𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

SIX

SIX|THE LITTLE LIZARD

Bernadette sat in the passenger seat of her brother's car, listening to him mumble the same apology script over and over as he pulled up outside the Wheelers home. She watched him start approaching the house with a small bouquet of red roses before noticing Dustin walking towards the car.

"Do you still have that bat?" She overhead Dustin ask Steve as he opened the car door to sit in the back seats.

"Bat? What bat?"

"The one with the nails?" Dustin reminded him causing Birdie to roll down her window in surprise, wondering why he would need the bat.

"Why?"

"I'll explain it on the way." The boy slid into the back seats, smiling politely at Birdie as he noticed he was with both Harrington siblings.

"I hope this is quick, I'm supposed to be meeting Eric." Birdie glanced over her shoulder at Dustin, waiting for him to explain why he needs the bat with nails so badly.

They sat in silence as Dustin explained the situation with his little pet lizard, the Harrington siblings staring at each other confused.

"Wait a sec. How big?" Steve questioned,  finally breaking the awkward silence that had filled the car.

"First it was like that." Dustin gestured with his hands the drastic size difference. "Now he's like this."

"I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?" The older Harrington tried to calm the boy down, giving the most rational suggestion to what it could be.

"It's not a lizard." The boy argued from the back seats, amusing Birdie as she realised Dustin was identical to her brother.

"How do you know?"

"How do I know it's not just a lizard?" Dustin repeated the question with a serious look on his face. "Because his face opened up and he ate my cat."

"No, not Mew Mew." Birdie cried, spinning around to look at the boy. "It actually ate Mew Mew? I'm going to kill it. I loved that cat."

Steve pulled up outside the Henderson residence, going to his boot and grabbing his trusted bat. He reluctantly followed Dustin to the storm shelter, Birdie happily joining the pair for entertainment.

"I don't hear shit." He shined his torch over the door, listening for any movement from inside.

"He's in there." Dustin confirmed, standing back fearfully. Steve slammed the bat on the metal doors, trying to get the lizard to make a noise.

"All right, listen, kid." Steve shined the torch towards Dustin and Birdie, blinding the pair. "I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead."

"It's not."

"All right?"

"It's not a prank." The boy said confidently, convincing Birdie easily. "Get it out of my face."

"You got a key for this thing?" Steve quickly unlocked the doors, pulling them open to look inside the dark room. He shined his torch into the underground room, trying to see if anything would move.

"He must be further down there." Dustin suggested, looking at the siblings as they both pulled a strange face while staring into the dark abyss. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to escape."

"I'll stay with Dustin since I don't like dust." Birdie also tried to find an excuse, shrugging in response to her brother sending her a weird look. The pair watched as Steve carefully walked down into the storm shelter, going silent as he looked around.

"Steve?"

"Get down here." Steve shined his torch up at the pair, the urgency in his voice startling them as they rushed down to meet him.

"Oh, shit." Dustin cursed as he looked at the slimy skin hanging off Steve's bat. Steve moved the torch to the hole in the far wall. "Oh, shit."

"We are actually fucked." Birdie sighed, crouching down and peering into the never ending hole. "We have once again somehow managed to end up in the middle of all this shit. I did not sign up to this."

"And you think we did?" Steve said sarcastically, looking over his shoulder at the complaining girl.

"No but both times now I've been dragged into this mess by just being in the car with you." She argued back to him, crossing her arms over her chest as she thought back to the last time this had all happened.

Before she was just a normal teenage girl worried about her looks and social life. Now she stressed about an upside down world that released killer monsters.