EIGHT: A GHOST

"DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?" Daniel asked as they waited inside the AV club room for Dustin. Everyone just looked at him and shrugged. The boy had the urge to reach out for Mike's hand, but Max was there. He sighed.

The silence of his unanswered question settled and Dustin burst through the door, throwing a box on the table. It was one of the props from his costume the night before, which only left everyone in the room confused.

Dustin opened up the box where an odd sound was being made. Daniel leaned over and saw a slimy creature inside. He resisted the urge to gag. What the hell was that thing?"

"His name is d'Artagnan," Dustin introduced the disgusting creature. To Daniel, it looked like a mix between a lizard and a very mutated frog. All around, it was ugly. Dustin picked him up and the boy automatically stepped back, not wanting that thing anywhere near him. "Cute, right?"

"Dustin, what the fuck," Daniel said the words in a more of an awed and disdainful statement than a question. Dustin simply smiled.

"I'm with him," Mike scoffed, except instead of backing up with Daniel he leaned in, "D'Artagnan?"

The curly-haired boy nodded, "Dart for short. I found him in my trash can last night."

"Doing what?" Max asked, her red hair falling over her shoulders in a messy fashion. Daniel honestly didn't know why she was here, but he didn't want to start anything with his friends. The one fight that almost tore them apart last year was far more than enough.

"Foraging for food," was Dustin's answer. "You wanna hold him?"

Everyone at the table immediately backed up. Max aggressively shook her head, "No, no."

"He doesn't bite!" the boy exclaimed, handing the creature over to Max despite her protests.

"Oh, my God, he's slimy!" the girl exclaimed, handing it off to Lucas, who handed it to Will, who handed it to Mike. Mike went to hand it to Daniel, but he raised his hands in a surrender motion, not wanting that thing near him.

Mike kept him after that, raising him up to eye level and asking, "What is he?"

"My question exactly." Dustin pulled a bunch of books out of his backpack and threw them onto the table, beginning his explanation, "At first, I thought it was some time of pollywog," Max interrupted for a moment to ask what a pollywog is, which even Daniel knew, "It's another word for tadpole. A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."

"I know what a tadpole is," Max sighed and Daniel felt a little bad about Dustin talking down to her like that. Stuff like that wasn't cool.

Dustin seemed unphased by her comment, continuing on, "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 interrupted with the question. Daniel wouldn't have known that, but he also barely knew what a pollywog was before Dustin explained it. How he was friends with such smart kids was beyond him.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana semipalmata." Yeah, Daniel was lost. "And the Adenomera Andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientists brought it here and it escaped?" Max suggested as if that was a plausible situation. If anyone knew, especially some weird scientist, suddenly moved to Hawkins, they would be the talk of the town. Everyone would know what was going on.

Daniel had an idea, or a semblance of one, "What if it's not a pollywog? What if it's like a pollywog, but not?"

"What do you mean?" Max asked, looking at him with a confused expression like everyone else at the table was.

"What if it's some undiscovered species?" Daniel continued before Mike interrupted him.

"Sorry, Daniel," he started before looking intently at the creature, "but do you see that? It looks like something's moving inside of him."

Mike was right. There was a sort of pulsing that was moving around in the creature's stomach area. As if this thing wasn't weird enough already. Mike moved the lamp over the creature to get a better look, but it screeched as soon as the light hit it. It tried to leap off the table, but Dustin thankfully caught it.

"It's okay, it's okay," Dustin reassured, "I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that, it's okay. And there's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him.

Lucas looked at the curly-haired boy holding the creature with confusion, "So, if he's not a pollywog or a reptile..."

Dustin smiled, "It's what Daniel said. An undiscovered species. That I just discovered."

The conversation was about to continue, but the bell signaling the end of lunch shocked them all. Had it really been the entirety of lunch? Daniel felt like it had only been a moment.

"We gotta show him to Mister Clarke," Lucas suggested, but Dustin seemed to immediately be against the decision for some reason.

"What if he steals my discovery?"

"He's not gonna steal your discovery."

"Dude, it's Mister Clarke," Daniel scoffed, "He doesn't have a bad bone in his body, let's be real."

Dustin, however, wasn't pleased. He just kept talking about what he was going to name it. Daniel honestly stopped listening. Instead, he was walking alongside Mike, ever so slightly pressing together as they walked. They turned a corner and Mike's hand brushed Daniel's ever so slightly. Every time they touched seemed to feel like the first. He was no longer paying attention to anything his friends were saying because his eyes kept flicking back and forth between watching where he was going and Mike. He almost ran into someone, but Mike pulled him over to the side to avoid a head-on collision.

"Watch where you're going," Mike said with a laugh, "Dork."

"Your fault," Daniel whispered in response, painfully aware of how public they were right now. Everyone could see them. Daniel felt his skin crawl, wondering if everyone was watching. He sighed and walked into class with Mike. Sitting (and shutting down).

FINALLY, THE LAST BELL OF THE SCHOOL DAY rang throughout the halls. The boys were going to go show Mister Clarke whatever Dustin had found. Mike was walking with Daniel and they stopped by Will's locker to ask if he was coming. There was something off about him, though. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"I have to tell you something," Will spoke quietly, walking up to them, "It's about d'Artagnan."

Will began to explain, starting all the way back at Christmas. He knew where Dart came from. According to Will's story, Dart was from the Upside Down. Daniel sighed as soon as the Byers boy told them this. They were so close to having a somewhat normal life. A year without hearing those three words and Daniel would have asked for thirty more, but no. The universe didn't feel like going his way today, did it?

The three boys began to run to Mister Clarke's classroom, realizing the urgency of the situation. Mike burst through the door first, yelling, "Stop! I'm sorry, Mister Clarke it was just a stupid prank."

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked.

"Trust us," Daniel said at the same time Mike said, "I told him to stop."

Halfway running through the door Mike screamed, "We need to go right now. Right now! Right now!"

All the boys (and one girl) ran out of the classroom, sprinting for the AV Club room. When they got there, they kept Max out. Daniel mouthed the word 'sorry' to her as they closed and locked the door. He felt bad about leaving her out, but she knew nothing about The Upside Down and none of the boys were in the mood to explain it to her. They ignored Max yelling and banging on the door, but the boy still hurt her. He knew how much it sucked to not be included.

Mike explained the situation quickly. Lucas was the first to speak. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand." Literally, everything would have been Daniel's answer, but he kept silent like he did in most situations.

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Lucas asked.

Will shrugged, "Kind of, but there was no tail."

"But then he heard it yesterday. The exact same sound," Mike explained further. Now that Max wasn't in there, Daniel had his arms wrapped around Mike's arm loosely, leaning against him. He was beyond exhausted of this Upside Down business and he just wanted to go home.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asked the next question.

"I wasn't sure," was the only answer Will could give.

"A coincidence."

"Highly unlikely," Daniel mumbled, earning a glare from his curly-haired friend.

Mike had the same mindset as Daniel, "What if it wasn't? What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"

"True sight?" Lucas looked at the dark-haired boy with a furrowed brow.

"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane," Dustin explained. It must be a D&D thing because Daniel hadn't known what it meant either.

Lucas sighed, "Elaborate?"

"Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all. Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down," Mike described.

"We have to take him to Hopper," was Lucas's immediate reaction. Daniel happily remembers how the chief helped them out last year and had since kept watch on Will and made sure he was okay. Going so far as to take Will to his appointments alongside Joyce.

"I agree," Mike nodded.

"Me too," Daniel interjected, letting go of Mike who grabbed his hand as soon as they weren't touching anymore. Daniel would say he hated being one of those couples that can't keep their hands off of each other, but he would be lying.

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

"I think our friend's wellbeing is a bit more important than a pollywog, Dustin," the curly-haired boy debated with a sigh.

Mike seemed to agree with Daniel as he said, "Well, maybe he should be."

"How can you say that?" Dustin asked as if Dart were a child of his. Never mess with a boy and his pollywog, apparently.

"How can you not?" the dark-haired boy shouted back, "He's from the Upside Down!"

Dustin, however, wasn't going down without a fight. "Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad."

"That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star doesn't make them bad!" Mike argued. Daniel, who had recently watched Star Wars due to his boyfriend's constant pestering, finally understood that reference.

With a sigh, the boy looked down at the creature, "We have a bond."

"A bond?" Mike asked in disbelief. Daniel tugged on his arm, pulling him backs lightly in an effort to tell him to calm down. "Just because he likes nougat?"

"No, because he trusts me!"

"Guys!" Daniel screamed, making the room go silent. He even heard Max stop banging on the door. It was rare he yelled, so it quickly grabbed everyone's attention. "Do we really need a repeat of last year? Do you not remember when Lucas and Mike were either at each other's throats or not speaking at all? When you guys were screaming at me for telling my sister? Do you not remember what this place did to us? Will has been through enough, he didn't see what happened to us last year, but I did and I, for one, really don't need a repeat. This thing is from that place and we need to take it to Hopper because he's the only one here who'll know what to do!"

"Damn," Mike muttered, surprised to see his boyfriend so passionate about something.

Dustin sighed, confidence gone. "I promised I would take care of him..."

It was then the box started rattling, the doors pulsing as Dart threw itself against them in an attempt to get out. The boys backed up.

"Guys, come on! What's going on?" Max asked from outside, but no one responded to her.

The box rattled more violently, Daniel gripping Mike's hand as tightly as possible. Mike squeezed it tightly before letting go and grabbing the microphone from their HAM radio.

"Don't hurt him!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Only if he attacks," Mike reasoned, which seemed like a good plan. Not that a microphone was really a great weapon, but it was better than nothing.

"Open it already!" Lucas prodded, motioning towards the box.

Carefully grabbing the controller, Dustin waited for a moment before pressing the button and opening the doors of the box. Dart had legs now.

"Holy shit," the dark-skinned boy said, probably making the same observation as Daniel. The legs burst out, covered in slime. "Oh, shit!"

Mike went to hit Dart, but Dustin pushed his arm so it hit the table. Dart bounced off and onto the tiled floor right as the door to the room opened.

"What the..." Max said as Dart zoomed past her.

"Oh, shit!" Dustin exclaimed, pushing past the girl as all the boys sprinted out of the room.

"Where'd he go?" Lucas asked, shouting into the empty hallway.

"What was that?" Max got up from where Dustin had accidentally knocked her down, her face ridden with confusion.

Mike looked at her and exclaimed, "Dart! You let him escape!"

"Calm down, Mike," Daniel tried to reach out for his hand as he spoke, but Mike was moving around too much. He didn't even care that Max was there, he just needed his boyfriend to maintain a level head (something he was not very good at).

"Why did you attack him?" Dustin yelled angrily, pushing Mike up against the wall. Mike, however, was unbothered as he ran through it.

"Come on!" They all split up in an effort to find Dart faster. Without even thinking about it, Daniel went in the same direction Mike did, but they split up at a fork in the hallways. Once he was in his own quiet area, he stopped running. Instead, he opted for looking through the windows of classrooms, but not being able to go in due to most of them being locked.

After a few moments of searching, Daniel realized where he was going. He was heading towards the gym. With his walkie-talkie in his hand, he heard everyone else mentioning where they didn't find Dart. Pressing the talk button, he spoke, "South end is clear. Over."

Daniel found himself approaching the gym doors, but someone was already there. It was a girl with dark curly hair, but he recognized her face.

"Eleven?" he asked and the girl turned. He blinked and she was gone. He was pretty sure he had just seen a ghost.

( note! )

this was almost 3k words you're welcome! also, im pretty sure im almost dont with ep 3, i should finish it up next chapter and get into a good chunk of ep 4 so that's wild because once i get to ep 4, this part is pretty much over halfway over (since i wont be writing ep 7) so uhh that's wild