Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Stranger Things or its plots or characters.
CHAPTER 9: THE GATE
It had been a long night, but El wasn't tired. She'd been able to get a little bit of sleep on the bus back to Hawkins but her worry for Mike and Hopper and her friends kept her awake for most of the ride. As the bus neared its destination, El shut her eyes tight and searched Mike out with her mind.
Her eyes flew open and she was in her mind visit. A short distance away she could make out Mike's figure knelt down on the ground and El's heart began to pound in her chest as it often did whenever she laid eyes on the dark-haired boy. He looked as though he were searching for something in a low cabinet. El couldn't see anything around him as she slowly approached, her shoes slapping against the wet ground.
Then all of a sudden Mike turned to look at something behind him, and he snapped, "What?"
It took El so off guard that her feet faltered mere steps from Mike and she almost tripped into him, but she was able to steady herself.
She had no idea who Mike had directed that to but he obviously wasn't happy with them. Watching as Mike turned back to whatever he was looking for, El gradually lowered herself down beside him.
"Yeah, well, he shouldn't have," Mike growled back at whoever, adding, "and just because you know the truth doesn't mean you're in our party, you do know that right?"
Confusion filled El as she stared at Mike, his body radiating frustration and anger and sadness. Who did he not want in the party? And why? And what shouldn't they have done? El wanted so badly to reach out and touch him, but she didn't want him to disappear, so she used every ounce of self-control to remain where she was.
She watched him intently as he continued on with his task eventually pulling out a jug of something she didn't recognize. The bottle spelled, A-M-M-O-N-I-A, but she didn't know what that was. After a short pause, Mike seemed to tilt his head slightly as if listening to the person behind him speak again. She sensed his anger leave him, but only for a moment.
Mike leaned back and shut the cabinet he had been searching in and replied without looking back at the person, "Yeah, she was." Then the pain came back and he continued, "until that thing took her. Just like it took Bob."
Something inside El felt like it was being squeezed tightly, making it difficult to breath. She didn't know who Bob was, but she had a sneaking suspicion the 'her' Mike was referring to was herself.
She didn't have time to dwell on it because Mike stood abruptly and walked away from her and whoever he had been speaking to.
El's eyelids flew open as the bus came to a stop and she knew exactly where she needed to go. Running on pure adrenaline now, El hurried down the aisle, past the few passengers still left and bolted off the bus. The Byers' house was going to be quite a walk, but she'd made it this far.
Walking as fast as she could without actually running, El sped off into the darkness heading towards Mike.
So, many thoughts were running through her head and there wasn't much to distract her this late at night in Hawkins as she walked. She thought about how mad Hopper would be at her for running away, she thought about what her friends' reactions would be when they saw her again, but mostly she thought about Mike.
She knew he wasn't hurt and some of the danger must have passed based on her mind visit with him earlier, but she could feel anxiety and tension in his whole demeanor. Whatever was going on wasn't over and she needed to get to him.
What would his reaction be to seeing her again after all this time? Would he be happy? Would he be mad that she had been around this whole time, watching him in her mind visits?
A ear piercing, inhuman screech cut through the air, causing as cold chill to run up her spine.
El knew that sound: the monster.
But the sound continued and then there were multiple, overlapping each other. Her heart stopped because she came to the realization… there was more than one, not only that but there were many, many of them.
She froze in place and strained her ears to listen. Their calls were getting more faint. They were headed where she was headed: the Byers' house.
Without thinking, El broke into a sprint. She didn't even need to have a mind visit with Mike to feel his heart pounding in her own chest, his breathing, like hers, erratic.
El pushed herself even further and soon the trees began to thin out, the house becoming visible. The monsters were all around the house, their lows growls the only sound giving them away. El slowed to a walk, taking deep, calming breaths, and preparing herself for the fight. She was stronger now. She could do this to save Mike and her friends.
One by one the monsters realized they were not alone out there, turning their grotesque heads in her direction. It was strange, they knew she was there, but they seemed reluctant to attack her, instead focused on the people in the house.
But then one broke ranks and galloped towards her, snarling hungrily.
Lifting her hand quickly, El threw it against a tree, hearing the crunch of its spine. Seeing their fallen comrade, the others now turned to attack her. But they were no match for her or her determination to keep the people she cared about safe. One by one they charged, and one by one she dispatched them as easily as the first.
Then there were none.
El could feel the tell-tale tickle on her upper lip, notifying her of a bloody nose and the feeling of exhaustion creeping in, but her need to see Mike and make sure he was okay outweighed that.
Stepping forward, El was almost to the door when out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of movement. She didn't have time to think. She flung her arm out and instinctually shot the monster back and through the front window of the house, the sound of glass shattering filling the quiet.
Panting, El stood still for a few seconds, her eyes shooting all around her to see if there were any other stragglers wanting to take her by surprise, but there were none. El took a deep inhale and faced the door once more. Using her powers, she flipped the dead bolt and then slid the chain off the track.
The anticipation of seeing Mike again was killing her. She needed to see him.
She used her powers once more to push open the door. She took another calming breath and stepped through slowly.
Her eyes found his dark ones immediately.
El couldn't breathe, she couldn't think; all she knew was Mike was here with her and she felt whole again, like she was home.
Mike just stared at the girl in front of him. Was this real? Or was this just another one his countless delusions of her? But no… she looked different. Good different, pretty different, but definitely different. Her hair was longer, her clothes were different, she was wearing dark eye makeup. There was no mistaking those piercing mahogany eyes though. It was definitely El.
There was no one else in the room. Only her.
Mike was only marginally aware of a watery smile forming on his face as his feet propelled him forward. She was smiling at him too, her lips parted slightly as if she was having just as hard a time as him trying to breathe.
Somehow, he had ended up mere inches from her, but he still wasn't close enough.
"Eleven," he heard himself say, but he hadn't consciously spoken.
"Mike," she breathed back and the sound of her voice saying his name made the realty of the situation finally hit him. El is alive. El is here.
They fell into each other's arms and the tears of relief flowed freely down his cheeks unashamedly. Even through his hoodie he could feel her hands snake underneath his arms, clutching his upper back, holding him tightly to her. But Mike had no intention of going anywhere. He held her just as securely to his chest, squeezing her as hard as he dared without hurting her.
Burying his head in her shoulder, Mike tried to memorize every detail of this moment, in case it really was a cruel trick of his mind. It seemed so real though.
He could hear her gasping for air, her cheek warm against his neck. He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to say something to her, for her to say something back so he knew this was all really happening.
Pulling back suddenly, Mike didn't release his hold on her, just slid his hands to her upper arms. She was so close, her hands clung to his side, holding him at arm's length. Her soft brown eyes were full of tears as well and Mike had the urge to wipe them away but then he'd have to let go of her and he wasn't ready to do that.
"I never gave up on you," Mike could barely form the words through his tears, but he needed her to know. "I called you every night, every night for-"
"353 days," her soft voice finished for him and Mike just stared at her in confusion. How-? She answered his question without being asked. "I heard," she told him earnestly with a slight shake of her head.
His mind was having difficulty processing this new information alongside all of the emotions swirling around in his chest. But he pieced together that she must have been able to find him like she found Will and listened to his calls to her every night, well everything up until a few days ago.
"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?" Mike asked, searching her expressive eyes for answers. He was certain she had a good reason, but that didn't stop the slight twinge of hurt that stabbed his heart.
"Because I wouldn't let her," the sound of Hopper's voice behind him startled Mike a little because he had completely forgotten that he and El weren't the only two people in the room. Mike released El enough to turn to look at the police chief in confusion. What did Hopper have to do with all this? What did he mean, he wouldn't let her?
Mike just stared at the older man in utter disbelief, the pieces falling into place. He stepped back slightly as Hopper approached her, giving them just enough space.
"What the hell is this? Where have you been?" Hopper asked her sternly to which she shot back,
"Where have you been?"
Despite this gruff exchange, Hopper pulled El into a one-armed hug which she returned without a fight. Mike had finally gotten it. What Hopper meant and why they were hugging as if father and daughter.
White hot rage began to blaze in his chest at the complete and utter betrayal; not by El, but this man who proclaimed to be trying to keep them all safe. The man who had probably betrayed them all once already last year when the bad men just magically knew El was hiding with them in the school gym.
"You've been hiding her! You've been hiding her this whole time," Mike didn't think he had ever been this angry in his entire life. He shoved the much bigger man in the back, really wanting to punch him in the face, but Hopper grabbed him roughly.
"Hey, hey! Let's talk alone," he growled threateningly, but Mike could barely hear him as the man released him with a shove towards the hall. As much as Mike was loathe to be anywhere that wasn't with El right now, he acquiesced, stomping towards Will's room, the chief on his heels.
El watched Hopper follow behind a seething Mike apprehensively. She debated whether she should intervene. Hopper wouldn't hurt Mike, at least she didn't think he would, but she'd know with her powers if he did.
Her mind and body were still reeling after her reunion with the dark-haired boy. They had hugged before and Mike had even kissed her last year, but the embrace they had just shared made all of that pale in comparison.
This time around she made sure to memorize every detail of the moment. As long as she lived she was certain she'd never forget the feeling of his warm arms wrapped around her, holding her body close to his. His heart pounding against her own in her chest was not something she'd ever get from a mind visit. This was real.
After being apart for 357 days, it was like she had been underwater that whole time, drowning, and then Mike looked at her with his warm, dark eyes and she could finally breath again.
She understood why he was hurt and mad that no one had told him that she was alive this whole time. Mike was so, so angry but she knew it wasn't directed at her, but she hated being the cause of any of his pain, intentionally or not.
Walking down the hall, Hopper started speaking before they even were in Mrs. Byers' room.
"I didn't let her tell you because I was protecting her," the older man began to explain calmly which only made Mike even more furious with him. Did Hopper even realize the agony he had put Mike through this past year? Did he even care?
Mike rounded on him ready to tear into the bigger man even before the door was closed.
"Protecting her? Protecting her?" he roared incredulously. What? Did Hopper think that Mike wouldn't protect her? That he hadn't been protecting her that whole time by hiding her in his basement?
"Listen. Listen to me, the more people that know about her, the more danger she's in, the more danger you and your family are in," Hopper reasoned, closing the door behind him and setting the gun down in the corner before facing Mike.
"So, what? I should be thanking you, then," Mike shouted. That explanation wasn't good enough. Not by a long shot.
"I'm not asking you to thank me!" Hopper raised his voice but then seemed like he was trying to stay calm so he continued more evenly, "I'm asking you to try and understand."
"I don't! I don't understand!" Mike continued to shout. He didn't care if this asshole was chief of police, he'd still break his nose for breaking his heart by making him think El was gone.
"Well, that's fine! Just don't blame her! All right? She's upset enough as it is," Hopper argued right back, but he didn't get it.
"I don't blame her! I blame you! I blame you!" Mike's rage was reaching a tipping point. This amount of anger wasn't sustainable. It was only a matter time before it boiled over.
"That's okay, kid. That's okay," Hopper said snidely, not offering any challenge.
"No! Nothing about this is okay! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OKAY!" Mike screamed at him, seeing red. In a totally uncharacteristic move, Mike punched the much larger man as hard as he could right in the gut. But he didn't just stop there. No, something in Mike had snapped. He wanted to hit this man for every day he had to live thinking El was gone, every call he made to her that was left unanswered, every second of every day that he had to exist without her in it because of him.
"YOU STUPID, DISGUSTING LIAR, PIECE OF SHIT!" Mike screamed, punching the man over and over again, but Hopper offered no defense, allowing himself to be backed into the door.
"LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!"
"It's okay, kid! Stop it! It's okay," Hopper repeated, his hands hovering over Mike's shoulders as Mike continued to pummel him until Mike broke. His screams died down as the fight left him. He no longer had any anger left in him and all that remained was pain.
"You're okay, kid," Hopper said softly, holding Mike in a tight hug as he broke down in sobs. "I'm sorry, kid."
Her friends wouldn't let her dwell on her feelings though because they were just as anxious to have their reunion with her as well.
"We missed you," Lucas said sincerely, while he and Dustin pulled her into a tight hug.
"I missed you too," El told them, holding each of them in either arm.
"We talked about you pretty much every day," she heard Dustin say in her left ear and then pulled away from the friendly embrace to look at them. She was still worried about Mike, so she knew her expression probably made it seem like she wasn't as happy to see them as they were to see her.
Dustin smiled her and the gleam of something in his mouth caught her eye. In confusion El raised her hand to his mouth, pressing her thumb to the shiny white teeth there.
"Teeth," she said simply, still trying to figure out how they had gotten there. Last year, Dustin had been missing his front teeth and spoke with a heavy lisp. His smile faltered a bit and he leant back to escape her prodding of his mouth.
"What?"
"You have teeth," El expanded, seeing that Dustin didn't understand her confusion. At her words, he smiled knowingly over at Lucas who returned it, but El just stared waiting for a response.
"Oh, you like these pearls?" he asked and then made a weird purring sound like a cat, taking El off guard. She didn't have time to ask him about his strange behavior before another, more unwelcome person was calling her name.
"Eleven?" the red headed girl said from behind the boys, approaching with a friendly but nervous smile. "Hey, um- I'm Max, I've heard a lot about you."
The girl named Max, the girl who had smiled at Mike and Mike smiled back at, held out her hand for El to shake. She stared at it for just a moment before purposefully stepping around her, making sure to brush her shoulder on the way.
Instead, El went straight for Mrs. Byers, the woman who had been closer to a mother last year than she had ever had. She fell right into the older woman's arms and reveled in the feeling of being held by an adult who genuinely cared about her.
"Hey, hey, sweetheart," Mrs. Byers breathed and El clutched her tightly before the older woman leaned back and took her face in her hands. El was almost the same height as her now, so she could see the warmth in her eyes easily. She gave her a watery smile, moving her hand to El's shoulders. "Hey."
Mrs. Byers seemed so happy and relieved to see her and it made El feel happy to know someone cared about her the way Mrs. Byers did. As much as she wanted to catch up with all of her friends or go back to Mike, there were more pressing things to take care of at the moment.
El stared right back at Mrs. Byers tired face, lines of worry creasing her forehead and asked, "Can I see him?"
Mrs. Byers nodded slightly leading her down the hall and to the boys' room. She waited at the door as El stepped in, the older woman following close behind. El's eyes immediately landed on Will laying completely still on the bed and she came to sit beside him.
"He-he's not doing well," Mrs. Byers told her, stumbling on her words in her worry over her son's well-being.
"I know," El told her, placing a gentle hand on Will's shoulder before clarifying, "I saw."
El could feel Mrs. Byers' eyes on her, staring intently, the question on her lips, "What else did you see?"
Eventually, El got the nerve to glance over at Mrs. Byers, but she didn't answer her. It wasn't something she could really put into words. She had been able to feel Mike and his worry for the younger boy, but she had also seen the monsters and how they were controlled by the bigger monster inside Will now.
Mrs. Byers placed a hand on her shoulder and glanced towards the door, insinuating that there was something she wanted to show her. So, with one last sad look at Will, El stood and followed Mrs. Byers out of the room and into the kitchen.
There on the table was what looked like the back of a notepad, the words written, 'CLOSE GATE.' She didn't need to read that to know that's what needed to happen. It was only a matter of time when her grave mistake of opening the gate last year would lead to something catastrophic. Now, it had put all of her friends in danger and Will may even die if she didn't save them.
"You opened this gate before, right?" Mrs. Byers voice cut into her thoughts. She could feel all of the woman's hopes resting on her. El was the only one who could save her son and she knew that.
"Yes."
"Do you think if we got you back there that you could close it?" Mrs. Byers asked, but El didn't look up and she didn't respond. It wasn't a matter of if she could close it, she had to close it and she would, but at what cost?
Mike cried for a long time; he wasn't ashamed to admit it… to himself anyway. As angry as he was with Hopper, ultimately, he could completely understand where he was coming from; after all, Mike would have done anything to protect El. But by no means had he forgiven the police chief. He had spent 357 days thinking El was gone, with no idea that she was still in the same town. It wasn't something he was going to get over in one evening, no matter how relieved he was just to have El back.
Gathering himself after a while, Mike pushed himself away from Hopper, wiping his face roughly. They had other things to worry about right now, and he was wasting his time being angry when he could be spending it with El.
He left the room and he could hear the older man follow behind him. As Mike came down the hall he saw all of the others, including El, gathered around the kitchen table. They were discussing how El would get into the lab to close the gate, as Will had been able to tap away in his Morse code message.
Mike and Hopper joined the group, El looking up at him as he approached her and came to stand beside her. Hopper, as he was prone to do, took charge of the discussion, listing all the things that could go wrong.
"It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot," Hopper informed them all after hearing their idea. "And that's considering if we can even get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."
"Demo-dogs," Dustin corrected him, and Hopper gave him a withering look, asking,
"I'm sorry, what?"
So, Dustin explained, "I said Demo-dogs, like Demogorgon and dogs, you put them together and it sounds pretty badass-"
"How is this important right now?" Hopper cut him off in annoyance.
"It's not, sorry," Dustin apologized quickly, looking away from the police chief.
Mike had been so caught up in their little exchange that when El's soft voice sounded next to him, he was a little startled.
"I can do it," she said with determination.
"You're not hearing me," Hopper argued, but she held fast.
"I'm hearing you. I can do it," she repeated firmly, not taking her eyes off the older man. Mike was just as concerned as Hopper was about El's safety, but there was another major issue with this plan.
"Even if El can there's still another problem, if the brain dies the body dies," he began, the others still not seeing what he was getting at.
"I thought that was the whole point," Max asked, confused.
"It is but if we're really right about this, if El closes the gate and kills the Mind Flayer's army-," he continued to explain, but the look of understanding slowly dawned on their faces and Lucas finished,
"Will's apart of that army."
"Closing the gate will kill him," Mike concluded. Everyone seemed to have felt defeated by this information, but Mrs. Byers had a look as if an idea was brewing in her mind. Suddenly, she stood and made her way down the hall, so they all followed her one by one until they reached Will's room where they all squeezed into the small space. Mike made sure to stick close to El, their shoulder brushing giving him some small comfort.
"He likes it cold," Mrs. Byers said to no one in particular. Now, it was Mike's turn to be confused about what she was getting at.
"What?" Hopper asked.
"That's what Will kept saying to me, he likes it cold," Mrs. Byers answered, walking forward and closing the window that was letting in the chilly November air. "We keep giving it what it wants."
"If this is a virus and Will is the host then…," Nancy chipped in and Jonathan reasoned,
"Then we need to make the host uninhabitable."
"So, if he likes it cold…," Nancy began again, but this time Mrs. Byers was the one to finish her thought for her.
"We need to burn it out of him."
"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time," Mike added, and Dustin agreed,
"Yeah, somewhere far away."
Hopper seemed to have an idea about where another good place would be. So, with the plan in place, he instructed Jonathan to get Will and gave him directions to a place on he and El knew about: the place he had been hiding her this whole time.
El was ready. She had to do this, there was no room for failure. She either did it or her friends could die and that wasn't an option.
Everyone had their marching orders, and it was time for her to go. She could feel Mike's reluctance to let her go, but one of her favorite things about Mike was that he never tried to control her. He would never tell her she couldn't go, no matter how much he didn't want her to; Mike always trusted her and her decisions.
Hopper was already outside smoking a cigarette somewhere, waiting for them to say their goodbyes. Taking a calming breath, El stepped out onto the front porch, Mike close behind her.
Her back was still to him as she struggled to find the courage to face him. El knew one look from those warm brown eyes would make her want to stay and never leave him again. But she told herself that this was to save him, she had to do it.
She was lost in her internal battle when she felt Mike's warm hand slip into hers. El looked down at their joined hands, feeling so many things for the boy behind her. She felt happiness and fear and butterflies and something else she couldn't place, like a deep pull in her heart, telling her that with him is where she belonged. The only way to have that was to close the gate for good, so she entwined their fingers and turned to face him.
As she had anticipated, those dark eyes felt like they were staring straight into her soul and she was speechless.
"Just be careful, all right?" Mike said fiercely, "I can't lose you again."
El had grown a lot this past year, but Mike had grown more. Being this close to him in real life, she could fully appreciate how much taller he was now and hear how his voice had changed.
"You won't lose me," El assured him firmly, shaking her head. She hoped that was true, but if it was between her life and his she'd choose his every time.
She glanced up at him and could see the fear in his eyes, the dry tracks on his cheeks where his tears had fallen earlier. Her heart ached for him and all she wanted was for all of this to be over, so they could be together and he could be happy again.
"Do you promise?" Mike asked her, and she could tell he was trying to hold back his tears again. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want him to worry about her either or do something risky to try and save her if things went badly at the lab. So, she met his eyes unblinkingly and assured him,
"Promise."
It was as if there was a magnet pulling her towards Mike. She so desperately wanted to feel those lips on hers again, especially now that she knew the significance of the gesture. Tilting her head to the side, El's eyes slid closed in anticipation.
"El," Hopper's voice made her head snap to him. She hadn't realized he was there. How long had he been watching them? "C'mon, let's go. It's time."
Turning back to Mike, El took a deep breath, as did Mike. They both knew how dangerous was and all of the risk, but they also knew this was the only way to stop the Mind Flayer. So, Mike nodded his head reluctantly, breathing an affirmation she couldn't make out. He gave her hand one final reassuring squeeze before releasing her. Before she lost her nerve, El spun away from the boy and ran towards Hopper's trucks, getting inside and slamming the door shut as Hopper did the same.
She shouldn't have done it, but she did; El turned in her seat and looked back at Mike. He hadn't moved from his spot on the porch, just watching the truck pull away and finally her own tears fell. She had been able to hold them back to convince Mike that she would be fine. But she wasn't sure. This could be the last time she ever laid eyes on the boy who made her feel everything with one look.
He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Even long after the truck had disappeared into the darkness, Mike stared at the spot he had last saw her. Mike's brain barely registered that the others had come to stand on the porch behind him, watching them go as well.
How cruel could fate be to them if as soon as they were reunited, they were torn apart again? Nothing about this was fair.
It felt as though his heart was being wrenched from his chest and in a way it was because his heart would always be with El.
As Hopper drove, El just stared out the window into the night. She was trying to make peace with the fact that what she was doing was going to keep Mike safe and finally fix a mistake she had made that put them all in danger.
"So, what? We're just not gonna talk about it then?" Hopper's voice cut through her thoughts, but she had known this conversation was coming. She had just been hoping it could wait until after she closed the gate or she was dead, whichever came first.
Lazily, she rolled her head to look at him, not bothering to lift it from the head rest. She decided to play dumb and asked with annoyance dripping in her tone, "About what?"
Hopper didn't look back at her at first and just said nonchalantly, "Oh, I'm just curious about why you all of a sudden look like some MTV punk."
El looked away at that because she could hear the disdain dripping in his voice. It wasn't like she was proud of what she had almost done with Kali and her friends, but wasn't it his fault to begin with? If he had just told her the truth about Mama and everything she wouldn't have needed to look for the answers to her life and where she belonged elsewhere. Hell, if he had let her spend any time whatsoever with Mike she wouldn't have needed anything else at all.
"I'm not mad, kid. I just want to know where you've been, that's all" Hopper told her another lie. So, she decided the truth would make him angrier and let him know that she knew he was lying to her. So, she stared straight ahead and informed him flatly,
"To see Mama."
Out of the corner of her eye, El could see his head snap to look at her briefly before focusing again on the road ahead of him. Whatever answer he had expected she could tell it wasn't that one.
"Okay…," he began, and she could practically feel him trying to process what she had just said, eventually managing to ask, "How'd you get there?"
"A truck," she said simply, still not looking at him.
"A truck?" he repeated, his tone going up.
"A big truck," she clarified, looking over to see his reaction now. She knew he had lied and was mad, but he was doing his best not to show it. She had his full attention now as he looked at her with incredulousness.
"A big truck? Whose truck was it?"
"A man's," she replied, turning her face away from him again to stare at the road, which is probably what he should be doing considering he was the one driving.
"A man's," Hopper echoed.
"A nice man," she elaborated. She could hear it in his voice that he thought she was crazy. That she had taken stupid risks and maybe she had, but she could protect herself especially from some truck driver who had no idea who she was.
"Okay, so let me just get this straight in my head, a nice man in a big truck and he drove you to your Mama's then what? Your-your aunt Becky gave you those clothes and that makeup?" Hopper's voice was getting a little higher and she could feel his anxiety over what she had done, but she wasn't really ready to tell him about her trip to see Kali, so she opted for honesty in a different direction.
"I…," she began, thinking of all of the things she had almost done with Kali and her gang. "I shouldn't have left."
El turned to look at the older man, who now couldn't seem to meet her eyes.
"No, this isn't on you kid. I should've been there," Hopper told her, his voice getting softer again. "I never should have lied to you about your mom or about when you can leave. A lot thing I shouldn't have done."
It was easier not to look at him too, so El just stared resolutely ahead as he continued to speak.
"Sometimes I feel like," Hopper gave a sharp inhale and El could practically feel his hurt next to her as he finished, releasing his breath, "I'm some kind of blackhole or something."
Tears were sliding down her face silently. She felt like she understood the emotions he was trying to convey but didn't understand the word he used, so she turned to him and asked, "Blackhole?"
"Yeah, you know it's this thing in outer space it sucks everything towards it and destroys it. Sarah had a picture book about outer space, she loved it," Hopper replied, his voice going a little hard towards the end. Her heart gave a twinge of pain at his analogy of the blackhole he described. Why did he feel he destroyed everything that got close to him? There was a more pressing question on her lips though,
"Who's Sarah?"
Hopper's eyes turned to hers for a moment as if realizing for the first time he had never mentioned this person to her. So, his tone seemed almost matter-of-fact, "Sarah? Sarah's my girl. She's my little girl."
El could tell this was a painful subject for Hopper, why else would he never mention his daughter? Now, they had gone down the path and he was opening up to her about where all his pain came from she felt compelled to ask, "Where is she?"
"Well, that's kinda the thing, kid, she-uh-she left us," Hopper replied, his words becoming softer and softer as he spoke.
"Gone," El said softly and her heart ached for the policeman. He had lost someone important to him too.
"Yeah, the blackhole, it got her," Hopper's voice hardened again and El could tell it was because he was trying to hold himself together. "And somehow I've just been scared, you know. I've just been scared it'll take you too. I think that's why I get so mad. I'm so sorry for everything. I can be so… so…."
"Stupid," El supplied, eliciting a small smile from the older man and a quiet chuckle.
"Yeah, stupid, really stupid," he agreed, and she smiled and laughed a little through her tears. It made her heart a little lighter.
She understood now. Just like Mike, his pain and agony over losing someone he cared about made him angry. Same with her too. She was in so much pain over not being able to see Mike that it swallowed her up, making her feel powerless, leaving her filled with rage. But no more.
Reaching across, El laced her fingers with his and held his hand tightly to let him know she wasn't mad anymore either. She admitted softly, "I've been stupid too."
"I guess we broke our rule," Hopper said causing a half-smile to curl her lips and then he added, gesturing towards her outfit with his own smile, "I don't hate it, by the way, this whole look. It's kinda cool."
"Bitchin'" she said, using the word she learned from Dottie.
"Okay, sure," she could hear the slight surprise in his voice at her word choice but agreed, "Bitchin'."
Mike wasn't okay with this.
El was going straight into the hive. Not only the place where she had been basically tortured her whole life, but the place where there was hundred of those demo-dogs, the place Bob had been killed. What if they got her too? She had barely survived taking on one Demogorgon last year, how was she supposed to take on that many? He knew she was strong, stronger than he could even imagine, but that didn't mean she still wasn't just a teenager, who could get hurt and bleed and be killed.
He was only marginally aware of that fact that he was pacing back and forth through the Byers' kitchen, his mind racing with all of the possible ways he could lose El now that he just got her back.
"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas halted his sweeping of the broken glass to reprimand him. Mike turned to snap back at him,
"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas, that lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs."
All he could think about was El walking straight into harm's way again. He had lost her to one last year…
"Demo-dogs!" Dustin called from the other room, Mike's frustration growing as they minimized his concern for El's safety.
"The chief will take care of her!" Lucas tried to ease his mind, but it did nothing. Hopper hadn't been able to keep Bob alive so what could he really do against all of those things?
"Like she needs protection," Max muttered to herself. Mike agreed with her on one level. El could certainly take care of herself, but she was vastly outnumbered, not to mention she was going to be expending the majority of her powers on closing the gate. Even if she was able to take out most of them she could be so drained that she wouldn't be able to close the gate and more would appear.
"Dude, if a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it," Steve added, stepping up to end the debate with a stupid sports analogy.
"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game, and second, we're not even in the game, we're on the bench," Mike argued hotly. He wasn't the biggest fan of sports, but he knew enough to realize that they weren't even in the game, like his Dad had referenced the day before Halloween.
And this wasn't a game, this was real life. Bob had been eaten by those things, and for him it had all started out as just trying to figure out Will's "puzzle." El's life wasn't a game to him and he wasn't going to sit by and do nothing when he could help her.
"Ri-So, my point is…right, so we're on the bench, there's nothing we can do," Steve stammered, apparently out of analogies, Mike's point having stumped him apparently.
"That's not entirely true," Dustin contradicted him, eliciting a quizzical look from all of them, so he expanded, "I mean, these Demo-dogs have a hive mind, when they ran away from the bus they were called away."
"So, if we get their attention," Lucas posited, and Max shot her eyes to him in excitement,
"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," she concluded.
"And clear a path to the gate," Mike said to himself, hope filling his chest at the idea he could possibly do something to help El stay safe while trying to save them all.
"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve shouted, obviously not liking where this conversation was going.
"That's one point of view," Dustin debated, and Steve looked back at him,
"Nah, man that's not a point of view it's a fact."
Mike had stopped paying attention to any of them. His mind was trying to put a plan in motion. How could they draw the demo-dogs away? They'd have to go somewhere they knew they could come to and then it was like a light went off in Mike's brain.
"I got it!" he shouted, rushing to the spot of Will's map where Mrs. Byers had drawn the red 'X.' "This is where the chief dug his hole, this is our way into the tunnels, and here," Mike stepped to where Will had sent the demo-dogs to kill those soldiers, "right here, this is like a hub. See how all the tunnels feed into here? Maybe if we set this on fire-"
"Ah yeah, that's a no," Steve interrupted trying to shut this down quickly, but it was too late. Mike knew what he had to do now, and he'd do it with or without anyone's help.
But Dustin ignored Steve and said excitedly, "The Mind Flayer would call away his army."
"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas was right there with them.
"Hey, guys," Steve's attempt to get their attention went unnoticed by the party.
"Then we circle back to the exit, by the time they realize we're gone…," Mike continued on as if hadn't heard the older teenager.
"Hey," Steve repeated a little more insistently.
"El would be at the gate," Max finished their plan and Mike was glad she was on the same page. Maybe she wasn't as bad as he thought if she was willing to help a girl she had just met.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Steve clapped loudly in their direction and was finally able to get their attention, but only because their plan was fully formed at this point. "This is not happening."
"But-," Mike tried to contend, but Steve wasn't hearing it.
"No, no, no, no buts, I promised to keep you shitheads safe and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here on the bench and we're waiting for the starting team to do their job, does everybody understand that?"
"This isn't a stupid sports game!" Mike roared back at him from his place on the floor. Steve still didn't get that Mike was going to do anything to help keep El out of harm's way.
"I said, does everybody understand that?" Steve growled back, "I need a yes."
None of them said anything, they didn't get the chance. The distinct sound of an engine revving could be heard around the front of the house. Max and Lucas ran towards the front window and Mike heard her tell him anxiously, "It's my brother. He can't know I'm here, he'll kill me. He'll kill us."
Steve went outside to meet Billy and told them all to stay put and out of sight. So, needless to say they all crowded on the couch and peeked over the edge to watch the exchange nervously. Mike felt like this wasn't going to end well and his suspicions were confirmed when Billy looked right at them all, pointing the glowing end of cigarette towards the window. In unison, they all dropped down below the window.
"Shit! Did he see us?" Dustin swore but they all knew the answer.
Loud footsteps could be heard thudding against the wood of the porch and they all stood to see who would be coming through the door. To all of their dread, when the door flung open it wasn't Steve, but very large, and very angry form of Billy.
"Well, well, well, Lucas Sinclair what a surprise," Billy growled dangerously, slamming the door shut behind him. Steve was nowhere to be found. "I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max."
"Billy, go away," Max said in a quiet voice. Mike could see she was scared of her older brother and he was watching the scene with apprehension himself.
"You disobeyed me, and you know what happens when you disobey me," Billy continued, stepping forward aggressively.
"Billy," Max said shakily.
"I break things," Billy bellowed as he suddenly turned towards Lucas and grabbed him, shoving him backwards until he thrust the smaller boy into a wooden shelf.
"STOP!" Mike, Dustin, and Max shouted at Billy but not daring to approach the bigger teenager.
"Since Maxine won't listen to me maybe you will. You stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?" Mike heard Billy hiss in Lucas' face.
"I said get off me!" Lucas yelled at Billy, kneeing him in the crotch. Billy let go of Lucas with a grunt and stumbled backwards in pain. But, it didn't take long for Billy to recover and when he did he was angrier than ever.
"You are so dead, Sinclair! You are dead," Billy roared, but none of them had noticed Steve enter the house until he yanked Billy back by his shoulder before he could go at Lucas again.
"No, you are," Steve snarled, pulling his fist back and then throwing it forward to punch Billy right in the face.
"Steve!" Max yelled more in surprise than anything.
Now that Billy's attention was solely on Steve, Lucas rushed back over to them. Dustin and Max pulled him into a relieved hug, but Mike kept his eyes on the two older boys. All of this was delaying their plan to help El.
"Looks like you got some fire in you after all! I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about," Billy said sarcastically with a humorless laugh, blood dripping from his nose.
"Get out," Steve ordered him, giving him a light shove in the chest.
Billy suddenly took a swing at Steve, who must have seen it coming because he ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding the blow only to counter with a punch of his own.
"Get him! Kick his ass!" they shouted, cheering Steve on, but Billy just straightened himself up with a wide smile on his face. Steve punched him hard two more times, sending Billy into flying into the kitchen sink. It really looked like Steve was going to win this fight. Until Billy grabbed a plate and brought it down hard over Steve's head, shattering it, and then following it with a punch of his own.
Billy grabbed Steve roughly and hissed in his face, "No one tells me what to do."
Then he headbutted Steve and threw him across the room, stalking towards his fallen form. Straddling Steve, Billy began to just lay into him, pummeling him over and over with wild abandon. All of them screamed at Billy to stop but he couldn't hear them or cared.
So, busy were Dustin, Lucas, and Mike with their yelling that they didn't notice Max had grabbed a spare syringe full of sedative and strode purposefully towards Billy. She stabbed him in the neck with the needle and depressed the plunger, injecting him with the tranquillizer, and startling them all into silence at her bold move.
Max moved back from her brother as he stood, turning to face her. From where Mike was standing it looked like it was already starting to take effect, a little more slowly than it had on the much smaller Will. Billy pulled the needle from his neck, his eyes looking at Max in disbelief under drooping eyelids.
"What the hell is this? You little shit, what did you do?" Billy slurred, glancing down at the syringe in his hands before he promptly collapsed onto the floor.
Mike swore but continued to watch Billy laugh on the floor. Max wasn't done with him yet though. She snatched up the bat with the nails on it and held it up menacingly over Billy, threatening, "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?"
"Screw you," Billy replied lazily and in response Max brought the bat down extremely close to his crotch. All of the boys in the room gave an internal flinch as Billy looked up in shock at the bat between his legs. When Billy didn't say anything further, Max yanked the bat out of the floor where it had stuck in the wood a little and held it up again.
"Say you understand, SAY IT! SAY IT!" she yelled at him.
"I understand," Billy said quietly.
"What?" Max challenged again.
"I understand," Billy repeated, his voice becoming even more slurred. Then his eyes fell closed and he was unconscious. Mike and the other two boys just stood there trying to process what they had just witnessed.
Max didn't hesitate though. She dropped the bat and went over to her brother, pulling his keys from his front pocket. She held them up and said nonchalantly, "Let's get out of here."
Mike looked from Dustin to Lucas and back. He made a mental note not to ever get on Max's bad side.
It wasn't a very long drive to the lab, but to El it felt like both too short and also like an eternity. Hopper slowed the truck to a stop in front of the lab and threw it into park, getting out. El took a calming breath and exited the vehicle as well. She stared up at the building she had spent the majority of her life in, hearing the screeching and growling of the monsters inside.
It really wasn't much different. Instead of human monsters as it had when she lived there, now it had monsters from the Upside Down.
Terror gripped her, constricting her chest and making it difficult for her lungs to expand, but it wasn't because of the monsters inside now. No, she was afraid of the monsters inside her mind, memories of Papa and the bad men who had tortured her for all of those years.
Heart pounding, images flashed across her eyes unbidden. The cat she had been forced to her hurt, being dragged to the dark room, the bath, opening the gate. Everything about this place made her want to run back to the safety of Mike's arms.
The loud slam of Hopper closing the trunk, startled her out of her flashbacks and her head snapped to see him carrying a very large gun. She really didn't like guns, but given the circumstances she felt it was necessary.
"You let me do the heavy lifting up front. You save your strength for below," Hopper spoke as she continued to stare apprehensively up at the imposing building. She could feel him look down at her as he asked, "You okay?"
Was she okay? Honestly… no, she wasn't okay. Not yet. But as soon as she closed this gate and ended this thing she would be… with Mike. So, she ignored his question and strode determinedly towards that hellish place.
They didn't waste anymore time. Gathering all of the necessary supplies and loading Steve into Billy's car, they all piled in with Max at the wheel. Considering Max was the only one of them that had ever been behind the wheel of a car at all, she was an easy choice for driver. Her driving certainly wasn't smooth but Mike was just anxious to get to the portal and set their plan in motion.
"Nancy?" Steve's voice drew his attention over to the bruised and battered boy. He must really be out of it if he though he looked like his sister, they looked nothing alike in Mike's opinion.
Steve was really starting to come to, groaning in pain as he lifted his hand to feel his face, but Dustin chastised him lightly, "No, don't touch it." Then Dustin tried to reassure him, "Hey, buddy, shhh you put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. You're okay."
"Okay, you're gonna go straight for half a mile then you're gonna make a left on Mt. Sinai," Lucas told Max from his spot in the passenger seat. Lucas had always been good with maps, so it had been easy to delegate him as navigator, plus he had wanted to sit next to the red head.
"What's going on?" Steve mumbled, then his eyes went wide as he saw who was driving, "Oh my god!"
"Steve, relax she's driven before," Dustin tried to comfort him to which Mike challenged,
"Yeah, in a parking lot."
"That counts!" Lucas defended from the front.
"They were gonna leave you behind," Dustin spoke quickly, trying and failing to calm the older boy down.
"Whoa! Stop the car, slow down!" Steve panicked as Max pressed her foot down harder on the gas pedal, shooting them forward.
"I told you he'd freak out!" Mike shouted at Dustin.
"Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" Max yelled, leaning forward to stare into the darkness.
"Oh, wait! That's Mt. Sinai! Make a left!" Lucas screamed pointing at the road ahead.
"What?"
"Turn left!"
They all screamed in surprise as she hauled the steering wheel to the left, whipping the car around the corner and sending them all sideways at the centrifugal force.
Max drove them all the way to the portal, screeching to a halt mere feet from it. Everyone screamed until they realized they were stopped and alive.
"Hello!" Steve braced himself against the ceiling and Dustin shouted a,
"Whoa!"
"Incredible!" Mike breathed, super impressed with her driving skills. Maybe he'd been wrong about her. Maybe there was room in their party for her.
"I told you. Zoomer," Max said, matter-of-factly, throwing the car into park.
They all spilled out and immediately suited up with the gear they had brought for the mission: goggles for their eyes and bandanas for their noses and mouths.
"Hey guys, oh, no. Hey where do you think you're going?" Steve groaned but Mike ignored him, taking the gasoline to the front of the car, tying a rope himself and the grill. "What are you deaf? Hello! We are not going down there. I made myself clear. There's no chance we're going into that hole, all right? This ends right now!"
"Steve! You're upset. I get it. But the bottom line is that a party member requires assistance and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe, so keep us safe," Dustin told the older boy as the rest of them began making their way down the hole.
Dustin must have been able to convince him to help because Mike heard him swear from behind him, "Holy shit."
"Uh, yeah I'm pretty sure it's this way," Mike called out to them, looking down at the hand drawn map he had made from Will's colored pages.
"You're pretty sure? Or you're sure?" Dustin challenged, and Mike turned to yell at him impatiently,
"I'm a hundred percent sure, just follow me and you'll know."
El's life was at stake. Did Dustin really think he would allow himself to make a mistake?
Mike turned to lead the way down the tunnels when Steve's voice made him stop.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey. I don't think so any of you little shits die down here, and I get the blame. Got it, Dipshit?" Steve told him, snatching the flashlight from his hand in the process. "From here on out I'm leading the way."
"C'mon let's go! A little hustle," Steve called out to the rest of them and they began to make their way through the labyrinth.
El walked quickly, but cautiously beside Hopper as the older man led the way with the flashlight and the big gun. They made their way down the deserted halls every once in a while coming across the dead and partially eaten bodies of men in lab coats.
She made sure not to look at any of their faces. She didn't want to know if she recognized their faces. She didn't want to know how it would make her feel to see bad men who had abused her her whole life dead and mutilated.
Hopper led her to the staircase where copious amounts of blood was smeared on every visible surface. A low groan caught their attention immediately and the policeman ordered her to, "Stay here."
She watched breathlessly as Hopper made his way down the metal steps, pointing the gun until he saw whatever was down there.
"Oh, shit," Hopper swore and then El lost sight of him, but she could still hear him say, "Hey, Doc."
Her heart froze in her chest. The only doctor El had ever known was Dr. Brenner…Papa… was he really alive? Was it him down there? She told herself that Hopper wouldn't have greeted Papa that way.
Sensing there was no immediate danger, El silently made her way down the stairs to see who Hopper was talking to and saw him kneeling in front of unfamiliar man in a lab coat covered in his own blood.
"Those suckers got you pretty good. It's okay don't talk. I'll talk. I got you. I got you. I got you," Hopper comforted him, taking his belt off to tie around the man's massacred leg. El stepped down and into the man's view and Hopper must have noticed the doctor's shocked expression as he looked at her because he introduced, "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to tell you this is Eleven. Eleven, Doc Owens, Doc Owens, Eleven. She's been staying with me for about a year and she's about to save our asses. Maybe when this is all said and done, maybe you could help her out, you know. Maybe you could help her lead like a normal life. One where's she's not poked and prodded, treated like some kind of lab rat, you know. I don't know, it's just a thought."
Hopper tightened the belt and the doctor groaned in pain but said nothing. El couldn't look away from this man. So many thoughts and feelings were coursing through her. Hopper was truly trying to give her a better life, one where she didn't have to hide anymore and this man had the power to do that.
"Think about it," Hopper told him, handing him a small gun. Don't go anywhere."
The doctor chuckled humorlessly as if he could have moved if he wanted to. El only pulled her eyes away from him when Hopper had stepped away and then she followed, ready to finally end all of this.
Steve led them down the dank passageway, the uneven ground preventing them from moving very quickly.
"God," Lucas swore, glancing around at the mysterious debris flying around them. None have them had ever been in the Upside Down, so it was more than a little disorienting.
"What is this place?" Max asked, her voice muffled from the bandana over her mouth.
"Guys, come on, keep moving," Steve urged them on and Mike was right there with him. He was anxious to hurry up and get this done so El would have a clear path to the gate.
They started moving forward again but didn't make it far when Dustin's screams could be heard back where they had all just been.
"SHIT! Shit! Shit!" he swore and they all turned back to make sure he was okay. "Help! Help! Help!"
Mike's mind jumped to worst case scenario: that one of those demo-dogs had gotten to Dustin and were tearing him apart. But he didn't hear any of the tell-tale screeching that normally heralded their appearance.
"Dustin!" Mike yelled seeing his friend running towards them and falling to his hands and knees.
"What happened?!" Steve demanded.
"It's in my mouth! Some of it got in my mouth! Shit!" Dustin gave a high-pitched scream, followed by a hacking cough. They all just stared down at him as he spit whatever got into his mouth onto the ground. Eventually, he looked up at them, Steve's flashlight pointed at his face and said, "I'm okay."
"You serious? Very funny, man," Steve huffed and they all sighed in frustration at their friend, walking away to get down to business.
"Jesus, what an idiot," Max muttered beside Mike.
"Hang on. Wait, wait," Dustin called after them, scrambling to his feet.
They continued walking for only a short while more until Steve came to a stop and said, "All right, Wheeler. I think we found your hub."
Mike stepped up to glance around Steve and saw what he was looking at; it was a wide clearing with multiple passageways leading off. Steve was right, this was it. Mike was ready, so he told the party,
"Let's drench it."
They sprang into motion, each of them dowsing every available surface of the chamber in gasoline.
Hopper and El continued their journey through the seemingly endless hallways of the lab until their heard the familiar low growls of the monsters.
"Stay here," Hopper ordered, pointing the flashlight and the gun down the hall, lighting up the falling debris that became thicker as they got closer to the gate.
El watched him go and terror gripped her chest. What if he got hurt because of her?
"Shit," she heard him say from around the corner and she knew… there were too many of them.
Once they had used up all of the gasoline they had, the party and Steve assembled back near the passageway. Steve asked them,
"All right, you guys ready?"
"Ready," they all asserted.
"Light her up," Dustin told him.
"I'm in such deep shit," Steve groaned, flicking his lighter on.
"1-2-3," El heard Hopper count, crushing her eyes closed in anticipation of gunshots and the loud screeching of the demo-dogs, fully prepared to use her powers to save the older man if she needed to.
Steve swung his arm forward and let lose the lighter. Even before it hit the ground, the chamber lit up with an explosion of fire.
El could hear the shrieking of the demo-dogs, almost as if they were in pain, but there were no gunshots… what was hurting them?
"Let's go, let's go," Steve urged, and they didn't need to be told twice. As the shrieking of the virus rung in their ears, they sprinted back through the passageway back to the portal they came down, Dustin repeating behind them,
"Ohmygod, ohmygod."
The shrieks and growls growing more distant, El opened her eyes. El knew. She just knew. Mike and her friends had somehow called the monsters away and saved them. Sensing the danger had passed, she walked down the hall and around the corner to stand next to a dumbstruck Hopper.
They didn't have long to dwell on it because Hopper's radio crackled to life.
"Chief, are you there? Do you copy?" Jonathan's muffled voice came through.
"Yeah, I copy," Hopper replied, holding the radio close to his lips and Jonathan's response was immediate,
"Close it."
Without speaking, she and Hopper got on the elevator and Hopper lowered down. El couldn't take her eyes off of the bright hellish red opening of the gate. It was so much larger than when she had accidently opened it. It had festered, just like her hurt and anger, until it was almost unrecognizable.
As the elevator came to a stop, El took a calming breath. She could do this, but she needed Hopper to know that she appreciated his support, so she reached out and clasped his hand in hers.
This was it.
"Ohmygod, ohmygod," Dustin continued as they ran.
"This way!" Steve directed after glancing down at Mike's map briefly.
Mike was bringing up the rear when all of a sudden something tripped him up. He fell hard to the ground and made to get up when he saw the vines wrapping around his ankle, preventing him from moving. He tried kicking himself free but it was no use.
"Help!" Mike yelled over and over to his friends, panic setting in, his heart pounding in his chest.
Hopper looked down at her somberly and El glanced up to meet his eyes. She could do this. She had to do this. For Mike. For Hopper. For all of her friends. And for herself.
The gate seemed to growl at her as she prepared herself. She released Hopper's hand and took a calming breath.
Raising her hand, El focused her mind solely on closing the wide chasm in front of her, but the monster must have sensed her effort. Blood trickled from her nose, but she hardly noticed as a great shadow appeared on the other side of the gate.
"HELP! HELP!" Mike continued to shout and thankfully his friends heard his yells and came back for him. Dustin and Lucas grabbed his arms and tried to tug him up as Steve shouted,
"Hold on!"
"Steve, pull him out!" Dustin urged, but instead Steve took out the baseball bat and struck the tentacle-like vines over and over until it released Mike's ankle.
He quickly scrambled away and was pulled into a standing position, his friends making sure he was okay. Now that their mission was complete, Mike was ready to get out of there and avoid any other close calls despite the throbbing in his ankle.
"Guys, we gotta go!"
But as they turned they were met with the sight of one of the demo-dogs.
"Dart!" Dustin called to the beast as it grumbled at him. They all began to speak at once, trying to get Dustin to back away but he wasn't hearing it, telling them, "Trust me, please."
He continued to approach the monster, speaking softly to it as he lifted his goggles, "It's me, it's me it's your friend, Dustin. It's Dustin. Will you let us pass?" The monster roared in response, but Dustin was unfazed. "I'm sorry about the storm cellar, that was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? I got nougat. Eat up."
Dustin continued to feed the monster, keeping his eyes on it as he gestured for them to walk around, which they did. He left the Three Musketeers and turned back to bid his friend one last farewell,
"Goodbye, buddy."
El wasn't going to give up. The monster would not win.
She closed her eyes and remembered Kali's words to her, 'I want you to find something from your life, something that angers you… now channel it.'
The feeling of being thrown like a dog in the dark room while she pleaded for Papa to show her mercy floated to the surface.
The gate's edges began to come together.
As they ran, the ground gave a lurch, sending them all stumbling. Then a chilling sound could be heard down the direction they had just come from.
"What was that?" Max asked, panting.
"They're coming!" Mike breathed, before yelling, "Run! Run!"
As they took off down the passage there were various shouts as they scrambled to get out of there before the demo-dogs caught up to them.
They made it to the portal, and Steve gave Max a boost up the rope first. Lucas was next and then Mike himself. All that was left was Dustin and Steve.
"Dustin! Come on!" Mike yelled down at him, holding his hand out as the demo-dogs closed in on them. Mike's eyes went wide, and he was certain all of the air had been sucked from his lungs as he watched the demo-dogs come at the two.
But then they ran past… dozens of them sprinted past, jostling Steve and Dustin in their rush to get around them. There was only one person who could be responsible, and it meant she was succeeding,
"Eleven."
Both of her nostrils were dripping blood with the effort of closing the gate, but El persevered.
She barely noticed that Hopper had to fend off a couple of the demo-dogs so focused was she on fighting back the Mind Flayer and closing this gate for good.
It wasn't enough. It was becoming too much. She cringed at the effort, blood coming from her ears now, but she wouldn't stop.
'You have a wound, Eleven, a terrible wound and it's festering. Do you remember what that means? Festering? It means a rot and it will grow. Spread,' imaginary Papa had told her.
'The gate… I opened it….'
'I'm the monster…,'
Mama…
'And eventually it will kill you.'
The monster was winning. It had reached through the gate and was going to kill her and everyone she cared about.
Flinging her other hand out towards it, El gave a guttural scream, using every bit of anger, every bit of power. Her feet began to lift off the ground, but she was completely unaware.
The monster's tentacle reaching out to her began to disintegrate, the edges of the gate sealing up until it closed completely.
She had done it. She had closed the gate. Mike was safe.
Her vision was becoming blurry and all she wanted to do was sleep.
Hopper knelt down to her, pulling her into a tight hug as he congratulated her, his voice thick with emotion, "You did good, kid. You did so good."
And she finally allowed the darkness to take her.
A/N: I really hope you guys like this one! I really enjoyed writing it, especially the beginning part (for obvious reasons). The action was a little bit more challenging and took me more time to hash out. The next chapter will be the last and will cover the Snow Ball and some of the lead up to it. I really am so happy that you all have liked these novelizations and every review is a little gift in my inbox. Let me know what you think! And As always you all are amazing and I'm open to ideas of how you feel season 3 should go. I have my own theories and I'm interested to see if they line up with y'all's expectations.