whoops this update is really short. but this chapter is definitely setting up for the next few so please bare with me! we're really building up to something here so I promise it will (hopefully) be with the wait.
A crowd almost identical to the Wheeler's Christmas party filled the living room though there was no spirit in the air. The room was silent while Charlie paced in front of the television that was still set to static. From where he sat on the couch Steve could practically feel her nervousness and despite how badly he wanted to reach out for her he kept his distance for the time being. She needed time to process what she'd seen. Every few minutes her eyes would meet his and she would flash him a small smile. Using her powers she would let him know she was grateful that he was there with her.
"Wait, go over it one more time." Max said, sitting between Lucas and Dustin on the floor. "What exactly did it say?"
"It didn't say anything." Charlie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't hear its thoughts like I do with humans. It's like… I could feel them. Does that make sense?"
"No."
Charlie rolled her eyes and stopped pacing, turning to face the group. "What did you guys do last year? How did you defeat it?"
"Well we didn't really defeat it, did we?" Nancy asked. "I mean it's still alive. We just made sure it couldn't get out again. At least we thought we did."
"But what happened?" Charlie pressed.
Will, who had been silent since he entered the house, finally spoke up. "It possessed me." He said, his voice quiet. Everyone felt silent while they listened to him. "A little bit every day for a year until it finally took full control over me."
Charlie crossed the room to where he sat in the recliner, kneeling down in front of him so they were the same height. "How did they get it out?" she asked softly.
"It likes the cold." He told her. "They had to burn it out of me."
She looked up at Joyce who stood behind her son. "What exactly happened when it came out of him?"
Joyce shifted, visibly uncomfortable talking about the possession of her son. "This black mass came out of him and flew out the door and he was fine." She said. "I don't know what it was, though."
"That was its soul." Charlie said, pushing herself to her feet again. "Was that before or after Eleven closed the gate?"
"Before." Hopper answered.
She walked up to the front of the room and began pacing again, tapping her pointer finger against her chin. "So that's how to get it to leave its host, but that doesn't help us right now. We need to know how to kill it before it can open the gate again."
"The Mind Flayer's an all powerful being that's lived for centuries." Mike said. "It can't be killed."
"Everything that has a weakness can be killed." Charlie shot back. "Its weakness is fire, therefore it can be killed. How?"
Everyone fell silent again, the only sound in the room being the television and the floor creaking under Charlie's footsteps. Steve's eyes scanned the faces of his friends, hoping someone would be able to come up with a solution since he sure as hell couldn't. Part of him wished he'd been able to talk Charlie and Eleven out of going into the void so the whole situation could have been avoided. But he knew if he had the gate would have likely been opened again.
"I closed the gate." Eleven said quietly, her arms crossed against her chest as she leaned on the wall next to the television. "It can't get out again."
"The more times the gate is opened and closed the weaker it gets." Charlie told her, her voice sounding more sympathetic than before. "It's not your fault. You're one person. But if we kill the Mind Flayer I doubt anything else in there is powerful enough to open it. We just have to figure out how."
"There is way." Dustin spoke up from the floor. "But we can't do it."
Charlie raised an eyebrow at him. "What is it?"
"If we trap the soul of the Mind Flayer in our world we could theoretically kill it. Eleven could use her powers to hold it still while someone lights it on fire." Dustin explained. "But there's no way to bring the soul of the Mind Flayer here without putting it inside a host, which we don't have."
"We have a host." Charlie said.
"And who's the host?" Lucas asked skeptically.
"Me."
Steve immediately pushed himself to his feet, hurrying over to her. "No, no way." He said. "Absolutely not. I'm not gonna let you get possessed, Charlie. We just have to think of something else."
"Give me another idea and I'll gladly do it." She shot back. "But if this is our only option we have to do it and you know it."
Steve remembered how Will had been when he was possessed. Tied down so he wouldn't hurt anyone, his eyes void of any recognition when he saw them. There was not a trace of the caring boy that had gone missing the year before. He was totally and completely lost while the Mind Flayer took over. Even the thought of Charlie going through a fraction of that made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Then we'll figure something else out." He insisted. "But there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you do this. You can't."
"If you won't let me I'll do it by myself." Charlie said, just as stubborn as he was. "If the gate opens and the Mind Flayer gets out it will kill everyone. Starting with the people that locked it up last time. You guys. You know it's unfair to protect me instead of protecting the entire human race."
He knew. He just didn't want to admit it.
"Steve's right." Hopper said, leaning his elbows on his knees. "We need to think of something else. It's too dangerous."
"Well I'm all ears to any other ideas."
Everyone fell silent once more, each of them looking to each other to volunteer a different plan. The more time passed without a different solution the more Steve felt himself start to panic. How would he be able to live with himself if he let her get possessed by the Mind Flayer? Especially if something happened to her. Of course he didn't want the gate to be opened. But the idea of the Mind Flayer getting lose and someone he cared for so much getting hurt were equally terrifying.
She turned towards him, reaching for his hand. "I can do this." She said once his fingers were laced through hers. "I'm better equipped to do it than anyone because of my powers."
"Let me do it." Steve offered in a last-ditch attempt to get her to change her mind. "I'll get possessed by the Mind Flayer. I don't care."
"I care." She insisted. "It has to be me and you know it."
It was clear no one was thrilled about the idea of Charlie becoming a host. But it was equally clear that no one had any other idea of what to do. Reluctantly they set on making a plan on what to do.
Charlie, Eleven, Steve, and Hopper would break into the lab, all armed. Steve and Hopper would make sure that the girls didn't get attacked by any monsters that may have broken out. When they got to the gate Eleven would use her powers to get Charlie as close as she could before she offered herself as a host. Once she was possessed she would be tranquilized, blindfolded, and handcuffed while they brought her to Hopper's trailer so that the Mind Flayer would have no clue where it was.
While they went to the lab everyone else would be at the trailer preparing. All the doors and windows would be boarded up so the soul of the Mind Flayer couldn't escape once it left Charlie's body. She would be tied down so it couldn't fight back and they would try to burn it out of her without hurting her. Once the Mind Flayer left her body Eleven would use her powers to keep it from escaping and they would light it on fire. And, hopefully, it would be killed.
Mike attempted to insist he come with them to the lab to keep Eleven safe but eventually they got him to agree to go with the others to the trailer. Using several cars they all left to drive to the other side of town to get ready. Once they were gone Steve found Charlie in the back yard, sitting on the back steps and staring out at the Wheeler's yard.
She held his varsity jacket close against her body, one of her legs bouncing up and down. He could tell even before he sat down next to her that she was nervous. She had been attempting to hide it in front of everyone but didn't do a very good job. Once he was next to her she moved closer to him.
"I don't want you to do this." He told her.
"I know." Charlie turned to face him, grabbing his hand and setting it in her lap. "I'll be okay." She said, though she didn't sound as certain as she did before. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Where do I start?"
She smiled, the expression almost meeting her eyes. "I'll be okay." She repeated.
Steve angled his body to face hers, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a kiss on her knuckle. Charlie was absolutely remarkable. He wasn't the type of person who typically believed in fate and destiny, and he never had until recently. There was a reason Charlie had come back to Hawkins after so many years. There was a reason she had chosen his house to dig through his garbage. There was a reason his parents had went away particularly long.
He needed her to be okay. He was undoubtedly going to fall in love with her if he hadn't already. Being around Charlie, seeing her be more comfortable with him than she was with anyone else, finally made him sure he was meant to be in Hawkins.
"I'll make you pancakes for the rest of your life after this." He told her. "And I'll buy you every record from the Beatles, and I'll never let someone like Billy even look at you again."
"You're too good for me, Steve Harrington."
"I'm not."
She leaned in and pressed her lips against his, every cell in his body lighting up like a Christmas tree at the contact. Her hands ran gently through his hair while his landed on her small waist. Despite the early January chill he was perfectly warm. Though she had insisted that she would be okay it was clear they both knew they might only have a little more time together. There were a million things Steve had wanted to do with her and realizing they might not have all the time in the world was suffocating.
"Please don't leave me." He mumbled against her lips, every ounce of fear he felt clear in his voice.
Charlie's lips left his as she began placing short kisses up his jaw. "I won't."
They both knew she was just saying it to make him feel better.