Hopper sat in the chair and knew his mind was no longer his own. Whatever they had injected him with had surged through his veins and seemed slowly to be devouring his senses; he could barely hold his head up. They wanted El and he had refused, but it seemed the choice was no longer his to make.
The man, still dressed in his suit, smiled at him. Hopper noticed how large his teeth were and discoloured too; he must be a smoker, he thought and suddenly wondered if his own teeth were yellow.
He felt the sweat prickle all over his body and then the woman smiled at him. She still held the needle in her hand. She had enjoyed slowly sticking it in his vein and watching as it took over his body, like a slow spreading poison.
"If you call her" the man said. "She will come, and there will be no need to hurt the others." Hopper shook his head; it was all he could manage. As his eyes closed, the man's smile widened.
He was somewhere dark, and he was afraid, but he was more afraid for El. He had to stay strong. He had to fight whatever it was they were doing to him, weakening his mind, making him think of her. He realised, too late, she was already there, searching.
"No El" he said. "Go back!"
El wanted Hopper back.
She looked at Mike.
"This isn't your choice" she said to him. She could see him almost shaking with fury. "Thank you for being worried, but it's the only way."
"It's dangerous and…stupid!"
"Stupid?" She shook her head at him. "I'm stupid for wanting to find Hopper?"
"No!" Mike said and dragged his fingers through his hair in agitation. "I didn't mean it like that, but it's stupid if it means you're going to get hurt."
El offered him a small smile. How could she explain that she didn't care if she got hurt? How could she tell him, that without Hopper in her life, she no longer felt happy? He grounded her and when she was reminded of her terrible past, he made her eggos, put on bad music and sang along and it would make her laugh.
She had to find him. She owed it to him.
"I'm doing this Mike" she said. "With, or without you." She looked at Robin and nodded. "I'm ready" she said.
"Wait!" Everyone looked at Mike. "If you're really going to do this, at least let me be there."
El thought of the shadow she had felt before. She knew it was waiting for her and it scared her, but she had to do it alone. She shook her head.
"It's not like before" she said. "I have to be alone and lying down, almost asleep…"
"Then what?" Mike asked interrupting her.
El shrugged. "Then I wait."
"I still don't understand what's happening" Robin said. They were all standing in her bedroom. An eclectic space with a huge desk and what looked like an old racing car chair and purple walls adorned with movie posters. She nudged Steve. "What is she waiting for?" she whispered. "Is that creature back?"
Steve shrugged. He knew it wasn't that, but he couldn't pretend he understood El's powers; he just liked to keep his distance in case she decided she didn't much like him. He had seen what she had done to the Mind Flayer.
"Why don't we all just leave her." Max said. El looked at her and smiled.
"Easy for you to say" Mike mumbled.
"No Mike, it isn't." Max glared at him. "El is my friend too you know, and I don't want her to get hurt either, but she needs to do this because she would never forgive herself if she didn't try."
"And what about the rest of us?" Will was leaning against Robin's doorframe. He looked directly at El. "What happens, if that thing, is there waiting for you? What happens if you bring it back?"
"I won't bring it back" El said.
"What if it's the Mind Flayer and he's tricking you?"
"Like a Jedi mind trick?" Everyone turned to look at Robin. Behind her on the wall was a poster of 'Return of the Jedi'.
Dustin walked over to her and removed his cap. "I stand in the presence of greatness" he said and bowed his head.
"What does your child want Steve?" Robin asked feeling very uncomfortable.
"Back away Dustin" Steve said.
Dustin looked up. "She's right though" he said indignantly. He looked around at everyone. "Don't you see, that is exactly what it is?" He shook his head and sighed. He wished Suzie didn't live so far away; she would understand.
"This is not the time or the place Dustin" Mike said irritably.
Lucas turned to Will. "The Mind Flayer died Will" he said kindly, but Will was scared, he could feel something bad coming. He touched the back of his neck. If it wasn't the Mind Flayer, it was something else.
"Yeah and we killed the Domogorgan too didn't we?" Will laughed without humour. "We've killed them all" he said. "But something always wants to come back and now the gate is closed…"
"Nothing can hurt us" Max said. She smiled as if to allay his fears.
Will looked at her and shook his head, then he turned back to El. "Now the gate is closed" he said again, "maybe the way out is through you."
No one said anything. Mike looked at Will and saw his fear, but what he was saying made terrible sense. He looked back at El licking his dry lips.
"What if he's right" he said quietly.
"I won't bring it back" El said with cold determination. She looked at Robin. "Can you turn on your radio now?"
"I have this" Robin said. She went over to a grey, square box that had a clear, plastic lid. She lifted it up. "And you don't want to listen to music?" she asked. She still had no clue what was going on. El shook her head. "Okay, so I'm hoping this will work otherwise I will have to borrow Nana's radio and that will really piss her off."
Robin pressed a button and a small red light flicked on. She lifted a long arm and moved it across the black disc that was rotating at the centre.
"The Bangles" Dustin said leaning over. He made a purring sound. Robin looked at him with derision and Dustin backed off. "Just saying" he said indignantly.
Robin put the arm down and a scratchy noise filled the room. She turned a dial and the noise grew louder.
"Does that work?"
El nodded and settled back onto Robin's bed. In her hand, she held a towel.
"Please leave me now" she said. She looked at Mike pointedly. "All of you."
El found herself drifting, floating almost. She felt peaceful, but she didn't want to feel peaceful. She wanted to find Hopper. She took a deep breath and concentrated. The noise filled her head and carried her away from Robin's room. She was outside and it was dark and mottled clouds were hurtling across the sky as if a storm was brewing. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or she was awake and looking for him.
She let it happen.
And then she felt something. It was the feeling of someone breathing down her neck. She tried to look behind her, but she couldn't turn around.
"Find me Hop" she said. The feeling of the thing behind her was distracting her and she knew the search was already over; she would never be able to find him now. She had to get out of the void she was caught in, but she didn't know how.
The bad feeling grew, and the grey was everywhere.
Then she heard him. She tried ignoring the thing that crept behind her and concentrate on Hopper, and then she heard him again. "No, El" he said. His voice was muffled, strained. "Go back."
She wanted to call him, so he knew she was there, but she could only think it. Where are you Hop? She thought. Where are you?
And then below her, white amidst the grey, was a van with writing on its side. She moved towards it and she saw it was waiting at a gate and there were men armed with guns. She moved closer, but the thing moved with her, like a shadow. The van began to blur as the grey crept around her, but she knew she had to find away. She willed herself to focus on the van; she saw letters, blurred at first, but then they formed words and it was all she needed.
Now she had to get out. She blotted out the emptiness of the void and listened for the sound again; it was there somewhere, the comforting scratch of a needle on a record, moving over the ridges as the record went round and round.
She caught the sound and she opened her eyes. She sat up, breathing heavily.
"Mike!" she called. She heard footsteps on the stairs as everyone thundered up, but Mike appeared in the doorway; he had been sitting outside the room. He looked ashen. He walked over to the bed and touched El's hand as the others tumbled into the room.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
El nodded. "I found him" she said. She smiled. "He's in Alaska."
Thoughts?