Trapped

The Mind Flayer

Steve, Lyn, Dustin, Max, and Lucas were walking through the forest to see if they could find where the Demogorgons were going. "You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asks.

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." Dustin said, making Steve throw him a judgmental look.

"He was tiny two days ago." Max points out.

"Well, he's molted three times already." Dustin put up three fingers.

"Malted?" Steve squinted. The only malted he knew was the shake and the candy.

"Molted, he shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms," Dustin explains.

"That was the slimy thing you found in the basement." Lyn told Steve, who let out an 'oh' of realization. "What did you think that was?" She raises an eyebrow at him. She thought he knew that was Dart's old skin and that why he shows it to them.

"I don't know, I thought it gross so it had to come from the thing." He shrugs.

"When's he going to molt again?" Max wanted to know how much time they had until he became more dangerous.

"It's got to be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends." Dustin said making a shiver go down Lyn's spine. They weren't even fully grown and they were more powerful than them. She wished she had a flamethrower to light them all up, but sadly she didn't. She would have to make do with her hairspray and lighter.

"Yeah, and he's going to eat a lot more than just cats." Steve grumbles. The bigger they get the bigger prey they can takedown.

"Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?" Lucas grabs Dustin's shoulder and turns his friend to face him.

"No. What? No." He shook his head.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews." Steve narrows his eyes at Dustin.

"Shut your mouth," Lyn whispers to him.

"What's the problem?" He shrugs, not knowing why that would be a secret.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max turns to Dustin.

"It's Dustin's cat." Steve was wondering why his friends didn't know about his pet.

"Steve!" Dustin glares at him.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas pokes a finger into his friend's shoulder.

"No! No. No, I... No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home." Dustin was stumbling over his words before he came up with the story that Dart found his way home.

"Bullshit! Did you know about this too Lyn?" Lucas turns to her.

"Yeah, lay off. She only let him keep it because she wanted to keep a connection with Dustin, especially since he doesn't want to hang out with her anymore." Steve defends his friend.

"Steve! I told you that in confidence." She scolds him. She told him that when Dustin was sleeping in the car last night when they were driving around looking for Dart. She didn't want Dustin feeling bad about not hanging out with her. Steve was right when he said that Dustin wanting to spend time apart from her is health.

"Okay, what's your excuse?" Lucas pushes Dustin's shoulder to get his sad face off his sister.

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, Okay?" Dustin shook his hand. He felt like shit right now, he lied to his friends and got them in a big mess. On top of that, he has been making his sister feel like shit.

"Oh, so now you admit it?" Lucas glares at him.

"Guys, who cares? We have to go." Max looks around. Standing in one place couldn't be a good idea.