried to assure her older brother of it. Hearing his muffled arguing even through the door. Steve leaned on the counter, keeping an eye on Will who's nose bleed had thankfully subsided but he'd gone awfully quiet. Steve was burning to ask what they'd seen...other than the last person in the coven was Billy himself...however, he knew digging would only stress the younger boy. So he kept his mouth shut, trying not to relive the last 20 minutes over again and failing.
He'd been standing on the sidelines, outside of the circle with Eddie, Mike, Lucas, and Madame. She'd started to circle the group, looking at each of them closely as they chanted with their hands joined. Steve and Eddie kept their eyes glued to the two sitting in the middle on the floor, Odette had one hand facing the ceiling, the rock seeming to glow softly before her eyes snapped open, reaching out to hand Madame the stone as she passed. Informing her of El's whereabouts before she closed her eyes again, picking up the other white stone. It was a longer wait this time, Mike and Lucas had begun to pace so Steve had sent them outside, promising to call them if anything happened.
Odette and Will were so still he'd have mistaken them for statues sitting there in the center of the rings of salt...had it not been for the soft puffs of breath that Odette had been releasing and how Will's free hand would flex ever so slightly when he felt her breath his his cheeks. Finally she opened her eyes, whispering "it's Robin" and he cursed "Shit" realizing that he'd not been in to work today and he hadn't even called. He left the room, intending to call as he did but when he got to the kitchen where the phone hung on the wall when he heard Eddie gasp. He ran down the hallway, skidding on the slick floor and slamming into the doorway to the living room. Madame was standing in front of Eddie, telling him it was normal...Steve peaked past her and would later swear that his heart had stopped. Odette and Will had frozen in place on the floor, Will's nose bleeding heavily with no reaction from him. Their joined hands were clutched so tightly that both of their knuckles were white. Steve looked to Odette's face, partially obscured by her hair and saw that her nose had just barely begun to bleed, slowly dripping down her pale lip.
"It's a lot of work on the body for them, it is a natural reaction-" Madame's voice was soothing, but it couldn't stop the panic that erupted a second later when the both of them flinched harshly, still holding their joined hands firmly, but Odette's face was no longer passive, she looked like she was in pain. He let his gaze go back to their hands and he could see harsh red marks appearing around her wrist. They both flinched again and Odette was now bleeding more heavily from her nose...he felt Madame grip his shoulder but her words were lost to him as they flinched again, bloody tears beginning to seep out from underneath Odette's black lashes.
"Detta! Get the fuck off of me-" Eddie had begun to shout at Madame when the two teens jolted one final time, opening their eyes with twin gasps. Steve rushed forward, Eddie right behind him. Their feet broke through the salt line and they pushed past the women still surrounding the two. Steve got to Will first, pulling him up and inspecting his face. His nosebleed was pretty bad, dribbling blood onto his white and green striped shirt. He pulled Will to the kitchen, Eddie following close behind him with Odette who was mumbling for him to not worry. "-M fine Eds" She says quietly, Steve pushed Will into the kitchen and sat him down on a dining chair as he got a damp cloth to clean him up. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Eddie push Odette into the bathroom and shutting the door.
Steve sighed and looked over to Will who now sat at the counter playing with his coke that Steve had handed him. He wasn't sure if it would help or anything...but it made him feel better to give the kid something. Will gave him a weak smile, the blood still glistening on his shirt from the nose bleed. "What happened?" Steve whispered
"It was Billy...but not Billy...some guy using his body...he said to call him Peter...and he kept calling her 'Little Mouse'...he...he held us there...we couldn't get out for a minute...I think that's why she started crying." He swallowed nervously and eyed the bathroom where the muffled arguing had continued "She was really scared Steve."
"Eddie I am fine. Quit worrying!" Odette had cleaned off her cheeks and chin from her ordeal, no longer looking at her brother as he fumbled with the now blood stained towel in his fingers.
"Your eyes were bleeding Detta! Don't you realize how fucked up that is?!" Eddie looked at her incredulously from his seat on the toilet lid.
"It's not that bad! There's way worse stuff on the covers of your albums...Ozzy Osborne would have thought it was very metal" She tried to grin at him but was met with stony anger on his face.
"Do not bring Ozzy into this! That's cover art Detta! Pictures and make up! Not actual blood coming from their eyes!"
"It's not because of the spell, it's because it was...it was a lot of power being used and my body isn't used to it...I don't do the heavy duty stuff a lot Eddie." Her voice felt small as she said it. She didn't want to scare Eddie...but she had to be honest with him now. He was already hurt that she'd never told him about this stuff...it would be worse if she continued to lie. "I promise I'm ok Eddie, I'll take it as easy as I can for the rest of the day." She lays the damp cloth she'd been cleaning her face with on the counter an turned to her older brother "Cross my heart" He nodded, still stony faced. "I just worry Detta"
"Maybe you can worry about other things?" She asks, opening the door to the bathroom slowly "Like what?" she stops, pondering the question "Like how you'll have to act when Steve comes over for dinner with Uncle Wayne"
He shoots up from the toilet seat, bloody towel dropping to the floor. "You're going to tell Uncle Wayne about him?"
"He already knows I've been seeing someone...just not who. He told me that after I told you I'd have to invite him over for dinner so he'd know I've got two men willing to kick his ass over me." She smirks a little "So after all this" She gestures to the bloody towels "Is over...I'm going to have to invite Steve to ours for dinner." She grins at his shocked expression and waltzes out the door...almost forgetting the whisper in her ear from this Peter person.
"Harrington...at our place for dinner? Do you want to scare him off?" Eddie's almost laughing as he asks this
She stiffens "Don't. Ok? He knows where we live. And he doesn't care" Odette whispers, looking straight ahead into the kitchen where she could see Will and Steve talking amongst themselves, they hadn't seen her yet. "So be nice unless Steve actually does something wrong." She lets out another breath and walks into the kitchen, sidling up to Steve with a shy smile "Hey...sorry if we scared you there."
"I didn't love it...but we found out who the rest of the witches in Hawkins are...so...worth it? Maybe?" He doesn't look like he quite believes it but she nods laying her head tiredly on Steve's shoulder, barely looking up when Mike and Lucas re-entered the house. "How'd it go?...We heard shouting" Lucas confessed, looking at her and Will nervously.
"We're ok...just a little overwhelming. We found the others...Billy is one...El was a little obvious...and Robin" She smiles contentedly as Steve wraps a warm arm around her shoulders.
Mike looks at her oddly "The chick from the ice cream shop?"
She nods, feeling herself melt a little into Steve's embrace. The phone rings, startling them all but Mike grabs the phone before anyone else could and answers it. "Hello? Nope this is Mike...why are you calling?...He's here...where are you?...Ok don't move, we'll come get you ASAP...not really...we'll be there soon. Meet us outside the main entrance." Mike hangs up the phone and looks at Steve expectantly "We need to get Dustin, he's at the mall."
Steve nodded, letting go of Odette and moving to grab his keys from the counter. "Should we really bring him here with all of this happening?!" She whispers suddenly
"He knows about all the upside down stuff Odette...and he's probably smarter than half of us anyway." She still looks skeptical "Trust me, he'll be more excited than these three put together! Come on, magic users? He'll go nuts" She lets a very small smile creep onto her face and he takes it as a sign. "I better go pick him up though...should we get Robin while we're at it?"
"No...No not right now. She's at work and she'll already be pissed at you. So we'll get her after work...we'll be able to explain everything."
"And until then?" Steve asks the room fell silent as they all seemed to wonder the same thing. "We find our others...and we ready ourselves for a fight." Madame's amber tone drifted lazily through the room "This...Peter will not release the boy easily." Steve turns to find himself facing the taller woman, she was spinning one of her rings around her finger almost anxiously, but her calm face told him it was more...irritation. "So go get your...other child Mr. Harrington. And if you'll allow us, we'll begin preparing to banish this Peter" Steve shivered at the way she'd spoken the name. Like her malice for him dripped from the word itself.
"Uh...what does that mean?"
"We'll be building a small fire in your back yard, nothing that will not be fixed before your parents return. Now...is there anyone that is close to this Billy?" Steve was too caught up in how her accent spoke Billy's name, making the asshole sound almost elegant.
"He has a step sister!" Mike pipes up, looking around the room for someone to back him up "She's probably as close as we'll get." Madame nods thoughtfully, still spinning the gold ring, flashing the light cast on it's jewel around the room over and over. "Bring her here...We'll get Billy."
Steve does an almost double take at the at her, "Ma'am I'm not sure-"
"Don't worry your head dear, just get the children, and bring them here safely." She flexed her fingers, the joints cracking a little as she did. "Odette, Ma chère, Penny des vêtements à te prêter." Odette nodded, leaning up and kissing Steve on the cheek "Good luck explaining all this to Dustin."
"Take the children and Eddie with you, if you don't mind." The glint in her amber eyes told him that even if he minded...he should still take them. "Except for Will of course...we have much to discuss." She smiles, her red lips parting ever so slightly to allow her white teeth to glint in the sunlit kitchen. "Thank you for your hospitality Mr. Harrington..."
It had taken an hour for Dustin to stop jabbering with the other two about magic, or at least an hour to stop ignoring the two older men in the front seat when it came to the topic. "So this new witch is your girlfriend?!"
"Yes." Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, they were all sitting in the tiny living room of the Munson trailer, Eddie had wanted to change back into his own clothes pretty bad, and since there were still witches taking over the Harrington household, they figured it would be good to give them some space.
Dustin looked back at the other too looking skeptical "A witch...all powerful chick...chose the guy who works at the ice cream store?"
Steve throws a pillow at him sourly "First off Dust! I've saved your asses more than once! So shut your pie hole! And second, she's not all powerful."
"She's more of a healer" Lucas supplies making Dustin's face light up a little more if that were possible "That's kick ass! Well...it kinda makes sense then" Dustin shrugs and Steve scoffs "What are you talking about?"
"Well...you're no stranger to getting into fights dude" Lucas shrugs noncommittally although he wouldn't meet Steve's gaze. "I do not!"
"Well there was the fight with Jonathan" Mike starts
"And Billy!"
"And that one time with Tommy Hagan-"
"Oh! AND last night!" Steve groans and leans back onto the couch, refusing to meet the gaze of any of them. "No matter how many fights I get into for you fuckers you never shut it!"
"What happened last night?!" Dustin looked at Steve, as though he was assessing him for damage. "Who'd you fight?"
"Technically he didn't fight back." Eddie piped up, re-entering the room now decked out in his usual metalhead gear. Dustin eyed him a little suspiciously "Why?"
Eddie's brown eyes slid over to Steve, smiling ever so slightly "I was being a little...protective. And Harrington there gave me a break...took the hits like a champ too" He turned to the fridge, rummaging around until he pulled out a beer. He cracked it open and took a long drink from it. "Harrington?"
"None for me." He eyed the younger boys around the room, before he allows them to rest on Eddie again. "I'll drive though." Eddie nodded, taking another long drink from the can. "It's like 1 in the afternoon-" Dustin starts with a snarky tinge to his tone. Eddie glowers at him "Give me a break kid, I've had a shocking 18 hours."
He slumps onto the couch beside Mike and rubs his brow "What...what's been happening?" Dustin asks Steve quietly
Mike smirks, "Well Steve's new squeeze-"
"HEY" Steve and Eddie chorused with annoyed looks towards the young teen. "Sorry, Steve's new sweetheart is Eddie, the metalhead D&D master's little sister" Steve sighs irritatedly and looked at Mike crossly. "Wouldn't know it to look at her though"
Eddie turned to Mike with a hard stare, "what's that supposed to mean?" Mike's smile falters ever so slightly "I mean..she doesn't look much like you..." Eddie narrows his eyes "She looks more like mom...minus the eyes." He takes another long drink of the beer "And if I hear any more on the topic then Mike the magnificent will be Mike the Mangled. Got it?"
Mike nods, the smile having dropped off his face. Dustin twiddles his thumbs for a second before asking "So...you play D&D?"
Eddie looks at him calculatingly "Yes. I'm the infamous DM for the Hellfire Club. We don't go easy kid" Steve tiredly crossed his arms and leaned his head back as the topic turned from his girlfriend to the illusive world of D&D. He'd listened to the talk of character building for what felt like forever and had almost fallen asleep when the handle of the trailer's door moved aggressively, someone yanking on the locked door. "OPEN THE DOOR EDDIE" A feminine voice shouted through the metal. Eddie had thrown himself off the couch and unlocked the door. It was yanked open hard, revealing a tanned blonde girl with a pixie cut in black leather pants, a raggedy black sabbath tank top, and silver feather earrings. She pushed past Eddie, closely followed by Penny wearing a similar getup. Suki clambered in after them wearing her normal flower powered style.
"Who the fuck-" Eddie started but the teen ran her hands through her hair, turning it dark and lengthening it until it reached her shoulderblades again. She closed her silver eyes and when they reopened they were blue speckled once more. Her skin paled as she let out a breath. "Fuck"
Steve couldn't help but smirk at Dustin's shocked face, eyes glued to the brunette in front of him. "Did she just-"
"Yep. That is my girlfriend Henderson" Steve runs his hand down the side of his jaw, eyes glued to Odette as she explained something in very soft French to the other two witches. Dustin drags his eyes away from her, as though he thought she'd morph into another person again. "How?"
Steve smirked a little "I'm hot, what can I say?" He looked back up at Odette to see her biting her nails worriedly "What happened?"
"We tried to lure Billy in...but Peter...he can see through glamours." Penny leaned against the fridge, her light colored eyes raking up and down the trailer as though she was hunting for something. "He saw right through Odette's spell...so instead of coming quietly with false promises...he got out of there like a bat out of hell." She looked to Suki who was nodding. "He shouldn't have been able to do that!"
"Well he did." Odette turned to the group at large "...Is this Dustin?"
Henderson nodded wordlessly, swallowing thickly. Odette grinned at him sweetly "Steve's told me so much about you! I'd love to hear all about how Camp Know Where some time!...just after we deal with all this" She gestures to the world around her vaguely around her "Mess"
Penny snaps her fingers suddenly "Bait. We need bait." The room looks at her oddly before she continues "Billy can see right through glamours, so he's not going to just waltz up to three witches-"
"And he knows Odette, Penny, and I are all prepared for whatever he has to throw!" Suki interjects
"But he's going to want someone with power." Odette sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose "We can't just throw a non-witch out there and hope he bites. That's why he's got Billy" Odette sets her jaw after a moment, her dark blue eyes blazing "Will and Eleven are off the table Penny. They're kids"
"What does she mean Will and Eleven?!" Dustin hisses quietly to Steve. "They're witches too" He whispers back, letting his eyes flit down to Dustin's briefly.
"Ok what about the other one...Birdy...Dovey some shit?"
"Robin and absolutely not! She'd be dead in the water!" Odette is turning a little pink "She doesn't know how to harness anything to protect herself Penny!" Odette turns to Steve "We'll think of another way to get Billy to Steve's house."
"Why are we kidnapping that asshat?" Dustin hisses to Steve again, having scooted over on the floor so his back was brushing Steve's knees. "He's possessed by something in the Upside Down. It said his name is Peter"
"That's a lame ass name."
""What do you suggest then Odette? We waste more time so he can go pick up this Robin chick from work?"
Odette's pink cheeks grow still pinker, Eddie standing up behind her "Hey hey, we'll figure something out. We'll keep the littles and the ladies safe. No worries." Penny focused her hard gaze on Eddie now. "Well thank you knight in shining god damned armor! He'll save you and me, and Billy, and the littles! Thank fuck" She pulls out a pack of cigarettes from her bag and lights one up. "You don't fucking get it Munson."
Odette glared at Penny "Don't talk to him like that. He doesn't-"
"He doesn't get it Odette!" Smoke billowed out of her mouth as she leaned closer to the shorter girl, getting inches from her face. "None of them will fucking get it."
"Penny, go outside and take a break." Suki pulled Penny back gently, guiding her a little forcefully towards the door. Odette clenches and unclenches her fists before storming down the hall "Detta!"
"She barges into her room and slams the door, the clicking of the lock behind her reverberating through the trailer. There was a crashing sound along with the sounds of things being moved inside of her small bedroom. Eddie had followed her down the hall and was now knocking on the door. "Detta, come out ok? We'll figure it out-"
"I'm getting dressed! Go away Eddie!" He stopped mid knock looking incredulous. "You're getting dressed?!"
"Yes!" Another thing slammed and thunked to the ground within her room. "Are you throwing a fit in there?!"
She didn't answer instead there was just more slamming. When the door finally opened she was wearing a bright white off the shoulder top with billowing sleeves and a pair of jeans. She shoved a towering stack of books into her brother's arms, muttering for him to put them in the living room. He did as he was told, grumbling to himself but the room could guess the topic. Only a moment after he'd set them down another stack of books came flying down the hallway and landed neatly next to his pile. "You couldn't have done that a second ago?!"
"I thought you needed something to do other than bother me!" She slammed her door shut behind her again, her expression thunderous as she rejoined the group. She flicked her wrist and everyone in the room was given a book "You're looking for anything to do with knocking someone out. Not killing. Not anything else. Just knocking them out. We'll go from there." She takes a deep breath and opens her own book, beginning to scan the first page. Lucas and Dustin both take their own books in their hands, looking ecstatic to be holding a real book about real magic. "Where's Will? And the rest of your coven?" Mike asks, thumbing the pages of his book but his eyes were glued to the older girl. She looked up from her page "Madame wanted to explain to Will's mother and Eleven's father about what they are...as well as meet Eleven." She bit her lip "The other girls went with them." She looked back down to the page, quickly becoming absorbed in what she was reading. The group all began to fumble through the pages, Steve looking mildly out of his depth with all the magic stuff mentioned in his. It didn't help that whenever he found something promising it would be dashed by the next sentence. He continued flipping through it slowly until he came upon something that intrigued him.
Heart's Desire
For thousands of years, souls have searched for their long missing partner, their other half to complete their lives and hearts. No longer doomed to trudge the forsaken lands of loneliness empty handed. Collect the petals of a forgotten rose, the ashes of a sprig of lavender, and three drops of your blood. Light a fire under a full moon's light and as you speak the spell, sacrifice the ingredients one by one. Speak these words, and find the one who's spirit fits your own.
From the home and hearth I call you forth
Goddess of Love accept my sacrifice
From the smoke and mist I call you forth
Goddess of Passion accept my sacrifice
Mark the twin of my soul and reveal them to my eyes.
Steve read over the spell a few times, feeling his heart skip a beat slightly. "Is this...like...real?"
Suki looked up from her book, peering over his shoulder and reading through the spell. She sighed and patted his shoulder "It is, but it doesn't work all the time." She starts to turn back to her work but he nudges her with his elbow "What do you mean? Why not all the time?"
She gives him a very small, sad smile. "It's a little complicated..."
"Try me" She had the room's attention save for Odette and Penny who were both glaring at their respective books. Suki sighed "Well...every soul has a twin, a soul mate...but life isn't fair." She takes a deep breath, feeling all eyes on her and getting no help from her sisters in arms. "Some people just...their soul mate is gone."
"What does that mean?" Steve asked quietly, letting his eyes slip to Odette who was obviously listening, if the pink once again rising to her cheeks was enough to go by.
"Sometimes they're dead...sometimes they're already in love...sometimes they...sometimes there are things keeping you apart." She sniffs slightly "So most of us don't bother with that one...it's just one that we...we think about during a low moment."
Steve thumbs the page again curiously, "Oh"
She looks awkwardly down at him then back to Odette "But we can still find happiness without our soulmates, we just have to let ourselves be happy."
She turns back to her own book, her own cheeks heating up. She hoped that would be the end of the questions but Dustin spoke up next. "Have you ever done it?"
Suki swallowed slightly "Yes..." She looks at Odette who's looked up now, giving her a small encouraging smile.
"Did you ever find him?" Dustin asks, he looked almost wistful.
Suki swallowed again. "I never found her...I knew...I knew she wasn't in New York...so I gave up...spending my entire life looking for her would be a waste. She'll probably never allow herself to be...to be with a woman." Suki blinks back the traitorous tears rising to her dark eyes. She ignored the semi-shocked looks of the younger boys and sniffed again. "So...it isn't the best idea to cast that spell. It leads to heartache more often than not."
The room had fallen silent, only the sound of pages idly flipping filled the air. The seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes to hours, the sky just outside the windows darkening. It was only when the watch on Steve's wrist began to beep that anyone spoke. "Shit, Robin will be closing up right now! We need to go before her mom gets there to take her home I guess" Steve stands, stretching with a pained look on his face before heading for the door "Munson, mind if I drive?"
"All yours big boy!" Eddie yawns, tossing his book to the side and following Steve to the door. "Let's go everyone, a lady awaits!"