( songs for the chapter )
⋆ rhiannon // fleetwood mac
⋆ strawberry fields forever // the beatles
WHEN KATE CAME BACK HOME, Jim wasn't there. She initially thought he was out checking on Joyce, but the note he left on the fridge told her that he'd skipped town completely. If Kate didn't know any better, she'd think he'd left solely to get back at her for leaving too. However, the note said Jim had gone with Joyce, so it most likely had to do with Will.
Kate spent most of the time in her room, not really seeing the point of leaving it because she had no one to see. She got up to make herself lunch in the kitchen, contemplating on just going to Steve's house, when the phone rang.
She answered it without a second thought, thinking it was just Jim calling to check up on her. The voice on the other end of the line surprised her.
"Kate? Can I come over?" Jonathan's voice rang out.
"Uh, sure?" she answered, her statement sounded much more like a question. Kate wasn't expecting him to call – she'd completely forgotten he'd had her number, and she certainly wasn't expecting him to ask to come over.
"I'm with Nancy. We- there's–" the boy stammered, trying to find the right words. "Something happened last night."
"Okay?" she trailed off.
Jonathan sighed. "I can't explain it over the phone. We'll be there in five, okay?"
When he hung up the phone, Kate quickly finished the sandwich on her plate before changing out of her pyjamas, and into something a bit more presentable.
True to his word, Jonathan arrived about five minutes later. Once she saw him pull into the driveway, Kate walked outside and into the backseat of his car. She scooted to the middle seat, looking between Nancy and Jonathan. "What the hell is going on?"
"We saw... something last night," Nancy cautioned. "I- It's hard to explain, but it was like- like, from another another dimension or something."
"What?" Kate exclaimed in surprise. She expected their meeting to be about Will, not an outer-dimensional being.
"Just listen," Jonathan told her softly.
Kate nodded her head slowly, though her brows were still scrunched together in confusion.
Nancy continued. "We were out in the woods last night, and we saw a deer, and something got it – whatever that thing was – was feeding on the deer."
"I'm not," the blonde shook her head. "I'm not sure I'm following here."
"Was Will bleeding the night he went missing?" Nancy asked suddenly, looking between Jonathan and Kate.
She thought for a moment. "I don't know... He fell off his bike, so maybe?"
"Barb cut herself the night she went missing. And the deer..."
"You're saying that this thing can detect blood?" Kate pondered.
Nancy shrugged. "It's just a theory."
"How are we supposed to test it?" Kate wondered, looking between the two sitting ahead of her. "If it works we're screwed."
"We'll know it's coming this time," Jonathan nodded firmly.
The three friends – if you could even call them that – shared a knowing look before pulling out of the driveway. They quickly drove to Hunting & Camping to buy supplies for the monster hunting they were apparently going to do later. Kate stayed out by the car, though; leaving Jonathan and Nancy to do the shopping.
She leaned against the car door with her arms crossed, fidgeting with her cracking nail polish. A car stopped in front of Kate and the passenger seat window rolled down. It was a guy she vaguely recognised from school. It was Reed, one of Tommy's friends from a grade below them.
"Have you seen Nancy's new movie?" he asked with a laugh.
Kate scrunched up her face in confusion. "What?"
"Go check the theater," he called before the light turn green and the car sped off.
She shook her head but walked the short distance to the cinema, anyway. The marquee had red, spray-painted lettering over it, that read: Starring Nancy 'The Slut' Wheeler. The fresh paint was still dripping down the board. Kate immediately knew who'd done it, and exactly where they were.
"Steve Harrington!" she yelled as she walked to the nearby alley, where her best friend, along with Tommy and Carol, was spraying another work of art on the wall. Their head's snapped towards the girl.
"What?" he asked as he turned to face her.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"What does it look like, princess?" Tommy responded sarcastically. He'd stopped mid-sentence and his spray-painting read: Byers is a per-
"Shut the fuck up, Tommy," the girl snapped suddenly, causing them to laugh – minus Steve, of course.
"Why are you so mad?" Carol asked. "I thought you weren't friends.
"We aren't," Kate assured. "I'm just a decent enough person to know this isn't okay."
Steve chimed in. "She cheated on me, Kate. Do you even care?"
"Were they having sex? Or kissing?"
"No," Steve hesitated with the shake of his head. "They were just hugging, but–"
"Are you stupid?" Kate thundered. "They're friends, and he just lost his brother. They were 'just hugging' and now the entire town thinks Nancy is a slut."
"Calm down, sweetcheeks," Tommy interrupted again. "It's not that serious."
Kate was about to respond, when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Nancy walking quickly towards the group. Jonathan was right behind her.
"Uh-oh. She looks upset," Tommy joked as the brunette drew closer.
Nancy walked up to them, standing in front of Steve. She reeled back her hand and slapped him as hard as she could, surprising everyone – especially Steve. "What is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Steve repeated, scoffing. "What's wrong with you? I was worried about you... Can't believe I was actually worried about you."
"What are you talking about?"
"I wouldn't lie if I were you," Carol lilted. "You don't want to be known as the lying slut now, do you?"
Nancy shook her head. "Look, I don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't like that. We were just–"
"Just what?" Steve pushed. "Finish that sentence."
Kate and Nancy made quick eye contact, knowing the argument wasn't exactly in her favour at the moment. Only Kate, Jonathan, and Nancy knew what'd happened that night. How were they meant to tell them that they had seen a monster and Nancy was just scared out of her mind?
"Go to hell, Nancy," Steve grumbled.
The girl's eyes filled with tears as Jonathan finally stepped in. He softly grabbed the girl by her arm. "C'mon, Nancy. Let's just leave."
"You know what, Byers?" Steve called out. "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. Stop," Kate said firmly, stepping in front of her friend. He walked right past her and began pushing the other boy.
"Yeah, your house is full of screw-ups. I mean, your mom... I'm not even surprised about your brother. The Byers are a disgrace to the entire–"
He was cut off by Jonathan turning around and socking him in the jaw. Audible gasps left everyone's mouth, neither of them expecting him to pack such a punch.
Steve fell against the wall, but quickly regained his footing. He tackled Jonathan against his car, beginning to gain the upper-hand as he brought the younger boy to the ground. However. Jonathan rolled on top of him, and pinned him to the concrete. It was punch after punch, despite their protests and the sound of oncoming sirens. Kate tugged on Jonathan's jacket collar, trying to get him off of Steve before he killed him.
The cop car pulled into the alleyway and Callahan and Powell jumped out, causing the crew to ran away. They attempted to pull Jonathan off, just like Kate had, before he forcefully pushed the officer off of him and against the car.
Powell eventually got him off, though. He handcuffed him quickly as Callahan gained his footing; he turned to Kate. "Go home. Now."
She looked to Jonathan and then to Nancy. Tears fell down her cheek as she panted, her hand covering her mouth. Without another word, Kate turned the other way and walked out of the alley and towards her home.
She took her time walking down the road, reflecting on the situation that had just occurred. Jonathan had gotten arrested, and she wouldn't be surprised if he went to jail. Assaulting a police officer is a serious offence, but she hoped his clear record would help him out a bit.
On top of that, Steve was pretty badly hurt. She didn't get a clear look at his injuries, but the right side of his face was almost entirely purple. She didn't blame Jonathan for snapping like he did, because Steve completely deserved it. But that didn't stop her from worrying about her best friend — even if he was acting like a total douchebag.
Her ears perked up at the yelling of her name. She turned around to see Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Eleven racing towards her on their bikes. The four of them made a hard brake once they reached her.
"What the hell–" she started before being quickly interrupted.
"We don't have time to explain, just get on!" Lucas blurted.
"Bad men," El tried to explain to lessen her confusion. The sound of engines revving filled their ears.
"Get on!" Lucas yelled again and Kate quickly hopped on the back of his bike. The five of them went as fast as they possibly could, as three vans trailed quickly behind. The blonde looked over her shoulder, watching the vehicles draw closer and closer.
She heard nothing but the sound of tires screeching and Dustin's distant swearing. She felt like she was about to pass out because there was no way in hell she was getting chased down by the government.
Another van swung around the corner in front of the group. The driver pressed on the gas pedal as hard as they could, and it didn't look like they were planning to stop. Kate hid her face in Lucas' winter coat, waiting for the oncoming hit. But when it didn't come, she opened her eyes again – only to see the vehicle flying over her.
It landed behind the group upside down, stopping the other vans from getting to them. She glanced back again, seeing a familiar grey-haired man in a dark trench coat, before turning back ahead. She had no idea where they were going, but they needed to get there quickly.
The only place they knew to go was the junkyard.
The five of them dropped their bikes to the ground, and carefully sat El down too. Using her powers to flip the van had taken a lot out of her. Kate sat down beside her, running her hand up and down her back to comfort her. Eleven tiredly leaned into her side.
"Holy..." Dustin panted. "Holy shit! Did- Did you see what she did to that van?"
"No, Dustin. We missed it," Mike rolled his eyes.
"I mean, that was awesome. It was awesome," Lucas stammered as he walked towards Eleven, crouching down in front of her. "Everything I said about you being a traitor and stuff... I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"Friends... Friends don't lie," El reminded. "I'm sorry, too."
"Me too," Mike chimed in. He stuck his hand out as Lucas stood up. He hesitated for a moment before putting his hand in Mike's shaking it once, then twice.
Kate had apparently missed a lot in the time she'd been away from the kids. She could gather that Lucas had apparently fought with Eleven and Mike; but she didn't bother to ask them about it, as everything was alright again. Well, almost everything.
The five of the sat down in a circle in the dirt, as Lucas attempted to explain what he'd seen while looking for the gate. He laid out several long sticks in the shape of the enclosure, and used another to draw out what he saw.
"The fence starts here," he pointed his stick to the ground. "And goes all the way around. And this is the lab right here. The gate's gotta be in there somewhere. It's gotta be."
"Well, who owns Hawkins Lab?" Dustin asked.
"The sign says 'Department of Energy.'"
"Department of Energy," the curly-headed boy repeated. "What do you think that means?"
"It means government. Military," Mike answered.
"Then why does it say 'energy?'"
"Just trust me, alright?"
"It's military," Kate assured. "My dad's told me before."
Lucas nodded. "They're right. There's soldiers out front."
"Do they make, like," Dustin furrowed his brows. "Light bulbs or something?"
Kate breathed out a laugh as Mike shook his head. "No. Weapons... To fight the Russians, and commies, and stuff."
"Oh, Jesus, this is bad," Dustin muttered.
Lucas nodded again. "Really bad. The place is like a fortress."
"What are we supposed to now?" Kate asked. The five of them were getting chased down by the government, and they were probably looking for them now. They'd soon be looking around the junkyard, which meant the five of them weren't safe there too much longer.
"I don't know," Mike shrugged. "But we can't go home. We're fugitives now."
The sound of an approaching helicopter caught their attention. They all looked up towards the sky, trying to gauge where the sound was coming from. Kate lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, when she saw the aircraft quickly heading in their direction.
They acted quickly, putting their bikes under the rundown bus before getting inside of it. Kate ushered the kids inside, before hurriedly getting on herself. They ran to the back of it and laid low, as the noises of the helicopter receded.
"Mental."