The Haunting - Stranger Things [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

16 - The Other Side

The tension between Nancy and Jonathan has been driving me insane. Not to mention that the tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Maybe several large knives. The two have been keeping me in the middle while we've been walking. They refuse to make eye contact with each other, meaning they've resorted to only shooting dirty looks when the other isn't looking.

Each of us have our own flashlights since night had fallen over two hours ago. I've tried several times to start up some kind of conversation, except they only said one word each every time I tried. After a few tries, I ended up giving up. They were being ridiculous.

They both took it a little too far. Nancy only called Jonathan a 'pretentious creep' because that's what everyone else at school thinks he is. They don't see the real him. As much as I did agree with Jonathan, he shouldn't have taken it so far with what he said about my sister. He was right, though. She's been pretending to be someone that she isn't. How could she think that this is who she really is?

Ever since the three of us have been together, the real version of Nancy has been showing instead of the person she becomes when Steve is around. He brings out the worst in my sister. Even Jonathan noticed that my opinions don't matter to Nancy. He was right about everything he said about me. 

That night, I was so upset and hurt that my own sister wouldn't listen to me. How she said all of that to me and then didn't even care that I left. Nancy said she wished that whatever took Will would take me next. That's one of the things that hurt the most. 

Speaking of my sister, she slows down to a stop. Her head is angled to the side and her face full of concentration. I stop walking and stand a little bit in front of her. 

"What," Jonathan stands beside me, staring at my sister. "Are you tired?"

"Shut up." Nancy orders. 

I scan the area of the woods we are in, confused as to why she is acting like she heard something. I block out our breaths, focusing on the noises around us. Faintly, I hear a low whimper somewhere nearby.

"What?" Jonathan holds the bat against his shoulder. 

I hold up a hand to him, hushing him. "I heard something." Nancy and I share a look.

The whimpers continue. This time, Jonathan is able to hear them. Hesitantly, we begin to follow the faint noises. We watch our footsteps, careful not to step on any small twigs. Our flashlights shine over a wounded, bleeding deer on its side. A soft gasp floats off of my lips as I take in the deer's bloody body. The pained whimpers continue from the deer.

"Oh, God." I breathe, immediately feeling sympathy for the animal. I hesitantly inch closer to the deer. With the flashlight still in my hand, I lower myself down in a crouch beside the wounded deer. "It's been hit by car."

Nancy frowns, crouching down beside me, "We can't just leave it." 

Carefully, I reach out to touch the leg closest to me with my fingertips gently brushing over the fur. The deer's head barely lifts off of the ground, which only breaks my heart more. 

Nancy sadly peers down at the gun in her hand. Her fingers press against the handle of the gun, shakily pointing the barrel at the deer. Soft whimpers float off of the poor animal's mouth. 

"I'll do it." Jonathan holds his hand out for the gun. 

I glimpse at Jonathan over my shoulder. "I thought you said-"

"I'm not nine anymore." Jonathan whispers back.

Nancy hesitantly hands the gun over to him. The three of us stand back up. Jonathan points the barrel of the gun at the deer, cocking it. I angle my head away from the deer, not wanting to see it be killed. It was for the best. The deer is clearly in a lot of pain and it's going to die anyways. The poor deer doesn't deserve to suffer anymore.