Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

While driving through the rain, Terry and Andrew had remained quiet. She was driving him back to his friends' home, since he didn't tell her to do otherwise. She was also told what had happened in there. She felt horrible for both Dave and Stacey, hoping that they would be alright. God, she hoped they would be alright.

She got a quick glance of Andrew. He was looking out the window, the reflection showing him crying. His sobbing had stopped, since he couldn't stop earlier, though it did look like he was holding back. She frowned. She knew this was hard on him, leaving his friends like that. If she wasn't driving right now...

When she got her eyes back on the road, she suddenly heard him ask, "Can I stay at your house, actually?"

She looked puzzled, looking at him for a second. "What?"

"I don't...I wouldn't feel safe if I got back to Dave and Stacey's. If they..." He trailed off, though she knew what he was going to say.

She checked to see if she was clear, then carefully made a U-turn, going the way to her neighborhood. He looked at her and gave her a weak smile. "Thank you."

She smiled back at him. "As long as it makes you feel safe." They smiled at each other for a little bit more before looking away.

Outside of Doris's house was an open ambulance. The old woman was tied down on a laying cot, yelling that she "has to go back." Kali and Jonathan watched this happen with wide eyes and open jaws, Officer Callahan right next to them and looking the same.

...

As she was being escorted into the ambulance with the teens and Callahan watching, Jonathan put his hands behind his head and Kali just looked both baffled and horrified for her. "Okay, so..." the officer said, his voice cracking a little in shock. "You two wanna explain to me what in the name of God just happened here?" They wished they had an explanation for him, but they didn't want to tell him what they now thought.

Terry and Andrew had arrived home, the long-haired man trying his best to look normal. She parked on the driveway and they exited out of it, running towards the door. She dug into her purse and grabbed her keys, Andrew asking her, "So, I just tell Becky and Carl that I'm crashing here because my van broke down?"

She nodded. "Yes. It's not the perfect cover-up, but it'll do." He nodded before she used the keys to unlock the door. She opened it, not seeing Becky and Carl in the living room but smelling spaghetti and pasta sauce. As they entered in, Andrew looked around and she closed the door behind them. They heard footsteps, then saw Becky pop out of the living room. She looked really surprised and confused to see Andrew there, him smiling at her.

Terry also smiled at her and greeted, "Hey, Becky."

"Hey, Terry..." she greeted back, walking towards them.

She pointed at the long-haired man and said, "This is Andrew. I told you about him." She then looked at him. "Andrew, this is Becky."

She stopped when she was in front of him and smiled. "Oh!" She held her hand out. "Nice to meet ya, Andrew."

He shook it, though he wasn't much of a hand shaker. "Nice to meet you too, Becky."

Now Carl came out of the living room, looking confused and concerned to see Andrew there. He walked towards him. Terry told him, "Carl, this is Andrew, my friend." She gestured between the men as Becky got out of the way for her husband. "Andrew, this is Carl, my brother-in-law."

Like Becky, Carl held his hand out. "Carl Mueller."

Again, Andrew shook his hand. "Andrew Rich."

As they stopped shaking hands, Becky looked at her sister and asked, "Why's he here?"

"My van broke down," he answered, the short-haired woman looking at him.

Terry nodded and added, "Yes. I was driving here from work, then I, uh, saw him and his van in the middle of the storm, so I offered him a lift."

"You didn't bring him back to his home?"

"Well, my home's actually all the way in Bloomington." He laughed a little, getting no reaction from Carl and a smile from Becky. He cleared his throat. "Dave and Stacey are away and they didn't give me their keys to their home, so, uh..."

"I offered to let him stay here for the night," Terry continued. "If that's alright with you guys."

Becky nodded, understanding. "Oh yeah, absolutely." She looked up at her dark-haired husband.

He shrugged and said, "If it's only for the night." Andrew smiled at them.

"Thanks."

"Where are the girls?" the ponytailed woman asked her sister.

"Oh, they're having a sleepover at Max's." She then looked up at Andrew. "You can stay in her room. Don't worry, it's not girly." That made him laugh a little.

"There's also the basement," Terry suggested. "The couch will seem comfy enough for you."

He nodded. "I'll sleep down there then." She nodded back at him.

"Well, I've cooked the spaghetti you had in your cabinet, Terry," Becky stated. "I've left a plate for you."

She smiled at her. "Thanks, Becky."

She looked at Andrew once again. "I could make a plate for you too, if you're hungry."

He shook his head. "Oh, no thanks, I'm...not hungry." Terry looked at him in concern.

Becky shrugged and said, "Suit yourself, Andy." She heard Tina cooing, leading her and Carl back into the dining room. Terry had told Andrew about her, so he wasn't surprised.

"Do you really want to sleep in the basement?" the dirty-blonde-haired woman asked him in a whisper.

He sighed and shook his head, whispering back, "No. I can sleep in your daughter's room."

She nodded and began walking to the dining room, but not before she turned back at him and said, "Make yourself at home." She then got into the dining room.

Andrew took a deep breath and looked around some more. She had mentioned she got a nice house, but he would never imagine it would be THIS nice. It actually looked like a toned-down version of his parents' house growing up.

He went up the stairs and walked through the hallway, seeing a few doors. Once he walked through the entire hallway, he opened the middle door, seeing Jane's room. It wasn't girly, so this must be the place. He walked in, closed the door, and looked around. He saw a bunch of things: posters, action figures, a trophy, some pictures. He spotted J.R.R. Tolkien's books on her shelf, making him get closer to see if she really had all the books.

She did.

He couldn't help but smile. He liked Terry's daughter already. He thought this was the younger girl's room, Jane's.

...

Meanwhile, while eating the spaghetti, Becky looked up at Terry and smirked. She knew that look and scoffed, shaking her head and continuing to eat the noodles.

Once Becky finished her noodles, she used a napkin to wipe the sauce off her lips, then Tina's bib to wipe her food from her mouth. Carl was already finished, standing up and putting his dish and glass in the sink. "Can I take Tina up for bed?" he asked his wife.

"Of course, honey," she replied, the two sharing a quick kiss before he got their daughter out of the crib, carried her while she made a blubbering noise, and left to go upstairs with her. She then gave Terry the same smirk again. "So, that's Andrew, huh?"

"Yes," she answered plainly.

She chuckled a little. "Well, I didn't expect him to be a hippy."

Now she chuckled. "He's not ENTIRELY a hippy anymore."

Becky raised an eyebrow. "'Anymore?'"

She laughed a little. "I told you, we were talking."

"Right." She paused before setting her fork on her now empty plate and standing up with it. "Now you get to spend more time with him."

Terry scoffed. "Becky, I told you-"

"I'm not sayin' you should go and date him or anything." She put the dish in the sink before walking to get her empty glass. "Just getting to know him a little better." She winked at her, making her look away and shake her head.

"He's just a friend."

"Friends can turn into lovers."

She gasped and held her hands up. "Wait, 'lovers'?"

Becky laughed as she put her glass in the sink. "C'mon, I know by the way you talk about him that you got some of those feelings."

Terry set her fork near her plate and buried her face in her hands, covering the blush that was coming up. "Becky..."

She laughed again, walking towards her sister and patting her shoulder. "Don't worry, sis. Your secret's safe with me."

Terry sighed again before getting her face out of her hands and looking at her sister. "What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

She shrugged. "Then what's wrong with having him as a friend?"

She nodded at her. "Right."

She giggled and said, "Listen, sis, I'd rather you have a nice hippy as your partner than...another Martin, y'know?"

She took a deep breath, knowing her sister was right. She did want to get a partner and a proper dad for the girls. If he did...want their friendship to be something more, she wouldn't be opposed to it. He was a kind guy.

Becky saw the blissful and happy look on her face, smiling and hugging her. "Just don't waste this opportunity, sis. That's all I'm sayin'."

Terry hugged her back, saying, "Thanks, Becky."

They released the hug and told her, "I'll be upstairs with Carl and Tina." She just nodded at her as she left the dining room. Terry sighed once more and continued eating her spaghetti.

She guessed she did harbor feelings for Andrew, after all these years. He was the reason why she could get through her "night shift" and he was overall a kind guy. Her feelings for him weren't like her feelings for Martin when they first met while she was in college. She was attracted to Martin's looks and nothing more-god, she was attracted to his looks. She chuckled at that, shaking her head.

Andrew...she'll admit, he was cute, even with the hair. But it wasn't what drove her feelings towards him. It was his kindness, his honesty, his support...just his whole personality. She guessed that what made her have feelings for Jim, but those feelings had faded since the day Mike closed the gate. She just didn't want to rush things between them.

The ambulance that held Doris had drove past the steel mill, the woman screaming and reaching out for it as they passed it. Three cars were parked there: Billy's, Dave's, and Stacey's.

...

"Heather, please! Heather!"

That voice was loud enough to make Stacey stir and wake up. Her vision was a bit blurry, but she could feel herself tied down, wrists and ankles. She was also tied to something narrow and cold...a pole? When her vision cleared up...she saw that she was in the basement of the steelworks, where she witnessed Heather get...possessed by that thing...the Mind Flayer, Terry called it.

She looked to her right to see two other people, Heather's parents, tied up as well and looking helpless while Billy and Heather stood in front of them. The blonde-haired guy noticed that Stacey was awake, the woman feeling like she just jumped out of her skin. While Heather bent down to shut her mother up and whisper to her, Billy walked towards the curly-haired woman, who was shaking and about to cry.

He crouched down to her and whispered, "Try not to move, Stacey."

She swallowed back a sob as she shook her head and said in a shaky voice, "Billy...this isn't you. You're not like this." He didn't answer as he began standing up. She didn't care if she had an audience at the moment, she wanted to try and get him out of it. "You were funny! You were honest! You had the best chat!" He stiffened, still looking at her. Behind her back, she was trying to untie the rope since she knew how to when she was little. "You can fight this, Billy! I know you can! I never took you as a coward! Fight it, please!" He was still stiff and his expression looked a little...sad. She spotted his hands twitching, thinking maybe her words were helping him fight back against his possession.

Then he stopped and his expression went blank, him saying in a monotone voice, "Goodbye." He and Heather then began to leave, making her and the Calloways cry.

"BILLY!" she cried out.

"HEATHER!" Tom shouted.

"HEATHER, PLEASE!" Janet also shouted. The two teens began climbing up the stairs.

"BILLY! KEEP FIGHTING AGAINST IT!" He stopped, being stiff.

"HEATHER, YOU CAN DO THE SAME TOO!" the older man shouted. The curly-haired girl also stopped, stiff as well.

"PLEASE, MY BABY, FIGHT AGAINST WHATEVER IT IS TOO!" the older woman yelled. The two teens were stiff, then looked at their respective captors. There was a look in Billy's eyes. Although his face still remained blank...there was still a bit of him in it. The same went for Heather. However, they stopped looking at them and left, making them cry more.

The three then heard animalistic growling, turning to look to what was making that noise. Unfortunately...Stacey knew.

And that was when she finally loosened the rope.

After she finished her spaghetti and put those in the sink, Terry went upstairs to her room. When she opened the door though, she saw Andrew in there with one of her daughter's sleeping bags. She gasped, surprised to see him in there. "Andrew?" she asked. "I thought you wanted to sleep in my daughter's room."

He let out a sad chuckle and shook his head. "I...I don't feel comfortable sleeping alone after...earlier." She frowned and nodded, looking understanding.

"That's okay." She went in and closed the door. "You can sleep in here. Just...don't let Becky or Carl catch you."

He chuckled again. "I won't, promise."

"But I do need to change."

He blushed a little. "Oh, right. Sorry. I'll be outside the room." He laid the sleeping bag horizontally in front of her bed and got out. Again, with his kindness...

They could barely see a monster's silhouette as it took heavy steps towards them. Janet was whimpering while Tom muttered in horror, "Jesus Christ." Stacey looked completely horrified...even more when she saw it up close. Breaking free from the rope around her wrists, she hurriedly undid the rope on her ankles. She broke free of that too.

Unfortunately, she was too late.

She stood up to run, one of the Mind Flayer's leech-like tentacles grabbed her face and began pumping...something painful into her. She couldn't scream, only look more horrified as she tried to pull it away from her. But it was too strong and the pain was immeasurable, immobilizing her to the ground and making her stiff as it continued pumping into her.

When that happened, Janet screamed from the top of her lungs and Tom looked even more horrified, the two of them struggling to get out of the ropes that tied them. It only took a few seconds each before the leech-like tentacles began pumping something painful into them too.

After she changed into her night gown and let her hair down, she opened the door, seeing him waiting near the doorway. She gave him a warm smile and gestured for him to come in. He did and she closed the door.

The kids were still at Will's, now in his room and talking about what they went through today. "And he acted way too nice?" Max asked Lucas.

He nodded. "Yeah, though he and Mike had a stare-down."

Mike looked puzzled. "A stare-down?"

Jane sighed. "It's when..."

As they continued talking, Will suddenly felt the same chills on the back of his neck he did earlier, his eyes widening and his breath heavy. He stood up from his bed and felt the back of his neck, muttering, "This is the third time today."

The kids stopped talking and looked up at him, the boys surprised. "You felt it again?" Lucas asked, worried as well as Mike as the two stood up as well.

The girls did the same, looking puzzled. "What do you mean?" Jane asked.

Will now knew what was going on, why he was having these...sudden chills. He slowly turned to his friends and said in horror, "He's still around."

They looked puzzled. "Who's still around?" asked Max.

Will gulped and answered, "The Mind Flayer."

It was really kind of Joyce to bring him back to the cabin and treat him after getting knocked out by that thug. It was also really weird that she undressed him to treat him and because he was soaked. That was why he grabbed his boots from outside while wearing the blanket as a towel and went back inside. Joyce did show him a few numbers and a couple letters she wrote down with the rest being dashes, supposedly being the thug's license she managed to see. He sighed and went into his room, closing the curtain so that he could change.

"Well, can you run a search or something?" Joyce asked him.

"This is a state government agency we're dealing with, Joyce," he answered, finding a pair of jeans and underwear and slipping them on. "It's gonna take weeks before they find a match."

She looked both surprised and puzzled. "Wait, weeks?"

"If they're even that lucky. And, you know, what if there's no chance that this guy registers a car in his own name?" He then slipped on the shirt he wore at the restaurant a couple days ago.

Joyce sighed. "It wasn't a car though." That surprised him, so as soon as he finished buttoning up his shirt, he forked the curtain away and looked at her seriously.

She looked at him a little weird though, asking, "Uh, what are you wearing?"

"What do you mean it wasn't a car?" he asked her.

Terry had begun waking up, sitting up and yawning. When her vision cleared, she saw that Andrew wasn't in the sleeping bag anymore. She was curious, but she also needed to get dressed. So she got out of bed and did so.

She came out of her room, her hair down and brushed, wearing a short-sleeved teal shirt, jeans, and white shoes. She turned to go to the bathroom before she bumped into Andrew, both gasping in surprise. "Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed.

He smiled at her and chuckled a little, replying, "No, no, it's alright." She nervously laughed before she walked to the bathroom. He watched her go and sighed. He never slept with his clothes on before.

Hell, he never slept with clothes on, period.

But it was something new and he liked new things. For a moment, it's as if everything was all fine and normal.

But they weren't.

He sighed, going downstairs to watch the news.

...

After she had brushed her teeth, flossed, and rinsed, Terry came out of the bathroom, seeing that Becky was waiting. She was wearing a baby-blue pajama shirt and pants, her hair messy from the sleeping. She smiled at her and greeted, "Good morning, Becky."

"Morning, Terry," she greeted back, yawning a little and covering her mouth. When she stopped yawning though, she grinned and that made her curious.

"What is it?"

She giggled a little and said, "I got a peek at Andrew coming into your room last night." That made her blush a little, making her sister laugh again. "Don't worry, I ain't judging."

She sighed and tried not to blush anymore. "He slept in my daughter's sleeping bag, okay?"

"Like a respectable man does." Now she laughed a little.

"Is there anything you and Carl would like for breakfast?"

She shrugged. "Just see what's there and we'll eat it." She nodded before going downstairs. She saw Andrew watching the news. They both exchanged smiles.

"Is there anything you would like to eat, Andrew?" she asked him.

He had a feeling she had food that didn't fit his diet, so he asked, "Do you have eggs?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure I do."

"Then I'll have those, scrambled hard."

She nodded again. "I'll make you some eggs." They continued smiling at each other before the doorbell rung. Terry assumed it was Jane, so she walked towards it and opened up the door, not only seeing her daughter...but also the rest of her friends, now in different clothes. Her eyes widened at the sight of them.

"Jane," she said, smiling a little.

The brown-haired tomboy looked at her mother solemnly and said, "We need talk to you."

She looked concerned, crossing her arms. "About what?"

She whispered to her, "The Mind Flayer."

Her eyes widened more. Now her children was involved with that thing...? Again? But it wasn't like she wasn't involved either. She took a deep breath and whispered back, "Me too." She looked surprised as well as the rest of the Party.

"Well, I need to go change, so meet us in the basement." The woman nodded once more before Jane suddenly spotted Andrew on the couch, making her look more surprised. "Wait, who's that?" Andrew turned his head to look at the kids, who were all sharing the same look as her.

Terry looked back with wide eyes before looking at her and the kids reassuringly. "Oh, just a...friend that was staying over for the night." Now her daughter gave her a puzzled look, as well as Max.

"That's the 'hippy' from the mall," Mike muttered bluntly. The kids gave him wide eyes, but the dirty-blonde-haired woman didn't catch that.

"Wait, what did you say, Mike?" she asked him.

"That it's just silly to stay here like, uh, goofballs," Lucas said, saving the situation.

She gave them a weird look, but let the kids inside. They all gave weird looks to Andrew before Jane went upstairs and the rest went down to the basement. She closed the door and his eyebrows were raised. "I'm guessing that's your youngest daughter and her friends?"

"Yes," she answered, getting close to him. "They now know about the Mind Flayer's return."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"When Jane comes back down, go downstairs. I'll be just a minute." She then walked into the kitchen to make some eggs. It wasn't like she never told him about this, but still...

Kali had descended down the stairs, wearing a short-sleeved purple dress with a teal hem and teal flats. Her hair was down and more fluffed out and her makeup had purple eyeshadow and pink lipstick. When she and Andrew locked eyes, she gave him the same look the kids gave him, then headed to the kitchen. He was a new face here, so he wasn't expecting to be completely welcomed.

After breakfast, Kali made it to the newspaper quickly. However, she was sitting on a chair near Tom's office, Jonathan sitting next to her. As they were waiting, they looked up at Bruce opening up a drawer and taking out a file. He spotted them looking and held his tie up, mimicking him hanging on a noose with a choking sound. He laughed and walked away, Kali glaring daggers at him while Jonathan looked more nervous.

Finally, Callahan exited the office after talking to him and the man himself appeared, giving them each a sharp glare. He had a bandage on his forehead. "Kali," he said rather coldly. "Jonathan." He then went in, cuing them to go in after him.

...

Sitting in front of his desk, the teens listened to their boss as he stated, "I've been working at this paper for 25 years. Twenty...five..." He turned to them, hands on his hips. "Years." Jonathan looked nervous as all hell while Kali looked calm, though she was just as nervous as he was. "Even though we're a small-town paper, we have something the big papers don't have: trust." The Indian girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Trust in our community."

"Tom, just listen to me-" she said before he suddenly kicked the desk chair.

"Do you know how I build that trust, Kali?!" Both of the teens tensed up, her eyes meeting her boss's. "By doing something the two of you seem to lack: understanding the facts." He shrugged. "Just facts." Kali looked to her right and Jonathan looked down. "So, let me just give you the facts while we're here." He leaned in towards his desk, towards them. "Fact one: you disobeyed a direct order to stop pursuing this story." Kali let out a deep sigh as he now held two fingers. "Fact two: you both falsely identified as reporters, reportedly lying to an elderly woman!" Now he held three. "Fact three: you broke into her home, committing trespass!" Now four. "Fact four: she almost died while being taken to the hospital."

Kali's calm demeanor broke, her replying angrily, "If we hadn't shown up, she'd be dead already! If it's the disease the rat passed onto her-"

"FIVE! MRS. DRISCOLL IS A PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC!" Tom yelled, cutting her off. Now her and Jonathan felt cold, Kali's eyes wide and his looking down again, ashamed. The man scoffed, looking at the two. "You both didn't know that, did you?" They didn't answer, but they didn't need to. "Now..." He looked at them in disbelief. "Disease-carrying rats? The second-coming of the plague? Tell me, does this sound credible to you, or more likely that it's the delusions of a sickly old woman?"

"I didn't know that, alright?" Kali muttered, seething.

"Her family is furious-in fact, so furious that they threatened litigation."

Both of them looked appalled to hear that. "Litigation?" Jonathan finally spoke up.

"But that's crazy," Kali added.

He scoffed again. "For once, we agree! This is actually so crazy, that in my entire professional career, I've never dealt with anything like it." He sighed and shook his head, finally taking a seat. "But hopefully...hopefully, you two have learned something of value here: that in the workplace, in the real world-" Kali narrowed his eyes at him. "-your actions have consequences. And that leads into my sixth and final fact..." He paused, Jonathan now looking up at him as well. He leaned against his chair and plainly stated, "You're fired." Kali scoffed and tilted her head. "Both of you." The auburn-haired teen looked awful about this...but Kali strangely wasn't.

She stood up from her chair and...smiled, keeping her head tilted. "It's not like I loved working in this shithole anyway."

That made Tom more hostile. "Get out."

"Gladly." She then exited the room, making Jonathan bury his face in his hands and sigh.

"And I hope you learned a lesson as well, Jonathan." The auburn-haired teen looked up at his now ex-boss. "You should be more careful about who you associate with." Kali was his friend, of course he would come with her and support her, but...

Now he was fired.

So much for that.

Poor Kali and Jonathan...anyways, how was this chapter? Any mistakes or typos I might've missed?

Hope I wrote the scenes with Terry and Andrew well. I don't want their romance to feel rushed. Besides, they're cute!

And now Stacey is part of the Flayed...the poor woman...

I'm sure you guys have heard of the COVID-19 pandemic, but don't worry. I'm fine, my whole family is fine, and it won't stop me from updating this story! But I hope everyone is safe and doing their best during this awful time in history. I know I am and so are the rest of my family.

That said, keep supporting this fanfic as you guys do and I'll see you in the next chapter!