Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
The group then walked into the dining room, seeing the cold, stale dinner left behind. The boys and Andrew were surprised that it was still there. From the corner of her eye, the female teen spotted the bottle that knocked Tom out and walked towards it. Andrew spotted it as well and followed suit. It didn't take much longer for the rest of the group to follow them as well.
Kali spotted a red mark on the carpet and kneeled down to it, feeling it. "Blood," she said in a serious tone. The kids, Jonathan, and Terry felt their blood run cold from that.
Andrew knelt down with her, saying, "When my friends and I got in, we didn't see it, but we knew Heather hit Tom with this bottle." He grabbed the object in question, seeing that the label had a bloodstain on it. Her eyes and Jonathan's widened. He looked at the two of them. "Did he have some sort of bandage or something on his head?"
"Yeah," they both answered, looking at each other in horror.
They both stood up, everyone looking around. A few things seemed out of place or crooked, Andrew remembering that some things were tussled while his friends fought the flayed teens. "They didn't even bother...?" he mouthed out before seeing the scrunched up rug not too far from the group. He walked towards it, having everyone else follow behind him. The door leading to it was slightly opened, so he pushed it all the way open. This turned out to be a garage...an unusually empty one.
When everyone got inside, the adults and teens looked some cut spare rope, Jonathan picking up one piece. He looked at everyone and stated, "They must've been tied up..." He paused to stand, the adults and Kali doing so as well. "...and taken somewhere." Everyone figured as much.
Then Kali's eyes widened when she remembered something. "Mrs. Driscoll..." Everyone looked at her, making her look back with a serious look on her face. "She kept saying that she 'has to go back.'" She crossed her arms. "This means the flaying...it must take place elsewhere."
Mike frowned. "The place Billy didn't want me to see." He remembered the look on his face while Heather was screaming...it was of shock.
"The steel mill," Andrew said, everyone now looking at him. "Stacey told us that she followed him there and saw everything happening." He sighed and looked down, thinking about her returned to that place to become...flayed. "It has to be it."
"But we can't just march in there," Terry replied. "With their army, that would be suicide."
Everyone was silent for a bit, then Will spoke up, "Maybe we don't need to." Everyone looked at him curiously. "If Mrs. Driscoll wants to go back to the steel mill, then...why don't we just let her?" Everyone looked confused, but a few of them were thinking why he would suggest that. Maybe...
Suddenly, there was a thump that was heard through the open door, making everyone freeze and look at the still-open door. Andrew and Terry slowly moved towards it, grabbing improvised weapons in case it was...one of the flayed. Andrew had slowly approached the open door, then went through it, ready to strike. At first, he didn't see anybody or anything that was out of order. And then he looked to his right...seeing a pale corpse that looked all to familiar to him, right out of the hallway closet.
Dave.
His breath hitched at the sight of him. It seemed like there was nothing and nobody else around...like time suddenly stopped at that second and counting. He dropped his improvised weapon, walking towards him. "D-Dave...?" he muttered almost inaudibly, his eyes watery from his friend's pale and limp body.
Terry had peered over, aghast at the sight of the man's body. So...it was really true...Dave was dead. Just days ago, he was a ball of optimism an energy. To see his corpse...
She could see the rest of the group coming to her, but she shook her head and held a hand out to them, making them stop. She saw Andrew sink into his knees in front of his friend's body, hearing him whisper things she could barely make out. Slowly, she placed her improvised weapon near the doorway and walked towards him.
"I should've never left...I should've never listened to you guys..." the long-haired man whispered with a broken voice and a sniffle. "I should've stayed..." Hearing that made her heart fall. As forlorn as she was about this, she was sure that Dave and Stacey told him to go to her for a reason...even if it meant...this.
Finally, at his side, she knelt down besides him, seeing him cry now. He wiped his tears, saying, "Damn it, Dave." He began sobbing and crying more. Without much of a second thought, she wrapped an arm around him, hugging him to her side. He let her...because he really needed it at that moment.
The teens and kids have peered over from the doorway, seeing this depressing scene play out. Some of them figured it had to be...one of his friends. Damn...
Kali and Jonathan looked up at each other, then looked away. Jane looked at every single one of the boys and Max. If they had died...she would react the same way. In fact, she did so when Mike "died" back in '83.
Seeing that the Russians had a large machine trying to reopen the goddamn hole the Mind Flayer came from horrified the hell out of Steve and Dustin. It didn't matter that just a minute ago, Steve finally won a fight. These...monsters were trying to undo everyone's hard work last year.
Neither of them saw how this could do with the rats, but maybe...maybe this hole was giving them the disease? But it was so far underground that it couldn't be possible. Still...this was bad.
Really, REALLY bad.
The group went to the hospital, thanks to Kali's directions to Andrew, and he parked the van. Everyone had gotten out and got inside, Kali leading them with Terry and Andrew. As soon as they were going to pass by the front desk, the clerk was not easily fooled and put her phone down. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!" she cried out, everyone stopping, especially Kali. She cursed silently. "Where do you think you're going, young lady?" She put her hand on her hip, clearly irritated.
Kali faked a smile and answered, "Oh, I was just going to visit my grandmum again." She waved an arm to everyone else, who had also faked smiles. "And...this is my entire family." Since Kali had her convinced she was the adoptive granddaughter of Doris, she didn't question why Lucas was there in any way, shape, or form. But still...
"You know the rules: two visitors at a time."
"Yeah, but-"
"TWO!" She held up two fingers to emphasize her point before sitting back down and talking on the phone, saying Kali brought a "whole zoo" in here. Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.
...
While the kids were spread out and sitting at different places in the waiting room, the adults and teens were talking about which two should go up. "No, I'm not letting you two go up there," Terry told them.
Kali shook her head. "Mum, you let me go to Murray's with Jonathan-"
"But there were no monsters in your path-"
"Sure, if you count the possibilities of those lab workers." The dirty-blonde-haired woman sighed and buried her face in her hands. Her adoptive daughter leaned forward and gently grabbed her arm. "Mum, you know we can handle ourselves. Let us do this."
She let her hands drop before looking at Andrew. He just shrugged and looked away from her. He had been silent after discovering Dave's body earlier and it was reasonable. She looked at the two teens, Jonathan saying, "We always looked out for each other, Ms. Ives. I'll make sure Kali is alright." Kali gave him a surprised look, but he kept his eyes on the woman.
She took a deep breath and just nodded. "Just stay safe, you two."
When they got into the elevator with their name-tags on, Kali pressed the "4" button and it didn't take long for the elevator to shut itself and go up. It was a bit slow though.
She and Jonathan were silent for a bit, just awkwardly standing there and waiting. There was...something in the air between them that needed clearing because they were getting tired out it. So Kali broke the silence by saying, "By the way...all that shit I said yesterday...about the internship being a dumb job and you being like those assholes..." She paused. "I didn't mean them."
Solemn, he replied, "I know."
"I knew how much that meant to you and I know you're nothing like them." She shook her head. "You're absolutely NOTHING like them, at all. I'm...sorry."
For a moment, Jonathan didn't speak, making her feel uneasy. But he was just processing her apology. He swallowed, then said, "It's alright. You were angry, rightfully so." She looked up at him. "Yeah, you're living in a better situation than me, but that didn't matter there. You were clearly not getting the respect you deserve because you were different." He looked down at her. "And yeah, how you acted back there, it wasn't very good. But I don't blame you." He huffed, looked straight at the elevator doors, and shrugged. "I mean, I'll never truly understand, but...I know I was utterly and mortifyingly wrong yesterday." He looked at her again, smiling. "Don't let it go to your head, Kal."
She felt happy to hear him say that, since it kind of mirrored Carl's and Becky's talk yesterday. "I would never." That made him chuckle. "But if you have anything logical to say, you can just say it."
"And hurt your ego?"
She laughed. "I can take it." The two then laughed amongst themselves, their friendship restored.
Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Andrew and Terry sat next to each other, the long-haired man looking through a magazine provided. The dirty-blonde-haired woman could clearly see that he wasn't reading it, just staring blankly at a page. Concerned and wanting to make him feel better, despite being just as forlorn about Dave's death, she placed a hand on his shoulder, making his eyes dart to her. "Are you alright?" she asked calmly.
He scoffed, slapping the magazine onto his lap and looking away. "No," he answered plainly.
She tensed up, knowing that was the wrong question to ask someone after they see a friend's corpse suddenly. She swallowed and continued, "Listen, it wasn't your fault that you left when they told you to, okay?" He still didn't look at her, but looked straight down at the magazine. "I'm sure you trusted them well enough to do what they tell you to do. Plus...I think you guys really do care about each other's well-being, right?"
After a moment of silence, he looked straight at her and nodded. "Yeah..."
"Maybe they told you to leave to make sure you were alright...even if they weren't going to be." He looked away from her and took a deep breath. "And that was why you really want Stacey to be alright and why you reacted to...Dave, the way you did." He swallowed hard, his finger threading between pages of the magazine. It took a bit for him to process all of that.
Did it hurt to hear her say all of that? Yes. Was she right? ...Yes. Andrew, Dave, and Stacey were always there for each other and if even one of them gets hurt, they make them their top priority, like when Stacey twisted her ankle once, or when Dave got a concussion from a fight during a protest...or when Andrew got back from Vietnam.
Without thinking much more about it, he smiled a little...and placed his hand on top of hers. "You're right," he stated. "We've always been like that since we got together. Besides..." He looked at her. "Dave would've told me to chin up by now." She smiled back at him, happy that she was right.
They then noticed their hands touching, making them quick to get them away from each other and look away. They were blushing a little. But after a moment, they looked at each other and smiled once again, now getting into conversation.
...
While that was happening, Jane and Max were at the vending machine. Jane inserted a coin into it and pressed the letter and digit for a Kit-Kat. The vending machine whirred and it seemed like the chocolate like was going to come down. But it didn't, the metal spiral stopping right before it could come down.
Both girls looked annoyed, Jane muttering, "Come on..." Both girls proceeded to slap it, trying to make the chocolate fall on its own. But suddenly, the vending machine rattled itself, not only having the Kit-Kat land down, but a lot of the other snacks as well. Both girls shot back a little, surprised. They then looked to their left, seeing Mike looking at them...specifically Jane. He was standing with the boys, looking at magazines. They were also looking at the girls.
Jane smiled just a little and said, "Thanks." He nodded, smiling a little too before wiping his nose and looking down at the magazine he was holding. Max grinned and shrugged, going down to get most of the snacks. Jane did the same...but didn't keep her eyes off of Mike for a few seconds. Her friend noticed that, thinking of something.
"I think that was it, Jane," she said to her.
The brown-haired tomboy gave her a puzzled look. "That was what?"
She looked at her. "Y'know, the olive branch."
She looked more puzzled. "Olive branch?"
She sighed. "I think Mike wants to talk to you again."
Her eyebrows were raised, looking back at him again. For a couple of seconds, he looked back. She felt her heart jump a little. "You really think so? After what you said earlier?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I was just being...paranoid." After getting an armful of snacks, she used her free hand to place on her shoulder. "How about this? I go make up with my man, you go make up with yours?"
She really did like the sound of that, so she nodded. "Okay." They exchanged smiles before getting back to their snacks. For one last time, Jane looked up at Mike, who was reading the magazine. She did apologize, but they didn't exactly made up. Plus, she did have to apologize for what she said when hanging out with Max after the break-up. Despite the fact that it was peeping, what she said was...well, not good.
Finally, the teens had arrived to the fourth floor, walking across the hallways. It was silent...in a rather eery way. They passed an office, where a folder and some papers were on the floor. That was suspicious, their guards coming up. Kali saw a room's indicator blinking red. She looked at her friend, both clearly seeing that something was wrong.
They finally arrived at Doris's room. They only took a few seconds before Kali opened the door. When they got in, however...
She was gone.
The cot was empty, the flowers Kali brought from the night before were still there, and the vase filled with flowers was tipped over, dripping water on the cot. Kali looked shocked while Jonathan looked anxious and puzzled.
"Where is she?" he asked her.
"I...don't know," she answered in a dead serious voice. She walked on over to the folder.
"This is her room, right?"
She opened the folder and nodded. "Yeah, so-" She stopped talking when the lights started flickering. To both of the teens, that was not a good sign.
"Fortunately, she's gone home," a familiar man's voice stated. Both quickly turned around...seeing Tom himself right at the doorway. Of course he looked clammy, but he looked...evil, especially with his smirk. The teens backed away from him as he continued, "We were hoping you would come back." He then entered into the room.
Just now, they realized that he got blood on his person. Backing away more, the auburn-haired teen asked in a panic, "Wh-whose blood is that?"
"Tom...whatever you did...you didn't do it freely," Kali said, tense. That didn't stop Tom at his tracks. "Something's making you do this!" But he still didn't stop.
So Jonathan picked up the vase and smashed it on his face. He screamed and got launched into the wall, cuing the teens to run out of the room. But just as they did, they spotted another ex-coworker on their path...
Bruce.
He also looked clammy, but got covered in a lot more blood than Tom. There was a black vein running across his face as he put his hand on his temple. "Owie," he said plainly, looking creepy. He then took a step towards them.
"No, no, no!" Kali exclaimed, she and Jonathan making a break for it. They reached to the door to the stairs, Jonathan staying behind to close the door. "Come on!" He did so, hurrying with his friend down the stairs.
Max thought of distracting Lucas first before she could apologize to him. She managed to convince him to playing catch the Skittle together. She threw a Skittle to him and he caught it with his mouth. "Yes!" she cheered, pumping her fist into the air.
"Two in a row!" he also cheered, clapping his hands together.
"That was so good!"
"Can you do five?" Andrew asked, him and Terry not being far from the kids.
While that was happening, Mike was sitting on a chair and reading his magazine while Will was just wandering around. Jane decided to take a seat next to him, seeing how happy Max and Lucas are already. She deeply sighed before looking at the telekinetic boy. "Hey, Mike," she greeted.
After a couple of seconds, he looked at her, a little surprised. "Hey...Jane," he greeted back.
She put on a smile and opened up the bag of M&Ms she had, holding it up. "Does your...species like M&Ms?"
He tensed up a little at that word, but he shrugged and answered, "I think so." He held his hand out and she poured some of the candy into it. He finally smiled at her, making her own wider. She was blushing and looked down for a few seconds, pouring M&Ms for herself.
After eating a couple, she said to him, "By the way, I actually like your new style. It looks great." He looked happy to hear her say that.
"Thanks, Jane," he replied after finishing an M&M. "I also like your new style. You look pretty."
She blushed more and smiled at him once again. "Thanks, Mike." For what felt like a minute, the both of them went back to eating their M&Ms. Jane took a deep breath since she wanted to say this to him. She cleared her throat. "And, um..." He glanced at her, chewing his second-to-last M&M. "I'm also sorry for, uh, saying those things after we broke up." He raised his eyebrows. "All those things were stupid to say and I was so upset that I didn't know how wrong I was."
She was right, all those things were stupid to say. But he understood. "I forgive you." She looked at him warmly, making his heart flutter like it has before. Hearing that made him think of something, breaking away from her gaze. "I'm...sorry too." She looked shocked to hear him say that. "For being at the mall...for calling your family stupid."
She gave him a reassuring smile and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Just...don't do those things again, okay?"
He looked at her, holding her hand. "I promise." She grinned before resting her head on his shoulder. The two had never felt any happier to get all of that off their shoulders.
Max and Lucas had eventually stopped to talk to each other about what happened at the mall and at the basement earlier. Terry spotted those two together, a smile appearing across her face. It looked like they finally made up and she was happy about it. Andrew also looked happy to see them happy as well. And from the looks of it, Terry seemed to support them. He supported them ever since he talked with Jane yesterday, but he wasn't surprised. They were cute together.
Will spotted them like that, feeling heavy as he swallowed. Jane looked happy, at least. But...still, seeing them back together like this, it still hurt him. Especially since...
Jane caught Will looking at her, which made him look away and take a couple of snacks from the vending machine. She stopped leaning her head on Mike's shoulder and asked, "Can I...go talk to Will, for a bit?"
He nodded. "Yeah." She then got her arm off his shoulders and stood up, walking towards her auburn-haired friend.
She finally got close to him, saying softly, "Hey." He swallowed again, trying not to blush, but clearly looking like he didn't want her there. She sighed when he didn't greet back. "We need to talk."
He stood up with the snacks, still not looking at her. "About what?" he finally said, sounding uninterested.
"About what happened a couple nights ago."
They finally got down a level and ran through a hallway, seeing a nurse's corpse along the way. Both were horrified and panting, but they had to keep going. They heard the door they ran out of open up, being very sure it was Bruce still chasing them. They passed a couple more corpses: a patient and a doctor.
Jonathan found an open path and shouted, "This way, Kal!" They both then ran straight into a hallway that was under construction, continuing to use all their speed to get away. They went through some swinging doors before entering into another hallway and spotting a buzzer. "Kali!" They both went to it, him buzzing it and shouting, "Hello?!" Kali then spotted another door. "HELLO?!"
"Hey!" She tugged his sleeve and ran to the door, swinging it open. He wasn't far behind, slamming the door behind him and locking it. She bolted to the phone and picked it up, hearing the ringing. She looked a little hopeful and exclaimed, "Yes, come on!" But the ringing went on for many seconds too long, her hope dimming. "For love of GOD, PICK UP!" she yelled, Jonathan getting near her.
The lights continued to blink, then Bruce's arm broke through the glass the door had. The two of them had hitched breaths, being frozen. The man peeked his head out the window and greeted in a creepy voice, "Hello there~." Kali hung up the phone since she clearly wasn't going to get an answer. The man then unlocked the door from the inside and got right in, looking straight at the Indian girl. "I'm here for you, Curry Kali." He walked towards them.
Jonathan decided to protect his friend and swing his fist at him. However, he grabbed his wrist to stop him before getting a firm grip around his neck. "NO!" Kali exclaimed, trying to fight him. But one push from him was enough to send her flying to a wall. She screamed, crashing onto it and falling to the floor. Bruce then head-butted the male teen before throwing him at the other side of the room. He crashed against the cabinets, completely in pain. Bruce grabbed a metal stool and approached the teen with it.
Just as Kali was recovering, she saw that and yelled, "JONATHAN! LOOK OUT!" It was too late as the man brought the stool down on her friend, slamming him against the ground. "NO!" She stood up, wobbly. She needed to help him before he gets killed. She quickly looked around for anything to stop him, then saw the surgical tray. She grabbed a pair of scissors and ran towards him. When he was about to bring the stool down again, she let out a cry and stabbed him right on the back. He screamed and dropped the stool, groaning in pain.
She stepped away from him when he turned to her. He reached towards his back and managed to pull the scissors out. He looked at her coldly and callously...like a killer. Kali swore under her breath before her friend shouted, "RUN, KALI, RUN!" And so she did.
She kicked the table towards Bruce to slow him down, then moved the I.V. out of the way to open up the door. She wasted no time sprinting out of the room, shouting out, "IS ANYONE STILL ALIVE?! HELLO?!" She looked back to see Bruce come out of the room and walk towards her. She was going to be sure that he wouldn't catch her. "HELP! SOMEBODY, IF YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!"
"Kali..." he called out like he would call a dog. She found a fire hydrant while running and got into a room she thought was another flight of stairs. "Kali~!" She ran through the curtains and stopped, panting and looking around for some kind of exit. She went through another set of curtains, stopping when she sees what could help her hide, since she knew Bruce would come inside at any second.
...
"Yoo-hoo~," Bruce said, coming in with a singsong voice. "No need to hidey, Curry Kali." Kali heard him sweep open one set of curtains, then several seconds later, another one. "Marco~..." He opened another set of curtains, making her get into position. He swept open his last set of curtains, saying, "Marco?"
"Polo!" she shouted, getting out of the closet she did in. He turned to her, giving her just the spot to smash his face with the end of the fire extinguisher. He let out a pained screamed, his nose completely busted and bloody as well as the rest of his face.
When he touched his blood, she hit his face again, making him stumble on the surgical tray that was near. His face looked even more bloody and broken. He was still on his feet and took one step towards Kali, who was ready to smash his face again. He then sunk onto his knees, looking doozy and pained at her. She raised the extinguisher above her head and said in a low, threatening voice, "Go to hell, pig!" She smashed his face in one last time, finally killing him.
Kali panted heavily, seeing Bruce's unmoving, bloody corpse. Her eyes widened in realization of what she did...
She just killed someone.
She dropped the fire extinguisher and leaned against the cabinets that were near. She didn't kill an actual monster, she killed a human one. Damn it...how was she supposed to-
Suddenly, the lights went dim. A few were still flickering, but it was mostly dark. That didn't mean anything good...
Meanwhile, back down at the waiting room, Will and Jane found a secluded spot to talk. "What I'm trying to say, Will, is that..." Jane said solemnly, pausing to sigh. "I didn't mean to make you upset. I should've said it better and I shouldn't have yelled about it, but...I was also being honest." He swallowed, nodding in understanding. However, he looked like he was about to cry with his glassy eyes and shaky breath. That made her feel bad, having her hand touch his shoulder. "Will-"
He stepped away from her, wiping his eyes. "I-I'm sorry," he replied, his voice small. He looked at Mike, who was just reading the magazine. "I-it's just-" He stopped when he noticed the lights blinking. She noticed that too, looking puzzled. And then...the goosebumps started appearing on his neck, him touching the back of it. "Oh no..."
Jane looked at him with wide eyes. "He's here?" He only answered with a mere nod, the two quick to get back to the others to warn them.
The lights began flickering rapidly again, Kali now seeing Bruce's corpse...moving. It was an unnerving sight, made more so by his face...melting. She moved away from the body, seeing it melt into blood, muscle, and a few bones. She was horrified, but confused. "What the hell...?" she muttered. The blood and muscle began moving on its own, seeping out of Bruce's clothing and heading towards...the door?
Carefully, she took small steps, following the mass out of the room. It eventually came into the hallway...where another mass like it was seen. Jonathan was there as well, so she was glad that he was alright. They exchanged glances before seeing the two masses crawl right into each other. Together, they formed an even larger mass of blood and muscle. They both watched with terrified expressions before everything went dark.
The exit light blinked a few times. The emergency lights were still on. All that was heard was low growling.
And then the lights came on...a new monster of flesh and bone is right between the teens, having an ear-piercing shriek.
And that's the end of the episode there! How was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?
Poor Andrew, discovering his best friend's corpse like that...
Now Jane and Mike finally made up! Hope I wrote that entire scene well! Plus, adding in Jane trying to talk to Will is something I wish the show would've done in canon. But oh well...
Keep supporting this fanfic like you guys do and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!