Chapter Forty-Four
Search & Rescue
Veronica felt her stomach twist as she stared back at Will, the cold rain beating against the skin and causing it to break out in goosebumps. The moment she heard Will speak those two simple words she knew that it was true. The way she'd been feeling, the draining fatigue and migraines. Along with the nightmares that seemed to make sleep less and less causing everything else to feel worse.
"In the house, now," Veronica spoke firmly, her dark eyes shooting to look at each boy, before turning to head back to the house.
She didn't need to look behind her to know that Mike, Lucas, and Will were following behind her. She could taste their anxiety bitter on her tongue. She was the first to walk through the back door of the Byers' home and the other three followed in one by one. They all stood there in silence. No one really knows what to say or even think at the moment.
"What was the first sign for you?" Veronica asked, turning to face Will. She was trying not to let her fear show, but with the shake in her voice, she knew that she was failing.
"I-I've been feeling him…not constantly…smaller moments." Will began to explain, "I thought that I was imagining it all, 'cause it would ha-happen so fast. It would be like someone placed an ice cold hand on the back of my neck."
As he spoke, Will couldn't help but reach a hand up to the back of his neck.
"Nightmares? Flashes of the Upside Down?" Veronica asked.
"Not this time. Just…a feeling." Will spoke, his brows pinching together as he studied his sister.
He could see the nervousness and fear in her eyes as he stared back at her. Then he looked a little closer. He noticed how slightly sunken her eyes were with the deep bruising beneath her eyes.
"If the Mind Flayer is back, this is a Code Red and we need to alert the others," Mike spoke in a rushed tone.
"Veronica?" Will spoke, taking a few steps closer to her, "You have been feeling it too. Haven't you?"
"I thought it was cause I was working at the mall, using my powers to block everyone around us." Veronica explained "The lack of sleep, the nightmares, along with then migraines…I blamed it all on that."
She ran a hand through her dark curls and tugged on them slightly, before running her hands down along her face.
"How could I have been so stupid and missed it all," She sighed heavily, before reaching to gently rub at her eyes. "I-I have to call my dad…I need to tell my dad…"
Veronica turned and rushed to the phone that hung on the wall in the kitchen and quickly dialed the number she memorized. First, the cabin. The line rang and rang but there was no answer. Next, the station. The line rang a few times, and she got Doris at the front desk.
"Sorry honey, your dad's not here. But don't worry – I'll tell him you called the moment he comes back in."
"T-Thank you, Doris," Veronica spoke before hanging up the phone.
Veronica hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh, standing there with her hand on the wall beside the phone, and taking a few deep breaths. Her heart seemed to be beating wildly in her chest with the nausea in her stomach fighting to come back up.
"We need to stay together, get a hold of Max, El, and Dustin," Lucas spoke walking into the kitchen, with the other two following close behind.
Veronica nodded her head, "Call out to the others. We meet here, we all need to stay together. Hopefully, Joyce comes home, or we hear from my dad first, and we can go from there."
The three of them nodded before running down the hall toward Will's bedroom. Veronica stood there for another beat or two, before grabbing the phone and dialing another number she had memorized. But after a few rings, the familiar sound of the voicemail came to her ears.
"…for calling the Harrington household, we can't come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and we'll get back as soon as we can." Mrs. Harrington's voice spoke.
"Steve, h-hey…it's me…uh, I guess you're still at Scoops…c-can you call me back? It's important, o-or just come by the house." Veronica hesitated "Steve…"
She hung up the phone before the words 'I love you' slipped through her lips.
It wasn't till the early morning of the next day that Max and El came knocking on the front door of the Byers' household. The moment the door swung open, and El's eyes met Veronica's she knew that something was wrong.
"We're all in the kitchen," Veronica spoke, stepping aside so they could come in.
Max gave her an apprehensive look as she walked by and headed toward the kitchen.
"You guys might want to sit down for this," Veronica spoke, moving to stand at the back counter.
"The Mind Flayer is back," Mike started looking between El and Max.
"What?" Max scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"
"Listen to them," Veronica interrupted, looking first at Max and then at El, "You're going to believe him by the end of this. And I…I am backing him up."
"It first started the night we all went to the movies at Starcourt," Will started to explain, and with every instance that Will explained it made Veronica's stomach drop.
The night at the movies, when the power went out in Starcourt Mall and most of Hawkins. Followed by Will feeling the same ice cold touch while out in the fields with the rest of the kids. The irritability he'd been feeling on top of his lack of sleep.
"I thought it was all a coincidence, but then the feeling got stronger every time."
"Feeling?" Max questioned.
"You know that feeling get when you're sitting at the top of the first hill of a rollercoaster? How your stomach seems to launch into your chest and cause chills to erupt through your entire body? It's like that, only with the added feeling of your body being dipped in ice." Will explained "And last night, the feeling, it wasn't short-lived. This time it lingered around, and I only get it when he's close."
"I've been feeling things too," Veronica spoke up, "I thought it was from being at the mall for work all the time. I've been blocking all the people so that I don't feel them. I thought the migraines and feeling tired all the time was from using my powers."
"You never said this," El spoke "How come you never said?"
Veronica shrugged, "We closed the gate. I thought after last time this was all over and done with. We could try and have a normal life without the looming darkness of the Upside Down hanging over us."
"If the gate is closed, how would the Mind Flayer even be here then?"
"I think when my mother got him out of me, a piece was left behind. Leaving him on the other side of Hawkins." Will spoke.
"But the demodogs died when Ronnie and El closed the gate, wouldn't this piece be closed as well?"
"Unless he got another host." Will answered, "He only used me when he needed me. This would mean that he found another to take control and do his bidding."
"We need to figure out who that person is," Veronica spoke up.
"I think we might have an idea of who…" Max spoke after a long moment of silence, her blue eyes looking at El. "Billy. H-He's been acting…off. More off than usual."
"We need to investigate to make sure it's him," Mike said, "Because this could mean life or death for all of us in Hawkins."
Veronica looked toward the phone that hung on the wall, unringing despite the calls she'd made the night before, before looking at the younger teens in front of her.
"You guys go and investigate; I'm going to do some investigation of my own. I haven't heard back from my dad or Steve. Not to mention Joyce never came home last night."
"Do you think it's wise that you go out on your own?" Will asked.
"I'll be ok. I promise. I'll take a walkie, just in case, we need to reach out."
"I think that's wise," Lucas spoke, handing over the one within his hands.
"We're going to figure this out," Veronica spoke with determination. "And take care of this once and for all."
Once Will, El, and the others left to head toward Hawkins Pool, Veronica headed to the bathroom to take a shower. The warm water against her skin felt soothing and comforting as she washed up – despite getting little to no sleep the night before. The entire time she stood beneath the warm cascade of the shower flashes of her time and life at the Lab seeped back into the forefront of her mind. Despite how hard she worked to push those memories down and forget them completely. The tests that Papa would put her through. The many times she would visit the Upside Down during some of his trials. Her powers seemed to increase after one of her visits and everything felt like it got worse before she and El escaped.
After she showered and got changed, Veronica started the walk back to town. The first place she was heading to was the station. The first person that came to her mind was her father, knowing that he was one of the most important people to know of the possible return of the Mind Flayer. When she walked through the double doors of the police station the only person she saw was Doris, who sat behind the front desk, with a magazine opened in front of her. The station was quiet for midday and the hope Veronica felt of finding her father slowly dwindled.
"Hey honey," Doris smiled "I guess you're in looking for your dad?"
Veronica nodded her head, a nervous smile coming to her lips, as she stopped in front of the desk. "I-I was hoping he maybe came in already for the day?"
"He must've beat me here this morning 'cause I haven't seen him, but his truck was gone from the front parking lot with his office door left unlocked." Doris spoke, "I will call out to his radio and let him know you stopped by ok?"
"Thank you, Doris, uh, let him know I'll be up at Starcourt if he needs me," Veronica said before turning to leave the station.
Veronica couldn't help but remember the last time she couldn't find her father when things seemed to be taking a turn for the worst when it came to the Upside Down.
"Mike? Lucas? Do you copy?" Veronica spoke into the walkie once she was far enough away from the station.
"Max here, I copy."
"What's an update from the pool? Suspicions correct about Billy?"
"Everyone seems to think so. He's currently sitting beneath an umbrella nearly covered from head to toe," Max walkied back. "Which is unusual for him, I will say."
"What's the plan so far?"
"We're gonna wait till the pool is closed, lure him away, and lock him in the sauna. Will and Mike's plan…they explained that the Mind Flayer doesn't like being warm."
"No, he doesn't. Something about the Upside Down…it's cold. Lifeless." Veronica explained, feeling a chill run through her body. "Be careful for me please, don't want any of you getting hurt."
"We will. Promise." Max answered back.
"Alright, I'll check in later."
Veronica slipped the walkie back into the backpack she'd grabbed from the house before slinging it onto her shoulders. She debated on heading to the cabin and searching for her father, or Joyce, but changed her mind. Instead, she turned down the street and headed toward the end of the block for the bus stop.
It took a couple of hours but eventually, Veronica made her way to Starcourt Mall. She forgot how long it takes at times to get to the mall when Steve isn't the one driving her. She moved with the crowd through the main doors. It was like the moment she walked into the mall her entire body broke out in goosebumps and her stomach felt like I dropped in her body.
The feeling you get right before you drop down a rollercoaster, she reminded Will saying.
Veronica's first destination was the food court, only concerned with finding Steve and letting him know about what they had discovered. But what she didn't expect to see was the gate still down at the ice cream shop. She cursed beneath her breath before moving toward the double doors that led to the back hall of the mall. It didn't take long to find the door that was labeled and led into Scoops Ahoy's back room.
"Steve? Robin?" Veronica spoke as she reached up and knocked on the door, and after a long moment, she knocked again, only to still not get an answer.
Veronica took one step backward and looked to either end of the hallway to make sure there was no one around. Before she turned her focus back to the door in front of her, particularly the knob and lock. Focusing and tuning into her power, Veronica tilted her head slightly, before the click of the lock was heard. A smirk turned the corner of her lip before she reached forward and opened the door.
Stepping into the backroom she knew instantly that no one was there. Account of the lights being off, and the entire ice cream shop was quiet and empty.
Veronica had a deep feeling that something was wrong.
She couldn't remember the last time that Steve, or Robin, had missed a shift at Scoops. Though both of them thought it was a stupid summer job, neither of them was someone to brush off responsibility. Veronica's eyes searched around the backroom before seeing the small radio sitting on the back counter.
"Alright," Veronica spoke to herself, before grabbing it and turning on the faucet of the sink that was on the back wall next to the fridge. "Guess I'm going to have to find them myself."
Veronica grabbed one of the red neckties for the Scoops Ahoy! uniforms and took a seat on one of the chairs. She flipped the radio on before finding a station that was only playing static. Veronica took a deep breath, and tied the red tie around her eyes, before focusing on her powers. Her mind focused on the static before it soon faded away and she was welcomed to the cold, quiet darkness that she was all too familiar with. The echoing sound of voices could be heard, though faint, but she could make out who it was.
"…comms room, the door opened slightly, and I saw machines and lights in there."
"That could be literally anything!" Steve's voice scolded.
"I'm ok with those odds," Robin whispered.
Veronica opened her eyes to see Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Lucas's younger sister Eric in front of her. All four of them knelt behind what looked to be a motorized cart of some sort. Her brows pinched together, confused about where they could possibly be.
"Alright, stay close to me, and stay low." Steve sighed. "We get into that room, send a signal up, and hope someone in the mall can hear us and get us from down here."
As the four of them moved from behind the motorized card, their image turned to dust before fading away into the darkness. Veronica pulled herself out from the darkness and grabbed the tie from around her eyes. Reaching up, she wiped away the blood that slowly started to drip from her nose, before turning off the radio.
Veronica knew two things; one her boyfriend and best friend were in the mall somewhere trapped and she was going to have to rescue them – alone.