THE WALL BURST OPEN, SHATTERED BY AN INVISIBLE FORCE. Bricks and rubble shot out like gunpowder from a cannon, flying across the garden.

An alarm was blaring from somewhere in the compound. The group raised their hands over their heads to protect themselves from falling debris. The guard on patrol raised his gun at them, and went flying across the courtyard with a single flick of the youngest girl's head. He slammed into the driveway and the snapping of his arms as he landed could be heard across the clearing.

Their soft feet had broken open upon the gravel path. Katie had cried out, and perhaps Sar had too. Lune had only winced and James hadn't reacted at all. There was a determined look on his face. Lune had Katie tucked beneath her protective arm, Sar in her other hand. James had taken the lead.

Sar was only thirteen, hair buzzed. The blue and white hospital gown flapped around her bare legs. She still had bruises along her wrists from the most recent experiment. The girl was clutching onto Lune's fingers like her life depended on it. Maybe it did.

Great beams flooded them with light. Sar stumbled slightly, toes ripping on stone. Doorways from all sides of them swung open, alarms loud in the group's ears. It was raining, appropriate for a kind of moment such as this. Soldiers were pouring out of the doors, armed with armour and guns. "Stop!" one was yelling, high-powered gun pointed at them. His voice flooded through the outdoor PA system, to make sure they could hear.

They didn't stop. The rain pressed Sar's gown to her thin arms, chilling her spine with ice. Mud splattered up their ankles and slipped through their toes. Katie was gasping in fright, breaths quick, and Sar was sure she was mirroring the young girl. Even James' breaths were uneven.

Sar could almost only imagine the other kids watching them, faces pressed to their bar enforced windows as the four ran. Without them.

James took a firm, protective hold of Katie's wrist, shooting a look back to make sure the other two were okay. Sar was trying to control her breathing, eyes impossibly wide and frightened.

Katie dismissed the next round of bullets that came, as waves of her energy rippled through the air. But she was stumbling now, and even in the flashing lights, Sar could see the blood that trickled slowly from her ears. James was holding her upright as her feet tripped along the ground, his arm securely tightened around her upper arm. She by far the strongest of all of them, but her powers hadn't yet been stretched enough. Sar's thoughts faltered for a moment. They were going to die.

Katie had raised a sluggish hand to the side of her head. The next round of bullets deflected again, but fell dangerously close two the two girls taking up the rear of the group. Sar winced and Lune just held onto her hand tighter, picking up their stumbling pace. Beneath them, their feet bled from the contact with the sharp stone. They only had to make to the end of the courtyard—

Sar was blinking through the sheets of rain. The shivers of cold ran down her spine, mingling with the fear raising the hairs on her arms.

They almost made it.

•°•☆•°•

STEVE STOOD IN FRONT OF THEM WITH THE BAT, SARA HOLDING ON DESPERATELY TO HIS SLEEVE. She was hanging as if she was out of breath after a race, blood dripping down her nose. Nancy stood beside her protectively, pistol in hand and Jonathan next to her, the three surrounding Sar like some kind of protective, loving wall. She might have smiled, had she not been facing off what would very well be their deaths.

It stepped forward, agonisingly slow. The low warble rose in the back of its throat. Steve raised the bat, nails glinting in the flashing house lights. He stood in front of her protectively. Sar wanted to say his name — a kind of ode to everything they'd been through — but the words wouldn't leave her lips.

The Demogorgon growled again, arms looming at them, and Steve took a step towards it.

She found she could cry out then. "Steve—" Dont. He looked back only momentarily, dark eyes scanning over her. Nancy stayed clutching onto her arm. Sar shook her head desperately. Please. Come back here, she wanted to say. Not again. And the sob did rise in her throat now. They were going to die. What had meant to be her fate had finally caught up to her. But first she was going to see Steve...

The next thought never came, because Steve was stepping forward again and the monster was raising its arms, and then the ripple shuddered through the air behind them.

The monster cannoned back into the wall so hard that the wood splintered around it. Nancy's hand shot out to grab Sar's wrist instinctively, forcing her back. She stumbled and clutched onto Steve for support.

The Demogorgon was screaming against the side of the house. Black blood was dripping onto the ground. It seemed to have been impaled on a jagged wooden plank, the wood piercing through its chest. Still, it writhed, mouth open and small cries leaving its throat in anger. Sar turned behind her sluggishly, blonde hair sticking to the blood on her face.

A little girl stood there. Not Eleven—no, she was younger. She had an expression of fierce concentration on her soft face. Her blonde hair was tied in two braids behind her, stuck through with flowers. Beside her stood a tall boy, with blonde hair and green eyes.

Family.

The thought hit her like ton of bricks and she felt a rush of pride. Family. That's my family.

The little girl had a nasty scar down her face, that left a deep dent in her skin. There was blood running from her nose. The Demogorgon screamed. It thrashed against the wood impaling it. One of its claws raked down the wooden window sill beside it. Steve wrapped his arm around Sar's side, holding her close as the monster screamed. She brought sluggish hands up to cover her ears. Her cheek was pressed against his side and she pushed her face further into him.

The streetlights around them flickered wildly, threatening to burst, and then grew impossibly bright. Sar was forced to duck her head into Steve's shoulder. He raised a hand to hold her there protectively.

Then it was gone.

Dark blood was still pooling at the floor, staining the wooden plank black. Sar lifted her head, blinking. She was beginning to regain movement in her limbs and her consciousness was coming back to her. Steve's fingers moved securely against her shoulder.

"Katie! James!" Sar was limping towards them, legs still not fully cooperating. The blood from her nose had made its way onto the collar of her jacket, leaving sickly red stains behind.

She threw herself into the boy's arms first, in a half-fall, half-jump. He caught her, pulling the girl snug against his chest. Her hand pulled Katie into their embrace. The younger girl wrapped her arms around Sar's waist and Sar kissed her forehead over and over. She turned to look up at James. "You came," she whispered, voice still slurred and vision still blurring. She could feel the wet tracks of blood that had come from her ears.

James let out a breath. "Of course we came." He brought Sar back in for a bone-crushing hug. Steve was looking on with his arms crossed over his chest. Sar raised herself again so her arms hooked around James' neck. She had missed them so much.

"The monster's not dead," Katie said, glancing up. "It disappeared. I don't know where it went." Her eyes were such a bright green, smile slight but gentle.

Sara fell to her knees. "You did good. You did so good, Kate," Sar said, clutching Katie's face. She had a teary smile on her face. "You make me so proud." The blood was still dripping from her nose and onto her mouth. Katie just smiled. She rubbed along Katie's cheek with her thumb. It was an action Sar knew too well.

But she started crying then, and James knelt down and wrapped her in his arms again as she wept. How—how was it that she'd escaped the inevitable fate again? It was supposed to have been them. They were supposed to have been all together, not leave one behind. They had always been together.

James knew what she was crying about. He could feel their pain, and he knew them too well to not be able to read them like a book.  He pushed his hand in her hair and held her against his shoulder. Her tears stained his shirt dark. Katie wrapped her arms around the older girl behind. She cried for quite a long time. She pulled back to have James wipe the tears from her cheeks and Katie wrap her arm around the kneeling girl's middle. She smiled, hugging Katie and resting her chin against Katie's forehead. Katie's golden wishbone necklace touched the skin of Sara's neck and her eyes crinkled at that. That necklace had been someone else's, once. She lifted it to touch her fingers to the curve of the metal. Katie smiled. Sar put a hand on her head.

Then; her eyebrows formed a crease in the middle of her forehead. That feeling came over her again; that dark, bleak, hopeless feeling that boiled in her chest and rose to her throat. That feeling which she'd felt seven times before. Her head turned to gaze towards the direction of what could only be Hawkins' Middle. There was a girl's voice in her head: one which was sorrowful and afraid. "I'm sorry," Sar heard the girl think, mostly to herself. She sounded afraid. "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry."

"Eleven," she whispered, and her onlookers couldn't be sure if she was talking to them, the girl, or herself. Her hand still stayed on James' shoulder, and the other on Katie's head as she knelt on the dirt.

Sar couldn't quite reach the girl's mind, slipping from her grip in that wonderful, awful abyss. Her bright eyes were unfocused in the moonlight, stars reflecting in her eyes. There was some deep sadness spread across Sar's face, reflections of memories and the signs that she knew this feeling well.

Steve exchanged a look with Nancy as they approached the girl. James had his arm secured around her waist. Her eyes searched the forest desperately, lips parted in a sorrowful, breathy whisper, "No."

•°•☆•°•

AH HOLY SHIT - THIS CHAPTER WHEN KATIE TURNS UP AND THROWS THE DEMOGORGON GIVES ME SO MUCH LIFE. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Also Steve and Sar are the cutest pair and you can fight me on that.

SO THE DEMOGORGON IS GONE AND SO IS ELEVEN. Hmmm. Anyway get hyped for next chapter. Did I mention how hyped I am about my own story? 

IGNORE ANY MISTAKES I HAVE A MATHS TEST ON MONDAY AND AN ESSAY DUE ON WEDNESDAY I AM FLAT OUT