Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Steve and Dustin were behind a fake bush, looking for "evil Russians" with a pair of binoculars. While Steve was looking for "evil Russians" with binoculars, Dustin asked, "By the way, how did Kali take the news?"

"Took it well, believed the Russians are here," he answered.

The curly-haired boy nodded. "That's good. Anything new on the rats?"

"Well, she was calling around all day and found out-" He stopped when he saw one of the girls that laughed at him when another slapped him with a guy he knew. He snickered and said, "What?"

Dustin looked concerned. "What?"

"Anna Jacobi and Mark Lewinsky?" He saw the guy whisper in her ear, her laughing. "Whatever happened to standards?"

He frowned and said, "If you're not gonna focus, then give me the binoculars."

He snickered before looking away. "Right, right, sorry."

He sighed. "What did Kali find out?"

The teen cleared his throat and answered, "Well, a few companies and farmers were missing their chemical stuff."

"What chemical stuff?"

"Fertilizer, pesticides, cleaning supplies, that sort of thing." Dustin nodded, looking a little grossed out. "Kali thinks the rats are eating them."

"Uh, it doesn't take a genius to know that shit kills, especially mixed together."

"Yeah, but..." He stopped looking through the binoculars and looked at his little buddy. "She thinks these aren't ordinary rats we're dealing with."

The curly-haired boy looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged. "Well, it's the Russians, right? Maybe they did something to the rats to make them stomach that shit."

He looked skeptical. "I don't know."

He shrugged again and looked through the binoculars. "Suit yourself, pea-brain." He could only scoff at that.

It started to rain out, but the girls already had their raincoats on, so getting wet wasn't a problem. Max got out a spare key given to her by her mom and used it to unlock the door. Completely unaware that the door was unlocked already, she used the key and opened it up, the two getting inside before closing it. The girls removed their jackets and their shoes, Jane looking around as they hung the jacket up on the coat rack. They both could hear Billy's radio from his room.

Max extended her arms and said, "Well, this is my home. Definitely not as fancy as yours, but hey."

She smiled at her and told her, "It doesn't look that bad." She paused. "Where's the bathroom?"

The redhead pointed at the hallway. "Middle door on the right." The brown-haired girl nodded as she walked and went in there. Max sighed, starting to think about the talk Kali and Steve had with Jane. She sat on the couch, thinking.

So, Jane and even her acting like bitches to the boys was a bad thing. Yeah, they had a reason to be mad, but...yeah, she guessed they were right. They should've calmed down. But the boys were also dicks about it, so they weren't completely at fault there. Still...her mom and dad went through the same thing and that was why she's got a shitty family instead of a happy one. She didn't like it, Billy made it clear as all hell that he didn't like it either, she's even seen her mom with a doubtful face sometimes.

She doesn't want that for Jane, her first and only female friend. She just wants the best for her.

"Uh, Max?" Jane called out from the bathroom.

She broke out of her thoughts and looked at her friend, replying, "Yeah?"

"There's blood on the cupboard under the sink..."

She looked shocked to hear that, shooting up from the couch instantly and going into the bathroom. "What?!" She got in, smelling air freshener, so at least Jane was a bit responsible. But that wasn't important right now.

She crouched down with her friend and saw the blood stains on one of the knobs of the cupboard. She looked just as shocked and disgusted as Jane was. "What the hell...?" she muttered.

"You have any idea what happened?" the brown-haired girl asked her, the redhead shaking her head.

"I can't imagine any of my family cutting themselves on something before using this."

"Then what's going on?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." They got back as Jane used the other knob to open the cupboard, getting out the trash can. They looked inside for clues...seeing the bloody lifeguard bag and whistle. Their jaws dropped at the sight before she shoved the trash can back into the cupboard and closed it. They stood up and looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Do you think Billy..." Jane asked, Max looking scared for her stepbrother.

The redhead then spotted the bathtub with the empty ice bags floating on top. Jane also spotted that as well. The two got close to the tub. "What's this?" Jane asked.

Max just shrugged and answered, "Billy works out like a maniac, so the ice is probably for his muscles or something. But..." She looked back at the bloodstain before looking at the tub. "Maybe there's more to it."

Jane nodded. "That's what I was thinking." They exchanged glances before they got out of the bathroom to see if Billy was anywhere around the house.

Inside Will's room, his radio played static as Mike, blindfolded with a washcloth he found, was now looking for Zoe. He had already tried Katie and she was at the pool, completely fine. He removed his blindfold and sighed. Lucas and Will, sitting across from him, knew that look on his face. "She's fine too?" Lucas asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, and at the pool with Katie," he answered.

Will got Heather's picture and handed it to him. "Last girl," he said. "Heather." Mike got a good look at her picture before he pulled the blindfold back down and tried to lose all of his senses once more.

In the darkness, Mike spotted a mailbox first, having a sign below it that says the address number: 1438. He walked to it and touched it, feeling the drops it got from the rain outside. He then spotted a red door not too far from the mailbox.

He began walking towards it...

And then he said to his friends, "I see a door. A red door." They looked a little surprised that he didn't see her straightaway, thinking maybe she's the one with Billy. The radio switched on to what he was hearing.

He stopped at the door and put his hand on the knob, getting a strong feeling in his gut that something bad is going to happen. He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. There, he found a bathtub that was, again, not too far from him. Puzzled, he approached it slowly. When he was close...he saw that the tub was filled to the brim with ice. He looked unnerved about that.

Suddenly, a girl, who was Heather herself, popped up, startling Mike. She looked at him, shivering and looking like she was crying. He looked horrified to see her like this before she pleaded in a small whisper, "Help me."

Before he could respond in any way, she suddenly got slinked back down into the tub. He gasped and shouted, "NO!" He reached down, the tub disappearing and him touching and moving around the liquid he was standing on.

He saw her get pulled down under, screaming and reaching for him. "HELP ME!" He shoved his hand underneath the liquid to try and reach her, but she was getting pulled down really fast and her screams were dying down. He then shoved his other arm and face into the liquid to try and help her. He was yelling, though nothing could be heard and all that came from his mouth were bubbles.

She then disappeared into the abyss, him horrified and distraught.

He was quick to remove his blindfold again, his nose bleeding and him taking big breaths due to him being submerged in that liquid. Lucas and Will quickly got to his side, trying to comfort him. "Dude, are you alright?!" Lucas asked.

"What happened?!" Will also exclaimed.

Once he regained his breath, he looked at them both before burying his face in his hands, trying not to cry. The boys hugged him for his comfort, but he didn't feel much better. What he saw...her being pulled under like that...he...

He didn't know how the hell to feel about it other than horrified and distraught.

In the Gap, Terry noticed that Stacey has been acting really off. She was usually more chatty and lively and at least looked like she was happy to serve the customers. Today, she was more stiff and a lot more alert than usual. She wondered what the hell was going on with her.

That was why, after she helped a customer with a pair of pants, she walked towards Stacey, who was just standing and looking around...again. She placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Stacey."

The curly-haired woman gasped and tensed up before looking at her friend. She faked a smile and replied, "Oh, hi, Terry. What's up?"

She sighed. "What's wrong?"

She gave her a puzzled look. "What?"

"You've been acting weird today. You keep looking around like you're about to be attacked at some point-" Stacey's smile dropped. "-and you're talking a lot less." Now she sighed, looking away from her friend. Terry frowned and asked, "Is it about Billy?"

She tensed up at that name, sure that Terry felt it too. She couldn't lie to her, so she answered, "Yes."

"What happened?"

Stacey took a deep breath, looking around to see if anyone was listening or looking at them. She then whispered to her, "Not here. Follow me." She then walked that way to a place where the stores were connected. Curious, Terry followed her.

The curly-haired woman looked around to make sure it was just them. When the coast was clear, she leaned against the wall, looking at the dirty-blonde-haired woman straight in the eye. "Why do we need to be here to talk about Billy?" she asked her. "Is it because you guys are-"

"No," Stacey answered, cutting her off. "I...I need to make sure nobody suspicious can hear us."

She got even more puzzled. "'Nobody suspicious'? What?"

"I know how that sounds, but you have to hear me out." Terry crossed her arms. "You're my friend, so I can't lie to you, especially about something serious like this."

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Stacey?"

She looked at her worryingly, saying, "What happened with Billy was not what I expected." Now Terry raised both her eyebrows. "And definitely not what you would probably expect as well."

"Really?"

Stacey nodded. "When I left earlier yesterday, I went to the pool to confront him." Terry nodded, a signal that she was all ears. "But then I saw him leave, though it wasn't close to closing time." She was still listening in. "I thought that I should follow him to confront him. Then..." She took a deep breath. "I saw him stop at an abandoned steel mill."

That made the dirty-blonde-haired woman look concerned. What could a boy his age want to do in an abandoned steel mill?

Now aggressively making coffee, Kali used a helping set of steps to get up to the cupboard and get the coffee powder. But when she opened up the cupboard, a fake rat tapped on the back of it made her gasp and shoot back, nearly scared. She heard the men laugh, making her slowly turn to them. "There it is!" Bruce said at his desk, clapping and pointing at her. She gave him a sharp glare. "Careful. It might have rabies!" He mimicked a mouse, making the men laugh again. She was seething with rage and annoyance, but knew she couldn't just tell them off, so she turned back and ripped the fake mouse from the cupboard.

"Better get that thing outta here or it'll eat your car's tires out!" She gripped that mouse tightly, but then started to think of something...other than chucking it to Bruce.

...

As she entered into the processing room, Jonathan was annoyed and exclaimed, "Oh, come on!" Kali closed the door behind her. As he faced her, she tossed him the fake rat, smiling. He got confused quick. "The hell is this?"

"Proof," Kali said, making him even more confused.

"Proof?"

She walked towards him. "Those scumbags said they needed proof, right? So, let's give it to them."

He held it up to her. "We should give them a rubber rat?"

She sneered at him and shook her head. "A REAL rat, Mrs. Driscoll's rat!" He looked concerned as she pointed at him. "We both saw that something's wrong with it. We could take it to an animal control center, have them run some blood tests, and figure out what's wrong with it-"

"Kal, wait, wait." She stopped. "Tom didn't ask us for proof, he asked us to drop the story."

"Because he and those assholes don't believe us!"

He looked more concerned for her. "Kali..."

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm just saying, you should've thought about that before talking to them." She rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "I know they're assholes, alright? I get it." She looked back up at him. "But it's just some stupid story-"

She scoffed. "'Just some stupid story?'"

He sighed. "Stupid to get fired over."

She chuckled ironically. "You know what? At this point, I don't give a shit if I'm fired."

"Good for you, but I give a shit if I get fired!" He looked away from her and leaned forward against the tray table, clearly looking upset.

Kali took a deep breath to calm herself down and got close to him, saying, "If you don't wanna go because of this job, that's fine." He looked at her as she got her palm out. "Just give me your keys. I promise I'll bring your car back in one piece."

Jonathan also took some time to calm down. He really didn't want to get fired...but Kali was his best friend. Plus, they've had each other's backs since '83. There was no way he couldn't let her do this on her own. He turned to her and got out his keys. However, he held onto them and smirked, saying sarcastically, "You know how much you're relentless, Kal?" She grinned before he went to get his raincoat.

"You say relentless, I say brave as hell," she replied wittingly.

"Yeah, yeah..." They then left the room to go to Doris's to get the rat.

Terry looked shocked to hear the rest of Stacey's story, having to take some time to process everything. She looked down, muttering, "My God..."

"I know," Stacey replied. "I...I couldn't believe it either when I saw it, but..." She looked like she was about to burst into tears again. "Seeing that happen before my eyes, I..." Terry went and hugged her, comforting her. She sighed and said, "Thank you." She released the hug, Stacey sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I'm so happy you believe me."

Terry sighed as well. "Because I know what you're talking about."

Stacey's eyes widened, her looking baffled. "Wh-what?"

"The creature you described to me..." Now she looked scared just thinking about it. "I know what it is."

She looked even more baffled. "How?"

"It's a long story. We should get back to work-"

The curly-haired woman shook her head. "No. I have to know how you know now." Terry pursed her lips. She knew the manager was going to have some questions, but this really was important.

"Okay...let me start with the missing boy from '83."

Stacey looked a little puzzled. "The boy that got lost in the woods?"

Terry shook her head. "That boy was Jane's best friend and he didn't get lost in the woods." Now she looked like she was all ears. He didn't get lost in the woods...?

The girls couldn't find Billy anywhere in the house, so they got on their raincoats and rode their bikes to the pool, where everyone was leaving. They were speaking to the manager at the front desk about Billy. "He's not here," the guy said to them in a monotone voice. "Didn't even come in the morning."

The girls looked shocked. "Not even in the morning?"

"No."

They both sighed. "Thank you," Jane said before they walked to their bikes, putting their hoods up. "He's not here either."

"God..." Max muttered, looking down solemnly.

The brown-haired tomboy saw this and held her arm, not caring that her hand got wet. "You care a lot about Billy."

She sighed and looked at her friend. "He may be a piece of shit, but he's also my stepbrother." She shook her head. "Anything happens to him, I know my family will be affected."

Jane nodded understandingly. "Do you know where else he could be?" She just shook her head. Jane sighed, thinking for a bit before thinking of an idea. "Maybe we should tell the boys about this?"

She gave her a puzzled look. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I know they acted like jerks yesterday, but maybe they've seen him or might know what happened to him. If not...at least we gave them a heads-up."

Max thought she had a point there, so she nodded and replied, "Okay. They're probably at Lucas's."

Jane nodded back. "Then let's go." They then headed to their bikes and rode away.

...

Dave just got back into his car, sitting on a towel and using another to wipe himself off. He then unwrapped that towel and got out the walkie-talkie. As the girls rode by him, he pressed a button and asked, "Stace? Andrew? You there, over?"

Both the women were silent when they heard a voice whirring behind Stacey. She got the walkie-talkie out of her back pocket and answered into it, "I'm here, Dave." Terry looked a little puzzled. "What's going on, over?"

"It's raining cats and dogs out here. Still no sign of Billy though." Now the dirty-blonde-haired woman got why she had a walkie-talkie now. "Should I get back home? I don't really have something new to change in, over."

She gulped. "You can go back to change, but you should meet me at the Gap. I found out something very important, over."

"Oh, alright. See ya and Andrew soon, over." She then put the walkie-talkie back in her back pocket.

"Andrew's here?" Terry asked.

Stacey nodded as she stopped leaning against the wall. "I told him to look around to find anything suspicious. We'd check up every hour. Speaking of which..." They both got out of the hidden hallway, seeing Andrew looking around before spotting them. He was surprised to see Terry as well, smiling a little.

"Hey," he greeted.

Terry smiled back a little and greeted back, "Hey."

Stacey got close to him and whispered, "I told her everything." He looked more surprised before she added, "She believes me though and has something important to tell us." He got even more surprised by that, looking straight at the woman he was starting to like more. He wondered what she knew that he and his friends didn't...

...

When Dave arrived shamelessly in a bright yellow raincoat, a plain white shirt, khakis, and some working boots, he looked surprised to see the dirty-blonde-haired woman with his friends outside of the store. But then she told him and Andrew what she told Stacey and both the men were shocked.

"I can't believe you knew this thing before..." Dave muttered.

"But..." Andrew said, curious. "It's from another dimension?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"And it looked more like a shadow?"

"Yes. Will drew it as such and Joyce told me it looked like parts of a shadow was leaving him."

The men sighed heavily, looking away from her at the second. "Then...this means..." Dave muttered.

"Billy is possessed by...that Mind Flayer," Stacey stated in a serious tone. "And that lifeguard must be too."

The three looked like they've seen a ghost. "Holy..."

"But this means we can kill that thing with fire...right?" Andrew asked Terry.

"Yes, but...where are we going to get fire or even heat? A box of matches wouldn't work."

She got them there, making them purse their lips. "Well, that lifeguard's his age, right?" Dave questioned. "So she must have parents."

Stacey sighed. "If only I cared to learn about her name..."

Terry's eyes flickered, saying, "Heather." The group looked at her as she looked at them. "The lifeguard you described to me looks like Heather Calloway, the girl that goes before Billy."

They all looked surprised that she remembered her name. "How did you know that?" Dave asked.

She smiled a little. "My oldest daughter works for her father at the newspaper. I've driven Heather to his home when her car broke down one time."

Their eyes all twinkled. "You can get us there?"

She figured what the plan was, so she nodded again. "If you want to warn them, if they would believe you."

"Better now than never," Andrew said. "We'll meet you both outside after you guys are done with work." And just like that, they left, but not before Andrew lingered his gaze on Terry, her curious about why he did that.

Stacey noticed that and grinned before she said, "Come on. Let's get back inside before the teens get more suspicious." Terry didn't need to be told twice.

It was evening, but dark and raining a lot more heavily than before. In the rain, the boys, Mike now on Will's bike, rode all the way to the Calloway's, thanks to Mike getting the address number from the mailbox he saw. All had their raincoats on and the hoods over their heads, their bikes' lights helping them see through the darkness and the rain.

As lightning and thunder rolled, Mike hanging on tighter than usual, they've arrived at the house. They all saw the mailbox and the red door Mike had seen. "This it?" Lucas asked. The freckled boy just nodded as an answer.

"Are we sure we should break in like this?" Will asked. "What if her parents are home?"

"We'll, uh, think of something." The auburn-haired boy sighed and shook his head.

...

Mike used his powers to unlock and open the door, his nose bleeding a little before he wiped it off. They slowly and quietly walked inside, Will slowly closing the door behind them. They removed their hoods, their hair wet, and got into a hallway. There, they heard some light string music playing from somewhere. A picture caught Mike's eye, him approaching it. It was a picture of the family: Heather, her father, and her mother. All were formally dressed and Heather looked happy and healthy, leaning on her father's shoulder.

Suddenly, a woman's laughter from that same somewhere broke the boys' concentration, them looking to their left and walking there. Slowly, they saw Heather's mom and dad...having dinner with Billy. They all looked at the boys, them looking like deers in headlights as their hearts raced, wondering what bad thing could happen next.

The blonde-haired teen...grinned at the sight of them, then looked at Lucas. "Lucas," he said, the boy mentioned flinching. "Surprised you and your friends are here."

The boys looked at the parents, them looking not-so-grateful that three boys they never knew were in their home. "You know these kids who are dripping all over my living room, Billy?" the father asked.

He chuckled, smiling and saying, "Of course." The boys took note of his behavior. He seemed nice...which was creepier than him being him. His hands gestured to the parents. "Janet, Tom..." He then gestured to the kids. "These three are the kids I usually babysit." They looked surprised at him making up a lie instead of them.

He stood up from his chair as Janet looked pleasantly surprised, saying, "Oh~..."

"What're you little troublemakers doing here?" Billy asked enthusiastically, creeping them out even more.

"Well, we, uh..." Lucas started, stammering a little before deciding to live up to the lie. "We, uh, saw you weren't at...my house, so, uh...we started...looking for you."

"By barging into my home?" Tom asked, clearly annoyed at the boys.

Lucas and Will faked a smile before Will lied, "W-we knocked and the, uh, door was unlocked. I guess you didn't hear us because of the storm." Tom sighed, looking at Janet, who just looked down and sipped her wine.

Billy laughed a little, saying, "Well, I guess I forgot to tell you and the girls that I wouldn't be looking over you guys tonight because I got dinner and..." He shrugged. "I didn't want to miss it."

Mike glared sharply at him, asking, "Where is she?"

He looked at him, lingering a little and faking a puzzled look. "Where is who, exactly?"

He opened his mouth to say her name, but then the girl herself appeared with a sheet of freshly-baked cookies, saying, "Sorry that they're a little burnt, but-" She stopped when she looked at the three boys, her smile dropping.

Still enthusiastic, Billy's arm pointed at her and he said happily, "Heather!" He pointed at the boys. "These are the kids I usually babysit, remember?" He gave her a look that made her understand that this was a lie and she'll play on with it.

"Oh! Hello!" she greeted them just as enthusiastically.

The boys all felt it in their gut that something was wrong here. This all feels VERY off, especially since Billy was WAY TOO NICE and he gave Heather that look. Mike felt that most strongly.

Billy then looked at the telekinetic boy, his eyes turning from friendly to sharp, though his face still remained friendly. "So, tell me..." He trailed off, not knowing his name. "I'm sorry, I don't quite know your name?" he asked in a whisper.

He didn't stand down from his stare and answered, "Mike."

He grinned. "Mike, ask me that again. Were you...looking for somebody other than me?" He was, the boys were, but...

He looked at the curly-haired teen herself, saying, "But I saw...I saw you-"

As an attempt to quell Mike's bluntness, Will spoke up and interrupted, "Your manager at the pool." Mike looked at him weird while Heather now faced her attention towards him.

Lucas nodded and added, "Yeah, he, uh, said you guys weren't there today, so, uh-"

"We were worried."

"ESPECIALLY since Billy didn't come home." Mike glanced at the two boys, looking baffled.

"Oh, Heather wasn't feeling so hot today, so we'd thought to take the day off to nurse her back to health," the blonde-haired male explained. Now his vocabulary was off...

He looked at her and asked, "But you're feeling just fine now, right, Heather?"

She nodded and gave the boys a reassuring look. "I feel so much better now." He then looked at Mike again, giving him an expression that claimed that he won. The freckled boy only narrowed his eyes at him, not giving him the chance to feel better about this. "Do you boys want a cookie?" They looked at the teen girl, her extending the sheet to them. "They're fresh out of the oven." Any other circumstance, they would gladly take a cookie. But no...this was creepier than they thought it would be.

...

Thunder rumbled as they went outside, got on their bikes, and rode off, feeling relieved that they were out of there. Billy had watched them leave, but he specifically looked at Mike. "He" gave him visions of what happened half a year ago.

Mike was the boy that used his power to his full extent to shut the gate with "him" in it. He was powerful for a little human. And for that...

He must be stopped.

Billy's pupils dilated and blackened veins were seen on his eyes.

...

The back of Will's neck rose in goosebumps again, him gasping and tensing up. Again...and it was the second time today. This had to mean something.

Uh-oh...well, how was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?

Y'know, I actually had this done a few days after I published the last chapter, but I was so caught up with school and I had to prepare for an interview from an internship (which I got accepted into today, yay!) that I couldn't publish this chapter until today. Hope it was worth it!

Hope I wrote the part with the adults well. I don't think Stacey would beat around the bush when it comes to her friends, so of course she had to tell Terry what happened, in which she believed.

Things are gonna get intense next chapter, so keep supporting this fanfic like you guys do and I'll see you then!