jeop·ard·y

noun

danger of loss, harm, or failure.

It came crawling, and it came untrusting. The creature that Dustin christened Dart entered their sights from their hiding spot on the bus. Even as it nibbled the remaining chunks of meat, it stopped before it reached the jackpot. Emilia peered through the slotted windows and wondered if it smelled the gasoline and did not like it. This would be a logical conclusion; however, she didn't feel it was correct. This creature was no longer as small as Dustin remembered, hunks of already-deceased animal might not satisfy its hunger anymore.

Steve figured out the same realization, which solidified Emilia's worry.

"Why is he not taking the bait?" Steve asked.

"Maybe he's not hungry," Dustin whispered.

"Maybe he's sick of cow."

Emilia's lip quivered and it was clear when she spoke, "Animals, predators, prefer food they catch. Dart has been in captivity, fed by you Dustin, but he's been out for a while. The trail got him here, but what if he was following something else... What if he has been hunting us?"

Steve got up and grabbed the baseball bat, gripping it tightly in a confident grasp. He ignored Dustin's frantic and unnecessary questions, because it was obvious what he was planning. Emilia rose and grabbed a piece of pipe that she found in their set up today.

"No, no, I'm doing this alone," Steve argued.

Emilia wasn't having it. "I'm not letting you go out there alone. You and I have both faced this thing, and you know as well as I do that one person isn't enough."

"Someone has to stay to look after them!" Steve gestured to Dustin.

"I'm not staying behind and watching you get killed, Steve!" she yelled.

"Well I don't want to see you get hurt out there!" he shouted backed.

"Will you two stop shouting?" Dustin whisper-yelled. "That thing is going to hear you two bickering like an old married couple, okay?"

Emilia flushed, Steve sighed. He went for the door, and Emilia followed. At the exit, he looked over his shoulder and cast an unimpressed expression but could do no more to stop her from following. In the mist of the muggy night, the creature was mostly hidden from sight. Only a meter between them, they approached Dart, it's chittering echoing along the field. It almost sounded as if there were more than one, but Emilia refused to accept that possibility.

They coaxed it, trying to get it to attack or even get close enough to be attacked. The creature stared them down, mouth opening slightly to display authority. But as Lucas shouted at them that there was another monster behind them, Emilia realized that it was distracting them so that the others -plural- would be able to sneak up on them.

"Well, glad to have me by your side now?" Emilia asked, lifting her weapon and standing back to back with Steve.

"A little," Steve admitted.

Dustin began to scream at them to abort, having opened the bus doors for them to get back inside. But the creatures were hungry, and they we ready to attack. Their only chance was to get to the bus and hide within, although what would happen after that Emilia didn't know. The first monster lunged at Steve, and he launched himself out of the way. The monster slammed into a broken down car, and Steve was able to swing the bat and bludgeon another one. There were still two more, and Emilia was facing those.

She wielded her pipe, knowing it would do very little against these monsters. One opened its ugly face and ran towards her. She shouted in a battle cry as she palmed the base of the pipe and put all her weight against it like a spear. The monster ran straight into it, and the pipes sharp edges dug into its wet, meaty shoulder. The creature backed away, and Emilia used that opportunity of its wounded state to run for the bus. She grabbed Steve's jacket sleeve and began to pull him along.

"Come on!" she encouraged. "Run faster!"

Steve bypassed Emilia, reaching back for her hand. Emilia reached for it when the claw of a monster gripped her ankle. She tumbled to the ground and screamed, flipping onto her back and swinging the pipe against the monsters open face. It hit with a loud thunk and the monster stepped back away from her. Steve pulled her to her feet, and they continued their frantic sprint to the faux-safety.

They got to the bus in record time, and Dustin slammed the door shut with his foot. Steve took over holding the door as the younger kids ran to the center of the bus. Emilia grabbed a sheet of metal and slid it between Steve's feet and the bus door that was threatening to cave in and let on all the monsters. She helped barricade it, but the other ones were attacking other sections of the bus. It wouldn't take long for them to break in.

"Emilia, hold the door!" Steve commanded as one of the monsters crawled along the roof of the bus, nearing the emergency exit. He rushed towards the exit, pushing the kids behind him so that it was his life in jeopardy and not theirs. Brandishing the bat, he shouted at the monster.

Emilia groaned as she pushed against the door, trying to stop it from caving in. Her back was behind shoved into the bus stairs, the ancient metal edge cutting through her clothing. Then suddenly, the shoving stopping. The growling stopped. The bus was no longer being attacked, and the monsters backed off. Emilia was shaking hard, and she hadn't realized it until now. She dared not release her locked position holding the door shut, no matter how much it hurt her twisted ankle and her back against the stairs.

Steve touched her shoulder and made her jump, "I think they left... Are you okay?"

She nodded but remained silent, then she removed her feet from the door and shuffled backwards. As Steve removed the metal sheet and opened the door, Emilia clambered to her feet. Her ankle screamed in pain, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't need to be the one who caused problems by complaining, and so she kept quiet as Steve went out to see where the Demadogs were going.

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know," Max replied absentmindedly, clearly in shock from what she now knew was real.

"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin asked.

"No," Steve said, walking back to the bus. "They're going somewhere."

His tone of voice and confident demeanour showed that he was planning on following them. 

I'm developing quite the crush on Steve. Who knows, maybe when season 3 airs I'll write a fanfic for him and an OC. Cause let's face it, when season 3 rolls around and Jonancy is a permanent thing, I won't be writing a third installment of this series. That would be way too much to work around, you know?

Question of the Day: What do you anticipate for season 3? Do you think it will be the last season? Things are starting to get repetitive as of now, so I imagine if they don't branch out beyond Hawkins, the show will start going downhill and I don't want that to happen.