Chapter Two

Hawkins Police Chief Jim Hopper sat behind his desk staring blankly at the files that were scattered in front of him. It was Sunday, and despite the fact that he had promised El that they would spend the day together, he had found himself called into the station after another member of the community had committed suicide in a horrifying manner.

That made three in three days.

When he had pulled up to the gas station a couple of days ago, he had faced one of the most horrific scenes he had ever witnessed in his long and tumultuous life. Even though Flo, the receptionist at the station had told him what had happened, and Powell had pulled him to one side when he first arrived to brief him, it was still not enough to stop Hopper from retching with horror and disgust when he saw the scene with his own eyes.

Hopper had had nightmares that night of being trapped in a small cage whilst an unknown person poured gasoline over him. He awoke yelling when the person in his dream dropped a lighter into the gasoline and Hopper was set ablaze. Eleven had come rushing in, so sure that they were under attack and it had taken him over an hour to calm himself and her down enough that they could go back to sleep.

The next day, the station had rung to tell him of another suicide where a man had entered the local store, walking straight to the cleaning products aisle, grabbed the bleach from the shelf, went to the till to pay and when he had payed, he popped the lid and drank the entire bottle. When Hopper had arrived at the scene, the body was lying in a pool of blood that they had choked up before they finally died, screaming and gurgling in agony. Again, Hopper had struggled to sleep that night.

This morning however, the sun was shining brightly for mid-winter, and he and Eleven had pulled on their walking boots to get some fresh air. He knew how much she hated being stuck inside so often, so every Sunday, they walked through the woods, exploring anywhere and everywhere. Last Sunday, El had spotted a rabbit dashing through the fallen leaves and her eyes had lit up. They had decided then and there that they would see if they could track rabbits in the woods and see how many they could find, something that Eleven was very much looking forward to.

They had almost been out of the door when the phone rang again. Hopper had looked at it, hesitating. It was Eleven that had convinced him to answer.

"It's important." She had said, knowing things that only she could know.

Hopper had sighed and picked up the phone. Yet again, it was Flo, and before he knew it, he was back in his office staring grimly at the photos from the scene and wondering why someone would willingly feed themselves into a woodchipper.

That made three suicides in three days. Hopper knew that something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had run background checks on all the victims, and aside from being middle-aged men, they had nothing in common that could tie them together. It was like he was missing a vital piece of the puzzle that would make everything clear, but he knew he wasn't going to get that answer anytime soon. Hopper had expected a couple of calls about people doing stupid things, he always did around the holidays when loneliness tended to get the better of people, but in all his years as Chief of Hawkins Police, he had only seen two suicides, and now he was dealing with one a day.

Hopper glanced at the clock and felt the weight of guilt settle around him. He knew that Eleven had understood why he had to leave, but he also knew just how excited she was about looking for rabbits, and maybe even a deer or two. Given her incredible abilities, it was difficult sometimes to remember that she was just a little girl. With a sigh of resignation, he picked up the phone and dialled the cabin where Eleven and he were still living until it was safe to bring her into town.

She answered on the third ring, but just as he had instructed, she said nothing and waited for him to announce himself.

"Hey, kid. It's me. I'm just calling to check in, I know it's getting late." Hopper said apologetically. He vividly remembered the last time he had forgotten to call and check in and how it had taken days to pick up all the glass pieces from her psychically enhanced tantrum…

"It's okay," Eleven replied. Hopper spent a couple of seconds analysing the tone in her words. Because she had never been taught much as a child, it sometimes made communication hard. El had gotten used to living with few words, but Hopper was someone who liked to vocalise everything he thought, so it had proven to be a source of contention for them both. When he was sure that she wasn't angry, or that he wouldn't be going home to another wrecked house, he continued.

"You watching a movie? It sure was nice of Joyce to give us those tapes, huh."

"No movie, Mike is here." She replied.

Hopper felt the blood rush to his face. He stood up out of irritation but worked to keep his voice calm.

"Mike, huh? How… how long has he been there? You know the deal on having guests over, kid." Hopper said. He didn't want to sound like a disapproving parent, but the idea that his adopted daughter was home alone with a boy was enough to make any sane person's blood pressure skyrocket.

"Since nine-two-four." El replied, listing the time in the only way she knew how. Hopper had tried to explain it to her properly, but she didn't see the point in learning it again when everyone knew what she meant in the first place.

"Oh… that's quite a while…" Hopper said, looking at the clock again. It was gone four now. "Well… I won't be long."

"Okay," She replied then hung up the phone.

Hopper stared at the receiver in disbelief. He knew that she wasn't being rude or sneaky, and he also knew that if there was any kid in the world he could trust, it was Mike Wheeler, but those facts didn't make him feel any better.

He huffed, scooped the pictures off the desk and stuffed them into a bag, and then left the station.

Elsewhere, Dustin and Will were enjoying a long bike ride through the town, making the most of the nice weather. Although it was an almost perfect day, Dustin still had cause to moan.

"I'm just saying, I think it's lame that two of our party members have been brainwashed by chicks!" Dustin told Will.

"You're just jealous that no-one wants to date you," Will replied, laughing easily. It felt nice for him to not have any worries.

"Uh, excuse me. Did you not see Nancy and I at the dance? She's totally into me…" Dustin said, his confidence infallible.

"She danced with you once 'cos no-one else would."

"No way, she wants me, man. I can tell."

"Sure. Besides, need I remind you that both Max and El have saved our lives before? You should be happy that they're in the group!"

Dustin rolled his eyes and pedalled harder, initiating a race between the two friends. They laughed freely as they sped down the long winding road that cut through the town. When they reached the familiar spot where the road split in two, they both paused. It was here, not too long ago, where Will had first encountered the Demogorgon.

"Want me to bike home with you?" Dustin offered, knowing that his friend still had so much fear in him.

"Nah, it's not too far, and Mom said that she'll wait for me on the porch. I gotta get used to doing stuff by myself again, you know?"

"I get it," Dustin replied. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Will smiled and waved before he rode off. "Catch you later!"

Dustin watched and waited until Will was out of sight, and then began his journey again. He knew that his Mom was expecting him home soon too, but he had one more stop on his travels before he could go back.

Having made the trip almost every day since things had gone down at the lab, he didn't have to think about where he was headed, his hands just naturally steered him that way, and before long he could see the ominous building looming in the distance.

Dustin was absolutely convinced that the light he had seen a few days ago had not been the reflection of the moon, but someone or something walking around. He knew that his friends had made the deal to check it out together, but Dustin couldn't resist. It wasn't much of a diversion on his way home, so it just made sense to him that he would spend a few minutes each day making sure that everything was just right.

He had almost made it to the top of the hill that he had chosen as his vantage point. He had stashed a pair of binoculars and a notebook and pen there for writing down anything that he deemed weird. He settled into the tree line and raised the binoculars to his eyes, searching for anything that seemed to be out of place. It didn't take long for a movement to catch his attention.

Dustin's breath hitched in his throat as icy fear trickled down his spine and chilling him. He adjusted the focus twice just to make sure that he was actually seeing what he thought he was. It was undeniable.

The two red-haired strangers from Friday that had been talking about Will and then threatened Mike were walking out of the lab gates, still hand in hand.

"Oh, man." Dustin whispered to himself. He knew that he had to leave soon if he wanted to make it back home in time for his curfew, but he couldn't peel himself away. He could see through the lenses that the twins were talking to each other, but Dustin couldn't make out what they were saying. His eyes widened when he saw that they were walking up the hill towards him.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" He cried, falling backwards into the piles of leaves.

Dustin grabbed his supplies, and his bike and paced further back into the woods, making sure to keep low. He waited with bated breath whilst the twins carried on walking. They didn't pause when they reached near where Dustin was hiding, they just kept walking with their eyes ahead of them. Long after they were gone, Dustin found himself still crouched behind the bush he had been using for cover.

He stood and stretched his legs, sighing when he saw that he was covered in mud.

"Mom is gonna kill me…"

He checked his watch once more and saw that he was late. He weighed his options for a moment, deciding on whether he could handle his mother's anger when he got home late and filthy. After a moment, he had made up his mind. He climbed on his bike one last time and pedalled back the way he came, not in the direction of his house, but towards the house of the Police Chief.

When Dustin arrived, he was panting and slick with sweat. He had ridden as hard and fast as he could, knowing that what he had seen couldn't wait until tomorrow mornings gossip session, and that Hopper needed to know about it right away.

He strode up to the front door, but it opened just before he could knock. It was the Chief, who had a firm hand on Mike's shoulder and was escorting him out of the house. Mike had a sheepish expression, but it turned to confusion when he saw the state of Dustin in front of him.

Hopper saw him too and a curse word slipped from his lips in frustration.

"Another teenage boy on my property… they're like flies around shit, I swear to God…" he muttered to himself as he bemoaned the perils of having a young daughter and all the stress that accompanied it. He never should have told the boys where the cabin was.

"Chief, I gotta tell you what I just saw!" Dustin yelled, the excitement and fear in his voice sending it through several octaves before he had finished the sentence.

"Dustin, what the hell happened to you?" Mike asked, checking on his friend.

"Wheeler, go home! I'll deal with this…" Hopper said, eyeballing Mike until he had gotten on his bike and left.

"I'll fill you in tomorrow," Dustin whispered as Mike passed by.

"You know, if you see something, you're supposed to call the station. The number is real easy to remember, 9-1-1. You don't need to drop by for a house call." Hopper said, a headache forming from his relentlessly stressful days.

"This isn't anything that the station knows about," Dustin replied, irritated that Hopper didn't seem to be worried.

Hopper sighed and images of the past few days suicides filled his mind. He hoped to God that nothing like that had happened again, but more importantly, he prayed that Dustin hadn't been close enough to see anything as horrific as that.

"I'm listening." Hopper said, steeling himself.

"I saw these two kids coming out of the lab." Dustin announced, confident that the Chief would be able to sort it all out.

"What are you doing going near the lab, you punk!?" Hopper almost yelled.

"I wasn't doing anything! It's on my way home!" Dustin lied. He could tell that the Chief would be angry if he knew the truth. "Anyway, that's not important! It was these two weird kids that we saw yesterday and they're definitely up to something! They have tattoos and they're mean and they're weird!"

"Kid, I can't arrest people for tattoos or being dicks…" Hopper said, exacerbated.

"No, you don't understand!" Dustin said, trying to find the right words to make Hopper see the truth.

"What I do understand, is that your Momma is gonna be freaking out right now. Put your bike in the back of the truck and climb in. I'll take you home."

Dustin sighed. He knew that he didn't have enough evidence to make everyone see the problem yet.

"Besides, kids are always trying to break into the lab these days. Must be some kind of dare…" Hopper said, muttering with frustration.

Dustin didn't reply, he just jumped into the truck and started thinking about what he was going to tell his friends tomorrow.

MEANWHILE

Evie pushed forwards, her eyes working effortlessly in the darkening forest. She needed no map, and no stars to navigate, only the feeling of her tattoo throbbing to show her that she was getting close.

It had been a long journey, one that she had never wanted to start, but one that had needed to be made.

The trees offered her no comfort except for their protective embrace. Still, she pushed on.

Abruptly, her tattoo stopped aching.

Evie paused and looked around her. Even though there were no physical boundaries that she could see, she knew she had made it.

Evie had just crossed into Hawkins.