CHAPTER SIX
VI. the escape artist
[ season 2, episode 3 & 4 ]
On the morning after Halloween, a singular piece of folded paper slipped out from Lucia Delgado's locker.
She came to the quick assumption that the assholes in the grade above her had scrawled down teasing remarks onto the paper, shoving it into her locker as a surprise for when she opened it. Unfortunately, that had happened once before, and she was sure it would happen again.
However, much to her astonishment, the paper was a formal invite.
Meet us at the AV club. Lunch. Don't bring food! From Dustin.
Lucia's brow tightened out of confusion ── unaware she was close enough to the chaotic group of boys to meet them beyond accidental run-ins. Dustin thought different, clearly. She wondered briefly if Mad Max would have been given the same invitation, which she was sure would tussle Mike Wheeler's thinning patience. He didn't like having the girls around, that much was obvious.
With a sigh, Lucia looked down at her watch. It was lunch now, meaning the note had likely been shoved into her locker last minute. It hadn't been there during first, second or third period. Not to mention, the AV club was in an entirely different block.
She tucked the invitation into her pocket and hastily took off down the hallways.
These new friends . . . they were exciting as much as they were different. In the past, she tended to stick in with the crowds, mixing with people who were deemed normal amongst the judgemental school population. Dustin and his cronies were on an entirely different level of bizarre ── everything they did caused Lucia to quirk a wondrous brow. They weren't even on the richter scale of normal. But, to be true to herself, she found them easiest to be around, no matter their divergence. She didn't have to put up an act.
They accepted her for who she was, and that truly warmed her heart.
With this in mind, she skidded to a stop outside of the AV room, already hearing a chorus of overexcited voices mumbling inside. She tried the handle, but found it was locked. It only took one knock on the oak frame for someone to hurtle forward to meet the new arrival, cracking the door open only slightly.
A pair of frenzied brown eyes gazed up at Lucia.
"Uh, hi?"
Dustin skipped over greetings and unnecessary conversations, instead ripping the door open.
As soon as Lucia was safely inside of the stuffy AV room, Dustin hastily slammed the door behind her. In a flash, the boy rushed toward the desk pushed into the centre of the room, where the rest of the party were gathered. Amongst them was Max ── who Lucia quickly gravitated to.
They smiled at one another fleetingly.
The Ghostbuster box placed in the centre of the table was far more intriguing.
"What's in there?" Lucia questioned, setting her bag down on the floor.
In unison, all six members of the group craned their necks toward the rattling object. A guttural snarl echoed from within, causing the box to tremble viciously, clattering against the wooden tabletop. Lucia cautiously peered into the Ghostbusters prop, and was thoroughly startled by what she saw.
"This is D'Artagnan." Dustin clarified. "Cute, right?"
He scooped his hand into the box.
What came out on the centre of his palm was a slug-like creature, drenched in a slimy substance, skin coloured a sickly-shade of green ── with no visible eyes, and a small cavity for a mouth. At the end of its rounded body, there was a thick tail. The chittering noises the thing made were nothing Lucia had ever heard before. It sounded . . . illusory.
"D'Artagnan?" Mike echoed dubiously.
"Dart for short."
Beside Lucia, Max tilted her head to the side, eyes trained on the creature, "And he was in your trash?"
"It was in your trash?" Lucia repeated, disbelief evident in her voice.
Dustin smiled fondly at the slug-thing scuttling between his flattened palms, "Yep, foraging for food."
"Right . . ."
"You wanna hold him?" Dustin implored enthusiastically.
It took Lucia a moment to realise he was looking at her, his eyes bright and urging. Her heart lurched at the prospect of putting the creature into her hands.
"He doesn't bite!" Dustin assured.
"No, thanks." Lucia replied in a shaky voice, trying to keep her nerves at bay. Insects and strange looking slugs made her feel slightly light headed. "I think I'm good ──"
Nothing more could be said on the matter, for Dustin had placed Dart into her hands.
Lucia's eyes flared wide, and her stomach felt like it had flipped horizontally. Sweat beaded along her forehead as she gazed down at the thing slithering over her clammy palms, chirruping.
"Ew!" Lucia gasped. She averted her gaze to something else, which ── unfortunately for Max Mayfield ── was the redheaded girl standing fearfully by her side.
Lucia hastily dumped Dart into Max's hands, holding back a gag.
"Oh, God, he's slimy!"
Apparently, Dart's presence had warped into a speedy game of pass the parcel. Max handed him over to Lucas, who's features twisted into a disgusted grimace.
"He's like a living booger!" the boy exclaimed grotesquely.
Will retrieved him next, horribly opposed to having Dart's slimy form sluggishly moving between his palms, "Ugh!"
He passed it to Mike. His reaction was wildly different in comparison to the rest of the group ── he studied Dart with interest and didn't seem to mind holding it.
One question about D'Artagnan. still remained, however. "What is he?"
"My question exactly." Dustin replied, which didn't really fill Lucia with much hope revolving around cracking the case of the mystifying creature.
She jumped out of surprise when Dustin dumped a pile of books on the table, most of which detailed everything there was to know about reptiles. Mike shoved Dart back into the Ghostbusters box, turning his undivided attention toward Dustin.
He gestured to the books, "At first, I thought it was some kind of pollywog."
"Pollywog?" Max repeated, clueless.
"It's another word for tadpole." Dustin informed. "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad ──"
"I know what a tadpole is."
The boy donning a baseball cap was barely phased by Max's remark, and he continued onward with his rant, "Most tadpoles are aquatic. But Dart isn't. He doesn't need water."
Lucas frowned, "Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?"
"Terrestrial pollywogs?" Dustin added, the intelligence he had around a multitude of species simply rolling from his tongue. "Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana semipalmata. And the Adenomera andreae. One's from India, one's from South America."
"Are you sure both are from Planet Earth, because my brain is scrambled trying to understand this." Lucia quizzed, pressing her fingers to her temples, as if electricity would pulsate through her fingertips and fill her with the knowledge she needed.
"It's scientific names." Will piped up, offering Lucia a kind smile. He looked better than he did on Halloween night, his complexion healthier. Less pale. "They never make sense."
Dustin shushed them both, "My question still stands. How did one end up in my trash?"
"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max pondered, although she didn't look very convinced by her own theory.
"Do you guys see that?"
Lucia's head snapped toward Mike on instinct, who was gawking down at Dart. The creature looked the same as it had done only two minutes prior to the revelation, but ──
"Looks like something is moving inside of it." Mike pointed out.
He was right. It looked as though something was rolling around in Dart's swollen stomach, travelling down toward it's reptilian tail. Another entity. Gross.
Lucas grabbed the lamp, wanting to take a closer look. The lightbulb lodged inside of it acted like the sun, inexplicably bright, glaring down at Dart. However, after only two moments of having the lamp shining down on him, Dustin's strange pet screeched loudly, slithering away from the spotlight pooling on the tabletop ── as if the light were causing him agonising pain.
Dustin scooped Dart into his hands, looking between his friends. "There's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him."
"So," Lucas pondered the thought for a while. "If he's not a pollywog or a reptile . . ."
"Then I've discovered a new species." Dustin finalised.
Lucia folded her arms, stomach churning. Surely this couldn't be good.
✧.｡. *.
"I can't believe this."
Both Max and Lucia had been rudely shoved out of the AV room after a tense discussion had arose with the boys. A private discussion ── original members only.
Undoubtedly, the lack of information was vexing to both Max and Lucia. They had been included in the mystery of Dart, roped into the gnarly case of a possible new species, and deserved to know about the most recent discovery the brain-boxes had made about the strange not-pollywog.
Quite frankly, it was unfair to bar the pair from their conversation.
"It's because we're girls." Lucia said matter-of-factly. She crossed her arms over her chest irritably, glaring daggers at the closed door. "It was probably Mike's idea to throw us out."
Max gave a sharp nod of agreement, "Yeah, I'm with you on that."
"Honestly, the guy's hormones must be raging. I've never seen him smile."
The redhead huffed a laugh, leaning back against the wall. Lucia followed suit, pressing her spine to the grooves and indents marring the white brickwork. Whilst gnawing on her cheek, Lucia used her shoe to shove Max's bag aside, careful not to tread on the patchwork.
Apparently, this short movement fuelled Max with an idea.
Her teal eyes flared larger than the moon's biggest crater, and she hastily pushed herself away from the wall, hand outstretched toward her bag. Lucia watched with mild curiosity as Max unzipped the backpack ── fumbling around her belongings until something extremely useful fell into her grip.
Max's eyes sparkled when she gazed up at Lucia, a silver paper-clip wedged between her fingers.
"What's that for?" the Delgado asked.
"Usually paper." Max retorted, a smirk unfolding across her lips. "Sometimes, locks."
Enlivened with the concept, Lucia held the girl's gaze, arching a brow. "I like your thinking."
No more words were exchanged, the unlikely duo far too thrilled about being one step ahead of the irritating clan of dweebs. Max dipped onto one knee, plunging the end of the pin into the rusty lock. She twisted it, tongue poking between her front teeth, tracing the narrow twig of metal through the jagged hole.
The voices within the AV room lifted. They sounded . . . fearful? Well, more concerned than anything.
Max and Lucia exchanged an identical look, disquieted by what they heard.
And then there was a click.
Immediately, Max pushed open the door. Barely a second later, the slimy slug-like creature from earlier rushed out through the gap, chittering loudly. In her rush to move aside, Lucia almost stood on it.
The boys clamoured in distress, racing through the door to catch Dart ── the escape artist.
"Oh, shit!"
Dustin and Lucas tripped over one another in their efforts to chase after Dart, colliding with Lucia who gazed upon them like a deer lost in headlights. The trio's bodies crashed together like symbols, and Lucia hit the floor first, followed by the remainder of the boys who elbowed and kicked her in their attempts to soften the fall. They created a pileup in the middle of the hallway, while Mike shouted out for the escaped slug-pollywog-thing.
Lucia gasped for breath. "Jesus. Get off me!"
Lucas's shoulder was pressed to her lungs, leaving her struggling to regain oxygen, while Dustin was crushing her legs. Embarrassed, they both scrambled up from the ground, clearing their throats.
Max offered Lucia her hand, "Here."
The Delgado grasped the redhead's palm, pulling herself up from the linoleum floor. Fortunately, she was uninjured. The same thing couldn't be said about Lucas's now-bruised composure.
Mike snapped his head toward Max, "You let him escape!"
"What?"
Lucia glared over at the Wheeler boy, "That's such bullshit."
"Why did you attack him?" Dustin interjected angrily, stepping into Mike's personal space bubble.
Mike merely rolled his eyes in response before gesturing for the party to follow him down the hallways, taking on his role as leader. Lucia brushed away the particles of dust clinging to her clothes ── a plain red shirt, denim jeans and her identifying camouflage-patterned jacket ── before jogging along after the panicked squad.
They couldn't risk Dart being found by some random student. Or a teacher.
For starters, they didn't even know what Dart was.
However, they were lucky with timing. The school day had ended, with teachers packing their things together and students departing with parents or guardians. That gave them free reign of the entire building complex ── searching places that would have been out of bounds if the teachers had been ploughing through the hallways on high alert. Instead, they were headed home.
But the group wasn't.
Their search for Dart commenced now.
They all parted ways with each other, securing certain parts of the structure to pick through. Lucia settled on the East wing, around the auditorium and music rooms. Before she left, Dustin handed her a walkie-talkie, running through the instructions on how to use it so quickly that his words left his lips in one singular breath.
Despite a growing headache, Lucia searched and searched the vast area, working her way through the auditorium's backstage region and empty row of dressing rooms, but found nothing of importance. Not even a slime trail.
She pressed the blue button on the walkie, moving the speaker to her mouth, "East area is clear."
"Over?" Dustin's voice chimed through.
"What?"
Static crackled through the device, followed up by an impatient and authoritative voice, "You're supposed to finish your sentences with over. Over."
Lucia rolled her eyes, "Roger that, Captain. Over."
She carried on with her search, moving into the music rooms. Acoustic and electric guitars were wedged into dainty holds pinned upon the walls, keyboards shoved into every corner, some placed on desks. There was a microphone situated in the centre of the room, and a stack of paper dumped on the floor beneath it. Nonchalantly, Lucia disturbed a neat pile of stacked drums, clicking her tongue in hopes of drawing Dart's attention ── if he was there, of course.
Apparently not.
The creature was no where in sight.
She had ran into another dead end, much to her dismay.
"Further east is clear, too." Lucia stated through the walkie speaker. She suddenly remembered Dustin's earlier lecture, and prodded the blue button again, rushing to spit her words out. "Over. Sorry, Dustin."
Static. Radio silence, or whatever.
She sighed.
But then another voice broke through the device. Much to her surprise, it was Lucas, "Lucia, you need to come back. Now. It's Will ── over and out."
Lucia's heart lurched fearfully in her chest, and she speedily raced down the wide corridor leading toward the main building.
A bunch of scenarios raced through her mind during the short journey, branching off in opposing directions, each concluding differently. The obvious was Will's frequent panic attacks, like the one he suffered on Halloween night. Maybe this one was so serious he had been raced to hospital.
Lucia looked into every classroom she passed, unable to locate the group.
They weren't in their designated meet-up point by the AV room. And she couldn't hear them nearby. She was getting more and more anxious the more she looked around, worried she had been left behind or that Will was in serious trouble.
Lucia grabbed the walkie, "Where the hell are you guys?"
There was no response.
She crashed into the main entrance door, beads of sweat cropping up along her hairline. Perhaps they went outside?
Aha!
She had been right. There they stood, in the middle of the playing field, surrounding . . . someone. For some odd reason, there was another person added to their party, much taller and more mature in both stature and appearance. An adult.
Lucia stumbled toward the gathering.
A bundle of nerves knotted together in the pit of her stomach once she reached the group, avid gaze catching on to who that someone was causing so much visible distress. Will Byers. Lucia recognised the woman shaking him to be his warm-spirited mother, Joyce Byers.
Joyce was bellowing her son's name repeatedly, voice thick with emotions Lucia couldn't understand.
"What's happening?" Lucia asked Mike shakily.
She received a cold response from the latter ── his sharp eyes darting away quickly, as if her mere gaze had scolded him.
But Lucia was desperate for an answer. Nothing about Will's appearance was normal. And it certainly wasn't a panic attack. Only the whites of his eyes were showing, pupils and irises rolled toward the back of his head. He was shaking uncontrollably, and Joyce's hands on his trembling shoulders did little to hinder the rapid movement.
The wind coiled around the collective, tightening as if it was a snake preparing its prey to be eaten. Lucia shivered, drawing her jacket around herself tighter. She was unable to draw her gaze away from Will.
Joyce was reduced to tears. "Will!"
All of a sudden, the air stilled. The howling wind calmed.
And Will's eyes snapped open.
His blinked rapidly, seemingly in a daze. He looked petrified, every ounce of colour draining from his cheeks ── rendering him pale and immobile. Something dark was shadowed in his eyes, like a silhouette. Joyce gripped her son's shoulders, a heavy sigh of relief rippling through her body. Wordlessly, the mother grabbed Will's bag from the ground and looped an arm around his shoulders, steering him off the field. She sent the group a small smile before her departure, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
Not even close.
The remaining members of the party slowly walked back toward the main entrance of the school. Lucia was trying to digest everything that had just happened. Why it happened. She couldn't even begin constructing an answer in her mind. It was otherworldly.
The only thing she could draw up from that experience was . . . Will had been possessed.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
steph chapter next! with some
aspects from lucia's pov.