macabre | steve harrington

03. people love an ingénue

"Wait a sec, how big?" Steve asked, still confused as to why Dustin invited himself into his car. "First it was like that. Now he's like this." Dustin replied, showing Steve the size Dart had grew to be. "I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?" Steve claimed. "It's not a lizard!" Dustin argued. "How do you know?" Steve asked in unbelief. "How do I know if it's not a lizard?" Dustin asked, the two beginning to argue. "Yeah! How do you know it's not just a lizard?" Steve asked, keeping his eyes on the road. "Because his face opened up and he ate my cat." Dustin said, ending the feud between the two. Steve took a second to process, then he nodded in agreement. Valerie wasn't going to lie.. she was pretty amused by their argument. Meanwhile, Selina was chewing bubblegum as if she had no concern for what was about to happen.

The sun had went down by the time they made it to Dustin's. The only source of light they had was the very faint house lights, and a flashlight Steve had. They all made their way out of the car, approaching the trunk. Steve tossed the keys to Dustin as he opened the trunk, revealing the bat with the nails scattered on it. He closed the trunk, turning on his flashlight and they all followed Dustin. They investigated the orange doors that led to Dart closely, not hearing a single sound whatsoever. "I don't hear shit." Steve said, looking at Dustin. "He's in there." Dustin kept his eye on the doors, listening for any sign of Dart. Steve tapped the doors with his bat, the chains clanking. He hit the doors with the bat again, this time adding more force. "Alright, listen kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead." Steve said to the boy sternly, the flashlight shining on Dustin's face.  "It's not." Dustin defended. "It's not a prank!" They all began to lose their patience, questioning if Dart was even real or not. "You got a key for this thing?" Steve sighed.

They unlocked the doors, leading to the underground basement. Dustin faced the flashlight, revealing a stairwell that lead to where Dart was supposedly located. "He must be further down there." Dustin spoke, looking to Valerie and Selina. "Give me the flashlight." Valerie sighed, holding her hand out to Dustin. "Why?" Dustin asked, holding the flashlight further away from her. She glared at him before playfully snatching the flashlight from his hands. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to.. escape." Dustin said, not wanting to go anywhere near those steps. Valerie and Steve both gave him the same glare at the same time. "Yeah, me too. I can't just leave him here alone. ." Selina said, staring at the stairwell in fright.

Valerie and Steve went step-by-step down the stairwell. Steve spotted a lightbulb, pulling the wire, as the light shone throughout the room. Valerie and Steve looked down to see a slimy substance on the ground. It was gray with a green tint to it. It had looked like when a snake shed, but gooier. They shared a glance, before Valerie spoke up. "I'm not touching that." She put her arms up in defense, nudging her head towards the substance. He sighed as he used the nails to get a good grip of the substance, lifting it up. "It smells like shit." Valerie said, her nose scrunching in disgust as she held her breath. "Valerie? Steve?" Dustin called out to the two. I guess they couldn't hear from up the stairwell.. Valerie walked away from the goo, spotting a ginormous hole in the basement wall. "Steve." Valerie called, keeping her eyes on the hole. He turned to look at her, spotting the hole she was staring at. He got on one knee, trying to get a better view of where the hole lead. "What's going on down there?" Dustin asked, both Selina and him looking down at the basement. Steve turned to the opening of the basement. "Get down here. Both of you." Steve demanded, his face expressing fear. Steve pointed the flashlight to the goo, revealing to Dustin that Dart grew again. "Ah, shit." Dustin exclaimed. Selina plucked her nose, grossed out by the odor the substance had. Shortly after revealing the goo, Steve shone the flashlight towards the hole in the basement. "Oh, shit!" Both Selina and Dustin exclaimed. All four of them shared a look of terror, having no clue what to do now that Dart had escaped.

Steve, Valerie, and Selina watched as the sun began to rise. Everyone (except Dustin) hadn't gotten a second of sleep since they found out that Dart escaped. They came up with a plan to lure Dart into a junkyard, using raw meat as bait. When Dart shows up, bam! A bat colliding straight with his body until he's no longer moving.

Selina refused to walk with Valerie and Steve inside the store. She claims that yesterday was the most walking she's ever done, and that she was worn out.. She hardly did anything. Steve and Valerie walked into the 'Fresh Market' and walked to the area with all of the raw meats. There was a comfortable silence between the two, minus the faint music that was on the speakers. Valerie's only wish in that moment, was that the comfortable silence stayed a comfortable silence. Steve was carrying the basket as Valerie stacked them one by one until the basket was full to the rim.

You see.. the raw meat was the only purchase they intended on making. That was until Valerie saw a worker restocking the shelf with bottles of Malibu. And if she was getting ready to beat the shit out of a demogorgon, she would not wanna be sober. This exact market was always sold out of Malibu. She realized that in order to grab a bottle or two, she'd have to break the silence between the two. "Give me a sec." Valerie spoke, not making eye contact with Steve. He watched as she happily skipped to the full shelf of Malibu. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she grabbed not one, but two bottles. She held them as if she was never going to let go. "Seriously?" Steve asked Valerie. "Just follow my lead, Harrington." Valerie replied, walking towards the cashier. Steve placed the basket on top of the counter, along with the two glass bottles. The lady placed every pack of raw meat in the bag, turning to the glass bottles as she handed Steve the plastic bags. "Do one of you have an ID with you?" The lady asked, staring at them intently, considering they looked young. Valerie pulled her fake ID out of her wallet, handing it to the lady. The lady looked back and forth between Valerie and the ID. "Is there a problem?" Valerie asked, putting on a fake face of concern. The lady didn't say anything, she just placed the glass bottles in a separate bag. The lady handed both the ID and plastic bag to Valerie. Too easy, Valerie thought. She couldn't help the slight smile across her face when she grabbed the bag of alcohol from the lady. Valerie's wallet was still open, revealing loads of cash. Her mother may have never been there for her, but her mother's money was always there. The total was 75 dollars, and a couple of cents. Valerie handed the lady what she owed her before they began to walk away. "You two have a nice day." She spoke, no emotion in her voice whatsoever. "You too." Both Valerie and Steve replied at the same time. "It's just too easy." Valerie said under her breath, staring at the bottles. "How did you even manage to get away with that?" Steve asked, impressed that she actually left the store with the alcohol. "It's all about the acting skills. But, some people actually let you get away with no ID if you're naturally pretty." Valerie shrugged, having gotten away with it more times than she could count. "So if you're a guy, you can't get away with it?" He was clearly clueless. "That's sexist." Valerie pointed at him. "How is that sexist?" He replied, actually confused as to what she meant. "Since I used the word 'pretty' , you're implying that the word only applies to girls. Boys can be pretty too, y'know." He was trying to understand what she had said, clearly he couldn't. She looked up at him, seeing the confused expression on his face. "Whatever. I don't feel like explaining again, so you can figure it out on your own time." Valerie shrugged playfully, hopping back into the car.

Valerie thought to herself in the backseat, leaning her head against the window. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be fighting a inter-dimensional type of species alongside Steve Harrington. But at least she had company. Luckily, it was only one demogorgon, not multiple (well.. that's what she thought). Oh well! When she had her first encounter with a demogorgon, she was by herself. I think that's what scared her most. Even though she had a small circle, she wasn't completely alone. And as of right now, she wouldn't bare to be alone. So even if it's not the company she's used to, she still has people surrounding her. And that was the only reassurance she needed.