CHAPTER 5
THE FLEA AND THE ACROBAT

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Finally, things felt like they were coming along. Even after the supposed death of her brother, meeting with Nancy felt right. It barely felt real, but there she was, willing to talk to her. To Laurel Byers. Those kinds of things only happened in Laurel's head when she'd day dream at the bookstore, but somehow it was real.

Laurel sighed, pushing herself out of her thoughts, as well as out of the car. Jonathan had picked her up after the funeral meeting ended to get back home. As they opened the door, Jonathan stopped midway. Closing the door, Laurel's face contorted in confusion till she turned and met eyes with a man that made her stomach clench in anger and fear.

"Hey kids," their father greeted. It was so unexpected, but expected at the same time, that the twins stood awkwardly by the doorway. Of course Laurel knew if there was a funeral, her Dad would have to be dragged down to Hawkins. The death of his own child would be the only thing that would even make him think about coming back home.

"What's going on?" Jonathan said, as Laurel stood beside him, unable to speak for herself.

"Your dad's, uh...gonna stay here tonight. O-on the couch," Joyce explained, sitting beside him on said couch.

"Yeah, I'm here as long as you need me, okay? How you guys holdin' up?"

Jonathan clearly avoided his question, marching forward to inspect the covered up hole in the wall. Laurel barely even had time to notice the large hole or how much of a disaster their home looked, with all of her mom's christmas lights hanging from every inch of the ceiling. She was distracted by the elephant in the room. More specifically, the biggest elephant in the room.

Until her brother started talking.

"What happened?" Jonathan asked, looking behind the tarp.

"Don't worry about that..."

Laurel soon began to pay attention, realizing what this hole could mean. "Mom, the thing you saw before, did it come back?" She asked, stepping towards Joyce.

"Laurel, that's enough," Lonnie, her father, said sternly while turning his head to look at his daughter.

The twins shared a quick glance, a thing they did a lot, as if they had a silent connection. She had explained what she saw in the photograph to Jonathan, but even if he didn't quite believe or understand her, he understood what the silence told him; he knew what Laurel wanted.

"Can we talk...alone?" Jonathan said to his father. Reluctantly, Lonnie followed Jonathan into his bedroom, slamming the door shut, leaving Joyce and Laurel alone. Jonathan was better at speaking to Lonnie anyways.

As Laurel stood staring at the shut door, her head turned to see her mother patting the seat beside her. As she sat down, she had the plan in her head. She would ask her mother about the monster. She'd tell her about the photograph. But then she realized she'd have to explain how Nancy got ahold of it, and she didn't want her mother to worry. Laurel was always the first one Joyce worried about, whether it was school, health, or home life. And especially bullying. It was too soon to worry her mother like that.

"Sweetie, are you even listening to me?" Joyce asked, taking Laurel out of her thoughts again, something that a lot of people had to do these days. Being in her thoughts was like being stuck is a dark, deep hole that she couldn't get out of herself.

"W-what? Sorry, what did you say?" Laurel replied, shaking her head.

"I asked you if you had anything to tell me, you wanted to know about the-the monster?"

Laurel quickly shook her head. "No...I was just...curious, but i-it's fine."

Joyce opened her mouth to speak before the bedroom door swung open, her father strolling out.

He gave a quick glance at Laurel. "Funeral. Tomorrow. Wear something nice. Going out for a bit." And with that, he was gone, leaving Laurel to her own thoughts again.

_____

Luckily, Laurel had a spare black dress around, even thought it was hard to come by. A few years ago their grandmother, who they had barely spoken to, had died, leaving Laurel to search for a dress. Luckily she didn't change in size much. A little small, but that didn't matter.

Laurel sat at her desk, mirror in front of her on the wall, and pieces of makeup scattered around her. Her face was sunken in from lack of food, but she couldn't change the fact that she didn't feel hungry most of the time. The bags under her eyes had gotten worse, since last night's sleep was almost non-existent. It wasn't because of the death, it was the lack of focus, and the fact that this situation wasn't just what was on the surface. There was more to this so-called death, and Laurel was intended to figure out what was missing.

With the little makeup she had, she quickly covered up her dark spots, leaving her face looking like she had a perfect night's sleep, which she was intending to do. Glancing at her flower themed calendar on her wall, she noticed the dates of her work hours, her heart almost skipping a few beats, before remembering that Betty, the owner of the bookshop, told her that she could take the week off work after hearing about what happened to Will. Taking a deep breath, Laurel pulled a strand of hair back with a black barrette, smoothing out her tight, black, long sleeved dress.

Laurel jumped slightly at the knock on her door, glancing to her mirror to see her brother by the doorway. "You good?"

"Yeah."

That was a lie.

The funeral, held a few hours later, was quite disatisfying. She knew her mother felt the same, she knew exactly what her mother was thinking. She didn't believe that her son's body was in that casket, and Laurel started to not believe it either. The chilly, fall air stung Laurel's cheeks, staining them red and cold. Luckily she had brought a dark brown jacket with her, which wasn't so formal, leaving her father to shake his head when he saw her walk out with it on. But she didn't care about his opinions, not anymore.

Most of the words that came out of the funeral speaker's mouth had flew past Laurel like the wind, as if she was underwater again. Sometimes she liked being underwater, then she didn't have to pay attention to the cruelty of the outside world. She was just with thoughts, and no one else could hurt her.

Soon enough, the casket was being lowered into the ground, and Will's body would be buried, 6 feet under. A few roses were thrown in, but only by guests of the funeral. Laurel knew Joyce wouldn't, she barely wanted to come to this thing. It felt so real, but it felt so wrong. This funeral was a paradox, along with the death of her brother.

Laurel was quick to rush off after the funeral had ended, since Nancy had nodded her head towards the front entrance to the cemetery, meaning they needed to talk.

"Thanks for coming, by the way," Laurel spoke for the first time in awhile, walking through the front gate, hands in her pockets to protect them from the cold.

"I would never miss something like this."

That made Laurel's lips curl into a smile for a moment.

Nancy made a little oh sound before pulling something out of her pocket, sitting on the ground. Laurel joined her, staring at the piece of paper in her hand.

"It's a map, I found it in one of my Dad's files," Nancy explained while showing Laurel the map of Hawkins, mostly near both of their houses. It seemed as though Nancy had drawn on it herself with red marker, showing important spots.

"So...we know it's been here," Laurel said, pointing to a spot.

"And that's Steve's house."

"And there's the woods, the place they found Will's bike. There's my house."

"It's all so close," Nancy commented, making Laurel agree with a nod.

"Exactly. It's all within a mile or something. Whatever this is, it doesn't travel far." Laurel glanced up from the map to Nancy, who was staring right at her, making a lump form in Laurel's throat at their close proximity.

Nancy seemed to know what her plan was. "You wanna go out there."

Even if she didn't wanna admit it to herself, some courageous part of Laurel wanted to find Will herself. She nodded in response."I mean...we might not find anything-"

"I found something."

Laurel sighed, nodding in agreement.

"And if we do see it," she continued, "then what?"

Laurel took her eyes away from Nancy, staring at the forest in front of her. There was no holding back her true feelings here. "We kill it." It wasn't like Laurel to be so upfront, especially with something so out of the ordinary. Laurel could barely hurt a fly, but so much had changed over the course of one weeks that she wasn't herself anymore.

She couldn't tell her mother about this, not even her brother. They wouldn't allow it.

Laurel had somehow made her way to her father's car, knowing what was inside would be of major help. He always used to love to boast about how he'd protect his family in a heartbeat with the pistol in his glove box. So that's where Laurel was.

"What are you doing?" Nancy asked from outside the car.

"Just a second..." Laurel mumbled, finally getting the glove box opened and holding the gun in her hand. The object felt so foreign, as if it wasn't meant to be placed in such innocent hands. Laurel quickly grabbed a pack of bullets, shoving it in her pocket.

"Are you serious?" Nancy questioned, noticing the weapon. She doubted how vengeful Laurel was feeling towards this monster.

"We need to kill it. So, we need a gun," Laurel explained while pushing herself out of the car, closing the door, and shoving the gun in her pocket as well.

"This is a terrible idea," Nancy said while crossing her arms.

"It's the best we've got."

Nancy couldn't argue with that.

_____

A few hours had passed before they met up again, this time changed into normal fall, outdoor attire and in the woods near their houses. Laurel had a brown, corduroy skirt with a beige, knitted sweater, and a pair of tights underneath to shield her legs from the cold. She also sported the same, warm jacket as before too, hair tied up in a loose ponytail (or whatever she was able to create with her short hair).

Nancy and Laurel had both practiced at a makeshift shooting range for a bit, seeing as neither of them had experience with a gun. Laurel had second hand experience, since on their 10th birthday she watched her father show Jonathan how to shoot a rabbit, but he wouldn't allow her to try. He only gifted her 2 ten dollar bills to spend on anything she wanted.

Laurel always had a feeling her father favoured his son over his daughter.

The two girls continued their walk through the forest, scouting the area to try and find something; anything worthwhile. They spent most of their walk in silence before Laurel felt Nancy's gaze on her.

"You never said what was underneath," she said, making a confused look cross Laurel's face.

"What?" Laurel mumbled.

"Yesterday you said when you take a photo you can see the person underneath, that's why you took my picture. Who am I underneath all this?" Nancy replied. Laurel gulped in worry, not wanting to get into that conversation. But she didn't want to leave Nancy hanging.

"Oh, um...I don't know really..." she trailed off, thinking of any possible ways to change the subject. Sadly Nancy gave her that one look where she knew she couldn't leave her with a bad answer, or no answer at all. Laurel could never imagine hurting Nancy.

"I guess...when you look hard enough, you see a small town girl, not trying to be like everyone else, y'know, just being herself..." Laurel stumbled out while swinging Nancy's bat in her hands lightly around her.

A look of hurt crossed over Nancy's face, one that made Laurel's stomach twist into a knot; this is exactly what she didn't want. "That is such bullshit."

Laurel stopped in her path as Nancy walked further along. "W-what?"

Nancy spun around. "I am not trying to be someone else. Just because I'm dating Steve and you don't like him-"

"I never said I didn't like him..." Laurel said softly. That was mainly to calm her down, she did really hate Steve. And arguing was never her forte, along with raising her voice. "Whatever, ignore what I said."

Laurel brushed past Nancy, and almost immediately regretting it. Even if her voice was as soft as a mouse, there was anger laced through her tone and actions.

Laurel could hear Nancy coming after her. "Steve's actually a good guy!"

"I believe you." Another lie.

"Yesterday, with the camera...he's not like that, at all," Nancy continued, trying to get her point across while catching up to Laurel, standing in front of her. "He was just being protective."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it," Laurel said with tears threatening to fall from her eyes at the thought of that moment.

Laurel began to walk away until Nancy spoke up again. "Oh, and I guess what you did was okay?"

"N-no, I never said that either." Laurel was beginning to feel heated up, as if she'd break at any moment.

"He had every right to be pissed-"

"That was my brother's gift to me!" Laurel shouted, spinning on her heal. Nancy jolted back, surprised at her tone of voice. Laurel's throat clammed shut at the ferocity of her emotions. She almost reached for her inhaler, but she didn't get it, just yet.

Laurel calmed herself down with a deep breath before resuming her statement. "Just because he's your boyfriend, doesn't mean I have to like him. He broke something valuable to me, and humiliated me, so sorry if I feel a little angry towards him."

Nancy gulped, opening her mouth to say something before Laurel interrupted again. "Look, don't take it personally, not a lot of people like my family, and I guess I don't like many people either."

Laurel took the time while ripping her eyes away from Nancy's and continuing walking to take a breath from her inhaler. That's when she heard Nancy speak up, once again. "You know, I was actually starting to like you."

The rest of her words seemed to drift away, because those last words she heard felt like a stab in the heart. Nancy Wheeler hated her, and they had only known each other for less than a week. Laurel's fists clenched, knuckles bleeding white while her fingernails dug into her palms.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Laurel spat while spinning on her heal again. "Nancy Wheeler, not just some suburban girl who looks like everyone else and does what everyone tells her to do. Nancy Wheeler, that girl who doesn't break down crying when she gets lower than an 80% on her test, because she doesn't care about what the school system thinks about her. Nancy Wheeler, the girl who isn't just a pretty face in a bookstore, but someone who genuinely enjoys reading novels when everyone else thinks they're boring."

Laurel's throat closed in on itself at the last word she spoke, feeling a tightness in her chest. She just said that. In front of Nancy Wheeler. It wasn't a dream, because Nancy was staring right back, awestruck at her words.

Laurel would hope she'd forget that last sentence, but she didn't. "You remember me from the bookstore?"

Of course she would, no one could forget Nancy's eyes lighting up when she read a particular paragraph she liked. No one could forget the way she chewed on her bottom lip while thinking. No one could forget Nancy Wheeler, especially Laurel Byers.

"Yeah."

And with that, Laurel turned around, for hopefully the final time that day, and hurried off into a random direction. Nancy followed suit slowly, but kept her mouth shut.

At least she didn't bring the part up that she said she had a pretty face, that would have probably make Laurel melt into the ground in embarrassment.

_____

It was already dark out, and the only lights that could be seen was from their flashlights. Neither of them had spoken a word to each other, besides the odd ask for direction or granola bar. Nancy seemed to realize that maybe Laurel didn't want to talk about Steve, or the camera situation. So she kept her mouth shut.

There was no wind, but the night air still bit at their skin, making Laurel hug her coat tightly, trying to ignore the sight of her breath. She was determined to find something, anything, out here.

Suddenly the sound of Nancy's footsteps stopped, and Laurel turned around, looking her in the eyes for the first time in hours. She wasn't looking back, but she was in her head, thinking about something.

Laurel finally built up the courage to be the one to speak first. "What are you-"

"Shut up."

Laurel's eyebrows raised. "What?"

Nancy's eyes were glued to the distance. "I heard something."

A faint sound of whimpering filled Laurel's ears, which had to be the sound Nancy was hearing too. The two girls cautiously followed the noise, trekking along the forest floor blindly. Finally the noise got louder, and it was more recognizable to be an animal's whines.

A small deer laid on the ground near a few bushes, whimpering in pain. Blood could be seen coating its fur.

"Oh God..." Nancy whispered, looking at the deer in sympathy. Laurel couldn't help but wonder how this had happened, but she did feel bad for the poor animal. The two were so close they could touch it. Nancy bent down, Laurel doing the same.

"It's been hit by a car..." Nancy assumed, reaching out to touch the deer's leg, but even a comforting touch couldn't stop its pain. Nancy turned to Laurel. "We can't just leave it."

Both girls then glanced down to the gun in Nancy's hand. There was only one thing that could be done, to put it out of its misery. Nancy could barely bring herself to raise the gun.

"I can do it," Laurel offered, holding her hand out for Nancy to give her the gun. Reluctantly, she passed it over to Laurel, but she was barely any better. Taking a swig of air from her inhaler, Laurel placed it back in her pocket, pointed the pistol at its head, and tried to look away from the target area. Both stood back up, preparing for the awful sound of a life ending. This much power in Laurel's hands frightened her, but it was the right thing to do.

The girl who could barely hurt a fly was about to kill a deer.

Laurel cocked the gun, trying not to let the tears fall as the animal looked up at her in sadness.

The deer swung into the bushes, a loud rustling sound startling the two girls, making Laurel squeal in shock, placing a hand over her mouth. Something had just pulled the animal into the bushes. Her heart was beating out of her chest, blood pumping in her ears in fright.

"What was that?" Nancy asked, eyes locked onto the bush. Laurel didn't want to know, but her guess was the mysterious figure from the photo.

It was here.

Taking another breath from her inhaler, the two girls reluctantly followed the trail of blood. It ran past the bushes, and out onto the leaves and dirt. It was them versus the monster, and they were outskilled. This thing could have gone anywhere. The gun in her hand shook, as well as the flashlight, and it wasn't because she was cold.

With each step, Laurel and Nancy went their separate ways, trying to follow any sign of this deer. Laurel felt a little more relaxed now, as she just needed to find any trace of blood. The leaves under her boots crunched, leaving the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Everytime she raised her flashlight she expected to see a figure, maybe a monster, but nothing.

There was absolutely nothing.

Until she heard a scream. Nancy's scream.

Laurel's head spun around, gasping. "NANCY!" She shouted, running towards the source of the noise. Everywhere she looked, she couldn't find her, but that was definitely real.

Laurel stopped mid-run, staring at Nancy's bag on the ground. Whipping her head around, she tried to spot her, but she was nowhere in sight. "Nancy?" She called out again, panting harshly from the long run.

She kept calling out her name, but no response came, and Laurel felt as though she could be drowning again, deep in her thoughts, away from this world.

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woahhhhh lots of shit going down!! also love how laurel basically blurted out the fact that she loves staring at nancy at the bookstore👌🏻