old talents

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

"There." Steve pointed out the window of the bus, watching as a creature about the size of a dog emerged from the fog in the junkyard. Alina moved towards him, the itch in her palms getting worse. She was energized, more than she'd ever been, and tapped her foot against the bus floor, breathing hard. Something inside her wanted out, and it wanted out now. The urge was so consuming Alina had to thrust her hands into her pockets to keep from letting it go. Keep from letting it free.

"What's he doing?" Dustin asked nervously.

"I don't know."

"That's Dart?" Gabe asked, joining them at the window, too. "Jesus, when you guys said he'd grown you really meant it. Like, I knew he was dangerous, but I thought he was gonna be the size of a squirrel or something, but he's moved on to be the size of a—" he noticed all eyes had moved to his, and laughed nervously. "Shutting up now."

Alina looked out the window, too, expecting Dart to make a move towards the pile of meat they'd set up for it, but the creature didn't. It just stood at the edge menacingly, its low growls loud enough to be heard through the reinforced bus door. "He's not taking the bait," Steve noted. "Why is he not taking the bait?"

"Maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin suggested.

Steve clenched his jaw. "Maybe he's sick of cow." And at that, he pulled away from the window, determination in his eyes.

"Steve?" Dustin asked, as Steve moved towards the door. "Steve, what are you doing?"

"Steve, you seriously can't be thinking of going out there," said Gabe. "There are a million things that can go wrong. You could die."

Steve tossed the lighter to Dustin, his face resigned. "Just get ready."

The itching had grown worse. Alina shut her eyes, breathing hard, but opened them again when she heard the metal door of the bus slide open. Steve took a deep breath, clutching his bat in his hands, and made his way outside. Alina's bouncing got worse. She was afraid if she did anything, whatever was locked inside of her—as it had been for a year—would be let out. But she knew what was happening to her.

They're back.

Steve walked into the mist, twirling his bat in his hands. He looked so small out there, against the beast from the shadows, and Alina knew she would have to do something. Soon. As she watched, Steve let out a low whistle. "Come on, buddy," he said, whistling again, swinging his bat to lure the creature towards him.

Alina watched all of this with nervous anticipation, the itching growing worse and worse. Steve walked further into the fog, and it didn't take long for Max to make her way back down the ladder. "What's he doing?" she asked, making her way to the window.

Dustin licked his lips. "Expanding the menu."

"Come on, buddy," Steve repeated, and it was harder to hear his voice now. He stood behind the pile of gasoline-drenched meat they'd left for Dart, still swinging his bat from side to side. "Come on, buddy. Come on. Dinner time. Human tastes better than cat, I promise."

Max shook her head in disbelief. "He's insane."

"He's awesome," Dustin corrected. Gabe stared out the window.

"If he dies, tell everyone I wasn't here." He chewed on his nails. "This is crazy. This is crazy! I can't believe I'm here! I can't believe that's Dart! Why is he so big? What is happening?"

"Gabe," said Alina, her entire body trembling, "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but shut up."

Gabe nodded, miming locking his lips and putting the key in his pocket. The itch in Alina's palms grew to a burn, and she prepared herself for anything to go wrong. Panic and adrenaline intermingled inside of her and she had to take several deep, steady breaths to keep from letting everything out.

Somehow, Steve's plan worked, and Dart walked through the mist, not wanting to miss out on a nice le spécial Harrington. Steve continued swinging his bat, and Dustin prepared to ignite the gasoline, but that was when it all went wrong. That was when Alina noticed several other creatures making their way out of the darkness, heading straight towards the lone teenage boy.

Somehow, there were more.

"STEVE!" Lucas shouted from the roof of the bus. "WATCH OUT!"

"A little busy here!" Steve called back, not taking his eyes off the creature slowly advancing towards him. They somehow managed to be eerily quiet, and Alina knew Steve wouldn't notice them until they were biting his head off. Her pulse skyrocketed. They had to do something. She had to do something.

"Three o'clock!" Lucas yelled. "Three o'clock!"

Alina couldn't take it. "That's it," she announced, because this, perhaps, was what the burning itch inside her palms was for. "I'm going out there."

"What?" Dustin asked. "Are you insane, Alina? You'll die out there!"

"Trust me." Alina wiggled her fingers. She looked down at her palms, watching in awe as they began to glow red. "I won't. But I can't just leave him out there."

"Alina, are you crazy?" Max grabbed Alina's arm just as she made her way to the door. "We're not letting you go out there. Seriously, what the hell are you thinking?"

"Yeah, uh, you'll most definitely die if you go out there," said Gabe, who looked like he was about to puke. "I wouldn't... I wouldn't recommend it."

Alina tried to wrench her arm out of Max's grip, but she was too strong. And so, Alina Fairgrieves swallowed. "Max," she said, "I'm sorry." And then she grabbed onto the arm Max was clutching her with. Max immediately let out a yell, releasing Alina, who immediately kicked open the doors and made her way outside, just as Steve noticed the other creatures advancing towards him.

Wiping blood off of her nose, Alina sprinted towards one of the monsters. Her heart rocketed in her chest, and that was the moment she knew that she was a complete and utter idiot. As she ran into the misty night, the creature she was after opening its mouth like a flower as it leaped towards Steve, time slowed down. And at that moment, she knew what she had to do.

Steve managed to dodge the first attack of the creatures—which Alina now realized were Demogorgons—and that was where she came in. The Demogorgon launched at her, its mouth open, spittle dripping from its rows of teeth. Alina froze for a moment, looking death right in the jaw, and then dropped, letting the creature sail above her head and crashing into the ground. Before it could stand up, she shot a beam of energy at it, the red light blasting right into its mouth. It let out a scream, collapsing, and pain blossomed in Alina's head. But she knew she had to go on. She had to let Steve get back to the bus safely.

And she'd done it.

Steve hit one of them over the head, his face paling when he noticed Alina, but the shouts from the interior of the bus distracted them both. Lucas, Gabe, Max and Dustin were all at the door, shouting for them to come back. Steve sprinted towards the door, but there were still creatures following him. Alina sprinted, launching another beam of energy out of her hands like a cannon. The shot missed, but it drew the mini-Demogorgon's attention away from Steve, and it made its way towards her.

"AL! COME BACK!" Gabe was screaming, and Alina dodged the attack from the mini-Demogorgon, shooting this one right in the head too. The fact that she'd gotten two in a row made her giddy, and she forgot, for a second, that she was a thirteen-year-old girl with no prior training (unless you counted her and Lucas's dual assault on the fully-grown Demogorgon last year, which she didn't) against monsters from a different dimension. Unfortunately, the creatures didn't.

A searing pain burst through her leg, and Alina screamed, watching the miniature Demogorgon sink its teeth into it further. Blood immediately burst through, making her immediately woozy, and she shook her leg, trying to get it off. But she didn't have to. It shrieked in pain, too, as if hurting her had somehow hurt itself, and let go, crumpling to the ground with a wail. Alina shot another burst of energy at it to be certain and then made her way to the bus door, limping as quickly as she could. For some reason, the creatures seemed reluctant to chase after her, and she made it without much difficulty.

Dustin grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the bus, and then the two of them slammed the door behind them, pressing themselves against the wall. Blood was oozing from Alina's leg and from her nose, but they didn't even have time to look at it, for the creatures began pounding against the door again.

Everyone screamed, clutching each other in fear, and Gabe nearly fainted. His eyes rolled back in his head and everything.

"Are they rabid or something?" Max asked, eyes wide, as the baby Demogorgons continued their assault on the bus door. Nobody responded, but Steve got a spare piece of metal and held it up in front of the door, trying to block them from coming inside.

"I can't believe this is how I'm going to die!" Gabe yelled. "All I wanted to do was take a goddamn walk!"

"They can't get in!" Lucas shouted hopefully. "They can't!"

They could. Steve went flying as the creatures burst through the door, and everyone screamed again, Alina shooting another burst of energy at the creature, and Steve slammed at it with his bat. "Shit!" Dustin screamed, grabbing for his headset. "Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God! Anyone!"

The creatures began thrusting themselves at the bus, causing everyone to yell yet again, and Dustin continued calling for Mike and Will. "We are at the old junkyard," he panted, "and we are going to die!"

And as if things couldn't get any worse, there was a pounding from the roof of the bus. All eyes went to the roof, just as one of the Demogorgon creatures poked its head through, aiming for Max, who was closest. "Out of the way! Out of the way!" Steve yelled, pushing past her. "You want some?" he shouted, brandishing his bat. "Come get this!"

The monster roared, its mouth opening again, and they all prayed for their lives in that desperate second. Then Gabe lunged forward. "Get the hell away from my friends!" he snarled, brandishing... a switchblade? With a growl, he was making his way up the ladder when—

The creature turned its head away. With a screech, it leapt off of the bus, going somewhere else, and leaving its meals behind. Alina watched as it went, and suddenly she knew where it was going.

Home. Come back home. We need you.

There was a hand in hers. Alina hadn't realized it until now. But as a thud rattled the bus and the sound of mini Demogorgons running away was all that could be heard, she didn't have the strength to ponder it anymore. And then Alina Fairgrieves collapsed, right into Lucas's arms.

Lucas held her, panting, clutching onto her like she was his lifeline and then lay her on the seats, where she groaned in pain. Her leg would have to be looked at soon, but for now... he peered out the door. "What happened?"

"I don't know," said Max.

"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin suggested. "Or Alina?"

"No," said Steve. "No way. They're going somewhere."

"You guys don't know?!" Gabe repeated. "You're telling me you seriously had no idea what just happened? What the hell was that? What the hell was that?! I thought there was just one! Why were there so many?" he looked around wildly, still clutching the switchblade. "Will someone please tell me what is happening?!"

Lucas and Dustin exchanged a look as Steve crouched down by Alina. "Jesus, what the hell were you thinking, kid?" he asked. "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"So could you," Alina mumbled. Her eyes popped open. "I—" she winced in pain, cutting herself off as another burst of pain went through her leg. "I hate to interrupt a good lecture, but my leg—" she hissed. "It's bad. It's really bad."

"Right." Steve rolled up Alina's pant leg, letting out a low whistle when he saw the state of it. The wounds weren't deep, but there were many of them. Tiny little teeth marks lodged into her shin, all of them oozing blood. Gabe, who was watching in disgust (he'd never liked blood) wondered how Alina was still conscious.

"Shit," Alina muttered. "I've got my powers back."

She didn't know if that was a good thing or not, so she closed her eyes before she could think of it anymore.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: and alina's powers are finally back!! woohoo! even though she wasn't supposed to have them, i feel like they're an integral part of her, and i'm glad she got them back. honestly, because it's been so long since i've written this book, i forgot she lost them at all oops. but whatever, she's got them now.

and gabe!! he's finally being brave!! one of his character flaws is that he can be a coward sometimes, which you'll see later, but at least he got his moment here!! i love him!!!!

also, it's weird because i wrote the whole thing with alina's leg before season three came out, so... parallels, i guess? it's not going to be as bad as el's, though, but it does affect her for the rest of the book, js. 

hope you enjoyed!! 'till next time!