Hell on Earth

Chapter Five -The Calm Before the Storm

Cynthia let out a sigh of relief when Jonathan finally dropped her off at her house. She went straight up to her room and curled up underneath her covers. She didn't know what was crazier.

Monsters were real.

Nancy and her were hanging out again.

Will's body was a fake.

Oh, and how could she forget, her, Jonathan, and Nancy were going to do something very stupid.

It's like she said: what could go wrong?

She looked towards the door when she heard her brother try and shuffle past.

"Dustin," she stopped him before he could disappear down the hall.

"Yeah," he poked his head in her room.

"The funeral is tomorrow," she said. "I want you up bright and early, so we can get ready and be there."

"He's not dead," Dustin said.

Cynthia sat up, "Dustin, come here." She patted the spot next to her.

Cynthia had no idea what had caused this shift in Dustin's attitude. He was in tears just a night ago. She also had no clue how she was going to tell him that he was probably right. It was probably going to be best to hold off on that fact though. Cynthia didn't want to drag Dustin into this mess.

"I know that this is hard for you in ways that I can't imagine," Cynthia said. "And I know that you're going to need time to process everything that has happened over these past few days. I know you want him to be alive, but his family is burying him tomorrow. You can't be saying stuff like that."

"But he's alive," Dustin tried to argue. "I know he is. Mike, Lucas, and I we all know it. We're the only ones who do."

"Dustin," Cynthia kept her voice calm. "You saw his body being pulled from the quarry. It's okay to have these thoughts with Mike and Lucas, but you can't say anything like that at the funeral tomorrow. Okay?"

Dustin nodded, "Okay." He looked down at his lap. "I should have known you wouldn't have believed me." He looked back up at Cynthia. "Is it okay if I go with the Wheelers to the luncheon thing after the funeral?"

"Yeah," Cynthia nodded. "I was going to see if they could take you anyways. Jonathan isn't taking this well, and he doesn't have a great support system." She hugged Dustin before pushing him away. "Now get to bed."

Cynthia bit her lip as she watched Dustin walk out the door. She felt really bad about lying to him, but what could she tell him? That a monster was roaming Hawkins and most likely took Will. He would want to look for it: there was no way in hell that Cynthia was going to put Dustin in that kind of danger.

When morning came and Cynthia's alarm went off, she rose silently. She put on her all black suit with black Dr. Martens. Were Dr. Martens the best funeral shoes, maybe not, but they definitely were the most comfortable. She went into the kitchen and saw Dustin sitting at the table with his tie next to him.

Cynthia grabbed the tie, "Stand up. I'll make sure it looks good."

"Thanks," Dustin said. "I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet."

"It just takes practice," Cynthia finished off the knot.

She popped some Eggos into the toaster. Her and Dustin weren't saying much to each other, but what was there to day. After breakfast was over, the pair headed out the door and to the church. When they got to the grounds were Will was going to be buried, Dustin stood by his friends and Cynthia stood next to Jonathan. Once everyone had filled in, the pastor started to preach something about God and lost. Cynthia just zoned it all out. She didn't really care what the pastor had to say. For one, Will wasn't dead. His words didn't mean anything for a fake corpse. Cynthia just kept her eyes trained on the casket as the ceremony went on.

After everything was over, Cynthia walked over to the Wheeler family (plus Dustin).

"Thank you so much for taking him," Cynthia said. "I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem," Mrs. Wheeler smiled at her. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"I need to stay with Jonathan," Cynthia offered a strained smile. "He needs his friends to be there for him right now."

"You and Nancy are so sweet," Mrs. Wheeler smiled at her. "She said the exact same thing. If you need anything, call."

"Of course," Cynthia nodded.

She walked away. She made her way through the graveyard where she knew Jonathan and Nancy had arranged to meet after the funeral. When she got there, they were already in deep conversation.

"What are the two of you talking about?" Cynthia knelt in front of them.

"Come on," Jonathan said as he got up and walked over to the cars.

"Thank you for not answering my question," Cynthia rolled her eyes as she walked with him.

"We want to find the monster," Nancy said. "It hasn't been going far."

"Good to see I was right about that dangerous and stupid thing," Cynthia ran her hand through her hair. They stopped at an unlocked car. "And what are going to do when we find this monster that has already taken two people that we know of?"

"We kill it," Jonathan said as he started to mess the lock of the glove compartment.

"Of course," Cynthia sighed.

"What are you doing?" Nancy asked.

"Just give me a second," Jonathan said as he picked the lock. He opened the glove department and revealed a gun with some ammo.

"Are you serious?" Nancy asked.

"What?" Jonathan asked her. "You want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it?"

"He makes an incredible point," Cynthia said.

"This is a terrible idea," Nancy said.

Cynthia smiled at her, "Now you're the one making sense."

"Yeah, well, it's the best we've got," Jonathan said defeated. "What? You can tell someone, but they're not going to believe you. You know that."

"Your mom would," Nancy said.

"She's been through enough," Jonathan said.

"She deserves to know," Nancy argued.

"You tell Joyce that a monster took her son and that woman will go off the deep end," Cynthia said. "It's like Jon said. She's been through enough.

"I'll tell her when this thing is dead," Jonathan reassured Nancy. He got out of the car. He started to walk away. "This is how it's going to go. We all head back to our houses, get on whatever clothes you feel best for monster hunting and we'll meet at the little grassy area that's behind Nancy's house."

"Awesome," Cynthia pursed her lips. "I love the casual monster hunting. I'm assuming that Nancy and I will find whatever weapons we can bring from our houses before we get there."

"Yep," Jonathan nodded.

"So I finally get to use my machete," Cynthia said. "Sweet."

"I'll see what I have," Nancy said. She was clearly shocked by the fact that Cynthia just had a machete lying around her house.

The trio finally made their way to Cynthia's and Jonathan's cars. They were all looking at each other with nervous glances.

"What time can we expect to see you there?" Cynthia asked.

"I'll be at the clearing around 4:00," Jonathan said. "Leave the cars at home and we'll go from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Cynthia said. She got in her car. "Hop in, Nancy. I'll give you a ride home."

As Nancy shut the door and Cynthia started the car, she couldn't help but think how this night was going to change everyone's life. It was one thing for a kid to go missing. It was another to try and face the beast responsible for it.