Second Chance

summary: Steve Harrington flees the Nemesis at the Crotus Prenn Asylum.

word count: 527

a/n: This was a fun challenge! I’ve never written for Steve or Nemi before, and I don’t think I’ve ever written a story for the Crotus map! I really enjoyed this :) #WritersCircle

Steve’s lungs burn as he sprints through the Crotus Prenn Asylum, veering to miss a bed flipped over near the main building. He’s not sure what he’s running from, but it’s another killer, that’s for sure. If Steve wasn’t terrified, he’d laugh at the fact that this monster looks like he’s wrapped in trash bags, but Steve is terrified, so he doesn’t dare. He can only focus on getting out.

Getting out of this trial, getting out of this fog, and getting out of the Entity’s realm. He hasn’t seen Nancy in a long time, and she was about the only thing that made him feel any sense of normalcy while he was here. Sometimes he catches a glimpse of Jonathan Byers, and he gets hope, thinking that maybe his enemy-turned-acquaintance has come to rescue him, and that’s why he hasn’t seen Nancy – surely this place is just like the Upside Down, and there’s some kind of portal leading out of here, and SURELY Nancy Wheeler of all people would be the one to solve the mystery. Right?

Steve must not be capable of multitasking, because all of this thinking has led to him slowing down just enough that pain surges through his back, and he cries out. “AHHH!” He lurches forward, and his back throbs in a perfect line. He glances over his shoulder and sees that the monster, his current nemesis, has caught up to him, and is the source of the whip that lashed him just a few seconds before.

Steve pushes on and rounds a corner, spotting another old hospital bed. Steve’s always been a quick thinker, and this time around, he figures there’s no outrunning this guy – he’s relentless in his pursuit. Steve slides under the bed frame, and grabs the bars ing the mattress to pull himself up. The stomps of the killer get louder, and soon Steve sees his gigantic feet standing right next to the bed. The killer paces around, trying to find his target, and seems a little lost. The killer stands still for a few seconds, and the whole world feels silent. Steve holds his breath. The killer stomps away, and when his footsteps eventually disappear, Steve lets out a shaky sigh of relief, lowering himself down.

When he least expects it, the bed he’s hiding under is thrown off of him, and the monster roars out, “STARS!” And Steve scrambles to get to his feet, but not before being punched so hard that the wind is knocked out of him. As the killer throws him over his shoulder, he thinks, ‘STARS what?’

While he weakly struggles to get out of the killer’s grip, a sneaky Jill Valentine comes into view, nodding at Steve before sprinting over and dropping something at the killer’s feet, then running away again. Steve barely s the sound of hissing, because all he can process is that he just noticed, for the first time, what Jill’s outfit says. S.T.A.R.S.

There’s an explosion, and the monster drops him, temporarily stunned. On instinct, Steve starts running away, thanking the deity that is Jill Valentine for giving him a second chance.