▸Space Oddity- David Bowie

T H E    B A T T L E  O F 
S T A R C O U R T  M A L L 
P T . I V

Steve parked the car roughly in the Moore's driveway. There were no cars in sight. No lights were peeking through the windows. It just looked dead. Dustin and I exchanged fearful looks. The five of us quickly clambered out. I ran towards the front door.

"Rebecca!? Danny!?" I banged my fist against the door. "Guys!"

No one answered. Dread started to fill my chest. I started to heave, desperately wrapping my hand around the door knob. I turned it. The door opened.

"Get the lights." Robin instructed.

"Got it." Steve flicked the lights on.

I gasped at the scene in front of me. The usually tidy house was in ruins. Furniture was knocked down and broken. The pictures in the wall were in the floor shattered. There was even a huge dent in the wall.

"Let's look around." I wet my lips anxiously.

"Spread out. I'll check up stairs." Steve  nodded for the younger teens to follow me.

"I'll come with you." Robin followed her coworker.

Glass crunched under my shoe as I carefully walked around the house. It was eerily quiet. The only sounds I could hear was our labored breathing and our footsteps. I headed toward the kitchen as a chemical smell wafted towards my nose. That was the only room that had the light already turned on. When I entered the kitchen, the smell started to burn my nose.

"Shit, that stuff is strong." Dustin coughed out, swatting at the air.

"It's chemicals, stupid." Erica rolled her eyes.

I quickly pulled the top of my shirt over my nose to soften the harsh smell. Cleaning supplies and pesticides were scattered all over. The contents were all over the place. I frowned when I saw the back door open.

"Be careful guys." I warned them. "Check around here. I'm gonna check the backyard."

There was voices coming from the backyard. I panicked and grabbed the closest thing to me: a kitchen knife. Dustin and Erica looked at me with wide eyes.

"Stay behind me and in this kitchen." I ordered them.

"No need to tell me twice." Erica breathed out.

"Be careful, Dawn."

I cautiously walked through the opened door. Two silhouettes stood a couple of feet in front of me with their backs towards me. I could easily identify them as a boy and a girl. They turned around and screamed.

"What the fuck, Dawn!"

"Why the hell are you guys here?" I slightly lowered the knife.

"Why are you pointing a knife at us?" Chad quirked a brow.

"Answer my question first." I rebutted.

"Rebecca hasn't responded to my calls all day today and yesterday." Amanda started, crossing her arms. "So we decided to check on Danny first, ya know, thinking that Rebecca and him were at your house or something. But your mom answered the door and said they weren't home-"

"You told my mom that they were missing?! What the fuck, guys?!" I ran a frustrated hand. My heart froze. "What did you tell her? What did she say?"

Chad and Amanda stared at me with wide eyes.

"How about you drop the knife, crazy!" Amanda raised her hands in alarm.

I looked at my hand to see it shaking. Closing my eyes, I dropped the knife on the grass. I took a step toward them.

"What did she say?" My voice cracked.

"He wasn't home. She also said something about you three not being home for a day or two." Chad frowned and took a cautious step towards me. "What's going on, Dawn? Are you okay?"

"My mom, is she still home?" I looked between Chad and Amanda.

"No." Amanda shook her head. "She said she was going to the fair to look for you guys...which you obviously aren't."

"Shit." I ran a hand through my hair. I squeezed my eyes and stomped my foot. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Dawn?" Steve and Robin ran out of the house. They stopped when they saw Amanda and Chad. "What's going on?"

"My mom knows Danny's missing. He's not home." My hands started to shake. "He's not here...is he."

"No." Robin softly shook her head.

"W-we have to..." I closed my eyes as tears started to stream down my face.

"Let's go." Steve walked over to me. He gently placed a hand on my shoulder and a led me back inside. "We have one more place to check, okay?"

"Why are Chad and Amanda, here?" Dustin asked as he jogged toward us.

"They're looking for Rebecca and Danny." I informed him.

"We're going to have to go to that place...don't we?" Dustin's eyes started to water.

"Oh my God..." Amanda stared at us in horror. "What the hell happened to you guys?"

I furrowed my brows and looked at the Scoops Troop. We were covered in a bit of dirt and grime, mostly the older ones. Steve still had dried blood in his face and neck, with a bruising face and swelling eye. I had some of Billy's blood on my hands and jeans.

"Don't," Erica held up a hand, "get us started."

"Let the others know what's going on. We might need some back up there." Steve told Dustin. "We don't know what was going on while we were at the mall."

"Okay." Dustin sniffed.

We started to head to the beat up yellow car. Amanda and Chad quickly followed after us. They started firing questions.

"Hey! Where are you guys going?" Amanda asked.

"It's none of your concern." Robin told them as we climbed into the car.

"They're our friends, too." Chad said, stopping in the middle of the drive way. "We're coming along."

"No, you guys stay here in case...in case Rebecca comes back." I swallowed.

Before they could say anything else, Steve turned on the car. He quickly drove out of the driveway. Steve licked his lips and reached for my hand. I tightly grasped it. Dustin started to fill everyone else in. Nancy said that some of them would come and help us look. Will had informed us that Hopper had died. The quick ride to the steel shop was filled with silence after that.

Steve pulled up near the shop. I stared at it as I exited the car. Headlights shined on us. Covering my eyes, I turned around to see two sets of cars: Johnathon's and Chad's. They were all slowly getting out of the vehicles. I didn't wait for anyone and made a break for the door to the shop.

"Dustin, stay here." I called over my shoulder.

"Jesus Christ...Dawn!" Steve ran after me.

"Danny!" I started to yell, my voice echoing. My chest tightened as I didn't see my twin. Looking around the inside of the abandoned shop, I spotted another door that led downstairs. "Danny!"

I started to sprint towards it. Steve quickly got a hold of me, tugging me towards him. I looked up at up with wild eyes.

"Steve, let me go."

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you wonder around here by yourself. You're staying with me, okay? We're going to do this together." Steve laced his fingers with mine.

I took a deep breath and nodded. Steve smiled softly at me. The two of us started to walk towards the stairs. My heart raced as we strayed to descend them. A strong stench hit my nose, causing me to gag.

"Oh my God, what is that smell?" I coughed out.

Steve's grip tightened as we made it to the bottom floor. My breath got caught in the back of my throat as I took everything in. Clothes, shoes, and  jewelry were thrown all over the place. It wasn't long until I realized what had happened.

"Oh God." I gasped in horror.

Letting go of Steve's hand, I took a few steps forward. Panic stricken, I ran and checked every corner of the area looking for my twin brother. I repeatedly screaming out his name.

"Danny!? Danny, are you here?!" I shouted.

"Danny!" Steve called out from the opposite side of the large room.

Silence answered me. Dread weighed on my shoulders. I shared a worried glance with Steve, before I looked at the clothes. My heart fell. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"No." I shook my head rapidly. "No, no, no. He-he can't be. No!"

I collapsed in a heap as tears streamed down my face. He couldn't be dead. He can't be dead. My twin brother cannot be dead. I frantically started to search around for anything that belonged to him. I needed to know that he's alive. I can't find anything of his in here. I can't.

"Dawn, Dawn." Steve grasped my shoulders. He tried to get me to turn away from the clothes. "Dawn, look at me."

"No, no." I smacked his hands away and grabbed random clothing. "He's alive. Danny can't be dead. He can't leave me."

Footsteps pounded on the metal stairs. Something caught my eye. My heart stopped. With shaking hands, I reached for a t-shirt. I slowly picked it up.

Danny had worn one like this the last time I saw him. It was our band t-shirt Mom had made for each of us. It held our logo on the front and our personal names on the back. I realized that it was the front side of the t-shirt. For all I knew, it could be one of the other shirts we sold to make money.

My breathing picked up as I quickly turned the shirt around. Across the top was a name: Danny. A stabbing pain hit my chest. It was like millions of needles were piercing my heart. Shivers ran down my spine as I thought of my brother's death. I wailed in agony and cradled the shirt against my chest.

"No, no, no!" I sobbed.

Steve stood frozen next to me. Tears were spilling down his cheeks. His best friend had died. His one true friend was gone.

"Dawn! Dawn!" Dustin ran over to me.

With trembling lips, I looked up at him. His faced dropped. Dustin looked at the t-shirt I was holding for the life of me. Realization flashed in his eyes. He then glanced at the pile of belongings from the melted people.

"No, no, he-Danny...no." He started to shake his head as tears pooled in his eyes. Dustin kneeled next to me and wrapped his arms around me. He sobbed into my shoulder. "No!"

"What the hell is this?" Chad slowly made his way to the front of the group.

"Oh God." Amanda ran towards a pile of belongings. She reached in and pulled out a gold charm bracelet. My gut twisted. It was Danny's gift to Rebecca for their third anniversary. "This is Rebecca's..."

"What the fuck happened? Where is our friends?" Chad asked. "What is this?"

No one answered them. We were all mourning all of the deaths of the people we cared about and the people we didn't know.

"W-we gotta tell Mom and Dad." I hiccuped.

"How?" Dustin sniffed, using the back of his hand to wipe at his nose.

"Come up with some lie, anything but the truth." I uttered.

"I'm so sorry." Robin breathed out. She gazed at us with tear stricken face. "Danny is...was an amazing guy. I can't imagine how much this must be hurting you."

I averted my gaze to the shirt in my hands. There were flecks of mysterious goop on it. My stomach flipped suddenly with nausea. I quickly stood up and rushed to the corner of the room. Steve went to follow me, but someone held him back.

"Dawn!"

I bent over and emptied the contents of my stomach. Someone held my hair back and rubbed soothing circles on my arm. I gasped as more tears ran down my face. Another wave of nausea overcame me. I threw up once again.

"Sh, let it all out honey." Joyce whispered to me. My lips trembled once again as I choked on a sob. "Just let it all out."

▷

It's been a full week since Danny died. Mom had went ballistic when Dustin and I came home that night. We got grounded for sure. Mom had repeatedly asked us where Danny was that night. I couldn't tell her.

I couldn't tell her that her son was infested by the Mind Flayer and was turned to goop for it to grow.

I couldn't tell her that Dustin and I had broken into a secret Russian base at the mall.

I couldn't tell her I was drugged and held captive by evil Russians.

I couldn't tell her I saw one of my friends die.

I just couldn't tell her.

It states that the police can't declare someone as missing unless 42 hours had passed. Mom went crazy looking for Danny all over town. Before the second day was over, we had gotten a call from the police saying they found something. She was so heartbroken when she had to claim his clothing and belongings. All Dustin and I could do was grieve with her.

Dad, although grief stricken, didn't ask any questions. I think he already knew that his son was dead. That the police weren't going to find him. He didn't question anything about Danny's missing body. Just went along with it.

The police had come up with a story stating that all of those people who were melted are just missing at first. It wasn't until a few days after that they had declared them as dead. Hawkins had made national news this week, too. Mysterious deaths, creepy labs, and a hidden Russian base under a mall the mayor had allowed? Yeah, Hawkins was finally known.

Billy's funeral was two days ago. The Hargroves were all grieving, even Billy's asshole of a father. The funeral was simple, but beautiful. Max's eulogy made Billy be remembered as a good person and that he was loved. That was something he had deeply craved. Max was a mess at the funeral. I knew what she felt. I knew how it felt like to loose a sibling. But I didn't know how it felt to watch them die in front of you. That's an even more excruciating feeling.

At the funeral, Johnathon and Will had told us bad news. They were moving in three months. Joyce couldn't stand living in Hawkins anymore. She was worried for her family. They were surrounded by death. Hell, they knew a lot of people who had died because of the strange things that have happened in Hawkins. I couldn't blame them.

Mom had organized a funeral. Since we didn't have Danny's body, it was just going to be a grave and an empty casket. That was going to happen later today. Dustin and I had been locked up in my room most of the time. If Dustin's friends were over that is. Steve had been sneaking in the past couple of nights as well.

Today, Mom had actually allowed him to spend the night. She saw how depressed I was and knew that Steve was one of the only people who could help. Mom also knew with the funeral today, I was going to need all the comfort I could get. She had also let Dustin's friend spend the night as well. Currently, Steve and I were lying on my bed. My head was on his chest. He had an arm wrapped around me, holding me tightly against him.

"I think I'm still going to go to college." I uttered, lacing my fingers with Steve's. "Mom wanted me to take the semester off, but...if I stay here I won't be able to let it go."

"I think it would be good for you. Fresh start, fresh faces, hell, fresh town. Hawkins sucks." Steve chuckled out.

"Yeah, it does doesn't it?" A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"You're going to be coming down for the holidays though, right?" Steve glanced down at me.

"Of course. I'm going to be coming down most of the weekends. I can't leave my parents and Dustin like this." I wet my lips and stared at our intertwined hands. "I can't leave you for that long either."

"Good, 'cause I need you here with me too." Steve pecked my forehead. "It's almost time to start getting ready."

"I know." I frowned.

Looking passed Steve and to my vanity, I saw a picture of Danny and I laughing. We were playing our guitars on stage for a concert. Mom had taken it.

"But Danny doesn't deserves this. If only I had stopped him from going with Rebecca..." I stopped and closed my eyes.

The waterworks were coming.

"Hey, hey." Steve sat up. He brought me into a hug as I started to cry. "It's not your fault, Dawn. It's not. Okay? It's none of our faults. Don't blame yourself."

"I can't help it." I sobbed, grasping into his shirt. "I miss him. I miss my twin, my other half. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. We were supposed to go to Purdue together."

"I know." Steve swallowed back tears and rubbed my back. "I know."

"I don't want to go. I can't go to his funeral, Steve. It hurts. My heart goddamn hurts."

"The funeral will help, okay? I promise. It's a part of the grieving process. I know it hurts, trust me babe I understand, he was my best friend, but we gotta do this for him. Okay? Let's do it for Danny." Steve murmured.

I nodded my head.

"For Danny."

i thought the last chapter was bad, but this was the worst one to type. It was so hard writing off Danny's death. I didn't want it to happen, I kept trying to keep him alive but my fingers just typed what they wanted. I'm gonna miss Danny, he was a great character

Rip Daniel Henderson you deserved better

End of part 3...I'm already ready for season 4. I need answers