Teenagers with beer fizzling in their veins and headaches growing behind their eyes, stumbled through the tall dark trees with sparks in their hearts. Halloween was coming to a close, but a few kids were determined to make the party last forever. Police had broken up the Halloween bash almost half an hour ago, most fleeing into the streets without being caught. But some devilish teenagers had taken the party to the woods, Marigold Lonsdale included.

Cold seeped through her thin costume, her lips stinging from the bitterness in the air. Drunken roars from the kids around her set her bones stiff, but she smiled through the fears. She had always hated the woods. Marigold had ditched the party with some girl from senior year, Darlene something. She was barely paying attention to the loud mouthed, overly ditsy redhead, her sole attention being sucked up with the boy stalking through the undergrowth in front of her. His black leather jacket was hanging from his toned shoulders and his denim jeans hugged his behind like silk. Somebody had shoved a flask with sour whiskey into her hands and she had thrown back her head and let the liquor warm her insides. Marigold knew she should have gone straight home, but the longing for something exciting pushed her into the wake of stupid teenagers, who were blindly following Billy Hargrove into the darkness.

"I really love your costume, it totally suits you." Darlene something was gushing out lamely, hands crawling at Marigold who had to shrug her off with a roll of her eyes. She did not have time, or patience, to allow this girl to think they were friends just because they had stumbled behind some boys from school that thought stomping through the woods on Halloween was a fun idea. The only reason Marigold had even followed was because Billy Hargrove had let his eyes land on her, a tiny smirk lifting up his lips. "We should totally hang out at school."

Marigold Lonsdale hiked up her skirt, her heels sinking into the dead leaves and dirt. "Yeah, sure." The lie slipped smoothly from her lips and she didn't even feel terrible. She had always been a wonderful liar.

Darlene beamed. "Awesome."

Another kid behind them hurried through the darkness too, branches yanking at his own costume. Fear danced in his eyes, the shadows of the night spooking him. "Hey guys, where are we even going? I'm freezing out here." He paused, eyes darting towards the girls. "Maybe we should just go back..."

Billy Hargrove turned around, lips snarling. "Off you go, then."

The boy panicked. "I just mean—"

"Are you scared or something, shithead?" Billy taunted him, enjoying how easy it was to get under these kids' skins. It was actually too easy. He was baffled by how hick and lousy this town was too. He was almost tempted to get into his car and keep on driving without looking back. At least then he wouldn't have to smell the cow shit anymore. "Are you chicken shit? Like this entire town. Come on, it's just trees and dirt."

Marigold Lonsdale did not mention how these woods, these trees and dirt, had hosted something much more sinister not a full year ago. She would never confess that a monster had dwelled in these hallow woods, not that anybody would believe her. Instead a laugh fell from her lips, eyes glistening. She took a deliberate step towards the boy from California and pushed the flask into his hands. "Hawkins blows, sure. But there's no need to scare the locals. Carter here is just sensitive." Billy let his eyes run over her face slowly. "Come on, new kid, there's a clearing up ahead. You wanted a party, right? Let's go."

The group of drunk teenagers were venturing too far into the woods that lined the tiny town. Laughter danced off the trees but they didn't notice how the earth around them was decaying, quite literally rotting from the inside out. A disgusting scent had circled around them now, Darlene noticing it first. Her giggles were cut short, her eyes spotting something strange through the darkness. Nobody else noticed, not even Marigold who had grown very used to spying strange things. Marigold was too caught up with sharing the whiskey with Billy, who was more than enchanted by the girl everyone spoke about. He had somehow pulled her away from the others, wanting a second or two alone with her. He had backed her up against a tree, fingertips touching her shoulder.

"Timmy, huh? That's a cute name and all the way from Cali, now that's a story." Marigold hummed out, knowing she had called him the wrong name.

Billy watched her, face remaining blank. "It's Billy. But you knew that."

She just smiled. "Did I?"

"Let's not pretend."

Marigold slowly wet her lips, enjoying the game. "Where's the fun in that?"

While the teenagers around them were starting to notice how the section of the woods they stood in were different and rotten, Marigold found herself staring across at Billy Hargrove, lapping up his dangerous smirk and bare chest. She could feel her heart beat steadily against her ribcage and enjoyed how he looked at her. A promise for something truly exciting and addicting. "How about we skip over this little game, baby? We could just go straight to the good stuff." Billy said, moving closer towards her. He steadied himself against her, a hand being placed against the bark of the tree. With too much pressure, his knuckles went straight through the bark as a strange substance leaked down his forearm. "What the fuck?"

"Do you guys smell that? It's like...everything is dying." Darlene shirked.

Marigold Lonsdale twirled on the spot, her eyes soaking up the odd substance that was flowing from the dying tree. The others were cursing still, wonder haunting their minds with what was happening. Darlene had grabbed another boy's flashlight, the white light frozen on the decaying trees around them. Marigold was the only person in the whole group of teenagers that paused with the very sight. That was the night she realised her nightmares were not truly over just yet because something strange was going on within Hawkins. Again.

***

Across town, Dottie Fields had just stumbled from Jonathan's car, her mind still hazy from the weed she had accidentally eaten in the form of brownies. A very drunk Nancy Wheeler had been the person to inform Dottie that she was high, and that had Dottie cursing the entire ride home. Thankfully, she had snagged a ride before the party had been busted up by the police. Now, she was trying her best to walk in a straight line and manage to get inside the house without waking up her parents.

"Dottie, are you sure you're alright?" Jonathan's asked with a frown. He had already dropped Nancy Wheeler off at her own house and made sure she was tucked safe and soundly in her bed. Now, he was trying to hide a smile from his friend, who gave him a curtsey in reply.

Dottie was still high, the weed making her head airy. "I'm alright, sure." she replied loudly, hands pressing against the cool glass of the car window. She swayed a little bit, her thoughts straying to a dangerous place. "Seriously though, what a loaded question. Are we alright? We're just kids, Jonathan. We really shouldn't have to deal with all that crap that happened last year. We're just kids and we aren't alright. Maybe we never will be again."

Jonathan nodded. "Right. Well, that was too deep."

"Thank you," Dottie said. "Now, vamoose!"

Shaking his head, he put his car into reserve and backed out of the dusty driveway. Dottie Fields waited under the never-ending sky, her heart racing and her skin feeling itchy and weird. The affects of the weed were still working through her body and she really just wanted to crawl up and go to sleep after a very huge piece of pie. When she finally moved from her spot, the headlights gone from sight, something echoed through the quite woods around her house. Dottie had once been dropped into a horror film and tonight she was reliving it all over again.

A terrifying howl cut through the silence. Dottie almost made a beeline towards her front porch when another sound twisted her stomach. A soft moaning sound echoed on the wind. A noise that reminded her of a dying animal. Suddenly, despite the fear that licked at her insides, she was stumbling towards the backyard. She could barely see through the darkness but thankfully somebody had left the back porch light on. Choking on air, Dottie almost fell to her knees when she found her beautiful Golden Retriever, lying in the grass not far from the oak tree. A second strange and ugly animal was growling at her, blood staining it's mouth. Dottie didn't even have time to second guess her actions. She was grabbing the nearest item, which happened to be a shovel and running towards the animal. "Get away from Butterball, you ugly piece of shit!"

The animal raced towards the tree line, retreating quickly. Courage and a mixture of the drugs still burning through her insides, had her cursing into the night air. The shovel dropped from her hands as she sunk to the ground, watching the blood ooze against her dog's fur coat. "No, no, please no." Dottie cried, her hands petting the animal. Butterball barely moved, but he managed another soft whimper which had Dottie's heart sinking. Without thinking, she was screaming loudly into the dark night around her.