Chapter Sixty-Three: Code Red

(Dig Dug)

***

The crash of a bowl and a not-so-quiet, "Shit!" roused Rowan from sleep. The teen blinked blearily, a grouchy look already fixed on her face at being woken up so early on a Saturday morning.

But as she buried into her covers to catch an hour—or five—more of sleep, a jangling sound pricked at Rowan's ears and she found herself wide awake, jumping to the kitchen and asking, "Aunt Aco, why do you have the car keys?"

Her aunt whirled, hand to her chest. "Shit, kid! You scared me!"

"Sorry," Rowan said in a way that wasn't truly apologetic. "Why do you have the car keys? Wait, are you picking up Alistair?"

The minute she said the question, Rowan still felt confusion. A look at the clock told her it was six in the morning, and her brother was as notorious as her for sleeping in on the weekends, so no way would he or the Byers be up. And her aunt was dressed in a coat, blouse and jeans and boots—way too dressed up to pick up Alistair and go back home right after.

Her aunt was heading out.

"Uh, no, kid. Al's still at Will's and I think he'll be there for the weekend," her aunt answered as she gripped the car keys. "Sorry for waking you up, kid."

"It's fine. Where are you going?" Rowan grilled, leaning against the wall.

"To see a friend. He called me earlier—said he wanted to run some things by me with a case he's working on," Aunt Aco explained and Rowan's eyebrow raised. Rowan knew her aunt's friends could be... questionable—how could they not be, given her aunt's career of conning and scheming?—but never before had Aunt Aco got herself ready to see them; in fact, Rowan was pretty sure her aunt would rather shoot them in the chest with her crossbow if they showed up on her doorstep or called for her help. So it was very odd, and had a kernel of worry settle in the pit of Rowan's stomach.

Aunt Aco, reading the worry on Rowan's face, smiled and said, "Kid, my friend's solid. He can be a bit eccentric, and toes the line of ethics, but he's one of the better ones. Don't worry."

Rowan worried her lip, resisting the urge to bite her nails. "Okay."

Her aunt smiled, before she cleared her throat and said, "Now, kid, there's some leftover oatmeal if you want to have some—if not, there's cereal and I think some bread left for you to make some toast, and some food in the fridge for you to make some spaghetti or something. Oh, and if Al ends up coming back home today, tell him where I am. I'll probably not be gone longer than a day, but just in case let him know, okay?"

"Okay," Rowan said, nodding.

"Take care of your face, and make sure that you drink plenty of water. Oh, and if you need anything, just head to Wayne's," Aunt Aco instructed. "Also, if anyone comes here looking suspicious and reeking of self-righteousness or lawmaking or government bureaucracy..."

"I'll slam the door in their face and let them know you've never been here and never will," Rowan finished, and Aunt Aco's lips tilted in a grin.

"That's my girl," she said with pride, right before she headed to the door. As she stepped out, she shouted, "See you tomorrow, kid! Stay safe! Love you, bye!"

"Love you too, bye!" Rowan called back as the door banged close, and a minute later, the engine started and Aunt Aco peeled out. Rowan stayed by the door, worry twisting inside her.

Rowan knew her aunt could handle herself—Aunt Aco hadn't gotten by this long in her life if she couldn't—but Rowan also knew outside of fortune telling scams, her aunt might have gotten rusty—what if her friend wasn't as solid as she said he was? What if something bad happened to her aunt?

What if Rowan and Alistair never saw Aunt Aco again like they never saw their parents again?

No. It's not like that. Besides, Aunt Aco seemed relaxed when talking about this friend. That has to be a good sign.

Right?

Rowan bit the nail on her index finger as she got together a bowl of oatmeal from what was left, squeezing a generous helping of honey on it and eating in the hopes of distracting her worry, wincing as the action tugged on her split lip under a bandaid—her aunt had cleaned it and put it on after setting Rowan's nose and muttering, "You're lucky; this is gonna heal up straight"—looking at an empty room that would have had her sleeping brother in it, Hugin also vacated from the room to be near Alistair, feeling unmoored. Because while Rowan knew where her family was, she still felt lost without them nearby, had to know her aunt who Rowan knew would always hold her and ruffle her hair and teach her how to pick a lock and throw a punch and shoot a gun and protect her and the little brother Rowan would take a bullet for to ensure he was safe and happy and would live if it meant she died were okay and safe, as insane as it sounded.

They're okay, Rowan reminded herself. They're both okay. Al's with Will and Jonathan and their mom, and Aunt Aco is coming back.

Slowly, the worry unwinded, passed with Rowan doing the dishes, saving some leftover oatmeal for Alistair, and heading into her room to listen to some music and read and do some homework to pass the time, even unwinding the worry she had for Will, and the dreadful, gnawing feeling in her gut his episodes had heralded the Upside Down's return, that something had seemed wrong with him on the field. That everything was okay.

Oh, how wrong she was.

***

Will's sharp gasp startled Alistair awake, the other boy blinking rapidly as he sat up from where he'd fallen asleep next to Will after they'd talked about the Shadow Monster. Hugin, who'd hunkered down on Alistair's shoulder during the night, made his displeasure known by cawing grumpily and sharply tugging at one of Alistair's curls, but he didn't care, all of his attention focused on Will.

"Will, what's wrong?" Mike asked from where he'd slept at the side of Will's bed. Immediately, Will turned to him, shoulders drawn, taunt as Alistair's aunt's crossbow when it was loaded. A minute later, the sheets were off and he was walking out, heading to his mom—at least, that was what Alistair guessed he was doing.

Alistair shared a look with Mike and both boys followed after Will, Alistair holding Hugin as the raven shifted positions so he was sitting comfortably on Alistair's shoulder, coming out into the living room where Alistair saw Will's mom sitting on the ground, staring at the connected drawings Will had made and were taped across every surface of the house—and after the Christmas lights and alphabet wall from last year, maybe Alistair should assume his best friend's house would always have something weird happen to it every year since he disappeared—lost in her thoughts, so much so she visibly startled when Will touched her and mumbled, "Mom?"

Mrs. Byers turned, and said, "Yeah?"

"I saw him," Will croaked.

Mrs. Byers frowned. "Saw who, baby?"

"Hopper," Will revealed, and Alistair felt his spine lock up with dread as his best friend croaked out, "I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die."

So that was how the search for wherever Hopper was began, trying to glean anything from what he'd said before he left and the vague drawings Will had created, with one section being recently drawn and was where Hopper most definitely was. Alistair squinted at a group of them, the black and blue melding into one in his mind, but he couldn't fathom what his best friend had meant.

Hugin shuffled on his shoulder, claws digging in, and Alistair said, "I can't really tell what these mean."

Looking at the bird, he asked in a deadpan voice, "What about you, Hugin? Can you tell what these mean?"

Hugin gave him as much of a deadpan look as a reanimated raven could muster, before saying through the bond, No. Tell friend and missing friend to be clearer next time.

Alistair snorted. "I'll keep that in mind when we have to search for Hop through drawings again."

Hugin gave a croak that could have been laughter as Alistair looked at the drawings, frowning. What did they even mean? He was stumped, and he knew the longer they couldn't figure it out, the less time they had to find Hopper, alive. Alistair's stomach squirmed as he picked at the skin around his thumbnails. If they could just talk to someone who'd seen where Hopper had went...

Alistair's spine stiffened as his eyes widened. Wait, he could! The ghosts! He could talk to the ghosts—there had to be some who'd seen where the police chief went! And they better tell him—they owed it to him for traumatising him in trying to get his attention for years. He just had to find one that seemed to be trustworthy and wouldn't speak in cryptic riddles like yesterday...

A creak sounded, but Alistair didn't even turn—he was used to strange noises. But he did turn when he heard Will say, "You're thinking of something."

"What?" Alistair asked when he looked at Will. His best friend looked terrible—dark shadows were under his eyes, his pale skin accentuating them, and sweat drenched the front of his sweater. He didn't look as bad as he had when he got out of the Upside Down, but whatever the Shadow Monster had done to him had Alistair both worried and angry at the creature. And what Will had said, about him somehow feeling what the Shadow Monster was feeling since the field, the connection that had been somehow forged between monster and boy... it made some of what the ghosts were trying to tell him slightly clearer. And if the spy thing was true... then the warning of not trusting Will made sense too.

But Will was acting normally, Will was acting like his best friend, and that made that warning harder to abide by, as was the one to stay away from him.

"Your face. When you're thinking of something, your eyebrows kinda pinch together and the side of your mouth gets twisted to the side," Will explained, a tentative smile on his face.

"Wait, really? I didn't even notice I did that," Alistair confessed, his own smile ghosting his face.

But Will had, a voice whispered. Will, the most observant out of them all, who noticed things such as the change in his face when Alistair was thinking of something. It made something in Alistair warm and fluttery.

"What were you thinking about, Al?" Will questioned, shifting his weight. He looked inquisitive, but Alistair could see the misery and fear, the desperation to think of anything else but what was happening to him. And Alistair was all too happy to do that.

"I was thinking... what if the ghosts saw something? They're always wandering across town and the woods, so they could have seen where Hopper went, before he ended up in the place we're trying to find. Invisible witnesses who see everything and all that," Alistair explained, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"That's... a pretty good idea," Will admitted. He frowned and asked, "Are you okay to do that? To ask the ghosts?"

Alistair's heart squeezed at that, the worry in Will's tone, of noticing his apprehension at confronting the beings Alistair had been desperately ignoring and had scared him since his gift unlocked. Again, being observant of him, of his thoughts and feelings.

"I have to be, don't I? I'm the only one who can talk to them," Alistair murmured.

Will still looked concerned, before he looked at the drawings and said, "I wish I could help more."

"What? Will, we wouldn't even be looking if you didn't know Hopper wasn't okay through that connection," Alistair said, trying to be assuring as he moved closer to Will.

"I know, but... I feel like I could do something more. If I could just explain what I keep seeing, or draw it better, or if I could see more than what the Shadow Monster lets me see..." Will muttered, clenching his fist tightly.

Alistair frowned and he moved closer, till there was only an inch between them, gripping Will's shoulders and suppressing a shudder at how cold his best friend felt—that even though it looked like he was sweating buckets, he was icy to the touch.

"Will, you're doing all that you can, and all that you can is good enough for me," Alistair said firmly. "You don't need to be anything more."

Will looked at Alistair, the two boys holding the stare as Alistair's frown deepened and he muttered darkly, "Besides, I'm more worried about what could happen if this Shadow Monster decides to spy back."

Will's face grew pale and he broke eye contact, looking at the wall as he murmured, "Me too."

Alistair looked back at the drawings, the two standing close together, until an engine rumbled.

Alistair frowned. That couldn't be his aunt—he'd told Aunt Aco last night he was staying with Will the rest of the weekend, after he talked to Cami. So who...

Will's eyes widened, as if he recognised the engine.

"It's Bob," he whispered and looked to Alistair. "You need to hide Hugin."

Alistair's eyes widened when he remembered that Bob didn't know about his powers or his family's secrets—and he didn't particularly want the kindhearted man to find out about his future stepson's best friend having powers over the dead with the zombie raven still perched on his shoulder.

Racing for Will's room, Alistair shoved the window even more open than it already had been and hissed, "Hugin, you need to hide out in the woods. Now."

Hugin cawed. No! Don't want to leave Alistair alone. Don't want to leave his friend alone either.

"We'll be fine, Hugin. I'm more concerned about you. Now, hide!" Alistair hissed out.

Finally, reluctantly, Hugin hopped off his shoulder and flew out the window, ducking into the trees—and just in time as Alistair could hear Bob entering the house.

Leaving the window as was, Alistair headed out of Will's room and down the corridor, where he saw his best friends, Mrs. Byers and Bob standing in the living room, staring at the drawings plastering nearly every inch of it. Alistair didn't need to see Bob's face to tell he was confused by... all of this. Alistair wondered how he would have fared with the Christmas lights and alphabet wall of last year.

"Huh," the man only said, still looking at the drawings as they all crowded in around him. He looked at Will and asked, "You drew all these yourself?"

Will nodded.

"Why, exactly?"

"I told you the rules. No questions, okay?" Joyce reminded, at which Bob nodded.

"Yeah."

'We... we just need you to help us figure what..." Joyce went on, moving back to the place where Will said was where Hopper was, drawing a red X on it before she realised that Bob wasn't behind her. "Bob? Bob. Over here"

Bob turned and joined them as Joyce finished, pointing to the X, "Where... where this is."

"That's the objective. Find the X," Mike said, Alistair nodding in agreement.

Bob grinned. "Yeah? What's at the X? Pirate treasure?"

He chuckled, but no one else was. Which, to be fair, Bob didn't know about the Upside Down, its dangers, or that it was Hopper they were trying to find.

"Bob," Joyce said, looking at Bob with a serious look. "No questions."

Bob instantly sobered up. "Okay."

A moment passed, before Bob murmured, "Joyce, let me talk to you for a second. Hang on, guys."

As the adults left to talk, the three boys gave each other looks, before Alistair almost jumped at the sound of his walkie going off in Will's room.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. Looking at his friends—and the adults who hadn't heard—Alistair scrambled to Will's room with mumbled apologies, grabbing the walkie that was crackling with static as he said, "Rowan, before you ask, I'm fi—"

"Alistair! Thank God! Over," Dustin exclaimed on the other end and Alistair's eyes widened.

"Dustin?! What the hell? Also, this is really bad timing, can you call later? Over," Alistair hissed into the walkie.

"No! This is urgent and can't wait! Al, we've got a Code Red, I repeat a Code Red! Over."

"Well, can it wait anyway? There's something else happening right—"

"Dart's a baby Demogorgon!"

Alistair froze, the walkie almost falling out of his hand.

"What?!" he hissed. "You serious? Over."

"One hundred percent! Over."

"And how do you know Dart's a baby Demogorgon when we haven't seen him since Thursday? Over."

"He, uh, came back! But that's not important right now. Can you call Rowan? Tell her to bring those brass knuckles, and to fry Dart with her powers. And call Lucas and Mike and Will—you're the only one who's picked up. Over."

"You do know I have powers too, right? Over."

"I know. Why do you think I'm asking for Rowan as well? Two super-powered people are better than one! Over."

"Glad to hear you have so much faith in my powers. Over."

"Yeah! Whatever. Just tell everyone we've got a Code Red. I'm gonna head to Mike's place and let him and Nancy know. Over and out."

The walkie went silent as Alistair stared at it, torn. On the one hand, he didn't want to leave. But on the other hand, if Dart really was a baby Demogorgon, then Alistair had to respond. He had to let his sister, Mike, Will and Lucas know.

He had to leave.

Getting to his feet, he headed to the door, interrupting what seemed to be an epiphany on Bob's behalf.

"Hey guys, I have to go. Dustin, uh... needs some help at his place?" Alistair lied.

Joyce and Bob frowned in confusion while Mike and Will just stared at him, Mike's stare more accusing.

"Okay. Be safe, Alistair," Joyce said and Alistair nodded.

"Yep. Will do," he promised as he made for the front door, but before he could step through, Mike grabbed his arm.

Turning, he looked at his friend as Mike whispered, "Why are you leaving? We need to find Hopper!"

"I know, but Dustin called me. Said we've got a Code Red, and I need to check it out," Alistair hissed, glaring. It softened as he added, "I'm gonna come back right after. I just need to check it out."

I'm not abandoning Will.

Mike frowned, but he let go, and Alistair looked at Will, before he left and ran to his bike, hopping on and immediately biking away.

As he did, he remembered his promise to Cami, that she must be waiting for him at the arcade. Cursing, Alistair adjusted his path and headed straight for the arcade instead, telling himself he was planning on telling Cami the truth anyway, that he was going to Dustin's and see if Dart really was a baby Demogorgon or not. That he was coming back to Will.

That he wasn't abandoning him.

***

Heheheh...

I loved writing this chapter! I loved the part with Rowan and Aunt Aco (heads up, Aco doesn't randomly up and leave, she tries to stay at home as much as possible to look after and protect Rowan and Alistair, especially when they were younger, this is just a rare circumstance), and with Rowan and her worry and her fear/trauma of losing her brother and aunt after losing her parents, especially Alistair...

Also, any guesses for who this friend is that Aco's gonna see??

And yeah, the later scenes with Alistair in the Byers house and with Will! I loved showcasing more of Alistair's bond with Hugin, and him becoming slightly more comfortable with seeking out the ghosts (also, I feel like if you can see ghosts and know they would basically see whatever shit went down without being taken out because no one else knows they're there, they'd be GREAT witnesses to talk to) And yeah, the scene with Alistair and Will. It makes me soft 🥺

And yeah, Alistair leaving. That was my plan from the start for him to not be there at the lab (and drag Cami into the mess), but I still kinda struggled because Alistair doesn't want to leave Will but he also promised his other friends (he justifies by telling himself he'll be back) But don't worry, I have plans for the other scenes that focus on Will...

Also, these next few chapters, I'm VERY excited to write! Especially as we're getting closer to some of my fave moments from s2...

Next chapter will be soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!