"Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. It's times like these that our faith is challenged. How, if He is truly benevolent... could God take from us someone so young, so innocent? It would be easy to turn away from God... but we must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can separate us from His love. We are here today to find comfort in the truth of scripture, and to surround Will, Marcus and their families." The Priest spoke as he stood in front of the side by side caskets, where Will and Marcus would get buried.

When the funerals ended, Helena talked to all the people crowding around the Rogers women as Kendall stood behind her, her arms crossed and her head hung low.

She suddenly felt a hand wrap around her shoulder from behind before a body stood beside her, making Kendall jump before she slowly turned around to Jonathan.

Kendall sighed, resting her head on his shoulder as she watched the guests drop the white and yellow roses into the holes with the casket, making her remember an old time with her little brother.

"All I'm saying is I don't know why you want to paint your room yellow. I mean yellow is so... basic. Why not green or red or purple. You know... a cool color." Marcus laughed as Kendall opened the paint cans.

The two had spent the whole morning, wrapping every piece of furniture in Kendall's room with wrap so no paint would get on them. The two had made it their job to paint Kendall's room in one day.

"Hey, don't go judging me. Isn't your room just plain white?" Kendall snapped, a small smile on her face as Marcus waved his hand at her, forgetting he was holding a paintbrush, making paint flick onto Kendall.

Kendall gasped as Marcus' eyes went wide. Kendall's gasp turned into loud laughs as she slowly looked up at Marcus. "You little shit!" Kendall's screeched a laugh, slapping her paintbrush in the air so it hit Marcus.

Marcus gasped, jumping around slightly. "Cold! Cold! Cold!" Marcus continued jumping around, getting closer and closer to Kendall before he was right next to her. While she wasn't paying attention from laughing, he ran his paintbrush down her face, making Kendall's jaw drop. She slowly turned to him and raised her paintbrush. "Oh, it's on."

Kendall smiled at the memory, a small tear falling down her face as she looked at her brother and Will's caskets. She quickly wiped her eye and sniffled. "I'll miss you." Kendall whispered as Marcus' casket started to lower. "And I'm sorry."

Jonathan slowly walked up to her, hearing her words as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. "He still could be out there." Kendall took a deep breath, nodding her head as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Still scary."

Jonathan hummed in agreement, nodding his head. "Yeah... Come on. We gotta go meet up with Nancy." Kendall immediately groaned as he turned them around to start walking towards the cars. "I still don't like her."

Jonathan sighed, rubbing her shoulder. "I know."

...

"This is where we know for sure it's been, right?" Kendall asked, leaning over Jonathan's shoulder to look at the map as Nancy leaned over Kendall. "So, that's..." "Steve's house." Kendall interrupted Nancy, making the Wheeler girl slowly nod.

"And that's the woods where they found Will's bike and... that's my house and that's Kenny's." Jonathan said, pointing at all of the X's on the map. "It's all so close." Nancy mumbled as Kendall sighed. "Yeah. Exactly. I mean, it's all within a mile or something." She mumbled and Jonathan slowly looked up at the girls.

"Whatever this thing is, it's... it's not traveling far." Kendall said, looking back and forth between the two. Jonathan sighed, tilting his head at Kendall. "You want to go out there."

Kendall instantly nodded, making Jonathan sigh. "We might not find anything." "I found something." Nancy instantly said, making the two turn to her. "And if we find that... thing, then what?" Kendall asked and Jonathan slowly looked up at her. "We kill it."

Before either girls could do anything, Jonathan shot off the ground, walking towards his dads car. "What are you doing?" Kendall asked as Jonathan climbed into the passenger seat.

"Just give me a second." Jonathan grumbled as he searched the dashboard. Kendall sighed, crossing her arms until she heard the sound of a gun clicking. Kendall's eyes went wide, walking over towards the car door to see what Jonathan was holding and she immediately tensed at the gun. "Are you serious?"

"What? What is it?" Nancy asked and Kendall turned to her, nodding her head to gesture her over. Nancy slowly walked over to her and instantly dropped her jaw at the gun.

Jonathan chuckled at the two girls, shrugging. "What? You want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it" Kendall let out a small laugh at his words, looking down at him as he got out of the car. " This is a terrible idea."

"Yeah, well, it's the best we've got." Jonathan said and Kendall sighed, knowing he was right but Nancy kept quiet, looking down at the ground with her arms crossed. "What? You can tell someone, but they're not gonna believe you. You know that."

"Your mom would. So would your grandma." Nancy said, looking at Jonathan before turning to Kendall. "They've been through enough." Kendall said as she slowly shook her head. Nancy squinted at her. "They deserve to know."

"Yeah, and we'll tell her... when this thing is dead." Kendall said, looking up at Nancy before turning to Jonathan. The boy turned to Kendall, nodding his head and rubbing Kendall's shoulder. "When this thing is dead."

...

"And how did you get here so early?" A voice spoke up behind Kendall as she shot the soda cans.

Kendall turned around and smiled at Jonathan as he walked towards her. "Walked." Jonathan's face instantly scrunched, ending up side by side with her. "I could've drove you." Kendall pursed her lips, shrugging. "It's fine. Not that far. So, let's see what you've got."

Jonathan let out an airy chuckle, looking down at the ground before looking back up at Kendall. "I'm a little rusty."

Kendall laughed, raising her hands in surrender. "Hey, I won't judge... to your face." Jonathan scoffed out a laugh, bashing her shoulder before raising his gun at the cans, firing and not hitting one.

"You're supposed to hit the cans, right?" Nancy yelled, making Kendall chuckle, turning to Jonathan before looking back to Nancy. "It's kinda sad. And he was bragging the whole way here."

Nancy laughed with Kendall, until Jonathan scoffed. "Actually, you see the spaces in between the cans? I'm aiming for those." Kendall playfully rolled her eyes, patting Jonathan's shoulder. "Ah. You keep telling yourself that."

Jonathan pushed her off of him, chuckling as Kendall turned to Nancy. "You ever shot a gun before?" Nancy kicked her feet in the dirt as she walked to stand beside Kendall. "Have you met my parents?"

Kendall shrugged. "My dad taught me and Marcus last year before he got sent back to the military. Nana never lets us use them but I still remember." Kendall said, lifting the shotgun in her hands up, shooting a can on a block of wood. Nancy nodded, turning to Jonathan."What about you?"

Jonathan sighed at her words, reloading the gun in his hand. "Yeah, I haven't shot one since I was ten. My dad took me hunting on my birthday. He made me kill a rabbit." Kendall's face softened, turning to look at him with a small frown. "A rabbit?"

Jonathan chuckled at her tone, nodding. "Yeah. I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something. I cried for a week."

"Jesus." Kendall muttered, making Jonathan turn to her, slightly offended. "What? I'm a fan of Thumper." Kendall rolled her eyes, turning to Jonathan. "I meant your dad."

"Yeah." Jonathan mumbled as he raised his pistol in the air. "I guess he and my mother loved each other at some point, but... I wasn't around for that part." Jonathan mumbled before firing the gun.

Nancy turned to look up at Kendall, opening her hand out slowly. Kendall quickly nodded, handing Nancy the shotgun and helping her adjust it in her arms. "And then just, uh, point and shoot."

Nancy nodded, slowly raising the shotgun. "I don't think my parents ever loved each other." Jonathans brows furrowed. "They must've married for some reason." Nancy sighed, nodding her head as she squinted in hopes of getting better aim. "My mom was young. My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac... and started their nuclear family."

Kendall scoffed at her words, shaking her head. "Screw that." Nancy slowly nodded, moving her finger to the trigger. "Yeah. Screw that."

Nancy fired the gun, the bullet hitting and knocking down the soda can right next to the one Kendall shot. Nancy excitedly looked up at Kendall and Jonathan. Kendall smiled, raising her hand for Nancy to high five her.

...

After shooting practice for about another half hour, the three decided to start exploring the woods. They had been quiet beside Kendall and Jonathan mumbled conversations about the clouds around them. After some time, Kendall had some how ended up next to Nancy.

The two girls were silent, the awkward tension slowly eating them alive until Kendall spun around to face Nancy, making the smaller girl jump at her quick movements.

"Why'd you do it?" Kendall blurted, catching Nancy off guard. "What?" Kendall sighed, looking back down as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "Why'd you kiss Steve when you knew he was with someone? You know... I always saw you in the halls. I'd waved to you. I thought you were the nice, quiet girl but I figured popularity took over and you were... you know, trying to be someone else." Kendall shrugged, her words just spilling out of her mouth.

Nancy's jaw dropped, stopping in her tracks as she glared at the back of Kendall head, crossing her arms. "That is such bullshit." Kendall instantly spun around to face Nancy at her words. "Excuse me?"

Jonathan slowly turned to look at the girls as Nancy stomped towards Kendall, getting right in her face. "I am not trying to be someone else. Just because I'm dating Steve and you're pissed because you dated him-" "Yeah. I was dating him! While you kissed him. You know what? Forget it. It was a stupid question." Kendall interrupted, waving her hand as she turned to walk away.

"He's actually a good guy." Nancy screamed as Kendall got to Jonathan. Kendall dryly chuckled at her words, spinning around to glare at her . "You think I don't know that? I was friends with him since we were like five! You're just another... body in his bed."

Nancy scoffed before notcing the angered look on Jonathan's face. "What? You have a problem with him too? Yesterday, with the camera... He was just being protective." Jonathan scoffed, grabbing Kendall's hand and turning to walk away. "Yeah, that's one word for it."

"Oh, and I guess what you did was okay? He had every right to be pissed-" "Jesus Christ! Get it through your thick skull! We didn't take photos of you guys!"  Kendall screamed, interrupting Nancy again as Jonathan nodded. "And even if he was a good guy... Does that mean I have to like him?"

Nancy slumped slightly shaking her head. "No." She muttered. Jonathan chuckled, looking off at the trees before turning back to Nancy. "Listen, don't take it so personally, okay? I don't like most people. He's in the vast majority."

Jonathan turned around to walk again, pulling Kendall with him since their hands were still conjoined. "Why'd we bring her along?" Kendall scoffed, making Jonathan sigh. "She's the reason we're here, sadly. She had the pictures." Kendall rolled her eyes, looking around at the trees ahead of them. "Yeah, whatever."

"You know, I was actually starting to think that you two were okay!" Nancy screamed, making Kendall sigh, turning to Jonathan. "Oh my God. She's still going." She whispered before turning to Nancy. "Yeah?" Kendall's yelled, almost as if she were egging Nancy on.

Nancy nodded, walking up to the pair. "Yeah, I was thinking, 'Jonathan Byers, maybe he's not the pretentious creep everyone says he is and maybe Kendall Rogers isn't just another self-obsessive girl who cries when things don't go her way.'"

Kendall bit her lip in anger, slowly letting go of Jonathan's hand and taking slow steps towards Nancy, looking so angry, Nancy started to cower away slightly. "Well, I was just starting to think you were okay. I was thinking, 'Nancy Wheeler, she's not just another rich girl who thinks she's rebelling by doing exactly what every other rich girl does... until they marry some one-time jock who can only works sales their daddys got them and they live out their perfect boring little goddamn life at the end of a cul-de-sac. Exactly like their depressing parents but hey, they're just like them now so... Surprise.' Bitch." Kendall spat before turning away.

Jonathan sighed, grabbing Kendall's arm gently and pulling her to walk faster so she could cool off.

...

No one had talked since the argument. Not even Kendall and Jonathan. Kendall had been listening to the sounds of feet crunching leaves as the three walked and when she only heard two sets of leaves crunching, she slowly turned around, watching Nancy look off into the distance. Kendall scoffed, tilting her head annoyledly at Nancy. "What, are you tired already?"

"Shut up." Nancy quickly said, making Kendall raise her brows, taking a step towards her. "What?" "I heard something." Nancy whispered, making Kendall shut her mouth, turning to where Nancy was looking.

The sound of a small whimper made the three freeze. They slowly started following the sounds until Kendall saw something with her flashlight. Kendall froze, squinting until she could make out a fallen deer. "Over here."

As the three got closer, Nancy gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh, God." She whispered at the sight of the bleeding, whimpering deer.

Jonathan sighed as Kendall shook her head. "It's been hit by a car." Nancy nodded in agreement, turning to Kendall. "We can't just leave it."

Kendall slowly nodded, pulling the strap of her shotgun to slowly grab it, pointing it at the deer. She sniffled, moving her finger to the trigger when a hand slowly pushed the gun down and Jonathan came into view. "I'll do it."

Kendall immediately started shaking her head. "But... Thumper and now Bambi-" "I'm not nine anymore." Jonathan interrupted. Kendall sighed in defeat, nodding her head and dropping the gun, backing away slightly as Jonathan grabbed his gun, pointing it at the deer.

Nancy slowly grabbed Kendall's hand as Jonathan's finger went to the trigger but just before he could pull the trigger, the deer was dragged away, making the three teens jump back.

"What the hell was that?" Kendall whispered, barely being able to hear over her own loud heartbeat. "Where'd it go?" Nancy whispered but Jonathan just shook his head. "I don't know. Do you see any more blood?"

Kendall shined her flashlight on the ground, slowly walking around the area as Jonathan and Nancy did the same. "No." Kendall yelled out to answer Jonathan's question when a dripping sound beside her caught her attention.

She slowly turned around and her eyes practically fell out of her head at how wide they were from what she was seeing. There was a red hole in the tree, almost like it was glowing from the inside, begging someone to go in.

"Jonathan?" Kendall yelled, turning around in hopes that she could see him but he was no where in sight. Kendall sighed, slowly taking off her backpack and shotgun since they wouldn't fit. "Here goes nothing." She muttered, slowly crawling through the goop.

Nancy, hearing Kendall's yell, ran towards the direction she heard her voice. Just as she got to Kendall, her eyes widened at the Rogers girl halfway through the gooey tree. "What the hell? Kendall?"

After not getting a reply and Kendall kept crawling, Nancy rolled her eyes. walking closer to the tree. "Kendall, what the hell are you doing?"

Nancy never got a reply instead, Kendall crawled through the rest of the hole, ending up in what looked like the woods. "What the..." Kendall whispered, looking around at her bluer surroundings, dust particles floating through the air.

The sound of a groan by her feet, made Kendall jump. She looked down to see what it was and instantly calmed down at Nancy. "Why'd you follow me?" Kendall whisper yelled as Nancy fully got in, wiping her sleeves as she stood beside Kendall, taking in her surroundings. "Sorry if I want to follow you after I saw you climb into a tree."

Kendall rolled her eyes as Nancy's attitude, starting to walk ahead of them. "Whatever, let's go." Nancy sighed, speeding up at walk shoulder to shoulder with Kendall.

A low growl to the girls' right made them freeze. Nancy instantly grabbed Kendall's hand, squeezing it as Kendall shut her eyes. "I'm guessing  you heard that too-" "Sure did." Nancy quickly answered.

The girls slowly turned their heads to the right at the same time, needing to see what growled.

Kendall felt her blood run cold at the tall monster kneeled on the ground, eating the deer the three had just saw in the woods. Kendall squeezed Nancy's hand tighter, leaning towards her to quiet her words. "Just slowly start backing away."

Nancy slowly nodded, not taking her eyes off the monster as they slowly started to walk backwards. After a few steps, the girls stepped on a piece of dead wood, making a loud snapping noise chime into the air.

The girls froze as the creature stopped eating. Their terrified breaths were mixed together until the creature spun its head around to look at them. The monster had no face, just a flower like head with rows and rows of teeth.

The monster roared, standing up, making the girls scream. Nancy dropped her flashlight in one hand, squeezing Kendall's hand in the other as she spun around, running away, dragging Kendall after her.

From Hawkins, Jonathan froze at the sound of the screams, shining his flashlight in hopes to see the two girls. "Kendall! Nancy?" Jonathan screamed and got no reply.

"Kendall, where are you? Nancy! Kenny!"

—nancy and kendall were doing SO good but then they fought🙄🤚
i'm just WAITING for the iconic duo