One

Chapter Nine - part four

Steve was in a car when he woke up, his face numb and on fire all at once. Someone was holding an icepack to his head and there was a weight on top of him, Phina. They hadn't had any room left in the car so they had lain her on Steve, her unconscious form curling into him as she slept.
   He looks to his left, a blurry image of a gas can in someone's arms in front of him. He looks up at their face but it is blurrier than the can.
"Nancy," he asks.
The person comes into focus as they look at him, Mike, not Nancy. Steve groans, the full force of pain from when Billy had beaten him coming into focus as well. He brings his hand up to touch his face.
"No, don't touch it," Dustin stops him, grabbing his hand to pull it away from his injured face.
Steve looks over at the boy and Dustin smiles, "hey, buddy, shh, shh. It's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight, buddy, you're okay, you're okay."
Steve groans again when Lucas speaks up, "okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai."
"What's going on," Steve groans.
Max looks back at him and he realizes he's in a car with a thirteen-year-old driver, "oh, my god!"
"Steve, just relax," Dustin says, "she's driven before-"
"Yeah, in a parking lot," Mike says.
"That counts," Lucas argues.
"Oh, my god," Steve mumbles, "oh, my god!"
"They were going to leave you behind," Dustin yells, "I promised that you'd be cool, okay?"
"Woah, woah, woah, woah," Steve groans, "what's going on?"
Max speeds up and Steve screams, "oh, my god. No! Whoa! Stop the car, slow down."
"I told you he'd freak out," Mike yells at Dustin.
"Stop the car," Steve yells.
"I thought Phina would be awake by now to calm him down," Dustin yells.
"Everybody shut up," Max yells, "I'm trying to focus."
Lucas starts yelling, "oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai. Make a left!"
"What?"
"Make a left," he yells.
Max swerves to the left, hitting a mailbox and making everyone in the car scream in terror. Steve wraps his arms around Phina as Max takes a sharp left. The girl slowly starts to wake up at that point, screaming in her ears and nothing else.
"What's happening," she groans, "Steve?"
His screaming goes quiet as he looks down at the girl, "Phina?"
She groans, "stop screaming, my head hurts."
They hit something, a sign to the pumpkin farm. Phina turns her body to look forward. She sees max in the front seat, driving, but it doesn't bother her, what does is that they speed towards the hole Hopper and Phina had gone through.
Steve yells again when they screech to a stop, "hello!"
"Whoa," Dustin laughs.
"Incredible," Mike stutters.
"I told you," Max smirks, "Zoomer."
She pushes her door open and the rest of the kids follow. Once Dustin is out, Phina rolls off of Steve and stumbles out of the car, leaning back in to grab Steve who struggles to get out. He trips when he does, falling down with a groan. Phina helps him back up and props him against the car. They both look back at the kids who are putting on bandanas and goggles.
"Guys," Steve groans, "oh, no. Guys."
Mike grabs a gas can and walks past them and Steve gets louder, "hey, where do you think you're going? What are you, deaf? Hello? We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear! Hey, there's no chance we're going into that hole, all right?"
He stumbles forward and grabs something from Dustin's hands, "this ends right now!"
"Steve," Dustin yells, grabbing his arm, "you're upset, I get it. But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised to keep us safe."
Dustin pulls a bag with Steve's bat in it out of the trunk, "so, keep us safe."
"They're going in there with or without us, Steve," Phina says as she watches them walk into the hole, "I'm going in with or without you."
Steve looks between her and Dustin a few times. He sighs and grabs the bag from Dustin's hands, silently agreeing. Dustin grins widely and grabs bandanas and goggles from the trunk and hands one pair to Steve and holds out the other to Phina.
"I don't need them," she says, "I'm immune to toxins."
Dustin nods, "speaking of which, you were awesome earlier. You looked like a total badass demon chick."
Steve gives her a look, silently asking her what he meant. After that power had released into her, the dam hadn't gone back up. She still felt that power coursing through her.
"Oh," Dustin grins, "when she saw Billy beating the shit out of you, she went full-on badass mode. You should have seen it, vines were growing in her hair, her eyes were black, and she had these weird claws that she stabbed Billy with, it was like he was drugged instantly!"
Steve looked back at her, "since when were you able to do that?"
"I told you, my power grows every day," she smirks, raising her hands to show the talons that took over her nails.
Steve stares at them in amazement and then he smirks up at her, "I'm flattered, you discovered new powers all to save me."
She flares her talons, the toxin she had used on Billy dripping from them, "watch it, Harrington."
Steve carefully grabs her hands to examine the talons, "no, I really am."
Dustin leaves them to go help the rest of the group prepare for their trip into the upsidedown.
Steve chuckles, "it's not every day you have a girl turn into a demon to save you."
Phina smiles, "yeah, I guess not. I just, when I saw you there, blood everywhere, I don't know what came over me. The world went red and it felt like this other part of me, my power, it just took over. I hardly even remember what happened after that. Only that when I regained control, I tried to get to you but I passed out from coming off the adrenaline so fast."
Phina realizes what she was saying. Seeing him in pain had caused her to lose all her senses, the only thing she had wanted was to save him at that moment, to hurt whoever hurt him. She had forgotten everything, including the kids, only thinking about Steve. She realized something else then too.

-1125 words-
   Ohhhh, what did she realize ;) ;) I wonder what it could be!!!
-Morgan