WHISTLEBLOWER | ❝It only gets stranger...❞
Hawkins has never looked back on the events of November 1983. They know the surface-level story. 'The boy who came back to life.' Will Byers is alive and well, while the futile search for Tonya McCarth...
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SUNDAY 4th NOVEMBER, 1984
THE sun rose the next day and glared through the windscreen of Steve's car — Daphne had anticipated waking up in her own bed at home, but instead found herself squinting into bright sunlight, with cramp in her limbs and Dustin snoring happily in the back seat. Now she remembered... the trio had cooped up in the Harrington boy's BMW for the night to protect themselves from Dart.
After that, the three of them had put together a plan. If they could simply lure Dart as deep into the woods as possible, far from where he could endanger the average Hawkins citizen, then they could hopefully just kill him there and then; nip things in the bud, so to speak. It had warranted a trip to a few locations at the cusp of opening hour, including the hunting store Daphne had visited with Nancy and Jonathan almost a year ago. Meanwhile Steve had grappled with the strange paradox of the usually peaceful, socially awkward girl paying for supplies at the counter with a sheepish excuse:
"Hunting season?" she'd replied.
And she wasn't wrong. Two years in a row, she is hunting monsters again — and both times, Daphne wonders if they are way out of their league.
So a few hours later Daphne is here, inhaling the pungent stench of raw fleshy lumps, which she's tossing ceremoniously on the ground from magenta rubber gloves. A long trail of the stuff is being left along the train tracks strewn with yellow autumn leaves, like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs, working as bait to lure Dart... wherever he is. She walks a little way behind Steve and Dustin, who jump between topics to banter over like long-lost brothers. Daphne finds it so bizarrely endearing to see how they've connected, although they would probably hate to admit it. The King of Hawkins High, and a D&D-loving Middle Schooler — who would have thought it? Right now, she eavesdrops as Steve tries to wrap his head around Dustin's love life... as does Daphne.
"So let me get this straight," Steve is trying to clarify. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous, in order to impress a girl who... who you just met?"
Dustin rolls his eyes, scoffing. "Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things."
"Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyways?"
"An inter-dimensional slug? Because it's awesome."
Whatever happened to flowers? Or a love letter? Daphne thinks to herself, perplexed. She still can't believe Dustin kept something from the Upside Down, and all to impress a girl. Kidsthesedays. But she doesn't voice her thoughts just yet, enjoying the way neither of them have noticed her quietly eavesdropping — Steve and Dustin's banter is far too entertaining to interrupt.
