Little Cabin in the Woods
November 23rd 1983, 11:07 PM
Mike grunted softly as he slipped out the back window and dropped to the ground. He wasn't supposed to leave the house after dark right now, and his parents had changed the locks after the events of the previous weeks, so no going out the basement door for a bit. But El was still out there. He was sure of it. He'd seen her through the window when the Feds were talking to him. She was alive, and he had to find her.
Mike grabbed his bike from the side of the house, mounted up, and headed off towards the edge of town. As he got out of hearing range of the house he lifted the radio up and keyed it. "El. I'm going to head down Danford like last night. This time I'm going to be searching the west side of the road. I don't know if you know what any of that means...but...maybe you can find me with the radio. I dunno." he said. It felt kinda dumb using the radio like that, she didn't really know the area, but he knew El had some connection to radio waves, so maybe she could hear him, maybe she could find HIM. He pedaled swiftly, but not at top speed, he needed to cover a lot of ground, but couldn't tire himself out.
It took nearly an hour of steady pedaling before he got to the area he planned to search that night. He was sweaty and his chest was heaving, but he promptly slipped off his bike and grabbed his radio as he veered off the road and started to walk through the underbrush. Keying the radio again he said "I'm here, starting the search. I hope if you hear this that you're OK." He stopped and sighed, then heard a small voice behind him say "I am."
He whirled around and saw the short silhouette, the familiar shape of the dress. "El?" he whispered. She stepped forward and said "Yes." as he lifted his flashlight, pointing it at her chest, getting a good look at her face. He dropped his bike and quickly made his way over, embracing the girl tightly. She was shivering as her arms wrapped around him as well in a mirror of his own movements. "Damn, you must be cold. Here, take my jacket." he said, releasing El and taking off his jacket, slipping it over her shoulders to add to the blue on she had been wearing when she disappeared. She nodded "Yes, c-cold." Mike frowned as raindrops started to fall "Were you listening to me?" he asked, she gave a weak smile "Yes. Didn't know the words, but followed the signal." Mike gave her head a quick rub as he grinned "Superpowers come through again. Now we need to get you sheltered. Come on, I found a place." he chirped before grabbing his bike and leading El off.
About 20 minutes later they reached a cabin in the woods, it was dark, a bit decrepit, but intact. "It looks abandoned to me." Mike said as they approached "I didn't look inside but all the stuff outside seems like it's been there for a while. You probably can't stay here forever, but if it's empty you can at least stay for a bit until we figure out what to do next." El nodded, her eyes flicking from side to side nervously.
As the pair stepped onto the porch Mike gestured to the door handle and El reached out, twitching her wrist. The lock clicked and the handle turned, letting the door slide partway open. Mike pushed it the rest of the way open and shone the light inside, playing the beam across the piles of furniture and boxes inside. "Definitely not in use, though it looks like whoever owns it might still be dropping stuff off. Some of these boxes look a lot newer than others."
As the kids moved in El closed the door behind them the cabin became still. They did a quick survey of the space and determined that there was definitely no owners lurking around. El touched Mike's shoulder and he looked to her, she murmured "Food?" Mike gasped and said "Oh right! Damn I forgot." He spun his backpack around his body and opened the big pocket, pulling out a couple candy bars he'd bought a couple days prior. El eagerly started unwrapping them and gnawing on the cold chocolate. Mike's flashlight played on the ground and he murmured "Hold on, what's this?" El perked up and looked, the dust covering the floor showed signs of being disturbed, like footprints. Mike followed them, and El moved behind him, resuming her eating as they reached a pile of boxes in the middle of the room, the pile clearly having been slid aside at one point. Mike handed the flashlight to El and pushed them aside again, then knelt, looking carefully at the floor. He slipped a finger into a divot and then lifted up a hatch. Taking the flashlight back he peered down, just more boxes. "Hmmmm, well whoever owns the place has been here, but it still looks mostly abandoned. So the plan is still a go." El nodded and Mike closed the hatch "We'll check that out soon, for now let's get you a place to sleep and get a fire going."
The duo quickly got a fire going in the fireplace, then spent about 20 minutes clearing off the bed and checking the facilities. Electricity was off, water was not working, but there was a manual pump outside, there was a handful of cans of food in the cabinet that had not rusted out and might have been edible, Mike opened one of them and the chili inside was still good. He handed that over to El and she eagerly began to consume it. Once the bed was clear Mike moved over in front of the fireplace and beckoned El to him "Let's sit here a minute, warm up. I can't stay for that much longer." El nodded and sat down where Mike indicated, about a foot away from him. He flicked a blanket over her shoulder, then wrapped it around his as well. The space between them would catch more heat from the fireplace. El finished the chili and set the can aside, licking her lips and glancing over at Mike. She wasn't certain of why he had gestured for her to sit away from him. Mike's eyes flicked to her. She had hugged him when they found each other, but he didn't want to push things. She hadn't reacted BADLY when he kissed her, but it wasn't exactly the best of reactions either. She didn't seem to understand the idea of being more than friends like he wanted, and he didn't really want to explain it at the moment. Best to just…go slow.
El was gradually warming up, but her mind was spinning. Mike had put his lips on hers back at the school, it seemed important, it had made her feel strange, but in a good way. She wanted him to do it again, but she didn't really know the etiquette of the situation. Had she done the wrong thing afterwards? Is that why he had put distance between them here? She frowned a little. Well there was an option… She glanced over at him again, then shifted a couple inches towards him, keeping him in the corner of her eye to see how he reacted.
Mike saw the girl frown and his heart sank, maybe she wasn't happy with the cabin? He would need- She moved. Mike's breath caught, El had shifted towards him, and she was clearly watching him. He swallowed and mirrored the motion, moving a couple inches towards her. He watched as she straightened a little and then scooted towards him again. He had initially separated them to catch more heat from the fireplace, but if she wanted to be closer…
After another couple of seconds he shifted the rest of the way over until their hips touched. El stiffened slightly, then relaxed, then leaned into him a little. He put an arm around her and the pair sat like that for a couple minutes. The warmth from the fire slowly permeated the cabin. The insulation wasn't great, but it was better than being outside. She could stay here for a little bit, they would have to find a more permanent location soon. El looked at Mike and the boy turned his head, her eyes flicked back and forth and Mike murmured "Is something wrong?" El shook her head a little "No…but…" she hesitated, then lifted a finger and tapped her lips, her expression pensive. She didn't know the appropriate way to say it, but Mike thought he understood. He leaned in slowly this time, in case he was wrong. El's breath caught, but she didn't pull away as their lips pressed together. The kiss didn't linger for long, Mike pulled back after only a couple of seconds. But both kids were smiling shyly. Mike gave El a squeeze, then sighed "I have to get back, I'll need to sleep soon and can't be caught out of bed. I'm already in trouble. I'll be by tomorrow to bring food and see what we can do about the rest of this stuff." El nodded and said "OK." Mike gave her another squeeze and then stood, wrapping the blanket around her. "Let the fire die on it's own, just keep yourself wrapped up in the blankets. We should try not to have smoke during the day, it might be noticed." El nodded again, then reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go. Mike paused before leaving "You should probably stay here for the most part. You can go outside, but be careful not to be seen, ESPECIALLY during school hours. A kid in the woods during school hours will get a lot of attention." El nodded and said "All right."
Mike swallowed hard and then sighed as he went towards the door. This was going to be interesting. He wasn't sure how he was going to make this work, but he was going to do his best.
The next night he came back with some Thanksgiving leftovers, a few cans of vegetables, a box of crackers, and some supplies the cabin was very low on. After they did a little more cleanup he sat in front of the fire with her again and pulled a book out of his backpack, offering it to her. "It's Lord of the Rings, it's my favorite book." he said as she took it, turning it over in her hands. She opened it to a random page and pursed her lips. Mike raised an eyebrow "You can…read…right?" he asked, realizing that he'd never actually confirmed that. El looked up, eyes wide and then sheepishly murmured "A…little. I know some words." Mike sighed and took the book from her, then opened it across their laps. "I guess I'll have to teach you how to read better then." he said with a smile. El mirrored the smile and leaned against him as he started, pointing to each word as he sounded them out. They only got a few pages in before he had to leave, but El seemed to enjoy it. That was good. She was going to have to learn a lot.
The next night Mike remembered the hatch in the floor, pulling it open again he descended, looking at the boxes. "Vietnam" "New York" as the beam of his flashlight played on the next box he nearly dropped it. "Hawkins Lab." He glanced up at El "This…might be big." he stated, handing the flashlight back up to her and pulling the box out, shoving it up onto the floor above. The kids sat next to each other as Mike opened the box up and started to pull things out. "This is all stuff about the lab. This paper seems fresh, not old like the stuff in the other boxes. I think this is what was dropped off." he dug around a little and found a notepad, opening it up he squinted at the writing. "Oh shit. I think this might be…" he frowned and looked around. "This might be Hopper's cabin, this looks like someone being interviewed about the lab. You remember him? The cop that helped us with the bath?" El nodded "What does that mean?" she asked Mike shrugs "Means you might be safe to stay here long-term. I mean he helped us, he probably wouldn't turn you over to the lab if he found you. I really don't know where else to put you so it might be worth the risk. It would also let us get you more comfy here." El's eyes flicked around and she slowly nodded "OK." This was, she felt, better than the lab at least, even if it wasn't as nice as the Wheeler's basement. For the moment he set aside the box. It would be better to try to look through it in daylight.
The next day was Saturday the 26th. Mike made the executive decision to slip away from the boys, telling them he "had something he needed to take care of" and head off to the cabin just after lunch. Going in daylight hours meant that he had a lot more time, and a lot more options, not needing his flashlight. The pair finished the cleanup that day, the rest of the stuff in the cabin made it pretty clear that it was owned by Hopper. They put all his stuff that they weren't going to use in one portion of the cabin, neatly stacked. Taking the Hawkins Lab file they started to go through things. Mike reading various parts and sharing the interesting bits with El while she pawed through the discard pile. After a few minutes Mike froze, staring at the notepad and a newspaper clipping. El noticed the change in his behavior and looked at what he was holding. It was a picture of a bunch of people wearing gowns similar to the one Papa had made her wear, Papa was in the picture too. In his other hand he was holding the notepad. "Is something wrong?" she asked softly. He swallowed and glanced over at her. "I'm…the notes are written in sort of shorthand so I'm not CERTAIN…but I think Hopper thinks that your mom is in this picture." El's eyes widened and she reached out to take the picture. Mike let her take it, then, reading the caption, pointed to Terry "Her name is Terry Ives." he said as he continued to dig through the box. "Mama." El murmured, touching a fingertip to the grainy photo. "Hold on, here's another picture, her with Brenner, looks like they were in court." He held up the other photo and El took it too, peering intently.
A few minutes of digging later and Mike spread a few pieces over the table, telling the story of El's kidnapping, the subsequent court battle, and Hopper's meeting with Becky. "Beck-ee" El enunciated with a small frown. "It looks like Hopper wrote down her address. I'm not sure where Bloomington is, but I remember that day and Joyce was back by the end of the day so they must not be THAT far away. He says your mom is…not verbal though. She can't talk." he rubbed his chin and frowned. El looked over at him and asked "Can we see her? Mama?" Mike shook his head "No. At least not right now. They're still watching us, and if they are watching us they are probably watching her too." El pursed her lips and looked at the photos."But…" she started, but Mike put a hand on her shoulder "Not YET. I promise I'll get you to her. But we need to be smart. If we do dumb things then you'll get caught again, and next time you might not escape." El sighed and nodded slowly "OK. We'll be smart." Mike leaned in and wrapped an arm around her, giving her a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek "We'll be smart" he agreed "And we'll get you to her as soon as it's safe." El smiled faintly.
"Can you try looking for her?" Mike asked, moving to get the transistor radio they had found in one of the boxes out. They had no TV on hand, it seems like Hopper didn't plan to leave something that expensive lying around in a semi-abandoned cabin, but maybe the radio would be enough. El nodded eagerly and the duo moved to the center of the room. El put on a blindfold made out of a towel and Mike turned the radio on, tuned it to a status station and turned it up. El sat silently, unmoving, for several minutes. With a small huff she pulled the blindfold off. "No. See something. Not enough. Not strong enough." she tossed the blindfold aside and Mike held out his hand to help her to her feet. "You'll get it eventually." he stated firmly "And even if you don't, we'll get you to her once it's safe. I promise." El gave him a small smile, then took a seat and slumped, wiping the little bit of blood from her nose. Mike paced for a moment and then said "We might be able to find you a more powerful radio too. I need to get the power turned on. But I'll need money for that. Crap." El shrugged "It's all right." But it wasn't all right. Mike needed to fix things, he wanted El to be happy. He grumped a bit before it was time for him to go home.
Over the last few days of November a pattern repeated. Mike would slip out of the house late at night, bring food and supplies to the cabin, then spend time reading Lord of the Rings to El cuddled up in front of the fire. He would typically get a nap in after school to keep his sleep debt low. The boys were under surveillance pretty regularly, but they made a habit out of losing their watchers. Not because they (other than Mike) were doing anything, just on principle. However it gave Mike pause. He hadn't told the boys that he found El yet. He thought he SHOULD, they talked about her almost daily. But the cavalier attitude made him pause. Sure they would probably tighten up if they knew…but could he take that chance? Best not to. They would understand. The fewer people that knew where she was, the fewer chances for a mistake to be made. He didn't like the idea of keeping secrets. But he couldn't take chances. Not with El's life on the line. Once the lab gave up he could tell them and they wouldn't mind.
A problem quickly developed though. The Wheeler house was not short on food, but it was short on food that could be stored at the cabin, and Mike wanted to make sure El could last for some time without his help if need be. Further, they were, in general, thinning out the food supply to the point where Karen might notice. It was likely that they would not be able to continue this long term. A more permanent solution was needed.