Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 12 Forget It

November 11th, 1983
The Byers House

   Limping up the steps of our house, Jonathan held me tight against his side; trying his best to keep me balanced. "Don't you think we should take you to the hospital?" He asked as he began to pull open the door. "What would we tell them?" I questioned with a quirked brow. "That you got attacked by a bear, I don't know?" I slipped out of his arm and leaned against the door frame.

   "Jonathan, they would ask us what we were doing out there. A- And if we said that, then Mom would really look crazy for confusing a bear for a monster. Plus now we both know that there is a monster out there, not a bear." I finished, watching as he slowly began to nod in agreement. "Nell, what if you need stitches? Or it gets infected-"

   Shooting him a reassuring smile, I patted him lightly on the shoulder. "I'll be fine, Jonathan... Just take Nancy home and I don't know... Make sure she's okay." I mumbled the last part and looked towards Jonathan's car to see a still shaken Nancy sitting quietly in the front seat, staring off into the distance, hugging herself tightly.

   "You aren't still mad at her, are you?" He asked, his gaze also fixed on the traumatized girl. "Just take her home. I need to shower, wrap my leg, and somehow explain all of this to Mom." I mumbled, avoiding the question before slowly limping into the house and shutting the door behind me.

   Holding back a groan and ignoring the throbbing pain in the back of my leg, I walked carefully into the living room, taking quick notice that the kitchen light was on. From inside the kitchen, I could hear Mom and Hopper talking frantically between one another, over a topic I could only assume revolved around Will. 

   Moving quietly through the living room, I groaned under my breath as the wood creaked loudly under my feet. "Eleanor, Jonathan? Is that you guys?" Mom called out as I sped up my pace and tried to move further down the hall, the floor continuing to creak beneath me. "Just me, Mama... Jonathan's taking the night shift..." I yelled back, quickly hearing the sound of chairs scrapping against the floor.

   "What? No, I asked him not to do that anymore- What happened?" Mom walked out of the kitchen and stared down at me, stunned by my appearance. Quickly adjusting myself, I tried my best to hide the wound on the back of my calf. "Oh, you know... D&D got intense." I tried my best to lie and faked a laugh. "Right? How about you clean up, and try to get some sleep? Today's been a lot I know..." I nodded and slowly backed away from the two confused adults and slipped into the bathroom.

   Turning on the light I was instantly greeted by my strange reflection in the mirror. The girl in front of me was covered in dirt, grime, and soil. I could barely recognize myself from how much my hair was matted down with that disgusting goo from the tree in the woods.

   Peeling off my soaked jacket, I sat myself down on the edge of the tub and took off my boots before eyeing the wound on my calf. The slice ran from slightly below the back of my knee and just past the muscle of my calf, thankfully it didn't look deep enough to need stitches, but that didn't mean it was gonna heal nicely either... Ignoring the discomfort, I carefully peeled my pants off of my legs and grabbed a rag to start cleaning around the wound.

~~~

   Walking into my bedroom, I finished drying my hair off with my towel when I noticed a strange figure lurking in the shadows of the night outside my window. What if it was the monster? Could it have followed us back out of the tree?