Shadows of the Night •a Stranger Things story•

Goodbye, Buddy

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Will continues to scream a horrifying, nightmarish sound as he struggles for his life to get away from the heat. Jonathan and Nancy shift on their feet, getting antsy with worry. Nothing seems to be improving with Will. He's been crying out in pain for an hour now. There hasn't been any sign of the virus leaving his body.

"It's not working," Jonathan whispers to Nancy. "It's not working. Mom, are you listening to me?"

"Just wait!" she replies, wiping sweat off of her face.

Ronda scrunches her face in worry. "How much longer?"

"Look...look at him!" Jonathan cries out, reaching for the knob on the heat lamp. He's about to turn it down.

Joyce swats his hands away. "Jonathan, wait!"

"You're killing him!"

"No, leave it! Leave it!"

Jonathan tries to reach it again. Joyce stops him, and Lisa calls out to him, gesturing to Will. "Wait, Jonathan, Jonathan! His neck! His neck!"

The group of them look at Will's neck, noticing black veins spreading outward across his cheeks. He's choking on it, suffocating from the heat. The lights in the cabin flicker and a dark, inhuman roar rises from Will's throat. He breaks out of his bonds, trying to free himself.

"No," gasps Joyce, pinning him down again.

Will reaches for her, choking her with a powerful amount of strength. Will grunts with strength and Joyce gasps, struggling. Nine steps forward, and Lisa protests, but he stops her, placing a hand on Will's arm, burning him. Will retracts his arm, snarling at Nine, who doesn't back away. Joyce is released from Will's grip, falling back, gasping for air.

"Get the hell out of my son!" she demands.

The black veins spill out of Will's mouth, forming into a mist and vanishing into the night sky. Nine removes his hand from Will's arm, shrinking back into Lisa's arms. They all pant in shock and relief.

Jonathan reaches for the walkie, ordering Hopper to close the gate. Joyce cradles Will in her arms, who slowly, groggily awakes. Joyce kisses his forehead in relief, and stares at Nine, silently thanking him and Lisa for saving her son.

Steve lights the hub of the tunnels on fire, urging the others to fall back and head for the entrance. The veins wither in pain, lashing out and reaching for oxygen that isn't burning. "Let's go, let's go!"

Chris stumbles, feeling a slight burning sensation in the pits of her stomach. She pushes past the feeling, following the others. Mike trips, falling next to Chris. Veins wrap tightly around his legs and he calls out for help. Everyone crowds around him, yanking on the veins, trying to pull him free.

"Everybody back! Back!" Steve yells. He takes his bat from his backpack, swinging it down violently on the veins. They retract, letting go of Mike. He wraps his arms around Chris's waist and the two of them push forward.

"You good?" she wonders.

"You okay?" asks Steve. Mike nods.

A demo-dog appears growling deeply. Dustin stands, holding his arms out wide to keep everyone else back. Steve places a hand on Dustin's shoulder, ready to pull him back and swing with his bat. Dart is the dog that's staring them all down.

"Dart," breathes Dustin. The beast chatters at them. They all get tense. "Shh. Stop."

Dustin steps forward. Max whispers, "Dustin, get back."

"Trust me, please," he tells her. Dustin moves forward, and Dart crawls toward him. Dustin lowers his mask and takes off his goggles. "Hey. It's me, it's me. It's just your friend, it's Dustin. It's Dustin, all right?" Dustin crouches down in front of Dart. "You remember me? Will you let us pass?"

Dart snarls, opening his mouth wide. Dustin holds up a hand, everyone else flinches back. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?" Dustin reaches in the pocket of his jacket.

"He's insane," whispers Lucas.

"Shut up," hisses Chris.

"I've got our favorite." Dustin slowly unwraps the candy bar for Dart. "See? Nougat. Look at that." He tosses the candy on the ground in front of Dart, who eats it gladly. "Yummy. Here, all right? Eat up, buddy." Dustin waves everyone past him as Dart is distracted by the food. Dustin drops more nougat in front of the beast, who chomps on the food without a care in the world.

"Goodbye, buddy."

They all sprint toward the entrance to the tunnels. Steve ushers them all forward. "Let's go, let's go!"

From every direction possible the monsters roar, echoing around the tunnels. The party panics. Max spins around, hoping to find the source. "What was that?"

The monsters continue to roar. "They're coming," says Mike.

"Run!" Chris yells.

They find the rope, pulling themselves up one by one. Mike and Lucas reach the outside world again, bending down to pull Max up, who is being helped by Steve. Dustin is the last kid left. He climbs the rope, being encouraged by his friends to hurry as the demodogs close in. The monsters shriek, howling as they rush toward Steve and Chris, who embrace each other as the dogs run around them.

Chris squints her eyes shut. "I love you," she breathes out.

"I love you too," he replies, relief flooding through his body as she says those words. It doesn't even matter that the demo-dogs are rushing around their feet. Chris Hopper loves him. And Steve Harrington loves her.

The dogs vanish, leaving Steve and Chris as if they weren't even there.

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