Into The Vale of Shadows // Max Mayfield

II; xiv. if i were a boy

chapter fourteen
if i were a boy

     THE LIGHTS WERE now gone, the Starcourt mall had come to the end of the day, having to be closed for the night and never open again for another day. Raven had El on her arms, holding her tight as she kept her stealth, running quietly through the halls, just like the rest of the group. They'd snuck in through an open door of the entrance, behind the back of a man who was supposed to be the one locking each and every door, unseen for he had been distracted by the music in his ears and a cigarette he had lit between his lips.

     The mall was eeriely quiet, the loud buzzing of the mall goers chattering were no where in earshot, their footsteps that sounded like drums to Raven's ears gone, and the music that would play loudly above everyone's voice had long faded, it was quiet, too quiet, it have sent Raven on the edge. She fixed El on her arms, trying to lessen the tension on her shoulders, and maybe ease the uneasiness that settled inside.

     The eerie silence was soon broken by static from what sounded to be a radio, and the noise of rubber soles slapping the tiled floor, an indication that they were not alone. Raven's ears perked, movements halting that caused Sid to bump on her back, making a small thud that managed to echoed weakly around the area. Raven placed her pointer finger to her lips, gesturing the boy to stay quiet, Sid nodded, pursing his lips into a thin line.

     "Here," Raven whispered, settling El on the ground and having Mike to help her stand, pulling her hand away ever so slowly, as though waiting for El to fall, but glad that she didn't.

     As El was settled on the floor, she walked carefully to the railings of the mall. She followed the sound to see five men in black uniforms, in hand were massive firearms that they held prepared as they stalked around the food court, seemed to be looking for something or someone.

     The group soon followed behind her, they too peeked through the railings, observing what it was that had made Raven stuck to her position.

     Oh no, the entity whispered. Gorgon directed Raven's head to the pizza place she'd always go to. Her heart felt like it dropped from her chest to her stomach, seeing Steve's massive hair, Dustin's familiar hat, a pair of black pigtails, and Robin's blonde hair behind the counter where the men now pointed their gun to, slowly approaching it like a predator would do to its prey.

     El gripped on the railings, with her other hand raised, face contoured into focus, gaze locked to the car display near the area they were stalking. Raven tried to protest, but the car had already started trembling, lights starting to flicker, alarm echoing through the entirety of the mall. El sucked in a sharp breath, fingers twitching in focus, another line of deep breaths, she let out a cry and swung her arm towards the men, causing the car to fly from its position and straight to the black uniformed men. She had hit them all, but merely missing two.

     The pair started yelling words from a language that they can't understand, pointing their weapons at them and started firing. Gorgon was quick to cover Raven's forearms with black matter and morphing into a large shield that blocked every bullet they tried to send their way. Raven had climbed the railing under Gorgon's control, shifting from the girl then to the Demogorgon, jumping off of the rails then to the tiled floor. The duo seemed to have their bullets run out for they had stopped firing, now using their guns as some kind of bat to defend themselves away from the entity's harm.

     Everything that happened after were too gnarly for one to want to witness. Gorgon throw one of them to a far wall, the sound of his back bones breaking from the impact echoed through everyone's ears. While the other had had to say goodbye to his head, having it ripped off by the entity using its flowery head and razor sharp teeth.