☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

°•. ┊ Daylight┊.•°
✧ ˚ ━ we're the new romantics, act one

CHAPTER SIX — the spy

✧

The sun has set and the drive is quiet in terms of conversation, the only sound to be heard is the radio. "Wait a sec. How big?" Steve questions, looking at the boy through the rearview mirror. Dustin makes gestures with his hands showing how the creature went from something of a rodent to the size of a small dog.

"I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?" Harrington warns.

"It's not a lizard."

"Alright kid, how do you know?" I inquire, twisting my body to look at him.

"How do I know if it's not?"

"How do you know it's not just a lizard?" I restate my previous question.

"Because his face opened up and he ate my cat." The younger boy snaps. I nod slightly, moving to face forward once more.

"That thing ate Mews?!" Delilah nearly yells in shock. Dustin nods his head, a look of guilt flushing his features. The siblings start to argue about their newly deceased pet. Steve and I continue to share uncomfortable looks and wonder whether or not to intervene. The fighting dies down and we quickly approach the Henderson house. Our group exits the vehicle and Steve pops the trunk. I follow him to the back of the car and see a bat with nails and some flashlights. I don't necessarily question it because I keep a crowbar, bat, flashlights, and even a few blankets in mine in case of emergency. He grabs the items, handing me a light and slams the trunk close. Delilah links her arm with mine as we walk around the house to the cellar. Dustin and Steve stand before the doors, while Lila and I stand back. Steve uses the bat to hit the doors a little, in an attempt to disturb the creature inside. Besides the echo from the collision of the wooden object and the metal doors, no noise can be heard from the other side of the cellar doors.

"I don't hear shit." Steve huffs.

"He's in there."

"All right, listen, kid. I swear if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead." Harrington threatens turning and shining his light at the Henderson boy.

"It's not. Alright? It's not a prank. Get it out of my face."

"Where's the key?" I ask, shoving Steve's hand down, so the light isn't blinding Dustin anymore. The kid runs in the house to locate the key to the padlock, leaving the three of us outside. "What do you think we're gonna find in there?"

"Nothing. He's full of shit." Steve breathes.

"And if he's not?" Delilah argues.

"Then we'll handle it." He replies. Dustin returns shortly after and tosses the key to me. I approach the cellar and unlock it. Steve grabs hold of a handle and pulls open the door. "Let me see that." I give him the flashlight and he shines it down the steps. I place my hands on his shoulders and peer over them, staring into the dark hole. It's empty.

"He must be further down there." Dustin offers. If it was feral enough to eat a cat, I can't imagine it missing out on the chance to attack us. There's nothing in there, not anymore. Steve stands up straight and I move back a bit, giving him some space. We all share a look, silently deciding that someone has to go check it out. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to escape." I turn to the boy and make a chicken noise. He flips me off, while Steve and Lila laugh.

"If you're scared, Henderson, just say so." I tease. He shrugs me off and I take Delilah's flashlight, walking down into the cellar.

"Woah, wait a sec." Steve says from behind me. The boy is quick to follow. We reach the end of the stairs, walking forward, my head hits the chain to the light, I pull it and once illuminated, we look over the room. It's definitely empty. Steve uses the bat to pick up some slimy-greenish skin. Gross. I look away, swallowing my breakfast, and notice a tunnel-like hole in one of the walls.

"Son of a bitch." I breathe. This grabs Steve's attention as his gaze follows mine.

"Guys? Guys, what's going on down there?" Dustin asks.

"See anything?" Delilah questions. I love how neither of them are willing to come down and look for themselves. They truly are related. I squat, investigating the hole closely, this thing burrowed its way out.

"Get down here." Steve commands. My eyes are trained on the hole, as I hear the Henderson siblings make their way into the cellar. Soon enough, Lila is at my side and Dustin is standing with Steve, looking at the shedded skin.

"Ah, shit." Dustin speaks. A light casts shadows from behind Delilah and I, illuminating the wrecked wall. "Oh shit." The two boys come over and now we're all hunched over, staring into the creature's escape route. "No way. No way." The youngest breathes in disbelief. The four of us spent the remainder of the night at the Henderson house, discussing solutions to finding Dart. None of us slept, we just sat and paced around the living room talking. We agreed on using raw meat to lead him somewhere, so that we could trap him. Do I see this working at all? No. I'm sure we'll find a way to fix it, but this just doesn't seem like it will go smoothly. Dustin and Steve just left to go get a concerning amount of meat from the store, while Delilah and I are looking for anything and everything that may be useful; possible weapons, defense padding, etc. I'm in the garage collecting a crowbar, another bat, and some old, slightly dull hunting knives.

"Hey, so I took a hammer and taped a switchblade to it. It's got double usage, the hammer to smash things and the knife to stab. Cool, huh?"

"Very. You should trademark it. And that wasn't sarcasm, I'm dead serious." I state, then proceed to show her my findings. "Wait, do you have a broom? Preferably one that you aren't too attached to?" She nods her head and we head back into the main house, she hands me a broom. I snap it and use duct tape to tape one of the knives onto the handle, making a spear.

"Perfect. Turns a close range weapon into a distance one. We are quite crafty, if I do say so myself." Lila says and we both laugh, applauding our personal creations. "So, since the guys are gone, we can talk about you and Steve." I sigh loudly, hoping she would let it go for one day.

"Seriously, Lils? I mean, we're trying to locate a giant lizard, Demo-whatever. And you want to talk about a relationship you have delusionally created in your mind?" I question, she just shrugs her shoulders as though it isn't a ridiculous topic of conversation. "There is no me and Steve. There's me...and there's Steve. We're friends. And if I have to say it one more time, I'm gonna feed you to Dart." The topic of conversation changes, thankfully. The two of us load up a couple backpacks with some essentials and soon enough the guys are back with the raw meat; we're all cutting it up into pieces, then filling up buckets. We load up the trunk with buckets of meat, then all pack into Steve's car again and drive to the middle of nowhere. Steve and I start to unload the trunk and Dustin's walkie goes off. He and Lucas start going back and forth, until the former explains the situation with Dart. He instructs Lucas to meet all of us at the junkyard and to bring binoculars and something that didn't make sense. My ideology on nothing ever really happening in a small town was so wrong.

"Alright, let's go." Steve shuts the trunk once everything's out. Our group walks along old train tracks, each of the boys holds a bucket, rendering Delilah and I basically useless, for now. Delilah is wandering ahead of us all and Dustin is about ten paces in front of Steve and I. Steve drops a few pieces of meat on the ground, before breaking the silence that encompasses us. "Alright, so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who...who you just met?"

"All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things." Dustin argues.

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve questions, genuinely confused.

"An interdimensional slug? Because it's awesome." The younger boy states.

"I've got to agree with the kid here, Harrington. Not all girls love shopping and are obsessed with their appearance. Just the ones you associate with." I mock.

"I associate with you." He remarks. I open my mouth to say something, but close it because he's got a point. "Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I... I just...I don't know. I just feel like you're trying too hard."

"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?" Henderson snaps abruptly. Now, I've heard that Steve's hair is like his thing and it's nice hair, don't get me wrong, but I feel like there's so much more to him than that. Steve picks up his pace a bit and is next to the Henderson boy now.

"It's not about the hair, man. The key with girls is just...just acting like you don't care." Harrington's advice causes me to scoff. What an idiot. I keep quiet though, curious to see where this conversation goes.

"Even if you do?"

"Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts."

"Then what?"

"You just wait until, uh...until you feel it."

"Feel what?"

"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh...electricity, you know?"

"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere..."

"No, no, no, no, no. Like a...Like a sexual electricity."

"Oh."

"You feel that and then you make your move."

"So that's when you kiss her?"

"No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo."

"Sorry."

"Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a...I don't know, like a lion." Steve explains, Dustin follows along intently. "But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a...like a ninja." Bored with their discussion, I fall back a little and take in my surroundings. Autumn is beautiful. There's an array of muted colors that are much prettier than the brightness of summertime or the cool tones of the winter. The smell of autumn is distinct and noticeable. You don't get to really see or experience this season to its fullest extent in California; I guess that's another pro of moving here. What I was unaware of is that I should have continued listening to the boy's conversation. If I had, I would have heard this...

"What type is Nancy?"

"Nancy's? It's not important. We're talking about your girl."

"Right. I forgot." Dustin trails off.

"What? Forgot what, Henderson?"

"Well, Delilah told me that you guys broke up."

"Oh, yeah. It's fine. I think I've gotten over it pretty quickly, all things considered." The older boy glances behind him to the redhead, who is staring up at the trees around them.

"Oh, I get it." Henderson teases in a knowing tone. "Okay, well what about Sam? What's she like?"

"Sam? She, uh, she's different than the other girls. Sam is naturally perfect, at least in my opinion. It's a very annoying trait, which also makes her more interesting. I don't know, man."

"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess."

"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

"But this girl's special, too, you know. It's just, like, something about her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey."

"What?"

"You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?"

"Uh, no. No."

"Okay, good. Don't."

"I won't."

"She's only gonna break your heart, and you're way too young for that shit."

"Isn't that kind of hypocritical?" The two boys jump at the voice. Delilah had rejoined the group, walking not too far ahead of the pair, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"How? How is it hypocritical?" Steve asks.

"You know, you telling Dustin not to fall in love, but you falling in love with Sam?"

"What?" Steve laughs uncomfortably. "That's ridiculous. I'm not." He scoffs with a shake of his head.

"You so are. And it's fine if you two want to live in denial and call yourself friends, but one day you will give in. And you'll live happily ever after because it's what I deserve."

"What you deserve?" Her brother questions.

"Yes. I am all for this relationship. And if it doesn't happen, I will take it as a personal attack." She states.

"Feel personally attacked all you want, but there's nothing other than friendship- wait what did you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"You said if 'you two want to live in denial,' which is implying that you've talked to Sam about this. And that she-"

"She said the same thing you did, only she's a better liar than you." Delilah interjects, before walking over to her friend. Steve is left wondering about what Delilah said and if it holds any truth. He tries to get his mind off of it, by letting Dustin in on his hair routine.

When Delilah reaches me, her arm loops with mine, and her eyes search the trees for whatever I'm looking at. "Why are we staring at the trees? Did you see a bird or something?"

"I'm not a cat." I say laughing a bit. "I'm just enjoying the season and its beauty. It makes you truly appreciate nature." The four of us approach the junkyard pretty quickly, we still have daylight left to spare and set up. Steve canvases the place, giving it his stamp of approval. "Yes, because we had another option, Harrington." I speak, causing the boy to give me a sarcastic smile, before tossing his sunglasses at me. I place them on my face and flip him off. The two of us began to bicker because I refuse to give them back. He eventually gives up and returns to emptying the bucket. Delilah and I are gathering random crap to barricade the bus, when we hear someone yelling. All of us turn to the direction of the sound and I see Lucas and Max. Shit. This means that she's in this too. "Crap." I breathe. I decide to shake it off and focus on the problem at hand. She's not going to just go home, so arguing about it will be pointless and a waste of precious time. She steers clear of me for a little. Max and I end up grabbing the same piece of scrap metal.

"So...you know?" She asks and I nod my head. "And you believe it?"

"Yeah, well, it seemed too extravagant to be made up. Plus, you didn't see the destruction in Dustin's cellar or the skin Dart left behind. Absolutely disgusting." I explain and we both laugh. The tension has been broken. I roam around, grabbing anything that could be useful and see Dustin and Lucas, whispering behind an old car. Not helping. I approach the pair, calling both of their names, attempting to gain their attention. Failing. My frustration grows and Steve comes over, banging a fold up chair against the car.

"Hey! Dickheads!" The two boys turn around, startled. "How come the only one helping me out are the girls? We lose light in forty minutes, let's go. Let's go, I said."

"Alright, asshole! God." Dustin huffs.

"Okay! Stupid." Lucas says. I stand there laughing at the interaction. Steve turns and smiles, winking at me. I shake my head and continue my search. The next forty minutes are spent by a lot of manual labor; moving quickly, so we don't get stuck doing this shit in the dark. We load the bus with our essentials and make sure it's as impenetrable as possible. In the final moments before sunset, Steve runs a line of gas from the meat to the stairs of the bus and Max places a ladder inside, leading to the roof of the vehicle. Soon after, we're all loading the bus and waiting for Dart's arrival. The sun's gone and Lucas is making his way to the roof, to see if he can spot the creature with his binoculars, while the rest of us wait for his signal. I'm sat next to Steve, Lila's across from me, Dustin is pacing, and Max is sat at the back. Harrington is messing with the lighter and no one is really talking.

"So you really fought one of these things before?" Max asks Steve. They boy nods. "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"

"Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear." Dustin snaps. Delilah and I share a look of shock at his outburst. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."

"Dude." I defend.

"Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" Max teases, then heads up the ladder to see Lucas.

"That's good. Just show her you don't care." Steve praises. I smack him on the arm. Idiot.

"I don't." The Henderson boy argues. "Why are you winking, Steve? Stop."

"Idiot." I mutter. Steve turns to me.

"What was that?"

"Hm? I didn't say anything." I lie.

"Sure. Okay, she's your sister. How would you suggest he goes about getting her attention?"

"I'd advise him not to. Dating in middle school is pointless. And the unfortunate truth is that if she were to go out with anyone, it'd be Lucas. They're hanging out, she complains about him a lot, and Dustin deserves someone who will notice him first. His perfect match and having spent the past twelve hours with the kid, I can honestly say that Max is not his match." I explain my gaze on the Harrington boy, but my advice directed at Dustin.

"See, that sounds like good advice. The whole pretending not to care thing, is such bullshit Steve. How'd that work for you in your last relationship?" Lila states.

"Delilah. Not cool." I speak, fighting back a smile because she made a really good point.

"She's got a point." Steve huffs.

"You do too though. Not me personally, but some girls do enjoy the chase. They like the 'i don't care' attitude." I respond. Silence falls over the group. I reach for the lighter in his hand and the moment our skin touches, I have the urge to hold his hand. I pause for a second, my eyes lock with his, then I quickly retreat. I stand and start pacing along with the younger Henderson. Maybe Delilah's right. Maybe I want more with Steve. I'll never admit it. Not to her and certainly not to him. I'm removed from my thoughts, when a loud growl passes through my ears. Dustin and Steve move to look outside, Delilah rises to her feet, while I ask Lucas what he sees. Dustin asks him the same, receiving a 'hold on' from the boy.

"I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!" Lucas informs. Steve and Dustin search for him and once they've got eyes on him, Delilah and I stand on one of the seats, peering through another gap. My eyes lock on the creature and I feel a cold shiver cascade down my spine. Shit.

"Maybe he's not hungry." I hear Dustin say.

"Maybe he's sick of cow." Steve breathes. I smack him upside the head. "Ow. What'd you do that for?"

"Maybe he's sick of cow?! Why would you say that? You can think it, but you don't say it." I scold the boy, more for putting my fears into words rather than actually being upset at what he said.

"Will you two shut up!" Dustin commands, silencing us both. Steve stands up and the three of us turn to him. Harrington moves to his bag, removing the bat, and walking to the door. "Steve? Steve, what are you doing? Steve?"

"You can't be serious." Delilah breathes.

"Don't." I plead moving to stand before him. "Don't be an idiot. You're gonna get yourself killed."

"Don't worry about me, Doll Face. I'll be fine." His failed attempt to reassure me, just makes the pit in my stomach grow, fearing that those will be the last words I ever hear from the boy in front of me. "Just get ready." He states, tossing Dustin the lighter and opening the doors, stepping outside. Delilah closes the doors behind him and the rest of us return to our previous spots, watching. Waiting. Steve starts to whistle, trying to gain the attention of the creature. "Come on, buddy." Max comes back inside the bus and asks what he's doing.

"Expanding the menu." Dustin informs. I feel my hands start to shake and they find their way to my hair, running my fingers through it.

"Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy. Come on. Dinner time. Human tastes better than cat, I promise." Steve continues his attempts at getting Dart to approach him.

"He's insane." Max says.

"He's awesome." Dustin smiles. We hear Lucas call out to Steve, warning him to check his three o'clock. My eyes travel over there and my breath hitches. There's too many of them. He's outnumbered. At this point he's a deadman walking. This idiot is going to get himself killed. Steve finally notices the other Demo-Dogs.

"Steve!" Dustin shouts running to open the bus doors. "Steve! Abort! Abort!"

Adrenaline rushes through my body and I start to run out, when Dustin and Delilah try to hold me back. We struggle for a moment and I shake from their grasp. I rush off the bus and place myself in front of Steve, just as one of the creatures is about to pounce on him. My arm raises to protect my face, as if that will do anything, bracing myself. As the creature is about to collide with my body, I feel an energy surge through me and my body feels hot. I open my eyes and see a ball of fire emanating from my hand. What the fuck. The beings back up and then run off. I inspect my hand and lift the other one, it catching flames as well. I jump a little and start to shake my limbs, hoping it goes out. I begin to flail around like an idiot, until Steve yells at me.

"Samira! Stop. Stop moving." He commands, I turn looking at him. "Just don't panic." As we just stand there, the flames begin to omit from higher up on my arms.

"Can I panic now, Harrington?!"

"Yeah. Yeah, now might be good. What do we do?"

I continue to spin in circles, shaking my arms, it only seems to anger the fire. "Stop, drop, and roll!" Lucas shouts. I move to glare at the boy and then find myself doing just that. I drop to the ground and start rolling around like a dog. Quickly, the fire dies out and my body temperature starts to fall. I exhale, relaxing on the grass beneath me. As I lay there, I start to realize the act of bravery or stupidity that I just committed shows that I hold deep feelings for the Harrington boy. So deep that I was and am willing to die for him. Son of a bitch.

"Holy shit." Dustin speaks. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah, I don't think Sammy feels the same, do you Doll Face?" Steve asks. He comes over to me and reaches out his hand, I graciously accept and he pulls me to my feet. "What the hell was that?"

"I have no idea. I don't even know if I could do it again." I laugh.

"No, not the fire. I'm assuming you're just as clueless about that as any of us." He starts. I furrow my brows, confused as to what he means. "Why would you do that? Why would you run out here and make yourself a human shield, Sam?"

"I just saved your ass! The proper response to that is thank you."

"Thank you, Samira. Thank you for being the biggest moron ever." He speaks, causing me to scoff. "You could have died!"

"You could have too!" I shout back. "What? You're the only one allowed to risk their lives?"

"You're not allowed to die. Alright?!" He yells.

"Fine!" The conversation calms down after that.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." I breathe. "Confused, but other than that I'm fine. Are you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks to you." He says.

"Well, I'm just wrecked and I wasn't even out there." Delilah exasperates. We all laugh at her dramaticness.

"What happened to them?" Lucas questions, walking off the bus.

"Sam scared them off?" Dustin offers. We all look around and notice that they've just moved out of our eye line.

"No. There's no way." I argue. I didn't even hit any of them. One of them got close, but it's not like I threw a ball of fire at it. Plus, the others weren't anywhere near me, and I doubt those things are afraid of a little fire.

"She's right." Steve starts. "They're going somewhere."

[word count: 4241]

lexi's letters; steve is so ungrateful🙄