mercy ; peter ballard

2. d i s a s t e r o l o g y

march 22, 1986

"so there are monsters from another world seeping into our world and snatching and killing people."

dustin summarized all the events leading up to this moment leaving out a lot of details to cut it short.

"basically," max says, awkwardly. the car is silent as bea processes the information. dustin bounces his knees in the backseat.

"you know what? i believe it. this makes more sense than the other shit the neighbours say. you know like satan and all that bullshit."

bea knew hawkins was capable of experiencing something like this. after spending almost thirty years in a lab where kids had superpowers, anything was possible at this point.

"where are we going again?" bea asked, gripping the wheel.

"family video," dustin replies. "the video store next to the arcade."

"what's at the video store that could get us to eddie?" bea asked, peering at dustin from the rearview mirror.

"we need to set up our secret headquarters," dustin replied, trying to sound mysterious. he peers over at the road. "are you sure you know where you're going?"

bea rolls her eyes. "of course, i know where i'm going—"

"the turn is here, bea!" max interrupts, pointing to the entrance on the right.

"shit!" bea turns the wheel quickly. dustin screeches as his backpack almost flies up and hits him in the face. max grips the side of the door as the car comes to an abrupt stop.

"jesus fucking christ," bea breaths, holding a hand to her chest.

dustin slowly unbuckles his seatbelt. "you definitely did not know where you are going, beatrice."

"my bad," bea says, looking around to make sure no one was broken.

the chimes to the video store door summon the attention of the two workers.

"hey, steve," dustin says as the doors slam open.

robin and steve were watching the news.

"you guys see this?" steve asked, gesturing to the tv behind them.

"bea?" robin asked, peering over the two teenagers and seeing her favorite waitress.

"how many phones do you have?" dustin asks, promptly ignoring what robin said.

"someone was murdered," steve stated, trying to inform the trio.

"how many phones do you have?" dustin demanded, tired of steve ignoring his question.

"two, why?"

"technically three, if you count keith's in the back. i'm still confused. why is beatrice with you guys?"

"yeah, three works," max says, nodding at dustin. "also she's my neighbour. she's helping us."