Turn me Upside Down

Chapter 9: Kicking Ass

When you wake up, the last thing you would expect were the warm hands that held you in an embrace. Your sisters knew that personal space meant everything to you. Especially when it came to sleeping, so the idea that anybody had the audacity of hugging you in your sleep was surprising. The rapid shuffling of paper was the sound that managed to wake you up and face your current predicament.

Jonathan's arms held you tightly in place against his chest. Chin laying on the crown of your head, the rustling of the papers. Hugging you a bit closer to his body, he finally came to and fully awoke to realize in what position he held you in. Struggling to push his arms away from around you was where most of your time went leading to you eventually just giving up and letting the situation happen. He tensed up any movement that you made, fearing that he had woken you up since there was no way for him to see if you were.

"If the cuddling session is over, can I please get some help over here?" Nancy questioned, sitting at her desk hunched over the pieced together picture.

Jonathan awkwardly pushed himself up and away from you, making direct eye contact with your wide awake self. His cheeks were painted with a soft rosy blush before Nancy broke the tension once more with a cough. He ran his fingers through his messy bed head to get it under control before walking over to Nancy's side. You followed right after him, letting a hand rest on her shoulder as your form of comfort.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep and was tired of thinking all alone. It's just that... every time that I close my eyes I keep seeing that thing. That place where I was has to be its feeding ground or something," she muttered in a rush.

"It could also be its home," you mentioned. It wasn't the best conclusion you had, but it was better than assuming that it would travel to a whole other dimension just to eat. Calling it its feeding ground would also finalize the status of Barb and Will.

"My mom says that she managed to talk to Will, so there is still the chance that he is alive. If he is, I'm sure that Barbara is also fighting on that side," Jonathan reassured, sitting up on the bed to be able to reach Nancy's side to comfort her. "Whether they're trapped or being held by that thing, we can find them and help."

"We're going back out there to find it? That alien thing won't hesitate to go after us, too. If we caught it searching for food, that means that it's hungry and looking for a meal," you reasoned. Fear was already settling within your system, the same nagging feeling you had last night as Nancy shivered in your arms. Death was a concept you were having to familiarize yourself with, and you didn't want to be visiting another grave sight soon.

"And that's how we'll catch it," Nancy exclaimed, shifting herself on the bed so that you and Jonathan could peer over her shoulders as she spoke. "It hunts at night like a coyote but is always alone so we can assume that there is no pack. Last time we saw Barb, she was bleeding and the deer was also bleeding out so maybe that's what attracts it." She opened a book that sat on her lap to a page with the corner folded to save its spot. Pointing at the picture of a shark, she continued, "Sharks can detect blood in one part per million, and they can smell it from one quarter mile away. But... it's just a theory that this monster works on the same terms."

"So we test it," Jonathan finalized, sitting up on his knees to look Nancy in the eye over her shoulder. "If it works..."

"Well, then we know how to find it again and how it will come. All animals work on a pattern when it comes to hunting, so if we can study it, we can figure out the best plan of approach," you finished.

Just as the final plan was set in motion, Mrs. Wheeler rattled on the locked doorknob trying to get into her daughter's room. "Honey, are you up?"

"Yeah! I'm just getting dressed," Nancy rushed, her hand had reached out to hold yours in the midst of her panic. "I'll be out in a second."