DANCIN' ► DUSTIN HENDERSON [1]

2/2

THE OLD JUNKYARD LOOKED EXACTLY the same as it had a year ago, when the party found themselves hiding as stowaways from the bad men. Now, Steve Harrington and Dustin Henderson, an unlikely duo, was observing the area, mapping out their mission to hunt down and kill a lizard from hell.

"Oh yeah," Steve snickered, throwing off his black sunglasses. "Yeah, this will do nicely," he grinned, strangely excited as he began making his way down the small hill the two were perched atop. "Nice find, dude. You've been here before?"

"Yeah, we hid in that bus when the government baddies were trying to find and probably kill us," Dustin answered nonchalantly, throwing his nearly empty beef bucket over his shoulder. "I figured this place could be the source of a little more trauma for me today."

"Count me in," Steve chuckled back, but they both knew they were just cracking jokes to hide the excessive amount of fear underneath their skins.

The two boys dumped the remaining contents of their meat pails in one large heap just a few yards away from the bus. "I wonder if Dart is more of a fan of cow or cat."

"He's probably a dog lover," Steve carried the joke, setting the two empty buckets down against the worn side of the bus. "He just hasn't tried a nice plate of raw Golden Retriever yet."

"No, Dart's probably a Border Collie kind of guy," Dustin sniggered, and the two boys found themselves howling in laughter at their jokes, which would see entirely unfunny to anybody else. "Man, I need to convince Dart to go vegan. It's much healthier for his digestive system and the environment."

"I said medium well!" Another voice called out from the distance, unaware that he was unintentionally joining in on a comedic bit. Lucas waved vibrantly at his friend, Max trailing at his side with a casual smile on her face.

"Oh fuck," Dustin reeled back, suddenly growing serious again. "Max? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help fix your little demon monster situation," she answered cleverly, earning a small giggle from Steve and Lucas.

Dustin's eyes darted to Lucas's, the curly headed boy cocking an eyebrow. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked in a low voice, a dangerous emotion sparking in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lucas questioned once they crouched behind an old, ragged red car. He looked at his friend expectantly.

"Did you tell Max?" Dustin inquired suspiciously, gazing over at the ginger as she aided Steve in placing a sheet of shrapnel against the bus doorframe. "Or did she just miraculously figure something out on her own?"

"No, I told her," Lucas replied, sighing through his nostrils. The Sinclair boy was quick to stop Dustin from launching into an angry tirade, holding out his hands. "Look, I had to! She was getting more and more upset about us excluding her. I didn't want her to leave the party. She didn't even believe me anyway."

"Well, she isn't exactly a member of the party yet," Dustin pointed out. "Party member requirements include skilled knowledge about a hell dimension and shared trauma with other members involving said hell dimension. She's only got one of those. Besides, if Mike has any say, you know he'll throw her out before she even auditions."

"Are you okay?" Lucas drew back, examining the boy as if there would be any physical proof his friend was losing his mind. "You seem...off."