chapter eight

the doting brother

☆

DUSTIN WAS FREAKING the fuck out.

The soft sound of rain pattering across Alexandra's bedroom window drummed through her ears at an irritating volume. The Henderson teen lifted her fingers up to her temple, soothingly rubbing the spot — and yet, Dustin's incessant rambling did next to nothing to help her becoming headache.

She had explained all that she could, all that she knew so far. She explained to him how she was lured out to the woods and attacked by a dark figure; she had shown him the wounds, she told him that a voice had commanded her to get him an army or Dustin would be the one to pay the price, how she had this sudden urge to rip everyone to shreds.

Though, she could've probably left that last part out as that was the reason of Dustin's pacing and rambling.

The younger Henderson sibling spun on his feet all of a sudden, glancing back at his sister, wide eyed. "You need to get rid of your clothes! What if mom see's them? Oh God!"

"Obviously I'm gonna get rid of them, dumbass." The redhead hissed, rolling her eyes.

Dustin nodded eccentrically. "Okay, okay," he breathed out, pacing coming to a haste stop. "You need to wash that blood off of you. I mean, you look like a frickin' murderer, well, you are — son of a bitch my sister's a murderer-"

"Dustin," Alexandra cut in, stopping him from going on.

"You aren't gonna kill me, are you?" His eyes widened once again.

"Dustin-"

"And what about those bites — cuts! Whatever they are. You need to go to the hospital and get them stitched up . . . but what if they ask where you got them from! We- we can't take you to the hospital, they'll tell mom. I- I can't do it. Remember when I was ten and . . . and I ripped your sweater and I tried to fix it but I made it worse. What if I did that to you-!"

Alexandra inhaled sharply, dragging a hand down her face, "Dustin, chill! You're givin' me a headache!"

"Chill?" The boy scoffed, hands on his hips, eyes wide as he rose his brows. "Chill?! I just found out my sister is some psycho killer and you want me to chill?"

"Cause that makes me feel better about myself, thank you, Dustin." Alexandra retorted at a mutter, pausing stiffly as the boy suddenly threw himself at her, arms wrapped around her torso as he hugged his sister.

"You're alright, you're okay," he murmured, albeit more to himself than her, but nonetheless, it calmed Alexandra.

The redhead reluctantly wrapped her arms around him, slowly relaxing into the hug. "Aren't you scared of me?" She asked.

"Not really," he shook his head, curls flailing as he did so. "I was already scared of you, nothing's changed . . . except for the fact that you're a killer! Oh God!"

Alexandra's face fell and a deadpanned expression replaced the soft look she held as she watched Dustin stagger away from her, she rolled her eyes.

She watched with pursed lips as her brother ran out of her room. The Henderson huffed, dropping down to sit on her bed when her eyes shot up at the squeak of Dustin's shoes gliding across the floor.

"Wash- wash the blood off of you," he panted, out of breath from running around the house. "We ran out of cleaning stuff so, uh, go buy some of that tomorrow because that," he pointed to the small splodge of crimson on the carpet from where it dripped from Alexandra's wounds, "Needs to go, now!"

"Yes, mom," Alexandra rose her eyebrows, sarcastic tone to her voice.

"Goodnight!" Dustin's voice echoed along the hallways.

"Night," Alexandra muttered so softly it didn't catch his ears. The Henderson teen fretted she would not reach sleep that night, and she was right. Her mind was too busy being plagued with vague flashes of the event that had gone on not that long ago. The redhead couldn't allow her eyes to stay shut for more than a couple of seconds, a deep fear settled within her that someone or something would creep up from behind the shadows and capture her within their grasp.

Oh, and that demanding voice in her head telling her to form an army didn't help either.

☆

Alexandra grumbled under her breath in irritation, hands reaching up ferociously to wipe the sleep from her eyes as a loud bang sounded throughout the house.

The all too familiar sound of Dustin's feet skidding across the floor was heard as the youngest Henderson gripped onto his sister's doorframe for stability. "It's Hopper!" He told her, panicked. "Do you think he knows? Shit, Alex. What if you get arrested?"

The redhead rolled her eyes, pushing her body out from under the comfort of her bedsheets. Her feet padded along the floor as she passed Dustin, sending him a swift slap to the head, "Language, twerp."

"Like you can talk." The younger boy muttered under his breath.

Alexandra turned back to glance at him as she sent him a deadpanned stare. "He won't know it was me." She told him with a shrug of her shoulders as she entered the living room. "Go get ready for school, you'll be late."

"You're supposed to be taking me," Dustin huffed, side eyeing his sister before he stormed off to his room. Alexandra didn't think Dustin had actually came to realisation of what she had told him less than twenty four hours ago, she didn't think it had sunk in yet.

And she feared his reaction for when it would.

Although she might not show it very well, Alexandra did care for Dustin's opinion on her, greatly. He was one of the few people in the entirety of Hawkins to understand her, he looked up to her ( if you excused the drugs and the bad grades, of course ). Dustin Henderson saved his sister in many ways, not that he knew it — if there was one thing Alexandra was bad at, it was showing gratitude. She'd have a better chance at getting a pig to fly, though, considering she lived in Hawkins, there could possibly be a chance of that happening.

The redhead brushed a hand across her head, soothing down her hair before she pulled open the front door, coming face to face with Hopper.

The man nodded gruffly, moustache twitching as the teen stepped aside, allowing him into the house.

"Yeah?" Alexandra asked boredly without greeting, raising her eyebrows as she stared at the chief.

Hopper rolled his eyes at her attitude and turned his head, focusing his attention on the living room. "You vandalize Mrs. Chapman's shop?" He asked, getting straight to the point. He didn't wanna be there, she didn't wanna be there, they both knew that.

"Uh," Alexandra thought for a moment. "No."

"She seems to think you did," he told her with a pointed look.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't me this time," she told him, lifting a shoulder.

Hopper let out a sigh, raising his eyebrows, "This time?"

"Oh, come on Hop, you know how fucking-"

"Language," he butted in.

It was now Alexandra's turn to give him the pointed look. "You know what that woman's like." The Henderson continued.

"Yeah . . . " Hopper trailed off with a large sigh, removing his hat from his head. "She's an old bat," he huffed out something that resembled a laugh, but with Hopper you could never tell. "Just don't do it again."

"I told you it wasn't me," she told him, lips curling into a smirk. "I'll be more discreet next time."

"Alex . . . "

"Kidding," she held her hands up in mock surrender.

Hopper shook his head in exasperation, running a hand down his face once again before he looked over at the teenager. "You okay? You're acting . . . strange."

"More so than usual?" Alexandra rose her brows.

"Has this got anything to do with that body we found out by the woods?" Hopped asked. He figured Alex knew the boy; and he was right. She did know him. Quite well, actually, considering his flesh was resting in the pits of her stomach that very moment.

Alexandra's face dropped to a neutral expression as she tried to brush the claim off. "No, I don't care about that," she spoke, lifting a dismissive shoulder. Hopper sent her a pointed stare. "In the nicest way possible, of course. But I didn't know the guy, Hop. Not enough to give a fuck about-" she stopped herself upon his glare. "Language, yeah, yeah, I know."

Hopper let out another gruff sigh, seemingly the only way he knew to converse. "Yeah, okay," he muttered, nodding his head before he lifted his hat, placing it atop his head. The man made his way over to the front door, opening it he turned back to the teenager, pointing a finger at her. "Don't be late to school. If I hear one more thing about you and Richie skipping I swear-"

"Yeah, okay, bye Hopper." The teen dismissed his words, smiling sarcastically as she lifted her hand and waved at him.

"Goddamn kids." The man muttered under his breath before he stepped out of the Henderson household.

Alexandra turned, moving to head to her room as she needed to start getting ready for school, but before she could even take a step forward, Dustin shot out in front of her, wide eyed as he looked between his sister and the door.

"He's gone? He didn't arrest you? Whoo!" The boy thrusted a hand in the air. "See? I had faith in you."

Alexandra gave him a deadpanned look. "Liar. You thought he'd take me."

Dustin rolled his lips into his mouth, nodding slowly, "Yeah, yeah I did. But . . . I had faith in myself."

"Yourself?"

"Yeah, I had faith that if he arrested you, I'd come visit you everyday. If I wasn't playing D&D, of course, it takes up a lot of my time."

    "Ah, ever the doting brother." Alexandra sighed sarcastically. "Go get ready, we're leaving in ten."

    Dustin nodded, scrambling off to his room to get ready and to check on Dart — not that Alexandra knew the latter, for all she knew Dart was out in the big, bad world now, she didn't suspect that he was residing in Yurtle's former accommodation.

☆

    No matter how many times Alexandra would say she hated the school gym, she nor Deena did nothing to stop their frequent visits there. Though, when I say visits, I mean punishment in labour.

    Once again they were trapped in the gymnasium, forced to clean the gum hiding beneath the benches. Alexandra scoffed, turning away from the Basketball Team as they practiced. "I swear to God if I get hit with that ball I'm gonna eat one of them." She snapped, figuratively and literally, but Deena needn't know the latter.

    "Same." The Richie teen rolled her eyes as the ball, once again, bounced near her feet. "I think they do it on purpose, whether they're tryna' show off or annoy us, I don't fuckin' know."

    "Either way, I'm over it and I'm gonna be sick if I have to stare at Tommy H's hairy ass for one more hour." Alexandra shuddered with a disgusted groan as she turned away from the Basketball court.

    It had only been twenty minutes and Alexandra already wanted to take a gun, press it against her temple and release the trigger. But, thankfully, her mind was only half in it today, only one half of her was grimacing over the sweaty, half naked jocks running around the court, the other was trying to block out that menacing, exasperating sound of heartbeats reverberating through her mind.

    She didn't know what she was thinking coming into school, she only came because she wouldn't leave Deena to fend for herself against the assholes insolently jogging around the gym, because she knew if it was her and Deena left her — she would simply wring her neck.

    Alexandra cast her attention to the Basketball Team once again when she heard Billy's laugh resonate across the room. Billy, shirtless as always, stood in front of the Harrington teen, a sly smirk on his face as he dribbled the ball.

    "Alright!" Billy called out, earning everyone's attention. Deena rolled her eyes, she didn't think a man could revolt her as much as her father — yet, here was Billy. "King Steve. King Steve, everyone. I like it. Playing tough today."

    "Does he ever shut up?" Alexandra grumbled to Deena, side-eyeing her best friend as she dropped the metal scrapper to the floor and turned her body, eyes solely focused on the sight before her.

    "Jesus! Do you ever stop talking, man? Come on," Steve spat out, quickly moving his feet back and forth in place.

    A sweet, sardonic smile pulled at Deena's lips. "How adorable, even after all this time you guys still share the same one brain cell."

    "Choke."

    "You afraid the coach is gonna bench you now that I'm here? Huh?" Billy asked in amusement, a deep laugh rumbled from his chest as he continued to dribble the ball. But he never gave Steve the time to answer as he shot forward, bashing his shoulder against the Harrington's causing him to fall into a heap on the floor — not only did Steve hit the ground with a thump, but he fell into another one of his teammates who faced planted the floor, adorning a wildly bloodied face as he lifted his head.

    Alexandra and Deena both pulled the same face, that's embarrassing.

    "Jesus!" The Basketball coach called out, waving his arms in a dramatic fashion as he looked down at the teenage boy covered in blood. "Get down to the nurses officer, Carter. Bleedin' all over my damn floors," he finished at a mutter, turning away.

    Alexandra inhaled sharply as the smell of blood struck her nose. A rumble erupted in her stomach, mind going foggy as she watched James Carter lift his body, sluggishly pushing open the doors. Her fingers incessantly tapped against her knee before she abruptly shot up from her place, leaving Deena slightly startled at the haste of the action.

    "I'm just going to the bathroom . . . blood makes me nauseous."

    Deena pulled a face. "What are you talking about? Blood doesn't-" But before she could even begin to protest or question Alexandra, the redhead had walked off rather quickly.

    There was one thing Alexandra was thankful for ( well, I wouldn't say thankful, rather . . . she found it helpful ) and that was the ability to smell James Carter's blood, meaning she got to him before the poor boy even made it to the nurses office.

    "Carter!" She called out into the empty hallway, causing the boy's head to turn, he stopped in the middle of the hallway, nimble fingers held pinched against his nose. "Hey, uh, coach sent me to check on you." She told him with faux kindness. "He also told me to tell you he forgot Nurse Lane is off sick . . . so you have to grab the first aid kit from storage."

    Nurse Lane was in fact, not sick and currently sat in her office as they spoke.

    "Storage?" James' brows pinched together. "The Hell's storage? Won't there be one in her office?"

     "Doors locked." She chuckled smoothly, sweet tone to her voice. "You better get going if you don't want to, you know, bleed out or anything. Actually, how about I walk you? I'm dying for some air anyway."

    James stood, hesitantly looking her way before he lifted a shoulder just as a drop of crimson splashed against the floor. Alexandra's eyes followed it like a hunter to its prey, her eyes never straying once. She swallowed roughly, throat dry and closing up. She knew it was wrong, she knew it was inhumane of her; and believe me, she did try to fight it, so bad, but not only did that gnawing hunger win . . . the voice telling her that Dustin's life would simply end if she did not follow through with her task.

    Alexandra followed after him, watching closely as he began to make his way to the storage room. One thing Alex had forgotten to mention was that she had spent four hours up last night doing research, going through as many books she could find, supernatural tales, urban legends . . . anything. And then she came across something, a Succubus. Weird name, I know.

    But she knew that was what she was, she didn't know how, but when she read the name it was like she just knew. Only, she wasn't free to do as she pleased, she wasn't free to what she wanted. A Succubus only needed to kill once a month, she only needed to take one life in order to keep her own, however, Alexandra got the twisted end of it.

    She didn't get the one person a month, she got the as many people as possible or Dustin dies. She got the 'if you do not serve me, you will cease to exist', not something you wanted to hear at seven AM, but that was life in Hawkins for you.

    Just as the Carter boy pushed the door to the storage room open, Alexandra's palm met his back and he went staggering forward. He stumbled on his feet at the contact. His brows pinched together as he turned to her with an exasperated glare. "Dude, what the Hell-"

    But the words seemed to get stuck in his throat as a monstrous noise left Alexandra's lips, her mouth widened welcoming a razor sharp set of teeth to replace her own pearly whites.

    Her hand reached out and wrapped against his wrist, tightly like a vice before she turned her arm harshly, allowing the sound of snapping bones to fill her ears. In a grim, twisted way . . . it was music to her ears. James fell to his knees, crying out in pain.

    When she got like this, it was like a personality flip. Like she wasn't herself, in school she was the freak, the outcast, but when she was like this — when she was like this, she felt so . . . powerful.

    A sardonic smile pulled at her lips as she bent his arm another way. The same melody playing in her mind.

    "Sorry James." Her voice was low, breathing erratic as she ran her tongue along her sharp fangs, disturbing smile pulling at the crease of her mouth. "But I need you frightened."

    She used her newly found strength to drag him to the floor, where she bared her fangs down at him, her dark, auburn hair cascaded around her like an angel . . . or perhaps it was the devil in disguise. "I need you hopeless."

    An eerie, quiet shriek left her lips before she sunk her teeth into him, blood splattered along the walls, coaxing the room in crimson each time she rose her head, her breathing was coarse, face masked in blood.

    Perhaps she should be worried that someone would find them, that someone would walk in and find her covered in blood whilst James Carter lay dead on the floor.

    That wouldn't look good on her College application.

    Nonetheless, even though she should fear it, no inkling of fear seemed to creep its way up Alexandra's spine. There was no angel nor Jiminy Cricket perched upon her shoulder. Rather, the devil himself, telling her to indulge in these moments.

    And so she did, enjoying the thrill of every Goddamn second. But thrill seekers soon find that what they crave only lasts a mere few seconds before its over, before that small light of excitement burns out.

☆

    After the situation with James, Alex had managed to get out of the storage room without being noticed by anyone, luckily for her Hawkins High wasn't exactly shitting dollars — so, if there was any investigation to be done, there'd be no cameras to lead her straight to James . . . Or jail.

    She had snuck off to her car ( unseen ) and driven herself home where she took a shower, only to be reminded that she needed to buy floor cleaner and bleach when she saw the massive splodge of crimson on her carpet. Luckily, Claudia Henderson went straight from the neighbours house to work, and she had yet to return home as she knew she could leave Dustin in Alexandra's 'trusty' hands.

    Alexandra pushed the door of the shop open, making her exit, bags in hand as she headed to her car. All of a sudden she stopped in place, her eyes folded shut and she exhaled deeply. "Are you following me?" She asked, boredly turning to face Steve.

    Said boy smiled sheepishly in her direction. "I was in the laundromat. I saw your car, I came over to say hi," he told her.

    "Hi." She greeted bluntly, a false smile landed on her lips for less than a second before it dropped. "Great conversation. Bye."

    Just as she turned and began heading to her car, Steve jogged in front of her and made it to the vehicle before she, the teenage boy leant against her car door and folded his arms over his chest, a large grin accompanying his face.

    "Steve?"

    "Yeah?" He asked, leaning forward in anticipation, hoping that she'd finally give him the time of day.

    "Go away."

    "No," he furrowed his brows in mild offense, a scoff fell from his lips as he shook his head. "We . . . " He threw an arm over her shoulders, curling her body against him as he pulled her into him. Alexandra didn't bother to hide the grimace that laid on her face. ". . . Need to have a chat."

    "I will bite you if you don't move your arm, Harrington."

    Though Steve had not given up yet. He waved a dismissive hand and continued speaking, not moving his arm as he did so. "If we don't finish this essay then I am in deep, deep shit. My dad will kill me, Alex. You know how he is and-"

    "-And I don't care." She stated, throwing his arm off of her. "You wanna do the project, we'll do the project, fine. But I don't need a sob story, okay? Sob stories are exchanged by friends . . .  We are not friends."

    A playful grin fell upon Steve's lips as he masked the hurt of her words. "See, I think you're just lying to yourself-"

    "-You're arrogant, you know that?" She frowned deeply as she looked up at him, shopping bags still in hand. "I'm not lying to myself Steve, how do I know that? I know that because you're a selfish prick and if it wasn't for Miss-fucking-Click we wouldn't even be talking right now. So, no I'm not lying to myself. Yes, we can finish the project and soon — otherwise I will shoot myself in the fuckin' skull. Now open my Goddamn car before these bags break."

    A small smile appeared on Steve's face. Though she was angry at him, she didn't raise her voice nor was there a malicious tinge to her words. She was exasperated and out of breath from how fast she was talking and it instantly brought him a sense of comfort; back when they were friends this was how every other sentence went with them. Alex getting annoyed and Steve shutting up and listening.

    As much as Alexandra would disagree, they were slowly inching back to something resembling a friendship and Steve Harrington swore he felt his heart flutter at the mere thought.

    "Yes ma'am." He grinned widely when she shot him a glare, the teenage boy took the car keys from her full hands and opened the trunk before he grabbed her grocery bags and placed them in the trunk. His eyes took a sneak peak at what she bought, his brows shot up in surprise. "Jesus, Alex, did you murder someone?"

    Alexandra's gaze flickered from the rubber gloves to the bleach to the stain remover and finally to Steve.

    "Yeah."

☆

    When Alexandra agreed to go to Steve's to do the project she didn't think he meant right now. But it was the perfect time since Steve had a free period and Alex . . . well, Alex had detention but she was skipping that.

    In all honesty, she felt a little nervous about being near Mr and Mrs. Harrington again. It felt like it had been years since she had last seen them.

    They didn't have a lot of time today, so they didn't expect to get much done but to Steve ten minutes would make his day. Not only was Alexandra saving him from facing his father alone, she had this habit of making Steve look good in front of his dad. There was nothing more Alexandra hated than an over-achiever father, and Mr. Harrington was just that. He expected too much of Steve and Alexandra hated him for it, so whenever she was around she always made it her job to 'up' Steve in front of him.

    As Steve pushed his family home door open, the atmosphere was automatically tense. But it shattered the second the click of heels and the faint, lingering scent of cigarettes and expensive perfume invaded her nose. Mrs. Harrington, elegant as ever, made her way over to Alexandra, cigarette in hand as she opened her arms and entrapped her in a hug.

    Mrs. Harrington gushed over Alexandra in excitement. Doing that thing that all mothers do when they make you awkwardly spin in place so that they could take a look at you.

    In all honesty, there was a small part of her that missed this. That missed hanging at Steve's, watching in amusement as he and his mother would go back forth harmlessly.

    But then the large thump of footfalls seemed to ruin everything.

    Mr. Harrington, oh joy!

    "Alexandra." The smartly dressed man spoke, hands stuffed in his fancy, trouser pockets. "Nice to see you again."

    A faux smile pulled at Alexandra's lips. "You too, Mr. Harrington." She greeted tightly, watching the man closely.

    How pissed do you think Steve would be if she ate his dad?

    He wouldn't be that mad, right? Mr. Harrington was an asshole who deserved it. Still doesn't mean you should eat him, Alexandra, she scolded herself with an internal eyeroll.

    "How's school been? I heard you and my son are working on a project together, how's that coming along?" He asked in that condescending tone Alexandra hated so much. "Smoothly, I hope."

    The patronizing smile that laid thinly on his lips only made Alexandra want to scream out in frustration right there and then. But, instead, that bubble in her stomach settled, a wry smile sat on her lips. "No, yeah, it's going smoothly, Mr. Harrington. Steve's . . . been a lot of help, especially considering I don't know what the Hell I'm doing half the time."

    And there it was, Alexandra trying to make Steve, yet again, look good in front of his father. While Mrs. Harrington let out a drunken laugh, the 'man of the house' dimly narrowed his eyes at the redhead.

    "I don't imagine you do," he muttered under his breath. "Then again, I did manage to take a look at what you both have so far . . . I have to say," he kissed his teeth, trying to keep his charming façade up. "There's room for improvement."

    Of course there is, Alexandra thought bitterly to herself. She and Steve had both worked their asses off doing this paper only for him to shoot them down — asshole.

    But Steve knew that look on Alexandra's face and he grabbed a hold of her arm tightly, to which she sent him a glare at — but the Harrington teen merely ignored her and focused his attention on his parents. More or so his mother. "We'll be upstairs if you need us." He simply told them, dragging Alexandra away before she could retort something back to his father.

     "Hate your dad. Love your mom." She told him bluntly, pulling her arm free from his grip.

    "You're not the only one." Steve mumbled under his breath as he opened his bedroom door.

    And so they spent the next hour getting more done for the project — though, they really spent it bickering and going back and forth, seeing who could annoy the other the most.

    Of course, Alexandra won.

☆

    Dustin flew out of the car faster than Alexandra could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The redhead merely rolled her eyes at her brother's behaviour and followed him up the drive.

    The curly haired boy threw the front door open, seemingly in a rush. Claudia Henderson looked up from Mews' food bowl and gave her son a questioning look. "Hey Dusty." She greeted with a nimble smile.

    "Hi, hey. Hey, mom." Dustin stuttered on his words just as Alexandra made her way into the house.

    "Everything okay?" Claudia asked, glancing between her children.

     "Yeah, everything's fine." Dustin dismissed as he ran past her and went straight to his room, giving her no time to further question him.

    Claudia glanced back at Alexandra with a frown on her face but the teenage girl merely placed her hand on her mom's shoulder with a small, forced smile. "Oh, don't worry about him, mom. Poor boy's got stomach pains." She told her with a knowing look before her voice lowered. "He's probably constipated."

    A worried look coaxed Claudia's features. "Oh, poor Dusty."

    The woman moved to check on him before Alexandra stopped her. "No, it's okay, I'll check on him," she told her mother with a sweet smile.

    "You're a good sister, Alex." Claudia smiled widely, turning back to Mews' food bowl — in which she continued to fill it, calling out to the feline.

    Alexandra sighed dramatically as she walked down the hall. "Oh, I know."

    The redhead pushed Dustin's door open with force and glanced over at him, the boy turned at a haste, trying to hide something behind his back. "What'd you say to her?" He asked, attempting to deflect her attention.

    "That you have constipation." She told him dryly, raising an eyebrow at his actions.

    "Asshole. What the Hell-"

    "What're you hiding?" The eldest sibling asked, nearing her brother slowly.

    "Nothing," Dustin shrugged, though by his stuttering words and the lack of eye contact Alexandra knew he was lying, so she simply strode over to him and pushed him out of the way, finding Yurtle's cage covered in a sheet.

    Alexandra looked down at her brother and back to the cage. Her eyes closed in irritation. "You didn't."

    "I- I didn't, I swear," Dustin held his hands up, trying to prove his innocence but it failed miserably as Alexandra stared him down. "Okay! I did."

    "You idiot!" The redhead screeched, smacking him upside the head.

    "Look, I don't have time for this now," Dustin swatted her hand away, shoving her aside. "I have to check on him."

    "It's a baby Demogorgon, not a pet-"

    But her words were cut short as Dustin pulled the sheet off of the cage and their eyes widened at the sight before them. They both crouched down, peering through the broken glass of the cage.

    "Well fuck." Alexandra murmured.

    "Well fuck indeed." Dustin repeated, staring solely at the shredded skin residing in the bottom of the cage.

    Alexandra gagged as Dustin picked up the slimy, shredded skin between his fingers, inspecting it. A hand slapped over her mouth, muffling her words as she spoke, "Dude, put that down before I'm sick."

    Dustin smiled wryly, swinging the skin in her direction — jokingly trying to hit her with it as he did so. "You've killed people and this . . . " He rose it in the air. "Scares you? Seriously?"

    Before Alexandra could move to slap it out of his hand, a deep screech enveloped the room, making their hearts stop. They turned slowly, Dustin moved towards the noise before Alexandra stopped him and shoved him behind her as she quietly stepped forward, Dustin gripped onto her arm as they ventured towards the noise.

    Horror movie rule number one: walk towards the noise — you die.

    "Dart?" Dustin questioned carefully as a strange, almost sloppy, noise filled the room.

    "Holy shit!"  Alexandra called out as they peered over the armchair that sat in the corner of Dustin's room, finding Dart and a very dead Mews.

    At her words, the creature slowly turned its head, face opening up into something resembling a flower — though it held none of the same delicacy.

    A screech was all it took for them to run in the other direction, and out of Dustin's room.

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

alexandra and dustin and running away from their problems 🤝