She needed to get Steve on the phone. As she scrambled for her bedroom, ignoring the calls of protest from Eddie in the previous room, that was all she could think. Steve had more experience with the creatures from The Upside Down (as he had called it during their conversation), and while she knew that fire was one extremely effective way to take care of them, she didn’t exactly want to burn down her home – or wherever her and Eddie happened to be when it came back.

She hesitated, though, picking her phone up and staring at the screen. She could already see Jessica’s apology text, and she knew that if she just opened her phone, it would open straight to her messages. She didn’t exactly want to leave her on ‘read’, but she wasn’t ready to talk to her quite yet. All it took was one glance towards the living room door, though, to remind her just what was at stake. They needed help, and unless they were to contact the police, they had to take care of this themselves.

By the time she exited the bedroom, Eddie was practically in her room, the blonde blinking briefly as she looked up at him. Pain was scrawled over his face, but had she looked down at his ankle, she would’ve understood why. It was impossible for her to pull her eyes away from his face, though, fingertips resting against his own hand. Somewhere in the pit of her stomach, the urge to throw up was slowly lurching forward, but it had nothing to do with the blood that covered the man in front of her. Instead, she found herself having to force down the memory of the last time they had danced in the kitchen of her cabin, swallowing hard as she kept grip on her phone.

“Eddie, I know it’s been a long time, but . . .” Again she paused, shaking her head gently. The whole situation was a worst-case-scenario, and neither of them could’ve predicted it, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t handle it. “I need you to trust me. Those things? They’re hunters, and they follow the scent of blood. They will be back, and I have a friend who can help. Please, when have I ever lied to you or given you a reason not to trust me??”

By this point, the lights in the living room were flickering, but the two were just beyond the corner, Eddie’s back to the room and Demona’s eyes locked on Eddie. She was completely unaware of the trouble they were about to be in.