𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

37

𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 against sheridan's window. the mid-morning sun cast a light on the pair rested in her bed; they had slept in the same position all night, with steve's head on dani's shoulder and her head atop his.

the girl awoke to the slamming of the front door. her brows furrowed as she got up from her bed and headed for the window; steve's head slumped over and had jolted him awake, as well. "well, good morning to you, too," he mumbled, sleep encasing his voice. sherrie sat on her knees and watched as bob's car reversed into the street, with her mother, brother, and mike inside. steve stood behind his best friend at the window, his hands on his hips and his eyes squinting to shield himself from the sunlight. "where are they going?"

"great question," dani replied. and as luck would have it, the landline on her nightstand had begun to ring. the pair's eyes locked, confusion hanging thick in the silence of the air. sheridan rounded her bed and pressed the phone to her ear. "hello?"

"dani!" dustin exclaimed on the other end. the young boy was so loud that even steve could hear him. he rolled his eyes and laid back down on sherrie's bed, beginning to flip through her newest copy of creem magazine. "it is great to hear your voice!"

"what do you want?"

"mike and lucas aren't responding to me on the walkies, and i didn't know if it would be good to try will, and i knew if i called, you'd probably pick up thinking it was steve-"

"dustin!" dani scolded, causing steve to chuckle.

"what i'm trying to say is, i really need your help."

✽

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐒𝐘 with sherrie driving and dustin taking his rightful spot in the passenger seat. the three rode on into the dark hawkins night, the rolling stones drifting quietly from the stereo. "wait a sec, how big?" steve questioned, propping himself in the middle of the two seats.

"first, it was like that," dustin stated, his pointer and his thumb roughly four inches apart from one another, "now he's like this." he extended both of his arms farther than the width of his own body.

"shit," sheridan cursed under her breath. she wasn't sure if she was ready to face yet another interdimensional monster.

steve slumped back into his seat with a scoff. "i swear to god, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?"

"it's not a lizard!" dustin countered.

"i'm with dustin, and steve, you should be, too," dani reasoned, taking a peak at the boy in the backseat over her shoulder. "we've fought... something before-"

"a demogorgon," dustin interjected.

sherrie pursed her lips. "right, a demogorgon; but i'm just saying, who knows what could be out there."