Here's the next chapter!
Kali kept running and screaming, "Jonathan!" She thought she lost sight of the monster, so she kept yelling his name.
"Kali!" she heard him shout out faintly. She stopped and turned to the direction it came from desperately.
"Jonathan?!"
...
Terry suddenly stopped and looked terrified when she heard Kali's screams. She felt stiff in utter shock that one of her daughters was here. Was SHE the one she was chasing after? All this time...? She couldn't be, right? How the hell did she even get here?!
Suddenly, the woman whipped back at the monster growling, seeing its figure not too far off. She began running away from it.
...
Kali heard fast footsteps coming towards her, making her feel more frantic than before and run faster. "Jonathan! Where are you?!"
"I'm right here, Kali! Follow my voice!" She turned to the direction that came from and began running to it.
...
Terry was deciding whether or not to follow her. She had a boy and a girl to find here. She promised her best friend that she will find her son...but her daughter...she was in danger...
She stopped and caught her breath for a second, thinking about what to do. Shortly after though, she turned and saw the monster right there. She gasped and dropped her flashlight, running to a tree and hiding behind it.
...
From an angle, Kali stopped and saw it too, making her do the same. She began catching her breath, being absolutely horrified by what's happening. That monster was near her and she could die at any second...
"Kali! Come on! Follow my voice! I'm right here!" she heard Jonathan call out not too far away. She looked back at the monster, seeing if the coast was clear to go. If that thing was in her sight of running back, then it wasn't...
...
The woman began to take deep breathes and still think about whether or not to chase Kali down. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kali running towards another tree. She went to a conclusion and muttered under her breath, "Goddamn it..."
...
Kali went inside the hole she came from and crawled through it as fast as she could. She could see the hole closing, making her feel more terrified than before. However, the goo looked breakable enough, so she tore right through it with her hand. She felt another hand pull her through the hole until she was finally out and into the woods. She never felt so relieved in her life. Without a second thought, she hugged Jonathan tight, shivering from the cold down there and from the experience she just witnessed.
Jonathan hugged her back just as tight. "It's okay, I got ya," he said to her in a quiet voice. Her heart was racing from the fear and adrenaline that was induced from the experience.
Suddenly, another hand, one covered in white, popped out of the goo too, making them both release their hug and look back at it. They both looked absolutely puzzled and scared. "Wh-what the hell is that?" the auburn-haired guy asked. Kali shook her head as answer, not knowing what the hand was. It didn't look like the monster's, that's for sure.
Another hand tore through as well and they both ripped a hole in the goo, revealing...someone in a hazmat suit. Both of them scooted back a little as the person managed to crawl out of the hole, laying on their back and panting. Both of the teenagers looked at each other and stood up, slowly walking over to the person in the hazmat suit. When they saw their face, their looks of utter shock came, both gasping.
"M-Mum...?" Kali murmured in a shocked tone. It was, in fact, Terry, that came out of that hole.
The woman looked up at her adoptive daughter and whispered, "Kali..."
The hole finally closed itself up, looking like a normal part of a tree again.
In Joyce's house, Hopper was there and earlier, he checked the lights to see if the labs bugged her place, which they thankfully didn't. He then told her about him and Terry discovering that Will's body was a fake and the experience they had in the lab.
"O-okay...and Terry was with you this WHOLE time?" the frantic woman said.
The police chief sighed and nodded. "Up until I got knocked out," he answered, smoking a cigarette she gave him. "I don't know what the hell they did to her. They look to be the type of people to torture her or something. She did tell me that she promised not to come anywhere near there and disclose any information about them."
Joyce widened her eyes and thought about something for a second. There was earlier, when she was communicated by her through the lights. She shook her head and said, "I don't think she's there."
Hopper gave her a puzzled look. "What? How would you know that?" he asked her.
She then stood up and gestured the man to follow her, in which he did. She stopped in front of the wall of letters and lights and pointed at it. "Earlier, she communicated with me through this, j-just like Will."
His eyes widened, but still had the puzzled look. "What?"
"Wh-when each light glows above a letter, that means they're talking to me." She paused to look at him. "A-a few days ago, Will talked to me through these and now, earlier, when Lonnie left, Terry talked to me through this."
This shit sounded crazy to him, but since everything was getting crazy, he decided to trust her. "Did she say anything I should know about?"
She nodded, smiling a little. "Sh-she said that she was going to find Will."
His eyes widened more. "Did she say where...?"
She shook her head, losing her smile. "N-no, but...I kinda figured out where she could be."
The man then remembered that hole in the wall. Maybe she...escaped through there? That made some sense. "She's not in the lab..." he murmured to himself, reaching to a conclusion about her whereabouts...
She was in that hole, somewhere inside there...
"Hopper?" Joyce asked.
He turned to her and said, "The hole in the wall I told you about. She could be in there...looking for Will." Now her eyes widened at that. "That means that Will might be in there too." Her mouth hung open in utter shock.
"C-can she get out somehow?!"
He shrugged. "I hope she will." Joyce sighed heavily and placed her hands on her temples again. She did hope that she and Will would get out wherever the hell they were alive. She then took a deep breath and felt a little calm.
"Okay...and also...that room you mentioned from the upstairs. You said it was a kid's room?" She sat down, making him sit with her.
He nodded. "Yeah. I think it's more like a prison."
"Then how do ya know it's a kid's room?"
He sighed once again. "There was a stuffed animal, the size of the bed was small enough for a kid, there was a drawing-"
Joyce looked surprised when he mentioned that. "Drawing? Y-you didn't mention a drawing."
"It's a drawing of two guys and a child. It said 'Dad', 'Doctor', and 'M11'-"
"W-was it good?"
He shook his head. "They were stick figures, Joyce. What'd you expect from a kid's drawing?" She scoffed and got up to get one of Will's drawings. She handed it to him and sat back down, taking a swig of her cigarette.
"Wasn't Will, then," she replied.
The man looked at the drawing and sighed. "Terry practically told me the same thing. She said that she recognized the kid in the drawing..." He trailed off as he realized something. "Earl...Earl said that the night when Benny died, he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny. I pressed him and he said it might be Will, but..." He then got the newsletter with Karen Bertuzzi in it.
"M-maybe it wasn't?" she asked.
"Look." She did look at the article with Karen's picture. "This woman, Karen Bertuzzi, claims to have her children, Michael and Nancy, stolen. She sued Brenner and Wheeler, who was her ex-husband, she sued the government...the claims came to nothing, but what if..." He had the face of realization again. "What if, after all this time, I've been chasing after some other kid instead of Will?" It didn't help that he made the decision to have Terry investigate with him too. Maybe she was really looking for Will and he didn't, so...
The three began walking to the Ives home, Terry now out of her hazmat suit. She was really weary from her experience, so the two teens gave her some support by having her arms around their shoulders. "I...I can't believe you were in there, Mum..." Kali said in a weak voice.
"I...I know, Kali..." she replied. "But...I felt the same when I heard you there..."
"I crawled out of a hole, but you? How did you get there?!"
The woman sighed. Since she was in trouble now, what happened that one night didn't apply to her. Since she didn't feel ready to explain though, she replied, "I'll tell you later." Kali sighed and looked forward to her home, feeling worried about her mother...and scared of what she experienced back there...wherever the hell was was...
Becky was apathetically watching the news with Carl, holding his hand. Her worry about her sister grew stronger by the hour. She was missing the entire day. Where the hell was she?
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, Carl getting up and letting go of her hand to go to the door. "I'll get it," he said to her, the woman nodding. As he opened the door though, he looked shocked to see not only Kali and Jonathan, but also...Terry. "Terry?" The short-haired woman's eyes enlarged as she saw her at the door and stood up. She quickly walked to the door with a stunned look.
"Hey..." she greeted back, looking at her worried sister.
"Oh my God, where the hell were you all day?!" she exclaimed, needing an answer.
The woman sighed and told the teens, "You two go upstairs. I need to talk to them." They both nodded as they got her inside, put her on the La-Z-Boy, then got upstairs. Kali went into her room to grab a change of clothes and then to the bathroom to take a warm shower.
...
After she undressed herself, she got into the shower and turned on the warm water. It felt great to have all of that goo and cold get away in one splash. As she washed herself, she could remember everything from the experience: the injured deer, the sharp cold air of the mysterious place, seeing the monster eat the deer...the monster itself. She breathed heavily at those thoughts, remembering them so vividly...her scared look came back onto her face. Seriously, she couldn't get over from what she saw before...
...
"So, let me get this straight," Becky said, being near her sister. "After your extra hours, you skipped work to go find Barbara YOURSELF?!"
The woman sighed. That was a half-lie and thankfully, she bought it. However, it did hurt her to see her all worried like this. She nodded. "Yeah-" she replied before her sister cut her off.
"What the hell, Terry?! You could've joined the goddamn search party! You even missed the funeral!"
She shrugged. "They weren't finding her, so I thought I should take this matter into my own hands."
Becky face-palmed while Carl looked at her in disbelief. "That's just stupid, Terry," he said to her. "You began worrying her and you were even worrying me!"
Terry sighed again. "Look, guys, I'm sorry. This...all of this shit going on, I just...I just feel the need to resolve it all, you know?"
"You didn't even call us!" Becky shouted at her. "I mean, with Jane's friend dead and Kali's friend missing, you could've been missing too!" She paused to sigh. "You had me so worried, Terry. You know that? I didn't come visit you and the girls to have you go missing!" Carl held her hand and whispered to her to calm her down.
Terry felt terrible to have her worry about her like that. A part of her wished that she could have stayed back in that mysterious place and continued looking for Will, but another part of her was glad she got out of there to make sure her daughter was alright and that her sister wouldn't have to worry about her absence. "Becky..." Her sister looked up at her, seeing her frown. "I am so sorry. I promise I won't do it again."
Her sister sighed and gave her a hug. "As long as you keep it," she whispered to her. She nodded as Becky released the hug. "I put your stew back in the fridge, if you're hungry."
She was, but at the same time, she didn't feel like eating anything. She wearily smiled, slowly stood up, and replied, "Thanks, but no. I feel like sleeping after all of that...searching."
The short-haired woman nodded in understanding. "Alright. Me 'n Carl'll be here if ya need anything." Terry nodded as she slowly walked upstairs to her room to change her clothes. The clothes she was wearing, she wore all day and possibly all night. She didn't want to sleep in it.
...
Kali entered her bedroom, wearing a plain pair of white pajamas. She saw Jonathan laying out a sleeping bag she hadn't used since she was a kid. Both looked at each other for a bit until the guy asked, "Feel better?" She nodded.
"Yeah," she replied.
He stood up and pointed at the sleeping bag. "Is this okay? I found it in the closet." She nodded again, this time as a reply. "I mean, I can go home. I know your mom told me that it's fine for me to stay for the night, but if you don't-"
She shook her head at him. "No, it's fine." She then sat on one of the sides of her bed and sighed. She rubbed her face, still looking scared of her experience in the mysterious place.
Feeling bad for her, Jonathan sat next to her and patted her back. "Hey, at least...at least it can't get us in here."
She didn't look at him, keeping her scared face. "We don't know for sure. Maybe it can." Jonathan sighed, thinking of any other things to tell her to calm her down.
In a few seconds, however, the door opened, revealing Terry with her hair in a bun and wearing a turquoise night gown and white slippers. Both of them looked at her as she closed the door and looked at them. She slowly walked to Kali and asked, "How are you feeling, sweetie?" Kali gulped and looked away from her. The woman felt heartbroken to see her like this, so she sat next to her as well and gave her a side hug. "It must have been traumatic for you, sweetheart." Kali nodded, now looking sad.
The woman let out another sigh and stated, "I'm glad you're alright, at least. That you're alive..." She then had a look of sorrow. "I wouldn't know what to do if you died..." Kali looked like she was about to cry and hugged her mother back.
"Oh, Mum..."
Jonathan just observed this. He kind of liked that Kali's mother really cared for her, hugging her to comfort her and checking if she was alright. He knew his own mother would do the same for Will, but for him? Sometimes, but...she never gave him most of her attention in the past...
As the two females released their hug, Kali finally decided to ask something. "Mum...I need to know, how were you there? Why were you there? Why were you wearing a hazmat suit?"
Terry took a deep breath, stood up, and faced the teens. She thought it was time for them to learn the truth. "I'll answer, but I need you two to promise something," she stated, the two of them nodding. "Don't tell anybody what I will be telling you. It will land you two and everyone else you tell this to in danger, alright?" They both looked shocked at that warning, but nodded again. "I was with Police Chief Hopper last night..."
The next morning, Jane was in the basement, since she arrived there last night and checked in with her aunt and uncle. She wore a short-sleeved plain gray shirt, jeans, and different sneakers. She was laying on the couch and trying to solve a Rubik's Cube. She felt frustrated at trying to solve it, so she dropped it onto the table and sat up. She then looked at the little fort she made for Michael. She let out a heavy sigh and looked sorrowful, missing him. Why did he leave? Was it because of Lucas?
Was it because of her yelling at him?
She stood up, looking out the window to see if he was there. He wasn't, making her feel more heartbroken. Frustrated, she backed away from the window and threw the chair holding the blanket acting as the curtain. She then grabbed the sleeping bag and pillow and threw them across the room as hard as she could. She breathed heavily, feeling more frustrated and sad that he wasn't coming back to her. She hated that. She hated that so much...
She sunk down down to her knees and began to cry, covering her face and trying to wipe the tears away, being so forlorn about him being gone.
...
Upstairs, Terry had her hair down and still wore her night gown as she was on the phone with the police station. She hoped she could still investigate with Hopper. When the dial tone disappeared, she heard Florence greet, "Hawkins Police Department. How may I help you?"
"Hey, I'm Terry Ives. Is Chief Hopper there, by any chance?" she asked her.
"No, m'am. What? One of your relatives went missing too?"
She shook her head. "No, I just want to speak with him."
There was a small pause, then Florence asked, "You one of the girls he slept with?"
She looked a bit disgusted. "What? No. I just need to speak with him."
She heard her sigh. "I'll tell him you gave him a call when he comes." She then heard the dial tone, making her groan a little. She guessed he was fine, but investigating on his own now...
In a phone booth, Hopper called one of his workers to find Karen Bertuzzi. "Uh, yeah, Bertuzzi," he said. "B-E-R-T-U-Z-Z-I...yeah, I got a pen, hold on." He then got a pen from his coat and wrote down her address on his hand. After half a minute, he stopped. "Thanks, Frank. Say hello to the boys for me, too, would ya?"
He was about to hang up the phone until he heard Frank say, "Wait." He put the phone back onto his ear as he said, "Flo wants to speak with you."
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Now?"
"Now." There was a short pause, then Flo's voice came on and said, "Hopper, I need to tell you something."
He sighed again. "What is it?"
"Terry Ives was calling for you a few moments ago, saying she wants to speak with you." His eyes widened at that piece of news. He thought she was...but...
"You...know her number?"
"Ask Frank for that, not me."
Frank then got on the phone again, asking, "You need Terry's number?"
Hopper got out his pen again and pointed it to the back of his hand. "Yeah. Hit me."
Meanwhile, in his car, Joyce was in the passenger's seat, looking at him writing down something else. She was getting curious.
He finished writing down her number and said, "Thanks, Frank." He then hung up, got another quarter, and placed it in the booth to call Terry's number. He kept hearing the dial tone, waiting for her to pick up.
"I'll go downstairs to get Jane," Terry said to Becky and Carl, the two of them nodding as she walked to the basement.
Suddenly, the two of them heard the phone ring, Becky standing up and saying, "I got it." She approached the phone and took it, saying, "Hello?"
"Uh, hey, Becky," Hopper greeted. "Is Terry there?"
Her eyes widened to hear his voice again. And he needs Terry again. What the hell was going on? "Uh...yeah...I can get her, if you like."
He nodded. "That'd be great. Thanks."
Becky set the phone down and faced her husband, who looked curious. "It's the chief again. He needs Terry."
Now he looked confused. "Why?"
She shrugged. "I dunno." She then headed to the direction that basement was at.
When Becky walked over to the phone, Terry entered into the basement and saw Jane crying. She saw the thrown hair and the sleeping bag and pillow, looking concerned and sad for her daughter. "Jane?" she asked, getting her attention and seeing her red eyes and sticky face. She felt even more terrible for her and walked towards her. "Jane, honey, what's the matter?"
She sniffled and wiped her nose. She didn't want her to know that she was crying over Mike, so she said, "I...I still can't get over Will, Mama..."
Her mother frowned, crouched down, and gave her a hug. "Oh, sweetie..." As she patted her hair, the tomboy hugged her back. "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you. He didn't deserve to die like that..." The girl nodded, though she knew he wasn't dead. Terry also knew he wasn't dead and still in wherever she was yesterday. Neither knew what the other were thinking though. "Jane, listen to me. I know this is hard on you right now..." She then released her hug with her and looked into her eyes. "But, try to think of him in positive ways. Think of all the good times you had with him. Can you do that?" She nodded at her, making her smile.
Becky went downstairs and saw them sort of bonding with each other. She smiled a little at that, but lost it and said, "Terry." Both of them looked up at her. "The...the chief officer wants to talk to you."
Terry sighed and stood up, patting Jane's head and whispering to her, "Come up to eat breakfast when you're ready, sweetheart." She nodded and smiled at her as she gave her a kiss on the forehead and began walking upstairs. The girl sniffed, wondering what the police chief wanted with her mom.
...
She got to the phone and answered, "Hopper?"
The man sighed. That was definitely her voice. "Oh my God..." he muttered.
"What?" she asked before thinking of something. Maybe he was looking for her yesterday, when she was in that mysterious place.
"I thought you were..." Hopper paused, still in disbelief that he could hear her voice.
"In the labs?" she replied in a whisper. "Because I wasn't."
"I figured. I thought you were in that hole in the wall."
Her eyes widened. How did he know that? "I was..."
Hopper rubbed his face. "Did you escape or...?"
She shrugged. "I guess I did. I was looking for Will, then Kali was there-"
He raised an eyebrow. "Wait, Kali? That Indian girl you adopted?"
She nodded. "Yes. I...I didn't want her to die, so I escaped with her."
He sighed once again. "And you didn't find Will?"
Now it was her turn to sigh. "I didn't find him, but..." She paused. "I heard running footsteps in the woods area. I followed them, hoping it was him..." She was about to say Barbara as well, but it probably wasn't what he wanted to hear. "But then..."
He was getting curious. "Then what? You saw a monster?"
She scoffed. "Would you believe me if I said I did?"
His eyes widened at that. She really did see a monster there? Then if Will was there... "What did it look like? Were you armed?"
"It looked...inhuman. It was...faceless, probably, and tall." She shrugged. "I don't know. And I did have a gun, but so did Kali for some reason, so she shot at it, but it seems to be immune to bullets or they don't affect it as much."
Hopper rubbed his face again, still trying to process what she said. He had to give Joyce that piece of news then... "You still up to work with me?"
She nodded. "Of course, I don't work today, anyway." She then heard him tell her where to meet him, the woman nodding again. "See you then." She then hung up the phone and walked upstairs to change.
He then got out of the booth and got into his car, buckling himself.
"Did you get it?" Joyce asked.
He nodded. "Yeah." She nodded back at him as he looked at her with a surprised look, making her look puzzled.
"Wh-what is it?"
"It's Terry." Her eyes widened. "I just got off the phone with her." They widened more.
"Wh-what...?"
"She was in that hole and she was looking for Will, but then she saw a monster and one of her daughters there, so she escaped with her daughter to make sure she was alright."
Joyce looked utterly shocked at this, smoking her cigarette and opening the window to throw it out. She promised her to find him...
"She'll be with us when we visit Karen, so let's go." He then drove away with her. She was still in shock though. That promise...and it was broken for one of her daughters? She didn't know whether to be mad at her or forgive her...
Done! What do you guys think of it? Any typos or mistakes?
Okay, so net neutrality is repealed here. However, the vote needs to go through Congress. I hope they repeal it, but if not, then the effects won't come into place until late January, so I'm safe...for now. What I said in the last chapter still applies though.
Anyways, about this chapter...
It was hard for me to choose whether or not Terry escapes the Upside Down. I thought of making her escape because she was getting weary from traveling around there, looking for Will and Barbara. If she stayed, she would have been killed by the Demogorgon, then and there. I didn't want that to happen, so I made her escape. Hope you guys don't mind that!
Also, to answer phiellydinya, Will IS in the Upside Down, trust me. He did walk through the lights, otherwise, Terry wouldn't follow them in an earlier chapter.
Keep supporting this fanfic and I'll see you in the next chapter! :D
P.S.: I'm thinking of updating this fanfic every other day (in other words, every two days) since it does take me that long to make a chapter in this fanfic. Can't make any promises though!
*EDITS of 09/23/19:
-Replaced "her" with "their"
-Fixed 3 typos
-Replaced "I need to talk to these two." to "I need to talk to them."
-Changed "That was mostly a lie" to "That was a half-lie"
-Replaced "Maybe" with "Sometimes"
-Changed Jane's outfit a little
-Removed "let out another heavy sigh and"
-Separated a sentence from the paragraph where Hopper gets Karen's address
-Removed the ellipses in "The girl sniffed, wondering what the police chief wanted with her mom."
-Had Terry pause to think about Barbara being the footsteps
-Added "or they don't affect it as much." to "but it seems to be immune to bullets"