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Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer

   "You're positive that was Dart," Lucas asks.
   The group had been walking for about an hour now, trying to track down those things. They follow the train tracks like they had earlier, keeping close together now that it was dark.
   "Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt," Dustin explains.
   "He was tiny two days ago," Max argues.
   "Well, he's molted three times already," Dustin says.
   "Malted," Steve asks.
   "Molted, Steve," Phina smirks, "molted."
   Dustin nods, "shed his skin to make room for growth, like hornworms."
   Phina walks between Steve and Dustin. Steve leads all of them with a light in his hand. The kids each have a light but Phina elects to keep her hands free in case they encounter one of those creatures.
   "When's he gonna molt again," Max asks.
   "It's gotta be soon," Dustin answers, "when he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so are his friends"
   Phina sighs, "and if you're right, that these things are growing Demogorgon's, then..."
   "He's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve finishes.
   Lucas grabs Dustin's shoulder, stopping him, "wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?"
   "No, what," Dustin denies, taking a step back from Lucas, "no!"
   "What are you talking about," Steve asks, clearly not catching onto the situation, "he ate Mews."
   "Mews? Who's Mews," Max asks.
   "It's Dustin's cat," Steve explains.
   "Steve!"
   Phina sighs, "you aren't the brightest one are you, Harrington?"
   Steve throws up his arms clearly not understanding what he did wrong. Phina just sighs, patting his shoulder and gesturing for him to watch.
   "I knew it! You kept him," Lucas yells.
   "No," Dustin argues, "no. No, I... No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home."
   "Bullshit!"
   "I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay," Dustin yells.
   "Oh," Lucas exclaims, "so now you admit it?"
   "Guys, who cares," Max yells, "we have to go."
   "I care! You put the party in jeopardy," Lucas yells, "you broke the rule of law!"
   "So did you," Dustin screams at him.
   "What?"
   "You told a stranger." Dustin shines his light in Max's eyes. "The truth!"
   Max scoffs, "a stranger?"
   "Guys come on," Phina sighs, "this isn't the time for this."
   "You wanted to tell her too," Lucas yells, ignoring Phina.
   "But I didn't, Lucas, okay," Dustin yells, "I didn't tell her! We both broke the rule of law, okay? So we're even. We're even!"
   Steve suddenly grabs Phina's hand, shining his light over to the right where he heard a noise. She gives him a questioning glance and he just pulls her along with him. They walk away from the fighting kids, Steve shining the light towards the noise.
   "Guys," Steve calls out, getting ignores.
   Phina strains her ears to hear over the kids' yelling, "guys?"
   They ignore her too and Steve rolls his eyes, "guys!"
   The kids jump at Steve's yell, turning to look at the two teenagers. That's when they all hear it, the screeches of the Demogorgon things. The arguing boys glance at each other, forgetting about their argument instantly as the run towards the noise. Steve runs, letting go a Phina's hand so he could grab his bat if he needed to.
   "No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound," Max yells, "hello? Hello?"
   She runs after the group as she realizes that they would leave her behind. Steve and Phina lead the group, Steve shining the light around as they come out of the trees. They stop on top of a large hill, the noise coming from somewhere below them.
   "I don't see him," Dustin says.
   Lucas lifts his binoculars to his eyes, searching around for them, "it's the lab."
   Phina grabs Steve's hand again, panic flaring through her at the mention of the place. Steve looks down at her, squeezing her hand to comfort her. It works, just holding his hand calms her fast beating heart.
   "They were going back home," Lucas continues.
   The kids don't hesitate to start walking down the hill, carefully placing each foot so they wouldn't fall. Steve starts to follow them but Phina stays rooted in her place. Her hand slips from his grip.
   "Phina," Steve asks, turning back to her.
   "I can't go down there, Steve," she whispers, "I can't."
   The way her voice cracks breaks him, "I know, Phina. I know."
   "No you don't," she snaps, her eyes tearing up as she sinks to her knees, "you don't know, no one does. You don't know the horrors that were in that place."
   "Hey, hey," Steve shushes, kneeling down in front of her, "I know what you went through was awful, and that I could never begin to imagine how you feel, but I promise you, Phina. I promise that nothing bad will happen to you, I won't let it."
   "I can't," she cries, hiding her face in her hands, "I can't, I can't, I can't."
   "Hey," Steve whispers, "Phina, look at me. Look at me!"
   He grabs her wrists, pulling her hands away from her face. She looks into his eyes, the emerald standing out against the now red whites of her eyes. He stares back as he takes her hands and places them over his heart.
   "I swear on my life, Phina," he whispers, "that I will protect you till my very last breath. I won't let anything or anyone hurt you in there, do you understand me? I will protect you."
   She believed him. She believed him as she felt his heart beat beneath her palms. It stutters when she nods, weakly smiling at him in a thank you. He stands, taking her hands in his so that he can help her stand. She breathes deeply, steadying her racing heart. She could do this, she could do this because she had him next to her.
   "Are you guys coming or are you just going to stare into each other's eyes all night," Dustin yells at them.
   They jump away from each other, their hands falling to their sides. Phina misses the warmth of him instantly.
   "Shut up, asshole," Steve yells, his face going warm.
   Phina sniffs, wiping away her tears, "we should probably catch up to them before they do something stupid."
   Steve smiles, "yeah."
   "Yeah," Phina says, her face also heating up.

   They had made it down the hill and now walked through the dense forest that surrounds Hawkins Lab. Once Steve and Phina had caught up to the kids, they took the lead. Phina kept one hand running over the trees to calm her, the other, in Steve's. When the shrieking noise from the Lab grew closer, meaning they were closer, Steve would gently squeeze her hand, cooling the panic that raced through her. Every time he did, she remembered his promise, his vow to keep her safe. She made a vow too, to herself. If something was to go wrong, if it came to it, she wouldn't let Steve get hurt to protect her.
   They were close now, the loud shrieking coming from their right as they made their way to the front of the fence.
   "Hey," someone yells, "Who's there? Who's there?"
   Phina grips onto Steve's hand tighter, grabbing Steve's light from his hand and shining it in that direction as Steve raises his bat. Steve pushes Phina behind him as they come out of the trees.
   "Steve!"
   Phina recognizes the voices then.
   "Nancy," Steve asks.
   "Jonathan," Dustin says.
   Phina walks out from behind Steve, drawing Nancy's and Jonathan's attention to her, to her and Steve's entwined hands. When Phina sees her sister's eyes land on their hands she pulls away.
   "What are you doing here," Nancy asks as she and Jonathan walk towards the group.
   "What are you doing here," Steve fires back, trying not to look affected when Phina's hand falls from his.
   "We're looking for Mike and Will," Nancy explains.
   Phina's heart stops in her chest, her eyes going wide.
   "They're not in there, are they," Dustin asks.
   "We're not sure," Nancy says.
   "Why," Jonathan asks.
   The Demogorgon things roar in answer, drawing everyone's attention to the building. Phina desperately wants to grab Steve's hand but she stands her ground. Instead, she grabs the emerald charm at the base of her neck.
   "That's why," she whispers.

-1283 words-
   Here it is, the final stretch, are you prepared??? I really wanted to show how Phina was affected by Hawkins Lab and how Steve helped her deal with it ;) Did you like that part? I'm so excited for what I have planned for the future chapters!!

-Morgan