dark red- max mayfield

xix. a new foe

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

"WAKE UP!" Dustin shouted into Josh's ear, making the boy sit up quickly and knock his head off of Dustin's. They both groaned and recoiled in pain, wincing. "Oh, good going, idiot."

"I'm the idiot?" huffed Josh, rubbing his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "You're the one who scared me awake, jerk!"

"Listen, there's an emergency." Dustin said. "Come out here."

Josh rubbed his eyes tiredly before following Dustin out to his living room, where Mrs. Henderson was watching the TV with a horrified face. She was stroking her cat gently, trying to calm herself down. She looked up at the boys.

"H-Hello, Josh!" she tried to press a smile onto her face, although it didn't look good. Josh waved slightly  to her, moving into the kitchen and grabbing one of the muffins that she'd laid out for the boys. From the kitchen, he looked at the TV. It was playing a news broadcast.

"All eyes are now on the police for answers." said the woman reporting on the issue. "Is the new chief of police, Powell, in over his head? Or is he the very savior this town needs? We'll be here the rest of the day, right here on channel nine, where we'll keep you updated on all the latest developments. In the meantime, we recommend you keep your doors and windows locked tight. This is Beverly Moss, signing off for-"

"What happened?" asked Josh with a full mouth from the kitchen. Dustin immediately turned to him.

"A murder." he answered. "Hawkins High student. Apparently, it happened this morning."

Josh was certainly not used to the time difference, especially when he'd first moved to California. It had been very rough being three hours behind, and being back in Hawkins time was affecting him just the same. He'd slept in and then fell asleep not long after. He checked the clock on the wall— it was almost five. He'd been sleeping for three hours.

"My heart can't take it anymore." Mrs. Henderson sobbed out, kissing her cat. "It just can't take it."

The doorbell rang and Dustin got up to answer it. Josh grabbed another muffin, leaning up against the counter as he continued to watch the news. He'd been back for just over twenty-four hours and somehow, something had already gone wrong. He blamed himself— he was the Hawkins jinx.

Dustin reentered the house, Max following not far behind him. Josh dropped his muffin on the floor, quickly ducking down to hide himself as he picked it up. He didn't want Max to see him.

"Hey, Josh." Max mumbled blandly. Josh peered over the counter, forcing a grin onto his face.

"Come on, we're going to my room." Dustin waved at Josh, and the boy followed him, keeping his distance from Max. He huffed impatiently at himself— he couldn't let her bully him away from her. He needed to be normal.