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THE SUN WAS CLOSE TO THE HORIZON by the time Amara, Dustin, and Steve arrived at the junkyard. The clearing was inhabited by deteriorated cars that would have sent Scott into a tirade about how the owners should have brought them to the dealership instead, especially since Amara could wager a guess that the junkyard was more of a place for cars to remain until they rotted into the soil. But it was far enough from town and therefore served as an ideal location for them to lure and kill Dart without endangering anyone else.
Lucas joined the trio just as they were emptying the last of the meat, accompanied by a redheaded girl who appeared fairly disinterested. Amara recognized her as the girl she had witnessed accompany Billy Hargrove to and from school, and she vaguely wondered what had brought her into the mix. From the way Dustin was staring at her, Amara deduced her to be the girl he had feelings for.
Cognizant that they had a limited amount of time before the sun faded from the sky, the five of them got to work boarding up the bus in the center of the junkyard, which Dustin revealed to be the same bus he and the Party hid in from the government last year. Although it was really only Steve, Amara, and the redhead who were putting in any effort – Dustin had whisked Lucas away to talk to him, bemused as to why he had broken the rule of law and dragged the girl they both liked into everything from a year ago.
"Hey, need any help?" Amara asked the other girl, who was struggling to lift a piece of scrap metal.
"It's fine, I got it," the girl responded through gritted teeth, dragging the metal across the grass until she reached the bus, where she set it near the door. Dusting her hands off on her jeans, she faced Amara. "Is any of this even real?"
"What do you mean?"
"Lucas told me about everything that happened last year and I thought it was just a bunch of bullshit, but he told me he had proof it was real," the redhead continued, and Amara nodded in understanding. From an outside perspective, it was easy to dismiss a faceless monster from an alternate dimension and a girl with telekinetic abilities as hogwash; she was sure that people like Kevin and Robin wouldn't have believed her if they didn't know her well enough to understand that she would never lie about such things. "I'm just wondering if it's all an elaborate prank or something."
"I really wish it was," Amara laughed nervously, ducking so she could lift another fragment of scrap metal and prop it against the others they had already collected. She pinched the fabric of her sweater inward to expose her clavicle, where the faint but still visible scars from the Demogorgon stood out against her pale skin. "But it's all real. Steve and I fought it last year."
"I might believe it a little more now, but I still don't doubt that they brought me along to impress me," the girl gestured at Lucas and Dustin, who were still huddled behind a car. It was a similar shade to Steve's but far less pristine and thus less valuable. "They've been stalking me since I got here."
