· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁  ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆ ✰
CHAPTER TWENTY ━━
close the gate

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    PREPARATION WERE SET IN MOTION, THE SMALL SHED OUTSIDE THE BYERS HOUSE WOULD be used as an interrogation room so Will couldn't spy for the mind flayer and all the could do was hope for the best. And if everyone was honest with themselves, hope was slowly running out, every ounce of optimism going down the drain at the rate they were all going.

    Jim, Joyce, Mike and Johnathan had left the house while the others remained inside, they couldn't trust for Milo to go inside, not with what happened the last time in the facility.

    The waiting was the worst, sitting still, thinking about the possibilities, about the things that could go wrong. It was nerve wrecking as they waited.

    Milo was sitting at the kitchen table, his fingers trailing over the cold wooden surface as a way to occupy himself. The clock ticking in the background seemed to get louder by the second.

    Tick, tock tick, tock. TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK!

     Light's suddenly startes to flicker in the room, and everyone stopped what they were doing and almost at once crowded around one of the windows.

     After a moment, they stopped flicker, and the quiet returned.

     TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK!

     All of a sudden, Hopper burst into the house interrupting the silence that hung in the air. While the others followed close behind him.

    Everyone watched confused as Hopper reached for the first piece of paper he could find and pulled up a chair, scribbling something down on it.

     The entire group had gathered around him by the dimly lit table, curious expression on their faces.

     "What's going on?" 

     Hopper didn't answer at first, completeimg his drawing a series of lines and dots. "I think he's talking, just not with words." 

    Milo furrowed his brows at the sight of the stripes and dots, not knowing the meaning of them in the slightest. But it seemed he wasnmt the only one when Steve voiced his thoughts.

    "Wait, what is that?" Steve asked, his eyes widened slightly.

     "Morse code," everybody in the room replied instantly, to which Steve pursed his lips and nodded sheepishly.

   "H-E-R-E," Hopper spelled out, having written the assigned letters beneath the right illustration "Here. Will's still in there. He's talking to us." 

     "I know what we can do!" Johnaton spoke up suddenly before he dashed out of the room without another word. Everyone stared down the hall the teenager went in to before he came rushing back with a boombox and a cassette tape

     A simple, yet genius plan was set in motion as the younger kids gathered at the table to write down the encrypted messages they received from Hopper while Milo, Steve and Nancy dechipered them with a chart. 

     One by one, letter by letter a message formed

       "C."

       "L." 

       "O."

       "S." 

       "E."

       "G." 

       "A."

       "T." 

       "E." 

     Before anyone could say anything, it seemed something had to go wrong as the the phone rang. A shrill bell echoing throughout the home and everyone went into panic mode.

     Dustin nearly leaped from his chair and toward the rinning phone like his life depened on it, which it might very well does.

    He, picked it up and slamming it back on the receiver to hang up while cursing loudly. Everyone breathed out and then the phone went off a second time, and the boy quickly grabbed it, and tried slamming it back down, but it continued to chime.

     This time it was Nancy who came barelling towards the phone, with an angry grunt she ripped it from the wall and slammed in on the ground as it broke.

      "Do you think he heard that?" Max asked over breaking through the tension

      "It's just the phone," Steve tried to convince the, but didn't sound certain of himself, more like he was trying to reassure himself  "It could be anywhere, right?" 

     "No." Milo spoke solemnly and everyone turned to him. "I feel... they're coming.

     And just as the words left his mouth the sound of monsters screeching in the distance filled their ears.

     "Shit."

     "That's not good," Dustin panted, his eyes wide.

     "Hey, hey, get away from the windows!" Hopper booming voice commanded as he returned from the shed, two guns in his hands as everyone ran back to the living room

      Jim's worried gaze flickered to the blonde teenager standing completely still with his eyes focused on the door like he knew something they didn't but sadly he couldn't worry about that now as he turned towards the oldest Byers boy and held out one of the guns to Jonathan.

      "Can you use this?" 

     "Wha-" Jonathan began, a small stutter forming as the chief looked at him, but he was interrupted by Nancy, who stepped forward and spoke with confidence. "I can," she stated

    Jim didn't hestitate, thrusting the gun into the girl's hands just as the howls and screeches stared to grow closer and closer

      "Where are they?" Nancy asked warily, anxious for the appearance of the Demodogs creatures and another loud growl was the answer the brunette got, followed by a thudding noise that made the others freeze.

    "What're they doing?" 

    The noise suddenly stopped abruptly after a sickening crunch, before something smashed through the window, pieces of glass flying through the air as everybody screamed.

    Milo felt that familair click inside his chest again a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth. He hadn't felt that connection in a long time.

     So while everyone else approached the demodog with utmost caution, the blonde teenager moved towards the door.

      "Is it dead?" He could hear Max ask but he couldn't really care at the moment as he inched forward. Before he reached it however, the door creaked and the others  who were gathered around the creatures dead corpse turned towards it.

     Jim's eyes widened when he saw his son so close to the door. "Milo get away from there!" He shouted as he cocked his gun.

      "It's okay." Milo assured

      And then the door opened fully.

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