The room was dark, they hadn't turned the light on yet.

"Get in." Said the guard

He shoved me in the room, and closed the door.

They turned on the light. Everything seemed pretty normal, there was even a mirror on one wall. Except for, some things in the mirror looked out of place, there was someone on the bed in the mirror.

"El!?" I cried

It wasn't a mirror, it was a window, a soundproof window it seemed, because she wasn't responding. I pounded on the window, it seemed to get her attention, because she looked over at me. Her face turned to a mixture of relief, and sheer horror. She seemed to be screaming my name.

"Is this your plan!? Put us right next to each other and see who cracks!?" I screamed

A scientist went into her room, and the mixture on her face turned into just one emotion: fear.

I started screaming again, ignoring the burning dryness in my throat. "Don't you dare! Don't you fucking dare! Leave her alone! Leave her alone! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Another scientist walked into the room, a fire burning in his eyes. Revenge. Suddenly, I see a memory. Not one of mine, but of El's.

"Take her to the darkness." Papa sighs, shaking his head in disappointment.

"No Papa. No! No!" Two men grab my arms and carry me down a corridor, keeping a firm grip on me despite my writhing. They throw me to the ground, and go to slam the door shut. But I'm too quick. They won't leave me here again. I quickly scramble to my feet, and one of the men is thrown against the wall, knocked unconscious. The other grabs for his gun, but I snap his neck. He's gone. Suddenly, overwhelming exhaustion comes over me and I collapse against the wall, as Papa cups my face with his hand. "Incredible."

Just as quickly as it came, the memory is gone. It felt so real. Then I realise: it's the man who got thrown against the wall. I try to push him away from El, but I can't seem to do anything with my powers in here. They carry her out of the room, and she's cries and screams, but doesn't fight. She's afraid they'll harm her… or me. I don't know how, but her thoughts echo through my head. Don't hurt Mike. Don't hurt Mike. Without much hope, I try to push a thought to her. If they hurt you, I'll kill them.

"I need Hopper." I perk up as I hear my name from the front of the station, and at first I think it's Joyce. Oh Jesus, what now? We just got Will back… But then I realise the voice is too young, just as Nancy Wheeler bursts into my office, tears staining her cheeks and panic clearly written across her face.. "What in the name o-"

"It's Mike." She cuts in, her voice shaking slightly. "He and El. They didn't come home last night. No one knows where they are. What if-"

"Fuck." I sigh, putting my hands in my head. Even thinking about the Lab people finding Eleven is an unbearable thought. "If they took Mike too…" I begin, not quite believing that I was about to tell this to a 16-year-old who'd probably do something crazy and dangerous to try and get her brother back. But I do anyway. "Fuck. God knows what lengths they'd go to to get her to comply. Including threatening Mike. I know all to well that they'd carry their threats out. She would, too. Oh fuck."

"They- they- they'd hurt Mike? They'd hurt a kid?" She looks like she's about to have a panic attack, but at the same time there's hatred and vengeance in her eyes that scared me a little. "They hurt her. Since she was a baby. I've… I've seen the tapes. And, well, they aren't pretty."

"Wh- what did they do?" She asked, worriedly. I didn't want to tell her, I wanted to spare her the pain and the sadness that came on those tapes. "They…"

"No! No!" I cried, trying to wriggle free of the grip of my captors "Mike!" I screamed "Help! Help me!"

"He cant hear you, he will have the same fate if you do not comply, Eleven" Said Papa, coming up to me "Take her to the room." He said coldly

"No!" I screamed

"Eleven! EL! Where are you taking her you bastards!?" I yelled "EL!"

They dragged her out of the room, she was screaming and crying.

"Help!" I heard her scream in my head "El? El, don't care about me, run, get out of here, just run." I yelled back "No, they'll hurt you." She said worriedly "Don't worry about me, just run."

I don't know what happened after that, but I thought she ran because she didn't come back.

She didn't come back. She was free.

"Hopper." Nancy near-shouted, pain in her eyes. "What did they do?"

"They forced her to comply with them. If she didn't, Brenner would beat her. Or, they did until she turned about 11. It wasn't affecting her. So they locked her in darkness. Alone. For days. That damn near broke her. And when they had Joyce and I… they didn't give a fuck about rules anymore. They almost killed me. I mean, they wouldn't kill Mike. They're too smart for that. But they'd do pretty much anything else."

Run. Run. I'll be fine, just run.Mike's words echo around my head as I limp through the woods, sticks and stones piercing by feet. I want to turn back. I need to save Mike. But his voice speaks to me through my head. No. Don't stop. Just run. Please El. Run. So I keep running, until I see a fort. "Castle Byers. All friends welcome." Too tired to go any further, I collapse into the blankets and immediately fall asleep in the cold.

"No. No no no no no. They can't. They can't, Hop. They can't. He's my baby brother. They can't." I stand up and place firm hands on her shoulders. "Hey. Hey! Listen to me. We're gonna find them. I'll call Joyce, and we'll go looking, okay? We'll all go looking. Go tell them boys… Henderson and Sinclair? Go get them. Bring them here. We'll search the woods. And we'll find them, okay?"

"Yes sir." She replies quietly, before rushing out of the station. Fuck. I think. Too soon. This is all too soon.