Chapter Sixty-Six: Demogorgan Escaped

(The Spy)

***

Steve's car sped down the road, the only sign of life on the now-lonely road. Night had fallen, and since Dustin had finished explaining his urgent Code Red, it was silent except for the sound of Freddie Mercury's voice.

Especially since Rowan was struggling to resist the urge to both scream at Dustin and hit him upside the head.

A baby Demogorgon. Dart was a fucking baby Demogorgon. And Dustin found Dart in the school when they'd been hunting Dart down and kept him, ignoring his common sense and every single sign Dart was not a creature from this earth.

How could a kid who was so smart be so fucking stupid at once?

Instead of screaming or hitting a child, Rowan substituted for glaring daggers at Dustin while beside her, Alistair's face was torn between incredulous anger at his friend's lack of common sense when it apparently came to Dart, and fear about what Dart being a creature from the Upside Down could mean for Will, which Rowan couldn't blame him for. Especially when she thought it was fucking over, that the Demogorgon was dead and Will was home safe and it was all over.

Well, apparently, it was not, and Dart and Will's episodes were the most blatant warning signs of the Upside Down saying, "Surprise! It's back! Ready for Round 2?" Which, no, she wasn't, she wanted it to be done with Round fucking 1.

But apparently, the universe—or the Upside Down—didn't agree.

Steve, however, didn't seem to be as hung up on it. In fact, he seemed to be more concerned about Dart, evident when he asked, "Wait a sec, how big?"

Rowan gaped. "Seriously? That's your question?"

"One of them," Steve defended.

Rowan scoffed, rolling her eyes as Dustin answered, "First it was like that."

Then he stretched his arms out wide, nearly hitting Rowan as the older teen leaned back to avoid being slapped in the face. "Now it's like this."

"Well thanks for the demonstration, but I would have preferred it without you nearly fucking hitting me!" Rowan snapped as Alistair stared at his best friend and asked, "Christ, Dustin, what did you feed Dart?"

"Nougat?" Dustin answered weakly.

Alistair stared at Dustin, then shook his head and thumped back into his seat right as Steve muttered exasperatedly like he was a parent tired with his kid's bullshit, "Jesus, I swear to God, man, if this is just some little lizard..."

"It's not a lizard," Dustin snapped as Rowan and Alistair leaned forward to give Steve incredulous looks.

"Steve, Rowan and I both saw Dart, he is not a lizard," Alistair said, as Steve still pressed, "Well how do you know?"

"How do I know that it's not a lizard?" Dustin asked, his face screaming, Are you fucking kidding me?

"Oh my fucking God," Rowan groaned, looking heavenward as if to gain strength from whatever higher power existed.

"Yeah, how do you know that it's not just a lizard?"

"Because it's face opened up and he ate my cat!"

The whole car grew quiet with shock as Rowan stared wide-eyed at Dustin while Alistair had a pale look on his face, likely thinking of Hugin. Steve was also in a state of shock, before he mumbled, "Right. Okay. Yeah."

Rowan was still in a state of shock—especially, as a cat person, the idea of Dart eating any cat made her sick to her stomach—before she snapped out of it and leaned forward and zapped the back of Dustin's neck, the boy jolting forward with a screech and slapping his hand on the back of his neck.

"Ouch! Rowan! What was that for?!"

"That's for keeping a fucking Demogorgon as a pet, you idiot! And while around your cat as well! Jesus Christ, what the hell were you thinking?!"

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

"Okay, but you knew he wasn't anything from here! And why didn't you give Dart to Hopper?" Rowan demanded. Dustin was quiet and Rowan groaned, rubbing her forehead in exasperated tiredness.

"I swear to God, for being a literal genius you lack some common sense sometimes, Henderson," Rowan muttered.

"Yeah, I know, I know. I thought we had a bond, okay? But we have to deal with Dart before he escapes," Dustin said firmly.

"Yeah, we do," Rowan muttered as she looked at Dustin with a venomous glare, making Dustin squirm uncomfortably in his seat. She cast a glance at the window, the streets becoming more familiar as Dustin's house came closer—as did the threat of facing a Demogorgon again, even if it was a baby.

Her mind shuddered with fragments of the Demogorgon's jaws, its shrill roars and spine-chilling chirps, its growl as it leaned in, ready to tear her apart in a house with flashing Christmas lights. Rowan looked back, seeing Steve look at her before he looked forward, then down at her crossed arms, at her brass knuckles and the faint blue sparks on her arms, knowing that this and Steve's nail bat was all they had to fight and protect Dustin and Alistair with, which they'd somehow become the glorified babysitters of.

She only hoped it would be enough as Dustin's house came into view and Steve drove up the driveway, looking at the back of the house and to the storm cellar behind it, where Dustin claimed he trapped Dart in earlier.

The minute the car stopped, Rowan didn't bother with getting out the normal way, teleporting out and leaning against the trunk of the car as everyone else got out and headed to the trunk as well, where Rowan assumed Steve's nail bat was. It was confirmed when Steve ordered, "Move, Graveswood."

Rowan complied, sticking her hands in her jacket pockets as Steve unlocked the trunk, tossing the keys to Dustin, and grabbed the nail bat out. They all shared a look before Steve slammed the trunk down and turned on the flashlight he'd grabbed. 

"You got a flashlight, Graveswood?" Steve asked.

Rowan's lips quirked up in a smile. "Don't need to. Walking flashlight, remember?"

Steve's mouth tugged up into a smile, remembering the joke, before his face became serious once more. Rowan's did too, and she sidled closer to Steve as they all headed to the storm cellar, Dustin and Alistair trailing behind them.

When the storm cellar appeared, it looked deceptively normal. A chain was wound across the handles, and the doors were still. If Dart was in there, he must be really quiet, or asleep.

Or waiting to have them open the doors and tear them apart.

Rowan tried to ignore the shiver the thought brought—of Dart waiting to ambush them—as Steve crept to the storm cellar doors, the flashlight saturating the red paint of the doors. He frowned as Rowan stepped closer to the locked cellar doors, trying to hear the growls and chirps of a Demogorgon, but nothing. The storm cellar was eerily silent.

Maybe he's actually asleep? Rowan thought, but a sick feeling churning in her stomach told her otherwise.

"I don't hear shit," Steve said, as he turned to her and asked, "Do you, Graveswood?"

Rowan shook her head. "Nope, nothing."

 Steve's frown deepened, and he said to Dustin, "You're sure he's in there?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He's in there," Dustin answered in a clearly exasperated voice.

"Maybe he's asleep?" Alistair reasoned, and it was a logical one for why there was no noise, a reason Rowan herself thought of earlier, but now Rowan wasn't convinced, as a sick feeling still churned in her stomach.

Steve also didn't seem convinced, as he banged the cellar door, then again when Dart didn't show, louder this time, making the chains rattle and Rowan nearly jump, both out of her skin and away from here, the edges of her body blurry.

"Jesus Christ!" Rowan exclaimed as he body solidified and she aimed a glare at Steve. "What the hell was that for?!"

"To check the kid is right and he's in there," Steve reasoned.

"Well, if he's in there and he was asleep, then you fucking woke him up, you idiot!" Rowan yelled as she eyed the cellar doors more warily than she had since they first got here, as if expecting Dart to come out and attack in some cheap jump scare. 

But nothing happened, and Rowan's stomach roiled when she didn't hear any noise, any unnatural chirps. The storm cellar was as quiet as a grave.

Steve, who was now convinced there was no monster inside, turned to Dustin, the flashlight landing on his face and blinding the cap-wearing boy, and said, "Alright, listen kid, I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank... you're dead."

"It's not, alright, it's not a prank, he's in there," Dustin insisted, blinking heavily in the glare of the light. "Get it out of my face."

Steve did so, lowering the flashlight as he jerked his head to the chains looped around the handles of the cellar doors and questioned, "You got a key to this thing?"

"Yeah, of course I have a key," Dustin said with a roll of his eyes, pulling out said key from a jean pocket and handing it to Steve, who gave the flashlight to Dustin after taking the key.

Steve did quick work unlocking and getting rid of the chains, before he swung the doors open with a groan of hinges that hadn't been oiled in a long time. Rowan's body tensed, veins crackling uneasily with lightning, and out of the corner of her eye, Alistair stiffened, the air around him still and cold as death and the ground rumbling slightly, pinpricks of white flashing in his brown eyes. Both of them ready to use their powers if Dart jumped out screeching and attacking.

But there was nothing. Only empty darkness, yawning before them like a void, concealing any monsters lurking within it. Only a brief circle of light illuminated the space beneath from where the flashlight Dustin was holding was shining upon it, until Steve took it back.

Steve's brow creased as he tried to peer into that darkness with the the flashlight, sweeping it around where they could feasibly see from up here, before reaching the same conclusion as Rowan had—Dart was nowhere to be seen, at least from where they were standing.

It offered little comfort, especially when Rowan couldn't feel the grating frequency all creatures from the Upside Down had.

Rowan moved closer to Steve, looking into the thick shadows before them, hands braced on her knees, trying to sense Dart now that she was closer, but again feeling nothing.

"Where the fuck is he?" she muttered, not liking how she suddenly felt they'd been transported into a horror movie.

And she knew enough about horror movies to know dark basements and storm cellars were bad news.

"He might be further down. Maybe you guys should go down there to check. I'll, uh, I'll stay up in here with Al in case he escapes," Dustin offered, moving a step back from the storm cellar.

"Wow, so brave, Dustin," Alistair said, sarcasm oozing from the words as he rolled his eyes while Steve gave Dustin an incredulous look that Rowan tried to match, but she was secretly relieved; she was about to tell Dustin and Alistair to stay up here where there was less danger—and where they could see the source of the danger coming.

Rowan stepped forward, ready to plunge into the darkness, when Steve grabbed her arm.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Steve demanded.

"Uh, I'm going in there, same as you," Rowan answered, pulling her arm out of Steve's grasp.

"Seriously? Graveswood, we don't know where Dart could be hiding in there, and your face is still pretty beat up. I'll go—"

"Fuck, are you serious?" Rowan interrupted, gaping at Steve before she narrowed her eyes. "Look, I don't care whatever bullshit macho excuse you have, I can handle myself perfectly fucking fine, especially against Dart, and—"

"I was gonna say I was going to go down first," Steve cut in, glaring at Rowan as he went on, "I wanted you to come down next and have my back."

Rowan faltered, staring at Steve. She hadn't been expecting that, but she had? It seemed clear to her Steve wanted to protect her, like he had and wanted to do so back in the gym, but in this she didn't need protection (even though a part of her liked being protected)

"Oh," she said, before she planted her hands on her hips and went on, "Okay, I get that. But it's better if I go down first. I have powers, remember? I can just fry the son of a bitch and jump us out of there while you watch my back in case he sneaks up on us."

Steve pressed his lips together, obviously not happy, and again she can see the urge to protect her in his eyes, even though he knew damn well Rowan could protect herself. "Okay, yeah, fine."

"Fine."

Steve looked at her, expression now something softer, as he said, "And, I know you can handle yourself, Graveswood. Probably better than I can, but I still wanted..."

"Still what?" Rowan questioned, cocking her head. 

Steve didn't answer, looking away, but she knew what he wanted to say; it was what she wanted to say, why she wanted to go down first.

I want to protect you, too.

"Well, how about we head down there together instead?" Rowan offered, a compromise. "We can both go down first and have each other's backs."

We can protect each other.

Steve stared at her before he nodded, accepting the compromise. "Yeah, sure. Fine."

"Fine," Rowan echoed, turning to the storm cellar. Raising her hand, electricity crackled to life around it, coalescing into a ball of writhing lightning hovering above her hand. Looking back into the darkness, she braced herself and stepped down. 

Beside her, Steve followed, the side profile of him lit up blue-white by the crackling energy in her hand, gripping the nail bat tightly in one hand and the flashlight in the other. But other than the light in hers and Steve's hands, it was pitch black, the darkness so thick Rowan could barely squint into it outside of the sphere of light her electric ball created. Any shadow could hide Dart, and with how she still couldn't sense him, it unnerved Rowan, and made her feel even more like she was in a horror movie—in fact, she'd probably be screaming what an idiot she'd been in heading into the basement if she was watching this horror movie.

"Do you see him? Or hear him?" Steve questioned, voice barely a whisper, footsteps creaking on the stairs.

"No. Do you?" Rowan whispered back.

Steve shook his head, looking into the darkness. "Fuck, it's dark in here."

"Agreed," Rowan muttered. "I feel like I'm in a bad horror movie. And I swear, if Dart does a fucking jump scare, I'll barbecue him."

Steve snorted, but the humour died away when they stepped off the last step and into the storm cellar proper. Rowan looked around, trying to see outside of the electrical light in her hands, to no avail. "Christ, where's the fucking light switch?"

A click answered her question as blessed light flooded the space, destroying the shadows. Rowan looked at Steve, who was holding the light switch, and she let the ball of lightning float up, ready to be called back down, just in case Dart really did do a jump scare.

As Rowan stepped further into the dusty storm cellar, her boot squelched on something. Disgust shuddered through Rowan and she teleported back to the base of the stairs, hissing, "What the fuck did I just touch!?"

Steve didn't respond. Instead, he leaned down and picked up whatever Rowan's boot had stomped on with the end of his bat.

Rowan's eyes widened as she stared what seemed to be a slimy green skin hanging off the end of Steve's bat. Thick droplets of slime dripped from the skin, spattering the concrete floor under them. Steve turned, and he and Rowan shared a look, the same thought running through their heads.

Dart had grown again.

"Shit," Rowan whispered as Steve swung the flashlight around, before it froze on something.

"Hey, Graveswood, can you shine some light here?" Steve asked.

"Why? Did you find Dart?" Rowan questioned as she headed over to where Steve was now crouched by the far wall, calling down the ball of lightning to let it float above her hand.

Steve didn't answer, instead moving aside to let Rowan shine light on what he'd discovered.

What Rowan saw was way worse than a baby Demogorgon that had grown again.

"Oh shit. Oh shit. Fuck"

"Steve? Rowan?" Dustin called down, making Rowan jolt out of her skin. Her heart banged against her rib cage as she whirled and Steve stood up as Dustin went on, "Steve, Rowan, what's going on down there?"

"Are you still alive?" Alistair added.

Rowan rolled her eyes and stomped forward, Steve beside her as he flashed the flashlight up the storm cellar.

"Yes, we're alive, squirt. What, you think we'd die quietly?" Rowan snarked, giving her brother a look.

"But you have to get down here," Steve added.

Dustin frowned and Alistair looked worried and apprehensive, but they came down anyway. And when Dustin saw the skin, his eyes widened to comical levels. "Oh shit."

"That's not all," Rowan said grimly as she and Steve wordlessly swung their respective lights—and in Steve's case, the bat with the skin still hanging off it—at what Steve had discovered, and letting the boys see.

If Dustin's eyes could grow wider, they could as he and Alistair saw what Rowan and Steve had seen—a hole gouged out of the wall, and the tunnel beyond it leading to God-knows-where.

"Oh shit," Dustin repeated, panic clear on his face as they all stared at the winding, hollowed-out tunnel before them, knowing exactly what it meant.

Dart had escaped.

And they now had a Demogorgon loose in Hawkins.

***

AHHH THIS CHAPTER WAS SO FUN TO WRITE!!!

Stowan in their babysitters arc is amazing to write, as is writing Steve as the exasperated mom and Rowan as the angry dad who's giving the kid (Dustin) a lecture about his dangerous pet. Their banter is the best, as is Rowan's thoughts about heading into a basement with a monster (she would survive a horror movie)

Also, heads up: Steve knows Rowan can protect herself, but he still wants to protect her, and the feeling's mutual. Don't worry, it won't take long for both of them to realise they work best when they're a battle couple and protecting each other <3

And yeah, now Dart is loose! And my fave moments are now coming up...

Next chapter will be very soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!