November 4, 1984

Beth's hand brushed against Max's hand as they walked through the woods, following the train tracks from before. The gang had been walking for quite some time, and to Beth it felt like hours, even thought it wasn't. Dustin and Lucas were in front of the girls, arguing over something, and Steve and Brandon were leading the group.

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas questioned referring to the fight that had occurred in the junkyard.

"Yes." Dustin sighed, annoyed at no one believing him about the baby Demogorgon. "He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."

"He was tiny two days ago." Max said, confused at how Dart got big in a matter of days.

"Well he's molted three times already." Dustin explained making Beth raise her eyebrows in shock.

"Malted?" Steve questioned.

"Molted." Brandon corrected. "Like he sort of sheds his skin, so he can make room for growth. Sort of like hornworms."

"When he's gonna molt again?" Beth questioned.

Dustin shrugged, "It's gotta be soon. When he does, he be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Steve stated making Dustin's eyes widened at Steve's words. The rest of the group didn't know that Dustin had found Dart and lied about it to keep him.

"Wait, cat?" Lucas questioned Dustin, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder to stop his walking. "Dart ate a cat?"

"No, what? No." Dustin lied. Beth rolled her eyes at how horrible he was at lying.

"What are you talking about?" Steve questioned, oblivious to the fact that Dustin didn't want anyone to know. "He ate Mews."

"Mews?" Max questioned. "Who's Mews?"

"It's Dustin's cat." Brandon told her before looking at Dustin sighing. "Just tell them Dustin."

"Brandon!" Dustin yelled at him, trying to tell him to shut up.

"Yell at me again! I dare you!" Brandon yelled back.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas yelled, hitting Dustin in the arm.

"No! No. No, I...No, I..." Dustin said , trying to lie but failed miserably. Lucas raised his eyebrows, wanting an answer. "He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!"

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay?" Dustin yelled.

"Oh, so now you admit it?"

"Guys, who cares? We have to go." Max said, trying to break up the arguing.

"Exactly! It doesn't matter anymore!" Beth yelled.

"I care! And it does matter!" Lucas yelled at them. Beth sighed at the arguing. They were acting like children. "You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!"

"SO DID YOU!" Dustin screamed back at him.

"What?"

"You told strangers the truth!" Dustin said, pointing his flashlight at Max and Beth.

Max and Beth scoffed, "Strangers?"

"You wanted to tell them, too!" Lucas yelled.

"Yeah, but I didn't Lucas, okay?" Dustin yelled back. "I didn't tell them!"

"Can you both just shut the hell up?! You're both acting like little children right now! So just shut up and make up." Brandon yelled as he pushed both of them away from each other.

"I'm not making up with him!" Lucas told him, hitting his arm to remove it from his shoulder. "It could've killed us!"

"GUYS!" Steve yelled, anger in his voice like he had been trying to get their attention for a while. The silence of the group made the growls and screams of the creatures louder as it echoed through the trees. The sounds were loud enough that they had to be close.

The group immediately followed Steve as they left the tracks and into the forest. Max and Beth stood behind and Max yelled, "No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound?"

"Hello? Hello?"

"Shit." Beth cursed before Max grabbed her hand and they caught up with the others.

They ran through the dark forest with only their flashlights and the moon to light their way. Somewhere along the way, Max and Beth had caught up with their hands locked together. They finally let go once they got to the edge of a sloped hill. At the bottom of the hill sat an ocean of trees that spread across the horizon.

"I don't see him." Dustin said.

Lucas peered through his binoculars and scanned the horizon before stopping on an area. "It's the lab." He lowered his binoculars, "They were going back home."

The group continued to run through the trees, trying to get the lab as fast as they could. After what felt like an eternity of running, the group slowed down to walk as they reached the edge of the trees that lined the entrance to the lab. A voice that they all recognized, except Max, Beth, and Brandon, called out. "Hello? Who's there? Who's there?"

They finally made it out the woods and saw Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler standing side by side in front of the gated entrance to the lab. They both furrowed their brows when they saw the two older boys leading the group of kids. "Steve?"

"Nancy?" Steve questioned

"Jonathan." Dustin stated as both groups walked closer until they met in the middle, each and every one of them confused to see each other.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asked, shocked and confused about why Steve was there and why he was with four of her brother's friend and a kid from her class.

"What are you doing here?" Steve retorted.

"We're looking for Mike and Will."

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin asked with a shaky voice, gesturing to the large, dark lab.

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

The shriek that followed her question answered it better than anyone could.

"That's why." Brandon and Beth said in unison.

Everyone hoped that their friends were okay and that the creatures hadn't got to them yet.

Hey y'all!! New chapter is up!! I'm so excited because next chapter two people are gonna be present at the Byers House!! Also at the end of this season, someone is going to be arriving at Hawkins. Spoiler alert they're close to Bethany 😏

Anyways, hope you all have a wonderful day!! Love you all!

-Mary💗