Chapter 4 – The Deal with the Devil

The hall would be calm; it would be another normal calm night in the hospital, with patients trying to take their rest and with the nurses and the doctors trying not to disturb them from their sleep. Of course, some patients would need assistance during the night and for the staff there would be no rest, but still they would try to be as quiet as possible in their night interventions. However, tonight there was an intervention of another kind. The police intervention. Thus there would be no calm, even after they left with five people arrested. Rumours spread that someone attempted to kill a young girl in her room's bath-tub. That was just crazy. Apparently the murderers were her foster family and her friends, how horrible is that? And how horrible the girl must feel? No surprise she is in shock.

She screamed so loud that almost everyone; at least everyone in the vicinity of the room she was taken in; could hear her. They had to lock the door from the outside, because she wanted to run. Poor girl, she had to go crazy, it did not occur to her that she would run back to the people who wanted to kill her. Poor thing, really. It must have been the shock; it all must have traumatized her. They say she had problems at school already, that the foster mother and brother probably abused her. Someone should take proper care of her. Help from a psychiatrist so she would have a chance to get better. A chance to heal.

Eleven

How could she wake up from hell to an even worse situation? It was a chaos. It was so quick. It all happened so fast.

"El? El, it's okay. You're back!"

"Honey, you woke up!" Mike and Joyce. Their voices were so happy. So happy. She was in his arms. He was again there for her when she woke up. He was there for her to tell her it's okay, but not for long. How could this happen? One minute she was surrounded by her friends and family and the second she was taken away from them.

"You promised... That I go! And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!"

"Yeah! Nothing happens and you stay safe!" Hopper's words echoed in her mind. Maybe he was right. Now she was in a situation that she wasn't even able to define. She was all alone. In a hospital. Because she went out of the cave. She went to school and she explored.

They just took her so easily, she had no chance to fight them back. They took her so easily. It was all too familiar to her. It was like going back to the lab, but this time there were no powers she could dare to use to fight back and run. They locked her in a room. Again. An intense chest and stomach pain overwhelmed her. Fear? Yeah, she thought she knew it, but lately it has kept coming in strange waves. She screamed and ran to the door once they closed it. "No, no, wait!" The three-inch minimum! She tried to open the door and she wanted to run back to her friends, back to Mike, back to the police to explain they did not want to hurt her. But the doctors just kept soothing her. She cried. "No, no, you don't understand… They didn't hurt me! Listen! Listen to me!"

"Oh c'mon dear! You just need to rest, go back to bed now!" a doctor she feared the most told her. Then he called back the security and some nurses to help them lay her down on the bed. This… was not happening. She felt another panic attack coming, her heart was beating so fast.

"No! No! Please just listen!" She hated doctors. She started to tremble as they tried to fasten her to the bed. "No… the door please, just don't close the door! Mike will find me by the tree-inch minimum! Just please don't." She just feared there was no other way they could find her in this new room. In her mind it was the most important thing in the moment no matter how silly that was. She could do at least something Hopper would want her to do. A nurse approached with a needle and then the world faded in front of her eyes.

The doctors agreed it is probably post-traumatic stress and delusions and she must go to a psychiatric hospital to be treated properly. Before they could send her there a psychiatric doctor had to do a medical assessment. This had to be done also because of the police, who wanted to interrogate her for the case and had to know if her statements would have any relevance at all. Also they could not take her anywhere without her legal representative's consent.

When Eleven woke up again. She was asked to eat something, to drink something and to talk to the doctor, so she could then talk to the policemen. At that moment she just thought about Mike and her friends; she had to pull herself together, but it was extremely hard for her as she was going through very tough mental states she had no explanation for. Locked in a hospital room, locked in an infinite uncertainty. She was angry. Angry with herself, with the lack of her powers. They just took her friends away from her and she couldn't do a thing about it, she couldn't save them. And they can't save you, she remembered Kali's words. She didn't eat anything they gave her. She didn't sleep, afraid of what would appear to her in the dreams. She felt very weak and tired. So when a psychiatrist came to talk to her, she just sat on her bed absentmindedly. Wouldn't speak a word to any of these doctors, in fact to any kind of doctors… ever again. She was determined.

And so very soon she had another visitor. Cathy. She came one afternoon. They called her because they wanted to see El's reaction. They just let her in and they were watching through a camera, which was installed in the room. The girls didn't know.

"Jane? El?" Cathy said because El was looking out of the window. "Hello."

El turned around when she recognized Cathy's voice. "Cath! Hi!" She ran to her and hugged her happy to see a friendly face. Cath couldn't believe her eyes, El looked horrible; tired, she seemed thinner than she remembered her to be, definitely more fragile. And how she trembled, her cheeks wet with tears and with dark circles under her eyes.

"El…" Cath smiled but she couldn't hide how worried and taken aback she was. "What happened?"

"Cath, I need your help!" El took Cath's' hands, tears streaming down her serious face. Cathy was frightened now. They told her that she might be asking for help, they told her not to take her too seriously and just try to ask her to confide in her, so they would have a chance to find out what's wrong and then help her. Cathy felt horrible, she trusted El, but she was also suspicious, because El was always mysterious and she knew she had her secrets. Without knowing the truth… There was no other logical explanation apart from the one that the doctors, the teachers, her parents and the policemen were saying. She desperately wanted to help her friend, she wanted to trust her, but she also wanted her just to be okay, just to get better.

"El, what happened? You need to tell me… everything. They say they wanted to kill you," Cathy said quietly.

"No, they just knew that water would help me to wake up," El tried to explain.

"Water would help you to wake up…" Cathy repeated word by word. "How did you even fall into that coma? What happened on Thanksgiving? Did Mike come to see you?"

"Yes… he did," El nodded and sat back on the bed. Thinking about Mike wasn't easy for her. "He came with his big sister. Cathy, they are in trouble and they didn't want to harm me, I swear. Friends don't lie."

"Yeah?" Cathy winced. "So why don't you tell me the truth?"

"I am!" El looked up to her.

"Yes, but what am I missing? I know you're not telling me everything. Nothing you told me makes sense." El was thinking, if she could only show her the powers, if she would have had proof... but like this what was she supposed to tell her? Oh, yeah. I had superpowers. Unfortunately, I don't have them anymore. But before I could move things with my mind. And I grew up in a lab where bad people were doing experiments on me. That's why I had no freaking idea what a period is. It is not Joyce's fault. In the lab I was sort of spying on Russians, because I was able to find anyone in my mind and hear and reproduce what they were saying. And there is the Upside Down world with its creatures, and I accidentally opened the gate by touching one of them and then I just ruined a few people's lives. Those people are now in trouble and I can't save them anymore, because my powers are gone, because a giant monster bit me. So I have no proof at all. Just a tattoo. Yeah, a ticket to an asylum. "El?" Cathy said after a few minutes of silence.

El gave a sigh. "I… I can't tell you now, but it doesn't matter that much."

"If you can't tell me, I can't help you, El!" Cathy shrugged.

"Please, you're the only one that can help me now. I need you to find Mike, you could pass him my message, so he could find me. I am afraid that they will take me away."

"They just want to help you, El." Cathy sighed. "You know, I just don't like your older brother and… your mum. Were they hurting you? Is that what you don't want to tell me? I get it! But… You need to tell me and… and everything will be okay. I promise, you will be safe and nothing bad will happen to you… ever again."

"Cath, Cathy! They would never hurt me… It's not what you think."

"El… they were drowning you in the tub so you wouldn't tell anyone, right? But this is the end of it, they will go to prison for this and you will be okay. Maybe my mum could adopt you after you feel better. I can talk to her…."

"Cath! You don't understand at all. You just need to trust me, trust me when I say they would never hurt me, nor Joyce, Jonathan, Will… nor Mike or Nancy. Please! Please, can you go to see Mike and tell him that… tell him that they want to take me away and that no one trusts me here?" Cathy was just staring at her. "We need to think of something. I will explain it later to you, I promise."

"El… Please stop, you're scaring me. I can't, okay? I can't do that." She shook her head and slowly went back to the door with tears in her eyes. It was too much on her.

"Cathy…" El breathed out. "Please, don't go. Wait." She felt the panic coming back to her. There was no way out of this.

"I am sorry! But you will be okay. I promise," Cathy said quietly and then doctors came in and she had to leave. She also started to cry once she was in the hall and her mum who was waiting there for her hugged her tightly. The doctors thanked them and they left.

There was no one who would hug El now though. And the psychiatrist already made some assumptions. El still refused to speak to anyone. When they wanted to examine her and see if her body was without bruises and other marks, which would prove the child's abuse theory; she was fighting back; she didn't want anyone to touch her.

This was the worst part of it because basically the hospital's psychiatrists were right about the symptoms. Was she a victim of abuse? Yes. Did she suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks? Yes, probably. But they had the wrong offenders and wrong trauma in their hypothesis. All they found on the body was the tattoo she didn't want to talk about. But the symptoms and the reactions couldn't be lying. She was obviously lying, probably she suffered from some kind of Stockholm syndrome, this was also normal in these cases. The assumptions were just logical and partly even right. So how could El prove otherwise if not even her friend would believe her? She was desperate.

Mike

This can't be happening. It happened so many times in his dreams. That someone would take El away again. That something would just go wrong if she went to school. He felt it in his bones when she was leaving. They never had problems with the police in Hawkins, because they had Hopper on their side. But now… they had no one, Nancy called their parents and they sent them a lawyer. But up till then they had to wait in the custody, Nancy and Joyce separated from the boys in a different cell. Since Will and Mike were minors the police wanted to interview them first, but fortunately Wheelers' lawyer just told them to wait until he came. They attempted to call Dr. Owens, but he wasn't answering the phone for days. Mike was banging into the wall with his fist.

"They are going to interrogate her. And test her! She hates doctors. We are making her go through… a nightmare! We should have never call the fucking ambulance!" he looked at Jonathan.

"Mike…" Will whispered quietly to calm him but Mike was furious.

"No, Will… We were never fucked up like we are right now! We are going to prison and she is going to god knows where!"

"What were we supposed to do? Let her die?" Jonathan raised his voice.

"We should have put her to the water right away," Mike argued.

"What if that wouldn't help? She would die! Would you rather see her dead?"

"You don't fucking understand a thing! What if…. what if they were really doing the things she said? Can you imagine how scared she is? We let her… in the worst kind of situation! Owens is not even answering the phone. So what will we do… from a fucking prison cell?" he kicked to a simple bed the only one in the cell.

"Michael Wheeler! Stop swearing!" Nancy called from the neighbouring cell.

"Mike! Just calm down! Just calm down, we just have to wait. We didn't do anything bad right?" Will grabbed his shoulder but Mike just winced.

"If you wouldn't put her into the water, maybe we would just manage to take her away," Jonathan whispered.

"Are you serious? We woke her up. We just thought it would be easier to leave if she walked and above all we could just leave… legally!" Mike frowned.

"Just calm down both of you! We need to think! Like seriously!" Will stood between them because it was beginning to look like they would start to fight. "If you fight, they will separate us, is that what you want?" The boys calmed down a little also because the policemen were starting to keep a closer eye on them.

In the other cell girls were just trying to think and put themselves together. Joyce was having a hard time. She was trembling so hard that Nancy had to hold her for hours. The worst thought in her mind concerned Hopper and how she let him down; he would never let this happen to them. They needed Hopper, they needed any help. Nancy - apart from the lawyer and parents - also called Steve, just so he would let Robin, Max, Dustin, and Lucas and maybe Murray. Murray was in fact the only one who could somehow help them and who she could think of. Apart from , who apparently wouldn't answer the phone. Steve promised they would think of some kind of plan but… he was worried that when it came to El, there was not much they could do now. And he was right.

Brenner already had his plan going on. It was more than easy for him to let his doctor in the hospital know where he wanted El to be transported to. They only signed papers concerning El's diagnosis and official statement of the psychiatrist with all the examination and with the test results. He was watching from a safe place and waiting while everything was under his control.

The last thing that needed to be done was letting El to be interrogated by the police. When the detective came to talk to her she was as bad as when Cathy came. Maybe even worse. Everything she could say to answer their questions was this: "Joyce never hurt me, she is the best mum I could ask for, Jonathan and Will are the best brothers I could ever ask for. Mike is my boyfriend and he loves me and I love him too and he would ever hurt me this way. And either would Nancy. I had no idea why they would pack the cars, but I suppose they wanted to go for a weekend trip. Nancy and Mike were visiting after all. And I know Jonathan had a gun, but I never saw him using it… I just know he is very bad with it. You can test him. When it comes to the bathtub, I just woke up and wanted to take a bath, they knew it would help me to calm down." When they asked about the tattoo and the events that happened at the school, she just said that she had no idea about the school, there was an electricity breakdown and that was it. Weird day. About the tattoo she just said that it's part of the "Eleanor nickname" and since the number eleven starts with the same syllable as her second name she just decided to have it tattooed. Does all of this have something in common with events that happened in Hawkins that summer? She just knew Joyce wanted to change the environment and try to start a new life. How did her foster father Hopper die? She had no idea, he was lost. What relationship was between Joyce and Hopper? She had a feeling that they loved each other in the past. Nothing more she could say. Most of the time she was silent though because if her friend didn't believe her, the police wouldn't believe either. She was right because no matter what she would say, her statement would be sealed with the medical assessment which was already done and it didn't describe her as a trustworthy girl.

After the interview there was nothing which would stop Brenner from taking her. Well, there had to be someone who would officially take Jane Hopper into guardianship. That person would then sign the papers which would authorize them to take her to a psychiatric hospital without Joyce's agreement. The doctor who had the deal with Brenner of course knew he would come and he arranged that no one would be there when he would meet El in her room. A nurse was just supposed to take him in.

When he entered the room and finally laid his eyes on her, she was as usual standing in front of the window hoping she would see Mike and her friends coming back to get her out of here. "Jane, your father is here, he came to talk to you." She jerked. My father? "Hop?!" El turned around with a smile but that smile faded away too quickly.

"Jane?" what she didn't expect at all was Brenner, so when he spoke, she was thinking that it was again just in her mind.

"Papa…" she whispered, her voice breaking. The nurse left at this point and she closed the door behind her as she was instructed to do.

"Yes, your papa came back for you. It's time to go home, Eleven," he approached her. "Wow! You're so grown!"

"No…" she shook her head. "Just don't come near me!"

"Or what? What are you going to do?" She winced. How does he know? "I know you can't do anything. But I was thinking… that I could help you with that. With your battery."

"You… lie!" She took steps back away from him until she was in the corner of the room and she had no way to run.

"Okay, let me give you better motivation. Let's do that okay? If you will come with me, with no… objections, maybe we will treat you better, you could get your powers back and maybe… if you cooperate with us, we could arrange that your… friends could walk away free. No prison, no criminal record. Just back in their lives as they were before they met you. Now, what do you say?"

"Prison…?" she whispered.

"Oh yeah... prison, dear. They are accused of murder. They are not so smart, are they?"

"You know nothing about them," she looked up into his eyes.

"We must work on your behaviour, Eleven!" He pulled her against the wall taking her wrist and she shrunk away with pain. "So what do you say? You come with me and they are free. Or you come with me still… and I will just use other methods to make you come and your friends are going to prison. And your beloved Mike along with his weird friend will go to a correctional facility and their lives will be even worse… forever ruined even more than you've already managed to ruin them."

"No…" she cried putting her hands over her face trying to take a breath. Is she even in reality?

"Better think fast," he said with no emotion in his voice.

"I hate you!" she screamed into his face.

"We will fix that too trust me… So?" He took her by the wrist again, his touch was so disgusting to her that she almost puked. "Eleven!"

"Yes…" she mumbled and closed her eyes, why tears were streaming down her face. If this was the only way to save them, she was going to do it no matter how frightened she was of what was to come.

"Yes what?" he hissed.

"I'll go with you. Just promise me they will be free and safe. No hurt."

"Yes, I promise. They are back to their lives and if they keep their mouth shut and they are not looking for you, they are safe. I promise. I knew we would find a solution," he smiled and let go of her wrist. "Now... the rules. If you break them the deal is off, you get it? Say: Yes, I do, papa!"

"You are not my papa!" she spat into his face. He slapped her but not too hard it would show on her face later.

"Oh you wanna the deal to be off so soon?"

"No.." she muttered and shook her head.

"Good, just say if you get the rules now. Rule number one: you say nothing when we walk out of this room, you just come with me calmly, no screaming, no crying. So put yourself together, you never were such a cry baby. Rule number two: no questions, just be quiet until we arrive on the plane."

"Plane? They will be looking for me!"

"Not if you will tell them not to," Brenner smiled. "They will let you go then."

"I want to see them free," she stated clearly. "Out of the prison. If they are not free and safe, I will be looking for ways to run or die every second for the rest of my life."

"You are giving me conditions?" She just stared at him. "Okay. You will see them free. No more questions now. Take this pill. You will need it." She shook her head. "It won't harm you, it is just going to help you to keep calm and it will help you not to fall to unknown places..." Her heart was pounding so hard that she rather took the pill whatever it contained, she didn't care anymore she just wanted everyone to be free and safe.

"Free and safe," she looked at him.

"If you're calm, if you're not running away and if you cooperate, they are safe and free. That's the deal."

"Okay."

She nodded and swallowed the pill going to the bedside table and taking a sip of water from her glass.

"Okay, now put your normal clothes on, the nurse put it on the bed for you. It's the last time so enjoy it." She looked at her clothes and then back at him. "I'll be waiting at the reception. No stupid ideas!"

When he left she realized how shaky she was. But she did what he said; put her clothes on leaving the hospital gown on the bed. She was feeling free now. And she could smell her old life from the clothes. But it was all about to end. She guessed her 3-years long trip was over. Her heart shattered, but she knew she must save Mike and all the people she loved. This was the only thing she could do to save them for the very last time. She wept for a minute but then she wiped her tears away and walked out of the room starting to feel the pill's effects. Everything again slowed down with adrenaline and the pill running through her veins. She walked through the hall to Brenner, who was signing some papers at reception. Then they left the hospital.

The Sheriff's office

They desperately waited in the office not knowing what would follow or what to do. Mike was sitting on the floor, his face in his hands. Just helplessly waiting. Then it happened. The sheriff had an incoming call. And soon after this call ended, the policemen just let them go. All they were told was: "The case was closed; you can go now. There are no suspects anymore."

"What? How so?" Nancy asked as they walked out of the cell.

"The charges were retracted with the new evidence." There was no other explanation or apology. They walked from the office having no clue what just happened, but there was no time to think about it. They were free now.

"We must go to the hospital immediately!" Mike said. They called a taxi as their cars were in the parking lot.

El watched them from a car parked across the street from the police station. She put her hand on the window like you could reach them. They didn´t see her and Brenner kept her promise. "When they will call, and then will… You will talk to them. I'll tell you later what you will tell them. They will be safe and sound if you will cooperate and they won't be looking for you. Do you get it?" He told her. She nodded. Then he told the driver to go to the airport. They passed right next to them, she was a few feets next to them, but they didn't see through the smoked windows. She felt her heart breaking as she leaned her forehead and her palm against the cool glass trying to reach Mike. She looked back until she couldn't see them anymore. Then heart broke.

When they arrived at the hospital they rushed to the reception.

"Where is my daughter?" Joyce almost screamed at the nurse sitting at the reception.

"What's your daughter's name, madam?" she answered calmly already knowing the answer.

"Jane Hopper!" they all blurted out.

"Come with me," the nurse nodded and took them to the hospital principal's office. They got anxious.

"Hello. Hello, ," he greeted them. "Can I talk only to you? Please? I just called her doctor so he would also tell you some information."

"I just want to see her, just take us to her immediately!" Joyce said. Mike started to feel really uneasy as he watched the principal's expression. The kids had to sit outside the office and wait. Mike would walk from side to side of the hall.

"What's this? Why can't they just take us to her?" he muttered.

"Mike, we'll be there in a minute, we just walked out from custody," Nancy said.

A doctor would soon come to the office where Joyce and the principal would sit.

"Where is my daughter? How is she? What's all this?" Joyce asked nervously.

" . I am glad everything was explained now and that you are free now. But I must inform you that Jane Hopper was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, delusions and hallucinations. She had to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital. I can of course provide you with the documentation, but…"

"What are you talking about?" Joyce frowned in shock.

"She will be fine but she needs to be kept an eye on for some time. She needs to rest. She is going through a serious mental disorder."

"Where is she?" she kept asking.

"She was transported to another state, to a psychiatric hospital like I said."

"Are you serious? Without my consent?" she hissed.

"She was officially taken away from your guardianship, Mrs. Byers."

"What?!" That took breath out of her lungs.

"Due to your own incompetence to look after her. We talked to your therapist and she said you are also experiencing some mental health issues, so it will be for the best if Jane is taken care of by the state. Her condition was very serious."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she yelled banging to the desk with her fist. "Where exactly is she? I am going there to take her out of here!"

"We cannot possibly tell you, madam," the principal said with a monotone voice. "But here is a number you can call to check up on her," he gave her a paper with a number. She stared at it trying to understand the reality.

"What…?" she closed her eyes suddenly feeling sick. They wanted to help her stand but she shook them off. "You are fucking bastards! This can't be legal!" She left with that. Mike and others were immediately around her.

"Where is she? Where is El?" everybody asked.

Joyce wiped her tears away and looked up on all of them. "Gone..." All they had was the number. Mike's heart dropped into his stomach.