WE CAN END THIS NOW !
☀︎
INSIDE THE BUS, MAX AND DUSTIN HAD LOOKED TO ONE ANOTHER IN HORROR. They were just kids and everything around them had been falling apart. Steve had been outside the bus, prepared to take on Dart by himself and Alex was losing a piece of herself right before them.
Dustin couldn't bring himself to look to Alex and kept his eyes on Max. "What if she dies?"
Max wasn't sure any of her words good comfort him in anyway. She barely knew Alex, and even if she liked her now, she knew if she told him she would be okay, and she didn't survive, he would blame her for the false hope. Instead, Max searched for a means of helping Alex. "She hates when it's hot, right?" When Dustin gave her a nod, she gestured towards him with her head. "Give her your jacket."
Each of them had pulled their weight off Alex, working quick to yank their jackets off of themselves. Before Dustin could get his arm free, Max took it upon herself to pull it off him and throw each of their jackets on top of Alex. As she had struggled under the heat, Max had pinned the jackets down with her hands to make sure Alex had no means of freeing herself for the cold.
Standing back, ideas had raced through Dustin's mind causing Max to call him back for help. Shaking his head, he looked around before spotting something that gave him a clear and dangerous idea. "She hates the heat," he called over to Max as he fell to his hands and knees. Sitting out in the open had been Steve's abandoned lighter and he snatched it up for himself.
Standing up, Dustin flicked it on and instantly Max shook her head. "Oh, no way! You're not setting your sister on fire!"
"I'm not," he yelled back. "Listen, she hates the heat and it's a small flame, sure, but I know my sister. And I know she's fighting that thing in her head right now. We have to help her out. This could help send her over the edge."
"Or you burn the shit out of her," Max tried to reason.
Shaking his head, he was not taking no for an answer. This was his sister and he had already felt he lost a bit of her this year. There was not a chance he was willing to lose any more when he knew he could do something about it.
Dustin forced himself to look at his sister, taking in the horror he knew would be burned into his mind forever. The black veins, the way her eyes squeezed shut and sobbed in pain, throwing her body around for a means of comfort and escape. He swallowed hard. This was his moment to save her and he couldn't back down.
The jugular vein was his biggest opening of burning the thing inside her. He was hesitant for a moment before his hand shot out, the flame dancing around her neck causing her veins to bubble and burn in pain. She had let out a scream as the pain had become all too much to handle. That sick feeling inside her could no longer be held back as she couldn't hold it in. Her mouth had shot open and every bit of darkness that ran through her had shot out in a black, smoky cloud. As the piece of the Shadow Monster had escaped, it had fled out the cracked bus window and into the night time air.
Dustin quickly yanked his hand back as Alex relaxed into the seat. He flicked the lighter shut as both him and Max took a step back, awaiting what was to come. In a quick motion, Alex had sat up, her hand flinging to her neck as she touched where he had burned her.
Unable to find the right words, she had slid off the seat and reached for her bat. Steve had only prepared for Dart to be the only monster coming tonight, but she had known there was much more than that. She'd seen it, and he needed her more than anything.
Alex yanked open the bus doors and hopped out with her bat in hand. Rushing her way towards Steve, she brought the bat up, swinging it hard as a monster had leaped out from the darkness to attack Steve. Soon, the other monsters had seen their opening as they had lunged forward, each getting knocked back by the teens with their bats.
"We gotta get back to the bus," Steve called out to her as he knocked back another. "We can't take them all!"
"We can end this now!" It was all she had wanted was for it all to be over. This nightmare had been ongoing, and tonight she had started to feel it all start to pull away and right in front of her it could end.
"We can't do it alone," he called back. Reaching out, he wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her to the bus. He knew she could've stay out there all night to fight them herself and he couldn't run without knowing she was at his side.
Pushing her in through the bus doors, he soon followed after as Max slammed the doors shut behind them. Soon enough, the monsters were just as eager to get in as one slammed into the door, knocking back the three into one another. Laying back into Alex, Steve kept the doors shut with only his feet before the bus was hit with another blow from another monster.
Screaming, the kids fled to the other side of the bus, leaving Alex and Steve to the monster that was fighting to get through the door. Wiggling herself out from Steve, she handed his bat to him just as the arm of the monster broke through, scratching and clawing at anything that it could reach.
As Steve beat it with his bat, Alex made her way through the bus to grab Dustin as he yelled into his walkie of their possible upcoming death. "We're not going to die!"
"Yes, we are! They have to know!"
Scoffing, she grabbed Lucas and Max and moved them closer to her and Dustin to ensure they had stayed close by. Holding her arms out, she grouped them all behind her as the banging had came from on top of the bus. The monsters footsteps had echoed as it slowly approached the opening on top.
Racing over, Steve had managed to stop one monster and moved before the group. Holding up the bat, he prepared himself to take on another when the monster had screeched back, it's face opening wide. However, it had all been short lived as it's attention was pulled off. Its face closed up as it looked out across the junkyard and its disinterest in the group had followed. Pulling back, it called out into the junkyard to the other monsters and fled the top of the bus.
All the monsters had raced off into the night, called away to another place. The group was confused as they all slowly pulled away from one another. Pushing passed Steve, Alex had made her way through the bus, pushing open the doors before hopping out. Her head began to pound as the world around her began to spin. Placing a hand on the side of the bus to keep herself steady, she had held her head in her other hand.
The rest of the group had followed out, all still on edge as they kept their eyes on the foggy, dark junkyard, prepared for an ambush. When none had came, they hesitantly looked to Alex as she tried to walk off from them.
Her heart raced as a new wave of sickness had washed over her. Finally, she had hunched over as she began to vomit, the last piece of the Shadow Monster leaving with it. She was another failed host and with only one option left, it headed his way.
Disturbed and disgusted, Lucas slapped his hands down to his side. "Oh, shit. That's disgusting, man!"
"Shut it," Max warned him.
Standing up, Alex had dropped her hand down from the bus as she breathed heavily. She kept her back to the group as she looked down to her hands in surprise. It was the most freedom she had felt, and in a strange way, she had felt a bit empty without another voice in her head. It had been all hers. She was clean, and she was herself. Taking a step back, she tore her eyes off her hands as she looked towards the night sky. No flashes of red, the Upside Down, or the monster had appeared. It had only been the stars. Everything was quiet.
Slowly turning around, she felt tears fall down her face as a sad smile appeared. "He's gone."
"Gone," Dustin repeated. "Like for good? You're not screwing with us?"
"Gone for good," she said, but Dustin had already threw himself into her arms. Holding him tightly, she buried him in her embrace. "I love you," she whispered, only for him to hear.
As Dustin had pulled away from her, she looked around the junkyard, rubbing her arms to keep herself warm. For once, she had craved any bit of warmth. "They got called somewhere," she said. "What do we do now?"
"I say we find Dart," Steve placed his hands on the hips, looking at everyone else to see if they had any other ideas. It had seemed the most logical after they failed to finish what they had originally planned.
"I'm down," Alex smiled, looking over Max who nodded her head as well, "Me too. I'll go with."
"You're all insane, you know that? But yeah, I'm in too," Lucas agreed. All eyes fell on Dustin who just rolled his eyes, "Do I really have to say it? Really? Of course I'm in."
"Where do we even start to look?" Lucas asked.
"I guess we could start following the tracks? Make our way back... just listen for Dart or something," Dustin suggested. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, walking out of the old junkyard and to the tracks, more prepared for a fight than they've ever been so far.