Here's chapter 9, hope you enjoy! I do not own Stranger Things
Steve stood in the doorway of his living room feeling a little overwhelmed. Odette was standing in front of the older French woman, speaking softly to her and looking nervous. He'd have interjected to help...but not understanding a fucking word of her speech he decided it was best to stay quiet. Across from him he could see Eddie and the boys sitting on the floor near the tv, although Steve didn't miss the covert looks Eddie was giving the metalhead witch. Will looked most nervous out of everyone, not talking to his friends, instead letting his eyes fly from Odette to Madame over and over, wondering if they were discussing him. The rest of the coven were sitting on his couch chatting idly in French, although from the amount of times they looked at Steve, he could assume that he had been the chief topic for a while.
"Well, let's start with one thing at a time shall we?" Although she spoke softly, Madame's voice boomed through the room as though she'd shouted. Odette moved to stand by him, giving him a shy smile. "Will, is it?" She asked, looking to the brown haired teen. He nodded and stood up, wiping his hands on his pants as he did. "Yes Ma'am."
She held out a hand, her gold and silver rings sparkling on it "I'd like to see a few things if I may?" He looked to Steve, almost looking for an ok...but when Steve nodded with an encouraging smile Will smiled back, crossing the room with a little more confidence and putting his hand into the woman's. She covered it with her other hand and whispered "Show me the other place dear" Will's smile died when her words registered, but he nodded resolutely and gripped her hand a little tighter as he closed his eyes. The room went completely and totally silent. No words were spoken; Steve kept his eyes on Will, watching as he flinched every so often. What he didn't see was how Madame would squeeze his hand with every flinch, grounding him to reality...not letting him get lost in the visions of the Upside Down.
There was a harsh moment, Madame had gasped into the silent room. It had called every eye to her and a single tear had slipped down from her closed lids, she held onto Will's hand a little tighter. Not long after her gasp the both of them opened their eyes and Madame moved one of her hands to cover her heart as she looked at the freshman with his hand trembling in her own. "I'm so sorry darling..." She wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her red shirt. "I-I don't know what to say" She returns her hand to cover his "It could have been prevented" Her voice is low and soft as she speaks to Will but the whole room hears it. Will shakes his head fervently "No. It wasn't anyone else's fault."
Madame's watery chuckle rumbled through the room before she replied "I'm not blaming anyone but myself dear boy." She looked down at her joined hands "I did not consider that there were many of us abroad...and the other side craves power...and there isn't much power here." She gestures to the house at large, as though it held all the magic in Hawkins. "Now...Penny?" She turned to the girls on the couch "Bring me the red bag from the trunk?" The girl in metalhead attire got up and was about to leave the house but Eddie stopped her. "I'll get it" He gives her a roguish wink before going out to the long black car they'd arrived in and returning with a bright red suitcase. He set it down gently beside Madame and she gave him a very slight smile before she opened it. She pulled out a dark purple velvet bag and held it out to Odette who'd moved to stand beside her. "I want you to find others. Before we can deal with this Hargrove boy...we need to find any other lost souls in Hawkins. I won't have one left to their own devices again."
Odette takes the bag in her fingers and slides her hand in, closing her eyes. When she opens them again she pulls her hand from the bag and scatters the pure white stones she'd pulled out onto the floor. Steve flinched at the sound of the clattering, expecting them to scatter wildly and be lost beneath his mother's precious furniture set...but instead they fall into the center of the floor, a bunch of them seeming to fall into a neat little pile. As he counted them he realized they represented the coven and Will...he let his eyes fall onto the little lone stones, by themselves on the floor a good ways from the rest of them. There were three. One of the white stones was turning a pale shade of pink...although it looked like it was starting to get darker.
Odette let out a small noise, her outstretched hand had a grouping of small stones stuck to her palm; one was a very dark shade of red...the others were a pitch black. "Madame?"
The older woman looked at Odette's pale hand and closed her eyes, "Black means their soul is gone...and red means they're lost to us."
"What about pink?" Steve interjects curiously, pointing out the small pink stone near the dark blue rug. All eyes fell to it and Madame's gaze softened still more, "Losing their battle...they've been touched by the other side."
Will looked back to the pair of stones in Odette's hand and asks the burning question "So they're dead?"
Madame nodded gravely but reaches her hand out and plucks the red stone from Odette's hand, leaving an angry red mark on her palm where it had sat. She winces but says nothing, taking the black stones off and placing them on a side table, each leaving a small bloody mark on her hand. Steve didn't think as he stepped over, not everyone had a great angle to see her hand but they could all see the pain in her face. Steve takes her hand in his and mutters "Let's get some of that stuff off your hand." She shakes her head but he rolls his eyes and pulls her into the kitchen, hearing the hushed tones of the women in the next room. He takes a paper towel and dabs at her hand "Did you know it would do that?"
Odette shakes her head and bites her lip as he touches the spot where the red one had lain "I should have though...some magics come with a price. Especially when death is at hand." Steve grabs the small mason jar she'd used the night before and opens it, the smell of smoke and mint wafting up to their noses as he began to treat her small wounds.
"So all the black stones...do you know who they are?"
"That'll take more time...are you ok?" She asks quietly. He scoffs and grabs a bit of gauze from her bag, wrapping up her palm delicately "I'm not the one bleeding."
"But it's strange...and happening fast...I just-"
"Lovers! You need to get back in here ASAP" A voice calls out from behind Steve, he turns to find the asian girl that Odette had greeted first. "Oh sorry...Steve, this is Suki. Suki this is-"
She practically floats into the kitchen with a sly grin on her lips "The famous Steve! I've heard about you for weeks and weeks! Although with the way Odette's been going on I kind of expected someone like Christian Slater or Johnny Depp!" Odette makes a strangled shushing sound and tries to pull her hand away from Steve as he finished wrapping the gauze but he held her fast with a slightly smug grin.
"Really? I'd love to hear about that" Odette is blushing bright red as she pouts at him, begging him to take back the request. But Suki grinned at the challenge "Oh well the dreamy hair, the chocolatey eyes, the sexy-"
"Soyez silencieux!" Odette hisses, finally managing to yank her now bandaged hand from Steve's tight grip. Steve grins a little bit wider but drops his head a little as he runs a hand through his hair "Not sure...but I think she'd like us to change the subject" Odette's blush has spread to her ears "But uh...it's good to know" He winks at her and she scowls, she begins to push Suki out of the kitchen and back to the living room. Suki winks at him before she allows herself to be pushed from his presence. Steve found himself grinning like an idiot as he watched Odette leave, she was still in her little green shorts and pink camisole...he shook his head. Trying to clear his mind "Your house is full of witches...not the time" He mutters, following the two women back to the living room. Odette sits on the couch with the other girls and gives Suki another searing look as Madame began to speak. The older woman held out her hand, she was now holding the grouping of black rocks and whispering in French. Her eyes were rolled back in her head as she spoke, her fingers of her other hand sliding over each black stone. When she straightened, her nose had begun to bleed slowly, the blonde with glasses handing her a hankerchief without question. "Thank you Rose" She nods her head at the girl before turning to the group at large. "Barbara...Barbara Holland...who was she?" She turns to Steve, her caramel eyes questioning. Steve felt his throat constrict, thinking of Barbara was always painful for him...the guilt ate him alive. "She...she was one of my ex's friends...she...she died here...there...I think" He looks back toward the pool, thinking back to his bloody nightmares.
"Steven, isn't it?" He nodded "So this...Barbara...tell me of her death, as much as you can." Her eyes were glinting in the morning light, boring into him.
He swallowed thickly, scanning the room before beginning "I was having my friends over...and the girl I was interested in...she didn't want to do anything stupid...because my friends weren't the nicest of people. So she brought Barbara with her...but we-" He cleared his throat, it was beginning to hurt as he held back the wave of guilt hit him like a truck. "We were drinking" his voice breaks "We were drinking and she cut her hand trying to open a beer...and...and while she was cleaning herself up the rest of us started fooling around...just being idiots...and uh...my ex and I went upstairs to change...and she told Barb to go home." He wiped at his eye aggressively, no longer looking at anyone in the room. Instead he focused on the small pink rock still sitting on the floor. "She" He chuckled humorlessly "She was worried about my ex being alone though with me...so she waited for her by the pool...so she could get her home safe..." He sniffed loudly, still looking at the pink rock, watching as it got just a little darker. "And...as far as I know...she got pulled into the Upside Down by a demogorgon..." He runs a hand through his hair "We all assumed she left...we didn't actually realize she was missing till...till the next day" He clears his throat again, not looking at the boys sitting with Eddie although he could feel their gaze more than ever. He'd never talked about this part with them...not once. "I...I'm not sure how she died...but that's...that's how she disappeared."
He feels a hand on his bare shoulder, he looks up at it; expecting Odette's pale gauze covered hand but instead he finds Madame's dark one against his skin. He looks up at the older woman, not having heard her get up from the chair, let alone approach him. Her caramel eyes bore into his once again, but it no longer felt analytical...like she was sizing him up.
"We all have our trials that push us to grow..."
"I'll bet yours didn't require the death of an innocent girl" His whispered words tumbled from his lips like the pebbles that started an avalanche. "I was a shit bag afterwards...it took a while for me to realize how bad I was...like she died for nothing"
Madame gripped his shoulder more firmly "Life painful boy. No good thing is without some suffering..." He felt a wave of calm wash over him...like letting go hadfreed his mind...if only slightly. She looked back to the small batch of black stones in her hand "These others..." She moves her fingers gingerly, allowing them to clack against one another "They don't...they're numbered." She looks to Steve again "Numbered...not named. What is this?"
Steve clears his throat but feels himself sag in relief as Mike begins to stammer out an explanation about the lab...how there must have been other kids there once. He starts to explain about their adventures with El...and how she was probably one of the stones on the floor that still remained white. Madame's hand had finally left Steve's shoulder but he could still feel her gaze fall on him every so often. After Mike had been talking for about five minutes Odette had pulled Steve to sit on the couch beside one of her friends, the red haired one. She sat on the arm of the chair beside him, letting him lean his head against her side, her small fingers combing through his hair soothingly. He felt drained, like he'd spent all of his energy talking about Barb...as he let his mind wander, Mike's voice turned into a light buzzing in his ears...his heart pounded hard in his chest as he slowly but surely began to slip back. The couch he was sitting on melted away, he was sitting on the edge of the pool in the cold night air once again. Steve closed his eyes, waiting for the pool to fill with blood. Waiting for Tommy to push Carol into the pool...waiting for Nancy to come and tell him he's a monster. Instead he feels a cold clammy hand slide over his own, something wet beginning to slide down his wrist. He opens his eyes slowly, turning to look at his hand first. Over top of his own tanned hand was a pale one, sharply contrasted by the red dripping down her arm to her fingers that she'd laced through his. He follows the arm back up to find Odette. She was smiling at him in that innocent way he'd come to love over the last month. Although she looked so pale...she looked like a ghost before him. He looked back to her arm, where blood was still sliding smoothly down her bare skin.
"What-" He started but she pressed a gore covered finger to her lips, painting them crimson as she does. She looks back towards the pool as a red moon baths them in light. "Going to let it take her to?" A rasping voice calls out from the bottom of the pool, he lets out a shaky breath before he looks, knowing it's Barb before he can meet her gaze. But as he looks to the bottom of the pool the scene's changed from before. Barb isn't alone, being devoured any longer. Instead she sits against the concrete wall of the empty basin, bits of flesh hanging from her, like she'd been torn apart...her glasses were long gone, her red hair had been knocked loose in places...and her dark eyes were now pitch black. There were no whites to them either...it took him a moment to see that they were empty sockets now...
"Wouldn't she make sure her friend got home safe?" Barb's rasping voice carried up to his ears, the inside of her mouth was black, dribbling ebony ooze as she snarled up at him. Her arms hung limply at her sides, shirt stained with the gore of her ruined torso. "She's no different from the rest of us" Suddenly Barb wasn't alone, she was simply the top of the heap now...below here was a sea of bodies...the first he could see were kids...kids with shaved heads...they all wore hospital gowns. Blood dripped thickly from their eyes and mouths as they laid there limply. "You'll let her be dragged down with us...we're so lonely here Steve..." Barb's voice was cackling in his ears now, still rasping dryly. He tried to close his eyes but he couldn't. He could see the white blonde hair and purple lipstick of Penny...he could see Suki's unseeing dark eyes peering out from beneath another little kid...he could see the red haired witch he'd only just sat beside...her hair was floating limply in the now rising blood. But Barb wouldn't be consumed by the crimson...no now she came with it, floating like a demented mermaid as it rose. He could smell the iron in the air, now gripping tight to Odette's fingers. He looked back to her hopelessly, begging her to wake him, but when his gaze fell on her that innocent smile was gone. She was crying, salty tears tracking their way down her cheeks "Why does it hurt?" She whispers, her voice breaking as she spoke. He looked back to her arms and sees the source of the blood finally. A vine has attatched itself to her...all over her, teeth sliding into her flesh like butter...draining her as it did. He moves to try and yank them off of her but he's stopped by a pair of hands on his shoulders. "I don't think you've got the fight in you Harrington"
He looks up at the source of the hands, finding Billy grinning down at him like a maniac, cigarette hanging from his lips as his dark eyes glint. "Let's see what she can do!" Billy lets go of Steve's shoulders, pulling a switchblade from his back pocket and flicking it out, the blade glinting merrily, as though it too was excited to see what came next. Steve turned, trying to shout but no sound came out as he watched Billy sink the blade into Odette's throat. But just as fast as it all began, Steve woke to the sound of Odette's voice in his ear. He opened his eyes, finding Odette shaking him gently with her starry eyes filled with worry.
"You good?" Eddie voice cracked through the silence of the room. Steve sat up silently, feeling Odette's fingers running down his skin softly...but not registering what was going on. All eyes were on him. He cleared his throat nervously "Sorry...I don't-"
"It's normal" The heavily accented voice of Madame cuts him off, she'd returned to her seat in the armchair. She now held the three stones from the floor that had represented the other magical souls in Hawkins. "Calming charms often have that effect..." She gives him a kind smile, one of the few he'd seen on her face. "Odette, take him upstairs dear...he should probably get dressed hm?"
Steve looked down, realizing he was still in his bathing suit from his early morning dip into the pool. He blushed a little and get up, feeling Odette's hand on his back, soothing him like a mother hen would her chicks. He sighed "I'm ok...I just need a minute...please." He felt her take her hand off of his back sheepishly and he walked resolutely from the room and up the stairs. Had he paid attention he would have heard the soft footsteps behind him on the carpeted floors of the upstairs.
Robin
She'd never been more pissed at Harrington in her entire life. She had been slinging ice cream by herself all afternoon, and handling the cash register, and trying to restock in between customers. It was thankfully the end of their normal rush when she finally got a break in customers. She leaned tiredly over the side of the counter, cursing Harrington for what must have been the hundredth time that day. She'd called Odette's place four times but got no answer the first three, and the last time she'd gotten Wayne Munson who told her that his niece and nephew weren't home. She'd have called Steve himself if she'd had his number, but she didn't. She groaned tiredly, letting her face fall into her hand, thanking god for the lack of customers.
"Hi!"
The chipper voice shocked her out of her tired damning of her coworker, she looked up to find a younger looking teen, fluffy brown curls that were covered by a gold and green hat that read Camp Know Where '85. She blinked at him before snapping back to her customer service mindset. "Hi"
"I'm Dustin"
"...I'm Robin"
"Is he here?"
"Is who here?" She looks around for someone his age...or maybe someone who looked like him but found none. Turning back to him expectantly, raising her eyebrows at him. "Steve Harrington, he told me he was applying here...but I don't know if he got the job because I was at Camp-"
"Camp Know Where?...Yeah he works here but no the jerk didn't show up for work today kid..." She looks at him, waiting for him to turn around and leave or look at her petulantly like Harrington's other kid friends...but he didn't. He simply looked like he was trying to think through what she'd just said. "That...he didn't call?"
"Nope." She popped the P on her answer as she found herself resting her chin on her hand again. "Just left me high and dry"
Dustin's brows furrow before he turns back to her "Is there a phone I can use?" She's taken aback...she nodded and pointed to the door. She watched as he went through the door and listened intently, hearing the buttons on the phone clacking ever so slightly before silence. She waited with him as the line rang once...twice...three times...then someone picked up.
"Hello? Steve?...No...this is Dustin...I came back early from camp...where is he?...Ok...um...I'm at the mall?...I can wait here...everything ok?...Fuck..." She could hear him whisper the last bit exasperatedly into the phone...but then she hears him hang up. She returns to her original position at the counter, pretending she hadn't been listening. "Did you call Steve?" She asks, hoping her tone was light.
"Yeah...he's not feeling great. He said he was sorry for not calling in and that he'd cover for you another time." She'd have believed the little kid if she'd not been listening but she nods anyway. "Great...is he with Odette or something?"
"Odette?"
"New girlfriend." She supplies and watches as he rolls his eyes "How long has she lasted?"
"Almost a month I think. She's nice" She shrugs, she'd have liked to get to know the girl a little better but with her work schedule and Steve's incessant need to be up his new girlfriend's behind she'd not gotten the chance to really hang out outside of the mall. She felt drawn to the other girl...but not in the way she was drawn to other girls. Not in the way she was drawn to Tammy. She expected the teen to scoff again but instead he raised his eyebrows in surprise "Really?"
"Yep...she's even hung out with some of his other children friends...I don't think I've seen her in today either" Robin shot a look to the record shop across the way, realizing she'd been looking for her. Dustin looked in the same direction as her briefly before turning back "I've got to go...it was nice meting you Robin!" She watched as the teen walked out of the shop, his slumped shoulders and harder than normal steps told her everything she needed to know...well...at least that something was up. She kept watch on the front of the store long after Dustin had disappeared into the brightly colored crowd, looking for anything out of the ordinary. But no more kids came in looking for her coworker, no sign of Odette, and nothing more than the normal Saturday crowds. The day passed by slowly as she slung ice cream and managed the register, but relief flooded her as she began to close out. She put up the toppings and closed the ice creams, walking out of the shop and then the mall without incident. She groaned as she took in the totally empty lot...she'd not called her mother to give her a ride, and as the mall doors clicked shut, locking behind her she knew she'd have to walk home. She sighed and shouldered her bag, beginning to walk out of the abandoned parking lot. She'd made it halfway out when she heard the unmistakable roar of a muscle car thundering down the road. She looked up to see the dark blue camero pulling into the parking lot of the mall; she recognized it from school, she'd seen the new kid's car numerous times before the year had ended...she'd not met him personally though. She sped up, wanting to keep it that way. The roar didn't die as he began to do donuts in the parking lot, she rolled her eyes despite her desperate prayers that he wouldn't notice the fleeing figure.
Her hopes died before they'd reached the heavens, hearing the car screech to a halt behind her. She kept moving, not looking back. She heard the car approaching her now, although thankfully slower than before. "Please don't please don't please don't" She muttered into the humid night air. Despite the heat she could feel goosebumps erupting along her skin, like she'd felt cold.
"Hey there!" His voice called out rowdily from the driver's side window, his teeth glinted in the light of a nearby streetlamp but his grin didn't meet his cold blue eyes. "Need a ride home sweetheart?" His voice was dripping with false sweetness...she'd have thought he was trying to hit on her...if it wasn't for the predatory gleam in his eye. She shivered under his gaze "I'm ok...but thank you." She turned to continue walking but his car continued along side her "Aw come on pretty girl, I can't leave you all alone out here to walk home at what?" He peeks at his dashboard clock "9 at night. Any wackjob could just come and snatch you off the road. It'd ease my mind sweetheart." He puts a tanned hand over his heart, his shirt half open, showing off his pecs.
"It's not that long of a-" She started, her voice beginning to shake. She'd kept walking, hoping she wasn't offending him. She'd heard of how monstrous his temper could be.
"It'll be an even shorter drive, don't play hard to get honey" She shuddered at the third pet name he'd christened her with; she didn't respond again, still walking determinedly. "Get in the car sweetheart." His tone had dropped the sweetness and it was no longer persuasion. It was an order, she stopped completely now, looking at the man in the car. He no longer had a grin on his face, and his ocean colored eyes were flashing dangerously in the dim light of the parking lot.
"No." Her voice is quivering as her nerves get the best of her. "I said no thank you..." She clutches her bag closely to her, wishing she had pepper spray or something.
He looks at her coldly for what felt like forever, but it was when he broke her gaze that her blood turned to ice. He'd opened the car door. She took a step back instinctively as he emerged from the car, standing taller than her, if only a few inches. She swallowed nervously, looking covertly to the side, wondering if she should be running. But now her feet were rooted to the spot. He stepped closer, slamming the door closed behind him. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you little girl?"
She doesn't answer, thinking exactly that. Robin took a deep breath, taking in the hulking form of Billy mere feet from her. It was only when he reached out for her that she moved to run. But it was too late, she felt his hand close around her wrist and it all went black...no not black...red.