Charlotte jolted awake at the sound of footsteps trudging around upstairs. Her heart raced as she looked around the dimly lit basement, fearing that someone would come downstairs. When the door creaked open and footsteps began making their way down, El held a tight grip on her arm.

At the revelation of the small boy, she now knew as Mike, she released a long breath of relief.

"Hey, you found my super comm. Pretty cool, huh? I talk to my friends with it. Mostly Lucas 'cause he lives so close. Signal's pretty weak. Brought you both breakfast. " Mike looked at Eleven with a small smile before digging into his pockets, handing them both one waffle each. She watched Eleven nearly inhale the waffle before the young boy began speaking again.

"So listen, this is gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you both to go out there. Then go to the front door and ring the doorbell. My mom will answer and you'll tell her that you're lost and that you need help. But whatever you do, you can't tell her about last night or that you know me. Understand?" He waited for a response, noticing Charlotte's eyes narrowing slightly. "Really, it's no big deal. We'll just pretend to meet each other again. And my mom, she'll know who to call."

Charlotte looked at El, who seemed to be going over the idea in her head. But all Charlotte could think about was the nice man who had just been shot dead in his restaurant for trying to help them. He had died because of her escape from the lab. He had died because he thought he could help her.

"No." Charlotte spoke softly, but her tone held no room for argument.

"No?" Mike looked at her before his eyes drifted back to El.

"No." Eleven confirmed with a shake of her head.

"No… you guys don't want my mom to get help?" Charlotte shook her head. "You're in trouble, aren't you? Who… who are you in trouble with?"

"Bad." El whispered.

"Bad? Bad people." Mike's face was full of concern. "They want to hurt you? The bad people?"

"The people who help us." Charlotte spoke up. "They will hurt you first, then they will hurt us."

Eleven held her fingers up in the shape of a gun, first pointing them at her head and then at Mike's chest before pointing them at Charlotte's head next. "Understand?"

Only a second later, his mother's voice yelling from upstairs startled him. He quickly said his goodbyes, begging both girls to stay put before promising to be right back.

The second the house was quiet, Charlotte stood up. El watched her with a confused expression as the girl went to the coat rack, putting on the same pink coat she had worn the previous night.

"I'll be back-" She didn't get to finish explaining when the basement door opened, causing her to flinch back at the sight of Mike standing there. She let out a sigh as the child walked down the stairs.

"Where are you going? I-I told you to stay put!" He asked with a concerned look on his face. "Are you sure you should be going out? What if- what if the bad people find you?"

"I'll be okay." She promised, looking solely at El who was now standing just a few feet from her. "Call out if you need me."

Eleven nodded while Mike's face scrunched up in confusion.


Charlotte stood outside of her old home in the trailer, trying to work up the courage to enter once again. She was startled out of the trance of memories that once occupied the home when she heard a loud voice behind her.

"Shit, shit, shit." She turned to see the long haired boy running out of his home, with a backpack slung over his shoulder and keys in his hand. He nearly face planted at the sight of the girl standing there. "Shit, Charlotte. Char, hey, hey. You stalkin' me?" He had a small smirk on his face until he saw her furrowed brows, causing him to mumble a 'guess not', under his breath. "What- what are you doing here?"

She just pointed to her old house with a shrug.

"You gonna go in?"

"I didn't think it would be this hard." She was unsure if she was talking about being back in her old life or in her house or just in the world once again. "Will you…"

"'Course." He nodded, holding his arm out to let her go ahead. "Ladies first." She walked up the small set of stairs and pushed the creaky door open, the hinges screeching at her. He watched as she walked straight back to her old room. She touched her old bedspread before sighing, sitting on the old twin bed that once felt huge to her small figure, while her head gently fell to her hands. He noticed the bandana still tied around her hand, as she squeezed her eyes shut. "You okay?"

"I don't know." She whispered. She felt the small bed sink in further as Eddie sat next to her, but still far enough away to give her space. She instinctively grabbed her old Dakin Drooper plush dog and held it to her chest, the comfort from it radiated throughout her, just like it did when she was a child. "I remember the day you gave this to me."

"It was your fifth birthday." Eddie spoke up, causing her eyes to meet his. "For like six months straight you begged your parents to get you a dog."

"They always said no."

"Always." He stood up from the bed, looking around before leaning against the old desk. His fingers tapped in a simple, nervous melody as she stared at him, a huge grin overtaking his face. "I remember you crying to me and Chris while we were sitting right here reading his comics." He pointed to the dirty carpet. "'It's not fair. All I want is a brown puppy with fluffy ears and mommy said no'." He mimicked her voice, causing her to scoff out a laugh, remembering the exact moment he was talking about.

"I did not sound like that!"

"Totally did." He smiled, causing a smile to break out onto her own face. "You cried when I gave you it. Chris laughed because you were dressed up as Scooby Doo and you cried away the spots your mom painted on your face."

"I did." She nodded, looking back down at the plush dog as she laughed. "It was the second best thing I could have gotten. First would have been a real puppy."

"Ouch." He touched his chest and her eyes widened, she didn't feel any pain or discomfort radiating off of him, but she was unsure what exactly she was feeling. "You wound me. You wanted a brown puppy with fluffy ears, and I gave you a brown puppy with fluffy ears."

"You did." She murmured quietly. They sat in silence for a moment, Eddie staring at her as she looked at the stuffed animal in her hands.

"What happened to you?" He asked, causing her head to snap up. Her eyes now boring into his questioning gaze. "I mean, who took you? T-there were cops around for weeks. Your brother and parents searched everywhere. No one could find anything. They all said you were dead." He waited for a response, but didn't get one. All he received was a sad look as she tightened her grip on the small plushie in her hands. "They hurt you… the assholes who took you, I mean. That's why you didn't want me to report you last night, right?"

"Yes." She touched her neck subconsciously as if she was remembering the feeling of the collar they had forced around her neck. Eddie watched, noticing her slow movements. He was attentive to the way her breathing sped up, the way her lip trembled in between her teeth, the way her head shook subconsciously as if she was trying to elude the haunting memories. "I don't want-"

"You don't have to tell me about it." He put his hands up, sensing her discomfort. He looked at his watch, now noticing just how late he was for school. "Shit, I gotta go. If I'm late to Ms. O'Donnell's again, she'll kill me."

"Okay." She mumbled, afraid that she had pushed him away.

"Hey, uh, if you want, my buddy just got me a bootlegged copy of the new Ozzy album that comes out in a few weeks. You could, uh, you know, join me. We can order a pizza."

"Ozzy?"

"You know, Ozzy Osbourne. Black Sabbath. Bit the head off a bat on stage, like last year." She just shook her head with a disgusted look on her face. "Really? Never? Shit, be ready to have your ears blessed by the metal Gods, Char. I mean, if you wanna come over for a little bit. Just, uh, jam to some music and forget about all of the really bad shit for a little while."

"Okay." She nodded in agreement, her voice soft.

"Sweet." She could sense his excitement. "Uh, mushrooms on the pizza right?"

"You remember?"

"I mean, it's kinda hard to forget. What five year old actually liked mushrooms on their pizza?"

"Me!" She laughed, feeling a surprising amount of comfort around the familiar boy.

"Well, I should go-" He nodded to the door, she nodded back, the smile fading slightly. "Hey, Char, I know it's a little late, but, uh, happy birthday. See ya tonight." She smiled brightly at the boy. Even though her birthday fell on Halloween, she was still glad that he remembered. It had always been her favorite day of the year, yet years had gone past and no one had mentioned her birthday. The fact that someone knew... remembered... cared... made her eyes well with unshed tears. Charlotte watched as he walked out of the room, hearing the creaking hinges of the door before the door slammed shut behind him. She watched out the small window as he sprinted through the gravel, stumbling over his feet before finally grabbing onto the rusty van. Her smile fell as she watched him pull away.

Her eyes fell to the floor, feeling as though the walls were ready to cave in all around her. Her breathing sped up while her eyes searched around the room, suddenly overwhelmed with the sheer familiarity yet unfamiliarity that grasped at her throat, suffocating her until it felt like she was going to choke. She found the backpack that sat on the chair of her brother's desk and pulled it to her chest. She shoved the stuffed dog, photos, the copy of The Hobbit, a few of her brother's comics, and a few more beloved items into the bag. Hastily, she zipped the bag and ran outside, gasping at the cold fresh air that let invaded her lungs and finally allowed her to breathe again.


The wind blew through her hair as she rode through the woods in silence, the only sound enveloping her was the crunching of the leaves underneath the bicycle tires and the birds chirping in the cold air until a quiet voice startled her.

She halted the bike with wide eyes, searching throughout the condensed forest. She was unsure of the voice, it was nothing more than a distant and meager whisper for help. A call for help that sounded garbled and twisted, like it was being screamed from underwater. The words were barely clear, almost as if she couldn't necessarily hear them, but feel them. She could feel the vibrations of the words in her ears, like the voice was in her own head and not in the world that she knew. She stepped off the bike and pushed it along the woods, searching for the voice. But the further she got into the woods, the louder the voice called, almost as if she was getting closer to it with each step she took.

She tried to call out back to it. But there was no response to her. Instead the response was more quiet cries for help, or more humming, like the voice didn't hear her speaking out to it.

She didn't know why, or how, but she continued following the voice as she pushed the bike.

She reached a small gray ranch house, staring at it as she stayed concealed in the bushes across from it. The voice was deafening, she pushed her hands to her ears as her eyes searched the area. She watched the men in white protective gear walking around the property. The voice was louder here. Clearer. Almost immediately, she felt that this is where the boy that she heard in her head was.

Except he wasn't there.

Terror, cold dark, helplessness. Foreign feelings that didn't belong to her saturated her body as she sped away from the house, each inch further away diminished the voice and the fear slightly, but magnified the guilt.

That guilt she knew was her own.


Charlotte was riding down Maple Street when she saw the two boys from the previous night speeding through a turn onto the street on their bikes. They nearly collided with her when the curly haired boy stopped quickly, gasping out a breath as he put his feet on the ground roughly.

"What the hell? I could have crashed and-and broke my leg! Or died!" The boy yelled at her, causing her to frown at him, wondering why he was being dramatic. "What are you even doing out here?"

"I thought Mike said he was going to tell his mom so she could bring them back to Pennhurst." The dark-skinned boy whispered to the one with missing teeth. "I told you he couldn't go through with it."

"I am not from Pennhurst." She told them, continuing on her slow ride to the familiar house she had memorized. The moment she neared the driveway, the same boy skidded to a stop in front of her, causing her to jam on the brakes in fear of crashing into him and hurting him.

"Well, it's not like you've told us anything about you! We barely even knew you or the other bald girl could talk!"

"Lucas…" Dustin tried to tell him to be quiet as he rode up next the boy.

"My name is Charlotte Hanover." She finally announced to them, quietly. She looked around to make sure that no one had heard her. Thankfully, the streets were completely empty.

"No way!" The boy she now knew as Dustin said. "Like from the Haunted Hanover legend? That's impossible. The legend says you're dead! Or some people even believe that you never even existed. They say you were a figment of your family's imagination!"

"Well, the legend is wrong."

"C'mon. Mike is not gonna believe this!" Dustin grabbed her arm pulling her through the front door of the Wheeler house without even knocking. "Hi, Mrs. Wheeler! It's just me and Lucas. No one else is with us! We're just gonna go see Mike… upstairs… alone."

"Uh, okay, sweetie." They heard Mrs. Wheeler say from the kitchen.

"Smooth, idiot." Lucas rolled his eyes as they ran up the stairs, looking at Mike who just opened his bedroom door and signaled them to come in quickly. Dustin continued pulling her up the stairs and into the room.

Why am I being manhandled by a small child? She couldn't help but think as she was forced to sit on the bed next to Eleven.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lucas started. "You said you would get rid of them!"

"Just listen to me-"

"You are out of your mind!" Lucas cut Mike off.

"She knows about Will!" Mike admitted, causing Charlotte to look over at El. They both somehow knew about the missing young boy, Charlotte was sure that she had heard him in her head several times since she escaped from the lab, but she was unsure how Eleven knew of the young boy.

"What do you mean she knows about Will?" Dustin asked softly.

"She pointed at him, at his picture. She knew he was missing. I could tell."

"You could tell?" Lucas scoffed.

"Just think about it." Mike tried to convince them. "Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found them on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?"

"That is weird." Dustin agreed.

"And they said bad people are after them. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will."

"They aren't." Charlotte spoke up.

"What?" They all looked at her. "Do you know what happened to him? Do you know where he is? Do you know where Will is?" Lucas grabbed her shoulders, as she pulled away from him, not wanting to get so angry to the point where she did something she didn't want to do. She didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Stop it, you're scaring them!"

"They should be scared." Lucas looked at Mike. "If you know where he is, you have to tell us! Tell us!" Charlotte didn't respond, she wasn't sure where the young boy was. All she knew was that the bad people weren't the ones to take him. She could feel it in her bones. "This is nuts. You have a weird bald headed girl and a teenager who thinks she is the missing dead girl from a decade ago hiding in your house! We have to take them to your mom."

"No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger."

"What kind of danger?" The curly-haired boy asked, obviously scared of the response.

"Her name is Eleven?"

"El for short."

"Mike, what kind of danger?" The boy asked again, increasingly frustrated at the lack of response.

"Danger danger." Mike spat, putting a finger gun up against the boy's head before moving it to Lucas. Lucas swatted his hand away.

"No, no, no! We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom." As Lucas tried to walk out of the door, Eleven slammed it shut with her mind, repeating the motion as the boy attempted to open it again before locking it.

"No." Eleven stood up, blood dripping from her nose. Charlotte stood behind the girl, nervous that the boys were now going to turn on them. The boys looked around before Charlotte grabbed El's hand, pulling her back to sit down on the bed, to look less threatening. Less monstrous.

"I will not let the bad people hurt any of you." Charlotte told them, her nose began bleeding as she manipulated their emotions; trying to decrease the fear that was emanating off of them. She tried to replace the fear with a calmness, a soothing feeling.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked her, feeling his fear starting to drift away. A sharp pain in her head caused her to slam her eyes shut; their fear absorbed into her, mixing with her own as she started to tremble and speed up her breathing. "What is she doing to me? What is going on? Are you okay?"

"Dinner!" Mrs. Wheeler called out, causing all of them to jump. Charlotte fell onto the bed, curling into herself as she grabbed her head in pain.


They both snuck downstairs after the majority of Charlotte's pain drifted away, just wanting to move to the basement now that the family was distracted. They sat there in a quiet peacefulness. El had seen the toll that manipulating emotions brought upon Charlotte and she knew that a dark and quiet space was the best place for her to recuperate. To regain her strength. To feel like herself again.

It was only a few minutes later that Mike, Lucas, and Dustin walked down the stairs, a tray of food in Mike's and Dustin's hands.

"No adults." Mike spoke calmly, looking at the two girls. "Just us and some meatloaf."

"Are you okay?" Dustin asked the older girl who had been laying down. She just nodded, looking away from the boy that was staring at her.

"Don't worry. They won't tell anyone about you. They promise." Mike looked to the two boys standing behind him. "Right?"

"We never would've upset you if we knew you both had superpowers." Dustin smiled, an excited look on his face. Mike quickly smacked Dustin on the leg, causing the boy to let out a quiet 'ow'.

"What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared… earlier. That's all."

"Until you used your awesome emotional powers on us." Dustin looked at Charlotte. "Then I felt calm, for like the first time ever."

"We just wanted to find our friend." Lucas spoke up.

"Friend?" El asked, unsure of the word as she looked at Charlotte.

"Yeah, friend." Lucas said. "Will?"

"What is friend?" The three boys explained the word to Eleven as she listened intently, causing a small smile to grace Charlotte's face. They were speaking to the younger girl with a gentle tone and ensuring she understood. Her face fell as she remembered the friend she was supposed to be meeting tonight. Eddie.

"So you have powers? You both do." Dustin asked them, causing Charlotte to shrug. "You have emotional abilities. Like-like empathy! What else can you do? Can you, like, move things with your mind like El can?"

"Dustin!" Mike scolded him. "They're not-"

"Yes." Charlotte nodded, focusing on the tray of food in front of her. She picked it up with her mind as the boys watched it levitate in the air. She placed it back on the ground, all of their mouths hung open as Dustin began smiling.

"Did you see that?" Dustin hit Lucas' arm a few times in pure excitement. "Did you friggin see that?!"

"We all saw it, Dustin!" Lucas shoved the boy gently.

"Holy shit! Emotion manipulation, telekinesis… anything else?"

"I can remember things. And-and hear things. Feel things."

"Great. She doesn't know those are some of her basic five senses." Lucas mumbled under his breath.

"I mean feel things. Like emotions, pain. And hear things like Eleven calling out to me when she needs me. Or-or like your friend, Will."

"You can hear him? That's how you know he's not with the bad people?" Mike asked nervously. She just nodded her head.

"How?" Dustin questioned her. "What-what is he saying?"

"I don't know how. He's the only person I've been able to hear besides El. And I can only hear him sometimes." She closed her eyes and searched for him in her mind. The boys watched as her eyeballs moved behind her thin eyelids. When she finally located him, she could barely hear him. She focused hard on the almost silent boy, before imitating the quiet song he was humming.

"Should I Stay or Should I Go." Dustin whispered, recognizing the song almost instantly. "Jonathan showed him that song. He loves it."

"He cannot hear me." She opened her eyes and felt the blood dripping down her nose. She quickly wiped it away as she looked at Eleven. She could see on El's face that she was determined to use her powers to try to find the boy.

"Holy shit!" Dustin called out. "You're like a-a mutant! Like an X-Men."

"The comic?" Recognizing the name from her brother's old collection, one of the same books that she had taken from their shared bedroom earlier that morning.

"Yes! Yes! Telepathy, Empathy, Telekinesis. You're like a combination of Jean Grey and the Scarlet Witch!" Dustin jumped up and down, excitedly. He gasped, coming to a quick realization. "Holy shit! You're the Charlotte Witch."