Chapter 10: the penultimate peril
A/N: This is the penultimate chapter and it is going to be dark. This and the final one will include lots of death and suffering and if you're uncomfortable with that then you might as well save yourself the effort and the nightmares, also well done on getting it this far. This story turned out way darker than I originally planned but in the end I think it's a good type of dark, counteracts the fluffiness of most stories for this fandom. Either way, please can you review to see if I can modify my writing style at all or if you would like anything else from me (I can do light hearted stuff, I'm not just a cold hearted monster) and comment who you'll think will die in the next chapter. Warning, standard stuff, might be a bit more violent but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle if you've made it this far. Enjoy and R&R!
XXX
The familiar trees stood silently at attention as he half stumbled through the dark forest, a thick fog hanging low by his shins as he waded through it, the events of the night clouding his head like a thick veil, impenetrable to see through and all enclosing. He walked and walked, the cool air drying his face but leaving it raw and chapped. The familiar noises coming from the Byers' household were relieving to say the least. He knocked on the familiar door and Mike answered it, his face not registering the battering he received from the very same boy who stood in the porch currently a few months ago.
"I have news" Luke said solemnly
Mike stepped aside, letting him in, the greatcoat he was wearing was unceremoniously dumped on a chair before he took a seat, the party looking at him expectantly.
"What's the matter" Will said, breaking the silence for once.
"You all know what happened to Matthew right?" the party nodded in recollection. "Well, turns out it wasn't a guard that shot him, it was Edward, my eldest brother" he said this with a huff; a mixture of resignation and frustration amalgamating together to create a dark tone.
"So your brother killed your other brother?" Dustin said, trying to make sense.
"Under the orders of Brenner" He finished, the statement taking the wind out of the room.
"Well that's fucked up" Dustin stated loudly, earning him glances from the others.
"And here's me thinking I had a dysfunctional family" Max said, the others glaring at her intensely.
"What, I thought it would lighten the mood" Max said, throwing her hands up in the air innocently.
"What do you plan to do?" Mike said seriously.
"He needs to die, both of them do. The only thing is; after that I cannot see a future for me. Its MAD, mutually assured destruction" Luke chuckled darkly to himself at the thought.
"So don't kill them, just drive them out of town and go into care" Lucas said.
"Easier said than done, there's another factor as well, the lab that was shut down isn't the only one. There are experiments taking place at a bigger facility with more subjects. They asked me to participate and I agreed so I could spy on them and help the kids in there. I helped one escape and she's hiding in the forest at an undisclosed location" Luke said, rubbing his temples with the stress.
"Wait, so more of that shit is going on?" Lucas asked, flabbergasted.
"Unfortunately so, but I have a plan to stop that" Luke said, looking up from his hands again.
"And that is exactly?" Dustin asked
"I need time to flesh it out just... Leave it with me"
XXX
Luke and Will stood on their porch, the silence between them growing awkward.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Will asked hopefully.
"Yeah, meet me at Benny's Burger's at Eleven" Luke said, hugging Will that bit more tightly before heading home.
Halfway back, Luke got a suspicious feeling in his gut, like a knot turning and convulsing within him. He glanced over his shoulder, familiar with the feeling of being watched constantly and never enjoying it for a second.
He picked up his pace, his heart pounding in his ears now as the feeling grew, the knot speeding up its convulsions and making him feel sick with worry. He glanced again, the panic beginning to set in. Seeing his opportunity, he went for it. He took a sharp right down an alleyway before climbing up some steel stairs up a brick building, crouching down and watching intently for any signs of a follower.
Surely enough, two men with auspicious clothing walked up the alleyway, shoulder to shoulder looking about themselves.
"Where is he?" one of them whispered audibly to the others.
"I don't know, kid probably got spooked, let him be; we've got tomorrow" with that the two men walked back down the alley and drove away in a black car with no number plates.
Luke was being followed.
XXX
The next day he took an alternative, if convoluted, way to get to Benny's burgers. When he arrived he found Will waiting in the car park adjacent to it.
"Hey will" he said, trying to hide the paranoia.
"Hey Luke, want to eat?" Will replied, looking flustered.
The two walked up to the counter, the familiar bell ringing as they walked in being a comfort to them both.
"Can we have two cheeseburgers and a plate of waffles to share" Luke asked, smirking at will.
For a few minutes, the couple ate their food in silence, all memories of the lab, the death and the pain of the past few months leaving them instantly as they silently enjoyed each other's company. When they started on the plate of waffles, Luke took a spoonful of the cream, looked at it before dotting it on Will's nose, who looked up shocked before both burst out laughing. Clutching his sides Will wiped away a stray tear before calming down.
"I wish I could do this every day" Luke said dreamily.
"We can do you know, forget about the lab, the war and your family. We could be together like a normal couple" will said hopefully.
"You and I both know that we are no normal couple" Luke said, sounding harsh even to himself.
"What's that got to do with it?" Will snapped, equally as harsh.
"You're right, I'm sorry. Old habits never die" Luke admitted feeling slightly sheepish.
He glanced over will's shoulder, noticing a black car on the opposite side of the road with blacked out windows looking particularly suspicious.
"Hey Will, I've got something to tell you" he took the boys hand and walked him out of the booth and outside into the car park.
"Don't look too scared but there's someone from the labs watching us; keep your eyes on me" he looked into the golden brown eyes of the boy, perfectly contrasting his cold grey orbs.
"Luke, what's the matter?" he asked, still looking at him concernedly.
"Listen, I won't be able to take care of 13 because I'm being followed. You're not at the moment and I doubt they will follow you. They're keeping tabs on me because they think I might betray them" Luke said, cupping the boy's cheek with his hand. "Just remember these co-ordinates; 39.045057, -86.241579, look under the tree and give her skittles; those are her favourite"
"How do you know that they won't follow me there" Will said, his eyes not flinching from the taller boy's.
"Because they won't think of you as a threat if I do this" Luke leant down towards Will and kissed him gently, Will immediately wrapping his arms around the other's back and deepening it, drawing out the display of affection for as long as possible. Partly because he knew they were being watched and he wanted it to be believable, but mainly because he wanted the fireworks going off in his stomach to last as long as possible.
Breaking the kiss, Luke stared deeply into Will's eyes, who were returning the action. Both boys were mesmerised by each other; not flinching for a second as they soaked up each other's faces, committing them to memory. It was a long time they stood there before Will wrapped his arms around Luke's neck and brought him into another kiss, this time lasting even longer than the previous.
"Go home, stay at home and leave after dark. Please Will, I need you to help her" Luke said, shaking him by the shoulders lightly.
"I will, don't worry" he replied, still gazing intently into Luke's eyes.
XXX
The two walked home hand in hand, the warm day bringing all the colours of the flowers out, making them shine and sparkle like a thousand candles.
"Can I use your shed?" Luke asked.
"What for?" Will replied.
"Some unfinished business, it's probably best you don't know" Luke said.
"Okay... Just don't hide any bodies in there" Will said, bumping into Luke lightly.
The two made their way back to the house and found it deserted, Will showed him to the shed, unveiling it like a master architect as the soft wind made the wooden structure creak and groan.
"This will be perfect" Luke said, before rolling his sleeves up and getting to work.
XXX
Five hours later, the finished product lay on the work bench, inconspicuous looking but deadly nonetheless. A briefcase filled with explosives was what Luke had made, specific with the intention to put an end to the monster.
"Who's that for?" Will said, looking slightly scared at the device in front of him.
"Brenner and Edward; they have killed everything that I hold dear. If I put it in the right spot, it could help some of the children escape as well" Luke said darkly, coldly calculating the damage the blast will do to the building.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Will asked, slightly disturbed at the extremes his boyfriend was willing to go for vengeance.
"It's my only option." Luke replied solemnly.
"No it isn't, we could run away with each other, forget about the lab and the war. Just us and thirteen" Will said, taking Luke's hands this time.
"You know as well as I that that isn't possible"
"And you know as well as I that it is possible" Will said, leaning in to kiss Luke on the cheek once more.
"I love you" Luke said, letting it slip out before he realised what he was doing.
"I love you too Luke, which is why I want us to forget about all of this and move on with our lives; so we can grow old together and do everything a normal couple does. Please Luke, I ask this of you now so we can be together" Will finished this with tears brimming in his eyes, hand cupping the face of the taller boy.
"I need these men dead, Will, if not they will continue to torture those children in that place and if I could've stopped it but didn't I would never be able to live with myself. I need this for some peace" Luke said, pleading desperately with Will.
"How about this, once everything is done, you and I will forget about the war, the lab and everything along with it. After this final peril we will live happily ever after and we can kiss and hug as much as you want. But until then, will, I can't live with myself unless I do something to stop them from hurting those children."
Will started sobbing now, putting his head in between the shoulder and chest of Luke and crying into his shirt with the pain of loss.
"Nothing will ever stop me from loving you Will, I want us to be together, but I can't be with you if I let this go on in the lab without doing something"
Will nodded lightly, still distraught but slightly understanding his reasons; despite the fact that they hurt so much. Before heading off, Luke leant down and placed a gentle kiss on Will's lips, turning and heading off into the night.
XXX
The lab was familiar, but no more welcoming. The pungent odour of disinfectant combined with the constant screeching of leather shoes against tiles added a dark and sickening aura to the place. Luke tried his best not to be sick as he walked down the corridors, the guards now recognising him, as a small table was wheeled past with a white sheet over it; obscuring a tiny body beneath. On he went, the doors now turning into a blur of letters and numbers, his eyes on glancing over them briefly before he found the one. He knocked and, hearing no response, let himself in. The room was warm, warmer than the rest of the facility, and yet it was still as cold as ever, tainted with the evil passing through its doors every day. He placed the briefcase that contained the explosives directly under the desk. Inconspicuous enough so that it looks normal, but angled just right to annihilate the intended target. He pulled out the timer and set it to half an hour, looking at the clock and measuring how long before Brenner had his daily meeting with Edward. Setting the lock on the catch, effectively arming the bomb, he left the room untouched, closed it behind him and left the facility, nodding merrily to the desk assistant on the way out.
"Well that was a waste of time" Edward said, slamming the door behind him.
"Tell me about it" Brenner sighed, throwing his papers on the desk.
"Why do we need to even find this subject, she's nothing compared to 16" Edward asked, clearly frustrated. "We killed one of our other subjects just to get nowhere with finding her. She's probably dead."
"No, she is definitely alive and in Hawkins itself; we have had reports of a strange girl with short hair being sighted for ages. We just need to pinpoint her. Another thing is, despite 16 being far stronger; he does not possess the ability to find people using just a picture; that's why we need to find subject eleven" Brenner finished, rubbing his temples in frustration once more; the clock ticking ominously in the background.
"What do we do about 13?" Edward asked.
"Keep on searching for her, she's not too powerful so I think when we do get her back we will just have to dispose of her" Brenner said darkly.
"I'll process the reports from today then" Edward said, turning and leaving the room.
He walked down the tiled corridor, humming some punk rock tune to himself when an ear splitting explosion flung him down the corridor, making him land about ten metres away from when he originally stood. He turned around to see a blackened crater where the offices once stood; immediately becoming aware of a searing pain in his left face. As he put his hand to it, he could feel the splintered bone and the ragged flesh as well as the blistered skin around it. Looking at his hand, he could see the crimson painted on it as he looked, fascinated, at the scene in front of him. He was slipping away, until the world went black.