𝙞 '𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 : 𝙢.𝙬 [DISCONTINUED]

04: dart

꧁ꕥ꧂

It was the next morning, and the Byers family, Bob and Cassie were frantically searching for Joyce's keys.

"A-ha! Found them! Hiding under some jeans, sneaky little buggers." Bob said as he came down the hall to give Joyce her keys.

"Thank you, thank you!" Joyce said as she kissed Bob. "Can you take Will to school again today? I can not be late again." she asked Jonathan.

"I can take him." Bob offered. "I'm taking Cas anyways."

"Will you make sure he gets in okay?"

"Yeah of course! What do you say big guy? Wanna go for a ride in the 'Bobmobile' ?" he joked, causing Cassie and Will to glance at each other.

꧁ꕥ꧂

"Was that one of you two I heard milling around last night, or was that a ghost?" Bob asked the two in the backseats of his car. It had become a regular thing for Bob and his niece to spend the night. Whilst Bob would be asleep next to Joyce, Cassie has to make do with the sofa.

"Yeah. Me probably." Will answered.

"Another nightmare?" Bob asked, sparking Cassie's interest. Even her uncle seemed to know more than her.

"Um- no." Will replied.

"Have I ever told you two about Mr. Baldo?"

"Mr who?" Cassie asked.

"Mr baldo?" Will also asked.

"Yeah. I was a little younger then you two, standing in line for the ferris wheel at the orange county fair. And suddenly, I feel this fat white glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around, and there he is. Mr. Baldo." he pauses, before putting on his best clown voice, "Hey kiddo! Wanna balloon?" causing Will and Cassie to laugh. "Go ahead, laugh! It's funny! It wasn't funny back then, I can tell you that! But I couldn't get him out of my head. Every night, he would come to me, in my dreams. And every night when he came to me, I ran. It got so bad that I made my mum stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night."

"Really?" Will asked.

"Really. it went on like that for months. And then one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped. Wanna know how?"

"How?" Will asked, Cassie also listening closely.

"Well I fell asleep, and just like always, Mr. Baldo came for me. Only this time I didn't run. This time, I stood my ground. I just looked at Mr. Baldo in his stupid face, and J said 'Go away. Go away!'. Just like that, he was gone. Never saw him again. Easy peasy, right?"

"Easy peasy." Will repeated, Cassie also nodding.

꧁ꕥ꧂

Cassie, Max and the party, except Dustin, sat in Mr. Clarke's class, bored out of their minds. Mike flipped a pencil around, Max played with her hands and Will seemed lost in thought. Lucas and Cassie were making up a handshake. Their friendship had been growing more everyday, the pair being the most alike. Suddenly, Dustin burst through the door.

"I am so sorry Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class." the boy said as he took he seat. "Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks." as soon as he sat down he turned to the party. "We have to meet. All of us. At lunch, AV club. You too Cassie."

"Why?" Mike whispered.

"I have something you won't believe." they all nodded and turned their focus back to the lesson. Dustin turned and also informed Max about about the AV club meeting."

Will looked at Mike. Mike knew what he wanted. He wanted him to apologise to Cassie. Will had heard everything Mike said to her the night before and lectured Mike about his attitude. He nodded at Will before looking at the girl. He rolled his eyes as she argued with Lucas over the next part of their handshake, but he couldn't fight the smile that etched its way onto his face.

꧁ꕥ꧂

Everyone was crowded around Dustin's weird halloween prop in the AV room, waiting as Dustin opened it up. They all peered into the little box, and saw a slug looking creature inside. Except, it wasn't a slug. It wasn't like anything they'd ever seen before.

"His name is D'artagnan." Dustin said as he reached in and took him out the box. "Cute right?"

"D'artagnan?" Mike asked.

"Dart for short."

"And he was in your trash?" Max questioned.

"Foraging for food." Dustin replied.

"What is it?" Cassie asked.

"You wanna hold him?" Dustin said in response. She quickly shook her head, and watched as Dart was dumped into Max's hands.

"Oh god, he's slimy!" she cried as she gave him to Lucas.

"Ugh! He's like a living booger!" Lucas told the others, handing the creature to Cassie.

"Lucas don't you dare put that thing in my hands." She squealed as Lucas ignored her and passed him anyways.

"ugh! oh, god!" Will squealed as he was passed Dart.

"This is disgusting!" the girl told Dustin, before Dart was passed to Mike, who held it up close to his face.

"What is he?" Mike said.

"That's what I wanna know." Cassie added.

"My question exactly." Dustin reached into his bag and bought out a stack of books, dumping them onto the table. "At first, I thought he was some kind of pollywog."

"Pollywog?" Cassie asked.

"It's another word for tadpole. A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."

"She knows what a tadpole is." Max said.

"Alright, then you'll know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right? Well Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Yeah, but aren't there non aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas queried.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana Semipalmata, and the Adenomera Andreae. Ones from India, ones from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientists bought it here and it escaped." Max said. Cassie nodded. It sounded reasonable, but the glance that the boys gave each other made her think otherwise.

"Do you guys see that? It looks like something is moving inside of it." Mike said, causing them all to look. He was right, something was moving beneath its skin. Mike took the lamp and turned it to Dart, who let out a horrific screech. Everyone gasped, and watched as Dart crawled out of the light and into Dustin's hand.

"It's okay, it's okay. I got you little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay. And there's another thing. Reptiles are cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him."

"So if he's not a pollywog, or a reptile..." Lucas started.

"Then I've discovered a new species."