❛ Eyes without a face, got no human grace. ❜

SEASON 2, EPISODE 5
dig dug

━━━━━━ November 3, 1984

HALLOWEEN HAD COME AND gone and Frida was excited to escape into the weekend. For two whole days she could live without fear of Billy and Tommy H. She wouldn't have to avoid the cafeteria or the popular kid's usual haunts in fear that they'd jump her. When she fought Carol the previous year, there had been no repercussions other than getting arrested and a few snide remarks at school. Frida could live with that, she had lived with it. But the way Billy reacted, she honestly feared that his volatile nature would bleed into his sober life.

⠀⠀⠀Frida had also noticed Steve around school more than usual. She would catch his eye drifting to her, some sad, lovesick expression on his face. Apparently, Nancy Wheeler had broken up with him at the Halloween party before he'd come to their rescue. In hindsight, it made sense why he was alone and felt the need to apologize for his past wrong. He was trying to get rid of his guilty conscience. Unlucky for him, Frida wasn't the type of person to let him feel better. A couple times, she'd noticed Steve heading in her direction, but she was quick to dive into the girl's bathroom or use Eddie as a shield.

⠀⠀⠀But Frida didn't need to worry about any of that now. It was Friday night, she wasn't due for work until Monday, and she had the whole weekend to herself. Eddie planned for them to start their new campaign Saturday night and she was excited to focus on the beginning of their story trying to escape a crashing nautoloid.

⠀⠀⠀The doorbell rang and a chill struck down her spine. Her anxiety shot through her veins and she was certain Billy had found out where they lived to handle their issues. But when her abuela opened the door, all she heard was the kindly voice of Mrs. Henderson.

⠀⠀⠀"Hola, Mrs. Flores. Uh, ¿cómo estás?" Mrs. Henderson greeted with a giddy laugh. Frida headed for the door and Mrs. Henderson perked up in excitement and waved excitedly to her. Frida returned it, unable to keep her smile abated. (How are you?)

⠀⠀⠀"Bueno, bueno," Frida's abuela, Blanca, answered with a proud grin. "What can we do for you?"

⠀⠀⠀Mrs. Henderson's mouth immediately formed into a frown and her eyes grew glassy with tears. "My baby, News, has gone missing," she explained, her voice choked. She waved a hand in her face to help cool herself down, taking deep breaths before continuing. "But someone called saying they saw her out in Loch Nora. I'm heading there now, but I'm leaving Dusty home."

⠀⠀⠀"We'd love to have Dustin over," Blanca said with a wide grin. She always said Dustin was her favorite grandson since she had none.

⠀⠀⠀"That boy," Mrs. Henderson huffed, shaking her head. "He said he's a big boy now and has a project he needs to work on. Basically, he wants to stay home alone. I know he's becoming a big boy, but would you keep an eye on him for me, please?"

⠀⠀⠀"Of course, Mrs. H," Frida assured her. "I can go take him dinner later so he doesn't suspect anything."

⠀⠀⠀Mrs. Henderson smiled warmly as she clutched her hands to her chest. She looked so much like Dustin when he was accusing Frida of being MADMAX at the arcade. "I don't know what I would do without you guys. You've always been like family to us," she cried, a few tears slipping down her cheeks.

⠀⠀⠀"We think the same of you," Blanca said, taking Mrs. Henderson's hand and squeezed them. "And we hope to hear good news about Mews."

⠀⠀⠀"Me, too. I can't imagine what the poor lady had been through the past few days. I've told Dustin to call you guys if he needs anything," Mrs. Henderson added.

⠀⠀⠀"Of course."

FRIDA KNOCKED ON DUSTIN'S front door and waited for him to answer. Her abuela had made enough carnitas to feed the entire neighborhood and it wasn't even Sunday dinner. Even with the hefty Tupperware container in her hand, they had barely made a dent in it.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin was taking an odd amount of time to answer the door. Usually, he'd come scrambling up to the door within seconds knowing the smell of good food anywhere. So, to make sure the kid hadn't killed himself, Frida grabbed the spare key stashed under a potted plant and walked inside.

⠀⠀⠀Frida set the carnitas on the kitchen counter and glanced into the hall. Her eyes caught onto a breadcrumb trail made of baloney. She raised a brow, her mouth screwing into a confused frown as she followed the line as it headed into Dustin's room. She didn't know what kind of project Dustin was working on, but her best assumption was that he was trying to pull Mews from a strange hiding place.

⠀⠀⠀She followed the trail back into Dustin's room. Her voice caught in her throat when she realized Dustin wasn't in his room, but something was. A strange creature about the same size as Mews sat in the middle of his room with green and brown scaly skin. It had no eyes and a face that bloomed open like a flower. However, instead of a yellow disk like a daisy, there were hundreds of little teeth prodding out of raw skin. The crumb trail began at the creature's feet as it chewed on one piece and was about to move onto the next when it sensed her presence.

⠀⠀⠀Frida was almost too scared to move, too scared to think. Her legs turned to jelly as she took a step back. Her knees collapsed under her and she fell to the ground. The creature took a hesitant step forward, its face closing like a bud, and Frida hoped it was as scared of her as she was of it. It took another step, tensing its body, and then bloomed with a shriek.

⠀⠀⠀Frida screamed back, scrambling to her feet as her instincts drove her out of the hall. The back door was wide open and she ran for it. The shed straight in front of her slammed open and Dustin appeared covered head to toe in athletic gear. He waved his hands out to his side, silently asking, 'What are you doing?!'

⠀⠀⠀The monster appeared behind her and was gaining on her quickly. She could feel it nipping at her heels as she focused on the shed. She tried to tackle Dustin inside and keep him safe, but he stepped out of her way. She could feel a bruise beginning to bloom at her hairline where her head met the shed floor. Dustin used the hockey stick in his hand to knock the creature into the open hatch of his storm cellar.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm sorry. You ate my cat," he whispered, laying on top of the hatch with his head buried into his arms.

⠀⠀⠀"Dustin," Frida whispered. Her hands shook and she felt light headed. She tried to stand but her legs were still jelly.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin turned to her, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open. His expression wasn't scared... more like he was shocked for her to be there.

⠀⠀⠀"¿Que mierda fue esa cosa!" Frida asked, pointing at the hatch door. (What the fuck was that thing?)

⠀⠀⠀"I can explain," he said, dazed. "But can you grab the chain and lock inside the shed so I can get up?"

⠀⠀⠀Frida stared at him, considering what was real and what she had imagined. She felt like she wasn't in her body watching herself stand instead of doing them herself. Too many thoughts were running in her mind to even begging thinking. Dustin locked the shed with fumbling fingers before he stood with a long, dreadful sigh. He removed the hockey helmet and brushed his hand through his hair. His eyes flickered to Frida and she pinned a stare back at him, looking for an answer in the way he moved and breathed.

⠀⠀⠀"¿Que fue cosa, Dustin?" Frida asked again, albeit calmer. (What was that, Dustin?)

⠀⠀⠀"Frida, you know I can't understand Spanish," Dustin chided her and Frida glared at him.

⠀⠀⠀"¡No puedo evitario, imbécil! Mi cerebro está revuelto. No sé hablar inglés," Frida snapped back at him. She took a deep breath and turned away. She knew she shouldn't be taking it out on Dustin but she couldn't help it when he seemed so calm in the face of all this. Like he knew what he was dealing with. (I can't help it, asshole! My brain's scrambled. I can't speak English.)

⠀⠀⠀"Alright, alright, I can guess your asking what that was..." Dustin surmised. Frida nodded, snapping her fingers at him to encourage him to continue. "I—I don't even know where to start," he muttered, beginning to pace.

⠀⠀⠀Frida was growing more nervous by the second. Her eyes glanced at the hatch suddenly terrified that a simple lock and key wouldn't hold the creature for long. Her stomach rolled and her head spun forcing her down to a kneel.

⠀⠀⠀"Woah, woah, are you okay?! Did it bite you?!"

⠀⠀⠀"Estoy bien, estoy bien," she whispered, readjusting her position to sit cross-legged. (I'm fine, I'm fine.)

⠀⠀⠀"I think this is all too much right now," Dustin decided, placing his hands on his hips. "Come on, I need to call the party, anyway. You go home. I'll try to explain tomorrow."

⠀⠀⠀Frida shook her head furiously at Dustin. She wasn't leaving until she knew that thing was taken care of, and not by a thirteen year old and his friends. No, they needed to call animal control or the police. Someone that wasn't a seventeen year old girl and a thirteen year old boy. She also knew that Dustin would try to play this off like it was nothing the next day claiming it was a deformed cat. But she knew what she saw. That thing was a monster and she couldn't leave him alone with it.

⠀⠀⠀"No, no way! Frida, you're not getting involved in this," Dustin stated, slamming his foot down.

⠀⠀⠀"Claro que sí voy a, Dustin!" she shouted, standing so she could tower over him. She didn't even want to be involved in the first place, unable to speak English because her brain was so scrambled. (Like hell I'm not, Dustin!)

⠀⠀⠀"English lady!" Dustin snapped at her, throwing his hands up. Frida screwed her lips together and pointed an agitated finger in his face. "Fine! Fine! Whatever!" he shouted, throwing his hands up. He'd never known her to be stubborn, but he hadn't given her the opportunity to be.

⠀⠀⠀Frida followed Dustin into the house. He picked up his walkie talkie calling out a 'code red' to his friends. Frida didn't like the idea of involving the other boys. Although, she knew Dustin would go behind her back and get them anyway. Besides, maybe with them they could get this matter settled quicker.

⠀⠀⠀Then, Dustin went back to the shed and handed Frida a shovel. Her eyebrow quirked, and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

⠀⠀⠀"For Mews," he muttered.

⠀⠀⠀Frida's heart raced as Dustin grabbed a closed box from behind the dumpster and set it down on the ground. He didn't open it, thankfully, but Frida could only imagine what was inside. She was devastated for Mrs. Henderson as she was running around Loch Nora looking for her missing cat. But in some fucked up way, she understood why Dustin didn't tell her that their cat got eaten. Especially when she knew that fat cat wouldn't fit in a child's shoe box when she was alive. Something awful must have happened to Mews. Something lying in the storm shed.

⠀⠀⠀When they finished the grave for Mews, Frida said a small prayer before the pair went back inside. Dustin grabbed cleaning supplies before they went back into his room. There was a blood stain soaked deep into the carpet. Frida pinched her nose at the iron smell and the bile rising in her throat. Dustin gave her an unamused look, telling her silently to go home, but Frida ignored him and worked to scrub out the blood.

⠀⠀⠀As they cleaned, Dustin continued to recite the code red. About ten minutes in, a little girl answered, and asked snottily, "Could you please shut up?"

⠀⠀⠀Dustin scrambled to his feet and clutched the radio in between his hands like a lifeline. "Erica? Erica, is Lucas there? Where is he?"

⠀⠀⠀"Don't know. Don't care," she answered.

⠀⠀⠀"Is he with Mike?"

⠀⠀⠀"Like I said, I don't know and I don't care."

⠀⠀⠀"Please tell him it's super important. Please tell him that I have a code—"

⠀⠀⠀"Code red?" she asked sarcastically.

⠀⠀⠀"Yep, code red. Exactly," Dustin agreed with a wide smile.

⠀⠀⠀"Mm-hmm. I got a code for you instead. It's called code shut-your-mouth."

⠀⠀⠀The radio went silent as Dustin asked for Erica to come back. He took in a deep breath and bowed his head when he realized she was gone.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, she's something, isn't she?" Frida asked, wiping her brow.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin turned to her, eyes bugging out of his head, as he exclaimed, "She can speak!"

⠀⠀⠀Frida rolled her eyes at him. "I think that's the best we can do about the blood. So, what's next?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm gonna go grab some supplies then we'll head out to Mike's," Dustin explained, his fingers twitching as he edged over to the door. "Can you get this stuff?"

⠀⠀⠀Frida glanced down at the towels and bleach. "Yeah, sure, where are we—"

⠀⠀⠀The door slammed closed. Frida snapped her head to see the barren wood of the door and Dustin gone. Her hands tightened into fists as she ran over to the door and tripped to open it but the knob wouldn't budge. She slammed her shoulder into the wood but it held sturdy.

⠀⠀⠀"Dustin! Dustin!" Frida screamed, slamming the palm of her hand against the door. "Let me out before I kick your tiny ass!"

⠀⠀⠀"This is for your own good, Frida!" Dustin shouted back, his footsteps retreating down the hallway and the front door slammed behind him.

⠀⠀⠀Frida screamed in frustration as she tried the door a few more times without any luck. She was certain he'd shoved a chair underneath the doorknob to keep her inside. She turned, scanning the room, and her eyes landed on his window. She shoved the action figures off the windowsill and tried to pull it open. However, it seemed his mom had the great idea of bolting it shut because she couldn't even get it to crack.

🍂 ╱ AUTHOR'S NOTE

SONG: Eyes Without A Face by Billy Idol

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like, they keep me motivated! However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic ♡ I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next update is Friday, May 24!