𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 -- s. harrington

→ fourteen.

STEVE STEPPED OUTSIDE of the bus, and Andrea wasn't too far behind. Steve could feel Andrea's presence behind him and he was thankful that he would have a partner not only to have by his side through the whole night, but someone to help him fight whatever he was about to face.

          Both teens held their trusty weapons in their hands so tightly that their knuckles turned white and their hands were cramping before they even stepped out of the bus. Their bats were raised as if they were about to make a game-winning hit and their eyes were focused on the monster lurking in the fog in front of them. Steve twirled the bat in his hand, careful not to hit Andrea but quickly tightened his grip again as he began walking toward the shadowy figure which still hadn't moved. Andrea loosened her grip and then tightened it again, swallowing down the tight knot of nerves that formed in her throat as soon as she stepped off the bus just seconds ago — and part of her wanted to yank Steve back into the bus, back to safety until morning so they could see everything around them clearly.

          "Andrea, if we don't make it out of this, just know that you're one of my favourite people in the whole world and you've always been my best friend," Steve said softly and glanced over his shoulder at the blonde girl behind him who furrowed her eyebrows and glared at him. "What?"

          "Don't you dare get mushy with me, Harrington," she snapped and shook her head, her eyes darting back to the figure. "If you die, I'll be right there with you."

          "Going down fighting?" Steve asked and looked back at the thing that Dustin and the others had called Dart. He felt awful for asking such a stupid question to Andrea who was clearly fearing for her life and didn't want to think or hear about death. He opened his mouth to apologize but was cut off by her voice.

          "Going down fighting," she replied and swallowed another lump that had formed in her throat. Andrea's eyes were tearing up out of fear and her hands were becoming clammy. She was in no position to fight but she had to try her best for Steve and for the kids and for her sister and her father who would be crushed if something happened to her. At this point, she wasn't sure if she was fighting for Steve and the kids or for her family who had lost too much already. She wasn't sure if her father could deal with another loss and Valorie would certainly blame herself for not being there to convince her sister to stay inside the bus.

          The closer Steve and Andrea got to the monster, the more nervous and scared Steve got. He raised the bat up a little higher toward his shoulder and whistled at the thing, hoping to catch its attention. "Come on, buddy," he said before whistling once again and swinging the bat back and forth.

          Inside the bus, Max climbed down over the ladder and ran over to the window that Dustin was staring out of. "What're they doing?" She asked and peered out the window at the two teenagers.

          "Expanding the menu," Dustin replied and cracked a small smirk as he watched his badass babysitter and the jerk walk toward Dart. He couldn't help but admire the teenagers. They were risking their lives for kids they weren't close with and there was nothing he could do to express how much he appreciated them.

          "They're insane!" Max exclaimed and widened her eyes as she watched Andrea twirl her bat in her hands perfectly — even though the girl was crazy, she was good with the bat and Max was thankful for that. The two girls hadn't said much to each other but Max liked her and wanted to get to know her more and hoped Andrea felt the same way about her.

          Dustin smiles proudly at Andrea and Steve, feeling lucky that he had such cool people in his life. "They're awesome."

          When Dart moved in closer to the duo, they got to see how big he really was and that's when the true fear kicked in. Dart's black, slimy body and bright yellow stripe on his tail could potentially be the last thing either of the teens saw before it was lights out for good and they both knew that - they had accepted it. They would sacrifice themselves to save the kids and as long as they could at least harm the thing to give Dustin and his friends a chance to escape, that's all they would ask for.