~November 3, 1984~
The next morning came, and Claudia was already looking around the front yard for Mews. She jiggles the cat toy. "Mews? Mews?" She jiggles it some more.
"Did you find Mews yet?"
Claudia turns around. She sees Jessica who had come from the backyard. Claudia sighs. "No. Jess, baby, you're sure she's not in your room?" Jessica shakes her head. "She wasn't in my room last night when Dustin and I had our sleepover." Claudia sighs. "I don't know where she could be." Hugging the cat toy to her chest, she tells her daughter "I hope she's okay." "I'm sure she's fine, mom. You know, there's still one place I haven't checked, the shed. I'll go do that now." Claudia nods. "Okay, sweetie. Let me know if you find her." "I will, mom. Why don't you go inside and see if Dustin has made any progress on calling the neighbors?" "That's a great idea." Claudia turns and makes her way to the house.
Jessica lets out a breath before running to the backyard once again. As Jessica quietly sneaks into the kitchen through the backdoor, Claudia enters through the front door. She closes the door and looks over at her son who was on the phone. "Dusty, baby, you're sure she's not in your room?" Dustin holds up a finger at her. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver. All right, this was great. Thank you. All right. Have a good one. bye-bye, now. All right. You, too."
Dustin hangs up and looks over at his mom. "All right, great news." "They found her?" Claudia asks him. Dustin shakes his head. "No. But they saw her wandering around Loch Nora." Claudia begins to cry. "How did the poor baby get all the way out there?" "I don't know. Lost, I guess. But they're gonna look for her. And I'll stay here, just in case they call again. And you're gonna go help look? Yeah? Yeah?" Claudia nods. "Give me a hug," Dustin tells his mom who hugs her son. Dustin rubs her back. "Give me a hug. Go get her." Claudia pulls back, a hopeful smile on her face. "You're gonna find her."
"Okay."
Dustin flashes two thumbs up at his mom. "We can find her." "We can find her," she repeats as she heads over to the front door. "I love you." Dustin blows his mom a kiss. "I love you," Claudia tells him as she opens the door. "I love you," Dustin says cheesing hard. "I love you." "All right, go."
Once the front door shut, Jessica stuck her head out from the hallway. "Is she finally gone?" Dustin nods. "I'm going to look for protective gear, you go and open the storm cellar doors." Jessica nods and runs out the back door. She runs over to the storm cellar and skids to a stop. Putting a hand on the handles, she lifts the doors open with all her might. Once both doors were open, Jessica runs back into the house.
"They're open!" Jessica yells as she steps foot into the kitchen. "I've got the gear!" Dustin yells as he comes into the kitchen and drops all the protective gear onto the floor. "Great," Jessica turns to the fridge and opens it. "Now all we need is bait." She rummages around in the fridge until she finds the salami. She takes the salami out. "Operation Trap Dart is a go." She tears the packaging open and heads to Dustin's bedroom that was closed. As she walks backwards, she leaves behind a trail of salami for Dart, all the way to the storm cellar.
When she was done, she runs back inside. "Alright, that's done-" Jessica turns and her eyes widens at the sight of her brother who was dressed from head to toe in protective gear. He had a hockey mask on, followed by padding all over his body. On his hands, he was sporting oven mitts. "Well, don't you look cute." "Well, you're about to look even cuter."
Jessica smiles falters. She sighs. "You're lucky you have me as your sister." Jessica says as she heads over to the pile and begins to put on her protective gear. "I love you." Dustin tells Jessica as she places her old softball umpire mask on. "I love you," she tells him as she puts on her old softball gears before heading to her room, Dustin following her. He stands out in the hallway as Jessica disappears into her room for a second, only to come out with a baseball bat covered in nails.
Dustin grins. "You made another one?!" Jessica nods. "After you fell asleep in my room last night, I went out to the shed and made one since Steve still has my old one." She twirls the bat around in her hand. "All right...now time to get Dart." Jessica closes her door that way Dart didn't have a chance to escape into another room. The Henderson siblings both face Dustin's door.
Dustin takes a deep breath. "All right, Dart. Breakfast time." Dustin looks over at his sister who gives him a nod. Dustin looks back at the door and slides it open. "Run!" Jessica yells as she and Dustin make a break for it.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God." The siblings turn a corner and follows the trail of bologna out the front door. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit," Dustin curses as the two step out into the daylight. "Come on, Dustin! To the shed!" Jessica tells Dustin as she leads the way. Dustin follows, still letting out a string of curses. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Jessica rushes into the shed and places her hands onto her knees. Dustin hobbles in and shuts the door behind him.
Jessica stands up and joins her brother by the door, the two taking a peek outside through the cracks of the wood paneling. "Where the hell is he?" Jessica mutters as Dustin shakes his head. "Come on. Come on, we know you're hungry." Jessica lets out a gasp and taps her brother's arm repeatedly. "Ow, ow, ow," Dustin exclaims. "There's Dart!" Dustin looks over at the door and sees Dart crawling out. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes." Dustin chants as Dart crawls down the steps and continues to scarf down the salami.
Dart pauses in front of the storm cellar and sees a piece of salami lying there. It scarfs it down and takes a step forward into the cellar when he hears a voice. "Yes, yes, yes, yes." Dustin whispers.
Suddenly, Dart turns toward the shed and lets out a horrifying growl. "Shit!" Dustin exclaims as Jessica pushes him behind her. Dustin stumbles back while Jessica stands in a protective stance and wields her baseball bat up high. She could faintly hear the soft growls coming from outside. Taking a deep breath, she kicks the door open with her feet and lets out a scream. Dart screeches back at her. Jessica runs forward and swings her bat at Dart who jumps back in fear. She takes another swing, successfully hitting its side. Dart flies into the storm cellar.
Jessica rushes forward with Dustin by her side. The siblings peer down to see Dart rushing back up the steps. "Close it, close it, close it," Jessica orders as she and Dustin both grab a door, slamming it shut just in time. The siblings fall onto the doors, their weight holding it down as Dart bangs his head against it, attempting to get out.
"We're sorry!" Dustin cried. "You ate our cat." Dart lets out a whiny screech. Jessica scoffs. "It's too late to say sorry now, Dart." Jessica and Dustin feel the door shift underneath them as Dart bangs his head against it. Jessica looks over at Dustin. "Go radio your friends. I got this." Dustin nods and pushes himself off the cellar doors. He hobbles back toward the house. Jessica sighs and pushes herself up. She grabs a chain lock and slides it in-between the handles, preventing Dart from getting out.
Once that was done, she rips her umpire mask off, strands of her hair sticking to her face. She brushes her hair back before pulling off her softball gear. She heads toward the shed and picks up a shovel. She walks a good distance away and begins digging a hole.
A few minutes later, she had finally dug a small hole. Dropping the shovel, Jessica leans over and picks Mews' body up. She carefully lies it down into the hole and picks up the shovel, tossing dirt back in. A few minutes later, she was done. She tosses the shovel off to the side and makes her way back into the house.
"Dusty?"
"In my room!"
Jessica makes her way toward Dustin's bedroom. She could hear him trying to reach the party over the comm. "Guys, this is Dustin again. Does anyone copy? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red!" Dustin kneels and scrubs furiously at the blood stains on his carpet. Jessica steps into the bedroom. "I really need someone to pick up here. Hopper's MIA, and I've got a code red. Code red!"
Jessica kneels and pulls the headset off Dustin. "All right, listen here kids. It's Jessica. We need you to answer. Seriously, we have a code red."
"Jess?"
Jessica looks over at Dustin in confusion. "Was that Erica?" Dustin nods. "Hey, Erica, it's Jess." "Hi Jess!" Erica's cheery voice sounds through the comm. "How are you?" "I'm hanging in there. How about you?" "Oh, I'm just dandy. At least I was until I heard Dustin's annoying voice over the comm. Now could you tell him to please shut up?!"
"Did she just tell me to shut up?" Jessica nods as Dustin pulls the headset off her. "Erica, is Lucas there? Where is he?" "Don't know. Don't care." "I-is he with Mike?" Dustin stutters out. "Like I said, I don't know, and I don't care." Dustin sighs. "Please tell him it's super important. Please tell him that I have a code-"
"Code red?" Erica asks.
Dustin nods. "Yep, code red. Exactly." "Mmm-hmm. I got a code for you instead. It's called code shut-your-mouth." Static fills Dustin's ears. "Erica?" "Did she just turn the comm off?" Jessica asks her brother. "Yep."
Jessica sighs and pushes herself up from the floor. "Okay, here's the plan." Dustin drops the scrub brush and stands up as well. "Try to get a hold of Mike. If you can't reach him on the comm then call the house phone." Dustin nods. "And what are you going to do?" "Get the blood out of your carpet before mom gets home." Dustin nods. Jessica stares at him. "Go, go, go!" Dustin scrambles out of his bedroom.
Jessica kneels again and picks up the brush, attempting to get the blood out.
~2 hours later~
Jessica wipes the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm before plopping the scrub brush into a bucket of water. As she stands up, she picks the bucket up and walks out of Dustin's bedroom. She makes her way into the kitchen where Dustin was standing by the landline. He lets out a frustrated groan and slams the landline back onto the wall.
"Still no answer?" Jessica asks as she plops the bucket down onto the countertop. Dustin shakes his head. "No." Jessica tilts the bucket, letting the murky water spill into the sink. "That's it!" Jessica looks over at Dustin. "I'm going to the Wheeler's house. Meet me there when you're done!"
"Be careful!" Jessica yells as Dustin storms out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Jessica sighs and places the now empty bucket back onto the counter. She walks over to the landline and picks it up, dialing a number she knew by heart.
She places the phone to her ear and twists the cord with her finger. The phone rings three times before going to voicemail.
"Hi. You've reached the Harrington household. We're sorry to have missed your call. Please leave your name, number and message at the tone."
BEEP!
"Hi Steve, it's Jess. Listen, I'm sorry to do this last minute but I need to cancel our date today. Mews, our family cat died and my mom's devastated. I must be here for her. We can have our date tomorrow if that's okay with you. Please call me back. I love you."
++++++
A burgundy BMW 733i drives down the street. Steve taps his fingers against the steering wheel as Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader plays. Steve smiles to himself as he could picture himself and Jessica dancing by Lover's Lake to this song.
As Steve turns down a street, he slams his foot down on the brakes as Dustin who was on his bicycle comes out of nowhere. Dustin stops, placing his feet onto the ground as he stared at Steve.
Steve shuts the radio off before climbing out of the car. He rushes over to Dustin. "Dustin? Are you okay?" Dustin narrows his eyes at Steve. "Are you okay?" he asks, noticing his frazzled state. "Am I-?" Steve places his hands onto his hips. "You're asking me if I'm, okay?" Dustin nods. "Are you-" "No!" Steve exclaims. "I almost ran over my girlfriend's little brother."
"But you didn't," Dustin states.
Steve sighs. "What are you doing all the way out here?" "I was here to see Mike but he's not home. We have a code red." Steve raises an eyebrow. "We?" Dustin nods. "Jess and I-" "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is Jess, okay?"
"She's fine but she is waiting for me." Dustin rolls his bike over to Steve's car. He opens the backdoor and shoves his bike into the backseat. "What-what are you doing?" "You're giving me a ride." Dustin tells him as he closes the door and opens the front door.
Dustin pauses as he sees a bouquet of roses sitting on the passenger's seat. He picks them up. "Are these for Jess?" Steve nods. Dustin scans the bouquet from all angels. Steve crosses his arms and watches Dustin. "Well?" Dustin looks up. "She'll love them." Steve smiles. "That is if Dart doesn't get to it first."
Steve's smile falters. "Dart? Who the hell is Dart?"
"I'll explain it on the way." Dustin points the bouquet at Steve. "Do you still have Jessica's bat?" Steve unfolds his arms, putting his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "The one with the nails?" Dustin nods. "Why?" Steve asks him. "I'll explain it on the way." Dustin says as he climbs into the car. "Why do you keep saying that?"
Dustin sticks his head out. "Let's go!"
"Now?"
"Now!" Dustin screams as he closes the door. Steve scrambles over to his car. He opens the car door and climbs in. He shuts it and turns the key, starting the car. He takes off, his destination being the Henderson House.
"All right, we're on our way to your house. Now talk."
[Published 6/16/2022]