Scars

Scars of Confusion

The room was full of nurses and doctors before Eddie or Max could even react.

The scream from Billy was inhuman. It wasn't audible but it shook the souls of anyone who heard it which seemed to be half the hospital.

Billy's pupils were wide and his canines were sharper than they were before. He was also fighting to get up until one of the doctors jabbed him with a needle, even though he struggled for a while his eyes slowly rolled back and he was out cold.

This left Max shaking because it brought back the memories of the Byers house again.

Eddie wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Wayne had run in when everything started and was now arguing with the doctor about drugging his son without permission.

"He has PTSD. His sister has PTSD and this could make it worse" Wayne growled as he tried to calm himself.

The doctor just shrugged and soon the room emptied out but not before they locked him to the bed.

Wayne went over and wrapped an arm around Max and said "I will fix this there's no reason for all this".

Max turned around, wrapped her hands around him and cried into Wayne's chest.

Wayne rubbed her back and just let her cry. He placed his empty hand on Eddie's shoulder and gave him a look telling him he had this one.

Slowly The Party shuffled in wanting to know what was going on.

Dustin went over to Max and kissed the back of her head and said "We are all here for you Max".

Unwrapping herself from Dustin she turned around and flung her arms around Dustin who just held onto her tightly and let her cry.

Over at Benny's things were just as crazy.

Everyone was frozen in place from Steve's silent scream. The coldness running up and down their spines just wouldn't let up.

Once Robin could move she reached over to Steve who turned her way and what she saw made her back up.

His pupils were wide and darting side to side and his canines were long and sharp-looking.

The growl he made sent shivers back up Robin and Nancy's spine.

Suddenly Steve was on all fours and dashing with inhuman speed toward the door.

"Someone stop him please" Nancy shouted and Benny grabbed a gun pointed at Steve and pulled the trigger making Nancy and Robin both scream at the same time.

Steve stumbled around and let a low growl as he fall over unconscious on the floor.

The girls ran over and noticed a dart in Steve's arm.

"Can't be too careful being this close to the woods" Benny said smiling and headed back into the kitchen.

Thankfully Hopper walked in at that exact moment and just said "your right Benny, something fucked up is going on" and with that scooped up Steve and imprisoned the girls to follow.

"Robin you get in the back and I will lay Steve down after and Nancy can ride Shotgun," Hopper said as he directed the two girls.

As soon as everyone was settled they headed back to Hopper's place.

The ride was silent except for the occasional growling noises from Steve.

When they arrived Joyce came out and while Hopper got Steve settled on the couch Joyce set the girls up with a drink on the opposite one.

Hopper and Joyce sat down in the chairs across from the kids and just watched Steve.

Nancy had enough. "Do you know what the fuck is wrong with him?" she said as she slammed her drink down on the table causing the coffee to spill as she got on her feet.

Robin stood up but all she did was  rub Nancy's back trying to calm her down but nothing was working.

She was just as angry but willing to hear out Joyce and Hopper without judgment.

"Sit your ass down young lady. First of all that is no way to talk to adults and second I will explain everything as soon as your ass is back on that couch" Hopper said, staring Nancy down from his chair.

Nancy groaned but sat back down with Robin following suit.

"Now we are just waiting for the others to get here and then all will be explained" Hopper said, taking a swig from his beer.

After an hour of uncomfortable silence there was a knock at the door and handing her beer to Hopper Joyce got up and answered the door.

She stepped aside and in came The Party, Wayne and Eddie, Ted Karen and Henry holding a sleeping Holly.

They each grabbed an extra chair from the kitchen except for Dustin who ran over to Steve.

"What's wrong with him" Dustin asked as he brushed Steve's hair from his face.

Joyce came over and guided Dustin to the others and then rejoined Hopper and her beer.

Henry cleared his throat and said "no one is to get too close while they are in this state. I have sent some people to the hospital who can handle Billy meanwhile Joyce and Hopper will take care of Steve.

Being the grandson of Brenner, Billy has special powers and was tested on.

Steve was a test subject like El but instead of focusing on the individual Brenner wanted to tie the fates of two together to double their power.

Well, that's what he did but it blew up in his face when they made an emotional attachment and was about to kill everyone including  Brenner.

Once they were able to contain them Billy was sent off with Neil and Steve was sent home with his father.

Now here we are. Their connection is working off their emotions and right now they're at odds and are channeling the creature that both have seen and that would be a demogorgon so yes, right now their mindset is that of a demogorgon and they will kill anyone who gets between them".

To prove his point to the skeptical he went over and placed his hand near Steve's mouth and suddenly Steve was up on all fours growling and when Henry tried to grab him he bit down hard making Henry recoil in pain.

He pulled a needle out of him bag and stuck it into Steve's leg putting him back in the sleeping state he was in before.

As he held his hand up everyone gasped. Bone and cartilage could be easily seen.

Ted got up with urgency  and wrapping his hands around Henry's without actually touching he started a swirl of water that danced in and out of the wound while fire wrapped itself through working with the water to heal the wounds. When done there was a nasty scar but atleast the wound was closed.

Ted put a hand on Henry's shoulder and said "next time just throw a piece of raw meat or one of Billy's shirts near instead of your hand".

Henry smiled and nodded and as Ted got him sat back down Henry said "the reason this works is because it's imbued with an agent created in Brenners lab. The only problem is it wears off within hours or when someone gets way too close. Dustin was lucky that his hand didn't get anywhere Steve could smell him or things would have gotten bad".

"How long will they be in this state?" Dustin asked, tears forming on the edges of his eyes.

Max wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly and awaited the answer herself.

Taking a sip from his beer Hopper said "as far as we understand it they have to fix what's broken. They have to work fully through the pain of a year ago".

All eyes of The Party turned to Hopper in shock that he knew anything about it but he offered no explanation as he took another drink. 

As the group in Hopper and Joyce's living room sat in silent contemplation there were two young men staring each other down in a warped dimension.