Alex watched as the truck with all of their stuff drove away, leaving them to get in their car and follow. He didn't want to get in the car, because he knew if he did he knew that this would actually be happening. He felt Justin nudge him, and he shook off his nerves and got in the back seat of the car. He took deep breaths, trying to focus on his breathing other than the sound of the engine running. He tried to ignore the fact that the car had started to move, and he tried to listen to the music playing on the radio. All of his thoughts were distracted when he felt Justin grab his hand from next to him, and his breathing started to slow down.
Justin drew circles on the back of Alex's hand with his thumb, humming softly along with the song. Since he couldn't help him in front of their parents, he did this. He drew circles on his hand and hummed a song. Even though there was already music playing, he was humming along with it, looking out of the window and smiling softly. Alex let out a shaky breath, ignoring the way his heart pounded every second they got closer to Hawkins.
He lay his head on the window, closing his eyes and thinking about anything but the place they were headed. He had told Justin how he felt when he heard the town, and how he had zero clue why. They tried to figure it out, they even asked their parents a bit about the small town. Sadly, they didn't seem to know much about the town either, which was weird. Why would they agree to move somewhere they didn't know anything about? Maybe Ron got a promotion, which is highly unlikely.
Alex really didn't care that much about the town, he just wanted to know why he stopped breathing when he heard the name. He tried to ignore it, and focused on everything else but the sickening feeling in his stomach. He focused on the feeling of Justin's thumb on the back of his hand. He focused on the feeling of his skin moving around on his, he focused on the texture of his thumb and his thumbprint. He tried to think about every single line on his thumb, trying to count the swirls on the pad of his finger as he moved it around. He didn't notice until he wasn't thinking about the lines of Justin's finger that he had fallen asleep.
"It's close," a boy said, looking around the room. Dust fell from the ceiling as they could hear the leaves rustling from outside. He watched from one of the windows as the trees started shaking from outside, and he clenched his fists. Plates and cups slowly started falling off of tables as the house started to shake more violently, the noises getting louder. Then, it stopped.
"Where'd it go?" A red headed girl said, trying to stay quiet as the lights slowly started flickering again.
Then, a disgusting tentacle shot through the wall, going to attack him. He put his arms in front of the red head and his love, watching as the older boy hit it with the axe. He hit it again, and again, and again until it shoved him against the wall. It went towards him as the older girl started shooting at it, reloading her gun and shooting it again and again. Then, she ran out of ammo. It backed her into a wall, going to attack her when it stopped, shaking violently. He slowly pulled it away from the older, moving it back from her face. He panted heavily, lifting his arm before swinging it down, cutting the claw off of it. The claw writhed on the ground as the tentacle went back out of the wall and past the red head, who screamed in surprise.
"Holy shit." She said, another claw shooting out from the other side of her and towards him, who lifted his arm and stopped it. Then, another shot from the other side of him, lifting his arm and stopping that one too. He looked between them, panting and grunting before swinging his arms down and cutting off the claws, screaming as he did so. Then, another tentacle shot through the ceiling from behind him, grabbing his leg and pulling it towards him. He screamed, seeing Mike run forward and grab his arms. Then the older boy ran up and grabbed him, then the red head and the boy.
"Pull!" His love shouted as the older girl reloaded her gun.
"Nancy, shoot it!" The older boy screamed, looking back at his girlfriend. She lifted it up, pointing it towards his mouth and shooting.
"Lucas!" The red head screamed. His brother ran forward, grabbing him too, pulling as hard as he could. The dark boy ran forward and grabbed the axe, jumping on a footstool and hitting the tentacle. He did it again, the older girl still shooting at its mouth. he screamed as the people holding onto him strained, the dark boy hitting the tentacle with the ace again, trying to break it off. With one last hit and gunshot, the tentacle broke off and the creature backed away, causing him and everyone to fall on the floor, his love holding onto him.
Alex shot awake, his head jolting up from the window, and he swore that he just gave himself whiplash. He rubbed the back of his neck, seeing his mother looking at him cheerfully. He didn't quite understand what was so important that she had to wake him up for, until he watched as the got closer and closer to a sign that read,
Welcome to Hawkins!
They got closer and closer, the feeling in his stomach growing more and more until they passed the sign. He felt a giant wave hit him, the feeling dissipate. He felt something fill his body with warmth, and he felt something inside of him begin to glow, and his eyes popped open, not remembering when he closed them in the first place.
"Holy shit, did you guys feel that?" Alex asked.
"Hey, watch your language!" Ron said, glancing back at him. He ignored him, looking over at Justin.
"No, I didn't, what happened?" He asked, squeezing his hand softly.
Alex explained what happened when they passed the sign, quietly so that their parents wouldn't hear and think that he was crazy. He explained the crazy feeling he got and how the sharp pain in his stomach turned into a soft warmth filling him up. He told him that he felt like he was glowing and how his mind cleared completely, as if something huge was being added.
How he felt like he could do anything as long as he put his mind to it.
