"It's close to midnight
Something evil's lurking from the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart"

Thriller
By Michael Jackson (1982)

Steve and Valerie trudged through the forest with the kids trailing behind them, telling each other theories about the weird animal. Valerie had been told the full story about Dart and how he had not told the guys that he had kept it in secret. She kept her mouth shut as to not rat her brother out to his friend and crush. "You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asked as Steve and Valerie kept quiet and listened in on the conversation. "Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." To be honest, Valerie hadn't even noticed his patterns. She was more focused on the impending death that had been coming their way.

"He was tiny two days ago," Max questioned, obviously not informed of the way that Dart had shed his skin. "Well, he's molted three times already." Dustin sounded as if he was growing more and more annoyed at the pestering questions coming from all around him. "Malted?" Steve asked. Valerie knew that Steve wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch but he at least had good intentions now. Valerie soft patted his shoulder before turning back to the path."Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms." Valerie explained causing Steve to nod and smile at her. "When's he gonna molt again?"

"It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends." Valerie sighed and ran her hand through her hair as the full weight of the situation fell onto her shoulder. This was worse than the goddamn Demogorgon. There was more than one and they were running freely through the streets. "Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve commented causing Lucas to put his hand on Dustin's shoulder and spin him around.

"Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?" Valerie's eyes widened as she looked at Steve, him just furrowing his eyebrows at her. "No, what? No." Dustin lied as he shook his head with his eyes wide. Valerie had memorized his lying face so that if he ever did lie to her, she could instantly tell. "What are you talking about? He ate Mews." Steve commented again causing Valerie to punch his shoulder swiftly. "Steve!" Valerie glared at him causing him to put his hands up and take a step back, realizing that he probably shouldn't have said that.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asked, probably starting to get sick of being out of the loop about everything. "It's Dustin's cat." Valerie hit him in his stomach causing her and him to groan as Valerie hit his abs. "Steve!" Dustin shouted at Steve causing him to sigh and look up at the trees. "I knew it! You kept him!" Steve looked at Valerie, apologetically causing her to nod at him as they watched the boys bicker."No! No. No, I- No, I- He missed me. He wanted to come home." Valerie bit her lip to keep from laughing at the two boys arguing. It was just like old times. "Bullshit!"

"Language!" Valerie sang out causing the two boys to glare at her before going back to arguing.

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, Okay?" Dustin defended himself and his choices. "Oh, so now you admit it?" Lucas laughed in mockery causing Valerie to sigh at the childishness of the middle school boys. "Guys, who cares? We have to go." Max chimed in causing Valerie to smile and nod at her. Girls were so much smarter than boys. "I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!" Valerie was losing patience and so was Steve. "So did you! You told a stranger the truth!"

"A stranger?" Valerie sighed as Max got involved in their petty little fight and she started walking ahead, Steve running up next to her. "God, being a babysitter is the hardest job I've ever had and I'm not even getting paid." Valerie laughed before nodding her head slowly. "They're a pain in the ass. I'm sorry you got dragged along." Valerie said the last sentence so softly, Steve almost missed it. "Val, I--" Steve's sentence is interrupted by screeching coming from ahead of them in the distance.

"Hey, guys?" Steve said softly to the children who continued their loud arguing, not hearing Steve at all. "Guys!" Valerie shouted at them causing them to go quiet and hear the screeching become more frequent and more of the dog's screech. Immediately, Steve and Valerie along with the boys behind them ran towards the sound causing Max to shout at them before eventually running with them. Valerie knew it probably wasn't wise to run towards the noise but her instincts kicked in and she ran. "I don't see him," Dustin commented causing Valerie to squint in an attempt to see through the dark and foggy night. Lucas pulled up his binoculars and held them up to his eyes before gasping.

"It's the lab. They were going back home." The color drained out of Valerie's face as they all started walking towards the lab at a quicker pace than usual. She didn't want to go near that place. It was awful and full of pain. "Steve, are you worried about Nancy?" Valerie asked as she trudged through the forest side by side with him. He looked down at her with a neutral expression before shrugging and rolling his shoulders. "Yeah. But I'm going, to be honest with you. I was more worried about you when you left. Nancy is staying at Ally's from what your brother told me. She's out of this mess." Valerie's eyes widened as her lips parted with Steve's words. Silence followed his sentence apart from the kids talking behind them.

"Steve, I was being selfish. I had no one to lean against. Jonathan and the boys had Will, you and Nancy had each other. I was just on the sidelines." Valerie told him, getting hurt from his words. "You're wrong, Val. You had me." As Valerie was about to say something back, the group heard shouting ahead of them as they approached the lab. Just as they broke through the trees, Valerie's eyebrows furrowed as her eyes went on Nancy and Jonathan. "Steve?" Nancy shouted as Steve said her name in the same beat with Valerie instead, focusing on Jonathan. "Valerie?" Jonathan questioned, his nose wrinkled.

"Jonathan?" Each one of the teenagers said each other's name in shock as to what were the chances that they'd end up at the gate of the lab when they did "What are you doing here?" Nancy shouted out to them as the pair and the group walked closer to each other. "What are you doing here?" Steve replied back before they met in the middle. "We're looking for Mike and Will." Valerie looked towards the lab, still hearing the screeching of dogs as they talked. "They're not in there, are they?"

"We're not sure." Valerie's anxiety shot through the roof once they said that causing her palms to sweat. "Why?" Just as Jonathan asked, the screeching got almost deafening as they looked towards the building, the color draining out of all of their faces. "Let's hope not." Valerie sighed before they all started talking at once, trying to figure out whether Will and Mike were in their or not. "We haven't seen Will." They all thought about where they last saw the others. "I haven't seen him since--" The lights flooded on at the lab which everyone ignored except for Nancy. "The power's back." Nancy's words silence the whole group as they run towards the security guard post to try and open the doors again. Jonathan ran into the booth, pushing the red buttons frantically in an attempt to open the door. Much to their disappointment, the door didn't move causing Dustin to rush into the booth.

"Let me try," Dustin asks trying to get to the button. "Hang on--" Dustin then shoved Jonathan out of the way, probably thinking that he should be able to open the door by pushing the button a way that Jonathan wasn't. "Let me try, Jonathan! Son of a bitch! You know what." He pushed the button as frantically as Jonathan getting increasingly angry as it wouldn't open. Just as slammed his hand on the button, the door opened slowly causing a smile to widen on all of their faces. "Hey! I got it! I got it!" Their smiles faltered as the screeching and growling were heard once again. Valerie stood next to Steve and her brother as she looked up at the lab with fear in her heart.

Wham, bam, thank you, mam. Welp, we only got a few more chapters left and that makes me sad but it has been announced that Stranger Things is OFFICIALLY renewed for a third season so we'll see how we go but I'll try and write a sequel for that. But yeah, I'll try to update again as soon as possible, but now that it is December, extended hours has started at my work means that we're open til 12 am. Not fun.

Thanks, Queenie.

(UNEDITED)