Okay guys, this chapter is a little different, but I hope you guys get where I'm going with this plot-wise! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

Jim Hopper was on his porch smoking a cigarette when he heard his phone ringing. He quickly discarded the cigarette and rushed inside to answer it before it woke up the girls.

"Hello?" Hopper spoke into the phone.

"Hop, it's Joyce! How fast can you get over here? And you might want to bring your girl."

Will sighed in relief when he heard the Chief's car pull up on their gravel driveway. His shirt was drenched in sweat from his dream, but he felt cold and kept shivering. His mother had wrapped him up in a blanket and was running her hands through his hair soothingly.

Will had no words to describe how much he loved his mother. She had always been the most supportive person he had ever met. She was odd, of course, but she had raised Jonathon and Will to appreciate themselves for who they were, and not for what other people thought of them. Even through all the shit that had happened between her and his father, Joyce had always kept her kids' happiness as her first priority. She had even traveled to another dimension to find her son, for God's sake. Will had faith that their family could make it through anything together, but right now, he just wanted to talk to Jane. She was the only one who would understand.

Jonathon opened the door, quickly shaking Will from his thoughts. He looked up to see Hopper walk into the living room, followed by Jane and Max, who were still in their pajamas. Jane walked right up to Will and looked at him.

Eggs hatched? Will heard in his mind. He nodded at her and Jane's face grew cold in realization.

Her wound was festering, as Papa had told her in the vision Kali had conjured up. The upside down was an echo of the material world, a world that was home to monsters she had unintentionally unleashed. Jane had confidence that she could kill anything that could harm her friend, but she knew it would only be a temporary solution. New eggs would hatch and more monsters would wreak havoc. In that moment, both Jane and Will knew the only true solution to their problem. She had to kill the Mindflayer.

The whole invisible exchange of knowledge between her and Will had only taken a moment, and the rest of the room was unaware that anything had occurred at all. Joyce stood up from the couch to look Jane in the eyes.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Joyce asked.

"Yes," Jane said simply.

"What can we do?" the frantic mother continued.

"Keep him awake tonight. He has to be in this world when I kill it," Jane told her cryptically. This peaked Hopper's interest.

"Hold on Missy, what exactly are you going to be killing?" Hopper asked in concern.

"The Mindflayer."

Max shared a glance with the others in the room, like Is she serious? She was.

"No no no no no," Hopper stated, shaking his head. "You can't just kill some monster who we don't even understand yet, especially with no plan! How would you even face it? The gate's closed!"

Jane pointed at Will slowly.

"Gate," she said. Will felt like his skin had peeled off and he was left exposed. He was a gate. The thought made him shiver.

"We still need a plan," Jonathon spoke weakly. The others looked around exhaustedly.

"Hold on," Hopper said, heading back out to his car. He flipped on the radio. "Harrington! Gather up the kids and meet me at the Byers, we have a situation."

Mike Wheeler was crammed in the back of Steve's police car between Lucas and Dustin. Nancy was in the passenger seat next to Steve as they drove to Murkwood. Mike felt incredibly guilty for not noticing that something was going on with Will again. Maybe he had been spending too much time with Jane… no, he thought, but I should have paid more attention to my best friend.

When they arrived, all of them gathered at the dining room table to start brainstorming a plan. Mike immediately sat in the space between Jane and Will.

"Okay, so what do we know?" Hopper began. Will took a shaky breath.

"The upside down… It's becoming more complex. There are new species hatching, and a larger population of them," Will explained.

"Do you think they're still connected to the Mindflayer through a hive mind?" Dustin chimed in.

"I don't know, I haven't seen that… thing since last year," Will answered, grimacing.

"But now, when you see the other monsters, it's only when you're asleep, right?" Mike asked, intrigued.

"Yes."

"Maybe there's some type of unconscious connecting between you and the upside down that only opens when you're in your most vulnerable state: asleep," Lucas suggested. They all pondered that for a moment before Max spoke up.

"Jane, do you think the upside down left some type of psychic imprint on Will from when he was trapped there?" Max asked. Everyone looked at Jane.

"Not Mindflayer is still there, I can feel him. I can reach it through Will. In the bath," Jane said solemnly.

"Should we rush into this? I mean, Will hasn't been harmed yet. I think we can spare some time to prepare. I can't lose you again, neither of you!" Mike exclaimed, looking between Jane and Will. Joyce contemplated, her hand over her mouth.

"Well, if we do wait, what can we do in the meantime to make sure Will's safe?" Steve asked.

"He can't stay awake forever, this isn't 'Nightmare on Elm Street'," Nancy said.

"I can keep him safe," Jane chimed in. Hopper looked at her curiously. She met his gaze and continued, "If I'm with him, the Mindflayer won't try to reach him." Jane sounded so confident in what she was saying, everyone simply believed her without question.

"Alright," Hopper relented. Max and Jane set up camp in Will's room, where they would sleep. Jane was on the bed with Will, holding his hand tightly and Max had set up a sleeping bag on the floor. Steve took the other boys and Nancy back home so their parents wouldn't freak out if they discovered them missing in the middle of the night. Jonathon reluctantly went back to his room, keeping his door open so he could see into Will's in case anything happened. That left Joyce and Hopper, who stayed up in the living room, chain smoking on the couch.

"I-I don't know if I can do this again, Hop," Joyce said to him quietly. He looked down at her with a wistful glance.

"I know," was his reply as he took her under his arm. So softly that she couldn't tell whether she'd imagined it or not, Joyce felt his lips kiss the top of her head.