. She had spent the majority of her day walking along them, and now she would be spending the night as well. The only difference in the settings were that along with Steve and Dustin, came Lucas and Max.

Ringo shivered a little, from the previous scene or the cool, night air - she didn't know. After all, she had dressed for a 'casual date', not to hunt down monsters. She could only thank God that she had decided earlier to wear her Converse shoes instead of something uncomfortable.

Steve picked up on her shivering, hanging back so she could catch up to his side and walk together.

"You cold?" He asked, ready to take his jacket off.

"No," she denied, not wanting to be the girl that took the guy's jacket. She and Steve were one cliché away from being a horrible teen romance flick.

"Well, I doubt you have a motor neuron disease, so just take the damn jacket," he chuckled, giving his backpack to her so he could remove his jacket and hand it over to her. Once finished, he slipped his bag back onto his shoulders, now only covered by a thin sweater.

"Damn," she whistled, "next you'll be giving me a necklace with your initial on it."

Steve's eyes went wide while she wasn't looking, wondering how she knew exactly what he had planned on giving her for Christmas - a present he had planned already.

"Wow," he scoffed, "imagine I gave you something as lame as that. Hah! I would never."

"Well," she hummed, smirking at his deer-in-headlights expression, "as far as first dates go, you sure know how to make it unique."

"Tell me," he hung his free arm over her shoulder, a grin gracing his lips, "do you kiss after the first date?"

"Oh my god," Lucas gagged from in front of them, himself and Max turning around with equal expressions of disgust, "can you not jump each other while we're here?"

Ringo childishly stuck her tongue out at him, to which he responded to by copying her action. With that distraction over with, Lucas could turn back to Dustin and continue their conversation.

"You're sure it was Dart?" He clarified.

"Yes," Dustin revealed, "he had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."

"But he was tiny three days ago," Max interjected.

"He's molted three times already."

"Malted?" Steve echoed.

"Like vinegar?" Ringo added in, trailing the tip of her axe lazily along the ground.

"Molted," the curly haired boy repeated. "He shed his skin to make room for growth, like hornworms. When he molts again soon, he'll be fully grown - or close to it. And so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve huffed, shining his flashlight around the tracks.

As her stomach rumbled, Ringo brought her backpack around to the front of her body, reaching in for a bag of chips after tucking the axe into a strap at the front. Immediately upon opening the bag, Steve dug his hand inside and took out a handful of chips, receiving a glare as a result.

"Wait-" Lucas stopped, taking Steve's words into account and reaching out to stop Dustin. "A cat? Dart ate a cat?"

"No, what? No!" Dustin stammered.

"What are you talking about?" Steve interrupted out of confusion, prompting Ringo to roll her eyes at his stupidity. "He ate Mews."

"Mews?" Max turned, "who's Mews?"

"Um?" Ringo tried to save him, her voice muffled with the food in her mouth. "It's a name we gave a dead rat... that we... fed him with. You know."

"No? When did that happen?" Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "It's Dustin's cat."

"Steve!" Dustin bellowed, while being shoved by Lucas.

"I knew it!" His friend was shouting, voice echoing through the trees. "You kept him!"

"No!"

"No?"

"No, I-... No, I-... he missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!" Lucas scoffed.

"I didn't know he was a demogorgan, okay?" Dustin defended, his voice getting louder and louder.

"See what you did," Ringo teased Steve with a fake disappointed look, polishing off the rest of the bag of chips. "Fucking Yoko."

"So did you!" Dustin's roar brought their attention back to the group of pre-teens. "You told a stranger the truth!"

"Wh- a stranger?!" Max recanted angrily, stepping forward towards the argument.

"Jesus," Steve muttered to Ringo, "were we this dramatic?"

"Kids," Ringo called out in a bored tone, "there are people that are dying."

"Shut up, Ringo!" All three of them shouted back at her, causing her hand to fly up to her chest in offence as they all turned back to arguing.

Steve snorted at her expression, "that's you told."

Unable to help herself, she chuckled along with him at the situation, grateful for the momentary reprieve from stress. Although a screech in the distance soon reminded them of what was going on.

Steve and Ringo met eyes with suspicious expressions, turning their heads back to the source of the sound and stepping forth to the tree line to investigate. Just in case, she tore her axe back from the strap it was held in and lifted it high.

"Hey guys?" Steve spoke hesitantly, a rustling sound further away stopping him and the blonde next to him in their tracks. "Guys!"

Their bickering stopped immediately from the volume of his tone, the newfound silence allowing them to hear the same animalistic screeching in the distance. All members in the group darted towards the tree line, tracking the sound while Max lingered behind.

"No, no, guys- why are you heading towards the sound?!" She demanded, staring incredulously. "Hello?!"

When no one answered her, she was left with no choice but to follow after them, or stay on the tracks by herself.

Their trail led them to a cliff edge, where they were given a bird's eye view of the forest and Hawkins. If it hadn't been for the eerie fog or the circumstances that led them to this point, Ringo would have thought it was a rather beautiful view.

The howling continued in the distance, too strange to be anything other than the demogorgans flocking together. Lucas brought his binoculars up to his eyes, peering through to investigate. His vision brought him to the lab, immediately drawing a conclusion.

"It's the lab," he deduced, lowering the looking device down to see with his own eyes. "They were going back home."

"Well," Ringo sighed, a chill running through her spine that prompted her to grip the axe tighter, "I'm sure their mama will be happy to hear that."

✵

"Seriously?" Jessica muttered to herself, placing the phone down for what was sure to be the seventh time. Either the phone lines in Hawkins were down this evening, or every one of her friends were ignoring her.

The only one to answer was the Wheeler household - Nancy's house, that is. Her mother had answered to say that Nancy was with Ringo, but her cousin's phone rang out as well. She had tried the Byers, only for the phone to ring out unanswered as well. Even more surprisingly, she lowered herself to calling Steve. And even he didn't answer.

Jessica would be lying if she said it didn't make her paranoid and insecure, after all, it wasn't often that she had more than one friend. As tough as she looked, she remained bothered by her inability to hold a group of friends longer than a few months. Usually they would tire of her, or continue to hang out without her until she got the message.

But this time was different. Ringo, Nancy and Jonathan weren't assholes. And as much as she called him one, she knew that Steve wasn't either. Not any more, anyway.

Something more strange was going on instead of her friends simply hanging out without her, she knew it in her heart.

So with a fire in her step and an anxious flutter in her chest, she set off driving towards each of her friends houses, determined to figure out what was going on.

✵

The group had decided to wait at the gates of the lab, for what - they weren't sure. Hawkins Laboratory was a big place, and there was no chance in hell the group would just burst in, axes and bats blazing.

Suspiciously, when they finally reached the gates after the long trek down the mountain, the security guard was nowhere to be found, leaving the gate completely open and unguarded.

"This doesn't look suspicious at all," Ringo hummed, stepping into the small security booth to investigate. There was no blood, or signs of an attack. It was as if he had simply vanished.

"Hey, a baby Ruth!" Steve exclaimed happily, reaching past her to pick up the chocolate bar from the desk.

"Seriously?" Ringo gave him a deadpan look. "What if it's owner is... you know..." she cupped her hand around her mouth to block the kids from hearing, "D-E-A-D."

"Wow!" Lucas muttered, "I wonder what does that spell! Dad?"

"Heh," Steve chuckled, ripping the packaging off and taking a large bite. "He called you dad."

"Shut up, mom," she teased, snatching the bar from his hand to take a bite of her own.

"Hey! What happened to it being wrong to steal from the dead?" He glared at her.

"This isn't stealing from the dead, this is stealing from you."

"Oh, I do hate when mom and dad fight," Lucas drily commented as he trailed around with boredom.

Ringo sighed as she handed Steve back his candy bar, leaning against the wall of the booth once more. She was jittery, constantly looking over her shoulder and expecting one of those things to be looking back at her.

"I would have shared it with you," Steve said upon noticing her suddenly saddened expression, "there's no need to be upset."

"What?" She replied with confusion, shaking her head when she realised what he was talking about. "Oh, no. I don't want the Baby Ruth."

"Then what's going on?" He pressed, giving her his full attention.

"I just think-" she cut off, noting the caring expression in her eyes that calmed her fears and caused her heart to swell. With that, she decided to keep her worries silent, for now. "I just think this place is giving me major Area 51 vibes and I'm ready to go down, Sigourney Weaver style."

"'Go down'?" He echoed, a suggestive smirk on his lips. She scoffed a laugh, smacking him on the chest and shaking her head.

Max perked up as her ears heard something in the distance, turning to face the gates with suspicious eyes. She wasn't yet sure if the screeching she heard was the squeals of a demogorgan or the wheels of a car.

"Guys?" She called out, not having to ponder for much longer as the sound of an engine met her ears, a set of headlights appearing at the end of the winding drive to the lab.

Ringo's head snapped up, fearing the worst and almost sighing in relief when she saw what Max had. One car became two, and the sound of an engine became the sound of a car horn honking furiously.

"Watch out!" Steve shouted, forcing them all to duck out of the path and onto the side of the road as the first car screeched past.

The next vehicle was a police department truck, and Ringo bit her lip fearfully at the sight of it. The thought of her mother being called to the station over her daughter loitering would put the fear of god into any person.

The truck stopped right beside them, the tension intensifying only to explode with relief as Chief Hopper lowered his window, jerking his head back as a gesture.

"Let's go!" He commanded. Lucas shot forward, gripping open the passenger side door, which they all had to climb through to get into the back. Steve and Ringo were the last to clamber inside, making sure the younger ones got in first.

With the three preteens in the back seat, there was nowhere for Ringo to sit except for Steve's lap in the passenger seat. It was rather awkward, especially in front of a cop, but she'd rather sit on Steve than Dustin. Besides, Hopper's eyes were too focused on the road as he immediately set off, following the car in front.

A few moments passed, and he finally darted his eyes over to notice Ringo's position.

"Seriously? I'm still a cop, that's still a crime," he grumbled, receiving sheepish smiles from both teenagers.

"You're the famous Chief Hopper then?" Ringo rambled nervously. "It's nice to finally meet you. I mean, I'm glad we haven't met before now, because that would mean I would be getting arrested but, you know..."

He didn't answer her nor spare her a glance, his face still holding the same frown.

"It's not something I do often, get arrested I mean," she still continued on, a combination of nerves, stress and lack of sleep getting the better of her. "Only the once. But I wasn't properly arrested, the family didn't press charges."

"What the fuck?" Steve whispered, eyes wide as he regarded upon her.

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about that?" She fake smiled, acting innocent.

✵

Their drive led them to the Byers household, the occupants in the first car soon revealing themselves as Jonathan, Nancy, Joyce and Mike piled out of the vehicle.

Seeing her two cousins and friend, Ringo barely waited until the car was fully stopped before launching herself out of the passenger seat, speed walking towards them.

"Nancy! Mike!" She called out, catching their attention as they watched on with worry as Jonathan and Joyce carried a body from the back seat. Ringo's step faltered at the sight of it, assuming the worst, but she soon saw that it was Will and he appeared to be somewhat alive, if only unconscious.

"Ringo!" Nancy sighed in relief, darting towards her and wrapping her arms around the blonde in a hug which she eagerly accepted. "God, I'm glad to see you."

"I didn't know you were wrapped up in this, too," Ringo commented to Nancy, hugging her tightly in return before letting go to latch onto Mike, who was less willing for a hug.

"Gross," he deadpanned, although his words didn't have the same teasing undertone they always did. Ringo grabbed him by the shoulders and held him in front of her, inspecting him.

"I was wondering why you weren't with your band of geeks, are you okay?" She asked, but all he did was smack her hands off and mumble an 'I'm fine', before trailing after the others.

"Where did you think I was?" Nancy asked her when he left, walking by her side as they followed him indoors.

"I knew you were gonna sort out the... Barbara thing but you'd been gone a while, so I thought you and Jonathan were just banging it out," Ringo shrugged casually, her head snapping over after seeing Nancy suddenly looked as if she swallowed a bug.

"Oh my god," Ringo gasped, her eyes wide and her hand smacking over her mouth. It was just the two of them outside the door now. "You did it! You fucked Jonathan!"

"Not so loud!" She whisper-shouted, batting at her forearms with desperate eyes. "Gee, why don't you tell his mother too while you're at it!"

"Can I?" Ringo asked, an excited grin forming.

"No! Look," Nancy's tone turned serious, her eyes darting back to the house. "Something happened in the lab... there's more pressing things going on."

"What could be more pressing than Jonathan pressing his dick in you?"

"Oh my god, Ringo!" She flew her hands up in frustration, her expression screwing up. "Be serious!"

"Alright, what's going on?" She stopped her chuckling, adopting a calmer expression in order to listen to Nancy. She knew when a situation called for her to pay attention.

✵

Ringo immediately trailed toward Steve's side the second she entered the house, her face white as if she had just saw a ghost. She latched onto his hand, tucking it inconspicuously between them to hide their conjoined fingers.

"Hey? Are you okay? What's up?" He whispered to her, not wanting to interrupt Mike who was in the middle of talking about Bob Newby. Something that didn't seem so out of place now that she knew what happened.

"Nancy just explained what's going on," she shook her head, "before this seemed a bit surreal. But now... someone's dead, Steve. And Will is infected by those things and I just... we're not in Hawkins any more, Toto."

"Come on now," he angled his body to her, keeping his voice low but his expression sincere. "You don't need to worry. From what I've heard, Bob sacrificed himself. And they're trying to make Will better. It's all going to work out."

"I just... I try to brush everything off with a joke or act like I'm this badass but-" she cut off, masking her embarrassment at her confession by scraping a hand through her hair. "I'm scared. I'm scared for you, for the kids, for Jonathan, for Nancy - I don't want anything to happen to any of you."

"Nothing's going to happen," he soothed, resisting the urge to cup her cheek in front of everyone. "Not with an ass kicker like yourself looking after everyone."

She couldn't hold back the light chuckle that rose, easing away some of her worries.

"Besides," Steve gestured with his hand, "Chief Hopper isn't letting us leave. He said we're not going anywhere."

"What?" She frowned. "But we can't just stay here, we're involved now. We have to do something."

"I think this is bigger than us, Ringo," he disagreed. And that's when she saw it - he was a little scared too.

"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin's raised voice interrupted their private conversation, redirecting them back to the group of preteens. "The Chief's right on this. We can't stop the demodogs on our own."

"Demodogs?" Max echoed.

"Demogorgan... dogs... it's like a compound-" he made a gesture with his hands as if to bring the words together.

"Okay," Max cut him off and shut him down, prompting Steve and Ringo to wince. That one bound to hurt.

"She's right," Ringo added to the conversation, "Mike- you weren't there in the junkyard. We were this close to becoming something your dad would serve as dinner."

"When it was just Dart... maybe," Lucas shrugged. "But there's an army now."

"His army," Mike mumbled, his eyes downcast as he appeared to have a revelation of sorts.

"What do you mean?" Steve interjected.

"His army! Maybe if we can stop him, we can stop his army too!"

"Who's army?" Ringo screwed up her nose, feeling left out of the loop. Mike groaned in frustration before setting off towards the table, lifting one of the dozens of drawings that were scattered around the place. It seemed every time she came into this house it was serving a new form of decoration. From fairy lights and black painted letters, to drawings.

The drawing he showed the others was different from the rest, detailing a ground and sky and a giant, black spider-like creature encompassing all of it.

"The shadow monster!" Dustin exclaimed, catching on immediately while Ringo was still confused.

"It got Will that day on the field," Mike continued. "The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him."