The sun shined through her window, and shined over the galaxy posters that lined her walls. Her room was bathed in light, the shadows cast by the light further down her wall than when she normally woke up; it was later in the morning than Louise had planned to sleep for. She let out a deep groan as she stretched her sore muscles, her legs especially sore. More so than the scrapes on her left arm. Her body felt heavy, as if it were made of lead.

Her arms sat atop her navy blue comforter, and she laid on her back as she stared at her ceiling. The faded white paint had hundreds of glow in the dark star stickers stuck on, many of which had faded in brightness over the years. Some didn't even glow anymore, and she'd used to replace them. She hadn't done that in a few years. The stars were clustered together in the center, and spread out towards the edges. She'd tried to recreate the star pattern from one of her books, with Dustin directing from the floor as she stood on the ladder. Their mom had thrown a hissy fit once she got home, and realized that Louise had climbed the ladder without adult supervision.

She missed those days, when Dustin looked up to her and wanted to spend as much time together as possible. She had been annoyed at times, but they'd always had fun. Now he felt responsible for their mom and her; he constantly went out of his way to reassure them. He'd gotten better once he saw that Louise had friends, and that their mother's career had taken off. Was able to just be a kid. But then the Upside Down happened, and he knew what was out there. She hated that he would once again be involved.

No, she thought as she forced herself out of bed, I will not get Dustin involved. I'll just get Hopper and tell Dustin and his friends to not stay out after dark.

With a groan, she forced herself out of bed. It took more willpower than she'd ever care to admit. She quickly changed into a pair of pants, a well worn dark gray sweater, and pulled her hair back into a side braid. It was a poor attempt to contain the curly strands of hair, but it'd do. She slipped on her navy blue Keds, and paused. Her car was still on the side of the road by the hill.

Shit.

She ran her hands over her face, and decided that she'd just call him. Because the sheriff's department was so good at contacting Hopper.

As she walked down the hall to the living room, she could hear the voices of Dustin and her mom. They were exchanging "I love yous", which she knew from experience could go on and on.

Louise was at the end of the hall, and by the fireplace when she saw her mom blow kisses to Dustin. He returned the gesture, and blew kisses back. "Alright, go alright."

With that, their mother finally left the house, and Dustin turned around with wide panicked eyes.

"What did you do?" Louise deadpanned, with a terrible suspicion that he was already involved in whatever was going on this time.

"Lou, don't freak out."

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"Mews is dead. I found a new species, only it wasn't a new species, it was a demodog." His hands were fisted in his curly hair, and it knocked his hat slightly off.

Louise stared at him for a moment, unmoving. Dustin, her precious baby brother who was far too clever for his own good, was not only involved in Upside Down shenanigans, but he'd taken it home with him. And it killed Mews.

"Mews is dead?"

"Yeah, and mom is freaking out. I sent her to Loch Nora for the time being."

"Mews is dead though? Our cute, furry little asshole cat?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. He was eating nougat, and he was tiny. I didn't know he would grow that big and become a carnivore."

"You brought the demon dog into the house?!"

"He's not a demon dog! He was a baby, a cute little baby. I didn't know Dart- demon dog?" His brows furrowed, and then he pointed a finger at her. "You knew!"

"Don't flip this on me! You're the one who brought that beast home. Dart?"

"I named him D'Artagnan. Dart for short."

Louise sat on the couch, and rubbed her hands over her face. "So you not only took it home, but you gave it a name?"

"I didn't know! I thought Dart was a new species of tadpole. I found him in the trash on Halloween."

"You thought you discovered a new species, in the same town where a portal to hell was opened?"

"It wasn't a portal to hell, it is an alternate dimension that exists parallel to our own reality."

"Not the point! Halloween night?" She asked as she looked up to him.

"Yeah, Halloween night."

"Halloween night I thought I saw something in the woods. It freaked me out, and I went out last night to investigate. The population of squirrels in Hawkins might be dwindling as we speak."

"How big was it?"

"Halloween night? No clue, but last night? It was larger than a dog. It kind of looked like that thing from last year, but it walked on all fours."

Dustin nodded along as she talked, and walked back and forth, creating a pattern in the carpet. "I think what we encountered was an adolescent Demogorgon. Maybe the Demogorgon from last year reproduced, and they're just now hatching?"

Louise sat in silence, as Dustin continued his pace back and forth."Dustin? If Dart… killed Mews, where is it?"

Dustin paused in his frantic walk, and stared at her with a placating expression, hands held in front him as either defense or to calm. "Don't freak out. I have him locked in my room."

Louise all but exploded, jumping up with her hands shaking as she pointed at him. "Your room?! The room just down the hall, that I walked past? That mom walked past? The demon dog from hell is only a few feet away from us?"

"It's not hell, its an alternate-"

"I don't care about its scientific class!"

A thump down the hall made both of them pause, and Dustin looked from Louise to his door where a monster lurked behind. "I think we should form a game plan."

"Yeah, to do what? Kill it? We were barely able to hold it off last time, it took a super powered 12 year old to do it."

"We can trap it in the basement, and round the team. We can figure it out from there."

"So from one room of the house to another?"

"Just temporarily."

Another thump from his room, a quick glance between the two of them, and Louise was on board. The basement wasn't much better, but at least it wouldn't be at ground level with them.

"What do we need to do?"

"I need you to gather the lunch meat mom just bought, and lead a trail from the house to the basement. I'll gather some gear in case things go south."

"Okay. Once this is dealt with though, I hope you know we are having a long and lengthy discussion about bringing unidentified creatures into the house."

"Lou, I don't think that'll be necessary after this."

"You said that about the bottle rocket."

"That was different."

Louise stared at him, arms crossed with one brow lifted, and jaw set. He'd created a bottle rocket for the fifth grade science fair, was blatantly told not to mess with it in the house, but the whiz kid was determined to make improvements on it. Long story short, they had to tape off the kitchen windows for two days until the window replacements came in. There was still a chip in the corner of the counter top, as if a permanent reminder that science could be dangerous.

He looked away, and waved her off. "Fine. Just get the lunch meat going."

Louise watched him go for the storage closet, filled with board games and sports equipment of years past. Some from when either of them actually showed interest in a sport, and a few from their dad's attempt at fatherly bonding.

Louise made her way to the kitchen, and grabbed the salami and bologna their mother had just gotten. She debated on the rotisserie chicken, but their mother would ask too many questions. Lunch meat being demolished by two growing teenagers was different from a whole bird. That, and while their mother's meatloaf wasn't the best, she made a mean rotisserie chicken. If things went to plan, which wasn't likely, she'd like to have that meal to look forward to. Priorities and all that. She was sure Dustin would agree.

Louise made her way to Dustin's door, and threw a piece of salami in front of it. She could hear the demon dog as it thumped about in his room, and it sounded as if it knocked a few things over. The smell of lunch meat seemed to excite it.

She continued her trail from his room, down the hall, past the living room, and out the front door. She mixed salami and bologna, doing one and then the other. Once she reached the cellar doors, she chucked the remainder of the lunch meats at the bottom. Let that entice the little monster.

She made her way back to Dustin, who was geared up in old hockey attire; face shield and all. He stood in the center of the living room, and looked ready for war. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna open the door, and let Dart out. I need you to go to the shed, and hide."

"You want me to hide while you risk your life?"

"I'm not risking my life, Dart knows me. He might attack you on sight."

"He-it might attack you on sight too!"

"Which is why I'm armored up. We don't have any more protective gear."

"Then let me wear it, and you hide. I'm the older sibling here."

"And you're doing your best, but I'm better suited for this."

The audacity of this kid. With arms crossed and one brow lifted, she glared at her brother. "Doing my best?"

"I didn't mean it like that. You wince every time you take a step, and speed is what we're going for here. You're clearly injured, and I don't want Dart to hurt you. Can we not argue over this now? Can we get Dart safely to the basement first?"

Louise's glare softened, she hadn't even noticed that she'd been wincing. The pain was there, but it was an overall soreness now. Like that awful morning after they'd implemented the PACER test. Louise had pushed herself, and ended up in the nurse's office for an asthma fit. Her body had been too sore to move the next day, which her mom had thankfully let her stay home for.

"Fine, but if you get hurt, I'm going to kill you."

"Fine, fine, just go!" He shooed her out.

Louise turned and made her way out to the green shed. The weathered wooden shack-like structure had an old torn kitchen dish towel as curtains, and it covered the only window. The inside had a few of Dustin's old art work taped on the walls, and more of her glow in the dark stars that trailed up the wall and ceiling. Light shined through the cracks, and specks of dust and dirt floated in the sun beams.

The sound of Dustin's shuffled feet and muffled "shits" drew her attention to the front door, and she kept her eyes on Dustin as he hobbled towards her. The demon dog wasn't on his tail, likely being held up by the lunch meat. Dustin quickly ran into the shack, and slammed the door behind him, eyes fixated on the front door through the cracks."Come on, come on, I know you're hungry."

Louise followed his line of sight, to where the demon dog stood on the front steps. It swallowed the lunch meat hole, and went on to the next piece. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes." He chanted as it followed the lunch meat path. Louise followed close behind Dustin, as he moved to the other side of the shack to get a clearer view of the demon-dog.

It swallowed another piece, and Dustin's chants of "yes" were interrupted, when the creature suddenly whipped its head towards them. It caused Dustin to jump back, but Louise kept her eyes on it as it walked closer and closer.

It was just smaller than the one that had chased her the night before, but it was no less menacing. She had been in absolute fear of the bigger version of this creature, and her heart ached at the thought of the terror Mews must have felt. The fate she would have shared had Billy not shown up when he did.

Dustin's sudden battle cry caused her to jump back, breaking the hyper focus she'd had on the demon-dog. Dustin burst through the shed door, and it slammed against the wall as he charged forward. Louise quickly followed suit, and ran after her brother who had the hockey stick held high and ready to strike.

The demon-dog didn't even get the chance to attempt and run, before Dustin smacked it with the blunt end. It tumbled down the steps, and Louise quickly ran for the cellar doors to help slam them shut. The demon-dog ran up, as Dustin helped shut the second door, and they closed it just as it reached the top. It thumped against the doors twice, before it got quiet.

"I'm sorry. You ate my cat."

Louise looked her brother over as he laid there, his breath heavy huffs.

"Now what?"

"Now we bury Mews, and gather everyone for a game plan."

Louise laid her head down on her arms, and let out a deep sigh.

"You put her in a shoe box?"

"I didn't want to just leave her out, and she liked boxes."

Louise supposed it was sound logic, but it still didn't sit right with her. Mews had been their family cat since they'd moved to Hawkins. Their mom had thought it would help them adjust, and create new memories there. She probably hadn't considered burying said cat in a box in the backyard as one of those memories, but such was life in Hawkins apparently.

The old Keds box had yellowed over some time, and the blue and red stripes that lined the box had faded. It was the box from her shoes for eighth grade. She could tell from the scrunched up corners, and indent on the top. It had served as an in house pencil box, until Dustin needed a box in the following year for some school project. She couldn't remember what that school project was now, and she supposed it didn't matter. It was Mews's coffin.

"I guess we should bury her, maybe say a few words?"

"We don't have time for a funeral right now, Lou."

"She deserves better than to just be thrown in a hole, it's bad enough we can't mark her grave!" Louise hadn't meant to snap back, but it had been a very intense and stressful 24 hours.

"Fine, fine. Okay. You get started on the funeral, and I'll clean up the mess in my room."

Louise nodded, and they both set out on their separate tasks. The Keds box felt heavy in her hands as she walked to the backyard. She decided to bury Mews close to the house, so that even though they couldn't mark the grave, she'd always know where she rested. She sat the box down, and went next to the shed where the old shovel was kept.

Her mom had gone through a gardening phase a few years back, in an attempt to keep busy and make the yard look nicer. Now all those gardening tools lay rusted and weathered, since she only focused on the small sectioned off area in the very front of the house. Louise decided right then and there that she'd plant something over Mews's grave. Maybe a sunflower or something, since she'd love to sunbathe.

She pushed the shovel into the dirt, and used her weight to help it sink further into the ground. It was harder than she anticipated, and she'd blame it on being sore instead of her lack of upper body strength.

She continued to shovel dirt, until there was a decent sized hole in the ground. It was by no means an even square like hole, but it would be deep enough to protect the shoe box from the elements. She knelt down next to the hole, and lowered Mews down. The shoe box fit snugly at the bottom, and Louise began to scoop dirt over the box with her hands. Once she'd covered the top, she grabbed the shovel and began to scoop all of the dirt back into the hole. With a final pat of the shovel, the dirt mound was flattened and Mews was put to rest.

"You were a good little girl. We didn't have the strongest bond, but I loved you. I'm sorry you were brought into this, and I wish I had hugged you more. I'm sure Dustin feels the same. I hope there are a lot of mice in cat heaven, and that you get to sunbathe for eternity." She wiped at her eyes, and tried to will the sting of tears that she refused to shed away.

She put the shovel back where she found it, and entered the quiet house. She could hear Dustin in the kitchen, as he repeated "code red" over and over. He stood by the window above the sink, and looked offended. His wide, incredulous eyes found her own.

"She turned it off. I said code red, and she turned it off."

"What are you talking about?"

"Erica. Lucas wasn't home, and she answered his walkie-talkie. And she told me to shut up."

Louise pulled a face and shrugged her shoulders. "That's younger siblings for you."

Dustin just continued to stare, and he really did have the most expressive eyes. He took after their mother in that regard.

"What now? Were you able to reach Hopper?"

He dropped the cleaning supplies in the sink, and threw his hands up in exasperation. "No, he's still MIA. Same for Lucas, the Byers, and Mike. The Wheeler's phone line has been busy for two hours,two hours! What could possibly be that important for a phone call to last that long?"

"You know the Wheelers better than me."

"I'm going to have to go there. Can you finish scrubbing my floor while I go?"

Louise folded her arms, one brow raised as she stared at him.

"Please."

With a sigh, Louise lowered her arms, "I suppose, since my car is out of commission at the moment."

"Okay, see you soon, hopefully."

With that, Dustin was out the door and Louise was left to finish the clean up. She walked to his room, uncomfortably aware of the beast beneath her, and looked at what remained on his floor. The carpet was probably forever soiled, with the dried brown-ish spots of blood that stained the carpet. With a deep sigh, and a brief thump of her head against the door, she made her way to the kitchen for elbow length rubber gloves and better cleaning supplies.

She could still hear it as it banged around downstairs, and the scratching noises echoed through the floorboards. She turned the radio on, and blasted her Annie Lennox cassette over the noise as she set to work.


Louise had just finished with the mess in her little brother's room, and turned the radio off as she dumped the waste bucket down the kitchen drain. She scrubbed the bucket and kitchen sink with bleach afterwards, in an attempt to remove any and all traces of what happened to Mews. The sound of tires as they pulled up the driveway put her into a panic, and she rushed to put the bucket and gloves away; surprised by how quickly her mother returned from Loch Nora. She thought Dustin had bought them a decent amount of time by sending her out that far.

Louise accidentally slammed the cabinet door shut, at the sound of her brother's sudden voice. "Lou, I found Steve!"

With a hand to her chest, Louise stood to glare at her brother. "You scared me half to death, I thought it was mom coming home." Dustin waved off her complaints, and left Steve in the kitchen with the Bat of Death, as he headed back down the hall. "Hi Steve."

"Hey…" Steve's voice trailed off as he took in her appearance. Water and soap had splashed on her when she'd tried to quickly hide the bucket. Probably from when she'd aggressively scrubbed the carpet as well. She flexed her fingers, in an attempt to disperse the ache from how tight she'd held the scrub brush.

"Sorry, Upside Down nonsense. How have you been?"

"Better. So where is it?"

Dustin popped back in, new flashlight in hand. "The basement. Still no contact with anyone."

Dustin headed out the front door, and Louise and Steve followed him.

"So you had the bat."

"Yeah, it's been sitting in my trunk. Haven't really needed to use it since last year."

"Fair enough."

They continued in silence as they approached the chained basement doors. Louise's old bike lock kept it in place, and she was surprised the old thing held up. Score one for Master Lock. Steve tapped the bottom of the door with the bat, and it was eerily silent.

"I don't hear shit."

Louise and Dustin shared a look, before her brother trained the flashlight on the doors. "He's in there."

Steve banged on it twice more, and the only noise was the clang of the metal as it echoed. Louise's insides dropped, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She didn't remember when the scratching noise had stopped, she'd focused so intently on the music. It couldn't have gotten out though, there was nowhere to go.

Steve took the flashlight from Dustin, and aimed it at his face. "I swear, kid, if this is some Halloween prank."

"It's not." Dustin said as he shielded his eyes. Louise snatched the flashlight from Steve, before she trained the light on his face.

"It's not a prank. We lured it to the basement after it ate our cat."

"Alright, alright. That's bright." Steve relented, as he shielded his own eyes. "Do you have keys to this thing?"

Louise obliged him and tossed the keys that were kept in her pocket. He quickly unlocked the padlock and removed the chain. Louise kept the flashlight trained on the doors as he swung them open with a rusty squeak.

Louise had been tense, ready to jump back if it raced up the steps. But nothing happened. She wove the light around, but to no avail. She looked over at Dustin, who had his eyes trained on the bottom of the steps. "Maybe he's further down there."

Louise continued to wave the light around, and hoped it would attract it like it had last night.

"I'll stay up here, in case he tries to… escape."

Both Louise and Steve turned to him, before Steve turned to her. "I'll go with you." If there was a slight tremor in her voice, no one commented on it. Steve sighed again, and slowly crept down the steps with Louise close on his trail. She kept the flashlight trained ahead of them as they made their way down, and was too scared to be embarrassed by how much the flashlight shook in her hand.

She had one hand on Steve's arm, and the other firmly grasped on the flashlight as she moved it slowly around the room. She'd lightly bumped into Steve when he stopped moving and reached for the light string. She slowly panned the light over the corners of the room when the light finally turned on, and she focused on the new hole in the far wall. A hole that looked freshly tunneled, with the dust and dirt still falling as it settled.

Louise didn't know if she should feel comforted that it wasn't in this small space with her, or more terrified now that it's gotten out. The background noise of slow and steady drips became a steady trickle, and caught her attention. She focused on the source only to wish she hadn't. Steve held shed slimy skin up to the light with the Bat of Death, as his eyes glanced over to where the flashlight was still pointed.

"Shit."

"Steve? Lou? Guys, what's going on down there?"

Louise slowly walked over to the wall where the hole was, as Steve called out to Dustin to get down there. She angled the flashlight as best she could to illuminate as much of the tunnel as she could, but the light could only reach so far. It was deep, and seemed to go on further than the light could reach.

"Sorry for doubting you." Steve said mirthlessly.

With a glance over her shoulder, Louise looked at Steve who was crouched behind her, gaze focused down the tunnel."What are we supposed to do now?" She asked quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

Dustin had already moved away from the tunnel and ran his hands over his hat as he paced back and forth in front of the basement steps. "We lure it. Trap it. Only not in our basement where it can tunnel out."

"How are we supposed to lure it if we don't even know where it is?" Her voice came out a little sharper than she'd intended.

"With bait. Dart seems to really like lunch meat, but what if we got him raw stuff? We could lead him somewhere, somewhere we can trap him."

Steve stood with his hand on his hips,"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"The junkyard."

Louise was always surprised by how quickly her brother formed plans, be it for a school assignment or shenanigans he was up to. But this felt too open ended to be a good plan.

"Dustin-"

"No, Lou. This will work. We can lure it while you get Hopper. Maybe he already knows something is up, and that's why we haven't been able to reach him."

Louise gave a humorless laugh, "Yeah, great plan. We already tried reaching him. He hasn't been at the office, and his personal landline just rings."

Dustin threw his hands up in the air, as frustrated as she was. "That's why you'll drive there."

"My car is still by the hill, in case you forgot that part. And why would Hopper be at home and not answer his phone?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because he's probably-"

"Guys, guys!" Steve waved his arm between the two of them, earning their full attention. "I can drop you off at your car, that part is easy.

"And the part where you guys become bait, while trying to lure it to the junkyard, where you have no real plan of what to do?"

"We'll figure it out on the way. Do you know if we have any lunch meat left?"

"No, we don't."

"We can get bait. It likes meat, right? My parents left for some work thing for my dad. We can use the roast beef my mom has in the fridge. It would probably be bad by the time they got back anyway."

Dustin looked at her, with his arms splayed out, as if to say see. The little runt could be so smug sometimes, and a quick glance over at Steve made it clear that he found Dustin amusing.

"I guess. I'm not happy, but I guess." She finally relented, arms crossed as she stared at her well worn Keds, she didn't want to look at either of them.

"Okay. So what hill are we talking about?" Steve asked, as he began to head towards his car while they followed.

They settled into Steve's car, with Louise being in the back behind Steve, since Dustin insisted on being shotgun. She gave him directions as he and Dustin talked about nothing. Louise tuned them out the closer they got to where she left her car, the headlight lighting up the splattered marks Billy's car had left after hitting the demon dog.

Both Dustin and Steve stopped talking as they saw her car parked along the side of the road and took in the scene. The grassy hill that was slowly going brown, had a clear path of where she had rolled and the creature had followed. Steve pulled over, but left his headlights on. Louise took a deep breath, and hopped out with the flashlight focused on the ground. She needed to find where her keys had fallen.

"Are you okay, Lou?"

She turned to see Dustin right behind her, eyes focused on her face.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

He stared at her, and his face made it very clear that he did not believe her.

"I'm fine, really. Are you okay?"

He looked down, now focused on his shoes. "I will be."

Louise stared at her brother, with his walkie-talkie headset over his hat, curly hair a mess as it peaked out from underneath. His cheeks were still round, and his eyes still expressive. He was still a kid, despite the circumstances he kept getting swept into. They all were.

"I think I found them!" Steve called out from across the road, and they both turned to him. He was by the side she'd rolled to when she'd thought Billy would hit her. Crouched down, he held the keys up above his head, half turned towards them.

"Thank you, Steve Harrington!" Louise called out, doing a light jog towards him. She happily took the keys from his outstretched hand as he stood up.

"So who made those marks?"

Louise turned back to him, and followed his line of sight to the road. The street was marked with tire skids, the dark black standing out against the graying pavement. Billy really had been going full throttle down the street. "Hargove, he was speeding when I was being chased."

Steve gave her his full attention, and searched her face for something. She felt uncomfortable under his stare, and the slight crease between his brows the longer he stared.

"Is he the Blue Camaro guy?"

She didn't know when Dustin had joined them, but he stood right beside her.

"You know him?" Steve asked, hands firmly placed on his hips. He looked annoyed, and Louise had a feeling neither of them were going to like what Dustin said next.

"Yeah, he ran us off the road on Halloween. Thought he was going to hit us."

Louise was going to kill that asshole. Speeding at night and nearly hitting someone in the dark was an accident she could excuse away. Intentionally aiming for a group of very noticeable kids on bikes? He's a dead man.

Steve huffed out a big sigh, and looked even more agitated than before. "Someone's gotta teach that guy a lesson."

"Let's focus on one thing at a time, we can beat bully ass when the fate of Hawkins isn't at risk."

Louise headed towards her car, and tossed Dustin the flashlight. "I have my keys now, you guys go get the bait and I'll get Hopper. Stay safe, and please keep me in the loop."

"Grab my extra walkie-talkie from my room!" He called out, as Steve pulled him towards his car. Louise waved them off, and watched as the headlights disappeared in the dark before she headed off herself.