TW: Homophobia

The following morning, the group met at the Wheeler's residence. Jim hadn't come home the previous night, but Eleven was too shaken up to have a big reaction. She still felt Mike's hand on her neck.

"We need to find Mike," Will explained. "I can't feel him. That scares me."

"Did you hear that Jennifer Hayes has gone missing?" Lucas asked. "I think our flayed friend has something to do with that."

"Why would Mike kidnap Jennifer Hayes?" Max asked, squinting her eyes.

"Because the Mind Flayer needs more agents," Will explained. He held a Dungeons and Dragons lore book. "We need to find them as soon as possible. Together, they can all combine into one beast."

"They're going to go somewhere cold," Eleven said.

"Scoops Ahoy," Lucas declared. "It has a walk-in freezer."

"That's too public," Max responded.

"I will try and track them through the Upside-Down," Eleven suggested. "Get me my blindfold."

Max wrapped the blindfold around Eleven's eyes. Eleven ended up in the void. She began to walk. "Come on, Mike," Eleven muttered. "Where are you?"

Eleven found Mike, but he wasn't facing her. "Stop," Mike sobbed. "Let me go."

"Mike," Eleven said. She ran over to him.

Eleven ended up in a very familiar setting. She ended up in Wheelers' family home. However, it looked slightly different. Eleven walked to the living room, seeing Mike and Will sitting on the couch. The boys looked younger, around six or seven. They were playing with Star Wars action figures.

"They're children, Ted," Karen Wheeler shrieked. Eleven made her way toward the kitchen. Mike's parents stood in the kitchen, clearly in the middle of a heated debate.

"I don't want that Will boy spending the night here," Ted declared. "Did Mike tell you what he drew? He drew a rainbow ship! What kind of normal boy draws a rainbow ship?"

Eleven had heard of this before. Homophobia. It wasn't something she grew up with. When Will told her he wanted to date boys, she didn't bat an eye. However, she heard Mike and Will talk about the dangers of their love for each other. How they hated that they couldn't be as affectionate in public as Max and Lucas were. She couldn't understand homophobia.

"I already told Joyce he could spend the night," Karen explained. "She has to work all night, and Jonathan is at camp. Joyce left to grab his things. Will Byers is spending the night and that's final."

Eleven was snapped out of her thoughts with a knock on the door. "What did you see?" Max asked.

"I saw Mike and Will as children," Eleven explained.

The two girls exited the bedroom. Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers had arrived at the house.

"Is Mike here?" Nancy asked. "There's a lot of people going missing. We think the Upside-Down has something to do with all of the disappearances."

"The Upside-Down is related," Will responded. "We can't find Mike either, but we know he's related to the missing people. Mike–"

Will's eyes were becoming glossy. "He's been flayed," Will said. Jonathan immediately pulled his brother in for a hug. Not even a year later, Will was dealing with another Upside-Down possession. But this time, it was his boyfriend.

Nancy was too stunned to speak. The fear suddenly sunk in. She remembered how hard it was to save Will. What if it was too late for Mike? Nancy needed to sit down. She took a seat on the bar stool.

"He attacked me last night," Eleven confessed. "Someone must have reopened the gate."

"We'll worry about finding them later," Lucas responded. "We need to find Mike and the other people who have been flayed."

"How are you searching for him?" Nancy asked.

"We've been using the Upside-Down," Eleven confessed. "I'm about to go back in."

Eleven returned to the void. It was different this time. There was a large storm going on. Eleven trudged towards it. She didn't see Mike, but she had a feeling that Mike was in the storm. "I'll be the end of you," a dark, distant voice promised.

Eleven was no longer in the void. She was right across the road from the Wheelers' home. Mike and Will rushed out of the house. "I'm sorry, Will," Mike exclaimed.

"I should've known," Will muttered. His eyes were glossy. "We're still in Hawkins, after all. I thought things could be better after coming out to you, Jonathan, Mom, and the rest of the party. That was just wishful thinking."

Eleven remembered hearing about this night. Will had come over for dinner. Will had made an offhand comment about gay people. That sent Ted Wheeler on a tangent. Will left out of fear for his own safety, with Mike on his tail.

"Who cares what they think?" Mike asked. He grabbed Will's hand. The two of them had been dating for a handful of weeks now. "I like you, and that's all that matters to me."

"What if they find out about us?" Will asked. "What if they send you away? What if they send you to one of those camps?"

"I'll fight my way home to you," Mike explained. He made eye contact with Will, whose eyes were widened with fear and tears. "We're crazy together, right?"

"It's time," the flayed Mike declared. Eleven was snapped out of the memory.

"I know you're in there," the voice said.

"Let Mike go," Eleven demanded. "He has nothing to do with this."

"Mike has everything to do with this," the voice corrected. "Mike is the key. He's the heart of your entire little group. Without him, you will all be weakened. Destroying you and everything you love will become easier."

"You can't destroy us," Eleven declared. "We're going to save Mike. We're going to save everyone you flayed, just like we saved Will."

"You can't," the Mind Flayer promised.

"El, run," Mike screamed. That voice. It wasn't the same Mike who attacked her last night.

Eleven saw Mike and someone who she assumed was Jennifer Hayes. "It's almost time," Mike explained.

"Do we have enough people?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes," Mike answered. They were staring at something. It wasn't appearing in the void.

"Will you be joining us?" Jennifer asked.

"The Mind Flayer needs me the way I am," Mike explained. "He needs me to go after the main target."

The blindfold was ripped off her face. Max sat in front of Eleven, the blindfold in her hands. "They're planning something for tonight," Eleven explained. "I still don't have the location. I need to go back."

"You should take a break," Max said. "A brief one."

Will was in the kitchen, making himself a snack. "Hey," Jonathan said.

"Hi," Will responded. He didn't turn to face his brother.

"How are you doing?" Jonathan asked. "This has to be hard for you."

"I need to help Mike," Will responded. "That's all I'm worried about right now."

"I know," Jonathan said. "I just want to make sure you're okay. This can't be easy for you."

Will turned around, revealing he was crying. Jonathan didn't need a word. He hugged his brother again. "I'm scared I'm going to lose him," Will cried. "I love him."

"I know you do," Jonathan whispered. "We're going to save him."

"The time is now," the flayed Mike said. He, Jennifer, and the other missing people stood in the old mill. "It has to happen tonight."

The other flayed victims morphed into each other. Together, they formed a spider-like flesh monster. "Beautiful," Mike said. "Now, let's go give that experiment Eleven a visit."