"Get in the car, Jones."

Okay, Blair was woman enough to admit that it probably hadn't been her smartest idea to go to the convenience store at the end of the street for a pack of cigarettes while the sky was turning dark and stormy, as if grieving some loss and throwing its pain down to the inhabitants of Hawkins. In all honesty, she probably should of took the hit to her pride and walked home during her episode with all the snot and tears streaming down her face because staring out at the empty darkness of the woods in front of her filled her with unease.

However, her grandmother didn't raise a coward, and lighting up a cigarette she began to walk, standing off to the side with the rather threatening dark woods to one side of her, where really anything could jump out from to murder her, and the empty road to the other, where someone could decide to kidnap her or just run her over because people were assholes like that.

And yet, the longer she walked the more...peaceful she felt, because the gentle wind made a nice companion as it danced through her dark strands of hair, caressing the flushed skin of her damp face, and the quiet sounds of the nocturnal wildlife felt soothing to her thunderous headache that came with almost two whole hours of crying as her emotions, her anger got the better of her. And, the overwhelming loneliness of no one being around for miles was strangely comforting and well as terrifying.

But, those feelings of peace were quickly cut short by a rather sudden crack of a branch that echoed through the darkness of the woods beside her, making her head snap to the side as she froze like a deer in headlights to stare out ahead of her, squinting her large eyes to try and see through the shrouding shadow but coming out empty.

Luckily, Blair had seen enough horrors to know that shouting hello was one hell of a stupid move, in fact, she also knew that stopping in the middle of the road to give whatever was out there a moment to catch up to her was also a really stupid move, and with a sudden grip of panic that squeezed her insides and rendered her mute, she turned around and began to walk away as calmly as she could, preying that it was just a stupid animal that was just as startled as her, but reaching into her pocket all the same to wrap her hand around her keys, tucking them between her fingers.

There was another snap of something, sounding closer now than it had before. Blair began to speed up, able to hear her own hitched and panicked breaths as her boots hit off the crunching gravel, just moving quicker slightly, just enough so she could break out into a sprint in case she heard it again as she tried to keep rational and smart, because she knew that once was an accident, two was a coincidence but three...three was a pattern, and it meant that she was in danger.

Another snap and crack, and this one was just behind her.

Blair hit the ground running without another moment of hesitation. The trees passing overhead and becoming dark blurs as she sped past them, eyes watering as the sudden harsh winds slapped her flushing face aggressively but she didn't slow, not even when a low hanging branch caught the side of her head, scratching it deeply as she felt something trail down the side of her face, and she didn't even care if it was sweat or blood as she heard a sudden growl come behind her.

The blood pounding in her veins froze at the sound but her legs kept moving, and she had no control over the way her breath left her chest in a terrified sob because she'd never heard a sound like it. She'd never heard something that sent her skin rippling with goosebumps, never heard something that made her hair stand on end, never heard something so...dangerous, mysterious and unknown that her heart began to beat so fast it felt like it was vibrating.

"Oh, fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck." She sobbed, pushing herself further and further even though it hurt, hearing whatever it was behind her continue its pursuit, heard the shrieking sounds of something ominous and haunting following behind her. Snaps of breaking sticks, rustled leaves, cracking branches assaulting her ears, coming closer and closer and closer until she could practically feel its hand enclosing around her throat to steal her breath.

But, it was interrupted by a sudden rumble of an engine, a heavenly sounding thing that made her physically gasp, flashing lights bathing Blair in its glow and she almost screamed in relief as she felt whatever the presence was disappear just as quickly as it had appeared, slowing down to a light jog as she rested her forearms across her bent and trembling knees, sucking the air inside her lungs with greedy gulps as her dark strands of hair brushed over her slick forehead and stuck there.

She heard the car come to a stop behind her, and just as she was about to turn and thank them or, more realistically wave them away so she didn't look half as crazy as she felt, a certain voice interrupted her panting, and for a moment...Blair wished whatever had been chasing her had actually been a bit quicker to snatch her away so she wouldn't have to deal with this bastard.

"Jones? What the hell are you doing?" Steve Harrington's grossly and unfortunate familar voice questioned her from the safety of his car as he pulled up beside her slowly, his face twisted in obvious confusion as she continued to pant for breath desperately, bent over and shaking, only this time it wasn't from the overwhelming fear of being murdered, but from the very rage that constantly swarmed inside her like a nest of angry Hornets, ready to sting and hurt and die at a moments notice. This was really not her fucking night tonight.

"Fuck off." Blair spat with no real venom as she stood straighter, chest heaving and a stitch in her side that felt like it was tearing her apart from the inside out but she couldn't bring herself to care, turning around to glare at Harrington, who met her gaze with his stupid dopey brown eyes that went wide at her frantic appearance. And she had no doubt that she looked quite a masterpiece with wild hair and a face so red and flushed it looked like a baboons ass.

But Harrington actually managed to suprise her, because instead of laughing or doing something else vaguely cruel like calling her 'blair bitch', he seemed almost fearful as he popped his head out of the rolled down window, his frantic eyes flickering over her form in something vaguely resembling...concern. Good god she must of really looked like shit if that asshole was looking at her with anything other than annoyance or frustration. "Hey, hey are you bleeding?"

"Would you just fuck off and go curse someone else with your pathetic existence. Don't you have to go be a prick somewhere else?"

"Not until tomorrow. Seriously Jones, what the hell are you doing?"

"Walking home obviously, asshole. Turns out my ride was a pervert, remember?" Blair snapped viciously, and upon finally deciding that she really wasn't in the mood to deal with his shit like she did every other day in her life, she turned her back and began to walk, electing to ignore the trembling in her knees, the sweating of her palms and the tickling of blood dripping over the side of her brow like a fucking waterfall. Because as much as she feared the unknown, the bumbling hatred and rage that flushed inside her scared her alot more.

Steve watched her stumble away for a few tense moments, his large hands clenching and unclencing around the steering wheel as he considered driving away and leaving her there, like he was sure she'd do if the roles were reversed because Blair bitch was anything but merciful...but he couldn't bring himself to do so, remembering the fear in her dark eyes that made something twist in his gut that felt an awful lot like guilt and sighed quietly, before he began to drive forward, sliding up alongside her and matching her pace with ease.

"Get in the car, Jones."

"Eat shit." Blair spat, throwing her middle finger out without giving him so much as a glance as she continued her stubborn march forward, fighting and pushing down the small swell of relief that bubbled inside her stomach as he drove alongside her, idly aware of his rolling eyes and expastered facial expressions because she never made things easy for anyone.

"Get in the car, or I'm just going to follow you home like this."

She didn't answer him, didn't even acknowledge him as she called his bluff by picking up the pace, but she could still hear the rumbling of his engine and the sound of the tires rolling against the gravel road following behind her, the beaming glow of his headlights lighting a path and showing her just how far she truly was from the comfort, and the safety of her own home, knowing that it would take her at least another twenty minutes to get there...on foot that is. And the young girl barely even lasted a minute before she exploded and turned towards the car with a glare so fierce it could put Medusa to shame.

"Why do you care?"

"Because if you go and get yourself murdered, I don't want to have the police knocking at my door 'cause I'm the last person who saw you alive. Get in." Steve explained, gesturing towards the woods as if that answered everything, remembering reading plenty of stories about pretty girls who got shoved into the back of Van's and were whisked away never to be seen again, and as much as he disliked the girl in front of him, the last thing he wanted was her death on his conscience.

"I broke your nose."

"I made you walk home in the dark. Pretty sure we're even." They stared at each other for a few tense moments, the wind picking up and howling its sorrows around them and the cold breeze caused a shiver to creep up her spine as she pulled her jacket tighter around herself, teeth clattering and eyes flickering like a stormy sea as she tried to think about her options, knowing that realistically, the thing that was chasing her come could back...and this time Steve Harrington wouldn't be there to save her. "Get in the car, Blair...please."

And just like that the fight left her body, surrending herself to the uncomfortable feeling of gratitude and need as she walked over to the car, moving to the passenger side door which Harrington had already opened by leaned across the console, pulling himself away just as quickly as he kept his eyes trained ahead of him, feeling like any sudden moves or prolonged eye contact would have the girl either cursing at him or hitting the ground running, neither a thing he actually wanted to happen.

She slumped herself down in the passager seat, the leather seats pressing into her back comfortably and slammed the door shut behind her without even thinking of it, too busy fighting off the exhaustion and anger that flushed her veins and made her skin feel itchy and unpleasant and wrong.

"Hey! Watch the paint job! Could you of slammed it any harder?" The almost peaceful moment was broken by Harrington's squeak of protest as he looked over to her in disbelief, mouth opening and closing as his face bloomed unpleasantly, shocked but strangely not suprised at the sharp grin that quickly took up Blair's face as she turned her head to meet his eyes, fingers still wrapped around the closed door that she wriggled tauntingly.

"I don't know, shall we find out?"

"You slam that door again and I'm leaving your ass in the middle of the road." Steve scoffed, huffing under his breath in exasperation, before pressing his foot on the gas quickly as he took off, already wanting this experience over with as he hit the speeding limit and then some, keeping his headlights on and bright as he remembered his dad's warning all those years ago about prancing deers that could literally total cars and leave them with thousands of dollars worth of damages. Probably one of the only pieces good advice he'd ever been given from his old man.

An awkward silence took over as Blair rolled her eyes and glared out at the window, searching through the darkness for any sign of moment, any sign of the thing that had been following her, idly wondering if it was a bear or a mountain lion that was desperate and starving, and had taken its chances hunting her...but there was something about the way her body had screamed, had curled in on itself, how she could smell something not quite...right about whatever it was that made her second guess herself, whatever it was didn't feel like it was part of this world and that scared her more than she'd like to admit.

She could feel Steve stealing glances at her from the corner of her eye, seeing the way his mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something but unable to find the words, and she idly wondered if she should be the one to take that step, until something actually dropped off her face and splashed against the light wash of her jeans, causing her to curse and take her attention away from the road. Her fingers lifted, dotting across her head until her nail caught the end of a rather deep scratch, causing her to hiss, the sudden pain making her face twist into a grimace as she whimpered.

"Hey, don't touch it. You'll make it worse." Steve swiftly stretched across the space to pull her arm away from her forehead as soon as the noise slipped out, surprisingly gentle as he kept his other arm firmly planted on the wheel, turning his head to look in the back of the car where his eyes zeroed in on his gym clothes, which he quickly leaned over towards it to grab his sweatshirt, pulling a face at the sweat stains but ultimately deciding it would have to do. "Here, put this on it to stop the bleeding or something."

"Holy shit." Blair said, brows raising in suprise and a little judgement as the strong stench wafted over her, trying to push his arm away from her face as she tried not to gag, ignoring his indignant glare at her refusal. Honestly, she'd rather bleed out if the alternative was putting that thing anywhere near her face. "Dude, have you ever even washed it?"

"Its not that bad, I washed it last night!"

"Oh please, you were too busy getting drunk and showing off to Nancy Wheeler." She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she took it off him, mainly so he could stop pushing it towards her like a crying baby, but the moment his eyes averted, she quickly threw it in the back of the car once more, stripping her own jacket from her body to press against her head, reassuring herself that she had to do the washing anyway.

Silence took over the car once more, an admission of guilt if she'd ever heard one, but only this time, neither were in a rush to break it as they drove along, the only sound was the running engine and the low and gentle music coming from the radio, swallowing the two up in a peaceful, albeit awkward, quiet. However, thankfully, her home began to flicker in view, a secluded little house that was close enough to call for help but far enough that she never really had to worry about nosy neigbours, and she felt herself sigh in relief as he parked the car, drumming his fingers against the wheel.

"Thankyou, for the uh, for the lift." Blair mumbled, keeping her eyes firmly averted and feeling a strange bubble in her gut over the fact that she couldn't just call him an asshole and be done with the whole interaction, not when he'd actually been her saviour, even though she was sure he didn't know it. If Harrington had seen whatever had been chasing her, she was pretty sure he wouldn't of stopped the car, or maybe he would, he seemed to be full of surprises.

"Don't worry about it."

She lingered for a moment, mouth opening as if to say more before closing, stretching over to pull the door open, climb out, and then close it softly behind her and walked towards her house, second guessing her walk as his headlights continued to bare down on her, sending nervous looks towards the woods next to her house as she picked up the pace, wondering if he debating whether to run her over or something, but it wasn't until she actually opened the door and went in, locking it behind her, did she hear him drive off, and she realised he was making sure she got in safe.

"Weirdo." Blair muttered, slapping her forehead against the wall in front of her, trying to shake of the fear creeping up alongside her spine at being utterly alone now, until the cut against her skin stretched unpleasantly and she cursed, moving away from the door to stumble over to the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers and cupboards for any sign of the first aid kit and finally finding it atop the fridge, having to climb on the counter to pull it down with a roll of her eyes.

The young girl sighed as she walked into the living room, turning the tv on by one of the buttons on the side as she slumped against the worn leather of the couch, muttering and murmuring under her breath in obvious displeasure as she struggled to open one of the stupid bandages, the rubbing alcohol held between her teeth, eyes stinging in frustration.

Until the sound of the tv finally registered inside her ears as the flashing lights brought her attention over to the fuzzy screen, and she froze like a deer in headlights as she stared at it in mounting horror, the first aid kit dropping on the floor as her hands shook and trembled with the bottle of rubbing alcohol rolling across it as her chest burned and ached because she couldn't believe her eyes, couldn't believe what was being shown in front of her.

"Byers' body was found in the water of this quarry by state police earlier this evening. It was discovered by state trooper David O'Bannon, just after dark. The state police are mounting an investigation to determine Byers' cause of death, but an initial inquiry..."

The voice faded out slowly as Blair began to huff for breath, trying to listen, to watch, to see but it felt like everything was moving too quickly, spinning around her like a sailor lost as sea, her vision begining to blur as everything mashed together in dull colours, everything around her home too loud, too quiet, too bright, too dark until she was banging the sides of her fists against her head as another attack swarmed her, pained and muffled screams grinding against her lips because it was Will.

Will who used to curl up behind her when scary parts happened in the movies they'd begged her to watch, Will who always showed her his drawings when she came around the house to see Jonathan, Will who loved his friends more than anything and never found it embarrassing that he still had a babysitter because he told her that she was his friend before anything else and she felt her heart break.

And not just for her, for Joyce, for Jonathan, for the kids, and as those thoughts struck her she was back on her feet, dragging them across the floor until it felt like she was carrying blocks of cement, body drained and exhausted as she lost herself in anger of what had happened to Will, anger at herself for not being more worried, angry at all the assholes in school who'd made jokes like it was some game. Her fingers wrapped around the phone and she rang the familar number, only for it to go straight voicemail.

She tried again and again and again because her brain kept screaming at her to do something, anything but they didn't answer and she couldn't bring herself to be suprised. And she knew, she knew that if it hadn't been for what happened to her earlier that night she would of been rushing over there like the devil himself was chasing after her, but she couldn't move towards the door, couldn't even look at it as she said down the wall, mind flashing back to the weird thing she'd seen, remembering watching him rushing through the woods, hiding in the shed and felt her eyes clench shut.

Will Byers was dead...and she couldn't help but wonder if she could of prevented it.
_________________________________________________

Blair didn't go to school the next day, her attacks leaving her drained and exhausted, skin shallow and gaunt, but she couldn't bring herself to even think about it as she began to move around the house, a desperation to keep her hands busy forcing her to begin cleaning up, washing clothes, putting away dishes, even going as far as to start organizing all of her grams old books that she didn't even dare look inside, least she get another headache once more.

And she did all this without so much as a look towards her door, anxiety and fear still gripping her insides with its strong resistance as she moved over to the phone to call the Byers household once again, wanting them to know that she was there because even if she didn't agree with Jonathan's spying, she still loved her only friend and she hated the thought of them being alone and yet she still couldn't bring herself to move to leave.

It went on like that for hours, Blair constantly glaring towards the looming door as she stress cleaned, scrubbing the floor until the soapy waters turned pink as the rough sponge scratched the skin of her palms warm as she was distracted, too tense to even notice the grounding pain until it was too late, and it was only then did she stand up, slamming the sponge back into the bucket and staring her fear down, before taking a deep breath and going towards it.

She had to see Jonathan, she had to see any of them and make sure they were alright, she couldn't just wallow in self pity when the others had lost more, when they'd lost family just like she had, and with that thought in mind she reached out with trembling fingers, unlocking the door...and the twisting it open with bated breath, hardly moving, hardly even blinking as she stared out as the woods to the side of her home, eyes flickering into the shadows.

"Yeah, that isn't terrifying or anything." The young girl mumbled, running her hands up and down the pricked skin of her arms as the light breeze washed over her, goosebumps rising in its wake as she shivered and stepped out further, closing the door behind her as she walked slowly down the steps, gaze constantly moving around as if expecting something or someone to leap around the corner like something you'd see out of a horror movie. She continued walking forwards, but then she caught something move out of the corner of her eye and froze, going deathly still as she turned her head to the side.

Blair looked over the where she'd seen...something move, sure, absolutely sure that she had seen something but there wasn't anything there anymore. She took a step closer, and then another, and the another and through the bushes she caught sight of what she thought was a deer at first glance hiding under them, sighing in relief and shaking her head in exasperation as her own overthinking...before the 'deer' stood up on its hind legs and turned to face her, growing taller and taller until it towered over her by at least a foot.

But when she said face her...she hadn't been completely accurate, because whatever the fuck was in front of her had no face, just a gaping mouth that opened like a flower in bloom with rows upon rows of sharp teeth as it shrieked an ungodly and unholy sound that rung her ears, rattling her brain as her breath caught in her throat, terror striking her mute as she tried to stumble away as it rushed towards her with another haunting scream, lifting an arm with long dripping claws.

And she didn't think, didn't hesitate, just seen the horrible open maw of something disgusting and unnatural as it swiped it unproportional arm towards her, and the words just slipped over of her lips before she could stop them, eyelids clenching shut to not see her impending doom.

"Scutum."

Then there was a rather strange sound of its arm hitting off something immovable, before it screeched and Blair opened her eyes in time to see it be sent soaring through the air away from her, hitting against a tree and shaking its branches with the force, and Blair didn't even give it a chance to get up and go at her again as it snarled, her heart dropping in her stomach as she remembered the horrifying noise from last night and realised that that is what had been stalking her as she hit the ground running, sprinting towards her door and quickly looking it behind her, staggering back into the hallway with wide eyes.

What the fuck? What the fuck was that?

Suddenly, the room filled with noise causing her to cry out, now on the verge of hyperventilation as she looked around sharply, eyes zeroing in in the ringing phone that she quickly rushed towards on shaking legs, unhooking it from the line and holding it to her ear as she kept her eyes firmly trained on the windows and doors, not knowing if it was still out there but not willing to take the risk of putting her guard down.

It was Jonathan who'd called, his voice hesitant but with a certain urgency as he spoke to her quickly. "Blair, I'm sorry I haven't answered but-" He was, however, interrupted as she heard another noise and she screamed, spinning around with the phone held close to her chest as she spun in a circle, trying to find where the noise had come from only to find that her constant and frantic tottering had caused one of the coats on the staircase to fall over, the soft noise practically amplified by a thousand with her anxiety.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Hey- hey what's going on? Are you alright?"

"No, no I'm not - there's some, some thing that just attacked me. Fuck. It just came out of nowhere, snarling. It chased me last night and I don't think it left holy fuck." Blair laughed in hysteria, rubbing her palm down her face and hissing as she felt the scabs on her palms scratch against the skin, her breath leaving her lungs in wheezy little gasps as she didn't even register what she was saying or who she was talking too, totally caught up in her own fear and knowing that she sounded crazy.

"What are you talking about? I don't-"

"It didn't have a fucking face, what kind of fucked up animal doesn't have a face-"

"BLAIR!" Jonathan suddenly shouted down the phone, stopping what she was about to say next as he finally caught on to what she was saying, slowly looking up to catch Nancy Wheeler's eyes as she stared at him, nervously biting the skin around her nail-bed as he muttered the next words carefully, mind racing a mile per minute. "What do you mean...that it didn't have a face?"