Hawkins 1983

He couldn't breathe; blood was oozing out of his side causing a warm puddle to form all around him. In the far distance of the school he could hear the kids screaming; the monster screeching at the top of its lungs. He had been so close to getting her back, to creating the ultimate weapon, but it wasn't enough.

"Down here," he heard someone yell over the chaos. Brenner opened his eyes, lights from the ceiling flickered on and off. He could hear the hard footsteps of men running down the hall way. He looked at either side of him to see all the dead and half eaten bodies.

The screeching became more intense, the lights grew brighter; hurting his eyes and making the room white. The footsteps stopped in their place, everything stopped. Brenner lifted his hands to his ears, the sound making him want to cry out.

"He alive," a man kneeled on his right side, putting pressure to the wound by his liver. He let out a gasp, never understanding what pain really was until this moment. "We need to move before that thing comes back." Brenner looked around him; three men clouded his vision as they started to lift him from the floor.

"El!" he head a boy scream from down the hall. "El where are you?" His screams were becoming faint. "Eleven!" and then all he saw was darkness.

Hawkins 1984

She sat on Wills bed, watching him breathe. She had been so excited to meet him a year ago. The boys had made him out to be the best friend anyone would want, but once she watched all the bad men crowd Mike's house just a year ago, she knew meeting him was never going to happen.

His eyes were still rimmed with darkness, and his hair was slightly greasy. He had woken a few hours ago, screaming and crying for Joyce. It reminded her of all the times she would wake up in her old room from dreams. How she knew that even though she woke up from the nightmare, it didn't mean it was over.

She thought about the dream she had. Her cheek still felt a sting when she pressed her fingers to it. The memory of her Papa made her shiver. She didn't know what to think, and she didn't know if she should tell anyone. Friends don't lie, but was this a lie or a secret; a word she had learned from the T.V.

"I'm sure he'll wake up soon," Joyce stood in the door way, watching El as she daydreamed. The sudden noise made her jump looking up at her in surprise. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you," she said slowly walking into the room. "Mike should be leaving soon. I thought I would let you know." El bent her head in appreciation, giving one last look at Will before standing up.

"Will you tell me when he wakes up?" El stood eye level to Joyce, making her realize that within the past year she had been growing. She looked down at the space pajamas she was wearing, and then back at will. "Thank you for the bath last night," she said before leaving the room.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell my mom," she heard Max's voice from the hall. "She is going to kill me, I won't be seeing daylight until I'm eighty." El crept around the corning, looking into the front room not wanting to disturb them.

"Maybe you should tell them about Billy," Lucas said. "They can't be too mad at you for running from him."

"No," she said back. "I think him and I have an understanding now."

"Well, I get to go home to my mom." Dustin said. "She sure as hell didn't find Mews so now I need to console her while she morns." El wondered what a mews was, and why it meant so much to Dustin's mother. She stayed where she stood, looking at the group of friends all lazily sitting around the room. Mike half laid on the couch, his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.

"El," she jumped slightly, Dustin stood from his spot on the floor. He walked over, giving her a hug. "I think it's totally badass that you risked your life, again. What was it like? What did it look like? Did Hopper go all badass superhero on the demi-dogs?" El slowly crept into the room, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Umm," she said quietly.

"You don't have to answer those questions," Max said. "I'm sure it was different to you than how these guys picture it." El slightly smiled at her, feeling a little embarrassed for the way she had treated her before.

"You're like a Jedi knight," Dustin began to talk again. "I never thought one of my best friends would be a Jedi. No one would believe me if I told them."

"Shut up Dustin," Lucas said. "She obviously doesn't want to talk about it." Dustin took a seat next Lucas on the floor, their backs leaning on the couch, Mikes leg sat in-between them. Dustin threw a punch at Lucas's arm, Lucas sent one back.

"Can you not," Mike said quietly. He kept his eye closed; arms over his chest. "Some of us are trying to sleep." El took a seat in front of them, Max scooting from her place on the wall to sit next to her.

"What was it like traveling to Chicago?" Max asked her. She looked sideways at the girl, and then down at her hands.

"I don't know," she said. "I wasn't scared, but I also felt," what did she feel? "Like I was missing something."

"Maybe you were just homesick," Max said back. El lifted her head to look at her.

"Homesick?"

"Yeah, like a feeling you get, you know?" Max search around the room for words. "When you just really miss your home, that's what can make you sick."

"Yeah," El said nodding her head. "I have been homesick."

"Me too," Max said back. "I moved far from home recently. I've been very homesick." El looked back down at her hands, slightly feeling guilty for the way she had been treating her. "But, I've made some friends, and got to fight some other dimensional beings, so I guess I'm not as homesick as I was before." Max smiled at her, she gave a smile back.

"Okay guys," Hopper stomped into the room. "It's time for everyone to get on their bikes, or however you got here in the first place and head home." Mike stretched and opened his eyes.

"Can I have like ten more minutes?" He asked.

"Nope," Hopper said. "Everyone up." They all stood from their spot, mike sitting up and putting his head d in his hands. "You and me," he pointed to El. "We are heading back; we have a lot of work to get done if we want to sleep tonight." El gave a slight groan, then moment she had been dreading was coming.

"Can't we wait until Will wakes up?" She asked.

"Maybe we can see him another time," Hop said. "I don't know when, but once I find out what's going on maybe we can work something out."

"What about me," Mike said standing from the couch.

"What about you," Hopper said back.

"When can I come and see her? Will you let me know if anything is happening? Will there be a time that we can all get together at the cabin?"

"Whoa kid," Hop said putting his hands up in defense. El looked over to Mike, his eyes matched her sad ones, and he looked back.

"We'll wait outside," Max said grabbing the boys by their shirts and dragging them out. She closed the front door with a slam, their shoes scrapping on front porch as they walked down the steps.

"I don't know," Hop said slowly. "I don't know anything until I am able to figure out who knows that El is not only alive, but here." A silence fell between all three of them. El thought about the days that were going to follow, how she would take her usual seat on the couch, holding her teddy and watching all the dramas she could find on T.V. She thought about her dictionary, how she was going to learn more words, even though she was going to go days without talking. She thought about Mike, and how he would call her every night for a year, and if he would do the same now that he knew she was listening. "I'll give you a minute," Hop said looking between them before walking into the kitchen.

Mike walked up to her, standing close as he grabbed her shoulders.

"I still can't believe you're here," he said with a slight smile. "I can still tell you about my day, if you'll be listening. Maybe this time you can let me know that you're there." El threw her arms around him in a hug letting her eyes fill with tears.

"You promise," she said.

"I promise," he said back. He pulled her back to look her in the eyes. "Maybe you can go to the snowball this year. We can dance, and have punch."

"Punch?"

"It's a drink," Mike said with a wet smile. "and we can all hang out and be normal for once."

"Normal." Mike pulled her into another hug before breaking her away from him. They stared into one another eyes; Mike was trying to hold back tears. El leaned forward slowly moving towards his lips.

"Okay," Hop said walking back into the room. " Minutes over." Mike gave a frustrating sigh letting his hands fall into hers.

"Every night, I'll be there, I promise." He looked up a Hop before removing his hands from hers and walking out of the door. She let out a little growl of frustrations as she cried, watching them leave down the drive way from the window.

"Okay," Hop said as they walked over the trip wire. The air had felt colder today than it had the days before, she didn't know if that was because she felt slightly empty again or if it was really the weather changing. The door of the cabin sat wide open, the wooden boards over the windows were still there, and it didn't look like home anymore; just an old wooden hut that was abandoned. "I think the first thing I'll have to do is fix this door." They walked up the steps of the front porch; El let her feet fall heavier than they needed to.

Glancing from the door way she could see the mess that was made from before. Heaters sitting in a circle, Hops bed a mess, their sitting room didn't look like it used to. She peered into the kitchen, noticing the old Eggo box that had been thrown in the trash can, but other than that nothing had changed there.

Her bedroom door was slightly ajar. She slowly walked through the cabin to get to it. She opened the door slowly to see her bed the way that she had left it; the teddy bear Hopper had given her resting on top of the blanket. She walked over and picked it up, thinking about what Hopper had told her in the car on the way to the Lab.

"Sara," he had said in a sad voice. "Sara's my baby girl."

She let the teddy fall onto the bed, realizing that he had given her his daughters toy with trust, and she had been rude enough not to care as much as she should have. She sat on her bed next to it, looking around her room. Her book case had a few books that she had started, but never finished. She had a snow globe on a shelve that hung from the wall. It held a large castle on the inside of the glass, and every time she tipped it upside down it would snow.

"What do you say kiddo," Hop interrupted her thoughts, walking into her door way. He still wore the cloths he had on the night before. His chief jackets covered a green hospital shirt underneath. "I was thinking you could clean the sheets; maybe move some furniture around while I went to the supply store to get stuff to fix the door."

"I can do that," she said quietly. Hop moved to leave half way turning his back. "Jim?" he stopped and turned to her. She picked up the teddy bear, looking at it in her lap. "What did she name it?" She asked looking back up at him.

"The teddy bear?" he came into the room, sitting next to her on the bed; picking up the teddy bear to look at it. "She had this obsession with names that started with S's. She named almost all her dolls Suzy and Sally because she thought those were the best names, but when I gave her this teddy bear she told me it was a boy. She named him Aaron, but would call him Air." He slightly looked off into the distance; El could see a memory form in his eyes and wondered what she must have been like. "She always had trouble breathing." Hop looked down at the bear one last time, handing him back to El and standing from the bed. "I should only be forty or so minutes, it shouldn't take too long." And at those words he was out of her room, and down the front steps. She listened to his feet hit the dead leads until she couldn't hear him anymore.

…

Mike sat in his basement, sitting on the couch with his walkie in his hand. He knew it was too early to try and talk to El, but he honestly couldn't wait any longer. He had only gotten home an hour ago. His mom made a slight comment about not having kids anymore since they are never home, but Mike ignored her as he went up the steps to the bathroom; he really needed a shower.

He had spent more time in the shower than he needed. He watched as the dirt fell from his skin and down the drain. He couldn't believe what he had just gone through. It was like an actually game of D&D, and they had won; even though it didn't feel like winning.

It wasn't until he was in his room to change, when he looked at his bunkbed, his desk, and all the pictures that hung on his wall that he realized he felt heartbroken. So, he went down stairs, into the basement, and there he sat with his walkie on the wrong channel. Thinking about when he could talk to her, and what he should say.

"Hey!" Mike jump nearly out of his skin as Nancy came down the stairs.

"Jesus Nancy," Mike said angrily. "Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"Sorry," she said. "I just thought I would let you know that Will woke up. He said he was feeling tired and a little out of it, but nothing out of the ordinary." Mike gave a slight huff, nothing out of the ordinary my ass, he thought. "Mom wants us to have an early dinner. She setting the table right now," she slowly turned back around, moving up the steps but stopping in the middle. "If you ever want to talk," she turned her head to look at Mike. "You can talk to me. I don't really know much about her, but I would like to." Mike gave a sad smirk looking back down at his walkie, and turning it off.

"Thanks," he said. He stood from his spot of the couch, putting the walkie on the coffee table before following Nancy up the stairs.

His mother made one of his favorite meals, ham, mashed potatoes, and corn. He looked down at his plate, not really wanting to eat. He place the tip of his fork in and out of his potato's, looking at Holly who tried her best at spooning corn into her mouth. Several kernels fell into her lap as she tried to use one hand to guide the spoon and the other to keep the cornels in place.

"So," his mom said. She adjusted her napkin in her lap." What's going on with Will?" She looked up at Mike, her eyes filled with concern and curiosity.

"He was just having a slight nervous break I guess," Mike said, slouching down into his seat. "He was having flash backs to last year, but now he's feeling a little bit better."

"Yes well, who wouldn't." she said picking up her fork. "Maybe I'll bring Joyce some casserole tomorrow. That poor woman's been through enough."

"The boy should be put on meds," his father chirped in. "They have pills for anything these days."

"Ted!"

"What? The poor boy can't even sort through his own thoughts. He needs something to help him out." Ted looked back down at her dinner. Mike stole a glance at Nancy who gave him one right back.

"How was your girls weekend Nancy? Did you have fun?" His mother moved on in the conversation. Nancy made up a story about how they spent their time watching movies and talking gossip. Mike looked back to his food, thinking about the lab, about Bob, and most of all about almost being killed nearly every step of the way.

Dinner lasted nearly thirty minutes, Mike helped Nancy with some dishes before speeding back down into the basement. He grabbed his walkie, going into the makeshift tent that lay against the wall. He hid under the sheets, bringing up the antenna and turning it on with the twist of the nob. He let out a slow breath, not knowing if he should start talking or just wait a little bit longer. He slumped his back against the wall.

"El," he said into the speaker. "I don't know if you're listening yet." He sat for a moment in silence, trying to see if the lights would flicker, or if anything would be said back. "I can't stop thinking about…everything. I'm almost certain I saw something in shadows of my room earlier, but I think I'm still a little jumpy." He brought the walkie away from his mouth, waiting before talking again. "Are you scared? I guess I am, but if I wasn't then I guess something would be wrong with me." He sat a little longer in silence, letting his mind wonder to the far reaches of his thoughts.

"I guess I just wanted to say goodnight. I hope you get some rest, and I hope you're feeling better." He listened to the static a little bit longer. "Goodnight El." He hit the antenna down with the palm of his hands, moving out of the fort, he stood from his place looking back down at the fort, before turning around and walking back up the stairs.

…

El sat on her bed putting on two pairs of socks on one foot. Since the windows were still broken they had to go with the cold breeze moving through the cabin, and the later into the night it got, the colder her toes felt. She looked through her bedroom door at Hopper, he slumped over the small fire place a new log through the opening. She gathered her blanket from her bed; throwing it over her shoulder and picking up the bear as she started to walk out of her bed room.

She had spent a good portion of the afternoon moving around furniture, and sweeping the wooden floors. She took all the files she had thrown around the sitting area and placed them carefully back into the box, hiding it in the crawl space under the floor. She moved everything by hand, which at first didn't sounds as bad, but once she starting moving the couch she started to realize how weak she really was.

She didn't want to tell Hopper, but her head had been hurting all day. She could feel her limbs not wanting to put work in, and every time she walked her leg muscles let out a twinge of pain that she didn't want to feel.

She took a seat on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. Hop took a set on his bed just next to her, taking off his shoes, placing them to the side. He put his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes before looking up at El.

"You look like shit," he said tiredly. She raised her eye brows, eyeing him. "I'm sure I do too. You sleep on the couch tonight; the cold shouldn't be too bad next to the fire." She nodded her head, adjusting herself to lay her head on the armrest. She could hear Hop move around on the bed, he sighed as he got comfortable and she did the same. "I have a full day tomorrow," he said to her through the darkness. "I'll have to wake up early and maybe come home later than I would want to, but hopefully by the end of the day I'll have some glass for the windows." El nodded her head again, realizing that he couldn't see her, but was becoming too tired to use her voice. She gave her bear a slight squeeze letting her eye lids fall.

She wanted to see Mike, but she had never been able to see him while she slept. She walked through the blackness, her sock covered feet becoming wet, but she couldn't feel it. She started walking straight, not hearing or seeing anything around her. The drips of her feet echoed through her ears.

"El," she heard Mikes voice. "I don't know if you're listening yet." She turned in circles, looking for anything in the darkness that she could walk to. A shape was forming far to her left, she quickly moved towards it.

"Mike!" she said, her voice echoing loud.

"Please," El stopped in her steps. A female's voice rang through the nothingness. "I'm so tired." She could hear faint whimpers as she slowly started to move towards the figure again. A girl, hunched over in her bed, her knees to her chest. It was the same girl from the night before, her head was shaved, and her arms were rimmed red from rope burn.

"You have to come," a woman she didn't recognize came from her right, taking the girls arms and began to try and force her out of bed. "Do you want me to get the other men?" The woman asked her in a harsh voice.

"No," the girl quietly whispered. "I just want to sleep."

"You've been sleeping all day. This isn't up for debate; we have more tests to run." The girl let out a small cry as the woman pulled her from the bed. "Help," the older woman screamed. She could hear men in the distance talking, but couldn't see anyone else with them. All around her walls began to form, the black obis that she normally stood in starting to form into an actual room. They walls were yell, and cold. Nothing sat in the small square room except for a bed.

"Please don't let them do this," the girl cried. She struggled in the woman's arms, but her small frame wasn't enough to get free. El hurried forward, ready to aid her if she could. The girl struggled hiss at the burns being pulled at from her arms. El felt the pain sting, she looked down to find red burns form on her. "Please," the girl sobbed, she stopped her movement as El bent in front of her. They looked into one another's eyes. "Please," El put her hand out to her, near her face. Before she could touch her everything turned to cloud, evaporating in front of her eyes.

She sat on her knees, looking around her, tears falling onto her cheek. What was happening? How was this happening? Who was this girl? Why could she feel her pain?

"El," Mike's voice echoed all around her. She looked up from her daze, standing from her knees. A shape appeared in front of her, Mike. She slowly walked forward; she could feel her toes becoming cold. "I don't know if you're listening yet," he said into his walkie. She took a set in front of their fort, watching as he stared ahead, straight through her. "I can't stop thinking about," his pause made her look around slightly, nervous that someone was watching. "Everything. I'm almost certain I saw something in the shadows of my room earlier, but I think I'm just jumpy."

"Jumpy," El said to herself. She knew the word jump, but the way he was using it confused her. "Jumpy?" She asked him, forgetting they weren't in the same room.

"Are you scared?" he asked slightly quiet. She thought about the question.

"Yes," she said looking down at her hands. Her arms showed traces of red, where rope could have been.

"I guess I am," he continued on. "But if I wasn't I guess something would be wrong with me." They both sat in silence for a few seconds. El thought about being scared, about what she was scared of. Words she didn't know, the dark, being alone. "I guess I just wanted to say goodnight. I hope you get some rest, and I hope you're feeling better." El let out a slight cry. "Goodnight El." He slammed the metal down with his hand and stood from his spot.

El moved out of his way, scared that her touch would make him disappear.

"Mike," she cried, slowly following him. His color was fading, his features less visible. "I'm listening." She put out her hand to catch his, but as soon as he evaporated she opened her eyes.

The fire had dimmed slightly, and even though she was wearing two socks on each foot her toes were still cold. She had fallen asleep with her head closes to Hop, but ended up waking up on the other side of the couch. The blanket she had been using was on the floor, and the bear she had been clutching was nowhere in sight. Even though she was shivering, she didn't pick it up her blanket.

Hop let out a soft snore, giving El a little comfort that she wasn't alone. She looked over at the T.V. becoming sad that it was broken and it would still be a couple of days before Hopper could fix it. She sat up from her seat, looking into the kitchen and all along the walls. For some reason something felt different. The feeling of safety that she had when she lived here before didn't remain, and all she could feel was a dark shadow looming over her.

"Can't sleep kid," Hops soft tired voice startled El. She looked over at Hop with a slightly pissed expression; he gave a small laugh before sitting up. He grabbed his watch, which he tucked into his shoe before going to bed, and read the time. "4 in the morning," he yawned. "I guess I'll get up a little earlier than expected." He stood from the bed, walking over to the bathroom and started the shower. "Go back to sleep kid," he said leaning in the door way. "You need to rest."

"Yeah," she said back. She took the blanket from the floor, rapping herself up and looked around for the teddy bear; she couldn't find it anywhere. She sighed. Giving up her search and laid her head back down to fall asleep.

Hopper looked over at El sleeping on the couch. He let out a sigh, because weather he liked it or not she had become someone in his life that he thought he would never get back. He didn't want to leave her for the day; she still had dark circles under her eyes and the lack of food she had consumed since the last time he had seen her was concerning, but if he wanted to get to the bottom of how he was going to fix this he needed to start sooner rather than later. So, he took a few quiet steps to the front door, put his hat on his head, and locked what locks he could before walking out into the cold.

He took two steps from the porch before realizing something was off, and turned around to see what it was. Sitting off to the side of the last step sat Aaron the teddy bear. He walked up to it and picked it up, dew was starting to form on the fur and it was cold, like it had been sitting out in the open for hours. He looked back to the front door, wondering what she had been doing outside in the middle of the night. He took a few glances around the surrounding forest trying to find anything suspicious.

He walked back up the steps and unlocked the door, slowly walking into the dark cabin. El still lay where he had left her, her face barely visible from the blanket. He took a few steps into her room, placing the bear on her bed, looking down at it sadly.

"He's a boy," he heard his daughter giggle. "I'm going to name him Aaron."

"Are you okay," Hopper jumped in his spot, spinning around fast to see El standing with her blanket wrapped around her.

"Yeah kid," He said clearing his throat. He ruffled her hair as he pasted her. "Make sure your eating breakfast and lunch." He yelled before walking out the door.