"Hey, you remember what I said last year, right? We're Zombie Boy and Ghost Boy. I'm not ever gonna leave you."
"Promise?"
"One hundred percent."
***
In which Alistair fights the monster that possessed his friend alongside his friends, while trying...
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Chapter Forty-Five: The Quest For A D&D Sub (And Failing)
(The Hellfire Club, Pt. 5)
***
The first person Alistair sought out for being a sub in tonight's campaign was Cami.
Not like Alistair would go to anyone else first—aside from his sister and Max, there was no one else he would go to and ask first than Cami Martinéz. So he scoured the cafeteria looking for her, trying to find her trademark colourful style among the hordes of Hawkins High students. When he didn't see her, Alistair guessed she must be eating outside and made a beeline for the cafeteria entrance.
Alistair stalked out of the cafeteria, the doors slamming closed behind him and muffling the din of the cafeteria. But as he was about to head to the field, that was when he heard something.
Turning rigid, Alistair looked over his shoulder, seeing the empty hall, devoid of students or life in general. But Alistair knew too well that these halls were never truly empty.
But there was no sign of any ghosts either. The hallways were practically deserted of both the living and the dead.
And yet, Alistair could still hear that noise.
"Hello?" he called out. When no response came, only that noise, he made his way toward it, saying, "Okay, if this is some ghost prank, this isn't funny, I'm not much in the mood for a—"
A cold hand clamped onto his shoulder, so hard it bruised his skin, and Alistair nearly jumped out of his skin as the noise rang louder and an indiscernible voice rasped in his ear, and while Alistair couldn't hear what it said, he could feel the cold malevolence in it, crawling along his skin like spiders and making the cold coil in his bones uneasily, as the noise droned in his ears and it almost sounded like ti—
"Al?"
Alistair jumped out of his skin, barely managing to keep his soul in his body as he whirled to see Cami there, a quizzical frown on her face as she asked, "What are you doing?"
"I..." Alistair stammered, looking back but seeing nothing except the end of the hallway. Just the hallway.
"I thought I heard something. It's nothing—probably the ghosts trying to mess with me," Alistair answered, turning back to Cami.
His best friend still frowned, a sliver of concern piercing it, before she said, "Okay. Sorry, you were just... standing there in the middle of the hallway staring at nothing."
"I think staring at nothing is pretty trademark for me," Alistair snarked, and that cracked a smile on Cami's face.
"Yeah, it is," Cami conceded, before she tilted her head. 'What are you even doing out here anyway? I thought you, Mike and Dustin would still be sitting with Hellfire."
