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


Chapter 17: Empty Spaces

The monster…the same one she'd seen in the void the day she'd escaped the lab. They both sounded exactly the same. But could it be the same monster? Was the roar she heard while climbing through the pipe real too? It's possible that she could have still been hearing it in her head, but how could it have gotten into the lab?

Was it all a coincidence? Or was this where the connection lay?

"El? Are you okay?"

Mike's concerned voice brought her back to the kitchen table. Five sets of eyes were looking at her curiously, so she must have looked as pensive as she felt.

El nodded, took his hand in both of hers, and clasped it tightly.

"I have an idea."

The silence following El's talk was deafening.

For his part, Mike was trying to be as supportive as he could. He kept his face neutral as he soothingly stroked El's hair – this was not about him right now – but inside, he was terrified. The idea of monsters out there – the thing from the void, the one in the sky from El's dream, and of course Billy – was like a punch to the gut.

Others were less subtle, however.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about how you escaped and the monster in the lab, El," asked Max firmly, her eyes filled with tears. "I know everything about you."

"I told you, Max, I didn't want to remember," El replied. "I was so scared."

"Shit, I would be, too," Dustin interrupted, tugging on his hat worriedly.

"But that wasn't the only monster that might be out there, right," Will asked. "You said there was like a shadowy monster in your dream."

El nodded. "Yeah. It kind of looked like a spider."

"Guys, do you think that means there's some giant spider in Hawkins," Dustin asked seriously. "Do you think it's eating people? Would we have seen it?"

"Don't be stupid, Dustin," Mike said with an eye roll. "I don't think giant spiders are in Hawkins."

"Right, because fake corpses and zombie armies are totally normal," Max snapped.

"Guys, shut up!" Lucas almost had to shout over everyone else. "Look, I don't want to play the bad guy here, but do we think this is actually plausible? No offense, El, but the monster in the sky could have just been part of your dream. And your mind could have been subconsciously thinking about what you saw in the void."

"But what about Billy," El replied. "He was in the dream. I hadn't been thinking about him, but he was there."

"Exactly," Mike agreed. "Then how do you explain Billy suddenly showing up? The morning after El's dream is when Max saw him across the street and when people started disappearing."

Max's eyes widened at the realization. "Holy shit," she muttered.

There was a brief pause before Mike spoke again. "El, remind me again…what exactly did Billy tell you in the dream?"

"He said that you would have just gotten in his way. Then he pointed at the sky, and I saw the shadow monster. He said that I would see you soon enough, and that's," she trailed off, beginning to tremble.

"Hey," Mike whispered soothingly, "It's okay. We're safe." He pushed his chair back a bit and patted his lap. "Hop up."

El didn't need to be told twice. She eagerly sat on Mike's lap and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Being close to him always made her feel better, and she felt enough strength to continue.

"That's when I heard the monster from the void. It sounded exactly the same as I remembered."

"And you heard it in the void and while you were escaping," Will asked.

"Yes, in the void, but I'm not sure about the other time. Everything happened so fast, and I just wanted to get out of there," El said.

"Okay, so Billy said he thought Mike would get in the shadow monster's way," Lucas began, the wheels turning in his head. "Maybe it's not Billy we have to be afraid of. Maybe it's the shadow monster. Maybe the monster is the one possessing Billy."

The others began nodding as comprehension dawned on them.

"And if it's possessing Billy, maybe it's possessing the others," Will added.

"Including the monster from the void," Mike asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah, probably."

"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin said after a moment, looking like he'd won the jackpot. One by one, the three other boys began sporting similar grins as the idea sunk in.

"Um, excuse me? What is a Mind Flamer," asked Max.

"Mind Flayer," corrected Dustin. "It's an ancient being from D & D that uses psychic powers to go after its victims. These psychic powers dominate the minds of the victims so they can carry out its will. And the smoking gun is that it communicates psychically and uses a hive mind to control lots of creatures."

"Lots of creatures," Max echoed in thought. But her expression turned horrified almost immediately. "Oh my god…do you think all the people who disappeared are possessed by this thing?"

"Yeah, I think they could be."

El hopped off of Mike's lap and stood determinedly. "We need to call Hopper and tell him."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Will. "Didn't he say not to use the phone?"

"No, he didn't," Lucas replied. "He just said not to leave the house or go outside. We can still make phone calls, especially something as important as this."

"Well, I don't know. Now that you mention it, Will, it could be dangerous to use the phone right now. If the lab is actually involved, they could be tapping our phones," explained Mike.

A sudden crinkling noise startled them all. They turned to see Dustin opening a wrapper of a Twinkie. "What," he asked, taking a huge bite.

"Jesus christ, Dustin. What the hell is wrong with you," asked Lucas.

Dustin shrugged. "I'm just eating. I was starving. What's got you so worked up anyway," he asked, using his half-eaten Twinkie to gesture.

"Are you fucking insane," yelled Max. "The government could be tapping our phones and you're just sitting there stuffing your face."

"What do you mean could be, they already are," he replied, nonplussed.

The other kids glanced at each other uneasily.

"Are you serious," asked Will.

Dustin popped the last bite of Twinkie in his mouth and nodded. "Yeah, I figured it out years ago. Haven't you guys heard the occasionally 'click' when you're on the phone? Why do you think I insisted we change our primary means of communication to walkie talkies?"

Mike cursed under his breath as the others let out various noises of displeasure. "What the hell do we do now," he asked.

"We just wait for him to come back, simple as that," Dustin said matter-of-factly. "Just write down what we have so far and let's move on." He paused for a moment and chuckled. "Jesus, sometimes I wonder why I'm not the party leader."

"Because sometimes you don't know when to shut up," Mike snapped back, quickly jotting notes down on the piece of paper.

Will laughed awkwardly. "Well on that note, what's next?"

"I'd like to know where these monsters are coming from," Max said. "This Mind Flayer, where did it originate from?"

"Well that's the thing," Dustin began, "We don't know. The Mind Flayer is so ancient, that its true origins are unknown."

"Wonderful," Max griped. "What do we know about its origins?"

"Obviously it's from another dimension," he replied. At El and Max's surprised expressions, he continued, "What? You don't think something like that would be from this world, do you? No. A gate had to have opened somewhere."

El frowned. "What do you mean 'gate?'"

"Well, it's an opening or portal to another dimension. There are LOTS of different dimensions," Dustin explained. "It would have had to have been opened by a really powerful force. Once opened, there'd probably be a bunch of disruptions to gravity, the magnetic field, electricity-"

"Electricity," Will parroted quietly. The others turned to look at him and he continued. "Remember when we lost power during the night a couple days ago? Do you think maybe that's when the gate opened?"

"Maybe," said Lucas after a moment of thought. "But what about around the time when Billy disappeared? I think by now, we can all agree that he's connected to this somehow. Something must have happened then, too."

El was beginning to feel sick to her stomach as everything began to add up in her head: the date that Billy disappeared, seeing the monster in the void, the giant crack beginning to appear in the wall of the lab, and the roar she thought she heard while escaping. It was all too much.

Her vision went black and she crumpled to the ground.

There was a brief pause before the others were suddenly jarred into action.

"EL!"

"Holy shit."

"What happened?"

"Someone go get her some ice!"

Mike sat behind El on the floor and with Dustin's help, gently pulled her up so her head was resting in his lap. At the same time, Will dumped some ice from the freezer into a plastic bag and ran it over to them.

Mike gently held the bag of ice on El's forehead, moving it around to her temples, cheeks, and neck. Close to a minute later, her eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, thank god," he murmured as a collective sigh of relief went through the group.

Carefully, Mike helped her sit up. She immediately turned to wrap her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

"El, are you okay," Max asked worriedly. "One second, you were alert. The next, you were on the ground."

"I know the last couple days have probably been super stressful," Will added. "I understand."

Mike's shoulder suddenly felt wet. He looked down to see silent tears streaking down El's face. "What's wrong," he asked, stroking her hair softly.

"I'm so sorry," she choked out. "It's all my fault."

"What's your fault?"

"The gate. I opened it."

The others looked at each other, uncertainty on their faces. "Are you sure, El," Lucas asked. "Remember what Dustin said. Stuff like that can only be opened by really powerful forces."

She nodded. "Yes. I was in the void when I saw the monster. Then as I was about to run, I saw the big crack in the wall of the lab. I'm starting to think the roar I heard after that was real. It was the same as what I'd heard in the void. I just hadn't put it all together."

Dustin looked pensive for a moment, then a realization struck him. "Compasses."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Do you guys have your compasses with you?"

Unsurprisingly, they all did.

"Okay, remember what I said about how if a gate opened up, there'd be disruptions to the magnetic field? Lay the compasses down and see what direction they point in," Dustin instructed.

After the four compasses were placed on the kitchen table, Dustin quickly studied them, a knowing smile on his face.

"I knew it," he whispered.

"Knew what," Will asked. "They're all pointing north. What's weird about that?"

"What's weird William is that THAT'S true north," Dustin replied, pointing in a different direction. "Those compasses are not pointing towards true north."

"So, if we follow the compasses…" Lucas began.

"They should lead us to the gate," said Dustin.

The kids were stunned. It was like something out of a science-fiction novel. There was potentially a huge government cover up and a portal to another dimension in their little town, a dimension that held multiple monsters. One of those monsters was responsible for possessing and controlling Billy and countless other people in town.

Oh god, Billy.

El was struck with a sudden sense of despair. She turned to look at Max, who'd been silent for a while.

"Max, I'm so sorry," El whispered.

Max stared into space, simultaneously hearing El and not hearing her. She didn't really know what to think. All that was registering with her was that Billy disappeared because El opened some sort of portal to another dimension.

"Max-"

"No," Max replied quietly. "I really don't want to hear it right now."

"I didn't mean to do it, I swear," El cried, continuing anyway. "I don't even know why the monster appeared in the void anyway."

"SHUT UP," Max practically shouted. "Did you not hear what I just said? I don't want to hear it."

"Hey," Mike interrupted, "Don't talk to El like that. She didn't mean it. She was scared – wouldn't YOU be?"

Max glared at him, her hands on her hips. "Figures that you would defend her. Can't you separate your relationship from the situation at hand for just a second?"

"I am. I'm not trying to downplay everything you went through, Max. But do you really think El opened the gate on purpose? Does she strike you as the vindictive type? You're her best friend."

Max's face reddened, though they couldn't tell whether from embarrassment or anger. She didn't leave them much time to figure it out, because in the next moment, she stomped into El's room and slammed the door shut.

El let out a sob. Once again, she wrapped her arms around Mike's neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder. Mike did his best to try and calm her down, softly whispering words of encouragement to her.

"It'll be okay, El. I promise it'll be okay. She'll come around."

"She will," Dustin agreed. "Like Mike said, you guys are best friends. There's no way anything could get in between that."

"Except a brother who went missing and got possessed," El replied shakily. "I swear, I didn't mean to do it."

"We believe you, El," said Lucas. "What you saw in the void that day? It sounds terrifying. How could you have known what would happen?"

El wiped her eyes and tried to smile as best she could. "Thanks, Lucas." Looking over Lucas' shoulder, she saw Will smiling encouragingly at her.

"You'll be okay. I know you will," he said. "And Max will, too. I'm sure she's sad and in shock. That's okay – I know I would be. But like Dustin said, you guys are best friends. All she needs is a little time."

El nodded in understanding. If the situation were reversed, she could picture herself acting in a similar manner.

"So," Dustin began after a moment, "Do you guys want to continue or should we take a break?"

"I think we should take a break," Mike said tiredly. "We've made a lot of progress, but I don't want us to get burnt out."

The others agreed. They had plenty to work with for now anyway.

Since there were ingredients in the fridge for sandwiches, the kids decided to make some for lunch. As El was putting the finishing touches on her salami and cheese sandwich, she heard the secret knock sound on the front door. Using her powers to unlock it, they were soon greeted by the sight of Hopper walking through the doorway.

"Hey Chief," Dustin called out. "How was your morning?"

"Frustrating, Henderson. Thanks for asking," Hopper replied. He grabbed a bag of tortilla chips and some salsa from the fridge, and begin chowing down. Usually he had time for a donut with his coffee and contemplation. But there was no time, for either the donut or the contemplation. "What did you kids get up to?"

Well shit, where to begin?

"A lot, actually," Mike said, seriousness evident in his voice.

Mike's tone made Hopper look up from his chips and salsa. "Oh really? Care to explain?"

El glanced at Mike, who gave her a nod of encouragement.

"Dad, you might want to sit down."


Happy Wednesday, everyone! Well, things are starting to move along with our friends in this story. I haven't yet figured out how many chapters this will total, but I do have a general plan of how things are going to go. I hope you're all enjoying the ride. I know I am.

So with any luck, filming of ST4 will begin again tomorrow. I just hope everyone stays safe and healthy and I trust their judgement. In the meantime, please leave me a review. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much!