Chapter Twenty-Four
Daughter
Four men held tightly to the hospital bed bars as they pushed it down the hallways. Will Byers screams of pain echoed through the fluorescent-lit hallway. Behind the rush of people, Bob wrapped his arms tightly around Joyce as she rushed after them. Panic clear on her face with tears streaking down her cheeks. Mixed with the chaos of the doctors and technicians talking to each other, one could hear Joyce calling out questions.
"What is going on? What is happening to my boy? What is happening to my boy!" She screamed with her voice strained with the clear panic that was rushing through her frame.
Bob tried to be an anchor for her as she shook slightly following behind the doctors into the all-familiar room that Will had been in during visits. Dr. Owens was one of the last to make it into the room, quickly rushing beside the young boy and checking over his vitals. Will's violent reaction at the field was something he'd never seen before. Flashes of the boy's body convulsing against the dirt played in his mind, along with the noise that left his small body. It was a sound that Dr. Owens had never heard before, it was borderline demonic. That was the only way that the doctor could describe it.
Dr. Owens quickly began to realize over the last few days that something was going on that he wasn't able to fully understand. Hopper brought to his attention the possible spread of the incursion coming from the opening leading into the unknown world Dr. Brenner had created. He'd worked hard to try and keep it contained, but it worked like cancer through Hawkins and slowly began to eat away whatever life was in its path. Which happened to be the farmland and forest at the south end of town. But the moment he gave the order to burn through, Will Byers dropped down with his seizure. Dr. Owens was quickly concluding that this was a problem that no one was prepared for or knew how to resolve.
"Where does it hurt, William?" Dr. Owen's asked, as one of the technicians began to cut away his clothes, the young boy still screaming about something burning.
"Everywhere! Everywhere!" William screamed, causing Joyce to turn into Bob's chest and let out a soft cry.
Dr. Owen's face twisted with confusion as he saw that Will's body was flawless of any marks or burns that would cause him to scream and wither in such pain. His small body convulsed on the hospital bed exuding a strength that someone his age shouldn't have. It got to the point where the only option was to sedate the young boy. Slowly his cries turned into whimpers before the room fell silent with a tension that felt suffocating to everyone in the room.
"We need to run some tests, to understand exactly what is going on here." Dr. Owens spoke. "We are going to keep a close eye on him, and I will be back the moment we figure something out."
Dr. Owens left the room with Will being carted out behind him, moving toward the examination room to run some tests. Brain scans, blood tests, and brain wave monitoring were quickly conducted to see what was happening to the boy. But the moment the scans were shown to Dr. Owens, his stomach twisted.
"These are worse than the ones taken last week," One of the other doctors spoke, their faces twisted with confusion and worry. "How is that even possible."
"I'm unsure," Dr. Owens spoke as he looked over the scans, "Bring up Veronica Gray's scans."
The technician behind the computer moved through a few files before the image was brought up for the doctors to see.
"Is it just me, or do those look familiar to you?" Dr. Owens spoke, turning his gaze over to his colleague.
"They are nearly identical," The doctor spoke in disbelief "How is this possible? They are both infected with the same virus?"
"Whatever is going on, Veronica has had it longer than William. But for some reason, his condition is different than the girl's. The question is, did what happened tonight to the Byers boy happen to her as well?" Dr. Owens paused with a thought. "When did his seizure start?"
"Almost immediately as we started the burn." One of the other men in the room spoke, "Just as they found Chief Hopper and pulled him out. The moment we gave the command, the boy dropped..."
"Interesting..." Dr. Owens thought for a moment, "Bring an organism from the opening in the basement, I want to see something."
One of the men nodded their head before moving to leave out of the room. Dr. Owens and the others followed soon after and headed back up to the floor where the hospital wing of the lab was. It didn't take long for Dr. Owens to arrive at the room where Will Byers was being held. Standing outside the room was Hopper, he paced back and forth with impatience and looked up the moment he heard footsteps.
"Can someone please tell me what in the hell is going on?" Hopper spoke, his voice hardened with frustration. Dr. Owens sighed heavily as he walked up to the taller man.
"We are working on that right now, Chief, trust me. I am just as worried and confused as you are." Dr. Owens spoke, "Now I have a theory, and I won't be able to move forward unless we try something first."
Before Hopper could ask what theory the doctor was talking about, from behind Dr. Owens, the squeaky sound of a cart wheel could be heard. An incubator cart was being pushed by one of the other male doctors that Hopper had recognized from the visits in the past with Will and Veronica. When the cart rolled past Hopper, he looked down with confusion when he saw a slug-like creature within the small container. But they continued into the room before any questions could be asked. Joyce, Bob, and Mike all stood and watched as the doctors moved into the room with unreadable faces causing them the worry even more.
"What is the news?" Joyce asked as her hands fidgeted and twisted together. Her voice was shaky with worry with tension tight between her eyebrows.
"I am still waiting on a few more results, but there is something that I want to test out and see." Dr. Owens looked down at Will, "You ok with that kiddo?"
Even though he'd woken up from his sedation less than an hour ago, the color seemed to drain more from his face. An almost ghostly look to his skin, with the dark circles beneath his eyes darker and more prominent. Will didn't utter a word, instead nodded his head and shifted to sit up more within his bed.
"Alright," Dr. Owens spoke, before nodding his head and looking to his colleague, indicating for him to start.
The doctor reached down and pulled a large torch from the shelf under the incubator, quickly turning it on. Will flinched back from the sound, a small movement that Dr. Owens did not miss. Everyone was tight with tension as they watched Will and whatever was inside the container. The closer the torch was moved into it the louder a screeching noise came from within it.
"How do you feel?" Dr. Owens spoke, looking down to see a sweat breaking out across his forehead. Will's chest began to rise with harsh labored breaths.
"U-Uncomfortable." Will whimpered, his eyes focused on the doctor.
"What are you doing?" Joyce asked, her voice tight as she saw Will begin to fidget and whimper softly in his seat.
Dr. Owens held an arm out to her, "Just..let me see something." He directed his eyes to the man across the room, "Move it closer."
The doctor nodded his head, before moving the torch down and causing the screeching to become louder. Within the incubator, the slug-like creature began to wither and try to move away from the heat. It seemed that Will had the same reaction as the creature, his body starting to break out more into a sweat as his whimpers turned into cries of pain.
"It burns! Make it stop! Make it stop," Will cried out.
"Alright!" Dr. Owens spoke, causing the man to turn off the torch, cutting off the flame, and the invisible pain moving through Will's body. "Ms. Byers, Hopper, can I speak with you out in the hall please?"
Dr. Owens lead the way out of the room and away from the rest of the people within the room for privacy for the news he'd have to deliver. The two parents quickly followed out with him, both their bodies tense with fear and worry.
"What in the hell is going on? What was that thing in there?" Hopper spoke
"That is an organism from the tunnels that we pulled you from," Dr. Owens began to explain. "I had a theory of what could be causing the burning-like pain with Will, along with everything else going on with him. There seems to be a... virus-like condition that is attached to not only him...but with whatever seems to be spreading through Hawkins from this lab. With the opening that Dr. Brenner and the other doctors had created before. It's almost like whatever is happening to William, it's attached to this...other dimension. Acting as a hive mind. Whenever the host organism is in pain, everything else attached through the hive mind is in pain."
"So w-what does this all mean, what is happening with him?"
"We redid his scans, and they are...worse than they were last week when we saw him." Dr. Owens sighed heavily, his eyes looking to Hopper sternly "His scans look almost exactly like Veronica's that I showed you."
"What?" Hopper spoke
"Whatever it is that Will is going through is showing up almost identical to hers. But what is worrying me is that their conditions and reactions are both similar and different at the same time." Dr. Owens sighed deeply "Where is Ms. Gray right now?"
Hopper's eyes shot down to Joyce, her brown eyes wide. "I-I don't know. The last that I saw her was this morning before she left for school."
"We need to find her," Dr. Owens spoke, "Because I fear that the same seizure-like attack that happened to Will, also happened to her."
"She had an episode at school before," Hopper spoke stepping back and wiping his hand over his face, "Where she was crying out that it was burning. Sh-she was in the same state that Will is in now."
"The same one from school?" Dr. Owens asked, causing Hopper to nod his head. "We need to find her, and find her now."
"I-I'll call the house...maybe Jonathan has seen her and can bring her up here?"
"Don't send your goons after her," Hopper spoke with a stern voice, "That's only gonna make her run. She's not going to respond well to them, only gonna remind her of her life here."
Dr. Owens agreed, nodding his head, before heading back and working to figure out what is happening.
Veronica whimpered softly as slowly her consciousness started to come back to her. Her entire body felt stiff and tight as she began to move feeling soft sheets beneath her fingertips. When her large brown eyes blinked open she looked around to find herself in an unfamiliar bedroom. The sun bled into the room through the thin curtain that was stretched across the window beside her. Veronica sat up quickly and whimpered when she felt a pressured pain behind her eyes causing her to cry out. It wasn't long after that the rushing sound of footsteps could be heard, and soon enough, Steve stood in the doorway. His eyes were wide with his hair disheveled and misplaced like he'd been running his hands through it. Veronica turned to look at him and could visibly see the relief move through him as his body relaxed.
"Oh Jesus Christ," He rushed to her and moved toward the bed, "I-I thought there for a second that you weren't gonna wake up."
"W-What happened?" Veronica spoke, her voice scratchy and hoarse, "Where am I?"
"Uh...you're in my bedroom." Steve spoke, slowly moving to sit down at the end of his bed, "We brought you here after what happened."
Veronica's brows pulled together tightly in confusion.
"Do you not remember?" Steve asked after a long moment of silence. When she just continued to blink at him, the worry Steve felt for the last few hours returned. "Veronica...you...you passed out, you kept screaming about everything burning."
Ice felt like it was moving through Veronica's veins as she listened to Steve.
"I-I tried to help, I really did...b-but nothing was on fire. At least that Dustin and I could see. The moment we came out of that cellar you collapsed in pain."
She closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands, "Oh, god. It happened again."
Steve watched as she seemed to bend in on herself. Quickly he felt the need to be beside her, hold her as she began to cry softly. Steve didn't hesitate as he stood from his side of the bed, before moving around to hers. Steve sat down and reached quickly to wrap his arms around her shaking frame. That tightness in his chest from the night before returned quickly as Steve listened to her cry. The lights within his room began to flicker the harder she cried. He tried to whisper soothing words to her to try to bring comfort and calm her down. It took a while, but slowly, Veronica's cries turned to whimpers before stopping.
"I-I don't know what's wrong with me," Veronica spoke, her voice soft and small.
"What happened last night...it was the same that happened at school, wasn't it?" Steve asked
Veronica looked down at her lap and nodded her head slowly, "Jonathan said that I talked of burning." She looked up to Steve. "I need you to tell me everything,"
Steve stared down at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and relaying everything that had happened the night before, starting with the moment they stepped up from the shelter. The entire time Steve kept his hold around her shoulders, holding her body tightly against his.
"It doesn't sound as bad as before. I-I reacted right before it happened last time, almost like I was sick or something." Veronica sighed deeply and shook her head, "I don't understand. Nothing like this has happened before." She paused for a moment, "I need to call Hopper."
"Dustin and I have tried that already. I called the station and so far no one has seen him. I-I didn't know his house number, but I tried the Byers home...got nothing." Steve shrugged his shoulders, "Dustin's been calling his friends over the walkie system all night, no one's answered."
"I can find them," Veronica stood up from his bed and began to walk around his room, looking for something. Steve stared at her for a moment before standing as well. "Do you have a radio or something?"
"Uh...y-yeah." Steve stood up quickly and walked to his closet, opening it quickly before stepping inside. He reached up to the top shelf and pulled down a small travel radio, "Here."
She smiled gently at him before taking the small device from his grasp. "And something I can use as a blindfold? Maybe a bandanna? Tie?"
"Yeah, yeah," Steve nodded and moved around her to his dresser, going through the shelves before pulling out a green and yellow bandanna and handing it to her. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to search for my dad." She spoke before quickly moving out of his bedroom.
Steve stood there for a moment confused before rushing after her. When the two of them got down to the main level of the house, Veronica called out Dustin's name, the younger teen came through the sliding door and stared at her with wide eyes.
"Holy shit! You're awake." He spoke quickly, looking over her like he was waiting for something to happen. "How are you up right now?"
"Too much to explain," Veronica shook her head, "Still no answer from Mike, Lucas, or Will?"
Dustin shook his head, "Seems code red doesn't mean shit anymore."
"That's ok," Veronica smiled and moved to turn on the kitchen sink, the white noise of rushing water filling the room. "We'll find them ourselves."
"You're going to search for them?" Dustin asked, his voice holding worry and hesitance, "Is that such a good idea after what happened last night?"
"Do you have any other suggestions?" Veronica asked, flipping the radio on and moving through the channels.
Steve looked between the two of them, confused, "Can someone please clue me in on what the hell is going on?"
"She's gonna use her powers to remote travel, using the electric frequency of the radio to tune in and find whoever she's looking for," Dustin explained,
"Use your powers?" Steve spoke, his eyes widened "No. No, Veronica...that's not a good idea. You just woke up from an episode,"
Steve moved to stand closer to her, grabbing her hand tightly to stop her. Her eyes snapped up to him and could see the clear worry swimming in his dark eyes. It made a small smile turning up on her lips, feeling the warmth of his touch moving through her body. There was an electrical charge beneath that warmth.
Veronica just moved to tighten her hold on his hand, "We don't have any other choice. Something is happening and it's something that I fear doesn't mean anything good. I had another episode last night, and one before that. They are becoming more and more frequent. Joyce, Hopper, and Will are the only ones that know what's going on...truly. I-I don't know what else to do here except reach out to them."
Steve frowned "What if something happens to you? I-I don't want to see you hurt yourself"
"Steve..."
"No! We're friends remember? One of the things friends do is take care of one another." Steve spoke with a panic, "I can't stand by and watch you hurt yourself, Veronica. Not after last night. Do you have any idea what it was like...to watch you scream out like that and not be able to stop it? You cried of something burning. Something hurting you that I couldn't stop."
Dustin looked between the two of them in shock for a moment, clearly seeing the worry on Steve's face. Anyone looking from the outside could see a look pass over Steve's face as he stared down at Veronica. He wasn't able to make sense of what was happening to him. The feelings that he felt grew within himself the more time he spent with the girl in front of them. A part of him didn't want to stop it. Another part made him afraid of it.
Veronica looked down for a moment before speaking, "I will be careful. The moment I sense something wrong...I'll pull out." Veronica spoke.
Steve's shoulders sagged, his hand dropping from hers, before running through his hair. "The moment I sense anything...I'm turning that thing off."
Veronica nodded her head before grabbing the bandanna and moving to tie it around her face and over her eyes. Dustin moved closer and watched as the knob on the radio switched on its own, Veronica using her powers to move through the channels. The moment she found one of static, quickly her mind slipped into the void space. Her body became rigid and Steve kept a close eye on her, looking for any change.
When Veronica opened her eyes again she was welcomed into the all-familiar darkness, a black void that seemed to go on forever. Beneath her feet, she could hear the soft splash of the water as she took tentative steps forward. Quickly she worked to search for Hopper, concentrating on finding him. Soon she was able to hear voices, and when she turned around, the misty image of her father showed before her. He was wearing clothes she'd never seen him in before. It confused her, but soon that changed to worry when she saw a payphone pressed to his heart – his voice hurried as he spoke.
"Veronica? Veronica please...please, are you there kid? Come on..." He spoke into the payphone "I just need to know that you're alright. There are gonna be some people from the lab coming to the Byers home, please go with them if you see them."
Hopper cursed low under his breath, slamming the payphone down, after leaving a message on the Byers voicemail. He closed his eyes and prayed silently that you'd check it. That you were safe somewhere. That you weren't alone somewhere in pain where he wasn't able to save you.
"I called the house, but no one answered," Hopper spoke to someone that wasn't coming through, "I-I need to call the station, I need to go out there and look for her."
"Hopper, we can't leave." Joyce, it was Joyce's voice echoing through. "Something is going on...W-Will is getting worse. They say his memory is going to fade...soon he won't be my boy anymore."
"She is my daughter, Joyce," Hopper spoke, his voice tense. "I-I can't...if something were to happen to her and I wasn't there..."
"She's a strong girl," Joyce spoke, coming through into the vision as she stepped forward and gently caressed Hopper's cheek. "
Veronica rushed forward to the scene in front of her and focused.
"Dad?" Veronica spoke, Hopper's head snapped up, and looked around like he'd heard her. "Dad?"
"Do you hear that?" Hopper whispered, his eyes continuing to search.
"Hear what?" Joyce asked
Suddenly Veronica felt a tightness in her chest, causing her to bend forward in pain. Her lungs felt like they weren't able to expand as she tried to breathe. The vision in front of her began to fade away and blow away like dust in the wind. Veronica began to panic more as Hopper and Joyce disappeared, a dark mist taking over and moving around her. It felt like smoke and fire as it moved through her lungs making her choke slightly.
Steve watched as her chest began to rise and fall with each breath she took, becoming more and more labored.
Steve stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking it "Veronica? Veronica! Come on!"
Dustin rushed over to the sink and turned off the water, before moving to turn off the radio. The moment the static was cut, Veronica let out a loud gasp and reached quickly to take off the bandanna. She grabbed tightly to Steve and began to cough and choke. Steve worked quickly and grabbed her face, causing her to focus on him.
"Focus on me, Veronica, focus on me." Steve spoke hurriedly, placing her hand on his chest, "Match my breathing."
Veronica whimpered and nodded her head as she tried to calm her breathing, trying to get it to match along with Steve's. Her vision felt cloudy, after a moment, everything around her began to calm. No longer was the choking, fire smoke feeling, within her chest and lungs anymore.
"There we go," Steve sighed and nodded his head, Veronica whimpered and seemed to melt into Steve. "Know a panic attack when I see one,"
Veronica groaned slightly "I-I don't understand...it was all fine, t-then it wasn't."
"What happened?" Dustin asked
"I-I found Hopper. Wherever he is, he's with Joyce, he's looking for me." Veronica's brows pinched together "Told me to get to the lab? B-But I don't understand."
"Would there be a reason for you to go back there?" Dustin asked
"I've been getting tests done there because of what's been happening, and so had Will." Veronica paused "They were talking about Will, and I just reached out to him when this black smoke took everything away."
"Do you want me to take you to the lab?" Steve asked, his hold still tight on her hand as he looked down at her.
Veronica quickly shook her head, before her eyes moved to Dustin. "We deal with Dart first. Because whatever is going on, something is telling me to stay away from that lab."
AN: If you haven't noticed yet, I did change the rating of the story; due to violence coming up. Just wanna play it safe just in case! I am also teetering on the edge of Veronicas future. Without giving much away, it is a "good" or "evil" thing. I really wanna build on the fact shes connected to the Upside Down and thats why shes so powerful…but would love your thoughts!