Hell on Earth

Chapter Twenty Three - Oh No, Things Went Wrong

Cynthia sat and watched out the window for any sign of movement. The world was dark, but it was the only thing that she could do to calm her anxiety. She looked at the kids when she heard her brother talking to Max.

"Shit," he said. "Don't be an idiot, okay? It wasn't a bear." He paused for a moment. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."

Cynthia slapped her forehead.

"Geesh," Max let the comment slide. "Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?"

She climbed up the ladder to the roof to watch for movement with Lucas.

"That's good," Steve encouraged him. "Just show her you don't care."

"I don't," Dustin snapped at him. Steve kept winking. "Why are you winking, Steve? Stop!"

Dustin looked out the window and ignored everyone. Cynthia moved and sat in the seat in front of Steve.

"Steve, you should not give love advice," Cynthia teased. "You suck at it."

"You just say that because you've never had a boyfriend," Steve shot back.

"Maybe," Cynthia sighed. She was silent for a moment. "I never thanked you for coming out here with us, so thanks."

"You two seemed pretty serious," Steve told her as he looked at the window. "It was the least I could to help. Even if I was a last resort."

"You're not a last resort," Cynthia told him. "We just didn't think about you."

"Like that's so much better," Steve rolled his eyes.

"Think about it for a second, Steve," Cynthia laid it out for him. "Dustin is instantly going to go to his friends. They're the ones he bonded with over this whole Upside Down thing. I'm instantly going to Nancy and Jonathan because they're the ones I was with most of the time when this went. Besides, I didn't even know if you would want to help us. One, you didn't go looking for this, you kind of stumbled your way into it. Two, I didn't know if you would want to help me since you broke up with Nancy."

"I guess that's fair," Steve looked back at her. "We never were on the best terms until recently."

"I also never thanked you about not revealing the stories in my book," Cynthia smiled softly at him. "Even when we were at odds and Jonathan was beating the shit out of you, you never said a word. Why?"

"I don't know. Half of me didn't tell anyone because that's not why I searched your book. I was looking for Jonathan's pictures not your secret writings. The other half knew that would be a really shitty thing to do. Even if you did hate my guts."

"I do not hate your guts," Cynthia waited a moment before smiling. "Anymore."

Steve snorted, "I deserved it. I was pretty horrible."

"You're not so bad now. All you had to do was ditch Carol and Tommy. You've been on the up and up since then."

"Thanks. Does that mean we're friends now?"

"Depends," Cynthia told him.

"On what?" he asked.

"Whether or not we make it through the night," Cynthia told him. "I don't think I could handle losing a friend like this."

"Okay," Steve held out his hand. "After we get done with this bullshit, we're friends."

Cynthia took his hand, "Sounds like a deal to me."

Then, the growling started.

Dustin, Steve, and Cynthia all crowded towards the window.

"You see him?" Dustin called up to him.