mary. [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xii. CHAPTER TEN

~*~

     "Wait a sec. How big?" Steve asked confused. 

     "First it was like that," Dustin said, his hands close together to demonstrate. "Now he's like this." Mary held her hands out pretty far, Steve glancing to her. 

     "I swear to God, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?" Steve asked, looking to Mary.

     "It's not a lizard," she countered. 

     "How do you know?" Steve asked. 

     "How do I know if it's not a lizard?" Mary asked, raising an eyebrow. 

     "How do you know it's not just a lizard?" Steve shouted. 

     "Because his face opened up and he ate our cat," Dustin snapped. Steve glanced to Mary and she nodded once for yes. He drove the rest of the way to their house, parking out front and going to the trunk first. He threw his keys to Mary who caught them, then grabbed the bat with nails out of the trunk. He slammed the door and walked towards the cellar. Nothing was going on at first, Steve not knowing what was going on. 

     "I don't hear shit," he said. 

    "He's in there," Dustin persisted. Steve lightly hit the cellar doors, nothing happening. Then he hit them harder, nothing happening again. 

     "All right, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead. You, too, Mary," Steve said as he was shining the flashlight on Mary's face. 

     "It's not," Mary said. "All right?"

     "It's not a prank," Dustin added. "Get it out of my face." Steve moved the flashlight back to the cellar doors. 

     "You got a key for this thing?" he asked. Mary held it out, Steve opening the cellar doors. He looked down in there, not being able to see anything. "Let me see that." He took the flashlight back, shining it down the stairs. 

     "He must be further down there," Dustin stated. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to... escape." Mary and Steve looked up at him slowly, then down the stairs again. They both began to go down slowly, Steve being first since he had the bat. They reached the bottom, Steve pulling the light switch to look around. He paused upon seeing the shedded skin on the ground, holding it up with his bat. 

     "Fucking disgusting," Mary muttered. Their gaze shifted to the wall where there seemed to be a Dart sized hole that was chewed through. 

     "Steve?" Dustin called. "Mary? Mary, what's going on down there?" Steve turned and shined the flashlight up the stairs at Dustin. 

     "Get down here," he demanded. Dustin walked down the stairs, seeing the skin first. 

     "Oh, shit," he stated. Mary motioned to the hole in the wall, Dustin looking that way. "Oh, shit!" They all walked over and peered into the hole, horrified of where it might lead. "No way, no way." 

~*~

     The next day, the three had gone to the store and bought a lot of raw meat. Along with gasoline and some other items that Mary barely paid any attention to. Mary began to unpack the trunk with Steve as Dustin's walkie started to go off.

     "Dustin! This is Lucas. Do you copy? Dustin?" Lucas asked frantically. 

     "Well, well, well, look who it is," Dustin said, stepping away from unpacking the trunk.