Chosen Sisters

Episode 20 - Goodbyes

   I think Jonathan realized his mistake in letting me eat whatever I wanted from his fridge.

I didn't know that my powers had made me ravenous, and I ended up eating anything I could find. It was sickening. Sandwich after sandwich, a quart of ice cream, and half of the jar of pickles stowed away behind an empty box of pizza. I could feel myself regaining my strength.

Meanwhile, around me, my three friends were turning the house into a warzone. Jonathan was hammering nails into bats for weapons and spilling gasoline in the hallway. Nancy was shoving bullets into a pistol and tying traps to kitchen chairs while Anya sharpened a rusty hatchet with one of Joyce's steak knives. My weapon? Myself... and the box of hunting knives set out in a corner for me to summon and throw.

"Come and get me, Rachel!" Sarah giggled, her blonde hair up in two tiny pigtails. She was running through the grass on the park by our house, a heavy jacket on to protect her from the light layer of snow. Her stuffed tiger, ratty from years of love, was clenched tight in her hand. "Come and get me!"

"You can run, but you can't hide!" I teased, sneaking up around the playground and tickling her. The little girl laughed, pushing me away playfully before she froze. Her eyes were wide and she was struggling to breathe, looking at me for help. The stuffed animal fell out of her hands. "Sarah? Sarah? It's okay. It's okay... Mr. Hopper!" I screamed, turning around and trying to find my adopted parents. Sarah was now choking, grabbing at her throat. "Mrs. Hopper! Help! Help!"

"Rach, you okay?" I blinked a few times, looking up at Anya. Whatever makeup she had on earlier had finally smeared everywhere, and in her efforts to try and wipe it off, making her look like a mad man. Somehow it sort of suited her."You dozed off on us."

"Yeah," I nodded, shaking away the memory. I couldn't get caught up in my past, not now. "Just a little tired, that's-"

There was a flurry of sharp knocks on the door, causing the both of us to jump. I looked over at Nancy and Jonathan, who had stopped bandaging the small cuts from preparing the house. "No one knows we're here," Nancy whispered, her eyes wide. It couldn't have been the Demogorgon, otherwise, it would have just broken the door down. I stood up slowly to keep the wooden chair from making any noise. I opened the door until the chain lock stopped its motion, not prepared to see who was standing outside.

"Steve!"

"Hey, is Nancy here?" he asked me, but I was too distracted by the bloody cut on his lip and nose. His left eye was bloodshot. "I stopped by her house and her parents said she wasn't home so I assumed-"

"Steve, you can't be here," I told him, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was behind him. "Like, you really can't be here."

"No, no, no," Steve stammered, pushing the door back open as I tried to close it. "I really screwed up, okay? I messed... I messed up. Not just with her, but with you too. I've been a dick, and I want to make things right. Please? Please..." I saw his eyes flicker down to my stained shirt, the bruises on my face, and my nose. "Hey, what happened... is that blood?" He brushed my hair out of my face to get a closer look, causing me to tense. "Rachel, what happened?"

"I took a bike ride and ate it out in the woods, that's all," I answered quickly. "Popped a tire."

"And you stopped by Jonathan Byers's house to patch up?" he caught on my lie. "Wait a sec- did he hurt you?"

"No!" I exclaimed, not ready for him to push past me and enter the house. "Steve!"

"What is... what the..." he stuttered, looking at everything surrounding him. It was a lot to take in, Jonathan and Nancy by a gun and nail-bat while Anya had her fingers clenched around the handle of her hatchet. Not to mention lights hanging by his head and bear trap five feet away from him.