𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

48

𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 as they loaded will's limp body into the back of the pinto. hopper divulged the directions to his cabin in the wood to jonathan. dani's eyes met her mother's. both of their bottom lips began to quiver as tears glossed over their eyes. the red-headed girl lept forward and embraced joyce in a hug. she inhaled a deep breath, doing her best not to let the tears fall. "please stay safe, mom," she begged quietly. "i can't lose you too."

joyce nodded. she pulled away and held her daughter at arm's length. "i love you," she mouthed. the woman gently drew her head down and placed a kiss atop it. after their momentary vow of silence, sheridan turned around and began to head back to the porch. steve greeted her in the doorway. she leaned back against his chest, the boy propped his head atop hers and running his hands up and down her shoulders. before getting into the police truck, hopper locked eyes with dani. he gave her a thin-lipped smile and an approving nod. sherrie sent him the same. dustin, max, lucas, and mike joined them outside. the six of them watched as both of the cars drove off into the night.

once the only vehicle that remained was betsy, and everyone had internally uttered their goodbyes, they headed back inside the house. in the corner of the living room, surrounded by bits of broken glass, lay the demodog. "god, i forgot about that thing," sheridan sighed.

"i got it," steve instantly offered. without a sigh, hesitation, or even a moment's notice, he stepped up to help dani out. the smile that had grown on her face was shot down not a second later by dustin henderson.

"what're you gonna do with that thing? you can't just bury it!" he insisted.

"why not?!" the girl protested, throwing her arms up into the air.

"that is a ground-breaking scientific discovery," dustin stated as he motioned towards the beast that steve had begun rolling up into a blanket. "we can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? it's not a dog!" sheridan rolled her eyes.

"then you take it," steve retaliated. he had taken the demodog in his arms bridal-style, and shoved it against dustin's chest; he left him no room to protest.

the curly-headed boy scoffed. "can you at least empty the fridge?!"

"oh my god, not in my fridge!" sherrie cried.

"not now, dani!" dustin yelled. steve had done his best to gently place every food item from the shelves onto the table and the surrounding floor. "today, steve!"

"alright, damn!" steve groaned. he now had picked up the pace, tossing fruits and glass jars nearby. he yanked out the wired shelves and flung them to the ground as well. steve made way for dustin, holding open the door as the boy attempted to shove the creature inside. he had played enough tetris in his life to understand the mechanics of this.

"shut the door, steve! shut the door!" he yelped. he backed away and steve hastily slammed the refrigerator's door, successfully keeping the beast inside. as steve and dustin wiped their hands of the plasm from the demodog, lucas and max had begun cleaning up the glass. lucas's sweeping had come to a halt as mike's living room pacing continued.