Chapter 15

011

• 𝐍𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐄𝐬𝐬. •

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

☄. *. ⋆ Stella woke up lying on the seats in the very back of the bus since those seats had more room to sit. Max sat by her head, anxiously bouncing her leg. The others were sat in the rest of the bus seats, Steve doing the same leg movement as Max, and Dustin and Lucas just sitting there, seeming like they were nervously awaiting something.

Upon her awakening, she was rudely met with with an unimaginable burn on her side, and a somehow worse one in her left shoulder. The youngest Harrington’s eyes slowly opened, catching both Steve’s and Max’s attention. Max’s eyes widened as she glanced at Steve, and Steve hurried to crouch by the girl’s side. “Shit, Essie, are you okay?”

The sudden reactions caught Dustin and Lucas’s attention, and now everyone focused on the girl.

“Hey.” Stella sat up, ignoring the pain that coursed through her body as she did. “What’s up?”

“Are you okay?” Max asked her, panicked.

“Yeah, no, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

The whole group simply stared back at her as if she were insane.

“No, Ess, you’re not ‘fine’, look at your side,” Max told her. The brunette complied, looking down at her waist, the entire right side of her waist absolutely covered in blood through a huge tear in her jacket and shirt. “Well, I mean, I did throw hands with an inter-dimensional monster, so…” she chuckled, but apparently she was the only one amused. Max looked Stella, confused. “This isn’t funny, Ess.”

Stella didn’t reply, bringing herself to stand up through the burning that seared through her whole body and made her eyes widen.

“Essie, wha-” Steve cut himself off. Without saying a word, Stella headed out of the bus and picked up her bow and the arrows scattered around the grass, her limping inevitable despite her efforts to stop. “Come on.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ Stella was not, in fact, “fine,” as if that wasn’t already obvious.

Her arm was around Max’s shoulder, the redhead acting like a crutch for the girl. Stella tried to insist that she could walk on her own, but after getting lightheaded and stumbling into her brother, almost falling over, – and being caught by Max – the group collectively decided that someone had to help her. Steve was going to, but Max pointed out that he had the bat, and it was dangerous. At that, Max just grabbed Stella’s arm and helped her. Even with Max’s help, every step for Stella felt like she was getting stabbed.

“You’re positive that was Dart?” Lucas asked as they walked.

“Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt.”

Max spoke up. “Well, he was tiny two days ago.”

“Well, he’s molted three times already,” Dustin replied.

“Malted?” Steve asked, confused by the new word.

“Molted,” Stella spoke up, her voice a low struggle. “It shed its skin so it could have more room to grow. Like spiders, or snakes, or crabs-“

“Or hornworms,” Dustin added.

“Yeah, sure, or hornworms,” Stella raised a hand in Dustin’s direction before muttering under her breath at the boy. “Christ.”

“Well, when’s he gonna molt again?” Max asked.

“It’s gotta be soon,” Dustin said. “When he does, he’ll be fully grown or close to it. So will his friends,” he pointed out. The thought of the monsters from the junkyard being the size of the Demogorgon from last year sent chills down Stella’s spine. From her experience, a fully grown one was about nine feet, and they didn’t stand a chance against one, let alone a whole pack. And what if one of them got attacked? It would probably kill them. Stella almost died, and she only faced a smaller one. She probably would have died if she didn’t manage to throw it off, however she did that.

“Yeah, and he’s gonna eat a lot more than just cats,” Steve added. At those words, Lucas put a hand on Dustin’s shoulder, stopping the curly-haired boy. “Wait, cat?” Lucas repeated. “Dart ate a cat?” He asked, and Dustin tried to deny it. “No, what? No,” he lied quite badly. Steve didn’t realize Dustin keeping Dart was a secret. “What are you talking about?” The older Harrington furrowed his eyebrows. “He ate Mews.”

“Mews?” Max looked up at Steve. “Who’s Mews?”

Steve looked back at the redhead. “It’s Dustin’s cat,” he informed her, and Dustin shouted at him. “Steve!”

The yell worsened the headache Stella had, and she squeezed her eyes shut in pain for a moment as she moved her head back a little. Lucas shouting back at Dustin didn’t help. “I knew it! You kept him!”

“No!” Dustin yelled back. “No. No, I… No, I…” he realized he couldn’t think of a lie. “He missed me! He wanted to come home.”

“Bullshit! Stella, did you know about this!?” Lucas moved his flashlight to shine directly in Stella’s face as he spoke. Stella’s eyes shut tightly again, partly because of the light in her eyes and partly because of the headache that intensified at the brightness. “Not until the drive over.” Then she raised her voice. “Now get that fucking flashlight out of my fucking face, Sinclair! God! Why does everyone love shining lights in my eyes!?”

Lucas moved his flashlight back down as he looked back to Dustin, who spoke. “I didn’t know he was a Demogorgon!”

“Oh, so now you admit it?”

“Guys, who cares? We have to go,” Max reminded them, trying to stop the argument. Stella agreed with the girl. “Seriously, it’s just wasting time,” she added, but Lucas wouldn’t drop it. “I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!”

“So did you!”

“What?”

“You told-” Dustin shone his light directly in Max’s face, some of the light hitting the Harrington girl beside her, making the brunette squint, “- a stranger the truth!” Dustin shouted, offending Max. “Wha-” the redhead scoffed. “A stranger?” She repeated, stepping closer to the boys. They continued bickering, but Stella heard a faint screeching in the distance, taking her attention off of her friends. She let go of Max, slowly hobbling her way towards the sound, taking in and letting out quick, sharp breaths with each step. She guessed her brother heard it, too, because he shone his flashlight into the direction of the sound.

“Guys?” Stella called, quieter than she intended. There was no response, so Steve tried. “Hey, guys?”

Still no reply.

“Guys!” Both Harringtons shouted as they whipped around to face the group, who finally paid attention, falling silent. Assuming the others heard the sound, Steve and Stella headed into the trees, towards the source of the sound.

“No, no, no, no. Hey- hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound?” Max called from behind them. “Hello? Hello? Shit.”

The redhead followed the group, figuring it was better than being stuck alone in the woods at night. Once they made it out of the trees, they looked out at the town from above, seeing nothing interesting. Dustin was the first the speak up. “I don’t see him.”

Lucas rose the binoculars up to his face, looking through them. After a moment, he brought them back down. “It’s the lab,” he informed them. “They were going back home.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ After around two and a half hours, Stella squinted as she saw something through the trees, speaking up. “Guys,” she said in a whisper of a yell. Everyone looked to the girl, who beckoned towards the trees with her head as she glanced to the group, then back at the trees. “Headlights.”

Everyone moved their gazes to the woods ahead of them, seeing the lights.

“She’s right. Someone’s here,” Steve realized. No one replied, and Steve protectively moved in front of the kids, everyone trying their best to keep quiet as they continued forwards.

“Hello!?” They heard, Stella recognizing the voice immediately. It was Nancy. Definitely Nancy. Ignoring her brothers hushed calls for her to come back and the pain shooting through her entire body, Stella ran out of the trees, smiling and giving a breathy chuckle when she saw Nancy and Jonathan. The older teens, on the other hand, furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. “Stella?” They asked in unison, Stella not answering as the smile stayed on her face. She and Nancy had grown quite close while the older girl was dating Stella’s brother.

Nancy’s eyes moved to Stella’s injuries, her eyes widening when she saw the state of the girl. She had splatters of blood on her face, some on her forehead, some on her chin. She had blood seeping through her clothes on the right side of her waist, the same on her left shoulder. All that along with a broken arm. The older girl ran over to Stella, panicked, Jonathan growing panicked too as he followed the brunette over. “Holy shit, what happened?” She asked, putting her hands on the Harrington’s shoulders. Stella flinched back, wincing as Nancy accidentally touched the wound on her shoulder. Nancy furrowed her eyebrows, taking off the left side of Stella’s jacket to inspect the wound, her eyes widening even more when she saw the gash in her shoulder. Stella just shook her head, closing her eyes. “I’m fine,” she told the older girl, who then shook her head with a worried look. “What the hell happened?” Jonathan stepped forward.

“We have bigger things to deal with,” Stella told her, and that’s when Steve and the other kids emerged from the trees. Nancy and Jonathan looked up, getting more confused at the sight of the other two kids, Stella’s brother, and a stranger.

“Steve?” Nancy and Jonathan questioned in unison.

“Nancy.”

“Jonathan.”

“Max, Dustin, Lucas,” Stella said. “We all caught up now? Great. We have some shit to talk about. Why are you guys here?”

“We’re looking for Mike and Will,” Nancy revealed, and Stella looked back at her friends and brother, a worried look on her face before Dustin spoke. “They’re not in there, are they?” He asked, worrying Nancy and Jonathan further. The two teens in question glanced at each other, concern written all over their faces. Nancy spoke back up. “We’re not sure.”

“Why?” Jonathan added.

His question was answered by screeching coming from inside the lab, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

“Wait, okay, what happened to Stella? And- have you seen Mike or Will?” Nancy frantically asked. Stella shook her head. “No, I last saw Mike when he said he was headed to your house,” Stella explained, pointing to Jonathan during the part about his house.

“Stella got bit by a Demogorgon.”

“She got mauled. By multiple.”

“But it was awesome! She shot one with an arrow, then stabbed two, and threw one off of her!”

“Dude.”

“S- sorry.”

“Stella got attacked by a Demogorgon!?”

“Can we just stop? I’m fine.”

“Stella-“

“I haven’t seen Will since his episode.”

“He had an episode?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

Everyone’s voices started to overlap.

“It was Tuesday. He went home-“

“Yeah, and Mike went with him and-“

“We haven’t seen either of them lately-“

“I haven’t seen him since-“

“The power’s back!”

Everyone’s heads turned to Nancy, who was looking at the lab, which now had lights on inside. Jonathan started running over to the control booth to try and get the gate open, the rest following with the exception of Stella, who opted to walk over to Jonathan’s car. She sat on the ground, her back leaning against the front of the car and her head falling back as she rested her arms upon her knees. After Jonathan pounding different buttons in the control booth didn’t work, Dustin wanted to give it a go as if he could do it some way that Jonathan couldn’t. “Let me try,” he demanded, and when Jonathan tried to deny him access, he shouted. “Let me try, Jonathan!”

But surprise, surprise, nothing happened.

“Son of a bitch! You know what?” Dustin cursed, just smashing his thumb into the button more aggressively.

Suddenly, the gate slid open as a buzz sounded, and Dustin looked up, smiling. “Hey! I got it!” He chuckled, “I got it.” Though he didn’t seem too sure. Jonathan hurried out of the control booth, heading to his car. When Stella saw him coming, she scooted to the grass before managing to move to her feet and stand up. As Jonathan went to his car, Nancy followed, opening the front passenger door and sliding into the car before the boy drove off, heading towards the lab. Stella staggered over to where her friends and brother were, standing next to Steve and leaning her head against his arm. Steve looked down at the girl, ruffling her hair after a moment, which just made her grimace and lift her head.

Catching Stella’s attention was a light out of the corner of her eye. Once she turned her head fully towards the light, she realized they were the headlights of a car. Then she realized Max standing in front of the car, staring into the lights like a deer. “Guys,” the redhead said, bringing the boys to notice the lights. Stella was already rushing towards Max, being the first to move as she grabbed the girl’s arm and pulled her back, calling out to the others. “Guys, move!”

Everyone rushed behind the control booth, staying clear of the car that Stella realized was Jonathan’s after it passed. For a moment, she was confused. Jonathan drove right by them, not even slowing. But when she saw the chief’s car stop right in front of them, she understood. Hopper looked at them as he parked the car. “Let’s go,” he called, and Steve quickly reached to open the door. “Come on. Essie.”

Stella moved to hurry into the car, her friends following immediately after while everyone yelled “hurry,” or “go,” or “get in.” Steve placed a hand on each kid’s back to rush them in before getting in himself. “Let’s go!” He shouted once his door was shut.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Dr. Sam Owens,” Hopper repeated to whoever picked up the phone when he called to get military backup. Upon arrival at the Byers residence, everyone saw drawings scrawled out in crayon, making what seemed like roads or pathways. They were scattered around the entire house, taped to the walls and floors. Hopper replied to the person on the phone. “I don’t know how many people are there! I don’t know how many people are left alive!” He paused, Stella assuming the other person was talking. “I am the police! Chief Jim Hopper!” Another short pause before Hopper spoke again. “Yes, the number that I gave you, yes. 6767- I will be here.” And then he hung up. Each conscious kid looked up at Hopper from their seats at the table, Dustin speaking up first. “They didn’t believe you, did they?” He asked. Hopper turned to the children. “We’ll see,” he told them, but Mike wasn’t having it. “‘We’ll see’?” He echoed. “We can’t just sit here while those things are loose!”

“We stay here, and we wait for help,” Hopper decided, saying it as a demand. Stella slouched back in her chair, but quickly sat up, wincing as the sharp pain in her side increased at the movement. Max’s eyes darted to Stella, her head quickly whipping to look at the girl, who carefully leaned her head on her folded arms. Even that hurt, but the brunette just twisted her face in pain as she moved.

Max made her way over and grabbed the girl’s arm, bringing her to stand. “Come here,” the redhead told her, leading her down the hall. She looked into some rooms, seeing one of the open doors being a bathroom, and she went inside, bringing Stella with her. Stella stood there, confused as she watched Max in front of her crouch to open the cabinet below the sink. She grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and gauze, placing them on the sink before closing the cabinet and standing up. “I’ll be right back.” And she left.

Stella had an idea of what Max was thinking when she saw the items the girl pulled from the cabinet, but what was she getting? Stella stood in silence until Max returned, sewing needle and thread in hand, and the Harrington immediately knew what her plan was. “Max, I’m okay, really-“

“Be quiet,” Max told her, not even looking at the brunette. “Sit down,” she ordered, beckoning with her head to the counter. Stella obliged, lifting herself to sit on the sink counter.

Max reached for the rubbing alcohol, unscrewing the cap and dipping the needle into the bottle to sterilize it. When she took it out, she placed the bottle back on the counter before threading the needle. Then she paused. “Can you, um, take your shirt off?” She asked, glancing up at the girl throughout her sentence.

Stella looked up from the bottle of alcohol to the redhead in front of her. She refrained from raising her eyebrows, but she wasn’t able to stop the pink hue reaching her face.

“Just so I can, like, do the stitches?” Max added as her face grew red herself.

Stella brought herself out of her daze. “Oh. Um, yeah,” the girl removed her jacket before lifting her shirt off of her body, a flustered mess. The feel of the cloth being peeled off of her wounds burned, and Stella had to hold back a cry of pain, instead letting out a sharp exhale.

Max’s eyes widened when she saw Stella’s injuries, her stomach twisting in a knot, feeling a blend of sympathy and queasiness.

But seeing the wounds directly concerned Max way more than she already was. There were three huge slits in her waist, on her right side, along with what was definitely the worst wound Max had ever seen on the girl’s left shoulder. She wouldn’t be able to stitch that one.

Max pried her eyes away, moving her gaze to Stella’s face. “I think the one on your shoulder is too big to stitch, so I’ll wrap that one and we can stitch the… claw marks,” she said, making the girl in front of her nod. Max turned, grabbing a hand towel from the bar behind her, then grabbing the still-open bottle of alcohol and wetting the towel with it. She grimaced. “This is probably gonna hurt,” she informed the girl, who pursed her lips as she nodded before speaking. “I know.”

Max gave one more unsure look at the girl before moving the towel to Stella’s side and pressing it against her waist.

It felt as if fire immediately slithered through the wound, almost worse than the feeling of getting the wound, and Stella again had to stop herself from screaming in agony, instead opting to squeeze her eyes shut and grip onto the sides of the counter. “Shit,” she sighed out, a strangled sound as tears pricked at her eyes.

Max held the towel there for a moment, dabbing around it before lifting it off. “Sorry,” she muttered, and Stella shook her head as her hold on the counter loosened a bit. “Don’t be.”

Max shifted the needle in her hands before speaking. “Try to stay still, okay? And stay awake,” she told Stella, who nodded, her grip tightening on the counter. She felt another sharp pain, no doubt in her mind that it was the needle piercing her skin. She gave a quick inhale, holding her breath for a bit as the pain repeated itself. She could feel each tug of the thread, each puncture of the needle, each time hurting a little less. Then Stella realized that Max’s hands were touching the bare skin on her waist, and she was almost distracted from the pain. Almost.

The pain repeated itself a few more times as Max stitched each slice from the claws. When she finally finished, she looked up at Stella’s face for a split second, the brunette’s eyes still shut. Max moved away, standing up straight as Stella opened her eyes. “Okay, we just need to wrap this now,” Max told her, grabbing the last towel from the bar behind her and repeated her actions of cleaning Stella’s wound from before.

The second round of alcohol made the gashes on her waist feel almost painless, as if she was being attacked all over again. The girl grunted at the contact that the towel made with her shoulder, pursing her lips and shutting her eyes. She was honestly surprised at her ability to not yell at the top of her lungs. Max cringed, feeling guilty for hurting the girl, but she had to.

As Max pressed the cloth against Stella’s wound, Stella’s eyelids started to grow heavy, her grip loosening on the table and on reality. Max felt the change in the girl’s demeanor, her eyes moving to Stella’s face. She then moved one hand from the towel, placing it on Stella’s cheek. “Hey, stay awake, okay? Come on, stay awake, Ess, I need you to stay awake.”

Stella’s forced her eyes open, being sleepier than she ever had in her life. Max removed the towel from Stella’s shoulder, reaching for the gauze as she grabbed Stella’s good arm and squeezed it, a way of trying to remind the girl to stay awake. At the gesture, Stella shook her head, widening her eyes as she pushed herself to stay awake. Max unraveled some of the gauze, moving to wrap it around Stella’s shoulder. She did so quickly, the gauze becoming dyed crimson as she wrapped. She moved back as she finished. “Okay, done.”

Stella looked at her shoulder, then waist, pausing for a moment, looking at the ground before she looked up at Max, a small but sincere and grateful smile. “Thanks, Cali,” she breathed, her eyelids fighting to shut.

Max returned the smile. “No problem, Ess.”

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

YAY FOR ALMOST BEING DONE WITH SEASON 2! i’m excited to write the snowball >:)

also i clearly keep forgetting to update on friday so i’m just gonna update every week because obviously i can’t keep track of it 😓