"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter Thirty-Nine: Second Attack
(The Upside Down, Pt. 3)
***
Despite the evidence that the Demogorgan had vacated the Byers house for the moment, the group of teens advanced out of Will's room into the living room with wary apprehension, Rowan, Nancy and Jonathan holding their weapons tight just in case while Harrington followed behind them, still in a state of panic.
That panic became fully clear as they entered the empty living room, eyes frantic and battered face expressing the panic, shock and fear of seeing a monster you'd thought only existed in your nightmares or in horror movies, muttering, "This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy, this is CRAZY!"
Rowan's eyes widened as Harrington made for the phone, pulling it away and dialling it—to who, Rowan had no clue, but calling anyone about what he'd witnessed was a very bad idea, especially when the monster could come back any second. She almost used her powers to jerk it out of Harrington's hands when Nancy did it for her, slamming it back as Harrington whirled, demanding, "What are you do—what are you doing?! Are you insane?!"
"It's going to come back!" Nancy yelled, her eyes hard and unflinching, not broaching any argument, but still holding that sense of urgency. "So you need to leave. Right now."
Harrington paused, looking at Nancy, then at Jonathan and then finally on Rowan, and she could see the questions burning in him about what he had witnessed, questions she didn't have time to answer.
"Nancy's right. It will be back, Harrington, and you need to go now," Rowan concurred, meeting Harrington's eyes with a hard glare. What she said was true; while she had no doubt Harrington was athletic enough to outrun the Demogorgon, he was more likely to get her, Nancy and Jonathan killed then help them. The best bet to ensure they all lived was that he leave now. Her glare softened as she added, "You saw that thing as well, Steve. We're not kidding. Please leave."
Again, Harrington's eyes widened at hearing her refer to him by his first name rather than his last. He cast a look at the ceiling, where the portal—or gate, if that was what they were referring to how these things came through to their world—had been, the plaster showing no sign of an inter-dimensional monster breaking through to here. He gulped, gave them another look, then turned and all but ran out, slamming the door behind him.
Rowan let loose a sigh of relief, but the relief faded when the lights began to flicker, and she could feel that wrong buzz again, distant but growing stronger by the second.
Rowan gripped her gun tightly as she found herself back-to-back with Nancy and Jonathan, eyeing the flurry of colour and buzzing around them, as the lightning under her skin hummed, itching to be unleashed.
