ACE OF HEARTS
CHAPTER FOURTY-FIVE:
THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL
BY NIGHTFALL, THE GROUP had made their way back to Hopper's cabin and began to process the events that occurred just hours before. The living room was filled with complete and utter silence. A tension, nobody knew what to say, what to do.
Cassie gazed around at her friends' faces, how the tightness of their jaws and shoulders are reflected in one another. Her own stomach had become tight as her usual look of confidence was afraid to appear her face.
In the near distance, the sound of fireworks echoed through the vast open forest, various colors illuminating the night sky. The sound that once brought joy and happiness, now turning into a recognition that just behind the bright colors, darkness lurks.
"He said he was building something..." Eleven's voice weakly croaked, causing the group's eyes to fall on the girl. "That it was all for me."
"Building something...is he talking about the flayed?" Max asked.
Nancy shook her head, "He must be."
"So he's building an army, just like we thought." Lucas spoke.
Mike nodded, "Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread-"
"He's building it to stop Eleven." Will finished.
"Last year, El closed the gate on him." Mike explained, folding his hands together nervously. "I have a feeling that really pissed him off. And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him."
Setting a hand on Elevens forearm, Cassie spoke up, "But if he successfully gets El out of the way, its game over. The whole world would be screwed."
"He also..." Eleven gulped, her hands beginning to shake. "He told me...that he was also going to kill all of you."
There was a pause, everyone in the room frozen in shock.
Cassie was the first to speak, her sarcasm breaking the eery silence, "Oh, wow, that's fun."
But, nobody let out a chuckle, for something else had seemed to grasp onto their attention. A sudden noise engulfed the group, completely capturing their minds and wiping away any logical thought.
Standing from her seated position, Nancy Wheeler questioned the group, "Do you guys hear that?"
"Its just the fireworks..." Jonathan answered.
At first it was indistinct, but as the noise grew closer to the cabin where the group sat hiding, it became impossible to remain unnoticed. As the familiar faint screeching noise rang through their ears, fear began to take over.
Shaking her head, Nancy immediately turned to Eleven and asked, "Billy. When he told you this, it was here, in this room?"
Silently, Eleven nodded.
Nancy Wheeler began to step closer to the window, her usual rosy complexion became pale and gaunt. She listened, willing for the noice to fade and die. But it did not. The screeching sound was then accompanied by thunder ripping at the sky.
From the other side of the room, Will Byers began to reach for the back of his neck, "He knows were here."
One by one, the eight scurried out the door of the cabin, racing to see if what they heard was true, if the monster was actually coming for them. It only took but a moment to find the answer.
There it was, with leaves a trailing behind it, the monster forcefully pushed down trees, creating a path that lead straight to their location. Instead of the misshaped goo it was before, the monster was now shaped like a giant spider with legs jutting out at seemingly random places, still reeking of sewage and rotten flesh.
The eight froze in place, watching in mingled horror and anticipation as the monster raced toward them without hesitation.
Cassie groaned, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me. Again?"
Jonathan turned to the group, "Come on, we have to get back."
Everyone contributed into protecting the cabin. Like a team, each worked towards making sure the monster would not be able to get in. The couch blocked the door. Tables covering the windows. Doors locked. Lights out. Nancy got the gun. Jonathan carried an axe. The rest stood grouped in a circle in the center of the living room, not one of them making a sound.
Suddenly, the creatures arm burst through the wooden wall, heading straight for Eleven. Jonathan immediately swung his axe at the arm, injuring it enough for it to turn away from the girl. But, not enough to stop it from working. Instead, the creature swung its arm out the boy, launching him into the cabinet and breaking all of its contents.
Screams broke out. Eleven rushed forward, shouting at the monster. Glass broke. Guns fired. More shouting. More screaming. More running. The attack was sudden, efficient and deadly.
Just when the group thought it was over, the monster attacked again from behind, snatching Eleven by her ankle and pulling her upwards towards itself. Screaming at the top go her lungs, the frightened girl grasped onto her friends for support.
"Jonathan, wheres the axe?!" Cassie shouted at the boy laying on the floor in pain.
The boy weakly pointed to the corner of the room, Cassie quickly running over to the location and picking up the weapon, not hesitating to race over to the monsters arm and swing at it repeatedly.
"Don't worry, El, we won't let it take you!" Cassie assured her friend, watching as she helplessly cried out.
"Cassie, keep swinging!" Nancy shouted at the girl while she put in more bullets and began to shoot at the monsters mouth.
One swing, two, three, four-
At the fourth swing, the monsters arm completely split in two, releasing Eleven while shrieking in pain. From the ground, Mike Wheeler immediately pulled the claw out of Elevens calf, causing her to cry out as blood began to gush out of her limp, unmoving leg.
But, the monster wasn't out of sight, not yet. For a moment, it lurked from above and watched Eleven as she stood. With one final attempt, the monster released its tentacles out of its mouth, but before it could even try to attack, Eleven stricked with one final blow, ripping the monsters head into two.
"Go! Go! Go!"
"Come on!"
Taking the opportunity, the group ran out the back door towards the car and piled inside, racing away from the cabin as fast as they could. As they began to drive away, Eleven moaned in pain as the bleeding continued to flush out of her calf.
"Quick, where is the nearest pace we can find bandages for El's leg?" Cassie asked the group.
"Bradley's supermarket! It's on your next right-" Jonathan was cut off by the car launching the the right, speeding to a stop just before crashing into the building.
"Alright, everyone out." Nancy ordered, racing towards the glass doors. Although, once she pulled on them, they refused to open. "Shit, they're locked. Hey, can anyone find a..."
A sudden crashing sound of broken glass caused the group to jump in unison, their eyes immediately falling on the brunette girl.
"Rock?" Cassie asked innocently. "One step ahead of you, Nancy."
Humming, Nancy nodded in approval, turning to her little brother and whispering to him, "You got a good one."
Mikes cheeks immediately flushed with red, shaking his head a few times before entering into the supermarket just behind his older sister.
When reaching the isle with the bandages, Max and Lucas set the girl down gently, while Nancy Wheeler quickly spoke, "Okay, lets see this."
Pulling up her pants, Nancy revealed the open wound on Elevens leg.
Max gasped, "Oh, shit."
As Nancy began to pull out the disinfected, Max immediately stopped her, "Woah, woah, hey, what are you doing?"
"Cleaning the wound." Nancy replied.
"No, first, we need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage." Max informed, receiving confused glances from her friends surrounding her. "I skateboard, trust me."
"Will, keep the pressure on this." Max ordered.
"Me?" Will asked innocently.
"Yes, hold this down." Max repeated, then turned to Nancy and Jonathan. "We're going to need water, soap."
"You got it." Jonathan said, pulling Nancy with him as the two raced out of the isle to find the supplies.
"Cassie, can you go find me a bowl and a wash cloth?" Max asked the brunette beside her.
Cassie nodded, "Of course."
Mike Wheeler stood with her, "I'll go with you."
"She's perfectly capable of doing it herself, Mike." Max informed the boy.
"I know she is, but I don't want her to be alone, okay?" Mike defended. "Not after what happened today."
"Whatever, were wasting time." Cassie interfered. "Mike, let's go."
The boy willingly followed, walking slightly behind the girl in silence as he watched her eyes carefully study each of the aisles, trying to find the bowls and the cloths.
It wasn't too difficult to find the rags and the wash cloths because they were sitting with the cleaning supplies. But, finding the bowl turned out to be harder than they thought it would be.
"Wouldn't they be with the cereal?" Mike spoke quietly, breaking the silence.
Cassie shook her head, "Nope, we just passed that aisle and there wasn't any sign of one."
"Well, where else would a bowl be?" Mike joked, trying his best to lighten the mood. "I mean, seriously, what else do people need bowls for?"
"Damnit, Mike, I don't know." Cassie shot back, rather too harshly.
Eyes widening, Mike reached for Cassie's arm to stop her from walking any faster, "Woah, hey, whats wrong?"
The girls lips parted, almost as if she was about to speak. But, instead, she shut her mouth, turned, and kept walking.
Mike waited a moment and watched as Cassie walked away from him, debating on if he should push this any further. It only took but a moment for him to chase after the her, latching his arm around her and pulling her towards him, "Hey, Cassie, look at me."
"What do you want?" Cassie spoke, her tone on the cusp of anger.
This time, Cassie looked into Mikes eyes, and he was able to see everything. Her light blue eyes have nearly frozen into complete darkness, robbing them of their usual carefree warmth. Mike always knew she had pain inside, but now that it was visible on her face, he wished it would go away.
"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with you." Mike stated. "Why are you so tense all of a sudden?"
Taking a deep breath, the girl hesitantly replied, "Look at Eleven, did you see her leg? Did you see what it did to her? We almost..."
Cassie Harrington paused for a moment, her mouth growing dry.
"We almost lost her, Mike."
Mike Wheeler only shook his head, speaking to the girl in a reassuring tone, "But we didn't, because she strong, Cassie. You know that."
"But we don't know how strong that thing is." Cassie argued. "If it comes back, Eleven might not be able to fight it off-"
Cutting her off, Mike spoke softly, "Cassie, you're stronger than this. Don't let your fear take over. Have faith in El, because she has faith in you."
This time, instead of watching her shiver in fear, Mike wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm. Despite the heaviness in her stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. Cassie sunk into the warmth of his side, appreciative of the simple gesture.
Sighing, the girl spoke into Mike's chest, "Thank you."
The boy hummed in reply, happy to see that he hadn't completely lost her. Happy to know that in times of chaos, he still had the ability to comfort her. And that assuring thought was all he needed.
"Ehm." A voice coughed, causing the two to break apart.
Standing a few feet away, Max Mayfield stood with her hands across her chest, her eyebrows knitted together in minor confusion, "I don't even want to know whats going on here. You got the cloth, so thats good, but wheres the bowl?"
Raising his hands up in defense, Mike defended, "Trust me, Max, we've looked everywhere for a bowl and couldn't find one."
"It's okay," Max sighed. "Come on, lets get back and help bandage her up."
Taking once last glance at one another, Mike and Cassie fully separated and raced back to the group, where they would help Eleven recover, and figure out their plan to make the next move in order to stop the Mind Flayer.