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'I'VE BEEN CHEATED BY YOU SINCE I DON'T KNOW WHEN... So, I made up my mind, it must come to an end...' Nancy freezes suddenly, looking around the dark forest wildly at the faint sound of distant music. The music fades out slowly, followed by a sudden whimper. Her heart speeds up as hope begins to fill her. There is no coincidence for an ABBA song to be playing in the middle of the woods unless it means her older brother is close.
"What, are you tired?" Jonathan snapped. Still annoyed about his and the Wheeler girls earlier argument.
"Shut up."
"What?"
"I heard something." Nancy gives him a look as both stayed silent. There was no music this time, only a whimper. "Romeo?! Are you out there?! Romeo!" Jonathon shushes her. Another whimper. They begin to slowly follow the sounds. "Oh God," Nancy says, eyeing the injured deer in front of them sadly. She dropped to her knees, slowly reaching a hand out to pet it. "It's been hit by a car. We can't just leave it." She looks down at her gun, back at the deer, and then the gun again.
"I'll do it." Jonathan breathes out, grabbing the gun from her.
"I thought you said—-" Nancy began, thinking back to the story he told her about crying for a week after being forced to hunt a bunny.
"I'm not five anymore." Jonathan says as they both get to their feet, slowly backing away from the deer. He took a deep breath and slowly lifted the gun, trying his best to ignore the pained sounds the deer was letting out. They need to put it out of its misery, or else it will just suffer and slowly die. Just as he's about to pull the trigger, the deer is suddenly pulled away violently. The two scream in surprise as the deer disappears from view.
"What was that?" Nancy asks, looking around, curiously following the trail of blood. "Where did it go?"
Jonathan breaths slowly, trying to stay calm. "I don't know. Do you see anymore blood?"
Nancy shakes her head, "No." They both begin to look around separately. Nancy stops suddenly, eyeing one of the trees. There was a soft dripping sound coming from the large hole in the trunk. She tilted her head, moving closer to get a better look. "Jonathan?!" No answer. With a sigh, Nancy crouched down, dropping her backpack and cautiously reached her hand forward.
'Mamma mia, here I go again. My, my, how can I resist you?"
Nancy gasped, throwing all caution to the wind as she heard the music again. This time coming directly from the tree. Without a second thought, she began to crawl through the hole, cringing at the weird goopy substance that surrounded her. Nancy's eyes widen as she emerged from the tree. She was still in the same place. But it was darker. Colder. It was the same, but not at the same time. She moved forward, hitting her flashlight as it begins to flicker.
'Yes, I've been broken hearted... Blue since the day we parted...'
The music is close. Nancy quickly follows it, breathing heavily as she goes. She can't panic too much. She has to stay calm. She has to find Romeo. A loud growl causes her to freeze in place. Right in front of her, a large creature snarls as it eats what she assumes is the deer that disappeared. Swallowing nervously, Nancy begins to back up, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Suddenly, she trips over something. Landing on what feels like a body with a gasp. She stayed in place, not moving a muscle. Luckily for her, the creature was too focused on its meal. Cautiously, Nancy sat up, her wide blue eyes widening as they focused in on the face of the body. The face of her older brother. "Romeo!"
Her yell caught the attention of the monster. Swearing, she drops her flashlight as she quickly stood to her feet, grabbing her brother under his armpits and trying her best to drag him with her. The creature roars, turning to face them, it's horrifying face opened up in the way a flower would as it blooms. Unfortunately, it was not as pretty of a sight.
"Jonathan!" Nancy cried as she tried her best to find the tree which she entered from. "Jonathan!" She could faintly hear the boy yelling back at her. "Jonathan! We're right here! Jonathan, where are you?!"
"Nancy! Just follow my voice! Follow my voice, Nancy! I'm right here! Nancy!"
Nancy turns, screaming at the sight of the monster standing before her. She ran, quickly hiding behind a tree, clutching the unconscious body of her brother as close to her as she possibly could. Nancy closes her eyes, holding her breath as the creature searches for them.
"Nancy! Follow my voice!"
Jonathan's voice was really close. Looking to her right, her eyes locked on the blue glowing tree trunk. Blinking away her tears, she waited until the monster moved away. Taking a deep breath, she made a run for it, turning around and dropping to the ground. She began to move backwards, pulling her brother along with her. "Jonathan!" She screamed for his help as her head emerged from the goop. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, helping to pull them both out.
They all fell backwards, breathing heavily as they stared at the tree. The entrance was suddenly sealed up.
"Are you okay?" Jonathan said. Though he seemed to just process the body that Nancy brought back with her. "Is he breathing?!"
"I don't know," Nancy said, still clutching her brother in her arms. She moved her hand up, placing her fingers on his neck. They waited with baited breath. "He has a pulse. But it's weak."
"Let's get him to the hospital." Jonathan said, leaning over to help her pick him up. "I got—- ouch!" He jumped back suddenly, clutching his hand close to his chest.
"What? What happened?" Nancy asked, blinking wildly.
Jonathan was quite for a moment as he looked at his hand. "He burned me."
"That's crazy. He's not burning me. I've been holding him for like ten minutes."
Jonathan moves forward to touch Romeo again. Only to be burned once again. Nancy hesitantly placed a trembling hand on her brothers forehead. Her eyebrows furrowed at how hot it was. It didn't burn her like it did to Jonathan, but she could tell that his temperature should be impossible.
The two worked quickly to get him out of the woods, the Byers boy holding him by the shoes to avoid being burned. As they moved, music could be heard, coming from the headphones that still covered Romeo's ears.
'Mamma mia, now I really know... My, my, I could never let you go..."
