—𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞—

WE WERE walking for hours, just waiting for something or some kind of clue. There was an awkward tension between all of us because of Nancy and Jonathan's dispute. As we were walking in silence, I heard something. Nancy heard it too, because she stopped in her tracks.

"What, you guys tired of walking already?" Jonathan says.

"Shut up." Nancy and I say at the same time.

"What?" Jonathan asks.

"We heard something." I say.

The noise continues and Jonathan hears it as well. We walk towards the noise and come across a deer, it's throat is cut open and it's dying.

"We can't just leave it." Nancy says.

Nancy grabs the gun and prepares to shoot it, when Jonathan offers instead. We all stand up and Jonathan cocks the gun. I go to turn away, when suddenly, the deer is dragged into the woods. We all jump and then stay frozen, trying to catch our breaths.

"What the hell was that?" I ask.

We slowly follow the trail of blood.

"Where does it go?" Nancy asks.

"I don't know. Do you see anymore blood?" Jonathan says.

"No." Nancy says.

"Nothing." I say.

I follow Jonathan into the woods. We walk for a minute and then we hear a scream. We both turn around and realize Nancy was not following us. We run towards the scream and shout for Nancy. We see her bag and her bat on the ground next to a tree.

"Nancy? Nancy where are you?" Jonathan yells.

"Nancy!" I scream.

We search around the area, calling out for her, earning no response. Suddenly, we hear Nancy call for Jonathan.

"I'm right here!" He screams.

"Just follow our voices!" I scream.

We hear Nancy scream again and we run back to the tree. On the tree was some kind of hole, but it was slimy and glowing red. Jonathan crouches down and shines his flashlight in the hole, still calling for Nancy.

"Nancy?" I ask.

Suddenly, a hand jumps out of the tree and Jonathan falls backwards. I grab Nancy's hand and try to pull her out.

"Jonathan! Help me!" I say.

Jonathan grabs on to Nancy's other hand and pulls her out. She lands on top of us, sobbing and covered in a slimy substance. Jonathan quickly grabs her and pulls her into his arms, trying to comfort her. I stand up and sigh, running a hand through my hair, when I notice the hole in the tree closing, making it seem like there was never a hole there in the first place.

Jonathan pulls Nancy off of the ground and we run as fast as we can back to Jonathan's car. I hop in the backseat and Jonathan starts driving.

The car ride was silent and then we make it back to Nancy's house. I grab my axe as we make our way out of the car. We make our way into her house, quietly. Once we make it to her room, she locks the door behind us.

"(Y/N), did you have to bring the axe?" Jonathan asks.

I place the axe in the corner of the room.

"We might need it." I say.

"Nothings gonna get in here." He says.

"We don't know that." Nancy says.

She grabs a change of clothes and heads to the bathroom to clean herself up. Jonathan searches through her closet for something to sleep with. I hop in her bed and stare up at the ceiling.

Nancy comes back into the room  a few minutes later and looks a bit distressed.

"I can go home, I just figured—" Jonathan says.

"No, I don't want to be alone," Nancy says, "Do you?"

"No. Uh... no." He replies.

Nancy hops in the bed and we both lay in it and stare at the ceiling.

"Can you just come up here?" Nancy asks Jonathan.

He makes his way up onto the bed and slides next to me.

"You want the lights off, or...?" He asks.

"No." She says.

"Yeah." He says.

"You know," Jonathan begins, "It cant get us in here."

I shake my head.

"We don't know that." Nancy says.

Jonathan turns over and we all try to sleep, piled into Nancy's queen-sized bed.

I wake up to Jonathan shuffling beside me.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jonathan asks.

I open my eyes and see Nancy sitting near the end of the bed.

"Every time I close my eyes, I just, keep seeing that... thing." She says, "Wherever I was, that place, I think that it lives there."

I sit up and rest my back on the headboard of her bed.

"It was feeding there. Feeding on that deer. That means that if Will and Barbara..."

"Hey," Jonathan scoots near her, "My mom said she talked to Will. If he's alive, there's a chance Barbara is, too."

"That means that she's trapped, in that place." She says.

"We have to find it again." I say.

They both turn and look at me, noticing my presence which they failed to do before.

"You wanna go back out there?" Jonathan asks me.

"Maybe we don't have to." Nancy says, "When I saw it, it was feeding on that deer, meaning it's... it's a predator, right?"

"Right." I agree.

"And it seems to hunt at night, like a... a lion or a coyote," Nancy continues, flipping through books on her bed, "But it doesn't hunt in packs like them. It's always alone like... like a bear."

Nancy turns back to me.

"And remember at Steve's, when Barb cut herself? And then, last night, the deer."

"It was bleeding, too." I say.

Nancy grabs another book and points to a picture in it.

"Sharks can detect blood in one part per million, that's one drop of blood in a million, and they can smell it from a quarter mile away." She says.

"So you're saying it can detect blood?" Jonathan asks.

Nancy shakes her head slightly.

"It's just a theory." She says.

"We could test it." I say.

Nancy nods her head.

"But if it works..." Jonathan says.

"At least we'll know it's coming." Nancy says.

Suddenly, the door knob rattles. Nancy's mom talks through the door.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm getting dressed. I'll be down in a second." Nancy says.

We hear the footsteps recede and all take a breath out we didn't know we were holding in. I notice that Jonathan and Nancy's hands are intertwined and then they suddenly break from each other's grasp.

"Your mom doesn't knock?" Jonathan asks.

We all chuckle at his comment.

Before Nancy's mom comes back looking for where she is, we decide to leave through the window. We hop into Jonathan's car and make our way to the nearest hunting store.

We grabbed all kinds of things, bullets, knifes, bear traps, you name it. When we were checking out, the cashier gave us a funny look, but I smiled back at them and they tried to hide the confusion on their face, terribly might I add. We pay for everything and then walk outside to Jonathan's car.

Jonathan opens up his trunk and places a box full of deadly weapons inside and Nancy and I put the bags we were holding from the shop in there as well.

"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?" Nancy says.

"And now you're shopping for bear traps with Jonathan Byers and (Y/N) Hopper?" Jonathan asks.

"Yeah." She says.

"What's the weirdest part," I ask, "Us or the bear traps?"

She pauses for a moment.

"It's definitely you guys." She says.

I smile and Jonathan chuckles, when we hear a car horn beep behind us.

"Hey, Nance," Reed, a student at Hawkins High, says driving by, "Cant wait to see your movie." He laughs and keeps driving.

"What the hell was that?" I ask, looking at Jonathan.

He shrugs and then Nancy turns and starts running. Jonathan and I run after her and yell for her but she keeps going. We make our way down the street and then we see it.

"All the Right Moves Starring Nancy The Slut Wheeler" was spray painted on the local movie theater's sign.

"Jesus." Jonathan says and Nancy sighs.

I put my hand on her shoulder and we hear someone laughing from the alley next to the theater. Nancy breaks from my grip and storms over to the alleyway. I follow closely behind her and we are met with none other than Tommy H., Carol, and King Steve.

"Steve!" I scream at him, rushing up to his figure, Nancy following closely behind me.

He turns to me and his eyes widen.

"Aw, hey there, Princess!" Carol says to Nancy.

I walk up to Steve and push him back forcefully. He stumbles a bit and then walks back up to Nancy and I.

"What's the problem, ladies?" He asks, acting innocent.

I start to feel hot and rage bubbles up inside of me. Without thinking, I slap his face, hard, with the palm of my hand. Tommy and Carol make 'ooh' sounds of surprise.

"What is wrong with you!" I sternly say to him.

"What is wrong with you?" He retorts quickly. He turns to Nancy and continues, "I was worried about you. I can't believe that I was actually worried about you." He scoffs.

"What are you talking about?!" Nancy asks, stepping forward.

I back up a bit and turn around slightly, seeing Jonathan start to walk towards us.

"Speak of the Devil." Tommy says.

Nancy turns to look at Jonathan quickly then back at Steve.

"You came by last night." Nancy says.

"Ding, ding, ding! Does she get a prize?" Carol says sarcastically.

"Look, I don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't like that." Nancy says.

"What, you just let him in your room to... study?" Steve asks.

"Or for another pervy photo session?" Tommy adds, laughing.

"Are you kidding me?" I interject, "I was there too, we were all just hanging out, nothing was going on!" I exclaim.

"Like I can trust you, (Y/N). You wouldn't say anything to incriminate yourself cause your father is the Chief of police," Steve says, pausing for a moment, "And who knows what you were doing with them, you're a freak too."

I feel my eyes start to water and I want to blow up in his face before Nancy continues.

"We were just—"

"You were just what," Steve questions, "Finish that sentence." He steps closer to her, getting right in her face. "Finish... the sentence."

Nancy stays silent and he starts to back up and scoffs.

"Go to hell, Nancy." He says.

I grab Nancy's arm and pull her back.

"Come on, Nancy, let's just leave." I say.

Steve then steps towards Jonathan.

"You know what, Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed," Steve pushes Jonathan's shoulder, "I always took you for a queer, but I guess you're just a little screw-up like your father."

Steve continues to push Jonathan while we walk away.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know, I guess, I shouldn't really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family..."

Jonathan stops walking and Nancy and I try to get him to leave it.

"...I mean, your mom. I'm not even surprised what happened to your brother. I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers', their family, it's a disgrace to the entire—"

Jonathan quickly turns around and cuts Steve off by punching him hard in the face. Steve stumbles back and grabs his face. He looks at Jonathan and then tackles him, pinning him up against the hood of his car. He then throws Jonathan on the ground. The wrestle for a second and then Jonathan flips Steve over, pinning Steve underneath his legs. Steve knees Jonathan and Jonathan lets him up. Jonathan lands another punch on Steve and Tommy tries to hold Jonathan back. Steve shoos Tommy away and Jonathan goes for another punch, missing as Steve ducks underneath and then punches Jonathan in the face. Jonathan recovers quickly and sends a few blows to Steve, knocking him on the ground.

Nancy and I protest to Jonathan and beg for him to stop, but he does not give up. He gets on top of Steve and continues to send multiple blows to his face.

Suddenly, a siren is heard from behind us and a police car pulls into the alleyway. Jonathan continues to punch Steve until the two officers have to pull Jonathan off of Steve. Steve runs off with Tommy and Carol while one officer tries to chase after them. The other officer pins Jonathan on the hood of the car and handcuffs him.

"Get off!" Jonathan says.

"Is this necessary?" I ask.

"Shut up before I cuff you too!" The officer says. He turns around and grabs Jonathan, leading him to the police car. Once he's settled him in the back, he walks back over to Nancy and I.

"(Y/N), what the hell are you doing out here?" He says to me. I put my hands on my face and groan.

"C'mon." He says to Nancy and I, waving us over to the car and getting in the backseat with Jonathan.

We drive to the station and the police officer sits us at a desk. I walk over to the fridge in the break area and grab some ice, wrapping it in a cloth to take back to Jonathan. I walk back to the desk that Nancy and Jonathan are sitting at and hand Nancy the ice as I walk behind them to sit next to Jonathan. She places the ice on his face and I grab a paper and pen from the desk and start to sketch to take my mind off of things. Nancy and Jonathan talk to each other but I don't listen to what they are saying. All I could think about was all the nasty things Steve had said.

I felt worthless. I know I shouldn't care about what other people say about me, but it's easier said then done. Steve wasn't just some random person. I pushed the feelings I had for him way down as I sketched the picture on my piece of paper. How could I still possibly have any feelings for Steve after what he said. Especially what he said about Will after he saw how distraught I was over the whole situation.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts, and my scribbles, by the sound of hurried footsteps and a familiar voice.

"Jonathan?" Joyce asks as she walks up to us. "Jesus... what happened?"

I look up and I'm immediately met with my fathers disappointed stare. I look back down as he starts to walk over.

"Why is he wearing handcuffs?" Joyce asks.

"Well, your boy assaulted a police officer. That's why." One of the cops at the scene earlier says.

"Take them off." Joyce demands.

"I am afraid I cannot do that." He says.

"Take them off!" Joyce yells.

"You heard her. Take 'em off." Hopper says.

"Chief, I get everyone's emotional here, but there's something you need to see."