CHAPTER 2
TRICK OR TREAT, FREAK

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   Halloween used to be Laurel's favourite holiday, until the Halloween of 7th grade when she came to school dressed as a Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and she was the only one in costume. Many stares, many memories, all bad. Never again. Now her favourite was Christmas. But today was Halloween, and for the first time she wasn't cringing at her past mistakes.

"I just don't get what she sees in him," Jonathan said from beside her as he drove both his siblings to Will's friend's house.

"What?" Will said from the back, almost in as much as a daze as Laurel was.

"Bob," Jonathan replied, glancing at both siblings for their opinions. Their mother had a new boyfriend, Bob. Laurel was probably the only one out of the three who felt closest to him, somehow he came at a time where she needed someone that didn't know her, someone she could confide in without them asking questions. He was there when her father wasn't, and that's all that mattered. Also he was so good to Joyce she couldn't help but enjoy his presence.

"Well, I like him, and Mom really likes him too, Laurel replied, picking at her fingernails. She could practically feel her therapist's stare piercing through her mind. She thought she might have appeared in thin air if she even placed them near her mouth, so she quickly tucked her hands under her thighs.

"At least he doesn't treat me different," Will stated, glancing out the window. "I can't even go trick or treating by myself, it's lame."

Jonathan scoffed. "You think we're lame?"

Yes, they definitely were, but maybe not to their little brother.

"No, but...it's not like Nancy's coming over to watch over Mike, y'know."

Jonathan could practically feel Laurel sulk into her seat at the mention of her name.

Not soon after, they appeared in front of Mike's house, where both siblings were told to watch over them while trick or treating. Well, at least one of them had to, but since both didn't wanna do much on Halloween they decided it'd be more enjoyable going together.

As Will began leaving the car, Jonathan and Laurel gave each other a knowing look, before she nodded in agreement. Twins had a way of knowing each other's thoughts sometimes. Well, at least the Byers twins. Jonathan then turned around in his seat. "Hey listen."

"Yeah?"

"If we let you go on your own, you promise to stay in the neighbourhood?"

Will's frown immediately stretched into a grin. "Yeah, totally!"

"And you'll be back at Mike's by 9?" Laurel asked, turning behind her with raised eyebrows.

"9...30?"

"9," the twins said at the same time.

"Deal?" Jonathan said.

"Yeah, deal," Will agreed, shaking both of their hands before excitedly running out of the car.

"Hey Will, don't let any of your spazzy friends use this, alright?" Jonathan added on, handing him his ghostbuster...ghost sucker upper...vacuum thing. Okay, she watched the movie with Will, but she must have fallen asleep.

"I hope, it doesn't, suck," Jonathan continued in a vampire-ish voice.

Laurel immediately shook her head. "That was awful."

"You're awful," he mumbled playfully, watching Will catch up with his friends as they headed off to snatch some candy.

"So...where to now?" Laurel asked, the sudden realization hitting her that on Halloween night the Byers twins had nothing to do. She knew Jonathan wasn't keen on staying in the house with Bob as he dressed up embarrassingly (not to himself at least), so it didn't take long to realize what he had in mind when he pulled out a familiar orange paper.

A tight feeling ached her stomach, tilting her head to the side. "Really? A party?"

"What else are we gonna do?"

"Well...I don't have a costume anyway."

"Now you do," he said, suddenly pulling out bunny ears from the back seat. Laurel let out a small chuckle, putting them on her head. "These are so old, from like..."

"When we were 11, I think."

Laurel nodded, letting out a deep sigh before turning back towards the road. "Fine, but next movie night I get to pick the film."

"Deal."

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They weren't kidding when they said it would be the best party of the year. Laurel always guessed that was just a selling tactic, but even the yard of the house was filled with drunk, dressed up teenagers. God knows how many were on the inside.

Jonathan led her around, trying not to get her too lost since he could practically feel the anxiety ripple off of her.

"Nice costume," a girl said behind them, as the two turned around. She was looking at Jonathan, even if Laurel was the only one out of the pair wearing anything costume related.

"Thanks, I'm going as a guy who hates parties," he said, making her chuckle. The two started conversing, as Laurel awkwardly wandered off, trying not to cringe at her brother's social skills (even if hers was worse).

Her body suddenly tightened at the sight of Steve Harrington dancing happily with Nancy to some pop song. Turning around, she head back towards Jonathan. At least she felt safer knowing somebody at the party. That girl wasn't there anymore though, as the two leaned on the wall, trying to find something to do.

Not too long after, the whole crowd had stopped moving, and Laurel's eyes drifted towards where everyone was looking. Her eyes squinted at the scene, wondering what had happened. Nancy was standing with her back to her, Steve facing her. Suddenly she stormed off to the bathroom, Laurel's heart sinking at the stain on her shirt that Steve must have caused. He ran after her of course, and even Laurel thought about joining, but her body stopped herself.

"You should go talk to her," Jonathan said, nudging his twin's side. Laurel rubbed her stomach, being the same side her wound was on. Thanks Jonathan, now you've made it even more itchy.

But the strange pain of the cut was ignored when Steve suddenly stormed out of the bathroom, brushing past the two and out the back door. They must have had a fight. She almost smiled at that, but then she came to her senses, realizing she had two choices. One, talk to Nancy. Two, talk to Steve. Talking to Steve seemed like a way easier option, so that's what she did.

Walking out the sliding door of the backyard, where only a few other people were hanging out, Laurel cautiously stood behind Steve, who was sitting on the back porch steps. He had heard somebody coming through, but he never expected it to be Laurel.

"Fun party, huh?" Laurel said, making Steve's eyebrows furrow for a second before accepting her appearance, feeling her sit down beside him. They were on either side of the steps, staring out at the dark backyard.

"Yeah, just fantastic." She could sense the sarcasm quite clearly. Glancing to her right, she tried to study his face, but it was too dark to tell. He was fiddling with the glasses in his hands, staring out into nothing.

Laurel thought about it for a moment, realizing Nancy probably wasn't in the greatest shape at the moment. "I can take her home."

Steve glanced over for a moment, nodding in agreement. No thanks were given, but she could still sense he felt it.

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Nancy was heavier than she remembered. Maybe it was because she was practically unconscious and all her weight was pushed onto Laurel's side as she helped her up the stairs and into her room.

By now she had woken up a bit, stumbling around the room till she found her bed, flopping down onto it. The last time they were in this room, they had slept in the same bed after the incident in the upside-down. With caution and a fastly beating heart, Laurel slid Nancy's shoes off, placed her feet up on the bed, and pulled the covers over her body.

Laurel's body froze when she felt a hand on her arm, Nancy's eyes barely open as they stared quizzically at her.

"Steve?"

Of course she'd say Steve. It was Steve, and it would always be Steve. Laurel was never in the picture. But somehow, Nancy couldn't seem to get out of her own. Holding back the tears, she left the room, pushing down any old feelings she had.

It seemed that they were only and ever going to be friends.

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All that could be seen was darkness, which in reality was nothing. Until suddenly it was everything. Everything she knew, everything familiar to her, but much more dark, and gruesome, and unearthly. She could walk through her house, as if it was Sunday morning with her family eating breakfast at the table, except they were replaced with dark vines and eerie sounds that made the hairs on the back of her head stand tall.

This wasn't home.

But something was familiar. A call in the void, a noise that so desperately drew her to him. The front door, or what was left of it, swung open, slamming against the wall as an invisible wind pushed it open, revealing a dark entity, swarming around a small child. It grew, and grew, until it swallowed it whole.

Everything flashed and Laurel gasped, jolting upwards and glancing around. It was so dark, so dark she could almost feel the dream seep through into reality. With a shaking hand, she switched her lamp on, letting out a jagged sigh of relief when she found herself in her own room. Not the bad room, her room. It was just a dream.

But every dark and deep thought inside her brain told her otherwise. Even the cut on her side burned, as if it was a signal, telling her she was still connected to the dream.

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that cut is very very strange hmmmm also?? #stophurtinglaurel2k18.

oh wait. im the author. i could stop that.

siKe