𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥
❝ғɪʀᴇʙᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ sᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴀ ʙɪᴛᴄʜ.❞
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐘𝐄𝐑𝐒 being found had gotten to the ears of jonathan byers, nancy wheeler, and steve harrington, all three of them had celebrated. hopper and joyce had told them themselves, not asking why steve was there. the three teens had immediately ran to the hospital since that's where hopper and joyce had told the to go. but when they had gotten there, they were expecting to hear that charlotte harrington had been in surgery for the last hour. it seemed like steve's whole world had collapsed once hopper had told him, the chief of police holding the boy as he cried. steve had blamed himself, he should've been there to protect her. he should've been there to keep her away from the bad men and the horrendous creature that caused this.
but he wasn't. because he was worried about a girl.
will had woken up, and the boys were quick to go and see him. they had told him everything that had happened while he was gone. they told him about the new friend that they made and how she had powers. they also told him about how arlo even had these cool shadow powers that lets her teleport and see people worse nightmares. and when will had asked them where arlo was, all of their excited smiles had vanished. they explained to him what had happened at the school; that the demogorgan had slashed arlo with it's claws and that she had bled out. but when the ambulance came, the paramedic was able to bring her back. they told him that she was in surgery as they speaks and she should be out really soon.
and when she had gotten out, steve was right by her side. they had told him that she would be asleep for awhile but the surgery was a success. all they had to do now was wait. and that's what he did. he waited for two days in that hospital room, not even going home to change. the boys would come by and bring him food and check up on arlo. will wasn't there because he was still in his own hospital room. but that's where steve was at this exact moment, his head laid next to arlo's body while his hand held onto her's. he was trying to get some kind of sleep, but because of how worried he was, he couldn't. how did arlo live like this?
steve suddenly felt a small squeeze at his hand, making his head shoot up. he looked at arlo's hand for a few seconds to make sure he wasn't imagining this. but when arlo squeezed his hand again, this time tighter, a small smile appeared on his lips. he looked up at arlo's face, seeing that she was looking at him with her usual tired eyes.
"hey there, lo." steve greeted as he got up from his seat, his smile growing as tears came to his eyes.
"why am i in a hospital?" arlo questioned, looking around the room.
"uh, you were attacked. needed surgery done. but that's not important. what's important is that you're awake now." steve quickly dismissed, waving his hand around.
"what happened to your face? who beat you up?" arlo then quizzed, noticing the cuts and bruises on her older brother's face.
"uh. . . jonathan beat me up."
arlo's eyebrows shot up her forehead at those words, a smile appearing at her lips. "jonathan byers? did - did you deserve it?"
"yeah, actually. i did. i should've just left it like you said." steve nodded.
"you'll learn to listen to your little sister one day." arlo joked.
"whatever." the oldest harrington mumbled. "they found will. he's awake. been awake for awhile now. when you're able to move around, we'll take you over there, okay?"
"okay." arlo nodded.
steve stared at her, feeling this immense amount of relief fill his bones. "i thought i lost you, lo. i really thought - i really thought that you were gone."
"takes a lot more than that to kill me." the dark skinned girl said, looking up at her brother with teasing eyes.
steve let out a dry chuckle, bringing his hand up to wipe the tears that had managed to fall out. "so, uh, what's this about you having these. . . shadow powers?"
"oh, yeah!" arlo exclaimed, getting excited. "okay, so let me explain. . ."
𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑
❝𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆. 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 angry." mike started, making arlo look up from the comic book she was reading. she was sat on the couch, a bunch of blankets around her. "hungry for your blood. it is almost here." arlo made an impressed face at how mike described it, gently placing the comic down on her legs.
"what is it?" will questioned, making arlo smile. the boy had gotten a lot better over the course of a month, besides the nightmares and the pts. she was glad that he was back on his feet.
"it's the thessalhydra, i'm telling you." dustin answered, making arlo roll her eyes.
"it's not the thessalhydra." lucas reassured.
"i'm telling you, it's the thessalhydra." dustin repeated.
mike slammed a small figurine onto the table before he pulled his hand back to reveal what it was. "the thessalhydra!" he yelled, making arlo snort from her seat.
"damn it." dustin cursed.
"it roars in anger! will your action!"mike yelled.
"what should i do? i -" will started, looking at dustin and lucas before he looked over at arlo. the harrington girl was having an extreme case of deja vu.
"fireball him!" lucas suggested quickly. will looked over at dustin, the henderson boy going into thought.
"fireball the son of a bitch." he told will, a smile pulling at his lips.
will looked over at arlo, who nodded at him. the byers boy smiled, grabbing the die that was on the table before he shook it up in his hands. he quickly threw the die onto the table, waiting for all of them to stop rolling. arlo sat up in an attempt to see what number will had rolled, but she could barely move because of the stitches on her side.
"fourteen!" dustin exclaimed as everyone cheered out in excitement. arlo clapped loudly from her seat, forgetting all about the comic book in her lap.
"direct hit. will the wise's fireball hits the thessalhydra!" mike began again, making all his friends look at him with wide smiles. he quickly got up from his seat. "it makes a painful. . ." he continued before he imitates a screech. "and then. . . it crumbles to the ground." he fell to the floor. "its clawed hand reaches for you one last time, and, and, and. . . and. . ." mike closed his mouth as he dramatically dropped to the floor fully, will, lucas, and dustin all cheering in excitement. arlo clapped from her seat.
she watched as the three started to dance around the table while mike got up from the floor. lucas went over to arlo, quickly ruffling her hair before he continued to celebrate.
"lucas cuts off its seven heads, and dustin places them into his bag of holding." mike continued, dustin grabbing his book bag and holding it up proudly. " you carry the heads out of the dungeon, victorious, and you present them to king tristan. he thanks you for your bravery and service."
"wait, wait, wait, wait." arlo quickly interrupted, making the three boys turn to look at her. "that's not the end of it, is it? i mean, there's more right?"
"no, there's a medal ceremony -" mike started to answer.
"oh, a medal ceremony? what are you talking about?" dustin quickly quizzed, wondering the same thing that arlo was.
"yeah, man. the campaign was way too short." lucas agreed.
"yeah!" will nodded.
"it was ten hours!" mike reasoned.
"but it doesn't make any sense." dustin shot back.
"it makes sense." mike defended.
"uh, no, what about the lost night?" dustin questioned.
"and the proud princess?" lucas added.
"and those weird flowers in the cave?" will continued.
"i don't know -" mike started to answer but stopped himself when he heard the basement door open. everyone looked up at the stairs when they heard someone coming down.
"jeez, what's that smell?" jonathan asked as once he was completely downstairs. "have you guys been playing games all day, or just farting?"
"oh, that's just dustin. he farted." lucas answered with a wide grin. he then started to sing, making arlo shake her head. "dustin farted. dustin farted."
"very mature, lucas." dustin scolded.
"come on." jonathan said to will, chuckling at the boys. while his brother got his belongings, he turned toward arlo. "you doing okay, arlo?"
"yeah, i'm fine, jonny. don't worry." arlo nodded, sending the boy a kind smile. he nodded back.
"bye, guys." will said as he followed his older brother up the stairs.
"bye, will." mike, dustin, and arlo all said, watching him go up the stairs.
dustin and lucas then started to play fight one another, making arlo watch in amusement. she looked over at mike, who was looking over at the blanket fort that eleven used to sleep in. he could tell that he missed her, i mean, they all missed her. the wheeler boy felt her staring at him, making him look over to see that arlo had a sad smile on her face.
"i miss her too." she whispered, but he surprisingly heard her.
the freckled boy sent her nod, turning around to watch dustin and lucas play fight with one another. everything had gone back to normal.
at least, that's everyone thought.
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daij speaks!
WE'RE FINALLY FINISHED. THANK THE HEAVENS. i'm so excited for season 2. i have so much shit planned. i'm so excited.
but i hope u guys enjoyed🫶🏼