A/N: Now things are about to get interesting. Thank you all so much for the love. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 23

The weekend came with good news. The car hadn't been tampered with after all. The mechanics had looked over everything that could go wrong and it had passed with high scores. Thank god because we had tickets to Prince's concert on Saturday night. I knew it was coming but it still hadn't been fully confirmed until I had been attacked by Carol. I almost had to thank her for it. Not that I would.

On Friday night, Robin and her parents came over and we went over the details of the drive and the concert. Tammy's Aunt Debbie had agreed to take us in for the night. She highly approved of our venture and I had the slightest suspicion that she was the reason Tammy was so determined to be a star. We would spend the night and then start again to go home in the afternoon when traffic wouldn't be too bad.

The fight between Robin and I seemed forgotten as we jumped around in excitement. It was silly but it was fun. Our parents seemed amused and I could see Deanna watch us with relief. She seemed happy that I wasn't traumatized by Carol. As if.

Saturday morning came and with it peace. Deanna and Sam took the morning to get everything ready for me. Mostly in buying snacks as they bought groceries.

I wasn't set to leave until closer to two so they left me to sleep in so I would be rested for the drive. It was safe to say I didn't expect the pounding at the door as I drank my coffee.

I opened the door slowly, still holding the mug of coffee. I had to admit, I was a bit curious as to who was banging at the door on a Saturday morning.

"Dustin?"

"Oh thank god!" He pushed his way past me. "Thank god you're here! I haven't been able to reach anyone!"

I watched the kid pace in the living room. "Is everything okay?"

"No! It's not okay! I just...I need to find my friends and none of them are answering!"

I took another sip of my coffee. "And that brings you to my door?"

He turned to me. "Can you help me? At least, help me find them as fast as possible! Please!"

"Alright, come on." I couldn't just say no, especially since he was so panicked. I put the coffee down and grabbed my keys. Thank god I was already dressed.

We first went to the Sinclairs, but Erica had opened the door. She smiled as she saw me but it dropped as soon as she caught sight of Dustin.

"What do you want doofus?"

"Where's your brother?" Dustin demanded.

"I don't know!" she put a hand on her hip. "I ain't his keeper! Shouldn't you know?"

"Arg! This is useless! Come on!" Dustin turned and headed back for the car. He seemed more anxious than I recalled from the night of babysitting. I looked at Erica.

"Is he always this shrill?"

"I don't know! No?"

I looked back as Dustin started to honk the car horn. "Okay, well, just keep the monster kit close and stay frosty."

"What?"

"I got to go, I'll see you around."

I waved to Erica and ran back to the car before Dustin started honking the horn.

oOo

Our next stop was some kid called Mike. Apparently, this was headquarters but Dustin had chosen Lucas's first because it was on the way. I stood next to Dustin as he rang the doorbell. When he went to push it twenty more times, I grabbed his arm.

"Stop. If someone's home, they'll come. Chill."

"Chill?" He looked at me, totally confused. I was saved from answering by the door opening. An older man with huge glasses stood there.

"Yes?"

"Is Mike home?" Dustin asked quickly.

"No."

"No? Well, where the hell is he?" I almost slapped the back of his head. Instead, I dragged him backwards.

"I'm sorry, he's excited, he doesn't mean to be rude." Dustin almost said something but I shot him a look over my shoulder. "Do you know where Mike is?"

"Karen! Where's our son?" He yelled out over his shoulder.

"Will's!"

The man looked back at us. "He's at Will's."

"But nobody's answering at Will's!" Dustin snapped. "Nancy! She here?"

"Karen, where's Nancy?" he called again over his shoulder. The voice from beyond answered with "Ally's!" I made a face at that. What sane girl would be friends with Ally? The man looked back at us. "Ally's. Our children don't live here anymore. You didn't know that?"

I felt myself snort as I tried not to laugh. Dustin was not as amused.

"Seriously? Son of a bitch!"

"Hey!" I snapped.

"Language!" the man said. Dustin was already pulling me away.

"You're no help at all!"

"Don't be rude!" I said to Dustin as he pulled me back towards the car. "It's not his fault you're stressed."

"Steve!"

I looked up at Dustin called out. Walking towards his car was Steve Harrington. He looked like he was muttering to himself. He was also carrying a large bouquet of roses. He looked up at the sound of his name and froze as he saw us. I waved and he looked kind of scared.

"Are those for Mr or Mrs. Wheeler?" Dustin asked.

"What? No," Steve said. "They're for Nancy! Nancy!" he said quickly.

"Hey," I said. I figured I should at least introduce myself because it certainly seemed like Dustin wouldn't. "I'm Kate." I held out my hand to shake.

"I know," he said. He looked at me like I was going to bite him. What on earth was his problem? He shook it quickly. "I'm Steve."

"I know," I said.

"Great, now that that's over," Dustin said. "Let's go!" He grabbed the flowers out of Steve's hand and dropped them on the ground.

"What the hell?" Steve snapped.

"Do you still have the bat?" Dustin went for Steve's car instead of mine. "The one with the nails?" My eyebrows raised at that and I saw Steve glance at me quickly.

"Why?"

"I'll explain on the way! Thanks, Kate!" Dustin got into his car. Steve and I both glanced at each other.

"Better go. He's not the most patient," I said. Steve looked like he was going to explain or provide an excuse but he headed for the car instead. I went for mine. It sounded like something was going on and I wanted to be far from it.

oOo

I had about an hour before I had to leave to pick up Robin. I took the time to walk the devil, also known in this house as Buster. The dog had taken to grudgingly let me near him, mainly because I fed him every chance I got. After all of the stress I was putting Tammy's parents under, and how understanding and accommodating they were being by letting their daughter take off to a concert in a completely different city, the least I could do before I left was walk the dog.

Since I had an hour, I took him on a long walk I thought he'd appreciate. We went down the path at the end of the street which looped around the back of some houses and went into the woods. The plan was to go down the path and at some point turn around so that we would be back in time for me to leave. I also wasn't sure how far Buster would want to go. He was an older dog and still recovering from surgery. Though they said he should be fully healed by now, one never knew. The plan did not involve coming across an alien. Or whatever.

The dog noticed it first. Buster stopped and growled, looking at something in the distance. I followed his line of sight. If it was a skunk we were going to run for it because there was no way in hell I would spend the Prince concert stuck in a bathtub full of tomato juice. There was a high chittering sound and something came out from behind a tree. I froze.

It looked like a lizard, almost like a giant komodo dragon but with reversed knees. There was no distinguishable mouth. It was pointed though like a flower bud. I stepped back, pulling Buster with me. It was larger than the dog, closer to the size of a retriever than a hound. I tried to think of everything possible that I had read that told me how to survive an animal encounter. This thing wasn't a bear but maybe it reacted the same.

I put my arms in the air and yelled. "HA! SHOO! GET OUT OF HERE!" The creature's head tilted and the face opened up. It bloomed like a flower full of teeth and roared.

I don't know who took off first, me or Buster but we ran as fast as we could. Whether or not the dog recovered from surgery didn't matter because he was faster than I was and the thing was following.

The path seemed never-ending and Buster started lagging. I was going to die here. In the woods with no one but a dog who hated me. All because of a stupid alien thing that wanted to eat me. Like Carol and her raptor claws weren't enough. Buster yelped as he jumped over a root and I suddenly stopped. What was I doing? Would Ripley run from the alien? Yes, but only after getting ready to beat it's ass. I turned to face the thing. Was I really going to let this thing eat me and Tammy's dog?

I waited for the right moment and as it came closer, I kicked out. My foot caught the underside of the closed mouth. I did a roundhouse kick and caught it in the side of the face. It yelped or at least made a sound that was close to one, before stopping. We stared at each other. I screamed. I just screamed as loud as I could. I put all my fear and anger into it. The demon thing turned and ran off. I stared. What the fuck was wrong with this place?

Buster came up next to me. I bent down. "Hey, buddy, you okay?" The dog licked my hand. "Wow, so all it took was to fight a monster for you, huh? You're a tough crowd." I smiled at Buster and rubbed his head before I stood up. "Come on, let's get out of here before he shows up with friends."

I had never walked faster in my life than how I did coming back from those woods. I felt on edge even as we got onto the streets. Why the fuck were there monsters in this town? I realized that this must have been what Dustin was so adamant about. Steve protected kids from monsters, right? This must have been one of them and they were looking for it. The question was why, and how could I tell them I found it? This would be so much easier if everyone had a cellphone like they did back home.

I finally decided to call the cops.

"Hawkins Police Department.

"Flo! Is Hopper around?" I twirled the cord around my finger as I waited.

"Nice to hear from you too, Kate. So glad you're not causing more trouble and that you have time to stop by and show us you're alive after all these stories we've heard and your father coming in to raise hell itself."

I winced at the tone. "I'm sorry. I know, I figured I was banned from the station because of the abuse allegations. I'll come by next week if that's okay. I'll even stay at the outside of the counter. Is Hopper there though?"

"No. The man runs on his own schedule. He was with the Byers last I heard from him." Shit. That was not helpful at all.

"Could you give him a message for me? It's pretty urgent."

"Is everything okay?" Flo asked.

"Yeah, I just, Dustin Henderson was looking for a missing pet earlier. I think I found it in the woods off of Charleston, but I think animal control will be needed. A lot of it. This thing was...wild." I couldn't think of how to phrase it without sounding insane.

"I'll send one of the others-"

"No!" I nearly shouted. "Sorry, I just think, I figured if Hopper is near the Byers maybe they'll be with Dustin too and could let him know. I think the kid will know how to get it." God, I hoped so.

"Alright, I'll let him know."

"Thank you! I'll see you next week but I got to go! Bye Flo!"

"Take care now," she replied. I hung up. I had left a note for Tammy's parents warning them of a family of skunks I saw in the woods. I needed them to be safe. Please don't let anyone be eaten, I prayed. Please.

[tbc]