Love Is A Battlefield (A Stranger Things/Steve Harrington Fanfiction)

Chapter Twelve: Deer in Distress

"Nancy-" I started.

"Forget it." She said, following him. I sighed, jogging to catch up with her. "So you don't like Steve either?"

"In my defense, I have never liked Steve." I said. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"But you were always making jokes and listening to me talk about him-"

"Because you liked him, Nancy. What was I gonna say? 'Hey, I'm glad you're excited, but your boyfriend's a douchebag'." She opened her mouth to speak, "And before you say he's not, keep in mind, I'm in class with the guy every day. I see him when you're not around. And you know, maybe I'm just being pessimistic, I tend to do that a lot but the signs are there. For example...what is the first thing he said when you told him Barb was missing?" She shook her head, walking past me. I nodded.

Because I knew what he'd say. I knew his only concern would be getting busted by his parents for drinking, and not the fact that Nancy's best friend was nowhere to be found. He is disgustingly predictable.

~~~

We all caught up to each other and walked the woods in silence until it got dark, Jonathan still ticked at Nancy, and Nancy ticked off at both of us.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Nancy stopped walking, looking around with a confused look on her face.

"What, are you tired?" Jonathan asked, irritated.

"Shut up." She said.

"What?"

"I heard something." It was a whimpering sound, echoing through the trees.

"Its a deer in distress." I said. They furrowed their eyebrows at me. "What? I've been hunting. Come on."

We followed the noise until we found the deer, laying on the ground with blood seeping from various wounds.

"Oh gosh." Nancy said, as she and Jonathan crouched down beside it. "Its been hit by a car. We can't just leave it." She looked down at the gun in her hand, slowly pointing it at the deer and looking like she was about to cry. I put a hand on her arm.

"I can do it." I said.

"I'll do it." Jonathan interrupted.

"I thought you said-"

"I'm not nine anymore." He told her, taking the gun. They both stood up, and she pointed the flashlight while he took aim, his finger hesitating over the trigger. Nancy turned her head, not wanting to watch as he cocked it. Jonathan hesitated still, breathing deeply when suddenly the entire deer was dragged backwards at lightning speed, disappearing into the brush.

"What was that?!" Nancy exclaimed.

"That was it." I said, dropping to my knees and beginning to dig through the brush. All I found was solid ground, though, so whatever hole was there was gone now. "Dang it! Come on!" 

I spotted some bloody animal parts nearby and decided to follow that, and there was a trail of them leading through the forrest,  so we took off, Nancy now armed with the baseball bat and Jonathan and I with the guns.

"Where'd it go?" Nancy asked.

"The other place the...Upside Down." I said.

"The what?"

"Just a nickname. Its the...I guess alternate dimension is the word?"

"Do you see anymore blood?" Jonathan asked. I shook my head.

"Take a look around, but be careful. If you find a hole, whatever you do do not go into it. That's my job, you got it?" We started looking around, spreading out. After a minute, I sighed in frustration, turning around and spotting Jonathan a few feet away, but Nancy was nowhere in sight.

"Nancy?" I called. "Nancy!"

"JONATHAN!" I heard her scream.

"NANCY!" We took off running in the direction we heard her scream, stopping only when we found her backpack and bat lying on the ground. "Nancy? Nancy where are you?!"

I dropped to my knees on the ground, spotting a hole in the base of the tree, dripping with goo.

"No! No Nancy, the one thing I told you not to do!" I exclaimed.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Its the hole! She went in!" Before I could do anything else, a hand burst out of the hole, causing Jonathan to fall backwards. I instantly recognized Nancy's glove and grabbed her arm, putting my feet on the tree and pulling her out. Jonathan put his arms under mine, pulling us both until she finally came three, covered in goo, landing on top of us. I got up as he hugged her and she cried into his shoulder.

"I got you." He said. I got up, going back to the hole only to see that it was starting to close up.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" I screamed, beginning to claw through the gooey strings that began to form. The bark began creeping up around the hole until I had no choice but to move my hand and let the hole disappear. "DANG IT!" I slapped the tree, falling back onto the ground and putting my hands over my face. "No, that was it! That was our opportunity and now..." I blew out a breath, looking at Nancy. I put a hand on her back. "Come on...let's get you home."