𝐖𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍. ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ ʰᵃʳʳⁱⁿᵍᵗᵒⁿ ¹

020

020. 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘂.

𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐈𝐓.

It was a shriek so loud and so gut-wrenching that she immediately dropped her pen and let it fall somewhere on floor, and shut her notebook so hard that a gust of wind blasted in her face. Her heart immediately jumped into a crazed race at the sudden and abrupt sound, instantly beginning to pound against her rib-cage in such a ferocious manner that it made her throat close up within a millisecond. It was a growl that nobody should ever hear, a growl so untamed and rapacious that she could only imagine hearing in a sci-fi movie— except this was real life. She wasn't dreaming, she wasn't imagining any of it, it was all real. And it was close.

She sat up straight where she was sitting, her eyes wide and struck with a look of horror. Her shoulders tensed, and she darted her eyes to the bus window, in the direction of where the howl came from. Steve and Dustin looked at each other wearily and wasted no time in reaching for the metal piece that covered the glass.

Then she darted her eyes to Steve, even though she didn't want to look at him— but that didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter that only minutes ago they were on the roof of the bus, slowly leaning in. Her eyes burned into his with the same fearful expression, that said the words "it's happening".

She pushed herself off of the disheveled seat and had never moved her feet so fast. Quickly, she ran to the boys, stepping on her tippy-toes to see over both of their heads, in order to look out the window. She didn't care that she was pressed up against Steve's backside, or that his arm was pressed along the entirety of her stomach.

"Where is it?" She asked, her voice shaking.

She skimmed her eyes along the fog and the grass and the line of trees down in the distance. There was nothing but mist.

"You see him?" Dustin asked, without taking his eyes away from the window.

"No." Steve answered with the tiniest shake of his head.

"Lucas!" Dustin turned his head and pulled away from the window just a little bit, calling up into the emergency exit. "What's goin' on!" he asked, through bared teeth.

Lori squeezed in closer to the grid window, her hand on Steve's shoulder to keep herself up. She breathed out unsteadily, and kept trailing her eyes around the junkyard. Dustin squeezed in beside her.

"Hold on!" Lucas yelled, from the top of the bus.

Steve turned his head, looking at Lori who was only inches away from him, face struck with fear. She didn't even bat an eye, she just stared out into the fog, alert.

After a few painful seconds, Lucas hollered words that none of them wanted to hear. "I've got eyes!" he shouted. "Ten o'clock! Ten— ten o'clock!" his voice cracked.

Steve's arm nudged both of them on the way up, and he pointed his finger. "There." he said, his voice higher-pitched.

Lori's breath hitched dramatically when she caught sight of the demogorgon, hunched over in the mist near the old shed. Her heart palpitated.

"What's he doing?" Dustin asked, urgently.

"I don't know," Steve answered, his tone breathless.

Chittering sounds erupted from outside the bus— low, mumbling growls.

"What's he waiting for," Lori said, her voice also breathless.