chapter six . . . punk!
NANCY ALMOST IMMEDIATELY NOTICED JOSIE'S MISSING PRESENCE, causing her to go into a frenzy of panic that she might've gone missing just beside them. But, her panic only settled into confusion when seeing Josie's foot disappear into the hole agape at the bottom of the tree that she had crawled into.
Emerging into the new opening of the dimension, Josie's eyes scattered around — it was an exact replica of the woods she had just been in, except it was more ghastly. The sounds reaching her ears sounded far from animal-like, things seeming more distinct, the sound of chumbling and whimpers of pain came from beside her — much similar like the harmed deer they had found.
Her head involuntarily turned at the sound, but immediately regretted it. The teenager felt herself freeze in her spot, her breathing picking up and her stomach twisting in horror. Further ahead, a monster stood hunching over the dead body of the deer, gnawing away at its flesh, completely oblivious to the Henderson girl stood only a couple feet away. Without hesitation, Josie twisted her body promptly behind a tree, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to keep her heavy breathing at bay, contemplating on what to do.
"Josie? Josie?" Her eyes snapped open at the sound of Nancy's voice whispering out to her. The two girl's met eyes, the Wheeler girl ready to open her mouth to call out for the girl until Josie shook her head in warning gesturing over to the creature they had been searching for this whole time. The same feeling started to rise within Nancy, her eyes widening, as she slowly took a step forward toward her friend. Taking another step, the silence broke by the snapping of a twig under Nancy's shoe, the snap loud enough for the monster to whip around at the sound and to screech at the sight of the Wheeler girl.
Without thought, the two friends ran out in a sprint, adrenaline coursing through their veins, getting out of that death trap the only thing being on their minds. Even though it was the same woods they had just left, being in an alternate dimension made finding their way back impossible.
Jonathan's urgent voice came to their ears, sounding distant almost like an echo, giving the girls' hope that they would find their way back to their world. Coming to a halt for a moment felt like an eternity as somehow the monster had caught up to them, letting out a blood-curdling screech. Josie didn't hesitate to grab onto Nancy's hand, speeding into a direction away from the creature. "Nancy! Josie! Follow my voice!" Came Jonathan's yell.
Josie felt no longer in control of her own legs, they were moving so fast she just let them carry her. But, she felt something wrapping around her ankle, yanking her down to the ground with a thud as a scream left her mouth as she was dragged into the direction she was running from. Nancy no longer being in her eyesight only gave her hope she got the hell out of there.
The Henderson girl was flipped onto her back, the clicking of the Demogorgon pierced into her ear-drums as she stared at it's mouth opening up above her. She let out a panicked gasp feeling like this could be her last day alive, the face of her younger brother burned in her mind and to her surprise, she found herself gripping the bat in her hands, finding the energy to knock it into the side of the Demogorgon's head, making it screech in pain and give her enough time to leap up from the ground and start running to the hole.
She didn't waste anytime before practically throwing herself through the tree, she fell right in front of Nancy and Jonathan's feet, feeling someone throw themselves into her only to realise that Nancy had pulled her into a hug with a relieved sob, happy that her friend was alive. The trio turned back to watch the hole now sealing itself back up, leaving the evil within the dimension behind for the time being, but Josie could only think about how long would the peace last until the storm would hit.
"You can just drop me off here." Josie said, her voice barely above a whisper as the car came to a stop. The whole car ride the girl stayed silent, sitting small in her seat and slightly quivering in fear, the feeling of her pinned to the ground underneath the monster as it kept looking down at her like she was its prey still itched into her mind.
While Nancy offered for her to stay at her house for the night, Josie was adamant to go to her own home. Climbing out from the back seat, Josie ushered a quick, "See you tomorrow." Without noticing the worried looks Jonathon and Nancy had exchanged, the girl walked away from the car.
As soon as Josie had swiftly climbed through her bedroom window, her feet landing onto the floor, she didn't realise she started to weep, her chest heaving up and down in rushed breaths. She felt as if she was having a heart attack, covering her mouth to muffled her wails, she slid down the wall onto the floor, clutching the small teddy bear Dustin had got her for Christmas the year prior to her chest as the flashbacks of the night hit her like a ton of bricks.
Her cries eventually quietened down. Sniffling, she got up from her spot on the floor, stripping out of her filthy clothes and dumping them into the hamper by her desk. She scurried down the pitch-black hallway to the bathroom, grabbing a towel from the cabinet and going under the hot water.
Even a shower seemed like torture, it's all Josie could see when closing her eyes, washing the grime and dirt off her pale skin. After her shower and changing into a fresh pair of pyjamas, Josie lied in her bed, not making any movement to turn her lamp off or even considering closing her eyes any time soon.
After a few hours of staring blankly at the wall, Josie watched as her bedroom started to get lighter, she realised she hadn't even had a minute of sleep. The girl got up from her lying position, getting dressed to meet up with Nancy and Jonathan to go shopping for their incomplete monster hunt.
A hunting and camping store seemed more than appropriate for everything they needed. Unfortunately, the three had tried digging up extra change, only coming up with 13 dollars between them which meant they weren't able to afford much. Exiting the store with their bought items, Jonathan grinned, "Monster hunting?" Both him and Josie were surprised by her answer to the guy at the register.
Nancy stayed silent for a moment, a soft smile on her face. "You know, last week...I was shopping for a new top I thought Steve might like. It took me and Barb all weekend. It seemed like life or death, you know? And...and now-"
"You're shopping for bear traps with Jonathon Byers and Josie Henderson." Jonathon finished her sentence, breathing out a chuckle.
Josie snorted, opening her mouth about to speak but was cut off by a yell. "Hey, Nance! Can't wait to see your new movie."
She furrowed her brows. "What the hell..." Nancy and Jonathan mirrored her expression, also confused with what had happened, before something had caught the Wheeler girl's eye causing her to shoot over the street in a hurry.
"Nancy!" Josie ran after the girl, Jonathan trailing behind until they saw the theatre come into view with red spray paint reading All the Right Moves starring Nancy the Slut Wheeler sprawled over the board messily. The sound of clamoring caught the girls' attention from the alleyway, making them follow the noise and to see Steve and his groupies.
"Aw, hey there, princess." Carol's condescending tone went straight through Josie while Nancy stalked up to the group angrily.
"Uh-oh. She looks upset." Tommy mocked.
Without a word, Nancy slapped her hand across Steve's arrogant face causing Carol and Tommy to holler. "What is wrong with you?" She hissed.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I was worried about you? I can't believe I was worried about you." Steve scoffed.
"What are you talking about?"
"I wouldn't lie if I were you. You don't want to be known as the lying slut, do you?" Josie glared at Carol.
Tommy smirked at Jonathan's appearance, "Speak of the devil."
"You came by last night?"
"Ding! Ding! Ding! Does she get a prize?" Carol sarcastically smiled, leaning into her boyfriend, who looked over at Josie.
"Jesus, Henderson, again? Always being caught up with Byers, maybe it is freak love." Tommy laughed.
"It's better than losing brain cells over hanging around with you assholes." Josie shot back, faltering the boy's laugh as he shot her a glare.
"We we're just..." Nancy stopped herself from speaking. If she told Steve the truth, she would've been seen as crazy and no excuse to spill came to her quick enough so she stayed silent.
"You were just, what? Finish that sentence. Finish the sentence." Steve egged, glaring down at the girl. When Nancy closed her eyes, swallowing down her words, a look of betrayal flickered across Steve's face but was he was quick enough to cover it by rage. "Go to hell, Nancy."
"Come on, guys, let's just leave." Jonathan pleaded, grabbing each girl away from the group, walking away from the alleyway, but it seemed far from over as Steve started to run his mouth.
"You know what, Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed. I always took you for a queer, but I guess you're just a little screw-up like your father." Steve started to shove Jonathan backwards, trying to get a rise out of him, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that house full of screw-ups. You know, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family."
"Jonathan, leave it..." Nancy tried ushering them out of the alleyway but that obviously wasn't stopping Steve.
"I mean, your mom...I mean I'm not even surprised what happened to your brother. I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, their family, it's a disgrace to the entire-" Before anyone could blink, Jonathan was turning around and swinging a punch into Steve's jaw, stunning everyone in shock. Steve's body was thrown into a wall from the impact but he promptly regained his footing, body slamming himself into Jonathan.
"Kick his ass, man!" Tommy cheered.
"Just shut the fuck up, Tommy!" The Henderson girl cursed at him.
The boy just laughed, "What? You can't save him now, princess. Just go home or your brother might end up missing next."
Those words seemed to burn into Josie's ears, making her blood boil. After Tommy's continuous taunting and remarks towards her all through out high-school, frantically she was done with his bullshit and without thought she was throwing her fist into his nose with blood spurting out onto the ground and onto the boys face. "Josie, don't!" She heard Nancy shout behind her.
"You bitch!" Tommy cried, holding his injured nose.
"Cops!" Sirens started to blare through the alleyway, causing Steve and his groupies to scatter as Officer Callahan started chasing after them and Officer Powell pinning Jonathan to the cop car with all his weight, shoving handcuffs around his wrists.
Josie watched as Nancy started to anxiously watch the scene in front of her, watching as they threw Jonathan in the back of the cop car to take him down to the station.