CHAPTER SIX:
THE SEARCH FOR DART

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

THE LOUD, SHRILL ring of the school bell made Liz slam her Algebra book shut, and exit the classroom along with hundreds of other students. She headed straight to her locker, and started putting anything she didn't need for homework in her locker. A tap on her right shoulder made her turn in that direction only to hear a small giggle on the other side of her. Liz turned to her left and her pupils dilated slightly seeing the redheaded girl.

   "You coming with us to show Mr. Clarke, Dart?" Liz asks the redhead, who was grabbing her skateboard from her locker.

"Hell yeah." Max smiles. Liz chuckles and the two girls walk side-by-side towards Mr. Clarke's classroom where Dustin and Lucas are already entering.

Dustin places the machine he built onto Mr. Clarke's desk just as Max and Liz are entering. His eyes brighten as the two girls walk into the room and stand by Mr. Clarke's desk, "This is the reason I was late for class."

Mr. Clarke looks at the small machine and the smiles, "Pretty neat. These doors function?"

Dustin's face drops, "Well, yeah, obviously. But it's not about the trap. It's what's inside. Now, this very well may change your perception of the world."

Mr. Clarke smiles, "Consider my interest piqued."

Dustin smiles brightly which makes Liz smile at his proudness, "All right, first, let's just clarify that... this is my discovery, not yours."

"Dustin, Jesus! Just show him!" Lucas yells, growing frustrated at Dustin taking such a long time to show Mr. Clarke his new pet.

   "I'm just trying to clarify—"

   "Dustin!" Liz and Max say in unison, trying to get the boy to focus on the task at hand.

   "Okay, fine." Dustin states, smiling at the two girls.

   "Stop! I'm really sorry, Mister Clarke. It was just a stupid prank." Mike rushes his words as he opens the door and runs in. Liz furrows her brows in confusion at his behavior. He grabs the box which makes Dustin immediately ask what the hell's going on. "We need to go, right now. Right now!"

   At that, the gang follows Mike and Will as they run in a panic towards the AV room. Liz was extremely confused as to what was going on, but she knew it wasn't goo judging by Mike's panicked expression when he came into Mister Clarke's room. Mike opened the door to the AV room and let everyone in, before slamming the door on Max, and shouting, "Not you."

   "What the hell, Mike?" Liz questions, pissed about how mean Mike was being to Max.

   "She can't hear this." Mike states sternly to Liz. Mike and the rest of the group surround the table as Mike places the box Dart is being held in, in the center of the table. "I think that Dart might be from the Upside Down. Will told me that last year, on Christmas Eve, he coughed up something that looked a lot like Dart."

Banging comes from outside the door, "Hello? Hello? Guys, come on! Can I come in yet?"

"No!" Mike yells, making Liz sigh as Max probably felt very left out. Liz knew that it was better for Max not to hear this as it could put her in a lot of danger, and the last thing that Liz wants is Max in danger.

"I don't understand." Lucas states.

"What do you not understand?" Mike questions, confused at how he wouldn't be able to understand what he just explained.

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Lucas asks.

   "Kind of," Will answers. "But there was no tail."

   "But then he heard it yesterday." Mike adds. "The exact same sound."

   "Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asks, annoyed and angry that they didn't know this information.

   "I wasn't sure." Will answers. Liz thinks back to that morning when Will was looking at Dart nervously. That must've been the moment he realized that Dart might not be from this world.

   "So, it's a coincidence." Dustin states, not wanting to believe that Dart is from the Upside Down.

   "Or not." Mike states. "What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"

   "True Sight?" Lucas questions, confused.

   "It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin states.

   Lucas sighs, "Elaborate."

   "Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all." Mike explains to his skeptical friends. "Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down."

   "So that would mean..." Lucas starts.

   "Dart is from the Upside Down." Liz finishes, finally understanding. Mike nods, confirming it, happy that one of his friends gets it.

   Lucas sighs, "We have to take him to Hopper."

   "I agree." Mike states.

"Me too." Liz nods.

   "No way! If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead." Dustin argues, making Liz sigh.

   "Maybe he should be dead." Mike suggests.

   "How can you say that?" Dustin exclaims.

   "How can you not?" Mike yells. "He's from the Upside Down!"

"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad!" Dustin explains, defending Dart.

"That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star doesn't make them bad." Mike states.

"We have a bond." Dustin tells him.

"A bond?" Mike laughs sarcastically. "Just because he likes nougat?"

"No, because he trusts me!" Dustin yells.

"He trusts you?" Lucas questions.

"Yes, I promised I would take care of him–" Dustin starts, until Dart starts shrieking again, this time even louder. The box starts to shake, and the slowly back away from the table. Liz's eyes widen and her mind starts to flood with different things that creature could do to them. The door gets banged on once again by Max, and she prays that Max doesn't open the door right now. The box continues to shake ferociously, and gets turned over on its side. Mike immediately reaches for a speaker as a weapon. "Don't hurt him."

"Only if he attacks." Mike states.

"Just open it already." Liz tells Dustin. Dustin presses the button and out pops Dart, who has grown bigger than before.

"Holy shit!" Lucas gasps. Liz's eyes widen as Dart starts to grow a leg on either side of his body.

"What the hell!" She yells, and Mike hits the speaker onto the table, attempting to kill Dart, but he gets away. He jumps off the table and starts running towards the door, which gets opened by Max, who picked the lock. Dart runs out the room, and the gang quickly follow him out, hoping to catch him.

"Oh, shit!" Mike curses, watching as Dart escapes. Dustin accidentally runs into Max and falls on top of her. Liz holds out her hand and pulls her up.

"Where'd he go?" Lucas yells.

"What was that?" Max questions Mike, as she lets go of Liz's hand.

"Dart!" Mike answers. "You let him escape!"

"Why did you attack him?" Dustin yells, getting up in Mike's face.

"Come on." Mike says, annoyed, pushing Dustin out of the way as he runs to try and get Dart.

"Don't hurt him! Don't you hurt him!" Dustin yells to him.

◌ ◌ ◌

The group eventually decides to split up, and get different parts of the school to search. Mike got the east, Dustin got the west, Will got south, Lucas got North, and Liz was instructed to check outside just in case Dart got out somehow. They didn't give Max an area, assuming and sort of hoping she'd just go home. Liz was hoping that she decided to go home. She really liked Max (as a friend), but she didn't want Max being caught up in all of this.

   Liz exits the school just as a curly haired, brunette girl is entering. They don't make eye contact, but Liz can't help but feel like she knows the girl. She stands on the steps for a minute, and eventually walks back over to the door. Her hand hovers over the handle, debating on whether or not to go see the girl once more. She shakes her head, thinking that it could not possibly be her.

   "East is clear. No sign of Dart." Mike's voice emits from the radio. Liz sighs as she continues walking down the steps. She looks in corners, and around plants. Dart is a small thing, but he could've gotten bigger. She gets to the back of the school and starts looking around there.

   "West is clear, too. Will?" Dustin asks through the radio.

   "South is clear. Lucas?" Will states. "Anything?"

   There's a long moment of silence before Lucas finally answers, "Nothing here, man. Liz?"

   Liz sighs before pressing the talk button on the radio, "Nothing outside."

   Liz continues searching around the school. She gets weird looks from some people that still haven't left yet, but she shakes it off. A few minutes go by, and Will speaks into the radio again, "Guys... I found him."

"Where?" Dustin asks.

"In the bathroom by Mister Salerno's." He answers.

"Copy that." Mike speaks into the radio.

   Liz starts to run towards the nearest entrance to the school and almost gets trampled by Will running out of the school, "Will! Will!"

   She watches as he runs out onto the field, almost as if he was running from something. He slows down and stops, turning around and looking up at the sky. Liz starts to walk over to where he is, looking up at the sky for what he's looking at, but seeing nothing. Will looks to be yelling at something, and her eyes widen once she realizes he's having another episode. She starts sprinting to the field and that's when his eyes shut. She finally gets over to him, and starts shaking his shoulders, "Will! Will, can you hear me? Will!"

   Liz curses under her breath, and presses the speak button on the radio, "Guys, Will's on the field! I-I think he's having another episode, but he won't wake up!"

   "On our way!" Lucas says into the speaker.

   Liz puts her hands on the sides of Will's face and tries to get to wake by lightly slapping his cheeks. She saw that his eyes were closed, but moving underneath his eyelids. It's like he was sleep walking, but not moving.

   Mike appeared next to her, "Will! Will! How long has he been like this?"

   "A few minutes, maybe." Liz guesses, as Mike has his hand on Will's shoulder. "I saw him run out here, and he was yelling at something, but there was nothing in front of him."

   The two hear running and look over at Joyce, and the rest of the group running over to where they were, "I just found him like this!"

   "I think he's having another episode!" Mike tells Joyce.

   Joyce puts her arms on her son's shoulders, "Will! Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It's mom!Will! Will, wake up! Can you hear me?"

   His eyes were moving faster under his eyelids, and Liz couldn't help but back up and grip Max's forearm in worry of her best friend. The rest of the group was looking at him with worry etched on their faces. Joyce continued to try and wake him, "Will, please, just wake up! Please, wake up! It's mom! Will!"

   Will finally gasped, and woke up, his eyes wide. Liz sighed in relief, and let go of Max's forearm. Will started breathing heavily, almost like he hadn't been getting a lot of air. Joyce hugged him, "Oh my god, are you okay?"

   Will didn't answer. Joyce glanced at Mike and Liz, then finally started ushering him off the field. They walked back through the school, and through the front doors in silence. Liz couldn't help but notice that there was something different about Will. Something wasn't right, and she knew it.

"Okay, that totally freaked me out." Max states, as they stand on the front steps of the school, watching Will go home with Joyce. Liz felt horrible that Max didn't understand, and she wished that she could tell her, but she knew she shouldn't. "Did that not freak you guys out?"

"Two episodes in two days." Lucas says.

"It's getting worse." Mike agrees, Liz nodding.

"You think it's True Sight?" Lucas questions. Mike gives him a shut-the-fuck-up look, along with Liz, who motions with her eyes to Max.

"What's True Sight?" Max asks, confused.

"It's nothing." Liz tells her, faking a smile. She sighs and looks as though she's tired of all the secrets. Liz doesn't blame her, she would be too if she was Max. Liz watches as Joyce drives off with Will and she plays with the bracelet on her wrist to calm her nerves. Something was wrong, and what happened on the field confirmed it for her.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

A/N:

[ 2144 WORDS ]

sixth chapter!!!

get ready for the next chapter bc it's gonna
be full of steve and liz sibling love!!