SWORD

fifteen

|CHAPTER FIFTEEN|
GONE

"I'm sorry, kid."
was all the policeman managed to say, Armani's cries grew louder, 'no!' She screamed in denial from the bedroom he had hushed her into. Hopper enveloped her in a hug which she tried to push away from.

"He's gone!" She kept repeating as she hit hopper with her clenched fists. "HES GONE! ITS YOUR FAULT! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GET HIM OUT! YOU SHOULD'VE KILLED THOSE THINGS!" Her screams echoed through the house, sending Steve, who had been waiting near the bedroom door, into a frenzy as he excused himself outside.

"He's gone!" She said, burying herself into his chest as she continued to sob. "It's okay. I'm sorry." Hopper repeated over and over, hushing Armani into a silent cry, her screams being gone made the whole house eerily quiet.

Steve came back once he no longer heard her, he looked around at the four kids, each of them held a heavy weight in their eyes.

Hopper came out of the room, putting his hand out he stopped Steve from opening the door. "What the hell, let me see her!" "She needs to be alone" Steve kept trying to push past, "No she doesn't! She already feels alone don't you think leaving her there is making it worse?" "Listen, Kid. You stay out here. She needs time, she needs space. This" Hopper gestured to the confrontation between the two as he tried to keep quiet, "is not helping her." Steve sighed and nodded, swallowing hard as he went back to the kitchen and paced.

Armani could hear Hopper calling someone from the room she was in, it was Jonathan's room. Hopper had wrapped a blanket around her and she sat down beside the bed, sobs escaped her lips as she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She couldn't think straight, she couldn't see straight. Every time she closed her eyes, the last image of her dad replayed in her mind. She wanted things to go back the way they were last week, when the most she worried about was her father's Radioshack boxes taking over the house. She ached for her father to come back, for monsters to be fantasy creatures, and for what she had experienced to be nothing more than a bad dream.

Outside, the silence that ensued after Hopper left to check on Joyce was practically unbearable. Steve leaned outside the door to where Armani was. His eyes closed as he heard her quiet sobs. "Did you guys know Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike asked, picking up the puzzle cube Armani had given Bob to take to the house.

While Armani could hear the voices outside, she couldn't comprehend them. Her own brain was buzzing so much she had become numb. Her head hung low, her breath short as she found any energy she had left leave her.

"We can't let him die in vain. she cannot see him die in vain." Mike spoke, laying the cube on the table as he gestured to the closed door. "Well what do we do, Mike? Huh? The chiefs right on this! We can't stop those demodogs on our own" Dustin spoke fiercely. As the kids spoke, Steve turned so his cheek was on the door. "Armani..i'm right here, okay? I-I know you feel alone, but I'm here with you. You can talk to me, or not talk to me, but I'm here." He struggled to find words to help her, but the kids talking distracted him. "His army!" Mike yelled, "what do you mean?" Steve turned back as he walked towards them.

A few minutes later, Armani heard the door open slowly. She expected Steve to step through, and looked up only when she felt Joyce sit next to her. The mother wrapped an arm around her. "You know," she took a pause, "he always talked about you. every time we went out, he would say 'oh Mani would love this' or 'maybe we can bring her along next time.' You were his girl." Joyce's voice was hoarse, a sign of time spent crying. "He's not here, I know. But he left trying his damn hardest to get back to you." She said, moving instead to sit in-front of Mani. "Look at me," she raised up Armani's head. "you are strong, okay? You're the strongest person he knew, and you're one of the strongest people I know. You will get through this. I will get through this. We will, together." Armani gave Joyce a small smile, the two hugged each-other, only soft sobs occasionally escaped the two. They knew they had to stay strong, for him.

They sat there in silence for more than ten minutes, until they heard the voices outside, explaining that the monster was a 'mind-flayer'. Joyce got up, and offered a hand to Armani, who pulled herself up. As the two walked slowly over, they heard the conversation get louder. "-it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town!" Dustin spoke, Joyce speaking up as everyone turned to the two. "They're right. We have to kill it." Armani breathed deeply, "I want to kill it."

Steve stepped forward, but Hopper moved him out of the way as he came closer to the two. "Me too. Me too, alright? But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."
"No. But he does" Mike walked towards Will, the rest of the group followed behind. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He knows it's weakness" "I thought we couldn't trust him anymore. That he's a spy for the mind flayer now." Max said, coming up behind Mike.
"Yeah but, he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."

—

"Hey. Steve."
Nancy spoke, she and Steve were inside the shed, trying to put a tarp over the walls. "What you did, um, helping the kids..that was..really cool" Steve nodded awkwardly, continuing his work with the tarp. "Yeah." He said, climbing back up to nail the tarp down. "Those little shits are real trouble, ya know" Nancy nodded, cracking a smile. "Believe me, I know" she almost let out a laugh. Looking up at Steve, she let out a sigh.

"So, you and Armani..?" Steve looked back at her, "uh, yeah. I dont. I don't know." He spoke. They had kissed, and it seemed there was definitely something there, but her dad had just died, and he knew she needed more than just a boyfriend. "It's weird." he concluded, knowing the two were definitely in an awkward position.

"yeah, uh. I think that's good. N-not that it's weird, that you're there for her. You know. She probably really needs you right now" Nancy spoke, the awkward tightness of the conversation didn't seemed to lighten up. Armani walked into the shed, holding another tarp, she looked up. Her eyes were still a bit swollen, and her face hadn't lost it's red color from her crying. "I hope this works." Steve spoke softly.