𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟳. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙣

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙣

A story about scientists, parallel worlds, superheroes, and a demogorgon.

That was what Lucas had confessed to them, dead serious, eyes wide, voice low, as if someone might be listening. And neither James nor Max had found a single bit of it believable.

How could they? A shaved-head girl wandering out of the woods, raised in a laboratory, with telekinetic powers? Please. That was beyond insane.

And yet... Lucas had insisted. Refused to back down.

And when Max, half mocking, half frustrated, had started shouting the name Eleven in the arcade, the panic on Lucas's face had been so real that even the siblings froze.

If they didn't believe the story, James could at least see that Lucas did. Completely.

And ever since they'd come home, James's thoughts had been looping, trying to fit pieces that suddenly seemed less random.

Will's episodes. The creature Dustin found. Mike's weird hostility. All the secrecy, all the urgency.

Lucas had said everything was confidential. Dangerous even.

Now James lay on his bed, eyes fixed on the wall, trying to block out the music blasting from the leaving room where Billy was, so loud the floor vibrated. The kind of noise meant to suffocate any thought.

Then the doorbell rang.

He wasn't sure at first. The sound barely cut through the pounding bass. But then it rang again. And again.

Followed by Billy's irritated shout:

"Are you getting that or what?!"

James shot upright.

"I'm going!" he yelled back, already hurrying down the hall.

He pulled open the front door.

Lucas stood on the porch, nervous, breathless, out of place in this house like a deer stepping onto a hunter's lawn.

James's eyes widened.

He instantly glanced behind him, checking if Billy had caught sight of him. Then he slipped outside, closing the door quickly at his back.

"You really shouldn't be here," James whispered, voice tight with worry. "Like, seriously."

Lucas leaned forward. "Where's Max? I have proof."

James froze. "Proof of what?"

"Proof that what I told you guys was real." He paused, urgent. "But we have to hurry. Can you get Max?"

Something in Lucas's tone, something raw, shaken, made James's stomach twist. Against all logic, he believed him. At least enough to move.

He turned back into the house... and walked directly into Billy.

Billy stood in the hallway, blocking the path like a wall of muscle and suspicion.

"Who the hell were you talking to?" he asked, voice quiet in that dangerous Billy way.

James hesitated only a second.

"Mormons," he said flatly.

Billy blinked. "Mormons?"

James shrugged, playing bored, uninterested. "Those guys don't stop talking. They're a nightmare."

Billy stared a moment longer, trying to sniff out the lie.

But James was already brushing past him, heading for Max's room. He didn't knock; he rarely had the luxury.

Max sat cross-legged on her bed, trying to fix her skateboard with strip after strip of tape. She looked up, brows furrowing.

"What is it?"

"I'll explain on the way," James said quickly. "But we need to go. Lucas is waiting behind the house."

"Lucas?" She stood immediately. "What is he doing here?"

"He wants to show us something," James answered, lowering his voice. "Go through your window. I'll grab my bike and meet you."

Max nodded, already moving.

Within minutes, they were down the street. Max perched on the back of Lucas's bike, James pedaling fast beside them, adrenaline tugging them forward into the unknown.

Something was happening. And this time, James had the awful feeling Lucas wasn't exaggerating.

- ⏳-

A few minutes later, they were far from town, out where the paved streets gave way to wild grass and junk. The place looked like an open-air graveyard of machines, rusted car frames, twisted metal, piles of broken parts scattered across a wide field.

Two figures were already there: Dustin, and an older guy James didn't recognize. Both were holding what looked like a metal bucket filled with raw meat, bloody, pale chunks that made James scrunch his nose in disgust.

As soon as they reached them, Dustin launched into a rapid explanation: something about "preparing the zone," then grabbed Lucas by the sleeve and dragged him behind a half-collapsed car. They clearly had things to talk about.

That left James and Max with the older teen, Steve, who seemed nice enough but too stressed to be talkative. Steve shoved a sheet of steel toward James, pointing at the school bus in the middle of the junkyard.

James hefted the plate and braced it against the side of the bus, as told. The metal thudded heavily into place. Steve was already jogging off to rejoin Dustin and Lucas.

"Hey, dickheads!" Steve yelled at them, hands thrown in the air. "How come the only ones helping me out are these random kids? We lose light in like forty minutes! Let's go!"

Dustin whipped around, face scrunched in irritation. 

"All right, asshole! God!"

He stomped after him.

The whole group sprang into motion. Sheets of metal. Car doors. Random barrels. Whatever could create a barricade.

Piece by piece, they built a fortress around the bus, patchwork, uneven, kind of ridiculous, but solid. Steve poured gasoline in a large ring around the clearing, shaping what looked like the outline of a trap.

By the time the last streaks of daylight drained out of the sky, the makeshift base was complete. The bus doors shut with a heavy metallic clank, sealing them inside the cramped, shadowy interior.

Now there was nothing left but waiting.

Dustin had said the plan was simple: Dart, apparently one of these "demogorgons", would smell the meat, come close, and spring the trap. 

The bus would protect them long enough for...

Well, that part James wasn't exactly clear on.

Night thickened outside the bus. Inside, Steve sat on one of the bench seats, flicking his lighter open and shut, open and shut, the tiny flame briefly illuminating his face before disappearing again.

James eyed the lighter. "You probably shouldn't waste the gas," he said quietly. "Might need that later."

Steve sighed and slid it back into his pocket.

Max, sitting beside James, leaned forward slightly. "You really fought one of these things before?"

Steve nodded silently.

"And you're like, totally one hundred percent sure it wasn't a bear?"

James added, "I'm pretty sure a bat isn't enough to fight a bear..."

Dustin groaned loudly, slouching back in his seat.

"Shit. Don't be an idiot, okay? It wasn't a bear."

His frustration surprised everyone, even Steve, who looked vaguely impressed.

"Why are you even here if you don't believe us?" Dustin snapped. "Just go home."

Max rolled her eyes, pushed herself to her feet, and headed toward the emergency hatch leading to the roof.

"Jeez, someone's cranky," she said over her shoulder. "Past your bedtime?"

She disappeared onto the roof, leaving the three boys in an awkward silence.

Steve broke it first, a grin tugging at his lips.

"That's good. Just show her you don't care."

He said it like he was giving Dustin some top-tier romantic advice.

James turned, eyebrow raised sharply. "You know that's my sister, right?"

Steve froze, mouth half-open as if searching for a recovery that didn't exist. Dustin cut in before he could try:

"I don't," Dustin said flatly.

Steve attempted a secretive wink at Dustin, trying to keep James from noticing but Dustin stared at him in confusion.

"Why are you winking, Steve? Stop."

James stared at Steve with a look that very clearly said Are you serious right now?

Steve coughed awkwardly and looked away, suddenly very interested in the ceiling of the bus as if it held the mysteries of the universe.

That's when he heard it.

A scream.Not human. A sound he had never, ever heard before.

High-pitched yet guttural, like a shriek tangled with metal scraping on bone. It echoed across the clearing and every kid inside the bus snapped to attention.

Dart.

The boys shot to their feet, crowding the window.

"Do you see him?" Dustin asked.

But with the dark thickening and fog crawling low across the junkyard, visibility was nearly zero.

"I don't see anything," Steve muttered.

"Me neither," James echoed, pulse hammering in his throat.

Dustin backed away from the window, tilting his head up toward the roof. "Lucas! What's going on?"

Lucas's voice came down from above, steady, alert. He had the binoculars glued to his face.

"Hold on! I got eyes! Ten o'clock!"

Steve leaned in, pointing through the fog. "There."

A shifting mass moved in the fog, large and slow. James's breath hitched. For the first time, all his doubts broke apart.

"Holy shit..."

It was real.

Everything was real.

"What's he doing?" Dustin murmured.

"I don't know," Steve answered under his breath.

They watched, tense, waiting for Dart to approach the bait. But instead, the creature stayed still, sniffing the air... uninterested.

S"He's not taking the bait," Steve hissed. "Why isn't he taking the damn bait?"

"Maybe he's not hungry," Dustin offered.

"Or maybe the gasoline's stronger than the meat," James said, though his voice shook.

"Maybe he's sick of cow," Steve muttered, and then something changed in his expression, an idea, a decision.

Before anyone could stop him, he moved for the door.

James felt panic rise in his throat. "Where are you going?"

He wasn't doing that. He wasn't actually doing that... right?

Dustin's voice cracked. "Steve?"

Steve paused in the doorway, gripping the bat tight in his hand. "Just get ready."

He tossed the lighter to Dustin. Then he stepped outside. The door clanged shut behind him.

James and Dustin exchanged a terrified look before scrambling back to the window.

Silence.

A suffocating, crushing silence broken only by Steve's whistles echoing through the fog.

"He's insane," James breathed.

"He's awesome," Dustin corrected, though his voice trembled.

A shout burst from the roof. "STEVE, WATCH OUT!"

"I'm a little busy here!" Steve shouted back.

"Three o'clock! Three o'clock!"

And then they saw them.

Not one creature. But several—shadows peeling themselves out from behind rusted cars, silhouettes crouching, advancing, surrounding Steve.

"Holy shit!" James blurted.

Dustin bolted for the door. "STEVE! Abort! ABORT!"

But it was too late.

One creature lunged.

Steve spun just in time, dodging by inches, swinging his bat in a brutal arc that smacked the creature sideways.

"STEVE, RUN! HURRY!"

He sprinted toward the bus as James and Dustin slammed the door shut behind him. A demogorgon crashed into it a heartbeat later, the whole frame shuddering.

"Are they rabid or something?!" Max's voice squeaked from behind James.

James grabbed Steve, helping him up. "Are you okay?"

Lucas and Dustin braced metal sheets against the trembling door.

"They can't get in!" Lucas shouted, though his voice broke. "They can't!"

The bus lurched violently, metal groaning.

A claw punched through a gap, slashing the air dangerously close. Everyone stumbled backward except Steve, who planted his boots and hammered the limb with his bat again and again, teeth clenched.

Dustin fumbled with his walkie-talkie, voice shaking. "Mike? Will? GOD—anyone?"

A heavy thud shook the roof. Then another. Something massive crawled across the top of the bus.

"We're at the old junkyard!" Dustin yelped into the radio. "We're gonna die!"

James grabbed a metal bar and stepped in front of Max, Dustin, and Lucas, legs shaking but planted firm. His heart crashed against his ribs.

A demogorgon shoved its head through the opening in the roof, snarling, jaws splitting open. Max screamed, scrambling back.

Steve charged forward. "Out of the way! MOVE!"

He pushed in front of James, lifting the bat, fury and adrenaline burning through him.

"You want some? Come get this!"

He was ready to swung, but before the strike could land, the creature froze.

Its attention snapped elsewhere, toward the far side of the junkyard. Its nostrils flared. Then, without warning, it retreated, vanishing into the fog.

One by one, the creatures withdrew into the fog, vanishing as abruptly as they came.

Silence fell. The kind of silence that presses on lungs.

Max and Lucas dropped each other's hands at the same moment, as if realizing only now they'd been holding on.

Breaths softened. Muscles uncoiled.

Dustin swallowed. "Did Steve scare them off?"

Steve stepped outside first, scanning the fog-choked clearing. His shoulders stiffened.

"No way," he murmured. "They're going somewhere."

James stared into the darkness, dread pooling deep in his chest.

"...But where?"

Thank you so much for reading this far! 🎡

The next chapters will be about Erin, I really hope you'll like her too !

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