𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 ✪ 𝙬. 𝙗𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨

★05

chapter five.
dart
.✧*:･ﾟ

𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍 𝙍𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙊 her stomach as the walkie talkie beside her began to make noise. She had been given one by Dustin, and shown how to use it, in case of emergency. She picked it up, waiting for a voice. "Em, this is Mike, do you copy?"

"Yes" she replied.

"Good, you need to get down to the school. Like now." He said. Ember sensed the urgency in his voice, and spoke again. "Okay, be there soon" "Great, hurry up." The walkie talkie now went to static. Ember jumped up from the basement floor, where she had been reading some of Mike's books. She ran upstairs, knowing that no one was home except for her, and ran out the back door, which was nearly always unlocked. She hopped onto Nancy's old bike, which was a bit rusty from being untouched for so long, and pedalled as fast as her thin legs could towards Hawkins Middle School.

When she reached the school, it was easy enough for her to find the others. Mike was waiting for her at the main entrance, and he quickly filled her in on why she was called. They needed her help to find a creature Dustin had brought to school, which could potentially be from the Upside Down. She nodded slowly, slightly taken aback, and the two ran inside to begin their search.

Ember followed Mike through the bright hallways, unaware of odd looks she was getting from the students passing by. Mike spoke into his walkie talkie again. "East is clear. No sign of Dart"

"Dart?"

He looked at Ember. "Yeah, sorry, that's it's name. Short for D'artagnan."

She nodded, clearly puzzled, but instead focused on searching for the creature.

The pair made their way inside the dark gym. A door opened across the room, letting in a sudden flood of light for the outside. The two stared at the door, waiting to see who opened it, but no one came. They looked at each other, before wandering round the gym, their trainers squeaking on the polished wood floor. Mike grabbed a mop, holding it in front of him defensively as he and Ember crept through the locker rooms. They heard a faint clattering behind them, and jumped, Mike leaping in front of the intruder, brandishing his mop.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Max yelled. "What are you doing? Why are you in here?" Mike argued back. "Looking for Dart" She replied. "This is the boys' room!" "Yeah so? Em is here!" She said, pointing at the other girl

Mike ignored this, dropping his mop, and turning to go "So you should go home." He walked out, making a gesture for Ember to follow him, which she did, not wanting to get involved in the argument.

"Why do you hate me so much?!" Max barked after them.

"I don't hate you" Mike scowled. "How could I hate you I don't even know you."
"But you don't want me in your party!"

"Correct" He snapped back.
"Why not?" Mike turned around sharply on his heel. "Because you're annoying" The redhead fell silent as he continued. "Plus, we don't need another party member. I'm our paladin, Will's our cleric, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger, and El and Ember are our mages!"

Max look confused. "El? Who's El?" Mike realized his mistake and shook his head.

"Someone. No one." But Max didn't seem to accept this answer. "Someone, or no one?"

"She was in our party a long time ago. She moved away, okay?" Ember looked at the ground. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered her conversation with El in the void. Mike started to walk away again, and Ember followed. Max hopped onto her skateboard, and circled around them like a vulture. "A mage? What could she do, like magic tricks or something? Well, I could be your zoomer?!"