chapter thirteen
fright night

🖤

AS RUBY SITS UPRIGHT, THE ROOF OF THE bus covered in the monster's blood, Steve appears, helping her back up. Ruby looks down at herself, drenched yet again in blood, and feels like she's gaining a habit with this. She holds onto Steve's hand for a moment, her heart racing still. She remembers everything from last November, how panicked she felt the whole time, how she tried to contain it, so that Nancy and Jonathan wouldn't notice. She remembers how relieved she felt whenever she saw Steve, just like now. He calms her down like no one else can.

"Are you OK?" he asks her.

Ruby shakes her head. "Are you?"

He shrugs. "I've been better."

She smiles weakly. She's so grateful he's here this time.

But she recognises the severity of this, that those monsters, for some reason, are running elsewhere. They discarded Ruby, Subject X, of all people, in exchange for something — something more important... And, like, not to sound conceited, but that must be something pretty important, if they're passing off on her. (As she's said — the world revolves around her!)

"OK," says Ruby, tightening her ponytail. "We've got shit to do."

The two climb back down into the bus, where the kids look close to tears — Max, especially, who stares at Ruby, like she's Carrie White or something. Max begins to ask Ruby how she did everything she's just done, but Dustin stands up, and shakes his head, telling Max that there's more important things to attend to. Ruby's starting to like him.

"They're going somewhere," says Ruby, and she turns to Steve, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Give me two minutes, I'll figure it out."

Max says, "How—?"

"I will tell you on the way, Maxine!" says Ruby, suddenly feeling like this kid is her sister, not Billy's. Max looks at her in surprise — maybe because Ruby used her full name — but Ruby brushes it off, planning to try and enter the In-Between Space. She doesn't have the time to find a body of water to submerge herself into, so closed eyes will have to do. But, just as she reaches the front of the bus, she sees lights flickering in the distance, just managing to penetrate the gaps in the metal sheets boarding up the windows.

So Ruby goes outside to check. The junkyard is on the top of a hill, so she can see past Hawkins, straight towards the lab — the perpetrator of the flickering lights. Ruby's brows furrow. In the seventeen years she's been on this planet, that lab has never had a power shortage. So the monsters must be going that way, there must be something wrong with the lab, that Ruby, yet again, has to sort out.

She's so sick of this shit.

"Why's the lab...?" says Lucas, as the rest of them pile out of the bus.

Ruby looks at him, grimacing. "Exactly."

She starts to walk in the direction of the lab. This is ridiculous. Ruby imagines her grandfather, looking up at her (because, let's be real, that man is totally in hell) and laughing, because, yet again, she has to deal with all of this shit that he started. God. Can she not catch a break? Can she not, like, have one nice Halloween where she can wear a hot and sexy costume, she can get sheet-faced, and that would be that? Can she not, like, have a normal life? This is so unfair.

The headache from earlier, though, has faded. Her arms hurt from that thing scratching her, but they're just scratches. What's gonna happen? Kill her? Uh, they can't. And, frankly, after all of this shit she's been through, she'd be kind-of pissed if a little monster scratch is what did her. The lab is on her mind now, too, which irritates her. Her number-one priority at all times is to ignore that place's existence. And yet, now she's being forced to think about.

"So how do you have powers?" says Max, who's run to catch up with Ruby.

"Oh," says Ruby, remembering her promise from five minutes ago. "You can't tell anyone this, you know. Maybe those two, and like, the other little... children... you hang out with..." Ruby pauses to remember their names. They're not coming to her, though. "Uh... Little Nancy... and Little Jonathan? Wheeler and Byers...?"

"Mike and Will?" says Max, raising an eyebrow.

"... Sure," says Ruby. "OK, so, yeah, they can know, who cares. But Billy can't."

"I don't talk to Billy," says Max.

Ruby frowns. "But he's your brother? Step, I mean."

"I hate him," says Max. "Did you not notice what he was like?"

"I mean, yeah, but like... I didn't think he was always like that, to you," says Ruby, suddenly feeling a little guilty. She remembers every nasty remark he made about his little sister, and how Ruby dismissed it. She doesn't think she cared enough about Billy to listen to his complaints... God. Sometimes Ruby forgets, how much of a bitch she is. "I'm, uh, sorry... I would've said something if I had realised..."

This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the few times I'm sorry has ever left Ruby's lips. But the admittance is nice, like a weight off of her shoulders... Maybe she should say it more often.

"It doesn't really matter," says Max. "I won't tell him about... whatever you can do."

Ruby sighs, remembering this was why they were talking. "OK, um, so — you see the building over there, that we're walking to?" she asks, pointing towards the lab. Max nods, and Ruby gives Max the condensed explanation she gave Steve yesterday. God. The fact that that was yesterday feels crazy to Ruby.

As Ruby finishes the explanation, she glances back at Max. "So, yeah, I don't really want anyone to know, but you've seen those monsters now, so..."

"I won't tell Billy," says Max. "I promise."

"Thanks," says Ruby, and she smiles softly. "You're a lot less annoying than I thought."

"You're a lot less bitchy than I thought," says Max, and Ruby laughs.

"If Billy says anything else to you, let me know," says Ruby.

Max smiles back at her. "Thanks..." She trails off, looking over her shoulder. The boys are walking a fair distance behind them, enough that they can't really hear them talk. Or at least that's what Ruby presumes, because Max turns back to Ruby. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah...?"

"How do you, like, know... when you like someone?"

Ruby's eyes widen. "Like, like-like them?"

Max nods, and despite the darkness, Ruby can see her cheeks turning red.

It takes Ruby to think. She remembers what Steve said earlier, about the electricity, but Ruby doesn't really agree with that, and considers how she'd actually describe it. "I don't know... I guess, there's a calmness when you're around them."

"Calmness?"

"Yeah, like, maybe you get butterflies or whatever, but when you're really really stressed, or scared, when you see them, it makes you feel better. Comforted, I guess..." Ruby glances over her shoulder, at Steve, then returns her gaze to Max. "Why? Who do you...?"

"Lucas," says Max, speaking very quietly.

Ruby remembers Dustin and Steve's conversation earlier, and suddenly feels very awful.

"I don't know... I guess I've never really had a crush before."

"I mean, you're what, ten?"

"Thirteen..." says Max.

"Oh — well, anyway, you're only thirteen," says Ruby. "I didn't have a crush on anyone when I was thirteen... Oh my God, no, except this one guy that worked at the lab — he was, like, an adult, but you should've seen him! He was hot. Like, blonde, tousled hair. And he had a really cute smile, and because I was thirteen I thought I had a chance with him... But then he left one day. But anyway — I didn't have a real crush until high school, so it makes sense to question it."

Max steps over a fallen tree branch. "I thought you were the girl that always had a boyfriend," she says. Ruby raises an eyebrow. What's with Max's family and thinking Ruby's a whore? "Not like that! You're just, like, really cool. And Billy was obsessed with you... He's never been like that with a girl, so I figured you were special."

Ruby nods, agreeing. She, too, thinks she's special.

"Steve scared them off, I guess," says Ruby, with a shrug. "We, uh, were best friends, but 'cause of all of the stuff that happened last year — with the monster and stuff — I pushed him away."

"I prefer him to Billy," says Max.

Ruby stops walking for a second, and frowns. "What do you...?"

"You and Steve," says Max.

Oh. Ruby doesn't know what to say for a second. She thinks back to Halloween, back to how passionately she kissed him, how everything felt right in that moment, even when it shouldn't have been. She thinks back to last Christmas, to him professing his feelings. She thinks about every time she's seen Nancy since then, how jealousy would fester inside of Ruby. Ruby would watch Steve snake his arm around Nancy, kiss Nancy, and Ruby would be internally seething. She would've killed to be Nancy.

It throws Ruby off, because Ruby's never admitted this jealousy before. She's never really admitted why she grew to hate Steve so much this past year — she hated Steve because she wanted to be with him, but she couldn't, and instead she was stuck with shitty friends that didn't even care about her. Would Carol or Tommy fight those monsters to keep her safe, knowing she was the better fighter anyway? Would Billy hear Ruby say, 'those monsters want to attack me,' and sacrifice himself, to keep her safe? Steve did. But she's never said any of this out-loud — even when Steve expressed the obvious at Halloween, how she clearly likes him too, she never verbally agreed. But she's felt so much safer, having Steve here, and the idea of things going back to normal when school starts on Monday... Well, it all feels like bullshit.

So Ruby finally gives in, and quietly says to Max, "He's hot, isn't he?"

Max grins.

Ruby's decided that she likes Max now. Max is cool... And, Max has a shitty older brother, so Ruby feels like she needs to step in. Just like El, Max is Ruby's problem now.

"OK, so you're gonna go back there and talk to Lucas — and be nice to Dustin," says Ruby. She turns around, walking backwards as she goes, "Hey, Steve? Can you come over?"

"For what?" he says, already picking up his pace to catch up to her.

Ruby says quietly to Max, "Off you go, kiddo," and seconds later, Steve reaches the two girls. Max leaves them to walk with her friends, and Ruby smiles at Steve. "Those kids aren't that bad, actually..."

Steve looks back at Ruby. The moon is directly above them, as they walk through a clearing in the woods, giving them both a blue, ethereal glow. Ruby can feel butterflies in her stomach, as he smiles back at her.

"Max has got, like, a major crush on Lucas," says Ruby. She didn't expect to be talking about a middle schooler's love life, but the only other thing on her mind is about how gorgeous her ex-best friend looks under the moonlight.

He pauses for a second, before going, "Oh, that's — crazy."

Ruby frowns. He's being weird. Did he hear...?

But before she can say anything, a huge smile appears across Steve's face.

"You think I'm hot, then?" he says.

"I mean," says Ruby, "You think I'm special, so..."

They both look at each other for a moment, as if waiting for the other to say something. But as the woods open up one final time, revealing the gates to the lab. Someone shouts out, "Hello?" towards them, and as Steve shines his flashlight in that direction, Ruby sees Nancy and Jonathan. Ruby takes a mental note to return to this conversation with Steve later.

"Steve?" the two go.

"Nancy?" says Steve, confused.

Ruby walks towards the two. "Where the hell were you guys?"

"Why are you with them?" says Jonathan, pointing to the children standing behind Steve.

"Uh, babysitting, duh," says Ruby.

"What are you doing here?" says Nancy.

Steve frowns back at her. "What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for Mike and Will," says Nancy, and Ruby guesses that's the names of their brothers. She thinks that's what Max said.

"They're not in there, are they?" says Dustin, pointing towards the lab.

Nancy's brows furrow, and she glances at Jonathan. Ruby's gaze trails down, noticing how close Nancy and Jonathan's hands are. Interesting, she thinks, and then she wonders if they've been M.I.A. because they've been fucking. Ruby's gonna be pissed if that's true.

"We're not sure..." says Nancy. "Why?"

But before anyone can answer her, an eruption of roars come from the lab, echoing through the trees around them. Ruby moves to her side, her arm pressed against Steve's. The thought of the lab — a place she went to every month of her life — covered in monsters makes Ruby's skin crawl...

... And then a realisation hits Ruby.

"Steve," she says, turning to him. "Do you remember last night?"

Jonathan and Nancy exchange a glance. "Uh—"

Steve's eyes widen. "Your dad—"

"He was taken back to the lab," says Ruby. He'll still be in there, the lab always takes it's time with tests — it never wants anyone to leave early, because some reactions to exposure take a couple of days to surface. So if the lab has no power, and the monsters are all going towards the lab... Her dad is in trouble.

So Ruby, despite having spent the past five years hating her father, breaks into a run, almost falling down the muddy hill leading up to the gates. Her feet hits the grass, the soil still spongy from the rain earlier that week. Ruby isn't letting her dad die. He's a dick, but he's still her dad.

But then, she looks at the gate.

See. This is the issue with the lab being, you know, a top-secret base. It's impossible to get in. Ruby feels like she's in a children's book; she can't go through, she can't go under, she can't even go over because there's barbed wire. Normally, she would use her powers to cut a hole in the fencing outlining the lab, but what if the monsters escape? What if they run straight through the hole to her friends?

"We can't get in, Ruby!" Jonathan tells her. "The gate won't open! The power's gone—"

Before Ruby can even do it herself, the lab's lights flicker back to life. Jonathan runs to the control box, and the gate slowly begins to open. The second Ruby can squeeze through, she's slipped through, breaking into a sprint towards the lab.

"RUBY!" Nancy shouts after her.

"IT'S YOUR TIME TO BABYSIT! STAY THERE!"

Ruby's never ran this fast before; she can barely feel her feet touching the tarmac, running towards the entrance her sixth sense is picturing. There's so many entrances into the lab, and she barely even used the one she's being told to go towards, but her dad must be closest to that one. They reach the door, and she throws herself at it, but it's locked. She steps back, just as she hears someone's footsteps behind her.

She looks at Steve madly. "What are you doing?" she says.

"We're doing this together!" he tells her.

"You could die!" she shouts at him, glaring.

"So could you!" he argues.

Ruby's at a loss for words.

"It's you and me, Rubes. We're doing this together."

She looks at him, stunned. She wants him to stay here — no, she wishes he was miles away from this, in a whole different country, where he would never, ever have to come into harm's way. But she knows she can't stop him, and maybe she'd feel a lot less terrified if he's there with her. She remembers him helping them last year, and how, maybe, him being there gave her the extra courage to kill the monster. So she sighs, his words from last year echoing in her ears. "The only girl I'd go into a burning building like that for... is you."

"Burning buildings, right?" she says.

Steve nods. "Burning buildings."

Before she can even unlock the door with her mind, her dad appears, pushing open the doors. He's got... uh, Jonathan's brother (... she forgot the name) over his shoulders, and Nancy's brother runs out behind them. Hopper looks at Ruby and Steve.

"What are you doing here?" he says.

"Saving you?" says Ruby.

"How? The whole place is swarmed, and you don't even have a weapon—"

There's an awful scream. Ruby sees one of the monsters over Joyce's boyfriend's body, tearing him apart. The monster looks up, spotting the group of them. Hopper runs to grab Joyce, but the monster begins to run towards the door. Before the doors can close, the monster attempts to jump at them — but Ruby raises her hand, engulfing the monster in flames.

The door closes shut, the electric locks keeping them closed, as more monsters try to break through. But it's already happened. Her dad knows what's wrong with her now. Hopper looks at his daughter, in complete shock. He's about to ask what's wrong with her, how she could do such a thing, but Jonathan sounds his car horn. They've got to go, before the monsters break through.

"The kids—" Ruby turns to Steve, realising only Nancy and Jonathan are in his car.

Hopper throws his car keys at Ruby. "You can run faster, get mine."

Thank God Ruby did cross country, huh?

For the umpteenth time that evening, Ruby's throwing herself into the wind, sprinting towards the best way to escape. She didn't even notice, she grabbed Steve's hand to come with her, her palms now sweaty. The blood covering her is dried, now, and as she starts the sheriff's car engine, she slams her foot down on the accelerator, speeding back to her dad. He hurls himself into the car, and the second he's in, Ruby races down the road, where the Dustin, Lucas, and Max are standing, unsupervised.

Ruby's mouth opens in shock. "Nancy and Jonathan left them?"

"How shitty—!"

"Now is not the time!" her dad shouts, from the back of the car.

Ruby screeches to a halt, and her dad throws open the door next to him, letting the kids in.

"GET IN!" Steve shouts at them.

Ruby doesn't even wait for her dad to close the door, before she presses her foot down again, driving straight towards the Byers' house. She's so not happy with Nancy and Jonathan right now, that's for sure. She hears the kids shouting over the engine roaring, asking what happened, and Ruby's stomach is twisting. This is going to be a long night.

i hate the way i ended this but i cba i want to eat my dinner now

i hope you enjoyed!! lmk what you thought!!<3