A/N: Thank you all so much for the support! I'm so glad you're enjoying this! Thank you all so much for the reviews and follows.

Chapter 24

I picked up Robin. The excitement should have been palpable, and it was when Robin entered the car. I couldn't stop thinking about the thing though. "Are you okay?"

I looked over at Robin. "Yeah, sorry. Just totally got lost in thought. I have a surprise for you!" Robin looked intrigued. I pressed play on the cassette deck. Cher started playing.

Robin's eyes went wide. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes!" I grinned at her. "Take me home, take me home!" I started singing to her.

"No…" she dragged out. "Let me out!"

"Don't deny your love of Cher, Robin!" I turned up the music, grinning at her. I looked out at the road ahead. Hearing her groan in response made me smile. Thank god we were headed to a concert. I needed a distraction.

The drive felt like it took forever. We ate some of the snacks Tammy's parents had bought for us and blasted music as loud as we could, but at some point, Robin fell asleep. I couldn't stop my thoughts from rolling back home. There was a monster in the forest. A monster in the town where I was living, where I had friends and where there were children. And I was driving far far away before it came any closer to me. Even if it was just for one night. I had to hope that Steve and Dustin dealt with the monsters before I got home. How fucked up was that? I was leaving kids to defeat a monster. It wasn't my town though. I wasn't meant to be here. Tammy was and god knew what had happened to her.

I had to force myself to try and think of something else, including making up stories about people in the other cars and laughing to myself as I thought of vines. I passed by a "road work ahead" sign and I couldn't help my response out loud: "I sure hope it does!" My laughter woke Robin up.

The venue was larger than I expected. The outside of the arena was grey and red but there were a million stairs! At least, it felt like a million stairs. What sort of arena had a million steps just to get inside of it? Where on earth were the accessible entrances? I was suddenly grateful that the training for Karate included running so that I didn't die just getting inside to the concert.

"Hey, you want to grab some gyros when we leave?"

Robin stared at me. "What?"

"Maybe some baklava too?" I grinned at her.

"What's baklava?" Robin asked as we got in line to get inside.

"It's like phyllo pastry and walnuts and delicious. Trust me."

"How on earth do you know what gyros and baklava are? We don't have it at home."

Fuck. I tried to think quickly. "I've been here before, my aunt lives here. Plus, I've gotten greek food when out with my mom and we go shopping."

"Oh. Makes sense."

Robin was sufficiently distracted once we got into the venue. People were everywhere and we checked out the merch booth before heading to our seats. By the time the show started, we were bouncing. Any fears or confusion was washed away with the opening sounds of Prince.

I nearly lost my voice. The concert was longer than I thought possible. Not only were there opening bands, but Prince played a long show. Longer than any of the ones I was used to. Some of the songs went on for ages. The final song played was Purple Rain and it was incredible. I could not describe the feeling of it all. Being surrounded by the crowd at the show of an iconic artist during his prime was incomparable. I was in awe.

Robin clearly was in the same state because we left the concert both speaking in half sentences.

"That was-"

"I know!"

"And when they just kept-"

"I know!"

We grabbed a couple of chicken gyros and fries before we got back into the car to find Tammy's aunt's house. Luckily I had planned it out on a map before hand. I almost got lost once but luckily having lived in a city before I figured it out fairly easily.

The house was fairly small on the outside. We parked in the driveway, grabbed our bags from the back and headed to the door. I was a little worried. I had no idea what I was going to expect. I knocked.

The door opened and I looked at the woman in front of me. She looked like Tammy's mother. Just a bit younger.

"Tammy!" She grinned at me and hugged me tightly. She held me by the shoulders as she leaned back and looked at me. "I cannot believe how big you are! Come in!"I went in first and Robin followed.

"I've been so excited since your mom told me you were coming!" She turned to look at us once we were in the light of the living room. She paused and stared at me for a moment. She looked above me before she started waving her hand over my head.

"What?" I leaned back. "What are you doing?"

"Your aura is off. I'm trying to cleanse it."

I scrunched up my face. Who was she, Phoebe from Friends? Oh god, did that make me Ross? There was no way in hell I was going to be Ross.

I heard Robin softly laughing and I threw a glare at her. "My aura is fine," I said.

"Hmm…" Debbie looked at me carefully before she smiled. "Come on, you can take the spare room. You'll have to share but I'm sure that won't be a problem." She motioned for us to follow her up the stairs. Robin and I shared a look and I mouthed "sorry" to her as we went after her.

Once we got settled in the room, and I confirmed that Robin was cool with sharing a bed, Debbie called us down for tea.

"Who drinks tea?" Robin whispered to me. We had been giggling over the figurines we passed by and the sheer amount of crystals in the guest room. I shrugged at her and followed.

"So, darlings, tell me about the concert," Debbie finally asked as she handed us the mint tea.

As Robin delved into the songs they sang and the opening bands, I looked at Debbie. I could see the familial resemblance between her and Deanna. They shared the same shade of hair and had the same smile. Debbie was younger though, and very obviously the wild child. At some point, after Robin was done and asking questions about what Debbie did for a living, it came up that Debbie did palm readings. Somehow, I was not surprised.

"Me first!" Robin grinned at me. "Come on, Kate, it'll be fun." I wasn't so sure but I motioned for them to go ahead. Robin handed her her hand and Debbie held it with both of her hands.

Debbie stared at Robin's palm as she slowly traced lines on it. "This is interesting," she said softly.

"What is?" Robin asked. She leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at her own hand.

"You have an adventure coming your way." She looked up and smiled at Robin. "It's not all about lines and their meanings," she glanced at me. "It's about your energy and how it channels." She looked back at her palm. "So, we have an adventure coming. Something that...you're going to be important in. A key figure." She turned the hand slightly to look at the sides. "There's going to be some trouble but everything will be clear soon. Also, looks like a new love interest is coming, within maybe a year, which is good because the old one is gone." She grinned at Robin who I could see started to blush.

Robin pulled her hand back and Debbie let her. They both looked at me.

"Your turn!" Robin said. I tensed.

"I'm not really into the whole palm thing," I said. Honestly, I was a little nervous at what she thought she was going to see. So far my aura didn't look right to her and I could only imagine what else she was going to guess at.

Debbie was watching me carefully. Her stare was surprisingly intense, despite the smile she wore.

"Come on, I did it, you should too! Maybe she'll find you a lover too." I hesitated and Robin's smile started to drop. "It's just for fun, Kate."

I stood up before I could stop myself. "Fine." I didn't want to give Robin another reason to start arguing about things. We switched seats and I turned to face Debbie. She motioned for my hand and I gave her my right one. She looked at it carefully, raising it slightly before she started speaking.

"You don't belong here, do you?"

My eyes shot up to Debbie's face but she wasn't looking at me. She was frowning at my palm. How could she know? I tried to pull it back but she held on tightly. "Things have been happening suddenly, haven't they? All lost and afraid. You think you're alone now, don't you?"

"No." I pulled again. "I don't like this." I tried to stand.

I looked over as something pushed me down into the chair. Robin was leaning forward, arm across my shoulder.

"Keep going," Robin said. I tried to swallow the fear that was bubbling up my throat. Debbie held on.

"It's okay, it's okay," she said softly. "Let me see." She turned the hand slightly. "It'll be okay soon. There's adventure coming, you're already in it, aren't you? You're changing everything, little by little, like breaking down a mountain one drop of water at a time. They need you now. The soon stolen boy, the lost girl...You will lose your best friend, but you'll gain the love of your life. There is tragedy but also joy that awaits. You're not alone. You're home now."

I yanked my hand back and my elbow slammed into the chair as she let go. "That's quite the prediction," I said. "I've had enough. I'm going to bed. I gotta drive in the morning."

I went upstairs alone. I got changed, brushed my teeth and got into bed alone. I lay in the darkness trying to get her words out of my head. How did she know? She knew too much and so much of it didn't make any sense. She clearly had no idea what she was talking about. I wasn't home. This was Tammy's home. Everything here belonged to Tammy. Not me.

The door opened and Robin came in. "I'm sorry," she said. "That was way spookier than I expected. I just...wanted to hear what she'd say." I didn't though. I turned onto my stomach and looked away from her. It wasn't fair but I could still feel her hand on my shoulder pushing me back into the seat. I couldn't talk without wanting to scream right now.

I woke up in the middle of the night, kicking at the monster chasing me in my dream. I thrashed in bed before I realized something was hitting me back.

"Ow! Kate! What the hell? You kick like a mule!"

I blinked as the dream faded and I jerked back as I was hit again.

"What the hell was that?"

I looked over to see Robin curled up at the edge of the bed glaring at me. "Bad dream," I said.

"What about? Are you alright?" She leaned up on her elbow and stared at me.

"Yeah," I turned in the bed and tried to fix the blanket. "Sorry for hitting you."

"What did you dream about?"

I couldn't exactly tell her about the monster. I couldn't tell her that there was something in the woods. "I don't know," I said.

She made a noise of frustration. "It's just a dream, Kate! You can tell me that much."

"People don't remember dreams all the time!" I snapped. She didn't reply. She turned away and we were left in awkward silence as we tried to fall asleep.

It did not ease in the morning.

Debbie watched us carefully as she fed us buckwheat pancakes. She raised her eyebrows at me when I asked for coffee and again when I drank it black. She kept talking, showering us in stories of places she had been and things she had done if only to fill the voice between us. She finally fed us lunch before I insisted we leave before the traffic got bad. We packed our bags and Robin waited at the car while I said goodbye to Tammy's aunt.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you last night," she said softly.

"It's fine," I shrugged. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

She smiled softly at me. She leaned forward, put a hand at the back of my neck and kissed my forehead. "It'll be okay, Kate. Trust me." It felt like she was actually referring to me when she said my name, not just Tammy.

I nodded and thanked her again for letting us stay before I left. I couldn't get back fast enough. Tammy's aunt scared the life out of me. No one should be that aware of things.

The drive was silent. The first hour passed slowly. I didn't know what to say to Robin and if I was honest, I didn't want to say anything. I was tired.

We stopped for gas about two hours in.

"I'm going to get some chips. I'd ask if you want anything but that would involve you to actually talk to me, so…"

I tried not to rise to the bait. I laid my head on the wheel, trying to calm down. Robin came back eating the chips and got back into the car.

"I'd offer you some, but I don't know what you like."

"I get it!" I snapped. I couldn't stop myself. "You're upset! Yes, I don't tell you things but I don't have to! We're friends, Robin, and I adore our friendship, but I don't know you that well. Okay? Not really, so forgive me for not telling you all my secrets!"

"You don't trust me!" Robin snapped back. "We can't...we're not going to be friends if you don't trust me." Her voice was softer by the time she finished her sentence. "I just...I want us to keep being friends."

"We will," I looked at her confused. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Because!" she nearly shouted. "Because you're cool now and you keep just getting more popular and I...I'm not."

"I'm not popular."

"You are!" she said. "And you're not telling me things and it makes me feel like I'm so stupid. I'm not! I just want...I want us to be okay."

"We will," I said. "We'll just need time."

"Even after you find your true love?" she sounded sarcastic.

I scoffed. "Like that's a real thing." I saw her wince out of the corner of my eye. "What does that even matter?"

"Forget it."

"I thought you wanted to talk?" I snarked. "What? Don't feel comfortable sharing every fucking thought and feeling?" I regretted it as soon as I said it.

She stared at me. "Wow."

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I just-"

"No, it's fine. I knew you were a bitch, I was just waiting until it came onto me."

I clenched my jaw as she turned away from me. I was so tired of arguing and fighting. I was trying to focus on driving while having only had maybe four hours of sleep. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it. You want to take it that way? Fine. I got other things I can worry about."

She didn't respond.

We finished the ride in silence and I was left to stew on what she said. I also couldn't help but wonder how Debbie knew everything she did and what the hell she saw on my palm. As I got closer to the town, I also wanted to know what happened to the monster in the forest? Did Hopper get my message? Did he understand it?

It was dark by the time we got into the town. I dropped Robin off and she slammed the car door without a word of goodbye. It was fine. I couldn't bring myself to care about it any more than I already had.

The roads were mainly empty. I felt hyped up, but not in a good way. I felt like electricity was under my skin. The anxiousness of Debbie's palm reading was creeping up again. What did she mean I wasn't alone? Were there other people who arrived here like me? All of it didn't make sense. Now I was fighting with Robin. I didn't want to fight her, I just...I couldn't deal with this. It was too much.

I stopped the car. I couldn't go home like this. Not feeling like I was on the verge of a panic attack. I kept going down and eventually went down the back roads. I focused on driving and making sure I didn't hit anything that came out of the woods, though I wouldn't have regretted hitting the monster that I left there. The monster that was still there. At least they couldn't track people. Could they? Oh god, could it track Buster?

I was dragged from my thoughts as a car came towards me. Fast. I slowed, shifting the car over slightly just in case the driver wasn't in full control. It slowed slightly as it got closer and I felt my jaw drop as I caught sight of the driver.

What the hell was Max doing driving?!