Chapter 36: Dustin's Plea for Help
Dustin's voice on the phone was laced with urgency.
Gideon Black frowned as he listened closely, only managing to catch the gist after a few moments.
"You're saying… your friend Will has gone missing?"
On the other end of the line:
"Yes! I'm sure he was taken by the Demogorgon!"
But right after, another kid's voice chimed in from beside him.
"Dustin, that's just a monster from a game. It's not real."
"Lucas! Did you already forget? That night, Will never made it out of the game — it was a sign!"
...
Gideon rubbed his temple, starting to get a headache. He glanced at Emma beside him.
This girl might have a thing for killing, but at least she was quiet.
"Hey, boys," Gideon interrupted, "can one of you speak on behalf of the group? Please."
Eventually, a boy named Mike picked up the phone.
"Hello, Father. I'm Dustin's friend. Here's what happened…"
According to Mike, a few nights ago, he and his friends had gathered at his place to play a tabletop game called Dungeons & Dragons. As it got late, Mike's mom reminded the group it was time to head home.
On the way back, Dustin and Will started racing, competing to see who could get home first.
In order to win, Will decided to take a shortcut through a wooded area.
But the next day, Will's mother reported that her son hadn't come home at all.
None of the other parents had seen him either — he had vanished without a trace.
The kids believed Will was missing.
The town of Hawkins was a quiet, remote place where everyone knew each other, and crime was almost nonexistent. The most serious incidents were usually lost pets.
So the adults didn't take it seriously. They assumed Will had just gone off to play somewhere.
Only Will's family and his three closest friends were actually looking for him.
Dustin, however, was convinced that Will had been taken by the Demogorgon — and he just so happened to know someone who could handle monsters like that: Father Gideon.
That's why he'd gathered his friends, pulled the priest's phone number from his backpack, and made the call.
His friends, however, were skeptical.
In their minds, a priest was just someone who performed baptisms at church — typically a gray-haired elder or a stern, middle-aged man — not exactly the type who looked combat-ready.
Hawkins' local church only ever saw visits from old ladies and kids.
But Dustin had personally experienced one of Gideon's exorcisms, even though he'd fallen asleep halfway through it.
He trusted the priest completely.
And with their own search efforts turning up nothing, Lucas and Mike, despite their doubts, agreed to give it a try.
After hearing Mike's explanation, Gideon finally understood the full story.
"So this must be the world of Stranger Things," he thought.
He had suspected something ever since he first ran into Dustin at the exhibition.
Based on the current timeline, Will had probably just entered the Upside Down, trying to evade the Demogorgon's hunt.
That realm was eerily similar to the real world — just like the "Further" that Elise had mentioned before.
"Wait... didn't Dustin buy a few holy relics back then?"
If Will had been carrying one of the sacred artifacts at the time, he might have been able to fend off the Demogorgon's attack.
With that thought in mind, Gideon voiced his concern.
But Dustin assured him that each of his friends had received one of the artifacts.
Just then, Mike suddenly remembered something.
He dashed into his basement and quickly found a cross tucked beneath the sofa cushions.
"Oh no! I specifically told Will to wear it!" Dustin groaned, covering his face. "Don't tell me you guys lost yours too?"
As he spoke, he pulled out a pendant from beneath his shirt.
Faced with his friend's question, Lucas and Mike awkwardly avoided eye contact.
Only after Dustin pressed them did they sheepishly admit they had left the sacred items at home.
After all, kids carrying around things like that tended to attract unwanted attention.
With a sigh, Dustin snatched the phone back from Mike.
"Father, can you come to Hawkins? We'll pay you a thousand dollars."
Gideon paused to consider it.
He wasn't exactly strapped for cash at the moment, but he did owe Dustin, in a way. They were "old friends," after all. It was only right to lend a hand.
He nodded. "Alright. I'll come."
"Awesome! We'll be waiting for you!" Dustin said, excited.
---
After hanging up, Gideon began mentally planning for the trip.
"I'll need to restock some sacred items... The Demogorgon seems to be nocturnal. Better bring extra flashlights too…"
But first, there was something else to take care of.
He turned toward Emma.
She was crouched by the table, intently studying the wooden jar that held the sealed evil spirit.
Sensing his gaze, Emma suddenly had a very bad feeling.
---
A few minutes later…
Gideon had tied Emma up with rope.
"Hey! What the hell is this about? I haven't even tried to kill you today!"
Ignoring her protests, Gideon dragged her and the wooden jar down to the basement.
After performing standard safety procedures, he opened the metal hatch on the floor.
Emma's eyes widened in alarm. Was he actually planning to kill her?
"Don't forget, you still have a deal with my father! You'll be in trouble if something happens to me!"
"If you kill me in a basement like this, someone will eventually find out. You'll get caught."
---
Gideon grabbed her by the collar and lowered her into the basement.
Emma immediately shivered from the cold and instinctively pulled her body inward.
Gideon let out more rope, watching her carefully.
A moment later…
"Hmm. Looks like the basement's as safe as ever today."
Satisfied that there was no immediate danger, he climbed down the ladder himself.
Just moments ago, he'd had a stroke of genius.
A naturally evil child like Emma was basically a walking hazard detector.
Not sure if a space was safe?
Toss Emma in first.
Trying to lure out a monster or an evil spirit?
Deploy the Emma-brand human sacrifice!
And if something did happen to her, well, it wouldn't be hard to come up with a reasonable excuse.
Later, Gideon could just carry out divine justice and purify the evil in good conscience.
In a way, Emma's sacrifice would be a contribution to the safety of the American people.
Maybe she'd even earn herself a ticket to heaven... or at least a cup of coffee before being dragged back down to hell.
Noticing the increasingly weird look in Gideon's eyes, Emma swallowed nervously.
Fortunately, he didn't do anything else.
He simply tossed her to the side and brought the wooden jar to the sink.
Flipping open the exorcist's bible, he began to chant. His voice echoed through the basement.
As the water in the basin began to churn, a voice came from the jar.
"You dare try to purify me, you damned fool? You seriously underestimate me!"
One minute later...
"What?! Holy water aged 20 years?! I'm just a fragment of the original! Isn't this a bit excessive?!"
Another minute passed.
"Wait, wait, Father! This has to be a misunderstanding. Why don't we talk this out?"
As the holy water began to rise and cover the jar, the voice inside grew increasingly frantic.
"Let me out, and I'll tell you where the Vatican's treasures are buried!"
"There's the legendary knight's sword, the supreme witch's blood, gold, women—"
But Gideon remained unmoved.
Soon, a puff of white smoke rose, and the voice from within the jar vanished.
---
At the same time, somewhere in a distant realm—
A place where time did not flow.
A place saturated with rot and darkness.
Countless swirling vortexes floated in this endless space.
From this vantage, one could see icy oceans, boiling lava fields, and shadowy swamps.
And deep within a pitch-black sea, a pair of glowing scarlet eyes slowly opened.