Dear Dark and Ruthless

Part 2 - Ruthless

{Hawkins, Indiana}

THIRD PERSON POV:

Mike swings his legs slowly, bored out of his mind. Why am I here again? He wonders, looking around. It was hot and humid, even though it was raining, like how summer usually is. Bleh.

He was outside the Hawkins pool. He was.. waiting. But he didn't know why.

But then he heard a door slam and hopped out of the tree he was sitting in. His eyes refocused and he saw Billy walk out of the back door, carrying something in his hands.

Follow him. The tiny but powerful voice in Mike's head whispered.

So he did, walking over quietly and walking next to Billy. He identified the object Billy was holding as rope, probably from the pool.

The two silently move to Billy's car, and Mike sits in the shotgun seat while Billy stuffs the rope into the trunk. Mike's fingers get twitchy and he huffs in annoyance. He looks out the window and his eyes widen before he ducks under so he couldn't be seen.

Max and Eleven were walking into the pool building, and Mike instinctively knew it would be bad if they saw him.

Billy entered the car, and Max's eyes drifted over, recognizing the vehicle.

Who is that in the passenger? Max thought before the car drove away. Meh, probably some rando. Maybe it's Heather. At that thought she frowned.

Mike pulled his head up after they were long gone.

His eyes went hazy and unfocused again as Billy finished driving. They arrived at Heather's house minutes later, and the rain was heavy and pouring.

"Oh Mike!" Heather exclaims, wrapping the younger boy in a hug.

"Hello Heather," Mike greets, hugging back.

The Holloways made dinner, and once it was all ready, Mike and Heather were talking and laughing like siblings on those very small occasions.

Mike heard the door swing open. He and Billy exchanged a look and he continued talking with Heather.

"Mike?!" Max exclaims. He looks to the side where both Max and Eleven were standing, soaking wet in rain coats. "What are you doing here?"

Billy smirks at the confused Holloway parents. "Ah, you haven't met my younger sister," He says, setting his wine down and gesturing to Max. "This is Maxine, and her friend.." He tilts his head and looks at Mike.

"El," Mike says. "We're good friends."

The mother smiles and clasps her hands together. "Well perfect!" She exclaims. "Would you like to have dinner with us? We have plenty to share."

"Um, no thanks, we have somewhere to go," Max says. She looks over at Mike. "Can we talk to you for a second?"

The ravenette blinks, and nods, setting down his fork and standing up.

He follows the two girls to the entree room and waits for them to start talking. He settled into a crossed arms stance and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" Max questions in a hushed voice.

Mike blinks. "I'm friends with Heather?" He says in a confused tone. He gives them a bewildered smile, his lips tugging upward.

"But.. do you have any idea what Billy's been doing?" Eleven whispers, tipping her chin.

"Um.." Mike looks at the ceiling. "Yeah? He's been helping Heather since she was sick and came here with me for dinner." He shrugs. "I don't know anything other than that."

Eleven and Max exchange a look. "Mike, are you okay?" Eleven questions.

"Yup," Mike says, smiling.

"...You are acting weird also," Eleven says after a moment. She pats Mike's face. "I know we just broke up, but I still worry about you. You are not acting yourself."

Max frowns. "She's right," She says. "Are you sick?"

"No," Mike says, frowning softly. "You guys are the ones acting weird," He pulls away from them and almost glares. "You should leave."

The two girls glance at each other before looking back at Mike and nodding, saying quick goodbyes and then leaving. Mike's expression fades away to a blank look, and he walks back to the dinner table.

He smiles again as he sits down. He keeps smiling when Heather's mother stands up and stumbles into the living room before fainting.

Mike slowly stands up as Heather's father rushes over.

With a silent order from Billy, he wraps his hand around the wine bottle and walks over to Heather's father. When the man turns to shout at them to get an ambulance, Mike hits him in the head with a blank expression.

He drops the wine bottle, the glass shattering and red liquid spilling everywhere. His eyes go unfocused and he stumbles backward as Billy moves forward. Heather catches Mike and holds him steady.

"Good job, Mike," Heather whispers in Mike's ear as Billy begins dragging the two adults away.

...

Mike was sitting in the basement of the Electric company, swinging his legs with his eyes glazed over and unfocused.

Tom and Janet Holloway woke up soon after. Heather and Billy crouch down in front of them.

"Heather, whatever he's making you do, whatever you've gotten into," Tom shook his head, pleading. Heather stares at him with a blank look. "You can stop this. You can stop all of this."

The girl blinks. "Nothing can stop this, Daddy," She whispers.

Billy grabs the gag off of Janet's face, before the two young adults start walking up the stairs. The flesh monster slowly stomps over as Janet and Tom look in terror.

Tom looks over at Mike, who was watching them with a blank look. "Kid, please help us, please," he begs. "You-"

Two tentacles of the flesh monster shoot out and cover Tom and Janet's faces, pumping the disgusting flesh down their throats. The two adults go still as the flesh monster finished possessing them.

Mike smiles at the monster, corruption lines crawling over his face.

"Nothing can stop us," Mike-not-Mike whispers. "Now we must build."

He hops up and starts walking up the stairs, the corruption lines slowly fading.

We will build.

<^> To Be Continued

(1k words)

:0

I'm having way too much fun with this lol