Royal Pain || Stranger Things

thirty-six || no time for tears

Tatum let out a scream against the raging in her ears, the sound of open fire and the wailing of the beast shredding the fabric of her brain. She reloaded another magazine of bullets, the tactic spread out to keep the sound going and maintain the Mind Flayer's attention.

It was under that deafening sound that the opening of the mall door was missed.

"Phase Two!" Tatum wailed, voice hoarse as she fought over the sound.

Under the panicked running of the younger party dashing for their positions on the second floor and the focus of shooting up a royally pissed Mind Flayer, Eleven's distress was missed.

"Get ready, El!" Tate shouted without shooting a glance in the girl's direction, firing as she dodged a swinging limb of the Mind Flayer.

"I'm out!" yelled Jonathan, flipping the weapon over in his hands and swinging it at a limb grappling for him. He yelped as a serrated tooth buried deep in his skin, slicing the head with a hunting knife before bolting to Nancy still firing off a well-stocked rifle.

"Don't be afraid. It will be over soon."

Tatum's eyes grew wide as she hit her trigger, no blast jamming against her shoulder and instead allowing her to hear a familiar voice. "Me too!" She glanced to either side of her, Nina on her right still shooting from the cover of a food stand while an empty spot remained on her left. "Eleven?" She gasped as a limb swung close, sending her staggering backwards to the glass entry doors.

It was her glimpse out the window that told her Billy's headlights were no longer on.

"Where is El?" Tate batted away the gruesome looking limb with her rifle, bolting to Nina as it was snatched out of her hands and tossed clear across the food court. "Where did she go?" she asked, catching her breath as she brandished the hunting knife she'd used to cut El's leg open.

Nina shook her head, appearing much older than thirteen as she fired off with no mercy against the wailing beast. "I was a little busy!" she called over the noise, war torn eyes not meeting her sister's. Her demeanor changed, looking to her spent pistols as she was left without ammunition.

A silence coated the room as Nancy's gun went out, every bullet on hand lodged inside of a crippled but still fighting Mind Flayer.

"Now!" Tatum called overhead, voice ringing out in the void. She squeezed Nina's shoulder, lowering her voice as the first firecracker sounded from the second level. "Go now," she told her, pushing her in the direction of the stairs.

"Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!" Lucas screamed, launching a lit flare into the Mind Flayer's mouth, where it burst with joy.

Tatum met Jonathan and Nancy halfway, ushering them to follow Nina. "Upstairs."

"What about you?" Nancy asked, sweat pouring down her face and her heart racing a mile a minute.

"I don't know where El went. I think Billy took her," she replied, forcing both of them towards the inactive stairs. "Go! I'll be fine!"

Fireworks celebrated the Fourth of July overhead, earning welching screams from the Mind Flayer as it grappled for something to hit, only to be disoriented each time it tried.

It was working.

"Hey asshole, over here!" Mike screamed from above, perfectly unaware that his girlfriend was missing.

Tatum ignored the gash on her arm as she ran a circle around the base floor of the mall, scanning desperately for any sign of movement that wasn't coming from the attack on Azathoth, dodging thick, staggering legs as it strived for balance but failed miserably.