Episode 6

Okay, I was so excited to write this chapter. No lie, this was the episode that inspired me to write this story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Everyone followed suit and stood up as they stared at the flickering lights. It could be a coincidence, Max thought to herself. But after all that had happened, the teens knew this was not a good sign.

Will suddenly brought his hand up to the back of his neck, as if to feel the hairs standing on end.

"He's here," He said with wide eyes.

Mike turned as he heard El exhale forcefully through her nose as if she was angry. With her brow furrowed she looked around the room and headed for the elevator. The rest of the group followed along.

"Hey hey hey!" The receptionist called after the group who just walked past her with purpose. "Two at a time!"

The lights continued to go crazy as Max furiously pushed the elevator button. El continued to scan the hallway, looking for any signs of the mind flayer.

"Stairs," Mike said becoming too impatient to wait for the elevator. His sister could be in trouble.

The group took the stairs two at a time as they raced to find Nancy and Jonathan.

"How will we know where they are?" Max called from the back of the group.

"Look for the giant mind flayer," Mike shot back.

They heard some commotion, so they went to the third floor.

"Jesus," Lucas said as they look out into a destroyed hallway with blood and injured people everywhere.

"This way," Will said suddenly as he ran down the hall towards another stairwell.

The group followed as he entered the part of the hospital that was under construction.

As they got closer they could hear screaming and the sound of metal being smashed.

"Nancy!" Mike yelled as they sprinted towards the noise.

"Jonathan!" Will yelled as they turned the corner and saw Jonathan banging an oxygen tank against the door.

"Nancy," He said out of breath pointing towards the door. "Mind flayer, Nancy."

El stepped forward instantly while pushing her friends back from the door. She threw out her hands and the door went flying off the hinges into the room.

El took a step forward and the group gasped at the sight of the monster standing over Nancy.

"Jesus," Mike said shocked.

"What the fuck?" Max whispered from her spot in the doorway.

Everyone flinched as the monster turned around to show its horrible teeth and growled, beginning to come toward them.

El was quicker though, with a scream she used all her force to throw the monster into the right wall, then the left, then the ceiling, then the ground.

She began to feel slightly lightheaded, but she hoped this was damaging the monster in some way. She tried to be careful as she knew Nancy was still on the ground as well.

All the teen gawked in the doorway; grateful they had El on their side. They stood in awe as they watched her throw the monster around like a rag doll.

As the monster began to get up again Mike almost grabbed El's shoulder to pull her out of the way.

That's it, El thought to herself. She focused her rage towards the mind flayer to push it out of the window and into the parking lot.

"Go!" El yelled as she pushed Jonathan towards Nancy.

Before her friends could see if Nancy was okay El was running back towards the stairs. They all followed to the front of the hospital where they watched as the monster melted away into the sewer.

None of them had ever seen anything like it before. A giant monster suddenly turning to goo and slithering like a snake underground.

As they tried to catch their breath, they were all thinking the same thing. We do not know what we're dealing with here.

"Now what?" Will said breaking the silence.

"Let's go home," Nancy said still shaking slightly. "We gotta figure some stuff out."

"We can't Mom will wonder what we're all doing together," Mike argued.

"It's late anyway," Jonathan said quietly. "We should get some rest."

"But-" Nancy began to protest when Jonathan shot her a look. "fine."

"We can meet up tomorrow to start hatching a plan," Lucas agreed.

"Where should we go?" Will asked.

"The cabin," El suggested. "In case Hop comes back, and none of your parents will know,"

"Yeah, where is Hopper?" Nancy asked.

"And mom?" Jonathan added equally as confused.

"We will explain on the drive," Mike sighed as they got back into Nancy's car.


As Nancy and the gang drove out to El's cabin Mike got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. The last time he had been to the cabin he and El were still together. Sneaking kisses between moments when Hopper would check up on them. So much had changed over the past few days.

"You okay?" Will asked.

"Yeah," Mike smiled slightly.

"Here we are," Nancy said as she stopped in front of the wood cabin.

They all walked up and Mike used the secret knock. Soon the door opened with no one standing behind it.

As the group peered in, they saw Max and El sitting at the small kitchen table.

"Hi," El smiled as they all shuffled in. Soon they were all gathered around the coffee table trying to figure out a plan.

"We need to know what their planning," Nancy said.

"How do we do that?" Lucas asked.

"El do you think you could find the flayed?" Jonathan asked. "Maybe you can see what they're up to?"

"I'll try," El said standing up, "I'll just be in here where it's quieter."

She went over to her bedroom door and stopped to turn back to the group.

"Help yourself," She said shyly as her eyes flicked towards the kitchen. "There's food and drinks,"

"Thanks," Nancy smiled.

Mike tried to hide his smile. El was a very good host. He could still remember Hopper explaining to her what being a good host meant one winter night he came to visit.

"You said the stores had some stuff that went missing," Will asked Nancy. "You should call them for updates."

"Good idea," Nancy said grabbing Jonathan as they headed to the kitchen to make phone calls. Will followed along behind them.

"Well she did say help yourself," Lucas said heading to the kitchen in search of food.

Max and Mike sat in silence hoping to hear good news from either El or Nancy soon.


Mike sat fidgeting as he waited for news from anyone. He could hear Nancy talking on the phone, but it didn't seem like she was getting anywhere. He began to worry about El, she had been in the void for almost half an hour.

"I'm going to go check on her," Mike said standing up suddenly and heading for the door.

"Ugh no," Max blocked his path as she walked into the room from the kitchen.

"I'm worried about her," Mike explained.

"We need to find the flayed right?" Max shrugged. "So let her find them, she's fine,"

Lucas nodded his head reassuringly, but Mike was still panicked. He paced back and forth in front of her door for another 10 minutes.

"Will you stop?" Max begged.

"Yeah man, what do you think is happening?" Lucas asked. "She's probably just having a hard time finding them."

"It can't be good for her to be in there for this long!" Mike worried.

"Mike," Max said trying to keep her cool. "You need to relax."

Max had no idea why Mike was acting this way. She figured it was his overprotectiveness. He wanted to make all the choices for El.

"What if she gets brain damage or something?" Mike panicked.

"Oh shit," Lucas said with wide eyes. "Is that like a real thing?"

"No," Max argued. "It's not he made it up, Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

"Oh, and you do?!" Mike said becoming defensive.

Max had barely known El a year and suddenly she knows what's best for her? Mike was becoming furious.

"No," Max sighed. "See that's the difference between you and me. I don't act like I know everything!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike shot back.

"It means that you should back off and stop acting like you know what's best for El," Max said as she began to raise her voice.

"Woah Woah," Lucas said getting between one of his best friends and his girlfriend. "Let's calm down."

"No what the hell are you talking about Max?" Mike said moving Lucas's arm. "You haven't even known her that long!"

"I know," Max yelled. "But I know that she can do things for herself, you don't have to baby her and make all her choices for her."

I do not baby her," Mike yelled as his temper got the best of him.

"She's already almost died saving us twice," Mike spat as he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "I don't want her using her powers so much that it sucks the life out of her."

"The only person who knows anything about El's powers is EL!" Max argued back not seeing the fear in Mike's eyes.

"But I don't need you and everyone else pressuring her into thinking our only hope is for her to overuse her powers," Mike screamed.

"I'm not pressuring her into anything!" Max yelled back.

"Okay, guys!" Lucas said seeing that this wasn't going to end well.

"Ughhhh," Max grunted as she stormed off to the kitchen to get Nancy's opinion.

As Mike and Max's voices began to get louder it pulled El from the void. She had found Billy but she didn't know what to make of what she found. She sat on the floor and took off her blindfold. She could hear Mike and Max yelling and she wondered what was wrong.

"She's already almost died saving us twice," She heard Mike yell "I don't want her using her powers so much that it sucks the life out of her."

She frowned as she put her blindfold away. She didn't like it when Mike worried about her. As she whipped the blood from under her nose and cleaned herself up, she heard the argument move into the kitchen.

"The fact is she's not yours!" El could hear Max explain as she looked in the mirror. "She's her own person fully capable of making her own decisions."

As El heard the argument escalate, she began to move quicker. Cleaning up all the dirty tissues so she could go out and stop this argument.

She hated Max and Mike fighting because she liked both of them, she wanted everyone to be friends. El was about to open the door when she stopped. She heard something interesting and leaned closer to the door.

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers," Mike said. "In fact, how careless all of you are!"

El furrowed her brow, she didn't think her friends were being careless. They had to do something and El was the only one who could help.

"You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine," Mike began to ramble. "And I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth! So can we please come up with a new plan? Because I love her and I can't lose her again!"

Eleven's hand froze. She had heard that correctly right? He said he loved her. She allowed her heart to swell for exactly 2 seconds then she opened the door.

She tried to make her face seem oblivious. As all eyes turned to her it took all El had not to smile at Mike. She decided to act as if she hadn't heard anything, she wanted Mike to tell her he loved her to her face, not through a wall.

"What's going on?" El asked with her best-confused expression.

"Nothing! Nothing," Mike said forcefully.

"Just family discussion," Lucas explained with a smirk.

"Oh," El said, she felt like she had intruded on something like she should leave.

Mike looked very nervous, he looked at her then looked away quickly.

"I found him," El said quietly.

"Found who?" Nancy asked slowly.

"Billy,"

"That's great!" Max exclaimed.

"I don't know," El said unsure she turned to walk into the living room. "I'll explain."

Everyone settled into the living room furniture as El explained what she saw.

"He's just sitting in his room," El said with a confused expression. "Like he's frozen or waiting."

"Maybe the mind flayer is dormant," Will suggested. "If we check back in on him in a little bit maybe he will take you to the source."

The group checked in on a few leads and let El rest for a bit before she turned on the TV in the living room and went back into the void.

Mike looked curiously at El as her breathing began to pick up the pace. He was about to lean forward and touch her arm when she reached up and took off the blindfold.

Mike frowned as he watched El look shaken up again. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be in that void.

"What's he doing now?" Max asked with a concerned expression.

El turned her head around to look at the rest of the group.

"Same thing," She grimaced and began to cough.

"You okay?" Nancy asked.

"Water," El said in a hoarse voice as she made her way to the kitchen.

"And that's not normal for Billy?" Nancy asked Max once El left.

"Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July? No that's not normal," Max sighed.

"He wants us to find him," Will stated.

"Yeah that's what I'm afraid of," Nancy said biting her lip. "If we go to Billy then the rest of the flayed know where we are."

"It's a trap I agree," Mike said. "We'll be ambushed."

"We won't be surprised," Lucas offered. "We'll know that their coming and we will kick their flayed butts."

"You mean El will kick their butts," Max said sadly.

"It's too risky," Jonathan said shaking his head.

"Yeah and unnecessary," Nancy agreed. "Killing the flayed won't stop the mind flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from, we have to find the source."

"Billy knows it," El said walking back into the room. "Billy's been there….to the source,"

"Yeah but," Mike began to explain the conversation El just missed but she cut him off.

"It's a trap, I know," El said softly. "We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been."

"How?" Mike asked after locking eyes with El for a few minutes.

"When I went to visit Mama," El explained. "I went into the void she took my hand and showed me things that happened before."

Mike nodded his head. The rest of the group felt like they were intruding on a private conversation. Mike had obviously heard this story before.

"You think you could do it with Billy?" Nancy wondered.

"Maybe," El said. "If it's actually Billy maybe he would show me,"

"Worth a try," Will shrugged.

El nodded her head and gathered her blindfold again and sat in front of the TV.

Mike's stomach was turning into knots. He loved El so much and he wanted to protect her from anything harmful. He wasn't sure why, but he had a bad feeling about this plan. He had to say something to El.

He slid off the armchair next to El.

"El," Mike whispered. "I know you think you have to do this, but you don't."

Behind him, Max heard Mike begin to talk and rolled her eyes. Here he goes again, trying to tell her what's best.

"It's just you've only done this before once," Mike continued. "And your mom, she loved you and wanted you to know what happened. Billy's mind is sick, diseased, the mind flayer is in him."

El was touched by Mike's worry. It made her eyes well up slightly when Mike spoke about her mother. She had told Mike the whole story one night around Christmas, he was so sweet and understanding and curious about it.

"He can't hurt me," El assured. "Not in there."

"We don't know that," Mike pleaded.

El saw the worry in Mikes's eyes and move closer and took his hand in hers. She looked him straight in the eyes. She felt more confident in doing this after what she overheard earlier, she knew how much he loved her, how much he cared, and how much he worried.

"Mike," She said softly. "I need you to trust me,"

At that moment both of their memories went back to the first day in Mike's house when he was hiding Eleven. "Trust me," Mike said to El as he moved the armchair back.

Mike still wasn't so sure, but he knew if he was going to keep El around and still allow her to be her own person this is what he had to do. He had to trust her even though he had a bad feeling. He turned his head and saw Max who was pretending not to listen. She raised her eyebrows as if to say "duh let her do it"

"Yeah," Mike said turning back to El. "Just be careful,"

El nodded with a half-smile as Mike went back to his spot in the armchair. Everyone gathered around as El went back into the void. Mike took a deep breath and locked eyes with his sister. Nancy could see Mike was panicked but she tried to give him a reassuring smile.

They waited for El to say something, anything to give them a clue if it was working or not. Suddenly El began to breathe a little heavier like she was scared.

"Somethings wrong," Mike said to the group as El continued to panic.

"What do we do?" Will asked.

"El are you okay?" Mike said raising his voice. He knew she could hear him. "Are you okay?"

He watched her closely as she began to calm down.

"I'm okay," She whimpered.

"What's going on?" He asked wishing he could see what she saw right now.

"On a beach," She said simply.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Where could she be?

"Okay I may be dense," Lucas began. "But last I checked there weren't any beaches in Hawkins."

"What else do you see?" Max tried.

El stayed silent for a few minutes.

"A woman, she's pretty," El said quietly. "I think she's looking at me."

Everyone tried to piece together the puzzle of what El might be seeing.

"There's a boy," El continued. "It's Billy,"

"It's California," Max said deep in thought. "It's a memory."

Mike furrowed his brow trying to figure out why Billy would be showing El his childhood.

"I think I see it," El said unsure. "The source."

Nancy sat up straight, hoping this would give us something to go off. Everyone held their breath as El tried to figure out where they needed to go.

"I think I found it," She sighed. "The source."

"Where El where are you?" Max said a little too forcefully for Mike's liking.

"Brimborn," El said. "Steal works."

Jonathan rushed over to find an address. Mike tapped his leg impatiently. He wanted to get El out of there before something happened.

"Steal works….steal works," Jonathan said. "Found it 6522 Cherry Oak drive."

"That's close," Nancy said.

"El we found it, get out of there!" Mike said quickly. "Get out!"

Everyone waited for a moment expecting El to take off her blindfold but she didn't.

"What's happening?" Nancy asked Mike.

"I don't know," Mike said eyeing El. "El are you okay? El?"

El did not move. Her breathing picked up a bit and she began to mumble something. As if someone was stopping her from speaking.

"Mm….mii….ke.." She mumbled incoherently.

"If she calling for you?" Will asked.

"I can't tell," Mike said in full-blown worry now. "She can usually talk when she's in the void."

El stopped mumbling, her breathing slowed but something still seemed off. No one in the group knew what to do, they just waited hoping she would come back to them soon.

"She's bleeding more than normal," Mike noticed as El's nose began to bleed from both nostrils.

Mike knew something was not right, he wanted to go over and shake El but he knew it wouldn't do any good. It was her mind that was with Billy. He was worried that maybe Billy had caught on and the mind flayer was hurting El. Mike waited on the edge of the armchair waiting for something to happen.

Suddenly El's arms shot up and ripped off the blindfold with a terrifying scream. Her arms went out to the sides as if to grab something.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO," She yelled.

Mike was at her side instantly before anyone else even had time to react.

"El are you okay?" Mike asked as his heart jumped out of his chest.

El looked terrified and looked around as if she wasn't sure where she was. She turned to Mike and brought her hand up to his face as if to be sure he was real. She let out a sigh of relief but instantly burst into tears.

"It's okay," Mike soothed as she hugged her close to him as she cried.

"No no no no," El sobbed into Mike's arm.

"It's okay," Mike said over and over as he rubbed her arm. "I got you, you're safe now."

Mike looked up at the group, all on their feet now ready to help Eleven in any way.

"Get her some water," Mike said quickly as Jonathan sprinted to the kitchen.

Everyone seemed to settle down as Mike tried to calm El. Soon she was able to catch her breath and stop crying. Jonathan handed her a glass of water and she took it gratefully.

"Better?" Mike asked softly.

El nodded but she still had tears running down her cheeks.

"El what happened?" Nancy asked gently.

"It's all my fault," El said quietly she closed her eyes. Fresh tears began to fall as she grabbed Mike's hand tightly.

Mike pulled her in close again. His heart broke. His gut had been right and even though El hadn't said it yet, he could feel it, they were in big trouble.

I hope you enjoyed! Please review to let me know what you think