May 4th, 1987, Monday night
There were two ways to get to Rotten Eggs. One through the road, the one they were using at that moment, and one through the town, the one Dustin had used the other times. Unfortunately, the first one was pretty scary. It was literally a dirt road surrounded by the forest with no lighting at all. Lucas even had to turn on the high beam and slow down so they wouldn't roll over.
Dustin was concerned and asked everyone to be alert if someone was hiding in the woods. Suddenly, a light just ahead scared Lucas and he braked hard. Then the shadow ran and Dustin rolled his eyes.
"It was just a cat, Lucas!"
"Exactly!" Lucas wasn't used to all that adrenaline while driving. "I didn't want to run over the poor guy!"
And Dustin smiled knowing that his friend was scared. But he didn't blame him. If it was his first time entering Rotten Eggs, he would be too. His luck was that the first time that he dared to venture there, it was very sunny. During the night it was really scary, specially by the forest. Well, Dustin had never entered the forest, but his little experience with the inhabitants there made him more confident and he had to guide the group or else they would be lost.
"Do you think Troy would be crazy enough to come here?" Will asked, breaking the silence.
"If we are, why wouldn't he be?" Mike answered with another question.
"Because we have Hannah's protection!" Will remembered and Lucas rolled his eyes.
"I swear Dustin! If this Hannah doesn't exist, I'm going to kill you!"
"People!" Dustin got angry. "Why have you so little faith in me, huh? Are you still mad that I lied about Dart?"
"It's just that you never talked about her, Dustin!" Max tried to explain defending her boyfriend.
"Maybe for the same reason I didn't talk about Dart!" Dustin spat out the words and everyone was quiet. Were they being such bad friends? Dustin could only be exaggerating, he could say anything to them. This didn't mean that what Dustin thought was right and that is why they would do his will. But maybe if they had supported him a bit more... "Yes!" Dustin celebrated the fact that they arrived at the end of the road and there was the well-known Dark Legion that he loved. At night, it felt like a dream.
Everyone's eyes widened when they saw the place. They thought it would be much scarier. It was a simple neighborhood, but with a darker touch. However, at night, it was beautiful and relaxed. Maybe people were wrong about them. Perhaps the party should spend a night there and see what they thought. Well, that would be the case, except that they wouldn't do it for fun.
Dustin was leading the way. Not that he knew the place that well, but he spent the entire afternoon studying the map so they could get it right. He took them along a not very crowded path so that they wouldn't have so many people realizing that they weren't from there until they found Hannah.
He asked Lucas to go slowly to not arouse suspicion. Yet the few people they met looked at them as if they were the devil. Max shivered at that, but swallowed her fear. If she wasn't strong, those sissies would shit themselves if they were afraid.
Dustin asked them to park behind an abandoned house so that the car would not attract attention if Troy passed by, handing over their whereabouts. Going around the house was kind of scary. Dustin went ahead thinking that if he had run from a Demogorgan and lured Dart into a trap, he was capable of doing that! Max walked hand in hand with Lucas trying to hide her fear. And Mike and Will were the last ones, very close to each other in case something happened.
Then they spotted the diner and if Dustin didn't run out there, they never would have thought it was where he wanted to go. The place seemed to be completely deteriorated. It was time to do a makeover as it was still open.
Dustin was looking forward to seeing her again and burst through the door, spotting Hannah in the same position as always, but she was a little different. The clothes were the same, but her hair was loose, her makeup was light and he was almost sure that some piercings were missing.
She broke into a small smile when she saw him, but quickly made it disappear. Her expression of discomfort was clear when the rest of the group entered.
"What the hell is this, Dustin?" The Hannah he met a week earlier was showing up at that moment.
"Hannah. Hannah, look..." He went behind the counter next to her. "I need you to help me and my friends!"
Dustin gave that beautiful, toothless smile, and Hannah almost gave up, wanting to smile shyly back, but held on. She was not an easy woman.
"You want help? You want me to help your Remnants friends?"
"Yeah..." Dustin said hesitating. Why was she so mad?
"Oh my God, you're so baggy!" Hannah entered the kitchen leaving Dustin in bad shape in front of his friends, but he didn't give up. He had learned a little to deal with her.
"Just a minute," he said to the group and entered right behind her.
"This is not going to work," Lucas whispered.
"Put a little faith, stalker!" Max scolded him.
"You should go!" Hannah said when she realized that Dustin followed her. She was organizing a cutlery drawer.
"Hannah, what is this?" Dustin approached slowly. What he feared most could possibly be happening. Hannah had slept with him out of pity and now she was waiting for him to leave and never come back. "'You weren't like that before. What's it?"
Hannah didn't want to say. She just wanted him to leave. She was eager all day in expectations and he only shows up at night demanding something from her. Was that why he had slept with her after all?
Dustin leaned against her, burying his face in her neck. If he had discovered one thing about the night they spent together, it was that Hannah's neck was very sensitive. She shivered and felt the tears coming. She closed her eyes trying to contain them, but it only helped them get out faster. She pushed him away from her.
"Is just that you have sex with me and then disappear!" She couldn't keep her feelings to herself. "And it seems you only did that because you need to use me! I can't handle this!"
She turned her back on him, not wanting him to see her cry, because she was completely falling apart there. She spent the whole day trying to hold on, but now she couldn't take it anymore.
Dustin's eyes widened, finally understanding and he couldn't believe it. He smiled at that and hugged her from behind, whispering in her ear:
"Are you in love with me, Han?"
"Get out, Dustin!" She barely managed to say because of the crying and Dustin took advantage of her vulnerability to turn her to face him.
"I am really sorry. I had some unforeseen events that I'm going to tell you, but I never wanted to hurt you! I love you!" He stole a peck from her. "I love you very much."
This time he really kissed her and Hannah reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his neck. Dustin pushed her to the nearest wall and pressed her against him, wanting to demonstrate by his kisses all the love he felt for that woman. If he could, he would take her here and now, but he had his friends waiting outside.
He passed the kisses to her neck and she gasped trying to contain her crying.
"I'm sorry, Hannah," He said between kisses. "I would never want to hurt you. I wanted to come back as soon as I left!" His face was still on her neck. His breath against Hannah's skin made her shiver. "Actually, I never wanted to leave at all, but I had to!" He stared at her again. "I love you, Han."
She took a deep breath.
"I love you too, Dustin!"
He couldn't stand it and kissed her again, wanting to feel what he had felt that night one more time, so he pressed more and more into her body.
"Wait!" Dustin said when he realized something and looked at her again. "I said I'd be back on Monday!"
"You said you'd be back on Monday after school and not at night! I've been waiting for you all day!"
"I can't believe you thought I wasn't coming back!"
He kissed her and squeezed her hips making Hannah moan, which reminded him of something. He pulled away breathlessly, knowing that if they stayed so close to each other one more minute, they wouldn't resist.
"I need help! My friends and I have been bullied since we were about 11 years old and we decided that's enough. I need you to help me get this over with!"
"What do you expect me to do, Dustin ?!" She was just the weird princess of the Dark Legions that no one dared get close to.
"Don't you have henchmen who can help us scare them?"
"Oh, Dustin!" Hannah rolled her eyes. "They are tough, they won't mess with some high school kids!"
"Hannah, you don't understand!" Dustin got closer with a serious expression. "Troy is a tough bone! There was a time when he almost pulled out the few teeth I have with a knife and made Mike jump off a cliff!"
Hannah raised an eyebrow reconsidering what Dustin asked.
"Look, the problem is that they won't want to help the Remnants!"
"Not even if you ask?"
"If I ask, they'll thing it's weird I'm with you guys, then they will ask my father, who will want to kill you!"
Dustin sighed and looked down. He couldn't leave there empty-handed. He had promised that he would find a way.
"Unless..." Hannah's face suddenly lit up.
"Unless?" Dustin got his hopes up.
"Unless they attack me!"
"What do you mean?!"
"If they attack me, the darkers will come running to defend me and scare them. Then you make it clear that you are my boyfriend and they will never mess with you again!"
Dustin couldn't help but smile at the word 'boyfriend', but he scratched his chin thoughtfully and finally said:
"There's only one problem..."
"What?!"
"You being attacked! I don't want you to get hurt!"
"Oh, Dusty!" She put her hands on his shoulders. "I don't want you to worry about that! The henchmen, as you say, won't let anything happen to me!" She gave him a sweet peck. "Everything will turn out fine!"
"I don't know, Hannah!"
He turned his face to the side and she took the opportunity to kiss his neck.
"Dusty..." She really wanted to help him. She liked the fact that he wanted to end this. Hannah should have done this to herself too. She should have asked for help. And she knew that Dustin came to her because the authorities didn't help with anything.
"Han..." he moaned more at the good feeling of Hannah's kisses on his neck than at the fact that he wasn't taking it very well.
"Dusty..."
"O-okay."
"Are you sure?" Lucas said trying to pass by Mike who insisted on staying in front of him.
"Yes, man! I saw it! With my own eyes!"
"So, let us see it too!"
Lucas tried to pass again, but Mike stopped him.
The drama of the moment was: Dustin and Hannah were taking too long. Mike was sent to see if everything was okay, and through the typical restaurant kitchen door window, he saw the two of them making out. But his friends, especially Lucas, didn't believe it.
"This is Dustin's moment" Mike said putting himself in front of the window. "He's very alone. Let him enjoy!"
Then, they heard the door open and there was Hannah and Dustin holding hands going towards them.
"Guys, this is Hannah, my... girlfriend," He would have to get used to that word. "Han, these are Mike, Will, Lucas and Max." He pointed to each of them.
"Are you the girl who didn't choose Dustin?" Hannah asked suddenly and immediately Max and Dustin widened their eyes, because they weren't waiting for that.
"Han..." Dustin tried to say, but she continued.
"It is a pleasure to meet you!" He sighed relieved just like Max.
"Look, Hannah has an idea to help us, but I need everyone to be alert!"
"Those idiots are entering Rotten Eggs!" James said not believing that they scared them so much that they decided to go into that place.
"It's today, guys! It's today that we will have our revenge!" James started to brake and turn and Troy stared at him, frowning. "Hey! Hey! What the fuck are you doing?"
"Letting them get screwed in there!"
"We have to follow them!" Troy insisted.
"Have you lost your mind?! We can't go in there!"
"But there we have much more power..."
The six were in Lucas's car, driving around the neighborhood to see if Troy had dared to follow them. Lucas allowed Dustin to drive and Hannah was at his side in the front. Mike, Will and Lucas were squeezed into the backseat and Max was seated on Lucas's lap.
"What if they haven't come?" Dustin asked worried because they knew that the moment they left the diner, they could be attacked.
"So, we lure them here!" Hannah said confidently and Dustin inadvertently made a pained expression. He was still afraid that she would get hurt, but something that he had realized was that the darkers were very loyal to each other and so, he was putting all his faith in them. He was giving Hannah in!
"Wait! Stop!" Will shouted out of nowhere scaring everyone. Dustin hit the brakes immediately and turned around in alarm. It was better that Will knew something very good to have done that.
"What, Will?" The boy had all eyes turned to him. Something he was already used to.
"Isn't that the Troy's gang car?" he spoke as if it were something common in everyday life and everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.
Immediately Dustin backed up, wanting to hide and praying that they hadn't seen them yet. There was no problem with cars behind, because it was getting dark, and it was only nearly nine o'clock when the movement really started.
They watched their rivals for a while and ended up discovering that Troy had friends who were darkers! They had just parked and were very well received. A man, named Alaric according to Hannah, took Troy inside and the rest stayed with some outside.
"And now what do we do?" Dustin asked worriedly. If they had friends there, the plan was lost.
"What a traitor that Alaric! My father will hear about it!"
"Uh, but aren't you a traitor too for helping us?" Dustin reminded her.
"This guy, Alaric, is my father's right-hand man. He swore total devotion to him, but he walks with a bunch of Remnants. I never said that I agreed with this division, with this hatred of you. Me and my dad just have the same blood!"
She straightened up on the sit and crossed her arms half angry. How did her father miss that? He was going to pay him and he was going to pay dearly.
"So...," Max tried to break the silence. "What do we do?"
"The same plan as before!" Hannah said already getting out of the car.
"So, when are you going to take over this thing, huh? I can't stand being inferior on the other side anymore!"
"I already have all of Vikram's confidence. I'm just waiting for the right moment. We cannot fail!" Alaric took a drag on his cigarette and smiled at Troy. "How's your brother?"
The boy rolled his eyes.
"That fagot of Steve is still in college in Texas trying to forget that bitch!"
Alaric laughed.
Before Troy wanted to be like Steve. The popular, tough guy, but he fell in love with a nerd that looked like a toothpick. He lost his status to that jerk Billy and even asked him to stop pissing off Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Will.
"Leave it, man!" he said and Troy was shaking with rage. For he would take his brother's status back to himself and show everyone what he was capable of. Making friends with the Dark Legions was amazing. They would fear him as well as those people. He wanted to be a darker, but he didn't have the same blood and so it was difficult to be accepted, but that was going to change when Alaric became the leader.
"Troy! Come see this, man!" James came out of nowhere breathless and soon left.
Alaric and Troy looked at each other. Alaric threw his cigarette away and they followed.
The two watched the scene for a few seconds until they understood exactly what was going on.
"Dustin?"
"It's Vikram's daughter!"
The two said at the same time and looked at each other trying to understand.
"This is the kid I came to ask for help to eliminate. But, where are his nerdy friends?"
Alaric started to step back hesitating.
"This is Vikram's daughter! I can't do anything!"
"Are you kidding? She's betraying her father with Toothless!"
Hard to believe it was Dustin grappling with such a beautiful girl.
They walked over to the two, who separated, but held hands when they saw the guys approaching.
"Hannah, Hannah...," Alaric said with a wicked smile on his face. "I'm realizing that you don't like your blood very much. I was always suspicious, but I never thought you were going to stoop so much with this... nerd here!"
"And I didn't think you were going to use a remnant to go over my dad!" Alaric tried to speak, but she interrupted him. "I won't tell if you don't..."
"You're screwed!" Troy interrupted them. "Alaric and I will take over all this shit here. Perhaps even putting together the two areas! And your life will become hell!"
More than it already was? Dustin bit his lip nervously. He didn't expect Troy to be part of an evil plot by traitorous darkers. He never imagined that Troy would try to make an empire out of school, but Hannah started to laugh and he laughed with her trying to pretend he was calm.
"I didn't know you are the leader of the Remnants, Troy!" she said mockingly. "Much less that you want to keep the peace between the two sides!"
Troy grabbed her by the arm and Dustin grabbed her by the other as a reflex to protect her.
"You have no idea of the danger you're in, bitch! You better learn to respect me!"
"Troy...," Alaric tried to say, but each time Troy got closer to Hannah as Dustin tried to hide her. This wasn't going to work.
"You can't do anything! Not even running to your daddy will help, because you won't be able to!"
Out of nowhere, he reached down and put Hannah on his shoulder, lifting her off the floor.
"Wait, Troy!" Dustin shouted nervously. This was going too far. "Take me! But don't hurt her! Please!"
"Troy, she's Vikram's daughter!" Alaric reminded him. Aside from Vikram, she was the last person they could hurt.
"The time has come!" Troy said simply and turned away taking Hannah into the house while she kicked and screamed. Dustin tried to follow him to save Hannah, but the moment he moved, Alaric kicked him in the groin, making Dustin cry out in pain and fall to the ground. He stood with his hands between his legs as he watched Alaric leave, determined that this was the day.
He tried to get up, but that man had kicked him very well and he screamed, not settling for letting Hannah go like that, already feeling tears running down his face.
"Dustin!" Max shouted. She and Mike ran when they saw Dustin being attacked.
"Let's go!" Mike said helping Max to raise Dustin.
"No! I can't leave Hannah!" Dustin shouted worried as his friends tried to drag him to the car.
"We have a plan!" Max said and Dustin doubted a little, thinking that maybe she had said that to convince him to go with them, but was nonetheless determined to find a way. He knew someone who could help.
Lucas was already in the driver's seat and Max got in the front with him. Dustin, Mike and Will followed.
"Guys, I'm not leaving Hannah, understand?" Dustin said in pain still holding his lower parts.
"We neither!" Lucas said turning around. He didn't know where they were going, but they certainly weren't supposed to pass in front of the house that Troy was in. "She was willing to help us, without knowing us! We'll fix it! Will has his camera!"
Will showed Dustin a video of everything that had happened in those five minutes and Dustin was enlightened by an idea.
"Go that way!" He pointed to a path and Lucas didn't hesitate.
The idea was that Troy would attack Dustin and as Hannah was involved, the darkers would be there to help. When they saw that Troy was their friend, they thought about threatening to tell Vikram what was going on if he didn't leave them alone, but they would tell anyway. However, their plan was much more complex and they would need help. Perhaps Vikram had to be involved.
They stopped in front of a bush in the middle of nowhere and everyone looked at Dustin wondering if he hadn't gone the wrong way, but he pushed Mike, who was on the edge, to open the door and get out.
"It's a long walk... Ouch! There!" That Alaric guy kicked him really well. It felt like the pain would never go away and giving up was tempting, but he couldn't. "Max and Lucas stay here. Will and Mike come with me. Will, bring the camera," He turned to Lucas and Max who almost got out of the vehicle until they received the orders. Everyone even looked at each other with the question 'Since when does he tell us what to do?', but decided to let it go. "This will take time."
"Are you sure you can walk, Dustin?" Mike asked as they walked the trail that he once walked with Hannah thinking that maybe he was going to die, but ended up doing something much better. He had kissed Hannah at various locations on that path, the urgency preventing them from holding on until they actually arrived at an appropriate place. He remembered each single time.
"I don't have a choice. You can't do this alone!"
He leaned on trees imagining that maybe a little ice would go very well at that moment, but he knew he would have to turn around. He was about to get into a fight, into a war and he couldn't let his balls win.
"Dustin, you're absolutely sure you know where you're going, right?" Will asked worriedly. He was in the middle of a forest on Rotten Eggs where they could be attacked at any time. Without Hannah they were nothing and he was not feeling good about it.
"What's this smell?" Mike spoke disgusted and Dustin knew they were getting close. They walked for a few more minutes and there they were. The fine drug addicts, hippies, who would definitely help him, because they were nice people and liked Hannah.
"Oliver!" Dustin shouted trying to reach the circle, but still having difficulties due to the aggression.
Everyone there looked at him, because he had just disturbed the peace of the place.
"Dustin!" Oliver decided to go to him, even if he was high he moved better than Dustin, by the way he didn't remember telling him his name. "Is everything okay? Where's Hannah?"
"That's exactly why I'm here! Will!" He turned to his friend who handed him the tape. "Here is a video that proves that Hannah is in Alaric's hands!'"
"Oh, so, she's okay!" Oliver assumed and Dustin shook his head.
"Oliver, we found out that Alaric only tried to gain Vikram's trust to become a leader. He's acting behind Hannah's father's back and he's allied with some Remnants! You can see everything in this video! They got Hannah. I need your help to get her back!"
"Take me home," Oliver said simply and they started to make it all the way back. Dustin leaned on Mike and Oliver so they could go faster.