the unknown | steve harrington

chapter seven: catching up

Hawkins, The Right Side Up

The older Henderson shot upright, her heart pounding in her chest as her lungs gasped in a loud amount of oxygen. The first thing her eyes adjusted to was the god awful thin sheet covering her lower body and the clasp on her finger that was measuring her fastening heart rate.

"What the f—" A familiar voice said from the corner, her head slowly turning to see the shell shocked curly headed boy currently looking at his hands and torso to check he was actually here and actually alive.

"We did it," Daphne whispered to herself, pulling the bedsheet from her as she scrambled up in her hospital nightgown. "Eddie, we did it!" She shouted, jumping around him and then onto him as they embraced each other.

"Holy shit, Daphne, we're alive!" He laughed as he jumped around with her.

"Wait, wait— Max and Billy—" Daphne pulled away, reminded herself as she turned her head to the opening door, the grinning smile of Billy damn Hargrove and her sidekick Max mooching into the room. "You— you guys are here! Max, you're alive! You're awake! I — oh my God, I don't know who to hug first— oh my God!"

The brunette ran in a circle as she felt the adrenaline pumping through her body, running straight to Max and embracing her in a huge embrace, then looking to the smug grinning blonde who she pulled into their hug too.

The four of them glanced at one another, their mission completed and all of them home and alive. Daphne couldn't believe it, and all she was thinking about was the guys' faces when they all walked in to greet them. It was all she could think about.

"Guys, I need to get changed, and then we need to go and figure out what the Hell is going on," The older Henderson ordered.

—

Daphne used the toilet in her room to change into the outfit that was left for her; her mom jeans, tight fitting strappy top, oversize jersey jacket and her beaten up converse. The girl couldn't believe how lifeless her face looked in the mirror, so she splashed some cold water over her and pulled her messy hair into a high ponytail before rejoining the group.

Daphne could see the awe in Max's eyes in respect of Billy, yet she couldn't find any words to say to him. Neither of them could yet. And that was okay, because Daphne was going to make sure they had all the time in the world to figure it out. Or at least she'd hope.

"Hey, Daph, have you seen this?" Eddie's voice knocked her out of her thoughts, his hands resting on the windowsill and staring out into the town.

"Oh my God,"

The town was dull, Daphne didn't know if it was nighttime or if she had actually gotten out of the Upside Down. The only thing that solidified that they were out was the mass of CIA walking the streets and the sound of chattering and machinery echoing around the room and outside.

The sky was rumbling, clouds rolling over one another with the occasional bout of lightening brightening up the sky. It wasn't until the lightening led the group's eye-line to what she can only imagine to be the Mind Flayer shadowed in the distance.

"Holy—" Daphne started.

"Shit." Eddie finished.

"That doesn't look good," Max mumbled as Billy chewed his bottom lip.

"We gotta find them." The older Henderson rubbed her temples, the reluctant agreements of the gang around her.

The group's head snapped towards the door as a nurse walked in with a clipboard in her hand, her eyes wide as she scans through her notes and back to the empty bed.