After searching for a while, the group finally found the temporary passage behind a potted plant. After moving the furniture aside, they set the passage ablaze, ultimately leaving nothing but a scorched mark on the wall.
Richard checked the compass again and found that it was no longer being interfered with by two magnetic fields simultaneously; it now pointed firmly toward the woods outside.
"I'll go burn the nearby passage. You guys clean up the house first; we can't let Mrs. Henderson have a breakdown tomorrow morning," Richard said with a smile, picking up the gasoline and heading outside. Aside from him, everyone else was exhausted, and their reaction times had surely slowed. For safety's sake, it was better for them to stay home.
Steve and the boys nodded like woodpeckers; this was exactly what they were thinking.
Dustin found a broom and began sweeping up the shards of plates and bowls. He glanced up at the ceiling, as if he could see his mother sleeping soundly in her room, and swallowed hard.
Tonight's commotion had been quite large, and who knew how much furniture had been broken or destroyed? It was impossible to avoid being found out, and a scolding was definitely in their future.
Unable to help a sigh, Dustin caught a glimpse out the window. Richard was walking toward the woods. He let out a confused "Huh?" and muttered, "Why is he going to the woods where MewMew is buried?"
Entering the mist-shrouded woods, Richard felt the surroundings grow eerily quiet. There wasn't a single sound, only a soul-crushing dead silence. He could barely even hear his own footsteps, yet his physical sensations became incredibly sharp. His heartbeat was steady and calm, yet the sound of it seemed to thrum right in his ears.
Suddenly, Richard paused. Before him lay the mangled remains of a bloody corpse. Taking a step forward for a closer look, he realized it was the body of a Demodog.
"How did... this happen? Is there internal strife among the Demodogs? Dog eat dog?" Richard found the idea somewhat absurd. As Reverse World Creatures with a hive mind, the probability of such a thing happening was extremely low.
Yet, looking at the fatal wounds on the Demodog, the only explanation seemed to be that it had been bitten to death by its own kind.
It was the middle of winter, and thanks to the influence of The Upside Down, there was very little wildlife left in town—not even a bear could be seen. Besides, wild animals were usually "picky eaters"; there was no way they would choose to prey on such a disgusting, obviously unpalatable Reverse World Creature.
Richard picked up a branch from the ground and inspected the foul-smelling corpse. After poking around, he made a discovery. Twirling the branch like he was winding up spaghetti, he hooked some mucus and pulled it up to see several strands of orange animal fur within the mangled Demodog corpse.
"This is... what kind of beast's fur?" Richard was puzzled, finding it even more ridiculous. What kind of beast was so crazed with hunger that it started eating Reverse World Creatures?
A wolf? A bear?
"There shouldn't be any wild animals with this fur color around here. Could it be that this world is undergoing some kind of Spiritual Recovery or wildlife mutation, allowing them to go head-to-head with Reverse World Creatures?" Richard was utterly perplexed.
Meow—!
A heart-wrenching cat's screech rang out. Richard frowned deeply upon hearing it and slowly walked toward the source of the eerie cry. He eventually saw a burrow flickering with a crimson light, with a lifeless cat tail lying just outside the opening.
From inside the burrow came the occasional low growls of a cat fighting and the sound of something being torn apart.
Richard looked closely and saw a large orange cat, covered in bite marks with wounds showing signs of rot, feasting on a Demodog that was trying to crawl out of the temporary passage.
"Is this thing... a zombie cat?" Richard's expression tightened; the more he looked, the more it seemed to be the case.
[The occult exists when observed.]
[Anomaly observed, overlapping dimensions.]
Upon receiving these prompts from the skill panel, he completely understood what was going on.
He had encountered an anomaly existing in another dimension. Just like the 1408 Phantom Room, this cat's existence was related to the weirdness of another dimension.
"Might as well kill them both and burn it all." Richard didn't have much mercy. Taking advantage of the zombie cat's distracted feasting, he thrust his machete into the burrow. The zombie cat was instantly skewered together with its food. He twisted the machete around, turning the inside of the burrow into a gruesome, bloody mess.
Then, he poured the entire bucket of gasoline into the burrow. Once it was completely empty, he struck a match and tossed it in.
Whoosh!
A burst of intense flame surged out from the burrow, looking quite powerful. Richard took a step back to avoid it. Seeing the temporary passage gradually shrink under the heat of the flames, he checked his compass again. Finding that it had returned to normal, he nodded in satisfaction: "That's settled for now."
Even so, Richard remained concerned about that Zombie Orange Cat. A zombie cat appearing in the world of stranger things was too abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
Richard looked back at the gloomy, mist-filled forest and then at Dustin's house. He decided to temporarily set aside his desire for exploration and return during the day.
The next morning, everyone was woken up by a scream from Mrs. Henderson.
Faced with an uncountable amount of damaged furniture, even the good-natured Mrs. Henderson was truly furious. She made the two big 'kids' and the four little kids stand against the wall and scolded them one by one before finally letting them finish breakfast and head to school.
"Henderson, make a list of the damage. We'll go to the town's supermarket this afternoon to pick up some replacements," Steve said, putting a hand on Dustin's shoulder.
Hearing this, Dustin waved his hands hurriedly. "That's not necessary. You weren't the only one who broke the furniture; how can we let you pay for it?"
"Hey, don't be polite with me," Steve smiled. "We've been through life and death together. Besides, I can't replace everything that's broken; I'll just pick up a few of the more important things."
"Friends?" Dustin suddenly beamed with joy. "Then I won't be polite, Harrington."
"While you guys go shopping, we'll help Mrs. Henderson with the housework. We have to do something," Mike said to Lucas and Will. Lucas and Will both nodded like little chicks pecking at grain.
"Chade, come with us," Steve said to Richard.
Richard shook his head gently and said, "I still have some things I need to investigate."
"Did you find something else last night?" Steve's brow furrowed.
"I'm not sure." Richard looked at Dustin and pointed toward where he had gone into the woods the previous night. "Dustin, is that where your cat's body is buried?"
Dustin nodded. "There's a large pet cemetery there. Most people in town bury their pets there when they die."
As he spoke, Dustin asked curiously, "Is there something strange about it?"
Richard looked at Dustin, wondering if he should mention that his dead orange cat had likely turned into a zombie and that he had subsequently stabbed it to death.