BAD TIMES • STEVE HARRINGTON

13. the list

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chapter thirteen

IT TOOK DIANA TWO DAYS to understand that the Mind Flayer was still present in their world. She hadn't spoken to anyone in those two days, entirely too caught up in scrying in an attempt to find out how the creature was covering so much ground so quickly. She'd come up with names—dozens of them scribbled on notebook paper and probably barely legible to anyone but her.

The list began with Billy Hargrove, his name larger than all of the others, and Diana knew that that was no coincidence. She also knew that he was the boy in the picture she'd drawn and that the screams she heard belonged to Heather Holloway.

She'd recorded the list out of order, and although Billy was first on the list, she'd written his name last. When she'd called Max's house after searching through Lucas's things for the number, no one picked up, and her worry began to mount. It was still morning, but Diana was running out of time. She called Mike's house, and his mother answered, explaining that all of the boys, including her brother, were in the basement.

Diana had asked if she could go over there under the guise of needing to bring something to her brother, which wasn't completely a lie. She needed to show him the list, and she needed to warn them.

On her way out, she noticed Erica's room was void of the girl, and her bed was untouched. Diana paused then backtracked to her parents' room. She knocked on the door and poked her head in to find both her parents sitting up in bed, her father reading the newspaper and her mother studying the pages of some book.

"Where's Erica?" Diana asked slowly.

Her mother answered, looking up above her reading glasses. "Good morning to you too. She slept at a friend's house, why?"

"Just wondering." That didn't feel true, but her mother clearly didn't know any better. She would have to deal with that and the radio silence from Steve later.

"Where are you going this early?" Her father questioned as she backed out from the doorway. He'd obviously noticed her styled hair which had replaced a usual silk wrap.

"The Wheelers." She gave them what she thought was a reassuring smile. "See you."

When she'd finally arrived at the Wheelers, Mrs. Wheeler led her to the basement then left her to her own devices. Diana descended quickly. "Mom," Mike called out, not realizing it was her. "I said not now—"

"Diana," Eleven murmured, her eyes wide and her face a bit pale.

Seven pairs of eyes were now on her. "Good," she said, greeting them—Nancy, Jonathan, Max, Mike, Eleven, Lucas, and Will— solemnly, "the majority of you guys are already here."

"We were just about to leave," Nancy told her.

Lucas stood. "What are you doing here?"

Diana dug the list from her back pocket and placed it on the center of the small coffee table. "I'm here because of that." She'd formed a list of people possessed by that damned creature, and she'd had a feeling they already knew some.

Mike tentatively picked up the paper, unfolding it with great care. His eyes widened gradually as they traveled down the extensive list. "She—she's got a list of all the flayed."

If that's what you want to call them, she thought.

"Billy—" Diana began, but Max interrupted her.