Halley's comet | Steve Harrington

xx. gun? no, umbrella

"𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔."

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

Breathe in. Out.

In. And out.

Brittle fingers scraped against the Wheeler's bathroom counter. Halley stared at herself in the fogged mirror, her eyes traveling to the reflection of her shoulder. She had washed away most of the dried blood under the warm water in the shower and was thankful to find that she was only stuck with a surface wound. It still hurt like a bitch though.

Almost like a burn, the skin around each of the four slices was a bright, inflamed red. Making her want to scream whenever she touched it, which was exceptionally hard as she held wads of toilet paper to the blood that seeped out. She needed to cover it up before it got infected.

Under the porcelain sink there was an old first aid kit, the medication inside no doubt well past expiration, but that didn't matter. What did was the large roll of gauze.

Still in the plastic wrap, she could tell that the gauze, and probably the entire kit, had never been used. Halley dropped the bloody paper into the toilet and grabbed the medical tape. What a fun little arts and craft project.

Taping the bandages together wasn't as hard as it may seem. She had laid one of the larger hand towels on the ground and made it her workspace. Length wise, she didn't have to worry, but she did need to tape together a few pieces width wise in order to cover the worst parts.

Not necessarily hospital grade, it would have to do. A large rectangle of gauze clothed her wound, with an uneven line of tape around the edges.

Halley put everything not currently attached to her, back in the kit and slid it under the sink. No way would anyone suspect it had even been looked at.

Nancy had given her a pajama set, a pair of pale grey polyester pants and a matching shirt. Frankly, Halley would have accepted Karen's old clothes, as long as it meant getting out of the goo-ridden outfit.

Looking at warped, fog version of herself in the mirror, she took another shuddering breath. The shirt covered the makeshift bandage, but she knew it was there. She knew what had caused it. At least she wouldn't be caught up thinking about the mark on her cheek.

She laughed at the thought. An empty, humorless laugh. Letting herself slide down the wall behind her, she pulled her knees up to her chest. Her face felt numb. Her lips were dry. Clenching her fists around the towel at her feet as scenes from that place flashed across her eyes.

The monster chasing them.

On top of her.

Its horrendous roar.