Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

In Kali's bedroom, Jonathan began waking up in the sleeping bag on the floor. He got out of it and saw Kali, wide awake and sitting on her bed, looking at a book and writing in a notebook. He stood up and sat next to her. "Hey..." he greeted her.

"Hey," she greeted back, not looking at him.

He looked a bit worried at her, asking, "You couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head. "Every time I close my eyes, I see that...that damn monster." She paused. "Wherever the hell I was, wherever the hell Mum was...it must be where it lives. It was feeding on that poor deer there..." She began tapping her pencil on the notebook. "That means if...Will and Barbara..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

He get what she was trying to say, getting closer to her. "Hey." She looked at him. "My mom said she talked to Will. Your mom said that she also heard footsteps. It could be his, or Barbara's. Either way, there's a chance that they're still alive, that Barbara's still alive."

She looked completely worried. "I know, but..." She then looked at him. "That means she and Will are trapped...in that place." She sighed and placed a hand on her face. "My mum should have never left."

Now he looked worried for her. "Kali-"

"I'm serious. She was looking for the both of them and she escaped because of me! She should have stayed to go find them-"

"Kali." She looked at him again, his face serious. "She said she saw that monster multiple times and she escaped death from it more than once. Plus, she said she was getting tired. Do you want to have both Barbara AND her trapped there with that thing?"

She felt her blood run cold from that statement. Her mother could have died then and there if she hadn't escaped, since she was getting tired as hell. Maybe...maybe it was a good idea for her to escape. She let out another sigh and stated, "We need to find it again."

He nodded a little, but still kept his worried face. "You wanna go back there?"

She shook her head. "No." She then thought of something, making her face light up in realization. "I don't think we have to." Jonathan looked curious. "As I said, it was feeding on that deer there, meaning that it's a predator, right?"

"Right."

She opened the book and pointed to a picture of a coyote. "It seems to hunt at night, like a coyote, but not in packs like one. It's always alone...like a bear." She looked at him. "You've seen Barbara cut herself, right?" He nodded. "And last night, with the deer..."

"It was bleeding too."

She nodded. "Exactly." She then flipped to a page with a shark and pointed at that. "Sharks can detect blood in one part per million. A drop in a million and they smell from a quarter of a mile away."

"So, what you're saying is that it can detect blood?"

She nodded again at him. "It's just a theory, but I think it's true."

He shrugged. "We can test it..." She nodded once again at him.

"Yeah, I think we should. That way, we'll know it's coming."

Now he nodded. "And...you did say last night that the gun was useless against it, so..."

"We'll need to kill it some other way..."

Suddenly, they both heard knocking on the door, making the two look up at it and hear Terry saying, "Kali? Jonathan? Is it alright for me to come in?"

They both looked at each other and nodded, Kali looking at the door and replying, "Yeah, hold on." She got up from the bed and opened the door. Terry was dressed in a pearly pink and white long-sleeved top, dark jeans, and casual heels.

She gave her a smile and asked, "Are you two doing okay?"

Both of them nodded and answered off-sync, "Yeah."

She looked over at the book and notebook in the bed. "What are you two doing?" Her adoptive daughter gestured her to join them, so she did and closed the door before approaching them on the bed. Kali explained her theory to her, making her nod.

"You think it can detect blood?"

She nodded at her. "Yeah. It's just a theory, but I think it's possible." Terry did see that deer it was feeding on with blood. She wondered...if the theory is true...

"Terry! Are ya gettin' Kali or what?!" Becky's faint voice called from downstairs.

She and the teens shot back a little and she replied, "Y-yeah! Hold on!" She then turned to them. "Are you two going to test this theory, or...?"

They both nodded. "Today," Jonathan stated.

"Maybe you can come with us," Kali suggested.

She shook her head and stood up from the bed. "Hopper just called me and said to join him, so I won't be able to." She then gave them a worried look. "Just be careful, you two."

"Of course," they both replied as they nodded once again.

She smiled at the two. "Kali, can you get dressed and have some breakfast before you two leave? Jonathan, you can also eat, if you like."

The auburn-haired guy nodded and said, "Thank you, Ms. Ives." He stood up from the bed and exited the room with her, closing the door as Kali began changing.

Dustin rode to Jane's house and parked his bike near where the basement was. He knocked on the door, Jane looking up and hoping it was Mike. She ran up to it and opened it, seeing Dustin and having that hope disappear. She sighed and greeted in an apathetic voice, "Hey, Dustin."

"Hey, Jane," he greeted back as he went inside and took off his backpack and jacket, placing them on the couch. "Just wanted to see how you were doing."

She sighed again and closed the door, beginning to pace around and now sounding worried. "I just...I can't believe he didn't come back..."

He looked at her and shrugged. "Well, he's gotta be close somewhere."

She began thinking about what the freckled boy said. "H-he said it wasn't safe, that it was dangerous..." She paused. "M-maybe he messed up the compasses to protect us."

Now he sighed. "Jane, calm down, will ya?"

She now looked heartbroken, placing a hand on one of her temples. "I shouldn't have yelled at him. I should have never done that..."

He grabbed her arm to stop her and said to her, "Jane...calm down. It's not your fault, alright?"

She looked at him with a bit of a surprised look, but nodded and replaced it with one with a bit of anger. "Right...it's Lucas's."

He shook his head, shocking her. "Wasn't his either."

She looked baffled at what he said. "It's not HIS fault?!"

He shook his head again. "No."

Her jaw dropped. "So him fighting Mike, that wasn't WAY out of line?!"

He shook his head once more. "It was, but so was Mike knocking him out like that!" She sighed. "And you were yelling and pushing him before he even fought Mike. You could've fought him too with the look you were having!"

Now she looked appalled at him saying that. "Are you serious?!"

He looked at her with a mad look. "Yes, I am! All three of you were being assholes and I was the only reasonable one!" He then pointed at her. "You shoved him first, so the rule applies."

Her eyes widened. "What?!"

"You know it! You draw first blood-"

She shook her head at him. "No, no! I'm NOT shaking his hand!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"This isn't a discussion, Jane, it's the rule of law! Obey or be banished from the Party! Do you wanna be banished?" She sighed once more. She didn't want to, they were her only friends, so she shook her head, making him nod and calm down a little. "Good." He then got his jacket and put it on before his backpack.

"Where are we going?" the tomboy asked him.

"Where d'ya think? We're gonna get Lucas," he replied as he got her coat and backpack. "Then, we'll find Mike."

"I need to eat breakfast though."

"Do that, then we'll go." He then threw the coat and backpack to her. She caught it and took a deep breath. She hoped that maybe, MAYBE she and Lucas will get along again.

The door suddenly opened on in Mike's room, the boy's eyes shooting open and his breath becoming heavy. He was laying to his side on his bed, holding a stuffed animal he had tightly. The lights turned on and he decided to sit up and look at who entered in. It was no one more than his father and the doctor. He took a deep breath as he set aside his stuffed animal and let his father sit on the bed. He gave him a plant, which he accepted and examined a little. He then looked at his father.

"Today is a special day, Michael," he said to him. "Do you know why?" He shook his head at him as a reply, feeling a bit curious and scared.

"Today, we make history, Michael Eleven," Dr. Brenner stated to the boy.

"H-history...?" Mike asked, looking at him for a couple of seconds before looking back at his father.

His father nodded at him. "Today, we make contact." He then tapped the tip of his nose with his finger. Contact? With what?

Suddenly, he realized what he was talking about.

Mike shot up from the ground, his eyes wide open and him panting. His wig was in his hand and his clothes and face were all dirty. The dried blood from his nose was seen. He looked around, seeing that he was the only person in the woods and hearing only birds chirping. His breathing became steady and he felt a little calm...

But a little sad as well.

...

As he walked around, he approached a large body of water and crouched down to it. He saw the reflection of himself in the water. His wig still in his hand, he put it on and looked at his reflection again. It did look like he actually had a head full of hair. He thought he actually looked cool. However, the thing was getting itchy. That was why he removed it in the first place.

He sighed and took it off, seeing himself without it again. Now he didn't look cool. He didn't think he was ever cool, only with that did it make Jane really like him.

Jane...

He looked at his reflection, feeling despaired. She didn't like him anymore, not to his knowledge. He almost killed Lucas and he made her cry and yell at him...again. His breathing became heavy when he thought about what she yelled to him...

What WAS wrong with him?

He knew.

He knew what was wrong with him.

He looked at his reflection angrily and felt his brain stressing at the thoughts running through his head. Without any thought, he screamed, making the water ripple all across and the birds fly away from the sound of his scream.

The whole Ives family, including Jonathan, ate pancakes, all of them being in silence. Kali now had her hair in a single ponytail and wore a lavender tank top, a black denim jacket, dark jeans, and light sneakers. Terry was eating her pancakes at a fast pace, getting the attention of her sister. "You alright, Terry?" she asked her.

She nodded as she chewed and swallowed a bite. "Yeah, I am," she replied.

Becky did want to ask her about what was with Hopper wanting to contact her, but she decided not to do it since the teens and Jane were there.

"I'll be going out grocery-shopping, if you two don't mind," the mother continued.

"Want us to come with you?" asked Carl.

She shook her head. "I'll be fine." He and his wife nodded as they all continued eating. Kali and Jonathan both knew what she was really going to do, but didn't comment on the matter since Becky and Carl probably didn't know. Why should they?

Jane was concerned about her mother eating so quickly, but she went on her word that she was alright. She kept her mind on finding Mike and making peace with Lucas.

After breakfast, Jane and Dustin rode their bikes to Lucas's house. They parked their bikes and walked to the door, Dustin ringing the doorbell. After a few seconds, Lucas answered it, wearing a multicolored, long-sleeved shirt and gray sweatpants. He didn't look too thrilled to see them, crossing his arm. "What do you guys want?" he asked them in a bit of a cold tone.

The kids looked at each other, then at Lucas. Jane let out a sigh and said, "I drew first blood by shoving you like that, so..." She extended her hand out for him to shake it. "Truce?"

He just looked at it like it was some foreign object, making her feel a bit nervous...

...

Now inside his home, Jane apologized to Lucas and he paced around, thinking of shaking her hand or not. He stopped when he reached to a conclusion, then faced her and Dustin. "I'll shake," he said, making the tomboy smile a little and extend her hand out. "On one condition." Her smile dropped as he continued, "We forget the weirdo and head straight to the gate."

She looked very disbelieved that he said that, putting her hand down. "No."

"Then I'm not shaking."

She felt annoyed and angry at him now. "Fine!"

"FINE!"

"No, no, NOT fine!" Dustin shouted to the two of them. "Guys, seriously?! Remember when we were on Bloodstone Pass?" Jane and Lucas looked at each other with puzzled looks, not knowing what he was talking about. He sighed when they did that, making them look at him now. "We couldn't agree on which path to take, so we split the party up and had the trolls take us out, one-by-one. Then everything went to shit and we were all disabled! That's why we need to stick together, no matter what!"

Both thought he was right. "Yeah, that's right," the black-haired boy replied. "But this is the Party, right here, in this room, all of us." He then pointed to his friends and himself.

"Mike too," Jane added.

He shook his head at her, looking baffled that she even said that. "No way! Not even close! He'll NEVER be one of us!" She looked at him with more of an angry face, crossing her arms. He then moved his fingers to count. "He's a LIAR, a TRAITOR-"

"He was just trying to keep us safe, Lucas! What he did to you-i-it was an accident!"

Now he had a look of disbelief on his face. "An ACCIDENT?!"

"Accident or not..." Dustin chimed in, shrugging a little. "It was a little awesome."

Lucas looked dumbfounded at his friend. "WHAT?!"

"He threw you IN THE AIR with his MIND!"

"I could have been KILLED!"

"But that's why we need him!" the tomboy stated in defense. "He's a weapon! He has strong powers! Fighting the Demogorgon with your stupid wrist rocket is the same as R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader! We're no use to Will if we're dead!"

Lucas was never so pissed off at Jane before, having enough of her shit. He huffed and replied, "If you two want to waste your time finding a traitor, then fine!" Jane and Dustin looked very defeated. "I don't wanna waste MY time on him anymore!" He huffed again and rubbed his nose. "Now, if you two are done, I'm gonna go to the gate and find Will." He then shoved his friends out of the way to go up to his room.

The two watched him go, Jane looking really irritated at how he acted. She thought that it was fine, that she and Dustin might find Mike and then find Will before him...

Maybe.

She sighed. Lucas was her best friend and she was thinking of him in a dim light like this. This never happened between them before. Even Dustin knew that.

Mike eventually got to downtown and stopped to see a supermarket across the road. Though he didn't know what that place was, he recognized the words of some foods on the posters hanging from its windows. Curious, he decided to walk to it and walk right in.

He heard some upbeat instrumental music as he went inside. He saw some people stare at him with concerned and weird looks, making him feel a little nervous. He decided to walk right in to get some food. More people stared at him as he walked along. His nervousness began increasing by the more people that looked at him. It almost reminded him of...

In the beige unitard again, Mike held his father's hand and looked around, seeing a bunch of new scientists look at him, even some new men in suits. He felt very nervous about this.

"It's okay, Michael," Dr. Wheeler said to him in a reassuring tone. "These people are all friends."

"Yes," Dr. Brenner added, being next to the boy. "They are just here to watch, so don't be frightened." The dark-haired boy continued to look at them, still feeling as nervous as he did before.

His father saw the look on his face and told him, "Don't focus on them, son. Be in here, like before." He tapped his son's forehead. "Alright?"

The nervousness still stuck with him, but he had to get it away, for his father. "Yes, Dad," he responded.

As they went up the stairs, the entrance into the bath opened and a man placed the headgear on Mike's head. Dr. Brenner stated, "Remember, whatever you saw, it can't hurt you, M11."

"The doctor is correct, son," Dr. Wheeler added, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "It can't hurt you from here, so you shouldn't be frightened." Michael then went onto the instrument that would bring him down into the water, the doctors being around him.

"It's reaching out to you, calling you." The boy gripped on the bars as he looked at his father and the doctor.

"Right, it's calling you." His father smiled at him. "So this time, don't turn away from it. Find it, for me and the doctor. Understood?"

That thing...he didn't want to see it again, but...his dad and the doctor needed him to. He couldn't disobey them or else...

He nodded at them and replied again, "Yes, Dad." The instrument then went down, his body feeling the water. As a breathing mask was put on his head, he was finally submerged into the water and stepped off of the instrument. Instead of having a plain face, he looked as anxious as he could ever be, seeing all the people that looked at him in the bath. As it got up from the water and he placed his hands on the glass, a scientist closed the exterior of the bath, leaving it to be completely dark.

...

He opened his eyes, seeing that he was in that place again.

The place where he saw the monster.

"Are you lost?" asked an employee, making him break his focus on the flashback and look at him. The man approached to him slowly. "Are your parents here?" Mike only stared at him, not knowing what to say.

Another employee, a woman, was near him too and said with a reassuring smile, "A cute little boy like you shouldn't be alone." Now, he looked at her, this time with a perplexed expression. There was that word again..."cute". Since the woman was smiling, it must be a good word. That meant that Jane called him something good yesterday.

She did...but then...

"Really, where are your parents?" the woman asked. "Do you have any older siblings, perhaps?"

He was getting a bit annoyed by the two asking him questions, so he replied, "Mouth-breathers." Both employees looked offended by him saying that to them.

He looked forwards again and began walking through the freezer isle. He spotted a box of Eggos and opened the door. Since they didn't taste bad and Jane liked them, he got two boxes. He then spotted a closed tub of mint ice cream, so he closed the door to the Eggos and walked to the door where the ice cream was kept. He opened that and got two tubs of the ice cream. Both tubs were cold, but he was hungry, so he didn't care.

Meanwhile, the two employees looked at him concernedly, the woman asking, "Uh, what should we do?"

As the boy closed the door, the man answered, "Call the police." They then saw him leave with the waffles and ice cream, making them walk to him to chase him down. "Hey, young man! You should pay for those!" Mike ignored him, continuing to go to the exit of the store.

"Stop, young man!" the woman asked. The dark-haired boy decided to use his powers and pull a woman's cart in front of them to stop them. They managed to walk around that and still chase them down.

"You have to pay for those!" the man shouted.

"Little boy, I demand you stop and give us those!" the woman also shouted.

"Thief! Thief!"

Michael finally exited the shop and used his powers to shut the door to stop them again, the glass breaking and the alarm sounding. With a smirk on his face, he continued to walk into the woods.

Terry drove her car and parked at the surprisingly nice-looking home Hopper told her to go to. She saw a green car next to her, seeing not only Hopper, but also...Joyce. The two looked at her, Joyce looking at her intently. The woman sighed, knowing she would have some explaining to do.

As she turned off the engine, the dirty-blonde-haired woman unbuckled herself and exited the car, Joyce and Hopper doing so as well. They approached each other, Jim and Terry looking each other in the eye before she darted her eyes to the brown-haired woman's. She frowned at the sight of her looking at her like she needed an answer, so she said, "Joyce-"

"L-later, Terry," she replied, cutting her off and holding her hand up.

She sighed and looked up at Hopper. "What's she doing here?" she asked him.

"Helping me investigate, like you," he answered, smoking his cigarette and flicking it to the ground. "Let's go." He walked to the house, the women following. Terry looked at Joyce again, who was crossing her arms and shivering a little from the cold. She sighed, wondering what Joyce was probably thinking since Hopper probably told her about her situation.

They all stopped at the door, the police chief ringing the doorbell. They all heard footsteps, then saw the curtain of the door rise to see a dark-brown-haired man a little above their age look through it for a few seconds. The three adults looked at the man before he dropped the curtains and turned to possibly his sister since they look related, who looked to be in her 30's and possibly two months pregnant, and talked to her a little bit. After another few seconds, the man unlocked the door and opened it, asking, "Can I help you three?"

Hopper nodded, answering, "Yes, is Karen Bertuzzi here? We're looking for her." Terry felt her blood run cold when he said the name. He knew that name...how? Did he...go deeper into the history of Hawkins Lab?

The man looked skeptical at them, his sister now being by his side. "Who are you people and what do you want from my younger sister?"

"I'm the police chief of Hawkins, Jim Hopper." He showed his badge to them. "We'd like to speak to your sister about something in an investigation we're having."

Both him and the woman next to him looked forlorn. That made them all concerned about Karen. "Are you sure it's our little sister?"

The chief nodded. "If your little sister's Karen Bertuzzi, yes."

He sighed, his sister looking somber. He looked at her and whispered, "Do you want to?"

She nodded and turned to the three. "Okay, if you really have to," she answered in a despaired voice. "But she..." She sighed and drew her lips into a line, not finishing her sentence.

The man looked at them and stated, "You all can try and talk to her, but it's not going to be easy...or even possible." He turned around with his sister and walked to where Karen was.

"Honey? Who is it?" asked a different woman from another room.

"It's not one of those girl scouts again, right?" asked a different man.

Hopper and Joyce looked at each other with worried looks, then looked at Terry with the same looks. She looked forlorn as well, a hand on her temple. Both of them figured that she knew her.

"Terry?" the tall man asked, making her look at him. "Do you know what happened to her?"

She nodded before gesturing them to follow Karen's siblings. "Look and find out. It's not pretty." Now they both became very worried. Closing the door behind them, all of them went inside and followed Karen's siblings.

They heard a TV play in a room and in another, they saw another man around their age appear, having blonde hair and facial hair, looking like he was about to go to work. In what was the living room, they saw two more women. One had light-brown hair in a bun, wore female business attire, and was placing a tray in front of the other woman. The other looked beautiful, having shiny curly brown hair that touched her shoulders. She wore a plain red night gown, a dark denim jacket, and pink slippers and was sitting on a rocking chair, looking at the television and murmuring things under her breath.

The woman's eyes widened when she saw the three adults as well as the suited man's when he entered the room. The brother looked at the two and said, "These people want to talk to Karen for an investigation. If you two will please." They both nodded, the man and the woman exiting the house.

The sister sighed and said to the woman on the chair, "Karrie...some visitors want to talk to you." The woman slowly looked at the three with a face of apathy. She looked at Terry first before looking at Hopper and Joyce. The hazel-eyed woman had wide eyes when she saw her. There she was...after all these years...

Joyce decided to put on a smile and say to her, "Hey there, Karen, I'm Joyce. Joyce Byers." She then pointed at Hopper and Terry. "These two are Hopper and Terry. We drove over from Hawkins." She paused, Karen's apathetic face still looking at her. Her smile dropped. "Um...you see...my son, he's been missing for over a week now and...um...we're all wondering if we could talk to you about your daughter and son, Nancy and Michael? If there's anything you would like to tell us about maybe when they were taken and where...?" Karen didn't answer, worrying both Joyce and Hopper. Terry exhaled deeply, crossing her arms and looking down.

"Can you tell us anything about your ex-husband, Theodore Wheeler?" the police chief asked. "Do you guys still keep in touch?" Karen only blinked, looking down.

The frantic mother gulped and got out a poster of Will, walking towards her and showing it to her. The curly-haired woman did look at it. "Th-this is my son, Will. You may have seen him in the news lately, right?" Karen's eyes stopped looking at the poster and at the TV instead, still having her apathetic face.

Absolutely worried and puzzled, Hopper asked the siblings, "What's wrong with her?"

The brother sighed again and answered, "I told you, it's not easy or even possible to speak with her..." His sister looked despaired at the sight of Joyce trying to communicate with her younger sibling. Her brother gave her a side hug to her and rubbed her arm.

Hopper then looked at Terry with the same look, the woman looking back at him and mouthing, "Not pretty." Now he needed to know: what the hell happened to her?

Done! How was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes? Sorry for the late update, I just took a road trip with my family to go to Florida for Christmas.

Welp, now Karen makes an appearance. I hope you guys don't mind her having to live with two of her siblings, who are obviously OCs like Carl. I'd like to think that she does have siblings because to me, she looks like someone that probably has a couple siblings, so here they are. Two siblings and their spouses, all working to take care of her since she became unable to take care of herself.

Also, this episode will go by in two more chapters. I know, weird case, but it's the best solution. I'll also update this every day 'til Christmas. Otherwise, as I said before, I'm planning to update this every 2-3 days since that's how long it takes me to write a chapter of this.

Keep supporting this fanfic and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

*EDITS of 10/01/19:

-Combined "Jonathan began waking up" with "in the sleeping bag on the floor."
-Replaced "said" with "greeted"
-Removed "never" in "I shouldn't have yelled at him." and "Now she felt very regretful for what she did."
-Capitalized "Party"
-Fixed a typo
-Removed the ellipses in "He knew what was wrong with him."
-Replaced "disappeared" with "dropped"
-Added "putting her hand down." in "She looked very disbelieved that he said that, putting her hand down." and removed "she replied."
-Connected "Now he needed to know" with "what the hell happened to her?"