Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or any of the characters in this story.


Chapter 11: Can't Stop This Thing We Started

Two figures walked casually out of the shed – a tall, thin man flanked by a woman. They looked extremely unwell. Both were deathly pale, their hair was scraggly, and it looked like their clothes had seen better days.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man sneered, "We didn't realize anyone was home."

At that moment in the Hopper cabin, both Max and El gasped – El, because she recognized the face and Max, because she recognized the voice.

Billy.

The girls were frozen in place. El could feel her heartbeat in her throat.

"Yeah," they heard Will begin. "This is my house. What the hell are you doing?"

"We were just looking for some supplies," Billy drawled, him and his female companion moving closer to Will.

The hairs on Will's neck went up immediately. Something was very wrong.

"What supplies, exactly," he asked, trying to mask his fear. Slowly, and so as not to attract attention, he grabbed onto the handle of the baseball bat behind the door.

"Oh, you know," the female spoke up, a teasing sound to her voice. "Odds and ends, this and that."

Billy laughed, a hoarse and rough sound to it. "She's a coy one, this one," he said, jabbing a thumb in her direction. "Truth is, kid, we're on kind of a mission."

"What kind of mission?"

"Would you like to find out?"

Will edged inside slightly. "I-I don't know. What do you mean?"

Back at the Hopper cabin, the teens had heard enough. Both Max and El were crying, Max almost unconsolably so. Mike quickly grabbed his walkie talkie from his bag and shouted into it.

"COME IN, WILL! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE! RUN!"

Will's eyes widened at Mike's voice coming from his walkie talkie, which was sitting on the kitchen counter. He turned to face Billy and the woman, who he was startled to find were now standing just a couple steps below him.

"Yeah, Will," Billy snarled. "Run."

He moved to lunge for Will, but Will was smaller and quicker. He grabbed the baseball bat and whirled around, clocking Billy in the stomach with it. It was enough to knock Billy off his feet, and he tumbled down the back steps right into his companion. Will took the opportunity to grab his walkie talkie and bag, and ran out the front door as fast as he could.

"Come in, Mike," he said hurriedly, hopping on his bike and speeding down the driveway.

El straightened in her seat, the scarf still tight over her eyes. "He's on his bike," she said.

"Will! Where are you?"

"Where are YOU? And how did you know to call me?"

"It's a really long story, but I need you to trust me, okay?"

"Obviously I do."

"Okay, I know you're on your bike. I want you to bike to the intersection of Smith and Elm. I'm going to come meet you and bring you somewhere safe. Over and out."

El ripped off her scarf at this, her eyes wild with terror. "Mike, no! What if something happens to you?"

Mike set his walkie talkie down and kneeled next to her, cupping her face in his hands. Max couldn't help but think she was looking at something incredibly private, even though it was three feet in front of her. She had to look away.

"El, I promise to be careful," Mike said quietly. "But Will is one of my best friends. I can't just leave him to his own devices. Once I get to him, I'll bring him back here, okay? We can all be here together."

She sniffled loudly, but nodded in understanding. If Max was in trouble, she'd do anything to find her and make sure she was safe.

"Promise," El whispered.

Mike nodded with a small smile, and leaned in to give El a sweet kiss. "I'll be back soon."

He stood up and looked at Max. "I shouldn't be long. The spot I told I told him to meet me isn't far from here." With one last glance around the cabin and a lingering look at El, Mike walked out the front door.

It was at that point that El and Max's resolve crumbled. They collapsed into each other's arms in tears – El because she was scared for Mike and for her friends, Max because this was the brother that she supposedly buried last year.

"El, what the fuck is happening," Max choked out. "It WAS Billy I saw this morning. How is this even possible?"

"I don't know," she replied quietly.

"I mean, who the fuck did we bury? Is he a damn zombie or something? You saw how he looked, right?"

It was hard for El to forget. She thought back on the thin, gaunt man in the void and how sick he looked. But it wasn't just his appearance she thought about. It was the evil gleam in his eyes – the danger she felt, and she wasn't even physically AT Will's house.

"Yes. I saw."

Max gasped suddenly. "Oh my god. What do we tell my mom and Neil? DO we tell them?"

El wasn't so sure. She could just imagine how that conversation would go.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove. So, you know how your son drowned at the pool last summer? How you had a funeral for him and everything? Well, we have pretty solid proof that he's actually alive…or something like it. Your daughter's telekinetic friend found him in the void, and we think he may have tried to kidnap their friend…along with other people around town."

Yeah, that wasn't happening.

El shook her head. "I don't think we should tell them. Not yet. We don't even know what's really happening yet."

Max nodded. "I think you're right. WE certainly don't know what the fuck is going on. How could we expect them to make sense of it?"

"Exactly."

"We need some answers though," Max continued, her toughness coming back. "We deserve at least that, I think."

"What do you think we should do," El asked.

"I say we start at the beginning. We need to find out exactly what happened the night Billy died. We need to go talk with someone at the pool."

El frowned. "Didn't your mom and Neil do that already?"

"Well, yeah…but I wasn't there, remember," Max said, looking at El intently. "I was otherwise occupied helping a certain space cadet."

"Oh right," said El sheepishly.

"Hey, we should also ask Hopper what he and the other officers found out, right? They'd probably know a ton of stuff."

"Do you think he would even be allowed to tell us," El asked. "Isn't that private?"

"Ha," Max scoffed, "Screw privacy. I lost my brother. And people's lives are at stake right now. Based on what happened with Will, Billy's probably the one behind these missing people. But why?" Her voice broke on that last word. "Why is he doing this. The Billy I knew was a jackass, but he wouldn't try to kidnap anyone."

El held Max close, letting her cry it out. The truth was, she wasn't sure if she was totally into digging deeper into Billy's death. The thought creeped her out, and she had a bad feeling that something more sinister was behind all this. But Max was also her best friend, and she'd do anything to help her.

"We'll find out what happened, Max. I promise."


For Mike, meeting up with Will was going to prove to be the least eventful part of his mission.

After he'd found Will hiding behind a tree at the intersection of Smith and Elm, they decided to play it safe and get the other members of the party. They were stronger when they were together. Neither Mike nor Will liked the idea of Dustin and Lucas sitting at home by themselves when kidnappings were happening at an alarming rate.

"Come in, Dustin and Lucas. This is a CODE RED, over," Mike radioed as he biked.

"This is Dustin, over."

"What's up, Mike? Over," replied Lucas.

"It's a long story, and I'll explain once we get to El's house…"

"El's house? Awww," Dustin cooed.

"Cut it out, Dustin," Will interrupted on his own walkie talkie. "Not a good time for that."

"Will," Lucas asked. "What are you doing there?"

"Like Mike said, it's a long story and we'll explain later. But Hawkins is in serious danger. We're coming to get you two so we can all be safe together. Grab a backpack and wait by your front doors. Dustin, we'll get to you first. Over and out."

Mike's eyes widened. "Well damn, that was authoritative."

"Dustin's a funny guy, but I don't have time for his shit right now." The tone in his voice made Mike glance quickly over at Will. He noticed that his eyes looked red.

"Will…"

"Not right now, Mike," he replied sharply. "I just need to think. Let's just go get Dustin and Lucas. We can talk once we get to El's."

Mike could understand. A lot had transpired since he'd arrived at El's that morning, and HE hadn't been the victim of an attempted kidnapping.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to Dustin's, but once they got there, Mike immediately pulled his walkie talkie out.

"Come in, Dust-"

He was interrupted by Dustin's front door opening. Dustin quickly scurried outside and grabbed his bike, tipping his baseball hat to his friends in the process.

"Hello, good sirs! I was waiting by the window and saw you coming," he said jauntily.

"We appreciate your timeliness, Dustin," Will said gratefully. Mike suspected he felt bad for speaking to Dustin slightly harsher than he normally would…even if Dustin did deserve it sometimes.

"I don't suppose you can tell me what's going on," Dustin asked as they began biking.

"Not until we get to El's place," Mike said. "Her and Max are there waiting. I want us to pick up Lucas and get back there as quickly as possible."

"So you guys can suck face, right," cackled Dustin.

"No-"

"Dustin, stop," Will said, pausing for a second. "I bet they've done enough of that already anyway," he teased lightly.

"What the hell, Will," Mike replied in shock. "You're supposed to be the nice one."

"So, what does that make me," asked Dustin

"Full of shit," Mike deadpanned.

Will burst into laughter as Dustin grasped his chest with one hand. "Michael Wheeler! How dare you insult me in such a manner!"

"What, you can dish it out but you can't take it?"

Dustin pondered this thoughtfully for a moment. "No, and I'll tell you why. Because I'm the resident funny man of the party."

"Psh, okay. I don't get to be funny, too?"

"No. There's only room for one. Tough luck, amigo."

Mike and Dustin continued to bicker as they rode on, unaware that Will was squinting at something in the distance. He had a bad feeling he know what it was, or rather, who.

"Guys," Will interrupted firmly, stopping his bike. "Shut up for a second and look."

The brakes on the other two boys' bikes squealed as they came to a halt. They looked ahead, about 100 feet up the street. They were on Lucas' street and from what it looked like, someone that lived in the house across the street was getting carried outside by a man and a woman. The man was holding his arms, and the woman his legs. Another man was standing off to the side, keeping guard.

There was now no doubt in Will's mind that this was Billy.

He nudged Mike and mouthed, "That's HIM."

Mike's eyes widened and he glanced at Dustin, who was gaping open-mouthed at the scene.

"What the f-"

Mike clamped his hand over Dustin's mouth. Leaving their bikes in the road, the boys quickly darted behind a thick tree trunk that was just up the curb.

Dustin was struggling against Mike's hand, but they all stilled as they heard a voice call out.

"Who's there?"

They glanced at each other in fear, not making a sound.

"I said who's there," the owner of the voice sing-songed.

"Billy, come on," another voice interjected. "We need to take care of this one before he wakes up."

There was a pause. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's take him to the backyard."

After a minute or so, Mike cautiously looked around the tree trunk. Billy and the others were gone. He motioned to Will and Dustin, and they grabbed their bikes and quickly ran down the street. As they ran, Mike spoke into his walkie talkie.

"Lucas, come in, over!"

They stopped in front of his house and waited. "Lucas, come in, over," Mike repeated.

The boys started to grow antsy. Had something happened to him?

"Lucas, come in, o-"

At that moment, the front door opened and Lucas hurried out.

"Oh, thank god," Will muttered.

"Jesus christ, what the hell were you doing," Dustin asked.

"Hello to you, too," Lucas replied sarcastically. "I was in the bathroom – I had to pee."

"Shit, you couldn't have taken your walkie talkie in there?"

"Why the hell would I have done that?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Will you two just shut up! We need to get out of here before those guys come back."

"Too late," an eerie voice drawled behind them.

The boys froze, and turned slowly to find Billy and three others standing there – two other men and one woman. One of the men had a bloody bump on his forehead, which he was slowly dabbing with the sleeve of his shirt.

Lucas' eyes widened at the sight of him. "Mr. Harris," he asked, "What happened to you?"

"Hey kid," Billy interrupted, "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Yes, it is. He's my neighbor."

"Oh shut the fuck up," the woman said impatiently. "He doesn't belong to anyone but him."

"Anyone but who," Will asked. He felt a tiny bit braver speaking up with his friends there.

Billy laughed. "Well, look who it is. Will, isn't it? It's a shame, you left so early. We had plans for you."

"Yeah, I heard about those plans," Mike spoke up angrily. "You tried to kidnap him. That's really fucked up."

"Holy shit," Dustin mumbled under his breath.

"Now now," Billy began, "Kidnap is such a harsh word. I just figured we could use him towards the greater good."

"The greater good?"

"Yeah, the greater good. Times are changing, and the world isn't what it used to be," replied Billy. He and the others began circling slowly are the four boys. "He's tired of taking a backseat," he snarled. "We can help him."

Mike was exasperated. "Who the hell is this him you keep talking about?"

"The future," Billy said simply. He glanced at the others. "Guys, what do you say? There's four of us and four of them…"

The group surrounding the boys looked at each other and grinned evilly, their pale faces taking on an unearthly shine.

"Three, two…"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

A piercing scream broke through the air as what felt like a shock wave ripped through them all. The boys cowered on the ground as the four others were picked up and flung in opposite directions, hitting the ground with a thud. They lay motionless.

There was only one person who could be responsible for this.

Mike glanced frantically around until he locked eyes with his own personal superhero, walking from one end of the street. Her ears and nose were dripping with blood, and she was trailed cautiously by Max.

His El.


Well that was a doozy! Welcome back. I hope everyone is staying well. I haven't forgotten about you guys. I've been working from home, and I've been finding that after I spend the day on the computer, I don't really want to go back to the computer and write. But I love this story so much, and I'm dedicated to finishing it.

Has anyone picked up any new hobbies in quarantine? Let me know. Please review, and stay safe!