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𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧

prologue:
blinking lights

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"TELL ME WHY I'm here again?" Serenity Alexander asked.

So, in short, Steve Harrington had fucked up. Apparently when going over to Nancy Wheeler's house, he had seen her and Jonathan Byers together in Nancy's bedroom. It sort of sent him into a spiral, and he had gone out with Tommy Hagan, Carol Perkins, and Nicole (Serenity hated those people) to spray paint mean things about Nancy and Jonathan in downtown Hawkins. It resulted in Steve getting into a fist fight with Jonathan and ultimately dropping Tommy and Carol, deciding to go make up for his actions.

And, like always, he had run back to Serenity, who was always there no matter what.

He had picked her up from her house. Serenity immediately got concerned from the amount of bruising and dried up blood on his face. However, he brushed off her concern and her insists to come inside and get cleaned up, saying that they needed to go to the Byers house so he could apologize.

So that's where Serenity is now, sitting in the passenger seat of Steve's car outside of the Byers household. The house was all too familiar to Serenity — after all, she had babysat Will for years. A sinking feeling spread throughout her stomach as she stared at the house. She couldn't believe that Will was dead. The sweet boy that she had watched grown up, just . . . gone?

Deep down inside, Serenity couldn't help but feel like Will disappearing and dying was sort of her fault. She knew it was silly to think that since she wasn't even supposed to babysit him that night, but she had been in charge of Will for years. Maybe if she had been there, things would've been different.

"For moral support," Steve replied. "Plus, you're friends with Jonathan, right? Maybe you can be a mediator in case things go south."

"I'd let him punch you again," Serenity admitted. "We don't go around calling girls sluts or using queer as an insult, Steve."

"I really don't need a lecture from you right now, 'Renity."

"Too bad."

Steve sighed. "Look, I know I messed up, all right? You don't have to remind me, because I already know. That's why I'm here. I have to apologize to him. Now come on!"

He instantly opened his door and got out. When Serenity didn't move, he gave her a look through the windshield. Even though it was dark, she could still tell that he was urging her to go with him. Serenity slightly rolled her eyes and got out of his car, slamming the door behind her to make a point. Steve gave her an exasperated look, in which she replied with an innocent smile.

The two of them started to approach the house, Serenity trailing behind Steve a little slower as he rapidly walked towards the house. She shivered in the chilly fall air, crossing her arms and wrapping the hoodie that was most likely Steve's around her tighter. Serenity noticed the lights were on, so someone was most definitely home.

Steve started to bang on the door. "Jonathan! Are you there, man? It's — it's Steve! Listen, I just want to talk! Serenity's here too!"

He turned to her expectantly. Serenity gave him a weird glance, but he moved his hand in a circle to sort of urge her on. Serenity sighed.

"Hi," she called out. "I honestly don't know why I'm here right now."

When nobody came, Steve continued to knock on the door. Finally, after about another thirty seconds, the door opened just a crack. However, instead of Jonathan standing there, it was Nancy. Serenity blinked in confusion.

"Hey," Steve breathed out, but once he noticed it was Nancy, his face turned confused. "Nancy, what—"

"Steve, Serenity, listen to me," Nancy insisted. "You both need to leave."

"No, I'm not trying to start anything, okay?"

"I don't care about that. You need to leave."

"No, no, no, listen, I — I — I — I — I — I messed up, okay?" Steve stammered. "I messed — I messed up. Okay? Really. Please. I need to make things right. Okay? Please. Please."

Serenity then frowned at the bandage that was wrapped around Nancy's hand and stained with blood. "Nancy, are you okay? What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing," Nancy answered, lowering her hand from the door. "No — it was an accident."

"Then what's going on?" Steve asked in concern.

"Nothing."

"Wait a sec, did he do this to you?"

"Steve!" Serenity scolded. "Jonathan wouldn't do that."

"Nancy, let me in," Steve voiced, pushing past her.

"No, Steve!" Nancy protested.

However, it was already too late. Steve had entered the house, stopping in his tracks. Serenity slowly entered the familiar house, stopping next to Steve and looking around in shock. The house that Serenity had spent countless hours in looked totally different. Furniture was moved out of the way and there was a bat with nails spiked into it resting on the table, Jonathan standing right next to it. A strong smell of gasoline spread throughout the house. Christmas lights were strung all over, and on one wall, there was the alphabet written in black paint. Serenity recalled Joyce Byers claiming that she had spoken to Will through the lights . . .

"Renny," Jonathan breathed out while approaching her with panicked eyes, the nickname that the boys called her rolling off his tongue easily. "Serenity, you have to leave."

"I — I don't understand," Serenity admitted, her eyes darting around the room. "Why are there lights everywhere? Why does it smell like gasoline? Why did you put nails in a bat?"

"Steve, Serenity, get out!" Nancy ordered.

Serenity's eyes instantly widened upon noticing that Nancy had a gun pointed at her. She felt hands grab her arms and pull her behind them. Breathing heavily, Serenity looked around Steve's shoulder, holding ono his arm.

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Steve yelled. "What is going on?"

"You have five seconds to get out of here," Nancy told them.

"Nancy, please put the gun down," Serenity pleaded.

"I'm doing this for both of you."

Suddenly, the Christmas lights strung all around started to blink. Serenity looked up, watching as they turned on and off.

"Nancy," Jonathan voiced.

"Why are the lights blinking?" Serenity questioned to Jonathan over Steve trying to get Nancy to put the gun down.

Jonathan looked over at her. "Renny, I told you to leave."

"I'm not going to," Serenity stated. "You're worried. I — I'm not just going to leave."

The two stared at each other for a little longer. Even in the slight darkness and the flashing of the lights, Jonathan could see in her eyes that she meant it.

"Nancy!" Jonathan shouted, making them all stop. "The lights. It's here."

"Wait, what's here?" Steve inquired as Jonathan moved forwards and grabbed the spiked bat off of the table.

Nancy looked around. "Where is it?"

"Where is what? Woah!" Steve noticed the spiked bat that Jonathan had and pushed Serenity behind him a little more. "Easy with that!"

"Where is it?" Nancy repeated, standing back-to-back with Jonathan under the blinking lights.

"I don't know," Jonathan responded. "I don't see it."

"What exactly are we supposed to be seeing?" Serenity asked. "Steve and I could use a little bit of context—"

However, she was cut off by the ceiling suddenly cracking. Serenity jumped in surprise and moved closer to Steve, who in turn held one of her arm's tighter. Fear crept into her throat and her heart started to race as she watched something start to drop down from the ceiling, pieces of the ceiling clattering on the floor. All she was able to see was paper-white, leathery limbs. Nancy immediately pointed her gun at the ceiling and started to shoot.

Jonathan grabbed Nancy by the waist and pulled her back. "Go! Go! Run! Go!"

Serenity seemed to be frozen in shock. A creature then landed on the floor, slimy and just made of grayish muscle. What the hell was that?

Jonathan gripped onto Serenity's hand and dragged her along. "Get out of here!"

Serenity snapped out of her trance and sprinted after him, grabbing onto Steve's hand and pulling him along as well. They ran into the hallway, leaving the creature behind with nothing but a high-pitched growl.

"Jump!" Jonathan yelled.

"Oh my God, oh my God!" Steve rambled.

Serenity then noticed the bear trap in the middle of the hallway. Gripping Steve's hand a little tighter, she jumped over it, Steve right behind her. The two of them followed Jonathan and Nancy into Will's bedroom. Nancy slammed the door shut behind them, and Serenity pushed herself into the side of Steve's arm.

Monsters were real.

"Jesus, Jesus!" Steve let out. "What the hell was that? What the hell was that?"

"Shut up!" Nancy and Jonathan chorused.

In a tense silence, the four of them didn't move an inch. Nancy had her gun pointed at the door while Jonathan held up the spiked bat in one hand and a lighter in the other. Serenity's breath hitched in her throat as she heard the monster's screeches, low growls, and some sort of chittering noise get closer and closer to Will's bedroom.

"What's it doing?" Nancy questioned.

"I don't know," Jonathan answered.

And then suddenly, the lights stopped blinking and everything went quiet.

Nancy glanced at Jonathan. "Do you hear anything?"

Jonathan closed his lighter. "No."

Slowly, Jonathan opened the door. He stepped out into the hallway first with his spiked bat raised. Serenity looked up at Steve for a moment before trailing after Nancy. Together, the four of them entered the very quiet and dimly lit hallway. On high alert, they slowly walked back to the living room, glancing at any places where the monster could possibly be. Serenity started to feel her hands shake as she stopped in her tracks.

"This is crazy," Steve started to mutter under his breath, but his voice got progressively louder. "This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy!"

He then let go of Serenity and walked over to the phone on the wall, starting to dial a number. Serenity, even through her fear, knew that calling someone wouldn't help with . . . whatever that thing was. Ignoring the shaking of her hands, she ripped the phone out of Steve's hand and threw it into the living room.

Steve stared at her incredulously. "'Renity, what are you doing? Are you insane?"

"Yeah, probably, because we just saw a monster!" Serenity insisted, her voice trembling. "Who are we going to call? The police? No, Steve."

"And it's going to come back," Nancy agreed, appearing on Serenity's other side. "So you both need to leave. Right now."

Steve then grabbed onto Serenity's hand. "Come on."

He pulled her out of the house, Serenity slightly stumbling behind him from the way he was running. She immediately went to the passenger side, anxiously waiting to Steve to unlock his car. However, the two of them stopped when they looked back at the house, noticing the way the lights had started to blink again.

Serenity swallowed nervously. "We can't leave them, Steve."

And then the lights went out.

"Stay close to me," Steve demanded.

Serenity nodded. The two of them ran back towards the Byers house, hearing gunshots and the growls and screeches of the monster. Steve busted the door open, and Serenity looked to see that Jonathan was lying on the floor while Nancy had her back pressed up against the wall. The monster, its head now unfolding like a flower to reveal rows of sharp teeth, was approaching Nancy.

Steve lunged forwards and grabbed the spiked bat that was laying on the ground. With a cry, he hit the monster, getting it to get away from Nancy. He moved forwards so the monster would follow him into the hallway.

Nancy gasped. "Steve!"

Serenity watched with wide eyes, skidding to a stop next to Nancy. Steve dodged the swings of the monster and continued to hit it with the spiked bat. He twirled it effortlessly in his hand (where did he learn that?) and hit the monster right in its stomach. The monster stumbled backwards and landed right in the bear trap. It instantly tried to get its foot out, struggling against the trap.

"He's in the trap!" Jonathan shouted. "He's stuck!"

"Jonathan, now!" Nancy yelled.

The four of them congregated together at the start of the hallway, watching as the monster struggled. Jonathan lit his lighter and threw it at the monster. Instantly, the carpet burst into flames and traveled up the monster. Serenity slightly averted her gaze from the bright light, wincing slightly at the monster's screeches of pain as it burned.

Jonathan then ran and got a fire extinguisher. "Get back!"

He then used the fire extinguisher to get rid of the flames. When all the smoke and fire disappeared, Serenity looked back at the bear trap while coughing. Slowly, she took a couple steps forwards towards the trap.

"Where did it go?" Nancy inquired.

"No," Jonathan insisted, sounding exhausted. "It has to be dead. It has to be."

Serenity looked down. On the black patch of carpet, the bear trap was covered in bubbling slime. She threaded the top of her hair in her fingers and pushed it backwards a little, panting. Something about this told Serenity it wasn't dead at all.

Suddenly, the Christmas lights above them started to light up one by one. Serenity looked up. However, unlike how it had happened earlier, she didn't feel fear by this one. They weren't blinking rapidly like they had with the monster. The four of them followed the trail of lights, which was heading towards the door.

"Mom," Jonathan whispered. "Is that you? Mom."

Serenity looked over at him in concern. She saw tears shining in his eyes. Jonathan was the first one to move forwards, and Serenity was right after him, Nancy and Steve trailing behind her. They went out into the front porch, and in the distance, the street light was flickering.

"Where's it going?" Nancy inquired.

"I don't think that's the monster," Jonathan revealed.

"Joyce — Joyce said she talked to Will through the lights," Serenity voiced, still breathing heavily. "I — I thought she was just saying that because she was grieving, but . . . is it true?"

Jonathan looked down at her. "You're not going to believe us if we tell you everything."

"I just saw a monster in real life when I thought they were only make believe," Serenity insisted softly. "Try me."

Jonathan hesitantly nodded. After moving inside, Jonathan and Nancy had Serenity and Steve sit down on the couch. They then started to tell them everything. Will wasn't actually dead — he was actually taken to a parallel dimension right under them called the Upside Down, where he had been chased by the Demogorgon, which is the monster they had just seen. Barbara Holland, Nancy's best friend who was also missing, was also taken to the Upside Down but was dead, unlike Will. There was also a girl named Eleven who has powers from Hawkins Lab, who was able to tell that Will was alive through a sensory deprivation tank. And the lights — Jonathan admitted that he thought it was his mother in the Upside Down looking for Will.

By the end of it, Serenity could feel her mind spinning, but she only came back to one point.

"So that body they pulled out of the quarry . . . it wasn't actually Will?" Serenity asked quietly. When Jonathan nodded, she let out a breath of relief. "Oh thank God."

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true," Nancy said. "But neither of you can tell anyone, got it?"

Serenity and Steve glanced at each other for a moment.

"Got it," they voiced together.

The phone then rang. Jonathan looked around for a moment, and found the phone on the floor where Serenity had thrown it. He answered it and started to have a quiet conversation. Serenity slumped tiredly against the couch. What an eventful night.

Jonathan then hung up the phone and looked at the three of them, who now had expectant expressions on their faces. "They found Will. He's at the hospital. He's alive."

❯ ────── ｢ ✾ ｣ ────── ❮

THE SECOND SERENITY and Steve arrived at the hospital, Serenity was immediately tackled by hugs.

She stumbled back a bit, only to be held upright by six smaller arms that belonged to very three familiar boys. Serenity looked down and saw the heads of Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair below her. She smiled softly and tried to hug them all at once.

"Hi," Serenity greeted. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," Lucas responded, his voice slightly muffled since his head was buried into her side. "Long night."

"Tell me about it."

"Do you know?" Dustin asked, pulling away slightly only to look up at her. "About everything?"

"I do." Serenity paused for a moment, swallowing nervously as the image of the monster appeared in her head. "I've seen some things, too. Nancy and Jonathan told Steve and I the whole story."

"She's gone," Mike revealed, and Serenity could detect the pain in his voice. "Eleven. She's gone."

Serenity frowned. She attempted to hug the three of them a little tighter, and they all responded by moving closer into her.

"But Will's back, yeah?" Serenity whispered. "I'm sure he would love to hear about this whole mess." She glanced up, only to see Steve leaning against the wall by the waiting room with his arms crossed. "Why don't we go sit down? You three seem tired."

Reluctantly, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all let her go. Lucas and Dustin tiredly walked into the waiting room, and through the window, she saw them collapse into two chairs. However, Mike stayed back. He stood close to Serenity and looked up at her questioningly.

"I'll be there in a minute," Serenity promised, reaching up and ruffling his hair.

Mike walked into the waiting room and sat beside Dustin and Lucas, who were already starting to sleep. Serenity crossed her arms and slowly walked up to Steve. She stopped by his side by the door and peered inside. Jim Hopper, Ted Wheeler, and Karen Wheeler were also there. Nancy was sitting beside her mother, meanwhile Jonathan was nowhere to be found, probably in Will's hospital room. The waiting room was stuck in a tense silence.

"They love you," Steve commented quietly.

Serenity shrugged. "I'm a very likeable person." She watched as Mike stayed awake, his knee anxiously bouncing up and down. "They've apparently been through a lot, too. I think they just need somebody to lean on."

"And you're the perfect candidate."

She elbowed him. "Shut up." Serenity then noticed two empty chairs in the room — one next to a sleeping Ted Wheeler, and the other next to Mike. "Looks like you're stuck with Ted."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Oh boy, can't wait."

Serenity slightly laughed at him before walking inside the room. She went to the empty chair next to Mike, whose gaze only lifted from the floor to watch her sit down next to him. Now, up close, she could see that his face was blotchy and there was tear tracks stained onto his cheeks. Serenity gave him a small smile, wishing that she could take away all the pain that was so evidently feeling.

She opened her arms, inviting him to come in. Mike immediately took her up on her offer. He slumped into her side, leaning his head against her chest and loosely wrapping his arms around her waist. Serenity put her arms around him, bringing him in closer and tighter for comfort.

"We'll talk later, yeah?" Serenity whispered, running her hand up and down Mike's back.

Mike nodded against her chest. "Yeah."

She leaned her head against the top of his and just held him for as long as he needed. It ended up being for a while. Because as the room was still silent and nobody moved, Mike continued to soak in Serenity's embrace.

Suddenly, the door opening broke the silence. Serenity glanced up, only to see it was Jonathan by the door. She slightly shook Mike, who immediately sat up and looked at Jonathan. Jonathan nodded. Serenity knew what he meant. And so did Mike.

Mike started to shake Lucas and Dustin awake. "Guys. Guys, he's up. Will is up. Guys, Will's up! Guys, come on!" He then grabbed onto Serenity's hand. "Come on, Renny!"

Serenity managed to laugh. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

She allowed Mike, Dustin, and Lucas to run after Jonathan first so they could see their best friend. Serenity slowly trailed after them into a hospital room. Mike immediately entered first, throwing the door open, and Jonathan caught it.

"Byers!" Lucas exclaimed.

Serenity watched as Mike, Lucas, and Dustin practically piled on top of a figure on the bed. She entered the room, giving Jonathan a quiet thank you as he held the door open for her. Even under their pile, she could see the small figure of Will Byers underneath. Her heart warmed. He was okay.

"Be careful," Joyce told them. "Be careful with him."

Serenity gave the woman a wide smile as Mike, Lucas, and Dustin started to ramble to Will about everything that had happened while he was gone. "Hi Joyce. You must be so relieved to have him back."

"Oh, I certainly am," Joyce replied. "You up for some more babysitting jobs? I have a feeling after this that we're going to need it."

"Absolutely. Give me a call anytime, I'm always around."

Joyce gave her a small smile and squeezed her shoulder before going to stand by her older son. Serenity then slowly approached the hospital bed, where Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were still rambling on and on about the whole situation.

Will's eyes trailed over to her, and they instantly lit up. "Renny!"

She grinned at him, placing a hand on his shoulder that was covered by a hospital gown. "Hi, honey. I'm so glad you're all right."

And yet as she stood there, surrounded by all four of her boys that she adored so much, she couldn't help the feeling of fear that still lived inside of her. Monsters were most definitely real, and if there was a whole parallel dimension filled with them . . . Serenity wasn't sure that this whole thing was finished, even though she hoped it was.

⊹⊱••••••⊰⊹

HI MY LOVES WELCOME TO AUGUST

MADE THIS BC I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL LOL <3

bruh also what the fuck was vol2. I'm all over the place rn