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

As a note, there are some scary moments throughout the chapter. Read with caution.


Chapter 21: Until I Find You

Billy and his huge group had finally caught up to them. They had just gotten past the trees and were now moving through the clearing.

All that previous planning was now thrown out the window as Dustin screamed the first thing he could think of.

"RUN!"

The kids ran full speed ahead through the open gate, nearly knocking down the backup that was approaching to help put out the 'fire.'

"Hey! Where the hell do you kids think you're going," one of the men asked.

"Can't talk now, gentlemen," Dustin replied, still running. "Time's a-wastin'. There's things to do, people to save."

"Dimensions to close," Max added, "And creeps to run from."

The men turned their glances upon the group advancing up the main driveway. Their eyes widened.

"Holy shit," one of them muttered. "There's got to be at least a hundred of them. What do you think they want?"

"Probably just some damn protestors," another one said. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted, "You are trespassing on federal property. Don't come any closer."

Of course, that was to no avail. The group kept advancing, slow but determined. The Mind Flayer was keeping them focused on their sole task: finding and killing the girl, and stopping anyone who tried to get in their way.

It soon became apparent that the backup was going to need backup.

One of the men unclipped his walkie talkie from his belt and spoke into it. "I need as many guards and patrolmen as possible outside by the front gate. We've got a large crowd advancing and not backing down. Motive unknown."

Knowing it was going to be at least a few minutes until they got more manpower outside, the men spread out across the driveway as best they could – trying to form a sort of blockade. They stretched their arms out to the side and widened their stances, breaths rushing in and out faster as the crowd moved closer.

"One last time, I order you to not come any closer. You are trespassing on federal prop-"

The sound choked off as one of the men at the front of the crowd reached out and grasped the guard's throat, squeezing as tightly as he could. The other guards acted quickly. They reached for their guns and fired at the man. But their eyes widened as they saw that the blood spilling from the bullet wounds was not red, but black. No matter what it was, however, it was enough to get the possessed man to release his grip on the guard's neck.

The other guards were dumbfounded. Who the hell were these people? Why did they look so strange? Unfortunately for the guards, their moment of indecision cost them. Large numbers of the possessed filed past and headed towards the front door.

Meanwhile, the kids had just made it into the lab's lobby. They nearly collapsed in relief and exhaustion when the glass door shut behind them, as the driveway they ran up was longer than they anticipated.

"Jesus christ," Dustin panted, "No wonder we're so shitty at gym class. We have zero endurance."

"Speak for yourself," Lucas replied, trying as hard as he could to keep his panting quiet. "I'm in great physical shape."

Mike let out a bark of laughter, though it sounded garbled due to the tired state he was in. "Are you kidding me? You're so out of breath, you practically need mouth-to-mouth."

"Excuse me!"

The shout made the kids turn towards the reception desk. In their haste to get inside, they'd forgotten about one of the most obvious roadblocks: other lab employees.

The receptionist stepped out from behind the desk. She was flanked by two guards on either side of her.

"Can I help you kids," she asked. "We're kind of in the middle of a small crisis here."

Dustin would never properly admit it to his friends, but he was nervous about what to say. He wasn't sure what direction to go in. Should he tell her everything – that they were being chased by a group of possessed townsfolk and were trying to close a portal to another dimension? Should he continue with his original story – that they were there to interview Dr. Brenner for a newspaper article?

Thankfully, he went with the latter. If he let slip the true nature of their visit, they would be in a world of hurt. These were smart people. They'd probably put two and two together, realize who El was, and take her back into their custody. No way in hell was that happening.

"So sorry, miss," Dustin replied with a deep bow. "The name's Walsh. Troy Walsh."

"Oh my fucking god," Max mumbled under her breath, not amused by Dustin's poor imitation of James Bond.

The receptionist wasn't amused either. "Great," she said coolly. "What can we do for you?"

Dustin was not anticipating that reaction. He stared at her for a moment in surprise before shaking his head quickly back and forth, as if to snap himself out of it. "Well, you see, my friends and I write for the school newspaper at Hawkins High. We're doing a special feature this summer on the lab and were given permission to interview Dr. Brenner."

"That's impossible," the receptionist replied, not missing a beat. "I keep all of Dr. Brenner's appointments. He doesn't have one right now."

"I'm sorry, I should have explained myself better," Dustin began. "Dr. Brenner told us that we could stop by anytime, and he'd make himself available to speak to us."

The receptionist crossed her arms over her chest, slowly walking closer to Dustin. "Do you take me for a fool, Mr. Walsh?"

Dustin gulped. A sinking feeling began to take hold in the pit of his stomach. Though all was not totally lost – she was still calling him Mr. Walsh. At least that part of the act was still in play.

"I'm going to take your silence as a 'no,'" she continued. "See, I've worked at this lab for over 10 years. One doesn't keep their job here for that long if they don't know their shit. So obviously, I know my shit. And I know that Dr. Brenner always makes appointments…EXACT appointments. None of this open-ended stop-by-anytime bullshit. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Dustin replied hurriedly. He looked at the others in a full-on panic, willing one of them to read his mind – "help me!" Sadly, they didn't have any answers for him.

"So, I'm going to ask you this once and only once. What are you really doing here?"

CRASH!

The windows behind where the kids were standing shattered. They screamed and staggered forward, their arms in front of their faces to protect from the pieces of glass. Dozens of pairs of arms reached in through the broken glass, some trying to rip even more glass out and some trying to grab at those closest to the windows.

"Day of the Dead, Day of the Dead," Dustin cried frantically. "SHIT!"

"Just don't piss yourself again," Lucas yelled. "Nobody wants to see that."

At that moment, a wave of guards and other personnel appeared in the lobby with their guns drawn, just as the first members of Billy's group began to come through the doors and windows.

"Oh shit, get down," shouted Mike.

They hit the floor and began crawling quickly away as shots rang out. Mike tried to make sure El was crawling in front of him so he could see her, plus he could shield her from any stray bullets. Max continued crawling, but chanced a glance behind.

She regretted that decision immediately.

There was absolute carnage and chaos. Bullets and glass were flying through the air. Any possessed people who'd been shot had blossoming patches of black seeping through their clothing. Some of them were clearly dead. Some were still trying to fight, despite their injuries. Several guards from the lab had gotten wrestled to the ground and were fighting a losing battle against the super strength of the possessed. Others were already dead – their necks were twisted unnaturally. Some of their faces had been beaten so badly, they were unrecognizable.

"Max, are you okay," Lucas shouted over the din, seeing the distress on her face.

All she could do was simply shake her head no. The tears ran freely down her face. But still she crawled on. She had to help El see this through.

Once they were at the back of the lobby, El directed everyone's attention to a long hallway. "Down there!"

"What's down there," Will asked.

"Closets and storage rooms," El replied. "We should go into one so we can talk and I can show you guys where to go next."

Mike's heart swelled with pride. Yes, they were in an extremely dangerous situation. But his girlfriend was being incredibly brave, and he was so proud of her for tackling her fears.

The kids stayed on the floor until they reached a door that was already partially open. El took a quick look around the corner to double check all was safe before motioning the others inside.

"It looks pretty small in there," she warned. "Be careful."

Indeed, as soon as they shut the closet door, it felt a bit like being in a sardine can. Six growing teenagers in a small space like that was hardly comfortable. It was made even more uncomfortable by the total darkness they were standing in.

"There's got to be a light in here somewhere, right," Dustin guessed.

"I would assume so," replied Mike. "It's probably just a lightbulb with a pull-string." He took a small step backwards and gasped in surprise as something hit his head.

"Mike, what's wrong," asked El.

He could feel his heartrate beginning to settle after the scare, and he let out a relieved breath when he figured out what it was. "Nothing. I think I just found our light…well, my head did."

"That's because you're a goddamn giraffe," Lucas replied dryly.

Mike rolled his eyes, though it's not as though anyone could see. "Thanks, Lucas. I appreciate it. Okay, guys – brace yourselves." With that, he pulled the cord to turn on the light.

The bulb burned brightly in the small space. There were a few moments of squinting as the kids got used to the light. But after that, they looked around silently and took stock of each other's appearances.

Per usual, Mike and El were holding hands. Mike looked pensive. All he could do was quietly process what had just happened. Will looked as though he was about to cry. Max still was crying. Lucas had an arm wrapped gingerly around Max. He just wanted to be there for her. Dustin was doing his usual nervous habit of tugging on his hat.

El was staring straight ahead, quivering slightly. The last thing she wanted to do was have her friends carry her burden. She felt horribly guilty for what they had just gone through. It was only fair that she give them an out.

"Do you guys still want to do this?"

Max glanced over at El in shock. "What do you mean? Of course, I do. Don't you guys?"

The others all joined in at once, chiming in with similar sentiments of support.

"Are you sure," El asked. "It was really bad out there."

"Well, if I'm being honest," Dustin began hesitantly, scratching his head, "Yes, it was a little crazy. Just a hair. But we've got a job to do, and we're going to do it."

"Hell yeah," Lucas agreed. "We're not going to stop until we get you to the gate."

"You're not thinking of backing down, are you," asked Will. "I mean, if you want to go home, we'll fully support you, El. But it's a little late to turn back now, considering how crazy it is out there," he finished sheepishly.

El shook her head in disbelief. "It's just…a lot," she finished on a long exhale. "I don't want you guys to get hurt or worse because of me."

"We don't have to do anything because of you, El.," Mike said, impassioned. He wished she could see how special she was. "But we do it because we lo-"

He cut himself off with a strangled noise. This was not the time for him to proclaim his love. He needed to cover his tracks quickly, as the others were beginning to stare at him.

"We do it because we care about you. And we know this town is worth fighting for. If the gate doesn't get closed, then more people will get possessed – maybe even other members of our families."

Mike couldn't bear the thought of his parents or his sisters turning into members of the Mind Flayer's army. He was sure his friends felt the same way about their families.

"We believe in you, El," he continued. "We'll fight alongside you because we know it's the right thing, okay?"

El was overcome with emotion. She found her eyes blurring with tears as she pulled Mike into a big hug. "Okay," she whispered. "Thank you."

Soon. He had to tell her soon that he loved her. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep it inside. The only reason he wasn't saying it now was because they were shoved in a broom closet with their 4 friends.

After a moment, El pulled back from Mike and give her friends hugs, too. "Thank you, guys," she said with a sniffle.

"Anytime, m'lady," Dustin replied. "Now, are we ready to kick some alternate dimension ass?"

El chuckled. "Yeah."

"Then, lead on."


Once they were out of the broom closet, El directed them down the hall before taking a right towards an elevator with its door open.

"I think we take this one all the way down," she said.

A quick glance at the control panel showed that the farthest down they could go was "Lower Level." El took a chance and pressed the button. Within moments, they'd reached the bottom.

The elevator door opened to another deserted hallway. But this one had a kind of plastic sheet hanging across it, acting as a blockade from the rest of the hallway. Beyond the plastic sheet, the fluorescent lights flickered, specks of what looked like snow floated in the air, and there was a strange noise that almost sounded like breathing. With every exhale, the plastic sheet fluttered.

"What is that," Will whispered.

"I don't know," El whispered back. "But that's where we need to go."

Slowly, they crept out of the elevator, hands clasped tightly together. It seemed like every nerve ending in their bodies was charged – a feather-light touch would probably send them a foot in the air. As it was, every time the plastic sheet billowed outwards, the kids shrank back. It was quite literally two steps forward and one step back.

By the time the group reached the plastic sheet, the nerves hadn't lessened. But neither had their resolve. They were going to defeat the Mind Flayer and close the gate once and for all.

The gate.

"Do you think it's the gate," Mike asked in a sudden burst of realization. "The breathing, that is. Do you think it's coming from the gate?"

Max answered Mike's question with a question. "Why would the gate be breathing?"

"Because of the Mind Flayer. Because he's the one controlling everything. Like a puppeteer," Mike continued.

El frowned. "What's a puppeteer?"

"Well, do you know what a puppet is?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so some puppets have strings. There's a person who moves the strings, and that makes the puppets move."

She understood now. "Oh, okay. The Mind Flayer is moving the strings?"

"Exactly," Mike replied.

"And the possessed army and probably everything in the other dimension are the puppets," Dustin added. "Jesus christ. So, it's not just people we might have to deal with. What else could the Mind Flayer throw at us?"

"Well, we're about to find out," said Lucas gamely. There was an open door at the end of the hall that they were about to pass through.

As they walked up to the doorway, El couldn't contain the shocked gasp that escaped her mouth. The large area had completely changed. Where there was once stark, white wall, there was a gaping hole – the gate. Coming out through the gate were slithery, black vines and the white stuff that looked like snow. Indeed – as Mike had guessed – the breathing seemed to come from the gate as well.

The staff in the lab had built a heavily fortified glass wall, protecting the controls and equipment from the gate on the other side. However, there was still some space for the white specks to get through – especially over the top of the wall.

El could see the large water tank in the distance that she called the "bath." Since it wasn't behind the glass wall, black vines were growing up the sides. The sight made her sick.

"Quite a sight, isn't it," a low, smooth voice said amiably.

A tall, well-dressed man with a shock of white hair stepped out from behind one of the control panels. After a moment of silence, he continued. "Well, don't just stand there. Come in and let me see you."

The kids looked at the man curiously. They had no idea who he was. That wasn't the case for El, though. She was frozen in fear.

"Hello, Eleven."


Happy new year, everyone! I hope you had a great holiday season. For myself, it's been a very busy start to the year. But I don't mind – I like staying busy. Did you hear that Stranger Things 4 resumes filming tomorrow? I'm hoping we get the new season before the end of the year. Fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy.

Please leave me a review. I would greatly appreciate it. See you next time!