Chapter 56: Top of the World
Bill waits outside the Wheeler home for Mike to come out and get his bike. It feels like 20 minutes for him to finally shut the front door and come down to where Bill is waiting. Bill can't make out his facial expressions in the twilight, but he bets they are annoyed.
"T-Took awhile," Bill states when Mike finally comes down the driveway with his bike.
"God my mom is annoying. She wanted to make sure that I packed bug spray and a hat. It's night outside, what good is a hat?"
"T-Tell me about it," Bill says. "My mom is th…the same way."
"When do they start to treat us like human beings?" Mike asks as they begin to peddle out of the cul-de-sac.
"Never," Bill replies. "They always want to treat you like b-babies."
"God that's annoying," Mike groans.
The two ride for a bit with only the sounds of crickets and the occasional car interrupting their silence. Bill mainly follows Mike as he knows Hawkins better than anyone else.
"S-So where is this Weathertop?"
"It's just the name Dustin gave for the highest point in Hawkins. It's where he set up his Cerebro."
"S-Sorry what?" Bill asks.
"It's like this massive antenna that allows his radio to reach to Utah to talk to his girlfriend."
"Dustin has a g-girlfriend?"
"Yeah, her name is Susie. He met her at Science Camp over the summer."
"Long distance r-relationship huh?"
"Yeah, they even have gross nicknames for each other."
"What you and E-El don't have those?" Bill teases.
"God no, gross. Do you and Beverly?" Mike grimaces in disgust.
"B-B-Bev and I aren't t-together," Bill swallows.
"Seriously? She likes you, Dude. Why haven't you asked her out?"
"It's c-complicated," he says quickly.
Bill and Mike continue riding their bikes through the twilight-lit streets, taking the route to the schoolyard where everyone had planned to meet up. Eventually, they pull into the playground.
"Over here," Mike directs Bill. The two go and temporarily ditch their bikes. "We'll need them soon, but you can't ride up there; it has to be on foot. And don't forget your stuff."
Bill puts his backpack on and then heads to the baseball diamond where they all agreed to meet. Funnily enough, it was also around the area where the two groups met back when the Bev gave one of the jerks a bloody nose and they were scared off by the wind.
Another silhouette is already standing by home plate, leaning against the chain link fence. and the lit end of a cigarette is seen glowing in the dark.
"Bev?" Bill calls out.
"Hey Bill," she replies, coming closer. Bill pulls out his flashlight and turns it on right in her face, showing her red hair and freckles.
"Damn it don't blind me!" she hisses stepping back and also dropping her cigarette to shield her face.
"S-Sorry," he apologizes, pointing it at the ground so in the light they can see one another. They both smile as Bev pulls out another cigarette.
"So Damian finally got a job," she smirks.
"Where?" Bill asks.
"The Hawkins Post. My foster dad pulled some strings and got him a job there."
"That's where my sister works," Mike says, coming up to join them.
"Yeah, and Damian does not like it at all."
"Nancy too," the leader of the Party says. While she'd never said it out loud, Mike heard Nancy's gripes on the phone to her friends and their mother about how awful it was to be there. They treated her poorly because she was a woman. He did try to stay out of it to not piss off his sister, he did feel sorry for her. She clearly wanted to go to college to be a reporter and these asses were making her life a living hell.
"Damian says he doesn't want to be part of the bureaucracy and end up on Wall Street. I mean it's a friggen newspaper in Indiana, he's not being asked to wear a suit and tie even if my dad wants him to."
"He sounds fun," Mike replies awkwardly.
"He's actually a bit of a nerd. You guys would like him. He likes comic books and that kind of stuff."
"Who said we were nerds?" Mike says defensively.
She gives him a look of "Come on dude" before lighting up her next cigarette. "We're all nerds in our own way. I mean in Derry we called ourselves the Loser's Club. Damian tries to be cool but he's not. He just doesn't play D and D like you guys."
"Maybe he should," Will says appearing beside them.
"God dude!" Mike says. "A little warning would be nice."
"Sorry," he shrugs. "Is it just you guys?"
"Yes," Beverly says.
"Do you have any idea what Dustin wants to do with Cerebro?" Mike asks Will.
The youngest Byers kid shrugs.
"Maybe he wants to contact the Demogorgon," Bev jokes.
"Usually, all that thing does is mess around with electronics and make it static," Will says seriously. "It's also a way to contact the Upside Down."
"The alternate w-world r-right?" Bill clarifies. Considering the explanation from the Party from Hawkins was long and felt convoluted, he needed a few refreshers.
"Yes, and it looks exactly like Hawkins only it's covered in vines, rains ash and has the Mind Flayer in there," Will says, shuddering a bit even though the wind was very mild that night.
"What are you losers talking about?"
Several of the flashlights turn to reveal Max and El.
"Stop blinding us!" she shrieks.
"Yeah stop," El repeats. She then goes over and hugs her boyfriend.
"Sorry we're late," Max says.
"Papa wouldn't fall asleep," Eleven says. "And we had to use the back door to get out."
"Plus navigating the woods at night is not easy."
"You know you could have had a sleepover at Max's home," Mike suggests.
"Yeah, with my half-drunk dad and asshole brother, I prefer the crappy cabin," Max says sternly.
Mike immediately backs off, knowing that her home life sucked and no wonder she preferred anywhere else, including Hopper's cabin to her house.
"Sorry," he whispers. "Too far."
"Yeah, no kidding," the redhead mutters sarcastically. But she lets it go after that.
"We were just talking about my brother getting the job at The Hawkins Post," Beverly says quickly, wanting to change the subject for Max's sake.
"Johnathan mentioned that there was someone new there," Will pipes up. "And that he's really shaken up the office. My brother calls him a class clown."
"More like a class moron," Bev chuckles. "He's such a drama queen and thinks that everyone is going to laugh with him, rather than at him."
"Johnathan thinks he's pretty funny," Will says.
"Yeah, it's funny until he gets fired and my foster parents desperately want him to keep a job and move out."
"How soon until we can legally do that?" Lucas asks, appearing through the gate. "Because the further away from Erica I can be, I will take it."
"W-Who's Erica?" Bill asks.
"My obnoxious little sister. She literally blackmailed me into buying her nail polish in exchange for not telling my parents I was sneaking out. God, I hate her."
"Y-You had to sneak out?" the leader of the Loser's Club asks confused.
"Yeah. You didn't?"
"My m-mom was so happy-y that I was m-meeting people that she gave me a curfew and t-that's it."
"Lucky man, my parents give me a curfew of 10:30. Even on a Friday and if I'm not back, I can kiss the next two weeks goodbye. Which is why Erica is demanding payment to not rat me out."
"What's a curfew?" Eleven asks.
"Something parents give you to not stay out so late," Beverly explains.
"And mine is 11:00," Ben appears. "And the last thing I want to do is make my mom mad so let's make this quick."
"We're just waiting on the guy whose idea this was in the first place," Max mutters.
A crisp breeze cuts through the long grass of the schoolyard, surrounding the group in a pre-autumn chill. The chain link fence rattles and the crickets continue to chirp. A dog barks in the distance in one of the nearby neighbourhoods and the sound of traffic can barely be heard downtown.
Eventually, they all hear a bunch of clanking noises and turn towards the sound. Several of them become nervous about it being the cops searching the campus area for people doing drugs or something. They squint and see a silhouette struggling to come through the gate of the schoolyard.
Fortunately, there is only one figure and eventually, as it approaches, this silhouette has an afro of curly and a baseball cap.
Bill shines his light to confirm that it was Dustin Henderson.
"Okay, how much stuff do you seriously need?" Lucas asks as Dustin approaches them, his backpack stuffed full of equipment, and he also carries a bunch of what looks like junk in his arms.
"Just a few things to strengthen Cerebro's signal," he explains. "Is everyone here?"
"Yes," Will replies.
"Okay good. Everyone needs to follow my lead. Bring your bikes and don't get lost."
The entire group then watch as he turns towards the far side of the schoolyard. They hurry to grab everything to follow him.
…
After what felt like hours, the group finally reached the open field which was much farther than Dustin had claimed. In the far distance, they could see the neon lights of Starcourt Mall and Mike mentioned at one point that they were close to Brimborn Steel Works, which was an abandoned steel mill. All of them are covered in sweat and their feet are sore.
"How much further?" Ben groans.
"Leave your bikes and stuff here. Now we need to climb."
"Climb seriously?" Beverly moans. She uses her arm to wipe her brow. She starts craving a cigarette and takes one from her pocket.
"Sorry guys, but it's the highest point in Hawkins for a reason," Dustin says before he hands some of his equipment to Lucas.
"Why did I get roped into carrying this?" he complains.
"Because it lightens my load," his curly-haired friend explains.
"And adds to mine," Lucas snaps back.
"I'll carry something you babies," Max moans, grabbing some coils of wire from her boyfriend to stop his whining.
"I… need a minute," Ben says. He sits down to drink some water from his bag. Bill and Beverly follow suit, along with Mike and Eleven.
"W-We'll catch up," Big Bill replies.
Dustin, Will, Lucas and Max begin their ascent to what was known as "Weathertop."
Once he's out of earshot, Beverly turns to Mike and El.
"So what is this Cerebro thing?"
"Is… isn't that named after the X-Men c-comics?" Bill recalls. He used to read them with Richie all the time because the trash-mouth was a big comic book fan. It surprised him that Dustin and Richie didn't become friends due to their common interests. It's why he and Will were friends due to their love of stories and fantasy books.
"Yeah, he named it after Professor X's machine. It's this giant HAM radio that can reach all the way to Utah."
"Why Utah?" Beverly asks.
"Suzie," Eleven answers.
"Who's that?" Ben asks.
"Dustin's girlfriend," Jane smirks.
"Dustin has a girlfriend?" Bev says in disbelief. She can't help but chuckle and smile.
"Yeah, he met her at Science camp over the summer and this is how they stay in touch."
"G-Guess it's one way to g-get out of long-distance charges," Bill smirks
"Yeah, he talks to her all the time," Mike goes on.
"And sings," Eleven giggles. She loves getting in on the teasing of Dustin and Suzie being a cute couple.
"They sing?" Ben wonders skeptically.
"The Neverending Story mostly," Mike moans.
"Haven't seen the movie," Ben replies.
The group sips on some water and stalls as long as they can.
"How long do you think we can stay here before he notices we're missing?" Mike asks.
"Let's go," El says, grabbing Mike's hand and pulling him up the hill.
Sighing, he obliges, leaving the remaining members of the Loser's club alone for a few moments.
"A-Are we sure we sh-should be doing this?" Bill asks.
"What do you mean?" Bev replies.
"Should w-we be trying t-to find… I-I-It? Remember what happened-d?"
All three of them go through the flashbacks of the summer. The library… the blood in the bathroom… seeing IT in the flooded basement… the Neibolt house… the sewers… the dance… It all still haunted their nightmares and made them just want to stay home under the covers. Yes, they had beaten it… but IT wasn't dead. What disturbed them the most was that it followed them as well. IT didn't stay in Derry.
"And… and with these D-Demogorgons…"
"Bill, remember Georgie," Beverly reminds him. "We're doing this to protect your brother."
Bill swallows. The mention of his brother causes him to stand up taller. He dared to protect Georgie at all costs. His entire family's safety relied on him.
"Right."
"We need to be sure," Ben agrees reluctantly. While he was 100% positive that the clown was still around, he had to be sure.
"O-Okay," Bill says. "Let's…go"
The trio from Derry gather their things and begin to climb up the hill towards whatever this Cerebro is. Bill uses his flashlight to guide them to their destination. He instinctively grabs Beverly's hand to help her, and she extends her to Ben to help him. They were stronger as a team and had each other's backs.
Eventually, they reach the top of the hill where Dustin is kneeling next to a giant antenna that looks like a cross with the horizontal bar leaning precariously down. Someone could whack their head if they weren't careful. He continues to fix and modify Cerebro.
"About time," Max groans. "We had to listen to Dusty Bun make a call to Suzie Poo."
The three from Derry snort at the names and try not to laugh.
"It wasn't very long," Dustin says, not looking up from what he was doing. He also flips the bird to Max for her mocking the nicknames he had with his girlfriend.
"Enough to make us want to vomit," Lucas adds.
"Just because you two have your problems…" Dustin calls over to them.
Max and Lucas then smirk before bursting into The Neverending Story theme song.
"Rhymes that keep their secrets
Will unfold behind the clouds…"
Wanting to take the high road, the tech genius tries to continue his work and ignores his friends as they continue to sing off-key. Everyone else is laughing at the dorky display and enjoying the moment.
"Show no fear
For she may fade away…"
Dustin growls, fed up with the mocking, even though he should be used to it. He turns away from his work.
"Will one of you shut up and bring a light over here? I'm doing this practically blind!" he barks.
Bill goes over and holds his flashlight up.
"Thank you, at least one of you isn't a total…"
He's so angry he can't finish his sentence. He crosses another wire in frustration.
Bill feels some sympathy for Dustin. He always got sick of Richie teasing him as well. He does his best to hide his amused smile and changes the subject.
"So, w-what are you d-doing?" he asks.
"I'm trying to strengthen the signal to see if we can pick up the clown again. We need to be sure that Ben and I weren't hearing things. Plus, you guys need to confirm it since you've faced this thing before."
"I mean, we both heard it. It's not hard to confirm it," Ben says, drinking some more water.
"If this thing…"
"IT," Bill prompts.
"This IT is working with the Mind Flayer we need to be absolutely sure."
"How long will it take?" Will asks.
"As long as is needed," is the response.
"Meaning awhile," Mike translates. He pulls a blanket from his bag and lays it on the grass. Eleven sits down and he sits next to her. "So get comfortable."
…
"Who's turn, is it?" Will moans. He was getting tired of standing over Dustin.
He and Bill had switched holding the flashlight to give Bill a break, but now he was getting tired of being ordered where to hold the light.
"You're up Sinclair," Max says, laying back on a beach towel. She pops the gum in her mouth.
"Why me?" Lucas complains.
"Because I said so," she says. She spits her gum into the air and catches it. A trick that she hates to admit she learned from Billy. A gross trick that she unfortunately spent hours trying to master, like the power couple nearby.
"Okay try again," Mike says.
Eleven grabs another peanut from the bag.
"Ready?" she asks.
"Go."
El launches the legume over to her boyfriend. He tries to catch it in his mouth but misses and topples over into the grass, causing both of them to laugh.
"You threw it too far," he says.
"I did not!" she smiles.
"How does your tutor do this?"
"She makes it look so easy," Eleven admits, eating a peanut from the bag. "I wish she'd teach me that instead of Math"
"You mean M-Mia?" Bill asks, remembering who his cousin taught.
Jane nods. "She can catch them in her mouth with her eyes shut."
"It's not possible," Mike says. "You physically cannot do it.
"It is, I saw her," Eleven insists.
"I need more proof," Mike says firmly. "Until then I call bull."
"I-I didn't know," Bill says. He was surprised his cousin had such a talent.
"She says her grandpa taught her how," Jane continues.
Bill wonders why his grandfather never taught him how to catch peanuts in his mouth. Maybe he should ask his parents to go out to the farm more often.
"How is Mia you're cousin again?" Ben asks. He's hunched over with another flashlight propped on his shoulder and a book in his hands.
"W-Well… my Aunt C-Caroline is ad-adopted. She's my mom's s-sister so we're adopted c-cousins."
"Sounds complicated," Max says.
"It is," Bill nods.
"Why is she living with you guys and not her mom?" Will asks, handing Lucas the flashlight.
Bill swallows, knowing he has to resort to the cover story. "My Aunt Caroline… t-travels a lot for work so… so Mia usually s-stays with someone until sh-she comes back. She stayed w-with my grandparents and then… she m-moved here."
"That must be so hard moving all the time," Bev says sympathetically.
"It can be tough," Max admits softly. A tone that none of the Derry kids had heard before.
"What about her Dad?" Lucas asks.
Before Bill can reply…
"GOT IT!" Dustin says triumphantly. "You guys doubted I could do it."
"We never doubted you," Lucas reminds him. "We just doubted how long it would take for you to finish."
"It's after ten Dustin," Mike says, checking his watch.
"Well now…" Dustin says turning on Cerebro to full blast, causing the sound of static to blare into everyone's ears. "It's go time. We should be able to pick up more channels than ever before. I've added new adapters and expanded the frequency."
The others look at him like he's speaking a different language.
"We'll now be able to hear many more channels and potentially the one this IT thing is using."
"Fire it up professor," Max mutters, grabbing a magazine. "Bring some light over here Ben."
Dustin begins to start going through the various channels and frequencies, looking for the eerie carnival music that he heard at the middle school.
…
The others continue to laze around the top of the hill as Dustin, bound and determined continues searching for the signal. They heard classical music, a Christian preacher station, rock music, a talk show discussing the rise in capitalist gains, seventy different news stations and still nothing.
"Dude, give it up," Mike says.
El is half asleep on the blanket next to him. Ben continues to try and read by flashlight. Max is listening to her Walkman and Lucas is using her rolled-up magazine to swat away bugs. Will and Bill are trying to sketch some more images for their graphic novel and Beverly is lying there looking up at the stars and pondering her existence in this vast universe.
"I missed my curfew," Ben adds. "My mom is going to kill me."
"And my parents will too if I don't get home," Lucas adds.
"Just wait. I know the channel is here somewhere."
"You said that 10 minutes ago," Will moans. "My butt is sore from sitting on the ground."
"And no doubt we've been eaten by mosquitos," Lucas complains.
"Let's just call it a night Dustin," Mike says.
He nudges El and she sits up.
"Let's go home."
"You guys are going to miss it," Dustin says, desperately shuffling through the channels to keep his friends there.
"W-We haven't missed anything," Bill mutters, gathering his art supplies and flashlight.
The others begin to pack up their stuff, ready to go home. Their mission had been a bust. Deep down, Bill hoped that that meant Pennywise/IT wasn't working with the Mind Flayer and wasn't a threat.
"Come on guys just wait!" the tech genius moans.
El looks at Dustin sympathetically. As Mike packs up, she begins to stare at the machine. She attempts to focus in on the frequencies like she'd done before. She doesn't need a blindfold because she doesn't want to enter the Void, but to help channel whatever Dustin is looking for.
Her heart rate spikes as she begins to strain herself to help.
Suddenly…
Carnival music begins to come through Cerebro. This causes everyone to freeze. Ben's heart drops to his stomach and he turns to the radio. Dustin holds the microphone close, also a bit paralyzed with fear. It sounded distorted and slowed down occasionally, but it was distinctively carnival music.
Bill and Beverly look at one another, Bill swallowing heavily. Bev bites her lip to get the flashbacks of her time down in the sewer.
The music unnerves everyone else. It continues to fill the warm night air, chilling all of them to the bone.
Then the laughter begins… Very sinister laughter. For Dustin and Ben, this is déjà vu.
Eleven's heart beats rapidly as she feels like she knows that laughter… like she's heard it before. Her nose is still bleeding a bit, but now more from stress than her powers. Her hands curl into fists.
"I know that you're listening…" a voice suddenly comes through.
El lets out a tiny yelp as the voice… this voice haunts her dreams. It can't be the same. She steps back into Mike's arms.
"All you little kiddie think you can beat me…beat us…"
"US…!" Dustin mouths.
"You don't stand a chance. I'll kill you all… I'm every nightmare you've ever had. I'm your worst dreams come true… We're coming for you… We'll kill you all. Kill them all…"
The kids back up in fear, especially those from Derry, who are in tears.
"Turn it off…" Beverly says.
"Kill you all… kill you all… KILL YOU ALL!"
"TURN IT OFF!" Bev screams.
Dustin drops the microphone, but the music still comes through, louder than before.
"KILL YOU ALL!"
"STAY AWAY!" El says,
She instinctively uses her powers and knocks the antennae over, causing it to spark, but not catch fire.
All the kids, stunned by this sudden gesture have no time before they run back down the hill away from what threatened them. Everyone was in tears and just tried to get away!
A/N: Another chapter. I did two homages in this chapter. One to the Tim Curry Pennywise from the miniseries and then the projector scene from IT Chapter 1, which has one hell of a jump scare in it. Please continue to follow and review. It means a lot.
Responses to reviews:
Larry: It's an idea that I thought about. I personally don't view it as a full crush, more of an obsession. It also gives some reasoning behind his hitting on Mia at the Halloween party.
Boris Yeltsin: I'm glad I have your attention. I hope you keep reading and enjoy it.
jackie: An interesting title chapter name. A nice tribute to the Pink Floyd album
GlaringEyes: Yes the Holly and Georgie friendship is a fun one. At this point, they'll only be friends because their moms are becoming friends. Yes, Holly being friends with Georgie puts her at a higher risk of being in danger. If you're following the Strange Things 5 behind the scenes, the Duffer Brothers seem to have the same idea. It could potentially bring the two groups much closer together, united under a common goal.
Yes, Billy is not Flayed yet. He's just being Billy. As I commented on Larry's review, it's not really a full crush, just an obsession. It gives a reason why he tries to hit on her at the Halloween party and then she knocks him on his ass. She is polite especially after Billy is just a reckless driver, but we all have to be polite to people we don't always like.
Yes, poor Steve. Mia unknowingly stood him up and you can blame both otherworldly entities. I'll address how he feels in a future chapter. Thank you again for all your amazing support.
Guest: eerie idea. You seem to like quoting from my chapters for fun.