Chapter 43

After crushing all the pills and dissolving a few to put in a syringe just in case they needed, Sofia realized they had a little time to kill before driving to the Turnbow’s.

If looks could kill, she would be dead already. She could feel the back of her head burning as Dustin intensely looked at her, as if she were preparing the benzos for herself.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She gave him the time and space to be mad, but now it’s enough. Before they headed out to their respective cars, Sofia decided it was time to tie this lose end.

“Dusty” she called for him, but he pretended to not hear her. “Dustin!”.

Sofia yelled, so he stopped. Dustin was just being disrespectful now, but nothing new for his sister. “Let’s talk, come on” she said, motioning to the back of the Squawk.

He dragged his feet until he was far away from everyone and close enough to his sister.

“Dusty… I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’ve made myself unavailable to you. You deserve so much better. Yesterday, your words really hurt me because they were true. I… I lost myself a little, I’m not gonna lie. I can get so stuck in my head. You probably don’t remember, but when dad left I felt somewhat like this, and it wasn’t pretty also… You were little, but I know he left you missing something, and that you found that back with Eddie”.

Dustin remained with a poker face, trying to still be mad at his sister, but she knew him too well, and she knew he was starting to shift emotions.

“And then he left. And once again, I wasn’t there for you. It’s really shitty, but you know I love you, and that Steve does too, as well as Robin. I’ve promised myself that I’m going to get better, and I want you to get better too. You can talk to me again, I promise you that” Sofia finished, leaving Dustin with tears in his eyes.

In a rushed movement, he hugged her. Gosh, he was practically her height. “I’m sorry too” he said, quietly, not crying but also not smiling, just something in between. Lost in his own sadness, the constant sorrow.

Sofia smiled at Steve, who looked at them from afar. He gave her a thumbs up and she nodded. It’s okay now. Dustin doesn’t need to be worried about his sister doing anything more than weed. He doesn’t need to worry about her sharing needles and getting AIDS. 

Dustin doesn’t need to worry about his sister killing herself.

Robin joined Steve, who was still glancing at the Henderson siblings. “I’m glad they’ve made up” she said, quietly, as people started to exit the building.

“Yeah, me too” Steve said, his voice suddenly shaky.

Robin slowly turned her head to look at him, eyebrow raised. “Holy shit, are you crying?” she asked, trying not to laugh, as she saw him rub his eye.

“Shut up” he said, exiting the building as well.

They waited in the van as the family ate the pie. 

“I can’t believe I have to work tomorrow” Sofia complained, leaning against the desk installed on the inside of the van, opposite to Robin.

The short haired girl bumped her knee against Sofia’s, consoling her. That’s when they got the signal to enter the driveway, right before the garage opened.

They exited the van and started preparing. “Oh my God look at all this stuff” Sofia said to Robin, the two girls stopping to look at all the crystal glasses and silver decorations. 

“Jesus. I knew they were rich, but not this rich” Robin added, grabbing a silver plated pot and examining it.

“Hey! Focus!” Steve yelled at them, motioning them to close the curtains. 

The two girls shared a look and did so. Afterwards, they helped put the bodies in the van. Erica entered the van as well, and Joyce drove away, with Will on the passenger seat.

“This is so weird” Sofia said, looking at the unconscious family next to her, the limp bodies making her crave a joint so badly.

The drive was quiet, the two girls were on opposite sides of the van. Sofia was trying to distract herself from her weed craving, so she started biting her nails. Robin noticed she was unsettled, but couldn’t do anything about it, just staring at her.

Once they got to the barn, they tied the whole family and the boredom kicked in, so Robin decided to use the walkie-talkie. “Hey. Talk to me, guys. How’s it looking out there?” she asked.

“It’s boring. How are the Turnbows holding up?” Steve asked back, static over the silence.

“They’re still in their ‘food comas’, but I swear to God, this Demo better show. If we took out an entire family for nothing, my conscience will never recover” Robin replied as she watched Sofia sitting on the hay covered floor.

As Robin continued to chat with Steve, Sofia got too bored and lied down, staring at the wood ceiling, thinking about how fucked-up everything is and how cool it’d be to smoke a joint right now. 

She started tapping her feet to the rhythm of a random Bowie song, but then Erica told her to stop, so she stretched her arms up and thought about that one Halloween when she and Robin dressed up as Bowie and Prince and then got stoned.

God, how long is this going to take? Her fingers missed the shape of a cigarette. She grabbed a piece of hay and put it to her mouth. She thought about what her wedding with Robin would look like.

Just a little party in their small apartment somewhere in another town. Maybe they’d hire someone to pretend to marry them, so they could do the whole ceremony. Not dressed in white, maybe in red or something bold, something the church wouldn’t allow.

Who would even go to the wedding? Maybe they just had to pretend to be roomates for the rest of their lives. Who’s that, someone would ask at a family function, and so she’d say My roomate, and everybody would exchange looks and not say a thing. But she’s so normal, they’d think, and she’d be the cool cousin, but perhaps a little too weird, too different.

“So, like, what kind of criminals does your uncle defend exactly? You know, are they, like, white-collar criminals? Because that does seem like a Harrington thing to do, like, defend rich douchebags. And in this situation, I think that the rich douchebags would be coming for us” Sofia heard Robin say once she snapped back to reality. 

No reply. Steve then told her to shut up because the demo was arriving.

The group at the barn sat in a circle, waiting attentively for some feedback, for some update of what was going on. Sofia begged to God, the universe and whoever could help to keep Dustin safe.

And it took a while, but then Dustin told them that they were turning around, and the group could hear the wheels squeaking and the motor of the car.

“Why would they turn around?” Joyce asked, confused.

“Maybe he’s trying to shake them?” Erica replied, not sure of her answer.

“No, that’s impossible. It doesn’t know it’s being tracked” Will said, puzzled.

That’s when they heard some rattling, only to realize Derek had woken up. Robin tried to get him to shut up, and did it successfully, having everyone’s attention quickly shift to Will, who walked up to the door. “We’re southeast. That’s why it turned around. Vecna’s seen. He knows where we are” he said, which brought chills up Sofia’s spine.

“Fuck this shit” Sofia muttered, incredulous, pulling her hair back. Why can’t this ever be simple.

Joyce was the first one to act. He walked over to Derek and bent down. “I know you’re scared, and I know you’re angry, but I promise you, we are here to help you. Do you know who I am?” she asked, choosing her words carefully.

“An evil child kidnapper” he replied, scared, to which Sofia thought Fair enough.

“Okay, I understand why you would think that, but I’m not evil. I’m just a mom, a regular mom. That’s my son, Will. When he went missing, he was taken by a terrible, scary monster. And now, that scary monster is after you” Joyce explained, with heart-warming patience.

“Yeah, I know. Mr. Whatsit told me, which is why you need to let me go” Derek snapped.

“No, no. Mr. Whatsit is not who he says he is, okay? He is lying to you. All these monsters, they work for him. That’s why we took you here to this barn. We thought this barn was safe, but he’s found us. So we have to move you again, somewhere he can’t find you. So if I untie you, will you cooperate and come with us? Please?” Joyce asked, thinking her kind voice did miracles.

Derek nodded, and right when Joyce untied him, he knocked her to the ground. He ran out, knocking both Robin and Will to the ground. 

With her heart racing, Sofia sprinted towards Derek and tackled him to the ground, pinning him against the hay. “Close the door!” she ordered, struggling to keep him down. Robin and Erica ran towards the entrance and closed it.

“Get the rope!” Sofia said, grunting because he wouldn’t stop moving. Looking behind her to check who was getting the rope, her grip loosened slightly, and Derek punched her in the nose, sending her backwards.

The initial impact did hurt a lot, but it was more of the shock that made her lose the entirety of her grip and fall backwards.

Down on her knees, holding her nose, she heard him climb up some stairs before the ladder fell to the ground. She got up, only to realize she had blood in her hand.

“Dude! She’s not lying to you, okay? Mr. Whatsit is a very bad guy. He sent the monsters after you” Robin yelled, trying to reason with him.

“Suck my fat one!” Derek yelled back.

The conversation stayed like that, filled with yells and calls for reason, but he’s just a kid and doesn’t listen. 

Robin looks back, because she hasn’t heard Sofia yet, and finds her crouched down with her hand extended as blood dripped from her nose to her hand. “Oh my God” Robin said, so nervous and so surprised, not having realized how strong the punch had been.

She ran to grab the cotton bag they had previously put on Derek’s head and handed it to her girlfriend so she’d clean her hand. “Can’t believe a kid punched me” she muttered, finding everything so exhausting and incredibly unnecessary.

She ripped part of it and put it partially inside each nostril, then Robin helped her up. 

In that moment, they saw how distant Will was. In that moment, they heard snarling. They heard a roar, and their blood turned cold.

The door was taking hard hits. It would be destroyed any second now. Robin’s hand travelled quickly to Sofia’s arm, holding it tightly. Sofia placed her hand on top. All instinct.

Like it was also instinct for Joyce to grab the ax and stand firmly while facing the demogorgon. She swung the ax towards it, sending it walking backwards.

Right when the demo stepped outside, Steve’s car appeared out of nowhere and ran it over. Sofia sighed out of relief. So did Robin.

But Will fell to the ground, in pain.

They rushed over to his side, trying to get him back to reality. 

Hearing the demogorgon run away, Sofia got up and walked outside, only to watch Steve speed past her and go through the gate that had been formed. Her brain couldn’t even register what had happened until the gate closed.

Was Dustin in the upside-down now?