Strange Love ~Billy Hargrove~ |Stranger Things|

Chapter nine | To Sacrifice Yourself |

She wasn't sure why she snapped, but she'd been running on a short fuse all day. By the time she was halfway through the junkyard, there was a loud screech, causing Harper to freeze. Harper's eyes went wide and she regretted leaving the somewhat safety of the bus.

Harper looked around her, she couldn't see anything through the fog.

"Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!" Harper heard Lucas shout, causing her to slowly move her head in that direction.

"Steve." She whispered, knowing that they wouldn't hear her. She could barley make out the monster and it didn't move. "Steve," She said louder, causing the demogorgon to turn its head in her direction,

"I'm coming, Harper." His voice broke through as he stepped out of the bus. In his hand was the baseball bat. Harper wished she had a weapon, but alas, she was stupid enough to think she could just walk off.

Steve walked up to Harper, who hadn't moved, but as he began to walk past her, she reached out to stop him,

"Steve, what are you doing!" She questioned, not looking away from the Dart.

"Giving it something to eat." Harper's eyes widened, but she nodded.

"You'll have a better chance with me." She said. If there were two people, it could entice the creature more. Steve nodded, looking back at the creature,

"Come on, I swear we taste better than cat." He taunted, swinging his bat slightly. Harper made sure she was standing just out of reach of his bat, so when Dart came rushing towards them, he could hit it without worrying about her.

"Harper! Watch out!" Harper turned to Lucas, "Three o'clock! Three o'clock!" He exclaimed causing Harper to look in that direction.

In that moment, Harper felt her world cave in on itself. There were two more that she could see.

"Steve." She started taking steps back, finding herself against his back. Steve turned to look at what was there, and he knew they were in trouble too.

The worst part was Harper had no weapon.

"Steve! Abort! Abort!" Harper's head snapped in the direction of her younger brother. As he said that, dart rushed Steve, while the two other began running towards them.

Harper began to run to the bus, while Steve dodged dart. Harper watch as one of them began running towards Dustin.

"No!" She yelled. Her legs began to move faster and she found herself there just before the demogorgon. She pushed Dustin further into the bus, but before she could climb in, two sets of sharp claws pierced the skin of her back.

"Harper!"She let out a blood curdling scream as the claws sliced down her back. Before it could do anything else, Steve had bashed the beast off her. Harper almost dropped, but Steve grabbed her and they climbed into the bus just before another one could attack them.

Harper limped over to one of the seats, while Steve barricaded the door. Years were rolling down Harper's cheeks and she could feel the blood seeping into the form material of her shirt and leather jacket.

"Are they rabid or something?" Max questioned, looking over to Harper. It was too dark to see her back, but as the teenager had stumbled past her, she could feel the blood smear across her arm.

"They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas yelled, watching as Steve used his feet to stop the demogorgon from tearing down the door. The bus began to shake and they began to break into the door. All of them were terrified, but within seconds, Harper couldn't hear anything. It was as if everything was going in slow motion. She watched as her brother screamed into his walkie talkie and as Steve used his bat to kill the monster at the door.

She shook her head a few times, trying to bring herself back to reality, and when she did, Max's screams pierced her ears. Harper stood, and ran over to the entrance. She grabbed the knife that was sprayed on the floor and pushed the young girl back,

"Move! Out of the way!" Harper yelled at them, and as quickly as she was there, so was Steve with his bat,

"Harper move! You want some! Come get this!" He yelled at the demogorgon on the roof. It screeched at them, opening the hole that was its face to reveal the endless row of teeth.

Before it came in though, it stopped, and turned to look in another direction before moving away and running off. There was one last rumble of the bus and then they were gone. Harper held onto the knife as they stood there in silence and her legs shook beneath her weight.

They silently went to the exit, and cautiously exited. Harper only saw a glimpse of one of the demogorgon' stunning off into the forest.

"What happened?" Lucas questioned,

"I don't know." Max replied,

"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin suggested,

"No. No way." Steve replied, turning to look at them, "They're going somewhere." At this, they all stood there for a moment in silence, not sure on what to do.

Harper pushed past Steve, and began limping in the direct of the train tracks. The other four didn't move, causing her to stop and turn around,

"What are you waiting for? An invitation, let's go!" She exclaimed. Harper turned around again to continue waking, but as she did, she stumbled, and her vision began to turn black.

The last thing she remembered was Steve picking her up.