Chapter Text
This wasn't the plan. This wasn't the goddamn plan. Nancy and Robin are both dead, killed in the Creel house by Vecna. Torn apart and strung up like puppets or Halloween decorations. Steve dry heaves remembering the sickening crackle of broken bones and the wet squelches of the vines as they threaded through the girls' broken bodies. He remembers Nancy's pleas for him to keep Mike and Holly safe, begging him to just go. And he had.
He'd fled the house with only one thought on his mind. Find Dustin. Find Mike. Find his kids.
Steve wants to scream as he charges toward the swarm of demobats that whirl around Dustin and the others like a hurricane. Nancy and Robin's screams are still ringing in his ears as he swings his nail bat into the closest demon bat, sending a spray of black blood through the air. Shrill cries are barely audible over the rush of air the bats are creating, but Steve keeps forcing himself forward. They never should have let the kids help; they should have left them somewhere safe. Hell, they should have all left the goddamn country; let the adults fix their own mistakes for once. But no, they'd stayed just like every other fucking time something like this happened.
Blurry figures slowly come into focus as he fights his way through the swarm, black blood spraying across his face and chest as he swings his nail bat. Claws rake across his chest and arms and Steve fights a pained cry forcing himself to keep pushing. By the time he reaches his kid, there's already a body on the ground, and Dustin is bleeding heavily. He stares up at Steve with dull devistated eyes, tear tracks cutting through the grime on his face.
"Steve, you've got to—please we can't." Dustin gasps through tears, and it's all Steve can do not to hurl as he takes in what's left of Eddie Munson's body.
His body is torn to ribbons splayed across the dull earth of the upside down like a sickening painting, made with heavy strokes of viscera and gore. There are gaping holes where the bats took chunks out of his sides and chest. Limbs curled unnaturally as though he'd been dropped before they'd torn him apart. His eyes stare unseeing at the sky reflecting the bright red flashes of lightning eerily. His dark hair is matted with blood and mud around his head.
"Can't- we can't leave him, Steve." Dustin's whole body shakes as he cries and Steve's heart aches. The kid is too young to be going through anything like this, let alone for the third time.
" I'm sorry kiddo, I'm so so sorry." He should have done better. Should have kept him safe. Should have kept Eddie safe. Should have kept Robin and Nancy safe. His eyes burn with unshed tears.
Steve holds Dustin close as a stray bat dives at them wincing as claws scrap across his back, shredding his clothes and skin. He crouches, trying to shield Dustin with his body. The only thought going through his mind is that Dustin has to make it; Steve has to get him out of here. He won't lose him like he lost Robin and Nancy.
"Dustin, we've got to go." He tries to fight the way his heart breaks as the boy begs him not to leave Eddie here. Begs him to get the older boy to safety. But Eddie isn't breathing, and CPR can only do so much, and blood loss and gaping wounds are not part of that. He doesn't tell Dustin any of this. Instead, he promises he'll go back for Eddie as soon as he knows Dustin is safe. The lie feels sour in his throat but it's so much more important that Dustin makes it out safely.
After a moment of exhausted protesting, the pair are sprinting for the trailer park to where the gate is. Steve's heart pounds in his chest hope and terror fighting for dominance. They're nearly there; the trailer is in sight only yards away when claws dig into his rib cage, the weight of the two demobats sending him crashing to the ground with a strangled cry. The air is forced out of his lungs as he hits the ground. His ears are ringing and Steve can hear Dustin screaming his name, but it sounds distant like he's underwater. Like Nancy and Robin's had when he'd beeb dragged through Watergate. Razor sharp teeth tear into his shoulder and this time Steve screams, his vision whiting out from the pain for a moment. His head feels fuzzy and his thoughts move like molasses as he struggles to regain his bearings.
Hot blood pours across his back and neck as the bats tear into his back, soaking into his hair and staining his skin even as it slowly goes ashen. Steve can barely make out Dustin's form and he tries to drag himself forward on heavy limbs, trying to save his kid as three demobats circles him like vultures. He shrieks as teeth sever through muscle down to the bone and his left arm goes limp. The blood pours down his neck and onto his face, thick and hot.
He can hear Dustin's screams as he tries to force himself to his knees. Suddenly he feels a crushing weight on his back, hears a sickening crack, and a white hot spear of pain arcs up his spine and then Steven Harrington knows nothing at all.