Well, hello! It's been a crazy few days hasn't it? Brooklyn Nine-Nine was cancelled and uncancelled, Lucifer was cancelled, Eurovision did a thing where they robbed Australia and I will hear nothing more on that subject, Childish Gambino changed the world and reiterated his status as the perfect human, and well a president far, far away is resolute on that plan to end the world. So yeah, I've gone grey.
Anyway, enjoy part 2 of Saturday II! this might be my last update until June because life is meaningless but I must pay taxes. Thank you for sticking with me so far, as always let me know what you think.
SilverNightmares: I was anxious writing it tbh! It was a hard decision to have Alison and Daniel separate from the others but the way I see it at this point they thought it was only Dart and they were kinda going in a different direction than the trap. from a plot perspective I really didn't want to have them just slotting into the original story, I've done my best to minimise it so they feel more genuine with their own problems and solutions.
Miaow0: Thanks! I usually update what is every second Sunday here in Australia, I am taking a small break this month and I'll be back in June, I'm a chapter ahead so I kinda wanna get back to being 3 ahead... just gotta find some time. Thank you for the support :)
Take a trip into my garden
I've got so much to show
The fountains and the water
Are begging just to know
Bloom - Troye Sivan
The Byers house was small but homey, however, many monsters had tried to haunt it. Allison had no real memory of arriving at the family home, her last coherent thought before she was being pushed into Mrs Byers car had been an urge to run back into the infested lab to find her Father. That was fourteen minutes ago; it felt longer to her, somehow it was only fourteen minutes. At least that's what her watch had blinked at her from her wrist as she stared at her lap.
They had left him there. He had demanded it, but she barely put up a fight. She had been scared and believed him when he said he would be right behind her. He was trapped in that lab with those things that had killed Bob and Allison honestly didn't know if he was alive or dead. But she couldn't think about that, couldn't have those thoughts when it seemed the world was coming down around her ears. Allison pushed them away and excused herself from the silent kitchen where the others sat waiting- except for Mrs Byers who had escaped to her room for solace.
The cool air brushed her skin the moment the flywire door swung open, allowing her into the still night. Carefully, Allison set herself onto one of the many chairs that lined the porch avoiding the white love seat. It was the least of her worries right now, but Allison didn't want to add to Joyce's troubles by soaking her ivory furniture in blood.
Her quiet moment lasted seconds when the silent night was interrupted by the sound of tires crushing gravel and Chief Hopper rolled to a stop, Jonathan, and Nancy only seconds behind. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw the passenger door open and Steve jumped out followed quickly by Dustin, Lucas, and Max. They were all dirty but thankfully unscathed. Allison could see the fatigue that traced each of their faces even from several feet away, somehow, they were safe, it settled her frazzled mind if only for a moment.
"Alli! Are you okay? You didn't use the walkie." Dustin asks when he sees her descend the step to shuffle to the car gingerly. His eyes looked like they were set to fall from his face as he took her in, she thought it was a fair reaction; Allison felt like her bottom half looked like Carrie after the prom.
She had spent the entire day with her heart in her throat doing manual labour, no she wasn't okay. She was sore and her small but pesky injury from the lab wasn't helping matters. "Yeah, Squirt just a little bruised. You guys alright?" Allison replies, placing a hand on the younger kid's shoulder in support and squeezing briefly. "We didn't really have time to use it, honestly."
"We're all okay just tired. I'm gonna go inside and see the others, we have to figure out how to defeat this thing before it's too late." Dustin gestures to the door with a deep frown before waving Steve over who had been watching the pair longingly but had found himself stuck in a conversation with the Chief. "Steve, you need to help Allison off her ankle, she's sprained it."
Hopper watches the girl with a disapproving look, encouraging Steve with a nod of his head. Gaping at the curly haired boy, Allison turns as he walks toward the house. "How did you know I sprained my ankle?" Steve had stepped up behind her and placed his hands gingerly on her upper arms while she stared at the boy dumbfounded.
"It's my job to know when a party member is injured, Alli. You're lucky I've deemed you important enough for a healer of I would have left you behind, travellers with injuries tend to be dead weight." He replied smugly before turning to the house, Lucas and Max following behind him.
"Hopper told him." Steve sighed in exasperation, guiding his friend to the step, and helping her sit. "Is this yours?" He asked worriedly, taking in the blood that stained the left leg of her jeans and the knee of her right. Allison shook her head and watched as Steve knelt before her, rolling up the hem of her jeans carefully avoiding the still sticky blood before removing her now crimson tennis shoe and rolling down her stained white sock. "Has anyone looked at this yet?" He frowns down at her ankle, his finger brushing against the rapidly burgeoning swelling, strands of dark hair falling into his face.
"No, we only got here a couple of minutes ago." Two minutes ago. His fingers press into the flesh below her ankle and Allison hisses in pain, attempting to pull her foot from Steve's grasp in reaction. He mumbles an apology but continues to prod, earning a cacophony of swears and curses from the pretty brunette.
A towel is waved in her face, surprising Allison. Her eyes meet a concerned looking Jonathan who holds the tea-towel out to her. "You have some blood on your face." Is all he says before stepping away. Steve beats Allison to the towel and raises it to her face gently.
"I can do it." She snaps, taking the towel from an understanding Steve. Allison scrubs her face ruthlessly, her breath quickening with every swipe. She feels Steve's hand squeezing her shoulder in support but refuses to stop scrubbing her face with the damp towel until he grabs her hands within his own.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's gone, it's gone, I promise." Steve spoke gently, still holding her hands that squeeze the towel tightly. He watches as her blue eyes fill with tears and he swallows painfully, the hurt and terror he finds within them stuns him. Whatever happened to her in that lab traumatized her in a way he didn't think he would ever fully understand. As quickly as her fear had surfaced it was gone again, leaving the fierce expression he had grown familiar with these last few days. "It's okay to be scared, Alli." He reassures, "We're all like completely terrified."
Allison stares into his dark eyes, always so open and expressive and sighs, relinquishing her grip on the towel to him. She can see a few spots of blood on its clean surface and looks back to Steve's face quickly, trying to calm herself. "You don't act terrified. Hell, Dustin is cracking jokes like it's any other day." She sighs again, "Great now I'm jealous of a thirteen-year old's resolve; gag me." The corner of Steve's lips turns up slightly, but he nods in understanding, wiping her left cheek once- twice, before dropping the towel beside her and returning to her injured ankle.
Allison stares at her blood covered leg while Steve continues his ministrations, soothingly reassuring her as he does. The blood drying into her favourite jeans doesn't cause the beginnings of another panic attack and at that moment she's thankful- even when the lifeless eyes that had met her own when she fell flashed in her mind. Allison doesn't know if that's strength or trauma.
"It's pretty bad, Edwards. I'm afraid your running career is gonna take a hit for a few days. Let's get you inside and we'll get something cold to reduce the swelling." He begins righting her sock, "You're lucky a life as a Basketball player has prepared me for this moment." Steve pats her dry leg with an apologetic smile, collecting her shoe before rising with a low grunt. Okay so not as small an injury as she'd hoped but she knew she would manage.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you, Harrington."
"It doesn't matter. How'd this happen anyway? Hopper wasn't too forthcoming on the details, just said you'd hurt yourself." Steve queries, offering her both his hands and pulling her to her feet when she accepted them.
"Let's just… get this planning stuff out of the way and then I'll tell ya the whole story, I want to hear about your night as well." Allison shifted, her exhausted sigh turning into a squeak of surprise when Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up the step to avoid any weight on her injured ankle.
Allison turned her head over Steve's shoulder as he helped her through the door and found Nancy and Jonathan watching them with a reserved gaze. She hadn't realised they were still outside and Allison turned away quickly, embarrassed, and sure her friends still thought she was evil from the hard masks they both wore.
"Can one of you shits get something from the freezer for Edwards' ankle?" Steve orders as he enters the kitchen, his arm still thrown around a grimacing Allison's waist who had mumbled to the teen several times already that she was more than capable of walking on her own.
Gripping onto his arm tightly as he lowers her into the seat Lucas had just vacated, Allison grunts with the effort to keep her weight off her left leg, her right leg strained. Finally seated she sighs in relief only to shout as a cold bag of peas presses directly into her skin.
"Grab that towel from over there." Lucas hands the cream tea-towel to Steve who wraps the peas before lifting her leg onto the table, so her ankle was raised and gently placing the peas down.
"Is that like really necessary? Let's leave the theatrics to the drama department, shall we?" Allison huffs trying to remove her leg from the table only to feel Steve's firm hand on her calf.
"Trust me, you want to keep it elevated." Was all he said his hand moving from her calf down to keep light pressure on the peas on her ankle. She felt foolish but realised no one was paying any attention, Nancy and Jonathan were still outside and Hopper and Mrs Byers were nowhere to be seen. The kids that surrounded her each looked tired and deep in thought at their next move. They were too young for this shit, she had been jealous of Dustin's resolve a few minutes before but now she just felt sorry for him and the others. They were children and Allison felt her anger rise at the idea that this secret was being carried by a bunch of middle-schoolers who didn't deserve anything but the chance to enjoy their childhoods.
"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins A.V?" Mike speaks quietly having made his way over to a small pile of board games on the coffee table. "He petitioned the school and everything, then he had a fundraiser for equipment." Allison watches his pale face light up with a brief smile as he watches his friends. "Mr Clarke learned everything from him." He continued, "Pretty awesome right?"
Daniel nods with a sad smile, leaning back against the counter behind Max who looks at Mike, Lucas, and Dustin with sorrow. "We can't let him die in vain."
"Well, what do ya wanna do, Mike? The Chief's right on this we can't stop those Demodogs on our own." Dustin snapped at his friend. Allison turns her head toward the girl just behind her from the angle Steve had placed her leg and sees a raised eyebrow from the redhead who shifts in her chair.
"Demodogs?"
Dustin begins to explain the workings of a compound to the girl who puts her hands up in surrender. "It doesn't matter what we call them, the point is Dustin's right. Maybe when it was just Dart." Daniel speaks up in frustration, pushing a hand through his messy hair, leaning against the counter.
"But there's an army now." Lucas continues dejectedly.
"Exactly." Dustin finishes with a sigh, clasping his hands together on the table.
Silence fills the kitchen again then suddenly Mike speaks again. "His army." He reveals quietly, his eyes downcast as he works through his thoughts.
"What do you mean?" Steve asks, his hand resting on the back of Allison's chair as he watched the black-haired kid.
"His army! Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army too." With that, he whirls around heading toward the hallway in the lounge the others following quickly behind him.
Steve quickly pulls Allison's sock over the home-made ice pack to keep it in place when he realises he won't be able to keep her still and helps her follow. Down the dark hallway that had been littered with drawings of what Allison thought were blue tree roots. "These are the tunnels" Allison realises glancing over them with astonishment.
Will had done an amazing job before he had been taken over. Steve frowns at her and she promises to explain everything later. They walk in finding the five of them huddled around a crayon drawing of a spindly legged creature. "The Shadow Monster?" Dustin asks in confusion.
"It got Will that day in the field. The Doctors said it was like a virus, it infected him." Mike stated, glancing at Daniel and Dustin.
"And so, this virus it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asks looking at the drawings posted on Will's walls.
"To the tunnels, to the monsters, to the Upside Down. Everything!" Mike finished in a rush.
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, slow down." Steve soothes, confusion lining his face.
"Okay so the Shadow Monsters inside everything, and if the vines feel something like pain then so does Will."
"And so does Dart," Lucas adds.
"Yeah. It's like what Mr Clarke taught us, the hive mind." Mike finishes quickly. Each of his friends nodding in understanding, processing what this could mean. Allison stands beside Steve who crosses his arms while he watches the conversation play out.
"Hive mind?" He asks,
Dustin peers at him with wide eyes. "A collective consciousness, it's a superorganism."
"And this is the thing that controls everything." Mike points at the drawing in his hand tapping his finger against it.
"So, it's the brain?" Allison asks, frowning at the drawing, thinking its process sounded familiar to a movie or game Daniel had mentioned once.
"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin exclaims, Lucas, snapping his fingers at him in recognition.
"The what?" Steve and Max say at the same time. Allison suddenly remembers Daniel talking about the Mind Flayer just a few days ago, he had mentioned that it was the monster Mike had chosen as the most dangerous in the D&D world and Daniel had agreed with him.
The kids gathered everyone into the kitchen and after trying to explain that the Mind Flayer needed to die it was Mike who came up with the plan they were all currently enacting- tying up Will Byers and making him reveal something. Nancy sat with Jonathan and Mrs Byers in the kitchen organising tasks for the kids while Steve sat with Allison on the couch across from the small unconscious frame of Will Byers. Hopper had left to clean out the shed as quickly as possible, so Nancy and Steve could start covering the walls with tarps and scraps from around the house to keep Will's location secret from him.
Steve and Allison both watched the boy opposite with a mixture of fear and trepidation while they waited, Allison's foot raised on a few pillows between them. "He doesn't deserve this. He's such a quiet, polite little kid, Steve. He was so nice to my brother when he didn't have to be when he had every reason not to trust people, but he still accepted him and made him apart of his group." Allison whispers, tears making her eyes shine as her gaze meets his. Steve sighs his hands squeezing his denim covered thighs tightly.
"None of them deserve this. I hate that lab for doing this to us." He returns quietly, anger simmering underneath his words. She hated it too. "What happened at the lab? Did you find your Dad?" Steve asks suddenly, throwing his arm over the back of the couch.
Allison swallows before nodding, a few tears finally spilling over. "Umm, yeah, we found him. H-h-he made me leave him be-h-hind." She hiccupped, pushing down the sobs that threatened to burst from her. She couldn't cry, she didn't want to. But she couldn't keep it in anymore and still keep her head straight. Brushing the few tears that had fallen away, her eyes meet her friends and he seems surprised to see the fierce fight in her gaze to stay in control all over again.
"He was locked away in the room with this giant black cavern when he made me leave. It was like a giant horrifying hole of nothingness, Harrington. I've never seen anything like it, it just spewed this white stuff and then it started to act up. My Dad made me leave to go find Daniel and the others. He said he had to take care of this then he was right behind me, I left, and Hopper stayed."
"Act up?" Steve asks concern written in his dark eyes.
"It started making noises and I swear to God it was alive or something. I didn't see anything, but Hopper said those Demodogs came out of it. It's the opening to all those tunnels Will drew." Allison replied, watching a look of realisation cross Steve's features. "What is it?"
"When we tried to catch Dart, we kinda got ambushed. There were so many of them and suddenly they all just turned and ran away. We could hear them, but we couldn't see them, so we followed the noise to the lab. They were underneath us the entire time." It had been plaguing Steve since they found themselves at the lab without coming across a single Demodog. "We didn't know about the tunnels…"
"We didn't know there was more than one… Daniel and I were so lucky, I guess you were right to not want us all to separate." Allison sighs, Steve grimacing in agreement.
He worried his lip thoughtfully. "What happened next?"
Breath shuddering Allison took a moment before continuing. "Hopper said my Dad stayed back because he needed to get everything under control, it couldn't stay unguarded. I don't know where he is, or if he's okay. All I have is what Hopper said, 'He can do more from down their kid, trust me.' I…" Her eyes drift over to Daniel, who is sifting through the pantry while Max and Mike sit on the floor next to the sink, a serious expression on his young face. "I didn't tell Daniel, I told him Dad wasn't there, that the lady at the front desk must've been confused. I didn't want to scare him. And by the time we got back to Will's room, the Demodogs were inside, there were dead people everywhere and all I could do was make sure Mike and Daniel didn't look."
"I don't want anything to happen to him. We barely even got to talk…" Allison continued, "What if something's happened and I never get the chance to… talk with him."
Staring out the window into the darkness, the growling came back to Allison and she shivered. There had been so much blood in those halls, she wore some of it from the first body they had come across, but nothing could compare to seeing Bob lying on the floor. Hopper pulling Joyce out of the building and over to where Allison guarded the kids. She was sure Bob's lifeless eyes would stay with her forever.
"Was he able to tell you anything? Was he involved in what happened last year?" Steve asked gently, a concerned frown marring his brow. Allison hesitated, darting between his eyes before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Allison." Steve consoled, patting a hand on her foot gently.
He could see there was more to the story in her eyes but decided not to push, for now, Allison needed to rest before the next part of the plan began. Meanwhile, Allison's guilt was eating her up. She'd lied to Steve, she couldn't understand why she was protecting her Dad from his sins. Allison decided she would tell them all the truth once she had found a way back to the lab, despite everything, she needed to know if her Dad was okay. She would find her way back as soon as Will had given them some answers. She would not leave him to sit in that lab alone with those monsters and all that blood.
"You're up, Harrington, Wheeler," Hopper calls through the kitchen, both teens rising quickly from their respective places and following the severe man outside, leaving Allison to play the last few hours out in her head in the following silence.
Dusk had well and truly set in by the time the siblings arrived at the gate to Hawkins Lab. Despite the darkness and the time for the average American family's sit-down dinner well underway, the carpark before them was full and the clinical building ablaze with bright lights. No one sat in the office beside the gate, so the pair headed through, arriving at a wide expanse of glass.
"What if Dad's not here?" Daniel asks concerned, Allison took a deep breath before placing a hand on the metal bar. She had thought about this and was still determined to get some answers, whether that meant accosting someone or snooping, she was prepared to go full 1930's ball-busting Nancy Drew if she had to.
"With or without Dad, we aren't leaving until we get some answers. Let's do this."
Pushing the door open, Allison and Daniel walk through into the silent reception area. An older woman behind the circular wooden desk packing her things glances up in confusion when she spots the siblings. "Can I help you?" She asks, strapping her handbag onto her shoulder.
"Good Evening, I was wondering if you could tell me where I might find Richard Edwards? He's our Dad and we just wanted to bring him something home cooked from our Mother." Allison smiled innocently, jiggling her backpack lightly toward the frowning woman.
Her expression changed instantly as she looks warmly at the two smiling teens before her. "Of course! What sweet children you are to do such a wonderful thing for your Father! I'm sure he will just be thrilled to see you both." Allison and Daniel indulge her in another big smile and she placed a hand on her heart at the sight.
"Why don't you head on over to that elevator and you can find your Dad on level two. He should be in his office if not he will be any minute, he has a phone call in about ten minutes." The lady continued, pointing toward the shiny silver elevator on the opposite side of the room.
"Thank you so much, ma'am. Have a wonderful night!" Daniel says respectfully, Allison guiding him with a wave. They entered the elevator, massive smiles pasted on their faces until the doors close and they both sigh in relief. "I'm not designed to show that much emotion, I'm a pre-teen," Daniel muttered, earning a snort from the other girl.
"God that was torture, is that what being an adult is like? Pretending everything is perfect and people don't drive you mental. Maybe I need to look into some form of immortality elixir; I wonder if they have some in this creepy ass lab." Allison mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully, an annoyed huff coming from her brother.
"Hey," Allison said suddenly surprising the younger Edwards. "What did Harrington say to you when you guys were walking over?"
Daniel smirked, "He told me to tell you to mind your business when you asked about it." Allison's eyes narrowed in annoyance, Daniel knew her weakness was not knowing things, apparently, Steve had figured it out as well. "He just told me to make sure we look out for each other. I told him if you found out he thought you couldn't look after yourself there would be hell to pay." Allison chuckled, she already knew he had learnt that lesson.
The elevator doors opened revealing a long white hallway, it was empty and held the same chemical scent as a hospital. The siblings made their way to the end of the hallway together, Daniel spotting a woman with messy brunette hair, wearing a set of blue scrubs walking into a room on the left. "She looks like she works here, let's ask her where dad is." Daniel decided, marching over before Allison can respond.
Daniel knocked on the door before opening it, his jaw dropped, and Allison peaked over him to see into the room. Will Byers laid in the white hospital bed, pale and unconscious. Beside him sat a forlorn Mike Wheeler who watched his friend helplessly. A tall man stood beside the small woman they had followed also in light blue scrubs both frowning at the siblings in confusion.
"Can we help you?" The woman asked, her tired eyes running between the pair. Mike looked up from his friend spotting them and standing quickly.
"Daniel? Alli? What are you doing here? How did you know Will was here?" He asked quickly, approaching his newest friend with a defensive edge. Daniel's eyes fall to his friend on the bed and he shook his head, stare falling on Mike again.
"We didn't. We came to see our Dad, he works here."
"Your Dad works here! Why didn't you tell us? Wait, did you know about all this, how long has your Dad worked here?" Mike demanded, stepping away in anger. The woman, Allison assumed was Will's Mom. Made her way around the bed, placing a gentle hand on Mike's shoulder.
"Mike-"
"No! Did you know? Did you know about Will or El?" Mike shouted at Daniel and Allison who both watch him sadly.
"We didn't know until last night, Dustin told us everything that happened last year. We moved here so our Father could work at the lab permanently, but he has been coming here on business trips for about a year. We don't know what he knows, it's why we're here." Allison spoke calmly to the boy, "Dustin is with Lucas, Max, and Steve. Dart grew into a Demogorgon/Dog hybrid thing and they are trying to catch him. Somethings happening again." She finishes in a rush.
"Steve? As in Steve Harrington?" Mike asked in disbelief, his reserved gaze still now quite sure if he could trust them or not.
"Yeah, Dustin couldn't reach anyone, he's really worried about you and Will," Allison says glancing at the boy on the bed worriedly. "Is he okay?" The woman behind Mike squeezed his shoulder again and shook her head, tears filling her eyes.
"We don't know."
"Is it because of his episodes?" Daniel asked Mike, who shrugged, arms crossed.
"I think so." He seemed pensive for a moment before continuing, "I think whatever is causing this, the Shadow Monster, it's related to the tunnels, the episodes, Dart, everything. You remember how Will reacted to Dart when he first saw him, I think he knew something." Mrs Byers nodded in agreement confirming that after the episode Mike had witnessed at school that day she had brought him to the lab.
"How are we going in here- Oh! Richard's children, he has the most precious photo of the two of you on his desk, it's quite sweet. I'm Doctor Owens, your Father's boss. Now how did you find your way in here?" He exclaimed in an overly exuberant tone, Allison found it disconcerting that he appeared 1. Absolutely fine with children roaming his secret lab. And 2. That he appeared upbeat while Will laid unconscious just a few feet away.
Allison frowned, her eyes finding Daniel's before she repeated the lie she had told the receptionist, unsure if she should tell him the truth. Mrs Byers tossed a small smile of reassurance before telling him the truth. "We've come for answers, something is happening in Hawkins and we plan on getting to the bottom of it."
Doctor Owens raised his brows slightly at the fierce tone the teenager had adopted. His previously cheery smile fell, and he nodded in understanding. "We are aware of the current situation and we're working to fix it. I was just about to take the Chief on a little excursion, how about you join me, my dear. We might be able to find Doctor Edwards on the way." He replied in an even voice, regarding Allison thoughtfully.
Nodding in agreement, Allison glanced at the stony face of the Chief, who stepped up beside Mrs Byers and placed a hand on her shoulder affectionately. The woman looked up at him with a smile before guiding Mike back to his seat and pulling up another for Daniel.
"I want to go with you." Daniel frowned, shaking off the gentle hand Mrs Byers- Joyce as she insisted on being called- placed on his arm.
"You can't, Buddy. I promise I'll be back as soon as possible and I'll tell you everything I learn from Dad, okay?" Allison placated, she pulled her brother into a tight hug, attempting to calm his worry. "I'll see you soon." Daniel nodded, allowing Joyce to guide him to the seat beside Mike. "Let's get going then." She said turning from the room with the two men behind her.
Seeing her Dad in his white lab coat, tired and unshaven was a surprise. She had never seen the toll his job took on him, she had never understood. The room was large and white, people sat at desks or milled around equipment. Her Dad was in an office at the very back of the room with glass separating the room they had walked into. He had rushed out, fear on his face as he watched his only Daughter stand in front of the thing he had tried to keep her from.
Hidden behind a thick glass was an endless dark hole. Allison watched a white substance float in the air above it, like ash that had been caught in the wind. It felt alive, it breathed and exhaled more white flakes. Hopper stood beside her, he placed a hand on her shoulder when she went to stand closer. "Trust me, Kid, that's not something you want to be closer to."
"What is it?" She asked.
"The entrance to a series of tunnels underneath the entire town. It's the Upside Down." Hopper replied, not taking his eyes from the hole.
"Allison?"
She turned finding her Dad watching her with wide eyes. "Dad, we need to talk." She said calmly. Her face set in stone while the older man's eyes darted between her and his boss. "Right now."
She was terrified but refused to show it as she followed her Father back into the office. He closed the door and turned to her, he raised his arms as if to embrace her and she stepped back, raising a hand to stop him. "I want to know everything, I need to know what you know, what you've done. My friends are out there right now risking their lives to stop whatever is roaming around."
Richard sighed, he stepped around his desk and sank into his seat, his hand messing up his dark hair. "Kid, I don't know what you've been told but you need to understand that this lab is doing everything it can to fix its past mistakes."
"Past mistakes? You mean holding children against their will and torturing them? Turning them into little weapons. Or was the mistake attempting to kill anybody who knew? Including four children." Arms crossed, Allison felt her voice rising until she ran the air from her lungs. "Were you involved? Did you help them torture that poor girl, Eleven?"
Richard watched his daughter sadly before nodding once. A tear slipped down her cheek but was wiped away as quickly as it fell. "You need to understand- I thought I was doing the right thing. I was taught that Eleven was going to be able to single-handedly keep us safe from whatever threatened the country. We realised our mistakes, what happened will never happen again."
"And what about the Upside Down? Why is it a secret when it's an active danger to this town?" Allison spits, unable to wrap her mind around what her Father had done. He had helped to torture children then came to his own.
"I'm the only person from the lab who still works here and has even an inkling of understanding of how this other world works. We thought it was over, we thought we had it under control enough to study it."
Allison huffs a laugh, hands holding onto her upper arms tightly. "You were all too busy playing scientist to notice that you were putting everyone in danger. You've all learned nothing." She pushed a hand through her messy hair roughly and forced herself to breathe deeply. "Does Mom know?"
Richard shook his head quickly, "You can't tell her, Alli. I kept this from all of you on purpose, you are in incredible danger now. Ever since I started working at this lab last year, I've done everything I can to keep you all safe. You have to believe I thought I was doing the right thing." He pauses for a moment, running a hand over his face before standing and coming to stand in front his young girl. Gingerly he took her hands in his.
"Kid, I promise I will tell you anything you want to know, but I can't do it here. I'm gonna take you home, okay? It's not safe here." He hesitates for a moment, "I just need you to understand, everything that happened here, that is still happening here is for a good cause-"
"I will never believe that torturing children and putting people in danger is something good!" Allison cut him off, pulling her hands away. Tears began to fall faster than she could push them away. "I've idolized you my whole life, I thought you were the hero, but you're a monster." She sobbed, Richard's eyed filled and he opened his mouth to respond a loud grumble stopped him in his tracks.
"You need to go, right now!" Richard shouted, running back around to his desk, and opening a drawer. Seconds later a loud alarm began to sound in the room. "Allison, you need to leave."
"What's going on?" She replied, watching as the people in the other room scrambled about. She could see Hopper yelling at Doctor Owens.
"I don't know, but I need to get it under control and I can't do that while you're here. Take the Byers with you." Her Dad shouted he rushed back around to her. "I will be right behind you."
"Daniel's with the Byers now. Come with me Dad, I don't want to leave you here." Allison shouts as another rumble sounds. Richard grabs onto her hand and hauls her toward the exit. Hopper spots them and gestures for her to leave.
"I'll be right behind you, kid. Get everyone ready." Hopper shouted.
"Keep your Brother safe, Alli. Go now!" Richard shouted. Allison nodded taking in the scared eyes of her Father one last time before sprinting from the room, taking the emergency stairs down to Daniel and the others.
She made it there in less than a minute, Joyce grabbing her worriedly when she entered. "We need to go right now. Hopper's right behind me." Sure enough, seconds later Hopper entered out of breath and panicked. "Where's my Dad?"
"He can do more down there, Kid, trust me. We need to leave."
Together they planned, and then they left. Allison slipped in the blood of the first body they'd come across. She remembered opening her eyes and finding lifeless brown staring back. The man's once white lab coat was now stained in red, his middle pulverized by the never-ending teeth a Demodog. Hopper was holding an unconscious Will but had yanked her up by her sweater while Joyce protected Mike and Daniel's eyes.
Everyone was gone, she realised, looking around the empty house. Allison wished she wasn't injured if only, so she could have a task to take her mind off what she had seen in the last few hours. She thought of Dustin and his joking nature again, it was crazy to her that mere hours ago she had been laughing at the boys, teasing Steve, and jumping off buses.
Maybe it was naïve, the carefree attitude she had adopted in the beginning, she had hidden behind her logic, it told her none of this was real. Seeing Bob being ripped to pieces by the delightfully named Demodogs had stolen those last shreds of doubt from her mind. It had come as a shock to her and Daniel to realise there had been possibly hundreds of these creatures roaming the town while they walked in the dark earlier that night, they really had no idea what they were up against while they were making those stupid plans to capture Dart.
The first tear was hard to let go but it broke the dam that had built up inside her. She abandoned her façade of being brave in her solitude, for the first time since Allison had left her Father in that room, she allowed herself to cry. She cried for him, and Bob, and all those people who had died in sterile hallways. Then she cried for her friends, and the kids, and Joyce and Hopper. Finally, she cried for herself, Allison had never been the type to show her tears, she rarely ever cried, but the last 48 hours had worn her down. The worst part, this was all far from over.