STICKS AND STONES ↝ S. HARRINGTON

[29]

"Do you see him?" Dustin asked, his voice trembling as the four of them struggled to make out any sort of movement in the dark, but the air had once again fallen still, except for the slow movement of the fog spreading through the junkyard.

"No," Steve said, shaking his head.

"Lucas!" Dustin yelled, looking up at the emergency exit on the roof. "What's going on?"

"Hold on!" Lucas shouted back. "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! T-ten o'clock!"

"There!" Steve whisper-yelled, pointing into the darkness, where Anna could just make out the edges of the Demogorgon's silhouette moving through the shadows, and a low growl began to sound from across the junkyard.

Although it had been a mere thirty hours since she'd last seen the young Demogorgon before locking him in their storm cellar, d'Artagnan had grown even larger, now resembling the size of a large dog, or even that of a small bear. However, instead of following the pile of meat they'd left in an attempt to get him to the trap, he remained at the edge of the field, as if he were slowly prowling the area.

"What's he doing?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know," Anna said, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see him better.

"He's not taking the bait." Steve said. "Why is he not taking the bait?"

"Maybe he's not hungry?" Becca suggested.

"Maybe he's sick of cow," Steve said, Anna's blood turning to ice in her veins as she processed his words.

"Steve, what are you doing?" she asked as she watched him stand back up, looking over at the others again before turning around without a word, an expression on his face that she couldn't quite discern.

"Steve?" Dustin echoed, but Steve simply picked up the baseball bat from where it lay on the ground, not answering either of them.

"Steve, come on," Becca pressed. "What are you doing?"

Steve turned back slowly to look at them, the lighter in his hands. "Just get ready," he said, tossing it to where Becca still sat in the driver's seat.

Steve pulled the door open with a sharp creak of its rusted hinges, and he stepped out slowly into the night, bat held tightly in his hands. Becca pulled the door shut again behind him, and Anna watched warily from the window as he stepped towards the meat pile, careful to avoid the trap and the trail of gasoline that led back to the bus.

Steve emitted a low whistle, trying to get the Demogorgon's attention. "Come on, buddy," he called out, continuing the sound as he walked closer to the trap.

The sound of footsteps on the ladder pulled Anna's attention to see Max climbing back down. "What's he doing?" she asked.

"Expanding the menu," Dustin explained as Max stepped next to him, trying to watch Steve out the window.

"Come on, buddy," Steve called again, the low chittering of the Demogorgon the only sign of a response, though slowly Dart finally turned to look straight at Steve, the teenage boy now directly in his line of sight. "Come on, dinnertime. Human tastes better than cat, I promise."

"He's insane," Max muttered.

"He's awesome," Dustin whispered, an awestruck look on the boy's face.

Slowly the Demogorgon began to step closer to Steve, and he held the bat up a little higher, bracing himself as he tried to keep up his brave front for both the creature and the younger kids on the bus. However, he, along with the rest of them in the middle of the bus, were so captivated by the sight of the Demogorgon in front of them that they hadn't noticed another one sneaking up on Steve's right.