Chào các bạn! Vì nhiều lý do từ nay Truyen2U chính thức đổi tên là Truyen247.Pro. Mong các bạn tiếp tục ủng hộ truy cập tên miền mới này nhé! Mãi yêu... ♥

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

not alina anymore

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

"Alright, Wheeler," said Steve. "I think we found your hub."

The heart of the tunnels wasn't as grand as Gabe was expecting. He'd expected some kind of massive chamber, with more of those pulsating masses spread around, so that the room was filled with the sounds of soft breathing. He expected a graveyard, animal and human bones alike resting within piles of other junk. He expected a high ceiling, and Demodogs to be roaming about, ones that were instructed to stay behind while the others roamed the lab. But the hub, fortunately, seemed empty of all otherworldly creatures. It was a slimy cave-like place, with several tunnels branching out from the center, reminding him of the other area they'd recently been in.

The hub was like a heart in the human body—this was where all of the veins and arteries (the tunnels) connected to, to be pumped around Hawkins, the body. Unlike the human body, however, the tunnels weren't pumping a vital fluid needed to survive. No, they were pumping out darkness and rot. Killing pumpkins and trees and crusting them with slime. Spreading throughout Hawkins like a virus, corrupting everything they touched.

Mike's jaw clenched as he took this place in. "Let's drench it," he said. For Will. For everyone the Upside Down had already killed or hurt. For Eleven and Steve and Alina and Bob and even the men in the lab who had perished. Gabe nodded, gritting his teeth, and he got to work, spraying the area with gasoline, so that the entire thing would go up in flames. The others got to work as well, drenching, as Mike so eloquently put, the slimy walls, until the entire area was filled with the stink of it.

Gabe had never liked the smell of gasoline before. But here, standing in the heart of the Hawkins rot, sweat glistening on his skin, he'd never smelled anything better. This was the smell of revenge, and as they said, it was very, very sweet.

They were halfway through their drenching process when Alina finally had enough. "Guys." Her voice was deeper than normal, and filled with something that was so un-Alina it made Gabe pause. It wasn't malice, exactly, but hints of it were there, and it drew his eyes to her immediately.

Alina stood, her hair rank with sweat, her limbs trembling. Her face was flushed, and bruises spotted her face. A thin stream of blood poured from her nose, and she raised a sleeve to wipe it away as she spoke. "Maybe we should just... stop. I mean, El and Hopper will be fine, and if we really do this, then all of the Demodogs will be on us. We'll... we'll die."

"Are you okay?" It was a couple of stunned moments before Lucas spoke, everyone struggling to process the fact that Alina Fairgrieves was giving up. From what Gabe knew of her—and although he didn't know much, it was still enough—this wasn't something she'd do. She was acting stranger.

"I'm fine," said Alina, echoing what she'd told Gabe back at her house. "Really. I just think we should go home."

"Al," said Lucas gently, "we can't go home. We have to help Eleven and Hopper reach the gate, remember? We have to be brave."

Alina just shook her head.

Of course, they didn't follow her directions, and continued spreading their gasoline over the entirety of the hub. Alina didn't say anything else, just sat on the moist ground and watched them, as she hadn't had any gasoline of her own. Gabe couldn't see it, but something was extremely wrong within her. It was like she kept drifting off—she'd say things she didn't mean but it would be too late to take them back, and as she stared out at the others, the nickname 'Al' didn't even register.

Her head was in her hands, and she was still struggling, struggling to hold on. Struggling to not jump up and kick the cans of gasoline right out from under them, or to wrap her hands around their throats.

Pain. There was so much pain. So much heat that she could feel it frying her skin. Could hear the boyish screams issuing out of her own mouth as she writhed against the bonds the three humans had set in place for them. But there was also a sense of slow detachment, like she was slowly but surely moving out of the vessel she currently lay in. She didn't want to leave—the boy was a nice plaything, she thought, with five fingers and two legs and two eyes that could turn so delightfully hateful—but it was so, so hot, and she knew she couldn't stand it much longer. She would have to leave soon, move towards the skin in the hub.

The Mind Flayer, which had been living inside of her since the day Eleven escaped from the lab, was blind there. It whispered in her mind, it told her what to do, but it couldn't see. The part of Alina that was still Alina knew that.

It had been waiting. For almost a year, it had nestled inside of her, grown used to the feeling of a human body, whispered into the simple brain, and took. Alina Fairgrieves' abilities were nourishing, almost. They fed them, and had grown the Demogorgons (what a silly human name!) faster than usual. So when she took them back, snatched them right back, the Mind Flayer felt that loss.

I'm scared, Alina whispered. She was everywhere and nowhere. She was burning.

I know, the Mind Flayer whispered back, inserting as much comfort as it possible could into its voice. It had seen in the girl's dream, and had almost gotten more of her then. I know. But you'll stop hurting. If you just give in.

Alina really did want to stop hurting. There was a face turning blue. There was fire licking at her insides. There were black veins creeping up her face.

She closed her eyes, and stopped struggling. Stopped resisting. She just let go.

And Alina Fairgrieves disappeared. And the Mind Flayer could finally see. And just in time, too.

They'd almost missed the grand climax of the story. They'd almost missed the way one of the boys—the older one—had flicked open the lighter, his Adam's apple bobbing as he stared at the hub. Missed the way he'd cursed softly as he anticipated the throw. Almost missed the way the lighter had spun almost gracefully into the air, each turn bringing the little orange flame closer and closer to death. Almost missed the way everything had exploded, the heat beginning to scorch their insides a little more, drawing several noses towards the hub. They were hurting the hub. Almost missed the smoke that stung human faces and the screeches that had emitted.

They opened their eyes. They had many more now, and one of them was standing in the hub, their human faces damp, their cheeks aflame. But the Mind Flayer had lied. It still hurt. It still burned, even more now. They'd tried to reach out for the lighter as their vision doubled, tripled, quadrupled, tried to let out a scream to tell them not to, but it hadn't worked. They had failed—they'd barely tried—and now they were burning.






Gabe ran beside Mike, moving as fast as his legs could carry him. Away from the hub, away from the flames. Away from the oncoming Demodogs and their many rows of teeth. He was running so fast, in fact, that when he and Mike came to a rock jutting out from the tunnel ground, they both went flying, collapsing to the ground in a double kill. Gabe groaned, trying to get to his feet, but that was when he saw it.

Vines were beginning to curl out of the ground, making their way towards them. Before he could even try to move, they'd wrapped themselves around his legs, pinning him in place, beginning to advance up to his midriff. Gabe let out a yell of fear and surprise, and his cries were joined by Mike, who was also being attacked by those strange things. "HELP!" Mike was screaming. "HELP US!"

Everybody ran back, yelling their names. Lucas and Dustin grabbed onto Mike, trying to pull him out, but the vines kept their hold on him. Meanwhile, Max was trying to do the same thing to Gabe, pulling on his shoulders. The vines tightened their hold, cutting into his skin, and Gabe screamed, wriggling against the bonds. Because they hurt, pressing against him, trying to inch their way up to his head. His legs were going numb, and he kept screaming, thrashing against the bonds, tears pouring down his cheeks.

Steve, always the savior, let out a grunt, slamming on the vines binding Mike with his bat, breaking them into pieces, but the ones constricting Gabe continued their journey up onto his torso. Gabe continued to scream, and Max dug her fingernails in, yanking harder, and with one firm tug, finally pulled him out of the vine's grasp.

Everyone let out sighs of relief as Steve smashed the remaining vines to bits. As expected, the party crowded around Mike, making sure he was okay, but what wasn't expected was the fact that they crowded around Gabe, too. "Are you okay?" Dustin asked, checking over him for injuries.

Gabe nodded. He was breathing hard. "I'm okay."

He was okay now. But he had scarcely taken another deep breath, his pulse beginning to return to normal, when he was startled by the roar. Everyone whirled around, Gabe letting out a cry, and found that they were face-to-face with a Demodog. It looked a little smaller than the others, and it growled softly now, its mouth slightly open as it opposed them.

A scream lodged itself in his throat, and Gabe swallowed it down, his heart racing again. Shit. How would they get out of this one?

Dustin let out a sharp gasp. "Dart?"

Oh shit. This was Dart now? Gabe remembered holding the little slimy creature in his hands, and how he'd vigorously applied half a bottle of hand sanitizer on them afterwards. But, of course, the little monster had grown just like all of its siblings had, and now it was around the side of a small dog. Soon, it would molt yet again, and grow to be the height of a tall man with bony limbs and that terrifying maw.

Dart made no move to attack, surprisingly, and even more surprisingly, Dustin took that as a sign that he had to step forward.

Obviously, the others didn't take it well. "Dustin, get back!" Gabe cried incredulously, his mouth open in surprise. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Dustin didn't, instead shushing them. "Trust me," he said, his voice slightly muffled under the bandanna. "Please."

Gabe trusted Dustin, but he was still shaking fiercely as Dustin turned back to face the fearsome creature, an almost tender expression on his face. As Dart took a couple of steps forward, causing the watching members to take a few steps back, Dustin didn't move a muscle. "Hey," he said instead, pulling off his bandanna and goggles, exposing himself to the toxic air (well, Will and Nancy had lived through it. He would probably as well. Hopefully). "It's me," he continued. "It's me."

"It's just your friend, it's Dustin." Gabe's jaw dropped as Dustin knelt before Dart like it really was a small dog. After Dustin's display back at that strange room, Gabe had never expected such bravery from him. But apparently first impressions could be deceiving, and Dustin had a lot more to him than Gabe originally thought.

"It's Dustin, all right?" Dustin said again. "You remember me?" the creature lifted its nose, almost like a nod, and Gabe could practically see Dustin smile. "Will you let us pass?" he asked gently, but instead of the reaction Dustin apparently seemed to expect—the Demodog just leaving and letting them go on their way—Dart instead roared, opening its starry mouth. Gabe saw pink flesh and rows and rows of teeth and jumped, clutching onto Mike, but Dustin was unfazed. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

Dart closed its mouth just like that. "I'm sorry about the storm cellar," Dustin continued, in that same gentle tone. "That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?" Before waiting from a response (and what response could a Demodog give, anyway?) Dustin dug through his bag, looking for something, somehow calm in front of the creature, and Lucas shook his head in disbelief.

"He's insane," he whispered, eyeing Dustin's relaxed demeanor. Gabe had to agree, expecting Dart to take a limb when it went for whatever food Dustin was going to offer. But the others seemed to have faith in this crazy plan, as they quickly told Lucas to shut up.

"I've got our favorite," said Dustin. "Nougat." He held out a candy bar (as if Dart could see it) and unwrapped it. With a graceful haste, Dustin broke the candy bar into bits, placing them on the ground for Dart to eat. "Here," he said gently, as if he was feeding a stray puppy, "all right?"

As Dart knelt down to eat, Dustin then sprung into action, raising an arm and gesturing for them to get through. And they did, sneaking past the tiny monster, their hearts in their throats, one by one. When it was Gabe's turn, he went slow, terrified that any noise would alert the monster to his presence. But he managed to reach the other tunnel without too much difficulty, and looked at the feeding Demodog in a new light. It wasn't exactly good—it had eaten Dustin's cat, after all—but right now, it didn't really look like a monster.

"I've got more." Dustin gave Dart another piece of nougat, then stood up, swinging his bag over his shoulders before making his way back to the group. Pulling his goggles back on, Dustin stole one final look at the Demodog. "Goodbye, buddy."

And then he pulled his bandanna back over his face, and made his way out of the tunnels. Everyone was really running now, agog at their luck, and so it was that Lucas's sudden halting broke the chain. Gabe slammed into Mike, who slammed into Steve, who slammed into Dustin, and then everyone was staring at Lucas, whose eyes were as wide as saucers as he looked around the tunnels.

"Guys." For the week Gabe had known him, Lucas Sinclair had never sounded so afraid. And when he said those terrifying two words, Gabe became just as scared.

"Where's Alina?"

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: okay before you all yell at me, i just have to ask: does this chapter make sense?? like i know the whole point of alina going with them was to stop them from lighting the hub on fire and she didn't really do much lol but it's supposed to be because she wasn't fully possessed yet. 

okay anyway, i'm not going to address the elephant in the room and i'm just gonna say, mad'ouk month is over!! i wanted to end it here for this very specific reason :)

'till next time!

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro