There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

SEVENTY EIGHT

"Oh, shit. That's not good." Steve sighed, shining his light over the lack of floor space.

"You don't say." Cat quipped.

Steve gave her hand a quick squeeze before pushing the door open further. "Just follow my lead." Cat watched with bated breath as he hopped from one open space to another, occasionally losing his footing ever so slightly. When Steve neared the bottom of the stairs, Cat began to follow behind him. She sent a sharp nod to the two girls before she crept further into the house. With Nancy giving Robin's hand a squeeze of reassurance, the two girls began to follow in the footsteps of their friends.

Steve waited at the bottom of the stairs, holding his hand out for Cat. As she stepped closer to him, her foot slipped on the wooden floor, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek so as to not make any sound that would alert Vecna to their presence. Nancy and Robin froze as they watched their friend start to fall, Cat's feet barely missing the swarm of living vines. A panicked look fell over all their faces and Steve was quick to reach forward and grab her arms, pulling Cat upright as she found her footing.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked her, voice no louder than a soft whisper.

Cat nodded her head, gaze locked on the vine her foot had nearly scraped. "Well, other than nearly waking Vecna, I'm okay." She pulled away slightly from Steve, hand grabbing his own as she climbed up to the first step- taking extra care to avoid the living organisms that littered the house. Steve followed close behind her, never letting go of Cat's hand, while Nancy and Robin were quick to catch up with the couple.

When the four reached the landing, Steve switched off his torch and placed it in his pocket. They crowded together, eyes fixed on the door leading up to the attic. Cat felt a shiver shoot down her back as she stared at it, quickly averting her gaze. Vecna wouldn't know they were coming, right? He shouldn't know that they were in his lair, preparing to destroy him for good.

Steve handed Nancy her shotgun before pulling out the axe he had chosen. Robin tightened the straps to her backpack, the glass bottles filled with homemade explosives clinking together. Cat pulled her own, smaller gun from the side of her bag, making sure to check that she'd loaded it with enough bullets. Though, she wished she didn't need to use a gun. That she had her powers instead. Her powers, she thought, would be a greater help than the weapons they currently possessed.

"You guys ready?" Nancy asked, looking around at the group.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Robin shrugged as Cat nodded her head in agreement.

She gripped her weapon tighter, face scrunched up in determination. "Let's kill this son of a bitch." She took a step forward, but before she could get any closer to the attic an earthquake struck the Upside Down. The four gripped onto each other for balance, although it didn't help much. Steve held on tightly to Cat, his other hand against the banister so that neither of them would fall down the stairs. Nancy and Robin held onto each other, holding their free arms out for the other two.

It felt like the earthquake had gone on forever before it suddenly stopped, the world going back to normal. Or as normal as it could be in an alternate dimension. A sigh of relief left each of their mouths as they regained their footing. They barely had a moment to recover when a tentacle wrapped itself around Robin's ankle, pulling her across the floor before pinning her to the wall.

"ROBIN! NO!" Cat cried, frozen in horror as more vines wrapped themselves around her friend's body. Robin cried out for help, though her voice was weak as one of the tentacles had decided to tighten itself around her neck. The fear in Robin's eyes spurred Cat forward and she leaped into action, dropping the gun to the floor and using as much strength as she could muster to pull at the vines that were constricting her friend's throat. Nancy and Steve joined her, using their respective weapons to beat at the writhing organisms. Much to their dismay, none of their efforts seemed to be working.