CHAPTER 14
THINGS YOU CAN'T FORGET

IT took at least an hour to find their way out of the woods. Veronica thought the town of Hawkins was so small and it was easy to find your way around it, but in this instance, she was wrong. Her hands grew cold during the walk, and she found one of them slipping to intertwine itself with Steve's. The exchange was awkward as one sweaty palm met another, but neither acknowledged it, as if them holding hands was normal. Maybe it was.

Friends don't normally hold hands, Steve had said. Maybe they just weren't normal, or maybe he had been right. Although the two had known each other for most of high school, they had only begun hanging around each other again for more than a week. Maybe that was all they needed. Teenagers moved fast, and only within a week of getting to know this new Steve Harrington, Veronica found her normally-cold heart beating fast for him. The kids behind them giggled softly at the exchange.

They approached the edge of the woods together, and Veronica shined her flashlight ahead, noticing a car parked through the trees. Her brow furrowed when she saw the headlights of car were on. "Hello?" A voice exclaimed from outside the woods. "Who's there?!"

Holding flashlights and sports equipment punctured with nails, Steve and Veronica descended from the woods, the kids following behind them. Veronica lifted her flashlight, blinding a frightened Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. Upon noticing Steve's ex-girlfriend, Veronica immediately retracted her hand away from the boy beside her, wiping the sweat from her palms on her jeans.

"Steve?!" Nancy exclaimed, her nose wrinkling.

Steve lowered his flashlight. "Nancy?"

Jonathan cupped a hand around his eyes to see. "Veronica Moreda?" He stared at the blue-haired girl with confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Could ask you the same thing, Byers," Veronica replied as the group approached the other. "Let's say I accidentally got involved in something I ... didn't want to be in." She shrugged.

"We're looking for my brother and Will," Nancy answered matter-of-factly.

Dustin glanced at the lab. "They're not in there, are they?"

Nancy looked between Dustin and Steve. "We're ... not sure."

"Why?" asked Jonathan.

"Well," Veronica chuckled the slightest bit and put her hands on her hips. "You see –"

A roar echoed like a boom from inside Hawkins' Lab. It continued for several seconds as the lab's lights flickered on and off. Veronica swallowed down the lump in her throat, eyes moving around the parking lot in front of the lab. Spotting a familiar car, she began to walk away from the group, even when Steve called her name.

Veronica kept going. She walked past the car gate and into the dark parking lot, but she couldn't get past a black fence She stopped suddenly, seeing the one car she didn't want to see parked in front of the building: her father's cruiser. The dull, gray and brown car with paint chipping off sat idly, just ten feet away from her. Veronica's eyes went wide and they filled with tears, even though she couldn't feel them slide down her cheeks. Veronica's mouth went agape. When she turned, she realized Steve had walked ahead, but stopped just a few feet from her.

Steve's mouth opened, though he didn't know what to say as he saw the fear in her eyes. "What's wrong, Ronnie?"

Veronica quickly looked back to the lab, and her father's cruiser remained parked in the front. It wasn't a dream. This was real.

"That's my dad's cruiser," she muttered, feeling the adrenaline suddenly rush to her head again. Veronica's hands formed into fists, and she started to sprint. She planned on jumping the fence. "I have to go find him."

Steve rushed then, forcibly grabbing her arm to bring her back. "Oh, no, you don't –"

Veronica's chest collided with his own, and it hurt from the impact. She hoped he didn't feel the quickness of her heartbeat as she shoved him away. Anger ran through her veins like a disease. "DO YOU NOT GET IT?!" Her outburst filled the whole parking lot. "MY FUCKING DAD IS IN THERE! WITH ... WITH THOSE MONSTERS!"

"We just ..." Dustin spoke up loudly, trying to think of a solution. He appeared beside Steve and stared at the frazzled Veronica Moreda with fear. "We just need to get the entrance to open!"

Veronica's hands went to her hair, and she tugged slightly on the faded blue strands. "What do you guys not understand about my dad is in that lab?!" She exclaimed as the rest of the kids surrounded her in a circle. She glanced to each and every one of them, even Jonathan Byers. "Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!"

Out of nowhere, a loud boom occurred, startling Veronica from her crazed position. Nancy walked ahead of the group, cocking a brow upwards. The lights of the lab immediately turned on. "The power's back!" She said, spinning around to grin at the rest of the group.

They ran back to the gate, where Jonathan's car was still running. The older Byers sibling rushed to the entrance's control booth that usually house security. He climbed inside and began hitting the open button, but it didn't budge. Veronica hugged her arms around herself from the whisking wind, biting her lip in nervousness. She would kill to smoke right now.

"Lemme try," Dustin said, pushing Jonathan out of the booth. He pressed the same button again. Still nothing. "Son of a bitch!"

Veronica tapped her foot anxiously. "Let's hurry this up, boys." Steve cautiously slid his arm around her shoulders, looking away as he did so. Veronica immediately pushed his arm off. Nancy watched the confrontation with a raised brow.

Dustin started shoving his elbow into the button, somehow thinking that would make it open. Veronica rolled her eyes and bit the ends of her nails. "I swear, guys," Dustin assured. He gave them a thumbs up. "I think I got –"

A beep sounded. The fenced in gate slowly moved open for them with ease. Veronica watched the entrance slide to the side, mouth falling open. "Hey!" Dustin grinned wide. He laughed nervously. "Told you guys I would get it!"

•••

Inside the lab, the adults received a spot of luck. Joyce's boyfriend, Bob, had volunteered to divert the group to get inside the lab's main control center. He was the person behind turning on the electricity and door access. Edward, Joyce, Hopper, Doctor Owens, Mike Wheeler, and an unconscious Will were cooped up in the security closet, but when Bob unlocked the access to the lab, they were finally given a time to leave.

Hopper lugged Will over his shoulder with one hand, and the other held a full rifle. Joyce swallowed hard as her hand went to the doorknob. "Wait a second, Chief," Doctor Owens called, to which Hopper turned. "Take this." He handed him a walkie talkie, leaving Edward to believe that he was staying behind. "Any more surprises, I'll let you guys know."

"You can't stay here," Edward said.

"And neither can you, Officer. Go." The doctor looked at them sternly. He gestured with his hands for them to move. "Go!"

Hopper stepped out of the room first, his rifle pointed directly ahead of him. Will Byers hung on his shoulder like a doll. Mike and Joyce followed, and Edward closed the security closet with his pistol out in front of him. Edward felt his hands shake, but he tried to ignore it. He thought of his daughter, and how she would hate for him to die in a silly moment like this. She would curse his grave if she found out. Edward felt the fear grow in his stomach.

He had to do this. For Veronica.

They were going to meet Bob at the closest entrance, which was just down the hall from the security closet. The group sprinted quietly through the dirty corridor, and Edward found his eyes widening at the sight of all the bloodied lab workers lying on the floor. After a few short moments, they found the exit in a conference room. Hopper rushed out, holding Will tightly by his shoulder. Mike pushed on the door to open, and the two males ran out. Joyce Byers stayed behind, clutching the cement wall as she waited for her boyfriend. Edward halted his movements suddenly, asking, "What are you doing?"

"Go without me, Edward." She insisted. "I'll catch up."

Edward didn't listen though. He stayed close behind Joyce, his back leaning on the opened exit door. The sign above it was the only source of light in the room. Edward held out his pistol, lip quivering with anxiety. Joyce whispered to herself, "C'mon, Bob. C'mon."

It took several minutes. Almost five. But those five minutes were the longest of Edward's life. He found his breath finally releasing when Bob burst through the conference doors, and he quickly locked them closed. Edward heard loud shrieks on the other side and they didn't sound human. "Bob!" Joyce exclaimed with delight.

Bob, who had been crouching down, slowly stood up. When his eyes landed on Joyce, he smiled. Joyce's eyes welled up with tears. Edward slowly lowered his gun.

And that was when the doors opened.

A Demodog sprang into the ground, face fully opened with its teeth bared. It tore into Bob's neck, and it took Edward a full ten seconds to react because he was so caught of guard. Joyce screamed in agony. Edward felt his world go in slow motion as he lifted his pistol and began shooting repeatedly. Saliva oozed from the creature's mouth as Edward punctured it with his bullets, but all the Demodog did was growl at him.

As if on command, two other Demodogs ran into the room. Then another. And another. And another. Edward definitely didn't have enough rounds. He tugged on Joyce's arm as she shrieked and hollered and cried until her eyes turned red. "We need to go!" Edward called.

"NO!" She screeched, kneeling on the dirty aluminum floor.

They needed to move. Edward immediately grabbed Joyce's under arm and hauled her up. He dragged her out of the lab, despite her protests. Her screams pieced his ears like a siren, and as soon as the exit doors closed behind them, more Demodogs collided themselves into the door. Edward, with a crying Joyce, met up with the others, and they ran to a car waiting for them a few feet away. The boy who came over his house once to work with his daughter on a project, Joyce's oldest boy, was driving the car, screaming for them to get in. Edward didn't have time to think. He did as the teenager said.

Out of all the things Edward had seen as a police officer, the one thing he knew he'd never forget was seeing a man's heart being eaten out of his chest by a creature from his nightmares. And he wished – oh, god, he wished – he could forget.

( made by JustSav )