𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥! 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

SCENE TWENTY FOUR. saving steve harrington

steve screamed as he was dragged to the floor, a cry of anguish as they bit at his skin and his efforts had no avail. these teeth digging into the flesh of his hips. his breath cut off and for a moment even though he fought for his life. he found himself still at peace. his friends were saved on the other side, and as the said thought hit him. the end of the ora smashed down on the head of the one cutting of his airway. looking up he found an angel standing above him. her skin pale and wet, hair damp hanging over her face which bore the look of anger. eyes like a snake, anger filled and red.

"piper." he spoke, voice rough and coarse as nancy swung at the one at his hip. another clawing onto his neck as one flew towards piper.

"shit, move!'' eddie cried, pushing her out of the way as the thing screeched. watching as she hit it away as if it were only a ball in baseball. one bat latching onto nancy's back. robin cried as she tried to rip the bat from the girl. eddie stood behind piper who was smacking bats like it was a game. when steve grabbed the bat that was sinking into his hip. fingers wrapping around its tail as it tried to fly away with no vail. swinging the bat back and forth against the floor. blood splattering onto the dry mud. as his bare foot came down on it and with a final pull, he tore the abt in half. blood dripped from his mouth as he looked up at his friends. he looked as if he were a monster himself.

"jesus h christ." eddie sneered as piper threw the oar at him, rushing over to steve. her hands holding onto his shoulders as he stared down at his wounds. hips covered in marks where they had ripped open the flesh.

"are you okay?" she cried, making him look at her using her thumb on his chin. and look at her he did. her gaze softened, lips twisted in worry for him.

"i've been better." he laughed trying to make a joke of the situation and her lips curled into a small smile. just like harrington to make everything a joke.

"god, you're such a fucking idiot." she smiled. and he felt a smile grow on his own face, even in immense pain. steve harrington found himself smiling at her. reminding the exact same intuition but back in the mall. before vecna. before the mind flayer. before the russians. when everything had calmed.

"god, you're such a fucking idiot." she spat as she stormed away.

"okay, i think we established that i'm an idiot but my point still stands." he shouted after her, changing his mind and trailing behind her.

when the screams of the demo-bats came back, reminding them they were not okay. the chittering getting louder as more revealed themselves. more than before, appearing from the red misted clouds. and piper reached out for steve, standing in front of him almost as if to protect him. and not the other way round for once. she didn't know what she was going to do but it was the thought that counts.

"all right, there's not that many." steve spoke from behind her. they flew to the pocket in the ground, snarling at them.

"we can take 'em, right?" he added as one jumped forwards at piper, swinging her foot at it. making it jump back. and as he spoke more screams of bat's came. more appearing from the sky above.

"way to go harrington." piper spat at him, looking over her shoulder to find him practically leaning into her.

"you were saying?'' robin added as she started up at the colony, crowding out of the mist. nancy looked out into the woods beside them as they got closer.

"the woods, come on!" she ordered, slapping her hand on piper's chest nearly winding the girl. eddie grabs the girl's hand and bucks it towards the woods, doing what he does best. running away. steve quickly after them, ignoring the sting in his chest.

"great, more running." robin moaned as she repositioned the flashlight before falling after the group of running kids towards the opening in the trees. trying not to trip on the vein like vines that twisted and turned against the floor. and run they did, they didn't know where they were going. everything looked the same. nancy motioned over to a collection of rocks, one that looked all too similar to the one of skull rock. and piper didn't have to be told twice, diving into the service. pulling her knees into her chest as the bats screamed and screamed for them. wanting to feed on their flesh. and she found warm tears on her cheeks. burying her head in her knees to hide the tears. she couldn't believe she was crying. especially now of all places. but she had just seen her ex-boyfriend's hips being practically torn open. thrown herself into water, even though it was her worst fear. loud thunder boomed in the sky above her, nancy feeling the girls shiver every time the loud crash and spark of red light came. when piper felt a hand on her back, she had expected the comforting touch to come from robin, or even eddie. she hadn't expected it from nancy. it was a small gesture but one that meant a lifetime to piper. eventually the bats pass.

"oh okay, that was close." robin spoke as she crawled out of the covering, eddie behind her scared to even step out at first.

"yeha, too close." he added, following and they all climbed up. feeling the pop of her limbs as she shook her legs, wiping the tears from her cheeks. when she looked over to steve, he didn't look so good. his skin was bruised and bloody, a layer of sweat had formed over her features. he looked ill.

"steve?" she questioned, the boy turning to look at her. trying to plaster a smile on his face but it came to a dull end as he stumbled lightly. hitting the rock as he called her name.