𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 - Billy Hargrove [1]

NINE

NINE|THE MIND FLAYER

Bernadette ran up the porch of the Byers home, cursing out her brother as she pushed open the front door. She was greeted with confused faces, all staring at her dressed up appearance.

"Steve, I swear this emergency better be important!" She waltzed straight up to her brother, poking a finger into his chest. "I was supposed to be going on a date but then he cancelled and you're phoning me up telling me all hell is about to break loose."

"Are you okay?" Steve looked over her carefully, checking for any injuries. "Nothing attacked you or tried to kill you?"

"No, I'm fine." Birdie quickly embraced him, calming his worried state. "I was at home getting ready when I received your call. What happened? What did I miss?"

"Demogorgon." He explained to his sister, wrapping an arm over her shoulder as he quietly caught her up with everything that had happened.

"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike broke the silence that had settled over the house. "He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fund raiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"

"Yeah." The group all agreed quietly, watching as Mike placed a block on the table to address everyone.

"We can't let him die in vain."

"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin questioned the boy, his voice filled with defeat. "The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own."

"Demo-dogs?" Max questioned his choice of name.

"Demogorgon dogs. Demo-dogs." He explained how he came up with the name. "It's like a compound. It's like a play on words."

"Okay, Dustin. I think Max understands." Birdie placed a hand on Dustin's shoulder to stop his ramblings. "Please continue."

"When it was just Dart, maybe, but there's an army now." Dustin reminded Mike, not knowing what they could do.

"His army." Mike said, the look on his face saying he had a plan.

"What do you mean?" Steve also noticed the look, wondering where Mike was going with his statement.

"His army." He repeated more confidently. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too."

They followed Mike into another room, him showing everyone a drawing of a large monster looming over a forest.

"The shadow monster."

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

"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max questioned, still trying to understand everything.

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything." He agreed. Birdie leaned against the far wall, sighing as the stress of the situation started to build up inside her.

"Whoa. Slow down. Slow down." Steve spoke up, trying to catch up with everything that was going on.

"Okay, so, the Shadow Monsters inside everything." Mike said slowly, expanding on what he was trying to explain. "And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart." Lucas added, understanding what Mike was trying to tell them.

"Yeah. Like what Mr. Clarke taught us." He reminded them of a certain class. "The hive mind."

"Hive mind?"

"A collective consciousness. It's a super organism." Dustin recited to Steve.

"And this is the thing that controls everything." Mike continued. "It's the brain."

"Like the Mind Flayer." Dustin suggested, Lucas and Mike instantly understanding what he was talking about.

"The what?" The Harrington siblings asked at the same time. Dustin grabbed Wills D&D book, laying it flat on the table as everyone gathered around.

"The Mind Flayer."

"What the hell is that?" Chief Hopped asked as he entered the room.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension." Dustin explained to all non D&D players. "It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over the brain using its highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh, my God, none of this is real." The police chief scoffed, realising what Dustin was comparing everything to. "This is a kids game."

"No, it's a manual." The boy defended himself. "And it's not for kids. And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"

"Analogy." Lucas cut him off, correcting his terminology.

"Analogy?" Dustin stared at him dumbfounded. "That's what you're worried about? Fine, an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."

"Okay, so this mind flamer thing." Nancy waved her hands around as she tried to understand what the boy was saying.

"Flayer. Mind Flayer." He corrected her with a sigh.

"I like this one, can we keep him?" Birdie mumbled to Steve, grinning as she watched Dustin become more and more annoyed by everyone around him. "Also, remind me to join that D&D club at school so I can start understanding all these analogies."

"What does it want?"

"To conquer us, basically." Dustin answered her. "It believes it's the master race."

"Like the Germans?" Steve suggested confidently.

"You mean the Nazis?" Birdie patted his back, starting to realise he really did never pay attention in classes.

"If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally." Dustin stammered. "It views other races, like us, as inferior to itself."

"It wants to spread, take over other dimensions." Mike added on.

"My head hurts." Birdie rubbed her temples as she tried to remember all the information she had just learned within a small period of time.

"Go get some water, I'll explain everything later." Steve mumbled to her, starting to notice the signs of her stress, knowing how badly it could affect her.