voyager // max mayfield

TWENTY: DEMOBATS

Have you ever felt the feeling of your heartbeat inside of your throat?

That tingling, that tickles to the point of painful, with no way to make it stop. It floods over your body, stopping it from moving the way you want it to, from fighting the way you need it to.

Your heartbeat, while fast, is less efficient, as your legs lose all feeling.

Your lungs burning, crying out in pain for you to stop and take a deep breath.

Eve was screaming out from under the water, losing more and more oxygen by the second as the vine dragged her further and further into the depths. Her arms flailing to try and bring her closer to the surface as she went closer and closer to the gate.

Her legs were kicking as hard as they could, the vine wrapping tighter and tighter around her leg as she tried her best to stay in the normal world. She looked above her with watery eyes, seeing Steve swimming and trying to reach her, his promise of helping if anything went wrong staying true.

"Steve!" She screamed, her mouth filling with water as she was pulled through the gate. She was launched into the air, taking a deep breath as she landed next to the gate. She thought it was over when suddenly her body began to get scraped along the floor, the vine still pulling her wherever it wanted her to go. She screamed out again, the hard ground scraping the skin off of her arms as she tried to hold onto anything.

"Let me go!" She cried, grabbing onto a vine on the ground to stop it from pulling her, but it was no use as she was yanked over it, flying through the air before crashing on her front.

She gasped for breath, the vine finally leaving her ankle as she winced, trying not to move too fast in case she agitated one of her many injuries.

There was a weird croak - something sinister, that made her pause any movement, looking around her slowly to see if anything could catch her eye. She stood to her feet slowly, her body slightly hunched as she cowered.

"Eve!" She heard a yell, making her turn her head to see her brother, Steve Harrington, barrelling toward her scared out of his mind. There was a crack of lightning, the sky turning red for a second as he finally reached her, bringing her into his arms as he panted.

"Oh my god," He panted, "I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm here," She whispered, "But something else is, too."

Steve broke away from her then as another crash of lightning was heard, making both of them jump as their eyes surveyed their surroundings - it really was like Hawkins, just everything was dead and dark, it was nightmare-ish.

There was a snarl from some sort of creature, making both their heads snap in that direction, making Steve push Eve behind him quickly, needing to protect her.

Another snarl.

"Steve..." Eve whispered, making him look back at her. He saw her looking up at something in worry. His eyes followed her eye line to see a bat or some sort, heading straight for them. Steve started walking backwards, making Eve follow in his direction as they both shook, terrified.

Another shriek was heard, this time from another direction, making the siblings grab each-others hands as they tried to locate the other bat.