You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man

chapter fourteen

We all walk back to the tracks, the only light we see is from the flashlights.

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asks as we continue walking.
"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." Dustin replies.

"Wasn't Dart like super tiny two days ago?" I ask Dustin.
"Well, he's molted three times already."
"Malted?" Steve asks Dustin.
"Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"Well, we just gotta figure out when Dart's gonna molt again. It's gotta be soon, right?" I ask.
"Well, if it is soon then he'll be fully grown or close to it. And so will his friends." Dustin replies.

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Steve says as Lucas goes in front of Dustin.

"Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?" Lucas asks.
"Yeah."
"No." Dustin and I say at the same time.

"Dustin, what are you talking about? Dart ate Mews." I ask Dustin as Max looks at me.
"Mews? Who's that?"
"Dustin's cat." Steve replies to Max.
"Steve!" Dustin yells as Lucas shoves Dustin's shoulder.

"I knew it! You kept him!"
"No! I... he missed me. He wanted to come home."
"Bullshit!"
"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay?"
"Oh, so now you admit it?"

"Okay, whatever. We need to go." I tell Lucas and Dustin.
"I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You should care, Addy! He broke the rule of law!" Lucas yells at Dustin.
"So did you!" Dustin yells back.
"What?"
"You told a stranger the truth!" Dustin says, pointing the flashlight at Max.

Max scoffs.
"A stranger?"
"You wanted to tell her, too!" Lucas says, both of them getting closer to each other.
"But I didn't, Lucas, okay? I didn't tell her!" Dustin yells as something screeches.
"Okay, that's enough." Steve says as he goes towards the 3 as I get my flashlight, pointing it at the woods.

"Uh, guys?" I ask the group as they don't listen to me.
"Guys! Hello?" I yell again as they all look at me.
"What?" Lucas yells as the screeching starts again. Steve steps in front of me, taking out his bat as he leads the way, all of us following him.

"Uh, guys, why are we following the sound?" Max asks as she follows us into the woods.

We're all silent as we continue walking towarfs the sound.

"I don't see him." Dustin says as we make it to the top of the hill. Lucas takes out his binoculars, trying to look for Dart.

"It's the lab. They were going back home." Lucas says as he puts the binoculars down.

We go back down, Steve leading the way still as we see figures.

"Wait. Who is that?" I ask as we all stop, looking at the two figures.

Steve puts a finger to his mouth, telling us to be quiet as he walks towards the figure. Steve walks closer to the figure as we slowly follow behind him.

"Nancy?" Steve asks as he turns his flashlight back on.

"Jonathan?" I ask as Steve shows the other figure.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asks me as we walk towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asks Nancy.
"We're looking for Mike and Will." Nancy replies as Dustin looks at me.

"Addy, weren't you with Mike and Will before?" Dustin asks me as I nod.
"Yeah, they were at the hospital the last time I saw them."
"The hospital?" Jonathan asks.
"Yeah-"

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin asks, cutting me off, pointing at the lab.
"I don't know, why?" Jonathan asks as we hear the screeching coming from the lab as we all turn our heads.