CHAPTER 13
THE SPY

EDWARD leaned himself against the entrance of Will Byers' room. He rubbed a hand over his mustache, watching the boy's face contort into worry. As Will laid in his hospital bed, Edward could do nothing but compare his youthful face to Louie. The thought almost made him burst into tears.

Will was surrounded by his friend, Mike Wheeler, and his mom with her boyfriend. Joyce held onto his hand tightly, while Mike found himself staring at his feet intently. Once in a while, Will would release a muffled cry, but as the sky turned dark outside, it became more frequent. His lips began to part, as if he was searching for air. He choked the slightest bit on the words he tried to say. "I – I'm ... I'm sorry," he whispered.

Edward took a step forward, not believing the apology he just heard. Will's eyes held only blackness, and just that was terrifying enough. "Will," Edward muttered as he stood beside Bob, "what's wrong?"

"What?" Joyce leaned in, holding her boy's hand strong. Her voice became nervous as the monitor beside Will beeped loudly. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

Will's head turned to face Joyce. "It made me do it," he said, tears pricking at his eyes.

Joyce's brow furrowed. Her breathing became irregular and she grabbed both of Will's hands. "Who? Who made you do what?"

"I told you," Will replied through heavy breaths. "They upset him. You shouldn't have done that."

Edward's body was rigid. His eyes went wide as Will's locked with his own. "You shouldn't have upset him," Will cried.

"The spy," Mike Wheeler exclaimed. "The spy!"

Edward did the first thing he could, and that was run. He needed to find Hopper right now. He immediately sprinted out of the hospital room and down the corridor with Mike Wheeler following behind. The sweat stains on his uniform were larger, but Edward didn't care as he rushed to find his boss. He knew he was in the laboratory room, where the gate to this Upside Down was located, but that was the exact place he didn't need to be.

Edward saw two guards at the set of doors leading to the lab. He shook their shoulders, screaming, "LET ME IN!"

Mike yanked on one of the guard's shirts as he said, "It's a trap! It's a trap!"

The guards shoved Edward away as they ordered, "No, no one is allowed in at this time."

Mike held on for dear life, shaking the guard. "WE HAVE TO WARN THEM! IT'S A TRAP!"

Edward grasped the collar of a guard firmly, almost knocking the hat off his head. He stared at him with malice in his eyes, seething, "You better let me through, or so help me God, I will fucking arrest you."

The two guards shared a worried look before finally opening the doors to the lab. Doctor Owens was rubbing at his forehead while everyone gathered at the scanner, which showed red dots heading up towards the entrance of the Upside Down. The doors opened with a loud slam, and Edward and Mike Wheeler skidded to a stop. Hopper turned and gave his coworker a trouble look. "It's a trap," Edward heaved out. "They're coming for us."

Incoherent shrieks sounded from below the entrance. They were almost like dogs barking. Edward approached the glass case housing the entrance with Hopper, and they both viewed down with fear in their eyes. But the last thing the two males expected was to see a slimy claw emerge on the stone.

•••

"You shouldn't have done that," Steve chastised. "You could've, 'ya know, basically killed yourself –"

Veronica rolled her eyes as they continued down the abandoned railroad once again. "Just shut up," she interrupted. "I'm fine. You're fine. The youngsters are fine. We're alive." The forest around them was shrouded in darkness, and the only light they had came from their flashlights, which Veronica twirled around in her hand.

"It could've ended really badly," he continued, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"Well, it didn't," she replied. Veronica looked over her shoulder to see Max, Lucas, and Dustin following in silence. She turned back to Steve. "Why'd you give me that dumb hockey stick anyways if you didn't want me to use it? I – might've, maybe, almost – saved your life, Harrington."

Steve shook his head. "I didn't think you'd actually use it."

"Are you going to thank me?"

He shined the flashlight on her face, blinding her for a moment. "Thanks."

Veronica shoved the flashlight out of her view, muttering, "Not exactly what I was hoping for."

"You guys kind of argue a lot for a couple," Lucas said, though he never wanted the words to come out.

"We're not –" Veronica massaged her temples. "Never mind."

Lucas cleared his throat, angling his head towards Dustin. "So you're positive that Demodog was Dart?"

"Yes," Dustin answered with an annoyed tone, "he had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."

Max furrowed her brow. "He was tiny two days ago."

"He's molted three times already."

Steve and Veronica shared a confused look before he repeated, "Molted?"

"Molted," Dustin nodded, "shed his skin to make room for more growth, like hornworms."

Veronica's eyes went wide as she turned back to the trail ahead of them. She shined her flashlight onto the ground, spying a few worms crawling along in the railway dirt. She tip-toed across them quickly, almost gagging at the sight of them.

Max then asked, "When's he gonna molt again?"

"It's gotta be soon," Dustin replied quickly. "When he does, he'll be fully grown or close to it. So will his friends."

"And then he'll be a full Dema – Demo –" Veronica bit her lip, trying to remember the kid's exact word choice. "Demogorgon?" Dustin nodded as an answer.

Steve frowned. "Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats."

Lucas suddenly stepped in front of the teenagers, halting their movements. Steve almost walked into him as he grabbed Dustin's shoulder. "Wait, cat?" His dark eyes went narrow. "Dart ate a cat?!"

Dustin quickly shook his head, trying to divert the situation. "No. What? No!"

Veronica raised a brow in Dustin's direction. "What do you mean? You said he ate – uh – Mews."

"Mews?" Max turned around to face the blue-haired girl. "Who's Mews?"

Steve gestured with his chin to the boy in question. "That's Dustin's cat."

"GUYS!" Dustin shrieked, his hands balling into fists.

Lucas smacked his friend's shoulder hard, and Dustin was sure he'd leave a bruise. "I knew it!" He exclaimed. "You kept him!"

"No! No ..." Dustin paused, trying to think of another lie, but maybe that wasn't the best approach. He sighed. "No, I – No, I ... He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!"

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon!"

"Oh, so now you admit it?!"

Max raised her hands. "Guys, who cares? We have to go!"

"I care!" Lucas continued ranting. "You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!"

"SO DID YOU!" Dustin thundered back, shining his flashlight on Max. "You told a stranger the truth!"

Max released an annoyed huff. "A stranger?!"

Veronica ran her hands through her tangled hair and shook her head. "God," she groaned, "it's like I'm a parent taking care of children."

She tried to drone out their hollers, but they were being so loud. Veronica threw up her hands, her face contorting in anger. "ALRIGHT!" She screamed, and the three kids instantly stopped talking. "That's enough! Now, you're all gonna shut up and follow me and Steve to –" Her head turned to glance at the other teenager, but found him walking off. "Where are you going, Harrington?"

Steve was shining his light somewhere in the distance, and when he spun to face her, he gestured to his ear. They all went quiet, and it was then that they heard the roaring. Veronica stomped over to stand beside Steve, her brow furrowing at the noise. Suddenly, a roar awoken them from the darkness, causing Veronica to shriek and drop her flashlight, while also clinging to Steve's arm in the process. When she realized it was just a howl, she quickly let go and picked up her flashlight. "False alarm," she muttered awkwardly. "What was that anyways?"

"Let's find out," Steve chimed in, stalking forward into the forest. Veronica followed, noticing that they were venturing off the trail they once took.

Dustin and Lucas followed, with Max asking, "Guys, why are you headed towards the sound?! Hello?"

They arrived on the edge of the forest, which happened to be a cliff that overlooked Hawkins. Veronica lifted her flashlight, shining it down on the surface below them, but she saw nothing but fog circling the dark town. Dustin peered over the edge, and with a frown he said, "I don't see 'em."

The sounds continued, more than ever before. Veronica felt like sticking her fingers in her ears to block it out. Lucas took out his binoculars to get a closer look, and he spotted the Hawkins' National Lab in the distance, all lit up with bright lights. "It's the lab," he answered. "They were going back home."

Veronica tilted her head back, releasing a groan before glancing to Steve. "And here I was thinking that hooking up with Billy Hargrove was the scariest thing to happen in my life."

( made by JustSav )