Apocalypse, Steve Harrington

Chapter Thirty. Monster Hunters

THIRTY
— monster hunters

      HE WANTED TO regret leaving his sister; well, it's not that he didn't regret it. Danny knew she could manage on her own— still, though, there was a gnawing in the back of his mind. What if something went wrong? Did she find their father? Was she back home with Eleven? There were a thousand different possibilities, a trillion different outcomes to the situation Lucy had thrown herself in— he just wanted her home safe, with Hopper.

    Him, though? He was actively searching for Dart. The investigation had just launched, and, in complete honestly, he was ready. The adrenaline was still (somehow) pent up in his chest, and he hadn't felt even a pinch of exhaustion. If anything, Danny was eager to find the mini-Demogorgan.

"Do you think it bites?"

His attention was pulled forward against his will. Hazel eyes snapping up from the ground, he saw her— Riley stood in front of him, head tilted down, focus put solely on her untied shoelaces. She was leant against the hood of Steve's BMW, right sneaker propped on her left thigh, fingers fumbling with the ties. Unlike Daniel, Riley was not running on adrenaline— she was relying on half a slice of toast and three hours of sleep.

He blinked. "Well, I dunno— it ate Mews," he said, simply. Watching her struggle with the laces of her hightop, Danny reached forward, grabbed her right foot, and propped it above his knee. "I think it might bite, Riley," he widened his eyes, tying double-knots in her shoelaces. Patting her leg, he signaled he was done, and she dropped her foot with a huff.

"Shit," it was as if the word unwinded from her chest, heavy, and tired. Back on two feet, now, Riley started pacing. "And, just to be clear, you've done this before?"

He scrunched his face. "Eh... not me, my sister," Danny said, shaking his head. "I've seen— stuff, I guess, but not the actual creature."

   She blinked at him, shoulders falling. "Oh," Riley mumbled, looking away.

He noticed when she stopped pacing. He noticed when she started tracing circles in the dirt with her shoe, he noticed when she started absentmindedly stress-cracking her knuckles— he noticed it all. Tilting his head to get a better look at her lowered face, Danny pursed his lips. "Hey," he started. "If you're scared, you don't have to come with us. It's Dustin's— it's my fault you're even here."

Her jaw clenched, and he saw that, too. "I'm not scared." The words pushed past her lips in an alarmingly fast manner, as if it were a reflex. "I'm not scared. This is just, it's— it's weird," she pushed thick strands of brown hair from her face.

She felt his eyes on her. They trailed her up and down, observing. She had been fiddling with the charm bracelet on her left wrist for half an hour, and now, she noticed it. Riley stopped her movements all together, putting in extra effort to make herself look relaxed. Her chest tightened, and she tried not to breathe— within two seconds, though, it came crashing again. "What're we getting out of goin' after this thing?" she did, rapidly. "I mean— I'm not scared, okay? But, what if Dart makes us his breakfast?"

There was a slam behind her. Steve brought his hand down on the hood of the car. "Lunch," he interjected, tapping on his wristwatch. "We gotta go."