♪♪♪

"Mom, you okay?"

Mia frowned at her mother, who was looking under their couch.

Claudia shot up and sighed. "Oh, Mia, sweetie, I can't find Mews. You didn't see him outside, did you?"

"No. I'll go check my room, he sometimes likes to hide on the top of my closet."

"Oh, thank you. It's nearly his dinner time and I don't want him to starve."

Mia chuckled awkwardly, knowing the cat was extremely well fed and wouldn't starve, but she didn't comment. She went to her room and called for the cat, but there was no sign of him so she went to Dustin's room to check. Entering his room quietly, she had a quick scan and saw no sign of Mews. While she was in there, Mia figured she should probably check on Dart.

She wandered over to the tank and lifted the blanket, her eyes widening when she saw the glass was broken and Dart was gone.

She let go of the blanket and cursed. "Shit!"

"Did you find him, Mia?" Claudia called from the living room.

"No, Mom! Still looking!" She called back, searching her brothers room for the slimy creature. "Dart," she whispered, looking under Dustin's desk and bed.

Then she heard the front door open followed by Dustin's voice. Mia quickly walked out of his room, stood and waited as her brother rushed towards her, frowning.

"You need to see something right now," she said, dragging him back into the room and locking his door.

"What, Mia? I need to tell Dart something!" Dustin said.

She marched over to the tank and lifted the blanket back to reveal the Dart-sized hole. "Your little pet is missing, and guess what? So is Mews."

Dustin approached the tank slowly and leant down to look at the tank. He picked up what looked like old skin and Mia had to swallow back bile.

"What the hell–"

A sudden screech came from somewhere in the room. Dustin dropped the skin and both siblings spun abruptly on the spot.

"That better not be what I think it is..." Mia muttered.

"Dart?" Dustin said, slowly and quietly walking towards the source of the noise.

Mia followed, her palms growing sweaty and a knot forming in the pit of her stomach when she saw drops of blood on the carpet and on his arm chair. They shared a nervous glance, before peering over the chair.

There Dart was, now the size of a small dog and...feasting on Mews.

Mia released a frightened gasp, which she regretted immediately as Dart stopped eating and slowly turned his head to face them; his plant shaped head opened to reveal a thousand sharp teeth followed by releasing a deafening screech.

Mia screamed, and stumbled backwards, but Dustin put his hand over her mouth. "Shhhh!" He dragged her out of the room and locked his door. "Mia, calm down!"

"Calm down?!" Mia exclaimed. "How am I supposed to be calm when there's a slimy dog version of what is probably a Demogorgon in your bedroom feasting on our cat?!" They entered Mia's room and she sat down on her bed, breathing heavily as she held her head in her hands.

Dustin came to sit beside her. "Look, we can't let Mom find out Mews is dead, so we need a plan. But first, I need you to calm down."

Mia closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly, agreeing that panicking wasn't going to help their situation. She could panic and kill her brother later for getting them both into this mess, but Dustin was right: they needed a plan.

So, once she'd calmed down, Mia and Dustin began figuring out their plan of action on how to distract their mom from finding Mews, and then how to catch Dart. Mia wasn't thrilled about any of it, but they were now left with no choice.

"If this plan backfires, Dart won't be the only thing trying to kill you."

♪♪♪

Mia didn't sleep at all that night. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was Dart's teeth and Mews's bloodied body. She'd had the same kind of nightmare the first time she saw a Demogorgon last year. She was afraid to go to sleep for weeks afterwards, and now the same thing was likely to happen.

Dustin ended up sleeping in Mia's room that night too to keep Dart locked in his room. Mia also wanted him by her side at all times to make sure Dart didn't miraculously get out and eat her little brother next. Even if the part of her thought he deserved it.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Dustin asked when he'd woken and found Mia lying wide awake.

"I couldn't."

Dustin sighed. "Mia, everything's going to be fine. We've got our plan and we're going to catch Dart. Nothing's going to happen to anybody."

"You don't know that, Dustin. We don't know if this will work."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Dustin flashed her a cheeky, toothless grin and Mia glared at her brother as they headed out of her room and into the living room, where their mother was nowhere in sight. Mia looked out the window and eventually saw her searching for Mews in the front yard. Dustin was on the phone, pretending to call Mr McCorkle, one of their neighbours, when Claudia came back inside.

"Guys, are you sure Mews wasn't in either of your rooms?"

"No, sorry, Mom." Mia answered.

Dustin walked up to her and said, "great news!"

"They found her?"

"No. But they saw her wandering around Loch Nora."

Mrs Henderson started to cry then. "Oh, how did the poor baby get all the way out there?"

Mia watched her mother crying, and immediately felt a stab of guilt. She didn't like the fact that they were lying to her, and Mia knew how much Mews meant to her. She also felt quite sad that Mews was dead, because he really was a good cat.

She was going to miss his middle-of-the-night-snuggles, that's for sure.

"They're gonna look for her, and they'll find her," Mia interjected, hugging her mother. "Don't worry, Mom. Me and Dustin will stay here in case she comes back before you find her, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded and continued to cry into Mia's shoulder, embracing her daughter tightly. She let go of Mia to hug Dustin and he ushered her out of the house encouragingly.

"I love you both."

"We love you too!"

She left, and the Henderson siblings began phase two of their plan: catching Dart.

They ran out to the backyard and Dustin opened up their underground shelter, then they went back inside and while Mia headed to the kitchen to grab the food they'd be using to lure Dart out, Dustin grabbed his body armour. Mia didn't think that part was necessary, but she just let her brother do his own thing. She grabbed the packets of baloney from the fridge and put every slice in a line all the way from Dustin's room to the shelter outside.

She ran back inside and laughed at the sight of her brother in his hockey gear. "Are the mittens really necessary?"

"Oh absolutely." Dustin replied, and handed her a spare hockey stick and helmet.

Mia put it on and the two siblings slowly walked down the hall to Dustin's room, giving each other an affirming nod.

"Alright, Dart. Breakfast time." Dustin said.

He unlocked his door and Mia ran off–well, waddled quickly to avoid stepping on the food–with Dustin cursing from behind her.

"Dustin, hurry up!" She nagged, arriving at their old playhouse before him.

He eventually made it and shut the door behind him. Mia panted, peering through a crack in the wood. 

"Come on, I know you're hungry." Dustin muttered, also peering through.

Mia's eyes widened when she saw Dart coming out of the house, following the trail of baloney slices and she grinned.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"It's working!" She whispered, getting ready to move again.

"Yes, yes, yes," Dustin muttered as Dart reached the edge of the shelter, but he growled and looked in the direction of the hut.

Both Mia and Dustin gasped and backed away from the door as the growling grew closer.

Mia's heart was racing, and she was just about fed up with this entire situation.

"Alright, that's it."

She took a deep breath and kicked open the door, yelling and chasing Dart, who scurried back towards the shelter but Mia swung her hockey stick and sent him flying. The creature fell down into the shelter and Mia wasted no time in slamming the doors closed. Dart growled from the other side and Mia lay on top of the doors, breathing heavily.

"Mia, that...was awesome!" Dustin exclaimed excitedly.

"It was kinda awesome, wasn't it?" Mia laughed breathlessly, shaking her head. "So, what now?"

"We initiate phase three–code red clean up."

♪♪♪

This chapter was so much fun to write haha I love mia and Dustin so much, their sibling dynamic is so chaotic

I hope you enjoyed it too!