A/N: Since I only get one chapter eleven, I thought I'd give a little perspective from everyone's favorite telepathic girl.
Three Months Earlier
"Just hold on a little longer okay? He's gone. The bad man's gone. We'll be home soon." Mike said as he held Eleven's hands. "My mom, she'll get you your own bed, and you can eat as many Eggos as you want! And... we can go to the Snow Ball."
Even though her head was pounding, his words made her feel better. "Promise?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Promise." Mike said, as he held her hands tighter. The two looked into each other's eyes, before they heard the Demogorgon roaring in the hall. The gunshots kept getting louder and louder, until everything was silent.
"Is it... is it dead? Dustin asked. He got his answer, when the Demogorgon knocked the door down, and turned to look at the group.
"Go go go! Get the wrist rocket!" Mike and Dustin screamed.
El squeezed her eyes shut, curling up on the table. She was paralyzed from fear, but her mind was racing, trying to think of a way to save her friends. She glanced over at the group, and saw them shooting rocks at the monster, but it was still coming towards them.
She heard her Papa's voice in her head. "There's nothing to be frightened of. It's reaching out to you because it wants you. So don't turn away from it." Then she heard Mike's voice. "A friend is someone you'd do anything for."
She felt a sudden rush of energy, more than she had ever felt before. She got off the table and onto her feet. She focused on the Demogorgon, and threw the monster across the classroom, pinning it against the wall. Advancing on the monster, she slowly walked past the boys and towards the Demogorgon.
"Eleven, stop!" Mike yelled as he moved towards her. She threw her arm towards him, knocking him back and pinning him against the cabinets with her mind. With each step she took, she felt herself becoming weaker from overexertion. Even so, she continued to try to find a weak spot to kill the Demogorgon. Even trying to break its neck proved futile. With desperation setting in, one last idea came to mind: Tear it apart from the inside. Knowing that what she was about to do might kill her, she turned to look at Mike one last time.
"Goodbye Mike…" She said, barely above a whisper. Her eyes lingered on him a moment longer, before she turned back to the monster in front of her. "No more." Her voice was filled with resolve. She lifted her arm to the Demogorgon, and one last time, channeled her energy to create a gate inside the monster. As she began, the monster let out a deafening roar of pain. The more energy she used the louder it became. The screams of the monster were soon joined by her own, as she pushed herself to the breaking point and beyond. The Demogorgon began to disintegrate, filling the room with black ash. She gave one last push of energy, and finally, everything went black.
Two Days Later
Her senses slowly began to come back to her. The first to return was touch, as she felt her head pounding. There was also a cold slimy feel underneath her. The next to return were smell and taste, as the acrid odor of her surroundings began to burn her nose and mouth. Soon after she heard the vast emptiness, and the echoed sounds of God only knows what. And when she finally managed to muster the strength to open her eyes, her worst fear had been confirmed; she was in the Upside Down.
She tried to scream for Mike, but only broke down in a coughing fit. El Tried to stand up, but found she didn't have the strength left in her. Unable to walk, she began crawling to the fallen door of the classroom. In her weakened state, she only barely made it past the doorway before darkness overtook her once again.
One Day Later
El stirred as she regained consciousness once more. She flinched as her senses were once again assaulted by the atmosphere of the Upside Down. Once more she made an attempt to stand, and this time was able to rise to her feet. Using the wall for support, she began shakily walking through the school, towards the exit. As she walked, she passed by the open door of the nurse's office. Inside the door, she saw a moldy pair of crutches, which she took to stabilize herself. Now that she was capable of moving by herself, she left the school behind her, and headed to the only place she could think to go, Mike's house. While she walked, she felt as if she were being watched even though she couldn't see anything around her.
Although the trip was exhausting, she eventually made it to Mike's basement door and went inside. What she saw was nothing like the warm basement that made her feel safe in a time of uncertainty. What she found instead was a dark, moldy cave, which seemed to consume what little light there was. Her heart sank when she looked at the blanket fort that Mike had built for her. Rather than a warm refuge, it was now a cold, vine-covered shell.
Tears began to prick her eyes as she moved to the corrupted clone of her fort. She let the crutches fall to the floor, and moved the vines covering the entrance, before crawling inside. As she tried to settle in, she thought of what would become of her. El knew had to have been several days since she faced the Demogorgon, based on how thirsty and hungry she was. The only other times she had felt like this was when Papa had locked her in the bad room. If she had no way to get food and water soon, she knew she wouldn't last long.
But in her heart, she knew that she wouldn't change anything. Even though she would die, she had saved her friends. In the end, that's all she cared about. Dustin and Lucas would live, but especially Mike. "A friend is someone you'd do anything for." He had told her.
With nothing else to do before she died, she closed her eyes and reached out into the void, hoping she could see what became of her friends. She focused on the only person she could think of. In moments, Mike materialized in front of her. But to her surprise, so did Lucas, Dustin, Joyce and Will. They were all together in a room. Joyce and the boys were sitting in chairs around Will's bedside talking to him, except for Mike, who was near a window staring at the rain falling from the night sky. However, El didn't have the energy to listen to the conversation. Before long the vision collapsed entirely.
She tried once more, this time focusing on Nancy. Once again she surprised that they were together. El could only make out a few words here and there. "Me and Steve...", "...Will to come home...". Before long, this vision also faded. She reached out one more time, this time looking for Hopper. She found him in a forest, putting a box on the ground, and placing wrapped eggos and a bottle of water in the box.
"Why am I doing this?" She heard him say. "Even if she's alive, she'll never find this"
El gasped as the vision faded. She recognized the place that Hopper put the box; she had seen it while she was escaping from the lab. If she was able to get to the box, she might have a chance at surviving. Knowing that the only way she could survive is to reach the box, she picked up her crutches, and headed towards Mirkwood.
She kept a slow pace to keep from exhausting herself again. Eventually, the road brought her to the box in the woods. The box wasn't corrupted like everything else, it looked just like it would have in the real world She knelt down to open the box, and her eyes widened in joy as she saw the stack of eggos and water. She eagerly tore into the eggos only stopping to wash them down with some water. Before long, the eggos and the water both were gone. Even though it was a relatively meager meal, El was satisfied; she even felt a little better. If the food and water continued to show up, she knew she might have a chance of survival after all.
Forty Days Later
She wasn't sure how long she had been in the upside down. All she knew was that the box would periodically be refreshed with food and water. Despite this nourishment she was provided, she found that her powers were weakened. She had tried many times to make contact with her friends, but always failed. In fact, she often failed to even find them in the first place. It had been a while since she had last attempted to make contact, so she resolved to try again.
Once more she closed her eyes, and began to reach out into the void. She first looked for Mike, but couldn't find him. Then she tried Lucas and Dustin, but had no sucess with them either. Finally, she tried will. But this time, she was able to locate him. Their connection was weak, but she tried communicating anyway.
"Will" As soon as she spoke, Will's demenor changed. "Can you hear me? I'm ok. Tell Mike. Hopper brings me food. He knows." As soon as she finished talking, Will faded away from her.
She opened her eyes after the vision had faded, and wiped away the blood that was pouring from both nostrils. El didn't know how much had gotten through, but she hoped he would at least tell Mike about it. Either way, she was actually able to make contact, which was more than she had been able to do before. Still, she wished she could talk to Mike just once.
Twelve Days Later
El was starting to tell time by how often food would appear. With the assumption that it was once a day, it had been 12 days since she last attempted contact with anyone. She was trying to save up her strength in the hopes that she would have more success. Deciding that it was time to try again, she closed her eyes, and reached out once more.
As always, she started with Mike. She focused her energy towards him, not really expecting to find him. However, she found him immediately. Her shock was so great that she nearly lost the connection right then. As she approached Mike, she saw that he was asleep. But as she looked closer, she saw tears coming from his eyes. She tried reaching out to his mind.
"El?" Mike mumbled in his sleep. El couldn't believe it, after all this time, she could finally talk to Mike.
"Mike, don't be sad." El said softly.
"El…" He mumbled once more. El couldn't take it anymore, she had to touch him. To make him know that she was alive. She reached out and placed her hand on his head. As soon as her hand touched him, Mike let out a blood-curdling scream and rolled to the floor while clutching his head.
She looked down at Mike in horror. 'Nonononono, what did I do?' Mike rolled onto his back and passed out, revealing the blood pouring from his nose and ears.
The vision collapsed as El's emotions overwhelmed her.
"MIKE!" She screamed. "MIKE!" She had no idea what had happened, but knowing that she had hurt Mike was too much for her. Sobs began wracking her body as she curled up in her blanket fort. 'Mike, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…'
Five Days Later
El had no idea how long it had been since she had hurt Mike. Since it happened she never went to get food; 'I don't deserve it.' she told herself. As she closed her eyes, she slipped into the void. When she opened them, she saw Mike laying in the distance. 'Mike?! I didn't look for him, why is he here? Unless, no… nonono, it can't be…' She thought to herself as a terrible realization dawned on her; whatever she had done broke his mind. There was no other explanation.
She slowly began moving towards him.
"Mike…" She said softly, unsure if he would respond.
"El?" Mike said, lifting his head.
El slowly reached out to touch him, still afraid of what might happen. Her fears were relieved when she put her hand on his shoulder. At first, Mike tensed up at the touch, but he relaxed as he turned an looked El in the eyes.
"El? Is it really you?" Mike asked, disbelief in his voice. El couldn't hold his gaze any longer, and looked to the ground. Undeterred, Mike reached out and touched her on the arm.
"El, it really is you!" Mike exclaimed as he leaped to his feet and embraced El. "What's going on? Where are we?" He asked.
El lost control of her emotions. "Mike, I'm Sorry… I'm sorry…" She choked out between sobs.
"Sorry?" He asked, taking a step back to try to look at her. "What are you sorry for?"
"I hurt you, now you're trapped."
"Trapped? Trapped where?" He asked. El sad nothing, but instead tapped her finger on his temple. "My head? I'm trapped in… my head? I… I don't understand…" He said, scrunching his face in confusion.
"Found your dream. Touched your mind. Hurt you, I didn't mean to. Mike, I'm so sorry." She choked out, before breaking down once more.
"Hey look at me." Mike said, lifting her chin to look her in the eyes. "Don't blame yourself, you couldn't have known." He pulled her close to him and held her until her crying had stopped.
"El, where are you? Is it true that Hopper's been bringing you food?" Mike asked.
"In the Upside Down, he puts food in a box." She answered.
"Well, how can I get to you? We have to get you out of there!" He said.
"Mike, you can't. The gate's gone." She said. It was true, she had already tried going back to the lab, but the gate had closed.
"No! There has to be another way! I can't just leave you there!" He said, tears stinging his eyes.
"Mike." She said softly as she put her hand on his. "It's ok." In her mind, it was ok. She had come to terms with her fate a long time ago. But before she could tell this to Mike, his form disappeared. She blinked, and she was once again in the Upside Down, alone.
Twenty Minutes Later
It hadn't been long since she had talked to Mike. She had learned that Mike still hadn't given up on her, which gave her hope. But that was overshadowed when she had learned that something horrible had happened to him, and it was her fault. Even worse, she didn't know would happen to him. As she dwelled on these thoughts, a voice came clearly through the darkness; Mike's voice.
'We're coming El, just hang on.'
"Mike?!" Eleven yelled, jumping to her feet. She was met with silence.
"MIKE?!" She screamed louder. Still silence.
El fell back to the ground, feeling her tears returning. This time, she didn't try to stop them.
"Mike..." Was all she could choke out between sobs.