— MONSTER HUNTING WITH CHILDREN
season two — episode six

CHAPTER FIVE

FROM WHAT OLIVER HAD heard, Steve had talked to Nancy about what had happened at the party and the events after, and now the two were officially broken up. But those were just rumors that were going around the school. He hadn't heard it from Steve himself, so he didn't believe it 100% yet.

But. . . he had started to believe that they were true since he hadn't seen Nancy and Steve together in close proximity since that night.

It had been a few days since then. His mother had moved out completely, only coming by to get her stuff when he was at school and his father was at work. Word got around quickly, soon becoming the talk of the small town. 'Perfect Family' falls apart after wife has an affair. Yeah. Of course, people would talk.

Every adult he walked by seemed to talk about it since his parents played a pretty big role in Hawkins. Hell, his dad ran for mayor once, so he was pretty respected. His mother was well known too for her kindness and because she was friends with almost every other mom.

Teachers asked if he was alright, even some kids that he didn't even know the name of. It was funny to think that all of a sudden people who didn't even give two shits about him cared all about him.

      It seemed like everywhere he went someone was talking about it, and he didn't want to keep hearing about it. He had lived through it once already, people need to get over it so he can just live his life in peace.

      He was trying his best to stay in the comfort of his own room, snuggled beneath three blankets and surrounded by tons of pillows, but school made that difficult.

      God, was he happy that it was Saturday.

      His dad had left for work early that morning, something to do with 'writing a campaign'? He wasn't exactly sure what it was since he was half asleep when he had come to inform him about his leave. Now, he had the house to himself.

      Totally going to throw this cool party and get drunk off his ass with a bunch of teenagers he didn't know. Is what he would do if he was stupid. He had better things to do like sleep.

      So of course, he was annoyed when someone came banging on the door at around 1 PM, just as he was about to take a nice nap. He grumbled and threw all of his blankets off of him, shuffling down the stairs.

      He stopped in front of the door and unlocked it, pulling the door open. He was met with a seemingly confused, but also worried, Steve and a frantic boy who was basically running on the walls. "What?" He asked, leaning against his door frame.

      "We need your help." The younger boy who was next to Steve answered before Steve could even get the chance. Oliver nodded his head, his untamed bangs falling in front of his eyes. "Riiight. With what?"

      "Seriously? Look, there's this lizard that I found in my trash and I decided to keep it because — Woah! — a lizard, y'know? Turns out it was definitely not a lizard and could very possibly be killing all the cats in Hawkins as we speak, or people, not really sure." He stared at the shorter teenager, not really knowing how to reply to that. Steve glanced over at him as well, almost laughing at how rushed the boy was.

      "What he's asking is," Steve leaned against one of the pillars that held up Oliver's porch roof, a serious look on his face. "Do you want to go monster hunting with us?" Steve finished and Oliver looked at him with the most exasperated look on his face.

"Excuse me? What kind of monsters are we talking, Harrington?" The boy next to Steve, who had been shifting from side to side while Steve asked his question, interrupted Steve before he could talk. Again. "The kind of monster's that open their face — not just their mouth, like, their entire face — and rip your cat apart like a chew toy." Stunned, Oliver's mouth fell open.

      "Alright, what kind of prank are you playing right now?" He asked the two of them, already knowing who was going to answer him first, considering he had done it the two times he asked questions. "We're not playing a prank. We're serious. We need as much help as he can get and Steve suggested we go to y—." He was cut off when Steve smacked him upside the head.

      "What he means," Steve said through gritted teeth. "Is will you please help us? We really need all the help we can get. I promise you, we are not playing a prank." Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Oliver nodded slowly.

      "Alright. Just — Just give me a minute. I'll be out in like. . . five." The two of them nodded and retreated back to Steve's car, waiting for the new member of their monster hunting squad.

      Inside, Oliver quickly changed out of his pajamas, throwing on jeans and a T-shirt. He yanked on his shoes and put on his oversized hoodie that he couldn't seem to get enough of before pulling one of his drawers open.

      He dug through the contents until the tips of his fingers felt metal. He wrapped his fingers around the object and pulled it out, revealing the switchblade that no one knew he had.

      In one swift movement, he shoved the blade into his pocket and made a beeline for the front door. He grabbed the key from its hook next to the door and put that into another pocket, pulling the door open once again. He walked out and shut the door, making his way over to Steve's car.

      The younger teen that was with Steve was sat in the backseat, leaving the passenger seat open. Little did Oliver know, Steve had yelled at him to get back so that he could sit up front.

      He got into the car and buckled his seatbelt, going Steve a thumbs up once he got situated. "Alright. Time to go find the lizard thing." Steve said, starting his car. "Dart. His name is Dart." Oliver turned his head, looking back at the curly-haired boy.

      "You named it?" He asked, almost in disbelief. The boy turned his head with an obvious look. "Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?" Steve laughed and shook his head, tapping his wheel to the beat of the song that was playing on the radio.

      Upon receiving no other response, the boy stuck his hand out to him with a wonky smile on his face. "I'm Dustin by the way." Slowly, Oliver grabbed ahold of his hand and shook it, an awkward smile displayed on his face. "Oliver."

      "I know. Steve's told me a lot—." Steve reached back and smacked him, glaring at him through the mirror. "Shut up." Amused, Oliver turned to him with a grin. "You talk about me, Harrington?"

      Steve grumbled something about 'damn kids' while his cheeks turned a light pink. "No. Shut up. I'll kick you out of the car right now." Oliver snickered and shook his head, focusing on the view in front of him. Despite his threat, Steve had a small smile tugging at his lips, keeping his gaze locked on the road ahead.

      ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Steve, Dustin, and Oliver were in the middle of nowhere, parked beside of an abandoned railroad track. Steve and Dustin had brought a few things for this 'monster hunt' — including two buckets full of raw beef. Of course, Oliver didn't know this until he had been called back to where Steve and Dustin were behind his car, popping the trunk open. When the trunk had opened, there were two buckets and a backpack full of supplies.

      "Okay. . . so why the beef?" Oliver asked, making a gesture at the buckets. Steve panicked and looked at Dustin, waiting for him to answer instead. After sighing and shaking his head like a father after seeing your report card, Dustin began to explain the idea he had. "The beef is to lure him toward us. This way we have a good chance of beating him. Then we set him on fire and hope to god that he dies." Oliver nodded slowly in understanding, reaching into the trunk before he let one of the buckets tangle from his fingertips. "So. . . how do we know this thing is evil anyway? What if he thinks you're his friend?" He asked Dustin, setting the bucket down near his feet as he reached back into the trunk for one of the cans of gasoline they had brought.

      "It's better if we take care of him now before it's too late." Oliver pursed his lips but nodded, still not entirely understanding but he understood enough. He didn't feel like he needed to ask any more questions, realizing that things would probably unfold for him.

      "Dustin! This is Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin!" Oliver turned to Dustin, eyeing the headset that hung on his head over his hat. "Well, well, well, look who it is." He spoke into the mic, walking off to the side with his hand on his hip.

      The headset crackled and the voice echoed through it again, this time a little more difficult for Oliver to hear since he had walked away. "Sorry, man. My. . . turned. . . off." That was all he was able to hear.

      He rolled up his sleeves before he slid on a pair of bright yellow washing gloves that were honestly way too big for him. He pursed his lips at how loose they felt and cuffed the ends in hopes that they stayed on. He picked up the gasoline cans, one in each hand. "Well, when you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and I'm pretty sure he's a baby Demogorgon." Slowly, Oliver turned to face him, eyebrows furrowed at the new word that was mentioned. "Demogorgon?"

      Dustin rolled his eyes and waved him off as a few more words came from the other end of the headset, however, Oliver wasn't able to make those out. "I'll explain later. Just meet me, Steve, and Oliver at the old junkyard." Dustin spoke into the mic once more, giving whoever was on the other side instructions. "Steve?" Oliver got closer to Dustin, passing him a bucket full of raw beef. "Oliver? The one whose mom had an affair?" Said boy rolled his eyes and shook his head, kneeling in front of Steve, placing a smaller can of gasoline in the bag he was placing some stuff in.

      "And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket," Dustin instructed, fixing the gloves that were over his hands. "Steve Harrington?" The boy on the other end asked, almost in utter disbelief. Why the hell was Steve Harrington with Dustin Henderson? It made zero sense. "All right. Let's go." Steve closed the trunk of his car with a SLAM.

      Oliver fixed his grip on the cans of gasoline. "Just be there, stat. Over and out." With that, Dustin turned off his headset and they began walking down the railroads. Dustin and Steve were in charge of leaving the trail of raw beef and Oliver just stayed between the two. "So. Why did you even keep this lizard thing anyway?" Oliver asked him, glancing up at the younger boy in front of him. Shrugging his shoulders, Dustin turned to him, throwing a few pieces of beef onto the railroad. "I don't know. I thought this girl would've thought it was cool. News flash. She didn't." Steve took a double-take after those words.

      "All right, so let me get this straight." Oliver sighed, already knowing where this was going. Steve asks him if he's serious, teases him, and then Dustin hates him forever. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who. . . who you just met?" He could basically hear Dustin rolling his eyes.

      "All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin said. Oliver snickered at that and slowed his pace a little, which resulted in him now walking next to Steve. "I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Oliver sighed and thought for a moment.

      "My mom probably would. I mean. . . have you seen her new boyfri—." Steve elbowed him in his ribs, causing him to bend over a bit and glare at him. "Ow." He hissed, tucking one of the cans of gasoline under his arm before rubbing the area that was probably going to bruise. "An interdimensional slug? Because it's awesome." Dustin completely ignored what Oliver had said and just continued with whatever he was thinking. Steve noticed that Oliver was still massaging his ribs and frowned. He hadn't realized that he had elbowed him that hard. "Sorry." He whispered and Oliver only shrugged.

      His hands fell to his side, knuckles brushing against Steve's gloved ones. Panicking, he tanked his hand away and grabbed the can of gasoline, clearing his throat awkwardly. Steve looked down at the area between the two of them and how Oliver had taken a step or two away from him. He frowned before turning to the front. To ease the tense air, Steve continued to chat with Dustin. "Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I. . . I just. . ." He paused for a moment, trying to big his next words carefully. "I don't know, I just feel like you're trying way too hard."

      "Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?" Oliver laughed loudly, turning away from the two of them when they turned to look at him, trying to figure out what was so funny. Shaking his head, Steve threw a few more pieces of beef down to the ground. "It's not about the hair, man. The key to girls is just. . . just acting like you don't care."

      "Don't listen to him, Dustin. He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about." Oliver shook his head with a small smile on his face when Steve side-eyed him. "Excuse me Alright then. Tell us how you would get a girl to like you." Wincing at his choice of words, Oliver looked down to the ground.

      "Well, firstly, girls will think you don't like them if you act like you don't care. Eventually, any feeling they had — if they even had any — would disappear and they'll move on to someone else." Oliver explained, a look that said 'obviously' on his face. Dustin nodded, thinking that Oliver's explanation sounded far more realistic. "No. Acting like you don't care drives them nuts."

      "Not in a good way." Steve sighed and looked down, not being able to help the small smile that formed on his lips. Dustin disregarded what Oliver had said with a roll of his eyes. "Then what?" He asked no one in particular — he was fine with either of them answering. Oliver was about to speak, but Steve cut him off. "You just wait until, uh. . ." Oliver raised an eyebrow, looking at him from the side. "Until you feel it."

Dustin — who was completely and utterly confused — turned to Steve quizzically. "Feel what?" He emphasized the 'what.' Upon realizing that he had zero clue on what he meant, Steve began to explain. "It's like before it's gonna storm, you know," he began, still throwing bits of meat onto the ground below them. "You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh. . . electricity, you know?" Absolutely amused, Oliver nodded along playfully, a teasing grin plastered on his face. However, it didn't seem like Dustin really grasped what Steve was trying to say.

"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere—." Steve stopped him quickly, whatever Dustin was saying was far too complex for his brain. "No, no, no, no, no. Like a. . . like a sexual electricity." Oliver snickered. swinging the cans of gasoline as he walked. With sudden understanding, Dustin stopped for a moment. "Oh." Steve nodded, humming a little. Oliver couldn't believe that Dustin was actually listening to whatever bullshit the teen was saying. He looked between the two of them in disbelief, a disgusted — yet amused — look on his face. "You feel that and then you make your move." Steve pointed at him with a gloved finger like a dad giving you advice.

"So that's when you kiss her?" Oliver chuckled and gave Dustin's shoulder a pat, shaking his head with faux — not really — disappointment. "No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo." Steve quickly said, stopping Dustin from saying anything else.

"Sorry." He quickly apologized, thinking he said something completely out of this world. He had, at least in the world of Oliver, so he wasn't far off. "Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive." Oliver grimaced at his choice of words — you would think he would be used to it by now, but no. "You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a. . ." He trailed off, trying to think of the right word for what he was describing. "I don't know, like a lion." Dustin hummed in understanding and nodded.

"But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a. . . like a ninja." He finished, looking at Dustin with a proud smile. He was proud of how he described that, but he most definitely shouldn't have been. "What type is Nancy?" Oliver's eyes darted over to Dustin before they flickered over to Steve, trying to make out the look on his face. It was a mixture of sadness, confusion, and also. . . dissatisfaction? "Nancy's different. She's different than the other girls."

"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess." Confusion spread across Oliver's soft features, eyebrows pushed together as he bit down on his lip. "Yeah. Yeah, she is." He could've sworn that the two of them had broken up. It was possible that Steve was still head-over-heels in love with the girl but. . . why did that make Oliver upset? He quickly shook away the feeling as Dustin began to speak again.

"But this girl's special, too, you know. It's just, like, something about her." Oliver wasn't quite sure that Dustin really knew what he was talking about. Sure, kids can fall in love at young ages, but. . . he just didn't think that that was the case. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey." Steve shoved a hand out in front of Dustin, keeping him from walking any further. Because of this, Oliver was forced to stop too, almost crashing into Steve's back. "What?" Dustin asked, looking up at the teenager next to him.

"You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?" Steve questioned, giving Dustin a pointed look. A little too quickly, Dustin denied the accusation. "Uh, no. No." Steve scanned his face for a minute before he turned and began walking again, continuing to throw down the beef. "Okay, good. Don't."

"I won't," Dustin assured, copying his actions. Oliver waited a few moments, looking between the two before he started walking after them. "She's only gonna break your heart, and you're way too young for that shit." Oliver looked over at Steve, a small frown on his face, knowing what he was implying.

Silence surrounded them, nothing but the sound of their shoes hitting the old abandoned planks of the railroad and the sound of the meat hitting the ground with the occasional creak of metal from their buckets swinging. Steve turned his head, sighing when he saw how mopey Dustin looked. "Fabergé." Confused, the two others with him looked at him in bewilderment. "What?"

Steve didn't even bother to look at the two of them as he pointed at the hair that rested on his head. "It's Fabergé Organics," he lowered his hand and began to elaborate more. "Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp. . . it's not wet, okay? When it's damp. . ." Dustin repeated the word to make sure that Steve knew that he understood. "You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray."

Oliver laughed softly, his shoulders shaking as he tried to hide it. Steve didn't even turn to face him as he flipped him off. "Farrah Fawcett spray?" Dustin said through giggles. Steve bit his tongue and nodded, a sarcastic smile planted on his lips. "Yeah, Farrah Fawcett." He stopped walking and faced Dustin, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson. Do you understand?" Dustin looked away for a moment, nodding his head while pursing his lips together. "Yup."

Steve lowered his finger, but quickly brought it back up again, this time pointing it toward Oliver. "That goes for you, too, Choi. I will murder you." Oliver smirked, chuckling. He walked forward and gave him a playful salute. "Yes, sir." Steve stared at him for a moment, not really wanting to break their eye contact. "Okay." He said through a breathy laugh, throwing more meat onto the ground.

"Farrah Fawcett. Really?" Dustin asked, almost in disbelief. Steve nodded his head, moving it to the side to emphasize that he really meant it. "I mean, she's hot." He said and Dustin nodded slightly, quietly agreeing with him.

The rest of the time that they were walking on the railroad it was silent. Occasionally, small chatter between Dustin and Steve broke the silence, but Oliver stayed quiet for the remainder of it. He didn't really know what to say even if he felt like speaking. It felt weird to start a conversation. It just didn't feel right.

It was close to sundown when they actually arrived at their location. Steve now had sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose and Oliver had taken off the bright yellow washing gloves that were way too distracting to him. "Oh, yeah," Steve said as he scanned the area full of scrapped junk that surrounded them. "Yeah, this will do." He trudged forward, the bucket that was once full of meat was now only half full swung by his side. "This will do just fine." From behind him, Dustin smiled proudly, happy with the praise he was getting from someone who he admired so much.

"Good call, dude." Together, the three of them made a trail of raw beef that led to the center of the junkyard before they poured out the remaining pieces. An unsettling squish echoed through the air as they piled together. "I said medium-well!"

The three of them looked up, squinting their eyes as the sun beat down on them. Ahead of them stood a darker-skinned boy with a camouflaged bandana wrapped around his head and he wore a beige jacket. Next to him, was a tomboy-ish looking girl with bright, blazing red hair who wore a green Adidas zip-up jacket. "Who's that?" Steve questioned, referring to the girl that was now walking toward them. Oliver looked at Dustin and he immediately knew. That was the girl that he had been talking about.

When the two of them got closer, the boy waved at Oliver, sticking his hand out in front of him. "Hi, I'm Lucas." Oliver nodded slowly, shaking his hand before he turned to the girl, giving her a tight smile. "And this is—."

"Max." She nodded in acknowledgment, reciprocating his tight and awkward smile. "Nice to meet you, guys." Dustin gave Lucas' shoulder a squeeze with a sickly sweet smile. "Can we talk? Alone." Lucas, who was confused, only nodded and let himself be dragged away by Dustin behind an abandoned red car.

"Okay. . ? Well, while they're doing whatever they're doing, bring any kind of metal you can find and try and shield that old bus over there," Oliver pointed at the bus he was referring to. "To sort of be like a. . . hideout." Steve and Max nodded and Steve left right away, immediately heading for a piece of scrap metal that caught his eye.

"Do you really believe them?" The red-head asked him and he shrugged, moving his hand to block the sun from burning his eyes. "I guess we'll see." He said before he smiled once more and turned on his heel, heading for a pile of junk.

His eyes scanned the random piece of junk that was spread out across him until they landed on a large but thin piece of metal. He knelt down and grabbed it from the sides, lifting it with ease. It wasn't as heavy as it looked. He brought it over to the bus and let it lean on the side of the bus, pushing it forward so that the back of it met the bus. Suddenly, he heard a loud bang from behind him and quickly turned.

"Hey! Dickheads!" Oliver almost laughed at how much Steve looked and sounded like a mom. "How come the only two helping me out are Ollie and this random girl?" Upon hearing the nickname Oliver's eyes narrowed as a scowl grew on his face. He turned back around and continued the lean pieces of metal against the bus. "We lose light in 40 minutes. Let's go. Let's go, I said!" The two that he had been scolding complained, following after him.

      The now group of five worked together to make the bus as safe as possible. It was a lot easier to do this now that they had more members in their group. While the other four rolled over empty barrels, Oliver lifted an old ladder from a stack of trash and dragged it into the bus, bringing it over to the emergency exit at the top of the bus. He grabbed ahold of the two cans of gasoline that he had previously been holding and handed one to Steve when he got closer to him. The two of them poured out the Gasoline in a line that started from where they entered, eventually making it to the pile of meat that they had left. They doused it with gasoline and made another line that ended at least a foot away from the door of the bus.

     Oliver grabbed a piece of fishing line that still had bait attached to it and yanked it, pulling off the end with the yellow and blue bait that hung from it. He threw that to the side and pulled his knife from his pocket while walking over to the creaky old bus door. He grabbed a small piece of metal and held it on the door, using the fishing wire to tie it to it, he made a few holes with the knife in his hand before weaving the wire through, wrapping it around both sides before tying a tight knot on the back.

      He stuffed his knife back into his pocket as the kids and Steve began to pile into the bus, preparing for battle if they needed it. By this time, the sun was threatening to set and the October air was getting colder by the minute. Oliver was glad that he had brought his jacket, otherwise, he would have been shivering and freezing by now.

      Once the rest of them were inside the bus, Oliver closed the bus door and took a seat in the driver's seat, propping his feet up on the dashboard. "Now, we wait." He murmured, letting his hands fall to his sides.

hi i changed taemin's name to oliver so if you see two different names theyre the same person i guess i just missed it when i went to go change his name
anyways
the actions is going to begin soon i'm so excitedbbevejdbd