✓ Adventures In Babysitting / Steve Harrington ¹

𝙫. follow the scary noises

"Yeah," Steve agrees.  "And he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats."

"Wait," says Lucas.  He stops in his tracks and grabs Dustin's shoulder, effectively stopping the boy in his own tracks.  "A cat?  Dart ate a cat?"

Dustin takes a step back, paling slightly.  "No, what?  No."

"What are you talking about?" Steve rebukes.  "He ate Mews."

"Mews?" Max asks, she turns her head to look up at Steve.  "Who's Mews?"

"It's Dustin's cat," Steve answers.

Abby clears her throat awkwardly.  "Uh, Steve, I don't think you were supposed to bring that up."

"I knew it!" Lucas exclaims, shoving Dustin's shoulder.  "You kept him!"

"No!" Dustin denies with a shake of his head.  "No.  No, I—no, I ... no."  Dustin lets out a sigh.  He knows that the game is up, he's lost, and now it's his turn to come clean.  "He missed me.  He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!" Lucas exclaims.

Abby lets out a loud sigh and steps away as the kids' voices begin to overlap, muddling with her already swimming thoughts.  Accusations and flashlight beams are thrown in faces, even Alex, who has not left Steve's side until that moment has joined the foray.  Just barely over the clamor and din of the kids' argument, Abby can hear a distant screeching that only sends chills crawling down her spine.  She takes a hesitant step toward the trees and glances back at Steve.

"Did you hear that?" Abby asks.

Steve gulps.  "Yeah.  Shit."  He turns back towards the teenagers and calls, "Guys!"  His call falls on deaf ears as the kids continue to argue.  "Guys!"

The four teens fall silent as they snap their heads in Steve's direction.  Now, over the silence and stillness of the forest, they can all hear the screeching of the Demogorgons.  Steve barely hesitates as readies his bat and runs off into the trees.  Alex is quick to follow behind him, and soon Dustin and Lucas fall into line behind her.  Abby with her heart thumping starts toward the forest before she realizes that Max has strayed behind.

"No, no, no, hey guys, why are you heading towards the sound?" She calls.

"Max, come on," Abby calls over her shoulder.  "Unless you'd rather be standing all alone in the middle of the woods."

"Shit," Max mutters as she follows after Abby.

They follow after the cries of the Demogorgons as if they were a siren song.  Steve and Alex, who know almost every twist and turn in the forest from years of playing whenever their parents turned their heads are in the lead and Abby brings up the back.  They emerge into a clearing that overlooks miles of plains.  The rolling hills before them are submerged in a sea of fog, and just barely, through the darkness of the night, Abby can see the twinkling lights of Hawkins Lab, blinking on and off.  It's a beacon, a lighthouse amidst the raging sea, and it's guiding the Demogorgons straight to it.

"I don't see them," Dustin says.

Lucas raises his binoculars to his eyes and scans the area.  "It's the lab," he reports.  "They were going back home."

"Okay, but why?" Alex wonders.

"What do you mean?" Steve responds.

"Well, they were perfectly happy trying to feast on us, so why run away right when they have us in their clutches?" Alex explains.

Abby nods in agreement.  Every growing creature needs to feed, and it's clear that the Demogorgons were no exception.  They were hungry, they had sensed their food and they had tracked it, and they would've done everything to make sure that they sank their teeth into their flesh.  The monsters were mere seconds away from getting their long-awaited meal.  They wouldn't have abandoned their long awaited meal unless ...