Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things.

Chapter 3: The Mystery

November 9, 1983

Hawkins, Indiana

Icy water soaking through her clothes and stinging her skin… a clawed hand wrapping around her leg with a crushing grip, dragging her down into the depths… the deep clicks and predatory growl of the monster waiting below, its faceless head splitting open to reveal countless rows of teeth…

"Barbara!"

Barb's eyes snapped open, and she inhaled sharply as a scream caught in her throat. The shift from cold darkness to warmth and light was so jarring that for a long moment, she had no idea where she was. Finally, she snapped back into focus, and realized that she was lying in her bed. She'd clearly been tossing and turning in her sleep, as the sheets were rumpled and twisted around her body.

Her mom was standing next to her bed, hovering over her with a concerned look on her face. "Barb! Are you okay, sweetheart?" she questioned anxiously, leaning over her daughter and gently resting a hand on her shoulder. "I heard you screaming!"

"I…" Barb was still panting, but she shook her head and tried to calm down, taking deep breaths to try and get her pulse under control as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, leaning back on her pillows and retrieving her glasses from the nightstand. "Y-yeah, I'm okay, Mom. I just… I had a nightmare, but I'm fine. Really, I promise."

Her mom still looked concerned, but eventually she nodded. "All right, honey. How's your leg feeling? Is your ankle okay?"

As the memories of the night before began to sink in, Barb shivered and reached down to check on her leg. It was still sore, but when she pulled back the sheets she was relieved to find that there were only minor bruises wrapped around her calf and ankle, and there wasn't any serious pain when she gave it a careful squeeze.

"Yeah, I think it's okay," she confirmed, letting out a relieved sigh. "Guess I didn't twist it too bad when I fell. If it gets any worse, I'll let you know, but it doesn't feel like it's really hurt."

"Well, thank goodness for that," Marsha replied with a soft chuckle, gently ruffling Barb's hair. "You gave us quite a scare last night, coming home like that, but I'm glad you're okay." She leaned in and gave Barb a soft kiss on the top of her head, something that normally made Barb feel embarrassed but that she tolerated this time, and smiled as she turned and walked back out of the bedroom. "Come on out once you're dressed; I'm making pancakes." She ducked out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

Finally left alone, Barb sagged back against the pillows and closed her eyes, letting herself relax. An instant later, however, the realization that her mom had just been in her room fully kicked in, and her eyes popped open wide in alarm as the rest of her memories from the night before came surging back.

Oh, shit! Her cheeks paled and she sat bolt upright again as her head whipped around, frantically scanning the room. The window was still securely closed, but the other side of the bed was empty, and there was no sign of Seven anywhere.

"Seven?" Barb whispered, looking around more slowly. "Sev? Where are you?"

"Right here," a voice whispered back, and Barb practically leapt out of bed, barely holding in another scream as she whirled around to face the source of the soft call.

Sev, who had just risen into view on the other side of her bed, smiled faintly as he looked up at her. "Sorry," he added, his grin becoming a little sheepish. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Barb panted, glancing quickly over her shoulder to make sure her bedroom door was closed. "Where were you?"

"Under your bed," Sev replied matter-of-factly. "Your nightmare woke me up; I was going to wake you, but I heard your mother coming, so I had to hide." He pushed himself up to his feet and leaned back against the wall, folding his hands in front of him.

"…Right." Barb shook her head, still not quite able to believe that everything about last night had been real. She'd been attacked by a monster, saved by a strange boy who'd escaped from Hawkins Lab and could read minds, and then that boy had spent the night in her bed. She had to suppress a blush at the thought of that last point, trying to stay focused on the situation at hand. Which wasn't easy, given that she was now faced with an extremely difficult question.

What the hell do I do now?

"You don't have to do much," Sev spoke up, and Barb's eyes widened when she realized that he'd heard that question when she'd thought it. "I just need to get out of this town and go someplace where Father can't find me. As long as they don't find out that you met me, you'll be safe." He frowned. "Although, before I can go anywhere… I have to find Eleven."

"Eleven?" Barb frowned. "Sorry… what do you mean, 'Eleven'?"

"A girl," Sev clarified. "Younger than us, but… she's like me. Part of Father's program, in the lab." He held up his left arm, indicating the 007 tattoo on his wrist. "I'm Number Seven. She's Number Eleven."

Barb's eyes widened at that. "Wait, so there are more people like you in that lab?" In retrospect, if he was "Number Seven", that did make sense, but still… what kind of horror-movie mad science was going on at Hawkins Lab, if it was producing a bunch of kids with what were basically superpowers?

"Yes," Sev confirmed. "I think there were others, a long time ago, but…" He winced, rubbing his forehead. "I can't really remember. But before I got out, the two of us were the only ones there. They kept us separated, but I figured out how to talk to her using our minds, and we were planning to try and escape, until that… thing… attacked the lab. But if I got out, then Eleven could have too. So I need to find out where she is, and then she and I can get away from here."

"All by yourselves?" Barb couldn't help but feel a pang in her stomach at the thought of that. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's really cool that you can read minds and all, but… you said the guys who were studying you will be coming after you, right? Can you really get away from them on your own?"

Sev shrugged. "I don't have a choice. I won't let Father take me back to that place." He looked up at her, and Barb felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the dark, haunted look in his eyes. "I'm not going through that again. Not ever."

"I… I understand." Barb nodded slowly. "But… how are you gonna find this 'Eleven' girl? Even if she made it out of the lab, she could be anywhere in Hawkins, right? This is a pretty small town, but it's not that small." She looked him up and down, feeling a little amused despite herself at the sight of him wearing a set of her dad's old pajamas. "Plus… no offense, but you're not exactly gonna blend in. People talk, and if anyone sees you and reports it to the cops or something, the people from the lab will know you made it out of that place." She tried not to think about the dark, shadowy "other world" where the creature had attacked her, as just thinking about it made her feel like she'd swallowed an ice cube.

Sev frowned as he looked down at himself. "You… do have a point," he conceded, before raising an eyebrow as he looked back up at her. "What do you suggest?"

"Well…" Barb considered for a moment, and then nodded decisively. "First things first: we need some time to figure out a plan. And I do have an idea for that part."

After quickly explaining her plan of action and popping into the bathroom so she could get dressed in private (and change the bandage on her injured hand), Barb made her way down the hall to the Hollands' dining room, where her parents were already seated at the table. She made a point of loudly sniffling on every indrawn breath, and deliberately walked slower than normal. Thanks to the hot water that she'd used to wash her face, her face was also flushed, and her skin was warmer than usual.

As she'd predicted, her parents noticed the unusual behavior right away. "Barb?" her dad called as she shuffled over to the kitchen counter. "Are you okay?"

"Um…" Barb sniffled again and rubbed her nose. "Well, my leg feels okay, but… I think I'm coming down with something. I'm still really tired, and my nose feels like it's getting stuffed up." She grabbed a tissue from where her mom had a box stored in the kitchen and blew her nose, exaggerating it a bit more. She was normally punctual to a fault when it came to school, so she didn't make a habit of faking illness, but she knew plenty of kids who did. "I thought getting warm and taking a hot shower last night would've been enough, but… I might be getting a cold." She added to the act by letting out several muffled coughs, clasping one sleeve over her mouth.

"Oh, no!" Her mom scrambled up from her seat and hurried over to Barb, fussing over her and checking her temperature by resting the back of one hand against Barb's forehead. "I knew it: getting soaked by someone's sprinklers on a freezing night, it's no wonder you'd catch a cold." She shook her head. "Well, you certainly can't go to school like this, sweetheart. I'll call and let them know, all right? You just take the day to rest and get better; that way you can nip it in the bud, and hopefully you'll feel better by tomorrow."

Barb couldn't help feeling a little guilty over the idea of misleading her parents like this, but she forced herself to stay calm and nodded in agreement. "Yeah… yeah, I think that's a good idea," she replied, frowning and leaning against the kitchen counter. "I am hungry, though, but… is it all right if I eat in my room?" She looked up at her mom, adopting a plaintive expression.

Normally, Barb's parents didn't like her eating meals in her room, just because they wanted to avoid any messes, but her mom's expression softened as she looked at her. "Of course, honey," she assured her, giving Barb a reassuring hug and patting her on the back. "Make sure you have some orange juice too; that should help."

A few minutes later, Barb was heading back down the hall to her bedroom, carrying a glass of orange juice and a glass of water tucked in one arm, and a large plate of pancakes and bacon in the other. She stepped into her room, used her good leg to push the door closed behind her, and grinned at the surprised look on Sev's face as he popped up from behind the bed again. "Good news," she murmured before he could say anything. "I got out of school today, and I brought breakfast!"

Sev's eyes immediately lit up, and Barb felt a pang when it occurred to her just how hungry he must be after being lost in that desolate shadow-world for several days. To that end, she just picked lightly at one of the pancakes and sipped from her cup of orange juice, while he quickly downed the large glass of water and piled ravenously into the remaining stack of syrup-soaked pancakes and crispy bacon.

"Okay, so here's what I'm thinking," Barb spoke up as she took another sip of her juice. "First off, you still need to rest." She held up a hand as Sev started to protest, cutting him off. "Don't even try that: I can tell just by looking at you that you're still exhausted. So today, let's just stay here, and you can catch up on all the sleep, food and water that I'm sure you missed when you were stuck in that place. My parents will both be heading out soon – Dad has work, and Mom has her book club – so you won't have to worry about hiding for a few hours, until they get home later. Tomorrow, we'll find some more clothes for you, to make it easier for you to blend in, and then we can see about tracking down this 'Eleven' girl."

Sev was staring at her with a perplexed look on his face. Barb couldn't help but grin at the sight of him: he had trails of maple syrup on his chin and cheeks, and he looked thoroughly confused. "Why… why would you do all of this for me?" he asked. "You barely even know me… and you're putting yourself in danger by helping me. So…" He gestured helplessly, and she heard his voice echoing inside her head. Why?

"Why would I help you?" Barb echoed. Her amused smile faded, and she sat back on her bed and leaned back against the wall as she looked down at her hands. "Three reasons, I guess. First: you saved my life, so I kinda feel like I owe you." She chuckled softly at that, trying to use humor to mask the dread that weighed down on her shoulders every time she thought about the monster that had nearly killed her the night before.

"Second," she continued, "I guess that's just the kind of person I am. Whenever somebody needs help, I feel like I have to at least try and help them. And third…" She sighed and leaned forward, her eyes meeting his. "I might not be able to read minds, but I can always tell when someone's a good person. And you're a good person, Sev. You didn't deserve whatever those people – and your 'father', or whoever he is – did to you. And I'm gonna do whatever I can to help you find Eleven and get out of this town safely." She reflexively took one of his hands in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Okay?"

Sev's green eyes remained locked with hers for a seemingly-endless moment, and she knew that he was probably looking into her thoughts to confirm that she meant what she'd said. Barb's cheeks flushed pink again, but she didn't pull her hand away or break eye contact.

Finally, Sev nodded slowly, and his lips twitched in a small, warm smile. "Okay," he agreed. "Thank you."

Nancy Wheeler wasn't normally the type to feel paranoid. Usually, she liked to think that she was good at holding up under pressure and keeping her head on straight, not letting her insecurities or suspicions get the best of her. But in the first half of her school day, she'd been struck with two separate bouts of paranoia, for two entirely different reasons.

The first one had been when she'd first walked into school that morning, and had quickly become convinced that every student she passed in the halls was staring at her. Despite Steve's reassuring her that nobody else knew about her spending the previous night at his house, she still couldn't entirely banish that concern from the back of her mind. However, that source of concern had since been overshadowed by a new one, which had been triggered when she'd walked into her first class and discovered that Barb apparently wasn't in school.

Up until that moment, Nancy hadn't really been worried about Barb, outside of expecting some sort of lecture over her decision to spend the night with Steve once they got a chance to talk privately. But if there was one thing that she knew about her best friend, it was the fact that Barb really didn't like missing school. She wasn't the type to ditch unless she either had some kind of important family event, or she was sick enough that she couldn't come to school. And that, combined with the fact that Nancy knew Barb had accidentally hurt herself at the party, made her worry. What if Barb's accidentally cutting her hand had been more serious than it looked, and she'd had to go to the hospital? Or what if she'd gotten in a car accident on her way home?

With those thoughts swirling around in her head, Nancy knew she had to make sure Barb was okay before she'd be able to relax. She obviously couldn't call the Hollands while she was in class, so she was planning on checking in with them after she got out of school that afternoon and had some time to use one of the school's payphones. In the meantime, now that their lunch period had started, she'd decided to ask the only other people who she knew had seen Barb recently: namely, Steve, Tommy H., and Carol, the other three people who'd been at Steve's house last night.

As luck would have it, Steve, Tommy and Carol were all eating lunch together, so Nancy quickly grabbed a spot next to Steve, catching the last bit of their conversation about some kind of bruise or sore on one of Carol's ankles. "Hey, Tommy?" she interjected, drawing the others' attention. "When you left, did you see Barb?"

"What?" Tommy was chewing on a mouthful of food and barely seemed to acknowledge the question.

"Barbara," Nancy repeated more slowly, suppressing her annoyance. "She's not here today."

"I seriously have no idea who you're talking about," Tommy quipped, snorting as he took another bite of his mashed potatoes. Carol echoed his laugh, and Nancy's jaw clenched as her annoyance burned hotter in her stomach.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Come on, don't be an ass, man," he cut in. "Did you see her leave last night or not?"

Tommy sighed and shook his head, finally dropping the joke. "No, she was gone when we left," he replied dismissively.

"Probably couldn't stand all that moaning," Carol snickered, before letting out a series of exaggerated groans and calls of "Oh, Steve!" Tommy laughed, but Nancy's stomach turned and she balled her fists tightly under the table, resisting the urge to slap that smug grin right off of Carol's prissy face.

"Listen… I'm sure she's fine," Steve murmured reassuringly to her, nudging one of his elbows against hers. "She's probably just, like… skipping or something."

"Yeah…" Nancy nodded slowly. "Yeah, probably."

Despite Steve's reassurances, however, she couldn't banish the concern that was still gnawing at her. If Barb had chosen to skip school today, there had to be a reason for it, and Nancy wanted to make sure she was okay. And if Barb hadn't chosen to skip…

Either way, she made a mental note to give Barb's parents a call on one of the school's payphones once she got out of class for the day. Just in case.

After a couple more hours of worrying, school finally let out for the day, and Nancy immediately made a beeline for the payphones in front of the main school building. Luckily, one of the phones was unoccupied, so she dialed the Hollands' home number and held the phone to her ear, hoping to hear Barb's voice. "Come on, come on, come on…" she whispered, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she waited for an answer.

Finally, there was a click, but the voice which answered was Barb's mother. "Hello?"

"Hi!" Nancy spoke up quickly. "Um, hi, Mrs. Holland, it's Nancy."

"Oh, Nancy," Marsha replied cheerfully. "How are you? Barbara told us about what happened with the sprinklers last night; you didn't catch a cold too, I hope?"

Nancy was caught off guard by that, but she quickly surmised that Barb must have told her parents some kind of cover story about what they'd been up to the night before. Maybe she decided to go swimming after all, so she told her mom we got sprayed by some sprinklers while we were walking to the car or something? "Oh, n-no, I'm fine," she assured the older woman. "I was just wondering… is Barb there?"

"Oh, yes, she's here," Marsha confirmed. "Although she's in bed right now. She wasn't feeling well this morning; her leg was still sore from that fall, and she might be coming down with a cold, so John and I decided it would be best for her to stay home today. Hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow."

"Oh! Okay, yeah, that makes sense." Nancy felt a rush of relief at that, as the knowledge that Barb was safe at home immediately made her feel better. However, she couldn't help but notice one detail in Mrs. Holland's explanation that didn't fit with what had happened the night before. Her leg? Barb's hand had been hurt last night, not her leg. And what "fall" was her mom talking about?

Did something else happen to her after I went upstairs with Steve?

"Um…" Nancy did her best to keep her voice casual. "If it's all right, could I say hi to her? I'm sorry, I was just a little worried when she didn't come to school today."

"Oh, yes, of course!" Mrs. Holland's voice echoed louder over the phone, presumably as she called from the kitchen to Barb's room. "Barb! Nancy's on the phone for you, honey!"

A few seconds passed in silence, and then Barb's voice came on the line. "Nancy?"

"Barb!" Nancy's shoulders sagged a bit at the sound of her friend's voice. She immediately felt better knowing for sure that whatever had happened last night, at least Barb was safe. "Sorry, I just… I saw that you weren't in school today, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Barb replied. Her voice was noticeably cooler than normal, with just a trace of sarcasm bleeding through. "Nothing to worry about."

Nancy winced. Well, that answers the question of whether she's still annoyed with me for ditching her last night. "But you made it home okay, then?" she questioned. "After, y'know… everything?"

Barb was quiet for a long moment, before she spoke up again. "Yeah," she confirmed, although her voice was a little shaky this time. "I left right after you went upstairs, and I made it home okay. My hand's fine too. I just… didn't feel up for school today."

Most people would have taken Barb at her word, but Nancy knew her better than that, and she noticed the telltale shift in her voice which could only mean one thing: Barb was lying about something. This wasn't just annoyance, it was more than that. Something was wrong.

"Yeah, that makes sense," she agreed, thinking quickly. "So, um… would it be okay if I came over tonight? I could fill you in on what they covered in class today, or we could…"

"No!" Barb exclaimed. Her voice was unexpectedly intense, and Nancy's eyes widened in surprise before she hastily continued. "No, um… it's okay, don't come over. I don't feel very good; I think I might've come down with something, and… y'know, if you didn't already catch it too, I don't wanna risk getting you sick. You can just go home. I should hopefully be back at school tomorrow if I'm lucky, so I'll see you then."

"Oh." Nancy blinked, taken aback; she'd never heard Barb talk like that before. "I… okay, if you're sure."

"Yeah." Barb was quiet for a second. "Uh… sorry, I think I need to lie down for a bit, but I'll talk to you later. Bye, Nance."

"Um… okay," Nancy replied, still a little unsteady. "Bye, Barb."

With another soft click, the call disconnected, and Nancy was left staring in disbelief at the phone, barely hearing the chatter of other students all around her.

What the hell was that?

After hanging up the phone and fighting off a pang of guilt, Barb hurried back down the hall to her room, closing the door behind her. Sev was sitting in the far corner of her room, ready to duck behind the bed if her mom checked on them. After having slept for most of the day and having eaten lunch with her while her parents were still out, he looked much better.

"So… who is Nancy?" he inquired, shuffling around so he could keep an eye on Barb and looking up at her with a concerned frown as she walked over to her desk and sat down. "You've mentioned her a few times, and I could hear you talking just now, but… it sounded like you liked her." He tilted his head to one side. "So… why are you angry with her?"

"I…" Barb sighed, shaking her head as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm not actually angry with her. Not really, anyway." She chuckled softly and pinched the bridge of her nose, before rubbing her eyes. "I mean, I'm not thrilled that I almost got eaten by a monster because she convinced me to go to that stupid party and then ditched me to hook up with her boyfriend, but she didn't know what was gonna happen. Nancy… she's not perfect, but she's my best friend, and I care about her more than anyone besides my parents. But…" She closed her eyes. "I don't want her to get involved in any of this. I meant what I said: I'm gonna do whatever I can to try and help you. But from everything you told me, it's way too dangerous for us to get anybody else involved."

"Yes, it is," Sev replied matter-of-factly, before his eyes widened in realization. "And that's why you didn't want her to come over here."

"Yeah, exactly." Barb nodded, still feeling a little guilty over the way she'd practically snapped at Nancy in response to that question. "If she came over here, we'd have to find a much better place for you to hide, because it would be a lot harder to hide you from Nancy than from my parents." She shook her head. "And I'd rather she be upset with me than in danger of getting murdered by the government for knowing too much."

Sev visibly winced at that, but he nodded. "That makes sense," he conceded. "Still, I… I'm sorry that you're having to lie to her for me."

"Oh, trust me, so am I," Barb agreed quietly, turning her chair to look up at the wall behind her desk, which was adorned with numerous pictures of her and Nancy. "But… at least this way, she'll be safe."

At first, Nancy had been sorely tempted to take Barb at her word and to forget about what the other girl had said. With any luck, Barb would be back at school tomorrow, and everything would be fine. In addition, walking into the middle of a confrontation between Steve and Jonathan Byers had driven the phone call out of her mind entirely for a while, as she'd been torn between feeling creeped out by the fact that Jonathan had apparently been spying on Steve's house party and feeling sorry for him when Steve had broken his camera.

But then, as Steve and the others had walked away, leaving Jonathan scrambling to try and salvage his busted camera, Nancy had spotted something on one of the pictures that Carol had ripped in half and discarded. This picture wasn't of anything that she remembered from the night before: instead, it was a photo of Barb, sitting alone on the diving board of Steve's pool with her feet dangling in the water. Something about that picture had bothered her, but she hadn't figured out what it was until she was already walking away with Steve.

Barb hadn't been on the diving board at any point before Nancy had gone upstairs with Steve. They had all been drinking, but not enough for any of Nancy's memories to be blurry, and she knew she couldn't have forgotten that. So the only time Barb could have done that would've been after Nancy had gone upstairs… which meant that, when she'd claimed that she'd gone home immediately after that, she had been lying.

Nancy couldn't figure out why Barb would have lied to her about that, but as she'd spent the next few minutes listening to Tommy and Carol making snide remarks about one of their teachers, that was all she could think about. She lied to me about leaving early, and she didn't want me to come over to her house. But… why? The only possible explanation she could think of was that something had happened to Barb last night, possibly something bad, and she didn't want Nancy to know about it.

And that was what had led her to where she was now, standing on the side of the road just down the street from Steve's house, in the same area where she and Barb had parked the night before. Barb's car was long gone, of course, so Nancy wasn't sure why she'd decided to go there, but she'd felt compelled to check it out, just to see if she could somehow find some evidence to explain why Barb had been acting so strangely earlier.

Making her way up the block, she let herself into Steve's backyard through his side gate, knowing that he and his parents weren't home so nobody would be around to ask her what she was doing. Folding her arms, she walked around the pool, straining to recall everything that had happened last night. Had Barb been sitting on the diving board before she'd gone upstairs, and she'd just forgotten? No, she was sure she hadn't seen Barb anywhere near the pool. Still, whatever had happened, Barb seemed to be fine now, so did that mean she was just wasting her time?

"God, what am I even doing here?" she muttered under her breath, sighing as she looked around the yard and the nearby treeline one more time. She was just about to turn around and leave, when she heard a rustling sound coming from the direction of the woods. It might have just been a squirrel or some other small animal, but a chill went up the back of her neck and she turned slowly towards the trees. Her rational mind didn't want to go anywhere near whatever had made that noise, but curiosity overcame caution – after all, she was in a suburban backyard and it was still light outside, so it wasn't like she could get lost – and she walked slowly off of Steve's property and into the trees.

Shivering and rubbing her arms through her sleeves, Nancy walked a few yards out into the woods, looking around for any signs of anything out of the ordinary. Maybe Barb tried to take a shortcut back to her car through the woods, and that's when she fell? That didn't really make much sense, but it was as logical as any other explanation that her brain could concoct.

Another rustling sound interrupted her thoughts, this one coming from a short distance off to her left but louder than the one before. This time, Nancy stopped. Despite her curiosity, all of her instincts were suddenly telling her not to go any further, and she could feel icy prickles of fear creeping up and down her body.

That was when a deep, rumbling growl cut through the cold air, and Nancy whipped around just in time to catch a glimpse of a large, dark shape darting across a gap between two dense clumps of trees. She didn't get a good look at it, but it was big, at least as large as a grown man if not bigger, and something about it seemed strangely misshapen. As suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone.

Nancy didn't waste any time trying to get a better look. Something about the animal that she'd just seen triggered a primal fear response in her brain, worse than anything that she'd ever felt. Pure, unthinking terror overwhelmed her conscious thoughts, and she immediately burst into motion, running back towards Steve's house as fast as she could. She didn't slow down until she was back out on the street in front of his house, when she finally came to a stop. Her hands were trembling uncontrollably, and when she reached up to feel her face, she realized that she was crying.

Not wasting any time, Nancy rushed back to where she'd parked her bike, jumped on it, and raced off towards her house. Her heart was racing, her breath coming in unsteady pants, but after a few minutes, she finally managed to calm down enough to think clearly again. And when she did, one thought was uppermost in her mind.

I think I just found out what happened to Barb last night.

Notes: And here we are again!

Also, just as a note for anybody who's wondering: yes, Sev's immediate love of pancakes is a deliberate parallel to Eleven's love of Eggo waffles. Psychic kids need their sweet breakfast foods, y'know? XD

Next time, Barb tries to help Sev blend in better in Hawkins, while Nancy begins investigating the creature. Stay tuned!