Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 17 The Battle

November 12th, 1983
Byers House

    The monster crashed into a heap on the floor in front of us, slowly rearing its head to the side as if to look in our direction with nonexistent eyes.

   Letting out a scream, Nancy was the first to run out of the living room, followed closely by Jonathan who ran ahead of Steve and me, seeming to have quickly forgotten about the unwelcomed guest. 

   Clutching tightly onto Steve's hand, I quickly dragged him down the hall with us and towards Will's room. "What is that thing!" Steve called out, looking over his shoulder in horror at the monster that chased after us; crashing into walls and growling loudly as it swung its claws out. "Explain later! Let's go!" I yelled back, still holding onto his hand in order to drag him down the hall. "Jump over the trap!" I instructed as I quickly weaved past the bear trap that he had yet to notice. 

   As if his eyes couldn't get any wider, Steve finally tore his eyes away from the monster. "Trap? What do you-- Whoa! What the fuck!" Steve yelled, jumping over the bear trap, with the monster remaining close behind us.

   Running into Will's room, Jonathan slammed the door behind Steve and me, quickly tossing me my bat as I passed him. Raising the bat in the air, ready to swing in case the monster did crash through the door instead of stepping on the trap with Steve still clinging to my other hand as he hid behind me.

   The room fell quiet as the four of us listened to the monster bang against the walls of the house, but suddenly its rampage stopped and the hallway fell silent.

   "What is it doing?" Nancy asked in a hushed whisper, holding her gun up at the door with shaky hands. "I don't know..." Jonathan whispered, eyes tracing away from the toy that rested on the chair in front of us before slowly making his way up to the door.

   Turning the handle slowly, Jonathan carefully made his way into the hall; holding his lighter out at the ready in front of him. Following close behind him was Nancy, me, and then Steve who stayed silent, still hiding behind me with a painful grip.

   The house looked empty. Normal, really... all things considered. With the trap still set and ready to go off, the lights in the hall slowly began to flicker on and off again, before one final click rang through the air, leaving the lights on like nothing had happened.

   "Do you hear anything?" I whispered, slowly lowering my bat; somehow causing Steve's grip on my hand to tighten slightly. "No." Jonathan let out a groan and put the lighter back in his pocket, making his way back into the living room. Slowly, Steve slipped his hand from mine as he began to mumble to himself. "This is crazy... This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!" Steve's mumbling quickly turned into shouting as he ran towards the phone hanging on the wall. "No!" Nancy followed behind him, quickly slapping the phone out of his hand.

   "What! What are you doing?" Steve looked on the verge of a panic attack, as Nancy raised the gun back up at him. "It's going to come back!" She shouted, causing him to flinch away as he turned to Jonathan and me for help. "You need to leave, Steve," I mumbled with a frown, "It isn't safe here."

   Shifting his eyes between the girl behind the gun and me, he didn't remain in thought for very long before he was running away from Nancy and making his way out the door and towards his car.

   Rolling their eyes at the boy, Nancy and Jonathan stood next to each other in the center of the room, while I moved to close the door that Steve had left open, watching as he fumbled with the keys to his BMW. Shutting the door, I turned back to face Jonathan and Nancy as the lights above us began to flicker again.