❝I think your stupidity is finally starting to rub off on me, Harrington.❞
In which the new girl in town earns a babysitting gig... though she doesn't remember monsters being in the job description.
↳extended summary inside
↳steve harrington x...
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ANNALISE HAD SEVERELY underestimated the difficulty of running downhill through a forest in the dark. With rocks hidden amongst the lofty grass that sprang up every which way and swayed in the wind, not one member of the group avoided stumbling on the way down. She thought it must have looked a little funny from an outside perspective: three kids clumsily tailing two teenagers in the middle of the night. Not that the real reason behind it would make it any less odd.
She didn't even know where they were going — the lab, as Lucas had said, though she wasn't too sure what that meant. How could the lab be the Demogorgons' home? Didn't they come from a different dimension? Honestly, in her head, this whole story was more like a murder board with red string tangling itself up, rather than anything concise. Maybe she should ask Dustin for a written timeline if they made it out of tonight alive.
It became a little easier to see as they neared the end of the hill, a couple lights from up ahead adding to their weak torches. The huge building, and what she assumed was the lab, towered over them in darkness, nearly blending in with the night sky behind it. It dawned on her how strange it was for there to be no light coming from it, even if it was just a small slip from one of the windows.
But that wasn't her biggest concern right now; she was just thankful to finally be slowing down after a long day of chasing and being chased. Her feet were aching, and it certainly didn't help that a few loose stones had managed to sneak into her shoes on the trek down, so that with every step, they dug into her soles.
"Hello? Who's there? Who's there?"
The sudden voice from just ahead made Annalise falter. She didn't recognise it and wondered if they had accidentally ventured onto some private property — who even ran this lab, anyway? But none of the others seemed to worry; they just looked confused.
The source of the voice came into view a moment later when they finally made it onto solid ground. Steve's flashlight shone right at the person —people, she realised — like a spotlight. They winced at the brightness, though quickly gathered their wits just in time to see who had joined them.
"Steve?" they said in unison, voices jumbling together in a wave of confusion.
Annalise didn't recognise the boy, though she knew the girl that was with him. It surprised her for only a second, though any shock dissipated after remembering that she was one of Dustin's friends' sister. She knew about all this stuff, of course she was aware that the lab was involved with something.
"Nancy?" said Steve, just as incredulous as the other two.
"Jonathan?" asked Dustin, shoving his way forward to get a proper look.
