ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟᴀꜱᴛꜱ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ ☆ ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇ ʜᴀʀʀɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ

033.

[1984]
033. shit

The group started walking back to Steve's car. Following the train tracks. Annie was trailing behind the four, fighting off exhaustion. This day had been way to much for her and she couldn't quite process it.

"You're positive that was Dart?"

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." Dustin shot back to Lucas.

Max furrowed her eyebrows, looking forward to the Henderson boy. "He was tiny two says ago."

"Well, he's molted three times already."

"Malted?" Steve questioned, slowly his pace slightly as he glanced back to see Annie trailing along, eyes closed as she took in the cold air around her. "Molted." Dustin re-corrected. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"When's he gonna molt again?" Mayfield questioned from beside Lucas. "It's gotta be soon." Henderson replied, hearing the small huff fall from Annabelle's lips, but carried on anyways. "When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Steve spoke with out thinking and Lucas stopped ahead Dustin, making the boy stop. "Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?"

"No, what? No."

"What are you talking about? He ate mews." Annie hit Steve's chest with the back of her hand. Even she realised not to mention it.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asked, puzzled.

Harrington shrugged, "It's Dustin's cat."

"Steve!" Dustin yelled.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas shouted to his friend, clearly annoyed. "No. No. No, I... No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!" Sinclair's words made Steve wince, Remington him of what he was called a few days prior.

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay? I wouldn't have made Annie get involved!" It was an unspoken thing between the group. Everyone could tell that the events effected her more then she admitted. Steve saw that Annabelle was zoned out and walked to her side while the boys argue.

"Are you okay?" Annie opened her eyes, looking beside her to see Steve leant in to talk to her. Gulping back the lump in her throat from the close proximity, she nodded. "Yeah. Just... It's a lot, you know? We only had one to deal with last year and four of us could barely killed it. If more came, we'd all be screwed."

"We'll be fine. We know what to do this time. I won't let anything happen to you." Steve reassured her, but the blonde wasn't listening. "All of them. Annie?" The blonde ignored him, walking towards the woods.

"Annie?"

"Shh. Listen." Steve did as he was told, hearing the distant screech. "Guys." She called out but they didn't answer at first. "Guys!" The trio turned to her the same time as she hissed in pain but brushed it off, thinking it was just a stitch or something. The screeching continued and both Annie and Steve began to walk towards it, followed by the two younger boys.

"No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound? Hello?" Max called out.

Annie stopped when seeing no red head so she turned back to see her on the train tracks, arms out and obvious confusion. "It'll be fine, Max. They're not here." Annie outstretched a hand, waiting for Max who hesitantly walked over and grab Annie's hand, letting the older girl help her up the small hill.

The girls were quick to catch up with the other three, there flashlights leading the way. They stopped at the edge of the hill, overlooking Hawkins. "I don't see him."

Lucas grabbed the binoculars around his neck, looking through them to try and track the distant growl. "It's the lab. They were going back home."

"Shit." Annie cussed, tying her hair into a ponytail and starting the long walk to the Lab. The group followed behind, all voicing there own opinations on why they were walking towards their death sentence.

The closet they got, the less energy they had and hoped that the demodogs changed there mind on hunting the group today. However, something made them jump back into reality.

"Hello?" Annie paused for a second, the voice sounded familiar. She brushed of the wave of dizziness that overcame her and stepped over a branch. "Who's there?" The voice called out again.

When they finally got closer, the five stopped, flashlights down as they were met with Jonathan and Nancy.

"Steve?" Nancy questioned.

"Nancy?" Steve asked, walking forward.

Jonathan asked, puzzled "Annie?"

"Jonathan?" Annie furrowed her eyebrows, stepping towards them to.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asked while they walked to meet in the middle. "What are you doing here?" Steve rerouted the question back to her.

"We're looking for Mike and Will."

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

"We're not sure." Nancy spoke as Jonathan was then tackled into a hug by Annabelle. "I really missed you two." When the blonde pulled back, she looked between her two friends. "Look, there's these demodogs and they're like mini Demogorgon's. They're back. Like, really back."

A group of screeching confirmed her words, the group looking back to the lab. "Shit." The group then began to overlap each other with questions. Only Nancy and Annie seemed to see something change in the distance.

"The powers back." Annie stated. This cause them all to shut up and turn back to follow the older girls eyeline. Jonathan and Nancy shared a look, rushing back down to the gate with the rest trailing behind.

The Byers boy got there first, rushing inside the small security box to hit the open button. It didn't work. Annabelle stopped by Jonathans car, leaning against the hood to rest and catch her breath. She felt like any moment she would pass out.

Jonathan kept hitting the button, yet is still didn't work. "Let me try." Dustin joined the older boys side. "Hang on-"
"Let me try, Jonathan!" Dustin barged in, pushing him back. However, it still didn't work.

"Son of a bitch! You know what.." Dustin kept hitting it, eventually the door began to open. "Hey! I got it!" Jonathan rushed to the drivers seat calling out for Nancy. everyone cleared to the side as the duo left the group alone.

"Oh, great." Dustin scoffed, stepping out the box. "They'll be back in a minute." Steve sighed, leaning against the pole as the blonde leant against the security box.

The tweens all started pacing, the older teens taking a second to gather themselves. Steve glanced over to Annie but she didn't seem to notice, just silently waiting for the car to come back.

It shorty did, when Max called out. "Guys?" Annie walked over to the red head, seeing the hectic driving from Jonathan. "Get back!" Annie yelled, grabbing onto Dustin and Lucas arm, pulling them to the side while Steve pulled Max.

Just as they were safe, the first car drove past, not slowing but the second stopped in front of the five. "Let's go!" Hopper yelled and Steve over rushed first, pulling back the passenger seat.

Annie made sure the kids got in first before sharing a look with Steve. Annie didn't have time to think properly, so she just squashed in the back, Steve quickly pulling back the chair and getting into the passenger seat. Hopper was quick to follow the other car back to the Byers house.