DANCIN' ► DUSTIN HENDERSON [1]

2/3

"Yes," he nodded with a creepy smile. "Yes, it's your papa."

"Let her go!" Mike shouted, still fighting the man holding him back. "Let her go you bastard!"

"Jasper! Jasper, can you hear me? Jas!" Dustin called to her, sobs building up in his throat. "Jas, please!"

The sound of her best friend crying out to her in desperation was enough to make her blue eyes flutter open again. She opened her lips, surprised to find how difficult it was to utter any words. Her vision was distorted, but she could see the man holding El and preventing her from looking at anyone except him.

"Shh, you're sick," he mumbled to El. He almost sounded believable for a small second. "You're sick, but I'm going to make you better. I'm going to take you back home, where I can make you well again."

The soldier holding Jasper let out a loud gasp as he looked down at his empty arms in bewilderment. Jasper had suddenly teleported, holding a long, shiny gun in her hands. "Not today, you cock," she hissed, using the butt of the gun to hit Dr. Brenner in the head.

The old man let out a scream of pain, releasing El and reeling back a few feet. Jasper teleported again, knocking each soldier holding back her friends unconscious. "God damn," she shook her head, panting and giving the boys a frail smile. "How many more times am I gonna have to save your asses?"

"Jas!" Dustin ran forward, wrapping his arms around the redhead tightly. Her feet lifted from the floor as he held her closely to his chest, too afraid to let go.

Unfortunately, the hug ended when the sound of electricity crackling and lights flickering caused jasper to pull away. "Blood," she uttered in realization, her blue eyes as round as full moons.

"What?" Lucas huffed, his head snapping towards the redhead.

"Blood!" Mike repeated Jasper's word.

An injured Dr. Brenner turned to the wall in horror, moving his hand away from the wound on his head. The white bricks of the wall began to poke out, sending dust spraying everywhere. A long, grimy hand reached out the wall, followed by a unnaturally shaped head and a series of growls. It was here.

"Demogorgon," Dustin murmured faintly.

Sheer terror erupted in the souls of the kids as they sprinted into a classroom, feet pounding against the floor. Gunfire echoed off the walls as soldiers appeared, attempting to fight off the deadly creature that had emerged into their dimension.

Dustin was solely focused on Jasper, the girl leaning onto him for support as they hurried into the classroom. His arm tightened around her waist as he helped her onto a lab table, lifting her up slightly. "Thanks, Dusty," she sent him another weakened smile. "You really are my best friend, you know that? And I know we might not get through this—"

"No," Dustin cut her off solemnly, shaking his head. His hands wrapped around hers and his fingers laced over the bruises on her knuckles, a gesture driven by pure instinct. "We will make it through this. And we'll get to go back home," his lip trembled at the word home. "We'll watch the Star Wars movies again, and eat a lot of junk food. You'll come by Mike's house with pizza again and make fun of us as we play D&D. We're gonna live, Jas. We'll be okay."

Even though his entire speech was drenched with assurance and confidence, something in Jasper's heart pooled with worry. She believed that her curly-haired best friend was wrong, and that soon the light in his ocean blue eyes would die like the flicker of a candle.

The door suddenly flew off its hinges, the demogorgon pinning it down like its prey. All three boys began screaming mercilessly, Lucas struggling to pull out the wristrocket and load it with a pebble. Jasper slid off the counter, landing steadily on her feet. She watched as the first two rocks bounced uselessly off the creature's grimy chest. The third rock, however, sent him reeling back several feet and slamming into the chalkboard, shattering it.

A sudden buzz erupted in Jasper's veins, the familiar recognition of power surging in her body. Her head turned just in time to see El emerge from behind the boys, approaching Jasper's side. Blood poured from her nostrils and her ear lobes, the same unnatural occurrence happening to Jasper.

Her blue eyes stared at the dark liquid, her own blood, in horror as the realization snapped upon her.

Whatever happens to El, happens to me.

"Jasper?" Dustin piped up, noticing the terrified look on the redhead's face. Mike had already been sent flying back against a pair of cabinets, preventing him from stopping Eleven.

The two lovers met eyes again, their different shades of blue joining as they held gazes. Lights began flickering at a much slower pace until they stopped all at once, basking the room in a brilliance whiteness. Jasper had stopped time, but only for a short moment to allow herself to join El's side. Time had already began moving again as El lifted one hand, prepared to kill the demon-like creature.

Jasper glanced over her shoulder one last time, pure agony ripping at the four chambers of her heart. Her eyes found Dustin's one last time, hot tears spilling down both their cheeks.

She recalled the question Dustin had asked her. Have you ever fallen in love? And now, hardly thirty minutes later, she knew the answer was yes. She was thirteen, and perhaps maybe she was still too young and ignorant to know all the true meanings of love and soulmates. But in that intense moment of passion, she knew that she had fallen in love.

She could hardly bring herself to say the next words, but she wouldn't miss the opportunity to say them. She may never seen Dustin, or any of her friends again. Right now was as good as ever to say them.

"I love you, Dustin Henderson," she whispered painfully before whirling around again. Her eyes met El's tired ones, the two girls firmly grasping each other's hands.

"Together," El nodded, and Jasper repeated the words softly to her. Both of them lifted one hand, using all the energy left in their body to fight off the demogorgon.

Black specks and earsplitting screeches covered the mass of the room, and the three boys shielded their ears. Dustin couldn't remember when he ended up falling to his knees, but he could taste the salty tang of tears on his lips.

He listened to the torturous sound of Jasper's screams, mingled with El's and the Demogorgon, drowning himself in the murderous flashing of the lights.

Until, suddenly, it all went white.