𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥! 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

SCENE TWENTY THREE. on thy lovers lake

"where the fuck are we even going?" piper cried as she ran through the woods. now thankful she hadn't decided on wearing a skirt like she had originally decided to. branches marked her skin, almost as if they were trying to stop her. she had long since grabbed max's hand to pull her along with her. the last flashlight did a shit job at trying to give any indication of their location. it was dark, and if they were to carry on how knew where they'd be lost. it could take days to find a way out of the woods at this point. they blindly followed dustin who now entered an opening in the trees. the compass is still spinning. and she took a step forward, the ground below her feet seeming to disappear. hands grabbing her waist and pulling her back from the edge. finding herself stood at the edge of lover's lake. eddie holding her close.

"you've gotta be shitting me?"

"i thought these woods were familiar."

"lover's lake."

"this is confounding."

"there's a gate in lover's lake?"

"whenever the demogorgon attacked. it always left an opening. maybe vecna's the same way."

"yeah, only one way to find out." steve commented. his breath drifting onto piper who stood directly in front of him as eddie ran for something covered in  tarp. with the help of steve and nancy he untied the tarp to reveal a boat pushed against the shoe of the lake. the two boys lifting the boat towards the water. the kids stood on shore staring at them. steve raising his hand to help robin, who made quick work of grabbing his head to help her get on. stepping over him and into the boat.

"okay piper, you next.'' steve added, looking over his shoulder to the girl standing beside nancy.

"i'm not getting on." she laughed, thinking he was joking but she immediately stopped when she noticed the stern look on his features.

"piper." robin tried coaxing her onto it.

"not a chance." she added, cross in her arms and took a step back. someone had to babysit. and she would rather not be squashed onto a boat on lovers lake.

"if i have to drag you, i will." nancy spoke turning to look at her and piper shook her head.

"good luck." nancy smiled and piper paled.

she closed her eyes as the boat pushed away from shore. her headphones were on. not because of the risk of being so close to a gate but to lock out the sound of the water against the boat. she felt sick. she wanted to cry. why would they do this to her? what purpose did she serve being on the boat? nothing. why couldn't she have been on land with the three kids. robin sat in the front rowing with eddie. steve and nancy sat in the back, steve skimmed the flashlight over the water. looking for anything in particular that might show the sign of a gate whilst nancy worked out the compass. and piper, she just sat there frozen. thinking of somewhere distant, somewhere that wasn't the lake. something that wasn't water. she made the mistake of looking out into the water. seeing the face of her brother screamed as she snapped back.

"whoa, who, whoa. slow down." nancy cried. the compass spinning much faster now. much more erratic. and steve started taking his shoes off. followed by his socks.

"steve, what are you doing"

"someone's gotta go down there and check this out."

"absolutely not." piper ordered finally stopping out of her daydream. looking back at steve in the warm flashlight glow. he stood up, stripping off his yellow jumper and dropping it into steve's lap. trying to pull away her eyes from his back. the same back she once left kisses on. robin noticed her quick glance and a small smile appeared on her face. so piper did still like steve. eddie pulled a cig out of his pocket. offering one to piper who smiled softly, she needed a distraction. ready to light it up when robin snatched it from her lips. steve readied himself to jump when piper went to speak. nancy beat her to it.

"steve? be careful." and so piper went tight lipped once more. and he looked at her as if knowing she wanted to say something but she turned away. not looking as he disappeared into the water. even nancy could feel the girl's sharp intake of breath as he vanished. only bubbles of the water released his location. robin reaches out to grab her hand.

"do you still like steve?" nancy questioned the girl out of the blue and piper still didn't speak. she shook her head lightly, no. and nancy looked up to eddie and robin who nodded straight away.

"he's gonna be fine piper." nancy commented, noticing how the girl was tapping two fingers against her jean covered thigh. scared.

"what ya scared of?" eddie questioned.

"water." she mumbled, looking over the edge slightly before pulling back once more. the darkness of the night set a shadow around them and the shore. she was scared she was going to look out and see it stood staring at her grinning. but instead steve finally surfaced from the water. gasping for breaths as he did so.

"i found it." he spoke, swimming closer to the boat, leaning against it as piper scrambled to the edge.

"you're not fucking going back down there i don't give a shit." she cried, grabbing his face. the whole group watched as steve's eyes dipped to her lips before she pulled back. mumbling a sorry. as if she couldn't control herself.

"dustin, you are a goddamn einstein." robin called over the radio to the three kids, which returned by the empty static noise. which was never a good sign with the kids. steve started explaining the gate to the group. when steve dipped under the water slightly. rocking the boat. and piper once again leaped into action. trying to steady the boat from stopping it tipping over. she had no intention of falling in that water. it calmed as she breathed. and steve was dragged under. his hand outstretched as he tried to grab the boat. and for a girl who didn't like water. she wasted no time stripping her off her shirt. leaving her in a strappy top.

"piper! no!"

"fucking god no!"

she heard them shout but she had already dived into the water. seeing the dark outline of the boy disappearing deeper into the lake. ignoring the vision of her brother as she reached to grab him. bubbels screaming from her mouth as she failed to reach him. crying in frustration as their fingers barely brushed. before he disappeared into the red. her limbs growing weaker as she tried to catch up with the boy being dragged under. but it was to no avail. the fear of water crushing in on her lungs, the black spots appearing in her vision. bubbles blooded her mind as her ears filled with the noise of her brothers scream.