Run- Joji
❝I know that I'm stuck, in this misery
Guess I'm not enough, like you used to think
So, I'll just run❞
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THE FIGHT
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝
"Jonathan?" Steve's voice echos through the wood door.
Gwen immediately sighs in relief.
He knocks again. "Are you there, man? It's... it's Steve. I already tried Gwen but she's not home. Listen, I just want to talk!"
Gwen stands up and holds her hand out to the two confused teenagers sat on the couch. "Steve will flip if he sees you here," she says to Nancy.
Gwen doesn't wait for a response before walking up to the door, and opening it up just a crack.
"Hey," Steve's eyebrows drop when he sees Gwen. "Gwen, what-"
Gwen puts her hand against the door "Steve, listen to me. You need to leave."
Steve shakes his head, frazzled. "No, I'm not trying to start anything, okay?"
Gwen closes her eyes in exasperation. "I don't care about that. You need to leave."
Steve gets even more flustered and shakes his head again. "No, no, no. Listen, I messed up, okay?" He hits his hand lightly against the door. "I messed... I messed up. Okay?"
"Steve-"
"No, I just... Really. Please. I just wanna make things right," He squeezes his eyes closed for a moment.
Gwen can tell that he was truly sorry, but she honestly doesn't care about what happened. Not when a deadly monster is bound to show up any second.
"Okay? Please. Please..." Steve pauses when his eyes catch Gwens bandaged hand leaning on the door. "Wha- Hey what happened to your hand?" he asks in a soft voice. He grabs Gwens wrist and turns her hand around. "Is that blood?"
"No," Gwen pulls her hand away. "It's nothing. I fell off my bike earlier," she says, averting her eyes when it feels harder to lie than usual.
Steve doesn't buy it. "What's going on?"
Gwen shakes her head. "Nothing."
"Wait a sec," Steve tries to push the door open. "Did he do this to you?"
Gwens eyes widen. "No! No. Steve," Gwen tries to keep the door closed.
"Gwen, let me in!" Steve pushes past Gwen.
"Steve!"
Steve stops in his tracks when he sees Jonathan and Nancy standing in the living room. His eyes travel around the room, looking at all the different weapons and Christmas lights. "What is... What the..."
Jonathan rushes up and puts a hand on Steve's shoulder. "You need to get out of here."
Steve just stands perplexed. "What? What is all this?"
"Listen, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."
Steve pushes Jonathan's hand off of him. "What is that smell? Is that Gasoline?"
Nancy brings up her gun and points it at Steve. "Steve! Get out!"
Steve holds his hands out in defense. "Wait! What? What's going on?"
Nancy keeps the gun up. "You have five seconds to get out of here."
"Nancy!" Gwen steps up slightly. "I can just get him to leave with my powers. Jesus, put down the gun!"
Steve keeps his hands up as he fidgets in complete confusion. "Okay, is this a joke? Stop. Put the gun down."
"I'm doing this for you," Nancy says.
The lights begin to flicker, catching Jonathan's and Gwens attention. "Nancy," Jonathan mutters.
Nancy begins counting down. "Three. Two."
"No, no, no! No, no!" Steve panics.
"Nancy!" Gwen shouts, finally getting the girls attention. "The lights!"
"It's here," Jonathan says, grabbing a crowbar.
Steve throws out his arms. "Wait, what's here?"
"Where is it?" Gwen asks, picking up her baseball bat filled with nails.
"Where is what- Woah!" Steve jumps away from Gwens baseball bat as she stands back to back with Nancy and Jonathan. "Easy with that!"
"Where is it?" Gwen repeats.
"I don't know," Jonathan says as they turn trying to catch sight of the monster. "I don't see it."
"Where is what?!" Steve asks again, only to be ignored. "Hello?! Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going—"
Everyone snaps their heads to the crashing sound coming from above them. The ceiling starts to crumble under the monsters weight.
Nancy snaps out of her shock and holds up her gun to shoot at the monster. The monster growls, but it doesn't sound hurt in the slightest.
"Nancy!" Gwen yells.
"Go! Go!" Jonathan grabs Nancy by the waist. "Run! Go!"
The monster crashes to the floor as Nancy and Jonathan speed away. Gwen stays on their trail, grabbing a shocked Steve's hand as he stares at the monster in disbelief.
"Come on!" she yells as they run down the hallway. "Jump!" Gwen warns Steve as she herself jumps over the bear trap.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Steve yells.
They make it into Wills room, Jonathan shutting the door right as they get in.
Gwen still has a tight hold on Steve's hand, and he squeezes just as hard back.
Steve turns to Gwen in fright. "Jesus! Jesus! What the hell was that?"
Jonathan and Nancy both turn their heads and yell in unison. "Shut up!"
Gwen turns to Steve. "Sorry, but you really should've left," she says before dropping his hand so she can grip her baseball bat.
She stands next to Jonathan who has a lighter flipped on and ready.
The monster squeals from outside, the sound mixed with the heavy breathing of the four teenagers. Gwen strains her ears when it gets silent, trying to make out movement.
"What's it doing?" Nancy asks.
"I don't know," Jonathan answers in a lowered voice.
They keep their eyes on the yo-yo, waiting for it to pull and set the trap into action... only it never does.
The lights all flicker back on to let out a steady glow, and everything goes silent.
"Do you hear anything?" Gwen whispers.
Jonathan flips the lighter off. "No."
He walks up to the door, the others following behind. He hesitantly opens it and peaks into the hallway. When he sees nothing, he continues. Nancy filters out, then Gwen, then Steve.
The trap is still set.
Gwens shoulders slightly slump, but she keeps her bat up and ready just in case.
They all make their way into the living room, cautiously turning every corner, but nothings there.
"What the hell?" Gwen whispers to herself.
Steve, who's been thrown into this mess with no warning, understandably starts to freak out.
"This is crazy. This is actually crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!" He grabs at his hair before jumping to the phone. "This is crazy! This is crazy!"
He starts to dial numbers on the phone, probably the police, but he doesn't get to make the call as Gwen grabs the phone and rips it out of the wall.
Steve holds his arms out. "What are you doing? Are you insane?"
"Steve, it's going to come back," she says as calmly as she can. "So you really need to leave. Right now."
Steve glances at all of them and looks back to Gwen. He's beyond confused, and Gwen knows that. She's hoping to use his fear to get him to leave. She needs him safe.
Steve hesitantly does so, making a beeline to the front door, already shuffling through his pockets for his car keys. He stumbles down the porch and makes it to his car, dropping his keys on the ground.
He leans down to pick them up, juggling with them to fit into the car door, looking behind him every so often. He finally gets the car door unlocked and is about to get in, but he freezes when he glances back at the house.
The lights are flickering once more.
Inside the house, Gwen, Nancy, and Jonathan go back to back again, circling around to try and see the monster when it comes.
"Where is it?" Nancy asks.
Gwen tightens her grip on the baseball bat until her knuckles are white. "Come on. Come on you wrinkled, ugly fuck!"
"You see it?" Jonathan asks.
"No."
"Where are you? Come on!" Jonathan gets frustrated.
The lights suddenly go out, causing the three to freeze. Gwen and Nancy hear a growl, making them turn around. The monster appears behind Jonathan, only its silhouette from the little light in the house being visible.
"Jonathan!" the girls shout.
Jonathan turns around and yelps when the monster pins him on the ground.
"Jonathan!" Nancy yells as the monsters face opens up like flower petals, slime dripping onto Jonathan's face making him cringe and scrunch up his face.
Time seems to slow down in Gwens head as she takes a breath, deciding what to do. She discards her baseball bat on the floor, and pushes Nancy behind her. She brings her hand up, staring daggers into the monsters side.
She had really hoped she wouldn't have to use her powers tonight, but it's now or never.
She won't let someone else die because she was scared.
Gwen disconnects her mind from herself and travels it into the monsters head. The monster suddenly snaps it's head up to Gwen, knowing what she's about to do.
It stands up slowly, allowing Jonathan to gasp for breath and cough out the slime from his mouth.
The monster stands up fully and starts stalking toward Gwen as she tries to infiltrate its mind.
Gwens mind strains as she enters. Blood seeps from her nose and her hand begins to shake.
The same horrifying sight from before fills her vision. She ignores it though as she continues traveling as deep as she can into it's mind.
It's straining her to do this. She's not as deep in its mind as she was when she was in the upside down with Nancy, but a deep dagger like pain stabs her brain, making her scream in agony.
How is it doing that?
Nothing has ever been able to avoid her mental projection before.
Gwen tries to force her mind back as much as she can before she completely crumbles onto the floor, but like before, a part of her disconnects and stays with the monster.
Gwen tumbles down, taking Nancy with her. Nancy drops her gun, hooking her arms under Gwens and lowering her to the floor.
Gwen's arm cradle her throbbing skull, still screaming in complete agony as the pain doesn't let up on her head.
The monster begins stalking forward in a slow taunting manner. If it had a human face, Nancy could've sworn it would be smirking in victory at Gwen on the floor.
Just when Nancy begins to lose all hope, Steve swoops in, hitting the monster in the side with Gwens baseball bat.
"Steve!" Nancy shouts in surprise.
The monster roars as Steve hits it again. It swipes its clawed hand at Steve, but he ducks and takes the opportunity to swing again.
The monster stumbles back as Steve swings the bat in his hand before bringing it down again.
The monster falls into the bear trap, hooking it's leg in the metal. "It's in the trap!" Steve yells. "He's stuck!"
"Jonathan, now!" Nancy yells over Gwens pained cries.
Nancy helps Gwen stand, but she's still grabbing at her head with clenched eyes. Gwen, with the help of Nancy, gets behind Jonathan just before he flicks the lighter on and throws it at the monsters feet.
The whole hallway lights with fire, sending a blistering wave of heat toward the teenagers. Gwen can barely hear the screeching due to her distorted sense of hearing.
Nancy hands Gwen over to Steve so she can get the fire extinguisher. Steve grabs hold of Gwen and pulls her into his chest to hide her away from the smoke.
Nancy hands the fire extinguisher to Jonathan and he quickly takes it. "Get back!" he warns before putting the fire out.
Everyone begins to cough other than Gwen, who's air was filtered by Steve's sweater. Steve stands back with Gwen as Jonathan and Nancy inch forward.
"Where'd it go?" Nancy asks.
"No," Jonathan mutters. "It has to be dead. It has to be."
In the place of the monster is simply a closed bear trap and burnt carpet. Some skin from the monster sizzles on the metal, but the monster itself is nowhere in sight.
Steve slightly pulls away from Gwen and cups her cheek with a hand, pulling away from her head. "Gwen?" His eyes widen at the sight of Gwens face.
Blood vessels all over her cheeks and forehead are popped, creating rivers of red veins that litter her face. Blood seeps from her nose and eyes, some drying and some still wet.
Steve bunches his sweater over his fist and brings it up to carefully wipe away Gwens blood. "Shit. What the hell?"
Gwens stopped yelling, the pain in her head slightly letting up, but she's still out of breath. "Is it dead?" She slurs with her eyes skill closed.
Steve shakes his head even though she can't see him. "I don't think so."
"Seriously?" Gwen whimpers. Steve's face contorts into a pained expression and he pulls her back into a hug, carefully as to not hurt her. "I nearly killed myself and the fuckers not even dead?"
Steve just sighs and rests his chin on the top of her head.
He may not know what's going on. He may be unbelievably confused about the last couple minutes. But he does know one thing.
Gwen doesn't deserve any of this.
And she needs to stop blaming herself for it.
— an
I'm sorry.
Word count: 2258