"I look forward to your call." Grace tucked the note into Richard's chest pocket, stood on her tiptoes, and pecked him lightly on the corner of his lips, giving him the most special parting gift. After their lips parted, a blush spread across her fair face beneath her emerald eyes.
The girl's affectionate, charming smile always made people feel a little tipsy; even the cold of winter seemed to rise a few degrees. The Harrington family, witnessing this, couldn't help but show intoxicated expressions, as if beholding pure beauty.
Richard wiped away the girl's saliva, but had no romantic thoughts. Instead, he pondered seriously for a moment, then said, "If there's nothing going on, I don't know what I'd call you for. Why don't you call me instead?"
Saying this, he quickly wrote a string of numbers in his portable notebook, tore off the page, and, in the same manner, put it into the girl's clothes pocket.
Grace's smile instantly froze. She sighed and nodded helplessly, agreeing, "Alright, but you're not allowed to not answer my calls, or I'll get angry, okay?"
"Okay," Richard said with a smile. He then looked over at Steve, who was also bidding farewell to his parents. Mr. Howard pushed Mrs. Howard's wheelchair, and Steve hugged his mother, whose head was wrapped in bandages.
The two waved goodbye to everyone at Harrington Manor from the car and finally embarked on the road back to Hawkins Town.
William drove them back to the airport. After all, Richard had greatly helped save the lives of the Harrington family and his mother, so William insisted on showing his gratitude to Richard through action.
"Sorry, Chade, that I couldn't let you experience the prosperity of New York this time," Steve said, looking back at Richard, who was sitting in the back seat, his face full of apology.
Richard smiled and said, "But it was quite exciting. It's an unforgettable experience for a lifetime."
"You're welcome to come again anytime. I'll definitely take you to all the most interesting places in New York," William said seriously, looking at Richard through the rearview mirror.
"Okay," Richard replied with a smile. William and his parents weren't entirely unlikeable people. Although their initial attitude towards him had been discriminatory and arrogant, it was clear that their time together had made them fully realize that those preconceived notions were baseless and meaningless. They felt both gratitude and respect for Richard.
The return trip to Hawkins was just like the journey to New York, taking another half a day on the road.
Upon returning to the town, Richard carried his numerous bags home. The moment he collapsed onto his bed, he realized he felt a hint of nostalgia for everything familiar here.
Although The Upside Down, rooted in the town, was a cancerous growth that Richard hated, he had to admit that he had grown somewhat accustomed to life in this small town.
Squeak, squeak, squeak—
A sound of children's insoles echoed. Richard, who had collapsed onto the bed, slightly opened his eyes. It was the Louis family of three, the three family dolls who usually managed all the vengeful spirits in the house.
"Nothing happened at home while I was away, right?" Richard asked.
Upon hearing this, the Louis family of three fell silent for a moment, exchanging glances.
Seeing their reaction, Richard couldn't help but perk up, get out of bed, and ask seriously and formally.
It turned out that during his time in New York, two groups of people had successively attempted to infiltrate his home. One group were thieves, and the other seemed to be spies sent by the military.
The fate of those who trespassed into the Haunted House was self-evident; each of them experienced "nine deaths and one life" within the Haunted House, seeing the illusions created by the vengeful spirits, or being possessed by them and self-mutilating. Fortunately, the Louis family of three, who maintained their humanity, kept the vengeful spirits in check, thus preventing the two groups from dying in the house.
However, this also led to rumors circulating in the grey areas of the town that Richard's house was a Haunted House, and the military became thoroughly wary of Richard, deeply suspecting his close ties to mysterious powers.
Regarding this, Richard really wanted to solemnly declare that it was not a rumor.
Richard didn't know what actions the military would take. There was too great a disparity between him and the military; they were not on the same level. Whatever they wanted to do, he would always be in a passive position. These days, Anomalies were frequent, some unavoidable, some avoidable but not truly escapable. Perhaps his abnormality had long been observed by others.
Therefore, Richard completely gave up on the idea of defending against military and The Lab's surveillance.
Let them do what they want. If it really comes to a point where he has to act, and they make the first move, he'll just find a way to chop off the mastermind's head. He has nothing to lose, but they are important figures; they surely wouldn't want to die so indignantly, right?
That's how it is.
Richard thought to himself, hooking the quilt at the foot of the bed with his foot, grabbing the edge of the quilt with one hand, pulling it over himself, and falling asleep.
The shop has to open tomorrow... "Dr. Owens, what exactly is wrong with my Troy now?!" The aristocratic lady shook a portly, middle-aged doctor with a receding hairline, continuously questioning him. Seeing him avert his gaze and lower his head, the lady's legs gave out, and she collapsed, wailing in pain.
Since two weeks ago, Troy's frequency of seeing hallucinations decreased, but in its place, the duration of his trance-like states entering hallucinations doubled. Originally, Troy could emerge from hallucinations and maintain his mental activity in reality, but now he enters hallucinations upon waking and sleeps upon exiting them.
And just as Troy had speculated to Dr. Owens, Dr. Owens now had to believe that the "hallucinations" Troy saw were not actual hallucinations, but a form of sensory resonance. Evidently, during Troy's capture in The Upside Down, his body underwent a certain degree of modification by The Upside Down's vine creatures, linking Troy's consciousness with The Upside Down's hive mother consciousness.
The hallucinations Troy saw daily were not true hallucinations, but a sensory resonance. His consciousness was connected to The Upside Down; what he saw were not illusions, but the real environment of The Upside Down, as if Troy's soul or spirit had entered The Upside Down.
And The Upside Down's ultimate creature, the hive consciousness's mother, the super-giant black spider monster Troy described, was actively bringing Troy's spirit into The Upside Down daily, then constantly attacking him, chasing Troy's spirit. That wasn't actually tormenting Troy; that thing wanted to control Troy's spirit.
The hive mother in The Upside Down possesses terrifying intelligence. It wants Troy to be their eyes for invading the real world, and even wants Troy to passively become their hostage and spy for The Upside Down.
These were the conclusions reached by Dr. Owens and other research institute members after a logical discussion.
This conclusion and truth made everyone's scalp tingle.
For this reason, a member of the discussion group believed that they must find a way to execute Troy first, to directly resolve this "problem," without considering that Troy was just a child who would be entering ninth grade next year, nor that they would be personally destroying a life.
Dr. Owens firmly rejected this proposal. Unlike the person who made this proposal and the former The Lab director, Dr. Brennan, he had his own bottom line and conscience. He couldn't do such a thing.
For this, Dr. Owens offered another solution: "Close the portal before the monstrosity in The Upside Down completely corrodes that child."
He single-handedly made all the decisions for The Lab, giving no one else a chance to argue, and then turned and left the conference room.
Afterward, he went to visit Troy, who was in an endless slumber, struggling in pain every day in The Lab's special care ward. He felt deeply ashamed towards both Troy and his mother.
At this moment, he could only endure the anger Troy's mother unleashed on him, letting her strike him.
Just then, he saw a The Lab procurement officer who had just returned to The Lab after purchasing supplies from the town. The officer was holding a cup of Heihe Tea's classic product, "Purple Qi Comes from the East Multigrain Grape Fruit Tea." His eyes subtly changed: "Has that high school student with abnormal physique, Richard, returned for the holidays?"
"Yes... we can find those people." Dr. Owens recalled the town residents who had once fought against The Lab, led by Dr. Brennan, as if grasping a ray of hope. "Perhaps they have a solution for The Upside Down."