Bloody Negatives {Stranger things}

Chapter Five

《Chapter Five》
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Tally watched Jason lay out a sheet of paper on a large, scratched up wooden table.

It was almost mesmerizing. The way he flicked the sleeve of his letterman jacket. How he tossed his head ever so slightly to get his hair out of his eyes.

Tally chewed on his lower lip as he watched, shivering with anticipation.

"Here's the plan," Jason said clearly, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow. "I know where to find those freaks Munson plays D&D with, we get to them, they tell us where he's camping out."

Jason's usage of the word "freaks" made Tally shiver. He didn't like it.

"—Tally? You still with me?" Jason asked in between sentences, immediately resuming his rambling after Tally's awkward response of a shy nod.

Jason finished his well-prepared presentation by stating that Chrissy would be glad they were avenging her. Tally wasn't sure if that was true.

Before Tally could even blink, the group was on the move again. He didn't know where they were going. He supposed that if he'd been paying attention to Jason's lecture more closely. He wasn't about to ask questions, so he just followed the rest of the group without making a noise.

"We got to pick up Sinclair before we head over," Jason remarked, very nearly causing Tally to stop in his tracks.

"Sinclair? Lucas Sinclair?" Tally yelped, wincing at how high-pitched his voice sounded.

"Yeah, Lucas," Jason nodded in passing, like it wasn't an important fact at all.

Tally laughed lightly, sure that this was some odd kind of joke. "Lucas Sinclair is fourteen."

"Fifteen," Jason corrected, looking back at Tally with a somewhat psychotic smile. "He wants to help, Tally. Nothing wrong with that."

It felt like there was something very wrong with having a child help them with such a nasty thing. Jason hadn't seemed to be considering the risks of this mission. If Eddie had indeed... done what he'd done to Chrissy, tracking him down couldn't possibly be a safe idea. Especially not for someone as young as Lucas.

"Come on," Jason grumbled, seemingly much angrier now. "I don't want to waste any more time."

Tally nodded meekly, dragging his feet as the group of basketball players piled into Jason's pickup. He soon discovered that Jason drove rather recklessly. Whether because of his current mind state, or simply his way of being, Tally didn't know.

Every sharp turn through Tally into the sides of the pickup, to the point that he was scared that he would fall out.

After they picked up Lucas from his house, Tally started to feel even worse.

Nausea gripped his stomach, and he scowled. His headache increased to the point that it was painful to do anything other than sit still and stare straight ahead.

Far too soon, it was time to stand up. The loud sound of crashing cymbals and loud guitar made Tally wince. He felt like his ears were bleeding.

The world spun before Tally's eyes. They were in front of a small, cramped garage. People were playing their instruments—loudly—inside of it. They stopped as they noticed the group approaching.

One of the players—Tally faintly recognized him as one of the guys who ate lunch with Eddie—said something snarky, Tally couldn't quite hear. Chance made a chide remark. It wasn't a particularly weird exchange, but Tally still kept a lump of anxiety inside him.

And then Jason punches Eddie's friend.

"Jason!" Tally shouted. He had been told that this interrogation wasn't going to get violent.

Pretty soon, the other guy was on the floor, and Jason was stepping in his fingers. All the sound of the scene was replaced with a sharp ringing in Tally's ears.

Eddie's friend cried out something that half resembled a word, and Jason took a step back.

"See, was that so hard?" Jason laughed, shaking his head before turning back to the basketball players. "Let's go."

Tally watched Eddie's friend crawl off the ground, wincing.

Deep inside of him, he already knew that something was about to go very, very wrong.

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