Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
*I have something serious to say in the author's notes though. It'll be LONG.*
"Guys," Will said, getting everyone's attention from the flickering lights.
"He's here?" Terry asked, looking worried. The auburn-haired boy simply nodded, making her now look horrified. "Kali..."
Will looked just as horrified. "A-and Jonathan..."
"We need to help them!" Jane said in urgency.
The rest of the kids and Andrew stood up from their seats, ready to go. Mike took a deep breath, ready to use his powers to stop him, whatever he could be now.
When that monster let out its ear-piercing screech, Kali felt like all of her blood was drained, leaving her cold and stiff. It screeched right at her, which meant one thing...
She needed to run.
With no other second left to spare, she turned her heel and ran straight to the exit door. However, something was making it not open all the way. "SHIT!" she exclaimed as she began attempts to bust open the door.
"KALI!" Jonathan yelled. The monster began slogging its way to her, knocking over a ladder. Her attempts became faster as she let out desperate cries trying to open the damn thing. He thought of something to get that away from his friend, so he screamed from the top of his lungs, "HEY!" It was still going for her, so he grabbed an I.V. pole and shouted, "I'M RIGHT HERE! COME ON!" It still wasn't working.
Finally, Kali burst through the door and began running as fast as she could. She wasn't thinking of anything more than to just run. She turned back, seeing the monster slide its way into the hallway she was in. It only bumped into a door, but it still made a beeline towards her. Her breaths were ragged, but she turned the corner and kept going. However, she looked back again and saw that it turned that corner and kept going as well. She founded a door and opened it quickly. She went inside the room and shut the door, locking it at a lightning pace. She felt the creature slam against it and scream, making her jump back. But it didn't seem to get it open, so she was safe...for a minute at most, she guessed.
She looked around the room to see if there was anything she could use as an improvised weapon. She went to a table with construction tools. She looked at a hammer, but what the hell was that supposed to do to a creature like that? She then looked at a chisel, thinking the same about its use. Then she saw a few buzzsaw blades. To throw at it? Sure.
As she carefully grabbed them though, she heard growling and squelching not far from her. With wide eyes, she looked down to see the monster's melted flesh, muscle, and bones going through the bottom crack and vent of the door. She gritted her teeth, muttering, "Goddamn it!"
"NO! KALI!" she heard Jonathan shout from the hallway.
"JONATHAN!" she shouted back, stepping away from the mass and ready to throw the blades. She heard him slam on the door and try to open it. Damn it, if she didn't lock it...
"KALI!"
Downstairs, everyone walked past the desk lady, who seemed to not give a damn about the flickering lights but them going through. They went to an elevator, Terry pressing the up button quickly. "No, no, come on..." she murmured in a panic as the elevator was taking its time going down.
Jane looked at the stair exit and said to everyone, "The stairs!" She pointed at them and they all ran towards it in a hurry.
As Jonathan continued to try to slam open the locked door, Kali saw the monster form back to what it was, making her jaw drop. However, the second it got to its normal form, she threw a blade at it. It screeched a little in pain, so she threw another one, having it be stuck on its head. It screeched in pain again, but used its arm to hit Kali. She screamed as she flew and crashed against the wall, feeling a lot of pain on her back. The rest of the blades were dropped as well.
Despite the pain though, she began to sit up, albeit shakily. She grabbed a blade from the floor as the monster growled and crawled closer to her. She hadn't felt this horrified about her life since...
Since she ran from the Demogorgon in the Upside Down.
Except it was never this close to her. Still...she had to protect herself, no matter what.
It crawled extremely close to her and she used the blade to slash one of its legs. It made a pained cry as it stumbled to its side. She then used her free hand to shove the blade on its head deeper, getting cut a little from its sharpness. It let out another pained cry again. But there was no opening for her to get away from it.
And so, she sat there while the monster roared right in front of her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from it, feeling drips of its saliva land on her sweaty face.
Suddenly, the door to the room was bursted from its henges, revealing Mike at front with the rest of the group. He was sweating a little and his nose was bleeding. The monster's attention turned from her to him in a second, screaming.
Everyone looked at it in complete horror. "Oh my God..." Andrew said.
"Holy shit," Jane muttered.
"What the fu-" Max also muttered before its scream cut off her swear.
It charged towards everyone, but Mike let out a cry and stuck his hand out, using his power to grab and throw it against the wall. He kept hold of it, despite its tremendous weight. He let out another cry as he threw it against another wall. Kali was breathing rapidly, seeing him throw it up on the ceiling, then down on the ground.
However, despite all of that, it still stood up. Mike held the sides of the doorway to get everyone else back. He spotted Kali wobbly stand up and drop her blade. He looked at her and tilted his head. Understanding that, she quietly side-stepped out of the way. Finally, the monster screamed one last time and he screamed back, using both his hand to throw it out of the window. The glass shattered and it fell all the way down to the ground.
The female teen walked over to see it on the ground. She turned to everyone else and nodded. All but Terry, Jonathan, and Jane ran away to see its "corpse". The three of them approached Kali, the dirty-blonde-haired woman hugging her tightly. "Oh, my baby..." she said in a choked voice. Kali hugged her back.
They released the hug only loosely as Jonathan put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you alright, Kal?" he asked, worried.
She nodded, trying to regain her composure. "I-I'll be fine," she answered.
"Are you sure?" Jane asked, also worried.
She nodded again. "I'm sure."
Mike and Andrew were at the front as the rest of the group exited the hospital. They then stopped, Mike holding his arms out to stop them. They saw the best be the mass of flesh, muscle, and bone, moving like a slug towards a sewer drain. They all just stood and watched as it drained into it, leaving only a few bones and blood behind.
Then Kali, Jonathan, Terry, and Jane got out of the hospital and joined back with the group, puzzled to see the corpse gone. "Where did it go?" Kali asked.
"Down the drain," Andrew answered solemnly.
When the mass found itself on the true monster, Billy, Heather, and Stacey looked at it blankly. After a bit of silence, Billy stated, "It's time."
After driving to Burger King to get Alexei what he asked for, Jim and Joyce continued to question him while Jim eats a burger for himself. However, there was no true answer from him because his Slurpee was strawberry, not cherry. "Why didn't you get cherry, Hop?" Joyce asked him politely.
He let out a deep sigh and answered, "Because they didn't have cherry." He looked at Murray. "Tell him that."
He was puzzled. "Tell him what?"
"That they ran out of cherry and I had to get strawberry."
Murray told Alexei that in Russian. The scientist gave Jim narrow eyes, then looked at him and gave his reply. With a wry smile, Murray looked at Jim and told him, "He says you should find another place where they offer cherry Slurpees."
Jim deeply exhaled. Damn, does this man do a number of his patience. To be honest with himself, this was a waste of a goddamn time, arguing about sugar on ice instead of getting information. "Well, tell him to forget it. No cherry."
The bearded man sighed and said that to the scientist. He looked at Jim again, then at the TV with a goofy smile on his face. He gave his reply, then laughed at Woody Woodpecker fighting a pirate crow.
"He says, 'no cherry...'" He paused to shrug. "'No deal.'"
The police chief deeply exhaled again, his patience now gone. He exchanged glances, smiling smugly. Jim sucked his fingers to get the rest of the burger taste off. Fortunately, he has been in this situation before. If getting the suspect what they want won't get them to talk...
Then a good ol' case of reverse psychology will.
"Okay," he muttered before standing up and yanking Alexei off of his chair. He looked less smug and more terrified. That surprised the hell out of Joyce and Murray.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the theorist exclaimed.
"Jim! What are you doing?!" Joyce exclaimed. These two won't see it now, but they will as soon as he shoves him out the door with both keys. He was certain he was one of "those" guys.
In the darkness, Mike wandered around, hoping to find something...anything, to link to Billy or Heather or any of the Flayed so that he could spy on them. Or, at least, have a glimpse at what's going on there. Today, he wore a patterned collared shirt that was sky-blue, orange, and white. He also wore jean shorts and shin-high socks.
He continued to wander aimlessly, feeling the liquid under his feet.
Mike was blindfolded and in his room. The static of the TV kept him in as he sat in front of it. There were a row of pictures in front of him: Heather and her family, Mrs. Driscoll on a pamphlet about bingo night, a framed picture of Stacey and Dave in front of their home with their arms around each other's shoulders and smiling (courtesy of Andrew going back home and getting it), and Billy's school picture.
Next to the telekinetic boy was a box of tissues...and a crumpled pile of used ones. He took a fresh new tissue, wiped the blood out of his nose with it, and put it in the pile.
...
Meanwhile, everyone else was waiting outside of the room. Jane wore a black and yellow tribal-patterned shirt, black suspenders, and hi-tops. Max had her hair in braids and wore a black and blue tank top, denim shorts, short socks, and dark sneakers. Lucas wore his bandana, a red and white shirt with Japanese kanji and the flag's circle, dark shorts, short socks, and sneakers. Jane was pacing around nervously, looking worried. Lucas and Max sat on the couch, looking at the back of a cereal box. "He's been in there too long," she said, her voice matching her expression. "It can't be good for him."
"Relax, Jane," Lucas said plainly, not looking up. Max did though.
"I can't. What if he gets, like, brain damage or something?"
Now they both looked worried. "Oh shit," Max muttered inaudibly because the adults were also there.
"Could that happen?" They all then looked at Terry, who was near the doorway with Andrew. She had her hair in a bun and wore a lime-green sleeveless shirt, mom jeans, and brown sandals. Andrew wore a plain white, long-sleeved shirt, denim shorts, and sandals as well.
She sighed, frowning at Jane. "Sweetheart, I don't know."
She looked shocked to hear that. "What?"
"I only knew how long he can hold his telekinesis, not his telepathy." Her daughter frowned, looking even more worried.
"O-okay then, like, a scientific guess?"
She looked at the door, thinking about how much blood he must be losing through doing this. She drew her lips to a thin line and answered, "Worst-case scenario, he passes out due to lack of blood in the brain." That made Jane shudder. "Best-case, he has a really, really bad migraine." Both scenarios had made Jane feel even worse.
"Neither sound good," Andrew said, getting a shrug from Terry.
"But maybe neither will happen," Lucas stated, Jane glaring at him. "It's just a guess and guesses can be wrong."
"But guesses can also be right," Jane retorted.
Lucas gave her a weird look. "Jane, just chill-" Then suddenly, they were in an argument, something the adults were now trying to break off.
Meanwhile, Kali was on the phone with a worker with her notepad and pen in her free hand, Jonathan was drinking coffee, and Will sat on one of the stools of the kitchen counter. Kali wore a white short-sleeved shirt with lavender stripes, long black pants, and black flats. Jonathan wore a dull green, collared shirt, jeans, and black and white shoes. Will wore a tri-colored collared shirt, denim shorts, shin-high socks, and grey shoes.
On the phone, Kali said, "Yes, from The Hawkins Post. I called you a couple days ago about-" She stopped when she heard the worker speak. "Yes. I'm just calling to follow up, if you had anything else missing or if-" She heard the man speak, making her sigh and roll her eyes. "Okay. Thank you for your time." She then hung up and walked to the counter.
In front of Jonathan was a phone book, asking, "Who's next?"
The auburn-haired teen scoffed. "What's next?" he answered. "Unless you want to start calling random people's phones..."
She huffed and put her notepad and pen down next to the book. "This makes no sense."
"What makes no sense?"
She looked at her friend. "There's a pattern to their behavior, Jonathan. A CONSISTENT pattern. They've been eating and drinking chemicals since this all started and just NOW they stop?"
"Maybe they just have all the chemicals they need," Will replied, getting into their conversation. Kali rubbed her temple. "Maybe they all turned into...whatever we saw last night."
She scoffed, putting her hand down. "But the source, what the hell could it be? We know the Mind Flayer's holed up in some steel mill, but where in the mill? How exactly is he getting to people? Is he stopping? And..." She paused to shrug. "Even if the Flayed are monsters now, why can't Mike find them?"
Before either of them could answer, Lucas and Jane walked up to them with the rest of the group, much to their confusion. "Can, uh, you two settle an argument for us?" Lucas asked them, putting a hand on his hip.
"Lucas-" Terry said sternly before getting cut off.
"Who gets to decide Mike's limits: Jane or Mike?"
She looked offended, crossing her arms. "I can't believe you framed it that way. I'm just-"
He looked at her. "Then you'll know he'll be fine."
"How would YOU know he will?"
"How would YOU know he won't?"
"Hey!" Kali shouted, the two of them stopping and looking at her. She sighed. "What exactly is the problem here?"
"They're arguing about letting Mike do this for longer," Terry answered.
She pointed at her. "Then get Mum's opinion. She's well-versed in science."
"We just got her guesses, which could be wrong-" Lucas said.
"Or right," Jane cut in.
He scoffed at her. "Doing this was his OWN decision, Jane! You'd support him, no matter what!"
"Well, that's actually not how relationships work-" Andrew said to cut in.
Lucas looked at him and said, "Dude, with all due respect, I didn't ask for your opinion." His eyebrows raised and Terry did not look approving of that.
"Hey, that was rude, Lucas." He sighed.
"Sorry, but he-" He stopped to hold a hand up to him. "-no offense-" He looked at everyone else. "-doesn't know Mike as well as us."
"But he's right," Max said. "You can't just support EVERY decision your boyfriend or girlfriend makes."
Lucas wryly chuckled, crossed his arms, and rolled his eyes. "Wow, Max..." he mumbled. She gave him the side-eye.
"I just-" Jane groaned. "I just don't want him to risk his life for no reason."
That made Kali and Jonathan look baffled at her. "'For no reason'?" Kali repeated. "Jane, the Flayed are out there doing whatever they please."
Lucas nodded, counting off with his fingers. "Killing, flaying..."
"And transforming into monsters," Will added.
Jane scoffed and looked at the two adults. "Mama, Andrew, you must think this is reckless."
Terry let out a deep sigh. "I am just as worried for him as you are, sweetie. But Mike knows his abilities better than the rest of us." Her jaw dropped at that.
Andrew nodded and pointed at her. "That's a good point." She looked at him, baffled. "Plus, it WAS his decision." Jane just couldn't believe it.
Max sighed and shook her head while her boyfriend pointed his hand at them and looked at his female friend. "There you go." She crossed her arms and looked at him with an aggravated look. "Listen, I might've not trusted him when we first met him and we might've not gotten off strong at first, but he's his own guy, he's a good friend, and I support him. He saved the world TWICE, you two made up-" He pointed at her. "But you still can't trust him?"
Jane laughed ironically. "Trust? You want to throw that in my face after making him SPY on me and Max?"
This was news to the redhead. "Wait, what?"
She turned to her. "Your boyfriend didn't tell you that he used Mike's powers to SPY on the both of us after the break-up?"
Her jaw dropped and she looked at Lucas. "What?!" Lucas groaned and rolled his eyes at her.
Terry did not look pleased either. "I'm sorry, even I can't justify that."
Andrew shook his head. "That's creepy."
Kali nodded. "Have to agree. Do you know how incriminating that would be for you if it was the other way around?"
Lucas looked like he was about to burst into anger, but he managed to keep it together. "Okay, first off, I didn't MAKE him. It was HIS idea-"
"That you shouldn't have supported," Max said to him angrily.
He huffed and said, "Sure, fine. It was a stupid idea. But SECOND-" He looked at everyone with a perplexed look. "Why are we even talking about this?"
"It should be said," Jane retorted before looking at Will.
He held his hands up. "I wasn't for it-"
"Yes you were," Lucas said, making him sigh.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow and looked at his younger brother. "That's really not it, man."
He sighed and kept his hands up. "I shouldn't have let them did it, there." He dropped them to his sides. "You are all right, that was creepy of us to let Mike do."
He rolled his eyes at him. "Jee, thanks."
Jane huffed and looked at him, still irritated. "Why?!"
"We were just joking around-"
"Creeping up on girls is not a joke!" Everyone else seemed to agree, making him groan again.
"Alright, alright, it's not a joke, I'm sorry."
"You told me that Mike's not my pet. Well, he's not yours either!" He closed his eyes, bowed his head down, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "In fact, no, you don't let him be your pet. You let him be a machine." She looked at everyone else, excluding Max. "Actually, all of you are letting him use himself like a machine!" Everyone looked down and away from her, looking only a little guilty. Her eyes became glassy. "But he's not! He's human too, despite the powers! I don't want him to be hurt or killed trying to find the Flayed when they've all vanished from what we've seen! We can't keep using him for his powers with every chance we get, okay?! We don't know its limits, maybe he doesn't either, I don't know, but we can't keep pushing it!" Her voice was getting sobby. Terry looked especially guilty. She...she was not any better than the people that gave Mike childhood trauma to let him be like this.
She sniffled, holding back a sob, before continuing, "We have to think of something else before it's too late, before he gets himself hurt! Please! We need to think of something else right now because I love him and I can't lose him again!"
That last sentence left everyone silent and completely surprised.
Terry and Max looked pleasantly surprised to hear that. Lucas's jaw dropped, not expecting that. Andrew was in shock, then awe that a girl felt that way for a guy her age. Jonathan and Kali's eyebrows were raised, but the Indian girl's lips curled into a small smile. Will looked down, heavy feelings hitting him from hearing her say that word again. He laced his fingers together tightly, his eyes getting watery.
After taking a breath, Jane realized what she had done. Not only did she go off on a tangent about Mike and his powers being used...she admitted to everyone that she loved him. It was the first time everyone's heard it...
And the second Will did.
The auburn-haired boy got off of the stool and said in a cracked voice, "Sorry. I...need some fresh air." He then went out of the cabin.
Jane sniffled, knowing why he left like that. She looked at everyone else and asked, "C-can you guys...just...let Mike out while I talk to Will?"
Andrew took a deep breath and answered, "I'll get Mike." She looked at him and smiled before exiting out of the cabin to follow Will. He began thinking about what she said. She...was right. They've been letting Mike do this, pushing himself to a brink. It was like...Vietnam: being drafted against your will, going there and doing whatever it took to live...even if it meant taking a life. It never felt good for him, he thought maybe Mike didn't like this either.
He walked towards the door to his room and opened it, seeing Mike himself in front of it. One of his nostrils was clearly bloody. Both were clearly surprised to see each other. "Oh, Mike," he said in a low voice, making him clear his throat. "I was just coming to get you. You alright?"
He nodded, then asked, "What happened?"
He looked puzzled. "What?"
"I heard yelling...from Jane."
Andrew inhaled sharply. "How much did you hear?"
Much to his surprise, he smiled a little and answered, "Enough." His smile was short-lived. "Is something wrong?"
He shook his head. "Oh no, just...letting everything out." The boy just nodded again before stepping out of the room. Andrew walked with him. "By the way-" he whispered.
"I heard Jane and Will leave," he whispered back, though he was unsure why they would talk together again. He just nodded before the freckled boy faced everyone. They all looked at him.
"I need a break," he said to everyone solemnly.
...
Will leaned against a tree in a way that no one back at the cabin would see him. He wiped his eyes and sniffled, his heavy feelings still present. For hearing that again to still hurt him...
"Will?" he heard Jane call out. He peeked over and saw her going to near to where he was. She spotted him and jogged towards him. He stopped peeking over and looked straight ahead. At the corner of his eye, he saw her near him, then in front of him. He looked down at her, sniffling.
"You don't need to apologize, Jane," he stated in a cracked voice, wiping his watery eyes again.
She frowned. "But-"
"That's how you really feel about Mike...right?" After a few seconds, she nodded. "Then it's okay. I'll...get over it."
She looked worried. "Then why are you out here?"
He took a deep breath, looking away from her. "I guess..." He sniffled again, crossing his arms. "I guess that...I've always had a huge crush on you all these years, but I never thought of a good time to confess to you." She looked saddened. "And then I suddenly end up in the Upside Down and then Mike appears and I come back and I don't know about your relationship with him until the Snow Ball. It..." His eyes got watery once more. "It hurts, to be honest. I always wanted to tell you my feelings and maybe we could date, but then he appears and takes you and you two are happy together and you...love him." He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I don't like that he got to you before me, but you two are happy and..." He sobbed. "Damn it, I don't want to be that way about you two, but..."
Jane looked even more saddened to hear this. Even if she didn't love Mike or even if Mike was never in the picture...she wouldn't have dated Will. She never felt anything more for him than a really good friend. But hearing this...she felt so sorry for him. She couldn't imagine how pained he must be feeling all this time while she was lovey-dovey with Mike. She got close and hugged him. He was surprised about the hug, but he really needed it, so he hugged her back, crying into her shoulder.
"It's okay, Will," she said to him softly. "Take the time you need."
He would, even if it was easier said than done. And no matter how hurt he was from this predicament...as long as she was happy with Mike, he'll support them, all the way.
Stopping here. What do you guys think? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?
So, about that something serious...
I'm sure if you guys keep up with the news, then you've heard about the movie "Cuties". It's out on Netflix right now. At first, when I heard about it, I was just as enraged as everyone else was because sexualizing little girls?! Are you serious?! I've lived in Florida until I finished elementary school and girls being dressed like that and doing those dances were not uncommon, so it disgusted me that the poster and the trailer depicted that in a glamorous light.
Then I decided to research it and it seemed like a cautionary tale about what can be considered female empowerment (on the religious side and on the Western side) and also that sexualizing young girls is bad (with mishandled marketing). Not only that, I saw a video of the director explaining why she made the movie, which is something I'll respect her for trying to bring up. I think young girls, especially those 14 and under, being sexualized due to social media standards should be talked about.
I was still dubious about it though because the director could have made a documentary movie or a docu-series or even invested in an animated movie about the topic instead of actually making the young girls do those dances and dress the way they do in that one scene near the end. In fact, she could've casted older girls that could pass as the girls' ages in the movie. I'm sure there are some out there and it's happened multiple times.
Despite my fears, I watched it all the way through and...
Listen, again, I appreciate that the director was trying to bring up sexualization of children and there were a total of four scenes I've liked: one near the beginning, one at the middle, and one at the end because they were well-handled emotional scenes and one twenty minutes in because it was a cute friendship scene. The acting's good and on a technical level, most of it's good. However...
I wanna be fair and say that the sexualized scenes make up 5% of the movie, but they were so poorly executed that they overshadow the 95%. There were some other parts of the movie that go to the extreme to showcase the message, but there were other ways to shoot them, even make those parts implied, but the director messed that up and it brings down the film. And yep, the close-ups on...those parts of the girls while they're dancing were really unnecessary and made the movie become the beast it was meant to slay. Yeah, in the end, there were the crowd's reactions to the girls dancing, which are negative, but it still doesn't justify those close-ups. I wish the film focused more on her family rather than her "friends" so that one of the director's intentions shines through. It just felt like it was neither going for religion or Westernization until the end where the main character chooses the former, which again I liked, but that doesn't say much.
So yeah, it's a messed up film. Whether you've seen it or not, that's the fact. Again, I appreciate that the director was trying to bring the topic up, but the decisions she made had brought down the film to the beast it was trying to slay. And again, she could've also made a documentary or a book or even an animated movie about this instead and it would've been MUCH better.
My parents never knew about this controversy because they're off of social media for personal reasons, so I told them about it and they canceled their subscription they had for years. It sucks because there are other shows on Netflix I'm watching (like Lucifer) or about to watch (like Never Have I Ever) or even going to come out later (like Over The Moon). And even though I've always planned out this fanfic, I always check back to Stranger Things to make sure I got the order of events right and maybe change them when I notice something in the show. And rewatch the first two seasons, of course. But it's not worth it with a movie like this on the same platform. And it definitely sucks for every other creator on the platform that their content are now side-by-side with this movie and they could not get as much reception if they didn't release this movie.
Thankfully, I did take notes on each episode of the third season, so this will still get going. I just needed time to recover from that film because those scenes were so disturbing...
That said, keep supporting this fanfic and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.