"Aftermath" - Part Five
Part Five
Si hadn’t anticipated for the Hostile Action Displacement System (“HADS” for short) to be triggered in the power struggle between the Mothergate and her TARDIS. She pushed it too far, and now one of the most valued defense mechanisms of her ship transported her and Hellboy to someplace it designated to be safer, away from the danger. While this was useful in most circumstances, it was a nuisance in others – especially with a unique Type-Z model.
The HADS on a Type-Z weren’t like those on a Type-40, which would rematerialize the TARDIS just a short distance within the same time and space. With a Type-Z model, the TARDIS would rematerialize in another dimension and would return to its point of origin after 48 hours, unless otherwise by its operator.
The specific dimension Si and Hellboy were brought to via HADS appeared to be a laboratory within some sort of top-secret government facility. There was a large swimming pool nearby.
“This has gotta be the B.P.R.D.” Hellboy inferred.
“How can you tell?” Si inquired.
“Well, for one thing, it’s got that eerie vibe to it,” Hellboy said. “And look!” He pointed to the swimming pool, which had a fish-man creature swimming around in it. “It’s my buddy, Abe! They must’ve upgraded his quarters since I was last here – he’s usually swimmin’ in a different sorta tank than that.”
Hellboy seemed absolutely certain of this to Si. As such, Si asserted, “I’m headin’ back to Hawkins.”
Her insistence on leaving him behind baffled and even offended Hellboy. “What? You’re ditchin’ me? After everything we’ve been through?! What about the Hierarchy? Yer gonna need my help!”
“Which is exactly why I need you here,” Si rationalized. “You rally whatever B.P.R.D. agents you can, starting with Abe.” She nodded towards the swimming pool.
This was a plan Hellboy approved of. “I gotcha,” he told Si.
With his approval, Si reached into her left jeans pockets and handed him a device that was like a miniature model of her TARDIS – sleek, black, and rectangular in shape. On one side of it was a big red button. “Just press this as soon as you’re ready, and I’ll be back here in no time at all,” she instructed.
“Thanks, kid,” Hellboy accepted.
“See ya again soon, H.B.” With a hearty pat on his shoulder, she bid her demon companion farewell, returning into her TARDIS and dematerializing out of Hellboy’s dimension.
She returned to the National Laboratory, exactly where she departed from.
The Mothergate had successfully closed – that was the good news.
The bad news was that Mike, Dustin, and Steve weren’t there, and neither were Murray, Bob, or Robin.
Si knew there was a possible chance that some time had passed since her unintended departure. The only way she could be certain how long she had been gone was to watch the news. Luckily, there was a report being broadcasted just as she switched on the control console monitor.
Calvin Powell, who replaced Jim Hopper as chief of the Hawkins Police Department following Jim’s retirement, was giving some sort of press conference from Lover’s Lake. “As many of you know, the Roane County line received a call a little after midnight, reporting a homicide here on the lake.”
Si stiffened at the word “homicide.” How long have I been gone to let something like this happen?!
“Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene,” Powell continued in the broadcast. “We made our way to the shore of Lover’s Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me.” Si did in fact notice a boathouse in the background of the frame. “It was there that we found the victim, an 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney.”
Si recognized that name. Patrick was one of the boys on Lucas’s basketball team.
Her stomach dropped in reaction to the news of his death. Several questions rang across her mind, starting with “Who was responsible?”
After giving the grueling details of the murder, Powell went into more specifics: “We have also identified a person of interest – Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward.” The reporters swarmed Powell with a plethora of questions, to which he could only advise, “You’ve got a lot of questions, and I’m going to answer as many as I can. Two o’clock at town hall, where anyone from the Hawkins community is welcome. But, right now, I’ve got work to do, and I appreciate your understanding.”
Si had to get out of her TARDIS immediately…to find the team…to find Eddie before the police did…to get some answers as to what had been happening in her absence.
Dematerializing her TARDIS out of the abandoned National Laboratory, she brought it somewhere deep within the backwoods of Hawkins, as far out from civilization as possible. She dashed out of the ship afterwards, heading in the direction of town, until she was stopped by the sound of someone sniffling. They came from a spot where Steve once brought Si to make out – and only that one time, before she found out about the other girls he previously brought there.
It was known locally as “Skull Rock,” due to the rock formation being similar to the shape of a human skull. Beneath that formation crouched a crying Eddie Munson.
“Eddie?” Si called. The sound of her voice gave him quite the stir.
He stood up from beneath the rock formation, looking on Si with bloodshot eyes that were filled with frightened tears. “Y-You were there,” he backed from Si. “Harrington’s chick! The one with the freaked-out domino ship that disappeared, five days ago!”
“Five days?!” Si was daunted to discover so much time had passed for a murder to occur and Eddie’s name to have been listed as a prime suspect. “Eddie…” She inched closer to him, only for Eddie to take another step back.
“GET BACK!” He howled.
Si held her hands up calmly. “Honey, I swear I’m not here to hurt you.”
Eddie shook with intense hesitation. “H-Henderson…Henderson says that I can trust you…something about you being some alien from another dimension?” He gave a soft chuckle over the very notion. “I thought he was being mental…but it’s true, isn’t it?”
Si nodded. “Yes, dear…it’s true.”
“He also said you talk like everybody’s mom,” Eddie snickered. “Using words like ‘honey’ or ‘dear’.” Sniffling, he lamented, “I know this sounds pretty lame, but I could really use a mom right about now.”
Si’s hearts felt for him, hearing that. “No, it doesn’t sound lame, Eddie.”
Once Eddie was able to settle down, Si invited him inside her TARDIS. Of course, there was the surprise of seeing how much bigger it was on the inside – something that Eddie reveled in more than he recoiled from. She brought some food from the kitchen for him to eat, calming his nerves, while he brought her up to speed on all that occurred in the last five days. She was mortified to learn about the deaths of Chrissy Cunningham and Fred Benson, both of which occurred the night Si disappeared – and both witnessed firsthand by Eddie. The details were so gruesome that Eddie could barely keep his food down.
It was then they received a call over the walkie-talkie Eddie had brought along with him. “Eddie? Eddie, are you reading me?”
Eddie jolted at the familiar voice calling for him. “It’s Henderson!”
“Eddie, if you’re there, please respond!”
The walkie-talkie was set along the central console. Being nearest to it, Si picked it up and answered, “Dustin, this is Si. Eddie’s here in the TARDIS with me.”
“Si?!” Dustin exclaimed. “Where have you been?!”
“I’ll explain as soon as you guys meet up here with us,” Si assured. “Are Mike and the others with you right now?”
“Yeah, we just saw Chief Powell’s update on the news,” Dustin said. “Please tell me you’ve got a plan.”
Si wished that she could. But all she could tell Dustin was, “We’ll work on something together, hon. Just get over here as soon as you can, alright?”
--------------------------
It had been a quiet five days in Lenora Hills for the Hopper family, including their recent houseguest. They felt like something out of a sitcom, hiding an extraterrestrial being in their own home from the prying eyes of neighbors, visitors, the mailman, and – most especially – the military.
That last group would’ve seemed like an oversimplification had it not been for the recent visit of Lt. Colonel Sullivan. In fact, what was a quiet Wednesday night was interrupted with another surprise visit, this one courtesy of Sam Owens via limousine and a small military escort. “C’mon in, Sam,” Jim invited with that sardonic tone Owens was used to. “Put up a plate. There’s plenty of KFC to go ‘round.”
“No thanks,” Sam kindly denied. “I had something on the way here.” He did sit at the table where the Hoppers were well into their family dinner – particularly Jonathan, who appeared hungrier than the rest of the family. “I, uh, heard that Sullivan stopped by a few days ago. Wanna tell me what that was all about?”
Jim frowned. “You tell us. He said that you sent him.”
“I’m not surprised,” Owens scoffed.
“He also said that you haven’t been entirely honest with us,” Joyce added.
Owens shrugged. “Yeah, he may just be right about that.”
“Why are you here, Sam?” Jim pressed.
After some hesitation, Sam opened up, “Sullivan’s been snoopin’ around Hawkins in light of some deaths that’ve been occurring there in the last few days. We have reason to believe that he suspects Jane to be responsible.”
Jane’s ears flared at this. “Me?”
“That’s insane!” Joyce exclaimed. “She’s been here with us the whole time.”
“We know that,” Owens reassured. “But Sullivan’s been getting more paranoid by the day, and it’s just a matter of time before he comes back here and takes Jane from you. Now, we have a woman in custody who may know what’s going on, but she refuses to give us anything that could help us.”
“Lemme guess,” Jim said, “a blond teenage girl who’s wise beyond her years?”
“No, a thirty-something brunette with a snobby attitude,” Owens elucidated, though Jim’s description enthused curiosity in the good doctor. “What did you mean by a ‘blond teenage girl’?” He got no answer out of Jim, who merely stood near the kitchen, sipping his lite beer. None of the other family members at the dinner table seemed willing to say anything either.
It only piqued Sam’s curiosity even further. “O.K., now I’m the one who feels outta the loop here. What is it you guys aren’t telling me?”
“You wouldn’t believe us,” Will insisted.
“Try me, kid,” Sam challenged.
It took a moment before the Hoppers accepted the challenge and told Owens about Si and their Cthulhu adventure, leaving out no details. The whole story left Sam in a state of disbelief.
“I know we’ve had our share of weird stuff, but…uh…that’s pretty out there.”
“It’s the whole truth, Sam,” Jim said. “We even have proof.” He turned to one empty corner of the room, addressing an unseen party. “It’s O.K. You can show yourself. We trust him.”
Sam’s brow furrowed. “Who’re you—?”
His focus suddenly fixated on that corner, just as a small elf manifested in the space. Sam jumped out of his chair in shock, knocking it over completely. Will and Jane tried not to laugh at his reaction, which seemed over-the-top compared to how they first reacted to Dobby.
“Jeez Louise!” Owens cried. “You were tellin’ the truth! What is it?”
“A house-elf, which we still haven’t quite figured out what that means yet,” Jim said. “His name’s Dobby.”
It was a lot for Owens to process. “Does…Does it…talk?”
“Yes, Dobby speaks,” the house-elf responded, which only spooked Owens more.
“This is…This is unbelievable!” Owens blurted with excitement. “Brenner’s never gonna believe this!”
“Papa?” Jane uttered disconcertedly.
“Brenner is the very last person who should know about Dobby!” Joyce declared.
Accepting that, Owens suggested, “Well, what about this ‘Si’ girl? If someone like that is here in our world, there might be a chance we can get the answers we need from our snobby brunette. We need to find this girl.”
“I left her a bunch of messages when Dobby first popped up,” Jim huffed. “She hasn’t gotten back with me since.”
“I can find her,” Jane offered.
Everyone knew just how she intended to do it, including Will.
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