"so what the hell is going on?" tj asks as steve pulls away from the wheelers' house.

"and who are you?"

"tj. who the hell are you?" tj whips around to look at the curly-haired boy. ringlets poke out from beneath his baseball cap and he's wearing some type of headset.

"oh, you're max's sister. i'm dustin."

"max? you didn't mention a sister."

"she's my step-sister. and that's irrelevant. what the hell is going on."

"can she keep secrets?" asks dustin.

steve glances at tj. "can you keep secrets?"

"i don't exactly have anyone to tell any secrets to besides you," tj replies exasperatedly.

"lucas and i promised we wouldn't tell—"

"just tell the story!"

"so, it all started last year..."

dustin dives into a story with great detail about how his friend will had gone missing and they discovered a girl with super powers and how there were all these monsters that took over hawkins. dustin's talking so fast, tj almost doesn't catch a lot of it.

"and now i've got one of those demogorgans in my cellar right now!" dustin finishes, breathing heavily.

"what the hell did I just witness?" tj says, feeling like she's out of breath, too.

"and now you are a witness so you're in danger, too," dustin says.

"great. thanks for that."

"so where are we going?" steve asks impatiently.

"well, you can drop me off back at school so I can pretend like none of this happened."

steve glances at dustin in the rear view mirror.

"there's no time," says dustin.

"i would prefer not to be in a car with a couple of crazy people," tj argues. "i mean, monsters invading a shit-hole town? and the government knows and is trying to silence people? sounds like something out of 1984. you know, just not as original."

"teej, we're not crazy. i mean, i know it sounds crazy. i didn't believe it, either, until i was attacked by one of those monster things."

"okay, so then i'm gonna be the crazy one for believing you. what are you planning on doing with a bat full of nails? was this your plan all along? to take me to some field and kill me? make up a story to distract me?"

"what? no! i promise you, nothing like that."

"so what, am I just supposed to believe you with no proof?"

by now it was getting dark and tj was starting to get worked up.

"that's why we're going to my house!" dustin explains. "and i'll prove to both of you that this thing is real.

"or you're taking me to some field to kill me."

"we're not gonna kill you!" steve groans. "how big was this thing?"

"it started out like this," dustin indicates about an inch with his thumb and forefinger, "now it's like this." he then imitates the size of this supposed monster by spreading his hands out to about a foot.

noticing the frightened look on tj's face, steve says, "i swear to god, man, it's just some little lizard." although steve seemed to have been corroborating dustin's story, he's now denying these 'monsters' are back.

"it's not a lizard."

"how do you know?"

"how do i know if it's not a lizard?"

"yeah! how do you know it's not just a lizard?"

"because his face opened up and he ate my cat!"

"okay, I would really like to leave," tj says, now really starting to get freaked out. "you guys have had your fun playing a prank on me. but i'd appreciate it, harrington, if you'd kindly take me back to school."

steve pulls up to a different house.

"i'm gonna run in and get the bat. teej, stay here with dustin. i'll take you straight back to school after this."

steve steps out of the car and runs inside, presumably, his house.

tj turns around to look at the kid in the backseat. "this town is crazy."

"trust me, i know," dustin replies, not even phased.

tj turns back around and she stares out the window. as easy as it would be for her to leave, she can't quite make herself open the car door. she wants so desperately to leave this whole situation, but there seems to be another part of her that is way too curious to see if what dustin was saying is true.

steve returns with his baseball bat and he opens his door again to pop the trunk. after throwing it into the back, steve takes off for dustin's house.

they arrive within fifteen minutes and the trio exits the car.l with dustin leading the way to the cellar.

"i don't hear shit," steve says.

"he's in there."

steve hits the door once with the end of his bat, then again, louder this time. nothing happens.

"you guys really are crazy," tj says. her green eyes dart between the two boys.

"wait!" dustin pleads, stopping tj from wandering off.

steve pulls a flashlight from his pocket. "listen, kid," he says and points the light in dustin's face. "if i find out this is some sort of halloween prank—"

"it's not."

"all right?"

"it's not a prank. get it out of my face."

steve lowers his light and turned back toward the door. "you got a key for this thing?"

dustin opens the door and steve shines the flashlight into the darkness of the cellar.

"he must be further down there. i'll stay up here in case he tries to escape," dustin decides.

steve glances behind him at tj and then turns back toward the cellar. he starts to descend and, suddenly growing brave, tj goes to follow him.

"no, you stay up there with the kid," he commands.

"you sure?"

steve nods. tj climbs the stairs back up and stands beside dustin. steve disappears into the darkness and tj pulls her jacket tighter around her. they wait a couple seconds before dustin calls out, "steve? steve, what's going on down there?"

steve appears out of nowhere, making the other two jump.

"jesus," tj gasps.

"get down here." tj lets dustin lead the way down the stairs. they reach steve and he holds up what appears to be a large piece of skin, like what a snake would shed. except this is slimy and dripping goo all over the floor.

"what the hell?" tj says, feeling sick. no way this thing is just a lizard.

"oh, shit," dustin gasps. steve shines his light toward the corner, revealing a large hole in the wall. behind the hole, was a long, dark tunnel.

"oh, shit! no way. no way."

whatever dustin had locked in the cellar had found its way out.

"don't animals get bigger when they shed their skin like that?" tj asks.