𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑 , steve harrington ⁽ ¹ ⁾

20; tunnels in the trees

THE WOODS WERE DARK AND COLD. SHE'D BEEN STUPID ENOUGH NOT TO BRING A FLASHLIGHT, AND WAS STUMBLING AROUND IN THE DARK. Sar had cut her arm along one of the branches when she fell over a log. Stupid, she cursed herself. A crow called somewhere above. Fog rose from the ground like the night when she'd first discovered the monster.

Sar's boots scrabbled across a wet log. The moonlight cast only a slight light in front of her. Sar continued on, following where the signal had come from. She had her gun tucked in her back pocket — her hands itching to linger on it. Sar fought against it. What if she panicked and shot someone? Then again... what if she took too long to pull it out? Sar brushed away the thoughts. I'm not going to run into the monster, she told herself, or the scientists. I'm not. Then she shivered. Damn, I shouldn't have come out here alone. Should have got Steve or something. Her eyes darted around as small nocturnal animals ran through the undergrowth.

She saw a light ahead between the trees. Sar's scramble slowed to a walk, eyebrows furrowing. She stepped carefully now. She was almost near the border of the lab now, and it put her on edge. She peeked through the thick tree line. But there was just a lone boy standing there, a single flashlight in hand. His head was snapping around as he looked for something in the woods. Sar lowered her eyebrows and walked forward carefully. "Hello?" she asked, stepping out of the trees.

She must have startled the boy, because he jumped about a foot high and whipped around to shine his flashlight in her face. She blinked, blinded. "Who are you?" The flashlight stung her eyes and she reached out to turn it away from her. She was still blinking as the boy stared at her.

"I'm Sar. Who are you?"

The boy was looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm Jonathan."

"Jonathan as in Jonathan Byers?" she asked. He nodded. "Oh shit. It really is all connected. I heard you calling for Nancy."

Jonathan raised his eyebrows. "You heard me?" He turned back to scan his flashlight around the surrounding trees as Sar nodded. "She disappeared. We were looking for... for — uh..."

"For Will? Or the monster?" she questioned.

The boy spun back towards her. Confusion was spread along his face. "You— you know about the monster?"

"Yeah. We could say that," she said. She looked around. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. We separated briefly and when I came back, she was gone. But I heard her."

Sar raised her eyebrows. "You heard her? Where?"

"Right here—"

"Jonathan!" Sar whipped around at the sound. The cry was high and frightened, and undoubtedly Nancy Wheeler's. She couldn't spot the girl between the trees.

"Nancy? Nancy! Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Jonathan! I'm right here!"

"Nancy!" Jonathan yelled again. The both of them were spinning around, hearing her cry loud and clear.

Sar looked around. "Nancy!" she joined in. "Nancy, where are you!"

"I'm right—" A small scream sounded out, echoing around them. Sar's hair whipped around as she snapped her head to look for the girl. She and Jonathan were back-to-back. It sounded so close...

Jonathan was turning. The flashlight shone between the trees. "I can't see her."

"She sounds right here. But I don't..." Sar was looking around. "Nancy! Nancy!"

"Sar? Jonathan!" The voice was echoing as if it was right next to them.

Sar turned back to Jonathan. "Where is she?" Her gaze fixed past him and at a pulsing hole at the base of a tree. It was like the one she'd crawled through, but smaller, and in a different place. There was a distinct, low groaning sound that sent shivers up her spine. Sar pointed. "There." Jonathan turned around, shining his flashlight at it. Sar got onto her knees to look in it. Jonathan joined her.

"Nancy?" he whispered. "Nancy! Follow my voice!"

The two stayed there for a few moments, on their hands and knees. Then Sar exchanged a glance with Jonathan. "Should I go in after her?" She shuffled closer to the entrance, ready to crawl inside.

"Nancy?"

A hand shot through the goo, making Sar toppled back onto the ground. "Jonathan! Sar!" Sar didn't hesitate. She shot forward and grabbed a hold of Nancy's hand, sticky and wet with slime and blood. Jonathan joined her, clutching onto Nancy's wrist. The two of them pulled back.

Nancy pulled the top half of her body through. Her face was smeared with blood, no doubt from the travel through the goo, and she was dripping with slime. She dragged her other arm through and Jonathan took this one. She was straining against the clutches of the goo, pressing her elbows against the side of the tree. Sar stayed with her hands clutching onto Nancy's. "Pull her through!" She could hear the Demogorgon's growl in the background, that low warbling sound. She was pushing off the side of the tree, boots sliding against bark.

With one last pull, Nancy Wheeler fell from the tunnel. Nancy toppled on top of Jonathan. The two of them crashed back into the ground. Nancy was sobbing against his shoulder as he wrapped her arms around her. "Hey, I've got you. It's okay." She tucked her arms under his. The brunette was still crying. Sar placed a comforting hand on Nancy's back, before she turned back to the gate. The wood was sliding closed behind her.

"Well I guess now we know why there are teleporting portals," she whispered to herself. 

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