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𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧

chapter five:
nightmare becomes reality

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IF THERE WAS one thing Serenity didn't expect, it was to see the duo of Steve Harrington and Dustin Henderson outside of her house.

She had been sitting on the couch, her knees tucked up and a folder with a math worksheet on top of it resting on her thighs. Her eyebrows were knit in confusion as she stared down at the mixture of letters and numbers. God, she hated math. What the fuck even were derivatives? She didn't want to go into anything involving math, so she didn't really know why she was learning it in the first place.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Serenity looked over at the door for a moment, wondering who the hell that could be. It was a Friday evening — okay, yes, she was doing homework on a weekend, she's lame, she didn't want to leave it until the last minute and she was bored, sue her — so basically everyone was out doing whatever the fuck people did on Friday nights. It definitely wasn't her parents because they were never home, it definitely wasn't Spencer because he was out working, so . . . who?

The doorbell rang again about three more times. Serenity sighed and placed her math homework down on the coffee table in front of her, completely discarding what she had been so focused on. She stood up from her couch and threaded her fingers through her hair, slightly pushing it back as she approached the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Serenity complained when the doorbell rang a couple of more times. "My God, chill out."

She opened the door. However, she immediately froze, her eyes flickering between the two boys on her front porch. There was Dustin, wearing his signature hat and his headset that was connected to his Walkie, and Steve, honestly looking just as confused as Serenity felt.

"Why are you two together?" Serenity asked slowly, very confused. "Oh my God, is this an intervention? For what? I don't need an intervention."

"Serenity," Steve cut in. "Stop rambling, sunshine."

"Right. Sorry."

"Renny, you need to come with us," Dustin insisted.

"Why does this sound like you're kidnapping me?" Serenity questioned.

Dustin let out an exasperated breath. "Serenity, please."

Serenity looked over at Steve. "What's happening?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't know. I was at Nancy's house to try and make things right—"

"Oh, did you get the flowers that I suggested you get?"

"Yes, Serenity. But this kid over here said we needed to go get you, and then proceeded to ask me if I had that bat with the nails still."

Serenity knew that bat. It was the one he had wielded against the Demogorgon about a year ago, showing off his skills that Serenity didn't know he had. But why was Dustin asking if he still had it? Unless . . .

"Dustin," Serenity stated. "Why do we need a weapon?"

He gave her a sheepish smile. "For Dart."

She shut her eyes for a moment. "Jesus Christ. Dustin, you said you didn't see him in that bathroom! Ugh, I should've known that you were lying. You had that guilty expression written all across your face."

"Dart?" Steve repeated. "Who's Dart?"

"I will explain on the way," Dustin replied. "Renny, just please, come with us."

"And my babysitting duties continue," Serenity said quietly.

She put her black Converse on since they were sitting right by the door and grabbed Spencer's leather jacket, which she wore more than he did. Serenity grabbed her house keys from the bowl by the door and shut the door behind her, making sure it was locked. She didn't bother to leave a note — Spencer would just assume that she was out somewhere.

"Hey, I heard that," Steve voiced. "I'm older than you."

"That says nothing about your maturity," Serenity responded.

"Serenity!"

"Mother Serenity watches over everyone," Serenity continued. "That includes you too, Steve."

"Her watching is the best," Dustin agreed.

Except when Will got taken by a Demogorgon and you weren't there, the voice in her head told her. Except when Will had an episode at the school and you also weren't there. How good of a babysitter are you? You just keep letting them down time and time again.

Shut up, Serenity said to the voice.

The three of them climbed up the hill towards Steve's BMW, which was parked in it's usual spot right before her mailbox. He always parked in the same exact place when he came to her house. It never moved an inch. Serenity guessed habits die hard.

Steve rounded around the car to get to the driver's seat. Meanwhile, Serenity approached the passenger side door. She waited for Steve to unlock the car when she felt a presence next to her. Serenity looked down to see it was Dustin staring up at her, slight hurt flashing across his face.

"Hey," Dustin complained. "That was my seat."

"No way, Dustin," Serenity refused. "Get in the back seat, sweetheart."

"But—"

"No. As Steve's best friend and as your primary caregiver at this moment in time, the front seat is mine."

Dustin knew better than to argue with her. He slightly rolled his eyes and begrudgingly opened the door to the back seat. Serenity grinned triumphantly to herself and got in the front, buckling her seatbelt.

Steve looked in the rearview mirror at Dustin. "Where are we going?"

"My house," Dustin answered.

"Great, because I know where that is."

"I'll give you directions," Serenity reassured him. "He's not too far away from me."

Steve started his car. "I can't believe you interrupted me trying to apologize to Nancy, Henderson."

"Nancy wasn't even home," Dustin protested as Steve started to drive up the street. "Neither was Mike. You just happened to be there. I was going to go to Renny's until I saw you, and then I remembered you two were best friends, so—"

"Dustin," Serenity interjected. "You said something about Dart. Considering you stopped me from slamming him with a microphone the other day and are now asking for a spiked bat, we're going to need some context. Steve, turn right."

"I still don't know who Dart is," Steve added.

"I'll start from the beginning," Dustin told them.

He then started to explain the whole thing, some of which Serenity already knew. Dart had been found rummaging around in Dustin's trash can on Halloween night, and he had brought him inside, placing him in the cage that he usually had Yurtle the turtle in. Dustin had named him Dart after D'artagnan because he liked 3 Musketeers. He had thought it was some kind of pollywog but was proven wrong when Will said he had seen something like it last year when he came back from the Upside Down, meaning that Dart was from the Upside Down. Dustin then said that Dart had been getting bigger and bigger until he was the size of a small dog.

And then he dropped the bomb — Dart was a miniature Demogorgon.

Serenity had immediately felt her entire body freeze and her mind start to spin. The most awful thing she could think of, the Demogorgon coming back, was true. And she had stood in front of that Demogorgon even though he just seemed to be a small lizard at the time.

All of those nightmares, all of those scenes replaying in her head of the Demogorgon . . . she had been trying for months to get better, but now, everything just seemed so real. The truth seemed to crush her, replacing any progress that she had done to get her sunshine back. She had been saying for months that she was fine. It started to be true for a while. But it wasn't anymore.

She fucking hated the Upside Down.

Serenity went quiet after that revelation, and so did the rest of the car. She stared out the window at the pitch black sky. Serenity hadn't even noticed that it got so dark because she was too interested in everything Dustin was saying. Her shaking hands were placed in her lap and she kept trying to control the anxiety that was rising in her chest.

Steve noticed. Of course he did — he noticed everything about her. He had seen her progress in the past couple of months, watching as the rays of sunshine that her smile once had started to shine brighter out of the dim state it had been in before. And yet that black hole had come so fast and sucked some of that light away. He couldn't afford to let that happen.

As he drove, he glanced over to see where her hand was. Steve then moved one hand off of his steering wheel and reached over, taking her shaking hand in hers. He frowned to himself as he felt it slightly tremble. Serenity let out a deep breath and laced their fingers together, willing herself to calm down.

Everything will be fine. He's here. You're okay, Renny.

And as Steve rubbed his thumb gently over her knuckle, she felt the tension leave her body and her mind started to get less clouded.

Hammer to Fall playing on the radio was merely a buffer to the silence. The tension in the car after Dustin's whole story and how Steve and Dustin didn't really know each other was just strange.

"Wait a sec, how big?" Steve inquired.

Dustin held his thumb and pointer finger apart. "First he was like that." He then moved his hands to show a bigger proportion. "Now he's like this."

Steve's only priority at this moment in time was making sure Serenity would be okay. "I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?"

"It's not a lizard," Serenity voiced, speaking up for the first time. She looked over at Steve, her face illuminated by the moonlight, showing the tiredness and fear swimming in her eyes. "I saw it."

Dustin nodded. "It's not a lizard."

"How do you know?" Steve argued.

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

"Yeah, how do you know if it's not just a lizard?"

"Because his face opened up and he ate my cat," Dustin revealed.

Serenity gasped sadly and turned to face him. "Mews."

Soon enough, Steve pulled into Dustin's driveway. Serenity sighed and let go of Steve's hand, opening the door and getting out. She pulled on Spencer's leather jacket upon feeling the chill November air and shoved her hands into the pockets to hide how they were still shaking — not a lot, but enough to show that she was nervous.

She rounded around to the back of the car where the trunk was, knowing that's exactly where Steve had kept his bat. Serenity watched as Steve opened up his trunk. He threw his keys to Dustin carelessly, who caught them. Dustin looked at Serenity in confusion. She rolled her eyes fondly and removed one of her hands, holding it out. Dustin placed the keys in her hand and Serenity put the keys plus her hand back in her pocket.

Steve pulled out the bat with the nails in it. Serenity remembered seeing Steve twirl it in his hands underneath the blinking Christmas lights. She hadn't seen it in months, but the memory was so fresh in her brain. Steve looked at Serenity and Dustin, clenching his bat, before he shut his trunk door.

Dustin gave Steve a flashlight out of his backpack. Serenity stayed next to Steve as Dustin led them over to his cellar, which was around the back of the house. She walked quite slowly towards it, not knowing if she was ready or not to see Dart's true form.

"You gonna be okay?" Steve asked her quietly.

Serenity shook her head. "I don't want to go through this again, Steve. I'm tired."

"You don't have to. You can go sit in the car and wait for me to deal with it, if you would like."

"Nope, because that would mean leaving you and Dustin alone, and I already promised I would watch over you both."

Steve sighed. "Even though I'm older than you."

"I'll be all right," Serenity stated. "Maybe I should get a bat with nails."

"You would look badass," Steve commented.

"Yeah, you really think so?"

"Hey," Dustin called. "Stop acting all couply and look at Dart!"

Serenity's face a brilliant shade of scarlet. She cleared her throat and focused back at the situation at hand. Serenity stopped walking when Dustin stopped, standing next to him. Steve continued forwards and shined his flashlight on the doors to the underground cellar, which were chained and locked.

Steve stared at it for a moment. "I don't hear shit."

"He's in there," Dustin insisted.

Steve glanced over at Serenity for a moment. She gave him a singular nod. Steve tapped the handle of the metal door, making a clang sound. Nothing happened, so he lifted up the bat higher and brought it down upon the door harder, the clang much louder this time. Again, nothing happened.

He turned to Dustin, shining the flashlight right in Dustin's face, causing him to close his eyes quickly. "All right, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead."

"What Steve means to say is that we wouldn't like it if you were lying," Serenity translated. "But I really have a feeling you aren't."

"It's not," Dustin replied.

"All right?" Steve urged.

"It's not a prank." He turned his head away from the flashlight. "Get it out of my face."

Steve gestured to the doors with his head. "You got a key for this thing?"

"If you move the flashlight away from my face, I'll give it to you."

He lowered the flashlight. Dustin blinked a couple of times to regain his eyesight before rummaging in his pockets. He finally pulled out a singular key, which he handed to Steve, and Steve gave him the flashlight. Steve bent down and unlocked the lock, pulling the chain off of the doors. He opened the metal doors and stared down into the darkness. Dustin shined the flashlight down into the cellar, and Serenity peered into it. Shivers ran up her spine.

Steve held out his hand, and Dustin put the flashlight in it. He started to move the flashlight around the cellar. However, there was no sign of any monster.

"He must be further down there," Dustin said. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to . . . escape."

Steve slowly looked up at Dustin to stare at him incredulously. He then shook his head, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"'Renity, stay up here," Steve ordered, standing up.

"Be careful," Serenity pleaded, her face flashing with concern. "I'm serious, Steve."

Steve nodded. "Promise."

He clenched his bat and flashlight tightly before descending down the stairs into the cellar. Serenity watched as he got deeper into the darkness, nervousness only rising in her chest. She hated that he was going alone. If a Demogorgon was really down there . . . she couldn't lose Steve. Serenity was sure that it would absolutely break her. What was she supposed to do if there was no Steve?

"So . . ." Dustin trailed off. "I see you haven't made a move on Steve yet."

Serenity blinked in shock and her head whipped over to him. "What?"

"Renny, we can all see that you like him. Mike was confused when he started dating Nancy. Like, he literally said, I thought that was the guy that Serenity had a crush on."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw you holding hands in the car," Dustin countered.

"He was just trying to make me feel better," Serenity protested. "Now, be quiet."

The light in the cellar suddenly turned on. Serenity tried to look further into the cellar, her eyes straining in the darkness.

"Steve?" Dustin asked. No answer — which made Serenity's heart pound. "Steve, what's going on down there?"

A flashlight beam then shot straight up at them, followed by Steve's sudden appearance. Serenity jumped backwards with a small shriek at the sudden movements, one of her hands flying out of the pocket of her leather jacket to be placed on her chest. She breathed heavily and felt her increased heart rate underneath her hand.

"Steve," Serenity complained. "Don't do that, Jesus."

"Get down here," Steve demanded.

Serenity shared a worried glance with Dustin before leading the way down into the cellar. The first thing she saw was hanging off of the nails of Steve's bat. It looked like shedded skin that was dripping with slime. Okay, yep, Dart was definitely a Demogorgon, because the slime looked exactly the same.

"Oh, shit," Dustin said, because that skin meant that Dart had gotten bigger.

Steve then shined his flashlight over to the wall. Serenity looked at it, her eyes instantly widening.

"Oh, shit!"

Dustin was right. A hole had been formed in the wall, blocks of cement scattered around the floor around it. The three approached the hole, bending down to look further into it. It stretched far, farther than Serenity's eyes could see. She did notice, however, more shedded skin and more slime dripping on the sides of the hole.

"No way," Dustin whispered. "No way."

Steve looked over his shoulder at Serenity. She met his eyes in the dark, swallowing her nerves. They were positively fucked.

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um serenity having the mind flayer stand over her in the hospital in s3 instead of nancy? ABSOLUTELY here we go bitches

why am I giving her so much trauma am I okay

sorry renny girl love you lots <3