Bloody Negatives {Stranger things}

Chapter Twelve

《Chapter Twelve》
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Dustin looked at Tally the same way one might look at a psychopath.

"That's great, Tally, but I don't really need to know what kind of girl you dream about," he said, furrowing his brow in a mixture of disgust and confusion while Eddie cackled, clearly thinking that the situation was quite amusing.

"No, Dustin, you're not listening to me," Tally hissed under his breath. "She was... she was acting really weird. It was like—"

"I really don't want to know," Dustin interrupted, rapidly shaking his head and leaning away from Tally.

"Stop being such a weirdo," Tally growled in frustration, "The dream wasn't about— ew, Dustin, ew."

The Henderson boy finally seemed to decide that Tally's story was worth listening to, because he stopped protesting and looked Tally directly in the eye.

"It was like she knew she was in my dream or something," Tally said, wincing slightly at the effort it took for him to articulate the dream. "She knew where Hawkins was. She said she knew me even though I swear I've never seen her before."

"Oh my God," Dustin sighed in exasperation, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Did she leave you a name? Anything about her to prove that she wasn't just part of the dream?"

She had a name, Tally knew she had told it to him, though he couldn't quite remember what it was. "Something weird," he finally decided. "It wasn't a normal name."

"Oh, wow," Dustin said standing up and raising his eyebrows. "Wow, Tally, thank you so much for that insightful detail. That narrows it down so much. Really, thank you."

"Is he always this annoying?" Tally asked Eddie who smiled and shrugged before turning back to watch Dustin wave his arms dramatically.

"Annoying?" Dustin asked with mock offence in his tone. "Am I annoying you, Tally? I'm so sorry, I guess I was too distracted by all the fucking murders to be considerate about your feelings!"

"It was Eleven."

"What?" Dustin fell back onto the floor, letting out a quiet sob of exhaustion.

"The girl's name was Eleven," Tally said, squinting at Dustin, trying to analyze his reaction to the words.

"Eleven..." Dustin repeated airily, his face going blank and placid. "Oh my God, of course it was Okay Eleven."

Tally thought that the younger boy was being sarcastic again, though after he continued to ramble to became apparent that he was dead serious.

"Who's Eleven?" Tally asked, sitting up frantically. "Do you know her? How do you know her?"

Dustin fell onto his back, spreading out his arms in a starfish shape. "Holy shit, she tried to contact you. She did contact you. Why would she want to talk to you?"

Tally wasn't quite sure why the last question felt like an insult. He shrugged. He didn't know the answers. He'd woken up from the dream far too early to find out anything important.

Dustin made an odd noise, like buzzing, or something. "You're going to talk to her again."

Tally laughed lightly, shaking his head. "How do you expect me to do that?"

"I don't... I don't know, when you go to bed tonight, try to... think about her. Think about seeing her, hearing her. She wouldn't have gotten into your head if she didn't think it was important. She and the others must be in trouble," he was speaking so quickly that Tally could barely understand a single word coming out of his mouth.

"Dustin, she seemed just as confused as I was. It was like she was there by accident," Tally tried to explain, though it seemed that the younger boy was blocking him out. "How do you know I can do this?"

"You'll find her again," Dustin murmured to himself, he sat back up to look directly at Tally. "It can't be a coincidence, Tally. First you vanish for a whole week, then you witness one of the Mind Flayer's murders. You have to be connected to El somehow."

Tally shook his head, he felt an anxiety that he'd never felt before. He wasn't going to be able to do this. He was going to let Dustin down, he knew it.

Dustin smiled the same kind of puppy-dog smile that could brighten up a room. "You can do this, Tally. I trust you."

For what must have been the millionth time that day, Tally found himself wondering why?

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