down hill; billy hargrove

8.1

     ANNABELLE WATCHED from a distance as the scene unfolded, nancy comforting jonathan, hopper yelling on the phone, and steve looking rather annoyed at the existence of each individual. hopper slammed down the phone angrily as dustin spoke. "they didnt believe you, did they?".

"we'll see".

"we'll see? we cant just sit here while those things are loose!" mike yelled.

"we stay here, and wait for help" hopper told him through gritted teeth, before walking off.

annabelle sat on the floor, spinning the knife around on a circle, her mind going a thousand miles per hour. she watched everyone of the kids look sadder than she'd ever seen them, before mike stood up.

she really wanted to ask what'd happened in the lab that'd faltered everyone's mood, mostly being joyce. but she knew it wasn't the time nor place. she watched as joyce looked at will, the raw emotions she knew all to well in her eyes. betrayal. sorrow. she found herself having constant images of her mother coming into her mind, and of how she left her on her own when her father died. the betrayal she felt that her own mother left her alone and in pain during the saddest and hardest moment of her life to date.

"did you guys know that bob was the original founder of hawkins av?" he asked, picking up a blue cube.

"really?" lucas questioned.

"he petitioned the school to start it and everything. then he had a fund raiser for equipment. mr. clarke learned everything from him." mike explained, walking back to the table. "pretty awesome right?".

"yeah" dustin and lucas admitted as mike placed the cube on the table.

"we cant let him die in vain".

"well what do you want to do, mike? the chief's right in this. we cant stop the demo-dogs on our own" dustin snapped.

"demo-dogs?" max questioned.

"demogorgan. dogs. demo-dogs" dustin explained. "its like a compound- its like a play on words-".

"okay" max replied, looking rather taken aback.

"i mean, when it was just dart, maybe..".

"but there's an army now" lucas exclaimed.

"precisely" he agreed.

"his army" mike spoke, as if something just dawned upon him.

"what do you mean?" steve questioned as mike repeated himself.

"his army. maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too" he told them, running off, everyone following him.

"the shadow monster" dustin spoke as mike handed him a piece of paper.

"it got will that day on the field. the doctor said it was a virus, it infected him." he explained.

"and so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" max asked.

"to the tunnels, monsters, upside down. everything" mike elaborated.

"woah. slow down, slow down" steve told them as annabelle remained quiet. "okay so, if the shadow monster's inside everything, and if the vines feel something like pain, then so does will."