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"There was something terrible
in me, sometimes at night
I could see it grinning at me."
-William Faulkner
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Clad in an old summer dress, Scarlett Henderson blinked at the rising sun in silence. Dustin would return home the next day. She heard Claudia pull out of the driveway, she would be retrieving Dustin alone since Scarlett claimed to be feeling slightly under the weather. The young woman clasped the gold locket necklace around her neck, she traced the heart for a second before rising from her bed.

In the bathroom that Scarlett and Dustin shared, the cabinet beside the sink was filled with countless make-up and hair products that belonged to the two siblings. Scarlett usually wore no or hardly any make-up, but her corpse-like appearance that morning would surely be enough to alarm her friends. She applied a light base, masking the dark rings under her eyes, she applied a little bit of blush after to make her look lively. Satisfied, Scarlett walked out of the white-tiled room and down the stairs. She grasped her car keys and got into her car.

Scarlett drove until the sky had changed from orange to light blue. She parked her car by a tree and got out of the car. Small stones crunched and flew away under the force of Scarlett's footsteps. The brunette walked for five minutes through the forest, she came to a halt at the edge of a cliff that overlooked Lover's Lake. A few pebbles dropped down into the murky waters below.

The brunette leaned over the edge slightly, her gaze trained on the water below. A fall from that height would turn the water into concrete, and Scarlett would die nearly instantly a relatively peaceful death. Scarlett sat down on the edge, her legs dangling off of the cliff. She slid on her headphones and pressed play on her Walkman, The Sound of Silence filled her ears.

At that exact moment for some unknown reason, Eddie Munson found himself at the same place as Scarlett Henderson. He frowned as he saw the car whizz by and had decided to follow on foot, who knew what exciting information he would be able to find out? When he saw that it was only Scarlett who was in the car he got more confused and followed her through the forest, he kept his distance however.

"Heya Henderson!" Eddie called out, a jovial grin on his face. He raised a hand in a wave, the other hand shoved in a pocket of his worn-out jeans that he had taken off of his uncle's hands. Scarlett let out a scream, body contorting as she whipped around. The girl pulled her headphones off and looked at the boy behind her with an open mound. "Careful, wouldn't want you falling in," Eddie walked closer to Scarlett slowly. He stood by the edge and looked down. "Yeah, I'm not the best swimmer and I'd hate to watch you drown." He gazed back at Scarlett and showed off his white teeth happily.

Scarlett was lost, unsure of what to tell him. She paused her Walkman as a first step and then looked back up to Eddie. Sure the two had maybe had a few conversations here and there, but not enough for him to be talking to her, especially not in the woods. "Hi?"

Eddie narrowed his eyes slightly at Scarlett, he noticed that she seemed more closed off than she had been in recent years. She resembled the girl whose ex-boyfriend he had gotten expelled because he was a jerk. Daniel Wood had always been a jerk and Eddie had hated him for years, Wood's actions against Scarlett had just been the final straw. A small case of some drugs stuffed in Wood's locker, paired with an anonymous tip, took care of the rest. He had seen her starting to date Steve Harrington of all people and he could only assume...

"So I had a request to make," Eddie slowly took a seat and Scarlett asked what it was. "Meant to ask you at the end of the school year but you know," Eddie blew raspberry. "Life... Bullshit," He shook his head, clapped his hands and perked up. "ANYWAY, we at Hellfire would like to commission a new logo from you, Lady Scarlett of Pencils and..." Eddie bit his lip in thought and pretended to ponder deeply. "Brushes." Appearing pleased with himself, he smiled and patted his own shoulder.

The ridiculousness of Eddie Munson earned a laugh from Scarlett. "Well, I'm sure I can make a logo this summer-"

She never had the chance to finish her sentence as Eddie whooped and threw an arm around Scarlett's shoulders. "Thanks, Henderson! You're gnarly as hell." He shook Scarlett before letting go of her and rolling over to the side so he flopped horizontally on the cliff edge.

"Careful! Careful!" Scarlett giggled.

Eddie smiled goofily at Scarlett and rolled so his legs were on the cliff and his head dangled off the edge. "Nothing to worry about Scar, I'm high on the clouds. Nothing can bring me down." He extended his arms and legs up so he balanced on his belly. The continuous laughter coming from Scarlett was deemed enough and Eddie sat back up.

Through her laughter, Scarlett looked at the curly-haired boy. "Thanks," She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her jean jacket. "I needed that."

"Don't mention it," Eddie sighed and observed Scarlett for a moment. She looked breathtaking in that moment, not in a romantic awakening moment, but in an 'I want to know her story' way. Her brown curls were up in a ponytail with a yellow scrunchy, paint stains on her hands, she wore a bright yellow dress with black polka-dots under a jean jacket and old Converse on her feet. He caught sight of a golden heart-shaped locket around her neck and a cigarette tucked behind her right ear. "You know Henderson, you're the kind of girl they write songs about."

"Thanks?"

Eddie shook his head and rose to his feet. "Nah," He turned on his left leg, ready to walk off. He halted in his steps and let out a breath and turned back round. "Wanna get out of here? We could get ice cream?" He closed his eyes at how stupid he sounded.

It took a few seconds before Scarlett replied, everything within her wanted to say no, find some reason to wallow in her misery for a few moments longer. Instead Scarlett inhaled deeply and rolled onto her knee and with a tiny groan, got up. "Sure, sounds fun."

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The warm summer sun started to set and made way for the flashing neon lights of Starcourt. Scarlett and Eddie sat in a booth at Scoops Ahoy. Scarlett's sketchpad along with a few cartons filled with ice cream lay on the table. Various possible logos for Hellfire had been sketched out, one with a devil face, another one of a red faun, then one of the letters on fire. Eddie excused himself for a moment to relieve himself.

"Hey, doofus!" Robin hollered from the back, making a few customers raise their brows at the counter.

Steve sighed, rolled his head and turned his upper body to face the back. His face drooped even further. "What now Robin?" The brunet lolled his head to the side to look back at Robin.

The girl dressed as a sailor stuck her tongue out at him. "I was going to say your break starts now, but if you'd rather stand at the counter, I'd be happy to take over your break." Robin offered a tight-lipped smile as company to her words.

Steve repeated her words in a mocking tone and walked away from the counter and slid into the booth where Scarlett had taken up residence. "What you up to?" He questioned as he nudged Scarlett's right foot with his own.

A sigh came from the brunette who set down the paper she had been looking at. "I'm trying to design the new logo for Hellfire club," She mumbled, hands rubbing over her face. "Not actually making much progress though," Scarlett dropped her hands and looked to Steve, instantly she smiled. It was a small smile, in fact Steve wouldn't class it as a smile in any other situatuion. Sure she had just been laughing with Eddie, but Steve hadn't recieved any genuine smiles from Scarlett in a while.

With a grin Steve nudged Scarlett's cheek with the nuckle of his thumb. "There she is, I was starting to miss this dazzling smile." He leaned his head on his fist and started at Scarlett who grew red before she laughed softly. "Oh, and a laugh?! Damnn Henderson, you're making me the luckiest man alive."

"Stop," Scarlett laughed, she bit her lip and stared back down at the paper in front of her.

Steve followed her line sight and peered at the papers. "This one isn't half bad." He picked up the sheet that showed a devil's face with two swords flanking it. The boy shifted closer to Scarlett and threw an arm over her shoulders.

The Henderson daughter relaxed in his hold. "It's missing something though," She mumbled, eyes drooping as she rested her head on Steve's shoulder.

"Want me to take you home?" Steve asked softly. He brought up a hand to brush one of Scarlett's curls to the side.

The girl smiled and opened her eyes. "No, you have work," Steve opened his mouth to argue. "And you're not missing work for me again." Scarlett held up a finger between Steve and herself as she spoke.

Once more Steve prepared himself to quip back at Scarlett but was rudely interrupted by his fellow sailor. "Hey, dingus!" Said boy whipped around, ready to scream at Robin. "Your children are here." Robin waved at Floyd, Mike, Max, Will and Lucas who stood huddled together by the counter.

Anger made way for exhaustion. "Again? Seriously?" The little shit, who went by Mike, looked Steve dead in the eye and smacked the bell on the counter again. "I hate these little--" Steve grumbled as he wiggled out of the booth and to the back, the kids following behind him as ducks. Scarlett waved at them with a smile, and Floyd, Max and Will waved back. Steve opened the door that led to the employee corridors. "Come on, come on. I swear if anyone hears about this-

"We're dead!" The five chanted in unison, earning a sigh from Steve. The kids scurried off and Steve closed the door and returned to Scoops Ahoy.

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On a plastic lawn chair that sat unevenly on gravel, Blake sat alone. She had her uncle's guitar on her lap, a lit cigarette between her lips and an opened beer on the floor next to her. She played along to the song on the radio and hummed softly.

The song came to an end and Blake stopped playing and set the guitar down on the ground so it leaned on her chair. The redhead looked at the guitar pick she had grabbed without much thought. The small pick was red and had some faded words on it. Blake held the pick closer to her eyes and in the light so she could read the words.

Lavender Four

"That's from my band," Hank hopped out of the trailer, opened beer bottle in hand. The man took a seat on the other plastic chair. He groaned slightly before taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "The one where I met Tom." He put one cigarette between his lips and patted his trousers for a lighter. Hank frowned when he didn't feel the familiar weight of the lighter anywhere.

Blake took out her own lighter and leaned over the space between them. She lit Hank's cigarette, and as he muttered a thank you, Blake stole a cigarette from him. As Blake tucked Hank's cigarette behind her ear, the lights in Hawkins flickered and went out. A dark wave washed over the small town and it engulfed the trailer park.

The only source of light was Blake's lighter, the stars and the moon for a moment. Then electricity returned and the neon lights of Starcourt Mall and the rest of the town came alive. "That was weird," Hank mumbled before letting out a sigh of relief when he took a drag from his cigarette.

Even though blackouts weren't supernatural, Blake felt this eerie feeling gnaw at her gut. She pinched her cigarette hard and looked down at it. The young woman looked at the packet on the small table. No, the cigarette couldn't be it...

Simultaneously Will felt shivers creep up his spine and whisper in his ear whilst Scarlett felt pins in her hand. The brunette stretched her hand, ignoring the bickering between Robin and Steve, but the feeling in her hand didn't subside. Perhaps what made it all even stranger, was that the pins felt as though they were directly under the scars she had sustained in her trip to the Upside Down the year before.

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Scarlett held open the backdoor of the Henderson house, a warm smile on her face, as Dustin's friends raced inside. The anticipation of their reunion filled the air, and Scarlett couldn't help but share in the excitement. She watched as the group of kids, full of energy and laughter, poured into the house, their voices echoing through the halls.  They started setting up everything for their plan and Scarlett excited the house to sit on the porch.

The pack of cigarettes remained in Sarlett's back pocket. Between Steve helping her lessen the bad habit, and Scarlett not wanting Claudia to know about the habit, that was not a moment suited for smoking. The girl had stuck half her curls up with a red scrunchie, a button-up blouse with bright-coloured squares stuffed into jean shorts and Converse on her feet.

A few minutes passed by the time Claudia pulled into the driveway, the car had barely stopped before Dustin came barreling out. The boy jumped up the porch stairs, taking two steps at a time. Once on the porch, he smacked into Scarlett who laughed at his antics.

"Welcome home Dusty." The elder of the two reached down slightly to ruffle Dustin's curls. With the exception of Max, Dustin and El, all the kids had grown taller than Scarlett, much to her chagrin. She cherished Dustin's slightly shorter stature, silently hoping that he wouldn't grow another inch so that she could remain slighter taller than him.

"Hey, Scar." Dustin grinned up at Scarlett.

The brunette felt just a twinge bad, but she knew the boy would appreciate the surprise. "Go on inside, I'll help Mom unpack." The brunette ruffled Dustin's hair one last time before skipping down the steps and towards the car.

Defeated, Dustin dragged himself into the house.

"Are they here?" Claudia asked as Scarlett took Dustin's suitcase. The Henderson daughter nodded as the two headed inside. When a loud scream racked the house, the two women chose to ignore it.

"Scarlett, I got you these." Claudia handed her daughter a small box.

Said girl frowned at the box and uttered thanks as she examined the box. Her green eyes widened upon realising what the box contained. "Mom, what...?" She stared at her mother alarmed.

Claudia didn't spare her daughter as she took a pan out of a cabinet. "I'm too young to be a grandmother," The older woman declared. "Besides, if Steve wants kids with you I expect him to ask my permission and to put a ring on your finger." Claudia started chopping some paprika into uneven strips.

Meanwhile, Scarlett was glowing a red shade that matched the scrunchie in her hair. "Mom," Scarlett whined, ageing her down ten years in an instant.

"No buts, you take one pill a day okay," Claudia declared. "You were an accident and you turned out great, but your dad and I were married." The woman grinned at her daughter, who just blinked back in shock.

"I was an accident?" Scarlett asked, her brows furrowed.

Claudia hummed in agreement. "Yep, a happy one, but an accident nonetheless." She poured the sliced paprika into a pan before adding some water. "Now, can you run down to Melvald's and buy some more bread?" Claudia pulled out a few dollars and held them out to Scarlett who reluctantly took them before rushing out of the house.

Scarlett rushed into the car, hopped in and quickly turned on the car before pulling out of the driveway and rushing away from her house, cheeks still burning red. With the radio for company, Scarlett made the short drive to town and got out.

A chilly wind for that time of the year swept through the mostly empty town and sent shivers down Scarlett's spine. She rubbed her bare arms and half-jogged to the store and swung open the door. Unsurprisingly, the store was completely empty aside from Joyce who Scarlett could hear in the back of the store.

"Hey, Joyce!" Scarlett closed the door behind her and strolled down the aisle where she grabbed a loaf of bread.

"Hi, kid," Hopper grunted as soon as the young adult turned the corner and spotted Hopper and Joyce sitting together.

Scarlett looked in between the two adults for a second before smiling. "Hi, Chief," She turned to Joyce and held up the loaf of bread. "Had to run some errands for my mom." A sheepish smile pulled on her lips as Joyce got up and made her way to the cash register.

Hopper also got up, albeit less gracefully than Joyce. He clutched a piece of paper in his hands.

"Oh, and a pack of Camels please," Scarlett added as Joyce registered the bread.

The Byers woman gave Scarlett a pointed look. "I thought you were trying to quit." Joyce grabbed the pack of cigarettes, eyes never leaving the girl before her.

Scarlett shrugged. "Never said I was going to quit entirely," She said as a defence, earning her a half-hearted glare from Joyce as Scarlett handed over a dollar.

"Hey, you know the kids pretty well, right?" Hopper piped up, Scarlett nodded at his question/statement.

A groan came from Joyce. "Hop, you have your text already. Scarlett is not going to give that speech for you." The brunette strode out to stand beside Scarlett and crossed her arms at Hopper.

"What speech?" Scarlett inquired as she pocketed the camels and took the loaf into her hands.

Hopper wiped some swat from his hairline. "That Mike kid is spending too much time with El--" The man balled a fist and let out a sigh, tossing the paper onto the ground. "Maybe I'll just kill Mike. I'm the chief of police I could cover it up." Through the outrageous words, Hopper's tone did appear dead serious.

The two women shared a glance, Scarlett held a more concerned one. Joyce nodded to herself and to Scarlett, assuring them both that Hopper wasn't likely to murder a child. The woman smiled at Hopper and shook his shoulder. "You got this. I promise."

Hopper smiled down at Joyce with a rare fondness. "You wanna have dinner tonight?" Suddenly he appeared to remember the other person in the room. The middle-aged man spared the young woman a glance and found her grinning. Hopper cleared his throat and looked down at his hands. "You can uhh... you can give me some pointers," He finished with a light cough that Joyce either didn't notice or didn't care about.

"Oh, I... Um... Um, I... I have plans," Joyce murmured back with a bashful smile.

Deciding that it was best to leave sooner rather than later, Scarlett started heading for the door. "I'll see you two around. Bye." The girl fled through the door and nearly bumped into another customer who Scarlett knew to be Carol. The two spared each other a quick greeting.

Outside the breeze had gone, leaving the warm sun to shine down on Hawkins. Scarlett closed her eyes and turned her head up to the blue sky and drank in the light for a second. She rolled her shoulders and made her way to her car.

Just as Scarlett opened the door and she tossed the bread into the vehicle, Hopper came walking out of the store. The chief of police scanned the street before spotting Scarlett and her car and making his way over to the Henderson.

"Scarlett."

Said girl hung onto her car roof and door and raised a brow at the police officer. "What can I help you with, Hop?"

Hopper pouted and let out a deep curling sigh. "Can you talk to the kid for me? it just seems like too much trouble." Hopper grimaced as he spoke and waved his hands around slightly. A few beads of sweat rolled down Hopper's face and got caught in his moustache.

"I don't think that's my place, Hop." The reply earned Scarlett a stern look from the man in question. "Sorry. Bye." The young woman got into her car and drove away from the grumpy Jim Hopper.

'Kids of America' blasted through the radio and Scarlett sang along as she drove home. Her trusty Ford Mustang suddenly spluttered and some smoke started to rise from the hood. Scarlett's eyes widened and she drove to the edge of the road and got out of the red car as soon as it stood still. The girl coughed and waved a hand in front of her face as she approached the hood and popped it open, only for even more smoke to curl up and slam into Scarlett's face.

As soon as the smoke subsided slightly, Scarlett leant over the engine and looked around trying to find the problem. The only thing that happened was that Scarlett's glasses fogged up. With a groan, the girl straightened her back and took a few steps from the car. She pulled her glasses off of the bridge of her nose and cleaned them with the hem of her colourful blouse.

Scarlett rested her hands on her hips and let out a breath. She looked up and down the street, and with her luck it was entirely empty. Deciding that she needed a smoke before anything else, Scarlett grabbed one cigarette and lit it up before inhaling the nicotine air.

The Henderson leaned against the car door and looked at the street. A gnawing feeling crawled from her fingertips to her elbow, then her shoulder... Scarlett glanced at the cigarette between her fingers before she twisted her neck. The penny dropped as she realised just where her car had decided to break down. Quickly Scarlett grabbed her balisong from the glove compartment and flicked it open. The brunette left the sidewalk and walked over the green field where she had fallen through to the Upside Down the year prior.

Hopper had told Scarlett that the hole that had swallowed Scarlett seemed to have closed above her since no one had been able to find the hole in question. The odd thing about that was that the hole that the group had dug, hadn't closed on its own and had to be sealed by human hands.

Sure enough, no remnants of a large hole were found by the young woman, well, she spotted a dirtier patch of grass. Cautiously she approached the patch, knife raised and cigarette dangling from her lips.

Scarlett knelt down on the grass, making her knees wet. Her balisong sliced through the muddy earth easily and when she used the blade as a shovel, she only found ground, worms and insects. A shaky breath left Scarlett's lips before it turned into a laugh. All was well, nothing to worry about.

Just then Scarlett heard countless squeaks before a hundred rats ran by her. A high scream came from Scarlett who jumped up and balanced her weight on one leg as the rodents passed her. Then, just as quickly as they came, they vanished. Nothing remained of the wave of rats but a hyperventilating Scarlett.

Opting to not stay in the field any longer, Scarlett jogged back to her car, just in time to catch Blake stopping by the side of the car. The redhead had not yet spotted her best friend, just the red Ford Mustang. "If I catch you doing nasty business in there, I will buy you two chastity belts," Blake belted as she got out of her car and slammed the door of her own vehicle behind her.

"Don't worry, my car just broke down," Scarlett said with a half chuckle as she tried to catch her breath, hands resting on her knees.

Blake took one look at the engine before shaking her head. "Okay, I'll give you a ride. Grab your stuff and give me one." She extended her arm to Scarlett and the smiling brunette handed her a cigarette before tossing over the lighter.

The duo took Scarlett's more important items out of the car and put them into Blake's car. "So that's the fifth time that car broke down this summer?" Blake questioned as she started driving her own car, eyes flicking around to ensure all was in order.

"Sixth," Scarlett huffed, hand dangling out of the car.

Blake glanced at Scarlett with her brows knit together. "Maybe it's time to just give that car up? I'm sure your dad wouldn't mind."

The red Ford Mustang had belonged to Bill Henderson, he had bought it with his first big paycheck from the job that would eventually bring him to Montauk and to his grave. Claudia had passed the car onto Scarlett the day she turned 16, saying that Bill would have liked for his little girl to have his beloved car. Some of Scarlett's first memories were of her sitting on her father's lap as he drove the red car around and told her how to pay attention to traffic.

"Maybe," Scarlett whispered as she blew some smoke out of the window.

a/n:
this is so long overdue, i'm so sorry. i was struggling with this chapter
for the longest time because of how emotionally drained scarlett is at the moment, i somehow
find it more difficult to write such struggles when i am doing well mentally. that and i was in my
exam year (passed though so i'm graduating later this week). but here it is, i actually enjoyed this
chapter. hope you also did. please vote and comment!

next chapter will be here a lot quicker, don't worry. in the meantime, feel free to
check out any of my other books!

scarlett's outfit ^

funny post

date published: 9 july 2023
word count: 4478