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BREAKING INTO THE POLICE STATION was easy enough. The officer at the front desk was too preoccupied with his playing cards and whatever news broadcast he was listening to on the radio to catch the three teenagers sneaking past him, and they were grateful for it. The weapons box was located in Hopper's office, which he had left unlocked when they departed from the station in haste earlier that day. On the way out, Nancy made sure to grab a fire extinguisher to put the fire out later.
It was nearing midnight by the time the three of them returned to the Byers house, where they immediately got to work screwing the Christmas lightbulbs onto the netting. Jonathan took charge with nailing the bear trap into the floor in the hallway, as well as hammering nails to the baseball bat. Nancy added ammunition to her gun so that it was fully loaded, and Amara sharpened her crowbar and poured a stream of gasoline from the trap into the kitchen. Lastly, they opened the trap and added a yo-yo to it that they placed on Will's chair as a signal for when the Demogorgon was in the trap.
Once they were ready, Jonathan grabbed two kitchen knives for himself and Nancy to inflict wounds that would lure the Demogorgon. Amara had agreed to stand guard in the event that the Demogorgon arrived immediately after detecting blood from another dimension, her newly polished crowbar raised in expectation.
"Remember... " Jonathan went over the plan once more, ensuring that Nancy and Amara remembered everything.
"Straight into Will's room," Nancy finished, "And – "
"Don't step on the trap," Jonathan reminded them.
"Wait for the yo-yo to move," Amara recited.
"Then... " Jonathan flicked his lighter for effect. "All right. You ready?"
"Ready."
They both lifted their non-dominant hands and brought the knives against their skin. "On three," Jonathan said. "One... two... "
Upon noticing the discomfort on Nancy's face, Jonathan stopped counting. "You don't have to do this – "
"Jonathan, stop talking."
"I'm just saying, you don't have to – "
"Three," Nancy interrupted Jonathan and they both dragged the knives across the palms of their hands, wincing as blood bubbled to the surface of their skin.
Nancy and Jonathan left a trail of blood on the living room carpet as they retreated to the couch to wrap each other's wounds. Amara remained standing with her crowbar lifted, but so far nothing had disturbed the silence. Jonathan finished wrapping Nancy's hand with gauze and now she was doing the same to him. As Amara peeked at them out of the corner of her eye, she noted how much they looked like a couple even if Nancy still had some feelings for Steve.
