Here's the next chapter!

*Also, happy 2020!*

Stacey managed to follow Billy all the way to the outskirts of Hawkins, wondering why the hell he was driving there. Probably secret enough for him and that female lifeguard that went before him to do what they wanted with each other. She sighed sharply before she saw Billy pull into a pretty old building. She stopped the car, not wanting to alert him straight away. He could run and she wouldn't catch him, so she had to wait for a bit.

After a minute, she drove up, seeing that the building was an old steel mill, and parked her car. She got out, getting really bad vibes from this place. Maybe it was a modern teen thing to do shit in places like this, because back when she was that young, this would be an immediate turn-off.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. This place was spooky, but it was where Billy was, so she'll get in and confront him. "You can do this, Stace..." she whispered to herself. "You can do this." She opened her eyes and walked right in.

While Hopper was watching T.V. to relieve the hurt he felt for being stood up, Lucas had the idea of having Mike spy on other people with a game of Spin the Bottle. Will wanted to play D&D, despite that being a façade so Hopper wouldn't get suspicious. With ripped pieces of paper with names on them, a piece of cardboard, and an empty Coke bottle, the idea was ready to spring into action. There were seven pieces of paper, each with a name on them: Billy, Mrs. Ives, Dustin, Becky, Steve, Kali, and Mr. Clarke.

Mike and Lucas were on the bed with the supplies ready, Will still on the floor with his D&D board, fiddling with the pieces and looking thoughtful. The African-American boy looked at the freckled one with a smile and asked, "You ready?"

He smiled back and answered, "Ready." He then grabbed the bottle and spun it.

While it was spinning, the auburn-haired boy began thinking about...well, Jane. There was no way she could be telling the truth during that whole conversation, there couldn't have been. He knew her well since kindergarten and she would never think of him like that. Was Mike breaking up with her really taking a toll? He thought that maybe he should pay her a visit, but she was probably still pissed at him for not taking her side. He was just being logical.

The bottle stopped spinning and landed on the "Mrs. Ives" piece. They both said at the same time, "Mrs. Ives..." Will looked up at them as they looked at each other.

Lucas bared his teeth out in cringe and said, "Maybe not."

Mike shook his head and added, "She IS Jane's mom."

"And that means Jane could say those wrong things to her." He clicked his tongue. "Never mind that it's stupid, but it would also be boring."

He nodded. "Yeah, boring." Will sighed, wishing they were playing D&D right now.

"Spin again."

As he grabbed the bottle, he looked a bit thoughtful, then looked at his friend. "Against the rules?"

He gave him a grin. "We make our own rules, dude." He grinned back, liking the sound of that, and spun the bottle again. This time, it landed on...

"Billy." They looked at each other again, Will looking up at them with a perplexed look.

"Wait, Billy?" he asked.

They ignored him, Lucas chuckling. "You wanna try?" Mike nodded before he looked at Will. "Get the blindfold and radio." He sighed again before standing up, getting them, and handing them to his friends.

"He's probably doing something gross," Will said to dissuade Mike. He only gave him a confused look.

"What?"

"Yeah, if he's with a girl or doing something..." Lucas said, trailing off to find the right words for what he might see as he grabbed the radio. "Weird, get the hell out straight away. You don't want THAT burned into your memory." The freckled boy looked concerned at his two friends, Lucas releasing the radio for a second and holding his hands up. "I'm serious, dude. He's Max's step-brother AND a teenager." He put his hands down, trying to repress a couple memories of Billy and...some girls he brought into Max's home. "I know what I'm talking about." He then turned the knobs so that radio static could be spewed.

Mike decided to take that into consideration, replying with, "Okay." He then put on the blindfold, the two boys were quiet, and he tried to lose all his senses once again. He took a deep breath, trying to find the teen.

He opened his eyes and immediately, he saw his car, parked but still running. A little puzzled, he walked towards it.

The radio switched to what Mike was hearing, the hum of the engine confusing them. Will and Lucas exchanged glances. "A car?" Will whispered, Lucas just shrugging as a reply.

When he got close, he saw that Billy wasn't in there-no one was, actually. However, the windshield was severely cracked up. And when he went to the back, the trunk was opened up, though nothing was in it. He wondered what the hell was going on. Normally, he wouldn't experience this.

"His car..." he said to the boys. "He's not in it." The boys looked understanding before he added, "The front of it, the glass, it's cracked." The African-American boy looked more puzzled. If he knew the guy that nearly beat the shit out of him half a year ago, he would know that he wouldn't leave his windshield cracked...

"And the back is opened." That made the boys feel even more weird...

Suddenly, Mike heard some soft whimpers, making him look away from the car and forward at the direction it came from. He saw a figure, which had to be Billy, so he walked towards him.

The interior was empty, the moonlight shining through the windows as a light source. Otherwise, Stacey wouldn't see or know where the hell she was going. She saw an entrance to what seemed like the basement, so she slowly approached it. She could hear some...muffling, some hurried muffling. It sounded feminine, so he was with another girl. Stacey took another deep breath, looking a bit hurt.

And then she heard a hard push against metal. That confused her. A push like that meant one of two things: they're gonna do the rough stuff (she would know, she's done so a few times)...or the girl he was with was being abused. She then heard Billy whisper something, though she couldn't tell what he was saying. Swallowing her building anxiety, Stacey quietly took one small, quiet step down the stairs. Then another, then another. She stopped when she could see what was happening, but Billy and the girl he was with couldn't see her.

She saw Billy on top of the female lifeguard, so her suspicions was correct. His face covered hers, then she heard...something come off...like tape? He then got off of her, Stacey now seeing that Stacey looked...terrified. She was bound by a rope tying her wrists and ankles together. Wait, now she didn't understand. What the hell was-

A low roaring noise was now heard...then some stomps...really heavy stomps. Stacey never felt so on edge in her life. What the hell was coming and what the hell is Billy going to do? What is the thing that's approaching going to do to the lifeguard?

As Mike got closer, he saw Billy do all those things, making him even more puzzled and now concerned. The teen guy whispered to whoever he was whispering to, "Don't be afraid. It'll be over soon. Just stay very still." However, he couldn't see the girl he was hearing.

His nose started bleeding. "I found him." The boys got closer, giving him all of their attention. However, they could hear the muffled whimpers and Billy's voice through the radio. They started having a bad feeling about this...

"He's on the floor..." He looked worried, even with his blindfold on. "Talking to a girl, I think."

Will then whispered, "Should we stop?" Lucas shook his head, though he was thinking about it too.

And then...one of the creature's legs was shown in the moonlight...made entirely of flesh. One leech-like part of it screeched. Stacey's jaw dropped in horror as she covered her mouth to silence her gasp. What the hell-and then it completely showed itself in the light. She could not describe how it looked...other than goddamn horrifying.

The lifeguard screamed, shouting in horror, "NO! BILLY! NOOOOO!" She continued screaming as the creature came closer and...used a tentacle from one of its legs on her face...sucking it. Stacey put her hand on top her covered one, eyes as wide as plates and her feeling cold in this warm summer night. What she was seeing...it was like she was witnessing a horror movie right before her own eyes.

The girl started screaming, making Mike jolt and look horrified. His eyes wide and his jaw hanging, he could feel his blood run cold.

The boys heard those screams...they sounded like screams of horror much more than...those screams. They looked just as horrified as Mike was.

And those things amplified when Billy turned and looked straight at him, making him feel like time has stopped and he couldn't move. He felt like he was locked in eye contact with him.

From there, Billy could see Mike's silhouette in the darkness. Barely, but it was there.

Stacey gasped, but that was cut short by her hands covering her mouth. He was looking straight ahead of him, so he couldn't be looking at her-

And then he looked up and locked eyes with her.

And then she felt even more horrified and cold.

And then he looked up and disappeared.

Mike's eyes were getting watery from that. How did he even...what the hell was...

He gasped and quickly removed his blindfold, gasping and trying to regain his breath. The boys were quick to get close to him, worried. "Holy shit, what happened?!" Lucas exclaimed, grabbing his shoulders.

"What was Billy doing?!" Will also exclaimed. He looked at the both of them, terrified and looking like he was gonna cry. They were scared to learn what he's seen.

...

Hopper looked back when he heard the exclaims from the bedroom. However, he assumed his son and his friends were REALLY getting into their board game, so he didn't worry about it and continued watching T.V.

Stacey, without any thought, ran up and away from that situation, sure that Billy was going to chase after her...

Or that...thing...monster.

She thanked God that she wasn't wearing heels today. As she ran to her car, she pulled out her keys from her pocket, grabbing them after they slipped the first time, before getting in. She shut the door and started the engine, not bothering to put on her seatbelt.

As she saw Billy emerge out of the building, she yelled out, "NO!" She used her gear shift to reverse quickly, then to drive forward onto the road, not giving a damn if she was way over the limit. She just wanted to get the hell outta there.

The blonde-haired teen ran onto the road, looking ashamed of himself to not get to her on time. Oh well...he'll have other chances to get her. Yet, for some reason...he felt like he shouldn't try to get her because...

No, he said to build. That included her.

Andrew was reading more of The Fellowship of the Ring while Dave came out with their dinner: cooked pasta with a side of broccoli, mushrooms, and cooked potatoes. As he gave Andrew his plate, he said, "Damn, Stacey's taking a WHILE."

Now that he said it, it has been quite some time since she's gone to see Billy. He was so immersed in reading the book again, he lost track of time-

And then they saw headlights flash through the windows before they disappeared. Casually, Dave walked to the door while Andrew creased the corner of his book and set it down next to his food. He stood up when Dave was about to open the door, but it swung open, him barely dodging it and exclaiming, "WHOA! Take it easy!"

Stacey had gotten in quick before slamming the door behind her...looking like she's seen a ghost. Not only that, she looked like she cried and was breathing heavily. That worried both Andrew and Dave a lot. They got close to her, trying to comfort her. "Oh my God, Stace, are you alright?!" the long-haired man asked, panicked.

"Did something happen with that kid?!" Dave also asked, also panicked and grabbing her shoulder.

She looked up at them, her breath shaky as what she saw still stuck with her.

...

They were at the table with their dinner, but Stacey barely touched hers and neither of the guys judged her for it. She had told them about what happened, the two looking aghast. "He...sacrificed a lifeguard to a MONSTER?" Dave asked, slack-jawed. The curly-haired woman just nodded.

"Made of...flesh?" Andrew also asked, now even more aghast at this.

She nodded again. "I...I think so," she replied, swallowing and using her fork to poke at the pasta. The guys had to look away to begin to digest what she told them. Billy, the very young lifeguard their friend was interested in, had dragged one of the lifeguards all the way to a steel mill and sacrificed her to a large monster made of flesh.

The long-haired man gulped and said, "Y-you don't need to answer if you don't wanna, Stace, but..." She looked up at him, her face still in fear from what she's seen. "What did this...monster look like?"

She shuddered, looking down and playing with her food again. He looked down, feeling regret for asking that, before she answered, "It was like..." He looked up at her. "I think...it was standing on a few legs...like a spider." A flash of its appearance came through her mind, her feeling more cold. "A-and its head...shaped like...like a flame, I think." Her hand holding the fork began shaking. "It...used one of its legs to grab her face and..." She trailed off, now shaking completely and not wanting to speak anymore.

Andrew and Dave exchanged wide-eyed glances before looking at their female friend. They both reached out to hold her arms and give them gentle squeezes. "Don't say any more."

"It's alright, Stace," the dirty-blonde-haired guy said before she shook her head.

"No...it's not." She looked at the both of them. "If that...monster is in this town and...Billy starts to do the same to other people here..."

They knew where she was getting at, looking as terrified as she was. "Then we're dealing with a cult," Andrew muttered, his female friend nodding again.

"Holy shit," Dave also muttered.

"Yeah...except it's just him. I saw no one else."

"But what if he tries to recruit others?"

Andrew nodded. "Sick bastards like him will always do that."

Stacey gulped. "So we'll need to stop him...somehow." The men nodded, the three in silence for quite a bit as they began thinking of ideas.

It was cloudy and windy out, a rainy storm ready to come. Rare in the Ives's home, Jane and Max were in her bedroom, the brown-haired girl crashed onto her bed and Max sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. Neither of them had changed into new clothes yet. Up and early with a cup of coffee, Kali walked to her room. She wore a gray and white striped dress with white heels and black transparent leggings on. She turned the knob and opened the door, being as quiet with her footsteps as she could be. She got to her sister and shook her a little. "Jane, hey, wake up," she whispered to her.

A few seconds later, she began to stir and groaned a little, her half-lidded eyes looking up at her Indian sister. "Kali...?" she managed to say.

She smiled at her. "Hey."

Jane yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What do you want?"

"To talk." She gave her a weird look before she tilted her head towards the door. "C'mon." She narrowed her eyes at her in suspicion before she shrugged and got off of the bed, following her out of the room.

...

They got into Kali's room, Steve awake and having his uniform on. He leaned against the wall near the doorway, crossing his arms. Kali and Jane were on her bed, sitting right next to each other. "Mum told us you and Mike broke up," the older female stated.

The tomboy sighed deeply and nodded. "Yeah..."

"If you don't mind me asking..." Steve said, Jane looking at him. "Who broke up with who?"

She looked down solemnly. "Mike broke up with me." Kali rubbed her shoulder to comfort her.

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Jane."

"Yeah, me too," her boyfriend added.

The younger girl then exchanged looks between the two. "But why do you guys want to talk to me about this?"

Now Kali's rubbing of her shoulder was a gentle grip. "I know it must hurt right now, but you can talk to me." Jane looked at her, still solemn. "I'm your sister and sisters always try to help each other, like Mum and Aunt Becky."

She sighed again before Steve added, "And you can talk to me too, y'know? I've dated around." Kali gave him a side glance before he realized what he said. He raised a hand up. "I mean, not since I've been with your sister, but I know a lot about relationships since I've been in a few before."

She smiled at him before looking back at her sister. "You don't need to feel embarrassed or alone on this, okay? We're here for you."

Hearing what they've said to her had made her feel a bit more comfortable, so she nodded. "Okay. Auntie Becky did give me some advice, but...I don't think it worked."

Kali looked concerned. "How? Tell us everything."

...

A bit later, Max began waking up, yawning and getting herself out of the sleeping bag. She rubbed her eyes and finally stood up. She looked at the bed, seeing that Jane wasn't there. She wondered if she woke up early to get breakfast. Besides, she needed to use the restroom.

Yawning again and stretching out her arms, she walked out of the room and to the restroom...then she heard voices from Kali's room. She stopped, becoming suspicious. Quietly, she got closer to the door and pressed her ear against it to listen in. "And then...he shoved his ice cream on my shirt, and then yelled that he dumped my ass, and then just left," she heard Jane explain, sounding completely sorrowful. "The other boys left with him." Max became very concerned. She was telling her older sister what happened yesterday?

She heard a heavy huff and Steve's voice saying, "Damn." Wait, she was telling her older sister AND Steve about this?

...

"I heard that a couple of kids had a huge argument at the entrance, but I never thought it'd be you and Mike," he continued, looking sorry.

"That sounded horrible," Kali said, also looking sorry.

Jane nodded and replied, "It was. Max made me feel better when we got back here though."

The Indian girl chuckled. "Yeah, we heard you two having fun when we got here."

The brown-haired girl sighed and flopped down onto the bed. "But now that it's brought up again, it still...hurts."

Steve scoffed and stopped leaning against the wall. "Breakups always hurt." He walked towards the bed and sat next to her, opposite of Kali. "Sorry you have to feel that way."

"I know, but..." She shook her head and sat up. "I really care about him, but he's been acting like an asshole lately." She paused. "I think hanging out with the boys had changed him."

The teen couple exchanged glances at each other before looking at the girl. "Jane, we're going to be completely honest with you." Steve just nodded while she just looked at them both. "I think the boys were wrong on bringing him to the mall."

"Yeah, I figured he wasn't supposed to be there when I saw him at Scoops."

...

Max just nodded, mouthing, "Exactly."

"But..." She looked suspicious.

...

And so did Jane. "You handled that situation the wrong way."

She looked shocked at that statement. "What?"

"Yeah, I agree," Steve said. "As bad as your argument with him was, it wouldn't've happened if you just..." He shrugged. "Calmed down?"

She scoffed. "Calm down? He was in PUBLIC when he shouldn't be!"

"Yes, that's right." Jane glared at Kali. "But did you need to yell at him about it?" She opened her mouth to retort before she processed that question all the way.

"Or insult his friends, YOUR own friends, to get it across?" Steve added. "I mean, yeah, they were total dicks about it, but doing that doesn't make you any better."

Kali nodded. "Steve's right. In fact, doing that just makes things worse." She heavily sighed. "I would know." Steve recognized the forlorn look on her face...she was thinking of Barbara.

Now that they've said it, Jane realized what she did do wrong in that situation, now feeling more horrible than before. "Oh God..." she said, sounding guilty and distraught. "No wonder he broke up with me. I was a total bitch to him and the other boys."

...

Max drew her lips to a fine line hearing this. She guessed...she...

She's seen that happen before, actually.

And it didn't end well.

She would know, she had a horrible stepfather and a just-as-bad stepbrother instead of a happy family.

...

The two rubbed her shoulders to comfort. "Hey, hey, you were angry and didn't think that far ahead," Steve said to comfort her. "Happens to all of us."

"All of us," Kali repeated in a serious.

Jane began to sniffle and wipe her watery eyes. "I should've never done it."

"We've all done something we regret later."

She looked at her sister. "So, how do I make it up to him? What do I do?"

The couple sighed before Kali answered, "Aunt Becky's advice is good. It only didn't work because the timing wasn't right."

"But what do I know when it's the right time to talk to him again?"

She looked thoughtful of how to word her answer, but then Steve replied, "You just feel it, y'know?" Jane and Kali looked at him. "I dunno how to explain it, it's like a kind of...sixth sense. You just feel in your gut that whatever time is the right time to do something."

His girlfriend smiled at him, giving her sister's shoulder another gentle squeeze. "Exactly." Now Jane looked at her. "You just go and try to talk to him when you feel it's the right time."

She sniffled again. "And if he doesn't wanna talk?"

"Usually, advice like that works when you and the other person know each other well," the teen guy stated. "He'd probably have the same feeling too, so it'll probably work out in the end."

"If not, then just give him more space," Kali added. "Then he'll come around."

...

Max sighed, guessing those two teenagers had a point. If only her mom and her dad did the same...

Well, if they did, she wouldn't have a good friend like Jane right now.

Taking a deep breath, she finally went into the bathroom.

...

Jane nodded, taking their advice into heart, wiping her nose and eyes again. "Thanks, you guys. For the talk."

They both smiled at her. "It's no problem," Steve replied reassuringly.

"Yeah, you are my little sister," the Indian girl also replied. "I need to look out for you as an older sister." They exchanged smiles before Kali and Steve stood up from the bed. "Mum and Aunt Becky made breakfast for you and Max downstairs."

"You already ate?" She nodded as a reply.

"Steve and I need to go to work."

She nodded. "Okay."

"I'll see you tonight." With that and a wave, the teen couple left the room. Jane took a deep breath. Rarely did she have something like this with her sister...and Steve too. She was actually thankful for them talking to her about this. She will definitely try to follow on what they've said about her.

...

As they said goodbyes to Terry and Becky, Kali gave her adoptive mother her cup, grabbed and put on a beige raincoat, and they got out. Steve asked Kali, "You think she's going to follow on what we told her?"

She looked at him and smiled. "She really cares about Mike, Steve. She'll do it." He nodded back at her before they got into his car. "So, about that code..." He looked at her as he was starting up the car. "What was it again?"

"Uh..." He finally started up the car when he answered, "'The week is long, the silver cat feeds...when Blue meets Yellow in the West.'" He then backed out and they drove away. "And there's that tune from the recording that's the same as the toy horse in the mall."

She nodded slowly. "The mall seems like the perfect place for the Russians to hide in."

"Yeah, but nothing from that suggests they have anything to do with the rats."

She crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat. "Perhaps, but this 'silver cat' may have something to do with them. Cats chase mice, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I've seen my fair share of Tom and Jerry."

She giggled at his response, making him grin a little. "Maybe whatever this 'silver cat' is, whether it's a person or a thing, must have something to do with those rats."

He looked a little skeptical. "But it says it 'feeds'."

She began thinking, then her eyes widened. "What if..." She paused, looking at Steve as he stopped at a red light. "What if this 'silver cat' IS the reason why the rats are what they are...and the Russians are letting them loose that way?"

He looked at her with wide eyes. "Holy shit..." Maybe she was right...maybe the 'silver cat' DID make the rats are the way they are...it's all falling together now.

Stopping here. How was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?

Poor Stacey for stumbling upon that. But I think it'll be great to write the storyline of The Fellowship (the group of friends called themselves that in Suspicious Minds, so yeah) and maybe Terry...

Poor Mike too and...should I say something? I've added the radio spewing out what Mike was hearing from the first season because I was REALLY surprised that didn't come up in Season 3. I don't know if the writers forgot about this or left it out on purpose just so there would be a joke about El not knowing what "good screams" are. I also think leaving that out just makes Max look more stupid in canon. Still, I've added it here and will continue to add it.

I hope you guys liked the conversation between Jane, Kali, and Steve. We've yet to have a scene like this in canon, so I've added it here. Mike and Nancy REALLY need more sibling-bonding moments in canon and I like the idea of Steve joining in to give relationship advice of his own to one of the kids. Plus, Jane DID need to know that she was wrong in that situation. Our teen couple are mature enough to see that!

And also I've added Max being a little enlightened by the conversation too because her character took a really bad nosedive in Season 3 and I wanna change that.

Although Kali's conclusion here will be untrue, it's natural for her to come to that, given the situation she and Steve are in.

Review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!