"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter Seventy: The Death Of A Hero
(The Mind Flayer, Pt. 2)
***
Rowan hated Hawkins Lab.
That was a sentiment she kept buried deep inside, rarely letting it show above a supposed toleration of the lab and all its dark history and pain, a toleration of Dr. Owens and how he seemed to be one of the decent ones who made good on the promise to never experiment on her and her brother and to leave her family alone if they kept their side of the bargain, but Rowan hated Hawkins Lab. She hated what the building stood for, all the horrors and pain it caused, hated how it had been a source of fear for her, Alistair and her family, hated how it and its former director were the reason why her parents chose to die to protect her and Alistair, hated what it had done to El, hated how it was indirectly responsible for Will disappearing and Barb dying, for enabling monsters to come into their world. She hated it.
And yet, she was now making a beeline straight for the lab, desperate to get inside the insidious building. Beside her was Steve, the two of them staying in the front and protecting the kids stomping behind them. At her side was Alistair; he'd regained consciousness and while he hadn't grown feral again, he was eerily quiet, eyes fixed on the direction of the lab, a hand to his heart, as if to check to see it was still beating. To see he was still alive. Rowan tried to ignore how fast her heart was pounding, the creeping fear of whatever her brother had seen, had him almost half-crazy to go and find Will, had him think he was in danger. And that made her steps increase in speed, her grip shaky on her flashlight as clammy sweat slicked her hands under her gloves, the branches scraping against her hair and face and clothes.
Tried to hide the flinch whenever she, Steve or one of the kids stepped on a branch too loud, or when the wind blew just a little too coldly. Tried to ignore how terrible Alistair looked, dark shadows under his eyes, hair mussed and wild, lips bled of colour, body still shaking so violently he practically vibrated in Rowan's grip as he clung to her, Hugin resting on his shoulder and cawing worriedly.
When they approached the tree line and Rowan could see the road leading to the lab, Rowan frowned as she could hear... voices?
Rowan looked to Steve, whose jaw set. He gave a look at Max, Dustin, Lucas and Cami that all but screamed, Stay behind me, as he walked forward, flashlight piercing the dark. Rowan followed, trying to keep her brother as behind her as possible despite his protests, her own flashlight slicing the thick darkness the woods provided. Behind her, she could hear the gremlins, questions and protests on their lips at staying behind.
As she came closer, Rowan jolted as she realised she recognised the voice shouting into the dark, yelling, "Who's there? Who's there?!"
And yet, Rowan still felt her eyes widen in surprise when she saw Nancy and Jonathan. Behind them, at their car, was Aunt Aco, her eyes similarly wide and her crossbow in hand.
