Desideratum - Stranger Things

Chapter Four

Letting out a gasp, Bonnie immediately coughed out water, sitting up. She noticed she was laying outside the pool, like usual but things were different. The scenery around Bonnie had changed to reveal a dark world, like what she knew, but with these particles flying around her. She gasped as she lay on thick, dark vines, the sky above her noticeably dark. 

"Hello?" A shaky voice called out.

"Barb?" Bonnie called back, standing up to see her friend in the empty pool.

"Bonnie," the teen gasped. Bonnie noticed that Barb wasn't wearing her glasses and had a part of her jacket ripped, some blood on her sweater beneath. "W-where's Nancy?"

"I don't know," she replied, looking around.

Steve's house was dark, with no lights on inside. Looking at the chairs nearby, she noticed they were void of beer cans and cigarettes and ashtrays, especially the knife that had fallen to the ground after Barb stabbed herself. Someone had cleaned up.

"Can you help me out?" Barb asked her friend.

"Let me look for something," Bonnie walked around the pool, heading toward the shed. Maybe there was something inside she could use? Like a ladder or a rope.

Just as she laid a hand on the handle, a loud scream echoed from the pool, causing Bonnie to turn around. "Barb!" She yelled, racing over. Peering over the side, she watched as the same creature that grabbed Barb stalk towards her. "Barb, grab my hand!"

Bonnie leaned over the edge and held out her hand, not realizing there was some sort of slime to it. Barb reached for it, their hands slipping from the slime. "Come on!" She shouted, looking at the monster before them. "Nancy! Steve!" She yelled, looking at the window she knew they were in. They had to be!

But then why weren't they coming to help?

"Bonnie, please!" Barb cried out.

"The ladder," Bonnie gasped, noticing it past the thick vines. "Use the ladder!"

Barb hurried over, Bonnie joining her at the top. "Come on," Barb gasped as she climbed it, slipping a little.

"Keep going!" Bonnie urged her, grabbing her hand once she got to the top.

"Bonnie," Barb gasped, looking at the blonde with wide eyes.

"Barb?" Bonnie frowned, feeling her hands slip.

Barb immediately slipped out of Bonnie's hands with a shriek, quickly gripping the railing beside her. "Bonnie, help!" Barb cried out.

"Not my friend, you bitch!" She screamed out, looking over the edge. She raised her hand to shoot out electricity, but let out a light gasp as she realized it didn't work.

Why were her powers not working?

Before Bonnie could do anything else, Barb was pulled back in and Bonnie gasped, stumbling to the ground in shock. "No!" She yelled.

Stumbling to her feet, she immediately turned around and ran from Steve's backyard. She had to get away from whatever it was that got Barb. She had to. Running onto the street, she looked both ways to see the vines were everywhere and that there wasn't a single light on anywhere. Deciding to run home, she turned in the direction of her house and immediately raced off.

She could hear her heart in her ears and feel the pounding of the asphalt beneath her feet. She could feel her chest ache as she ran out of breath, but she couldn't stop. Not with that thing she left behind. She didn't know if it was following her or if she had lost it, but she didn't want to risk it. She didn't even want to risk screaming out for help out of fear she'd attract the thing.