Chapter 14: The Window
Brenner walks down the labyrinthine halls to his new laboratory. They've built an impressive machine housed inside a steel cage. His team should be ready to test it this evening. This works well with his promise to Eleven. He'll let the boys go—on a short leash, of course. As for the girl—well, he has other plans for her…
He steps into the cage, examining the steel framed 'window' hanging in the center. "How much longer?"
The scientists calibrating the machine twitter around him nervously. "We're still stabilizing the electromagnetic field, but it should only be a few more hours," the lead engineer informs him.
"Good." He strokes the outline of the window, imaging another world on the other side of it—one he would be in control of this time.
#
The electronic lock on the door beeps like a shrill harpy. An orderly places something on the bed, and then leaves in silence. El looks down at the folded hospital gown and something in her heart snaps.
#
"Let's go," the orderly pushes Mike down the hall.
"No! I'm not leaving without El!"
Steve turns around, offering him a sympathetic expression. He doesn't want to leave without the girls either, but what choice do they have?
"You're lucky you're getting off this easy, kid," the orderly confides.
"This is bullshit." He shoves the man and turns to run back to where he thinks they're holding her, but the man grabs him roughly by the shirt, zaps him with the taser, and pulls him forward, gripping his arms like a vice. "Ah! Get off me! El!" He is shocked again, this time for longer, which leaves him shaking as they drag him towards the elevator.
"Stop it, Jesus Christ, we're going!" Steve complains, horrified to see Mike hurt like this.
"Move."
Before they get into the elevator, Steve asks, "What about Robin?"
"Who?" The orderly grins as the doors slide closed between them.
The elevator opens up and suddenly they are in the back of the mall's parking lot again. The juxtaposition of realities above and below ground is mind bending.
"We need Hopper," Mike says, unsure what to do next. They run through the parking lot, back to where Steve left his car. On their way, they see Joyce closing the trunk of her car. "Mrs. Beyers!"
"Oh! Your friends were looking for you, about some kind of 'science project'?" She looks him up and down. He looks hurt somehow, and his eyes are bloodshot. "Honey, what's wrong?"
Will steps out of the car, his eyes wide with fear.
"It's Brenner. He's alive and…he has El."
"What? That awful man…I thought he was…Doctor Owens told us he was gone!"
"Well he's back and he has her. I think she made a deal with him to let us go."
"But…what are you doing here?"
Steve steps forward. "They built a new lab under the mall."
"You have to be kidding me."
"They also have my friend Robin, but I don't know what they want with her. We need to get back inside so we can help them."
She runs her hands through her hair, trying to shake out the cobwebs. "I tried calling Hop before, but couldn't get him. Come on, we'll drive over."
#
Ten minutes have passed and El has not put on the hospital gown. She stares at it like a death sentence.
The buzzer goes off and a female doctor enters the white room, gripping a clip board. "Hello, Eleven. My name is Dr. Keller. How are you feeling?"
"What did you do to Ms. Smith? I know she isn't here."
"Sabrina Smith is not who she says she is. In fact, we believe that isn't even her real name."
"You're lying."
"I'm afraid not. She escaped custody and is in the wind—for now. But we have more pressing matters to attend to. We need to run tests to determine your wellness and your ability to help us with the disease plaguing Subject Eight."
"Her name is Kali."
"Her condition is deteriorating at an exponential rate. You saw her." She waits for Eleven to reply, but she just keeps a stony gaze. "I know it's difficult for you to accept your position here, but we need to get started." She looks pointedly at the folded gown on the bed.
El shakes her head weakly.
"You agreed to help us. Are you going back on your word?"
"No."
"Good. Now get changed." She waits with her back turned until El is finished. Once on, she helps her by tying the back closed.
El looks back at the two-way mirror, wondering if Papa is behind the glass and if he actually enjoys seeing her this way. She thinks she knows the answer.
"Come with me."
#
"Hopper! Hop!" Joyce shouts, banging on his front door. No answer comes from inside the house, even after she's rung the doorbell five times. "Hello?"
They hear movement on the inside—some kind of banging followed by a violent fit of coughing. When he finally opens the door, they are all shocked to see him look so poorly. He is covered in sweat, his lips and skin are pale and there are dark bags under his bloodshot eyes.
Joyce takes a step back. "You look like hell."
"I feel like it." He sees the kids, nodding. "Thanks for bringing her home. I've been so out of it today."
"What, do you mean El? She isn't here, Hop…Can we come inside?"
A hollow fear enters his gut as he opens the door wider to let them in. "Excuse the mess. I-uh, I've been meaning to clean." They sit on the old orange couch and he pulls over a wooden chair from the kitchenette. "So you drove all this way to tell me El isn't with you," he repeats, slowly taking in the dread on their faces.
"This isn't going to be easy for you to hear," she begins, but Mike cuts her off.
"Jesus, just tell him! Brenner is alive and he has El."
The air is sucked out of the room. "What did you say to me?"
"Ms. Sabrina has powers but she disappeared so we went looking for her and we got caught. He only let me and Steve go because she made him."
The absolute worst case scenario has come to pass. Murphy's law. "Where is she now?"
Steve clears his throat. "They built a new lab beneath the mall. I don't know why, but my friend Robin is trapped down there too. "
"The mall?" He starts coughing violently again. "I should have known. Seemed like they started building that thing the minute they shut down the lab." He grabs his car keys. "I want you to stay here, kid," he tells Mike. "Steve, come with me. I'm going to need some back up."
"Are you insane? I'm coming with you," Mike argues, his eyes wild with anger and determination.
"It's too much of a risk. Brenner will use you against her in a heartbeat."
"I can't just sit around here and wait. This is El. I can't lose her again. I won't."
"Alright kid, alright."
"Hop, you can't go. You're too sick," Joyce argues.
"Nothing is going to stop me from getting El home safely. Nothing. Let's go."
#
Dr. Keller leads El inside the steel cage where Dr. Brenner is waiting in front of the 'window'.
El can't control the tears that fill her eyes as she sees him again, after all this time. Her 'papa'—the man she thought was the only one who could love a freak like her…that is, until she met people who showed her true affection and unconditional love. Mike. Hopper. Joyce. The party.
"Thank you, Dr. Keller," he says, signaling that she should leave.
Eleven swallows hard and stares at the window, unsure what to say.
"Do you know what this is?"
She shakes her head, looking at the cage and then back at the window.
"Right now it is an ordinary window. A closed window. I need you to open it for me."
She steps back in horror. He wants her to reopen the gate. "No. I'll never do that."
"Look at the cage we're standing in. I've built it to contain the creature which possessed your friend last year—Will Beyers. We need to study it, find out how it was able to take over his personality."
"No." She walks back towards the door, trying to get out. "Open the door."
"The illness Eight suffers from is similar to the one which infected Will, in that once the virus takes over the patient's body, it starts erasing their minds as well, until all that is left is a monster."
"Let me out!" She pulls with all her might on the door handle but it doesn't budge, so she starts pushing against it with her mind. The steel is too strong, but she keeps trying.
"If we can open a small window into the other side, we may be able to discover a means to cure this virus before it spreads."
She presses her back against the door, panting from the effort. "It won't work. I can't risk opening the gate. It's too dangerous."
"Then Kali will die."
Eleven shakes her head in denial.
He turns on the small t.v. in the corner of the room, which shows a black and white video recording of a small boy lying in bed, coughing and shaking. "And so will your friend."
El can't believe who she sees... "Dustin?"
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COMING SOON - THE SACRIFICE