Crossfire - Book 1 - S.H.

Chapter 8: The Upside Down

Shelley, Jonathan and Nancy had spent almost an hour making sure everything was ready in the best way possible for their plan to work. They would bait it inside the house, trap it and light it on fire. That was the plan. It was a decent plan, all things considered and, if it worked, they were sure they would kill the monster - after all, even if they didn't exactly know what it was, there was no way it would ever survive being lit on fire, right?

Still, things could go wrong, so it wasn't at all that surprising that, as they all stood in the middle of the Byers' living room, Shelley checked the rifle to see if it was loaded before teaching Nancy to do the same with Lonnie's revolver while Jonathan took one last glance at the baseball bat he had filled with huge nails to use as a weapon as well.

"Okay, so remember..." Jonathan said, stepping closer to the girls once they were both sure they were loaded and good to go.

"Straight into Will's room." Nancy started, reciting out loud the plan as the three of them had done about five times already, just to make sure they didn't mess up at any point.

"And don't step on the trap." Jonathan added.

"Wait for the yo-yo to move." Shelley continued, as her brother nodded at her and pulled out the lighter from his pocket.

"Then..." He said, pulling the lighter open with a click as Nancy and Shelley exchanged a look before looking back at Jonathan and nodding. "All right. You ready?"

"Ready." Nancy said, stepping closer to Jonathan and grabbing from him one of the kitchen knives he had in his free hand.

Shelley watched the two of them for a moment, the way they stood facing one another and as close as possible, holding out their hands in between them as they hesitated before cutting the skin. It needed to be done, they knew - they needed blood to attract the monster - and, as much as Jonathan had insisted just his blood would suffice, Nancy was adamant she did as well - something about doing it for Barb or something. Shelley had also offered to cut her own hand, but the younger kids quickly disagreed, relying mostly on Shelley's aim and ability with guns to survive through this whole thing. So, in spite of herself, Shelley allowed the two of them to do it instead, flinching slightly when they both held their knives just above their palms.

"On three." Jonathan said, his voice clearly hesitant, but Nancy nodded slowly in encouragement.

"One..." She mumbled, as Jonathan sighed.

"Two..." He continued, his eyes softening as soon as he noticed the fear in Nancy's expression. "You don't have to do this..."

"Jonathan, stop talking." Nancy said.

"I'm just saying, you don't have to..."

But before Jonathan could argue anymore, Nancy took the initiative.

"Three." She said, and, out of pure instinct, the two of them opened a cut in their hands, hissing at the pain but letting their blood drip on the floor below them.

"Shit..." Shelley mumbled, after a moment of just letting their blood mix on the carpet of her house. "Okay, that's enough. Now sit down and bandage those hands, please?"

It wasn't as if they needed much more instruction than that. Sitting on the couch, Nancy and Jonathan shared the first aid kit Shelley had brought out from the bathroom for them and took turns helping each other out while Shelley stood nearby, her ears and eyes attentive as she kept her gun in hands in case something happened. It was only after Nancy was done with her bandaged hand and was helping Jonathan finish his that they all heard a faint creaking outside and the younger girl snapped her head around with wide eyes.