*ੈ✩‧₊˚
✧.* ┊SPARKS FLY ┊✧.*
💥. *. ⋆ — act two. possessed
CHAPTER FIFTEEN — ❝ can i make a 'your mom' joke now ? ❞
"SAM, THIS IS LUDICROUS." The silence in the room was broken by a doctor, an impatient one at that.
Maisie was sat in a cold chair, trying to ignore the room full of doctors. She was only there for Will, since this was his idea, after all. She hated the way her clothes scratched her skin, the way her spine ached on the uncomfortable chair, and the way all those doctors were looking at her brother. Like he was broken, like there was something wrong with him, needing to be fixed. She hated that.
"Just give him a moment, okay?" Sam asked, holding out his hand.
"We don't have time—"
"Shut the fuck up." Maisie snapped from her spot behind Will. The man looked at her with a shaken expression, cleary caught off guard. She was so sick and tired of all of those stupid doctors underestimating Will and acting like complete dickheads all the time.
"Who are you to talk to me like th—"
"Hey, jackass, why don't you do us all a favor and shut up, okay?" Hopper said from the back of the room, earning a small smile from the brunette girl. She was grateful for the man, knowing that the doctor she'd snapped at would've most likely yelled at her. She didn't like to be yelled at.
Maisie took a step back as Will stood up from his seat and began walking around the table. He stopped at the end of the table, finding the picture he was looking for. He pointed his finger at it. "That's it."
"That's what? What... what's there, Will?" Sam asked him, leaning down closer to him, desperate for information.
"I don't know. I just know he doesn't want me to see there." Will's voice was dull, and lifeless. "I think it's important."
Maisie gulped and hoped to god that Will knew what he was doing. She really did.
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"You guys are doing great!" Aaron yelled from inside of the bus. He was sitting on one of the open seats, machete in one hand, cashews in the other. He had laughed in the kids' faces when they complained about being hungry and Aaron had been the only one who'd brought snacks with him. Obviously he did not share the treats with the rest of the crew, only increasing the amount of complaints.
"Yeah? Screw you, AJ. You could, I don't know, help us!" Steve yelled at the boy as he wheeled a tire closer to the bus.
"You're almost done anyway." Aaron muttered in response, earning middle fingers from the rest of the group. He ate his snacks in peace, which was broken as soon as the sun began setting and the kids along with Steve, walked in.
"Took you long enough."
Steve took a double look at the boy, who was now laying down on the seats. "Are you kidding m—" He turned to the kids. "Is he kidding right now?"
Max grinned, while Dustin and Lucas shook their heads. "I don't think so, no," the redhead shrugged.
"She's right." Aaron said as he popped his last cashew into his mouth. "Ah." He clicked his tongue. "Delicious."
"Yeah, I'm sure they are." Steve deadpanned, ripping the now empty bag from Aaron's fingers and throwing it out the door before shutting it.
As soon as the sun went down and the sky was completely dark, they sent Lucas on the roof of the bus. He had insisted on being the look-out and no one else had wanted to do it, so the older boys happily gave him the job.
Aaron was sitting next to Steve on the floor, the latter flicking his lighter on and off. Dustin was pacing nervously on the narrow hall, while Max sat calmly in her seat. Aaron could feel the girl's stare on the two, and patiently waited for her to ask what she was dying to know.
"So, you really fought one of these things before?" she asked, hesitantly, a frown pulling at her lips.
Steve looked up first, Aaron second. The brunette nodded, while Aaron sent her a quiet thumbs up. The memory was not something either of the boys held near, and both had tried to forget on multiple occasions. Aaron could still remember the nightmares he'd had after that night. He hadn't gotten them in a while, but he was sure that after this adventure, they would surely come back.
"And you're, like, totally 100% sure it wasn't a bear."
Before Aaron could send her a funny remark, his brother started talking, quite rudely.
"Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear," he snapped. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us?" He looked at the girl, who was staring back at him with mild interest. "Just go home."
Aaron watched Max shake her head in disbelief before making her way to Lucas. "Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" she asked, and the corner of Aaron's mouth lifted in amusement.
"Nice." He held up his hand for a high-five, which Max gave him with a smirk before disappearing onto the roof.
Aaron knew the advice Steve gave Dustin was shitty, but he didn't expect his brother to act like that. It was odd, seeing the boy he'd known all his life behave like that. Like it was normal for him, even though it wasn't. For Aaron, Dustin was one of the kindest people he knew. And he didn't like how spending one night with Steve Harrington made him act. He was the bad one, not Dustin. It was never supposed to be Dustin.
"Not the way to go, my man." Aaron shrugged at his brother, who scoffed in response.
Steve, instead, was all in for Dustin's behavior. "That's good. Just show her you don't care," he complimented with a sly smile on his face.
"I don't," Dustin responded after a few seconds.
Both Aaron and Steve turned their heads fully to him. The former's face in deep thought, while the latter's had an oblivious expression. Steve slowly winked at the young boy, making a smile form on Aaron's face.
"Why are you winking? Aaron stop smiling. Guys? Stop."
Aaron rolled his eyes and looked away, while Steve started playing with his lighter once again, both boys incredibly bored. Aaron's mind immediately went to that day, and before he could think his question through, he had already blurted it out.
"You guys think I'm cool, right? Like, you'd say you enjoy spending time with me? You like having me around?"
Steve looked puzzled and lost as he took the question in, while Dustin immediately answered with a simple "No, you're not cool. You're okay to hang out with, though."
"I mean, you could be cooler?" Steve made his statement sound more like a question.
Aaron scoffed at the answers he recieved and looked at the roof of the bus. "Maxine!" he yelled, and huffed dramatically when the red-head's face popped up in the open window.
"What?" she snapped.
"Who's the coolest person you know?" Aaron smiled at her, expecting to hear his name come out of her mouth.
"Maisie," she answered immediately without hesitation.
"Byers?" Aaron asked, and as she nodded, he scoffed at her.
"Have you even met her?" his annoyed voice rang out in the otherwise quiet bus.
"No, but I've heard a lot about her from Billy, and she sounds awesome. He said she dressed up as Bonnie Parker for Halloween." Max smirked, laughing when Aaron's face twisted at the memory of that night. Of them flirting right in front of him like he didn't even exist.. "So it's true! Now I like her even more."
"Okay then, who's the coolest boy you know?" He asked then, needing something to release him from the hurt he felt that day.
Max sighed as she adjustef herself. "Fine. You're the coolest boy I know. Happy?"
Aaron smiled. "Extremely. Thank you, Maxine."
"No problem, J," she saluted him and disappeared from the window gap.
Steve and Dustin looked at the boy, who had a thoughful look on his face while he played with a necklace neither of them knew he owned. The necklace was a simple chain with a silver ring on it, but on the ring was an encraved small blue flower and a date of some kind. It looked like a birthday, but the boys couldn't tell because of the darkness. Aaron's delicate fingers toyed with the ring, his eyebrows furrowed as he gazed at it.
"Where'd you get that ring?" Steve was the first to voice the question both boys had on their mind.
"I'll tell you sometime," Aaron smirked and dropped the ring back under his shirt.
Steve opened his mouth, but was cut off by a loud growling sound coming from outside. All three hurried over to the windows.
"You can't see shit through the mist," Aaron complained from next to Steve, who rolled his eyes at him.
"Yeah, no shit," he said, wincing when Aaron hit him in the back of the head.
"Behave."
Steve rubbed his head and scowled. "Fine, Jesus."
"Either of you see him?" Dustin broke the silence that took over.
"No."
"Nope."
"Lucas, what's going on?" Dustin turned to yell to their look-out.
"Hold on!" the boy yelled back. "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!"
Aaron turned his head to the left to look, and he happened to glance at Steve, who was looking to the right, and with pursed lips he turned the boy's head to the right direction. "Idiot," he mumbled and turned his focus back on to Dart.
"There." Steve murmured, as he pointed his finger at the mist.
"What's he doing?" Dustin wondered, watching Dart stay in one place, not moving closer to the meat.
"I don't know," Steve said back, just as confused. "He's not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?" he asked, annoyed that their plan wasn't working.
"Maybe he doesn't like cow?" Aaron stated with a smirk, making Steve and Dustin turn their heads to him with deadpan expressions.
"Or maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin said, making sure to put pressure on the word 'maybe'.
"Or maybe Aaron has a point. Maybe he's sick of cow." Steve mumbled, slightly making fun of the younger boy.
"Hah, who's the genious now?" Aaron smirked, but his face dropped when he noticed that Steve had backed away from them and was heading towards the door.
"Steve?" He turned to the brunette in concern. He watched with a frown as Steve took his bat from the floor and readied himself.
"Steve, what are you doing?" Dustin questioned. "Steve?" he asked again, not recieving a response to his earlier question.
Steve turned to the two and threw his lighter at Aaron, who caught it with ease. "Just be ready."
Aaron's stomach dropped as he realized what his friend was about to do. He stepped up, taking a step towards him. "Steve, no. There are plenty of other ways to make this plan work."
"There's not enough time. Pray I don't die, you douchebag." Steve cracked a smile before opening the door and stepping outside. Aaron watched timidly as Steve slowly walked out of the bus, holding tightly on to the bat.
He held his breath, waiting for something terrible to happen as Steve twirled the weapon in his hands. Aaron looked away from him and put his attention on Dart, who had yet to notice the bat wielding boy. Aaron flicked Steve's lighter nervously as the brunette whistled and called out to the monster.
Aaron's focus went from Steve to Max, who had quickly climbed back down. "What's he doing?" she asked, confused.
"Expanding the menu," Dustin said in awe.
Aaron looked to Max, gaining her attention. "In other words, he's getting himself killed," he deadpanned, getting a smile out of her.
The three turned to watch Steve again, and with heavy hearts they watched as the teenager baited Dart.
"He's insane," Max commented, her eyes on the brunette.
"I know," Aaron answered.
"He's awesome," Dustin corrected, and with his eyes on Steve, he didn't notice how Aaron turned his attention to him. With a more sorrowful look, he turned his attention back to Steve.
Max took notice of that and gently nudged Aaron without Dustin noticing. As the boy turned to look at her, she shook her head and smiled. Max mouthed the words, "They're both crazy."
Aaron's face softened as he realized what Max was doing, he sent her a grin, and they both silently laughed at her statement.
Their attention was pulled back outside, when Lucas screeched from the roof. "Steve, watch out!"
"A little busy here!" the teen yelled back, his eyes still on Dart.
"Three o'clock! Three o'clock!" Lucas screamed again, and Aaron's heart stopped, or it felt like it did. His face fell as he looked behind Steve to see two other Dart-looking lizard-things. He squeezed Steve's lighter tighter in his hand as he watched the three lizard-things surround his friend.
"I fucking told him not to go out there," he mumbled, earning worried looks from both Max and Dustin, which he ignored.
He ran to the doors, opened them and leaned outside the bus. "Steve! Come back right fucking now!" he yelled, watching as Dustin appeared next to him.
"Steve! Abort! Abort!" Dustin screamed, and they watched as Steve turned to them, possibly even considering turning back, but he turned back as Dart growled at him. He took a better hold of his bat when Dart ran towards him, looking like he was getting ready to hit it, but then he jumped out of the way and rolled on top of a car, landing safely on the other side.
Aaron let out a quiet "Wow", as Steve hit another one of those things with the bat, smacking it to the ground.
He then shook himself out of it and put his hands around his mouth. "Steve, hurry the fuck up!" he yelled and encouraged the other kids to yell at him too, including Lucas, who Aaron hadn't noticed come down.
They all yelled at Steve, trying to get him to come back and maybe not get himself killed, but the stubborn asshole still wasn't turning back. Only when all three of those things started to come at him, did he finally start running towards the bus.
"Come on Steve! Don't die on us!" Aaron yelled as Steve was close to slipping, the things right behind him, trying to catch up. Aaron backed up and dragged the kids with him as Steve jumped inside and closed the door with his leg, falling against Aaron.
"Holy shit!" Dustin cried out.
"Are they rapid or something!" Max asked, her side glued to Aaron's.
"Fuck, man. You're one crazy asshole," Aaron sighed, rubbing Steve's head. The brunette looked up at his friend, but when he saw the genuine concern in his eyes, his gaze softened.
As if remembering the things outside shaking the bus, Steve took one of the metal sides from his left and put it against the door, but kept his legs there as well, trying to keep it shut.
"They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas yelled at Steve, trying to encourage him.
The growling intesified, and the bus shook, sending all of them down screaming. As the growling stopped, they looked up, only for one of them to claw through the wall, almost hitting Steve. They screamed again, getting up to run away from the door. Aaron dragged Max with him, Dustin and Lucas right behind them, while Steve stayed put to beat the lizard-thing with his bat. They all huddled up at the back of the bus, while Dustin aggressively took out his radiophone hat setup.
"Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God?Anyone?" Dustin screamed into the device in frustration.
A set of claws then broke through the wall of the bus, right next to Aaron's head, making him yelp away with wide eyes. The loud banging continued as the kids and Aaron crawled around the bus in panic.
"Shit!" Dustin yelled as he stared at the claws in front of him, while trying to back away from them. "We're at the old junkyard and we are going to die!"
"We're not going to fucking die, Dustin!" Aaron screamed in protest, not noticing the door clattering. When the banging started coming from the roof of the bus, only then did he notice the sounds. Aaron turned to Max, who was standing right under the roof gap. She looked up to see a smaller, more lizard-like demogorgon looking down at her, watching her like she was it's prey.
When it opened it's mouth and growled at Max, she screamed, making Aaron move towards her. "Max!" he yelled and pulled her away from the window just as Steve came in with his bat, threatening the thing with it.
As it opened it's mouth again, wider this time, Aaron pulled Max in tighter in his hold, while watching Steve handle the thing. He sighed in relief when it backed away growling and jumped off the bus, shaking it in the process.
Aaron looked down at Max, who was shaking in his arms. He pet her hair a little before bending his head down a little. "It's okay, you're safe. It's gone now," he whispered, watching as Max slowly and hesitantly pulled away to see for herself. When she was sure that it was safe, she sent Aaron a shy, greatful smile, one that showed her teeth, before slowly walking over to Lucas and Dustin.
They all turned to the windows to watch where the things were going, and Aaron hid a smile when he saw Max holding Lucas's hand. He squinted as he tried to see past the window, but realized that his contacts were getting dry, so it didn't help much.
When they decided that it was time to check if it was safe to leave, they made Steve open the door. He was careful with it, jumping when it made a sound, the rest of the crew standing behind him, waiting for him to go on. Steve took a step outside, tightly gripping the bat when he noticed the small demogorgons running away from the junkyard, leaving him baffled.
"What happened?" Lucas asked slowly as he came out of the bus, the rest slowly following him.
"I don't know," Max mumbled from behind him.
"Me neither," Aaron muttered quickly behind her.
"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin guessed, earning an immediate denial from Steve.
"No way." He turned to face them. "They're going somewhere."
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-
Maisie had dozed off. It seemed like even though she had passed out earlier and had been unconscious for hours, it still wasn't enough for her, and she was tired. She had always been a light sleeper, though, so she easily woke up from her slumber when Will started muttering from beside her.
"I'm sorry," he stammered, his eyes glossy.
Maisie sat up in her chair, wiped the sleep from her eyes and took a good look at her brother. He didn't look like himself. Something was definitely wrong.
"What? What do you mean, sweetie?" Joyce looked up at him, her gentle voice concerned, as always when it came to Will.
Will turned to his mother suddenly and shuddered. His chest going up and down with every breath he took. "He made me do it," Will admitted, and he looked like he was close to tears.
Maisie furrowed her brows and made eye contact with Mike, who had a puzzled look on his face. She motioned her head towards Will in a question-like way, to which Mike responded with a shrug. Maisie's shoulder's dropped and she pursed her lips in thought.
"Who? Who made you do what?" Joyce leaned forward, her voice quivering.
"I told you. They upset him." Will looked up at Joyce. "They shouldn't have done that. They shouldn't have upset him."
Oh no.
Maisie looked up, shock in her eyes. "He's spying," she whispered, noticing how realization flashed in Mike's eyes.
"The spy," he said and looked at Maisie. They both knew what had to be done. "The spy!" Mike yelled and ran out of the room, while Maisie kept an eye out for her brother, who was now crying on the bed.
Maisie watched Will stop crying in a matter of seconds, like he was just pretending, or like someone had turned off a switch in him. She couldn't tell anymore. Will looked at Joyce calmly, but Maisie could see something demanding and terrifying in his eyes, something that definitely wasn't there before.
"You should go now," Will said to his mother, who looked at him like he was a stranger.
Maisie looked away from Will and turned her head towards the door. She could hear Mike screaming at the guards, panicking, trying to warn them of something. But warn them about what? She didn't know how they could explain what they knew, that is if they didn't already know about the demogorgon and the shadow monster. Her mind was a mess. She barely registered Bob running after Mike, his yelling becoming fuzzy, so she couldn't tell what was being said. She jumped out of her trance when the alarms went off, the echo of Mike's screams finally reaching her ears.
"We're too late," she whispered after she heard Mike yell the exact same phrase, her eyes on Will. Her brother laid still on the bed as Mike and Bob ran in. Joyce stood up quickly, her worry was evident.
"What's going on?"
"We're under attack," Mike said, his eyes connecting with Maisie's. She nodded at him. They knew what they had to do.
"We need to knock him out." Maisie nodded toward Will and stood up, while Mike grabbed the sedative.
"What?" Joyce looked at the pair oddly.
"He's a spy, mom," the girl reasoned, taking the needle from Mike's extended hand. He kept his eye on the needle as he nodded at what Maisie said.
"Exactly. If he knows where we are, so does the shadow monster," Mike said and looked at Will, who had risen from his coma pose. He looked panicked, as if he knew that what they were saying was exactly right. He was scared now that they knew the truth. They weren't supposed to know. His plan was now ruined.
"They're lying!" Will quickly accused, raising his voice.
"He killed those soldiers. He'll kill us too!" Mike argued back, his voice urgent.
Will started struggling against Bob and Joyce's hold. "He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!" He screamed repeatedly, his eyes only on Joyce.
The sound of guns being fired made them turn their heads towards the door, and Maisie fiddled with the needle in her hand, debating whether or not to use it without her mother's consent. She discreetly took the cap off and put it on the table behind her, careful not to raise suspicion.
"Those are gunshots!" Bob noted.
"Yeah, no shit Bob!" Maisie cried out, her stress getting the best of her. She immediately felt bad though, seeing as the man turned to her with a hurt expression on his face. "Sorry, Bob," she winced and looked away.
He nodded, a gentle smile on his face despite the situation. "I get it."
Maisie let out a sigh before turning back to Will, who had gone back to shouting and struggling.
"He's lying! He's lying!"
Joyce has had enough. "Okay, Will, Will, listen, listen. Do you know who I am?" she asked him, her voice turning gentle. "Do you know who I am?" And as Will thought about the question, he didn't notice Maisie taking a hold of his arm.
Will quieted down and looked at her. "You're.." He glanced at Maisie for a second, then back at Joyce. "You're.." he hesitated, only for a second, but it was enough for Maisie to make her decision. "You're mom." He didn't have the chance to say anything more before his sister had inserted the needle into his arm. Will turned to her in shock, his eyes flickering over her frame.
"Can I make a 'your mom' joke, now?" she breathed out, jumping back when Will started aggressively moving around. "I guess not."
"No! Let me go! Let me go!" Will ripped the empty needle from his arm and threw it across the room, still trying to free himself from Bob's hold. Maisie looked at him with downcast eyes, her mind refusing to accept that the boy in front of her was her brother. And then he finally quieted down, his eyes starting to flutter. With droopy eyes, he took one last look around the room before passing out.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE !
anywayyyy,,,, here's a lot of Aaron content, like A LOT. possibly the most in one chapter that I've written so far😀
anyways enjoy this chapter 😩😩 REMEMBER TO COMMENT <3 they keep me motivated and I love reading your thoughts🫶