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aloneinthehellfire · 1 month ago

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Chapter Twenty-Four: The Mole

Gates Of Hell

Word Count: 14k

Warnings: mentions of death, blood, the usual? it's been a while i'll be honest

[A/N: It only took her three months to write the chapter she's been looking forward to since the third instalment and boy, am I totally calm about it... But on a serious note, I thank anyone who has been patiently waiting and hasn't given up on this series. It's been a longgggg year for me already and I just can't catch a break. Neither can these characters, so enjoy. And remember; nothing is ever as it seems.]

The Mole

Cold air hits your face like a blast from a shotgun when you cross over, prickling your skin with goosebumps.

The gate had been tough to get through, something like layers of membrane blocking your path to the other side. For a moment, you weren’t sure it would break, but Jonathan kept a tight grip on your hand and pulled you through with no avail.

The boy in question drops his hand when he locates the stairs to an exit, breathing a sigh of relief to find the place empty. He was expecting another Brenner to be waiting on the other side, ready for the kill.

“Where the hell are we?” He asks aloud, looking back at where you stood still by the gate, blinking up at the glass window above you.

It was strange how familiar this place felt to the Lab. As if you never really left, still stood at that window with a boy you had yearned for even when you couldn’t remember his face.

“I don’t know what I would have done if I had to go through this alone.” Steve admits, avoiding your eyes by turning back to face the window. “It was nice, having someone there. Even if we, uh, hate each other.”

You let out a small laugh, shaking your head slightly. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m kinda glad you were there, too. Even, yeah, even if we are sworn enemies.”

“Y/n.”

He finally looks at you and you patiently wait for whatever he has to say. The longer it takes, the stranger you feel, like a growing pit of anticipation, both good and bad. You watch as he struggles with the words, like he couldn’t choose or he genuinely didn’t know what to say, his lips forming them in small twitches but never speaking.

“I don’t hate you.”

Nothing ever felt the same since then.

“Um…” You finally blink yourself back into the present, shaking your head with a shrug. “I don’t know. But this place has to have a door, right?”

“I don’t know how else we’d be down here otherwise.”

“If everything is flipped…” You think out loud, hand resting on the rail of the metal staircase. “The radio would be working here. Brenner had to have some source of electricity for those cameras down there, maybe it all leads back here.”

It was only the beginning of a plan, but a plan all the same. This was your chance to finally reach the others and return home.

“I don’t think we’re gonna have the time.” Jonathan whispers, backing away from the gate. You turn slightly, peering through the bright hues of crimson rays. There was a shadow there, growing more and more as it got closer.

The monster had followed you.

“New plan; we run.” You exhale, and Jonathan doesn’t object.

The rushed set of footsteps echoed from the walls as they thump against the metal steps, an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Your heart dropped when you heard the harsh metal clang of a body hitting the stairs behind you.

Bile was itching at the back of your throat as you followed Jonathan further up, spotting the door inches away. It took all your willpower to restrain yourself from looking at the monster behind you; you had a better chance of escape if you just focused on the end goal.

“Help me move this!” Jonathan says as you slam the door shut, creating a barrier between you and a living nightmare. He was pointing at a filing cabinet and you instantly pulled at it, letting it topple over to block the door.

One harsh thump against the door, and then another. Over and over until the cabinet began to rattle, its metal exterior scratching against the floor.

“That's not gonna hold much longer.” It feels like you're stating the obvious, but you don’t care. If you don’t talk, you’ll be forced to hear the harsh irregular breathing of a monster wanting to rip your throat out.

“You think you can lead us back though?” He points at the only exit, a small glass pane showing a long corridor, not unlike the ones you've been exploring the last few weeks.

You simply nod, adjusting the bag wrapped across your body and charging towards it.

The first thing you noticed was how different the walls were. They were a dull grey, pipes lining the ceiling. The strips of light above you were weary, like they were losing power. You still wondered how Brenner managed to bring electricity into the Upside Down, but there were only so many theories you could think of when running for your life.

Navigating the hallways seemed hopeless by the sixth corner you turned. You weren’t sure of where the exit would be, catching yourself in a maze of greyscale paint.

“Where now?” Jonathan asks breathlessly when your attempt to lead met you with a dead end.

“I- I don’t know…” You stumble helplessly, staring at the wall in front of you. Jonathan looked at you with nothing but hope and expectation, and you hated it.

You weren't a leader. For the better part of your short life, you’ve always been the follower. Hell, barely even that; you were simply a spectator. Your dad, Steve, Nancy, even the middle school kids, they were the heroes that saved Hawkins while you sat through your invisible war in detention. You were never taught to take charge. You never let yourself be the responsible one. Rather than fight the secret evils of your boring town, you made a mess of your life and lived to regret every decision you had ever made.

Much like the decision to turn down a corridor with no lights when being chased by a monster much stronger, and much faster, than you.

“I…” You wrack your brain, eyes glued shut while you attempt to recall the layout of the bunker before, reminding yourself it’s all flipped.

You find the central part of the building, staring up at it with awe, as you did every single time. Here, there were separate floors for separate doors, all circling you as you stand in the middle. This section of the bunker made it seem much bigger than you had assumed it to be. In fact, the label bunker didn’t seem to match the grand scale of it. Although, you weren’t sure what else to call it now. A base, perhaps.

“The centre.” You finally say. Clocking Jonathan’s confused expression, you explain. “The bunker has this massive central part with layers of rooms. They were all locked or out of use but I remember one of the hallways was slightly bigger than the rest. In the Upside Down, it just led to another wall. But here…”

“It might lead us to the front door.” He finishes and you nod encouragingly. “Okay. Yeah, it’s worth a-”

Fear washed over your body, paralysing your mind.

A low and guttural growl reverberated from the walls around you, suffocating you with its severity. The lights further down the hall began to flicker, and each burst cast a horrifying shadow over you.

Teeth sharp, claws long, and yet all you could focus on was the intensity of its green eyes.

The monster found you again. It finally caught you both, trapped at a dead end with nowhere to run.

Dragging its claws along the wall, it approached you with an unsettling familiarity. You’ve been here before, prey in the corner, with a creature that relished the suspense.

The same creature.

Your back hit the wall before you realised you had run out of room, Jonathan’s shoulder brushed against yours. Unbeknownst to yourselves, you both started falling to the ground, a mess of hands grasped tightly together as you felt the breath of death bare down on you with a sinister smile. The weight of a dagger inside your boot was taunting you with its uselessness. Even if you were to fight this creature, you wouldn’t win, and in the comfort of someone else’s hands is the way you’d prefer to die.

Eyes closed, an endless stream of empty wishes strung through your mind as a snarled row of teeth appear in front of your face barely centimetres away.

It was then all too cold. The heat of the beast’s rancid mouth wasn’t there, and you certainly weren’t dead. Risking a glance, you open your eyes to the most unexpected outcome of all.

It was walking away.

Nudging Jonathan, he peels his head from your shoulder and shares in your bewilderment. Neither of you speak, not until the menacing trod of supernatural footsteps echoed far out of reach.

“It’s… gone.” You say, blinking away a surprise of tears.

“We’re just two lucky people, huh?” Jonathan manages to speak, voice tight.

“Oh, yeah, I feel real lucky.” You ignore your shaking legs as you stand, offering a hand to your friend as your eyes stay glued to the end of the hallway. It can’t just have walked away?

“Maybe not lucky.” He corrects, timidly relaxing his shoulders. “How about the unluckiest lucky people in the world?”

“I’ll take it.” You shake your head, grabbing his arm and running back down the hall.

The universe gave you what seemed like your millionth chance and fucking hell, you were gonna take it.

It was official. The universe hated him.

After Nancy and Robin had found the boys in the Radio Shack with a beacon of hope, everything started going downhill. Demodogs had jumped out of every corner, some near misses with their flying sharp claws, barely giving the group time to breathe in between fights.

Their attempted radio calls back to home base weren’t getting through. Or no one was answering. Either way, they were out here alone without El’s foresight to guide them and it only made their quest to the mall that more dangerous than it already was.

And on top of all of that, Steve couldn’t get rid of the rhythmic thumping against his temple.

“You okay?”

Nancy’s voice barely breaks through his growing migraine, her concerned eyes looking right through him. He clearly wasn’t hiding his pain well enough.

“Fine.” He offers a weak smile, ensuring his voice is lowered. The other three were trailing behind them and the last thing he needed was their questions on his struggling state.

“Okay.” Nancy purses her lips, allowing silence to remain between them. But his lie doesn’t stop her from rooting through her backpack to hold up a bag of pills and a water bottle. “At least take some painkillers.”

With a quick glance over his shoulder, he tentatively reaches out and accepts her offering. “Thank you.”

Hesitating, she reaches a hand to brush over his shoulder, nodding determinedly. “You don’t have to pretend you’re okay, you know. You’ve done a lot for us. For them.”

The ‘them’ in question was referring to you and Jonathan. Steve doesn’t respond, but he is grateful. After everything that’s happened, he wasn’t expecting such kindness from her.

“Okay, lovebirds, let’s not start this whole thing again.” Billy motions to the two of them, his unwelcome voice making them jolt slightly.

Nancy bites her lip in frustration and Steve huffs, hating how an ounce of guilt settles in his stomach, like he truly did something wrong. Anything like that between him and Nancy was over; he was sure of it. She was in love with Jonathan, and he…

“Sorry.” Billy suddenly says, clocking their upset expressions. “I was just joking.”

While Nancy watches him walk past them with a look of surprise, Steve clenches his jaw and takes a sip of water, handing it back to her when the pills wash down.

“He’s acting stranger than usual.” Nancy mumbles, shoving the water bottle back into her bag.

“Right?” Steve nods, gently grabbing her arm to pull her to a stop, “Something’s definitely going on with him.”

“What do you mean?”

“He keeps disappearing at the most important moments, usually when we’re fighting a monster, and then the next he’s acting like we’re best friends and nothing is wrong.”

Nancy walks beside him in contemplation. “Have we considered that maybe he’s actually trying to be our friend?”

Steve pulls a face, squinting.

“Life or death situations can change a person.” She offers, looking up ahead to where Billy was scouting the next area, shotgun raised ready. “He’s still an asshole, that’s not debatable. He just knows his best chance at survival is with us.”

“How does that explain the disappearing act he pulls anytime we’re in trouble?”

“I don’t know. That is weird. But we have more important things to worry about than Billy Hargrove being nice.”

“I agree with Wheeler.” Eddie suddenly interrupts. He and Robin were beside them now, and the boy’s eyes stared into the sky with a frown. “What the hell is that?”

In tandem, the others look past the sun to see a group of… birds?

“No. Definitely not.” Steve responds when Nancy questions the same thing aloud. “They look fast.”

“And are probably deadly.” Billy adds, shaking his head. “Like everything else in this town.”

Steve only nods, barely giving him recognition as he tells the group to keep going. Nancy raises her eyebrow at his authoritative nature, especially since it wasn’t a role he’s taken on since the great fall of King Steve. She was slightly impressed; even Billy followed his direction despite his obvious disdain to do so.

“Does he know he’s heading down the wrong street?” Eddie whispers to Nancy, pointing out that he was meant to be leading them to Starcourt, not Steve. “That one is gonna be infested for sure.”

“I’ll let him know.” Nancy sighs, smiling. She senses his unspoken questions, nodding ahead of her. “He’s been through a lot. This is the first time I’ve seen him so… determined. Hopeful.”

“Not complaining.” Eddie raises his hands in surrender. “I don’t wanna be in charge. I just don’t want him leading us to where those weird birds are.”

“He won’t.” She assures, shaking her head in amusement.

Eddie shivers when he glances up at them once last time, following in her footsteps. “Good. I would hate to be the sucker caught by those things.”

“Still no answer.” Robin says from behind them, holding up the radio she kept strapped to her hip.

“Maybe the buildings are blocking the signal.” Nancy suggests. “We’ll try again later.”

Robin merely shrugs, handing the girl the radio instead of returning it to her belt. “You better keep hold of it. If we get attacked again, I don’t want to break it.”

With a smile, she takes it off of her hands and slips it into her satchel, letting the boys know she was keeping hold of it for now.

As they all make their way further through the centre of Hawkins, the town around them shifts from a bad dream to a complete and utter nightmare.

Buildings were caved in, rubble blocking the roads into a maze of blind alleyways. Vines littered what was left of the concrete, making their skin crawl. Their home was completely unrecognisable down here. The destruction wasn’t their only concern.

“Uh, Munson?” Steve glances past Nancy to where the metalhead was standing, puzzled. “I thought you said it was crawling with monsters?”

Starcourt Mall stood tall before them, just a couple of feet ahead. The group decided to take cover behind a torn wall in preparation for Eddie’s previous warnings. But now, as they look ahead at the gates surrounding their destination, the scene they had expected to find was completely bare. Not a monster in sight.

“It… it was.” Eddie frowns, even checking behind him. “This whole street, man, it… I swear.”

“Not anymore, apparently.” Billy mumbles, lowering his shotgun he had pointed out in the open.

“That’s good, right?” Robin speaks up, looking between them expectedly. Nancy scrunches her face, offering a shy hand to her shoulder that Robin seems confused by.

“For us out here? Sure. But in there…” Her eyes drift to the building, shaking her head. “Could be a trap.”

“She’s right.” Billy nods, hardening his jaw. “We better take a look around before we start assuming we’re gonna get in and out without a single fight.”

Steve opens his mouth to volunteer, but Nancy shoots up from where they’re all crouching, releasing her gun from its holder.

“Billy and I will do a quick scout of the area.” She says, holding up her hand when Steve starts to object. “We’re the ones with the guns, and we’re not planning on getting close to anything anytime soon. You guys stay here, we’ll figure out if we can get into the building. Okay?”

It was a rhetorical question. And Steve bit back his complaints as she and Billy step out from behind the wall and begin searching around the gates. He felt bitter about being left behind, but he knew Nancy wasn’t doing it out of malice. It was painfully obvious that he wasn’t doing well, mentally or physically for that matter. Even if he still felt he had to shoulder this alone, it was nice to have someone else taking charge.

“So… either of you played DnD before?” Eddie breaks the awkward silence.

Steve pulls his eyes away from the scouts’ shadows for a moment to send him a look, noticing how Robin scrunches her face at the same time.

“Yeah, didn’t think so.” Eddie mutters to himself, slumping down against the wall.

Another beat of silence passes. Before Eddie interrupts it once again.

“Hey, nice bracelet.” He nods at Robin's wrist and she frowns, surprised he’s paying attention to her at all.

“Uh, thanks.”

“Did you make that?”

Y/n did, Steve thinks to himself, remembering the time you spent together in the Upside Down. On particularly unnerving nights, you would find pieces of string, whether torn from clothes or furniture, and you would weave bracelets. You never kept any, and if he were to return to the alternate dimension now he’d probably find dozens scattered across the place, but he remembered your comment on making Robin a bracelet years ago.

“Yeah, something like that.” She says with little heart, returning her gaze back to the shadows Nancy and Billy create.

“Cool.” Eddie raises his eyebrows at Steve, lowering his voice. “Not a talker, then.”

Steve felt such shame and guilt when he watched the gate close the bridge between worlds, your frame still stuck on the other side. But it didn’t feel as bad as the knowledge of what he’s inflicted on the others. Hopper’s barely himself anymore, El keeps having nightmares about losing you, Jonathan almost lost his life, and everyone has been busting their asses trying to find a way to get you back. Still, none of that really compared to what it did to Robin.

When he returned to Hawkins and had to explain what happened, Robin was the first to break. She cried in thick bursts of tears to the point where Joyce had to escort her to another room to calm her down. It had twisted Steve’s stomach in such a way that he could have thrown up from regret.

Robin had told him once that you were the only friend she had. And, considering she never mentioned her parents, he could assume you were her family. A long week left her in shambles, unable to look at Steve without crying. Day by day, her grief chipped away at him. He had told them all you could be saved, but she must have seen right through him back then, knowing. Like she could feel you were gone.

But then her depression… shifted. As if overnight, she no longer sobbed herself to sleep, or shut herself away in the bedroom attic. Instead, she adopted an emotionless state. She still avoided your name, a look of mournful recognition whenever they talked about you. Steve thinks the grief finally hit its final stage, and now she was a shell of herself forced to live in a world without you.

After all that had happened, that was his biggest regret after losing you; letting the light inside of Robin die when he could have been comforting her all this time. Like a friend would. Like you would.

“Do you think they’ll take long?” Eddie’s question shocks him out of his saddening reflection, clearing his throat.

“Not sure.” He responds, returning to his post and leaving the other boy in the silence once again.

After a while, Eddie starts to drum his fingers against his knees, humming a tune Steve wouldn’t recognise. It shouldn’t bother him, but his migraine already had him suffering enough.

“Can you just…” Steve snaps at him when the rendition of an instrumental break echoes out of him, causing him to snap his mouth shut in surprise. “Thank you.”

“Sorry, man.” Eddie sighs, twisting around to peer out from behind the wall. “I need to keep myself busy when I’m nervous or I'll freak out.”

“It’s… fine.” Steve pinches the bridge of his nose, sitting back down when an especially painful thump against his skull makes him wince.

“Hey, you good?”

“Just a headache.” He brushes it off, blinking away the dots blurring his vision.

“Uh, huh.” Eddie thins his lips, but doesn’t pester any further. At least, not about Steve’s ailment. “So, uh… what happens when we get in there?”

“What do you mean?” Steve shifts back onto his face, quietly apologising when his leg accidentally bumps into Robin’s. She barely casts him a look.

“The plan we made was to get to the delivery bay and raid their supplies.” Eddie recalls, frowning slightly. “It was meant to be in and out. Without, you know, actually going in.”

“And?”

“Now Y/n and Byers are in there.” Eddie says softly and Steve finally understands his concern.

This was meant to just be a supply run. And, if they were lucky, they wouldn’t even have to touch the inside of a building probably filled with dead corpses and hungry monsters. But it’s all changed now that they know you’re in there. Getting supplies was hard enough, but a rescue mission? That was too much for an attempted ‘quick’ trip.

“We’ll have to split up.”

Both Eddie and Robin look at him then with surprised glances. Robin keeps quiet, shaking her head instead to imply the fact she thinks this is a very bad idea.

“Uh, no, that’s not-” Eddie rambles, taking a breath. “How is splitting up better?”

“Two of us make the supply run, the other three will go in and find them.” Steve nods, his posture far from revealing how nervous he was. “There’s no point risking everyone in case…”

“In case they’re not actually in there?” Eddie suggests, but Steve’s silence sunk a deep spark of dread in his stomach.

“In case they’re already dead.” Robin finishes for them, hardening her stare at the mall. The boys frowned at her, mouths slightly parted in shock. “That’s what everyone’s thinking, right? But I don't think that's true. They’re in there. And they need us. All of us.”

It was probably the most emotion he’d seen from her in a long time, and he hated knowing she was right. If Eddie’s recollection of the night he found Tommy was right, then there’s going to be a lot of creatures to get through before they find you. It was going to take all of them to succeed. Shit.

“Hey.”

Nancy and Billy return, taking breaths to explain that they didn’t need to look farther than the metal gates.

“There’s plenty waiting for us in the delivery bay, that’s for sure.” Billy says, sounding a little defeated.

Nancy nods. “They’re definitely going to be in the building. Whatever we do, it’s going to end in a fight.”

“About that, we’ve, uh, we’ve been thinking…” Eddie starts, looking at Steve and Robin.

“We can’t do both.” Steve says, shouldering the duty of delivering the hard news. “We either get supplies, or we get our friends.”

Nancy stares at him with a startled expression, assessing whether or not he was bluffing. But it wasn't something he'd joke about.

“You already know the answer.” She finally says, voice quiet.

“Same as mine.” He sighs, nodding slowly.

“I assume this means we’re going into the building?” Eddie looks between them, and Steve is surprised he’s including himself. After all, he was only here to help get supplies, not embark on a rescue mission.

Steve thinks back to what Billy said the previous night, how Eddie obviously cared about you. You never mentioned Munson was your friend, but then again he supposed he never asked. Regardless, it made his chest tighten a little bit at how close you both must be. You don’t run into a monster infested fortress for just anyone.

“You don’t have to do this.” Steve says and Eddie’s eyebrows raise at the concern in his voice. “This wasn’t the plan you agreed to.”

He considers this, eyes drifting off to look at the mall with a frown. His face bore a look of decision, weighing the odds of what might happen if he went in with the rest of them. In all honesty, Steve couldn’t tell what he was going to choose until he shared it himself.

“Well, I’ve come this far. Might as well see it to the end.” Eddie smirks, collecting his spear from his back. “Plus, I’m getting pretty good at this slaying stuff.”

“That settles it then.” Nancy nods in determination, adjusting the strap of her bag. Steve could tell she was eager to get this over with. If not in fear of what could happen, but in eagerness to see the boy she thought she lost. “We should radio back home… just in case.”

Steve gulps but agrees. The last thing they need is another search party if they don’t make it back out alive.

Nancy flips open her satchel and digs through. A couple of seconds later, she pauses.

“What’s wrong?” Steve notices the way her face drops. Rather than answer, she continues rooting through, muttering to herself. “Nance?”

“I…” She finally looks up at him, wide eyed. “It’s not… I don’t have it.”

“The radio?” Eddie frowns, looking between them. “I’ve still got ours from the radio shack.”

He pats his backpack, slipping it from his shoulder and opening the front pocket with an expression as if to say ‘See? No need to panic’. Except, nothing was in there.

Eddie blinks, unzipping the rest of the bag. Nothing. He then jumps over and starts helping Nancy look through hers.

Steve has a sinking feeling of dread. If the radios are really missing, that means Eddie can’t let his uncle know where he is. That means no one will know what they’re about to do. And if they die-

Something was sabotaging them. And they were running out of time to save you.

“We don’t need it.” He finally decides, ignoring their shocked faces. He hasn’t spent all this time looking for you just to change his mind over a flimsy radio. “We don’t know how much time Y/n and Jonathan have left or what condition they’re in. If we’re lucky, I bet there’s an electronics shop. They had to send the signal from somewhere.”

“I agree.” Robin says, nodding earnestly. It wasn’t expected, but Steve knew she was just as hell-bent on finding you as he was. “It might be risky, but they’re our friends.”

Going ahead without a radio wasn’t just risky, it was a death wish. There was no relying on a rescue party if they got stuck. No relying on a girl with superpowers to let them know what’s down there. No way to say goodbye if it all goes to shit.

But Robin was right. Risky or not, you and Jonathan needed them. So, without any more hesitancy, the group starts nodding in unison. All but one.

“So… we’re all gonna die.” Billy comments, a sharp dent between his brows, as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Shut up.” Steve says bitterly, ignoring him and looking at the others willing to help, a plan beginning to form.

I’m almost there, he thinks, as if you can hear him.

“I think we need a keycard, or something.”

You and Jonathan had finally tracked down the front door. It was pretty big, etched into the wall at the end of a long tunnel of hallways.

One problem; it was locked.

Jonathan peers at the device stuck to the wall, face scrunched with uncertainty. “Yep, definitely a keycard.”

“Seriously? Where the hell are we meant to find one of those?” You huff, but not at him. You stare down at the floor as if the card would be laying there, biting your lip in frustration. Then, almost temptingly, a solution stared right back at you, testing your impatience.

Jonathan can only shrug in response to your dismay, surveying the area before he sighs. “Probably the radio room. But that’s all the way on the other side and with that thing still stalking us, I don’t think we’ll make it there without-”

A loud ‘beep’ echoes from behind him, shortly followed by a hiss of a metal door opening. Jonathan stands with his hands at his side, staring at the open wall in confusion before glancing over at the destroyed access panel.

You stand awkwardly, a lead pipe you had swiped from the ground moments before clutched in one hand.

“It's open.” You say, nodding towards it like it was incredibly hard to miss.

“I noticed.” He replies, shaking his head when you smile. “You know, that could have just broken the door and kept it shut forever.”

“But it didn’t.” You place the pipe back on the floor at your feet, striding towards your exit. “It was either this or my dagger.”

“I don’t remember you being this…” Jonathan’s mouth snaps shut when you glare at him. “Nevermind.”

“Uh-huh.”

You frown as he joins your side, staring at your exit. Or, as fate would have it, another fucking wall.

“The universe is having a goddamn field day with me today.” You whine, hands on your head. “Now what?”

“Wait.” Jonathan holds his hand out, looking upwards. You follow his stare, noticing the same panel. “I think we’re in an elevator.”

“Is there a button around here or something?” You mumble, eyes scanning the walls. You walk back to the doors, peering at a console resting on the opposite side of its doppelganger. Before you obliterated it, of course. “Another keycard thing.”

“Well, if it’s operated that way, the elevator isn’t gonna start by just smashing the-”

Another beep and a spark broke his suggestion, your guilty hands stilled with the pipe between them.

“Why do you keep doing that?” He asks as calmly as he can, and you can only shrug. He sighs and comes to your side, peering down at the mess of glass and wires. “I guess we’re climbing up.”

“Sorry.” You mumble, throwing the pipe back to its spot in the hallway for the last time, wincing as it clangs against the solid ground. “Sorry again.”

Jonathan had already begun rearranging the strange boxes around you to get closer to the ceiling panel, fingertips now brushing the edges to lift it up.

“Almost…” He mutters to himself, smiling down at you when it successfully pops open.

You give a reassuring smile back before the elevator doors snap shut behind you, making you jump.

“What the hell?”

Jonathan barely had time to speak before the elevator jolted harshly. He crashes to the ground and you try to help him, but your body is suddenly being pulled down as the elevator jolts once again.

Then it started moving. Fast.

“What the fuck is happening?!” You scream as you attempt to grab hold of literally anything, your back moulded to the floor from the pure speed of the lift.

It lasts maybe 20 seconds before another jolt pulls you to a stop.

“Is it over?” Jonathan groans, pushing the weight of a fallen box from his body.

“Everything hurts.” You murmur, rolling over to plant your hands firmly on the ground, testing the stillness against your fingertips. As far as you could tell, it’s not moving again anytime soon.

“I don’t think you should destroy any more panels.” He says as he sits up to face you, taking a breather.

“Noted.” You push yourself back to your feet and offer Jonathan a hand.

Beep.

The sounds echoes around you and you both immediately brace for impact, your back against a hard metal railing, hands hooked around it for support, while Jonathan planted his feet, fastening himself to the wall opposite.

Rather than be plunged into another tango with death, the elevator doors finally hiss open, your body relaxing as the stress is suddenly pulled away from you.

You weren’t underground any more.

Sunlight creeped in, illuminating the room in a warm tone of amber. Your feet had already taken you to the exit, squinting against the light that you attempted to block with the raise of your hand. But you could never complain about the brightness. Not when you hadn’t seen the sunlight in so very long.

The warmth felt comforting against your face, reminding you of the joy hidden within simplicity. It wasn’t just the sun; it was freedom. Free from the Upside Down, and free from Brenner.

And a step closer to your family. To Steve.

You could almost feel him calling out, bound to you somehow. Like the strings of your bracelets.

“Y/n?” Jonathan’s voice is small beside you. You merely hum in response, eyes closed and focused on soaking up as much hope as you could. “I don’t wanna ruin the moment, but we’re going to run now.”

Your head whips to him and you frown before you finally acknowledge where the elevator had taken you.

It looked like some sort of delivery bay, stretching as far as you could see with the sky shining on your face. But that wasn’t the issue.

It was the swarm of monsters littered across the concrete.

Demodogs, and a lot of them. They acted like guards patrolling the building around you, slow and steady in their movement. They hadn’t noticed you yet, but once you step out into light they’ll all be on you in a heartbeat.

“Ready?” Jonathan asks, eyes set straight ahead with his hand on your arm.

“Never.”

That was good enough.

“Where are we going?” You ask, arm tugging from Jonathan’s tight grip as he steers you down a different path once the body of a demodog jumps out at you.

You followed in his footsteps, forcing yourself not to look at the growls around you. Jonathan seemed to be leading you to a wall of delivery crates, hopefully assuming that you could lose them in the maze of it.

He assumed right. A few close calls and many expletives later, the winding pathway led you to the other side of this massive building. It was shady, and as far as you could tell, monster free. It didn't make it any less dangerous.

You were both running, hoping to find safe passage on the other side. The floor here was covered with something black and slimy, protruding from inside the building and making your rushed behaviour harder to navigate without accidentally tripping. Your feet were tired from determination. It felt like all you did now was run.

“Shit!” Jonathan yells out.

You barely caught a glimpse of him over your shoulder as his foot catches on what appears to be some kind of vine, hitting the ground hard and shocking you to a halt.

You turn to help him back up, grabbing his arms. But he slips from your grasp before you even had the chance to hold onto him, the vine wrapped tightly around his ankle and pulling him back to the darkness.

The vines were alive. Of course they were alive.

“Jonathan!” You sprint after him, blindly following his body as it starts to disappear inside the building. Your heart hammers in your chest, filling your throat with bile. If he gets dragged in there, you can’t guarantee he’ll ever get back out.

At the last moment, you fish your dagger from your boot and leap forward, catching the blade on the vine and it screeches in pain at the contact.

Jonathan groans, rolling over.

“You okay?” You ask, catching your breath as you watch the vine retreat back into the cracked opening of a back door. Note to self: never go inside that building.

“I thought I was gonna disappear again.” He replies softly, brushing the dirt from his jeans. There was a tone of sadness in his voice, one you chose not to question. You had no idea what happened to him before all of this, and you didn’t have the time now.

Instead, you offer a hand, and you pull him to his feet. You inspect the building once again with a frown.

“I think you might be the only person in town who didn’t want to check out Starcourt.” You offer a joke, and he smiles gratefully at your attempt to loosen the tension tying knots in his stomach, gazing up at the height of the ‘amazing’ new mall.

Starcourt Mall. Some fancy corporation came to town last year and started buying land to build the very thing that was meant to put Hawkins on the map. Unfortunately, the only people who were going to profit from that were bored teenagers and wealthy businessmen. You thought they’d have given up on the idea after they saw the dull streets you called home, but clearly you were wrong. They almost did it. Before the apocalypse shut everything down for good.

“Remember when all this town had to worry about was the big developers taking our jobs?” Jonathan comments, looking up at the mall with a look of distaste.

“I barely remember 5 minutes ago.” You sigh, the attempt of humour only reminding you how fucked up all of this really was. You had been drugged for weeks. All because you trusted a complete and utter stranger.

Focus, you remind yourself, motioning to the edge of the wall for you both to move to. Peering around that corner was disheartening to say the least.

Monsters upon monsters littered the place like a plague, coexisting as if they were hunting together. You tried not to think about the blood splattered on the ground, staining the concrete in an aged swatch of crimson brown.

“How do we get past them?” Jonathan asks with a whisper, checking his ankle for bruises. “Don’t know about you, but I really don’t wanna go through the mall.”

Your eyes dart around for another option, constantly casting back at the elevator from hell. That wasn’t even an option with that thing down there.

That’s when you finally take notice of the massive gate blocking your way. Opening it would make way too much noise, but the bars seemed… stable. You nod towards it, sighing.

“How’d you feel about climbing?”

“I like it a whole lot better than dying.”

Soft footsteps granted you access to the gate, making sure to stay hidden behind various discarded crates. It was much taller than you anticipated, regret already seeping in. You weren’t much of a climber.

By the looks of it, neither was Jonathan, sharing the same look of hesitancy.

“It’s this or the mall.” He reminds you and you shudder.

Jonathan goes first, pulling himself up one bar at a time, careful to avoid the stray pieces of metal wiring poking out. Parts of it were worn from monsters presumably trying to claw their way through, but Starcourt Mall had pretty solid security considering everything.

When he makes it to the top, he pauses, looking out.

“What’s wrong?” You prompt, hands resting on the gate.

“I… nothing.” He shakes his head, deciding to continue and he quietly descends down, nodding when he lands on his feet. It was your turn now.

It wasn’t as difficult as you were expecting it to be. Some larger pieces were perfect for footholds, making you question the mall's security efforts after all. And when you make it to the top, you take a quick glance out onto the landscape, still wondering what caught Jonathan’s attention. You saw nothing but the town you’ve hated in ruins, buildings collapsed, smoke from fires long gone.

And some birds in the distance. You pause this time, tilting your head at the sight. You had been stuck in a bunker for weeks imagining how the surface must look; if there were still flowers, if the sun could still shine. But you had to admit birds were the last thing you expected to see. With the blackened sky, you assumed they all would have fled.

And you were right, in a way. There were no birds here.

Distant screeches catch Jonathan’s attention too, searching the sky. No, definitely not birds.

And as they creep closer, you notice the unnatural build of them.

The teeth, especially.

“Y/n…” Jonathan warns, hand grasped onto the fence. “Get down now.”

You rush to loop your leg over, holding onto the top with both hands to start climbing-

You hear a tear, and suddenly you can’t move your other leg.

“Fuck!” You cry, reaching over to tug at your jeans. Frayed pieces of it were caught on some smaller wires, trapping you. “I’m stuck!”

The screeches were much louder now, echoing behind you in mockery. This might just be the stupidest way you could die in an apocalypse.

“Shit, hold on!” Jonathan starts climbing back up, head whipping back to keep an eye on the flying swarm heading towards you.

When he makes it to the top, he reaches over and starts making work of freeing your leg, any and all tenderness removed in light of the deathly situation.

“Come on, come on…” He mutters with a strained voice and you risk a glance over your shoulder.

Right now, you could see exactly what they looked like. Bats, essentially, with oddly shaped heads that looked like they could mortally wound you with a single bite, tiny sharp claws on the ends of their wings, and a bloodthirsty look in their eye. They were going to tear you apart.

“Go!” You suddenly say, grabbing his arm and pulling it away from your leg. “You need to hide!”

“No.” He shakes his head, still working on the denim mishap.

“What are you-”

“You got me out of that bunker.” He looks at you this time, frowning. “I’m gonna get you out of this mess.”

Even with your doubt, you didn’t force him to leave. Mostly because you were scared to die alone.

But Jonathan had said it once before. You were the unluckiest lucky people in the world.

The first bat swoops down and swipes its claw at your shoulder. The jacket you wore luckily took all the damage, but you yell out all the same.

Your body instinctively jolts at the sudden intrusion and you hear your jean leg rip again. Except this time, it tore straight through, and you were free.

Well, free-falling.

You hit the concrete with a thump, wheezing as the breath is thrown from your lungs. You blink against the sky, trying to roll onto your side. You vaguely remember Jonathan jumping down next to you, yelling something.

The shape of a bat descended towards you and you expected another claw or a bite to only add to the scars you already had.

A loud gunshot was your saving grace. Bat blood splattered everywhere, an unsavoury wet sensation on your face and neck. You could have vomited from the smell alone, daring not to move.

You spit it from your lips, taking in a long breath and twisting your body to the source, sharing a look with Jonathan, his own bloody face only accentuating the surprise in his eyes.

The bats were dispersing, scared off by the sound of a gun.

The gun that was now pointed directly at you.

“You’re gonna want to come with me if you want to live.” A man grumbles, bottom half of his face covered by a mask.

Jonathan helps you up, and you narrow your eyes.

“Who the hell are you?” You ask, hesitant.

“Your hero.” He replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes and tugging down his mask. “Now we gonna start moving or do you want to be a buffet?”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Jonathan mumbles, sighing. “Murray?”

Murray, as confirmed by the surprised look on his face, looked between you both with an irritated gaze, lowering his gun.

“You know this guy?” You ask Jonathan, making no notion of moving.

“Kinda.” He sighs, glancing at you. “Long story.”

“Jesus.” Murray drops his shoulders in desperation. “Sure, let’s stand around and talk about how we know each other. Take your time, too. I’m sure these monsters will patiently wait for you to finish before they eat you for dinner!”

You both stare at him in silence.

“No? Great. Follow me.”

“Is he always like this?” You ask, wincing at the exposed part of your leg. You kind of liked these jeans, even if they weren’t actually yours.

“Unfortunately.”

You follow the man you’ve never met into the woods, attempting to wipe the blood from your face. Once again, you were blindly trusting a stranger, but you swore to yourself it wouldn’t be like last time.

You’ll never let anyone fool you again.

“Where is she?”

“You’re supposed to help her.”

“Find her-”

“Hey, man, you good?” Eddie’s hand brushes against Steve’s shoulder and he jolts away from the touch. “Woah, sorry.”

“Huh?” Steve blinks, shaking his head when he realises what just happened. “No, my bad, I…”

He wasn’t sure what the explanation was. Steve didn’t think ‘yeah, I’ve been hearing voices the past couple of days now and they’re giving me such bad migraines I feel like I could drop any second’ was a conversation that would go down well with the others.

“Just a little on edge.” He finally decides, sighing. Eddie only nods, still weary.

“You sure that’s all?” Billy’s voice suddenly creeps him behind him, making his hands ball into fists. Eddie raises his eyebrows.

“What else would it be?” Steve tried to remain calm, turning to the Hargrove boy with a tight smile.

Billy narrows his eyes, not buying the excuse he’s selling.

“Everything okay?”

Up ahead, Nancy noticed the fallen footsteps of the boys behind them. And judging by the fists at Steve’s side and the smug look on Billy’s face, she was glad she had interrupted them.

Steve relaxes himself, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, we’re-”

A loud gunshot splits through the air, resting just the other side of the building, shocking them to their core.

“Was that…” Eddie mumbles, not daring to move as he looks between the faces of the group. All but one face, that is.

Because Steve had shot off towards the blast before any of them could stop him.

What if it’s you? His feet were taking him faster than he had expected, especially with how run down he was feeling. What if it’s you?

Eventually he sees it; something laying there by the gate to the delivery bay. It was too far to tell what it was, but his stomach churned nonetheless.

What if it’s… you?

Before he could run out to inspect it, a strong hand tugs him back against the wall and plants a hand over his mouth. He struggles, attempting to break free until the boy behind him whispers in his ear.

“Quiet.” Billy says, with enough conviction for Steve to still, listening out.

He widens his eyes when he finally hears it. Something was on the other side of the gate, snarling. If Steve squinted his eyes, he would make out the fog of a breath exhaling between the bars.

Billy slowly removes his hand and gives his arm a small tug, pulling him back. Before Steve turns to follow, he glances back at the body by the gate, an exhale of holy relief leaving his lungs. It wasn’t human, and it certainly wasn’t alive. It looked more like one of those weird birds they saw earlier, blasted in half by something as powerful as a shotgun.

The body wasn’t you. And the last time he saw you, you certainly didn’t have a shotgun.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Billy stresses as he drags the boy back around the corner. The others were just in the distance, walking over with concerned expressions.

“Let go of me.” Steve grits his teeth, pushing him away and Billy scoffs.

“Is that it, then? No explanation for putting all of us at risk?!” He says, checking to make sure the others couldn’t hear them. “If I hadn’t gotten there when I did, you probably would have died.”

“Oh, so now you wanna show up?!” Steve retaliates, heart beating erratically. He hoped Nancy would interrupt again before he threw the first punch. “Where were you when I was actually in danger?!”

Billy doesn’t respond, but there’s a storm of anger in his eye Steve hadn’t seen in a while. It reminded him of the old Billy. The one he could hate without judgement.

“You’re such a fucking hypocrite.” Steve spits, feeling his skin get hotter. He hadn’t felt such rage in forever. He didn’t know why this was all coming out now of all times.

Maybe it was the pressure. He was promised that you were inside the building standing tall in front of them, protected by the things he was sure had ripped you apart weeks ago. He should be happy that all his hope, his delusion, had come true. You were alive. You weren’t eaten by monsters, and you certainly hadn’t turned. Instead, he just can’t get a hold of his emotions. He wants you back here so badly that he’s actually terrified to see you again.

What if he doesn’t save you this time? What if it is all a lie and you aren’t alive? What if he messes things up he ruins the only chance you have at survival? What if he isn’t the fearless leader everyone believes he should be?

“She needs you.” Billy eventually says, noting the way Steve’s face had fallen. “We’re going to find her, and we are all gonna leave here together, alright? I get it. You’re scared we won’t make it time, and I can’t promise we will - who the fuck knows what’s in there - but we won’t be able to try if we start losing our shit.”

“What happened?” Nancy’s exasperated voice calls out, the other two in tandem behind her like they were just kids following their mother.

Billy and Steve merely share a look. It was unexpected, what Billy says next, and Steve was sure he didn’t deserve it.

“Steve found a vantage point.” He states, pointing to the wall opposite them. It had a ladder hidden behind a locked cage. Easily breakable. “We can get to the roof and see what we’re dealing with.”

Nancy’s suspicious eyes flickered between them. Even a child could see that wasn’t the conversation they just had. But she was tired, as were all of them, and she was so desperate to find her friends.

“Good idea.” She nods while Robin finds a rock, offering to break the lock.

It was so much more than Steve deserved. As Billy thins his lips and turns to climb the freed ladder, he can’t believe what just happened. Since when did Billy Hargrove take the high road in any fight?

Since when did Steve Harrington almost throw the first punch?

You hated bunkers.

From a practical standpoint, they were the best place to be in an apocalypse, especially when needing to hide from monsters and kinds alike. From personal experience, however, you would rather risk your life out here with creatures ready to kill than inside a giant metal box with a man you just met.

Unfortunately for you, your preferences weren’t to be taken into account.

“Home, sweet home.” Murray mutters as he shoves open the creaky door, extending his arm with a sarcastic invitation. “Don’t forget to take your shoes off-”

You walk straight past him, boots securely tied to your feet and he rolls his eyes, mumbling a remark you chose not to hear.

Murray’s bunker was small, comfortable for one person and so out in the middle of nowhere that it was certainly safe. He had led you both through the woods to get here, just on the outskirts of Hawkins but still within the military restrictions.

“When did you find this place?” Jonathan frowns, noting the fully functioning kitchen a few steps away.

“Built it years ago. I used it as my base for when I was investigating Hawkins.” Murray replies, taking a brief moment to fling open a cupboard door and pull out a mug. “From here, I get a great view of the lab. Or did. ‘Til someone blew it up.”

No comment, you think as you and Jonathan share a knowing look.

“Why did you bring us here?” You question, laying your eyes on an unsavoury magazine. You grimace. If you could scrub your brain clean, you would. “You’ve got cameras outside, everything looks pretty locked down so isn’t bringing us here breaching your… safety, or whatever?”

“Does she always ask this many questions?” Murray looks at Jonathan, but the boy doesn’t respond, curious to hear his answer. Murray sighs. “Look, I don’t like having guests here but if he is here, then I assume there’s something more than a freak apocalypse happening.”

“Why do you want to know? Why not just leave?” You challenge him again and he scoffs in exasperation.

“Again with the questions.” He mumbles, pulling up his hands in mock surrender. “Morbid curiosity. Happy? Who even are you?”

“Y/n Hopper.”

Something strange flashes across his eyes before he slumps his shoulders, offering a fake smile. “Murray Bauman. Now we have that out the way, what the hell were you guys doing at the mall? Huh? You have a death wish?”

“We, uh…” Jonathan starts, unsure of how much to reveal. When he meets your eyes however you can clearly see the trust in his face. He wouldn’t just let Murray take you both here unless he was certain you’d both be safe.

So you told him. How you both woke up in the bunker, how Dr Martin Brenner was back, and how neither of you knew how you ended up there in the first place. While all of it was the truth, Murray still seemed hesitant. But mostly of you.

“And you just walked around this place without noticing anything strange?”

“I literally was drugged most of the time.”

“Hm.” Murray nods slowly. He looks between you both before grabbing a wet washcloth, chucking it at Jonathan. “Clean up, you both look like a horror movie.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” You ask, and he tilts his head at you as if you were a child asking for extra dessert.

“Oh, I believe you were stuck in some creepy bunker with Brenner. That’s pretty much what he does.” Murray leans against the counter, narrowing his eyes. “I just don’t buy the whole amnesia thing.”

“She’s not lying. I saw what he gave her, she could barely remember who she was.” Jonathan defends you, passing over the washcloth as he wiped the last of the blood from his face.

“And, uh, Brenner just found you somewhere. Is that what you said?”

You swipe at your face, relishing in the cool water against your skin. “That’s what he told me. He could have lied. I don’t know.”

"So, I guess the real question is, what do you have that Brenner wanted?" Murray raises his eyebrow and you bite your tongue. You had to admit, he made a valid point.

"I don't know." You admit and Murray simply tightens his lips.

"Shocker."

"What's your problem with me?" You frown, standing from the couch to follow him to the kitchen area. Jonathan springs up from his seat also, a little afraid of this face-off a mere hour into meeting one another. "You've been an asshole ever since you learned my name."

"Sorry if my attitude isn't to your liking, your majesty." Murray raises both his hands, mocking you as he sips a glass of water.

As he sets it down on the counter as crosses his arms at you with a distasteful stare, your mind clicks into gear. He was giving you the same look you'd seen countless people give your father.

"Ah." You click your tongue, nodding. "You hate my dad."

The mask slips slightly with surprise as you said that, a crease denting his forehead. "How-"

"I am my father's daughter." You smirk sarcastically, casting a glance at Jonathan who honestly still looked terrified of all the potential outcomes of this conversation. That's when you realise you're letting your anger get the better of you; this man might be a fully grown child playing detective but he's also your only ticket home. "Look, whatever you have against my dad, that's not on me. Hopper makes his own decisions and all I- all we want right now is to just go home. I'm not here to brainwash you or whatever you said."

Murray studies you then with a concentrated look, letting you know he made a living out of judging people. After a while, he hums in satisfaction and sets his glass aside, crossing his arms.

“How exactly are you planning on getting home?” He asks, looking between you and a clearly relieved Jonathan resting against the kitchen wall.

“Any chance you have a radio?”

A small sigh leaves the man’s lips before he ushers you both to follow him out of the kitchen and through a small door in the living room, presenting a radio system not so different from the one you found in Brenner’s bunker.

In fact, it was so similar that it was, in Murray’s words, ‘completely busted’.

“Busted, how?” Jonathan frowns, eyes scanning for any obvious destruction to the system.

“As in… not working.” Murray scrunches his face, looking at you. “Am I speaking gibberish?”

“I think he’s asking how it broke.” You offer and Murray clicks his tongue, nodding.

“I can’t get through any channels.” He explains, taking a seat in front of it. “I didn’t even know the apocalypse started until my radio started going funny. There were these… noises, flowing through every single channel. Like voices. But they weren’t human.”

Jonathan’s eyes find yours, gulping. “Shapeshifters?”

“Shape- what now?” Murray grunts in confusion. You ignore him, shaking your head.

“They never communicated with each other before.” You say, suddenly turning back to Murray. “What have you heard?”

“I told you. Noises. Barely human.” He reiterates, groaning when you don’t seem impressed with his answer. “It was all gibberish when it started a month ago.”

“Any recent?”

“Yes.” He gently nudges you away from his radio like a protective parent. “But I’m starving so you’ll both have to listen on your own.”

“You recorded them?”

“I’ve been recording everything.” He taps the shelf above his desk that was littered with tapes, seemingly colour coded with markers. “The red one is the most recent. Don’t break anything or I'll feed you to those bats.”

As soon as he leaves the room, you and Jonathan fly towards the tapes, scrambling to insert the red one into the player.

It was excruciatingly hard to make out at first. In the beginning of the recording, there was an overwhelming replay of static. Jonathan explained that must be where Murray is trying to tune in to whatever other-worldly conversation he had stumbled across. And then you finally heard it.

Two voices. One murmured, warped beyond recognition as if the radio wasn’t strong enough to pick up on its tone. It was certainly not human. The other, however, was definitely human, and it spoke very clearly.

Voice One: *unintelligible*

Voice Two: They are determined.

Voice One: *unintelligible*

Voice Two: No.

Voice One: *unintelligible*

Voice Two: Shall I kill them all?

Voice One: *unintelligible*

Voice Two: He won’t.

Voice Three: *muffled*… Are you coming?

Voice One: *unintelligible*

Voice Two: understood…. *muffled* I’ll be right there!

The last few seconds set your skin alight with dread, sharing a look of despair with Jonathan. It was a shapeshifter after all.

And it was posing as one of your own.

“We need to warn them.” You panic, scrambling to mess with the radio despite Murray’s warnings.

“We don’t know what channel they’re using or- or if they even have a radio anymore. That thing could have destroyed it!” Jonathan plants his head in his hands, taking heavy breaths. “Murray said the radio hasn’t been able to pinpoint any kind of station for weeks-”

“Then we send out a message to every frequency. That’s possible, right?”

Jonathan looks indecisive.

“You heard her.” You say, frowning with earnestness. “That was Nancy’s voice in the background. That means she’s with the others, and that ‘thing’ is going to kill them all. We don’t know where they are, this has to work.”

“Move over.” Jonathan says, taking the seat and getting to work.

He did as you asked, sending a broadcast out to your friends. You offered your voice as he controlled the panel, hoping with every fibre of your being it reached them. It certainly loosened the pressure on your chest, but you couldn’t pretend you didn’t recognise the shapeshifter’s voice.

It just had to be the one person no one would care enough to check up on.

They stood on the roof for what felt like forever. The view from up here wasn’t what they expected.

The delivery bay below them, the one Billy and Nancy had seen crawling with monsters, was now littered with dozens of bodies. Supernatural bodies.

“Jesus Christ.” Eddie looks like he’s going to vomit, turning away. “What the hell happened to them?”

“Whatever it was, it wasn’t human.” Billy says, and Steve won’t disagree with that.

The monster on the other side of the metal gate, the one Steve was almost caught by…

“You’re saying another one of those creatures did this?” Nancy’s mouth is parted, but even she couldn’t fault the evidence. Every carcass below them was torn apart. Last time she checked, a gun couldn’t do that.

Steve scans the area while the others debate what type of monster could have done this. He directs his eyes to a sheltered part of the building, noticing what appeared to be an elevator. It was ripped through like the bodies on the ground.

“It came from in there.” He points out, shuddering.

“Where is it now?” Nancy frowns.

And with a sinking feeling, they realise they already know the answer.

“Great.” Billy nods, clapping his hands together. He turned to them all, oblivious to their dread. “We just wait for it to kill whatever’s inside and we don’t have to get our hands dirty. Win, win.”

Steve scoffs, ignoring him. He was too tired and scared to give a shit about Billy Hargove’s stupidity.

“No. Not win, win!” Nancy suddenly snaps, and Steve’s eyes widen. Even Billy takes a step back, caught off-guard. “What’s inside is Y/n and Jonathan!”

“Shit.” Billy whispers out, running a hand down his face. “That’s… shit.”

The girl takes a deep breath, eyebrows furrowed deeply to indicate just how hard she was thinking. And damn, Steve needed her to think right now. If anything would get them out of this already excruciating mess, it was Nancy Wheeler’s brain.

“Okay, look, what we need is a map of the inside.” Nancy finally says, looking at Steve and completely ignoring the boy next to her. She’d heard enough from him. “It's a mall, they’re gonna have service hallways and stuff like that which is going to be really useful to us if we’re gonna slip by unnoticed.”

“And, uh, where would someone find this map?” Billy asks, and Steve feels somehow vindicated in the way Nancy clenches her jaw. Finally, he wasn’t the only one bothered by Billy’s presence.

“How about that office down there?” Eddie points behind him, still reeling from the massacre below as he purposefully faces the opposite direction. “I spotted it before, the, uh… gross stuff.

“Worth a shot.” Nancy nods.

Steve tried not to think about the death surrounding him as they walked across the delivery bay, weapons raised in case something survived. Or if whatever did this came back.

The thought of you always kept creeping back. If he was alone, he would have already charged into that building with a vengeance. But he wasn’t alone, he had other people to think about. Even if the thought of wasting more time searching for this map was sickening to him, it was the safest option. Considering what happened the last time he took charge, he wasn’t in the position to make any drastic calls.

The office door creaks open, making him cringe as he takes a look back, looking for any disturbances.

“I think we’re good.” Nancy nods, but she still whispers. You never could know in an apocalypse.

Steve gently shuts the door behind everyone as they enter the office space, relieved not to find another body in here, dead or alive. It was a little dusty, shelves lined with different books, a couple construction hats laying about. They were obviously preparing the last little details of the mall before everything went to hell.

“Check the drawers.” Nancy says to no one in particular.

Since Steve was closest to the desk, he started rooting through and, flipping promising pieces of paper around until he could see some blueprints. Bingo. Now he just had to find the right one.

His fingers barely brushed against his task before goosebumps started to trail along his skin, hitching his breath. Oh god, not now, he thinks, squeezing his eyes shut.

Whispers. Incoherent, but still lingering. The voices were back again. He should be used to his mind playing tricks on him now; it’s been this way since he lost you. But every time got harder. And they usually got louder.

“You guys hear that?”

Steve’s eyes flash open, spotting Eddie’s confused frown as everyone stops what they were doing, listening. It wasn’t just in his head this time.

And the voices were coming from Billy’s backpack.

“What the…” Steve strides over and almost rips it from the boy’s back.

“Hey, watch it!” Billy protests, raising his hands when Steve sends him a warning glare. “What the hell are you doing?”

Steve ignores him and tears it open, tightening his jaw when the voices are now smothered with blasts of static.

“I know what happened to your radio, Nance.”

The girl trails over with a suspicious frown, mouth opening as Steve presents the lost radio he just plucked from Billy’s backpack.

“Uh…” Billy blinks, barking out a nervous laugh, “I swear to whatever guy is up there watching us that I didn’t know it was in there.”

Eddie and Robin are both silent, watching the scene unfold with wide eyes.

“Are we meant to believe that?” Nancy whispers out, voice catching as she realises she’s just been played. He was trying to sabotage them.

Before Billy could defend himself further, the radio blares back to life, silencing the entire world around him as Steve’s mouth suddenly dried.

“I don't know if you can hear us… I hope you do. If you recognise my voice, then you know we’re alive. We- I will explain everything when I find you guys, but you’re in danger. There are shapeshifters out there trying to sabotage you- one of them is with you right now. It’s leading you to a trap. We think it’s-”

The connection goes silent, and Steve is once again haunted by the absence of your voice.

As it turns out, his gut was right. Something was sabotaging them. One of them is a shapeshifter.

Oh, God.” Nancy breathes while Eddie’s wide eyes dart between them all with fear, backing away. “Steve…”

He finally looks away from the radio clutched tightly in his hand, watching the next words leave her mouth with twisted accomplishment.

“You were right.” She says as she raises her gun and points it directly at Billy’s chest.

“Is that it?” You frown, looking at Jonathan as your hand hovers back over the mic.

“That’s it.” Jonathan nods.

You both sit there with silence as a welcome guest, unable to move from the radio. You weren’t sure how long it had been since you started sending the message, tediously repeating yourself over and over until you were sure your voice had been broadcast to every square inch of Hawkins, but it felt like forever.

And now… now you just had to wait. Wait for a response, maybe. Or wait until you finally made it back to ‘home base’ to find out if your efforts helped them at all.

“Jesus, you guys are still in here?” Murray’s gruff voice came in from behind you both, but you were too tired to react. When he saw your faces, he let out a low whistle. “You look like shit. Any luck with that thing?”

“Our friends are walking around with a shapeshifter plotting to kill them.” You say, almost numbly. The man’s eyes widened.

“Well… that’s, uh…” He struggles to find sympathy. Or maybe he’s just confused. You’re not really sure he’s left this bunker enough to know exactly what kind of things are lurking out there. And he certainly hasn’t interacted with anyone in a very long time. “You should get some sleep.”

“How can we sleep knowing our friends are in danger?” Jonathan says, defeated.

“With a pillow and a nice blanket.” Murray offers, gesturing for you both to stand up. “Come on, I’ve got a lovely sofa bed you can use.”

As soon as the mention of a bed hits your ears, it’s like a wave of exhaustion washes over you, mindlessly nodding.

Murray does the work for you both, telling Jonathan where he can find a spare change of clothes - all while stating that the clothes you both wore were disgusting and would not be touching his perfectly clean sofa.

“Alright, there we go.” Murray displays the converted sofa with a sarcastic smile. “Sweet dreams and all that. Oh… and no funny business this time, alright?”

That last comment was directed at Jonathan, whose cheeks burned at the indication of his last visit to Murray. You could only frown, too tired to question anything.

“Night, kiddos.” Murray gives his last farewell before shutting himself back into his bedroom, leaving you and Jonathan standing in a darkened room with no energy to speak.

“I can take the floor.” Jonathan offers, already grabbing a spare pillow from the pile Murray left on the floor.

“Considering you were tied to a chair for like a week, I’m taking the floor, okay?” You didn’t leave any room for objection, laying a blanket down on the carpeted floor with a sigh. “I don’t know how I’m gonna get any sleep.”

“I did offer to take the floor.” Jonathan defends himself, issuing the smallest smirk on his lips.

You sent him a sarcastic smile, the small joy his joke brought you creasing your eyes. “Ha ha. You know that’s not what I meant.”

Jonathan lowers himself onto the bed, watching you for a moment. You’re leaning against a bookcase, carefully untying your boots. Both shoes are securely off your feet before he finally speaks again.

“How do you do it?”

You part your lips in surprise, blinking at him. “Do what?”

“Be so… calm.” He says, rubbing a hand down his face. “I feel like I’ve been having the same panic attack since you found me in that room.”

“It’s been a long apocalypse.” You state, shrugging. You walk over to the pile of clothes Murray had gifted you, planning to change in the other room once everything was set up. “Plus, I still can’t remember much. I’m still trying to piece everything together.”

“You don’t remember anything after the Upside Down?”

“No.” You lower yourself onto the bed next to him, slumping your shoulders. It was pretty obvious neither of you were going to fall asleep any time soon. And there were still so many questions you both needed answers for. So many things you both need to say aloud, no matter who hears it. “I remember… the motel. Something happened, the gate closed… and I woke up in the bunker, tied to these machines. Like I was in the hospital, or something.”

“So…” Jonathan scrunches his face, attempting to solve what you’ve been trying to figure out for weeks. “Brenner found you somewhere?”

“Apparently.” You shrug. “He said I was passed out in the woods, that he saved me. Obviously, I know he was just lying. But it just… it feels like a whole part of my memory was just erased, you know? I’m remembering everything else, the people I missed, even the crummy sink in the motel bathroom Steve and I stayed in, and yet…”

“You can’t remember anything past the gate closing on you.” Jonathan concludes. You nod, biting your lip.

“Do you remember how you ended up down there?”

As soon as the question left your mouth, you regretted it. You felt him still completely, eyes misting over with some trauma you shouldn’t have invited back into his mind.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked-”

“No. No, it’s… it’s okay.” He leans forward, resting his head in his hands. “It, um, it happened at Weathertop. Dustin was messing around with the idea of a super-powered radio. Cerebro, he called it. When you and Steve were stuck on the other side, a few of us helped him build it before it got too dangerous. Dustin had said it would be able to reach the Upside Down. To reach you.”

You straighten up, turning your body to him completely. He lets out a sigh, leaning back and staring at nothing, letting the story unfold in front of his eyes.

“It was just a theory. We… we didn’t know it could work. I didn’t think it would.” He sends a small glance your way. “Steve did, though. Told us we had to give it a try. So we did. Me, Nancy, Steve, Robin… we tried our best. It took us hours to make it through Hawkins to reach the radio. There were so many monsters out there. By the time we reached Weathertop, we were all tired. No longer alert. I remember Nancy told Steve to stop. The hill was brutal, and we were no good for anything if we were too tired to fight. But Steve… he needed to get to that radio. So we kept going.”

He clears his throat, nodding to himself. “There were shapeshifters. Lots of them. We weren’t used to them hunting in groups, much less hunting at all. It’s like… like they knew we’d be there. We fought off as many as we could, but Steve- he got cornered by one pretending to be him. There was a knife and-”

Jonathan goes silent. You suddenly let out the breath you had been holding in, feeling the erratic beat of your pulse. You offer a small hand to his shoulder, and he closes his eyes.

“I jumped in before it could kill him. It stabbed me instead.” A small tear threatens his eye, and he wipes it away before it can even begin to fall. “Nancy… I remember the look on her face when those things started dragging me away. I thought I was going to have to die alone. I didn’t know why they were taking me, or where for that matter. I passed out before I ever found out and suddenly you’re there, waking me up in a room I’d never seen before. I don’t even know how long I was down there before you found me.”

“I’m so sorry.” You struggle to get the words out, stunned at his full admission. “I can’t… I don’t even want to imagine…”

Jonathan didn’t have to trust you, but he did. You just didn’t realise he had sacrificed himself for the boy that had bullied him all that time ago.

"Why did you save him?"

"I think I realised he was too important to lose." Jonathan admits, fingers mindlessly pulling at the frayed threads of his jeans. "If he died... he was the one giving us all hope and I... I gave up before it even began."

In the silence that followed, you chose your reply carefully. You assessed each outcome with care, knowing whatever you said could affect him in so many different ways. You had struggled with your self-worth for years before… well, before Steve.

But Jonathan spoke first.

"When Will disappeared, I, uh, I never saw my mom so... broken." He admits quietly, eyes drooping with sadness, "Not even when my dad left. I felt so guilty about it all. I was the one meant to look after him. And every time I had to sit with my mom while she cried herself to sleep, I kept wondering."

He lowers his head, exhaling with defeat. "Wondering if it would be different if I had been the one that disappeared."

You bite your lip, wondering if your story would make things better. But then again, it couldn’t make things worse.

"My dad lost a part of himself when my sister died." You say, turning to face him. He looks up at you in surprise. "It killed him, really. In fact, he only came back to life when El entered the picture. I always thought if it had been me, instead of Sara, if I was the one who died... maybe my dad would have been happier."

"I get it." You sigh, accepting his silence as a means to continue, "Feeling like your actions don't matter. That your life is meaningless compared to everyone else's just because you had to grow up being quiet. Feeling..."

"Invisible."

"Yeah." You nod with a sad smile, "Invisible."

It was shameful, but part of you felt relieved in a sadistic way; you weren’t the only one who felt like their life was just an endless void of numbness. Maybe if you had paid more attention at school, you would have noticed sooner.

“How did you stop, you know, feeling invisible?”

It took a moment to register Jonathan’s question, frowning. Did you stop feeling invisible? You suppose you did. Someone finally saw you, knew who you were and saw past who you were trying to be. They made you better. Made you want to be better.

“Steve.” You say softly. Jonathan blinks.

He had figured out the situation between you and Steve a long time ago, back when Steve’s guilt had transferred into endless nights searching for you. At first, he just thought it was a case of survivor’s guilt. It was so much more than that. Jonathan saw it in his face when your name was mentioned, the grief of leaving you behind. He heard it in the few nights Steve actually fell asleep, calling out your name in a nightmare that scared him out of bed, refusing to discuss it when he was asked what happened.

But Jonathan knows he had seen it long before either of you entered the Upside Down. He saw how Steve truly felt about you the day you suddenly disappeared in the lab, taking down a creature twice his size because he thought it had killed you. Unable to stop until you pulled him out of it.

It was the same way he felt about Nancy.

“I can’t believe I forgot him.” You admit with a whisper, wincing at the sound. He’s been risking everything for you, and you couldn’t even recall his name.

“Maybe you subconsciously didn’t want to remember him.” Jonathan says after a while and you frown at him. He only sighs, shifting around to face you with a sympathetic smile. “Maybe whatever happened was too painful to remember.”

You’re silent for a while, eyeing the boy next to you with care.

You and Jonathan weren’t ever friends. Not out of spite, like you and Steve had lived for five years. Your paths never really crossed in high school. The only interaction you think you’ve had is when you babysat Will at one of Dustin’s sleepovers back in Sophmore year. Jonathan had been quiet but kind, much like his younger brother. It was a nice conversation you had with him as well, talking about his photography, and you truly wondered if there was a semblance of a friendship. But it never happened; neither of you bumped into the other in the hallway, not even when you shared some classes. And now you were aware of Hopper’s secret antics, you assume Jonathan kept a safe distance per your father’s wishes.

You would say you were friends now, at least. Hell, you both escaped a psychotic kidnapper and somehow evaded the sharp claws of a terrifying monster, so you could safely say you weren’t strangers anymore.

But he was new in this capacity. And that meant you weren’t sure whether you could trust him.

Then again, you never thought you could trust Steve.

“...I pushed him.” You say into the silence, avoiding Jonathan’s alert gaze on you.

“What?”

“The last time I saw him, a gate had opened and I… I don’t remember why, but I pushed him through it, to safety, and… and it’s really blurry after that.”

“Steve said you got separated.” He shakes his head slowly, trying to pull pieces together that didn’t even exist yet.

“We did. Just… I know it wasn’t by accident.”

“Why would you stay behind? Does it have anything to do with why Brenner took you in the first place?”

“That’s what I need to figure out.” You say, pushing yourself off the bed with a sigh, “But first, we need to find our friends.”

“You think they heard us?”

“I hope so.” You slowly start to frown.

“What is it?”

There was something lingering at the back of your mind, making you… nervous. This shapeshifter has been living among them for over a week now; they must have noticed a change in behaviour. But considering how recent that recording was, you knew that wasn't the case.

“That thing has been with them this entire time. It managed to trick them somehow. I… I'm worried that…”

“You think they won’t figure out who’s the shapeshifter?”

You turn back around to face him, showing how sick you felt just at the thought of it.

“I'm scared they’ll pick the wrong person.”

Billy Hargrove, if they could even call him that anymore, was tied to the chair in Starcourt Mall’s construction office, the blinds behind him illuminating the room with slits of dying sunlight.

As soon as they heard your call, Steve and Eddie had restrained him while Robin removed the shotgun from his grip and turned it to aim at him. Nancy kept her gun holstered when he was restrained, arms crossed while Eddie attempted to make contact on the radio once again.

Steve had dealt with a shapeshifter once before. Only this time, he didn’t know how long this one had been with them.

“What’s your sister’s name?”

“Half sister.” Billy corrects, breathing heavily. “And it’s Max. Or Maxine. Whatever the hell you wanna call her.”

“Why’d you move to Hawkins?”

“Seriously?” Billy spits, laughing, but none of it was funny. “It’s me. How many more questions do we have to go through before you realise it’s me!”

Steve shared a look with Nancy. She could only shrug, hiding her trembling hands with fists. Then he looks to Robin, her gaze unwavering from the boy tied in the chair as she keeps the shotgun pointed directly at him. Nothing felt right about this image. Billy tied up, Nancy shaking from fear, Robin holding a gun.

None of these questions were working. Because none of them really knew him.

A realisation flashed across his mind. He didn’t know Billy. But he did know you.

“What was the last thing Y/n said to you?”

Behind him, he senses Eddie pausing at the question. Even Billy looked confused, mouth opening and closing without any sound releasing.

“What?”

“Answer the question.”

“I…” He blinks, scrunching his face. “How is this-”

“What did she say?” Steve reiterates, watching him closely.

Billy lets out a sigh, shoulders relaxing. Steve thought this was it. This is the moment he reveals himself as a monster, knowing he was caught. It wasn’t.

“She told me to leave her behind.” He finally says, too quiet for it not to mean something to him. “She was trapped, back in the lab. I- I tried to break the door down. She told me to go get help. I… I told her not to die.”

The air was heavy when he finished speaking. It felt too real to be wrong. But Steve could only shake his head. No. It had to be him.

“You’re lying.” Steve states, even if he didn’t believe it.

"I'm not lying." Billy spits through his teeth, struggling against the restraints. "I'm not a fucking shapeshifter!"

"Then who is?" Steve prompts, shaking his head. It had to be one of them, and Billy has been acting out of character ever since he returned from the Upside Down. "You told me back at the Radio Shack that you know a lot more than other people do. If you're as observant as you say you are, tell me; who is it? Who’s lying?!"

Billy looks up at him with a pained expression. It held a mixture of disbelief and sorrow, as if he hated how blatantly blind Steve was.

"The one holding the gun."

Steve freezes, casting a glance at Nancy. But she was already looking at him with a fearful expression. Or, rather, she was staring just past him, at the person he had trusted the most with the shotgun.

The mole.

"Robin?"

He whispers, heart racing, but the girl doesn't offer any objections to soothe his fear.

Instead, she smiles, raising the gun higher to aim at his chest.

"We were hoping you'd lead us straight to her." She says, the tone of her voice and the way she stared were entirely alien to her usual behaviour.

"What?" Nancy questions, hands shaking as she tries to subtly pull the gun from her waistband.

"It's too late now." Fake Robin sighs, cocking the gun with a startling click. "You weren't supposed to find out."

Nancy begins to yell as the shapeshifter begins to brace herself for fire, shouting something nonsensical to Steve's ears.

It's all a blur after that. Yelling, movement...

Gunfire.

@sheisjoeschateau . @kthomps914 . @curled-hair-red-lips . @nix-rose .

@palmtreesx3 . @kryztalglear . @sattlersquarry . @hey-barnes-stole-a-jeep . @sadslasher13 .

@iliveonteaandbooks . @innercreationflower . @newyorkangelbaby . @totally-bogus-timelady . @pansexualhoor .

@kitdjarin1 . @chiliwhore . @carolineesnell .

#stranger things x reader #stranger things #fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #stranger things reader insert #stranger things fanfiction #gates of hell #st2 #steve x reader #apocalypse au

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aloneinthehellfire · 1 month ago

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The next chapter is out tomorrow. I'm totally chill about it.

Gates Of Hell Masterlist

steve harrington x fem!reader / apocalypse!au

Summary: Hawkins swarmed with monsters, quarantined from the rest of the world, few survivors. Steve Harrington and Y/n Hopper are forced to survive together, knowing that despite their hatred, they need each other to make it out of Hawkins alive.

[this fic is based after the events of st2!] comment below to be added to tags!

Part One

the beginning

Chapter One: The Day It Rained Fire

Chapter Two: Harsh Reality

Chapter Three: Truth

Chapter Four: A Girl Who Cried Wolf

Chapter Five: The Cabin

Chapter Six: Don't Trust The Voices

Chapter Seven: Surviving Is Fantasy

Chapter Eight: Never Be Distracted

Chapter Nine: An Alliance Or A Mistake?

Chapter Ten: Part One: The Lab

Chapter Ten: Part Two: An Ode To The Complicated

Chapter Eleven: Once Bitten

Chapter Twelve: Down The Rabbit Hole

Part Two

uʍop ǝpᴉsdn ǝɥʇ

Chapter Thirteen: Three Weeks Later

Chapter Fourteen: We're Running Out Of Time

Chapter Fifteen: Sattler’s Quarry

Chapter Sixteen: The Pattern

incoming signal from the upside down...

Chapter Seventeen: Don't Forget Me

Part Three

the divide

Video Teaser

Chapter Eighteen: Safe

Chapter Nineteen: The Bitter Taste Of Deceit

Chapter Twenty: Friend Or Foe, Part I

Chapter Twenty-One: Friend Or Foe, Part II

Chapter Twenty-Two: Escapism

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Forgotten and the Remembered

Chapter Twenty-Four...

Extras

GOH: The Characters

GOH: The Monsters

#I FINALLY FINISHED IT #gates of hell #goh #stranger things x reader #steve harrington x reader

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aloneinthehellfire · 1 month ago

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The next GOH chapter is almost here! I am just so busy with work I haven't had time to finish it and I'm already 11k words deep and I'm not even done yet so here's a sneak peek below the cut as an apology for the long wait...

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Mole

“Hey, man, you good?” Eddie’s hand brushes against Steve’s shoulder and he jolts away from the touch. “Woah, sorry.”

“Huh?” Steve blinks, shaking his head when he realises what just happened. “No, my bad, I…”

“Just a little on edge.” He finally decides, sighing. Eddie only nods, still weary.

“You sure that’s all?” Billy’s voice suddenly creeps him behind him, making his hands ball into fists. Eddie raises his eyebrows.

“What else would it be?” Steve tried to remain calm, turning to the Hargrove boy with a tight smile.

Billy narrows his eyes, not buying the excuse he’s selling.

“Everything okay?”

Up ahead, Nancy noticed the fallen footsteps of the boys behind them. And judging by the fists at Steve’s side and the smug look on Billy’s face, she was glad she had interrupted them.

Steve relaxes himself, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, we’re-”

A loud gunshot splits through the air, resting just the other side of the building, shocking them to their core.

“Was that…” Eddie mumbles, not daring to move as he looks between the faces of the group. All but one face, that is.

Because Steve had shot off towards the blast before any of them could stop him.

What if it’s you? His feet were taking him faster than he had expected, especially with how run-down he was feeling. What if it’s you?

Eventually he sees it; something laying there by the gate to the delivery bay. It was too far to tell what it was, but his stomach churned nonetheless.

What if it’s… you?

@sheisjoeschateau . @kthomps914 . @curled-hair-red-lips . @nix-rose .

@palmtreesx3 . @kryztalglear . @sattlersquarry . @hey-barnes-stole-a-jeep . @sadslasher13 .

@iliveonteaandbooks . @innercreationflower . @newyorkangelbaby . @totally-bogus-timelady . @pansexualhoor .

@kitdjarin1 . @chiliwhore . @carolineesnell .

#goh #gates of hell #stranger things x reader #fanfic #steve harrington x reader

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aloneinthehellfire · 1 month ago

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BESTIE DID YOU SEE THE TRAILER……. I need therapy

TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE I AM DYING TO KNOW

I DID I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW IT

I understand they're only giving us a little teaser right now to build up the hype around it but I was a tiny bit disappointed we didn't see some other characters but I just know the actual trailer is going to be my one way ticket into therapy

IM EXCITED TO FINALLY GET SOME SEROTONIN BACK INTO MY LIFE

#stranger things #stranger things 5 #st5 #st5 teaser

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aloneinthehellfire · 2 months ago

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aaah hello again!!! I’m so glad to hear that!! I recently did the same with my job and I promise it makes such a difference, SEND IT. self-care in this house!!!

also VERY MUCH WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOU, you absolutely should be taking breaks from projects if the creative flow isn’t strong rn!!! as a fellow fanfic/reader-insert author, I PROMISE YOU there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. I personally do it all the time to avoid burnout! flipping between different stories/oneshots/new ideas always makes me feel like I can balance the workload a bit more, y’know? like when I’m not vibing with a chapter or something, switching it up into a new/different/future chapter or scene I know I really want to write makes it easier on me because I can go back and put the puzzle pieces together a lot easier when the motivation for that project strikes again. :)

I HIGHLY recommend you try it too, for your own sanity at minimum. sometimes you just need a break from certain projects or to write new ideas you’re excited about and that’s totally okay!! like I said before, creative flow comes and goes!

(I rewatched ‘Dear Billy’ literally today and realized that we never see/know what Max wrote to Steve in her ‘failsafe’ letter to him. INSTANTLY thought of you and how you’d absolutely gut us with your take on that in one of those RH oneshots, maybe Steve reading it or somethin,, NO PRESSURE I just live for the way you write angst so I’m tossing it out there as a concept for you if you ever want to use it ; )

also SAME… I feel like Will’s gonna end up in somethin crazy (pls let this boy’s arc come full-circle) and I PRAY they don’t kill off El or somethin, let her live peacefully PLEASE ffs. she and Will are the most tortured-by-the-writers characters ever imo. let the kids live,, pls,,

really though dude, this was also excruciatingly long BUT IDC because I am so glad to brighten your night at least a lil bit! 🫶🏻 I love chatting with other authors about this stuff, gives a sort of sense of community y’know? and you deserve peace so SET BOUNDARIES W THAT JOB, WRITE WHAT YOU WANNA WRITE, AND DRINK SOME WATER OK LOVE YOU SM BYE

I'm sharing this because you've said some beautiful words I think a lot of fic authors need right now 🫶

I hope you have an amazing year anon

#thank you anon for blessing my inbox #anon <3 #fanfic

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aloneinthehellfire · 2 months ago

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I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I released the last chapter of this fic. My baby 😭🫶

RAINING HELLFIRE: MASTERLIST

a collection of all my Raining Hellfire works, an episode-by-episode fem!reader insert.

[pairings: eddie x reader, eventual steve x reader]

RAINING HELLFIRE: THE COMPLETE SERIES... FOR NOW

the series

SEASON ONE Completed: 9 Chapters, 59.7k

SEASON TWO Completed: 13 Chapters, 58.9k

SEASON THREE Completed: 15 Chapters, 45.1k

SEASON FOUR Completed: 24 Chapters, 96.2k

SEASON FIVE to be continued...

spin-offs

RH: THE PREQUEL coming soon...

RAINING HELLFIRE (EDDIE'S VERSION) On hiatus: 4 Chapters, 16.3k

add-ons

RAINING HELLFIRE (READER'S VERSION) Ongoing: 2 Chapters, 5.4k

other

EVERY STORY... HAS A BEGINNING RH: The Prequel video teaser

#stranger things x reader #stranger things #steve harrington x reader #eddie munson x reader

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aloneinthehellfire · 2 months ago

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hey friend!! 💜

I know you’ve said recently that you’re in a bit of a creative rut right now, so I just wanted to reach out and ask how life has been for ya!

I’m also in a bit of a rut atm, but I’ve reread all of your fics so many times and they never fail to make me feel all the feelings. raining hellfire has become my main comfort fic of all time I think ngl, it just NEVER fails and I’m always coming back to it when I’m happy, sad, etc. absolutely impeccable writing capabilities you have.

I was wondering what your personal theories are for season 5? what you’re excited to see? potential character arcs, the ✨plot✨, etc? :)

(I was DEVASTATED when I learned that our boy argyle won’t be in it, cryin in the club) anyways, again, I hope you’re well and taking care of yourself!! 💜

hi anon! thank you so much for reaching out and checking in, it means so much to me 🤍 I've certainly been better, my job just suddenly feels like my life atm but I am working on it!!! I'm finally managing to start setting boundaries so hopefully I'll be able to give myself some space outside of work for things that I really enjoy.

As for my creative rut, it's at an all-time high. I've written maybe 8 sentences for my next GOH chapter in like 4 weeks and I feel so dreadful about it. The creativity is still there, I have so many ideas for new projects but I also don't want it to feel like I'm abandoning the series (I really reallyyyy want to finish it). I just need to figure out if I need to try and set myself a time to work on it or let myself create something new?

And Season 5 is absolutely going to crush me, I already know. The decision to not bring back Argyle is such a wrong move because even if he was just a comedic relief, the character sort of connected with us and it was really fun to see someone new try to handle the craziness of it. Theory-wise, I'm weirdly expecting El to lose her powers again, but this time for good. It feels natural for her to transition into living the rest of her life with the normality she never had before and I can't wait to see Will's character arc finally evolve after they didn't really include him much after season 2? Either way, I think I'll be satisfied with the ending, even if it's just with the fact that it's the end. It's been a long time coming and I'm very excited to see what they do.

Anyways, that was excruciatingly long but I appreciate your ask so so much. It's nice to just interact with people now and again, so I hope you are having a wonderful year so far anon 🤍

#anon <3

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aloneinthehellfire · 3 months ago

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I don't watch Doctor Who unfortunately because I don't have a TV license so I was thrown in the deep end with this fic and omg CHILLS!! Impeccable writing as always 👌

behind (steve harrington x fem!reader)

Summary: (Season 5 AU, inspired by Doctor Who Season 2 [or is it 15?] Episode 3 "The Well") There's something behind you.

Word Count: ~1.5k

Warnings: 18+ for horror elements, language, guns, peril.

a/n: I watched the new episode of Doctor Who, went into a fugue state, and wrote this in one hour. It's very light on the "x steve" part, but it's implied exes to friends to...maybe something else one day? atm, I have no plans to expand this universe. Maybe I'll change my mind...

💫💫💫

WSQK RADIO STATION BASE. 2100 HOURS. JULY, 1987.

You start to unload your backpack, removing the first-aid kit, water bottles, and other supplies you had packed for your excursion. You’ll leave them in the long-abandoned employee break room of the radio station for the next unfortunate soul scheduled for monster-killing duty.

You ignore the twinge of pain up your arm, and its reminder of your failure to notice the demodog sneaking up on you. Damn gates. Damn Upside Down creatures. Thank God Jonathan was there to help fight it off.

As you work, you feel eyes boring into your back.

Tension ripples across your shoulder blades. You glance over your shoulder—there’s no one there. The room is empty.

You shake your head, as if trying to loosen the fear from your mind.

“It’s nothing,” you mumble. “Nothing at all.”

You unpack your things faster. The door behind you swings open, and you can’t help but startle at the sound.

“Hey,” Steve says. He notices the deer-in-the-headlights look in your eyes. “You good?”

You nod and force a small smile.

“Yeah,” you say. “Fine! Just a little shaken up. That demodog really came out of nowhere.”

You gesture to the bandage on your forearm and wrist.

“Yeah, those fuckers love the element of surprise,” he says. After a beat, he clears his throat. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

You twist your now-empty backpack in your hands, as if you’re wringing the life out of it.

“Okay,” you say. “What’s up?”

You and Steve dated for a year. Even though you aren’t together anymore, you sometimes feel like you know him better than you know yourself. But the expression on his face is one you don’t really recognize. Then, something new flashes in his eyes—confusion. Concern. Fear?

“I…”

He trails off, glancing to the space directly over your right shoulder.

“Yeah?” you prompt, feeling irritation creeping in. “What is it, Steve?”

“Sorry,” he says, looking in your eyes again. “I just wanted to know if you needed a place to stay tonight. I know you said before that there was a new gate pretty close to your place.”

“Oh,” you say. “Um, actually, I was thinking I’d just stay here tonight. Hopper said he and El could use the company, and he’s got an extra cot, and…”

“Trust me,” Steve says, stepping closer to you, but still keeping a respectable distance. “I’ve slept on those cots and they are not comfortable. Stay with me tonight.”

You scoff and shake your head. “Steve…”

“Not like that,” he swears. “This isn’t me making a move, or whatever. I just want you to be safe. And get a full eight hours of sleep, since you’re my buddy tomorrow, and I need you to watch my six.”

It’s true. Murray scheduled you and Steve on the night shift the following evening, which meant trekking around Hawkins after dark and hoping you don’t get killed by monsters lurking in shadows or trigger-happy soldiers always keeping an eye out for dangers. They shot up Merrill’s scarecrow the other week.

You refuse to tell him he’s right. Instead, you quip, “‘Watch my six’? Good lord, you sound like a poor man’s James Bond, or something.”

Steve chuckles. He rakes his eyes up your frame and adds, “Wanna be my Bond Girl?”

You laugh, the shameless flirting filling you with something you haven’t felt in a while: hope. Perhaps things between the two of you aren’t irretrievably broken…perhaps he’d give you another chance if you could explain yourself.

You take a deep breath and prepare to open your heart to Steve, when he startles and stumbles back from you.

“Steve?” you ask, brow furrowed. You step forward with your bandaged arm outstretched, causing him to flinch. You stop immediately, shame burning through you.

“I’m sorry,” you say quietly. “I—”

“No!” Steve says. “No, it’s not you, I just…I thought I saw something behind you.”

Goosebumps prickle up your arms.

“Behind me?” you ask. You turn and, once again, there’s nothing behind you but an empty room. You turn back to face Steve and shake your head. “There’s nothing there. What did you think you saw?”

“Nothing,” Steve says quickly. “Forget it.”

“No, Steve, I just—”

“Hey guys,” Jonathan says, entering with Nancy and Robin in tow. “What are you still doing here, Y/N? Didn’t my mom tell you to go rest and take it easy?”

You nod, ignoring the creepy crawly feeling skittering up your back and the twisted frown on Steve’s face.

“Uh, yeah. I’m a little freaked out about the new gate in my neighborhood, so I’ll probably stay here tonight.”

Steve doesn’t cut in to invite you to his place again. That fact sinks like a stone in your chest.

“Oh, good!” Robin says. “You can help me pick songs to queue up for tonight's show. I was trying to tell Steve earlier that no way Vecna will touch anyone listening to Paul Simon.”

“Enough with the Paul Simon,” Steve groans. “We need Springsteen, please.”

“How about both?” you offer. Steve won’t look at you as you speak, and it hurts more than you’d like to admit. What is his deal?

They continue to bicker about music, with Jonathan throwing out suggestions every now and again (or rolling his eyes at their picks). You feel a cold uneasiness in your whole body, keeping you from fully engaging in the conversation. You notice it again—that feeling that you’re being watched, both from behind and in front.

You glance at Nancy, noticing her frightened expression, eyes glazed over and looking just past your shoulder. Her arms are crossed tightly over her chest.

“Nancy?” you whisper. She startles, caught.

“Y/N,” she says in a low voice. “Don’t move.”

“But—”

In one fluid motion, she pulls a gun out of her holster and points it directly at your face. You gasp and throw your arms up in surrender, your empty backpack slapping against the linoleum. Robin screams, Jonathan curses, and Steve immediately steps in front of you, blocking you from a potential bullet.

“Nance,” he says gently, raising one hand up. “Put the gun down.”

“Steve, get out of the way.”

“Nancy,” Jonathan says, voice shaking. He looks between her face and the gun and Steve and you. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Please don’t shoot Steve and Y/N,” Robin squeaks from Nancy’s other side.

Tears well up in Nancy’s eyes.

“I don’t want to do this.”

“So don’t!” you say. “I don’t understand why…”

It’s as if someone dropped an ice cube down the back of your shirt. Suddenly, you start to hear it…whispers. Quiet whispers. You can’t make them out—it’s as if someone is speaking an alien language in your ear. But the words, albeit indiscernible, frighten you. You know they’re supposed to frighten you.

The chaos of the moment slips away as your eyes drift closed. The whispers get louder, and louder, and louder...

BANG!

You flinch, right ear ringing. Nancy flicks the safety on and holsters her gun, looking weary, yet satisfied.

Neither you nor Steve have been shot. She fired just to the side of you.

Robin and Jonathan share a tense look.

Breathe in, out. In, out. You try to calm down, but you have no idea what the fuck just happened and you can barely hear out of your right ear at the moment, so you take in shaky, shuddery breaths, chest heaving.

Steve turns to face you. He swallows hard, fear and concern flashing in his eyes once more as he looks at the floor behind you. He wraps an arm around you and murmurs for you to, “Move this way, okay?”

“But—”

“Don’t turn around,” Steve warns as he maneuvers you away. “We’re going to have Joyce check out your ear, and then I’m going to take you to my place. I’ll make you dinner, we’ll watch some dumb sitcom, and then we’ll go to bed. You can even have my room; I’ll take the lumpy, uncomfortable guest bed.”

“Okay, but I don’t understand what’s going on—”

You spare a look back at your friends, but they’re not looking at you anymore. They’re whispering amongst themselves, looking with wide eyes at where you were just standing (which you can’t see, thanks to how Steve is blocking the view). Jonathan pulls a walkie-talkie off his belt and radios for Hopper and Murray to get there ASAP, “Without the kids.”

“It’s all going to be fine, Y/N,” Steve says, forcing a light and breezy tone that feels as shallow as a kiddie pool. “Everything’s fine now.”

Still with one arm around you, Steve opens the door to the hallway of the radio station. He turns to the right, staring straight ahead. You risk one final glance over your shoulder, and your knees almost buckle as you finally see the creature that Nancy shot in the face.

Grotesque. That’s the only word you can think of to describe it. The beast is something out of your nightmares. It makes nausea well up in you.

That thing was behind you? And you couldn’t even see it?

You face forward, heart pounding. Tears roll down your cheeks.

“What was that?” you whisper as Steve ushers you away. He doesn’t respond, but he grips you a little tighter.

Hopper and Murray turn into the corridor you’re in and race past you and Steve, without as much as a glance. They both look pale. You hear them enter the break room, but don’t dare turn around again.

💫💫💫

a/n I lost track of my note with my usual tag list, so I'm just going to tag the people I tagged in my last fic (which was published over a year ago, sorry for the delay!). if this isn't your speed, I totally understand and apologies for the unwanted tag! This is tonally a lot different than my usual fare.

I'm also tagging the people who expressed interest in my wuthering heights-ish steve fic, which is on the way...just in progress. I'm hoping to have that one posted within a few weeks!

@aloneinthehellfire @starry-eyed-steve @scaredofbeingbasic @roanofarcc @huffledor-able541 @springautumn @sunshinesteviee @curiositydooropened @crappymixtape @procrastinationprincesses @thecreelhouse

#aloneinthehellfirerec #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem!reader

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aloneinthehellfire · 3 months ago

Note

Hi 👋🏻 ! It’s been a fews weeks since I wanted to write to you but I’ve never interacted with anybody here before so I must admit that I was a bit shy 👀, but I’ve seen around that it used to be a very supporting platform so I thought to myself that it may be important for me to write to you… because I ABSOLUTELY LOVED your Gate Of Hell fiction !! It’s truly one of the best thing I’ve ever read in term of fanfiction (and I’ve read a whole lot) !

I read it 2 times already and plan on reading it again very soon ! The plot was absolutely amazing, very well written too and I must admit that your monsters really scared me (as I was reading in the middle of the night 👻), sometimes I was sooo tense (in the sense that I was so into the story that I actually got scared a few times and it never happened to me before)…

So thank you sooo much for this peace of “chef kiss”, I loved every words of it !! ❤️❤️❤️

I wish you all the best and secretly hope that you’ll bring us more wonders soon ✨😘❤️

Big hugs (from Switzerland, so you know that someone in this country has read your writings 🤩)

Hi anon!

I'm sorry it took me so long to reply, I honestly didn't see this message in my inbox (there's been a lot of fake accounts messaging me lately) but I just wanted to let you know that reading this made me smile so much omg

The fic is still ongoing! Just not going as much as I'd like. But I am still writing, even if it's just a sentence a day so the next chapter is currently in it's final stages!!

Thank you so so much for reading, I'm so very grateful that this little hobby of mine is being enjoyed by someone other than me haha

I hope you're having a wonderful year anon 🤍

#goh is alive #barely #but im trying!!#anon <3 #fanfic

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aloneinthehellfire · 3 months ago

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Im gonna be so real can yall actually talk about ways we can support trans women in the UK instead of giving all the attention to fucking JKR. I already know that Harry Poter sucks, I wanna know how to actually HELP people. Something something you have to love the oppressed more than you hate the oppressor

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aloneinthehellfire · 4 months ago

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I am in such a creative rut right now.

I still feel the urge to write (and draw) but for some reason, when I find the time to sit and do either... nothing happens. Or, at the very least, I can only work on something for a little while before feeling exhausted.

I'm a little bit scared I've used all my motivation in my previous years and now I have nothing left to use :/

#anyone else feel this way?#like ive started taking on more hours at work because i desperately need the money #but i didnt realise it would come with such hatred for the thing i love

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aloneinthehellfire · 5 months ago

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Chapter Twenty-Three: The Forgotten and the Remembered

Gates Of Hell

Word Count: 9k

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, amnesia, the usual monsters, angst ofc, the biggest warning is that this isn't proof-read bc if I didn't release this soon then I was gonna start tweaking

[A/N: Writer's block is currently kicking my ass but I REFUSE to be beaten!! Posting at 3am!! No one can stop me!!]

The Forgotten and the Remembered

“Can I be the first to say that I seriously hate this apocalypse?”

Eddie shoves the dead demodog off of his torso with a groan, a small and grateful nod directed to Steve for killing it before he was literally dog meat.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think you’re the first.” Steve says, offering a hand and pulling him to his feet.

“Ugh, we can braid each other’s hair later, let’s get moving.”

Excluding Billy’s childish remark, Steve had to agree with his urgency; it was getting pretty dark already and if they didn’t speed up their footsteps, they would never make it to the Radio Shack.

The mission was as simple as it could be, drawn out on an out-of-date map with no contingency plans if it all went wrong. Which, as Steve goes over it all in his head, was a terrible mistake. When has anything ever gone smoothly for him?

They needed to get to the Radio Shack for nightfall, grab a spare walkie and contact their respective groups to alert their survival. Steve wondered if they'd be happy to hear his voice. After all, his absence was probably a relief considering how suffocating he had been lately.

Next, they were to trail around the outskirts of the centre, hopefully avoiding bigger hives of monsters on the streets. Eddie stated that getting to the edge of the mall was vital to the final part of the plan.

And, finally, the crucial part: Eddie will guide them to the delivery bay and lead them straight to the supplies. In and out. It should be simple.

If they even made it there, that is.

“I still don’t get why you don’t just leave, man.” Eddie reiterates for the thousandth time since leaving the camp. Steve’s head was starting to ache with the constant pestering.

“Because we can’t.” Steve sighs, rubbing his temple. Up ahead, he caught the subtle shake of Billy’s shoulders, indicating that he was very much amused with Steve’s distress.

Asshole, Steve thinks as he rolls his shoulder. The last demodog attack forced his swing too hard, leaving a dull ache that did not help his discomfort at all. No sleep, migraines, and now a bruised shoulder. It wasn’t his day, that’s for sure.

“But you have the perfect opportunity-”

“Can we talk about something else?” Steve suddenly snaps, not in any malicious intent but it came out more stressed than he wanted. “Please.”

Eddie sounds a low whistle, widening his eyes. “Sure, man, my bad.”

“Thank you.”

To the joy of his thrumming headache, Eddie was quiet after that. Rather than speak, he quietly kicked around a small stone, sometimes humming a strange tune. Steve felt a little guilty, but maybe silence was what they needed right now.

It didn’t last as long as he hoped.

“Who else is here?” Eddie questions just as they pass the abandoned Steelworks building. Steve always found the place to be a little creepy.

“Like our group?”

“Yeah. I realised I never asked and I think it would be nice to know who I’m risking my life for.”

“Well, there’s us, obviously.” He runs a hand through his hair, spotting the old inn in the distance. They were getting closer. “Then there’s a bunch of kids. Six of ‘em. And a girl from high school. Nancy’s there, too.”

“She the one dating the Byers’ kid now?” Eddie asks innocently enough, assessing Steve’s reaction. “Is he there too?”

“Uh…”

A pained gasp hits the air like a sobering thought, stilling his aching body. It didn’t belong to him.

In his silence, Billy throws a look over his shoulder and clears his throat.

“Not anymore.” He says, and Steve swallows the thick lump in his throat. Eddie merely nods, choosing not to pester further.

“No. No, his, uh, his mom is, though. And his brother.” He nods himself back into the confidence to have this conversation, smiling to hide his hurt. “There’s a fair amount of us, I guess. Hopper takes care of them, though. Kinda his thing.”

"Hopper? As in Chief Hopper?"

"The very same."

His eyes flicker with distaste. Steve can only assume Eddie and the chief hadn’t gotten along over the past few years, especially with the whole drug-dealing career Eddie found himself in.

"Who, uh, who else is with you guys?"

"No, that's pretty much it." Steve frowns at the way Eddie's usually animated features suddenly drop, clearing his throat. "Why? Are you also looking for someone?"

"Uh, no, nothing like that- Wait… also?" Eddie's eyes narrow when he pulls Steve to a stop, leaning in so Billy doesn't overhear them. "I'm sorry, are you telling me that you've dragged me out here because you're looking for someone? What happened to the whole 'we're dying and need help' situation?!"

"Okay, firstly," Steve yanks his arm back, a small mumble of an apology flowing from Eddie's lips in return, "I'm not technically telling you anything, but yes. I- we are looking for someone. And secondly- dos - we do need supplies. Without them, we can't find the person we're looking for. Now you might be upset with me for that but I didn't ask you to come out here. You led us all on your own, so maybe you should be thinking about why you seem so desperate to get away from that camp instead of blaming me for it."

Steve clears his throat, taken aback by his own words.

A small exhale of breath escapes Eddie's lungs, his mouth snapping shut. He wore a look of guilt, one Steve has borrowed and made all throughout his life. For a single moment, a slither of regret binds knots around his stomach. But it merely lasts that, a moment; he doesn't have time to care for others feelings when he still hasn't found you.

“Steve!” Nancy shouts, but what else could he do? He wasn’t fast enough to stop this.

His eyes fly shut once the dagger is closer than comfort, awaiting the painful stretch of metal into his flesh. Unfortunately for someone else, he didn’t have to.

A pained gasp hits the air like a sobering thought, stilling his aching body. It didn’t belong to him. It belonged to Jonathan.

Nancy starts to scream as blood pours from his mouth, his legs losing their power and stumbling him back into a hoard of shapeshifters. Steve watches as they grab at him, pulling at his clothes. They throw a hand over his mouth and drag him away, looking satisfied in their assault.

And there it was again. Even with his shifted morals, the guilt kept returning, embracing him like a mother would their child. Or, at least, he assumes a mother would. His negligence of other people's feelings seem to be almost as identical to that of his parents, and it was far deadlier in this apocalypse.

"Whatever." Eddie grumbles, snapping him out of his haze of self-hatred. "We've got about another 20 minutes so let's speed this up, yeah?"

He charged ahead, leaving Steve behind to stand in contemplation before he begrudgingly followed. Steve sighs. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

“Hello? Can anyone hear us?”

“Is anyone there?”

“I repeat, is anyone there?”

Your knuckles were white with the grasp you had on the microphone, throat tightening with every communication you tried. It had been a couple of minutes, and there hasn’t been a single response.

Once you and Jonathan had navigated the maze of hallways, you had been quick to usher him inside the comms room and lock the door behind you, ensuring at least some kind of security in your mission. Jonathan had assured you he could send out a signal to your friends, and you had immediately began your search for an exit using the camera system Brenner had set up in here. The only problem was that you couldn’t see an exit, and no one was responding to your call.

“It’s Y/n. Y/n Hopper. I’m here with Jonathan Byers. Can anyone hear us?” You try again, sharing a look with the boy currently fixated on the radio system. “We’re stuck in a bunker, and we need help. Over.”

The device eventually rests back on the table’s surface, along with your hope of a response.

“I thought you said they were monitoring the stations?” You ask Jonathan as he fiddles with various dials.

“They are.” He says with determination, shaking his head at the machine. “Dustin basically built on some radio extension, they should be able to hear us. Maybe it’s a problem with-”

His voice falters as he peers behind the table, momentarily ducking down. “I found the problem.”

Before you can ask, he sits back up with a frayed wire in his hand and a frown on his face.

“Shit.” You breathe and he can only nod, inspecting it with disdain.

“Looks like someone tampered with it.” He sighs, leaning back in the chair. “Can we guess who?”

“Probably the same person who removed any trace of a door from the camera feeds.” You say, resting your head in your hand as you continue to click through the screens in front of you.

You had seen what felt like a million hallways and rooms, an unnecessary amount of security in a deserted bunker, but not one single way out of here. It was starting to mess with your brain, wondering if there was even an exit at all.

“Maybe he knew we were gonna escape? You know, just ruined the radio and removed the camera on the front door so we couldn’t leave.” You offer, resisting the repetitive click of the mouse by pushing away from the desk and resting your hands between your thighs.

“How would he know that?” Jonathan frowns, looking lost in thought. “He’s crafty, I’ll give him that. He’s supposed to be dead so I guess nothing can surprise me now.”

You slowly nod along to his words, not really retaining anything here or there. Jonathan explained to you who Brenner was just moments prior to accepting defeat with the technology surrounding you. It turns out he wasn’t a complete stranger after all; Hopper had been hunting him down for years. But there was only so much Jonathan could tell you about him.

You still didn’t know why he took you here in the first place. Or why Jonathan was locked up in a random room with medical equipment.

While Jonathan continues to mutter about the possibilities of escaping, your eyes catch a series of tapes lined across shelves, noticing that very few are marked with a subject.

“What do they say?” You point above him, cutting off his spiel about seeing if there was a weapons room.

“Uh…” Jonathan abandons his seat and peers at the shelf, tilting his head to read the tapes. “There are a couple that say ‘Lab’. Another says ‘Experiment 8’... this one is creepy. It just says, ‘I saw you’.”

A chill runs down your spine as his eyes meet yours with matching concern. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Play it.” You say with more confidence than you expected.

Jonathan doesn’t object, slipping the tape into the player and watching the screen brighten with the image of a furnished room.

“What’s this?” He frowns, looking to you for some sort of answer. Your face had dropped, eyes glued to the screen.

“No.” You whisper, watching yesterday play out in front of you for the second time.

The camera feed suggested it was hidden in a vent closer to the ceiling, metal lines obstructing some view, but the subject was still clear as day. You watched as Owens talked to you on the couch, holding your breath. Even in a grainy exposure, you could still see the fear on his face.

“What’s happening?” Jonathan asks quietly just as Owens ushers you to the closet.

“He’s saving me.” You state and Brenner walks into the room. From this angle, you can see the gun he’s hiding behind his back, and it makes your stomach churn.

“What…” Jonathan’s question cuts off with the flash of a bullet, a gasp leaving his lips as Owens falls to the ground and lays in a pool of his own blood. “He killed him.”

If the screen weren’t so big, you would’ve missed the way Brenner turns his head to the vent, eyes staring directly into the camera. He doesn’t smile, or speak. He just stares. Like he knew.

Because he always knew.

“There aren’t meant to be any cameras in there.” You say, shaking your head. “He- he knew Owens was telling me everything, he knew I saw what he did.”

“So why didn’t he kill you too?” Jonathan asks the million dollar question. Why didn’t he kill you too?

“Play the other ones.” You nod. “We have to figure out what he knows.”

The tapes didn’t relax your anxiety. You and Jonathan watched three before you felt like you could throw up if you continued.

Each one was a different shot of the Hawkins lab, following the lives of your dad, the kids, everyone. There wasn’t any sound, but it was pretty clear what each person was doing; patrols, planning. He had been watching all of you this entire time.

“There’s more.” Jonathan says, pulling out notebooks from one of the drawers he had curiously opened while you were flicking through tapes. “He’s been writing about us.”

You flick through a couple of pages, frowning. The writing was messy and cursive, detailing different notes about conspiracies, almost all about Hopper and his whereabouts. “Why? Why does he care what we’re doing?”

“Maybe he doesn’t like that we’re trying to find a way to close these gates.”

“What possible reason does he have to keep them open?” You ask just as you discard another book, laying your eyes on the last in the pile.

This notebook was eerily familiar to you. It seemed worn, a couple scratches and stains. They were almost comforting, especially in a stark clean place like this.

You turn the first page and fall into realisation, observing the scrawl of handwriting that fell from your own fingertips. It was your notebook.

It contained information about monsters; their strengths and weaknesses. Like you had been observing them for a while, not that you could remember. And it contained a small diary entry every few pages. Nothing seemed of importance, mostly details about feeling ill or wanting to go home. But one word was scribbled across these pages with such care, catching your eye with every letter.

The most important piece to the puzzle.

"Steve." You manage to whisper out before turning to the screen with haste when you hear your own voice muttering through the screen. This video had audio.

“When was this?” Jonathan asks, and you look closer.

You and a boy are standing at a railing, staring out of a giant glass window with one of the gates staring back at you. Steve. You were with Steve.

“I don’t remember.” You frown, trying to listen to yourself.

“… I’m glad I got to see the real Steve Harrington, even if it was just a few days, but… but that’s not enough time to really know each other. You don’t know me.”

“Looks like the day the lab exploded.”

Everything around you was either burnt or burning, small flames dancing along the ground and chasing after screeching vines.

The lab had exploded, you realise, shoulders dropping. It was gone. And it took the gate with it, only a large crack against the surface left in its demise.

You turn to see Steve already standing beside you, taking in the scene just as you had, his hard stare softening into defeat. There was no going back.

“What now?” You whisper, afraid if you say it any louder the realisation of what you had done would come crashing down, taking away that last remaining piece of sanity with its tide.

“I…” Steve frowns, slowly meeting your eyes. He didn’t have a plan this time, no positives to share. You were both stuck in an alternate dimension, your exit blown to smithereens. “I don’t know.”

“How the hell did I forget that?” Your hands find a tighter grip on your notebook, pulling it closer. “I… I should have remembered.”

Jonathan offers a sympathetic smile. “Y/n, you’ve been missing for weeks. If Brenner’s been feeding you those pills this entire time… it’s gonna take a while for you to remember everything.”

But I should have remembered him.

The way Steve smiled, or how he fiddled with his hair when he was nervous. Each mole painting his skin, or the way he’d huff when he was upset in the most adorable way. The way he’d hold your hand, the sweetness and care behind every kiss. It should have been easy to remember, because your heart never truly forgot.

Your eyes drift up to the screen, watching as Steve leans closer to you. The strain on your heart was loosening with the memory of him, but your stomach tightened with guilt. He would never have forgotten you.

“They don’t need me, Steve.”

“I do.”

“No you don’t.” You shake your head, tears pooling in your eyes. “You’ve been doing this shit long before I was ever in the picture. If anything, I’ve just ruined it-”

“Why do you do that?” He cuts you off, flickering between your eyes with a look of concern. “Act like you aren’t someone important, when you most definitely are.”

“Y/n?” Jonathan brings his chair closer, ensuring a respectable boundary between you two.

You almost turn back to him in defeat when you find yourself staring at the red beam of light behind you and Steve. Reaching forward, you click the mouse and pause the video, leaning closer. The gate was glowing a crimson fog onto the window, eerily beautiful despite its dangerous contents. But, most importantly, you remember that glow post-amnesia. In the room you met Owens.

“Oh my god.” You breathe out, leaning back into your chair to let the dread flood your body.

“What is it?” Jonathan glances between you and the screen, peering closer at the image as if he could use it to read your mind.

“It’s not a door.” You state with a whisper, repeating it louder when you realise he can’t understand you. “It’s not a door. Our exit. It’s a gate.”

You grab the mouse and start flicking back through the live camera feeds, rapidly searching for evidence of your claims until the image presents itself, eliciting a gasp from the boy beside you.

The room you had encountered Owens in for the first time was exactly as you remembered it. Small machines lined the walls and shutters blocked out what you assume to be a large window to your exit. The camera quality wasn’t the best, but it didn’t need to be perfect to see the red light peeking out from the cracks.

“Does this mean what I think it does?” Jonathan asks, arm leaning on the desk beside you as he peers over your shoulder, holding his breath until you answer.

“Yep.” You slowly nod, meeting his eyes. “We’re not just in a bunker.”

“We’re in the Upside Down.”

Almost as soon as the terrifying truth breathed from Jonathan’s mouth, a shrill screech of sirens started to echo around you, startling you out of your seat.

Brenner knew you were escaping.

“Shit, time to go.” Jonathan gasps, spinning around and spotting an old satchel under the desk. He quickly grabs it and starts shoving in evidence; notebooks, tapes, even an old recording device Brenner had left on the shelf.

Before you leave, you ensure your notebook is a part of the collection before unlocking the door and throwing it open to reveal the flashing white and red hallway of your nightmares.

“Which way?!” Jonathan yells over the alarm and you grab his arm, tugging him left into a sprinted run, racing against the clock.

But it didn’t matter how fast you ran. You couldn't outrun time.

Darkness fell over Hawkins like an omen, plunging everything into a deep, dark, black.

The red hues of the clouds above would cast a bloody visage on the buildings whenever lightning should clash, but no thunder followed in its wake. This weather wasn’t normal. It was silent, and it was very, very deadly.

Hiding after dark was the only solution in a world like this now. Unfortunately, sanctuary was getting harder and harder to find. Steve, Billy, and Eddie, learnt that the hard way.

“I don’t mean to point out the obvious, but, uh…” Eddie’s finger waved to the ceiling, gulping.

The problem with the ceiling? There wasn’t one.

“Shit.” Billy runs a hand down his face. “Something ripped that roof clean off.”

“Maybe we should head next door?” Eddie offers, but he knew any suggestions were useless. It was pitch black and Steve was pretty sure the windows of the building opposite were smashed into pieces.

“We can set up a camp.” Steve nods slowly, looking around the store. A couple of shelf stands were still upright. Maybe if they set up their tents behind them, it’ll shield them from anything in the sky. He could shudder at the thought of something flying around right now, but it wouldn’t surprise him.

And it wasn’t necessarily a shock to him that the roof was gone. He’s constantly reminded of the giant shadow you had seen a while back, a fear in your eye he couldn’t ignore. The worst part was that Steve hadn’t seen it around lately, and that made it so much more terrifying. It suggested that this thing only appeared when it mattered.

So why target the Radio Shack?

Billy was the one to start on the tents, while Steve gathered some old wood from broken tables to throw in a pile. Eddie watches them with uncertainty, uncomfortable with how calm they seemed to be. He knew they’ve probably been through a lot, they all have, but they move with such confidence in a situation that would definitely have him spiralling if he was in charge.

“You sure these radios are gonna work?” He tries to keep himself busy as Steve looks over, nodding.

“Yeah. Not those ones, but I brought one with me. It’s battery powered so I just need any packs we can find around here. And it’s always been a pretty good spot for connections. You know, since it’s a radio store and all.” He assures, pulling out some flint he may or may not have snagged from Eddie’s camp. The boy either didn’t mind or took no notice of it, still fiddling with the radios. “Hey.”

Steve carefully takes the radio from his hand, checking the battery. It definitely needed replacing, and he held it while he assessed the situation. There were more radios scattered about, at least one of them had to have the power he needed.

“We’ll need to contact them in the morning.” He finally says, responding to Eddie’s wide eyes of disapproval. “Look, we don’t know why but radios are practically useless when it’s dark. Maybe it’s something to do with the clouds, I don’t know. But we also don’t want any of those things out there hearing us. Especially since we don’t have a roof over our head.”

He gently places it back down on the counter, sighing.

“I say we make a small fire. Just enough to keep us warm. And we’ll block out the windows so nothing can look in.”

“What about…” Eddie points to the ceiling, eyebrows raised.

“We can risk it.” Billy finally joins them, looking up at the sky just as a burst of red illuminated the clouds. “Nothing’s seeing us from up there.”

“How can you be so sure?” Eddie asks.

Billy doesn’t respond. Instead, he swipes the flint from Steve’s hand and starts work on the campfire, avoiding their eyes.

Steve has never known Billy to be normal. Not even close. He was an egomaniac, emphasis on the maniac, with an array of anger issues and, frankly, terrible judgement. I mean, this guy saw Lucas Sinclair as a threat, and Steve knew there could be only one reason why Lucas of all the boys was targeted.

And yet, even with all his horrible traits, Steve hasn’t known Billy to act this… weird. He was quieter, motivated, and, above all else, somewhat selfless? He didn’t have to volunteer for this trip. He certainly didn’t have to stay when the plan went awry, and considering the military were moving people out, Billy has every opportunity to leave them behind.

Something was just off. And he couldn’t figure out why.

“So, I know you don’t want to talk about it…” Eddie says after a while, the fire set and his back resting against an old wall. Steve looks over before his breath hitches in his throat.

You sat there once. It was back in the Upside Down, but it reminded him of you all the same. Eddie had that same look of defeat on his face, a cool determination still resting behind his eyes like he was still trying to fight. Just like you did.

God, he missed you so fucking much.

“Why is this person you’re looking for so important?” Eddie finishes and Billy’s eyes briefly flicker to Steve’s, the truth weighing heavy on his tongue.

“Because she is.” Steve replies simply, rubbing his hands together as the cold air creeps between the flames. “And she’s incredibly important to all of us.”

“Why?”

“She just is.”

Eddie tightens his lips, slowly nodding. Even as Steve avoids his eyes, his gaze is hard set on the side of his head, reading him like a book. He could almost feel the thoughts radiating from Eddie’s head.

"You're searching for Y/n, aren't you?"

Everything is suddenly too silent. Even Billy tensed up a little, pausing his efforts to pry open a tin of beans they’d packed back at the camp.

Steve isn't sure how to respond. He wasn't expecting Eddie to make such an accurate guess, especially considering your reputation in high school; Steve risking his life for you wouldn't ever cross someone's mind if they had not witnessed your change in relationship.

Unless it wasn't a guess at all.

"How do you know that?"

Eddie suddenly looks sheepish, eyes darting to the ground. "I, uh... I heard... I heard something."

"Heard something?"

"Your radio." Eddie sighs, still avoiding the boy's glare. "Back at the camp. You were asleep and I was on watch that night. I thought I heard a voice- her voice. It was coming from the radio in your bag. But when I tried to respond, nothing went through so I figured I had made it up..."

"You heard her." Steve blinks, shoulders tensing. "You heard her?!"

"Woah, dude, calm down." Eddie jumps from his seat, hands surrendering. "I was gonna look into it when we got here, try and send out another signal."

"Why wouldn't you tell me?!"

"Because last I heard you guys hated each other! How was I meant to know you're friends now?! I've been stuck on the other side of town for weeks now trying to help my uncle, I don't have time to catch up on the latest King Steve gossip!"

"Stop calling me that."

"My bad, would you prefer ‘freak’?"

"Fucking hell, will the both of you just shut the fuck up?" Billy groans, discarding the tin of beans and looking at them in disbelief. "You guys keep arguing over and over and unless one of you is gonna man up and beat the shit out of the other one, I'm sick of your whining."

Steve blinks. Billy Hargrove was the one telling them that their anger issues were the problem? Considering Eddie's similar expression, he wasn't the only one who realised how insane that sounded. Which only meant Billy was right; they really were a problem.

"Ah." Billy grins sarcastically, leaning back against the shelves, "Music to my ears."

"Whatever." Eddie coughs, snagging the radio from the counter and marching away before anyone could protest, mumbling about trying to find another battery.

"What is his problem?" Steve muttered to himself, not quietly enough to avoid Billy's coarse chuckle. "What?"

"Maybe the dude is worked up because we won't tell him a single thing about anything." He offers, eyes plastered the last remaining flickers of ember in the campfire. "We haven't told him about the Upside Down, forgot to mention anything about the gates of hell that we're trying to track. And now you're neglecting to tell him about how Y/n is trapped in another dimension and needs our help. Dude is gonna be pissed."

"Why does he care?" Steve asks, barely any venom in his words. He was just tired. More tired than he usually gets. Maybe he should have taken the opportunity to sleep when the tents were set up.

"About the Upside Down?" Billy cocks a brow, sending a knowing look. "Or Y/n?"

Steve straightens at the way he said it, shifting uncomfortably at the idea he was alluding to something he wasn't aware of.

"Both..." Steve says with uncertainty.

Billy smirks, almost hidden under the growing shade of nightfall.

"I'm pretty sure his uncle is dying and he doesn't know how to stop it."

Dread and guilt bubble into their own brew in Steve's stomach, tightening his throat. "How the hell would you know that?"

"By using these things people call eyes."

"Alright, don't-"

"And because you've both been so busy avoiding the truth around each other that I've been noticing things you've both forgotten to hide. His uncle is clearly the most resourceful of all of them back at the camp and yet he's the only one who stays behind to 'keep watch'. Eddie always keeps things private from him like he's tryna protect him. And I'm pretty sure that Heather girl is in on it, too. She was training to be a lifeguard before Hawkins went to shit and is probably the only one with first aid experience. Tommy and Chrissy however have no clue since they're clearly traumatised about what happened to them on ‘day one’."

Steve is speechless to say the least, the darkness shedding a whole new light on his perception of the boy next to him.

"You got all that from just looking?"

"You can notice shit a whole lot better when you become an afterthought." He replies, a quiet anger in his eyes. "Y/n taught me that."

Steve tried to ignore it, but he couldn't help fixating on that last little comment. An afterthought. That's how you've felt this entire time. From realising you had been lied to for two years to assuming your father had left without you, Steve never truly appreciated how alone you must have felt, predicting people's departures before they'd ever arrived.

"And the reason Eddie should know about what's happening to Y/n is the same reason we're out here right now risking our damn lives." Billy's eyes drift to where Eddie was fiddling the radio now, whispering into the speaker with a false sense of hope. "He cares about her."

"I didn't even know they were friends." Steve sighs, sitting down in defeat. Another migraine began to form behind his eyes. Jesus, he could use some painkillers right now.

"Me neither." Billy shrugs, and Steve looks at him quizzically. "What? Just because I'm observant doesn't mean I'm a fucking psychic. I only moved here last year, remember?"

"Trying to forget." Steve comments, but there was no malice. In fact, if Steve squinted, he could just see the making of a smirk lifting the corner of Billy's lips.

They could never be friends. But that didn't mean they had to hate each other forever.

You taught him that.

The persistent sounds of a warning system were the last thing you needed in such a hasty situation. It was hard enough to recall the layout of a white-walled maze without the constant interference of a building headache, barely remembering to grab onto Jonathan’s arm anytime you made a sudden sharp turn.

Time was running against you now. One wrong turn and it could all be over.

“We’re almost there!” You say aloud, but it wasn’t to ease Jonathan’s mind.

You recognised the increasing door numbers around you, reminiscent of the days you would wander around this place and only have to worry about your memory.

It seemed that the closer to the gate you were, the quieter the alarms became. Maybe the power was malfunctioning. After all, electricity didn’t exist in the Upside Down. Brenner must be powering it with some external source and the security system had to be using up all that energy rapidly.

“It’s just down-”

As you pull Jonathan around another corner, attempting to lead him to the gate, someone blocks the hallway, gun in his unnaturally steady hand.

The both of you stop dead in your tracks, locking eyes with your captor.

“I can’t let you leave.” Brenner says, unwavering. “My work isn’t complete.”

You shake your head, slowly raising your hands in surrender. “What work?”

He doesn’t answer, but you don’t expect him to, especially not when he looked like that.

Eyes bloodshot and white hair messy, Brenner looked like he had been fighting. There were no bruises or blood as evidence, but his demeanour was wilder than you’ve ever known it to be. He was always collected, calm, unusually so. And right now, he didn’t look like himself.

“I… I can’t let you leave.” His voice trembles this time, alongside a slight tremor in his hand.

Beside you, you can feel Jonathan move closer. He’s obviously preparing for the worst, hoping you both can run before the bullet reaches you.

“You don’t understand!” Brenner yells this time, taking two harsh steps closer to you. You flinch, but he doesn’t pull the trigger. “I can’t- I can’t let him have her.”

That caught you by surprise, your hands slowly lowering back down to your sides. “Who…”

“I could have done great things. I would have.” He begins laughing to himself now, a crazed shell of himself echoing into the hallway. “But she is more important.”

Slowly, his hand lowers, gun pointed at the floor. He starts to stare into the distance, an unsettling smile dropping to a defeated expression. You exchange a look with Jonathan, unsure how to approach him. Brenner was clearly out of his mind and was blocking the only way out.

“Brenner?” You whisper out, taking a tentative step forward much to Jonathan’s immediate distress.

“What are you-”

You shrug him off, tilting your head to hopefully catch Brenner’s eye. You always had a sixth sense about people, about if they were truly good or evil. And right now, you saw a man that needed help. He wasn’t okay, and you hoped that your instincts were right.

“Dr?” You try again, and this time, he looks up.

“I’m sorry.” He says as he meets your eyes, his own glittering with silent tears. “I truly am sorry.”

“Just let us go.” You plead with a comforting voice, holding out your hands. “We’ll forget all about this. You- you need help. We can… we can get help.”

“You can’t leave.” He frowns, face suddenly hardening to stone.

“Y/n…” Jonathan warns, stepping closer to you, but it was too late.

Brenner raises the gun, straightening his stance and pointing it directly at your chest. “I can’t let him win.”

Him? You question, eyes glued to the weapon. You notice the flicker of his index finger on the trigger, and you wish you hadn’t. It meant you were about to die.

Or, at least, someone was.

Before any bullets could leave the barrel, something big lunges out from the darkness and pounces onto Brenner, the gun firing into the wall beside your head.

Brenner yells out in pain as the monster raises its ugly claw, striking down. A scream almost leaves your lips before Jonathan is taking the opportunity to escape, grabbing your hand and pulling you away from the horrifying miracle.

You find yourself unable to decide if leaving Brenner was making you feel guilty or not. And you didn’t have time to. Jonathan leads you straight to the red hue seeping from behind one of the doors, throwing it open and tugging you inside with haste.

“How do we-”

He begins to ask how to open the shutters, but you’ve already launched yourself towards the door on the far end of the room, following the faint hum that has haunted your dreams since day one. He joins you almost as quickly as you left him, standing beside you in the open doorway and staring in at the room that follows.

“Jesus…” He whispers, the gate smaller than the one at the lab but big enough to have him wondering. “We’ve been searching for a gate for weeks. And it’s been here the whole time? How did we miss this?”

The taunting sound of heavy footsteps call out from behind you, something big hitting the door with malicious intent.

Both of you jump inside the room, tipping over a metal unit to block the door before you make a run for it, the shelves you destroyed scraping against the floor as the monster attempts to break in.

As your footsteps echo loudly against the silver steps leading to the gate, the unsettling wave of familiarity plagues you for the last time inside this bunker.

A lab, a gate, a boy. Time was repeating itself, over and over, making you question if your actions ever meant anything at all. You always ended back here, back in a life or death deal with only one realistic option left for survival; run.

You almost slip, but Jonathan manages to catch you, a terrifying crash sounding from the door.

As Jonathan takes your hand in his, the cool skin feels unusual against yours. Your body was aching for some kind of warmth this boy didn't have, reminiscent of a safe grasp.

You didn’t realise what was wrong until you were being pulled through the gate with a gasp, senses thrown off balance as you barely escaped the claws of a close death.

Jonathan’s hand didn't bring the same comfort you’ve yearned for all this time.

He wasn't Steve.

No one really appreciates a roof over their head until they don’t have it anymore.

There was the blinding light of sun peeking through the grey clouds and a horrible sensation of something clinging to his arm when he woke, causing Steve to groan in despair. He barely got any sleep last night, and now he’ll probably be up for another 20 hours. Life sucked right now.

Steve peels his arm away from the lining of the tent, frowning. It felt wet. Why was it wet?

Crawling out of his pop-up quarters, ignoring how uncool he must look right now, Steve’s heart drops as his hand slips into a puddle. It rained. It rained.

“Shit.” He spits, scrambling to his feet and letting his eyes fall across the store.

Any and all electronic equipment was now soaked and useless.

“Shit!” He says, louder this time. His hands were pressed against the top of his head as he paced.

“What’s going on?” Eddie yawns, stepping out of the second tent with much more grace than Steve had earlier. But he couldn’t dwell on that, right now. “Damn. When did it rain?”

“The batteries.” Steve gasped, rushing over to the counter.

Any radios left were drowned, leaving no promise of what he desperately needed. His hands fumble with the battery compartments, a little piece of his soul chipping away as each battery led in their own pools of rain.

“Steve?”

Eddie’s voice wasn’t a priority. His hands were shaking. He was stuck here, just like in the Upside Down. Just like you. And now he-

“Steve!”

His eyes finally snap up to see his saving grace.

Eddie stood with a radio in one hand, pointing to it with the other. “It’s fine. I found a battery and shoved it into my tent when we turned in last night. And it works, too.”

“Oh, thank god.” Steve sighs, releasing all his anxious energy back into the air.

“You sleep okay, man? You don’t look so good.”

“Yeah, I- I’m okay.” He rubs his eyes, sucking in the fresh air. Well, as fresh as it could be in an apocalypse. “Where’s Billy?”

“Uh…” Eddie takes a quick look around before deciding on a shrug.

“Great.” Steve sighs, rolling his shoulder. There was still a dull ache resting there, flaming whenever he moved his left arm. “I’ll start getting us packed up, you try and contact your camp.”

Eddie didn’t seem all too convinced by his false display of wellness. “You sure you’re-”

“I’m fine.” Steve offers a tight-lipped smile, already taking down the tents with haste that suggested he really wasn’t in the mood to talk about how miserable he was right now. “See if anything else survived. We’ll need some spare batteries for when we’re out of the mall. Just in case.”

“Cool. Back-ups. I like it.” Eddie nods, mostly to himself since Steve had already left his side.

Steve’s hands immediately find solace in disassembling the tents, grateful to be busy. He wasn’t sure what was making him so cranky. Usually it would be from another nightmare he couldn’t control, images of your virus-stricken form weaving into his deepest fears. He didn’t dream last night, but he wasn’t even sure he slept at all.

It was like there was a small nagging pinch of a dagger resting at the back of his mind, occasionally piercing him but mostly leaving a dull ache in his brain. It was almost torture, and he wasn’t sure what was causing it. No sleep, no water or food, could remove it no matter how hard he tried.

Maybe it was all the pressure finally taking its toll on him. The apocalypse wasn’t resting easy on anyone’s mind, but after losing you and leading Jonathan straight to his demise, it was certainly heavy.

Maybe it was something else entirely. Something he missed. He’d been feeling it since that day in the motel basement, where you sacrificed all you had left to make sure he was saved. But he had nothing more than a blackout and a painful memory to evidence his growing fatigue.

One thing was for sure; his only cure right now would be you.

“Steve?” Eddie’s voice calls out from the other side of the shelves, making Steve pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah?”

“There’s something staring at me.”

Steve pauses all movement, eyes widening. His heartbeat raises quicker than usual, a trail of goosebumps straightening the hairs on his arms.

“Is this the demogorgon you were talking about?” He asks, and Steve slowly makes his way back through the store, attempting to catch a glimpse of the window.

“Tall, grey, faceless?” Steve recalls, taking slow steps. He can just see his bat resting near one of the deflated tents, calling to him. The sun above made everything impossible to see, pu

re light reflecting on the window.

“No. It’s, uh…”

When Eddie’s words falter, Steve makes a quick and crucial decision. He steps to his bat and swipes it off the ground, turning to see the boy fully now. Eddie’s face had fallen, fists clenched.

“What?” Steve frowns, afraid to look behind him at the glass pane.

“It’s grinning at me.”

Heart sinking into his stomach, Steve can’t seem to find the words to warn Eddie before glass shatters the earth behind him, a sharp ringing in his ear. It cuts his voice with a sliced gasp through the air as something pulls him backwards until he hits the ground hard.

He didn’t get a moment to recover. A large clawed hand found its way around his throat, pinning him to the ground.

As he chokes for breath, Steve finds himself staring up at the eerie image of a jagged smile, dead eyes glaring down at him with enough malice to turn his body cold. But Steve wasn’t the target. After all, that thing didn’t smile at him.

Pressure relieves his neck and he’s no longer the prey.

“Eddie-” He gasps, trying to sit up when the grinning monster leaves his side. “Run.”

“Shit!” Eddie has no objections as he snatches the radio from the counter and takes off in the opposite direction. And, just as Steve assumed, the monster followed.

A burst of pain seeped from his shoulder and along his spine, a hiss leaving Steve’s lips as he forced himself to stand. Various cuts from shards of glass littered his hands but that would have to wait.

“Billy!” He yells out, eyes struggling to focus around him.

He doesn’t understand why it didn’t just kill him when it had the chance, but there wasn’t much time to debate it. Billy had the only weapon sure enough to take this thing out with a single blow to the head, and he was nowhere to be seen.

A cry echoes from inside the Radio Shack and Steve’s hand instinctively finds his bat. I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way, he thinks as he rushes to the noise, his only plan resting on the pure adrenaline of fear.

He appeared just in time to watch Eddie’s feet dangle above the ground, his hands scrambling to tear at the thick skin of the monster’s grip around his neck. Steve ignores the pain in his shoulder to lift the bat above his head and swipe it down onto the back of its head with as much force as he could muster.

It screeches, dropping Eddie to snap its head around to where Steve stood, panting. The bat was laced with droplets of blood, but his attack didn’t cause the damage he had hoped for.

Claws swiped at his face, causing him to jump back and stumble directly into old wooden shelves. They collapse into a heap behind him and he loses his footing.

His bat rolls from his grip and his eyes widen just as the smirk of his worst fears approaches him. It only seems to get bigger, the disproportionate body towering over him. It grinned the same way it had at Eddie. He was next.

“Hey!”

The sickening smile still rested on its face as it turned to the intrusion, keen on finding something to rip apart. Steve felt despair for a moment, closed in with a pile of wooden rubble at his feet.

He shouldn’t have doubted Eddie’s fighting spirit.

An ear-splitting scream left the creature’s jagged mouth when Eddie’s spear slotted perfectly into one of its eyes, black blood pouring out from the back of its head as it wobbled from left to right.

Steve manages to scurry out of the way just in time for the monster to collapse into the heap, a stomach-churning squelch of the spear being pushed further into the head with the impact.

“Smile about that, asshole.” Eddie quips, still shaking with fear.

Steve’s wide eyes turn into lights of approval, a trembling laugh erupting from his mouth. “Holy shit.”

Eddie only nods, adjusting his bandana. “Holy shit.”

“You just killed that thing with a spear.” Steve says in bewilderment, still chuckling, but none of it was funny. It was just easier this way, to find the humour in a situation that was very much deadly a few seconds ago.

“I played a lot of DnD.” He replies earnestly, balling his hands into fists. Steve could tell he was trying to pretend it was nothing, to brush it off. “That was… that was the first thing I’ve ever killed.”

“Really?” Steve frowns, brushing the dust from his hands. He was pretty much sitting in a puddle right now, but he wasn’t sure he could stand. Adrenaline wore off pretty quickly. “Well, uh… congrats, I guess.”

“Thanks.”

Steve had a lot of experience battling monsters from the Upside Down. Although, he wasn’t necessarily an expert per say. The normal baseline for experience with these things would be absolutely zero considering they aren’t meant to exist. But he knew the first time facing the reality of a life and death situation was scarring. He also knew Eddie should count himself lucky; not everyone could stand their ground.

Sometimes people run away before they learn that courage.

“Are we sure it's dead?” Eddie asks, peering down at it. Before Steve can reply, the answer presents itself instead.

The thing twitched, clawed hand shooting out to grab onto Eddie’s leg. Bat resting further than Steve would have hoped, he scrambles for a new weapon, hands rooting around the dirty ground for a rock heavy enough to cause some damage.

Luckily for him, he didn’t need to search long.

A heavy shot pierces the air and the next thing he knows, Eddie is splattered with the monster’s blood, the tight grip on his ankle faltering until the thing goes limp and it falls with a single bullet between the eyes.

“Holy shit.” Eddie exhales, looking up with an anxious smile, “That was close.”

Steve can only nod in exasperation, pushing himself from the ground for the fourth time today and dusting his hands free of gravel.

He turns to look for Billy’s smug face, expecting the drawl of condescending remarks to fall upon his ear. He was sorely mistaken.

One glance at the dead monster and he sees it; one tiny, clean, bullet hole. Not from a shotgun.

“Can’t you go anywhere without me?”

“... Nancy?”

Nancy Wheeler stands with her trusted gun pointed at the ground, a relieved smile painting her lips. She was wearing different clothes than the last time he saw her, a new jacket he recognised straight from Jonathan’s wardrobe. She had a satchel resting across her body, but that wasn’t her only accessory.

Behind her, Robin Buckley stood with arms folded, a radio strapped to her hip and paired with a taser on the other side. She didn’t smile, but Steve wasn’t at all surprised. She’d made it pretty clear she wasn’t a fan of his since your disappearance.

The only surprise was the fact they were both here.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He finally asks, posture depleting with exasperation.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.” Nancy says, retiring her gun back to her belt. “Where have you guys been? We’ve been trying to radio-”

Her voice cuts out when she notices Eddie stood there awkwardly.

“Uh, hi.” He offers a wave, and she merely nods back. “I’m Eddie.”

“Munson?” She frowns, looking between him and Steve before focusing on the latter. “When did-”

“It’s a long story.” He sighs.

“Not really.”

Billy finally rejoins the group, the shotgun they had desperately needed a minute ago looped onto his shoulder. His shoes were muddy, hair a little damp from what Steve assumes to be the early rain.

“We got stranded at the library and ran into some other survivors. We camped out with them and then Munson offered to take us to the last place with supplies and, well, here we are.” Billy recalls, folding his arms. “Not a long story.”

“Where the fuck have you been?”

Everyone turns to Steve in surprise. His voice was bitter, a bite in his eye that suggested he wasn’t in the mood to be messed with.

“Took a walk.” Billy says, stoic expression faltering slightly when he finally clocks the dead monster on the ground. “Ah.”

“Ah?” Steve repeats, walking over to him. “Ah? We almost died because you took our only solid weapon on a walk, and all you can say is ‘ah’?!”

“Chill out, it’s dead, isn’t it?” Billy straightens, undefeated by Steve’s dangerous gaze. “Obviously you didn’t need me.”

“I can’t believe you-”

“Woah, okay.” Nancy steps forward, hand guiding Steve away from Billy with an ounce of pressure on his shoulder and he winces. “Sorry. Let’s just… calm down. We can fight about this later, but right now we have bigger things to worry about.”

“She’s right.” Robin speaks up for the first time, tilting her head. “We have a lead.”

“A lead on what?” Steve frowns, stalking away from Billy and cradling his shoulder. It definitely got worse after the attack.

“Y/n.”

If his heart could jump from his chest and strangle him, he’s sure it would have done it just then, throat tightening with a thick set of emotion. “What… what about her?”

“We heard her.” Nancy smiles, nodding feverously. “We picked up a signal yesterday. It was definitely Y/n. She’s- she’s alive. And she’s not alone.”

“Who…”

“Jonathan.” She laughs this time. Complete and utter joy slipping from her lips, a light he definitely hadn’t seen in some time.

Steve can only shake his head. “Wait, but that’s- how could he-”

“I don’t know.” Nancy steps closer, ensuring that he was only focused on what she had to say and not the disbelief running through his thoughts. “But we definitely heard her right. She and Jonathan were saying they were stuck somewhere. We- we lost the signal before we heard anything else, but it’s them. They’re alive, Steve. I know it.”

Confliction rolled around Steve’s stomach until it made him sick. He had so many concerns about this supposed signal, but mostly he was afraid that steering off course for a hopeful miracle would ruin everything. If the signal was wrong, if you and Jonathan weren’t there… then what?

“We’re heading to the new mall. Eddie says there’s enough supplies there to last us another month at least. I can’t- we can’t leave without it.”

“You’re not gonna believe it,” Nancy shakes her head in bewilderment, struck with relief of their luck, “But Hopper managed to track the signal.”

Billy unfolds his arms and Eddie stops slumping. Nancy doesn’t have to finish her words, but she does anyway, letting that hope solidify with a heavy promise.

“They’re in Starcourt already.”

[A/N: the next chapter is coming whenever I'm not rethinking my entire life after three years of university just to end up in a retail job, i hate it here. but ily guys for still reading]

@sheisjoeschateau . @kthomps914 . @curled-hair-red-lips . @nix-rose .

@palmtreesx3 . @kryztalglear . @sattlersquarry . @hey-barnes-stole-a-jeep . @sadslasher13 .

@iliveonteaandbooks . @innercreationflower . @newyorkangelbaby . @totally-bogus-timelady . @pansexualhoor .

@kitdjarin1 . @chiliwhore . @carolineesnell .

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aloneinthehellfire · 5 months ago

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Any updates on your Pariahs story?

My only update is that I am desperately clinging onto my motivation!! This writers block is hitting me hard lately 🥲

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aloneinthehellfire · 5 months ago

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How's the gates of hell fic going? 👀 It's insane how good it is!!!

Literally finishing the next chapter now and took a look at the doc word count...

It's only gonna get bigger, that's for sure (that's what she said)

#gates of hell #goh #fic writer

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aloneinthehellfire · 6 months ago

Text

Chapter Twenty-Two: Escapism

Gates Of Hell

Word Count: 5.9k

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, mentions of blood, the usual angst fest

[A/N: omg she's back from the dead! I'm so upset that I never find much time for this fic so please excuse my writing if something seems out of place, and feel free to let me know any concerns! I'm trying to keep things consistent but since I've been disappearing every so often, I may have forgotten something. anyways, I hope everyone is going to have an amazing new year and I hope you're ready for what's in store for reader and steve...]

Escapism

Steve’s dreams were getting worse.

Some days the night slipped by quickly, ending his misery before it began. But most nights, on nights where no threats were looming over him, his mind slipped into a nightmare of his own making. One where you push him to safety, closing yourself into a trap, being mauled by monsters so he didn’t have to watch you turn. If he had just opened his eyes… if he had acknowledged your shaking hands resting on his chest, or your guilty exhale of breath fanning against his neck, he could have saved you. He would have saved you.

He should have saved you.

Steve sucks in a shaky breath, blinking against the harsh hues of the morning sun trying to break through the thick swamp of red clouds. He must have drifted off.

After their failed excursion to find provisions to last them another week, Steve and Billy ended up accepting an offer that honestly left Steve baffled. Eddie and the others had insisted for them to stay at their camp until the storm cleared out; if Steve hadn’t watched the words leave his lips, he wouldn’t have believed it. Especially knowing that none of them had a reason to like him, let alone Billy.

The camp was small, the only other survivor being Eddie’s uncle who had stayed behind to keep watch. But there were tents with makeshift beds Steve presumed to be couch cushions taken from empty homes, a firepit, and, most importantly, rations. He hadn’t really had time to take in the generosity of letting them stay there. Instead, he had immediately found solace on a surprisingly comfortable cushion mattress and closed his eyes with the hope they would be able to find their own rations when dawn broke.

As it turns out, Steve wasn’t the only one sticking with the original plan.

“We need supplies, not your god damn protection.”

He almost groaned, stretching his arm towards the tent’s exit to gently brush the fabric aside. Billy’s gruff voice was the last thing anyone should have to wake up to.

“Do I look like I’m carrying weeks worth of food on me right now?” Eddie responds, his voice clearer now that Steve was pulled out of his sleepy haze. As he leaves the shelter, he can just make out Eddie’s silhouette against the rising sun, arms crossed as he looks to Billy with a scowl of displeasure. Been there, buddy. “Hey, I’m not claiming you guys need protection. I’m just offering for you both to camp here until military come clear us out. I don’t see why you’re so dead set on staying in this hell hole.”

“Because we’re not the only ones left.” Steve interjects, surprising them as he walks over. “There are more of us, including kids, who need supplies right now. And leaving isn’t an option.”

Eddie glances between them, eyes narrowing with uncertainty. It was clear he didn’t believe either of them would be risking their lives for anyone but themselves, and Steve can’t blame him.

Eddie Munson was deemed the worst of the worst in high school. What made him cool and edgy in middle school severely plummeted into ‘weird’ and ‘barbaric’ as the years rolled on. He had tried to keep to himself, stick with a particular crew of friends, but the bullies always found him. He collected bruises like trading cards, developed eyes in the back of his head just so he could use his locker, and he grew a thick skin of resentment to pretty much everyone in this town just to mask his own insecurity. And Steve Harrington had started it all.

One snide comment, a whisper of a cruel word, and King Steve had bestowed a lasting brand.

Freak.

“How long are you planning on staying?” Eddie eventually sighs, eyes flickering over to where Heather and Chrissy were currently waking up, climbing out of their tent with matching yawns.

“However long it takes.” Steve admits, taken aback by Eddie’s unusually kind nature. Why was he being so nice to him?

“Can you help us or not?” Billy was quickly becoming fed up with the arrangement, tightening his jaw. But any intimidation he may have had in high school was quickly forgotten here, the world around them holding much worse and much more dangerous things to fear.

“Look, man, we don’t even have enough for us right now, let alone a whole other group of survivors. We’re lucky we’ve even lasted this long.” Eddie’s shoulders drop. “It’s how we found you two, we… we are in just as much trouble as you guys right now.”

“Doubt it.” Billy scoffs and when Eddie shoots him a suspicious look, he decides to walk away, choosing to lean against a tree instead.

“What’s his problem?” Eddie comments, eyes flickering between them.

“Been trying to figure that out for like a year now.” Steve sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had been up all of 5 minutes and a migraine was already forming behind his eyes. “Okay, so I get you guys are taking the military’s help, believe me it’s definitely the best option, but we don’t have that choice right now. Is there anywhere, anywhere, we might find what we’re looking for?”

Eddie shifts on his feet, eyes unwavering from Steve’s pleading gaze with a soft frown denting the space between his eyebrows. He was studying him, Steve realised, trying to find clues on the surface behind his persistent nature. Steve knew he was being emotional, possibly showing too much urgency considering that staying in Hawkins would feel like a death sentence. But if he leaves, he leaves you. And that is so much scarier to him than flesh-eating monsters.

Eddie tightens his lips, looking to the side in a conflicted manner. “You’re really not leaving, are you?”

“I can’t.” Steve whispers it this time, any energy for an argument severely depleted. He doesn’t care how long it takes, he just wanted to make sure everyone is safe. Everyone.

“Fine.” Eddie finally breathes, a forced smile brightening his face. “I know exactly where you can find everything you’re looking for.”

“Great, that’s- that’s great. Where?”

“Well, uh…” Eddie risks a look over to his uncle Wayne, the man currently sat with his back turned to all of them while sharpening his knives. “About that…”

That little ball of anxiety that sat in the pit of his stomach started to swell again, alerting Steve to yet another precarious situation. And, judging by Eddie’s unnerved expression, he knew the next task wasn’t going to be easy.

Tick.

Time ticked too slowly. It was like the present was drowning you, lungs filled with the grim reminder of the danger you were in. The future didn’t look any less bleak.

The stranger you had blindly trusted for days now was simply that; a stranger. You no longer recognised him for his kind eyes, just for the steady murderous hands that pulled the trigger on his friend’s life.

“I was wondering if you’re feeling up for those tests we talked about yesterday.” Brenner smiles, a sight that curdled your stomach from the sheer audacity of it. “There’s no rush, but we won’t be able to proceed without it.”

“Yeah…” You clear your throat, shifting uncomfortably in the metal chair.

Right now, you were hooked to a machine, small little patches attached to either side of your skull and feeding unreadable lines of brainwaves to Brenner, who seemed especially attentive to the results.

After you witnessed Brenner’s unspeakable crime, you had eventually found your way out of the vents, leading you to the other side of the lab just as Owens had promised. It took a lot for you not to submit to the shock, to not slide down the wall into fits of tears. It took even more to pretend like your erratic heartbeat wasn’t making you queasy, stuffing your shaking hands into the pockets of your hoodie and hoping Brenner wouldn’t be playing close attention.

When you first saw him, maybe as little as an hour later, you weren’t sure if you wanted to run as far away as possible or simply scream at him. You had instead opted for a neutral nature, nodding along to words you didn’t concern yourself to listen to. You didn’t care what he had to say. He killed Owens. And he had kept you down here for weeks feeding you lies that poisoned any chance you had of remembering who you were.

Needless to say, you struggled to restrain yourself from lashing out and busting out of here without so much as a second glance. But you remembered what Owens had said, his desperation of a plan to keep you safe. He used his last moments to ensure you could live many more, and you’d be damned if you’d let him and his efforts die in vain.

“Will Owens be doing it?” You ask, drumming your fingertips against the cool surface of the table between you, using the repetitive method to calm your anxiety. It was a trick Hopper had taught you. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday’s attempt.”

You watch as his eyes flicker something dark, swarming lies between the irises that stared at his colleague’s dead body. He might have been able to hide his nature from you before, but you recognised guilt like a close relative.

“I’m afraid he won’t be joining us.” Brenner sighs, dropping the feed of paper and running a hand down his face.

“Why not?”

“He had to leave.” He lies, offering a small smile. “Unfortunately, we’re not the only ones that need him. His… wife. She sent a signal out for help and of course he had to respond. But I’m sure we’ll see him in the future. For now, we must focus our energy on retrieving your memories. Perhaps something you obtained on the surface could aid in a cause much bigger than your amnesia.”

Before you could muster up a response, he leans over and plucks the patches from your skin, the machine dying with the loss of connection.

“That’s enough of that for today. Perhaps we shall discuss the tests later. I’ve noticed you seemed more tired than usual and I’d much prefer you to have a decent night’s sleep before we continue.”

Maybe it was the reality of his actions that made him end your session early, or maybe it was something else entirely. But the metal legs of his chair scrape against the floor as he collects his recordings, shuffling them into a neat pile and turning towards the door.

“Wait.” You suddenly stand, your voice clearly unexpected. But it wasn’t as unexpected as your sudden embrace of a hug, catching him off guard with a slight ‘hmph’. “Thank you. For helping me.”

After the initial shock subsides, Brenner clears his throat and gently pats you on the back. “It is merely my pleasure. We must look after one another in times like these.”

You finally step away, smiling up at him with a nod and he takes his leave, heading down the hall to the right where you’re sure his bedroom is, meaning you had enough time to do exactly as you had planned.

Juggling the newly retrieved keys in your hand, a hint of a smirk was tugging at the corner of your mouth; even when you’re at your most vulnerable, people always seem to underestimate you.

Eddie plants a large map of Hawkins down on the crate in front of him, pointing to the greener area.

“We’re here,” He looks up to ensure Steve and Billy are following. “And the only place left untouched by survivors… is here.”

Steve watches Eddie drag his finger across the map, towards an area that made him frown. “What’s meant to be there?”

“Remember that whole mall the developers promised would be up in time for summer? That’s the site. No idea if they actually finished it but Wayne was a part of the crew transporting in goods.” He glances between them, tilting his head. “AKA… food.”

“So what’s the catch?” Billy grunts, leaning forward. Steve looks at him. “What? Munson here has known about this gold mine for ages and hasn’t gone out to collect? Something’s obviously wrong with that place.”

“He’s… not wrong.” Eddie sighs, pausing when he notices his uncle shift in his seat.

Steve has watched him avoid Wayne’s stare for a while now, only speaking to them in hushed tones. He was clearly doing this against his uncle’s wishes, and Steve still didn’t understand why Eddie would be risking anything to help two of his high school bullies.

“Rumour has it that this whole apocalypse started at high school.” He explains, not noticing the way Steve starts to shift uncomfortably or, at the very least, choosing to ignore it. “When everyone, uh... when no one was left from that place, it started attacking the rest of the town. Shops, houses, stations, everywhere. The only ones that managed to make it out were the people with cars. And anyone left after the town massacre had to think fast. They couldn’t escape and they were getting blocked in by all these monsters showing up out of nowhere. So they-”

“They fled to the new mall.”

All three boys turn in surprise to a new voice, another teen joining their meeting with a grave expression.

Tommy stood with them for a moment, glaring down at the map. In all of Steve’s life, he has never seen Tommy so serious. So… sober.

“Man, you don’t have to-” Eddie tries but Tommy shakes his head and the boy backs down.

“Everyone left headed there.” He solemnly continues, taking a seat on the open surface of a fallen tree trunk, staring at his hands. “Someone broke through the gates surrounding it and let everyone in. Those… creatures... they followed them. Us.”

Steve plants his hands on the table gently, allowing himself to lean against it, knowing that whatever Tommy would say would make his stomach sick and his body weak.

“I was with Carol in the video store when it all started. Some asshole took my car when I wasn’t looking and we were just stranded in the middle of town. Everything around us was complete chaos, and- and I overheard someone saying the mall had trucks they could use.” Tommy takes a breath, nodding slowly for his own support in telling the tale. “I took her with me and we managed to get past the gates pretty easy. But there weren’t any trucks. At least, not when we got there. More monsters showed up and people started running into the mall. I- I would’ve followed but Carol spotted a school bus back out on the street trying to get people on it, said it was our only way out. It felt like our only way out.”

“So we abandoned the mall and we ran to the bus…” Steve spots Tommy’s hands shake before he hides them between his knees, tightening his lips. “Some nasty looking dog jumped out at us at the last moment. I… I didn’t know what to do so I just told Carol to get on the bus, said I’d deal with it. She didn’t- she didn’t wanna leave me. But I pushed her. I distracted the thing long enough and I made sure she got on the bus.”

A glimmer of a tear drips down his cheek, and he simply lets it fall, squeezing his eyes shut.

“I think the monsters figured out where all the people were because hundreds of them started appearing. The driver started the bus, he- he was just trying to get everyone out. I tried to run after it… I remember seeing Carol’s face in the window. And then…” When Tommy pauses, Steve doesn’t expect him to continue. Even his own heart was aching. “The biggest, ugliest thing I’ve ever seen showed up. Something like an older version of those dogs with the weird faces. It had these- these massive claws and it… it got the bus. Slashed the tires. There were too many things between me and them for me to get there in time. All I heard was their screams. I tried to get Carol out. I- I ran to the back of the bus when I could, tried to get the emergency release open. I didn’t get to save her. Instead, I just watched her die.”

Nobody spoke. Not even Billy, cementing the severity of whole situation. Steve felt a horrible twist of guilt settle in his chest. Guilt for having such hostile feelings towards Tommy and Carol merely hours before Tommy watched Carol ripped to pieces in front of him. He had hated them, but he never wanted either of them dead.

Tommy clears his throat after a moment, clapping his hands with a bitter laugh. “Well, now that’s all out in the open…”

“Wayne and I found Tommy near the mall about a day after it all started.” Eddie continues for him, sending a sympathetic glance his way. “We were lucky we all made it back out. The place was crawling with those things. If there’s anywhere in Hawkins that is a no-go zone, it’s the mall.”

“Which is why all that food is gonna be untouched. Am I right?” Billy raises an eyebrow, but all and any satirical urges had been retired completely. This wasn’t a joke anymore.

“Yep.” Eddie nods. “You should stay the hell away from there if you want to survive another day. But something tells me you’re just that desperate.”

“If we don’t go, we still won’t survive anyway.” Billy bites back, crossing his arms. “And no way are we letting the military drag us out of here.”

“Why?” Eddie exasperates, shaking his head. “What the hell is so important that you can’t just get the hell out of Hawkins while you still can? And don’t give me the whole ‘we need food’ bullshit or tell me ‘it’s not an option’ because getting out of here is literally the only way you or those kids you keep talking about are gonna stay alive.”

“We’re perfectly capable on our own, you fre-” Billy bites and Steve nudges him away from Eddie before he could say anything that would alienate the help completely.

“Just calm down.” Steve warns him, seeing the same look in his eye he had been the victim of last year when he beat him bloody. But, to his relief, Billy shakes his head and walks away calmly, mumbling an apology.

Steve had to admit, he wasn’t expecting that conversation to end without a couple bruises.

“Thank you for letting us stay here.” He turns back to Eddie, making sure his voice properly captivated the gratitude he felt for kindness he didn’t deserve. “If we can do anything in return, just let us know.”

With a brief nod to Eddie’s silence, Steve trudged back to his tent and grabbed his bag and bat, signalling to Billy that they were ready to leave. Considering how long it had been since they left the others, they needed to find the supplies and return fast before any of them had the terrible idea of following them out here. He knew if he let the military get to them before he did, you’d be lost forever.

Or maybe he could save everyone else and still look for you. It wasn’t as if the thought hadn’t crossed his mind before; to send out a signal to the soldiers’ camp and tell them where they were, to evacuate them immediately, while Steve was far away from being caught. But he couldn’t do that to Hopper, or any of them really. You weren’t always aware of it, but they all cared about you. Family doesn’t leave eachother behind.

“I’m coming with you.”

Steve stops in his tracks and whips his head back to where Eddie was strapping his own back to his back, testing the weight of his spear before sliding it through it’s holder on the backpack.

“What?” Steve gawks, unsure of how to properly respond.

“I’ve been there before.” Eddie shrugs, folding his arms and setting a look on his face that read he wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise. “I used to sneak in there whenever the builders took days off. I know exactly where we can find the supplies you’re looking for and I’m pretty damn sure you’re not gonna be able to navigate that place in time before anything finds you.”

“Why the hell would you want to do that?” Steve lowers his voice to a whisper, coming closer.

“You’re not the only one who has their reasons to stay here.” Eddie vaguely replies, his hard stare softening. “You said if you could do anything in return, you would. And I need something in that mall.”

“You’re the one who told us it’s dangerous.” Steve doesn’t have time to debate, already noticing Billy’s impatient gestures from the corner of his eye.

“Guess that means you’re gonna need all the help you can get.” Eddie shrugs.

Before Steve can insist he stay, Heather interrupts the conversation with a small apology, whispering something in Eddie’s ear. Whatever it was, it caused the boy’s expression to fall into a frown.

“I’m heading out.” He says to her, looking behind him. “I’ll be back in the morning, just… don’t let anyone leave. It’s not worth it.”

“I’ll try and get the radio working again.” She bites her lip, nodding. “Send us a call if you go past the shack. I’m not gonna be able to keep this from your uncle, you know.”

“I know.” He sighs, smiling. “Thanks for this.”

“You saved my life.” She playfully punches his shoulder, looking at Steve. “Don’t let him die or I’ll kill you myself.”

“Noted.” Steve blinks, throwing his hands up in desperation. I guess Eddie is coming with us.

Billy walks over with a frown, looking between the three of them. “We going, or what?”

“Eddie’s joining us.” Steve admits in defeat, the boy in question grinning.

“Yay.” Billy rolls his eyes, catching Heather’s inquisitive stare. “What?”

“Nothing.” She smirks, tilting her head. “You’re just… different. To how I remember.”

Both Steve and Eddie watch the other two share a gaze that made them feel… unwanted, to say the least.

Billy clears his throat and adjusts the strap of his shotgun, letting out a breath. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Heather bids a small farewell, patting Eddie’s shoulder before re-joining Chrissy to surely discuss what was happening. In turn, Billy starts marching away from the camp, leaving before anything else could interrupt.

“Well, I feel weird.” Eddie comments and Steve absent-mindedly nods in agreement. “Better follow him before he ends up going in the wrong direction.”

Steve hums in response, taking one last look at the camp. It was relieving to know other people had been out here surviving the entire time, even without the knowledge of these monsters and the gates that brought them here. It gave him hope. Maybe there were more survivors out there. Maybe, just maybe, an apocalypse wouldn’t be the end of Hawkins.

It had barely been 24 hours since you stopped taking Brenner’s ‘medication’ and you were already piecing together your memories from the past few months.

Many people still remained faceless, meaning you had to work harder to remember the specifics. But you know Hopper, all the fights and the emotional conversations. Sara, your little sister, and a girl that reminded you of her.

You remember the high school, watching your teacher die, getting attacked…

And you remember the monsters. Long, lanky and grey creatures with faces that opened like flower petals. Dark, shadowy figures that could become anything they wanted. Small, vicious dogs that would tear you apart if they were given the chance. Something big in the water, rows and rows of sharp teeth.

Each creature appeared in thought with a shiver down your spine. Maybe some things would be better forgotten.

Your sneakers scuff loudly on the pristine conditions of the floor, making you wince at the noise. You needed to be silent if you wanted to escape. Luckily for you, you were one step closer to freedom.

Room 237. It didn’t appear any different from the other rows of doors you’ve walked past a million times. But this one felt different.

There was no lock on the door, making you question Owens’ desperation for you to find it. If it was meant to be a secret, why wasn’t there any security? But you know why. You weren’t exactly a threat in Brenner’s mind. You were used to that behaviour.

You grab the handle and gently tug it down, holding your breath as the door quietly creaks open.

The first thing you noticed was how dark it was. You try and fumble around for a light switch but you can’t really find it, squinting into the room and trying to adjust your eyes instead.

It seemed empty, merely a chair in the corner of the room with a shadow of a lamp beside it. Everything else was just the same bleak white walls you’ve grown accustomed to, nothing out of the ordinary at all…

The smell hit you first, flooding your senses. It was the same thing you smelt that first night at the school, invading your mind and body with paralysing fear.

Blood.

The room stretched further than you thought, a protruding wall concealing the reality of what lay inside of Room 237. There was no light behind it either, and you blindly followed your own instincts to find where the divide ended, hand gently brushing along the wall until it fell into air.

This section was a lot more furnished. Chairs, small tables, equipment. But you didn’t acknowledge any of it.

In the middle of the room was a chair, inhabited by the pale face of a boy you think you should recognise. And he wasn’t moving.

"Oh my god." You whisper, running over and immediately pulling the gag from his mouth, your hands trembling as you gently tap his face, hoping he was just tired and not something much, much worse. "Hey, hey. Wake up. Please wake up."

When you hear no response, you start working on the rope binds around his wrists, sending fearful glances to his face. No, no, no. A persistent tug inside your chest knew this boy, even if you couldn’t quite place him in that hazy mind of yours. And you were scared to lose him. You couldn’t lose him.

As you pull apart the last knot, your heart settles into relief, watching his hands instinctively flex from the freedom.

"Hey." You dip your head to meet his eyes, "Are you okay? Why are you here? Can you hear me?"

A small groan rumbles in his throat, shaking off the obvious fatigue from whatever the hell it was Brenner did to him. “Please… I don’t know where he is...”

“Where who is?” You frown, searching his face for clues. Up close, you could see his lip was swollen. “Do you know where you are? How long have you been here?”

“I don’t… remember.” He coughs, blinking up at the dark ceiling. “I don’t remember anything…”

Your eyes flicker to the table you hadn’t yet observed beside him, various needles scattered about, seemingly unused thank goodness. But you did spot a similar little bottle that you had clutched in your own hands for weeks now; those cursed little white pills.

“Oh no.” You lean back on your heels, observing the way he starts rubbing at the rope burns on his wrists. He looks at you with a confused expression, searching your face like he was trying to remember something.

“I know you.” He says like it was involuntary, surprised at his own words. But he trusts himself, squinting his eyes, face falling into realisation. “Oh my god.”

“What?” You blink, anticipation startling you with his sudden resolve.

“Y/n.”

Relief mends the painful tear in your heart you never noticed before. When you had been utterly alone down here, you were so afraid there would be no one waiting for you on the surface. It wasn’t until you remembered Hopper that you were hopeful you would have someone looking for you. But now, hearing someone say your name like it held importance, that felt like a cure to all your misery.

And then the dread sets in again as you look up at this boy. Why didn’t you remember him?

“How do you know my name?” You frown, but he barely registers your words.

“He told us you were alive… I’m glad I believed him...” He doesn’t make much sense, muttering and mumbling under his breath. His voice is a little hazy and you notice his eyelids start to droop. You quickly tilt his head with your hand, noticing the spot of red blended into his hair that you had missed on your earlier inspection.

Fear was your best friend at this point, becoming utterly fixated on the fact that his head wound could be a lot worse than you can see on the surface. You couldn’t leave this place alone, not now you know you aren’t the only one trapped here. You have to save him, save eachother.

No more deaths.

His head starts to loll and you catch his face with both hands, heart wrenching. You knew him, you felt it. And he was already slipping away before you could find the answers your soul yearned for.

"Woah, don't- Keep your eyes open. Don’t close your eyes." You plead and he manages to blink himself awake again, nodding slowly. You exhale a breath, holding his gaze. “How do you know my name?”

The boy seems so much more alert now, your words finally settling into his swarming mind. His eyebrows furrow, a mix of panic and confusion flooding his face.

“We- we’re… friends.” He blinks, noting the utter lack of recognition in your features. “You don’t remember me?”

“I don’t remember anything.” You admit, reaching over to the table and holding the pill bottle up to him, shaking it lightly. “The man keeping us here, he’s been feeding us these pills. Anti- antipsychotics, I think he said. They’ve been blocking my memory for weeks.”

“Shit.” He leans back into his chair, struggling to keep his eyes open. “That’s not… that’s not good…”

He was starting to look worse again, and you knew you were running out of time. Any longer and Brenner could find you. You weren’t letting yourself spend another day locked away with a murderer.

"Listen to me, we have to leave right now. I'll explain everything, I promise, but if he finds us here, we're screwed."

You help him stand. His legs wobble slightly so you slip an arm around him, resting his weight on yours.

"He..." He frowns, only single words hitting the air before his eyes start to close again.

"Hey- Stay with me, okay? I need you." You plead and he manages to blink himself awake again, nodding slowly. "We need to find the exit, but first we need to contact someone. Do you know how to use a radio?"

"Um..." He frowns once again, face twisting with confusion. Your heart sinks. Please, god, don’t die. "I… Yes. Yeah, I do. Of course I do."

“Good.” You offer a smile, relaxing when you feel him relieve some of his weight from your body, finding his footing. “We’re one step closer to getting the hell out of here.”

“I think I can,” He winces as you start to walk to the door, sending a reassuring nod your way when you pause. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I, uh, I might be able to remember the frequency for the party- and your dad. Hopper.”

As he leans forward to brace himself on the wall, your mind starts to wander. Hearing him say your dad’s name…

“Where’s Hopper?” You get straight to the point, studying them both as they look surprised yet again. “I assume you came here with him.”

“Yeah.” A girl answers, the boy in the bunker nodding with her. “Yeah, he picked us up like an hour after everything happened. We’ve kind of been at the lab since.”

“Hm.” You sound, trying to ignore how that stung. He went and collected the kids he wanted and left you to fend for yourself. Lovely.

“So he’s here?” The faceless boy in your dreams questions and the girl nods again.

“He’s with the gate.” She relays.

“They’ve been trying to get it shut for ages.” The boy in the bunker says, but his eyes are still on you, barely hanging onto his own words. “Where were you guys?”

“Uh… surviving the apocalypse. Which, by the way, not as easy as it looks in movies.”

“Why are you both looking at us like that?” You finally ask, the shocked eyes of people you barely knew staring at you and the boy like you weren’t even real.

“Sorry.” The girl rushes, blinking. She pockets her gun into her belt and steps forward, sharing looks with the boy in the bunker. “It’s not you. It’s just…”

“We thought you were dead.”

You snap out of it when you hear him take a deep breath. Another memory unlocked, more questions unanswered. Why was that other boy in every memory? And why couldn’t the one in front of you be the same face you were so desperate to find?

“Are you gonna be okay?” You ask, only earning a silent nod in return. “I’m gonna do a quick check outside and make sure we’re not gonna get caught. Wait here.”

When you were sure he could support himself, you carefully open the door without so much as a creak, poking your head around the corner. Your eyes travel to the camera situated at the end of the hall, facing the opposite direction. You were going to have to walk into view of it some time, and once you did there was no going back. No more pretending, one more step to freedom.

“Okay.” You drop your voice to a whisper, propping the door open with your foot and meeting his eyes. He looked tired, but he was fighting. “We’ll be in the clear for about 2 minutes before the cameras catch us. I’ll lead us straight to the radio and we’ll send out an SOS to my dad. If we move quick enough, we might be able to escape before anyone can come looking. You ready for that?”

“Ready as ever.” He nods, and you offer your arm again, sliding his over your shoulders and preparing for what will be the most excruciatingly tense moment of your lives.

As you both creep out into the hallway, he mumbles something to you, so quiet you missed it.

“Sorry?” You whisper back, keeping up a steady rhythm between your footsteps.

“My name.” He repeats, a little louder. A small and select smile rests on his lips. “Jonathan. In case you couldn’t remember.”

His name hits the air with more value than he’ll know, one more blurred face now clear as day. But you couldn’t relish in the relief, or exchange stories of whatever horrors landed you two of all people in a bunker with a psychopath. Now wasn't the time for either of you to reflect on the hell you were both dragged through.

If anything, it was just luck you were both still alive.

taglist:

@sheisjoeschateau . @kthomps914 . @curled-hair-red-lips . @nix-rose .

@palmtreesx3 . @kryztalglear . @sattlersquarry . @hey-barnes-stole-a-jeep . @sadslasher13 .

@iliveonteaandbooks . @innercreationflower . @newyorkangelbaby . @totally-bogus-timelady . @pansexualhoor .

@kitdjarin1 . @chiliwhore . @carolineesnell . @lxon-kxnnedy .

44 notes · View notes