Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Stranger Things or its plots or characters.
CHAPTER 2: TRICK OR TREAT, FREAK
"Goodbye, Mike,"
Eleven's own words echoed around in her head. Images of her ripping the monster apart with her powers flashing in her brain, making her nauseous. She was going to throw up. Wait, how was she nauseous? Shouldn't she be dead? She was really going to be sick.
Her eyes shot open and her body convulsed as she heaved semi-clear goopy stuff from her throat. Gasping for air, Eleven tried to fill her strained lungs with much needed oxygen, but even the air itself felt toxic. That thought gave her pause as she glanced around her, her eyes taking in her surroundings for the first time.
Dark, cold, dead everywhere.
The Upside Down.
Exhaustion was gripping her again, threatening to pull her back into unconsciousness, but she fought it. Pushing herself up, Eleven stood and began walking out of the classroom and into the hall she had just been in… it couldn't have been that long ago.
There was only one person she needed to find. One person who could make everything okay.
"Mike," she called weakly, looking down the hall as she leant against the cold wall for support.
Panic was beginning to set in as she stood there cold and alone, realizing she didn't know how to get out of this place, or if Mike was even okay. She had surely killed the Demogorgon, so he had to be safe, right? But what about the bad men...?
She needed to find him.
"Mike!" she called louder, her heart beat beginning to pick up speed. She glanced all around her, breathing in the poisonous air, burning her lungs, or was that the tears building behind her eyelids?
"MIKE! MIKE! MIKE!" Eleven screamed over and over again, frantically searching the halls, desperate to find the dark-haired boy, the only person she could trust. She knew he would look for her, but what if he couldn't hear her? What if she was trapped in this place like Will had been?
As she stumbled down the hallways, she turned a corner and took a moment to catch her breath when something caught her eye. A large red… thing was the only word she could think of to describe it, was in the middle of the wall. She was drawn to it, hearing voices emanating from it as well.
When she was close enough to it, she realized that the men on the other side were pointing flashlights at it and for a second her heart stopped, she thought she had been seen. She spun away and flattened herself to the wall, listening as their voices began to fade away to nothing.
Determining they were gone, Eleven reached her hand through the slimy stuff and somehow just knew this was a portal back to the Right-side Up. So, she removed her hand, looking at the goo with disgust, and stepped back.
She was absolutely exhausted, but she had to get out of here and find Mike. So, she raised her hand and tucked her chin, glaring at the portal and focusing her mind on the task at hand. Slowly, the walls began to give way, brick by brick, and she was able to push her body through. It was gross but she had made it out.
For a moment, Eleven just stayed on the floor on her hands and knees, gathering her energy and allowing herself time to catch her breath. Then, she stood and began walking out of the school, knowing where she had to go. Maybe it was her powers, maybe it was just a feeling but she knew Mike wasn't at the school anymore.
She remembered the way to Mike's house, having come from there to the school to use the radio to hear Will in the Upside Down, but Eleven was mostly just following her instinct where she felt Mike's presence. When she got close, she followed the powerlines to his house, but somehow she ended up near the front of his house instead of the back, it must have been different powerlines.
But as she came to the top of the hill, bright, blue flashing lights stopped her in her tracks.
The bad men…
Her heart had stopped beating and Eleven was having more trouble breathing now than when she had been in the Upside Down. All she could think was that the bad men had gotten Mike. She had tried so hard to protect him and she had failed. And yet… she could still sense him here. She knew he was alive which was some relief.
Concerned only for Mike's safety and forgetting her own, Eleven approached the house, walking right up to the front window where she could feel Mike was closest to.
And there he was. His dark hair falling onto his forehead, his pretty eyes, darker than usual with anger. She couldn't hear what the bad people were saying to him, but she could tell it was upsetting him.
She wanted so badly to call out to him, let him know she was there.
As if he could sense her there too, Mike's face had slowly turned to her and she could've swore that he saw her. She couldn't look away though. His brown eyes were narrowed as they strained to look out into the dark and her pulse raced to see them again.
But Eleven could tell that the bad men had noticed Mike's distraction, they would turn to look at her any second.
Eleven had done a lot of difficult things in her life, she'd hurt people, even killed people, she'd runaway from the only home she ever knew and left her Papa, and she had strained her power to her limits to save her friends. but turning away from Mike was easily the hardest thing she had ever done.
And yet, somehow she did it. Eleven tore her eyes away from the only person who have ever made her feel safe, the only person she ever truly cared for, and walked away. In a daze she stumbled away from Mike's house, tears already obscuring her vision, but she managed to not be seen, or at least that's what she hoped.
That night she hid in the woods near Mike's house under a giant fallen tree. Silent sobs wracked her body, already shivering from the cold and from fear. But all of that was inconsequential because Eleven had come to the soul-shattering realization that as long as she was around, Mike would always be in danger. So, she would stay away to protect him, even if it destroyed her.
They had been grilling him for over an hour and Mike's patience was wearing thin. After visiting Will at the hospital, his parents had driven him home, only to see flashing blue lights in the driveway. Mike wasn't stupid, he knew these were just more of the bad men, trying to find El, they must think she's still alive too.
It had been one hell of a night. El had only been gone mere hours and while Mike's gut told him she was still alive, it still hurt worse than any pain he'd ever experienced to see her disappear with the Demogorgon. And now these bastards were in his house trying to get him to give her up to them? No way.
"Let's go back to the beginning-," the woman's voice was calm, but Mike could sense their annoyance at his refusal to give in to their manipulative tactics. She kneeled next to him like he was some kind of small child.
"I've told you everything," he insisted. Sure, he had told them what they already knew, that El had lived in his basement for a week, one life-changing week, and now she was gone. There wasn't anything else to tell.
"I understand this is difficult, Michael," the tall man standing next to him said with all the empathy of a robot.
"I don't know where she is and even if I did I'd never tell you," Mike growled, looking up at him fiercely as he repeated, " I would never tell you."
"I know it's difficult to accept, but the stories she told you were not true. She's a very dangerous individual," the woman kept speaking as if Mike hadn't said anything.
Mike laughed on the inside. Yes, El had lied about things and yes, she was a 'dangerous individual,' but not to him. She was a danger to anyone who tried to hurt her… or him, so Mike wasn't buying into their bullshit.
"If she contacts you, you must tell us," the man insisted, but Mike had stopped listening.
"Otherwise, you're putting yourself and your family at risk. Do you understand, Michael? Do you understand?"
They both continued to talk but Mike had felt something. He couldn't explain it but almost of their own accord his eyes were drawn forward to look out the window. There was a very narrow gap in the curtains and it was pitch black outside, but Mike's heart stopped at what he saw: he swore he could just make out half of the outline of a girl with a shaved head, one piercing brown eye staring back at him.
"Michael? Michael?"
"Michael? Michael? It's time to get up!"
Mike was jolted awake at the sound of his mom's voice calling through his bedroom door.
Growling to himself, Mike pulled the blankets over his face. He didn't care if it was Halloween, he'd rather stay in bed than face another day without El.
Eleven woke up a little earlier than usual, excitement making it difficult to sleep. Last night, when she had visited Mike in her mind, he had told her about Halloween and that it would be today. She had been watching a lot of TV and had some idea of what Halloween was at this point, but she loved hearing Mike talk about it, or really anything for that matter.
'Oh, and tomorrow's Halloween- it's this holiday where all of the kids dress up in costumes, like ghosts and zombies and stuff, and they go trick or treating- trick or treating, is like when you go to each house and knock on the door and shout 'Trick or treat!' and people give you candy. Me and the guys are dressing up as the Ghostbuster's- that's a movie. I'll show it to you when you get back. Anyway, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I wish you were here so we could go trick or treating together….'
His voice had started off so excited and then by the end of his call had returned to the sorrowful tone she had become so used to, but every single time she heard it, it felt as though her heart was breaking.
Then she thought, well if everyone would be in costumes, why couldn't she go with him? It would be the best surprise ever! She could dress up as a ghost so she could be part of their group- Eleven hadn't see the Ghostbuster movie because Hopper's TV didn't get many channels, but she had seen commercials for it and she knew the word ghost so maybe she would fit in with their group with no one knowing it was her.
As soon as the idea had popped into her head, Eleven ran with it, her heart swelling with excitement at the idea of getting to see Mike in real life. He would be so happy, she just knew it, and seeing his happy would make her so very happy too.
So, she found some extra sheets that had been covering the furniture when Hopper had first brought her here and cut out holes for eyes, just as she had seen a kid do on the TV. She threw the sheet over her, lining up the holes with her eyes. Hearing Hopper, making breakfast, Eleven decided to make her move.
Approaching him slowly Eleven stopped a few feet behind him. He didn't notice her at first but when he looked over his shoulder she saw him jump a little in surprise as he exclaimed,
"Oh! Jesus."
He recovered quickly and went back to the pan on the stove, it looked like he had made French toast, as he called it.
"Ghost," Eleven said simply, hoping she wouldn't have to say too much to get him to understand her request.
"Yeah, I see that," he said flatly, removing the pan from the stove and not looking over at her again.
"Halloween," she added, trying to get him to hear what she was trying to say. Mike would have understood right away.
"Sure is, but right now it's breakfast, okay? Come on, let's eat," Hopper continued, more focused on putting the French toast on plates for them than what she was trying to say to him.
Frustrated by his lack of understanding, Eleven concluded she would have to use full sentences, something she was still not completely comfortable with her limited vocabulary. She formed what she wanted to say in her head first before she spoke aloud, insisting,
"They wouldn't see me."
That got Hopper's attention, but only briefly. He quickly looked away from her again, picked up their plates, and walked around her, asking nonchalantly,
"Who wouldn't see you?"
"The bad men," she clarified, knowing he already knew and was just playing dumb.
"What're you talking about?" he asked, still not meeting her gaze, as he set the plates down on the little table.
"Trick or treat," her tone flat, doing her best to keep any emotions out of her tone, lest he pick up on the excitement or frustration or annoyance she was feeling.
"You want to go trick or treating?" he asked in disbelief, as if she were out of her mind.
In response, she simply nodded, holding her breath in anticipation of his response, even though she already knew how he would react.
Hopper stood up, looking away from her, reminding her unnecessarily,
"You know the rules."
"Yes, but-," she tried but he cut her off quickly.
"Then you know the answer."
"No- but they wouldn't see me-," she got a little further into her explanation even as he took her by the arms and began guiding her backwards to her seat at the table, talking over her.
"I don't care. I don't care, all right? You go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks, all right? They're stupid and…?" now he was bending down slightly to look her directly in the eyes, his tone harsh before waiting for her to finish his sentence.
"We're not stupid," she growled back at him, her hopes dashed once again, replaced only with cold anger.
"Exactly," he seemed a little taken off guard by her fierce reply, but he remained stern. "Now, you take that off, sit down, and eat. Your food's getting cold."
For a moment Eleven just stood there fuming, staring straight into the space he had just vacated, willing herself not to use her powers on him to do something she would regret. He hadn't hurt her, so it was wrong to hurt him.
Gathering herself enough to move, Eleven ripped the sheet from over her head and plopped down onto her chair, arms crossed in defiance. Hopper seemed to ignore her reaction and poured syrup over her French toast.
They had done this so many times, she didn't know why she expected this to go any differently. But again, she had allowed herself to get her hopes up over a stupid plan to see Mike in real life and again Hopper had crushed them without batting an eyelash. So, she should be used this feeling of utter disappointment, and yet it felt as though her heart was being stomped on every single time.
Hopper must have finally sensed her darkened mood because he spoke in a much softer voice, "All right, look. How about I get off early tonight and I can buy us a bunch of candy and we can sit around and get fat and watch a scary movie together."
While he spoke her eyes lifted to him. She could tell he was trying but it wasn't what she wanted. His plan was better than a normal day, but paled in comparison with the idea of seeing Mike and going trick or treating.
"How's that for compromise?" he asked her, but she didn't understand.
"C-compromise?"
"C-O-M, promise? Compromise," he tried again, and Eleven could feel her annoyance rise again. She hated the way he tried to explain things to her. He said it as though she didn't understand anything, like she was a baby. Mike did a much better job. For one, Mike always seemed to immediately realize when he said something she might not know about having been raised in the lab. And two, Mike could explain things in a way that didn't make her feel small. He would tell her about it with such excitement, as if nothing brought him more joy than showing her his world.
Thinking of Mike only made her heart hurt, especially with the fresh wound Hopper had just inflicted of not being able to go trick or treating with him and their friends.
"How about that's your word for the day? Yeah? It's something that's like in between. It's like halfway happy," he continued to explain, still in that tone, but she tried to ignore it and instead focused on his suggestion of coming home early.
"By 5-1-5?" she asked, looking at him doubtfully. He never came back early.
"5:15, yeah, sure," he confirmed, his eyes softer than they had been before.
"Promise?" she asked.
"Yes. I promise," he looked at her seriously, but he had promised before.
"Halfway happy," she replied with a shrug, grabbing her fork and preparing to eat. But this seemed to make him halfway happy too because he smiled and ruffled her hair. She liked when he was silly, so she smiled back in response, but she already knew he wouldn't keep his promise. He never did.
"All right, that's the last one," Mike insisted with exasperation. He was still mad at his mom for making him get rid of his toys last night, so he wasn't really in the mood for this photo session.
"No, just one more! C'mon, please?" she whined, already putting the camera back up to her face.
"Can I go to school?" he asked, ready to get as far away from this embarrassing situation as possible, but his mom just wouldn't stop.
"Wait, wait, wait. Say, 'who you gonna call?'"
"No!"
Mike finally just walked out of the house, mounting his bike and pedaling off. Halfway down the road, Lucas joined him and then Dustin.
They all rode up to the school and parked their bikes on the rack, singing the theme song to Ghostbusters. Mike's spirits were uplifted somewhat because it was Halloween. He could be someone different and not just the miserable person he had become without El.
"Who you gonna call?" they all sung, and Will came up behind them shouting in response,
"Ghostbusters!"
As they turned around to greet Will and Lucas gave him a friendly hug, Mike swore he heard Will greet Lucas as Venkman...
"Whoa, whoa," Mike began, finally noticing Lucas' name patch for the first time.
"What?" Lucas seemed taken aback by his reaction.
"Why are you Venkman?" Mike asked, feeling his disbelief turning into anger.
"Because I'm Venkman," Lucas said as if it were obvious. Well, it wasn't.
"No, I'm Venkman," Mike insisted.
"Why can't there just be two Venkmans?" Will tried to intervene between, sensing a fight brewing, but Mike wouldn't have it.
"Because there's only one Venkman in real life. We planned this months ago. I'm Venkman, Dustin's Stantz, you're Egon, and you're Winston," Mike argued heatedly, gesturing to each of them in turn.
Mike knew he was getting fired up by something that probably seemed so trivial to the other guys, but it wasn't trivial to him. Anyone who had seen Ghostbusters would know that Venkman was the leader, he was the guy that got the girl. Winston was barely part of the team.
"I specifically didn't agree to Winston," Lucas reminded him, but Mike didn't remember it that way.
"Yes, you did," Mike shot back.
"I don't think he did," Will was always trying to be diplomatic but Mike ignored him.
"No one wants to be Winston, man," Lucas reasoned..
"What's wrong with Winston?" he asked defensively, even though he knew the answer. He was just trying to get Lucas to want to be Winston.
"What's wrong with Winston?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "He joined the team super late, he's not funny, and he's not even a scientist."
"Yeah, but he's still cool," Mike tried to say convincingly but he knew his defense of Winston fell flat. He wasn't fooling anybody.
"If he's cool, then you be Winston," Lucas challenged.
"I can't," Mike's voice wavered a little. He really didn't want to have this conversation right here, in the front of the school, with all of their classmates out here. How was he supposed to explain that he just identified with the character because of El? It was silly, and he knew it, but every little thing reminded him of her and he just needed this one thing.
"Why?"
"B-because…," Mike stuttered, he really couldn't explain how he weirdly identified with a fictional sci-fi character, especially because Lucas already didn't take him seriously about his feelings for El.
"B-b-because you're not black?" Lucas mocked him.
Mike was hurt that he would even suggest that. That had nothing to do with it! So, he defended himself lamely, unable to say what the real reason was and thus sounded even less believable, "I didn't say that!"
"You thought it," Lucas kept pushing and Mike just really wanted this whole interaction to be over. Couldn't Lucas see how much this stupid little thing meant to him and just be Winston? Then Mike got his wish for an out.
"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Dustin called out to them until he got their attention, all turning to look at what he was staring at. "Why is no one else wearing costumes?"
After the roller coaster of emotions that was her morning, Eleven did her normal routine for the day, did some reading to expand her vocabulary, and then curled up on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket, and watched TV. This is what Eleven did all day every day. Nothing ever changed. Nothing ever happened.
The TV had certainly taught her a lot about the world this past year. Hopper was supposed to be teaching her, but he was never home until it was dark and time for bed. All he did was give her a word for the day, sometimes, and then tell her to read. She felt like she was learning more quickly from the TV than the books.
Each channel was as interesting as the last until she landed on a familiar show, something Hopper called nonsense, but Eleven was always captivated by it.
She sat up a little straighter watching the story with rapt attention. Repeating the lines, not understanding most of what they were saying but getting the basic idea. The man wanted to marry the woman, Hopper had explained marriage to her when she had heard it on the TV on Day 167. Every day since then, she learned everything she could about it. She knew it was only for adults, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe one day Mike would get down on his knee like men on TV and ask her to marry him. She would, of course, say yes.
Then there was the sound of scampering outside the window. Glancing over her shoulder, Eleven pushed the thoughts of Mike as far back into her mind as she could and got up from the couch, making her way over to see a squirrel on the bird feeder.
As she stared at the little rodent, she felt like she was back in the woods again, memories taking over her.
Hunger was eating at her insides. Eleven couldn't remember the last time she had something good to eat, probably the last time Mike had brought down Eggo's almost a month ago now.
A searing pain stabbed her heart and Eleven focused on the task at hand. Thinking about Mike hurt too much. That was a pain she couldn't handle, so she had to push it aside. She needed to concentrate on surviving. She was protecting him by staying away, she had to keep telling herself that.
She spotted a squirrel searching around in the snow for its own source of food, and Eleven seized the opportunity. Using her powers, she slammed it against a large tree and it fell to the ground, twitching for a second before the life went out of it.
Immediately, she got together the driest wood she could find and started a fire, using her powers to rub two sticks together fast enough to create a spark. She'd had a bit of practice at this now since she'd been out here for a while and she knew to have some small dry pieces ready for that spark.
She roasted the squirrel over the fire until she heard a twig snap behind her. Her eyes shot towards the sound, landing on an older man with a gun. Eleven didn't like guns. Only bad men had guns.
"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you," he told her, but she didn't believe him.
"What's your name? What're you doing out here in the cold?" the man continued, taking several slow steps towards her. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, but she liked the look of his hat and coat.
Using her powers, Eleven lifted a fiery log and shot it towards him, hitting him square in the face and knocking him out. She quickly yanked the jacket off him and snatched his hat before running away as fast as she could, the squirrel forgotten.
Eleven's attention returned to the present as the squirrel leapt off the bird feeder. She didn't want to look out there again, so she pulled the shades down quickly.
After an embarrassing day in his costume and almost being killed by Madmax's older brother on top of the already never-ending pain of being without El, Mike met the party at the cul-de-sac on Maple Street, aka in front of his house.
Mike was really going to try to have fun tonight. But he couldn't help thinking how much fun El would have with them. She had never gotten to go trick or treating and experience Halloween. The usual sharp sting pierced his heart whenever he thought of her, but Mike sighed heavily, pushing it aside.
The night got off to a pretty good start. The guys were able to distract him for the most part and they were getting a pretty good haul of candy so far.
As they were walking away from their latest house, Lucas couldn't help but complain dramatically, "If I get another Three Musketeers, I'm going to kill myself."
"What's wrong with Three Musketeers?" Dustin asked, his tone offended.
"What's wrong with Three Musketeers?" Lucas asked in disbelief as was his habit.
"No one likes Three Musketeers," Mike agreed, as did Will,
"Yeah, it's just nougat."
"Just nougat? Just nougat? It's top three for me," Dustin contended.
"Top three?" Lucas said incredulously.
"Top three," Dustin confirmed.
"Oh god, give me a break," Mike said exasperatedly, enjoying the banter nonetheless.
"Seriously, I could eat a whole bowl of nougat, straight up," Dustin continued, undeterred by their bashing of his favorite candy.
In a flash of black and white, someone in a Michael Myers mask jumped out in front of them and screamed, Mike's heart stopped in surprise for a second and he inhaled sharply.
But when the person pulled off their mask Mike recognized that shocking red hair anywhere: Madmax. His surprise turned into irritation instantly.
"Holy shit! You've seen the look on your faces," she teased, holding a pretty convincing fake knife. Then, she turned to Lucas, "And you? Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl."
Mike never understood this jab when girls said it… weren't they insulting themselves? He didn't think about it that much. It was kind of true anyway. Lucas had quite the high-pitched scream.
Max turned to walk away, but then she seemed to have sensed that none of them were following her so she turned.
"Hey, you guys coming or not? I heard we should hit up Loch Nora, that's where the rich people live, right?"
Dustin and Lucas seemed thrilled, rushing to catch up to her. Mike had a sneaking suspicion that they had invited her to go trick or treating with them behind his back. Even Will didn't seem the least bit surprised that Max was joining them now. Was everybody in on this but him? Mike followed them unwillingly, his irritation simmering.
Eleven wasn't sure how long she had sat on the couch watching TV, but at some point she had found a black and white movie called, 'Frankenstein,' to watch. The monster kind of reminded her of...well her.
A doctor, like Papa, had done bad things to try and make the perfect human and ended up creating a monster, a monster that seemed only capable of hurting people. She was the monster. No matter how many times Mike had told her she wasn't, Eleven knew the truth.
Beeping sounded from the radio above the TV and Eleven threw the blanket off her to run to it. She listened to the beeps, Morse Code, as Hopper had called it and looked at the chart on the wall, touching each letter with her finger, "L…A…T…E…Late."
Her heart fell. She knew he was late, but he was going to be even later apparently. It was well past 5-1-5. 5:15.
This happened every time. Eleven was tired of it. All he did was lie to her. It made her wonder why she had come to live with him at all.
The thick coat and hat blocked out some of the cold, but certainly not all of it, especially at night. She felt bad for stealing from the man, but she didn't think she'd be able to survive out here much longer without warm clothes. Even still, her legs were exposed to the frigid air and snow.
She walked through the woods with a fox she had managed to kill for dinner tonight when she came upon a box. She thought it was a strange thing to see in the middle of the woods, but there it was. She approached it carefully, sweeping the snow off it and lifting the lid. Inside were a couple of Eggo's and a container, presumably with food in it. Her heart began pounding hard in her chest in excitement. Only one person gave her Eggo's… could it be…? Was it…? Mike?
Whoever it was, she glanced around and saw that they weren't around. Without thinking, Eleven snatched up the food and ran, fearful that maybe it wasn't Mike, maybe someone had left it there as a trap.
So, basically Hopper was treating her exactly how Lucas had said almost a year ago, that she was just a dog looking for a warm bed and something to eat. Well, Hopper was mistaken if he thought she couldn't take care of herself. She had done it before and she could do it again if she had to.
By this point, Mike's annoyance had transformed into full blown anger. He hung back away from Lucas, Dustin, and Max and walked next to Will, still fuming.
"Did you agree to this?" Mike asked, unfazed by the fact that Will was recording him.
"What?" Will seemed to be oblivious but had the decency to lower the video camera.
"To her, joining our party?" Mike elaborated, but ever the diplomat Will tried to placate him,
"It's just for Halloween."
"They should've checked with me," Mike muttered, glaring at the three of them ahead.
"Well, they were excited, and I guess I thought you'd be okay with it," Will tried to explain but Mike wouldn't hear it. There was only one girl that was allowed in their party and she was gone. There wasn't any room for this girl, even if it was for only one night.
"She's ruining the best night of the year." Mike knew it was harsh, but it was true.
Mike practically stomped up the driveway to the next house, not looking back at Will's reaction.
Why was it that last year when he wanted El to be in the party, Lucas had given him such shit about it, but all of sudden this girl shows up and it's all great. Like El never existed.
At the door, Mike noticed that Will was no longer with them. He knew about his episodes, so he scanned the darkness, worried about their friend. When he didn't see him, dread filled Mike's chest. He had just been a total jerk to Will. Mike felt like he was supposed to be watching out for the smallest member of their party, Lucas and Dustin definitely weren't, and he had failed.
Mike ran back around, searching around where he had left Will and eventually he found him sitting on the ground behind a brick retaining wall, his knees hugged tightly to his chest, rocking back and forth.
"Will? Will! What's wrong? I couldn't find you. Are you hurt?" Mike said breathlessly, kneeling in front of him, gripping his shoulders, and trying to see into his friend's eyes.
"Holy shit." Mike heard Dustin, Lucas, and Max approaching by Dustin's swear.
"Is he okay?" Lucas asked concerned.
"I don't know," Mike snapped back, before turning back to Will, "I'm gonna get you home, okay? I'm gonna get you home, hold on."
"Take it easy," Dustin moved as if to help when Mike took Will by the shoulders and lifted him up, but Mike asserted,
"I got him, I got him."
"Mike."
"Keep trick or treating. I'm bored anyways," Mike told them, angry at them and angry at himself for not being there for his friend. The guys backed off and Mike walked Will back to his house. They went straight to the basement and Mike could tell that his friend was embarrassed but after annihilating the majority of their candy, Will felt calm enough to tell Mike what was happening.
"It's like, like I'm stuck," Will explained.
"Like stuck in the Upside Down?" Mike tried, but Wil shook is head slightly, his eyes had a faraway look in them as if trying to come up with a better way to illustrate his point.
"No… you know how on a View-Master when it gets…," Will gestured with his hands, having difficulty with the words.
"Caught between two slides?" Mike filled in and this time Will nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, like that. One slide is our world and the other, the other slide is the Upside Down," Will described, that haunted look in his eyes still there. "And there was this noise…coming from everywhere, and then I saw something..."
"The Demogorgon?" Mike asked, his heart pounding in anticipation of Will's answer. Maybe if Will could see the Demogorgon and it was alive, then maybe El was alive too and he could see her too.
"No, it was like this huge shadow in the sky… only it was alive, and it was coming for me," Will corrected, a shiver seeming to run through him. Mike felt a little guilty at his disappointment. He shouldn't want Will to see the Demogorgon or use his traumatic episodes so he could find El…but he did. And he was ashamed of himself.
"Is it all real? Or like how the doctor's say, all in your head?" Mike didn't want to minimize Will's feelings, but he hadn't seen any kind of shadow when he was in the Upside Down last year and El had never mentioned anything like that.
"I don't know… just… please don't tell the others, okay? They won't understand," Will requested, turning to look at Mike now, and he could see the fear in his friend's eyes. The others didn't need to know right now, plus they'd probably tease him. El would be able to help him if she were here.
Mike looked away from Will, he never could meet anyone's gaze when he thought about El. He was afraid it would give away how much pain he was still in over a girl he had only know for one week almost a year ago. But, he said just above a whisper,
"Eleven would."
"She would?"
Finding the words to talk about El was always a challenge, but lately it seemed to be getting more and more difficult. Maybe it was because they were approaching the anniversary of the day he found her or maybe it was because she had never felt further from him.
Mike swallowed hard, but his words still came out gravelly with emotion as he confided in his friend, "Yeah, she always did. Sometimes I feel like I still see her, like she's still around... but she never is. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy."
"Me too," Will said, his voice sounded a little stained as well.
"Hey, well, if we're both going crazy we'll go crazy together, right?" Mike tried to lighten the mood but it just left them both in pain on the edge of tears. But Will agreed with a watery smile,
"Yeah, crazy together."
Eleven heard him do the knock twice, but at first she chose not to let him in.
"Hey kid, open up, all right? Look, I know I'm late. I got candy here, all right. I got all the good stuff," Hopper could be heard shouting from outside. She pretended like she hadn't heard him.
"Please, will you open the door? I'm going to freeze to death out here," he continued, punctuating each word with a slap of his hand against the door, but she just continued to watch TV, unlocking the doors.
Even from behind the closed door of her room, she could hear him enter the little cabin. He made his way over to her door and knocked, but this was a door she wouldn't open, "Hey, kid, Open up, would ya?"
"I-uh- got stuck somewhere and I lost track of time and I'm sorry. El, would you please open the door? El?" Hopper's explanations falling on deaf ears. "All right, I'm just gonna be out here by myself eating all this candy. I'm gonna get fat. It's very unhealthy to leave me out here. I could have a heart attack or something. But you know, you do what you want."
She would do what she wanted, and was she wanted was to see Mike.
Earlier, she had wheeled the TV in her room, thankful for the long cord, in preparation for her nightly ritual. Eleven flipped through the channels until she came to what she was looking for, to the white noise. She tied a strip of cloth around her head and focused all her thoughts on the dark-haired boy, it wasn't hard when her thoughts were always on him.
Instantly, she was in the place in her mind where there was Mike and her and no one else.
Even though she had done this for 301 days, seeing Mike always had the same effect on her: her heart would race, her breathing would become unsteady, and her throat would become dry. Not to mention those butterflies that were fluttering around in her stomach.
In the silence of her mind, his calming voice rang clearly, "It's day 353. I had a bad day today."
Her chest ached at his words; why did he have a bad day? Was he okay? Did somebody hurt him? She would kill them.
All of these thoughts circled around in her consciousness as she continued to approach him. She could see he was still in his Halloween costume, she guessed because Mike usually wore t-shirts with a collar and he was in tan outfit that was all one piece. It did kind of look like the outfit the men wore in the commercial for Ghostbusters. She thought he looked pretty- handsome, as Hopper told her was the word for boys who were pretty.
"I don't know, I guess I wish you were here. I mean, we all do. If you're out there, please just give me a sign," Mike sounded so defeated. He had asked her this, or something very similar to this, every day she had listened to him, and every day she almost broke those stupid rules and let him know she was there, that she wished she was there with him too.
After all of Hopper's lies, today, Eleven was done with his stupid rules. There was no way the bad people were still looking for her. And how was she really protecting Mike anyway if she was making his heart hurt? She didn't know how much longer he would wait for her either, so she needed him to know she was alive and still waiting for the day she could see him again in real life.
She came to kneel right in front of him, willing him to see her, even though she knew that wasn't how her powers worked. But as if he could feel her presence, Mike turned his head to look at her, confusion coloring his brown eyes.
Her breath caught in her throat as he looked right into her eyes. Even if he couldn't really see her, she could see him, and it made her heart ache to see his warm brown eyes staring back at her.
She managed to fill her lungs with enough oxygen for one word, "Mike."
The confused arch of his eyebrow deepened slightly, and she was sure he heard her.
"Eleven?" he said her name and a thrill of excitement ran through her.
Without thinking, Eleven reached her hand up slowly. She wanted to touch him, needed to touch him. Her fingers came within an inch of his face when all of a sudden, he turned away and she jerked her hand away quickly.
Mike then slammed the antenna back into the Supercomm and pushed himself up, walking away from her. Eleven watched him leave, her heart feeling like it was leaving with him, being torn from her body.
The pain was too much. She couldn't do this anymore. She ripped her blindfold off, tears already pooling in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Her face crumpled and those tears streamed down her cheeks, blood dripping from her nose onto her upper lip.
A/N: Wow! You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for amazing reviews for the first chapter of this! This season is significantly harder to write and I hope that I am able to hold your interest with added Mike and Eleven feels while still staying true to the plot of the season. Like with my season 1 story, most of it is all already written and just requires some tweaking, so I should be able to post chapters pretty regularly. Maybe not every day but hopefully pretty close. As always, let me know how I'm doing! And thanks again for all of your support!