ACE OF HEARTS
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE
INTERROGATION
THE LARGE GROUP WAS immediately split apart — everyone being assigned a job to help get ready for the questioning. Will Byers was now completely taken over by the Shadow Monster — not one ounce of him had a chance of surviving, or so they thought.
As the dawn set into night, the group began stage one of their plan. Cassie Harrington was sent with Chief Hopper to help get rid of the junk in the shed, and trust her, there was a ton.
"Is this...a television?" Cassie spoke, lifting an eyebrow as she poked the piece of equipment.
"Stop poking at the damn thing," Hopper muttered, grunting as he lifted a table and threw it out the shed. "It doesn't bite."
Shrugging, Cassie lifted the heavy piece of metal junk and tossed it out of he shed. Raising his eyebrows, Hopper hummed in amusement, "Not bad, kid."
"For a girl?" Cassie spat, throwing out a box full of books and magazines.
"For anyone," Hopper corrected, causing a small smile to play on Cassie's lips.
"Thanks," Cassie replied, fixing her gaze over to him.
"Don't mention it, kid," Hopper finished, chuckling another cardboard box over his shoulder. "Now keep it moving, we gotta get this done quickly."
"Aye aye, captain," Cassie spoke, saluting the man jokingly as she grabbed another book and threw it away.
After the two cleared out the area, Cassie dusted her hands off on her jeans — nodding in satisfaction. The place looked unfamiliar to the eye — even before they began to cover the walls with tarps.
High-fiving Hopper, Cassie jogged back into the house to find the others and let them know it was ready. As the group followed her out, the real work began.
"Every inch of this place needs to be covered," Cassie ordered, placing a hand on her hip as she studied the room. "Will cannot see a single thing familiar, understand?"
"Understand, sir," Mike joked with a deep voice, causing Cassie to let out a soft laugh and push him towards the uncovered wall.
"Come on, Mike," Cassie pleaded, taking a piece of the tarp from him. "We have to get this done."
"Alright, I got this side and you got that side," Mike spoke, lifting an eyebrow. "Deal?"
Trying her best not to smile, Cassie replied, "Deal."
Finally, after thirty straight minutes of hard work and minor jokes to lift the intense vibes, Cassie and Mike finished covering the shack.
Turning to the girl, Mike spoke, "Alright, Cass. I want you to stay inside with the others while we do the interrogation."
"What?" Cassie asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why?"
"It's going to be...intense," Mike explained, causing Cassie to cross her arms over her chest.
"You think I cant handle intense?" The girl asked.
"No," Mike spoke, shaking his head. "I know you can handle intense — it's just that I want you to stay inside. I want you to be safe."
Sticking out her lower lip in a pout, Cassie whined, "Why do you always say sweet shit like this to me, Michael? Now I have to listen to you."
Chuckling softly, Mike answered, "I do it only because I love you."
Slightly taken aback by this comment, Cassie's eyes widened. Noticing this, Mike awkwardly scratched the back of his head, repeating, "I...I mean...uh..."
Giggling softly, Cassie stood on her tip-toes and planted a kiss softly on his left cheek, "Be careful, okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Mike stuttered, his cheeks reddening as he watched Cassie strut off into the house.
Even though this wasn't the first time the two had "kissed", Mike Wheeler was still in shock that his long time crush — the coolest girl in Hawkins — had actually liked him.
Putting on a brave face, the raven-haired boy stepped into the shed along with Chief Hopper, Joyce Byers, and Jonathan Byers.
"Alright," Mike spoke, shutting the door and turning to the group. "Lets do this."
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Silence filled the Byers' house as the large group of teenagers waited for the interrogation to be done. Nobody knew what to do with themselves — they paced back and forth through the area.
That was, except for Steve and Cassie Harrington who stood in the living room. Gripping the large, nailed bat, Steve fixated his eyes on his little sister.
"Alright, Cass," Steve began, swinging the bat around once. "I'm going to teach you the ways of the Jedi — except my lightsaber is a baseball bat."
Letting out a soft giggle, Cassie grabbed the bat from her older brother and twirled it around a few times — giving it a swing. Nearly hitting off the lamp on the table, Cassie let out a small gasp.
"Easy, easy," Steve spoke, wrapping his arms around his little sister to do the motion with her. "You don't have to use that much force."
"Okay," Cassie replied, letting Steve go through the motions with her. "How about now?"
Giving the bat a swing, Cassie felt the piece of wood whip through the air — sounding a small whoosh. Smirking, Steve commented, "Not bad, little sis."
"As much as I appreciate your bat tricks, Steven," Cassie began, handing the bat back to her older brother. "I prefer this little guy right here."
Pulling out her eight-inch switchblade from her back pocket, Cassie flipped it around a few times to show off. Lifting an eyebrow, Steve questioned, "How the hell did you learn how to do that?"
"I taught myself," Cassie answered, continuing to flip the blade through her hands carelessly. "See that scar next to my thumb and forefinger? That was an accident."
Eyes-widening, Steve gushed, "Jesus, Cass! How come I never knew about this? You could've been seriously hurt!"
"Yeah, well," Cassie started, closing the blade and placing it back in her pocket. "You weren't the more responsible older brother, were you?"
Biting his lip, Steve nodded in defeat, "That's true. I'm sorry."
"Nah," Cassie shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. Since you were such a douchebag, I learned to be tough and take care of myself. Now, I think it's one of my best qualities."
"I'm glad you're the way you are," Steve replied, a toothy grin plastered on his face. "Now we can be the most badass sibling duo Hawkins has ever seen."
"You know it," Cassie agreed, playfully hitting his shoulder.
Suddenly, every single light that illuminated the house started to flicker rapidly — drawing the attention of the group inside. Swinging the bat over his shoulder, Steve followed his little sister to the back window — where the shed could be seen.
After a few minutes of worry, Hopper burst out the shed door, stomping towards the house. Following behind him were Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike — all carrying the same expressions he did.
As the door flew open, Dustin immediately asked, "What happened?"
Sighing, Hopper replied, "I think he's talking, just not with words." Pulling out a piece of paper, Hopper took out a pen and wrote: • • • • • — •
"Alright, is that?" Steve asked, a permanent confused look glued to his face.
"Morse code," the group surrounding him chorused in unison. After pausing in thought, Steve Harrington nodded and fixed his gaze back on the piece of paper.
"H — E — R — E," Hopper spelled out loud.
"Here," The group read.
"Will's still in there," Hopper breathed, setting down the pen. "He's talking to us."
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im spreading this episode into a few chapters lol but yay update!