We can be Heroes - Stranger Things

Chapter 6: The Arachnids

"What is wrong?!" Steve yelled with wide eyes as he kneeled beside his screaming friends.

Robin rocked backwards and forwards as she held onto her ears, squeezing her eyes in pain. Beside her sat Nancy, who covered her face with her arms and was shaking violently.

With every chime that rang through their ears, it felt as though they were being shocked by lightning.

Dustin ran around the cabin frantically, waking everyone up from their slumber. Morning sunshine rippled through the glass windows as they wiped the sleep from their eyes and ran towards their friends.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked as he entered the kitchen; worry radiating off of him.

Mike followed behind him, his eyebrows rising in fear as he saw his sister. "Nancy!" He ran to her side.

Will stared at Robin's agonized form and froze, his eyes wide and unblinking. He could not lose his new friend. Not when he had so much to ask her. Not when she had so much to contribute to the world.

"Knock me out, Steve! Knock me out!" She screeched through the noise that burdened her mind.

"What? No! Are you crazy?" He replied in a high pitched tone, his voice trembling as he panicked.

"Do what she says, Steve!" Dustin yelled, his hands on his head.

"What?!"

"They're clearly in pain! What if it stops it?" He reasoned with a hopeful expression.

"No, Henderson! I'm not knocking them out! Are you kidding me?" He stressed; his hair falling in his face.

"He has a point!" Erica agreed with furrowed eyebrows. "It's obviously Vecna!"

Steve shook his head feverishly. He was not going to do it. He couldn't. Robin was his best friend and he was pretty sure he was in love with Nancy. He breathed heavily at everyone's expectant glares. Robin and Nancy's screams ringing in his ears.

Before he could think of an alternative, Robin's eyes went wide as her body froze. He looked to Nancy only to see the same. He fell back and swallowed the lump in his throat before shuffling towards his best friend. He held onto her shoulders as Mike shook Nancy, attempting to wake her from whatever trance she was in.

A mere second passed before the pair spoke simultaneously; their voices traced with terror.

"Spiders."

They fell to the floor: unconscous. Dustin swiftly ran to get pillows to place under their heads as Steve checked their pulses; sighing in relief once he found them.

"Spiders?" Mike glanced around the room in distress. "You have got to be shitting me. I hate spiders. What do they mean?"

Will's confused expression slowly turned to one of understanding. He shook his head with a morbid frown, "oh no."

"'Oh no', what do you mean, 'oh no'?" Erica asked with a shaky voice.

Will ran towards the nearest window and leaned his hands and face against the glass so he could see through the dust. His body shook as he saw what was beyond the trees. He inhaled sharply before slowly backing away. He glanced timidly at the others as goosebumps formed on his neck, "spiders."

Erica, Lucas, Mike and Dustin ran towards the window and gasped at what they saw.

Spiders the size of Jack Russell dogs roamed the earth. Sharp, poisonous and jagged; their pincers snapped threateningly. Their hairy legs were coated in a red goo. Upside Down slime, Will groaned as he fell back against the wall. They creeped into the woods as screams could be heard in the distance.