Into Every Stranger Generation

Chapter 10

 Becca woke to the sound of someone banging on the door. She groaned, rolling over, hoping her mom would get it so she could go back to sleep. The knocking continued. Damn it! She sat up, looking around, and then she remembered. She wasn't in Toledo. She was in Hawkins attempting to battle some skinless monster that wanted to unleash hell on Earth and destroy everything.

She glanced around the room, her eyes landing on Steve curled up on the loveseat. And there was the man who kept haunting her waking and sleeping thoughts, Eddie, sleeping in the chair. That's right. Her and Steve had hung out here last night, playing games and watching movies with Eddie. She had fallen asleep on the couch sometime in the early hours of the morning.

Becca knew Eddie was supposed to be a demon, but damn if he didn't look like an ethereal angel sleeping. One arm was flung above his head, one on his chest, those wild mahogany locks framing his face. She longed to walk over there and curl up with him. She desperately wanted those arms wrapped around her, to press her body close to his, to kiss those full, delicious lips.

She absolutely did not believe in love at first sight. It was insanity, but something she couldn't explain was going on here. She felt such a strong need for him, like a fish desperate for water as it flops around on land drowning. Becca wanted to protect him, she wanted to save him, she wanted to make everything okay. She couldn't bear the sadness that haunted his eyes. Maybe she had a savior complex or something? She didn't know, but something was drawing her toward him no matter how much she told herself it was a mistake.

Becca had been disturbed to feel the rush of pleasure that overcame her when Eddie appeared to be jealous of her spending time with Steve. They had both agreed this was a bad idea. He'd admitted that he had wanted to feed off her. She was fairly sure she would have been able to stop him, but that was beside the point. She was living and he was...not, not really. She was going to die and he would live forever. She was a slayer and he was a vampire. They were polar opposites. There were so many reasons to deny everything her mind, heart, and body were craving.

The knocking began again and broke her from her thoughts. Shit, that's right. She woke up because someone was here. She jumped up, racing to the door. Opening it, she found Robin and Dustin on the other side, looking flustered and out of breath.

"Jesus, we wondered where you were," Dustin sighed. "Your friend said you never came back to the hotel. Robin said you'd come here last night with Steve so we assumed you'd be here. Thank god."

"Why?" Becca asked. "What's going on?"

"Demogorgons," Robin said, bent forward, struggling to catch her breath. "Sorry. I'm not great with the running." She leaned back, sucking in great gulps of air. "In fact, I am definitely more of a power walking kind of girl. Shit."

"I'm sorry, demo what?"

"Demogorgons," Dustin explained. "They're the monsters we told you about. Human-like bodies, no face but lots of teeth. They've been spotted on the edge of the woods by where the gates opened. Hopper, Joyce, El, and Mike are on the way there but we thought maybe we should come get the official monster hunter to help."

"Yeah, okay," Becca nodded, relieved at the idea of having something to fight. Her body felt incredibly wound up after a night of restraining herself from doing what she wanted when it came to Eddie. She would love to punch and kick out some of this rigidity.

"What's going on?" Steve asked through a yawn, stumbling over, one hand running through his messy hair.

"Faceless toothy monsters," Becca answered.

"Shit!" Steve exclaimed. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

They all turned to see Eddie standing just out of sight of the sun that was splashing along the floor from the open door. No one had even heard him move with those stealthy vampire moves he had going on. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.