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chapter forty-five holding it together
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Dustin Henderson believed he had seen it all.
He had met a bald girl who could move things with her mind. His best friend returned from the dead. He had seen gates to alternate dimensions and fought monsters from said alternate dimensions. Dustin had burned a hive mind with his friends. He had discovered and broke into a top-secret Russian base in his hometown and witnessed things he could never unsee, all under the age of sixteen and in the span of four years.
It was safe to assume that living through that would put anyone on edge, constantly looking over their shoulder for any unforeseen threat.
There had been countless sleepless nights where old nightmares from Dustin's childhood resurfaced, and waking up to the news that someone from his school had been discovered dead wasn't far from his dreams. They usually started with something small, eventually unravelling themselves to be some of the worst horrors Dustin would ever endure.
It was understandable that alarm bells rang in his head while watching the news with his mother. Claudia Henderson was on the brink of tears while holding onto Tews, shaking her head. She would reach for her son, placing her hand on his knee to stop him from shaking.
He had zoned out through half of what the reporter had said, only catching brief mentions of how police were still investigating the scene and a woman claiming that the devil lives in Hawkins.
She wasn't far from the truth.
"My heart can't take it anymore," Claudia Henderson's voice trembled in worry after the reporter had finished. "it just can't take it."
