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run, boy, run
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. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧
"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!"
Behind the broken, battered car, stained with blood, five teenagers sat, their backs pressed against the doors, their hearts in their throats. Alina Fairgrieves-Byers was one of them, currently sitting beside Lucas Sinclair, whose hand was slick with sweat. She knew this because she was gripping it hard, which grounded her, keeping her from slipping into an oblivion of fear and panic, because the Mind Flayer was here, and it was searching for them. Her other hand was slapped firmly over her mouth, and she tilted her head up, making her breathing quieter.
The lights in the mall were flickering, and it seemed that the Scoops Troop had finally figured out something had gone terribly wrong, because there Dustin's voice was, rattling out of the walkie-talkie. Alina's fingers itched to grab it, to tell Dustin that everything had gone horribly wrong, but she couldn't risk revealing herself to the Mind Flayer, who was, after all, after her. It would flay her before she even had time to raise it to her lips.
When she'd spied the Mind Flayer's face through the skylight, her first thought had been Lucas, who hadn't noticed a thing, and it was so that she had run over to him, alerting him, Nancy, Jonathan, and a suspicious Will (he'd felt it, too) to its presence. They'd scrambled behind the car just as the Mind Flayer slammed its way into the mall, and it was only then that Alina realized she'd left Max, Gabe, El and Mike behind. She knew they were in hiding, though, as no sign of a struggle had met her ears, but guilt still squirmed in her anyway. She just prayed they would escape. The Mind Flayer was after her and El. The rest of them would just be an added bonus.
"Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you—"
Dustin's voice was cut off, and it seemed the Mind Flayer had finally heard his shrill tones. Alina took a tense moment to peek out from behind the car and spotted the walkie-talkie wrapped in one of the monster's appendages, while Dustin still called out for them, his voice growing more and more panicked as time passed. Finally, with one last "Do you copy?" the Mind Flayer roared, and threw the walkie-talkie away. It clattered into one of the restaurants near the car and skidded to a broken stop right in front of them. Alina darted back behind the car.
