"this tainted love you've given,
I give you all a boy could give you,
take my tears and that's not nearly all,
oh, tainted love,
tainted love."
Hawkins was a place where nothing happened. Everything was routine. High school football ga...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
MALLORY DROPPED THE kerosene bottle to the wooden floor of the Byer's home and wiped the back of her neck, her hand coming off slick with sweat she had gathered whilst nailing down bear traps and dousing the floorboards in kerosene with the help of Jonathon, Nancy and Alice. She crossed the living room to where Nancy was loading her small handgun with bullets and began to do the same. She didn't want to admit that she didn't know what she was doing, so she followed Nancy's actions closely and also claimed an axe as her own, deciding that if she couldn't shoot, it wouldn't be difficult to swing and slice.
Jonathan walked into the room, panting. Nancy and Mallory looked in his direction, as did Alice from her spot on the couch.
"Remember-" he started, the urgency clear in his voice.
"Straight into Will's room," Nancy continued.
"Don't step on the trap," Alice added.
"Wait for the yo-yo to move," Mallory said then nodded to the lighter in Jonathan's other hand. He merely nodded in response, his breath quickening as his nerves grew. His gaze darted to Nancy's.
"Ready?" he asked, to which Nancy forced a nod, though she swallowed nervously. Mallory furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"Ready for what?" she asked, her dark eyes darting between the two as Jonathan stepped forward, holding a steak knife out to Nancy, who accepted it with a shaking hand. Mallory's eyes widened in alarm and Alice quickly stood to her feet.
"We have to draw the Demogorgon in," Jonathan explained, using the name they had given to the strange monster they had seen in the Upside Down, as the kids had described it.
"With blood?" Alice asked doubtfully.
Nancy nodded determinedly and glanced once more at Jonathan, who offered her a reassuring smile before she dug the blade into her palm. Jonathan did the same, dragging it across his skin and drawing blood, which made Mallory squirm and contort her nose in disgust.
"You could have told us that part of the plan," Mallory insisted.
Jonathan rose his eyebrows at her and clenched his fist, putting pressure on the cut and causing deep red blood to seep between his fingers. He noticed her paling face and grimace and he smirked.
"Really? Would you have cut your palm open like this?" he asked, opening his palm to show her in a teasing way. She quickly glanced away.
"No," she admitted.
"What now?" Alice piped up, her eyes darting around the room expectantly, as though the monster were going to materialise out of thin air.
"Now we wait, Nancy sighed and she stepped towards Jonathan with a roll of bandage.
Mallory watched with a knowing smirk as Nancy unravelled the bandage and gently pressed it to Jonathan's wound. She noticed how he watched her with soft adoring eyes, ignoring the pulsing pain in his hand. Mallory reminded herself that if they came out of this alive, she had a lot of teasing material now. She cleared her throat.
