𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑼𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀 𝑰𝑴𝑷𝑶𝑹𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝒂/𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒊 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒔 𝒊 𝒈𝒐, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝒊 𝒅𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒊 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚. 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍, 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓.
🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎🅞︎
𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒚'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗
She didn't mean to hurt him.
She really didn't.
But now, he was lying on the ground unconscious, and Ashley was to blame.
She crawled over to him and held his limp body in her arms, his head to her chest, his soft breaths warm against her neck, and sobbed. She cried until her throat was dry, and her eyes had run out of tears.
The last thing she remembered was listening to Will's breathing until everything went dark. Luckily for her, she had no dreams to bother her. When she woke up, Will was still in her lap, his face buried in the crook of her neck, her arms wrapped around him protectively. She was about to wake him up when he began to stir. His eyes fluttered open, and he jumped out of her arms as soon as he saw her face.
"You're a monster! G-get away from me!" he screamed as he took off into the woods, and Ashley ran after him.
"Will, please stop. Need to explain"
"What is there to explain? You lied to me. I don't wanna hear it"
She poured on the speed until she was directly behind him and she grabbed his arms, forcing him to a stop. She pinned him to a tree and turned him to face her, keeping her grip tight on his wrists
"Get off me! Let me go!" he yelled, but she was stronger.
"No"
"I hate you, i hope you know that" his words were laced with bitterness, but Ashley could tell he was scared out of his mind. His eyes were red and his whole body trembled
"Still love you Will, always. But you need to listen. Do you love me?" she spoke calmly, and he hesitated
"Yeah. I guess i do" he sighed, leaning back against the tree
"Do you trust me?"
"What?" he looked at her like she'd grown a third eye
"Need to know, Will"
"Yeah. With my life. With my heart. Everything." he wouldn't meet her eyes, but Ashley could tell he wasn't lying. She relaxed her grip on his wrists, and instead took his hands in hers. He didn't pull away
"Then ask me"
"Ask you what?" he furrowed his eyebrows
"Anything. Tell you the truth. Promise."
"Okay...that first time, when you tried to read the demogorgon's thoughts, what did you see?"
She stared at him, slightly taken aback. She expected him to ask why she had helped the demogorgons, but she promised she would tell him the truth
"Saw you"
He blinked, waiting for her to elaborate. She sighed and continued
"Showed my worst fear. You-you were dying, and i couldn't help. You told me you loved me, and then you died."
"So what does that mean?"
She took a shaky breath
"My worst fear. Losing the thing i love the most"
Will seemed to think about that for a second
"Me?" was the only word he could get out. Ashley brushed the hair out of his beautiful hazel eyes and cupped his cheek in her hand. She leaned in, standing on her tiptoes and kissed him. It was short and gentle, but a sweet gesture nonetheless. They pulled apart, but didn't look away
"Yeah, you" she spoke, her voice quiet, but loud enough for Will to hear. She could tell he was at a loss for words, because his thoughts were a complete mess.
"Helped the demogorgon because it said it could help us. And it said if i didn't help it, it would hurt you. It didn't help me. It lied. I killed them. That's why one attacked you"
"Oh. So you helped them...for my sake?"
"Yes" her voice was brittle, like she was going to break down at any moment.
Will pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her hair. When he pulled away, he took her face in his hands
"I am so sorry. For everything. For not listening, for shouting, for getting so angry and for calling you a monster. I didn't mean it, and i definitely don't hate you. Getting picked to show you around the school was probably one of the best things that's ever happened to me, and i am so grateful for you. You mean the world to me, you know?"
Ashley put her hands over his
"Yeah, i know. Glad i came"
"Good. So about getting food..."
Ashley smirked and grabbed his hand, heading towards Hawkins.
𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗
After they had gotten the Eggos and water from Bradley's big buy, they went to Melvald's, where they could get bandages and other supplies like that. Seriously, Will couldn't wait to get back home and have real food. He didn't think he would be able to look at another Eggo the same way. Ashley came back with a box of tissues to clean him up. Luckily, he wasn't cut or anything, just covered in dirt. She used a bottle of water to dampen the tissues, before wiping his face clean. The water was freezing cold, but Will was used to the sub-zero temperatures at this point.
At least he had a coat, Ashley had nothing but a sweater to keep her warm.
As she cleaned him up, he drank in the sight of her: her startling yet endearing blue eyes, the way her nose scrunched up and her eyebrows knitted as she concentrated, the ghost of a smile that rested on her cherry red lips, and realised how lucky he was. There were probably millions of people who would kill for a girl like her, she was stunning, no doubt, but also one of the most caring people he had ever met.
Sure, she wasn't super chatty and wasn't the smartest person, but that wasn't her fault. Besides, she made up for that with her ability to stay calm in any situation. The fact that she had cool powers was just a bonus. Her personality was one of the most interesting things about her- she was quiet, yet the funniest person he had ever met and he felt like he'd known her for so much more than a week.
"WILL"
That jolted him back to reality
"Hmm?"
"Staring" she pointed at his eyes "Why?"
"Just..um" you gotta shoot your shot at some point
"I'm just enjoying the view"
She turned around, as if looking for 'the view'
"View? Me?" she pointed to herself
"Yes" he smiled, and her expression softened
"Thank you" she blushed, and Will gave himself a mental pat on the back. After spending days becoming a blushing mess every time she paid him a compliment, Will had finally managed to turn the tables (𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔- https://youtu.be/KdhSxMgpJL8 )
"All cleaned up. Back to Castle Byers"
They took the leftover tissues and shoved them back in his bag, along with a couple more bottles of water before heading back into the woods.
After about twenty minutes, Will noticed Ashley's eyes glowing.
"Hey, are you alright? Your eyes are all glowy again."
She pointed to her head
"Hurts. Don't know why"
Will was about to give a few suggestions when the real reason came bounding through the woods behind them, pinning Ashley to the ground. She kicked and screamed, but it didn't let go. Instead, it stood her up, wrapping its bony fingers around her neck, strangling her. That was enough to jolt Will from his fear
"LET HER GO!" he yelled
Growl
"No" Ashley murmured, her voice full of exhaustion. It tightened it's grip around her throat and growled again
Grrowl
"What's it saying Ash?" Will asked, assuming that it was talking to them
"Not telling" she spoke stubbornly, and Will decided not to push her, but the demogorgon wasn't happy about that.
The fog that hung in the air began to swirl around them, getting thicker and darker. He tried to step towards them, but his legs felt like lead. He watched, helpless, as the mist shot inside her: in her mouth, up her nostrils, everywhere. When the mist finally cleared, she was still Ashley, but the glow in her eyes had dimmed, and a sinister smile played at the corners of her lips. The demogorgon released its grip on her neck, but still held her shoulders.
Growll
Ashley opened her mouth and spoke, but it was like someone had merged her voice with the demogorgon's growl
"You go back to Castle Byers. Stay there. Do not look for me. Or your little girlfriend here dies."
Will somehow managed to find his voice
"Ashley, this isn't you. Please, if you can hear me, give me a sign. You don't have to do what he says."
He took her hands in his own, and she hesitated. Her smile faltered and for a second she was regular old Ashley.
"Do what he says" she spoke, but her eyes pleaded for his help. She opened her mouth to speak again, but a shudder passed through her as the demogorgon growled again
Growl
"Stop it! Whatever you're doing stop it, or you'll regret it. You and the girl"
He dragged a bony claw across her throat, leaving a trail of crimson, but she didn't even flinch
Growl?
"We wouldn't want her getting hurt now, would we?"
"What-what are you going to do to her?" Will asked, watching the blood drip down her neck
Growl
"That's none of your concern. But I will bring her back myself when i'm finished. What you don't seem to understand is that we have no intention of hurting her-"
"But you nearly killed me"
Grrowl
"That wasn't me. That was one of my ah- allies. She killed some of us too. But that's besides the point. What i am trying to say is that...she showed you the lab right? With her sister, Eleven"
"W-when she saw you for the first time?" Will was still wrapping his mind around the fact that he was talking to a demogorgon, and it wasn't trying to kill him
Growl
"Yes. With her help, her sister Eleven opened the gate, therefore she is our mistress. Our leader, if you prefer. Technically, we are her subjects-"
"Then surely you should help us at any cost"
Grrowl!
"Stop interrupting me boy! She's already killed two of us, so you both owe him. To pay him back, you're going to let me take the girl so she can help us. Then, i'll return her to you and you can go on about your day like nothing happened"
"Who is he?"
Growl
"Absolutely nothing that you need to worry about. As long as she does what we tell her to, that is. Do we have a deal?"
Will took a minute to think about it. His situation was a lose-lose to be honest, just one option wouldn't get them killed
"When will you bring her back? And will she still be possessed?"
Growl
"We'll bring her back when we're finished with her. As for her current state, probably not. If he doesn't need her anymore, he'll let her go. If he does, well you get the idea"
He placed his hands around her shoulders and began to walk her away, but Will wasn't quite finished
"Hey wait!"
Growl
"What? I don't have all day, you know"
"Yeah, and neither do i"
He walked over to Ashley and pulled her into a hug, but she stood stiffly, completely unresponsive
"I'm going to get us both out of this, i promise. I love you, Princess" he whispered into her hair, not caring if she heard or not. Part of her must've understood, because she relaxed and loosely wrapped her arms around him.
"Love you too, Zombie boy"
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝:1959 𝕆_𝕆
𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝚓𝚞𝚕𝚢 14𝚝𝚑
𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 cherrrycolaa_ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒊'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚! 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒕 200 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 ♡︎
𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒚,
𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕
𝒙𝒐𝒙𝒐