𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧 [s. harrington]

JUST BREATHE

◊◊◊

(holly, jolly)

◊◊◊

Beth was curled into a ball, sobbing on the bed incoherently as the bedroom door slammed open. She shrieked and recoiled at the loud thud of the door hitting the wood siding of the walls. Her father stood in the doorway, a panicked look in his eyes and cigarette still smoking in his hand. Behind him, Beth could make out a dark-haired woman who she could only assume to be the owner of the strange car craning her neck to look over his shoulder, a concerned look on her face.

"What the hell's going on?" Hopper's tone was a mixture of exhaustion and worry and Beth blubbered on the mattress. "Are you okay?"

"I-I-" Beth choked out between sharp intakes of air. "There's something in the woods."

"A bear? Maybe it was just a bobcat or a mountain lion." Beth shook her head frantically.

"No, no," she sputtered. "It was like-like a person."

"There's a person in the woods?"

"No."

"Beth, you're not making any sense."

"It sorta looks like a human, but not." Her breath shook. "Too tall, and-and too skinny. And it's face like-like it opened up and it let out this awful screeching noise and-"

Beth began to hyperventilate as her father put his hand on her shoulder, using his other hand to turn her face to look at her. He had no clue what his daughter was saying, or what she saw in the woods (if anything), but her horror was enough to make him worried. "Shhhh. It's okay. You're okay."

"Maybe it took Will."

"A monster took Will?"

She nodded.

"You should get some rest."

"But-but-"

"Here, take this." Hopper reached for the side of his belt, where his gun holster was still strapped to his work pants. He carefully removed the gun from the leather, checking quickly to make sure that the safety was on, before pressing it into Beth's palm. She looked down at the Colt Python, and curled her hand around the cool metal of the barrel. "See, you'll be okay. You're safe. Understand?"

Beth nodded, slowing her breathing.

It was a gesture from her father that she wouldn't realize the levity of until later. A small act, but one of the most paternal things he had done for his eldest daughter since Sara's death. 

"Good. Get some rest, you've got school tomorrow."

◊◊◊