Bloody Negatives {Stranger things}

Chapter Fifteen

《Chapter Fifteen》
__________

__________
Dustin had been gone for an awfully long time.

So had Max. And Lucas. And the others. Tally was starting to feel that something was terribly wrong.

He and Eddie had so far been occupying themselves by rolling an old tennis ball across the floor of the boathouse.

It was rather tedious. It wasn't like there was anything else they could do. They were meant to be laying low, though unfortunately avoiding attention was neither Tally nor Eddie's strong suit.

So they rolled the ball. It was mostly that bright neon green fuzz that all tennis balls have, though parts of it had been worn away into various colours.

When the car engine roared outside the window Tally had to bite his lip in order to not scream.

As he began to taste blood the engine died out. Eddie crawled across the floor to sit next to Tally, cursing frantically under his breath.

"What the fuck is that?" he hissed, as if Tally could possibly know his answer.

Tally tried to push himself up slightly, his knees shaking as he stood up. He raised just enough to look out the window, and his heart dropped into his stomach promptly.

"Shit!" Tally yelped, dropping back down, pressing his eyes closed as he began to tremble.

Eddie glanced out the window as well, and also dropped back to the ground frantically after he saw the large black pickup sitting on the path in front of Reefer Rick's.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Tally smashed his head against the boathouse wall as Eddie desperately tried to contact Dustin over walkie-talkie.

He could hear them. Jason. Patrick. Chance. They weren't exactly being discreet. The front door slammed loudly. Every hint of a sound made Tally flinch.

It was horrible, waiting. They were practically sitting ducks, bound to be discovered.

"Tell him that I threatened you."

"What?" Tally asked, having to double take after Eddie broke the silence in such a grim manner.

"Tell Carver that I threatened you. That you didn't choose to be here," Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly terrified. "No reason for you to get in trouble, too."

Tally had to bite his lip to hold in his laughter. It seemed like that was the only response he has to anything anymore.

"If you think I'm throwing you under the bus like that then you're crazier than everyone says you are," Tally remarked, shaking his head.

Eddie frowned, before grabbing Tally's arm firmly, and yanking him closer. "Listen, Tally. You're going to stay here. When Carver asks you what happened, you're going to say I have a knife. I threatened you with it. When the police question you, you say the same thing. I didn't say where I was going and I didn't talk about the murders. I took you for leverage, and that was it, understand?"

Tally squinted. It was like Eddie had been immaculately planning this out for days. He has everything figured out. He couldn't do anything other than shake his head rapidly.

Eddie smiled as he climbed awkwardly into the boat that floated in the center of the shack.

It seemed that Tally had lost all the feeling in his body. Either that, or he was too stunned to move.

"See you later, okay?" Eddie raised his eyebrows. It was less of a question and more of a promise.

Tally wanted to move. He wanted to jump into the boat with the older boy, refuse to let him leave alone. But he couldn't. Frankly, he was too scared. And he absolutely despised himself for it.

Eddie's paddling wasn't exactly frantic, though it was definitely fast.

Tally felt a tear fall down his cheek. Why was he so useless. So stupid.

He closed his eyes so he didn't have to watch his classmate—friend—leave the boathouse.

Soon loud footsteps came into earshot. Tally forced himself to stop sobbing. The door whipped open aggressively, slamming against the creaky aluminum wall behind it.

The last thing Tally head before everything faded out of existence was Jason Carver shouting his name.

__________