✓ | Happiness Is A Butterfly ~ Lucas Sinclair

|56| Lying to Authority

"What's under your bed?"

"N-nothing"

●●●●●

Leah, Lucas, Dustin, and Max were cramped onto a small couch in the Wheeler's living room, their parents surrounding themm

"What exactly were you all doing at the lake?" The sheriff asks us.

"We were just..." Max trails off.

"Going for a walk" Leah finishes.

"A walk?" The deputy asks skeptically. "At 9 pm?"

"To the lake!" Dustin says, his voice squeaky from stress. "We were gonna take a little swim"

There's a pause because of his continued high voice. "A little night swim" He says again.

"Dusty!" Mrs. Henderson scolds her son. "Someone was just murdered there!"

"Yeah, we didn't realize that until we got there" Dustin says, the squeak gone.

"That's why we didn't swim" Lucas adds.

"And Nancy, was she with you at this late night swim?" Mrs. Wheeler questions.

"No" Max answers.

"Yes"  Dustin says as they both give eachother a look.

"We're not sure" Lucas says, trying to keep calm.

"She was there" Dustin insists. "Then she left. It's all a little confusing"

"That's when you guys came!" Lucas says.

"Right. And then they dared me to say what I said" Max lies.

"Oh yeah. About the killer" Lucas says, laughing. Making Leah and Dustin fake laugh with him.

"You're lucky you didn't get shot" Mr. Wheeler says, stopping the laughter.

"Have you had any contact with Eddie?" The sheriff asks.

"That pshyco... freak killer?" Dustin asks in fake disbelief,  cringing at his own words. "God,no"

"Nope. We haven't heard from him"

"Haven't seen him"

"Barely know the guy"

"Who?"

"Oh, that's a bunch of bull" Erica steps forward.

"Erica!" Her parents scold.

"I mean, you realize they're lying. The whole couch is on fire" Erica says.

"Erica" Her parents say again.

"Just the facts!" Erica argues.

"Are you lying to these police men, Dusty?" Mrs. Henderson asks.

"No!" Dustin says, the squeak back.

"Lying to cops is a crime, son" Mr. Sinclair says.

"You can get jail time" The deputy says.

"We're not lying, goddammit!" Leah says.

"Leah! Language" Her mother scolds.

"We were going for a night swim. Didn't realize there was a body. Can we go now?" Leah asks, clearly annoyed.

"The fire is consuming us!" Erica exclaims.

Pretty soon all of the parents are arguing.

"Shut up!" The sheriff screams. "We're gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time. You first" He says, pointing to Max.

"Wait what? Why me?" Max asks.

"Follow me" The officer instructs.

"I'm not even in the Hellfire club!" Mac argues.

"Do I need to cuff you?" The deputy asks.

She finally gets up, giving the deputy a glare, leaving Leah, Lucas, and Dustin on the couch as Lucas reaches for Leah's hand and gives it a squeeze.

Lucas and Leah were staring into nothingness as Dustin stormed out of the bathroom from trying to contact the others.

"Anything?" Lucas asks.

"Nothing" Dustin sighs.

"What if they went through?" Leah asks.

"Through Watergate?" Dustin asks. "Without us? Without a plan? Without weapons?"

"Yeah, I guess. We never saw where they went after Steve jumped in" Leah says.

"They must just be laying low 'cause the law got us" Dustin insists.

"The law?" Erica asks, coming around the corner. "What is this, Gunsmoke? The stupid and the ugly? Should I round up the posse? Saddle the horses?"

"Erica" Lucas says, annoyed. "Please, just go away"

"Here's the deal. Either you tell me what's happening or I tell Dustin and Leah what I found under your bed" Erica threatens, getting a frightened look from Lucas.

"Whats under your bed?" Leah asks the boy, furrowing her brows.

"N-nothing" Lucas stutters.

"Please, no" Lucas begs.

"Spill your guts, cowpuncher" Erica says.

"The serial killer is a dark wizard from the Upside Down" Lucas starts. "And we've been looking for him, but he's in the Upside Down, which we can't reach. At least we thought we couldn't, until we found a gate at Lover's Lake. That was the reason why they were there, but these stupid cops grabbed us." Lucas finishes.

"And you can't tell anyone about this" Leah threatens.

"And that's including mom, and dad, and Tina" He says before taking a small pause, and shaking his head, "Especially Tina" He says darkly. "I will smother you, in your sleep" He says, jolting closer. "Do you understand?"

"Hmm"

"Erica" He warns, sliding across the table, "Do        You      Copy?" He asks, ticking his head at every word.

"The smothering in my sleep part but not much else" Erica says, standing up. "Why would they open up a gate at Lover's Lake?" 

"What?" Lucas asks.

"The commies" Erica says.

"The commies didn't do this" Lucas says.

"Then who did?"

"Nobody!"

"So it just opened up for fun?"

"Erica, you have no idea what you're talking about"

"No, she doesn't" Dustin starts. "But she does raise an essential question. How did Watergate open up? Only two gates have opened, so far as we know. One by El, one by the commies. But it's not the commies or El this time, so it... Holy shit. Wait, wait, wait, wait"

"'Wait, wait, wait' what?" Lucas questions.

"There's one thing we've never understood" Dustin starts, walking around the kitchen island. "Which is why Vecna's killing people. What's his motive? Killing teens? It always just seemed so random. Too prosaic. On top of that, how does the Mind Flayer figure into all of this? Maybe this is it. This is the answer"

"What is the answer?" Lucas asks as Mrs. Wheeler walks in with an officer to the fridge.

The four walk to the side of the stairs. "Okay, just hear me out. How did El open the mothergate?" Dustin asks.

"She contacted the demogorgon" Lucas answers.

"With psychic contact. Just like..." Dustin trails off.

"Vecna when he casts his spells" Lucas finishes.

"Vecna is using his victims to make gates" Leah says.

A/n

I'm so excited to write the lights chapter!!!!!

996 words