suıʞʍɐɥ oʇ ǝɯoɔlǝʍ sƃuıɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs

Chapter Fifteen: The Mind Flayer

ɹǝʎɐlɟ puıɯ ǝɥʇ
uǝǝʇɟıɟ ɹǝʇdɐɥɔ

November 4, 1984

After the demogorgons left we started walking back to Steve's car, following the train tracks.  "You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asked Dustin. "Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt," Dustin said. "He was tiny two days ago," Max said, confused. Steve and I were walking a little in front of them. "Well, he's molted three times already,"Dustin told her.

"Malted?" Steve asked. "Molted," I corrected. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms," Dustin said. "When's he gonna molt again?" Max asked. "It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends," Dustin said. "Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Lucas stopped Dustin at what Steve just said. "Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?" He asked. "No, what? No," Dustin laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? He ate Mews," Steve said. "Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asked. "Mews is our cat."

"Steve! YN!" Dustin said. "I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas pushed Dustin. "No! No.No, I... No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home," Dustin tried to defend. Stev, Max, and I stood off to the side and just listened. "Bullshit!" Lucas protested. "I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, Okay?" Dustin told him. "Oh, so now you admit it?" Lucas asked.

"Guys, who cares? We have to go," Max said, trying to defuse the situation. Lucas looked at her, "I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law" he said, raising his voice, turning back to Dustin. "So did you!" Dustin yelled. Me, Steve, and Max stared at them. "What?" Lucas asked. Dustin shined his light in Max's face, "You told a stranger the truth!" He yelled. "A stranger?" Max said, now getting into it. Steve nudged me and we walked to the edge of the tracks. Lucas and Dustin were still yelling at each other behind us.

"Guys?" Steve said. There was no answer since they couldn't hear him over their yelling. "Guys!" Steve and I both yelled. We could hear the familiar screeching in the distance. Steve and I started walking into the woods, Lucas and Dustin behind us. "No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound?" Max said from the tracks before she followed after us. We came to the edge of the cliff that looked out over everything. The lights of the town far away in the distance. We could still hear the screeching. "I don't see him," Dustin said. Lucas brought his binoculars up and looked around. "It's the lab. They were going back home," he said.

We made our way around and down until we came out of the woods by the lab. "Hello? Who's there? Who's there?" Someone called. When we came out of the woods Jonathan and Nancy were there. "Steve? YN?" Nancy and Jonathan asked. "Nancy?" Steve said. "Jonathan," Dustin and I said in unison. We walked closer to each other. "What are you doing here?" Nancy asked, a little too hostile for my taste. "What are you doing here?" Steve asked back. "We're looking for Mike and Will," she said. "They're not in there, are they?" Dustin asked, pointing at the lab. "We're not sure," Nancy said. "Why?" Jonathan asked.

There was a loud screeching from inside the lab and we all turned our heads to look that way.  Everyone was talking at the same time until Nancy said, "The power's back." We ran to the guard box by the gate and Jonathan tried to press the button to open it but it wasn't working. "Let me try," Sustin said. "Hang on..." Jonathan told him as Dustin pushed him out of the way, "Let me try, Jonathan!" He said. Jonathan moved and Dustin pressed the button but again it didn't work. "Son of a bitch! You know what..." Dustin said. Then the gate opened. Nancy and Jonathan quickly jumped in his car and drove inside.

The rest of us stood by the gate waiting. We moved out of the way as Jonathan drove by honking his horn. Hopper stopped beside us, Let's go. Come on! Come on, let's go! Let's go! Come on!" He said. Steve opened the door and ushered the kids in the back before getting in the front. He pulled me up and onto his lap before slammed the door shut. The hopper took off after Jonathan.

We went back to the Byers house where Hopper called the government about the lab and what happened. When he hung up the phone he turned around to look at the kids. Dustin was standing up, "they didn't believe you did they?" He asked. "We'll see," Hopper told him. Joyce was in her room, Jonathan, and Nancy were in the living room with Will. The shadow monster was inside of him. Bob, Joyce's boyfriend, died in the lab's lobby. He was a good guy, always so happy and caring.

I could see the way seeing Nancy with Jonathan hurt Steve. He was standing over by the sink looking out the window so I walked over to him. "You okay over here?" I asked. He looked over at me and nodded, "yeah. How about you? You okay?" He asked and I nodded. "We'll see? We can't just sit here while those things are loose" Mike yelled. "We stay here, and we wait for help," Hopper said and walked away. It was quiet again as the sadness washed over everyone. I leaned on the counter next to Steve, completely drained. I was looking at the kids sitting at the table.

Their best friend was fighting for his life again and they wanted nothing more than to help them. They would do anything to do so. And I knew I would go along with them no matter how stupid I think their plan is. Dustin was my biological brother but the other boys were also my brothers. They were all family and Max was now part of that family and so is El even though she's not here.

I closed my eyes and found myself leaning my head on Steve's shoulder. "You sure you're okay?" He asked. "Hm. I'm just mental and physically drained." I pulled my jacket closer to me, it was cold in the house. Apparently the Mind Flayer likes it cold. I felt Steve wrap his arm around my shoulders and pull me a little closer, his hand rubbing up and down my arm.

Mike got up and walked over to a stack of games on the table in the living room. "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" He asked. "Really?" Lucas asked. Mike turned back around and walked back to the kitchen table. "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?" He asked. "Yeah," Dustin and Lucas said in unison. "We can't let him die in vain," Mike said.

"What do you want to do, Mike? The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own," Dustin said. I stood straight again just knowing they were about to make some kind of plan. "Demo-dogs?" Max asked. "Demogorgon dogs. Demo-dogs. It's like a compound. It's like a play on words..." Dustin said softly and kind of started rambling. "Okay," Max told him and he stopped. It was quiet for a few beats before Dustin spoke back up.

"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..." he says. "But there's an army now," Lucas said. "Precisely," Dustin agreed. "His army," Mike said. "What do you mean?" Steve asked. "His army. Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too," Mike told us. Dustin got up and they pulled a picture Will had drawn off the wall, "The shadow monster," Dustin said, "It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him."