❝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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WHEN THEY RETURNED inside, it was to the sound of arguing. The new noise pierced Annalise's ears after the ghostly silence that floated on the wind outside the house. It nearly threw her back into a full-blown headache, but she resisted it to the best of her ability and comforted herself by imagining sacrificing all of the kids to the monsters so that they would shut up for once.
They were still in the kitchen, Mike the only one who had moved from his spot at the table to the middle of the room. She had barely known him an hour, but it had grown clear he liked to take charge. An observation made even more veracious by the way he stood tall over the rest of them sitting at the table.
"We can't stop those Demodogs on our own," Dustin was saying.
"Demodogs?" asked Max.
"Demogorgon." Dustin held up one hand. "Dogs." He held up the other. "Demodogs." He clasped his hands together. "It's like a compound. It's like a play on words."
"Okay," said Max, looking like she wished she never asked.
"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..." Dustin continued. He shook his head and Annalise knew that, just like her, he was remembering the close call at the junkyard.
"But there's an army now," sighed Lucas.
"An army of things that grow freakishly fast," said Annalise, fighting the shiver down her spine. If these kids were so good at forcing their fear down, she could be too. A brave front had to be built up; she couldn't let her own worries infect them.
"Precisely," said Dustin.
"His army," said Mike quietly, staring at a random spot on the wall. Though Annalise had no idea what was happening, she could see the light bulb go off in his head.
"What do you mean?" asked Steve.
"His army," Mike repeated, louder this time, something like excitement daring to weave itself into his voice. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too."
If Annalise was having trouble following before, now she was on a different trail completely. She shared a confused look with Steve, leaning against the door frame beside her, thankful to see how blank his own stare was. In fact, the rest of the kids didn't look sure of themselves, either, so Mike hurried over to a table and picked up a piece of paper. Taking that as a cue, they followed him.
The piece of paper turned out to be a drawing: A huge shape, not unlike a spider, loomed over a deserted road. Red cracks like lightning shot from the thick dark clouds bundled together in the sky. Annalise had no idea how this was meant to help.
