---

     EVEN IF MILES WAS SLIGHTLY TERRIFIED OF EVEN LOOKING AT WILL AFTER LAST NIGHT, HE WANTED TO BE THERE FOR WILL AFTER THEIR CONVERSATION. He waited on his porch until he saw Will and Bob come out of the house, his face lighting up as he ran over to them.

     "You need a ride too?" Bob asked.

     Miles flashed a wide grin, "We get to ride in the Bob-mobile?" He exclaimed.

     Bob looked at Will, "Someone likes the name!" He smiled

     The boy only shook his head, laughing at the two, and he thought he was a dork. Will smiled at Miles, "Hey."

     "Hey, Will. You don't mind if I ride with you guys, do you?"

     He shook his head, "Of course not."

     Miles jumped slightly in excitement, "Alright then!" He said jumping in the back seat of Bob's car.

     The others got in and they took off down the road in silence, Miles sitting with a content smile in the back. Bob kept looking back and forth from the road and back to Will. "Was that you I heard milling around last night or was that a ghost?"

     "Yeah." Will responded, "Me, probably."

     "Another nightmare?" Bob questioned.

     "Umm," Will hesitated, looking back at Miles, "No."

     "Did I ever tell you about Mr.Baldo?" Bob asked the boy.

     "Mr.Baldo?" Will questioned.

     "Yeah." The man nodded his head. "I was a little younger than you, standing in line for the Ferris wheel at the Roane County fair."

     "Mmm-hmm."

     "And suddenly, I feel this fat white glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around, and there he is. Mr. Baldo." Bob began imitating a clown, "Hey, kiddo, would you like a balloon?" Each boy grinned, trying to hold back a laugh. "Go ahead, laugh. It's funny. It wasn't funny back then, I can tell you that. I couldn't get him out of my head. Every night he would come to me in my dreams. And every night when came to me... I ran." He huffed, "It got so bad that I made my mom stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night."

      "Really?"

     "Really." He confirmed. "it went on like that for months. And one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped. Wanna know how?" He questioned looking at each of the boys.

     They both leaned forward. "How?" Will questioned.

     "Well, I fell asleep... and just like always, Mr. Baldo came to me. Only this time, I didn't run. This time, I stood my ground. I just looked at Mr.Baldo, in his stupid face and I said, 'Go away! Go away!' Just like that... he was gone." He smiles at both the boys, focusing on Will, "Never saw him again. Easy-peasy, right?"

     Will nodded, "Easy peasy."

     Moments like these were exactly why Miles looked up to Bob as much as he did. Sure, he was goofy, but he was wise and it always felt like he knew exactly what to say. When Will got in the car that morning, he had a frown on his face, and now he had a smile, and that was enough to make Miles smile too.

     When they arrived at the school the boys got out of the car, closing their doors behind them.

     "You guys have a good day, okay?" Bob called out the passenger window.

     Miles leaned down, peering inside to talk to Bob, "Thank you for the ride, I really appreciate it." He smiled.

     "It was my pleasure. I'm gonna need you to come over again the next time we have a movie night. We can start earlier so your dad won't get upset. Sound like a plan?"

     The smiled brightly, "Sounds like a plan. Bye." He waved and the man drove away.

---

     THE CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE IS ONE OF THE GREAT MEDICAL CURIOSITIES OF ALL TIME." Said Mr.Clarke as he drew a line through a diagram of the human skull on the overhead projector. "Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head. Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change in his personality. So much so that friends who knew him started referring to him as 'No Longer Gage.' At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. So-"

     Mr.Clarke was cut off as the door suddenly burst open, in coming Dustin Henderson. "I am so sorry, Mr.Clarke." He panted. "Really, I'm so sorry. Please, continue with the class." He carried himself and the large homemade 'machine' that was his ghostbuster prop with him to his seat. "Don't mind me." He sat down. "Really, continue, please."

     "Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said."

     Miles was forced to tune out Mr.Clarke as Dustin leaned closer to his friends, the rest following in suit. "We have to meet. All of us. At lunch, AV Club." Dustin whispered.

     "Why?" Mike questioned.

     "I have something that you won't believe." The group nodded and Dustin turned to Max whispering, "AV Club, lunch."

     "Dustin!" Mr.Clarke scolded. 

     "Yes, my lord."

     "Would you care to join the class now?"

     "Please, yes." The boy reached down and into his backpack to get his books.

     "The case of Phineas Gage."

     "Phineas Gage."

     "Page 104."

     "104. 104."

     "Focus." The man sighed in exasperation.

     "Focusing. Focusing."

---

     "HIS NAME IS D'ARTAGNAN." Dustin spoke as Miles stared down at the creature in complete horror, the rest of the group mostly looking in slight disgust. Dustin picked up the creature, smiling at Max, "Cute, right?"

     "D'artagnan?" Mike questioned.

     Dustin nodded, "Dart for short."

     "And he was in your trash." Max gave a questioning look.

     "Foraging for food." The boy looked at the creature in amazement. "You wanna hold him?" He asked the girl.

     She quickly shook her head, "No."

     "Miles?" He questioned extending the creature in his hands towards the boy causing him to jump back, bumping into Will causing the boy to laugh at him.

     He shook his head, his whole body tense, "No. I'm good." He gave a strained smile.

     Dustin looked back to Max, "He doesn't bite."

     She shook her head, "No, no. I really don't want-" He sat Dart in Max's hands. "Oh, god, he's slimy!"

     She passed him to Lucas, "Ugh, he's like a living booger."

     Lucas passed him to Will, "Ugh, oh, god!" He grimaced, passing it to Mike.

     The boy only held him, examining him very closely, "What is he?"

     "My question exactly." Dustin said with raised eyebrows. "At first, I thought he was some type of pollywog."

     "Pollywog?" Max questioned.

     "It's another word for tadpole." The boy explained. "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad-"

     "I know what a tadpole is."

     "All right, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right? Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

     "Yeah, but aren't there non-aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas questioned.

     "Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact." Miles noticed the way Dustin kept looking back at Max and it was apparent that this whole thing was just for him to try to impress the girl. "Indiranna Semipalmata and the Adenomera Andreae. One's from India, and one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

     "Maybe some scientists brought him here and he escaped?" Max offered.

     "Do you guys see that?" Mike questioned eyeing Dart. 

     Everyone leaned in closer to see except Miles, "What is it?"

     "It looks like something's moving inside of it." Mike answered. They put the lamp over it to get a better look, causing it to screech, in turn causing Miles to do the same, the rest of the group jumping.

     Dart ran, trying to get out from under the lamp, nearly walking off the edge of the dest before Dustin caught him. "It's okay. It's okay. I got you, little guy." The creature chittered in response like a cat purring. "I know you don't like that, it's okay. And here's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded, ectothermic, right? They love heat; the sun. Dart hates it, it hurts him."

     Miles noticed the far-off look on Will's face as Lucas spoke, "So if he's not a pollywog or a reptile..."

     Dustin's face lit up, "Then I've discovered a new species."

---

     THE FINAL BELL RANG AND MILES RACED TO MEET WILL AT HIS LOCKER. He arrived just as the boy shut it, "Hey, Will." He smiled, "Are you coming with us to go show Mr.Clarke?" The boy turned around, giving Miles a look the boy couldn't quite place, "Hey, what's wrong?"

     Will swallowed thickly, "It's about D'artagnan." The boy continued on to tell Miles all about how he had coughed Dart up last year after he got back and how he wasn't some random discovery Dustin had made and was actually a creature from the upside down and he's been hearing the same sounds it makes in all of his episodes.

     They immediately ran down the hall and to Mr.Clarke's classroom, hoping they weren't too late to keep the man from seeing Dustin's discovery.  Miles burst through the door, Will following just behind, "Mr.Clarke!" He yelled, grabbing the group's attention. He ran up, grabbing Dart's 'cage' as he spoke, "I am so sorry about this! My friends are just so silly." He laughed awkwardly, "They just love playing pranks, don't you guys?" He lied horribly. The group only looked back at him. "Well, I'm gonna take this..." He stepped back slowly, giving an awkward smile before sprinting out of the classroom and back to the AV Club room.

     The party caught up, "What the hell, Miles?" Mike questioned.

     He stepped close to Mike whispering, "It's about the upside-down."

     The boy motioned and they all came inside... except Max who Mike had shut the door on before she got the chance to come inside. Will and Miles quickly explained everything to the party. Max banged don't the door, "Hello? Hello! Guys, come on, can I come in yet?"

     "No!" Mike yelled.

     "I don't understand." Lucas said.

     "What don't you understand?" Mike questioned.

     "Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?"

     "Kind of. But there was no tail." Will answered.

     "But then he heard it yesterday. The same sound." Miles explained.

     "Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin questioned in slight annoyance.

     "I wasn't sure." Will replied.

     "A coincidence."

     "Or not." Mike objected. "What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"

     "True sight?" Lucas questioned.

     Dustin explained, "It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane."

     The boy sighed, "Elaborate."

     Miles looked at Will hesitantly, the boy nodding letting him know it was okay to say what he was about to, "Maybe these episodes Will are having aren't flashbacks?" He questioned. "Maybe they're happening in that moment and somehow Will's connected and can see it?"

     "So, that would mean..."

     "Dart is from the Upside Down." Mike cut in knowing Miles would never want to break news like that so bluntly to Dustin.

     Lucas sighed, shaking his head, "We have to take him to Hopper."

     "I agree." Mike said immediately. 

     "No!" Dustin interrupted. "No way. If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead."

     "Maybe he should be." Siad Mike.

     "How can you say that." The other boy responded in a hurt tone.

     "How can you not?" He retorted. "He's from the Upside Down!"

     "I think I have to agree with Mike on this one..." Miles cut in shyly. "For all we know this could be a baby Demogorgon."

     "Maybe." Dustin admitted. "But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad."

     Mike gave him an incredulous look, "That's like saying just because someone's from he Death Star doesn't make them bad."

     "We have a bond."

     "A bond?" Mike questioned loudly. "Just because he likes nougat?"

     "No, because he trusts me!"

     "He trusts you?" Lucas asks.

     "Yes! I promised I'd take care of him-"

     He was cut off by Dart screeching, causing Miles to let out a small scream of his own.

     Mike rolled his eyes, "You have to stop-" Dart cut him off as well as the creature continued to screech, its make-shift cage rattling as he did so.

     Max knocked on the door again, "Guys, what's going on? Come on."

     Nobody said anything. The container continued to shake causing it to land on its side, doors facing the party. Mike quickly reached for the mic on the table.

     "Don't hurt him." Dustin warned.

     "Only if he attacks."

     "Just open it already!" Lucas exclaimed. Dustin grabbed the control, hitting the button. The party watched as the doors to the 'cage' opened and Dart plopped out, but this time when they saw him he was near twice the size. "Holy shit!" The group stared in horror as two new legs broke out of the skin of the creature's sides. "Oh shit!" Lucas screamed.

     Dart roared and Miles let out a high-pitched scream as Mike lunged forward. "No!" Dustin grabbed the boy's arm to protect Dart, causing the boy to miss, they lost sight of the creature for a minute and the door suddenly opened. They watched as the creature ran out of the door.

     "What the-" Max gave a puzzled look as the creature passed her and the group ran after it... kind of, Dustin tripped over Max, causing a domino effect where the only person left standing was Mike.

     "Where'd he go?" Asked Lucas.

     "What was that?"

     "Dart!" Mike shouted as they all clamored to their feet.

     "What?"

     Mike pointed at the girl, "You let him escape!"

     "Why did you attack him?" Dustin questioned angrily.

     Mike huffed, "Come on." He took off down the hall in pursuit of the creature.

     "Don't hurt him!" Dustin warned. "don't you hurt him!"

---

     "GUYS... I FOUND HIM." Will's voice crackled over the radio. They had each split up in different areas around the school to find Dart.

     "Where?" Dustin asked.

     "In the bathroom by Mr.Salerno's."

     "Copy that.' Said Mike.

     Miles took off down the hall he was in to get to where Will had said he'd found it. When he and everyone else but Dustin got to the bathroom, the boy claimed Dart was nowhere to be found, "Maybe Will has him."

     Miles looked around worriedly, "Where is Will?"

---

i am obsessed with this story and its basically all i think about to expect pretty consistent updates, you're welcome.

vote and comment or I'll keep all of these updates for myself >:)

~lee

06/13/2022