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VALENTINA WAS RELUCTANT to join the others at the window while they all searched for D'Artagnon. She remained seated in the front of the bus behind the steering wheel, but turned her body so she could still peer out into the foggy junkyard through the glass bus doors.
It didn't matter if she was mad at the two boys inside the bus, even though she still was. All she or anyone could focus on was not dying. She wanted to retrieve her axe from the floor but didn't bother. Getting up would ruin the illusion of her voluntary silence.
Lucas shouted down to the three of them, "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten- ten o'clock!"
Valentina followed where Steve was pointing to the left of the bus a few dozen feet away, and locked eyes on the small Demogorgon making its way into the clearing.
"What's he doing?" Dustin asked. Valentina resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the boy's choice of pronouns. It wasn't a 'he,' that thing was a monster.
"I don't know," Steve responded.
The air grew heavier with every second that passed. Dart only took a couple steps closer toward the bus, but he never reached the pile of meat that they'd left as bait. Valentina could hear her heart thumping in her eardrums like the ticking of a bomb. Something felt off.
"He's not taking the bait," Steve pointed out. "Why's he not taking the bait?"
Valentina watched the monster freeze, as if it could hear the two boys talking. She felt glued to her seat, too afraid to move and possibly set it off.
"Maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin suggested.
"Maybe he's sick of cow," Steve said. He pulled away from the window then but never took his eyes away from Dart. Something in him had changed at his and Dustin's realization. He cursed under his breath and tore his eyes away from Dart.
Valentina found it in herself to break eye contact with the monster too and looked to Steve, but he was already looking at her. She recognized the look on his face immediately.
"What are you doing?" Valentina shuddered, her eyes growing wide with frightful suspicion. She didn't miss the bobbing of his adam's apple as he swallowed like there were needles in his throat.
When Steve didn't answer, Dustin shouted again, "Steve, what are you doing!"
Steve looked away from Valentina to the window, locating Dart in the same position he'd been since the last time he looked. The blood was rushing to his ears, blocking out the cries from Dustin pleading with him to not do whatever he was about to do. He ignored him and looked back to Valentina.
He still hadn't said anything, and she couldn't decipher what that meant. But she knew that look. And she hated it.
When his eyes softened at the intensity of hers, she knew what was about to happen. Steve always took charge; it was a strength and a weakness. Sometimes it was out of his selfish ego to protect himself from letting others see him vulnerable. But sometimes, it was altruistic and meant to protect others.
