"You think it'll work?" Charlie questioned Valerie Archer as the two sat in his car. "What?" Valerie's brows furrowed at the question, her mind being lost in the way the trees blurred together as they drove past them a few minutes prior.
Charlie exited the car and jogged over towards Valerie's side, opening the door for her before speaking. "Do you think we could actually catch it, just by knowing where it's been in the past?" Charlie clarified as they walked up the path leading to Valerie's front door.
"Maybe." Valerie shrugged after a moment of silence, the girl unlocking her front door with a mere twist of her wrist. She had missed being able to use her powers without being exhausted, she had missed not having to take those stupid blue pills.
Charlie stared a the girl in awe before shaking his head and following after her. "Come on, Val. Tell me what you really think." Charlie begged as he fell back onto her couch, a hand patting his lap as the girl peeled off her heels.
Valerie gave Charlie a glance as she hung her black leather coat onto the rack across from the front door. "I don't know." The girl mumbled after a long moment of silence. "Wow, the Valerie Archer is at a loss of words. It's the end of all things sane, ladies and gents." Charlie sneered, earning a sharp glare in return.
"I don-It's just there's a lot of possibilities, that's all. I mean there's a whole lot of things that can go wrong." Valerie spoke as she sat across his lap, laying her pounding head back against the armrest as Charlie fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
"Well, what's the best-case scenario?" He questioned the girl, causing her to tilt her head until her haze fell upon him. "Best case? We're all having a mass case of folie a deux." The girl spoke in a perfect French accent thanks to her mother forcing her to learn multiple languages growing up.
"Which means?" He questioned the girl once again as he handed her the unlit cigarette he had been holding in his hand, looking at it in thought as his mind when back to the first time they had hung out, during Steve's pool party, and she had magically seemed to light his cigarette for him.
"Meaning, we're all bat shit crazy and there's no monster snatching up the kids of our small town for breakfast," Valerie explained. She took the cigarette in between her fingers before rubbing the pads of her pointer finger and thumb together, creating a spark much like a match against wood.
"Finesse?" Charlie chuckled as he watched Valerie take a small inhale of smoke before breathing it out smoothly, her lips parted as if she were whistling and her eyes lightly closed. "Finesse." Valerie laughed out at the boy.
At that moment Charlie realized how beautiful Valerie's laugh was. How her nose scrunched up at the brim and her mouth crinkled into ripples that led up to her deep dimples.
The actualization caused Charlie to wrap his arms tightly around the girl and bring his head to rest against her chest. It didn't matter if he was going to be eaten alive in a few hours by an otherworldly creature with no face.
All that mattered was that they had each other in this moment.
✦
Valerie and Charlie had lost track of time and before they knew it they were walking around the woods of Hawkins with Nancy and Johnathan, both of who seemed the slightest bit pissed off with each other. Charlie preferred the awkward silence over Johnathan and his sister being friendly.
The sun had set and the temperature had dropped, but the group kept going. They were deep into the woods, and every noise made Valerie's heart sink, but that didn't stop her from keeping herself entertained. She refused to be bored while wandering the woods like a creep.
"You didn't think to bring a weapon?" Valerie questioned, the two walking a few feet behind the fast-paced pair of angsty teenagers. "What can I say, I'm a lover, not a fighter. Besides, my girlfriend's pretty badass so I think I'm good." He shrugged, throwing an arm over the girl's sweater-clad shoulders.
"Girlfriend? I'd hate to meet the girl dumb enough to date you." The girl quipped, shoving the boy away with a chuckled. In reality, Valerie's stomach was filled with butterflies at the thought of Charlie calling her his girlfriend.
Charlie just chuckled lightly in return, taking the girl's hand into his. "She's a city girl. Real snooty. Banging body though," He spoke up after a moment, causing Valerie to scoff loudly. "Hey! That's no way to talk about a lady, Charles Wheeler." She spoke in a faux offended tone.
"Guys, shut up." Nancy swatted at her brother and Valerie, causing them to both fall silent. Valerie stood still, listening to the sounds of the night. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary until she heard the sound of an indistinct whimper.
Charlie pulled Valerie behind him as he moved closer to the sound, following the whimpering. Once they were finally close enough to lay eyes on the creature behind the sound Valerie let out a gasp.
In front of them laid an injured deer, covered in blood, dirt, and leaves. "Oh, God," Nancy whispered, watching the animal cry out. "It's been hit by a car. We can't just leave it." The girl spoke as she bent down onto her knees.
"I'll do it," Johnathan spoke, taking his gun from Nancy's hold. Charlie gave the boy a look, he didn't think Johnathan had it in him. "I thought you said-" Nancy started, only to be cut off soon after. I'm not nine anymore." Johnathan sighed. cocking his gun as he inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times.
Before he had the chance to pull the trigger the dear's corpse was dragged away into the darkness of the trees and vines. "What the hell was that?" Charlie panted, hand over his heart as he held Valerie against his side. Nancy was the first one to move, following the trail of blood.
"You believe in Bigfoot?" Valerie questioned. Bigfoot sounded better than the thing from her nightmares. "Where'd it go?" Nancy questioned, ignoring Valerie's attempt to ease the group's fear. "I don't know. Do you see any more blood?" Johnathan puzzled, leading behind Nancy. "No."
The group circled around each other, Charlie never letting go of Valerie's hand. Valerie paused in her spot as she felt a shiver crawl down her spine before she started walking forward. Johnathan went to the right of the raven-haired girl while Nancy slowly wandered off to the left.
Charlie was the only one who didn't go his own way, following after Valerie. The girl walked a few steps before stopping again. "What's wrong?" Charlie questioned, his brow raising as he watched Valerie's every move. "I think I have an idea." She murmured.
"Okay, what kind of idea?" Charlie questioned. She was being a little too vague for his liking. Valerie's gaze met the boy's doe eyes before she shook her head, zipping up her beige puffer jacket before looking around at the ground.
"What are you doing, Val?" Charley questioned, a mixture of suspicion and amusement plaguing his face. Valerie merely mumbled something incoherent under her breath as she pulled Charlie down onto the ground before she sat down a few inches in front of him.
"Okay, um, don't let bugs crawl in my hair, and don't freak out." Valerie rushed out before leaning back, her body laid out across the moist ground from the past few days of rain and her head sat comfortably in Charlie's lap.
"Valerie?" Charlie tried again only for the girly yet again ignore his questions. "I'm gonna find it." Valerie offered before closing her eyes.
✦✦✦
YOU ARE READING
Play// Stranger Things
Fanfiction"Don't hide away, come out and play" ⤷ ❝ In which sixteen year old Valerie Archer had never known anything but running, and small-town Hawkins was a place with so much to run from but nowhere to go. ❞ ... A stranger things fan fiction
