Billy closed his eyes as he heard her lunge at him, expecting to feel the sharp edge of the tile slicing into him a moment later. However, it never came. Instead, he felt a cold hand touch his face, causing his eyes to flicker open. He watched as Krystal dropped the piece of tile to the floor, a frown on her face, slowly realising why Billy looked so afraid. Her eyes were still cold, but there was something behind them. Something that had stopped her mid-attack.

"Krys…" Billy sighed, breathing heavily.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Billy. You can join me. We can be together. Isn't that what you want?" Krystal suggested.

"Not like this" Billy shook his head, as Krystal trailed her hand down to his shoulder.

"You're like me. Broken. But this…it will fix you. I feel happier than I've ever been" Krystal insisted, as Billy shrugged away from her touch.

"No. It's the Mindflayer. It's got into your head. You're…you're sick, Krystal" Billy insisted, watching her jaw tense.

"I'm whole now. It doesn't hurt. It just takes a second, and then—" Krystal went on, as Billy backed up a step.

"I'm not gonna' join you. I'm gonna save you, Krys" Billy told her.

"…What about the rest of you? Don't you want to stop that fear that eats away at you? I can make you feel complete" Krystal announced, her eyes flickering to Will in particular.

"You're crazy" Mike muttered, as Krystal tilted her head.

"I'm not the one fighting against something that is inevitable. No matter what you do…the Mindflayer will always win" Krystal explained.

"We're never going to say yes, Krystal. None of us" Max exclaimed, as Krystal shook her head, angrily.

Infect them. Now.

"No…no, they don't want it" Krystal muttered, under her breath,

If they are not with us they're against us.

"Billy, just…just help me—" Krystal began, grimacing as the Mindflayer's voice suddenly boomed in her head.

They're a problem. You know what we do with problems.

"No. That's not part of the plan" Krystal hissed, her hands flying to her ears instinctively.

Kill them. Do it.

"I won't. S-stop…" Krystal trailed off, as she felt the black veins underneath her skin start to burn, causing her knees to give out.

Kill them!

Krystal shook her head violently, her hands balled into fists as pain coursed through her. She could hear mumbling around her, footsteps slowly approaching. Her eyes shot open just as she saw Max looming over her, Billy's lighter in one hand, and a can of hairspray in the other. Krystal's eyes widened, as she tried to back away, but it was too late, as the air beside her suddenly ignited. Krystal let out a howl of pain as the flames burnt into her arm, causing her to jump backwards, kicking out at her sister. She managed to aim her kick well, hitting Max just underneath her knees, as she stumbled backwards. Krystal cried out as she brought her other hand to her scorched arm, feeling pain rip through her. She had almost forgotten that feeling.

"Why isn't working?" Max questioned, panic clear in her voice.

"I…I don't know…it should have worked. The Mindflayer left my body when I was possessed, and my body became inhabitable" Will frowned.

"I told you, I'm not fucking possessed!" Krystal yelled, looking down at her arm, which was red raw.

"Alright, Plan B then. We take her with us, we can figure it out later" Billy exclaimed, taking a step closer to Krystal.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Krystal warned him, holding her hand up.

"You're outnumbered" Billy stated, watching as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Am I?" Krystal replied, her eyes flickering to something behind Billy.

The boy stumbled backwards as he saw Heather and the rest of the lifeguards storming towards the group. Even from across the room, he could see the black veins under their skin and knew they had all been infected. He quickly pushed the kids behind him, his eyes darting around the room to look for an exit.

"Give us Eleven, and the rest of you can go free" Krystal announced, slowly pushing herself to her feet.

"No way" Mike hissed, grabbing his girlfriend's arm.

"I wasn't asking, Wheeler" Krystal spat out, ushering for the lifeguards to attack.

Billy instantly grabbed the chains by his feet, taking a step forward, never one to back down from a fight. He was surprised to see Max pick up one of the metal poles they had used to secure the sauna door, coming to stand next to him. The Hargrove siblings, united for once. As Billy threw the chains forward, managing to shove Heather back, he didn't see the way Krystal had sprinted forward, her eyes on Eleven alone. Luckily, the younger girl had seen this attack coming. With her powers, she was able to grab a heavy weight and threw it towards Krystal, who was thrown into a nearby wall. The bricks almost shattered at the impact, as Eleven pushed the weight tighter against where it had wedged itself on Krystal's neck. Eleven's eyes widened as Krystal suddenly used her elbow to break one of the weights off the metal pole, meaning she could duck under the object. She then grabbed the weight with her other hand and hurled it towards Eleven, striking her in the head.

"Get away from her!" Mike cried, racing towards Krystal, with nothing more than a crowbar.

He raised the object in the air, ready to strike Krystal, but the older girl had seen this coming. Her hand snapped out to grab the weapon from Mike, throwing it away to the side, her eyes now on him. Mike stumbled backwards, fear covering his features, as he saw the black veins engulf Krystal's eyes almost completely. He was frozen to the spot as Krystal lunged forward, grabbing him by the neck, her fingernails biting into his skin.

"No!" Eleven screamed, her jaw dropping open.

Turning to her, Krystal's lips twitched into a smirk, as she moved her hand to cover Mike's mouth. Mike instantly let out an almost feral cry as he felt the spores start to enter his mouth, his hands clawing at her arm, but she was far too strong now. Eleven's hand flew to her mouth as she watched her boyfriend shake, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Within a few seconds, the deed was done, and Krystal pulled her hand away, as Mike flopped to the ground, motionless.

"Mike…" Eleven bawled, a tear dropping down her cheek.

Mike's eyes shot open a moment later, as he took a deep breath in. A sinister grin grew on Krystal's face, as the teenage boy pushed himself up, black veins pulsing underneath the skin on his face. Eleven couldn't stop the gasp that left her lips, as Mike's eyes turned almost black, filled with the infection from the Mindflayer.

"Who wants to be next?" Krystal asked, as Mike came to stand beside her.

"N-no…not him…" Eleven stuttered, as Max rushed forward to hold her friend.

"Join us, El. You'll feel so much better" Mike told her, as he took a step forward.

"We need to get out of here. Now" Billy hissed, coming to stand in front of Eleven and his step-sister.

"There's no way out" Lucas panicked, seeing the lifeguards were standing in front of the only door in the room.

In response, Eleven's hands balled into fists, her eyes snapping up to Krystal, who tilted her head, feeling the power that was coming off the girl in waves. Before anyone could stop her, Eleven had suddenly sent Krystal flying through one of the brick walls, which completely shattered from the impact. Billy was the first one to rush forward, looking through the gap in the wall, to see Krystal lying on her back on the grass outside, cuts all over her skin. He was glad to see her chest was still rising and falling.

"Let's go. C'mon!" Billy shouted, ushering over to the others.

"Wait. Billy, look…" Will trailed off, as they saw the lifeguards had come to a halt.

They were still conscious, but their faces appeared completely vacant. A frown deepened on Billy's face, as he turned back to Krystal, a realisation hitting him. While she was unconscious, it was like they had all…stopped.

With a shake of his head, Billy gestured for them all to jump through the hole in the wall. He helped push Eleven up, who seemed barely able to stand after using her powers so much. Just as he was about to follow her, he felt someone grab his collar. He swung around, punching his attacker in the face, finding it had been Heather. His eyes flickered over to Krystal's body, seeing that she had woken up, and was slowly pushing herself into an upright position. Practically throwing himself through the hole, he shouted at the others to run, knowing this was their one and only chance to escape.

"Billy…" Krystal croaked, shakily.

"I'm not giving up on you" Billy told her, before he turned on his heel, and rushed into the night.

Krystal's forehead wrinkled at this comment, at a loss for words. She wiped away some blood dripping from her forehead, now falling onto her eyelashes. Her whole body ached, but it was only a dull feeling. A sharp contrast to the burning pain that was now constant from her upper arm.

Why did Billy seem so convinced she needed saving?

Thirty minutes later, and Krystal had her arm under the cold spray of the pool shower. The pain from her arm had lessened, but it was still more intense than she was expecting. Why was she suddenly feeling pain again? She could sense the presence behind her before she actually heard the footsteps getting closer. She turned around with a scowl, seeing Steve leaning against the sinks.

"She could have killed me" Krystal stated.

"But not us" The Mindflayer retorted, his voice mixed in with Steve's.

"You would have let her kill me" Krystal clarified, turning the spray off.

"If it was necessary" The Mindflayer retorted, as Krystal stormed over to him.

"Do you really think I'm so expendable?" She spat out, angrily.

The Mindflayer tilted his head at this obvious display of emotion, wondering where the outburst had come from.

"I could not reveal my host—" The Mindflayer went on, but Krystal cut him off.

"You're scared. Too scared to face a teenage girl" Krystal sneered, as Steve's hand suddenly shot out, grabbing her by the neck.

"Do not raise your voice at me" The Mindflayer warned, as Krystal felt the sharp sting of pain increasing.

"You will do as I say. You are not in control here…I am" The Mindflayer went on, tightening its hold on her neck.

Giving him a curt nod, Krystal was released, taking a sharp intake of breath as he shoved her away. It was then that they saw that Mike had been watching, his face completely emotionless.

"We got we wanted. The Wheeler boy will be useful. He will help us get close enough to kill Eleven" The Mindflayer pointed out, gesturing for Mike to approach them.

"Or we could use him for something else…" Krystal trailed off, as the Mindflayer nodded for her to continue.

"What if instead of killing Eleven…we bring her into the Hive?" Krystal smirked, an expression that was shared by the Mindflayer.

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Nancy cried, tears welling in her eyes, as the group told her and Jonathan what had happened at the Sauna.

They had re-grouped in the Wheeler's basement, thankful that Mike's mother was nowhere to be seen. None of them would have been able to look her in the eye.

"There was nothing we could do. Krystal flayed him" Lucas mumbled, as Nancy shook her head, vehemently.

"What does that even mean?" Jonathan questioned.

"It means you basically become him. He takes over your mind. Just like last year with Will" Lucas explained.

"But worse…" Will trailed off, his leg bobbing up and down nervously.

"You should have protected him! You should have kept them all safe!" Nancy hissed at Billy, who had been silent the whole time.

"It was already too late! I couldn't…it happened too quickly" Billy retorted, as Nancy scoffed harshly.

"You didn't even try to save him, you coward!" Nancy yelled, as Billy took a step forward, his eyes dark.

"And where were you, Nancy? Where the fuck were you when your little brother was getting flayed?!" Billy shouted, pointing his finger at her.

"Enough! This is what he wants" Max cried, trying to get in between the two.

"There has to be a way to get Mike back. There has to be" Nancy exclaimed, desperately.

"We managed to get Will back last year" Jonathan pointed out.

"That was different. Mike isn't a host. Neither is Krystal…their something else" Will told them.

"Mike's strong. He can hold on" Eleven stated.

"There has to be something we can do!" Nancy insisted.

"When Krystal was knocked out, it's like the other flayed stopped. Like without her, they don't know what to do" Lucas mumbled, as Nancy got a look in her eye.

"…So without Krystal, they might all go back to normal?" Nancy asked.

"I don't know, it's possible I guess" Lucas frowned.

"We could drug her? Knock her out long enough to close the gates?" Max suggested.

"Or we could come up with a more permanent solution" Nancy interjected, as all eyes turned to her.

"You mean…?" Jonathan gulped, not sure if he wanted to finish the train of thought.

"If it saves everyone else—" Nancy started, but Billy cut her off immediately.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. If you try to hurt Krystal in any way, I will kill you before you can lift a finger. Do you understand me?" Billy warned, a dark tone to his voice.

"Krystal's still in there, I know she is. We need to focus on closing the gates" Max insisted, as Eleven nodded.

"But where are the gates?" Will questioned.

"Mrs Driscoll" Nancy muttered, under her breath.

"What?" Billy frowned.

"I was with one of the flayed last night. I think she was one of the first to…turn. She's been wanting to get back to something whenever she's conscious. What if she knows where the gate is?" Nancy realised, as Billy was already grabbing his jacket.

"Then what are we still doing here? C'mon!" Billy exclaimed, clapping his hands, and ushering them towards the door.

Will was the last one to stand up, moving as if he was in a daze. He had been trying to keep it together since the sauna, but his adrenaline was failing. Mike was gone. He didn't have the same optimism as the others. He knew the Mindflayer too well.

"Hey, we'll get him back" Billy murmured, coming to stand in front of the motionless boy.

"We should have never tried to trap Krystal" Will cried, feeling tears welling in his eyes.

"That was on me, okay? All of this is. Don't you dare blame yourself" Billy told him.

"I…I should have warned you sooner. I should have known what she could do…" Will stuttered, as Billy placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You did good, Byers. You're the bravest fucking kid I've ever met, you know" Billy informed him, as Will's eyes softened a little.

"Yeah?" Will sniffled.

"Now, let's go save your boyfriend and my girlfriend" Billy insisted, grabbing his hand, as a sad smile spread over Will's lips.

The large group were making their way up the stairs of the hospital, finding that the elevators seemed to be out of service. Nancy was thankful to find the receptionist who had been on the ground floor had been nowhere to be seen this time, allowing them to easily get to the fourth floor. Still, the whole hospital seemed quiet. Eerily quiet.

"C'mon, her room is down this corridor" Nancy exclaimed, gesturing for them to pick up the pace.

"So, what do we do once we find her? Do we…well, kidnap her?" Will inquired.

"We do what we have to" Nancy muttered, as she stopped outside the hospital room.

Her forehead wrinkled as she saw the door was wide open and cautiously entered to find the room was a complete mess. There was a vase of flowers overturned and blood all over the sheets. It appeared there had been a fight in the room, and Nancy wasn't sure who had won. Meanwhile, in the corridor, Will's eyes widened when he felt the tell-tale hair rising on the back of his neck. However, this was more intense than he had ever felt. There was something very wrong.

"Guys, we need to—" Will was cut off by a creaking sound, as the door on the other side of the corridor opened.

He stumbled backwards as he saw an elderly man shuffling towards him, only in a hospital gown, revealing the black veins running down his arms. Eleven jumped to Will's defence immediately, shoving the elderly man against the wall, seemingly knocking him out.

"Now, that wasn't very nice" A familiar voice boomed, from down the corridor.

"Where is my brother?" Nancy spat out, exiting the hospital room.

"Oh, he's around here somewhere. I'm sure I can introduce you two if you want" Krystal grinned, taking a step forward.

"What is this?" Jonathan called out.

"A trap…well, more like an ambush really" Krystal smirked, holding out her arms.

Billy felt a chill go down his spine as all the doors in the long corridor suddenly opened, revealing the now flayed patients standing in the doorways. His eyes darted around, as they began stumbling towards the group, their hands outstretched. There must have been over twenty on that floor alone. Even with Eleven they were completely outnumbered.

"I really don't want to hurt you…but these flayed won't share the sentiment" Krystal announced, as Billy's eyes flickered to a young woman, who still had a drip attached to one arm, and a pair of scissors in the other hand.

"Krys, don't do this!" Billy cried, a pleading tone to his voice.

"Just say yes. All this can stop then" Krystal insisted.

"What do we do?" Max gaped, stepping towards Billy, grabbing his arm.

"Run" Eleven exclaimed, raising her hand up.

With one sharp cry, she made all the lights in the corridor burst, throwing the whole floor into darkness. Billy grabbed onto his stepsister's hand and pulled her in the other direction, hearing shouts coming from all around him.

"This way!" He called to the others, hoping they were close behind him.

"How long do you think you can run?" Krystal shouted, seeming far closer this time.

Billy felt along the wall in a panic, hoping to find the stairs they had come up or at least a room they could hide in. He felt a doorhandle and tried to push it open, but it appeared to be locked. Continuing down the wall, he flinched when he felt someone grab his shoulder, causing him to whip around. He let out a sigh of relief when he could just about make out it was Eleven. The trio continued down the corridor until Billy could see a sliver of light and rushed forward. He barged through the staircase doors, almost tumbling down them if Max hadn't still been gripping onto his arm. They turned around to see Nancy and Jonathan sprinting towards them, shoving the doors open and holding them closed behind them.

"Where's Will?" Billy exclaimed.

"And Lucas?" Max bit her lip.

In response, a few seconds later, there was a frantic banging on the doors. Nancy peered through the small window, relieved to see it was only Lucas. The boy practically collapsed as he fell through the door, coughing loudly. Max rushed into his arms, hugging him tightly, sniffling as she tried to stop the tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"We need to go. Now! They were right behind me" Lucas panted.

"What about Will—" Jonathan was cut off, as the glass suddenly shattered.

He let out a scream, as a hand was pushed through the gap, trying to grab him. Banging quickly started up, as he and Nancy struggled to keep the door closed, feeling it being forced open from the other side.

"I can't hold this much longer" Nancy cried, her feet starting to slip.

"We can't leave my brother" Jonathan shook his head.

"If we stay here, we're all going to get flayed" Max pointed out, holding onto Lucas' hand tightly.

"We'll save him, Jonathan. Him and Mike" Nancy insisted, as Jonathan scrunched his eyes shut.

"I can't leave him, Nance" Jonathan admitted, giving her a look.

"No. No, you can't" Nancy sobbed, realising what Jonathan was saying.

"I can't hold the door on my own for long. You need to run" Jonathan told them, as Lucas was already pulling Max down the stairs, quickly followed by Eleven.

"I can't lose you too" Nancy begged, tears now falling down her cheeks.

"Please, Nance. I need to do this" Jonathan replied, as Billy reached out to pull her away.

"Go. I'll be right behind you" Billy exclaimed, as Nancy nodded, turning on her heel, not being able to look behind her.

"You need to go too, man" Jonathan insisted, seeing the conflicted look on Billy's face.

"Maybe I should stay. I can—" Billy started, but Jonathan stopped him.

"You can't reason with Krystal. Go. Look after them" Jonathan told him, as Billy sighed, but reluctantly did as he was told.

Jonathan only lasted another thirty seconds, before one hard shove against the door, had him flying forward. He too almost stumbled down the stairs, as the door was ripped open, revealing a smiling Krystal.

"That was a very stupid decision, Jonathan" She stated, stalking towards him.

"You won't win" Jonathan spat out, as Krystal shrugged.

"Don't you see?...We already have" Krystal grinned, before lunging forward and shoving her hand over his mouth, the spores already seeping out.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've been taking on more shifts at the hospital due to Covid, so I haven't had much time for writing. Please leave a review:)

LoveFiction2021: Thanks for reviewing!

crying eyes and bowties: You're welcome! There's lots more angst to come, enjoy! Thank's for the review:)