"Motherfucker."

Okay, so Blair knew that it definitely wasn't possible to puke out a lung or something equally as disturbing, honestly...however, there was only a matter of time before she stopped throwing up bile and she was scared something more important was going to start coming up. She could hear the kids talking behind her, theorizing on just what had made the monsters leave when it appeared they'd finally got the upper hand...but she didn't dare lift her head up from her corner to interact with them, not really wanting them to see how absolutely wrecked she looked.

If she managed to survive the night which would really be some kind of fucking miracle indeed at this point, she was taking a holiday, she was getting as far away from this hell town as possible and having a much needed break where she could nap and eat in some semblance of calm, a chance for relaxation, some place where she didn't have to feel stronger than she was, where she didn't have some kind of crushing responsibility heavy on her burdened shoulders because she was the witch, she was the one who everyone needed for help and who would never need help herself.

Hopper with her protections charms, Joyce with her calming potions, Mike with her location spell to look for his lost something, and even the rest of the kids with her tricks and magic, whatever they wanted she was there...and that was because of the simple fact that Blair felt worthless when she wasn't needed. But her magic was warning her now, pulling at her veins, pulling at her morality to tell her to slow down lest she wanted to face the consequences of what happened when witches pushed themselves too far and fell off the edge of sanity into the abyss of damnation below.

"Hey, hey easy, you alright?"

She groaned miserably hoping to convey how absolutely crap she felt at the familar voice as Steve came up behind her, his warm palms hovering over her back as if he wanted to touch but not daring to as she continued to heave, spitting against the floor with her shoulders shaking and knowing for a fact that she definitely looked like she hit rock bottom, however, it did seem that she'd finally run out of food and water to throw up, forcing her body to just roll through the motions as she slowly stood up straight and wiped at her trembling lips with her bloodied hand in disgust. "I'm pretty sure my mouth tastes like ass."

Steve chuckled as Blair turned to face him knowing that she most definitely looked worse for wear, her cheekbones feeling like they were about to tear out of her clammy skin that was pale and slick with perspiration and the bags under her hollow eyes dark and nothing short of gaunt.

Her mouth was so dry that she could practically feel every fucking molecule in her mouth rotting with the acidic bile that had slipped through her lips like a disgusting waterfall, clinging to her gums and teeth and everywhere else like slime. And honestly, if she hadn't spent the last half hour throwing up everything that had once been in her stomach that kept clenching with phantom pain, she was sure she'd only start being sick again just for the taste currently festering on her tongue which was absolutely disgusting...sometimes, all the time actually, she really did think she was cursed.

And then, there was a sudden rustle, a sudden movement right in front of her, and when she looked up with her vision that was blurred and slow...it was to find Steve holding out a packet of gum right in front of her face with an amused grin twisting his features, and for a singular moment, she could practically see the fucking halo glowing around him to paint him like some ethereal angel as she stared at him, wide-eyed and probably looking like some sort of stupid gsping fish.

"Hey, figured we'd need some after last time, always good to be prepared, right?"

"Yeah, yeah I guess." Blair muttered quietly, taking it from his hand and feeling something inside of her boil as his finger brushed against her own, wondering if she was having some kind of stroke or had been placed in some kind of alternative universe, one in which the Harrington boy wasn't absolutely useless as she began to rip into the packet, grunting with her breath catching in her chest because even that felt like a bastard chore, before finally plopping the minty freshness into her mouth, and then another, and another, and another until she was pretty sure she was looking more chipmunk than witch.

Thankyou, she wanted to say, thankyou for thinking of me when no one else wants to, thankyou for being here so I'm not alone to deal with all this bullshit, thankyou for helping me even though you despise me, thankyou for looking out for the kids...because if I go down it's nice to know they'll be alright. There were many things she wanted to tell him, to thank him for, but she didn't dare let the seam of her lips peel open because she was terrified of just what would come out, the agony of her anxieties, her fear, ripping her apart to create something damned...and then, over his shoulder, her eyes caught something she definitely didn't want to see.

"And just what the fuck do you three think you're doing?" The witch shouted, wincing at the way her voice trembled and croaked like an old fucking widow as she stormed past Harrington, not tearing her enraged gaze from the group of kids lingering at the edge of the woods where the literal monsters had disappeared off to as they turned to face her quickly. God, she felt like she'd aged ten fucking years in the last few hours, no wonder Hopper looked so haggard all the time having to deal with bullshit like this...and Blair promised herself that if she did, miraculously, survive the night, she'd be sure to apologise to the poor bastard.

"We should follow them! They're obviously going somewhere-"

"Uh, no, the fuck we're not. Look, we tried, we failed, we almost died...which means that now the children get to go home where I don't have to worry about them getting eaten while I get Hopper and sort this out myself." And probably get ripped apart in the process, she thought but didn't say, rubbing her scabby palms over her face with a tired chuckle that sounded more like a sob, on the verge of having some kind of breakdown as the familar visions of her torn open carcass began to plague her, haunting her with the blood and guts and horror of her damnation that seemed to be getting closer and closer by the minute.

"Since when are you so close with Hopper?" Lucas frowned, exchanging looks with the equally confused Dustin because last they checked, their babysitter turned not so friendly neighbourhood witch was the last person you'd expect to see with the Chief, the immovable force to his unstoppable object that just seemed to spend most of their time arguing or bickering than actually talking...then again, it seems like Blair had that relationship with everyone, because her isolation was her survival, her comfort, her safety...and yet there she was, risking it all and so much more.

"That's- shut up. You three are going home, you hear me?"

And then, Dustin, Dustin shook his head as he stepped forward, looking up at her with some kind of feigned indifference that had her practically frothing at the mouth and wanting to start screaming, an urge that only grew stronger when he started talking. "Look, I'm just going to level with you here Blair...we're definitely not going to do that. The best you're going to get from us is us saying that we'll go home but then we'll secretly follow you while you kick demodog butt...I mean, your options are, us safe by your side where you can see us...or us chasing after you and hoping that you're quick enough to protect us, choice is yours."

Once again, as she was finding herself doing the vast majority of the time, Blair found herself wondering if the kids were spending way too much time with her or if they'd always been such little bastards as she blinked down at the smug looking boy in front of her, mouth full of missing teeth stretched out into grin that she desperately wanted to strangle until he absorbed some fucking sense. And it seemed that Dustin took her silence for complacency as he nodded, in some infuriating superior way, before he turned around and began to walk away, following the path the monsters went like it wasn't incredibly stupid.

And what was worse was the fact that Lucas and Max were quick to follow him, leaping around like they'd got the drop on her, like they weren't in terrible danger, like they hadn't almost died a half hour prior, already whispering excitedly, shaking the curly haired boy around like he was the man of the fucking hour while Blair was only there to spoil their fun...and when she heard Steve fucking snort behind her in obvious amusement, it was the final nail in her coffin of pure rage and wrath as she spun around and jabbed her fist into his shoulder aggressively.

"Thank you for the help there, Harrington. No really, it's great that you had my fucking back. What the hell?"

"What? You think I'm stupid? The second you got those kids home you were probably going to turn on me next...looks like your stuck with us, Jones." He shrugged, and before she could say anything else he was walking right past her, bat hanging low over his shoulders with a whistle as the young witch stood there and trembled, chest felling like it was closing in, like it was about to combust and burn...this isn't a fucking joke, she wanted to scream, I just want to fucking protect you before I'm ruined by the very creatures we're hunting, she wanted to confess...but instead, Blair simply choked on a sob, and began to follow after them quietly.

The clock is ticking, can't you hear it, witch? Your time is running out...tick tock, tick tock.
_________________________________________________

Groundhog day, that was probably the best way to describe how Blair was feeling as she dragged herself along the beaten path with the kids strolling in front of her, not even blinking when the thick brambles and branches of the foliage underneath snagged at her pants and cut into her skin like a venemous bite, beads of crimson dancing over her flesh like sin...because all she could think, could wonder, was if this was going to be the rest of her life? Doing the same spells, killing the same monsters, having to act stronger than she felt when all she wanted to do was scream?

She had no doubt that the answer to that question was one she didn't want to linger on as she kept walking, picking at the scabs already forming on her palms, desperate to keep her mind busy from the turmoil wreaking havoc on it, almost dazed in her own little world, completely and utterly blank...and so she didn't see when someone took notice of her abrupt silence as they slid to stand beside her...only to get an eye full of blood.

"Hey- hey what the hell's that?" Steve's voice suddenly snapped at her ear, tearing her away from her own thoughts as she jumped as if her soul had been physically dropped back inside of her body, but she didn't have time to ask him what the fuck was wrong with his before he was grabbing her hand, pulling her to a stop with his breath being sucked between his teeth thinly, his gaze disgusted when they lingered upon the scars and the mess that were her palms, holding her thin wrist in his gentle grip and pulling it towards his face so he could see how fucking ruined it was.

Motherfucker, Hopper was actually going to kill her if he seen this crap, she barely resisted the urge to start crying, frustration and rage beginning to boil in her stomach, again, of course it did because that's all she was, Blair Bitch, the girl who's pathetic fucking anger was going to swallow her alive. "Eat shit, Harrington. I must of fell-"

"Don't give me that bullshit, Jones. You fell in the exact same spot as you did last year? Huh? Is that what you're telling me?" He said, brown eyes full of scorn as he waved her arm around, and it probably didn't bode well when she felt the stirrings of panic underneath her flesh when he did so, shooting a quick glance over to the kids who were obviously unawares because the last thing she needed them to see was how fucked in the head she actually was. And with that in mind, she finally ripped herself away from the Harrington boy, glaring up at him dangerously with the familar venom of her cruelty pooling on her tongue like a disease.

"What do you want from me, man."

"Well you can start by telling me the truth...and you can finish by stopping whatever the hell you're doing to yourself." It was strange, how angry someone would get at another's pain, at their strife, at their agony...especially when it was self inflicted, and perhaps Blair should of listened to him, should of actually thought about what the fuck she was doing to herself with her palms dripping red, leaking her morality into the ground below and letting rot bloom in its place...but god, she was just so tired, so angry all of the time, and she couldn't even bring it in herself to care about anything other than their survival.

"Tell you what, Harrington. I'll stop this crap when you stop fucking relying on me for every little thing." The witch grinned sharply, but it felt wrong on her face, a spiteful thing that was only there to show her displeasure, her hatred, to show how completely done she was with this entire bullshit of problems that she had to deal with. But just as she stormed away, feeling the biting breeze hit her skin and make it hurt, it seemed like Steve wasn't quite done with trying to make her feel all of two inches tall with how she chose to deal with the nightmares, the trauma...the promise of her demise that kept creeping closer until it was all she could fucking see.

He grabbed at her arm, long fingers curling around the rough denim gently, carefully, as if she would break if he held her too hard, like she'd crumble in his grip, shattering into pieces by their feet and honestly, she truly thought that that was possible when her bruised flesh seemed to sing at that simple touch. "Wait, hey- Blair, hey would you just-"

But she just yanked her arm out of his hold, feeling hysterical and like she was losing her mind as she swung around to face him, wondering why she ever thought that she could be good when all she ever was ever going to be was a dead girl walking. "No, fuck you man, I'm being fucking torn apart in every direction, I feel like I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders having to do everything. I've got to make sure Joyce isn't having a breakdown, gotta' make sure Will isn't having nightmares, gotta' protect the kids and you from getting yourselves killed because I'm the witch, I'm the one with powers-"

"Hey, c'mon, this isn't fair-"

"Yeah, you're right, Harrington...it's not fair." But that's the way it is, Blair felt her bottom lip wobble, the burn in her throat, the aching weight of unurshed tears against her eyes, and she just wanted to scream, staring up at Steve while he looked down at her, brows furrowed and confused and almost looking helpless. She wondered if he could hear the strain in her voice, if he could hear the fear, if he could hear the exhaustion...and most of all, she wondered he could hear how desperate she was to simply breathe without the burden of keeping everyone safe.

"Guys? Somethings going on."

However, it didn't matter in the end as she heard Max's anxiety and could practically taste the unease suddenly heavy in the air like sin, and when they both turned around to look where the young girl was looking, the witch instantly felt that strange wrongness that she'd been ignoring in her argument, that sensation of rot in her stomach, magic festering with something that tasted like disease as she looked over the trees towards the flickering lights in the distance...and she knew exactly where the monsters, the creatures that haunted her, the demodogs were going. "The lab, they're going to the lab."

Of course they fucking were, why wouldn't they be, Blair thought to herself, cursing under her breath as she grumbled and muttered and began to walk in that direction, hearing the kids quickly pick up after her, probably thinking she was actually going to leave then to fend for themselves, and, with the mood she was in, she was actually seriously debating it as spell after spell after spell began to swarm her, wrapping her up in their promises of protection, of destruction, of raw power as every step she took seemed to shake the earth.

Scutum, the incarnation to keep them all safe, Ignis absumet, the incarnation to force the flames of hellfire to bend to her wiccan will, Phasmatos Motus Robix, the incarnation to induce the ability of telekinesis and make them all bow, and finally, Phasmatos incendere ad pulvox...the incarnation to kill what needed to be killed.

The ground crunched beneath her feet, the snapping of branches, of reluctant wildlife, of the whispers behind her nothing more than background noise as she focused hard on just remembering what would either be their salvation or be their destruction...and perhaps that's why she got such a shock when just as she was about to break through the treeline, she heard a strangely familar voice shout out through the darkness, demanding who was out there as she paused, glancing over her shoulder at Harrington who looked just as confused, before they finally pushed through the foliage...to find Nancy and Jonathan standing outside the gate of the lab.

"Steve!?"

"Nancy?"

"Blair?"

"Son of a bitch."