Welcome Home (Multiple Parts)

Part 1

She flicked the lighter, sparking the bowl for one last hit. Holding her breath, she passed it on to the next person. What was his name? Sean? Who cares. It was her first weekend back home and she just needed to let loose one last time before being thrown back into school. She had been away for the entire year as part of her school's new foreign exchange student program. Sure, she was kind of happy to be home and with her family, but nothing could ever beat exploring the city of Madrid in the middle of the night. So here she was, at some random kids house with people she hadn't seen since middle school, smoking weed with the stereotypical stoners in the bathroom while everyone else drank their livers to death throughout the rest of the house.
She sat cramped on the edge of the bathtub with the guy possibly known as Sean. Another guy was awkwardly sitting on the toilet, two girls sat Indian-style on the floor, and someone (wrapped up in a blanket to where she couldn't see who it was) was passed out in the bathtub. Loud music was mixing with pieces of conversation going on outside and inside the bathroom. Possibly-Sean and Toilet Dude were having some sort of conversation about another party they went to while the girls just sat on the floor and giggled.
As he was talking, Possibly-Sean placed his hand on her knee and rubbed up and down as if absentmindedly, but she could see him looking at her from the corner of his eye. Taking that as an uncomfortable attempt at a 'move', she cleared her throat and stood up and straightened her skirt. After awkwardly maneuvering her way over Toilet Dude and climbing over the giggling girls, she headed toward the drink table. Mixed drink, or shot? The better question was, should she stay or should she go?
"Having a good time?" the voice came out of nowhere, causing her to spill the shot down her chin and to almost pee herself. Wiping her face, she turned and saw Possibly-Sean. He was uncomfortably close and had a shot in his hand.
"Umm.. I guess. House full of people I haven't seen since I had braces and zits? Insanely fun." She half laughed as he threw his head back, swallowing his shot. He flashed her a toothy grin and placed his hand on her forearm. Did she just blush or did it just get insanely hot in there?
"Wait, you go to Hawkins? I thought you were someone's friend!" he laughed a little too loudly.
"Nope. Just Y/N Henderson." She shrugged, stepping back a bit. She did not want to flirt with some random dude at a house party, let alone hook up with one. Which is where she had a feeling that is where he wanted it to go...
"Henderson! No way!" he said, a little too enthusiastically, leaning in closer. "We had Wilkerson's English class together in 8th grade! You don't even look how I remember you!" Probably because she not only got her braces off, but also lost 20 pounds and wears makeup as dark as night. Not the uncomfortable, vibrant colored clothes and gym sneakers that she used to sport every day.
"Yep..." and she had no other words. His hand was now on her side and slowing sliding south. If there was any time to leave, it was then. So she turned on her heel and just walked out the door. No 'goodbye', no 'see ya later'; nothing. Just out the door and toward town.
The house she had been at was a little way out of town, about a thirty-minute walk to the edge of it. Which was fine because her family lived in a little neighborhood toward the edge. Nothing too far, but she wished she had asked someone for a ride because there was absolutely no light to show the way except for the stars. That, on top of it being a freezing night in the middle of fall when all she had on was her black jean skirt, stockings, black tank top, and a thin jacket. She was ready to be home and in bed, where her warm comforter and fluffy cat were waiting on her.
After about ten minutes of walking an even colder breeze blew around her, she got a sense that someone was watching her. Speeding up, she almost fell. Damn platform heels. She took them off and began a slight jog, glancing all around her. After a few minutes of that she began to hear what sounded like giant footsteps behind her. After quickening her pace she even convinced herself that she heard something like growling or snarling. Why the hell did she choose tonight to smoke?! Now she didn't know if an angry dog was chasing her or if she was just high as a kite. But she kept running; she didn't want to find out if she was actually being chased. But, given the sound of the footsteps getting quicker and closer, she didn't want to stop to find out.
Up about a hundred or so feet ahead was a fork in the road that she recognized and immediately darted into the woods. Her house wasn't too much farther and she knew a trail through the woods that would be much quicker than following the roads. But damn, those twigs killed her feet! After a bit she didn't hear anything behind her, and against her gut feeling she slowed down a bit to check. Nothing. No footsteps, no growling.
She leaned up against a tree to catch her breath, and when she calmed down enough started back on the trail. How thick could she get? She was just high and nothing had ever been chasing her. Good thing her parents and brother were asleep because if not she would have a hard time explaining her dirty face, ripped clothes, and bloody feet. She couldn't help but laugh at herself. She was such a goddamn mess it was almost funny. Almost.
The further she walked the more she felt the pain in her feet. All she wanted to do was to stop walking on them but she had to get home; she was so tired... Gosh, she was so annoyed with herself. First smoking, then her outfit choice, running from something invisible, and now walking through these stupid woods. Through mentally yelling at herself she noted the buzzing. Weren't cicadas supposed to hibernate or die after summer or something? A few minutes later she wanted to slap herself. That wasn't buzzing. It was growling.
But this time it was coming from in front of her.
How?! There is no way the dog could have known which way she was going to go! Leaving her shoes behind, she turned around and sprinted back toward the road before it could rip her to pieces. It was so much faster than any dog she knew of. Before she knew it, it felt like it was right on her heels. She could see the road, just a bit further!!! Relief washed over her as she realized that she could possibly lose it at the road. Her false confidence took over and she allowed herself to look back toward it. Big mistake.
That was no dog. It looked like a giant, seven-foot man. Only, with no face. It actually looked like its head wrapped around like flower petals. Its's skin looked burnt and almost greasy in the little starlight that shone through the trees. What the hell did she smoke earlier?!!!
She sprinted full force toward the road, not daring to stop this time; it was so close! Right as soon as she reached the road a car flew by, honking its horn and causing her to have to run right next to the road in the mud. She allowed herself one last glace backwards. Even bigger mistake.
Right as she looked back the thing let out a huge screech, its petal head opening to show tiny, menacing teeth and disgusting slime-like slobber that made her stomach churn. Snapping her head back in front of her, she tried again to speed up, but her foot got caught on a rock and she went down. She screamed as the thing lunged toward her, the last thing she saw being its open head mere inches from her own face.
And then it all went black.
She felt like she was floating, but she had no idea where. Everything was black yet she was having these vison type things. Memories? Yeah, those are called memories. How could she forget? Remembering what happened right before she blacked out she screamed. But she didn't.... She opened her mouth to scream and used as much force as she could, but no sound came out. Wait... Was her mouth open? She couldn't tell... Her heartbeat quickened, or at least she thought it did. Where was her heart? She knew her heartbeat had started racing but couldn't feel her own heart in her body. She couldn't feel anything!
The image of the petal headed monster popped up in her head, terrifying her further. She remembered it grabbing her arms and a sharp pain in her stomach. Then darkness again. What could have been minutes or hours later another image popped up, the sun rising. Was this what she was really seeing? Why couldn't she move? Or, even more alarming, why couldn't she feel anything? The darkness came again for an amount of time she, again, didn't understand. A face was over her, its mouth moving as if saying something, or maybe singing?
Her point of view changed and she now saw the bottom half of the face, its mouth still moving. Darkness flickered back for a few seconds before the face returned, and this time she could tell she was being laid into the backseat of a car. Had she been carried? The face's mouth was singing to her again. Or maybe talking, or just moving. She couldn't hear... A few minutes of darkness came again and then she saw brighter light. The sun was rising higher still. But... She had started walking home around midnight, 1 am at the latest. Had she been gone all night? On the side of the road, or in the woods even? What in the hell was happening!
The trees were moving, so she assumed the car was moving. All of a sudden she felt a hand holding hers; a warm hand. It was comforting knowing that someone was, she hoped, trying to comfort her after all that. She tried to say a thank-you but, again, nothing came out. The moving trees became moving houses, then shops and buildings. And soon enough, the car stopped. She couldn't see the sky anymore, but her view changed again. She saw a car window, but not her body. Was her head tilted backward? What was the face doing?? She saw the window get further away, then the car door (no one closed it, it stood wide open), then they must've went through some automatic doors because she saw them close. The darkness made its way back for a few more minutes before she got another vision. Was that a ceiling? If it was, it was going fast. Was she going forward or backward? The face's hand was holding hers again, she knew it by its warmth. All of a sudden many faces were above her, and her savior's hand slipped away. Now she was alone and terrified. The last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed her again was an extremely bright light. Giving in and embracing the darkness, she heard the first words she must've heard in hours before passing out.
"She's lucky he found her."