"How can you just leave me standing?
Alone in a world that's so cold?
Maybe I'm just too demanding"

When Doves Cry
By Prince (1984)

The three sat silently in the car whilst Hammer to fall played from the stereo as they approached the Henderson's house in the dark night."Wait a sec. How big?" Steve looked in his rearview mirror at Dustin who looked back at him, his walkie headset firmly on his head. "First it was like that. Now he's like this." Dustin indicated with his hands the size of the rapidly growing slug. Valerie rested her head against the window next to her, trying to get a little bit of rest because she knew that it would be a long ass night. "I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?" Valerie gave out a humorless chuckle as he could somehow believe in the Demogorgon but not a giant slug.

"It's not a lizard." Valerie smiled as she rolled her head over the headrest to give him a sarcastic look. "How do you know?" Valerie sighed before turning her head to look out of the window, leaving her brother to explain as she had already lost patience. "How do I know if it's not?" Dustin asked in disbelief at Steve's questions. "How do you know it's not just a lizard?" Steve tried to rationalize the situation but was shut down instantly as Valerie spoke the sentence in a calm tone, sick of the two. "Because his face opened up and he ate our cat." As she turned and looked at him, his eyes were wide as he kept glancing at her whilst also trying to keep his eyes on the road. She nodded slowly as they pulled into the house's driveway causing the three to jump out and whilst Steve and her brother got the dangerous baseball bat, Valerie stood at the door.

Steve walked over with a flashlight in hand, pointing it at the door where no sounds could be heard. "I don't hear shit." Valerie's eyebrows furrowed as she tapped her foot on the metal, making an echoing sound followed by silence. "He's in there." Dustin stared at the metal doors with wide eyes before looking up at the teenagers. Steve banged his bat on the doors which were followed again by silence. Valerie let out a sigh as she tapped her foot on it, nothing responding. "All right, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, - you're dead." Valerie glared at the back of Steve's head before hitting it with her hand. Steve kicked his leg back at her, playfully, his flashlight still trained in her brother's eyes.

"It's not." Valerie insisted whilst walking to his side, somehow still not convincing him. He sighed before rolling his eyes and looking at Dustin whose nose was scrunched up from the light being in his eyes for too long. "All right?" Dustin nodded, practically going blind. "It's not a prank. Get it out of my face." Steve squinted at Dustin before turning back to Valerie. "You got a key for this thing?" Steve moved the flashlight back down to the doors before sighing loudly. Dustin quickly ran inside to get the keys, leaving the two alone together as they always seemed to be.

"You really think I'd lie about this?" Steve glanced over at her, wiping his nose with his sleeve before speaking. "Him. Probably. You—Well, you have lied to me before." Valerie gulped as she remembered the last few moments the two had before she left. "Ouch, Fair enough. I'm sorry I lied. I really am." Steve nodded and smiled bitterly as Dustin quickly handed his sister the key. Bending down and unlocking it, Valerie watched as Steve opened it up and pointed the flashlight at the bottom, only to see nothing.

"He must be further down there. I'll stay up here in case he tries to escape." Valerie scoffed as she prepared to walk down before being stopped by an arm outstretched in front of her. "You stay up here." Steve stepped down as he intently looked at her. She was stubborn, so she shook her head. "Like hell I am." Valerie stepped down after him. Steve let out a huff of air before walking down with the flashlight in front. No sounds or movement around them caused Valerie to quickly turn on the light. Valerie turned around to see Steve's bat covered in green muck and skin. Her eyes looked past the skin to see a hole dug through the brick and dirt.

"Steve? Valerie? What's going on down there?" Valerie heard her brother shout to which Steve shouted back. "Get down here." Dustin quickly walked down to see the skin, a string or curse words spewing from his mouth. Valerie quickly tapped her brother's shoulder and pointed the flashlight to the hole in the wall which Dustin replied with more curse words. The three stepped out of the dusty cellar before taking a deep breath in. "What the hell are we going to do?" Dustin swiftly said before turning his head between the two older people in this equation. Even if they were older, they had no clue about what to do.

"Alright, we'll use the basic plan as we did before. Lure Dart to a neutral location and capture him. Then we'll figure out what to do with it." The two boys nodded before Dustin rushed back inside, leaving the two alone again. "Alright, Steve. We'll see you tomorrow here and bring some gas and a bucket of meat." Valerie turned away from Steve before feeling a hand grasp onto her wrist.

"Valerie, can you-" Valerie raised an eyebrow as she looked at the stuttering, sighing Steve as he bit his lip. "Promise me. Promise that after this you won't go back to Florida or wherever." He looked at her with pleading eyes as she looked down at the ground in an attempt to avoid his intense gaze. "I promise. I won't leave Dustin and--. I was selfish and scared last year and I still am but I won't leave him." Steve nodded as he gently dropped his grip on her wrist, his fingers trailing down her hand until they reached the end.

"Good. I'll-I'll see you tomorrow." Valerie smiled before walking back to the front door where she sent Steve a little wave before taking a step in. She smiled widely before noticing her brother giving her a look."What?" She asked innocently causing Dustin to chuckle and walk towards her. "You totally like Steve." He accused causing Valerie to gasp and shake her head profusely even if they both knew she was lying to herself. "No, what? He's Nancy's boyfriend and not--, not my type." Valerie pointed at her brother as she told him the deluded truth that she thought it was.

"Everyone in this town knows that Nancy likes Jonathan and he's exactly your type, I remember Shawn." Valerie groaned as he brought up her childhood crush. He was much like Steve in the way that he was the coolest kid in school, Nancy and she would always swoon over him. "I'm going to bed." Valerie sighed, giving up on defending herself to her stubborn brother as she walked away to her room. She heard her brother behind her cheer out a quiet 'Yes!' before she closed her door over.

The night was restless as Valerie tossed and turned, thinking that every sound she heard was Dart or even the Demogorgon. Awake, she was filled with paranoia. Asleep, her dreams were filled with nightmares. Waking up, Valerie glanced at the time to see it was 8 am and decided that now was the time to get ready. Going with what she wore yesterday, Valerie walked out of the house to see her brother and Steve were leaning on the hood of Steve's car. "Did you get the stuff?" Receiving a nod, Steve and Dustin hopped in the car before Valerie let out a gasp and ran towards their shed. She couldn't leave her greatest weapon behind.

"Where are you going?" Steve shouted at her causing her to hold up her hand before rushing into the shed, looking for her weapon. A glint caught her eye and she turned to see the machete she had used on the Demogorgon, propped up against the wall. Valerie smirk before picking it up, feeling the heavy weight of the metal in her hand, almost transporting her back to that night. Rushing back to the car, she watched as the boys stared at the machete in her hand which received mixed reactions. Steve looked at it with utter dismay and Dustin looked at it, impressed. She jumped into the backseat before smiling at the boys who looked back at her. Steve started the car before pulling out onto the road.

"Val, the last time you used that thing you almost chopped my head off. Why?" Steve asked, slightly scared of what she could do with that thing. "Because this time, I'll chop Darts head off." Steve sighed, not arguing with her logic and continuing to drive until they arrived at the old train tracks that would lead to the junkyard. "Alright, what's the plan?" Valerie leaned forward from the backseat to put her head between the seats, looking up at the boys. "I have three buckets filled with meat and the gas in the trunk. Where are you going to put that thing?" Steve gestured at the machete causing her to shrug, not really having thought it through and he sighed out in defeat.

"We're going to put the meat on the tracks leading to the junkyard and hopefully Dart will follow and come." Valerie nodded before hopping out of the car and making her way to the trunk. The boys got out after her before Steve helped her get the equipment out. "Well, well, well, look who it is." Valerie looked at Dustin as she faintly heard Lucas' voice coming from his headphones. Valerie tuned out her brothers talking and picked up a bucket from the ground. She grunted as she adjusted her grip, the heavy buckets thin metal handle digging into her palm that was covered with gloves.

"Alright, let's go. Your machete better not cut through my bag." Steve announced as he tucked Valerie's machete next to his baseball bat in his bag causing her to nod as a thank you. "This is going to be a long day." Steve chuckled as they began to walk with Dustin still talking behind her. "Oh, Steve. You have no idea."

This is not amazing so I am sorry. It was kind of hard to fill in the blanks. I have had work or school constantly and when I do get a minute to myself, I am exhausted. To make things better, Australia is hot as balls so that is nice the first week but then you have sunburn and sweat and it is awful. Also, I have absolutely nothing to watch on Netflix so I just have been watching Stranger Things again to get ideas for this and I have some things planned so it'll probably make it easier to write.

Thanks, Queenie.
(EDITED)