Daisies || Max Mayfield

42: The Bite

A tentacle smashed through the ceiling, a loud screeching sound filling the house.

Everyone scattered to the wall as it went straight for El. Jonathan smashed it with the axe, hitting it twice before the tentacle knocked him against the wall.

I screamed as the end opened like the demo dog mouths, screeching at Jonathan on the floor.

"Out of the way!" Nancy shouted. She fired the rifle once, scaring the absolute shit out of me before she did it again. 

The thing whipped around, now pointed at her. The metallic clicks sounded as the bullet shells hit the floor, her firing a new shot every time the tentacle lunged at her. It bounced back each time, her shots getting weaker and weaker after each one.

I watched as she fired the sixth shot, then the hollow clicking began. She dropped the gun to her side, backing against the wall as the fucking tentacle got closer and closer.

All of a sudden it stopped mid-air, writhing and screeching in pain. El stood behind it, her hand extended and her nose bleeding.

She slowly twisted her hand, forcing the end of the tentacle to crush in on itself.

The mouth part fell to the floor with a wet squelch and the tentacle disappeared back through its entry hole in the wall. I was right next to Max and me, leaving a plate-sized hole showing the outside.

"Holy shit." She panted.

"Yea-" Another tentacle broke through, bigger than the last. Out of reflex, I hit it with the crowbar. Max jumped back, into the bookshelf, and knocked a few off.

"Holy-"

El stopped it mid-air, standing in the middle of the room sobbing.

Suddenly another one came in from the other side. El stopped that one as well, whipping her head back and forth between the two.

I pushed Max up against the wall next to me, panting.

Eleven shouted, ripping the mouths off the two tentacles.

I froze, the bar raised as I watched her. 

She was panting in the middle of the room. I started to think that was the worst of it-

Everyone screamed as a massive tentacle smashed through the roof. I almost fell over Max before she ran out of the corner.

The thing dropped right to the floor and grabbed Eleven's leg, throwing her to the ground and dragging her out. 

Mike grabbed her at first, and then Jonathan, and Max, and Will and Lucas and almost everyone. Except for me, I stood back next to Nancy as she loaded round frantically.

Its head appeared through the roof, a massive shiny red shape full of teeth. The tentacle was coming out of its mouth as it roared, ripping El's leg apart trying to force her out.

She was suspended upside down screaming.

"Nancy shoot it!" Jonathan shouted. 

The shots began at a steady pace, but it was still pulling El up.

"Do something!" Max exclaimed, jumping and trying to use her body weight to drag El back.

I looked around, the only one who wasn't doing anything.

"That means you Daisy!" Nancy added.

"Shit!" I ducked under her gun and ran at the coffee table. I jumped onto it and drove the hooked end straight through the middle of it. The end came out on the other side, completely lodged inside it.

It screeched, drowning out everyone else's shouts. But my crowbar wasn't doing enough fucking damage.

I gripped the crowbar with all my strength and jumped off the table, suspending myself in the air.

It screamed louder than ever before, all while Nancy shot at it, and I ripped its limb apart with my body weight.

When my feet touched the floor, I stepped back on the table and jumped off, sending all my weight crashing to the floor. 

It ripped right through the tentacle as I landed on my ass with a loud thud. Everyone else fell on top of each other seconds after, and the broken part of the tentacle landed in my lap.

The mind flayer screeched yet again, pulling its face out and watching us from above.

"El!" Mike was shouting still. "El! Are you okay?!"

I shoved the tentacle off me, my hands and shoulders shaking uncontrollably. They were all bleeding, with open scratches and my old wound kind of opening back up.

Mike sat up and ripped the thing out of her leg, throwing it in the corner. He went right back to El, holding her in his lap until someone else helped.

"Oh my god-" Max kicked me my crowbar, panting.

But it wasn't fucking over, because Eleven stood up and put both her hands up, screaming at the mind flayer.

It roared back at her, its spit flying all over me and everyone else. 

All at once, the things head split right down the center, goo, and shit raining down on us.

Eleven collapsed in Max's arms, who could barely carry herself.

I scrambled to my feet and picked her up, handing her off to Jonathan who could actually carry her. The boys were busy un-barricading the door while Nancy shouted at them.

I kicked the door open once they moved the couch and ran out onto the porch, holding it for everyone. After everyone was out, I jumped down the five steps and sprinted to the car, throwing myself in the trunk with Max and Mike.

The car engine started, failing twice before Nancy started it.

"Drive!" We all shouted, the thundering footsteps of the mind flayer behind us coming closer.

"I'm going!" Nancy exclaimed, tires screeching as the car spun and my head bounced off the ceiling.

I groaned, bracing myself between the door and Max.