Steve's voice penetrated the silence that he and Armani were in.

Half of them had gone to see if they could reach Will, and although she wanted to be there to help, something in Armani wasn't settled. She could barely think straight, let alone try to help reach out to Will while he was possessed. Instead she and Steve sat down at the edge of Jonathan's bed, both their bats lay on the ground in front of them, reminding them of the monsters that could potentially invade the home any second.

"Yeah. Sure." Armani spoke quietly, she had taken off the jacket, with only a thin, white shirt on, the bruises she had over her arm and hands were visible. "I'm being serious." Steve spoke awkwardly, "You should be in bed, resting. Or, you know–mourning" he hesitated the last part, hoping none of what he said would make her feel worse. "But you're here. Fighting. If that's not strength and bravery, I don't know what is" the boy finished, looking up at the girl who's attention was on her chucks.

"Thanks." She nodded. The two teens sat shoulder to shoulder in silence yet again, and although it seemed a thousand words needed to be exchanged, they weren't.

The back door swung open, Hopper stepped quickly to a table. "What happened?" Dustin asked as Hopper sat at the table, everyone rushing to stand around him. He took a paper and began to write down a series of dots and dashes, "I think he's talking. Just not with words."

"What is that?"Steve asked, a hand on Armani's shoulder as she leaned over to see the indications on paper. "Morse code." she and the other kids replied. "H-E-R-E" the girl muttered, recognizing the language from what her father had taught her. "Here." The others repeated. "Will's still in there. He's talking to us." Hopper looked around the group, leaning back on the chair.

Jonathan looked up, "memories." He muttered, walking quickly to his room, coming back with a tape and radio. "They might help Will come back enough to tap his message," Armani ran to Will's room, she looked around, before seeing what she looked for.

A sword. A plastic, gold and silver sword. She grabbed it, running back and standing beside Jonathan, Joyce, and Mike. "Mani, you shouldn't go in the-" "I can do this" Armani interrupted a concerned Dustin, who seemed hesitant on letting her go. "I'll go too then. You know, incase.." Armani turned to Steve, not letting him finish, she flashed him a small smile, although it was forced. "I don't need a knight, Harrington. I've got my own sword" she held up the toy sword. Hopper ushered her and the others out to the shed, where Jonathan sat infront of Will while a song began to play from his radio.

She watched the boys hands tap as the memories were told to him by his brother, and friend. When it was her turn, she felt her stomach flip. The boys eyes were brown and glazed over, his skin's pigment only further whitened by the bright lights that blinded one when they looked at them.

"Hey Will. You remember me, right? Remember when my–" she stumbled over the word, but took a deep breath and continued, "my dad took me to meet you and your family? We were going around town, your mom and my dad were getting distracted by some nerd technology things, so we ran ahead trying to find something fun to do? I saw two of these" she held up the toy sword, "in the window of the thrift shop, and we just walked in and began playing with them." She let out a soft laugh, "Jonathan told us to stop our sword fight, and we ended up knocking down a stand of dolls. We got kicked out, but I bought the swords with my allowance." She nodded, eyes flickering from Will to his tapping hand. "You said it was the first time in a while that someone treated you so normally, so carefree." She sighed.

At that moment, a phone ring burst everyone back to reality. The shrillness startled Will. Inside, Nancy had chucked the phone on the ground, but it was much too late. Armani stood up, Will's eyes closed. Joyce came forward, "hey, hey. Are you okay?" She leaned towards him. "Shit" Armani followed Hopper, Mike and Jonathan as they went outside. The distinct shrewd screeches of the monsters were heard in the distance. They ran back inside the small shack.

"They're coming!" Jonathan said, all five of them rushed to untie Will. "Come on. We gotta go" Hopper cut the ropes. Jonathan carried Will, as Hopper ushered everyone inside.

Armani dropped the toy sword, catching the bat that Steve tossed at her as they all stood at the front of the house. "Do you know how to use this?" Hopper held a gun as he asked Jonathan, "W-What?" "Can you use this!" Hopper yelled louder. "I can" Nancy stood forward. Nancy, Hopper, Steve, and Armani stood at the front line, their weapons held in shaky hands as they listened for any sounds.

The growls of the demodogs were stomach churning. As they moved around the house, so did everyone in fearful suspense. Armani's ears rang, her palms began to sweat as she felt bile rise up from her stomach. "What are they doing?" Nancy asked through shaky breaths. The monsters moved loudly, now near the front door, that was when a groan and a screech were heard, followed by complete silence.

"what's happening" Armani whispered, but no sooner had the words left her mouth than the window shattered. A demodog flew through the window, everyone releasing screams of terror as they prepared for the fight to come. Steve stepped infront of Armani, closer to the demodog that seemed it wouldn't move any further. "Holy shit" Dustin gaped, "is it dead?" Max asked as everyone inched forward.

Hopper moved the animal with his foot, everyone's breath was held as it was made clear the monster wasn't alive. The front door began to creak, and everyone turned again. Armani's breath hitched as she saw the lock on the door turn. In a world where dog like monsters existed, she didn't want to believe there was something that could move things without touching them.

Then the door opened.

Hopper's gun lowered, a girl who seemed to be roughly around the younger kids age stepped in. Dressed almost completely in black, her nose bled. Everyone stopped breathing, it was as if a force knocked everyone into a trance, they immediately knew that girl had killed the demodog, in a way that was unnatural.