The Disappearances ➙ Steve Harrington [01]( complete )

o. something in the woods

o. something in the woods

Jackie Byers hated the cold.

She had repeated this softly to herself as she walked down the soft, gravel road just outside of the energy plant, a facility she was sure was a secret government facility with how locked and protected the place actually was.

Her bike had gotten a flat tire a few minutes back; with the inability to contact anyone, and already being half way home, she decided to walk the rest of the way. Her teeth continued to clack together as she stopped on to the side of the road, trying to pull her jean jacket closer to her body to incubate more heat for the duration of her walk home.

"Damn..." Jackie cursed to herself when her chattering teeth mixed a beat in an echo that was sent through the trees. Although the source of the echoing did jump from her lips, the brunette's heart still leapt into her throat in fear.

The road passing the energy plant had no light; the last street light still dimly seen behind her in front of Mr. Dominguez's yard, illuminating the pitched, pink flamingo he had placed over the summer and had gotten to lazy to pick up and put in the creepy shed out behind his house.

With no lights she relied on the moon for rays of some visual aid; able to see the signs on the fence, the shadows of the trees, and the hill she would have to climb to reach her house.

Jackie's head shook when her shoulders began to ache, the straps of the backpack digging into them and rubbing harshly with every rise and fall of her shoulders as she huffed, "Alright then..." she shook the backpack off to let it fall to the ground, kicking the bike stand down, allowing it to stand alone as she took a moment to breath.

With her heart slowing from its fast patter she listened to the forest around her; but it was quiet, so quiet that even the sound of the crickets was absent from the nightly air.

Her eyebrows crinkled down along with her frowning face, wondering why it was so quiet in this part of Hawkins, where the animals were able to run around and frolic without the worry of being hit or hunted.

Suddenly the distinct snap of a stick broke the solemn silence, Jackie's head whipping from her view of the right to the left with her eyes wide in surprise. Her breathing went from deep, slow breaths to quick shallow ones when the snaps continued, as if something large was walking slowly to the left of where she stood.

She gulped, hoping the rising bile in her throat would go down. Her knuckles burning white from gripping the handlebars of her pale, baby blue bike so tight, as if it was her security blanket.

With the sudden urge to call out she took in a shallow gulp of air, "Hello?"

Her voice, although seeming she was screaming out into the forest, was just above a normal tone. Following her asking, a growl admitted from the same direction the walking had started from, as the tree directly across from where she stood shook slightly.