The next day after school, which was a Friday, Max rode on the back of Lucas's bike toward her home after a lengthy discussion the party had outside of school about what the letters could actually mean. There were several theories, but the general consensus was that it was… well, bad.

More often than not these days, Max opted to let Lucas give her a ride home rather than ride with Billy. After the night of the Gate, Billy had mostly left her alone, but over time he'd slowly begun returning to his old habits. The day before, he'd gotten angry at Neil, his dad, and broken Max's skateboard in so many pieces that there was no hope of repairing it, regardless of how much duct tape she used. For weeks, he had been making vaguely threatening remarks toward her and her friends when not in earshot of their parents. She had tried her best to ignore it, but she was getting more worried as time went on.

The only one she talked to about Billy was Lucas. Most of the party knew Billy was a dick, but only Lucas really knew what Billy was capable of. She down-played the severity because she didn't want him to worry, but had admitted to Lucas that Billy had hit her before. Lucas had told her to tell someone, the Chief or a teacher at school, but she refused. After all, Neil had been hitting Billy for years and no one had ever helped him.

Lucas came to a stop in front of Max's house and realized that only Billy's car was out front. Neil's truck and Susan's car weren't in the driveway.

"Why don't we go to the arcade?" Lucas said nervously. "Just for an hour. Your parents should be home by then."

Max took a deep breath. "No, no, it's okay. I'll just avoid him." She threw her leg over and off of the back of the bike and gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek. "It's sweet of you to worry," She said, smiling.

He smiled back. "Call me later."

She nodded and turned to go inside.

Opening the front door, she found Billy sitting with his eyes closed in front of a T.V. on static, beer in hand and a lit cigarette in his mouth. She closed the door quietly and tip-toed toward her room, hoping he would just stay that way and leave her alone.

"Ma-ax…" He said in a sing-songy undertone.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "What?" She asked brusquely.

"Now, now, attitude," He said, crushing the beer can and standing. He threw the can aside as he advanced on her. "You're late."

"Why do you care? At least you didn't have to wait on me," She said, trying to escape to her room. He grabbed her by the back of her jacket.

"I'm not done with you yet," He said in a low, menacing voice.

"Leave me alone," She said, not turning.

He snatched her book-bag off of her back and pulled free the invitation that had been sticking out of the front pocket. "What's this?"

"Nothing, give it back." She snatched for it and he held it above her head.

"If it's nothing, why do you care?" He said.

"It's just some dumb summer science program I won a place in," She said, reaching for the envelope. "I probably wasn't even going to go. It's not a big deal."

"Oh, good, then you won't mind if I get rid of it for you." He began ripping it into little pieces.

"No!" She shouted as bits of paper rained to the ground. "No! You don't know what you've done!" She beat as his chest with her fists, screaming in frustration.

She hardly had the strength to hurt him, but the fact that she was fighting back at all was enough to set him off. He flung the remaining paper in her face and grabbed her by the throat, slamming her against the wall.

"You're gonna listen to me, you little bitch," He said, breathing hard through his nostrils. Max pulled fruitlessly at his arm and struggled to break free, but he held her firmly.

"You caught me by surprise last year with the bat and the knock-out juice, I'll give you that, and that earned you a little bit of space. But I'm sick to death of creeping around this house like a ghost while everyone treats you like a primped-up little princess. That stops today."

"Let me go, Billy, or I swear to God…" Max said, her voice shaking as hard as the rest of her.

"What? What are you gonna do? You're not so big and bad without King Steve and the rest of the nerd squad looking out for you. Speaking of which," He pulled her off the wall and walked her to her room, still holding her by her throat so that she was forced to walk backwards. "That stops today, too. You don't talk to them anymore. They're not your friends. You don't get to have friends."

"You can't do that," Max said with difficulty. He was starting to squeeze rather hard.

"Oh, yeah?" He said in a dangerous whisper. "You remember what happens when you don't listen to me, hmm? It wasn't that long ago; even someone as brain-dead as you should know what happens to people who piss me off. You had your time getting your way around here." He threw her into her room by her neck, causing her to fall on her back and hit her head on the floor. "Time's up."

He threw her backpack in after her and slammed the door so hard that the frame cracked. Max lay there on the floor, holding her head and sobbing.

Why didn't she just go to the arcade?


Joyce sat across from Hopper at her kitchen table, both of them chain-smoking and speaking in low tones to each other. Eleven and Will were sitting on the other side, eating old Christmas sugar cookies from a tin and listening to their parents' conversation nervously.

Joyce had gotten in touch with Hopper after Will voiced his concerns about the letters. coupled with news that only Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve had received invitations from the high school and no one else. That was when she learned that Hopper and Eleven had received a letter of their own.

After hearing from her, Hopper packed Eleven into his truck and took her straight to the Byers' place. Joyce was the only trustworthy adult in Hawkins who knew anything about Eleven. There was literally nowhere else they could go that was remotely safe.

"Whoever these people are, they know where El is." Hopper said, waving the open letter around. "This thing was on the porch of the cabin right in front of the door, for Christ's sake."

"So, if they know who we are and what we know, why are they waiting? Why the pretense of a summer school program?"

Hopper scrubbed his eyes, exasperated. "I don't know. All I know it that the cabin isn't safe anymore. Neither is the trailer. I don't know what to do."

"Do you think it's the government?" Will asked.

"This doesn't feel like them; this is something else," Hopper said. "If it were them, they'd have had a small army at my front door, not just a bunch of papers. As much as they try to be, they're not exactly subtle. Not to people like us who know how they operate."

"What else could it be?" Eleven asked.

Hopper shook his head and sighed smoke out of his nose. "I don't know. We're flyin' blind here. I got no answers and it's drivin' me nuts."

"Look, why don't you an Eleven stay here for a few days?" Joyce asked. "We've got a little time; a few weeks from now before we have to meet these people, whoever they are. Let's just figure out what we're going to do."

"Why would it be any safer here than at the cabin or the trailer? I'm not going to put you and your family in danger."

"We're already in danger, Hop," Joyce said. "Will and Jonathan both got those letters, and I'm expected to be a chaperone, just like you. Besides, safety in numbers. I've still got Lonnie's pistol and we've got the rifle in the shed, should it come to that."

"Jonathan can't shoot that thing," Hopper said dismissively.

"I can," Will said. "I've always been better at it that Jonathan. And I want to help Eleven. She's my friend."

"It's the weekend," Joyce continued. "The kids will be out of school. We should all get together and decide what to do."

"Mike, Max, Lucas, Dustin, and I are supposed to meet tomorrow at the scrapyard. It's the safest in town. It's private, hidden, and there's no electricity out there. It's safe."

"Nowhere is safe," Hopper said. "The cabin was supposed to be safe."

"I have to work tomorrow," Joyce said. "But we all need to talk about this. We all need to come to some sort of decision."

"I can meet everyone at the scrapyard and bring them back here," Will said. "We can stay here until you get home from work. Then we can figure it out."

Joyce nodded, and looked at Hopper for approval. Hopper took several breaths before replying.

"We stay tonight, we figure it out tomorrow." He leaned forward and took a sip of his beer. "I have to check in at the station and get some work done. I want to ask around the schools and first thing Monday, I'm going to the post office and see if I can find out where the letters were sent from. That's as far ahead as we can plan right now."

Joyce nodded. "Eleven can sleep in with me. And the couch pulls out, Hop."

He nodded wearily. "Thanks."

Joyce checked her watch. "Jonathan should be home from work soon. I'll order us some pizzas for dinner."

"I'm going to run back to the cabin, get some changes of clothes for me and the kid. I'll be back soon." Hopper stood and put on his hat. Eleven made to follow him, but he waved her down. "No, you stay here and eat some pizza. I won't be long."

As Hopper walk out the front door and Joyce picked up the phone to call the pizza place, she said to Will and Eleven, "Why don't you two go hang out in Will's room? Will, you can show Eleven your drawings. I want to make some phone calls."

Will nodded. "Come on, El."

Eleven followed Will to his room and they both sat on the floor at the foot of his bed. He pulled out a binder of drawings he had done.

"Mom makes me keep all these," He said. "She thinks I'm going to be a rich artist one day. I don't think she understands how art works all that well or how hard it is to actually get recognized. Besides, I just like drawing. I don't plan on making a job out of it."

"You're really good," Eleven said, flipping through the pages. "Mike showed me some of your drawings before, when I stayed at his house."

"It's totally crazy that you lived in his basement for a week," He said, laughing a little. "Were you scared?"

Eleven nodded. "I was more scared when I was alone. It wasn't as bad when Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were there, but I was still afraid." She turned another page, revealing a sketch of the demogorgon. She paused and took in it's misshapen form with a frown.

"Are you scared now? About the letters, I mean?" Will asked softly.

Eleven sighed and nodded again slowly, staring at the grey, petal-faced monster. "I'm always scared," She whispered.

Will followed her gaze and shivered. "Me too."

Eleven closed the book and handed it back to Will, who stowed it back under his bed. "Why don't we do a puzzle instead?" He asked.

Eleven nodded, relieved.

After a while, Jonathan came home, Hopper returned, and the pizza arrived. After a tense, but not necessarily unpleasant, dinner, Will covertly took the cordless into his room while the others were talking and called Mike, allowing Eleven to speak to Mike for the first time in months.

Mike was just as surprised and concerned to learn that someone had found out where Eleven had been hiding as everyone else, and insisted that she join Will and the others at the scrapyard the next day to make sure she was safe, though Will knew perfectly well he just wanted to see her. Will doubted Hopper would allow her to go, which is why, Eleven said, they wouldn't be telling him.

It grew late, and Eleven changed into a long shirt and sports shorts to sleep in. Joyce was generous and offered her the fluffy pillow and the lump-less side of the bed. Eleven's usual nightmares visited her as she slept, but Joyce was there to comfort her every time she woke up terrified, for which she was grateful.


The next morning after breakfast, Joyce and Jonathan went to work, and Hopper told Eleven to stay put at the Byers' while he was at the station, despite Will still planning to meet the others at the scrapyard. Whether or not he actually expected her to obey him was unclear, and he eyed her and Will suspiciously, but he left for work anyway.

After about an hour, Will called Mike to let him know that he and Eleven were on their way. Mike responded that he had been in touch with the others and they were also en route, but that Lucas was agitated about something and wouldn't say what.

Will's bike didn't have an elongated seat for Eleven to ride on, so they would be walking, though Will opted to bring his bike anyway, just in case. There was a second bike in the shed that Jonathan used to ride before he got his car, and Will thought Jonathan wouldn't mind if Will offered it to Eleven, provided she could learn how to ride it. Perhaps the party could teach her sometime, when all this was over and done with and they could breath a little better.

They decided to take the train tracks behind the house in the woods because it was more private and direct. As they made their way toward them, Eleven caught a glimpse of Castle Byers in the distance, and all at once, she was transported back to the Void. It was as if it was happening now, in front of her eyes, and all sound hushed in her ears. She was there again, finding Will in that dark, cold, wet place, kneeling down to take him by the hand, worrying about his frozen skin and pale blue lips, urging him to hold on. Then suddenly losing her grip and Will disappearing, and the terror of believing he was lost for good. Like Barbara.

She felt Will place his hand gently on her shoulder and jumped, looking around at him. She found herself back in the sunlight, feeling a warm breeze on her face and hearing birds chirping in the distance.

"Sorry," She said.

"No, don't be," He said. "It's okay. I get 'em, too."

Eleven was unsure how to feel knowing this. The visions haunting her mind always seemed like something unique to her; a thing only she ever experienced. The revelation that Will also suffered from demons he couldn't escape suddenly made her feel less alone, but at the same time, she worried for Will. If his visions were anything like hers, he was suffering quite a lot. She didn't like that idea very much. Will had been through enough.

Will patted her shoulder and let go. "We should get going. The others are waiting for us."

Eleven nodded, swallowed, and followed him down the tracks.


Will and Eleven arrived at the scrapyard to find Mike and Dustin waiting for them. Neither Lucas or Max were present yet.

Mike smiled as they approached and hugged Eleven hard. "I missed you," He said in an undertone.

"Missed you, too," She replied into his hair.

They parted and Dustin swooped in for a hug. "Dude, it's awesome to see you!" He said, patting her back and letting go. "Sorry I called you dude."

She smiled and looked around. "Where's Lucas?" She asked.

"I don't know," Mike said, squinting at the horizon in irritation. "He was supposed to be here, like, thirty minutes ago."

"Do you think he's okay?" Will asked.

"Wait, I see him," Dustin said, using his hand to shield his eyes. "I don't see Max, though."

"Maybe she decided not to come," Will said.

"For something this important? Nah, man, she should be here."

Lucas pedaled quickly to meet them and stopped his bike just short of them without dismounting.

"Something's wrong," He panted as soon as he stopped.

"What do you mean?" Dustin asked.

"Max was supposed to call me last night, but she never did. When I called her house, Billy answered and told me she didn't want to see me, or any of us, ever again. He said if I called again, he's break my neck."

"Yeah, but we know that guy's a dick. Max can handle herself; you saw what she did with that bat."

"You don't get it, something is really wrong, I know it," Lucas said. The atmosphere of distress surrounding him was completely out of character and rather dismaying.

"What do you mean? Wrong how?" Dustin asked.

Lucas took a deep breath and considered them grimly. "Look, Max swore me to secrecy, so you can't tell her I told you this, or she'll never forgive me. Swear you won't say anything to her or tell anyone else." He pointed at them with an intensely serious look on his face. "Swear."

Mike scoffed. "Dude, this is ridiculous, just-"

"This is important! I'm not joking around! Swear!"

"Alright, we swear, man, chill!" Mike said. "We all swear, right guys?" He looked at the others, who nodded.

He took a deep breath before he began. "Billy isn't just an asshole to Max; he literally beats her up."

"What?" Dustin said.

"Dude, I fight with Nancy all the time, that stuff's normal," Mike said.

"Erica and I push each around other all the time, too; that's not what this is. It's not normal brother/sister stuff. Billy kicks the crap out of her. I've seen bruises on her arms. That's why she went after him with the bat last year. It got him off her back for a while, but she told me that he's started up again. If she's not here, it's because of him."

"Wouldn't her parents know that it was happening?" Will said.

"No, they're oblivious. Billy only does it when they aren't around and he's careful not to hit her anywhere that's obvious. He's been doing it since they moved to Hawkins because he blames her for having to be here. She's scared of her stepdad, too, but not as much as Billy." The clear panic on Lucas's face drove the point home. "He really hurts her."

"Jesus Christ," Dustin said. "What do we do?"

"We should tell someone," Will said. "The Chief would know what to do-"

"I already told her to tell someone, but she won't."

"We have to help her," Eleven said quietly. She had been observing the interaction silently up to this point. They turned to look at her and saw a very determined glint in her eyes. She may not have understood the situation fully, but she understood well enough to know was Max was in danger. "We should go."

"Eleven's right," Lucas said. "I'm really worried about her."

"We don't have a lot of time," Will said. "My mom is taking a half day, she'll be back home soon, and Eleven wasn't supposed to leave our house."

"Then let's get going," Lucas said, turning his bike around before anyone could say another word. The others followed suit, with Eleven climbing back into her usual place behind Mike. Coasting down the hill, they made their way to Cherry Road.


Max sat on her bed with a picture of her and her dad in front of her, trying and failing to prevent the tears from falling. Why couldn't Mom have let me stay with Dad? Why did she drag me out here? Why did she have to pick Neil? Neil and Billy were garbage from the beginning, both of them. All of them.

Max was near a breaking point. She'd have run, if she thought she could get far. If only their were some way to get back to California. She wished she could call her dad and tell him what was going on, but she knew he'd call her mom, and her mom would deny everything, and Billy would punish her. There was no way out.

Well, there was one way. Billy had been offered a basketball scholarship to a university in northern California. It was literally the only way Billy was going to be able to go to college, as his grades were woeful and Neil wasn't going to pay for it. Four months. She just had to wait four months, and he'd be gone.

Now that she couldn't see Lucas or her friends, it was all she had to hold on to.

Speak of the devil…

Max heard a tapping on her window. She knew immediately who it must have been, and she tried to ignore it, but she was also afraid Billy would hear it.

Hopping off her bed, she went to the window and found not only Lucas, who she was expecting, but the entire party standing there, including Eleven. She unlocked the window and opened it.

"You guys have to leave," Max said in a terse whisper.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, clearly noting her red eyes and tracks of tears on her face. "What did he do?"

She hopped down onto the little ledge and then to the ground. "I'm serious, Lucas, Billy's on the warpath. If he finds you guys here, he will kill you."

"Are those bruises on your neck?" Will asked, reaching for her collar. She slapped his hand away and pulled her hair around her face, obscuring her throat from view.

"Please," She said. "Please, I don't want him to hurt any of you. You have to go." Her voice wavered and tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Max, this is crazy," Lucas said, taking her by the shoulders. "You can't keep letting him do this to you. You have to tell someone."

"It won't help, I've told you!" She said. "All they're going to do is interview my parents and Billy, then decide nothing's wrong, and then Neil will hurt Billy, and Billy will hurt me. That's how it always happens."

"The Chief will listen, I promise you," Lucas said. "We're going to see him today. Tell him!"

"I can't!"

"Lucas…Sinclair…"

A lazy, menacing voice drifted their way from around the side of the house. Billy stepped into view and leaned on the frame with his arms folded.

"Shit," Max said under her breath. She began to shake violently.

The party turned to face Billy and closed ranks around Max instinctively, with Lucas at the forefront, staring Billy down.

"I believe I told you that if you ever spoke to Max again, I'd break you in half," Billy said as he slowly meandered toward them.

"Way to exaggerate, dickhead," Lucas said in a flat tone. "You can't stop me from seeing Max. You can threaten me all you like, I really don't care."

"Oh, you're going to care," Billy said. "See, if it was just these losers," Billy pointed at the others with his pinky. "I wouldn't mind so much. Losers will find each other, no matter where they are. But you," Billy said, pushing a finger into Lucas's chest. "I just really don't like the idea of her hanging out with you."

"What's that supposed to me?" Lucas said in a steely voice.

"You know what it means," Billy muttered dangerously, leaning down to look Lucas in the eye. "You know perfectly well what it means."

"It means you're a racist piece of shit!" Dustin yelled.

"Shut up, shit stain," Billy said without taking his eyes off of Lucas. "I'm only gonna tell you this one more time: stay away from Max. Or I will hurt you. I'll hurt both of you."

Lucas stood his ground and maintained eye contact with Billy. "No."

Billy stood back up to his full height and punched Lucas full in the face.

"Billy, stop!" She grabbed his arm, which earned her a back-hand across the mouth that sent her sprawling to the ground.

All of the boys rushed forward, but before they could reach him, Billy was hurled through the air and thrown against the house, held up off the ground with his feet dangling. He yelled in pain and surprise.

Eleven stepped forward, the tell-tale droplet of blood beginning to drip from her left nostril. She held him there against the wall and asked Max, who was bleeding from a split lip, "What should I do with him?"

Max thought. "Dislocated his hip but don't break any of the bones. Can you do that?"

Eleven nodded, and jerked her head. There was a muffled popping sound and Billy screamed.

Max walked up to Billy, who was struggling to break free of the invisible barrier.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Billy shouted at her.

"Meet my friend El, Billy," She said. She was shaking so hard that her hair was vibrating. She was still crying and sniffling, but her resolve was rock solid.

"She's a real special kid and she's my friend. If I asked her to, she could hurt you. If I asked her to, she could kill you."

Billy stared with anger and fear at Eleven, who was glowering savagely at him, her chin pointed downward but her eyes piercing him with a deadly sneer. Mike, Will, and Dustin had pulled Lucas to his feet and were gathered around him, his nose bleeding and his cheek puffy.

"Listen to me, Billy. You've got a choice right now. From now on, you don't look at me, you don't talk to me, you don't touch me. As far as you're concerned, I don't exist. You leave me alone. Leave all of us alone. For good. Forever."

"Or what?" Billy asked venomously, breathing hard from struggling.

"Or El breaks both of your legs and ends any chance you have of getting out of this shitty town. You can kiss that basketball scholarship goodbye."

The loathing and terror warred in Billy's eyes as they shifted from Eleven to Max and back again.

"Pick one."

Billy was silent for so long that she thought he may not answer at all. But eventually, in a menacingly quiet voice, "Get the fuck out of here."

Max held out her hand for Lucas, who took it firmly, and resolutely linked her fingers with his. She then nodded at Eleven, who released Billy. He hit the ground with a shrill yelp of pain.

"Fuck you, Billy," Max whispered as he lay at her feet. "Fuck you."

The party mounted their bikes, leaving Billy helpless on the ground. Max didn't bother to spare him a backwards glance.