𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞 | steve harrington

018| sleep deprivation

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STEVE TRIED TO SHOVE THE MONSTER BACK WITH all the strength he possessed in his arms, bat rolling aimlessly away from him. The large creature opened its face into a growl and Steve yelled out in terror that caused his voice to break, claws digging into his sides until his breathing became haggard. The kids stood with shaking hands and no call in life for things like this. They were all kids, all of them. Steve shut his eyes tight as the monster bared down on him, shaking where he'd been slammed to the ground.

The bat came out of nowhere, colliding with the side of the creature with a horrible squelch. It roared in anger and pain before the nails hit it again. The monster rolled off Steve and jumped to its feet with its face open into an almighty scream. The kids hid behind each other, gripping hands with pale faces of horror.

Briar was sure that this was one of the first moments in hours that she wasn't completely terrified. The monster dived at her as she swung the bag around again, it hit against the demo-dog with more strength than she knew she had. Steve was trying to pull himself to his feet now, a large cut in his arm casting blood over the grey of his jacket.

The monster was wounded as it turned around again. Briar swung the bat between her hands easily as she raised it over her shoulder and sent the monster clattering into the next wall. It roared again before she raised the spiked weapon over her head and brought it down with a loud cry, it smacked into the side, tearing the flesh. The creature whimpered in pain before she brought the bat up again. With all effort she could muster, Briar collided the bat with the side of its neck. The creature went very still and Briar gasped for breath dropping the bat to the floor as she stumbled back with a horrible shake.

"Briar!" Steve grabbed her as she fell backwards, gripping to consciousness as it stared her in the eye.

"Holy shit" Max whispered, "she killed it"

"I knew we shouldn't have left her back there" Lucas added.

"Dude you literally voted to leave her" Dustin muttered under his breath.

"Briar!" Steve yelled again as he turned her to face him. Steve still looked terrified as he planted his hands on her shoulders and stared at her with deep set worry in his eyes. Briar just smiled lightly before she wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself into his chest. The comfort felt nice as he held her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"We need to go" Mike pointed out gently.

"Are you okay?" Briar asked, tracing her fingers gently over the large gash that had torn Steve's jacket and cast it with blood.

"I'm fine" Steve stroked her hair, "because of you"

"You're welcome" Briar sighed as she stepped back and picked the baseball bat from the floor. She handed it to Steve with a wary glance and he took the handle with a nod, their gloved hands briefly touching before Steve took a deep breath and looked around a few times, trying to figure out where they were.

"It's that way" Mike pointed.

"Right... let's get the hell out of here" Steve stated before he grabbed Briar's hand in his and started to run again.

Something about the adrenaline that had hit Briar in that moment sparked through her mind like an awakening. She couldn't describe it, the way her mind had flashed to life like a restart on a broken television. For a moment she'd seen Steve and known there was nothing she could possibly do to save him and then she'd seen the spikes of the baseball bat collide with the creature. In a stupid moment she'd even asked who had come to save him before she'd seen her own hands and heard her mind screaming her name.