Delicate || Stranger Things FanFiction

12. sacrifice

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦: 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦

The thoughts of Eddie never left her mind as she continued to throw one firework after another at the monster, who screeched in pain and confusion as it attempted to turn its head at those who threw the things that caused him pain – though every time it did, another firework would hit its head again, but in another direction. The thoughts of Eddie lingered in her mind, almost wishing that he had been here to live this crazy experience with her, as Steve continued to place lit fireworks in her hands to throw. She wondered if he would react the same way she did, at first.

Wide eyes, pumping heart, shaky and sweaty hands. Sitting in the trunk of the car in disbelief, trying to convince himself that it was nothing but a dream. She believed that he wouldn't react the way she did, after all, she was afraid of everything, and he wasn't. He lived fearlessly, with no care of what others thought of him. He played fantasy games, and his favourite genre of movie was horror, so perhaps seeing a real-life monster would be somewhat thrilling for him. He would throw the fireworks as his contagious laugh left his lips, a wide smile on his face, and he would have a look in his eyes of pure excitement and adrenaline.

He would not be throwing the fireworks with a rapidly beating heart of anxiety mixed with adrenaline like Valerie, who's eyes constantly peered down at the girl who now had Billy on top of her. The first few fireworks she threw felt freeing; maybe she had felt similar to the way she imagined Eddie would, but her concern for Jane was growing as the box of fireworks began to grow empty with each firework they threw. It wasn't until she held her hand out for Steve to place another firework in it, only to receive nothing, that the concern was replaced with fear. Valerie was only seventeen, and she was no monster-fighting-hero. She was just a kid, and so was Jane.

"We're out!" Valerie turned her head in the direction of Lucas's voice, and she watched him as he wrapped his hands around the railing and peered down at Jane and Billy. Not long after his announcement, Nancy and Jonathon screamed out the same words. Plan B didn't last as long as they had hoped – because this monster was not falling to the floor in pain, which had only meant that Hopper and Joyce were yet to close the gate.

"What do we do?" Tears stung in her eyes as she turned to Steve, hoping that due to his experiencing in monster-fighting, that some amazing idea would magically pop into his head, and young Jane would be saved. Her heart only shattered when this did not happen, with the way that Steve's eyes softened, and his head shook ever so slightly as a disappointed Robin stood beside him.

In a perfect world, perhaps if this had been a movie, Valerie would run down the stairs and drag Jane away long enough for the gate to be closed. Billy would be distracted by the monster, or even Steve and the rest of the group; but most importantly, Jane would be safe. Due to her passion to be a nurse, Valerie would be able to tend to any of the young girl's wounds, too. But alas, this was no perfect world, and nor was it a movie. Valerie was nowhere near as brave or courageous as the main characters in movies were made to be, she was only a child herself, and a traumatised one at that. She could barely handle someone raising their voice at her, let alone to deal with a real-life monster standing before her.

There was nothing she could do, but watch hopelessly, as the monster turned its attention to Jane and Billy. However, while she was almost convinced that Jane was going to die, she soon found that this would not be the case at all. In fact, who she believed was the bad guy, Billy Hargrove, stood in front of Jane and faced the monster head on. Jane crawled away with quiet sobs of fear escaping her lips, her eyes growing wide at the large monster that etched its way toward them with its large legs. Steve and Robin followed Valerie to the railing of the balcony, the three teenagers all peering down at what was unfolding beneath them. Steve's hand brushed against her own as they stood beside each other, and while both of their hearts fluttered at their warm touch, it had currently been the last thing on their mind.