A/N: I know it's been a few days since I posted. I've been busy, so updates on this story might end up being like this. This chapter is a bit long.
Elsewhere In Hawkins
Night
Just a couple months ago, the famous Starcourt Mall had opened up in the town of Hawkins. Starcourt was the first, and currently only, premium shopping center in the entire town. The mall's opening in May had been inaugurated by the Mayor of Hawkins: Mayor Larry Kline. To ordinary civilians who visited the mall, it was just a large shopping mall in their eyes. However, little did any of these civilians know, there was more to the Starcourt Mall than they thought. Hidden underneath the mall was a base, a top-secret Russian base that served as a lab for over two hundred scientists. Not only that, but it was guarded by as many as four hundred and seventy-five members of the KGB, ensuring the base's secrecy.
Today was the day the Russians would be testing their Plasma Generator (or rather, The First Key as they called it) on the Gate. They would charge plasma energy through the generator and onto the Gate, opening a crack in it. Basically, a doorway between worlds. As twenty scientists worked on the generator, prepping it for the test run, the rest of the scientists, the KGB guards and a general were behind six-inch, protective glass. The Russian general watched the scientists working as an American general stood right next to him. The Russian base had been allowed to be built as a deal between a faction of the American government and the KGB. Both would benefit from the deal, one way or another. Silence had conquered the rooms and the area behind the glass until the Russian KGB general finally spoke.
"Tell me this, General Jackson," the general said, his Russian accent thickening. "Why do you let us build base here? What you get from it?"
General Jackson, a black man of 43 years of age, dressed in his impeccable uniform, turned his head towards the Russian general. He wasn't particularly surprised or disgusted by the Russian's inability to use proper grammar. If anything, he was partially glad that some of these KGB fools could speak English, to some degree at least.
"That part of the conversation is our business," Jackson responded, looking back to watch the test run of the First Key. "You worry about your side of the deal, we'll worry about ours."
"Relax, American. I do not intend to spill your big secrets to Mother Russia. Your secrets will be safe with me."
Jackson remained silent. The general wasn't saying a word, he didn't even let a single breath out of pattern. He remained in composure in every single way possible. The Russian general cracked a smile, holding back a small chuckle.
"Very well," the Russian replied. "I assume you will have no problem with us holding Jane Hopper when all this is over."
Jackson immediately tilted his head to the right. "That was never part of our agreement."
The Russian chuckled. "So you do want Jane Hopper. Just as I thought. Do tell me this, how does all this help you get her?"
Jackson sighed as he completely turned to face the Russian general. "What's hiding behind that gate is something that'll lead us to her. You and your men get to investigate all this scientific crap that you enjoy…"
"And in return, you get Jane Hopper," the Russian finished. "Clever. But how do you know this 'thing' will take you to her?"
"Because every threat that's come from these sort of gates has been attracted to Jane Hopper. This one shouldn't be any different."
"Crazy Americans," the general muttered in Russian before speaking up in English. "You'd put entire town in danger to get young girl with Darth Vader power?"
Once again, the Russian general's grammar was failing him as Jackson sighed. "We wouldn't be. Jane, or Eleven as she was previously known, would go after this threat and push it back into the gate. By the time she does, she'll be too worn out by her powers. We surround her and like that, we have her."
The general nodded in surprise. "I take it back. Perhaps your little plan isn't so crazy after all. In fact, might be good plan."
The two generals then looked back down at the sight of the First Key as the twenty scientists continued their work on it. It would take an hour or so before the Key was ready for the test run.
Starcourt Mall
Lucas, Max, and Will were waiting outside the doors to the Starcourt Mall, they had been waiting for about five minutes. The sky was covered in black as the night had taken over the entire town of Hawkins. For several feet, the lights from the Starcourt Mall were the only lights in the darkness. The trio had watched tens of people going in and out of the doors to the mall and they had only been waiting for five minutes. Sometimes, it surprised them just how popular the mall was. For every one person who hadn't gone to the mall, there were probably a hundred others in Hawkins who had gone there repeatedly. As they leaned against the wall, waiting for Mike and El, Lucas and Max were holding hands while Will was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground over and over.
Then, they saw a certain couple running through the crowd of people entering the mall as the pair stopped in front of the trio.
"Are we late?" Mike asked, him and El breathing heavily from their exhaustion.
"Let's hope not," Will said.
"Where've you two been?" Max demanded.
El shook her shoulders. "We just…you know-"
"L-lost track of time," Mike stammered. "You know, uh…"
Lucas interrupted the couple with a sigh. "Forget it, I don't wanna know."
"Let's go, lovebirds," Max said, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
The five of them ran off together, entering the mall simultaneously as they tried to maneuver through the people in the crowd without bumping into or hitting anyone. They continued running past several stores in the mall before they eventually slowed down, reaching the center of the mall, where there was a miniature statue of liberty made of gold standing on a marble block. The statue was a symbol of the mall, it had always been an indicator that it was the center of the mall. Originally, during construction, there was going to be a golden star rather than a model of the statue of liberty on the block. However, the Mayor decided that something 'more patriotic' would've been 'better'. At least, that was how he had put it.
Lucas, Max, Will, Mike and El slowly walked past the center block as Lucas frowned upon seeing Erica leaning against the block with her friends, enjoying some ice cream with them. What is she still doing here? Lucas wondered. He was more so annoyed and disgusted she was here rather than concerned. A mutual and typical part of their love-hate relationship, one that outlined the hate but never showed the love. As Lucas passed by Erica, who spotted him, he could no longer resist the urge to speak.
"Isn't it way past your bedtime?" Lucas demanded.
"Isn't it time for you to get a life?" Erica sassed.
"Whatever, psycho."
"Idiot."
Lucas was about to retort when Max grabbed his hand as he turned to face her. She simply smiled at him.
"Hey," Max said. "Don't worry about it."
The pair smiled at one another as Lucas felt better about himself, glad that he could forget about his annoying little brat of a sister, whom he detested. The couple followed Mike and El, who were holding hands just like them, and a seemingly lonely Will, who kept his hands in his pockets. Will couldn't help but feel his heart clench at the sight of seeing Mike chuckle with El. Ever since El had returned and Lucas got together with Max, nothing between him and the rest of the party had been the same. Dustin had been gone on vacation since the last day of school, Lucas was with Max whenever they got a chance to get together. The same applied for Mike with El. Things weren't the same anymore and Will hated it. However, in the most unhealthy way possible, Will kept his feelings bottled and stored, some of which were for his deteriorating relationship with the party. The rest for just one person in that said party: Mike.
If there was one thing El and Will shared, it was the love of someone they both cared about and secretly loved: Mike. Deep down, Will knew his feelings for the ebony-haired teenager were more potent than he thought they were. However, being only a young child at the time he discovered those feelings, he dismissed them, refusing to accept or believe them. Part of him wanted to tell Mike, to at least show or tell him how he felt so that he could lift the weight of it off his chest. But that wasn't enough, Will wished and hoped Mike felt the same way, that there was maybe a hint of those feelings inside him. There was, but not for him, for another: El. El loved Mike and he loved her. Will got to watch as the very person he fell for began to stray away from him just like the rest of his friend group. Will missed the old days: when it was just him, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas and that stupid D&D set they spent hours playing games on. Sadly, the old days had come and gone but Will couldn't accept it, he just went with it.
The five friends then neared a certain store they had been looking for as they stopped right outside the Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop. They went inside the ice cream shop as the five of them stopped by the counter. No one was present behind the counter but they could hear two voices that were speaking to one another behind the translucent window. Awkwardly, Mike extended his hand and set it on the ringer twice, a ringing sound echoing through the entire shop. Footsteps echoed as a female teen with short blonde hair to the counter.
"Heyyy," Lucas said awkwardly. "Robin, right?"
Robin simply sighed as she spoke in a sing-song voice. "Steve, your kids are here."
The translucent window opened up as Steve stuck his head out, looking at the five kids with a where-the-hell-have-you-been look on his face.
"Where the hell have you been?" Steve demanded. "Movie's starting in like two minutes."
Lucas, Max, Will, El, and Mike blitzed through the opening on the left side of the counter as they ran into the backdoor with Steve, who guided them in the secret entrance behind the shop with an arm out. The six of them hurried to a table where there were three large buckets filled with popcorn, medium sized cups and several packets of M&Ms. Steve and the five kids went over to the table hurriedly as he gave them their food and drinks.
"Alright," Steve said. "We got three large popcorns, one soda for each of you, and your M&Ms."
"Thank you," Lucas said in a begging-like voice as Steve pointed at the five of them.
"You guys owe me for this one."
Steve rushed to the backdoor as he opened it, leading the five kids to the hallway of the theater. "It's theater twelve right there."
"Thanks," Mike said as he and the rest of the group went inside the theater and got in their seats just in time as the movie began.
Elsewhere
Well over a mile underground, right under the Starcourt Mall, the final checks and diagnostics for the First Key had finished. General Jackson, the Russian KGB general, and the rest of the KGB operatives, staff, and scientists were standing behind the protective glass. They required the glass to shield themselves from the blast radius of the First Key should it have gone haywire or sent out a powerful electromagnetic pulse. Twenty scientists outside the glass were working on the Key, turning it on as one of the scientists stood tall and raised his thumbs-up in the air, giving the go-ahead for the testing to begin.
Behind the protective glass, the KGB general pressed the comms button as his voice echoed through the PA system in the testing area.
"Begin!" the General's voice boomed in Russian.
The device was then activated from the scientists working behind the glass as they activated it, turning on the First Key instantly. Blue lightning circulated the outside of the device, stretching out from one piece of metal to another. Blue plasma energy charged up inside the large, particle accelerator-like device. Suddenly, the energy beamed out of the outer rim of the Key as it directly hit the gate, increasing the large tear-like gap on it. The large, thin, tall gap glowed with a bright orange light as the blue energy from the First Key continued in a straight beam, firing at the gate. As the Key fired the energy, the lights in the entire facility began to flicker as the electrical systems began failing.
Starcourt Mall
Steve and Robin were chatting behind the counter, they were sitting on the ground, across from one another as they leaned on the wall. They took turns throwing a small bouncy ball at one another to pass the time. The two of them had been bouncing the ball off the ground and talking for well over an hour or so.
"I just feel like there's just that one girl waiting for me," Steve sighed as he rebounded the ball back to Robin who caught it with both hands. "One day, I'll find that girl."
"Yeah," Robin said, letting out a chuckle as she bounced the ball to Steve. "Well, good luck with that."
Robin extended her arm as she grabbed a large sign from the edge and held it in front of Steve to where he could see it. Steve reeled back in surprise at the sign. The top of the sign was titled 'Steve Harrington's luck'. Below, the rest of the cardboard sign was divided vertically in two parts. The left side read the words: 'You Rule', the right side read: 'You Suck'. The left side was practically empty, while the right side had over twenty tally marks on it. Each tally mark was for each girl Steve had either been rejected by or failed to ask out. Steve sighed hopelessly as he effortlessly chucked the ball onto the ground before bouncing right to Robin's hand.
"Well, that sucks," Steve sighed.
"Aww," Robin said in a sing-song voice. "Don't worry, Steve. You got this. I believe in you."
"No, you don't."
"No, I don't. But, if there's one good thing about you, it's that you believe in yourself whenever you need to and that's a good thing. So don't lose that."
Steve frowned. "Are you trying to give me a pep talk?"
Robin groaned. "Oh c'mon! Give me some credit, I'm being nice."
"Yeah and that happens once in a blue moon."
"Okay fine," Robin said, rolling her eyes. "But I'm being nice now, aren't I?"
"Yeah, I guess."
Steve and Robin exchanged chuckles as they both laid their heads on the walls. The two of them were particularly glad that they had each other, even though they never expressed it. They were usually seen being particularly quiet around one another but whenever they were alone together, they had expressed their clear friendship. They had unknowingly and unwillingly kept their friendship secret. Why? They didn't know. All they knew was that they couldn't have survived their summer job at Starcourt without each other. Robin needed Steve's enthusiasm and upbeat behavior while Steve just needed Robin in general. Not a specific part of her, not someone like her, just her. However, while Steve and Robin cared about each other as friends, Steve always sensed and felt that Robin was hiding something from him. He wanted to try and get her to tell him but however, he felt too guilty about pressing on her and so, he forgot about it. At the same time, he felt the urge to at least talk to her about it. Steve thought that now could've been the moment.
"Hey, uh, Robs?" Steve called, using the nickname he had for her.
"Yeah, dingus?" Robin called back, using her own nickname for him.
"Can we talk for a-"
He never got to finish his sentence. Before Steve could utter another syllable, the lights in the shop went out as he and Robin found themselves engulfed in darkness. Within a fraction of a second, the rest of the lights in the entire Starcourt Mall as the crowd of hundreds of people inside the mall went dead silent upon the mall's loss of light. In the theater, the crowd of people, Mike, Eleven, Will, Lucas, and Max being among them, were enjoying the movie before the projector shut down. Gasps of surprise and confusion echoed through the crowd as Mike and the rest of the party exchanged confused glances. El found her hand reaching towards Mike's before she grabbed it and held it tightly, Mike returned the grip, holding onto El's hand. They weren't sure what just happened but they knew that the power went out, only they didn't know that it wasn't just Starcourt that lost power. It was all of Hawkins. Throughout the entire town of Hawkins, lights and electricity shut down, cars stopped working in the middle of the road, traffic lights were shut down as the lights vanished.
In the Byers' family home, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy were spread out through the two couches in the living room as they watched The Sound of Music on the TV. Joyce was sitting on the singular couch that was near the right corner of the living room, leaning back against the couch as watched the rest of the movie continue on the TV. Jonathan was on the large couch, watching the movie as Nancy slept on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his stomach. Jonathan gave Nancy a small kiss to her forehead as he turned his head to face his mother, who smiled proudly at him. She knew he was going to be a good dad and Jonathan knew that Nancy would make a great mother. He even knew that Joyce would've been an amazing grandmother.
Suddenly, the TV shut down as all the lights in the entire house flickered before turning off unexpectedly. Jonathan and Joyce exchanged confused glances, struggling to fully see each other in the darkness as they wondered what happened.
In the Hawkins Police Department, several cops in the entire building ran across all powers. Some cops were trying the phones, none of which were working. The entire building was dark, the only source of light was the moonlight that peaked through the windows. In the midst of it all, Jim Hopper made his way through a crowd of cops who headed downstairs to the basement as he met with a certain cop.
"Hopper!" the cop called out to the chief.
"Duffer!" Hopper yelled back. "Tell me something's working."
"Nothing, chief. The line's dead, phones are down, lights are hopeless. We even tried the back-up generators. Nothing is working."
"Do we know what's going on? Is this the only building with an outage?"
Duffer sighed. "Doubt it. Took a look outside on the roof, looks like the whole freaking city's out. I'm heading with the others to try the back-up generators again. We'll touch base with you if we get anything."
Duffer then ran off from where he once stood as he headed down to the basement with the rest of the other cops. Hopper remained where he was as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his hand. If the power had really gone out in every area of town, that meant El was alone in the darkness of the cabin. Hopper worried as he internally fought the urge to take the truck and head back to the cabin to check on El. As much as he wanted to do so, he was needed here. Besides, El wasn't just any 14 year old girl. She had superpowers and if she was in any danger, she could just use her powers. Plus, she wasn't alone. She had Mike with her and it wasn't like she was going up against something like the Demodogs or a Demogorgon. Hopper sighed as he headed to the basement to help the rest of the crowd of cops with the backup generators.
Elsewhere In Hawkins
In the Russian base, the First Key began charging up with more and more energy as it slightly began overloading. Behind the glass, General Jackson, the Russian general, and the rest of the KGB guards and scientists watched as the blue energy beam fired on the gate. The backup generators had kicked on thankfully, so they were able to see what was happening with the First Key and the gate. On the other side of the glass, the twenty scientists monitored the First Key. Suddenly, a loud sound of growling echoed through the entire facility, the scientists stepped back in fear as the generals and scientists behind the glass stepped closer towards the glass. The roaring had come from the orange energy crack on the gate. Then, a pair of alien-like arms extended from within the gap. The claws at the ends of the hands seeped into the rock-like skin of the gate. The arms tugged on the skin as the rest of the creature's body came out of the gate.
The scientists stared in horror at the creature, it had no face. Its body was alien-like, it was 10 feet tall. Its body structure almost seemed human, yet it looked nothing like a human. The creature wasn't just any kind of creature, it was a Demogorgon, a creature from the upside down. General Jackson stared at the creature in horror, recognizing it. It was the same creature Martin Brenner and several agents had encountered when they had tried to apprehend Jane Hopper two years ago in 1983.
In the lower lab, the Demogorgon stood tall on its feet, glaring at the scientists, who stared back in fear. The Demogorgon roared as it struck the First Key with its bare claws. The machine suddenly slowed down as it began depowering due to the damage. Suddenly, the machine stopped as the lights went out in the lower base. Behind the protective glass, General Jackson looked at the lower lab, seeing nothing but darkness.
"What's going on down there?" Jackson demanded.
Suddenly, screams of the scientists could be heard as the Demogorgon roared. Jackson jumped back in shock as the cries and pleas of help were heard from the Russian scientists. The KGB guards and scientists were frozen still in shock as the Russian General gasped.
"Dear God," the General whispered in Russian.
Then, before anyone could do anything or react a large piece of machinery crashed through the glass as it struck the area behind it. General Jackson, the Russian general, and the scientists were all knocked out by it. The guards were killed due to having been so close to the glass. From the darkness of the lower lab, the Demogorgon jumped through the empty window as it landed on its feet. It was now out of the lab and in the main part of the Russian base. The Demogorgon growled as it looked over to the left, seeing a heavily injured Russian soldier army crawling towards a button on the wall. The soldier extended his arm and slammed a red button that was attached to the wall, activating the base's alarm. Sirens blared through the entire facility as the lights turned red everywhere in every single room. The Demogorgon roared upon hearing the loud sound of the sirens as it jerked its claws into the Russian soldier. The soldier screamed in pain as the Demogorgon's claws were soaked in blood. The Demogorgon stabbed the soldier with his other hand as the creature lifted the soldier over his head before tearing the soldier in half, silencing his screams of pain and agony. The soldier was dead, ripped into half with his blood spilled all over the ground.
The Demogorgon tilted its head to the side as it tasted the scent of blood in the air. The red lights glowed everywhere in the facility as the 10-foot-tall creature made its way out of the room and into the hallways of the facility. Over 200 hundred soldiers were spread out throughout the hallways, the chances that they were prepared for the Demogorgon were too low.
Starcourt Mall
In the theater, Mike, Eleven, Lucas, Will, and Max were silent as they sat in their seats. The rest of the crowd was slowly getting louder with the voices of several confused viewers. Max leaned towards Lucas as the two began speaking closely to each other, talking about the outage. Mike and El were still holding hands as they looked around the darkened theater, seeing nothing but shadows of people. Will was sitting alone, feeling uncomfortable in the darkness when suddenly, he felt a chill go down his spine. He reached his hand to the back of his hand as he could hear growling, growling that came from a monster, one kind of monster. No. Will thought, panicking in his mind as his face was filled with horror. Not you, not again. Suddenly, Will saw several images and thoughts flash through his mind, the same way he used to have now-memories, only these felt different. The moments flashes through his mind at a quick pace.
Lucas, Max, Eleven, and Will sneaking up on Dustin, who held his hair spray as a defense mechanism, in his bedroom. The party screamed the word 'Surprise!' to him. Dustin screamed in fear as he reflexively turned around and sprayed the hair spray right onto Lucas' face. The spray entered his eyes as Lucas screamed in pain.
The Demogorgon went through a hallway as it ruthlessly killed several soldiers.
The vision changed as Mike was seen standing on a layer of rock as it drifted through a river of lava. The lava current pushed Mike towards another rock where Will, Lucas, and Eleven stood.
Mike was seen kneeling over on the ground as tens of people were lying lifelessly on the ground. Their bodies filled with bullets, shrapnel and debris. Mike looked down at his hands covered in blood, shakily breathing. A tall, muscular creature made of flesh walked towards the shocked and scared Mike Wheeler.
"What've I done?" Mike whispered, tears pouring down his face.
"What was necessary," the creature replied, his voice dark and menacing. "You've done well, Michael. But if you, my apprentice, wish to give up, you are more than welcome to do so. Just know, you will not have the power to save the one you love. The one you will lose."
Mike looked up at the creature with a begging look as the tears in his eyes became more and more potent. "Look, I….I'll….I'll do anything. Just save her. If she dies…I can't….I'll do whatever you ask me to, just save-"
The vision changed as several moments flashed before Will's mind.
Eleven had blood streaming down her face as she struggled to lift a certain object with her powers.
Steve and Jonathan stood on a ledge as the two of them exchanged horrified glances.
Nancy Wheeler laid on a hospital bed in a dark room as a newborn baby's screams echoed the entire room.
"Jonathan…" Nancy sighed.
"Hold on, Nance," Jonathan urged. "You're going to be okay."
"Keep fighting, Nance," Steve said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Don't close your eyes, you hear me? Stay awake."
"El," Nancy sighed. "Where is she?"
"Here," El said as she kneeled beside Nancy's bed. "I'm here."
"El…save him…he's alive. There's still good in him….there has to be…."
The visions ended as Will inhaled a deep sigh of relief, feeling his senses repair as he came back to reality. The first thing he felt was Mike's hand on his shoulder. He quickly looked over to him in a state of panic, beads of sweat resting on his forehead. Mike looked at Will with a sense of concern as El looked over at the two of them, Max and Lucas were watching the three of them
"Will, you okay?" Mike asked. "The power just came back on."
Will shook his head as he cleared his throat. "Y-yeah, uh, just lost in thought."
"Alright," Mike said, nodding his head as he kept eye contact with the brown-haired boy.
"Guys, you gotta go," Max said. "Like right now!"
"Max is right," Lucas said. "If the power went out everywhere, Hopper's gonna be on his way to the cabin to check on El."
"Alright," Mike said as he turned to El. "C'mon, we gotta go."
El nodded as she and Mike quickly made their way through the theater seats, they got out of the theater as they met with Steve. Steve decided to drive them to the cabin. As they drove, Steve had been going particularly fast in the hopes that they would reach the cabin before Hopper did. With any luck, Hopper would've assumed that Mike and El never left the cabin.
Later
Hopper stopped the truck right in front of the cabin. He quickly opened the door, grabbing his keys as he closed the car door behind him. He looked around and saw that the cabin light on the porch was on, indicating that power had at least returned to the cabin. Hopefully the same was true for the whole town. Hopper quickly ran to the cabin as fast as he could, he opened the door and rushed inside. The police chief was surprised by what he found when he arrived. He saw Mike and El on the couch, the TV was playing a movie. However, Mike and El weren't paying attention. Mike had his head leaning on the head of the couch, his eyes shut as he breathed calmly in his sleep. El was also fast asleep, her head on Mike's shoulder, her arms wrapped around his stomach. The two teenagers slept peacefully until Hopper finally let out a yell.
"Eh!" Hopper yelled as he shook Mike's shoulder quickly.
Mike stirred as he woke up, sitting up straight upon noticing Hopper. El quickly got up as the two teens looked up at the chief of police.
"Hi Hop…er, chief." Mike said.
"You kids alright?" Hopper asked.
"Yeah, we're fine," Mike said as he faked a yawn. "What time is it? I think El and I must've slept off in the middle of the movie. Right, El?"
"Yeah," El said, shaking her head. "Totally."
"So, how was your shift?" Mike asked.
Hopper awkwardly stared at the two teenagers. Had they really slept through the whole outage? And since when had they started cuddling? The old police chief opened his mouth to speak, yet for several moments no words came out.
"Uh…" Hopper said, pointing to the cabin door. "I'm gonna get some stuff from the car. We have to talk. So, um…yeah…"
Hopper quickly walked out of the living room, exiting the cabin through the door as his footsteps receded from the cabin. Mike and El turned to face one another as they smiled at each other before giggling.
"See? I told you it would work." Mike said.
"I was so scared," El chuckled.
Just then, Hopper came through the door with some papers in his hand as El and Mike went silent upon his arrival. Hopper set the papers on a table as he walked over to the couch where the young, teenage couple was sitting. He kneeled in front of the two of them as he took a deep breath, thinking his speech over in his head. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, El interrupted him.
"Are we in trouble?" El asked.
"No," Hopper said immediately as a feeling of relief washed over El and Mike. "No, no one's in trouble. I just want to talk."
"About what?" Mike asked.
"I've thought it over," Hopper said. "And I've talked about it with Dr. Owens."
Mike frowned in confusion. "The doctor who helped us with the Demodogs?"
Hopper nodded. "Yeah, he's been helping me with El and we've made a decision." Hopper then turned to face El as he held her hand, El returned the grip. "El, you're free."
The smile on El's face suddenly disappeared as it was filled with shock. Mike's eyes grew large in shock as he looked at Hopper and El. Tears began clouding El's eyes as Hopper smiled at her. For the past year, El had been forced to stay in the cabin, not knowing or seeing any of the world beyond it. But now, she was finally free, she could go see the world outside. She would be able to see all of Hawkins with Mike and the rest of the party. She could get something of a normal life.
"There are still some precautions we need to take," Hopper said. "For a few weeks, you'll have to be back by 8-"
Hopper never got to finish his sentence as El threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around him. El rested her face on Hopper's shoulder.
"Thank you," El whispered.
Hopper nodded his head. "You never need to thank me, kid."
Mike smiled, never before had he felt more happy for someone as much as he was for El. The girl he loved finally got the chance to live a normal life. However, as happy as Mike was for El, deep down, he couldn't stop thinking about Will. More specifically how he was acting during the power outage. Mike kept trying to tell himself that Will was alright and that whatever happened to him was a normal thing. Yet he couldn't convince himself of it, the look on Will's face, it was much like the look he had last year whenever the Mind Flayer took control of his body. Could the Mind Flayer have been trying to communicate with Will? Did it have anything to do with the power outage that happened in the theater? Mike shook the thought out of his head as he forced himself back to the moment.
Outside the cabin, on the porch, El was holding Mike's hand as she led him to the top of the stairs of the cabin. The two teens looked over at the forest ahead of them as El rested her head on Mike's shoulder.
"You sure Hopper and I can't drop you?" El asked, keeping her head on Mike's shoulder. "I'm allowed to go out now, so I can come with you."
"It's alright," Mike smiled, kissing El's forehead. "I can walk."
"You sure?"
Mike snickered. "Are you afraid I'm gonna get hurt?"
"It's just really dark…"
"I'll be fine, El, I promise."
"Okay," El said. "But call me on the radio once you get home."
Mike rolled his eyes. "Yes Mom."
El frowned in confusion.
"It's a joke," Mike explained. "Anyways, I should go. Also, you know this means you can join us tomorrow."
"For the surprise party for Dustin?"
"Yeah, Hopper can drop you."
"I like that."
Mike smiled. He leaned in and pursed his lips onto El's. El didn't move back, she turned around and wrapped her arms around the back of Mike's neck. Mike wrapped his arms around El's waist as the two kissed passionately for a moment. They then separated due to the need of air as their lips parted. Mike smiled as he turned around and walked down the stairs, he and El continued holding hands as he walked until the distance between them forced them to let go. Mike turned around completely, hands in his pockets as he walked out of the forest, heading onto the main road. El watched him leave, seeing his shadow until the darkness completely sucked him out of her vision. She smiled as she faced away from the forest and went inside the cabin.
About ten minutes later, Mike was currently on his way home, walking alone through the road. He knew the way home as it would only take him another ten minutes to get back. He continued walking as went past an abandoned warehouse factory when suddenly, he heard banging and crashing coming from inside. Mike turned towards the warehouse as he eyed it suspiciously.
"Hello?" Mike called. "Is anyone there?"
No one answered as more banging and crashing was heard. Mike felt every nerve and cell in his body urge him to forget it and leave. Yet he ignored them, finding himself a door of the warehouse. He opened the door and looked down the aged, half-broken stairs that greeted him. Mike stared in horror at what he saw at the bottom of the stairs. It was a deep, thick pile of liquidized flesh. One that he recognized, the kind of flesh the Demogorgon and the Demodogs were made of. Suddenly, he heard a voice echo in his mind.
"Michael."
Mike's eyes grew large in horror as he felt a chill down his spine. He looked behind him as the wind speed picked up. When he looked behind him, he saw nothing but the rest of the road, some leaves being blown away by the wind. Suddenly, Mike felt a half-liquid, half-solid substance grab his wrist and tighten its grip on him. He looked back to the stairs to see the flesh grabbing at him, almost as if it was alive. Mike pulled against it, trying desperately to free himself from it. However, he could do nothing as the flesh lunged forward and grabbed his ankles, yanking him forward. Mike fell to the ground as he grabbed the edge of the entrance door with his free hand.
"Help! Somebody help me!" Mike cried. "HELP!"
There was no one who could've heard him, not where he was. Mike tugged desperately at the edge of the door. The flesh then formed a tentacle out of itself with a spike at the end of it. It threw the spike right into Mike's stomach, stabbing him instantly as the ebony-haired teen let out a cry of pain. The flesh dragged him down the stairs and into the darkness of the warehouse as Mike's screams echoed down the stairs before being silenced.
A/N: Well, I know that was a long chapter but this was the best place I felt like I could end it. Stay tuned as I'm working on chapter three as we speak. If you like this story, be sure to favorite it and follow so that you never miss an update. Please leave a review and tell me what you think as reviews are my motivation to continue. If you do want me to continue, please do let me know in the comments.