Welcome back! Episode two is upon us! I want to thank everyone for reading the first episode, and I received an encouraging amount of response. Thanks to everyone! Anyways, back to it!
6:39 PM
"Mom" Mike began as he jumped up from the sofa, his mom entering the house. "This is Eleven. Remember? The one who saved us?"
Karen Wheeler nearly dropped her bags as she laid eyes on the mysterious girl; shock overwhelming her. She stared into the young girl's distant eyes, slowly approaching her with an outstretched hand.
"Eleven?" Karen asked. "How... how're you here?"
It wasn't something she had exactly made clear; how she got back. In fact, the more that anyone talked about it, the more it seemed she tried to cover it up and hide the truth. It created fear and hinted towards the fact that much, much worse existed out there. Was there a reason she couldn't tell them? Would the monsters hear her and murder them all just because she recalled the story of how she survived?
Even now, Eleven refused to answer, retaining her fearful, silent expression.
"We... don't know, exactly" Mike said, his hands deep in his pockets. "She made it out of that place..."
Karen looked on in evident discomfort, placing her bags on the sofa as she and her husband Ted wandered closer to Eleven.
"Don't be scared of me" Karen spoke softly to the child. "I'm happy to meet you.."
Eleven took a step backwards as Ted and Karen slowly gained ground on her, not knowing what to think of the two adults. She had heard Mike speak of them often, but never imagined meeting them. In fact, she never thought she'd escape the Upside-Down. But it was much too painful to think back to that horrible time...
Eleven, not exactly understanding the concept of a handshake, stared blankly ahead at Karen's hand. The atmosphere of awkwardness was impossible to ignore, quite frankly.
"You... you don't shake hands?" she asked, looking behind her at Ted for some sort of intervention.
Luckily, he also stepped forward, bending down a bit to her eye level.
"Hi" he spoke quickly. "We're Mike's parents".
"She knows that" Karen whispered angrily, not wanting to leave a bad first impression with the superhuman child.
"Is there any reason why... you know... you're in our house?" he questioned, everyone in the room's eyes seeming to shoot straight into Eleven.
Eleven looked on uncomfortably for a moment before rubbing her hand on the arm of the sofa, preparing to speak with reluctancy.
"Lost" she said quietly, looking around aimlessly to avoid any intimidating eye contact.
"Lost?" Karen affirmed. "You're lost?"
"Yes" Eleven answered. "Lost".
Karen relaxed a bit, realizing that Eleven posed no threat. She was simply a confused, tormented child with nowhere to run. And if everything the doctors, the scientists, the police and her son said were true... that means she had also witnessed the horrors of a hell-like dimension. She deserved some form of pity. Right?
"Well" Karen spoke thoughtfully. "I don't imagine you can live outside alone. That lab isn't still after you, are they? The bad people?"
Eleven considered the situation. Was it better to lie and have somewhere to call home, or to tell the truth and ultimately end up living on the streets? She knew that she valued a home above a small lie. Or was it a small lie? Hawkins would be invaded by monsters regardless, right?
After thinking the situation through, Eleven shook her head. Mike had a feeling she was telling a lie, but ignored his gut regardless. He knew that Eleven needed people to be around. She had no family and no other friends; no other roof to live under. If she couldn't stay with them, she'd live a life of loneliness, and a live of hopeless solitude. She deserved to have a home after all she'd done for them. Mike wished more than anything that she'd be able to stay; to learn, to evolve, fit in, to live a real life. He wished for her to go to the Snow Ball with him in January, and that she'd finally be able to feel happy.
"Well" Karen said. "I guess we could let you stay with us for... a few nights. You don't have any family? None at all?"
Eleven shook her head again; this time truthfully.
"Well" Karen spoke, turning to Ted. "I don't see why we can't let you stay, then. I mean... as long as you promise not to make our house float or something".
Mike glared at his mother's insensitive comment, but Eleven laughed lightly at her comment, turning away to look at the den.
She felt like she was home already.
Meanwhile...
Price stood in shock upon hearing an echo from down the hallway. He was just about to step out of the exit door before he heard the sound, implying that life may still exist in the laboratory besides him. He had plenty of other child experiments, but none that had worked like Eleven did for Brenner. Not even close...
"Hello?" Price's daunting voice boomed as he stepped through the hallways, making sure his gun wasn't jammed this time around. "Any survivors?"
He knew there was another form of life in the lab aside from him, and not the monster that had escaped. There was a hole carved into the fence outside; which could have been the monster's path of escape. However, it also could have been carved by that idiot Rogers. Oh, how Price wished he could tear his head right off his shoulders...
He had outright betrayed him, that imbecile. However, Price knew that eventually he and Rogers would cross paths again. And when he did...
"Hello?" Price heard a voice from behind him ask as he marched through the dimly lit hall.
He turned around in a fraction of a second, coming face-to-face with one of his experiments; Experiment 015. However, he, unlike Eleven, refused to be called a number. He was commonly known as Avan, not that he had anyone to call him that. Behind his bright green eyes and dark, scattered blonde hair that had finally began to grow back, he was hiding worlds of agony. He had no family or friends; much like Eleven. He had nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. And unlike Eleven, he had no superpowers; no special abilities. He was just a pitiful fourteen year old that most would consider a completely lost soul.
However, through it all, his cheekiness was never ripped away.
"Well, well, well. Good ole' Dr. Price! Looks like its just the two of us, huh? " the small child asked casually, looking around at the carnage with no hint of mental trauma.
Price tilted his head in astonishment.
"How are you... alive?" he asked slowly.
Avan shrugged as if it were no miracle.
"Hid under a bed. Works in the horror movies, so I figured it'd work for me. That thing... I never saw it, but man... sounded nasty".
Price rolled his eyes upon recollecting just how annoying Experiment 015 was. He had forgotten about his snarky attitude and bemusing demeanor; and oh, how the child irked him.
"How did you get out?" he asked Avan, referring to the prisoner cell of sorts that formally isolated the child.
"Well" Avan began with a deep breath. "You kinda left the door unlocked. Not very responsible for a mad scientist like you".
Price grunted, tightening his fists at his sides.
"Listen here, bud" Price started, taking as step towards the kid. "We're gonna get out of here, but I swear to God, if you say one thing about-"
"Oh, no worries Price" Avan interrupted, fear of any consequences nonexistent. "I won't say a word 'bout how you trapped me here for... how long again? A month or two? Damn. But yeah, your secret's safe with me... as long as you don't pull the stunt you pulled on that other doctor".
Price breathed in sharply, taking one last glance around the hallway to insure they were safe.
"Whatever" the doctor muttered. "Let's just go".
The two moved directly to the exit door and into the outside, stepping through the hole in the fence before continuing off of the property and into the hilly woods. As they marched through the woodlands, Avan, to Price's annoyance, hummed loudly. He walked with an optimistic bounce that Price simply dreaded. He himself was from from a pessimist, but the unreasonable joy that radiated from the child just boiled the blood in his veins.
As they stepped over a log, Price's long, white stereotypical lab jacket hooked on to a branch, ripping the left pocket clean off.
Price cursed at the log, looking at his worn out jacket with contempt. It was easily his favorite jacket of his small collection back at the laboratory, and he didn't know if he'd ever be able to go back.
"Oh!" Avan cringed at the ripped jacket. "That sucks. But... might I ask why we're walking through the woods instead of just taking your car?"
"First off; car tires are easy to track. I wouldn't be in trouble because of the portal. We promised we'd close it, which is what I'm trying to do. I might get fined for it not being closed after the deadline, but I won't get shut down. It's that I didn't treat all my patients... the best. I claimed to use children to "evolve the human mind", but they'd see the inhumanity it takes to push the human mind. They're gonna be after me soon because of that bastard Rogers. He's a goody-goody. He'll spill the beans about who I am and what I do without a doubt That's why I need to kill him now. And secondly; why would I let the most obnoxious child I've ever met even look at my car?"
Avan raised his eyebrows at Price's statement.
"Well you know... if you get me to safety like a hero on a steed, maybe they wouldn't suspect any foul play. I mean, it was the other doctor's fault that the portal opened, right?"
"You were a prisoner" Price mumbled. "Of course they're going to suspect foul play!"
Avan raised his finger as if to make a point, but then promptly dropped it, biting his lip.
"But I need to keep you under watch in case you plan on spilling anything. It's probably better just to hide for now... hide and hunt down Rogers, that is".
Avan stopped walking with a shocked expression.
"You're gonna keep me prisoner... again?"
"I don't have a choice" Price grumbled. "I can't kill a kid, and I can't let any witnesses live. We'll find Rogers and kill him...dispose of him... then we'll find the other stupid experiment..."
"Other experiment?" Avan questioned.
"You know; the weird telekinetic girl. She got away because of that imbecile. She's the only one who can close the portal..."
"So this is all about closing that portal?" Avan asked again.
"Of course it is!" he exclaimed. "Why the hell else would I be after that kid? Besides... she's too dangerous to exist outside of a lab. If I close the portal and keep all witnesses at bay... I can continue making money and evolving the human mind. It's essential to my being..."
"Why is it?" Avan questioned. "There's plenty of other occupations out there..."
"No!" Price snapped. "Not for me! I'm a scientist... I'm a pusher".
"So?" Avan asked as they continued walking on through the heavy woods; the dead leaves from the trees crunching under their feet. "There's plenty of other things that can push you".
Price groaned.
"Why am I even having a conversation with you? You're nothing to me. You're just a failed experiment!"
"Well, I don't know if I'd say that" Avan sneered. "I think I'm a little bit more than just an experiment".
"You have no family, no friends, no life. What do you even have? You're just some lost twerp-"
"Oh, c'mon doctor" Avan retorted. "Enough trash talk. I'll give ya' my lunch money if that's what you're after".
Price had to admit that the snarky child was remarkably similar to him as a child; in fact, it was quite striking to witness. It almost pushed him to chuckle at the uncanny similarities, however, he managed to hold his amusement back with relative ease. Dr. Price was a man who certainly didn't lack control. In fact, he prided himself in being able to imprison any unwanted emotions that tried to burst out of his brain.
"I'm not after any damn lunch money" Price stated clearly. "So quit tryin' to be smart with me. You know what I'm after".
The two ventured on through the various twigs, trees, logs and rocks, Avan resuming his humming habits, much to Price's dismay. However, Price knew he needed to stay calm. In the outskirts of the other side of Hawkins was the lab's storage facility; a place he knew they could hide out in until Rogers was taken care of and Eleven was captured.
Price suspected that Rogers is probably seeking refuge elsewhere. Although he never directly abused a patient or committed any wrongdoing, he was guilty of being affiliated with Price. Perhaps Rogers would hide out a few days to see if the police were after him. If not, perhaps he would spill everything to the police, singling out Price.
The difference-maker was how long it'd take for the law to realize everything was not right. Would they search the lab for the missing doctors? The beast was loose from the lab, which would soon create chaos, so perhaps they could hide under that cover for a while. Although he wanted to close the portal and end the madness, he wanted to continue being a scientist.
"So, where we goin' exactly?" Avan asked as they moved quietly.
Price turned to him.
"Cross town. There's a place there for us... can't tell you yet. You'll see..."
"How do we get all the way across town?"
"We walk".
"But won't they see us?".
"Doesn't matter" Price replied. "They don't know who I am yet, and it's dinner time. No one's gonna be out wandering the streets. We'll make it there, and we'll keep an eye out for the two targets on the way. Got it?"
Avan looked upwards at the trees and at the evening sky, laughing for no apparent reason.
"Whatever you say, captain".
Some Time Later...
"Jonathan!" Joyce Byers called to her son as he washed dishes after dinner.
"Yeah?" he responded to her, placing the plate he was washing on the counter.
"Nancy's at the door!"
Jonathan froze in place. Nancy was at his door? That's strange. Nancy didn't interact with Jonathan outside of Steve's presence anymore, so he found it quite odd. Steve became easily jealous when Nancy was alone with Jonathan; even in the most casual contexts.
Jonathan rushed to the door, not knowing what to expect in any way. It must be pretty big news if she had come all the way to his house on foot...
"Nancy?" he asked, opening the door and coming face to face with her. She appeared extremely nervous and cautious, looking over her shoulder once before she spoke.
"I still can't find him" Nancy spoke breathlessly. "He's not at home... he's... he's missing..."
Jonathan stepped outside into the cool winter air with the panicking Nancy, shutting the door behind him.
"Don't panic" he said. "He's probably off slashing some nerd's tires".
"Jonathan!" Nancy spoke in a raised tone. "You know-"
"I know, I know, I'm joking".
"This is no time to joke! He's missing!" she told him passionately, becoming frustrated with her friend. "After all that's happened... how can I not worry?"
Jonathan clenched his jaw, caught off-guard by Nancy's worry. Earlier, it had been her who was calm and well-collected. Now, she seemed to be the exact opposite.
"I want to go look for him" she suddenly proposed, turning around to face the street, night beginning to take full effect.
"Nancy" he muttered. "It's dark and with all that happened... why should we go wander around asking for trouble?"
"Because he could be in trouble!" she groaned. "Don't you get it?"
"Something in it for me?" he questioned, leaning against the doorframe. "Does he not have any parents or family looking already?"
"He doesn't have anyone who cares, Jonathan!" she spoke with evident frustration, her eyes narrowed. "What do you have against him?"
Jonathan sighed, looking off at the starry sky. Truthfully, he had a ton against Steve. A ten page list, if you will. Although he somewhat resembled a friend to him, he had stolen the heart of his longtime crush. Even if it was unintentional, he also boasted a habit of rubbing it in his face.
"Nancy" Jonathan grunted, scratching the back of his head. "He's probably fine. Seriously... that thing from November... it's gone, okay? We're not in any danger..."
"Jona-"
"We're not in any danger!" he snapped. The fear of the alternate dimension that ensnared his brother as well as its inhabitants truly drove him crazy. He just wanted to forget that it happened... he wanted the threat to leave his life forever.
Nancy stared at him in disbelief, not used to seeing his emotions overwhelm him.
"Sorry" he mumbled a few moments later. "Sorry, I'm just... it's a touchy subject".
Nancy nodded, her mouth slightly agape.
"Yeah..." she said, still taken aback by his sudden burst.
Jonathan glared back out at the road again, dimly lit by surrounding Christmas lights. However, this time, he had a more neutral expression.
"Well" he said, reaching back in the house to grab his jacket off the coat hanger. "Let's go find ole' Steve".
A Few Minutes Later...
For Mike, it was back to the way he liked it to be.
Lucas and Dustin had left a while prior as Mike and Eleven sat together on the staircase, conversing the events of the day. Mike's mother, Karen, decided to let her stay; providing her with a makeshift bed in the basement, which she was quite used to. She couldn't be happier to be back with her family, regardless of what she had experienced with people in the past. Although the fear of Dr. Price and the creatures from the other dimension was implanted in her heart, she decided that embracing the small moments was necessary. Serene moments as simple as sitting beside Mike on the stairs, the Christmas lights lighting up the outside and peering through the blinds and glass panels on the front door to create a glowing atmosphere.
"Eleven?" Mike asked over the rattle of pans from the kitchen, as well as his panicked mother's voice on the telephone, discussing the missing Nancy who Mike assumed simply snuck out to hang out with Steve again at his house.
She turned to him, brushing her fingers through her hair as if she was trying to itch her head. Her hair was by no means long, but it was certainly longer than when she had disappeared in the school.
"Yes?" she asked simply in her usual calm, soft tone.
"If you don't mind me asking" he started, "do you know what your name was before you were Eleven?"
She sniffed, leaning back against the stairs in relaxed fashion. She then shook her head, making it clear that she only knew herself by one identity: Eleven.
"If you could" Mike said. "Would you want to know?"
She shrugged, blinking a few times before answering verbally.
"Maybe" she spoke honestly.
Mike smiled.
"I'd be curious to know too. I mean... El is a good name and all, but I'd be cool to have two names, wouldn't it?"
He spoke with a very sincere, innocent voice, which made El feel rather strange. She certainly wasn't one for emotion, but what had happened at the school... it shook her internally in quite frankly all the best ways.
Eleven then suddenly looked concerned as the commotion on the phone intensified, his mother beginning to cry from the stress of not knowing her daughter's location. Due to her crying, Holly begin to sob as well, creating a scene of chaos as Eleven and Mike listened from the stairs.
"Oh, don't worry" Mike said, noticing her concern. "She runs away sometimes. Goes to Steve's house. It's nothing new, really".
Eleven blinked in affirmation, staring down the stairs again.
"Nancy?" she asked Mike.
"Yeah. She's somewhere... probably Steve, like I said".
Eleven looked fearfully at the front door with wide eyes, rubbing her hands together anxiously.
"Others" she said again, echoing her concerns from earlier.
"Others? You mean from the Upside-Down? Oh, don't worry. If they were here, why would they go after Nancy?"
Eleven looked deep into his eyes, her concern still obvious from just one glance.
"I don't know" she answered.