CARLA GRABBED A BUCKET OF BAIT, SETTING IT ON THE GROUND BELOW HER.

It was now brighter outside, but Carla was still standing in the driveway of Dustin's house, placing a bucket full of bait—which was really just three buckets of raw meat—on to the floor.   Is this what she expected to be doing on a Sunday morning? No, not really.  But was she all that surprised that it had happened anyway? Again, no.

Nothing had been normal since November of 1983, and Carla was just going to have to get used to it.

"Dustin!  This is Lucas.  Do you copy? Dustin?"  Carla listened as Lucas' voice came through Dustin's walkie system, seemingly concerned.  She was thankful someone had picked up his 'code red' calls, because it had been almost a night with no answer.

Dustin put his hands on his hips, giving an unimpressed look.  He reminded Carla of a disappointed mother as he told off his best friend, "Well, well, well, look who it is."  Despite the annoyance held for his friend, he'd probably let him off later.  After all, it was Dustin's fault that Dart had escaped.  He was the one who'd lied and said that he didn't keep the creature.  He'd broken their number one rule;  friends don't lie.

"Sorry, man." Lucas came through again, "My stupid sister turned it off."

Dustin responded, "Well, when you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and I'm pretty sure he's a baby demogorgan."

"Wait. What?" Lucas exclaimed, his voice sounding rather confused and concerned at the same time.

Dustin didn't let Lucas question anymore, "I'll explain later. Just meet me, Carla and Steve at the old junkyard."

"Steve?"

"And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket."

"Steve Harrington?"

Steve rolled his eyes at the boy's words, grabbing a bucket of bait in one hand and shutting his trunk lid with the other.  "All right, let's go."

Dustin followed after the older boy, picking up a bucket himself, "Just be there, stat. Over and out."

Carla gave a final look towards Dustin's house before grabbing the final bucket of bait and beginning the trail with the two boys.   It was quiet at first; no one really knew what to say.  Carla didn't expect herself to be back in this situation—well, no one would.   A monster attacking you once? That's just bad luck.  But again? And only a year later? Now, that wasn't a coincidence.

It was unreal to be trying to hunt down a mini demogorgan, in simple words.   Last year had been enough trauma for a lifetime—she'd almost died for goodness sake.   And even if they knew what had to be done now, it still wasn't going to be easy.  Someone could get hurt, and Carla was praying that it wasn't going to be Steve.

Though, the past year's events did have a helping hand in bringing her and Steve back together, she had to admit.  If she never almost died,  Steve would have never known that she still loved him.  Him and Nancy would have still been going strong, and Carla would have been suffering in silence.

So, maybe the past wasn't all too bad.......minus the almost dying part.

"All right, so let me get this straight," Steve spoke up, tossing the bait down on the track below him as he did. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who you just met?"  His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand where the younger boy could have been going with this.

"All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things." Dustin replied.

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?"

"An inter-dimensional slug? Because it's awesome." the curly haired boy exclaimed, rather brightly.

"Well, even if she thought it was cool—which she didn't, I-I just....." Steve paused a moment, trying to think of a way to say what he wanted in the nicest way possible.  "I don't know.  I just feel like you're trying way too hard, man."

Dustin slightly rolled his eyes, though Steve couldn't see, "Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?"

Carla sighed, "Don't compare yourself to Steve, Dustin.  You aren't the same person."

"It's not about the hair, man." Steve adds, even though, for him, it honestly kinda was.  The ladies at Hawkins high adored his hair—even Carla could agree, it was one of his best features. "The key with girls is just.....acting like you don't care." 

Tossing down more bait, Carla's eyebrows furrowed together as she listened to his words.  Was Dustin actually going to listen?

 Sure, it was sweet of him to be giving advice to Dustin like that—he could have cared less for the kid until now, so it was something for Steve to actually be giving advice—but the two were very different.  Steve was the king of Hawkins high; ladies fell for him daily, or used to at least.   And Dustin was a geeky and nerdy tween who didn't really know much when it came to romance.   

Dustin looked at the older boy, "Even if you do?"

Steve shrugged, "Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts."

"Then what?" Dustin sounded genuinely curious.  Was he really believing it? Carla thought he'd know better, but it was Dustin; he'd believe anything if it gave him a chance.   Not caring was definitely not the right way to get a girl, and Steve was definitely spewing shit, because it was surely not the way he got a hold of Carla.

"You just wait until, uh...." Steve paused again, figuring out how to word what he wanted to say, "—until you feel it."

"Feel what?"

"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know."  Steve explains, continuing to keep in pace with the smaller boy.  Carla—who'd ended up ahead of the two boys—listened in, wanting to hear what he had to say. "You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh....electricity, you know." 

"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere—"

Steve cut him off right away, correcting him, "No, no, no, no, no.  Like a—like a sexual electricity."

"Oh."

"You feel that and then you make your move." 

Dustin perked back up, "So that's when you kiss her?"

"No, whoa, whoa.  Slow down, Romeo." Steve cut him off yet again, "Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive.  You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a.....I don't know, like a lion.  But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a.....like a ninja."

As if Carla wasn't right in front of the two boys, listening in, Dustin asked, "What type is Carla?"

Steve's eyes glanced up at the girl ahead of him as he spoke, his gaze soft, "Carla's different.  She's different than the other girls." 

Dustin gave a nod, "Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess."

Steve glanced back at his girlfriend, watching as she walked across the track, bucket of bait in hand.  It was only now he realized how much they'd been through to get to this point—the point of being friends, of being back in a relationship.  Carla Wheeler really was special to Steve, because he was sure he would have never even made an attempt at trying to win another girl back the way he did for Carla.  "Yeah.  Yeah, she is."

Having heard his words, Carla gave a small, genuine smile.  Steve Harrington was pretty special to her too, and he didn't have to hear her say it to know.

"But, this girl's special too, you know." Dustin changed the topic back to the girl he'd been crushing on, "It's just, like, something about her."

Steve quickly turned to Dustin with slight concern in his features, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.  You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?"

Dustin paused a moment before shaking his head, "Uh, no. No."

Steve hesitated a moment, eyes searching over Dustin's features before he turned back to tossing bait. "Okay, good. Don't.  She's only gonna break your heart, and you're way too young for that shit." He was rather serious about it.

Even if he seemed a little too serious when he told Dustin to 'not fall in love', he was somewhat right.  Carla knew how it felt to have her heart broken—Steve Harrington, freshman year—and it was the worst feeling.  Dustin definitely wasn't ready, and definitely didn't deserve to feel that sort of pain.

After a moment of silence, Steve spoke up again, noticing how down Dustin had gotten by his words. "Faberge."

"What?"

The Harrington pointed to his hair, "It's Faberge Organics.  Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp—it's not wet, okay?  When it's damp—you do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray."

Carla tried to cover the laugh that she'd let out.  Was Steve really revealing himself to Dustin? She was sure the only people who knew about how he kept his hair so well done were Carla and the boy himself—and, now, Dustin.  

Dustin slightly laughed, "Farrah Fawcett spray?"

Steve stopped walking and turned to the curly haired boy, eyeing him. "Yeah, Farrah Fawcett.  You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass.  You're dead, Henderson.  Do you understand?"

Dustin nodded his head, "Yup."

Steve let out a sigh, tossing down another piece of meat, "Okay."

Carla gave a small eye roll but continued walking the track, allowing their small talk to fall behind her.  Even in the midst of what chaos was about to erupt, she was still trying to find the beauty in things.  

So, while she continued to toss bait on the ground, her eyes trailed around the forest around her, taking in what little beauty she could.  The leaves had fallen all over the ground, turning it into a fall wonderland.   The trees were bare, but somehow, it still looked pretty.  Or, maybe that was Carla, trying to see the best of her situation. 

After a little while more of tossing meat upon the tracks, the three came to an opening; the old junkyard.  Broken down and rusted over cars were all over the place, and towards the back there was an old bus, which could come in handy.  There was open space aswell, which was also good.

Steve eyed the place, nodding as he walked forward. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, this will do. This'll do just fine." He looked back at Dustin, "Good call, dude."

Dustin gave a small smile at the compliment, feeling as if he'd really done something good, before following after the two older teens.  Dumping the rest of the meat in the center of the junkyard, Steve begins to speak on a plan, but is interrupted by a familiar voice.

"I said medium-well!"

Looking up from the pile, Carla spotted Lucas and Max Mayfield—an odd pair, she has to admit—on the top of the hill, walking towards the three.  Steve asked about the red head, but his question was answered as Dustin's shoulders sank, and his lips fell into a frown.  She was clearly the girl he was asking advice on.

Carla wasn't surprised that he was crushing on her.  She was a feisty, sarcastic, and rather pretty girl who actually hung around him.  He'd never had a girl within his company—not counting El.  She was more forced upon the three—and definitely not one who genuinely seemed to enjoy his company as much.

But, she disliked how they were almost fighting over her like this.  If Dustin had a crush, it wouldn't be surprising if Lucas did too.  It wasn't right for them to be fighting for the attention of Max, for her love, but they were only thirteen.  

"Let's get started." Steve watched as the two tweens walked up to Dustin, ushering for his girlfriend to follow him.  Carla nodded, but turned towards the curly haired boy who still wore a frown upon his usually happy face.

"Go take your chance." she muttered, shaking his shoulder.   He gave a small nod, and Carla took that as her chance to follow after Steve, running towards him.  The couple began to collect any extra scrap metal they could find, bringing it over to the abandoned bus.  Steve's plan was to build a barrier around the bus using said metal—they were going to cover any weak spots within the bus, keeping them in and Dart out.

Steve, after a bit of work, realized that the only ones helping were Carla and the redhead—or Max.  Clearly pissed, he crossed over to the two tweens, watching as they whispered behind a beat up car.  "Hey! Dickheads! How come the only people helping me out are Carla and random girl? We lose light in forty minutes, let's go. Let's go, I said!"

"All right, asshole!" Dustin replied, in an annoyed manner.

Steve returned back to his girlfriend, both boys joining Max as she placed pieces of junk in front of the bus, blocking off any entrances.  Carla watched, a small frown on her face.  Not only were they about to fight this thing, but so was Max.   She was new, she didn't know anything about the events of last year.  She didn't deserve to be pulled into this.

"You alright?" Steve spoke up, causing her to fall from the small trance she'd been in.  Looking away from the three tweens and towards her boyfriend, she gave a small but weary nod.

"It's just—doesn't it feel weird? Being here again?" Carla responded, "We thought we killed the demogorgan, but it's back again.   We thought we saved Will, but he's acting all weird again.   We thought it was over, that we could go back to normal, but here we are, right back where we started."

"It's gonna be okay, Car." Steve tried to give a reassuring nod, "I'm not going to let you or those kids get hurt.  Not this time." He spoke about the past events, causing Carla to almost place a hand around her wrist out of instinct.

"You don't know that, Steve." Carla spoke quietly.  She didn't want to think of the worst, but somehow she just couldn't stop thinking of what could possibly go wrong.  Max could get traumatized for the rest of her life,  Dustin or Lucas could end up getting in trouble for telling the Mayfield about everything, Steve could get hurt.  And worst of all, someone could end up dying.

"I promise you, Carla." Steve came to her side, dropping the piece of scrap metal that he'd been holding.  Pressing his lips to her forehead, he muttered. "I'm not going to let anyone get hurt tonight."

"Okay." Carla whispered, even if she couldn't entirely trust him on this. "Let's go get rid of the son of a bitch."

"That's my girl." Steve responded, wrapping an arm around her waist as the two of them made their way over to where the three preteens were finishing up.   As Carla helped Max, Dustin and Lucas finishing barricading the bus, Steve had gone back to the pile of meat, dousing it in gasoline—he and Carla had recalled the fact that fire had worked the year prior.

Finally, darkness began to fall, signaling the group of five that it was time for their plan to start.  The three preteens entered the bus, and Carla and Steve followed in, shutting the doors and positioning everything so that it was on the ready.  Now all they could do was wait.

Lucas was the look out and climbed up the ladder, taking a spot inside all the tires they'd set up as a barricade on the top of the bus.  Max had taken a spot in one of the bus seats, and Dustin was pacing in front of her.  Carla was sitting on the floor, hands around her knees as she watched Steve mess around with a lighter besides her.

"So, you really fought one of these things before?" Max spoke up, looking over at the two older teens.  Steve gave a small nod, and Carla held out her wrist in emphasis.

"I have the scars to prove it." she muttered.

Max nodded before asking another question, "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"

"Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear." Dustin snapped back rather angrily at the simple question that the red head had asked.   He seemed upset, and Carla could assume why.  He wanted Max to find something in him the way she saw something in Lucas.   He wanted to know what Lucas had that he didn't.   "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."

Max's eyes were wide with upset and amusement as she watched the curly haired boy go off on her.  She gave a small look, standing up and beginning to climb the ladder to get to the roof of the bus—where Lucas was currently hanging out. "Geesh. Someone's cranky.  Past your bedtime?"

"That's good. Just show her you don't care." Steve spoke again once Max was out of earshot. 

"I don't." Dustin replied firmly.  Steve sent him a wink, showing he knew that Dustin was just playing the act, but the curly haired boy sent a narrow eyed look in response, "Why are you winking, Steve? Stop."

Carla gave an eye roll and leaned her head on Steve's shoulder, feeling him lean his right on top of hers.  Quietly, he asked, "Still feel alright?"

Carla gave another weak nod, "I'll be okay.  You?"

Steve gave a slight laugh, "You don't have to worry about me, Carla."

"Yes, I do." Carla responded, hanging on to every syllable, "I'm worrying about you right now, if you wanted to know."

"Why?"

"Because, I don't want to lose you again." She muttered in response, fiddling around with her fingers.  Her words were true.  She'd lost Steve two years ago, and after just getting him back—for good this time, she hoped—the last thing she needed was to have him taken away again.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't think about that." Steve placed his hand on top of hers, interlacing their fingers together and rubbing his thumb back and forth over it, trying to be as reassuring as he possibly could.  Carla had a right to be scared for him, for everyone here tonight, but he didn't want that in front of her mind.  "Think about something happier, yeah? Like.....us."

"Us?" Carla slightly smiled, glancing up at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, us." Steve replied simply, beginning to mess around with her hands.  Steve had always been good at keeping her from thinking of the worst.  She appreciated how he tried to keep her away from those bad thoughts by pushing her towards better ones.   Steve traced over her palms, his voice rather quiet.  "What would you say if I asked to take you on a date after all this is over?"

Carla softly smiled, looking at the boy.  "I'd say yes."

Steve looked up from her palm, breaking the small gap between the two by pressing his lips to hers.  Carla smiled into the kiss, putting her hands on the side of his neck to pull him closer to her—as if that was possible. 

"Ahem," Dustin cleared his throat, eyes shooting daggers at the couple.  The two brunettes broke apart looking at the younger boy, having forgotten he'd been there.   Carla felt a small rush of red creep on to her cheeks as Dustin stared the two down.  "Yup, I'm still here."

"I can see that." Steve replied giving an annoyed look towards the younger boy.  He then pressed another kiss to the side of Carla's head, snaking an arm around her.   Dustin rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath.

Despite Carla's yearning for her moment with Steve to continue, it got cut short by the sound of an echoing growl.   Steve was at his feet within seconds, pulling his girlfriend up to the window with him to look, Dustin on his other side.

During the night, fog had settled in the junkyard, making it rather difficult to make out anything.   Carla's eyes darted around the junkyard, trying to spot something.   It seemed that Dustin and Steve were both met with nothing because soon enough, Dustin asked, "You see him?"

"No." Steve replied flatly.

As the two boys continued to search the window, Carla trailed over to the ladder, calling up to the two preteens above.  Maybe they could see better from the high view they took refuge in, "Lucas, Max! See anything?"

"Hold on!" Lucas yelled back.  It was silent for a moment, anxiousness filling the entire bus, before he called back. "I got eyes, ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!"

Scanning around again, Steve's finger pointed slightly out in the direction Lucas had called, and it didn't take long for the Wheeler to spot where the growling was coming from.   Dustin was right; Dart had grown.  He had to be about five times—or more—the size than when Carla had last seen him a few days ago.   Even from afar, Carla could tell—no, she knew—that Dart was a baby demogorgan.  The slimy skin, the petal of a face.....it was all coming back to her.   The sight almost made her skin crawl.

"He's not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?" Steve notices.

Dustin shrugs, "Maybe he's not hungry?"

Steve's face fell as he came to a conclusion, "Maybe he's sick of cow."

As Steve quickly backed away from the two, Carla quickly realized what he had met by those words.  He was going to go out there and lure Dart out himself.

Carla was at his side at once, a serious look in his eyes, "Steve, no! You can't go out there, you're putting yourself in a terrible position."

"Steve?" Dustin was also rather concerned, his eyes darting between the older teens.

Sending an apologetic look towards his girlfriend, Steve tossed the curly haired boy his lighter, "Just get ready."

Following the Harrington to the doors of the bus, she grabbed on to his free hand—the other holding on to the nail bat rather tightly.  He was scared, she could tell.   He was just trying to step up to the plate to protect the ones he loved.   But, Carla couldn't just let him go out there like that.  "I can't loose you, Steve."

"And you're not going too." Steve responded, his eyes searching through hers.  Pressing a soft kiss to her lips—a final kiss before everything went down—Steve opened the door with a sigh, "I'll be back, I promise."

Carla hesitantly let go of him, watching as he disappeared into the mist that covered the junkyard.  Once he was outside and the doors had closed behind him,  Carla raced over to the window, watching his every move.

She was on the ready to race out and save him.

After noticing the situation outside, Max climbed back down the ladder, eyebrows furrowed. "What's he doing?"

Dustin didn't look back at her, "Expanding the menu."

Carla gritted her teeth together, "Risking his life."

"He's insane."

"He's awesome."

Watching with anxiousness running through her veins, Carla's eyes continued to stay on Steve.  Dart was coming closer, and she was this close to running out after him.  It was only three words that finalized the decision for her.

"Steve, watch out!"

Carla wasn't sure whether it was the adrenaline, anxiousness or fear for her boyfriend's life that caused her to get on her feet.  Before she could even process it, she was heading for the doors, unprotected.

"Carla! What are you doing?!" Dustin yelled once he noticed her.

Carla didn't hesitate with her response, "I'm going to get his ass back here."

"Carla!"

The Wheeler didn't listen to either of the kids who were calling for her to come back.  She was already opening the doors, it was a little too late to turn back.   Walking out into the crisp air, her eyes darted in all directions, trying to keep an eye on any target coming her way. 

It was dumb not bringing a weapon, but now she'd just have to deal with it.

"Steve!" Carla called out, eyes still moving from corner to corner.  She didn't want to distract him—if he took his eyes off of Dart, he could be a goner—but he needed to know that she was here to get him back. 

"Carla, get back in the bus!" Steve yelled back without turning to look at the girl.

Carla hesitantly stepped forward, her eyes landing on another mini demogorgan—Dart hadn't come alone—that was a few feet to her right.  "Not without you!  Your gonna get hurt!"

"Steve, Carla! Abort! Abort!"

At her words, Dart finally came at him, causing Steve to jump to the side, rolling over the lid of a car.   Carla almost let out a scream, but her lips quickly fell closed when a low grumbling started to sound closer.

Fuck.

Carla's gaze left her boyfriend and landed right in front of her at the creature that was beginning to stalk over at her.   As if last year couldn't be more at the front of her brain, a demogorgan coming right at her would definitely push it all the way there.

Carla was almost frozen.  She should run, she was that close to the bus, but something kept her locked in place; fear.  All the post traumatic stress she'd been trying to forget was fogging over her memory, keeping her feet stuck into the ground.

Almost shaking, Carla backed up, trying to add more distance between the two.   But, that didn't stop the creature from breaking the space and lunging at her, mouth wide open. Carla felt her wrists burning as she flinched back, awaiting the creature to slam into her.

Knocked to the ground from the impact, Carla quickly continued to back up, feeling the dirt spread onto the back of her shirt.  There was a throbbing pain in her side—which would definitely end up becoming a bruise later on at the least—but it wasn't as bad as the pain that was settling in her mind.

Biting her lip to keep from tearing up, Carla tightly closed her eyes waiting for the piercing pain of the demogorgan pouncing on her.  She could already hear the creature growling, and she was unarmed. 

Except, just like the year before, she was only met with a loud screech of pain from the mini demogorgan.

"Carla, run!" Steve was at her side at once, pulling her up and shoving her towards the bus.  Listening at once, the brunette grabbed her hand and the two ran together on to the bus, almost falling inside of it, door slamming just in time.

Carla didn't even get a second to catch her breath before the creatures began clawing at the doors, trying to get inside the bus.  As the three preteens rushed to the other side of the bus, screaming and spewing out random words, Steve shoved a piece of the excess metal on to the door as Carla waited beside him, unsure on what to do.

Of course, one of the creatures managed to break through the second layer, but Steve took no time to allow it to continue, beginning to smash it harshly with his nailed bat.

"Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God! Anyone!" Dustin desperately yelled into his walkie, praying with everything he had that someone would pick up.  As the clawing got louder, the three tweens moved again, "We're at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!"

Suddenly, it got quieter, but the quiet was soon followed by the sound of footsteps.  Carla followed the sounds, ending up right behind the red headed girl as one of the demogorgan appeared above her head.

Max let out a scream—a scream of pure terror—as the creature opened it's mouth, and Carla quickly yanked her back, allowing Steve to pass in front of them, holding the bat up to the creature. "Out of the way! Out of the way! You want some? Come get this!"

The creature opened its mouth and let out a roar, causing Carla to let out a small sob.  Everything was flooding back to her.  Flashing lights, the gun, screaming, the Demogorgnan right in front of her, pain...

The Wheeler had an arm around Max, holding her in place.  The Mayfield and Sinclair were holding hands—though quickly pulled away when they realized what they were doing—and Dustin had Carla's free arm around him too.

With a roar, the creature jumped off of the roof, causing the bus to shake.   After that, silence fell over the entire junkyard, the only sound being the harsh breathing of the five of them.   None of them knew why the demogorgan would give up on five vulnerable people like that.

 Steve opened the door after a moment, nail bat in front in case the miniature demogorgans weren't actually gone.  Carla followed after, the kids trailing behind her, looking out into the mist.  Despite the foggy sky, it was clear that there were no inter-dimensional monsters waiting.  They'd all disappeared.

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

Max peeked over him.  Her past disbelief about the Sinclair's words had completely disappeared after the things she just witnessed. "I don't know."

"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin suggested.

Steve shook his head, throwing the bat over his shoulder. "No. No way.  There going somewhere."

Carla ran a hand through her hair, letting out a breath.  This was only going to get worse, wasn't it?

mara's misc!

chapter 11 is here!!

the wait actually wasn't too bad, and i hope the longish chapter makes up for it anyway.

i can't believe i'm almost finished with vanished.  the next chapter will be the beginning of episode eight and then all we have is episode nine, (as e7 is just el's story).   this book has taken me forever to get through, and it just feels so weird to only have so much left.

anyway, i don't mind this chapter.  i think it turned out pretty okay <3

also, GhostWriterGirl-1 who's comments for both missing and vanished have given me so much motivation for this chapter <3  thank you for the support on starla's story!

hope you enjoyed! see you back with chapter twelve <333