"Promise?"

Blair was really starting to miss the times where her biggest problem was getting a D- in maths class which had honestly seemed to be the end of the world at the time. And yet now here she was, sitting just outside of Hawkins middle school as her strange little group of monster hunters built an improv sensory deprivation tank inside with a cigarette she'd managed to steal from Hopper's pocket when he wasn't looking and practically inhaling it in an effort to calm her nerves as she trembled and quietly sobbed in the safety of her isolation.

Fuck, she was tired, she was just so goddamn tired of everything, because how could everything she'd ever known completely crumble in the space of two weeks leaving her drowning without a raft in sight, left to figure things out on her own, left to fight a monster and now, quite possibly the government to get her bestfriends little brother back...and she wasn't even sure that they were friends anymore, not after everything.

Not after they seemed to be pulling more and more away from each other like a band about to snap in two...and fuck, she'd babysat the kids for four years, four years of her life buying them crappy foods and watching the most ridiculous movies and playing their weird games, so how did she not notice that they were in trouble? That they were acting so strange? And why did it feel like she was losing everything? Everyone? Her own mind?

Grunting quietly under her breath at her own dramatics, Blair reached up to wipe the tears from off of her face and grimaced at how sticky it felt as she pushed the butt of her cigarette into the palm of her hand to diminish the dying flames properly, enjoying the painful burn that came with it as she rested the back of her head against the wall behind her, staring up at the sky and feeling utterly insignificant and at the same time too much, too big for her hollowed out body that just ached constantly, wondering if it would be such a crime if she went to sleep and just never woke up.

She'd helped as much as she could, she'd lugged the bags of salt around like some sort of lumberjack, she'd taken her jacket off again for Eleven to use to keep warm and then answered her every question when the young girl continued to follow her around like a little duckling, she'd even managed to show the kids her witchy powers when she'd forced a door open for them...but she couldn't bring it in herself to stay any longer, and the moment she knew the bath was ready she was already halfway towards the door.

But all of that had been at least an hour ago, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't starting to get a bit worried as she looked out into the darkness of the night. And then suddenly, finally, there was movement as she spotted Nancy and Jonathan coming out of nowhere and rushing towards the car, her brows furrowing for half a second as her face twisted, before she sighed quietly and stood up, limping towards them with her hands in her jean pockets and her boots making scuffing sounds everytime they scraped against the pavement.

"Hey, hey, where are you two going in such a hurry? That desperate for a late night bump in the woods?" She said smiling grimly and in desperate need of a distraction from her own self destructive thoughts, her legs aching after such a long time with no use as she wriggled her brows at the two, not quite able to read the room it seemed as she watched them check through their strange arsenal of weapons in the boot of Jonathan's car with a bored and almost amused glimmer in her dark gaze.

An expression that quickly disappeared when Nancy slammed the door of the boot closed and spun around to glare with tear-filled eyes and a wobbling bottom lip at the witch. A horrifying and vile anger filling her small body at the witches nonchalance, at her superior bitchy attitude that everyone usually feared and despised, but all the Wheeler girl felt at that moment in time was crippling numbness at everything and everyone. "It killed Barb, Blair. That- that thing killed Barb...and it dies tonight."

"Whoa now wait a minute-"

"No! I'm not waiting for it- for it to just kill someone else! So are you going to help us or not?" Nancy spat, stepping forward with her shaking hands clenched into tight fists, all the while Blair surprisingly kept herself calm and collected, holding eye contact with the shorter girl and searching for something, something that only the witch was privy to know about...before she nodded her head with a slight quirk of her bloodied lips.

"I'll help you. Of course I'll help you, and I'm sorry about Barb. She didn't deserve that."

"No, she didn't...Wait, where are you-"

"Look, the monster isn't going anywhere, alright? Just give me a couple of minutes to explain to the kids where we're going." Blair said quickly over her shoulder, because she definitely wasn't waiting for permission as she stalked forward, opening the door to the gym and strolling right on in as the two mumbled something she didn't care to pay attention to behind her. Far too focused on searching around the large space for any sign of the kids as the door slammed shut and echoed through the silence like a slap to the face.

But it seemed that the loud noise had its advantages, as the moment the door had finished swinging, she watched as a familar head of curly hair came out from the bleachers and then watched as Dustin smiled his toothless grin with a quiet chuckle, walking towards him as one by one, the kids popped up like daisies...with Eleven bringing up the rear reluctantly and looking very confused indeed until she'd noticed Blair, and then she was rushing towards her and meeting her in the middle where she instantly leaned into the older girls embrace who, after some hesitation, hugged her back before glancing down at the others.

"Hey you little shits, you all doing okay?" They all made noises and sounds of affirmation, though some had more attitude than others that left her fighting off a grin as she shook her head in amusement, before she remembered just why she'd come in, clearing her throat awkwardly and looking down at the floorboards beneath her feet with her bottom lip firmly held between her trembling lips. "Good, that's good...listen, me and Jonathan and Nancy...we're going back to the Byer's house. But I need you all to stay here, okay? Don't call anyone, don't open the doors for anyone and try and keep hidden, you got that?"

"You're going after the monster, aren't you?" Mike asked after a few tense moments of silence, but there really hasn't been a need to question her, because it was pretty obvious where the teens were heading and why, but Blair felt herself grunting all the same, rubbing the heel of her scabbed palm against the aching panes of her face as exhaustion settled into her bones, wanting to lie to them, wanting to keep their worry at bay but finding herself unable to as she nodded silently.

"Yeah, we're going to put a stop to this. We're going to keep you all safe."

"But it's super dangerous! That thing-"

"Is that concern I hear in your voice, Lucas? And here I was thinking you were just using me for free candy." Blair tried to joke with a tired smile, but when the young boy only glared, she dropped the act with a sigh, her lips pursing into a sour expression as she struggled on what to say, how to comfort them, how to shield them without having them feel patronized, and finally, she decided upon just telling them what they'd wanted to hear, on what she needed them to hear.

"Look, when I get back, and all this is over...we're all going to order pizza and make popcorn, and watch that shitty movie you always make me put on for you. We'll even make a day of it, how's that sound?" She said, her throat feeling strangely tight, like the air was constricting in her lungs as a sharp sting rushed towards her eyes, and she had to blink rapidly to clear them away from tears as the kids grinned amongst each other, looking excited and tired and all things in between at the thought of this finally being over with enough trauma to last them all for a lifetime and more.

"And Eleven too?" Mike asked suddenly, his pale brows lightly furrowed as he blinked up at her from over the others shoulders, and when Blair glanced down at her side where the young girl had burrowed herself in her warm embrace, still wrapped in her jacket that she'd gifted her to fight off a chill, she found Eleven staring up at her with the same hopeful glimmer in her brown eyes that had seen too much hardship, too much pain, and once again, the witch had to push away her selfish self destruction to tighten her grip against the girl and pull her closer with a smile.

"...And Eleven too. You think you'd like that, kiddo?" Blair said to which the young girl nodded simply, her lips lifting into a shy smile that had the witch feeling all sorts of warm and fuzzy as she brushed her trembling hand over her shaved head affectionately, before untangling herself from their gentle embrace with one last look, and then turning towards the other kids with her expression serious and determined as she pointed at each of them sternly. "Now, all of you keep yourselves inside the gym and don't kick up a fuss. I'll see you soon."

And having finally said her peace, she began to walk away, every step feeling like she was leaving something behind, like a dangerous foreboding that had settled heavy in her gut as she walked across the polished wood...but it was Eleven's voice that stopped her in her tracks, the girls quiet calling of her name tugging her back like an invisible tether as she paused on her journey, turning her head just slightly to show that she'd heard her.

"Promise?"

"Yeah, yeah I promise." And hidden just in front of her own body, shielded away from view, Blair crossed her fingers tightly...and hoped with everything blistering inside her that she could stick to that promise.
_________________________________________________

The plan had been fairly simple in retrospect...use blood to draw the monster out, run very quickly down the hall, jump over the bear trap in which the creature would inevitably fall onto, get into Will's bedroom and wait for the yo-yo that was tied to said trap to move...then Blair would light the little bitch on fire and they'd all finally be rid of the absolute nightmare the past week had been. Of course, it seemed simple, but in truth, she wasn't that optimistic that it would end up going down like that.

Not with her nerves practically frayed on edge and Nancy consumed with vengeance and Jonathan seemingly being too busy mooning over the Wheeler girl with hearts in his eyes to be much help. She'd literally had to move out of the room after they'd cut their hands to draw the blood, not that she really needed to do much considering the state of her palms, because of the romantic tension of the room threatening to suffocate her. She'd honestly thought she was about to start throwing up when they'd started dressing the others wounds and acting like it was some form of weird foreplay.

She gave a sudden shiver just thinking about it, wrapping the bandage absentmindnessly around her bloodied hand while glaring out of the window, staring out through the darkness and awaiting a sign, a warning, anything as the night continued on silently...at least it was silent...until the door started pounding as someone slammed their fists against it so loud that she was worried her eardrums were about to burst.

"Who the fuck is that?" Blair's voice snapped as she came into the living room from the kitchen, nothing more than a venemous whisper when she walked out with a certain determination in her step, her stained bandage halfway done and hanging in white strips by her side as she glared towards the booming door, a dangerous glint flashing across her face as the three teenagers looked at the brown wood anxiously...only to hear a familar voice echoing around the quiet room from the other side as Harrington begged for Jonathan.

Of course, she thought to herself annoyed, because really, at this point in this charade of a shitshow, this might as well happen, slamming the heel of her unbloodied palm into her forehead and dragging it down her face with an expression of upmost exasperation, a certain exhaustion settling into her bones and making it home there as the knocking continued, and there was some part of her, vile and destructive that hoped the monster would somehow manage to find the boy and put an end to her headache...and it was that thought that sobered her up like a cold glass of water.

The terror of the unknown, the future, the ever present burn of her magic now blossoming underneath her veins like her all consumming rage, just nothing more than catalysts in her rapidly disintegrating life that had something inside her tearing at the seams. Anger, hate, pain all just words, just emotions that were threatening to drown her with every simple breath she'd take, pulling her futher and further into the ominous waves if her own mind to the point she could barely trust herself.

The thoughts swirling inside of her head were nothing short of monstrous, and there was only so much she could blame onto her exhaustion and grief before she'd have to take a look at herself and ask herself just what was wrong with her? Just what had always been wrong with her? Was it that magic had always been inside her, strange and dark and powerful and now that it was rising to the surface she was becoming something worse? Or was it just the fact that she was so tired that it had seemed to seep into her bones and made them ache?"

She didn't really want to find out, and she really didn't want to test just how far her patience went when it was matched with stupid...which is why her heart leapt into her throat when she noticed Nancy moving towards the door, her eyes going wide as she practically fell over her own two feet in an effort to block her way, a certain manic glint shining in the darks of her eyes as she openly laughed in her face. "Uh, how about we don't do that? Seriously, do you have a fucking brain in that pretty little head of yours?'

"I'm going to get rid of him! I don't want him to get hurt-"

"Look, I get that in your little twisted mind you think that you're protecting him and hey, that's really cute. But if you go up to that door and he see's you with Jonathan it's safe to assume he's going to freak just like he already has. So do me a favour and shut the fuck up." Blair hissed, bruised lips forming a vicious and fake grin sharper than any knife that had Nancy flinching away from her, but even then, she refused to allow herself to feel guilty, to feel anything that deranged her...not until all of this was over, not until she had time and space and isolation to lose her mind.

"We can't just leave him out there!" Nancy whispered, gesturing over towards the door where Steve's voice continued to ring out, calling out for Jonathan who was looking more and more stressed out by the minute, his trembling hand clutched over the stained bandage desperately as his gaze flickered all around the place, obviously far more on guard about the monster than the two girl who looked as if they were both more likely to fight each other rather than the monster terrorizing Hawkins with its vile intentions.

"We're not...I'm going to make him leave, all you have to do is be quiet and stay the fuck out of view, alright?" The dark-haired girl said darkly before setting her jaw stubbornly and turning her back, moving towards the door with purpose while her hands clenched into tight fists, eyebrows drawn in tightly at the pain that continued to blossom but needing something to focus on lest she simply throw a punch, knock him out and be over with it all...she didn't think Nancy would quite appreciate it, and there was alot of things she'd rather be doing than listening to her complain.

She took a deep breath, heart beat pounding in her ears in some form of chaotic tandem, her fringe falling over her bruised eyes as she huffed and puffed in frustration...and then she opened the door with a blinding smile that looked like she was about to start selling something sweet rather than telling the boy on the opposite end of the door to eat shit. "Hey Harrington, afraid to say that Jonathan isn't here right now, so why don't you do me a favour and fuck off? You're giving me a headache."

And then she went to slam it shut just as fast as she'd opened it...only for Steve to quickly push himself forward, his foot slipping in the tiny gap of the door and keeping it wrenched open, barely even flinching when Blair rammed the wood into his shin with her face transforming into a scowl, lifting her gaze to glare into his desperate brown eyes as he slammed his hands against the walls on either side of the door. "Wait, Blair! Blair- please, look I'm not trying to start anything, I made a mistake alright? I just- I just want to make things right. Not just to him but to you too. Just let me talk to him-"

"Nope."

"Would you please just-!" His hand curled around the door again, pushing it open even further because unfortunately, brute strength seemed to beat her ever lasting rage, but when Steve finally caught sight of her, truly caught sight of her with the lights hanging overhead shining down upon her skin with a warm glow instead of her hiding through the shadows, his apology was long forgotten as his heart dropped to him stomach. "Hey, hey what...what happened to your face? Are- is that a black eye?"

She almost cursed, her fingers instantly brushing over the bruised skin with resentment and what was worse was the fact that she didn't even remember how she'd gotten it, her bloodied hands, her skin seemingly now in constant hues of blue and purples, bitten lips leaving the flesh raw and bleeding. And in truth, she feared that her face now closely resembled Frankenstein's monster more than teenage girl as she sighed quietly, pulling her hand back down to press it further against the door with a sharp glare. "Harrington, I'm only going to say this one more time...fuck off if you know what's good for you."

"Blair what's going on? Is he hurting you or something? Did he- hey, let me in! Let me in-" Steve snapped, his words frantic and jumbled as he forced the door open and stumbled inside, all the while the young witch could only blink in shock as she spun towards him, pausing in place as she watched the catastrophe about to happen when his brown eyes flickered around the room, towards his girlfriend, the Byers boy, then the assortment of weapons against the table and the, to be quite frank, crazy decorations scattered across the walls.

"Nancy? What are you-? What the hell is going on- What is that smell? Is that- Is that gasoline?"

And what happened next she could only describe as chaos as Jonathan rushed towards the boy, physically grabbing him by the shirt and attempting to drag him out as Steve flapped and floundered, trying to see over the top of his head as he looked around in absolute bewilderment whilst the other teen screamed at him and Blair resisted the urge to simply let the monster eat them as she buried her head in her hands and whined lowly, dragging her palms down her face in disbelief at what was literally happening in front of her face.

However, what she most definitely hadn't expected through out all of this...was Nancy fucking Wheeler grabbing the gun from the table and pointing it at Steve with her lithe hand trembling and her bottom lip wobbling as everyone froze around her in an absolute stand still. "Steve! Get out!"

"Whoa, wait, wait what? What is going on!?"

"You have five seconds to get out of here."

"No, no that isn't happening, Wheeler drop the fucking gun now." Blair ordered, because as much as she didn't like Harrington she wasn't willing to go to jail because of him...and she was pretty sure if Nancy somehow managed to shoot him, he seemed like the type to hold somewhat of a grudge over it...but just as she was about to physically do something about it, her eyes were suddenly trained on the flickering Christmas lights as her heart plummeted down to her stomach, fear winding it's way around her still breathing corpse as she tensed up.

"I'm doing this for you." Nancy whispered tightly, trying to make him understand and looking half a second away from bursting into tears as Steve continued to scream and flap in an obvious panic, all the while Jonathan desperately tried to grab her attention and Blair raised her hand in the air with an expression closely resembling steel, her dark eyes flickering and waiting as the fine hairs of her arms stood on end, feeling the unnatural energy of the room as the soap opera went on behind her dramatically. "Three-"

"No, no no no no!"

"Nancy!" Jonathan's patience snapped as he yelled with his voice shaking with fear, looking towards the Wheeler girl who'd flinched at the abrupt noise, her breath leaving her trembling lips in anxious pants, and then she finally seemed to feel the tense and ominous atmosphere of the room, circling through the air like sharks in the water. "The lights...it's here."

Blair blinked, and suddenly the two were back to back with their weapons of choice held in their bloodied hands, moving around in circles as the lights danced tauntingly above their head, the darkness rising and now far more threatening than it had been before as the terror of the monster lurking in it rose, ignoring Steve's confused babbling as the young witch hovered right beside him, all of their eyes constantly moving around the room with rising urgency. "Where is it? Where is it?"

"I don't know, Blair can you sense it?"

"I'm a witch Jonathan, not a fucking blood hound." She snapped over towards him quickly without so much as a backward glance, wondering just why she was feeling compared to some sort of dog recently with her scarred hands held high in front of her as she twisted her head this way and that, searching through the fog of her own mind and ignoring the boy who seemed to be losing more and more of whatever semblance of sanity he had left by the minute as he waved his arms around frantically for attention.

"A witch- Hello! Would someone explain to me what the hell is going-"

But whatever Steve was about to shout was interrupted...by the monster suddenly breaking in through the walls with a ear-splitting screeching that cut through the air like nails on chalk, the wallpaper stretching over it like disgusting skin as it claeds it's way through as if being rebirthed...and Blair wished she could say she was ready for it, that she'd marched forward with determination and screamed the spell to set it alight with flame, that she'd saved the day and protected the others like she promised she'd do, that she was brave and strong.

However the truth was that she took one look at the creature, one look at the vile monstrosity...and she froze in terror. And then Nancy started shooting at it, the loud bangs of the gun making her ears ache, and just like that Blair felt herself snap back into place, reaching behind her to grab onto Harrington and pulling him along as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

Stick to the plan, she thought to herself shakily, hammering that thought inside of the ruin of her mind over and over again until she prayed it stuck, leaping over the trap and hearing Steve's garbled screams behind her as he did the same, forced to follow her as she heard Jonathan and Nancy rushing after them after successfully grabbing the monsters attention. Just stick to the plan and it will be alright. And the moment they were all in the bedroom, Blair twisted around and whimpered a spell that forced the door shut behind them.

Then there was silence, thick and brimming with tension...after Steve had been told to shut up of course, all of their eyes firmly trained on the yo-yo, waiting for it to move with mounting anticipation that left her mouth feeling drier than a desert, and every time she swallowed it was like sand paper on her tongue, getting rougher and rougher by the minute until it was all she could focus on. There should of been something by now, a noise, a cry, a thump but there wasn't anything, no sound other than their heavy breathing and the dull buzz of the flickering lights...until they stopped too.

"Well...that feels anticlimactic." Blair said dryly after some time had passed, sweat dripping down her forehead as she swallowed thickly and ignored the dark looks she was given in return at her forced nonchalance. Far too busy trying not to go into cardiac arrest with her shaking palm pressed tightly over her beating heart, and it wasn't until she felt something move in her free one did she realise she was still holding onto Steve's hand and quickly yanked it back with the tips of her ears flushing as she cursed internally at her own stupid weakness.

Yet the four teens only lingered for another minute or two inside of the rather stale room, before they eventually had no choice but to wander out of it, every step feeling like they were marching to their deaths as their eyes constantly flickered around the hallway, up towards the ceiling, into the open rooms and every corner with their weapons held in tight grips. But the monster was no where to be seen, like it wasn't even there in the first place, and Blair honestly didn't know what to feel about that.

It seemed like Steve did however, as the poor boy barely lasted another second before he dissolved into a breakdown, and in any other situation, the young witch would of found it ironic on how the tables had turned as she watched from afar. "This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!" He screamed, body stiff and almost robotic in his fear, and then he was rushing towards the phone and practically yanking it off the wall, but whatever his plan was, Nancy had managed to thwart by slapping it out of his hands as he whimpered. "What- why- are you insane?"

"It's going to come back, and you need to leave. Right now."

She had very serious doubt that Steve had ever moved faster in his life, because it seemed that he'd literally kicked up dust with how fast his legs moved in his effort to run away as he disappeared out of the door like hell itself was chasing after him. And she simply watched him go tiredly with her hands resting on her hips, her tongue digging into her cheek and then she turned towards Nancy with a tut. "Real fine specimen of a boyfriend there, Wheeler. Definitely the American dream."

Obviously she wasn't dignified with a responce, but the truth was, she had very serious doubt that she would of heard whatever the girl had said anyway...because the lights had started flickering once more, quicker, more violent and louder than before and stealing her attention as well as the breath from her lungs as they all moved towards each other, back to back and staring at every dark crevice frantically but to no avail and they shouted and screamed at each other for answers.

The lights turned off and plunged them into darkness, and the silence that followed had never been louder than it had in that very moment...before it was broken by the monster coming out of the shadows with a snarling growl and shoving Jonathan to the ground, leaning over him with its horrifying mouth opening like a blooming flower, and Blair could only watch with fear as Nancy started shooting at it, the firing of her bullets quick and precise and exactly what the young witch needed to break out of her frozen state as it moved towards the Wheeler girl menacingly.

"Ignis absumet!" She screamed, throwing her hand out as fire leapt to her wiccan will, setting the creatures arm alight with flame as it flailed and shrieked in horrendous pain causing a feral grin to twist at her lips savagely. But that triumphant expression was torn from her face as the monster set its face towards her, and then in no time at all it was upon her like wolves to wounded prey.

There was drool dripping down it's open maw, splattering wetly over her bloodied face as she screamed, howled more like it, furiously, fiercely and vengefully, her trembling hands gripping the side of the spongy flesh of its mouth filled with serrated teeth that caused crimson to swell between the broken skin of her hands, cutting and sharp and painful as she pushed with all of her might to get it off, to stop it from enclosing around her head and tearing it from her body as her eyes filled with tears and her chest heaved with violent breaths as she choked on her own bile.

She didn't want to die, not like this, not in this much pain or fear as misery and strife wreaked havoc, not when she had so much left to fucking do. But it felt like her body had given up and was just awaiting cruel fate, the shouts from Jonathan and Nancy nothing more than background noise as they faded in and out, muffled in her ears like her head was underwater as her vision blurred, the flickering lights of the decoration merging together just to form one colour that made her head ache as it slumped back against the wood, her spell dying upon the tip of her tongue as everything just gave.

Blair felt her eyes flutter shut, her arms giving out, the monsters warm and disgusting breath brushing over her face as it leaned in closer...and for a moment, there was nothing but calm, but bliss as for once in her life the rage that constantly swarmed her seemed to ease from her body as she accepted deaths cold embrace...and then the creature was torn away from her as the nail studded bat came out of nowhere and was swung into it's side, falling off of her with a pained screech as her eyes snapped open with a gasp.

And almost instantly it was like she was alight with energy, twisting herself around so she was on her knees, struggling to stand and staring with a disbelieving gaze as Steve continued to step up to bat...literally with vicious and damaging swings and hits forcing the monster further and further away from her as it twirled around his grip, absolutely lethal and pushing it towards the trap with nothing but his own force of will, and Blair only allowed herself a minute of awed staring before she was standing up on unsteady feet, shaking hands pushing in front of her and she screamed. "Phasmatos Motus Robix!"

The creature was sent soaring through the air as she came up behind Steve, her arms outstretched as the monster had no choice but to bend to her will and with a screeching cry that practically made her skin vibrate, its foot finally catching in the trap, its clawed fingers still burning desperately swiping towards them in panic as it's disgusting blood began to soak the carpet beneath its feet.

She felt more than heard Nancy and Jonathan coming up behind them, the four huddled together as they watched the monster struggle and squirm, but just as they all began to pat themselves down desperately for the lighter, Blair focused hard on her rage, on her fury that constantly laced her veins with its vile intentions, and looked towards the thing that had tried to hunt her with nothing but danger in her dark eyes...and her lips didn't even have to open as fire suddenly erupted around it, searing into its flesh with a bright orange glow, with the heat almost blinding them.

The screams and screeches echoing through the quiet house, it's whole body wriggling and just as Blair was about to worry that she was going to end up setting the whole corridor alight with flames, Jonathan rushed towards it with a fire extinguisher he stole from the station and he sprays it all over the damned thing, trying to stop his house from combusting, the foam and the spoke making it hard to even attempt to breathe as Blair stumbled into someone behind her who was quick to steady her, their arm wrapping around her middle and keeping her held up against their chest.

But when it finally cleared...there was nothing there, no body, no corpse, just the stained carpet and the rusting metal of the bear trap with something disgusting looking sizzling against it that looked like severed and slimy skin. "It has to be dead, it has to be." Jonathan whispered, his eyes frantic as they searched all over the hallway while Blair struggled to keep her footing, still leaning heavily on the person beside her as her vision continued to blur.

And then her mouth began to water and she was suddenly gagging without restraint, only having a moment and the sense to twist to the side and start throwing up the contents of her stomach all over the carpet with a weak groan, her whole body wracking in tremors as it erupted in agony and her legs gave out from underneath her. "Jesus christ." She heard a voice grumble before there were hands in her hair, gently pulling it back and away from her face as she heaved, the pain in her throat and building in her stomach causing tears to spring forth her eyes. "You alright?"

However...all she could see, all she could focus on was things flashing before her eyes, quicker than lightning or her heartbeat as it pounded. Flash and there was Eleven, standing tall but looking terrified as she screamed. Flash and there was the kids sobbing in someone's arms. Flash and there was Hopper, searching through the woods with Eggo's peaking out of his pocket. Flash, someone was calling her name. Flash, and fire was erupting around her, shouting for her, with magic stronger than anything she'd ever felt before.

Flash, flash, flash, flash going faster and faster and faster...and then it all went black.