THE SUN WAS CLOSE TO THE HORIZON by the time Amara, Dustin, and Steve arrived at the junkyard. The clearing was inhabited by deteriorated cars that would have sent Scott into a tirade about how the owners should have brought them to the dealership instead, especially since Amara could wager a guess that the junkyard was more of a place for cars to remain until they rotted into the soil. But it was far enough from town and therefore served as an ideal location for them to lure and kill Dart without endangering anyone else.

        Lucas joined the trio just as they were emptying the last of the meat, accompanied by a redheaded girl who appeared fairly disinterested. Amara recognized her as the girl she had witnessed accompany Billy Hargrove to and from school, and she vaguely wondered what had brought her into the mix. From the way Dustin was staring at her, Amara deduced her to be the girl he had feelings for.

        Cognizant that they had a limited amount of time before the sun faded from the sky, the five of them got to work boarding up the bus in the center of the junkyard, which Dustin revealed to be the same bus he and the Party hid in from the government last year. Although it was really only Steve, Amara, and the redhead who were putting in any effort – Dustin had whisked Lucas away to talk to him, bemused as to why he had broken the rule of law and dragged the girl they both liked into everything from a year ago.

        "Hey, need any help?" Amara asked the other girl, who was struggling to lift a piece of scrap metal.

        "It's fine, I got it," the girl responded through gritted teeth, dragging the metal across the grass until she reached the bus, where she set it near the door. Dusting her hands off on her jeans, she faced Amara. "Is any of this even real?"

        "What do you mean?"

        "Lucas told me about everything that happened last year and I thought it was just a bunch of bullshit, but he told me he had proof it was real," the redhead continued, and Amara nodded in understanding. From an outside perspective, it was easy to dismiss a faceless monster from an alternate dimension and a girl with telekinetic abilities as hogwash; she was sure that people like Kevin and Robin wouldn't have believed her if they didn't know her well enough to understand that she would never lie about such things. "I'm just wondering if it's all an elaborate prank or something."

        "I really wish it was," Amara laughed nervously, ducking so she could lift another fragment of scrap metal and prop it against the others they had already collected. She pinched the fabric of her sweater inward to expose her clavicle, where the faint but still visible scars from the Demogorgon stood out against her pale skin. "But it's all real. Steve and I fought it last year."

        "I might believe it a little more now, but I still don't doubt that they brought me along to impress me," the girl gestured at Lucas and Dustin, who were still huddled behind a car. It was a similar shade to Steve's but far less pristine and thus less valuable. "They've been stalking me since I got here."

        "Wait, really?" Amara gasped, flinching as Steve banged a fold-up chair against the car and told the boys off for not helping. Evidently, it wasn't just Dustin who was enamored by her. "Do you like either of them?"

        "I mean, Lucas is kinda cute, but my stepbrother told me to stay away from him," the redhead's cold exterior faltered momentarily. "I'm sure you've heard of him by now. He's a total asshole, but all the girls like him for some crazy reason."

        "Not all girls," Amara murmured, lugging an old tire over to the bus, where Steve took it from her to bring inside. She wondered if racism had anything to do with why Billy insisted his stepsister stay away from Lucas, but she didn't mention it out loud. "I'm Amara, by the way."

        "Max."

        They continued preparing for the night ahead, making more progress once Dustin and Lucas joined in. They left a rivulet of gasoline from the raw meat to the bus, which they boarded up the best they could. Once they had used up all the materials they could find within the junkyard, the five of them trooped inside and shut the door behind them just as the sun dipped behind the trees.

        As the Party's ranger, Lucas took watch from the roof, using his binoculars to scout for any disturbances within the night. Cocooned inside the bus, Dustin was pacing as he intrinsically did when he was apprehensive, Steve was flicking his lighter in anticipation while Max and Amara remained stationary. Casting a glance out the window, the latter allowed herself to briefly be in awe of how the fog blanketed the earth in currents that reminded her of Lake Erie.

        "So you two really fought one of these things before?" Max's voice ruptured the stillness, directed towards Amara and Steve. Both of them nodded. "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"

        It wasn't a bear. Amara still vividly recalled the petal-like mouth and rows of pointed teeth, as well as the fact that it could rupture the fabric of space and time the way no bear ever could. But before she could reply, Dustin snapped, "Shit. Don't be an idiot, okay? It wasn't a bear." Steve, Amara, and Max all raised their eyebrows at his outburst, though the latter's was more of vexation than surprise. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."

        "Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" Max retorted, making her way to the ladder they had positioned to reach the emergency exit and climbing it. Dustin looked dejected and Amara pondered if it was because he saw the writing on the wall that Max didn't like him back, but Steve smiled in spite of it all.

        "That's good," Steve drawled once Max was out of earshot. "Just show her you don't care."

        "I don't," Dustin responded, but it was clear to Amara that he did, perhaps too much. "Why are you winking, Steve? Stop."

        As he resumed pacing, Amara narrowed her eyes at Steve. "Good job, Steve. Fantastic advice you got there," she said sardonically, crossing her arms over her torso for warmth.

        Steve shrugged, still grinning. "She'll come running back to him in no time, just wait," he reasoned.

        "Or maybe she's gone to talk to Lucas because he actually cares about her," Amara inferred with an edge in her voice Steve wasn't used to. "For someone with so much experience, you give really shitty advice."

        She fell silent and Steve's smile faded as he was left to process her words. He wondered if the reason he acted like he didn't care was that he was afraid of caring. His home life was anything but perfect, with an absent father who frequently cheated on his mother to the point where he stopped hiding the torn business shirts and lipstick stains because she knew she couldn't survive a day without him – no, his money. Steve was so scared of turning out like his dad that it was easier for him to be in a non-commital relationship if he could avoid temptation, but he loved Nancy so much that it no longer became a worry for him. Except now she was out of his life and he was back to square one. At what point did he need to rely on someone to make him feel whole? Maybe it was because he never felt whole to begin with.

        Meanwhile, Amara stewed that she had gone too far. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking at her feet. "I shouldn't have said that."

        "You're probably right, though," Steve's answer was a complete shock to Amara. Dustin seemed to fade out of the picture as Steve scooted closer to her. "I guess my rationale is that it's easier to avoid getting your heart broken if you don't care."

        "That doesn't mean I should've said that," Amara wrung her hands together, something Steve concluded to be one of her many nervous habits. "I have a tendency to speak before I think. I usually end up offending people with my bluntness."

        "To be honest, I prefer that over sugarcoating," Steve stated nonchalantly. "Everyone's always giving me false hope, like telling me there's still a possibility I can make it to college or something. I even gave myself false hope when I convinced myself there was a chance I could fix things with Nancy. Maybe you should've just told me there was no way I could get her back; it would have saved a lot of time."

        "But then we wouldn't be here right now. Poor Dustin would have drained his walkie," she whispered, though Dustin appeared too preoccupied to pay them any mind. "But it's nice to know you're finally reaching the stage of acceptance."

        "What, you mean accepting that Nancy and I don't have a future together?"

        "Yeah, something like that," Amara smiled softly.

        Amara didn't strike Steve as either of the ludicrous descriptions of girls he had mentioned earlier, and not because she fell into the category of "different" he had used to convey Nancy. There was something about her that made her feel off-limits to him in terms of romance. She wasn't someone he wanted to pursue for himself and tarnish, especially not when he had made it clear that he cared about her. She was the first girl he'd called a friend in years, and yet she was a complete mystery to him. Amara Reid was unlike anyone he'd ever met before.

        An otherworldly screech pierced through the air and the three of them were instantly on their feet, peering through one of the boarded-up windows. Amara saw nothing other than abandoned vehicles and fog beneath a starlit sky. It was peculiar how beautiful the night was when they were in imminent danger.

        "You see him?" Dustin whispered.

        "No," Steve and Amara responded in sync.

        "Lucas, what's going on?" Dustin called, his voice directed towards the roof.

        "Hold on!" Lucas shouted back. A few tense seconds passed by before he continued, "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!"

        "There," Steve pointed at a figure emerging through the fog. It was hard to make out, but Amara recognized the thin limbs and flower-like mouth right away. It was just like the creature she had fought last year, only smaller and on all fours. Fear rushed through her system and she equipped herself with her crowbar for good measure.

        "What's he doing?" Dustin queried.

        "I don't know," Steve mumbled. The last of the meat sat waiting for Dart but he didn't go for it, as if he knew he was being lured into a trap. "He's not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?"

        "Maybe he's not hungry," Dustin theorized.

        "Maybe he's sick of cow," Steve suggested, a thoughtful look on his face.

        "No," Amara unveiled a potential explanation, recollecting how the Demogorgon hadn't fallen for the trap the way she, Nancy, and Jonathan had assumed it would. Because it was a predator, and it fought dirty. "He wants a challenge."

        Realizing what Amara implied, Steve pushed himself away from the wall and started towards the front of the bus, picking up his bat from the floor. If a challenge was what Dart wanted, a challenge was what he was going to get.

        "Steve? Steve, what are you doing?" Amara panicked, both she and Dustin moving away from the window as Steve prepared to offer himself as bait.

        Steve turned to face them and held up his lighter. "Just get ready," he told them. He tossed it to Amara, who caught it in the tips of her fingers. Then he was opening the door with a faint creak and stepping out into the night and Amara swore her heart was going to beat out of her chest from how anxious she was for his safety.

        "Come on buddy," Steve whistled, twirling his bat expertly in his fingers as he crept farther away from the security of the bus, though Amara quickly came to realize that it was more of a reflex to calm his nerves. Even with a bigger meal in front of him, Dart didn't pounce. "Dinner time."

        "What's he doing?" Max questioned, descending the ladder to join Amara and Dustin in the belly of the bus while Lucas kept a lookout on the roof.

        "Giving Dart a challenge," Amara responded breathlessly, clutching her crowbar so tightly it nearly cut off the blood circulation in her hands. She'd pocketed the lighter but was ready to activate it when the time came for her to do so.

        "He's insane," Max remarked.

        Dustin's smile only grew. "He's awesome."

        He's going to get himself killed, Amara thought to herself. The fog had cleared away enough to reveal the silhouette of Dart, who was relying on his enhanced sense of smell to pinpoint Steve's precise location. He chittered and opened his mouth a fraction, and Steve lifted his bat, counting on Dart to make the first move. But the creature remained utterly still.

        And then Amara realized just why.

        Another Demogorgon was approaching Steve from behind, along with several more. Amara recognized in horror that had been their plan all along, for Dart to stall and prompt one or more of them to leave the bus so the rest of them could catch them off guard. If only Lucas wasn't such a talented ranger that he hadn't witnessed them through his binoculars and alerted Steve to their presence.

        "Steve, watch out!" Lucas shrieked from above. Amara was simultaneously paralyzed and contemplating whether or not to leave the bus as well. It wasn't a fight Steve could win on his own, but she had promised her brother she would stay safe.

        "A little busy here!" Steve hollered back, his eyesight fixed solely on Dart.

        "Three o'clock! Three o'clock!" Lucas cried desperately. Steve finally turned around, where he was met by at least three other Demogorgons, all of whom were dead set on killing him. He was cornered.

        "Steve!" Dustin had rushed to the door, unlocking it with an alacritous scrape. "Steve! Abort! Abort!"

        Dart was the first of the creatures to charge, the rest of them following a split-second later. Thinking quickly, Steve tumbled over the hood of an abandoned car fast enough for one of the Demogorgons to fall straight through the windshield. He landed on his feet just in time to deflect another with a skillful swing of his bat, all while his four companions clamored by the doorway for him to rejoin them. But both of the monsters recovered faster than he expected them to and he was surrounded yet again. The pile of meat was forgotten on the ground as they encircled Steve slowly as if taunting him.

        An idea crossed Amara's mind as she remembered the lighter Steve had trusted her with. Two of the monsters were close enough to the meat that their skin would catch on fire if she activated the lighter. To do so she would need to leave the bus, but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as joining Steve in the line of fire. As Max, Dustin, and Lucas continued to yell Steve's name as if it would grant him immunity from the Demogorgons, Amara gently pushed them out of the way and vacated the bus.

        "AMARA, NO!" Dustin screamed, attempting and failing to grab her arm and stop her.

        She had skidded onto the grass, keeping an iron grip on her crowbar while she fumbled for the lighter. Steve was striking one Demogorgon after another but they kept coming back for more. Just as Amara had speculated, they wanted a challenge and Steve was offering it to them. But they failed to notice her and it gave her the perfect opportunity to trigger a fire where they had left a trail of gasoline earlier.

        The grass erupted into flames the moment the lighter made contact with the ground thanks to how flammable Steve had made it, following the trail until it set the meat on fire and two of the monsters with it. Their screeching caught Steve's attention, and he turned his head to find two of the creatures engulfed in flames and a path of fire leading from them to Amara, who was yelling alongside Max, Dustin, and Lucas for him to return. The fire didn't appear to have killed the two monsters but it was affecting all of them as though they were linked in a hive mind. Either way, it gave Steve the opening he needed to return to the bus.

        Careful to avoid stepping into the flames, which Amara was smothering with water to prevent them from becoming out of control, Steve sprinted inside the bus, dragging Amara with him and slamming the doors shut behind them. The creatures had regained their strength and were clanging against the outside of the bus with such force that the entire vehicle shook. The younger kids were shouting expletives that would provoke any of their parents to reprimand them, all scared beyond belief.

        "Are they rabid or something?" Max asked as Steve grabbed a scrap of metal and placed it against the door, plowing his feet against it to hold it in place. She had quickly accepted that Lucas was telling the truth, but the notion brought her no comfort.

        "They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas shouted as though saying it out loud would convince himself he was right, when in reality they would be lucky enough if the best they could do was keep the Demogorgons from infiltrating the bus. As if to prove him wrong, one of the monsters broke through the metal and Steve quickly attacked it while Amara ushered the kids to the other side of the bus.

        Dustin had retrieved his headset and was desperately trying to reach his other friends. "Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God! Anyone!" he pleaded as another creature punctured a hole in the metal adjacent to them. "We're at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!"

        As Steve continued flogging any monster that dared to enter the interior of the bus, the rest of the group became aware of weighty footsteps above them. Max was directly below the roof exit as a Demogorgon came into view above them and gripped the ladder with one slimy hand, peering down at them almost curiously. Max elicited a deafening scream and Amara quickly pushed her away, raising her crowbar threateningly at the monster.

        "Out of the way! Out of the way!" Steve positioned himself alongside Amara and lifted his bat in line with her weapon. "You want some? Come get this!"

        The monster unfurled its petal-like mouth and roared at the two of them. But before Amara was prepared to have to fight it, it faltered and growled at some unknown entity a distance away. The five of them were left to stand in bewilderment as the bus rattled from the force of the creatures abandoning the immaculate meal before them. Steve and Amara kept their weapons handy in vigilance until the night fell silent once more and everyone felt unassailable enough to leave the bus.

        Steve was the first to step outside, his bat raised in expectation as Amara followed him swiftly, using the soles of her shoes to extinguish the remaining flames. Her converse now had traces of monster blood mixed in with the white and blue, giving off the impression of a warped American flag. They witnessed the last of the Demogorgons evacuate the junkyard in haste towards whatever was more tempting than five humans and vanish without a trace, leaving the clearing abandoned once again.

        "What happened?" Lucas was the first to speak, articulating what they all had in mind.

        "I don't know," Max whispered. None of them had a clear answer as to what had caused this abnormal turn of events.

        "Steve and Amara scared 'em off?" Dustin offered, though it was evident even he didn't believe that.

        "No. No way." Steve answered as he turned around, grim determination written across his face. At that moment, they all understood that their fight was greater than they'd imagined and far from over. "They're going somewhere."

published to quotev: 8/25/22
published to wattpad: 8/1/24

AUTHOR'S NOTE

please don't be a ghost reader