The Monster

THE OPENING WAS GONE.  Or so it seemed. For all Moses could tell, they had gone the wrong way. They ran blindly through the woods. Moses made sure to keep to keep hold of Nancy's hand. Otherwise, he was certain the two would get separated. He could hear Jonathan and Bonnie yelling their name. There was a slight echo to their voices, but other than that it sounded as if they were right next to them. Except they weren't. Moses couldn't see them anywhere. 

It was the same on the other side. Jonathan and Bonnie had returned to the last spot they had seen the other two. Instead all they found was their supplies. They were about to go looking when they heard the screaming. And noticed a strange hole in the tree...

"Just follow my voice! I'm right here!" 

Except Jonathan's voice seemed to be coming from everywhere. As soon as they started to follow it, the monster burst from around the corner. 

"Shit! Go, go, go!"

Moses shoved Nancy forward, but she didn't need any help. Moses paused only long enough to throw the useless flashlight at the monster. It stunned it long enough that the two were able to duck behind a tree without being followed. They held their breaths as it passed. 

Once again, Jonathan called for them. With the monster gone, they decided to take their chance. They ran, following the voices the best they could. Moses let out a sigh of relief when he saw the hole hadn't closed like he expected. It had started too, though. Nancy went first, using her flashlight to navigate the small tunnel between the two sides. She seemed to struggle with the film. Moses turned at the sound of something approaching. 

Suddenly, she was yanked through. With the space cleared, Moses followed. 

"Are you guys okay?" Bonnie asked. 

Instead of answering, Nancy crawled over to her friend. Bonnie was quick to pull her into a hug, ignoring the goo that covered her entirely. Moses turned. He half expected the monster follow them. Instead, the tree's bark had just finished closing over the hole. 

They were just in time. 

The group made for the car. They had found the monster, and it was far worse than they expected. Moses explained what they had seen on the way home. Explained it as well has he could, anyway. The best he could think of was a "dark forest" but it seemed to be so much more than that. After all, a dark forest didn't have giant pods or monsters. They weren't filled with particles and vines and rot. 

"I told you this was a terrible idea," Moses said.

"You're right, you're right, I'm sorry," Jonathan glanced back just quick enough to catch sight of Nancy and Bonnie in the back. "I didn't think it would just pop up."

"Yeah, well, it did!"

Moses exhaled through his nose. He knew it wasn't fair to be mad at Jonathan. They had all agreed, and it wasn't like he had given a better idea, but they'd almost died. If they had been even the slightest bit later getting to the hole. If the monster had happened to look around the tree they had hidden behind. 

"Do you think they're in the other forest?" Bonnie suddenly asked. 

"What?" Moses turned to look at her.

"The monster has something to do with everyone going missing," Bonnie said. "If it's in that forest, what if they are, too?" 

Then they were screwed. They could barely walk in the forest two minutes before the monster popped up. That wasn't even accounting for the fact there could be more of them. 

For the rest of the ride, the four were silent. Despite better judgement, they stopped at the Wheeler's house. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were home. Nancy instead had them climb up onto the shorter side of their roof, which then allowed them to reach her window. The last thing they needed was her parents wondering why they were walking around covered in goo. 

Bonnie went to get towels while the others waited. Jonathan, meanwhile, used the phone in Nancy's room to call his mom. She had likely noticed they were gone, after all.  

"Nice room," Moses said. 

He wasn't sure why he said it. It was just that Nancy had seemed to take their excursion really hard. Sure Moses wasn't the best at comforting people, especially strangers, but it felt wrong to just let Nancy suffer. 

"I guess..." Nancy muttered.

"Hey, is that Mike?" Moses bent down to look at a family picture Nancy kept on her dresser. "Huh. Not what I expected."

"What did you expect?" Nancy gave an incredulous look. 

"I dunno," Moses shrugged. "Clem made him sound a lot cooler."

That made Nancy laugh. 

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just..." Nancy shrugged. "He's not bad, he's just a jerk sometimes, you know? Brothers are like that."

Now it was Moses's turn to be incredulous. He had two younger siblings, and two older ones. While he was closest with Clem, he was still fond of the others, and he certainly didn't go out of his way to be an ass to them. But then something sifted out side the window, distracting them, and by then Jonathan had hung up and Bonnie returned with the towels. 

The towels were not working. They collected most of the gunk, but it wasn't even close to enough. Nancy was able to take a shower, but Moses ended up having to scrape most of it off with the towel. After that the four just...stood around. They were certain they should leave, so Nancy's parents wouldn't get suspicious, but none of them had the confidence to make it happen. In the end they just made beds on the floor and spent the night. After all, it seemed safer that way. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

BONNIE DIDN'T KNOW IF SHE REGRETTED SLEEPING OVER OR NOT. As soon as she woke up, she realized her mistake. Unlike Jonathan, she hadn't called her dad or Lykke. Bonnie had assumed she would return before her dad did. Instead she had been gone all night, without even telling him she was leaving. 

"I guess I just...forgot?" Bonnie said when she finally called her dad. 

"You forgot to tell me you were spending the night at Nancy's?" Dad asked. 

He sounded suspicious, which wasn't good. Bonnie knew it was a stretch. For as long as she had been going out with friends, she had always remembered to keep her dad updated. It was the rule, and one that Bonnie understood. She knew he wasn't trying to be controlling. Dad just wanted to know where she was incase something happened, and that was more than fair. 

Remembering what had happened the night before, Bonnie felt even more guilty. She shouldn't have agreed to go monster hunting. What if something had happened? Her family was already anxious. They didn't need her going missing on top of that. That wasn't even considering how Jonathan, Nancy, and Moses's family would feel. God, what about Joyce? she'd have lost another son. 

"I'm really, really sorry," Bonnie insisted. 

"I know," Dad said. 

Bonnie thought she heard some resignation in his voice. She couldn't tell if that was because he was disappointed, or because he realized she knew her mistake with out being lectured. Probably both. Somehow that only served to make Bonnie feel worse. 

"Just...call me if you go anywhere else weird, okay?" Dad said. 

"I will. I promise."

By the the others had begun to wake up. Bonnie hung up. There was still work to be done. 

"Every time I close my eyes, I just keep seeing that...thing," Nancy explained. "I think hat it lives there. It was feeding there. Feeding not hat deer. That means that if...if Will and Barbara and Clem..."

If they had been taken, it was probably to be eaten. They probably weren't alive. Bonnie blinked back a growing burning in her eyes. She turned to Moses, who glared hard at the wall. 

"Hey. My mom said she talked to Will, and Moses heard Clem," Jonathan said. "If they're alive, there's a chance Barbara is, too."

"Yeah, I heard her get attacked," Moses corrected. "Maybe she got out, maybe they're all out, but that just means they're trapped in there." 

"We have to find it again," Nancy decided.

"Wait, what?" Bonnie gave the girl a confused look.

"You want go back out there?" Jonathan asked.

Bonnie studied her friend. Nancy looked terrible. She had hardly slept, and even now looked shaken by the ordeal. The last thing Bonnie wanted was for her to go back to the place that had traumatized her.

"Maybe we don't have to," Nancy said. "When we saw it, it was feeding on that deer. Meaning it's...it's a predator, right?"

"So?" Moses shrugged. "We already knew that."

"And it seem's to hunt at night, like a..." Nancy flipped through the book in front of her. It was only then that Bonnie realized it was a zoology book. "A lion or a coyote. But it doesn't hunt in packs like them. It's always alone, like..."

"A bear?" Bonnie suggested. 

Wasn't that what the police thought it was? A bear? Nancy nodded. 

"And remember at Steve's, when Barb cut herself? And then, last night, the deer..." Nancy continued. 

"It was bleeding, too," Jonathan said.

"So, it's attracted to blood?" Moses asked. "What about Will and Clem?"

"Will crashed his bike, he could have been bleeding."

And they had no idea when Clem went missing. Their theory seemed to continue. Nancy flipped to the page in her book on sharks.

"Sharks can detect blood in one part per million. That's one drop of blood in a million, and they can smell it from a quarter mile away," Nancy said. 

"So you're saying it can detect blood?" Jonathan asked. 

"It's just a theory..."

So they would have to test it. If it worked, they would know it was coming. They wouldn't get surprised.

Before they could continue, someone jerked on the locked door. They all jumped. Luckily, it just turned out to be Karen Wheeler, wanting to let Nancy know that breakfast was ready. Bonnie sighed. She took that as their sign to leave. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

DAN HAD SPEANT MOST OF THE MORNING ON THE RADIO. There had to be some way to contact El and Eve. If the two were able to see people using a radio, maybe they could sense someone trying to reach them with a radio? That was Dan's reasoning, anyway. They had nothing else to work with, so they kept trying. 

Mike had called the other boys over, but they had no idea who was going to show up. After all, the fight had left the party in a weird spot. Dustin had agreed. Lucas hadn't even answered. Those answers were set in stone. Floris had taken awhile to respond, but agreed once Dan swore they would only talk about finding Will. 

So, of course, Mike promptly did not that. 

"I just...I can't believe they didn't come back," Mike sighed. 

"I mean, everyone was kinda mad at them," Floris pointed out. "Why would they want to come back?"

"They've gotta be close," Dustin offered. 

"El said it wasn't safe," Mike insisted, "They just messed up the compasses because they wanted to protect us. They didn't betray us."

"Exactly!" Dan nodded. "And now they're in danger."

"Or  they've found someone else to take care of them?" Floris suggested. "And who cares? Why is that our problem?"

"We did promise to help them," Dan said.

"When did we do that?"

Well...Dan didn't know. Now that they thought about it, they could only remember promising not to tell anyone about them. But that didn't change anything! El and Eve needed to be protected, and they had tried to help, even if it wasn't in the most conventional way. They couldn't just not care that they could be in danger. What about the bad men? What if they picked the two up, and the party never knew it?

"I shouldn't have yelled at them," Mike continued, as if the other conversation never happened. "I never should have done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault," Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas's," Mike said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What? No, it isn't!" Floris protested.

"Yes, it is!" Mike stopped his pacing to face Floris. "None of this would have happened if he hadn't yelled at them."

"And he wouldn't have yelled at them if they were just honest about what was going on," Floris replied. "I get it, okay, I don't wanna die either, but they shoulda told us that instead of pretending to help."

"He was way out of line!" 

"Guys, stop!" Dustin interrupted. "Lucas was totally out of line, but Mike, so were you! And so was Eleven."

Mike scoffed. 

"Oh, give me a break!" Mike said.

"No, Mike you give me a break!" Dustin retorted. "All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! At least Dan, Benny, and I were being reasonable. But the bottom line is...you pushed first. And you know the rule. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand," Mike protested.

"You have to," Dan insisted. "It's the rule, and it's the only way to heal the party."

They group had been friends since forever. Dan couldn't remember a time before he knew them, at least not well. Just as much as they couldn't leave El and Eve out on their own, they couldn't leave Lucas out either. They needed the whole party to find Will. Other wise they would fail. 

"Dan's right. This isn't a discussion," Dustin said. "This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?"

The others looked to Mike. Finally, he gave a no, and so they went to get their coats on. 

"Where are we going?" Mike asked. 

"To get Lucas, genius," Floris retorted.

"And then, we're gonna find Eleven," Dustin added. 

With that, he tossed Mike his bag and they headed out. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

AT FIRST SEVEN COULD HEAR NOTHING BUT THE BUBBLING AROUND HIM. Then he focused in on Eleven's mind. Slowly the sound faded away. It was replaced by the found of faint speaking that only grew louder. When Seven opened his eyes, he was stood in a dark void. When he focused even harder, Eleven materialized next to him. The two never existed in the same void. Papa had explained that, and Seven's attempt to interact with Eleven had proven that, but with his powers he was able to see what she was doing within her own void. So far she wasn't able to do the same with him. 

It took a moment to locate the man talking. People they searched for didn't appear right in front of them. Often they would, instead, appear at a distance. This time the man was a few steps in front of them. Eleven began to approach him. She walked around him, studying him from all angles. 

Seven, meanwhile, stayed at a distance. The man was as clear as if he was stood in the void with them, but he didn't seem to see them. Instead, he spoke to someone who was supposed to be across from him, who they could not see. Faintly Seven was aware that his words were being projected around in the lab through the radio system. Someone out there would translate it. Neither Seven nor Eleven knew what his words actually meant. 

Suddenly, the man dissolved into a mist. Seven knitted his brows, feeling the connection being interrupted. He couldn't reach out again. 

Something growled. The children turned to face it. 

A creature was bent in front of them. Eleven screamed and began to run, thrusting Seven out of the void. 

Eve snapped awake. He rubbed away the dirt that had stuck to his cheek. Eleven was huddled against a tree nearby. With no where else to go, the two had ended up finding the most comfortable spot in the woods to sleep. It still wasn't that comfortable. The ground was cold and the night air had hardened it. It left an ache throughout Eve's body. 

At once, the events of the day before came rushing in. Eve hadn't allowed himself to think about it. He had been too busy getting away from possible danger. Now he could feel an indignant  frustration building in his chest. How could he have trusted them? He should have known. All anyone ever wanted them for was what they could do for them. Eve had known that. He had been prepared for it. Warned El about it every time she got too caught up in the boys' problems. Yet here he was, feeling upset and hurt that they had actually pushed them away.

Maybe it was because all they had been trying to do was help. Even their best intentions weren't good enough if they weren't exactly what the boys wanted. 

El scooped up her fallen wig and started off. Eve followed. 

Though she had tried to hide it, he had caught a glimpse of where she was going.  A small pond they had passed during their walk. Eve found her knelt by its side, trying to refit the wig into her head. It didn't work Every time it ended up looking crooked and wrong. With a scream, El caused the water to explode, sending a ripple across the water. She was sobbing when Eve knelt next to her.

"Stupid..." El muttered to herself. 

Not stupid, Eve insisted through the connection they shared. It seemed more meaningful that way. They are stupid. Don't need them. 

El didn't seem to believe him. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

FLORIS WAS PRETTY SURE HE KNEW THE ANSWER THEY WHERE GOING TO GET. A big fat no! He wouldn't have blamed Lucas, either. El had tried to kill him. Mike and Dan could insist that the two were scared all they wanted, but that didn't change the fact that they had lied, and then responded to being called out with lethal force. How could they trust them after that? Floris didn't want to be a dick. Really, he didn't. But everyone was way too obsessed with these kids who didn't seem to really care about them all that much. 

The four arrived at Lucas's house not that long after they left Mike's. Mike wrong the door bell. It took him a second, but Lucas answered the door. 

"What do you want?" Lucas demanded.

They just stood there. Everyone turned to look at Mike, who seemed perfectly happy to stay silent. Dustin slapped his arm. 

"Mike's here to apologize," Dan said. 

Lucas turned to Mike expectantly. With nothing else he could do, Mike sighed. 

"I drew first blood, so..." Mike held out a begrudging hand.

Instead of shaking his hand, Lucas led them inside. The four watched as he paced the living room, thumbs in his pockets. Floris rolled his eyes at his dramatics.

"Dude, come on!" Floris protested. "You're shaking his hand, not marrying him. It's not that big a deal."  

To Floris's surprise, that actually seemed to convince Lucas. Or annoyed him into make his decision. One of the two.

"Okay, I'll shake," Lucas said. Mike thrust out his hand again, and Lucas added, "On one condition. We forget the weirdos and go straight to the gate."

"Sure, yeah, whatever," Floris said.

But that didn't seem to please anyone else.

"What?" Dan protested.

"Then the deals off!" Mike shouted.

"Fine!" Lucas shouted back.

"Fine!" 

"No, no, not fine!" Dustin interrupted, "Guys, seriously? Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?" 

The group shared a look. They all shook their heads. For all Floris knew, Dustin was totally making something up. Probably from some D&D game. They had played so many that it was impossible for everyone to remember the exact details of when things happened. That wasn't even counting the games they played before Floris joined, which he knew nothing about. 

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split up the party, and those trolls took us out one by one," Dustin explained. "And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! SO we stick together, no matter what!"

"Okay, so we stick together and go look for Will," Floris said. 

"Thank you!" Lucas nodded to Floris. "This is the party, right here in this room." 

"El and Eve are one of us now," Mike insisted.

"Um, no, they're not. Not even close!"

"But they could be in danger," Dan said. "What about the bad men?"

"I don't care about the bad men! I care that they're liars, traitors -" Lucas started, counting off each accusation on his fingers.

"They were trying to keep us safe!" 

"Yeah, El didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!" Mike insisted. 

"So what?" Floris interrupted. "No offense, Mike, but I don't care about her accidentally hurting Lucas when she attacked him on purpose." 

"Allright, accident or not, admit it, it was a little awesome," Dustin said.

"No it wasn't!" Floris slapped Dustin's arm.

"She thew him in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!" Lucas pointed out. 

Floris waved towards Lucas. See? What the hell was Dustin talking about? Their friend could have died, and all he could care about was how awesome it was? The worst part was neither Mike or Dustin seemed to realize their mistake in this regard. Only Dan seemed the slightest bit sheepish as they shuffled on their feet and looked away from their gaze. 

"I just don't think we can find Will without them, okay?" Dan admitted. " We needed them, and I think they need us, too. Why else would they be there?"

"Because they just were! This isn't a movie, Dan," Lucas said. 

Dan threw up their hands in protest.

"Still!"

"They're weapons!" Mike blurted out. Oh, so now their argument was that they were weapons? Even Dan gave him a weird look at that. "Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket? That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead." 

"If you guy wanna waste your time looking for traitors, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on them anymore. No way!" Lucas said. "I'm going to the gate. I'm gonna find Will."

With that, Lucas shoved past them. 

"Wait what?" Dan turned to look at Lucas in surprise. "You can't go alone! You'll- you'll get eaten or something."

Lucas ignored him. Instead he stormed back to his room like none of them were even there. Without thinking, Floris hurried after him. 

"Hey, wait up!" Floris called. Lucas turned to glare at him. "I'm coming with you."

That seemed to surprise Lucas. 

"Seriously?"

"Duh. I'm not letting you go there alone," Floris said. With a shrug, he added, "Besides, it's not like they'll nee my help looking for El and Eve. They're probably just sulking in the woods somewhere. Right?"

°。°。°。°。°。°。

EL AND EVE WERE NOT JUST SULKING IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE. Though, what they were doing didn't feel much more productive. They had been walking mindlessly for almost an hour. Eve didn't know what else they could do. Where could they go? Eve wanted to get as far away from the lab as possible, but they couldn't tell how they could do that. Papa was sure to have people looking for them in all possible directions. They had no where to stay anymore. 

And worse, they were starving. Halfway through their walk, Eve's stomach had started grumbling. Though it had gone away now, he was left with a faint sick feeling that wouldn't go away. 

Eventually they came upon another building. It was long, with a wall of windows and a large pavement area in front of it. People wondered around, some of them pushing carts around. It reminded Eve of the what the boys had called a "school," but much smaller. There was a sign on the top that read Bradley's Big Buy. Listening around them, Eve realized something: many of the people were here for food. Exactly what they needed. 

The two approached the building reluctantly. There was a hiss as one of the windows - which Eve realized was actually a door - split open to let them in. Faint music played through the store. People turned to look at them as they passed. Eve pressed himself closer to El, prepared to run if someone tried to grab them. 

But non one did. They looked around. El had begun to breathe heavily, though, reminded of the scientist who stared at them during tests. Eve swallowed and focused on his own thoughts. That made it easier to block out the thoughts of others. Some of the store workers tried to talk to them. They ignored them. 

As they walked, Eve began grabbing food off the shelves. Anything that looked edible. They would need to stock up on them. In one isle they found boxes. Printed on them were the waffles that Mike had given them. At once, El began to pile them into her arms. With that they, the started towards the door.

"Excuse me?" One of the store workers yelled after them. "You know you have to pay for those!"

Eve glanced down an isle, were a woman approached with her cart. He forced her to speed up. The cart was shoved into the man's path. The man almost caught up with them at the door. El just slammed them shut behind the two. The glass shattered, raining down on the man and the ground around him. Eve knew he should have felt bad about it, but he was too tired to care. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

LUCAS HAD A SURPRISING AMOUNT OF SUPPLIES. Floris was surprised when he was able to not only fill up his own bag with weapons, tools, and food, but one for Floris as well. Once they were ready, the two headed out. It felt weird doing so without their friends. Still, if they didn't want to come, there wasn't much they could do.

A van was waiting outside Lucas's house when they left. Hawkins Power. The man got out and waved. Unsure of what else to do, the two waved back. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

THE THREE HAD BIKE MOSTLY IN SILENCE. Well, that's not true. Mike and Dustin were talking about Mike's fight with Lucas, but Dan was ignoring them. They weren't going to force Floris and Lucas to come with them, but they were still bothered by it. This hadn't made anything better! They had traded out missing Eve and El for missing Lucas and Floris. Except this was worse, because Floris had just come back to them. 

For a long time, Floris had been Dan's friend specifically. There was the party, who were Mike's friends, and Floris, who was Dan's friend, and while they would spend time together, there was still a divide. So Benny Floris had been the friend for Dan. Their best friend. Even thought he was on and off, it felt weird to do anything without him, or even trying to contact him first. 

More importantly, Dan didn't care about whatever Mike and Dustin were talking about. Something about having one or more "best friends." Which was silly. Of course you could have multiple best friends - it just meant you were closer than a typical friend. Dan saw it all the time, though admittedly it was usually bigger groups that could build up tiers like that. In their case all friends were, at this point, equally on the "best" part. 

It was because of this ignoring that Dan caught sight of something first. They pulled to a stop in front of Bradley's Big Buy. The others almost ran into them, but they stopped soon enough. A bunch of people were collected at the front of the store. Police were talking to one of the workers. Glass sprinkled the parking lot where the doors had been shattered. The three shared a look. There was only one thing that could do that. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

IT WAS AS SIMPLE AS FOLLOWING THE COMPASSES. Still, a tension was building. Floris had tried to break it. He made a couple jokes. Lucas did his best to joke back. Yet it wasn't really working. All they could think about was the possible danger. What would this gate be like? What would happen once they reached the other world? Could they really fight a monster when they didn't even know what it was like? Could they really save Will? 

They didn't like to think about it like that. After all, what was the point if they couldn't save their friends? Who else would come save him? The police had no idea what was coming on. They wouldn't even know where they start, and that was assuming they believed them. 

As before, the compasses led them into the forest. That much hadn't been a lie. Yet this time they kept walking in a straight line. Floris kept track just to make sure. No shifting. No weirdness. Lucas had been right. They had been screwing with their compass. Frustration built up Floris's chest. Had they really not cared about Will? Had they really seen how much Will mattered to them, known that another child had been in danger, and lied to them?

Floris was surprised when they came to a fence. A warning sign was there, which said they couldn't enter. Yet the compass was pointing right in. 

"Oh, man," Lucas groaned. 

The two started along the gate, looking for a way in. 

°。°。°。°。°。°。

THERE WAS A HUNTING STORE AT THE EDGES OF HAWKINS. Bonnie had never been there, but she knew it existed because it was right in line with every other store. Looking around, she almost wished she had at least checked it out. They needed something to trap the monster, and she had no idea what would do that best. 

The four split up to grab anything they could find. Petrol, bear traps, hammers, all sorts. Could they even afford all this stuff? Bonnie had no idea. The store owner stared blankly at them as they piled their supplies onto the table. Bonnie tried to keep her smile sweet. After all, she could only imagine what horrible things he could think they were doing. 

"And I'll have four boxes of the .38s," Jonathan said when they finished putting everything onto the table. 

The man placed the bullets on the table.

"What are you kids doing with all this?" the cashier asked.

They shared a look.

"Monster hunting," Nancy said.

The man only scoffed. They piled their things into the back of Jonathan's car. 

"Monster hunting?" Jonathan asked incredulously. 

"Yeah, he totally believed that," Moses glanced back at the store. "We should get out of here before he calls the cops."

"You know, last week..." Nancy sighed. "I was hoping for a new top I thought Steve might like."

"I remember that. It took us, like, all weekend," Bonnie said. "And he didn't even like it!"

"I know! It felt like the end of the world. And...and now..." Nancy shook her head.

"You guys are shopping for bear traps with the local freaks," Jonathan finished.

That wasn't exactly what Bonnie got from that. More along the lines that Nancy's shirt being Steve-approved wasn't as life or death as she thought. She got what Jonathan meant, though. It definitely wasn't expected. 

"What's the weirdest part?" Jonathan asked. "Us or the bears traps?"

"Uh, rude," Moses motioned towards the car. "Clearly it's that's hammer. I mean, what the hell is that thing for?"

Nancy laughed at that. The 'hammer' was more like a massive cylinder of rubber stuck on the end of a stick far too small for it. Personally, Bonnie would have said the bear trap. She hated those things. Especially because of how easy they trapped things that weren't bears, leaving them to die a cruel, terrifying death. Assuming nothing happened to them.

A horn honk caught their attention. They turned to see a red car flying past, only slowing down when it approached them.

"Hey, Nance," a boy shouted as he hung out the side window. "Can't wait to see your movie!"

"What the hell was that?" Jonathan asked.

Instinctively, Bonnie turned towards the movie theater. Movie, wasn't it? Nancy seemed to make the same connection. She ran off, forcing the others to follow. 

When they reached the Hawk, Bonnie felt her heart sink. She had been right in the worst possible way. All the Right Moves was on the board, after all it was the newest movie to be played. The rest? The rest had been added in red spray paint and read: Staring Nancy THE SLUT Wheeler. 

"What the fuck?" Moses said. 

It got worse. Because someone was chuckling from a nearby alleyway. When they went to check, they found Steve and his friends. Tommy H. was spraying the wall with the same red spray paint. Bonnie could only stare, stunned, as Nancy stormed over to the group. 

Now, the first thing Bonnie had learned in high school was that there were two ways to become popular. One was to be friendly. To instantly make yourself known as a good person, so everyone liked you. The other? The other was to make the school hate someone else. To bring them together against a common cause, with you leading at the head. Bonnie had chosen the first one. It had just came naturally, given her bubbly personality. 

Steve? He and his friends had chosen the second option. 

Yet even from him, this seemed like a new low. Sure, Steve had been a selfish ass to all his previous girlfriends, but he'd never stooped so low as to slut shame them for no reason. 

"Aw, hey there Princess," Carol cooed. 

"Uh-oh! She looks upset," Tommy H. teased.

Nancy came to a stop in front of Steve just long enough to slap him. It was that that snapped Bonnie out of her stupor. She ran to Nancy's side, in case Steve or any of his friends decided to retaliate. They settled on gasping instead.

"What is wrong with you?" Nancy demanded. 

"What's wrong with me?" Steve snapped back. "What's wrong with you? I was worried about you. I can't believe that I was actually worried about you."

"Yeah, well, neither can I!" Bonnie said. She turned to motion back at the movie theater. "You call that being worried? God, you're a bigger jerk than I thought."

"Oh, what? She didn't tell you?" Steve said.

"I wouldn't lie if I were you," Nicole added. "You don't want to be known as the lying slut now, do you?" 

Bonnie gave the girl a confused look. Since when did she hang out with Steve and his friends? It had always been him, Tommy H., and Carol. The sound of footsteps caught her attention. Bonnie turned to see Jonathan and Moses and finally caught up with them. 

"Speak of the devil," Tommy H. hopped off his spot in the stairs. "Hi." 

Nancy looked between the two and Steve. Bonnie expected them to be mad, given Jonathan taking pictures of their party. Except...it was like Jonathan wasn't even there. It was Moses they were glaring at. It was then it hit her. She had been gone getting towels and Jonathan to the side on Nancy's phone, so if Steve had tried to sneak into Nancy's room like he always did, he would have only seen Nancy and Moses. Alone. 

"You came by last night?" Nancy must have realized the same thing. 

"Ding! Ding! Ding!" Carol mocked. "Does she get a prize?"

"Do you get a prize for being obnoxious as fuck?" Moses raised an eyebrow at the girl. He turned back to Steve. "You know what? Yeah, I was at her house. So was Jonathan, and so was Bonnie, because guess what?"

"Moses," Jonathan warned.

It didn't work. Moses just moved to stand next to Nancy, ignoring the fact Steve looked close to punching his head off.

"While you were busy seeing how far you could stick your head up your ass, we've had people to look for. You know, like Barb?" Moses scoffed when Steve only looked confused. "Thought you'd remember here, at least, since she went missing at your house." 

Steve just shook his head. 

"Byers was there?" Tommy H. chuckled. "Sounds more like another pervy photo session."

"We were just..." Nancy started.

"Just what?" Steve stepped forwards so he loomed over Nancy. "Finish the sentence."

Clearly he didn't believe Moses. Bonnie could feel herself begin to panic. She could feel the situation getting close to exploding. What else were they supposed to say? There's a monster? Steve couldn't even believe a normal explanation. 

"Come on," Jonathan stepped forwards and tried to get Nancy and Moses to step down. "Let's gone."

It could have ended there. It should have ended there. But Steve Harrington just had to get the last word.

"You know what, Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed," Steve shoved Jonathan. "I always took you for a queer. But I guess you're just a little screw-up like your fa-"

There were times like these Bonnie wish she could read minds. Figure out why Steve had gone after Jonathan when he thought Moses was the one Nancy had slept with. Maybe at some point he'd decided it was both of them. Maybe he had just been waiting for someone he could push around, and Jonathan had the bad luck of being the one to talk first. It didn't matter in the end. Because half way through the word "father," Moses had tackled Steve into the wall. 

That was when everything exploded. Moses had pinned Steve to the ground. Nancy was yelling something about hurting him. Tommy H. tried to pull Moses off, only for Jonathan to sucker punch him across the face. When he tried to swing back, Bonnie kneed him in the stomach on instinct. 

Sirens wailed in the distance. Bonnie froze and spun around to see the police pulling up. Moses seemed to notice as well. He scrambled to his feet and turned to face the police. Tommy H. took the chance to grab Steve and run. Officer Callahan tried to chase after them, but ti didn't matter. They were screwed. 

Dad was pissed. He wasn't showing it, but Bonnie could tell. He was pissed. While the other officers took care of Jonathan and Moses - who they blamed the entire attack on, having not been able to get Steve - she had been left with him. Bonnie stared across the desk at him. She could feel him waiting. The questions building up in his head, that would come spilling out as soon as he said a word.

Some how, he managed to limit himself to, "So..."

"Dad, I know what you're thinking," Bonnie started. Then she paused, because she couldn't think of a good thing to go after the 'but.' She sighed. "It wasn't Moses's fault, okay?" 

"It wasn't his fault that he assaulted someone?" Dad asked. 

"Yes!" Bonnie blurted out. Then she realized her mistake. "We confronted Steve because he'd vandalized a sign to call Nancy a slut, and then he started shoving Jonathan and calling him a slur and insulted a family. Steve was trying to straight a fight and you know that -"

"Of course I know that!" Dad interrupted. He sighed and ran his hand own his face. "This isn't the first time you or someone else has mentioned Harrington harassing other kids. I would love to just let it go, but that's up to the chief, not me."

Right. Hopper. Bonnie sank into her seat. There was no way he was going to listen to them. He barely listened to the most genuine, reasonable requests.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

DAN DRAGGED THEIR BIKE AFTER THEM. It was almost noon now, and they were having no luck finding El or Eve. Even as they screamed their names, nothing happened. Dan was being to suspect that they were hiding. They hope that was it. The other option was that the bad men had found the two and taken them away. What would happen then? They would probably be killed, and the bad men would come after the rest of them. 

It made Dan shutter. They had to find El and Eve. 

Their travel came to a sudden halt. 

"Hey, stop. Do you hear that?" Mike said. 

"What?" Dustin asked.

Dan looked around. Now that they thought about it, they did think they had heard a slight crack. Mike started to shout for El and Eve again. But they weren't the ones that appeared. Instead it was Troy and his friends, making their way up the path. With a switch blade.

"Shit!" Dustin threw down his bike. "Run! Run!"

The twins didn't need told twice. Mike and Dan took off after their friends, ignoring their bikes completely. Dan could hear the boys running after them. Troy screamed insults and threats after them. 

Despite their best efforts, the three didn't seem to be gaining any ground. The rough terrain and their lack of exercise held them back. Only a few minutes in and Dan's chest was burning. They could barely breathe and their legs felt like they'd fly off any second. As they approached the quarry, Dustin began complaining of a cramp. Meanwhile, the bullies were no where close to slowing down. 

In their panic, they had missed the three splitting up. While Troy continued to chase them, James and Betsy had circle around. They were cornered. 

The three hurried to get a weapon. Mike tossed a rock at James and Betsy, while Dustin tried to charge Troy with a stick. All it did was get Dustin capture. Troy held his knife to Dustin's face. When Dan tried to stop him, James grabbed them, pinning their arms behind their back. 

"Let them go!" Mike screamed. It was really all he could to. "Let them go!"

"Stay back, or I cut him!" Troy warned. "Maybe I'll have James break your sister's arm, too."

Dan tried to squirm in James's grasp. Almost instantly, though, they were forced to stop. With the way he was hold them, that movement alone was almost enough to take their arm out of their socket. 

"What do you want?" Mike demanded. 

"I want to know how you did it," Troy said.

"How I did what?" 

"I know you did something to me," Troy accused. "Some nerdy science shit to make me do that."

It was then that Dan realized what the boy was talking about. El, in the gym. They hadn't even thought about it until now. 

"You mean piss your pants?" Mike said. 

"Our friend has super powers and she squeezed your tiny bladder with her mind," Dustin said. 

"Shut up!" Troy jammed the knife at Dustin's face. "I think I should save Toothless here a trip to the dentist. Help him lose the rest of his baby teeth."

Dan's eyes widened. Troy couldn't be serious, could he? Sure, bullies did freaky shit in movies, but Lucas was right. This wasn't movie. Cutting out Dustin's teeth could get him really hurt, and Troy would probably go to jail. Yet even as Mike screamed for him to let go, Troy continued to hold the knife to Dustin's face. 

"I'll let him go. But first, it's your turn," Troy said. 

"My turn for what?" Mike asked. 

"Wet yourself," Troy said. He nodded towards the quarry. "Jump...or Toothless here gets an early trip to the dentist."

Dan turned to look at the quarry. Though they couldn't see over the edge, they knew how far down it was. You couldn't jump off the ledge. You'd die. It seemed even James and Betsy realized this. The two shared a nervous look and James's grip on Dan loosened. Not enough that they could get away, but enough they suspected something was up. 

"All right, just hold on!" Mike said. "Hold on!"

Mike started towards the edge of the quarry. Even as he approached, Troy kept a hold on Dustin. For a moment Dan thought they'd give up. Stop when Mike was 'scared' enough and laugh at them for really believing it. But...

"Wait, Mike!" Dan began to panic as they realized Troy was being serious. "Mike, don't do it!"

"I don't need my baby teeth, Mike!" Dustin cried. "Mike, seriously, don't!" 

And still, Mike walked forwards. No matter how much they begged or cried. Dan tried pleading with the bullies, but got no response. They were really going to do it. They were going to force Mike to jump to his death. Despite knowing it was they wanted, Dan had begun sobbing. Mike was going to die. He was really going to die, and they had to watch. 

"Troy, I don't think this is a good idea..." Betsy started. 

"Shut up!" Troy glared at the girl. 

Dan expected Betsy to back down, as she had before. To their surprise, it didn't go that way. 

"You've made your point, let him go!" Betsy demanded. 

"I said shut up!" Troy snapped. "Stop being such a little bitch -"

"Betty's right. I don't think this is a good idea, man," James said. "I mean, he's gonna die."

Instead, Troy began to count down. One...two...

With out warning, Betsy let out a scream. Grabbing Dustin's dropped stick, she'd smacked Troy in the back of the head. The boy lurched forwards. Dustin was able to run with out a scratch where the blade had scraped his cheek. The sudden rebellion sent the whole group falling apart. James release Dan in a panic. Both Dan and Dustin ran to Mike. 

But it was too late. He'd already jumped. 

The group ran to edge. Even Troy looked terrified now. Yet, when they looked over, Mike hadn't splattered against the water. He was floating mid-air. 

An invisible force lifted him over their heads and deposited him on the ground. Dan turned to see El and Eve approaching them. 

Eve lowered his head. James and Betsy were forced to back away so quickly that they stumbled. James, in fact, had caught one foot on the other and was sent sprawling. El jerked her head, snapping Troy's upper arm and sending his knife to the ground. The bullies fled. Dustin was screaming something after them. Dan didn't hear it. He was more focused on checking on Mike, and then the two. Because as soon as the bullies fled, El and Eve had collapsed. 

The group ran to check on them. Dan and Dustin helped the two sit up. 

"El? Eve?" Mike knelt next to the two. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry," El sobbed. She looked between all of them, Eve included. "The Gate. I opened it. I'm the monster."

"No you're not," Dan insisted. "Neither of you are. You saved Mike. You're our friends." 

As if to emphasize this, Mike leaned forwards and pulled the two into a hug. Dan and Dustin were quick to join. They hurried the two back to their bikes to return home. 

Little did they know, they were still in danger. On the other side of the forest, Lucas and Floris were watching a line of vans driving out of Hawkins National Laboratory...and right towards the Wheelers' house. 

It's here! It's finally here! I hated how long it took for me to write this, because I've had all of this motivation and didn't have time to write it. 

I don't really have much extra to say, except probably explaining what happened with the Steve fight: yes, Steve believed Moses slept with Nancy, not Jonathan. But, like Bonnie guess in the story, he was pissed at all of them and looking for a fight. So when Jonathan stepped in calmly and tried to bring it down, Steve got mad about not being able to piss him off like the others (something, something, he's not taking it seriously) and went after him for that. 

Moses got pissed pretty much specifically because Steve compared Jonathan to his dad (though Jonathan probably would have lashed out eventually, like canon.)