macabre | steve harrington

29. people will come and go

Valerie stepped up onto her front porch, grabbing her keys from her handbag to unlock the door. As soon as Valerie entered the key, she slightly twisted the doorknob, noticing how loose it was. An uneasy feeling took over her when she twisted the doorknob all the way, and the door immediately opened. Valerie turned to look at Steve and Robin, but they had already driven away. Maybe she just forgot to lock it.

Valerie stepped into her house, shutting the door and locking it immediately. Valerie looked around the house, not spotting anything or anyone from what she could see from her point of view. Valerie threw the house keys onto the counter, making her way to her room. Valerie took off her jacket, tossing it onto the bed when a familiar voice spoke. "Your room hasn't changed a bit." The voice said. Valerie gasped in fear, turning to where the voice was coming from.

Well.. fuck.

Standing at Valerie's door was the brunette that Valerie dreaded to ever lay eyes on again. The girl that put her through hell and back. Nova. "I know what you're thinking. . You probably want me out of this beautiful home of yours." Nova sighed before beginning. "I'm sorry. I just got homesick, you know? I can't bring myself to permanently leave this town—" Nova said, Valerie soon interrupting her. "Great. Then I'll make the choice for you. Leave." Valerie ordered, her chest beginning to heave in frustration. "How the fuck did you get into my house in the first place?!" Valerie asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "You're asking the wrong questions." Nova said, ignoring Valerie's question. "So, what questions should I be asking, exactly? Why you feel the need to be a psycho bitch every chance you get?" Valerie questioned. "Not quite." Nova shook her head, her lips slightly pursed. "Don't you wanna know why I'm here?" Nova asked, raising her eyebrows. "I don't give two shits, actually." Valerie replied, Nova dryly chuckling at Valerie's response. "Fine then. I guess you wouldn't wanna know about this. .?" Nova pulled out an envelope from her pocket. Except this envelope was different from the others. It wasn't bulky or thick. It was flat, almost as if there was nothing inside. "It's a shame. I was really hoping I would get to tell you myself." Nova dramatically sighed, placing the envelope on Valerie's drawer. "What is that?" Valerie asked, Nova slowly shrugging as a condescending smirk grew on her face. "Nova, I swear to God. What the fuck is that?" Valerie questioned. "It's what you've been asking for. . Answers." Nova shook her head as if it was obvious, before turning around to walk away. "Oh . .!" Nova stopped in her tracks, turning her head to look at Valerie. "You might wanna mail that to Melina afterwards. I'm sure she really needs it." Nova said, giving Valerie a contempt smile before walking away. Valerie's mouth was gaped open as she tried to process the scene that had just taken place. "What the fuck?" Valerie whispered to herself. She didn't know how or what she was supposed to feel.

Nova Delarouz had just made yet another intimidating and unneeded visit.

Valerie waited for the sound of the front door to close, before walking towards the entrance of the house to lock the door and returning back to her room to open the envelope. Valerie examined the envelope, looking for any sign of what might've been inside, but there was nothing significant whatsoever.

Valerie took a deep breath, bracing herself for any severely negative outcome that could happen after she opens the envelope. Valerie hesitatingly lifted the flap of the envelope, pulling out what appeared to be a bank check. Valerie's initial thought was that it was one of Melina's paychecks that had accidentally been mailed to her Hawkins house address, which wasn't totally incorrect. Valerie scoffed as she examined the meaningless paycheck. She was on the verge of ripping the paper to shreds, until she read the signature beneath the cash amount.

Valerie's heart dropped. She didn't believe it. It had to be a part of the game Nova was playing. There was not a chance that this was true. It couldn't have been.

He's dead. Long gone. Deceased. Literally any and every synonym for death.

Christopher Larson.

The name of her father.

Valerie tried to recall of any other Christopher's she may've met in the nineteen years she had been on the face of the earth. But there was no one else. Maybe it was a different Christopher that she didn't know of. It had to be. Valerie's father was dead. But then again, why would Nova lie about something like this? Yes, she was a deceitful liar from hell itself. But there was no way Nova could've hated Valerie this much to lie about such a thing. But how could he be alive? Why would Melina lie about this? Why was he sending Melina money? Her head felt like it was being weighed down by all of these questions that kept shoving their way into Valerie's mind. There was a lump in her throat that she felt was stopping her from breathing properly. Her vision went filmy from the tears glossing over her eyes.

Christopher Larson was still alive.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE!
i never do author notes, but i think it's necessary for this chapter 😶😶 anyway i warned y'all on tik tok about val's downfall sooo 🤷‍♀️ but if you need a refresher on val's backstory, chapter 12 is the way to go !!