ACE OF HEARTS
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE MONSTER
AS THE GROUP OF FRIENDS sat on the gymnasium bleachers, they waited for Nancy and Jonathan to come for them. After a while, Mike grew tirelessly impatient, standing up and storming out of the gym. Cassie held Eleven close as she shivered in her towel.
Barbara was gone. Cassie knew that she had in no way deserved to die the way she did. Will Byers was alive, but for how long, they had no clue.
Slamming through the doors, Mike burst into the gymnasium entrance, "They're gone."
"What?" asked Lucas.
"Nancy and Jonathan," explained Mike, throwing his arms up in defeat. "His car's gone."
"They're probably just sucking face somewhere," said Dustin.
"Ew, gross!" said Mike, crinkling his nose in disgust.
"Guys," Cassie called, standing up from her seated position to stand by Mike. "We can't just sit around and wait."
"Um, yes, we can," replied Lucas, standing up as well. "Incase you forgot, Cassie, were still fugitives."
"Lucas is right," Dustin agreed.
Sighing, Cassie plopped back down in her seat next to Eleven, "Hey, are you doing any better?"
"Better," Eleven replied.
Then, as if Dustin has mustered up a brilliant idea, he head towards the gymnasium exit. Turning to the boy, Mike shouted, "Hey! Where are you going? You said stick to the plan!"
Continuing to walk, Dustin replied, "I am! I'm just going to get some chocolate pudding. I'm telling you, Lunch Lady Phyllis hoards that shit."
"Are you serious?!" Mike called after Dustin, who Lucas now seemed to be following.
"El needs to be recharged!" shouted Dustin.
Sighing in defeat, Mike looked back at the two girls, "Come on, let's go."
Cassie Harrington never really liked the cafeteria. It was always crowded with people—to whom she didn't like. But, now, seeing as it is almost completely empty, it wasn't half bad.
"Mike! I found the chocolate pudding!" shouted Dustin from the attached room to the cafeteria.
"Okay!" Mike shouted in reply, turning back to face Cassie, who was laying on the table—facing the ceiling.
"Cassie, why can't you ever sit down like a normal person?" asked Mike, watching as the girl continuously threw a tennis ball up and down.
Throwing the tennis ball across the room, Cassie sighed and pushed herself upwards to sit at an angle—her arms holding her up.
"I'm anything but normal," asked Cassie, laughing and sitting up completely—running a hand through her light brown hair. "You should know me by now, Michael."
Mike chuckled, gazing up at the girl admiringly, "You know, in the beginning of the year I had no idea that Cassie Harrington would ever even look at me, let alone join my party."
"Yeah, well," Cassie spoke. "In the beginning of the year I didn't know that a demogorgan would come into our world from another dimension, but I guess life is filled with surprises."
Mike smiled, "Sure is."
Glancing over at Eleven—who was sitting next to the window admiring the stars—Cassie sighed, "Jesus, I'm so thankful that Eleven was there to catch you off that cliff. I swear, when I dropped you...I really thought I lost you."
"Really?" asked Mike, looking at the girl intently.
"Yeah," Cassie breathed.
"Hey," said Mike, enclosing his hand in hers. "I'm right here. You didn't lose me."
Cassie sighed, "Thank god I didn't. You're kind of important to me...you know that?"
"I am?" asked Mike, hope flashing through his eyes.
Suddenly Mike began to lean in, causing Cassie to tense up. "Hey, don't you dare kiss me, Michael," Cassie giggled, sternly pointing her finger at the boy.
Mike hesitated—mindlessly smiling as he leaned forward and pecked Cassie's right cheek, "Ha! Did it anyway!"
Shaking her head, Cassie laughed, "Goddamn you, Wheeler."
Suddenly, the sound of a car pulling up caused the two to glance over at Eleven. The girl jumped, running towards the two as she muttered, "Bad men."
Alert flashing through her eyes, Cassie hopped off the table—running over to Dustin and Lucas, who had dozens of chocolate pudding cups in their arms. Releasing them onto the table, Dustin beamed, "This will charge your battery right up, I'm telling you."
"Guys, stop!" shouted Cassie, taking the pudding out of Dustin's hand. "We have to leave right now!"
"What's wrong?" asked Lucas.
"They found us!" shouted Mike.
Racing down the halls, the group moved together as they tried to look for an escape. Shuffling down the stairs, Lucas whispered, "How did they find us?"
"I don't know," said Lucas. "But they knew we were in the gym."
Suddenly, dozens of flashlights targeted on the friends as a group of men burst through the doors. Frantically escaping the other way, a group of men caught them there as well.
Jogging to a stop, the friends realized that they were surrounded. Cassie muttered a few curses under her breath as she stressfully moved her hand through her hair—trying to figure a way out of this mess.
Appearing to her left was a blonde woman holding a gun to Eleven. As the woman stepped closer to the group, her eyes and nose seemed to bleed out as she began to shake uncontrollably.
After a moment, her and the men surrounding the group seemed to drop to the floor—dead. Blood pooled around the figures as they lay motionless before them.
Along with them, Eleven dropped to the floor—motionless. Dropping to her knees, Cassie shook Eleven desperately, "Eleven, come on. Come on, El, wake up!"
Something was wrong. She wouldn't wake up.
Appearing through the doorway was the tall man that they had seen earlier. Cassie clenched her jaw, holding onto Eleven tightly as they took a step towards her.
"Step away from the girl," the man spoke softly.
"No!" Cassie spat, standing up to face him—her friends standing just beside her. "Get away from her, asshole!"
"Yeah!" shouted Mike, touching his shoulder to Cassie's. "You want her, you're going to have to kill us first!"
"That's right!"
"Eat shit!"
Feeling moment behind her, Cassie felt a pair of arms wrap around her tightly—pulling her away from Eleven.
"Get the fuck off me!" yelled Cassie, trying her best to squirm out of his grip.
When that hadn't worked, Cassie stepped on the mans foot and elbowed him in the gut, causing him to stumble backwards. Just as she broke free, another man grabbed her before she got to Eleven. This man was stronger, and wouldn't budge no matter what Cassie did.
The man knelt down the Eleven, holding her head in his hands. She was weak—defenseless. The man spoke, "Eleven? Eleven, can you hear me?"
Eleven spoke softly, "Papa?"
Cassie aggressively pushed back from the mans grip, gritting her teeth as she angrily looked at the man, "Let her go! Please, let her go!"
"Cassie," Eleven spoke, weakly reaching out for her best friend. "Cassie."
Lights flickering, everyone seemed to freeze. Searching the ground, Cassie noticed the pools of blood surrounding them. Blood—when Barbara cut her hand. The demogorgan likes blood.
"The demogorgan," Mike whispered to his friends beside him. "It's coming."
"No," said Cassie, breathing heavily as she watched the lights flicker on and off. Turning to her friends, she cried, "It's already here."
The group stared the brick wall before them, which seemed to break open as a creature pushed through. Taking this time to escape, Cassie whipped her head back and hit the mans nose, causing him to lose grip.
Since the men were more focused on the monster, the five friends escaped quick enough that they wouldn't notice. Rapid gunfire seemed to break out as the creature made it through the barrier.
Glancing over her shoulder, Cassie's heart rate increased as she looked at the all-too familiar creature that had killed Barbara.
"Cassie, come on! We have to get out of here!" shouted Mike, grabbing Cassie's hand and pulling her into a sprint.
Bursting into an empty classroom, Dustin carried Eleven to an open table to lay on. Letting go of Mike's hand, Cassie ran to the girl, cupping her head in her hand.
"Shhhh," said Cassie, her voice shaking in fear as she tried her best to comfort the girl. "Everything will be alright, El. The bad men are gone—you're safe. Please, just hold on a little longer."
Cassie frantically looked around at the boys, who were trying to block the door with a bookshelf. Turning back to the girl, Cassie kissed her forehead, "When this is all over, you can come over any time you want. We can do each others makeup and watch a ton of movies...and you can eat as many egos as you want. We can be like...sisters."
"Promise?" asked Eleven.
"Promise."
As the monster's screeching grew closer to the room, the group of friends moved to the back—hiding behind the tables. Suddenly, the door burst open—the monster completely knocking it off.
Frantically grabbing for her knife, Cassie grasped it in her hand—running towards the creature and slashing it open. It screeched in pain as it tossed her across the classroom—sending her to hit the back wall. The impact caused Cassie to drop to the floor in pain.
"I'm gonna kill you!" shouted Mike as he charged at the monster—fuming as he saw Cassie in pain.
But, just as he ran towards it, a force pushed both him and the demogorgan apart. Rubbing her head, Cassie watched as Eleven slowly walked towards the monster—her eyes, ears, and nose red with blood.
"El..." Cassie trailed off, looking between her and the monster. "El, what are you doing?!"
Ignoring the cries, Eleven made her way up to the front of the classroom—standing in front of the screeching monster pinned to the chalkboard. Turning back, Eleven gazed one last time at her friends, "Goodbye."
Looking up at the creature, Eleven muttered, "No more." Then, a loud scream caused the group to shoot their hands up to their ears—pain shooting through their bodies.
As the two disappeared into ashes, the group lifted their heads—only to see no Eleven. Scurrying up to her feet, Cassie desperately searched underneath the tables.
"Eleven?!" Cassie cried, her eyes spilling with tears.
"El! Where are you?!"
"Eleven!"
"No, no, no, no, no," Cassie spoke to herself as she wept—kicking the chair beside her. "Damn it!"
All four friends desperately called for the girl, only to receive no response. Running both hands through her hair, Cassie breathed deeply.
───────────────
As Cassie laid her head on Mike's shoulder, the two sat in an ambulance just outside the school—wrapped in blankets for warmth. The cries of his mother caused Mike to sit up, watching as his mother ran to him.
"Michael? Oh my god," Mrs.Wheeler cried, engulfing Mike in a hug. "You're okay."
Sighing, Cassie put her head down. She knew her parents would never come for her. Wrapping herself tighter inside the blanket, Cassie's eyes blurred with soft tears.
It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice that she lifted her head. Standing there, a short distance across from her, was her brother—Steve. Watching him slam his car door shut, he jogged up to his little sister and pulled her into a hug.
"Steve, what are you doing here?" asked Cassie, shifting her glossy eyes up to meet her brother's.
"I came to see if my little sister was okay," said Steve, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tighter. "Goddamnit, Cassie. I was so worried about you."
"Y-You were?" Cassie asked, breaking the hug.
"Of course!" said Steve. "I know I've been a shitty brother, and I owe you an apology. I'm so sorry, Cass—for everything."
Gazing up at her brother, Cassie saw her brother in a different way. His eyes were soft and gentle as he looked down at his sister. He truly loved her. Softly smiling, Cassie spoke, "It's okay."