Steve Harrington hated to say this but he missed her. He missed the way she chuckled at the stupid things he'd do to get her attention. He missed the way she would mock her brother and his friends but if anyone else were to do it, they would be dead...
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"It's close to midnight Something evil's lurking from the dark Under the moonlight You see a sight that almost stops your heart"
Thriller By Michael Jackson (1982)
Steve and Valerie trudged through the forest with the kids trailing behind them, telling each other theories about the weird animal. Valerie had been told the full story about Dart and how he had not told the guys that he had kept it in secret. She kept her mouth shut as to not rat her brother out to his friend and crush. "You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asked as Steve and Valerie kept quiet and listened in on the conversation. "Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." To be honest, Valerie hadn't even noticed his patterns. She was more focused on the impending death that had been coming their way.
"He was tiny two days ago," Max questioned, obviously not informed of the way that Dart had shed his skin. "Well, he's molted three times already." Dustin sounded as if he was growing more and more annoyed at the pestering questions coming from all around him. "Malted?" Steve asked. Valerie knew that Steve wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch but he at least had good intentions now. Valerie soft patted his shoulder before turning back to the path."Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms." Valerie explained causing Steve to nod and smile at her. "When's he gonna molt again?"
"It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends." Valerie sighed and ran her hand through her hair as the full weight of the situation fell onto her shoulder. This was worse than the goddamn Demogorgon. There was more than one and they were running freely through the streets. "Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve commented causing Lucas to put his hand on Dustin's shoulder and spin him around.
"Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?" Valerie's eyes widened as she looked at Steve, him just furrowing his eyebrows at her. "No, what? No." Dustin lied as he shook his head with his eyes wide. Valerie had memorized his lying face so that if he ever did lie to her, she could instantly tell. "What are you talking about? He ate Mews." Steve commented again causing Valerie to punch his shoulder swiftly. "Steve!" Valerie glared at him causing him to put his hands up and take a step back, realizing that he probably shouldn't have said that.
"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asked, probably starting to get sick of being out of the loop about everything. "It's Dustin's cat." Valerie hit him in his stomach causing her and him to groan as Valerie hit his abs. "Steve!" Dustin shouted at Steve causing him to sigh and look up at the trees. "I knew it! You kept him!" Steve looked at Valerie, apologetically causing her to nod at him as they watched the boys bicker."No! No. No, I- No, I- He missed me. He wanted to come home." Valerie bit her lip to keep from laughing at the two boys arguing. It was just like old times. "Bullshit!"
