The Wolverine and The Mage

by Pi El 96

With Dustin returning from the spring camp Know Where the Party is excited for the start of the summer break. However, in Mexico, just near the border with the USA from another lab another young gifted child escapes. With their paths crossing, with the old foe returning will the Party along with the help of the young girl endure this event?

12. The First July Part 2

Chapter 11: The First July Part 2

1st July, 1985

Hawkins, Indiana, USA

"Are you sure about this?" Jonathan asks her, keeping an eye on the hung photos that dried.

Like yesterday, the dark room served its purpose for clandestine meetings, being bathed in the red light. Nancy walked back and forward, brainstorming her plan.

"I‛m sure. Heather Holloway is involved in this mess somehow and we need to find out how and why." she insists, rubbing her eyes. The light was too much.

"Adding to the fact that she somehow saw Eleven." He adds with worry.

"Hence the reason for doing this. To find out more about her." Nancy states.

Jonathan turns to face her. "By asking Tom. Her dad." He points out.

"Well, we can't go breaking into their house." She stops. "Yet."

He groans and grips a nearby table for support. "You know, sometimes I miss the times when high school was the biggest problem of our lives."

"We still are in high school, Jonathan." Nancy huffs, leaning on a wall and staring at Tom‛s breakfast on the table.

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me. Oh, and your story about rats." he gave her an unamused eye. "Don't tell you still on about that."

"At this point, they're not going to care about rats. With the "tragic fire" being hot news-" Nancy shuts her mouth and eyes, ashamed she even said those words.

Hopper told her Nathan's funeral was tomorrow. She wondered how many will attend.

Another coffin six feet under. One that this time won't be empty.

She holds back tears.

Jonathan sees this and goes over to hug her. Nancy embraces him, thankful for his support.

"So, you'll drop the story," he says, rubbing her back.

‛Not that supportive, huh?‛ she thought with bitterness.

Nancy takes a quick breath to steady herself. "Sure." They break apart, "For now."

Jonathan thankfully said nothing further as she picked up Tom's breakfast, left the room, and were met with tense atmosphere in the Post. Phones rang and people talked but only in subdued low voices. Secretaries typed, exchanging wary looks while the men wrote notes with downcast eyes. Even Bruce looked less assholery today, sitting upright and half-focused on his work.

It was fully settling in now in the minds of the people. Strange, mysterious events are happening once again in Hawkins.

Mom was driven nearly to tears last night when she and Mike returned home way past their bedtime, being so worried for them that even Dad showed concern with no hint of his usual apathy. At least Holly was clueless about the situation, too engrossed in crayon drawing and playing with dolls. It was quite a challenge to convince them both, Mom mostly, to try to settle down for the lack of better words, and let them out of the house in the morning. She could give an excuse because of her job, but Mike had to negotiate with them like a foreign diplomat.

Nancy was… tired. You try telling your mother to calm down and assure her that everything is alright, in a town that had a third "accident" in a row and is increasingly starting to feel cursed. Were your friends and family can be killed by the works of shady organizations in a split second, monsters roam in the dark, children with superpowers walk among them and they are none wiser.

She shook her head. She had to concentrate. They were on a mission. And the more focused they are, there's a bigger chance of them and their friends surviving.

Nancy would have preferred to actually live her life than just survive another threat.

But as they marched down through the Post to Tom's office and prepped themselves, she knew.

Nothing was certain anymore. These next few days… anything can happen.

They reach Tom's office and stare at the door.

"Remember. We‛re subtle." she reminds him, raising her hand.

"Just like the lab." He huffed, fixing his tie whilst Nancy knocked.

"Fewer assholes though." She muttered back, making Jonathan smirk.

"Come on in." they heard Tom invite.

Steading themselves, they enter and see Tom bent over his desk, staring at yesterday's paper. He looks up, confused by their appearance.

"Jonathan, Nancy. I… Can help you?" he asks them with furrowed brows.

Nancy takes a good look at his not-so-good face. It was even worse than yesterday with dark rings starting to form under his eyes, and he had gotten paler. He was clearly worried for his family.

She wondered how much was it for Heather?

"Hi, Tom. We were just bringing you your breakfast and coffee." Nancy explains cheerfully.

"Oh thank you. It… takes two you to get me my food?" Tom questions trying to fix his loose tie.

"Kinda. I mean, we are worried for you! To be frank, you don't look so good." Jonathan observed. "With everything that is happening."

Tom nodded and sighed. "This is… I'm not saying Hawkins is Chicago. But this is something."

Jonathan grimly nods. "I get. When my brother got lost I…" he swallowed, "It was a tough time."

Tom nods as Nancy serves him breakfast. If only Tom knew how tough…

"I see. How is your brother these days? I always wondered but didn't want to poke." Tom asks with genuine curiosity.

Jonathan's lips form a thin line. "He‛s… okay."

Will was in fact not okay.

He was stable but that's all. Nancy has seen him several times walking around Hawkins, his face always lost. She wanted to approach him and say something kind and reassuring but thought it was better to leave him alone. And now…

Regret smacked her soul. A friend always helps.

"That's, that's good to hear." Tom nods.

"I've heard that the funeral is tomorrow," Nancy adds mournfully..

"Yes. I can say that many people will come." Tom states.

"At least it will show how well respected they were." Jonathan declares.

"Yes." Tom nods again.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Nancy saw Jonathan trying to think of anything. She herself desperately tried to find something.

Right now, they've tried to find some information from a guy clueless about the true messed up events concerning Hawkins. He wasn't a shadowy government man trying to cover up a major screw-up or dangerous monster. Just regular someone concerned for his family and the possible danger for them.

Mrs. Dricsoll too was concerned about possible danger for others.

Tom starts, trying to give them a polite signal to leave his office. "If, um, if that is all-"

"Actually Tom!" Nancy interrupts him, "I got a story for you." She eagerly offers.

Jonathan did a double take, clearly not believing this. He gave her a look, ‛Really, right now?‛ which she ignored as she sat.

Tom blinked. "Um, a story?"

"Yes." She nods.

"Nancy…" Jonathan tries to warn her.

"Two nights ago, a woman named Doris Driscoll called the Post. Aaand!" she raises her finger as Tom goes to object. "Since I was the only one in the office, I took the call."

Tom sighed and leaned forward. "Okay, go on."

"She said she noticed something weird going on in her house." Nancy starts.

"Something weird?" Tom questions with mild curiosity.

"Yes. She saw rats acting strangely." Nancy reveals.

"Rats acting strangely?" Tom repeats after a beat.

Nancy nods, ignoring the internal gut call to cease. "Yes."

"Interesting," Tom stated with all the excitement of a bored game fan.

"We actually went there. Right, Jonathan?" Nancy glanced at him, a face that said, ‛Are you not going to support me? Your girlfriend?‛

Jonathan relents. "Um, yeah we did. And Mrs. Driscoll managed to capture one. It was… weird, the way it thrashed around in a cage."

"He took pictures. Right?" Nancy does the face again, hoping for a visual presentation.

"I haven't developed them yet." Jonathan meekly said.

"Seriously?" Nancy slightly hissed.

"Uhuh, uhuh, and why do you think there's something serious about that one rat that was probably, you know, just scared?" Tom condensed.

Nancy is at a loss for words so Jonathan steps in. "I'm guessing Tom, it's probably the fire that affected Mrs. Driscoll."

"A perfect example." Tom agrees.

Nancy notices dark rainy clouds through the window. She continues. "I'm just- Look she said that rats are eating her fertilizer."

"Rats eating fertilizer?" Tom blinks, not believing what he just heard.

"Yes." Nancy timidly replies while Jonathan buries his face, embarrassed for her.

Tom leans forward. "And why would the people of Hawkins be interested in that?" he asks her in a low tone. "Especially because of a recent tragedy?"

"…Pest problem?" Nancy meekly offered.

Tom gives her a blank stare. "Three dead in a fire is no laughing matter Nancy. And the people won't appreciate this ludicrous story made by a lonely old woman. "

Nancy wanted to say it was not ludicrous and that Mrs. Driscoll wasn't- Yes, she was old and probably a bit lonely, but…

Nancy sees there's no way this can go further and so she tries to find an excuse. And gives an honest answer. "I‛ll just do- Look Tom, everyone is disturbed by this fire. I've just had a bit of a situation at home so I wanted to do something to get my mind off."

Tom's eyes soften a bit. "Then why don't you take a day off then? Spend some time with your family."

Okay, at least there's a chance to find out more. At the expense of her dignity.

"That's, um, sounds great Tom. Speaking of which. Tom, how's your family?"

Tom sighed. "They're good. But I worry about them. Janice and Heather are shaken, Heather the mos-" he coughs, "It's rough right now. For everyone."

So there could be something about Heather.

"Oh, yeah, about Heather. You noticed anything odd about her?" Tom stared blankly at them. "Anything unusual, worrying, or out of the blue?"

The room started to darken as rainy clouds came to Hawkins and Tom slowly took off his reading glasses. "I'm sorry but this has started to get annoying." He points at Nancy. "One, why are you taking stories since you are not a journalist, you‛re an intern. And two, why am I being asked personal questions about my family?"

Tom is glaring at them. Jonathan tries to salvage the mess they made. "Well Tom, it just-"

*CLANG

The door bangs wide open with Heather Holloway suddenly barging in, bearing lunch boxes and wide tooth smile, startling all three of them.

"Good morning, Daddy!" she greeted sweetly.

Tom blinked and smiled. "Oh, Heather! I'm glad to see you honey, but what are you doing here?" he stands as Heather merrily skips to him and they hug.

Nancy noticed she had earphones around her neck… connected to a yellow Walkman. The sheer coincidence unnerved her. She shared a look with an equally perplexed Jonathan.

"Why I was just passing by the Post and I wanted to see you!" she announced cheerfully, presenting a lunch box to her dad. "I made these for you!"

As a confused Tom accepted the lunch box, Nancy and Jonathan carefully observed Heather, who showed no sign of anything being wrong with her. She was… perfectly normal teenager, wearing a pink short-sleeved shirt and a denim skirt and sporting a side ponytail.

No sign of harm. Not looking like a person capable of seeing kids with superpowers watching them. Just a girl their age chatting happily with her dad.

It would be normal, should be normal. But she knew something was wrong. Nancy learned it the hard way. Coincides in these situations are not-

Heather snaps her head at them, "May I help you?" she asks in a pleasant tone, making them jump.

"Um, we were just talking with Tom about-" Nancy hastily explains.

"Work." Jonathan pipes in.

"Yeah." Nancy nods.

"Oh?" Heather observes them with curiosity.

"Yep, we wouldn't want to intrude." Nancy tries to wave it off.

"Work." Tom chuckled to himself. "Rats eating fertilizer. That would be a some front page."

Heather on the other hand… her attention on them sharpened. Almost glared.

The same way Eleven did when things got serious.

"Well, Mrs Driscoll sai- Urgh!" Jonathan grunted as Nancy elbowed him on the side.

"She thinks! We're looking into it." Nancy hastily corrected as Heather stared.

Then she slowly grinned. "Rats? How… stupid." She states with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

Nancy scrutinized her. She stood oddly as if she‛s trying to loom over them. Heather held her stare, slowly putting a possessive hand on Tom's shoulder. Nancy noticed her arms were a bit muscular. Heather never struck as an athlete.

"Would you kindly excuse us? Me and Daddy have to talk." Heather merrily proclaimed, squeezing Tom‛s shoulder.

He chuckles, "Well honey, I‛m kinda in a middle-"

"It's important." Her smile and cheerfulness dropped. Heather's voice was dead serious.

Nancy shared another look with Jonathan.

"Well, we‛ll… leave you be." Nancy excused herself as she and Jonathan got up.

A quick bye is thrown and they leave Tom's office, leaving him alone with his daughter. They say nothing to each other for a moment.

Then Jonathan leaned to her ear. "You saw that, right?"

"She's connected somehow, Jonathan." Nancy hisses back.

He struggles to say something. "I, I- This is getting out of hand."

"Look, we've seen stranger things than this." She says as they go back to the dark room. "Besides, have you seen her arms?"

"I know. Like she‛s been working out." Jonathan starts, closing the door. "Somethings not right with her."

"So not right." Nancy agrees, shaking her head.

"I've lost count of how many times I wished I could have been with Will that night. He wouldn't be taken and all this stupid paranormal crap wouldn't happen."

"I know. I feel the same thing with Barb. If I listened to her... maybe," Nancy closed her eyes, "maybe she would be alive today."

Jonathan looked down. "Look, we all wish we could have done something different. But… that's in the past Nancy and you can't change that," he whispered, staring at the scar on his left palm.

Nancy shared a similar one. When they cut them to draw blood for the Demogorgon.

"No. But I can make sure to do something different about this. We're going back." Nancy proclaims, taking her purse.

Jonathan stares at her. "Back where?"

Nancy stared back. "At Mrs. Driscoll's place."

---

Heather walks out the door of Hawkins Post, having just informed Daddy and explained what happened in the past two days. She apologized profusely for her behavior, puppy eyes being her trump card and Daddy drooping his stern father façade in a heartbeat, the same mask weaklings wear to appear strong.

A sad cute stare, that's all it takes for them to crumble?

‛Pathetic stagnant fools,‛ echoed a derisive thought.

The sky darkens and something wet starts to drop on her cheeks. She looks up as droplets of water start to fall from the sky onto her, the nauseating warmth weakening and cool freshness comes to her.

Heather welcomes the rain with open arms. She likes this. But still too hot. She‛ll fix that soon.

When she builds.

Heather starts to walk, puts the earphones on, and hits play. Billy Joel sings for her.

"Uptown girl"

"She's been living in her uptown world"

"I bet she's never had a backstreet guy"

"I bet her momma never told her why"

"This be will ridiculously easy." she hums to herself, taking determined strides across the near hollow streets of Downtown Hawkins as it pours.

The scant few people she saw rushed to get inside their respective buildings to escape the downpour, giving her bewildered looks as she marched without an umbrella.

Heather could in one week, with the right amount of patience and effort, take over entire Hawkins. She already had several people dancing to her tune, with just smiles, winks, pretty words, and right body movements.

It was sad how easy it was. A challenge would be welcomed.

"I'm gonna try for an uptown girl"

"She's been living in her white-bred world"

But first, Daddy and Mommy have to be among the first to join the club before everyone else. Nearly all of them were none wiser.

"As long as anyone with hot blood can"

"And now she's looking for a downtown man"

"That's what I am"

Not all though. Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler. Those two observed her at the Post. And knew something. Not a big surprise. They were just a pair of numerous thorns in her side.

And… she was seen last night when Freddy was turned.

Heather stops.

"And when she knows what"

"She wants from her time"

"And when she wakes up"

"And makes up her mind"

By someone known to… her?

She looks up, staring at the grey clouds, and then glances at herself in the window reflection of the nearby clothes shop.

She realizes she‛s dripping wet, why was she walking in this rain shouldn't she-

Pain shoots through her spine and head, as a shadow slowly loses control.

"She'll see I'm not so tough"
"Just because"
"I'm in love with an uptown girl"
"You know I've seen her in her uptown world"

Heather drops to her knees clutching her head. Tears form in her eyes as a sob escapes her lips and the lyrics try to tune out her agony. Dark tendrils try to tighten the hold on her soul and mind.

"She's getting tired of her high-class toys"
"And all her presents from her uptown boys"
"She's got a choice"

Her right hand moves with a will of its own and removes the headphones.

Not her choice, not her choice-

The lyrics and the tune disappear and Heather breathes in. The pain goes away. She slowly stands up and wipes away the tears. She removes the Walkman off her hip and stares at it. She could still hear the song.

"She'll understand what kind of guy I've been"
"And then I'll wi-"

Heather threw the Walkman through the air, smashing it on the utility pole. She stared at the pieces falling on the pavement.

Music. How… unexpected. That could be a problem in the future.

Heather resumes her walk at a steadier pace.

She already spotted her next potential target on her way back to the car, a Hawkins Fire Station. Yes, plenty of muscle. Plenty of strength. But first, she needs to fully prepare Freddy, hidden in the back.

Heather enters and seats herself in the driver's seat. Seatbelt fastened, ignition, engine start, wipers on, air conditioner on.

The darkness commands.

‛Drive.‛

She obeyed and off they went. They'll need many to form a strong body.

"What about the outsiders?" Heather asks in a flat voice, driving through the rain. Gunshots rang last night. The third party. "They could be a problem."

Thunder rumbled and a lighting flashed far away.

*KRA-KOOM

‛Whoever they are, they'll get their turn.‛

---

Billy didn't want to admit it, but Robin's advice was good. His body still ached with pain whenever he moved, and his ego even more so, but at least the overall discomfort lessened with a hot shower and a handy number of painkillers.

He turned and regarded a fresh pack of clothes waiting for him on the chair. As much as he didn't want to dress like a hippie, being only in boxers was no better option.

At least he no longer stank. A vain part of him was glad for it.

′Fagoot.′ echoed Neil's sneer in his mind.

"No." Billy denies, gripping the sink for support. He winced as his stitched lips hurt. "Self-care. Ain′t nothing wrong with a man making sure he's decent." He told the image staring back in the mirror that could use more than a few hours of sleep.

He turns on the light, flinching at it, and decides to take a much more detailed look, with the imminent threat to his life no longer present. He hadn't the time because of Robin, and the tape, and the lack of sleep-

Billy stills.

He breathed in and out. He takes a look.

Small cuts, scrapes, and purple-black bruises were all over the place. His right eye, the arms, the chest, the neck… he refrained from touching the marks left on the sides and his back where Pierce's punches hit the hardest. Pain still pulsed inside, his kidneys suffering. He prayed to God there was no internal bleeding.

If Pierce hadn't played around with him, he would have killed Billy with ease. At least he made the bastard bleed in return, even though he was previously knocked out by Laura.

He examines his cut lips, small stitches marring them thanks to Robin. With his shallow mustache, it looks disgusting. Although, it made for a kickass scar.

Billy chuckles despite the sting. "Heh, chicks are gonna love this!"

His smile slowly fades away.

This was not the first time he checked himself for injuries. However, what Neil did to him was tame when compared to this.

A slap here, a punch there. A kick sometimes. A cutting word that was somehow more painful than either of those combined. Every single time. Though for all his faults as a father, at least he didn't try to kill him. He wouldn't stop that low.

"But one day he could…" Billy mutters, staring at his necklace dangling from his neck.

He stills.

If there would be such thing as one day.

Raindrops on the windows gave for only sound. Billy needed to occupy his mind with something, otherwise, it will wander off into dark place.

He opens the cabinet and tries to find something, anything to get his mind off. He sees a shaving cream and a razor, still packaged.

"Shampoo, clean towels, and now this? They caught you at the bad time, eh Rick?" Billy chuckled as the tore the packaging of a dollar-fifty Gillette Atra. "But a good time for us." He shrugs. "Sort of."

He turns on hot water, applies the cream, dips the razor, and with surgical patience, shaves. When he noticed the rest of his face, cheeks, and neck, had small hairs growing that looked stupid now without the mustache, he shaved them as well.

He looks back at the few times he spent in this house. Most of the time in a quick minute to buy pot from Rick.

Although one time he did stay for a couple of hours. Rick threw a party and several guys and gals his age came. A couple of adults too. He didn't bother learning much more about the guy, other than the fact he was from Chicago and had to move to Hawkins to get away from a mess he made a few years ago. Billy was too busy drinking hard liquor, smoking pot, hitting on local girls, and trying to deny the fact he wouldn't return to Cali and was stuck here.

Carefully cleaning himself with a towel, he then checks again his battered body. It will heal. Longer than usual.

He wonders checking himself out if he's an idiot.

Billy is a strong guy. He knew it, everyone at Hawkins High knew, and most of the community knew. Barring the fact there was still Max, that Chief of Police and Harrington, Billy Hargrove was not the guy to be messed with and it made him feel powerful.

This was an ugly wake-up call for him. He wasn't just way over his head. He was across the whole goddamn border! What kinda chance did he have? What could he do?

Sure, actual mercenaries beat him like all of them were muscular, but still a huge hit to his ego. The way they laughed at him. He felt as if a group of Neils gathered around and decided to torment him for fun.

He thought it was it. If it wasn't for Laura. And Gabriela.

Yeah, watching Laura killing those assholes was a terrifying experience for sure. That decapitated head staring at him in permanent shock and terror will forever be burned in his mind. It still made him shiver with horror.

Still… he couldn't help himself to be morbidly impressed by her.

Yes, it is insane to think that way. However, that little girl killed what, about a dozen men armed to the teeth, all by herself. A little hurricane of death. No matter how those Reavers looked deadly, Laura was deadlier. Probably the deadliest person in Hawkins.

And of course, Gabriela helped, taking down that Reaver who nearly killed him, she was a crack shot with that gun. And so did he when…

Billy stills and glances outside through the window. Rain marred the view, but he could see the tarp from the boat house covering his heavily damaged car.

He grabbed the sink to steady himself as his knees started to shake.

It hit him, much like he hit that guy last night.

He killed people. Killed human beings.

"They tried to kill me," Billy whispers to himself, clutching the necklace in comfort. "Tried to hurt a little girl and a woman!" he grits his teeth.

But still… he killed.

What did that make him? No matter the intention, he was a killer.

Billy felt bile rising in his throat. At that moment, his mind was running high on adrenaline, panic, and alert. But now with them gone, the full weight of his actions finally came down on him.

Forcing the bile down, he goes to sit on the closed toilet and starts to shake. How the hell did his life go from trying to get laid to running for his life and hiding away in a drug dealer's ex-house with a girl with superpowers and a woman with a gunshot wound?

"Oh Jesus Christ!" He covers his face and tries to contain the involuntary trembles hitting his body. His eyes burn and he quickly gets up, turns on cold water, and washes his face.

He will not fucking cry!

…He cried in front of Robin Buckley. He failed that.

A small- well shit, a huge part of him felt embarrassed. Not the crying part but the fact he tried to run away while a little girl stayed and fought back. A girl Wolverine (still couldn't believe it) but still. Gabriela would have done the same thing hadn't she been hurt, probably blasting away like Clint Eastwood.

Sheer luck was on their side last night. He was pushed to his limit, something that hadn't happened. Ever.

Billy… he needed to be better. He swears, that if he somehow gets out of this nightmare alive, and hopefully intact, he's signing up for boxing lessons. He hated the fact Pierce was right. His strength is nothing without skills.

He gets up and glances back at the mirror. His mullet could too be a problem. He could see it, some guy grabs him by the hair, throws him down, and kills him. Pierce took advantage of that last night.

Billy closed his eyes.

"Don't let fear rule you." He growls. "Breath in and out."

Billy did so and opened his eyes. He saw nail scissors. They will do. He opened the cabinet, took them, grabbed a blonde lock, and started to shorten his hair.

Mom used to cut his hair. They always happily talked about everything. Pretend and all that. When she left, he later learned to do it himself in secret. He didn't want Neil to find out about that. Though he wouldn't care less.

After ten minutes of trimming it, he puts away the scissors and examines his work. The mullet was gone while the rest was shortened. It was messy but it will do.

"New day, new me I guess." He mutters, picking up the blonde remains and dumping them into a small trash can on the side.

Resigned, he takes the clothes Robin gave him and starts to dress up. Turning over at the mirror, he examines himself— a yellow short-sleeved shirt with black flowers and a red peace sign and blue flared jeans.

It… wasn't so bad but he preferred he had his clothes on.

"Well, it doesn't look too stupid, I guess." Billy declares.

Resigned, he turns off the light and leaves the bathroom. And nearly bumps into Laura.

"Woah!" Billy jumps back, "Kid, what are doing out there?"

Laura stood and observed him with a neutral face. She held that Wolverine comic he bought. Every time he saw her, her face was glued to it. A good purchase in the end.

"I have questions." She simply states, eyes not blinking.

Billy felt uncomfortable. Now that he knew what this small girl in front of him was capable of, he was uncertain.

What will she do?

"Okay. What kinda questions?" he asks, his legs thankfully obeying and leading him to the living room with Laura following him.

"What do you know about this man?" she shows him a battered Wolverine, walking through the forest and snow.

Oh, that. Whew! Well, he guessed risking his life to assist them won some major trust points with her. "Not much kid. I'm not a comic book guy myself. I‛ve used to beat up kids in middle school for reading this crap." Billy replies.

"Why?" Laura inquires with those piercing green eyes.

He used to read them. Neil said those were for the weak-minded. Yeah, he didn't want to tell her that. "I thought it was stupid. Stuff that happens in a comic book only happens in a comic book. It's not real." He gives an honest answer, going to sit on the couch.

Laura holds her head high. "I am real." She declares with pride.

Billy rolls his eyes. "And I didn't know until last night you were real. That superpowers are real. Look I‛m still handling the fact you killed people with actual claws coming out of your hands and feet. Like a-" He shut up.

Him and his stupid mouth!

Laura didn't react.

"…Do you think I'm a freak?" she plainly asks.

It was quiet. No emotion behind it but Billy could hear it.

Fear of rejection. Fear of being left behind. Billy understood that question crystally clear.

"No. I don't think you're a freak. I'm… just concerned." He admits. "And I think you're cool."

‛In a morbid way,‛ he mentally adds.

"When I showed them." She gestured with her fists. "You…" she trails off, probably thinking how to say what she wanted to say.

"Yes?" Billy waits.

"Cómo lo dices en Inglés?" she mutters in Spanish. She faces him "…Flinched."

"Kid, never have I seen someone with bone knives coming out of their fists. I've seen broken bones popping out but not like this. Now I'm finding there several dozen kids with superpowers who are now-" he stops.

Laura looks down, holding the Wolverine comic close to her chest.

Well done Billy Hargrove, you dumbfuck! "I‛m sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Billy sincerely apologized, sitting forward.

Laura looked unsure. She goes to sit on a chair to his right.

"And what if, there were more?" she suggests in a quiet voice.

Billy blinks. "More what?"

"I am not the only one," Laura utters, glancing at him.

Billy nodded. "Well yeah. I mean, I saw that tape, and what they did was messed-"

"No." Laura interrupts. "There is another. Here in Hawkins." She reveals.

"…I‛m sorry, what?" he asked after a beat because he heard wrong.

Someone like her? In this town?

"There a girl like me. With powers." Laura reveals.

Billy leans forward. "Here? In Hawkins?" Laura nods. "That, um, what?"

"Gabriela told me." She answers.

"Huh?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "That building. Were they cornered us?"

"Oh, that? Yeah! Yeah, I don't know much about it, I've been living in this town fooor… shit, not even a year." Laura tilted her head. "Unimportant. But yeah, the guys from the school spoke of ghost stories about it."

"Ghost stories?" she blinks.

"You know. Ghost stories- Actually scratch you don't know." He waves off. "Um, it's meant to scare people. For fun." He explains.

"Scaring people isn't fun." She states with a frown.

"Well, when the bad men do it, yes, it isn't fun. Matter of fact its means they're assholes." Billy explains.

"They're assholes," Laura repeats. Is Gabriela gonna give him an earful for that? "And when good people do it?"

"It's different," Billy states, shaking his head.

"How?" Laura questioned with furrowed brows.

"I don't know. Look kid I don't have that many friends." He admits.

"Why?" Laura asks, tilting her head.

Okay, they started going into an uncomfortable place so Billy put an end to it. "So, that building," Laura gave him an unimpressed eye, "Yeah, all I know it used to be a government building. Some shady crap happened there and several people died because of it. A chemical leak they said."

"Shady crap?" Laura repeats, curious about the knowledge.

"Yes." Billy slowly nods, a picture starting to form.

"Shady crap, like me?" she points at herself.

Billy felt his stomach drop. "Laura, first of all, don't call yourself shady crap, okay? ‛Cause you're not."

"I'm not?" Laura… smirked. Okay, good to see her like that. A surface of some optimism.

Billy smiled. "No. You kick ass. That's a compliment." He explains as she gives him an odd look. "Second, that whole stuff they said sounded fishy." And Billy sees the big picture, watching Laura. "And nooow with you being here, I'm starting to believe they did the same thing they did to you in Mexico."

"I see." Laura ponders, staring far away.

"Know anything about this girl?" Billy queried for answers himself.

"Yes. She said she is here to help me." Laura nonchalantly replies.

Billy does a double take. "What? You meet her?"

"Last night, she appeared before me." Laura continues to nonchalantly repliey.

He sits up straighter. "Appeared before you? What, she‛s some kinda ghost?"

"I don't know if she is a ghost. But she approached me. She was there, but not." Billy stared, flabbergasted. "And today, an hour ago."

"Wait, is that why you stood there talking to yourself?" Billy didn't go to her when he saw that. He guessed it was just a kid's quirk.

"Yes." Laura nods.

"Jeez, it thought you went insane." He admits.

Laura frowned, emitting a low growl.

Billy raises his hands in defense. "Woah, woah! Kid, I'm sorry but you have to admit it sounds crazy. What she just appeared and told you she‛s like you?"

"She showed me a tattoo." Laura shows him the wrist. Twenty-Three. "Eleven."

"Okay." Billy accepts it. If it weren't for that messed up reason why she had it, it would look kinda sick. "Okay, there's someone like you here in Hawkins."

It was insane. But so were the last two days. "You got anything else to say to me, kid?" Billy demands, hoping that's the end of it.

"…Two nights ago." He knew it. "When we meet you on the road. When we ran from Reavers. Through the forest."

Might as well hear what else‛s going on in Hawkins. "Okay, go on." He sighs.

"I smelt something." She divulges.

Billy frowns. "What, an animal?"

"No. Not an animal. Something… evil." Laura hesitantly answers.

"Evil?" Billy blinks, confused.

"Yes. I needed to get away from that. My instincts told me so." Laura shifts. Why… ah.

"…You got scared." Billy realizes, instantly regretting what he said as Laura's neck cracked with menace.

"I don't. Get. Scared." she denies it with a glower, her fists crumpling the comic book. She stopped, gazing down at it.

"Alright, alright." He holds up his hands. He gets it. Too well. "And then?"

Laura calms down and shrugs.

"So, that's it? No monsters? No aliens?" Billy tiredly rubbed his face. He had no energy right now to ask for more about this Hawkins mutant girl.

"No." Laura nods.

"Good. ‛Cause it looks like we will be stuck here for a while." He points outside as it pours.

Laura stares at him and sniffs. "You no longer smell."

"Thank you for your kind words," Billy responds with a dry smile.

"You are welcome," Laura says. Billy didn't know if she sensed the sarcasm or not. "You cut your hair. Also good."

"What, it looks good?" he says flattered.

"No. Ugly." Billy's lip curled at her honest answer. "But, less hair, less grab, less hurt."

"Right." He nods. "Glad we are on the same page."

"You are strong." She continues to observe, glancing at his arms.

"Thanks." Billy took the… assessment (it's that how you say it?) and glanced around. "Say, where‛s Gabriela?"

"Sleeping," Laura answered, focusing on the comic and turning its pages. "Tired. But is well."

"Good." Billy gladly agreed.

She stops and shows him a page. A large, metal man holds Wolverine in one hand and the next page shows him throwing him, yelling a catchphrase.

"Fastball Special." Laura quoted the metal guys' shout.

"Cool." He replies.

"I want to practice it." She announces, watching him expectantly.

Oh! "I'm, um, okay, sure, sure. Why not?" Billy agrees because he has nothing better to do.

Throwing a kid Wolverine inside the house. That's how he's gonna spend his day.

Great.

---

They approached Hawkins Community Pool in a rush, Will and the boys each on their bikes while the girls took Nancy‛s, Max driving, and El on support, holding onto her shoulders. It poured so harshly that their view‛s obstructed and Will worries if they‛re going to have to build Noah‛s ark. Suppose they didn't crash at first.

Complaints and curses showered them as well, passing through a torrent of people because of the torrent of rain, who tried to find cover from it or get to their cars. And kids and adults alike didn't like how they had to watch out for them as well.

"Hey!" yelled a little kid that Lucas darted around.

"Watch it!" barked one ugly asshat at Will.

"Brats!" an old lady with heavy makeup hollered after them.

"Oh bite me!" Mike growls back as one guy flips the bird.

"Move out the way! Move!" Dustin shouts, pedaling and scaring an elderly couple away.

"Watch out Max!" Lucas warns her.

"Hey, move nimrods!" Max shouts at a group of teens while Eleven holds on.

The group scattered with yelps before them, finally getting inside the building and nearly crashing into the wall. Most people were glaring at them, but they ignored it. They were on a mission.

They put their bikes on the stand and ran inside, removing their hoods. Will noticed it wasn't a large crowd as one would expect.

The Community Pool was quite popular in Hawkins, especially in summer, and because of it, it‛s always full. They went a couple of times, him, Mom, and Jonathan. But because there were so many people (and it was expensive), they gradually stopped going. The fire must have spooked most of the Hawkins community. Adding to the nonstop series of events ever since his-

Will shook his head, not willing to go to that place.

*RUUUUUMBLE

The sky growled, earning a glare from Mike.

"Stupid rain!" he complains, scowling at the grey clouds outside.

"Calling it stupid is not gonna help us, Mike." Lucas snarked as Max snickered.

Will took a glance at his friends while they marched. He wore a blue raincoat, Mike orange, Dustin green, Lucas purple, Max yellow, and Eleven red. Will thought it was funny how they looked like a rainbow, but kept it to himself. At least there was some fun in their situation.

"There!" Will points at the information desk, "We can ask those guys at the desk."

They jogged to the counter and saw three people in it, one guy and two girls sitting, all in lifeguard uniforms. And all three were clearly tired with dark circles under their eyes and sour faces. The guy with slick hair tried to read a magazine but threw it down with an angry huff and glared at the ceiling. The girls played cards in sluggish movements and noticeable frizzy hairs.

"Um, excuse me-" Max goes to ask.

The guy interrupts her rudely, "No one in the water until thirty minutes after the last strike. And don't try to argue with me. You want to get electrocuted, go climb a tree." he stood up, glaring down at them. Will saw the title of ‛Manager‛ on the chest.

"Adam!" one girl, an Asian, admonished him, looking up from her cards.

"What Zoe?" Adam shot back at Zoe, who in return glared at him.

"Yeah, we don't care, we're not here to swim. Or get electrocuted." Dustin frowned.

"We have a question," Lucas states.

"Oh yeah? And who are you? The rainbow squad?" the guy snarks.

"Asshat," Mike mumbled under his breath, earning himself an elbow poke from Max.

"Is there someone here by the name of Heather?" Will asked quickly as Eleven examined them and herself for that comment.

"We do look like a rainbow," Eleven whispered to Max who politely smiled.

The girls stood up and joined Adam guy as he grumbled. "The hell's wrong today? First Hargrove doesn't show up ′cause he′s sick, yeah right!" he saw Max shift uneasily, "Then Heather acts all weird yesterday," that's gotten Eleven‛s interest, "and now she bails on us. With Freddy!" he finishes.

Will and the Party looked at each other, absorbing this.

Could Freedy be the guy Eleven saw Heather with?

"It's the damn fire, it got everyone spooked!" the other girl, a blonde, commented. Zoe nodded but Adam scoffed.

"Spooked enough for her not to work Katie? At least Hargrove gave a lousy excuse." Adam muttered. "She just doesn't want to work!"

"Oh, and hanging out with Freedy is not a lousy excuse?" Zoe teased with a smirk.

Unease grew in Will's stomach as he exchanged wary glances with others.

He knew the rest felt the same as they wanted to tell everyone the truth, to warn people of the dangers lurking in Hawkins once again. But he knew the words coming out of their mouths would sound like they're the people who spent their time in padded rooms in a nuthouse.

"Wait, how do you know Heather?" Katie asks with a frown.

At a quick loss for words, Dustin comes to the rescue.

"Um, because of Freddy!" Dustin cheerfully explains.

"Yeah! He helped us!" Lucas joined. "A couple of days ago, so we were wondering where we could find him."

"And Heather." Eleven stoically added, getting weird looks from the lifeguards.

"To say thanks," Max explains quickly with a smirk.

"Because they're such Good Samaritans." Mike finished with a fake smile.

"Right, well if you see those Good Samaritans, tell him to get their asses back to work, we could have used their help today," Adam grumbled as he sat back in his chair.

Will noticed Eleven staring at something nearby. A billboard with ads for the 4th of July Parade, and photos. As she left the group, Will nudged Mike and signaled others to follow her.

"We will tell him. Thank you. "Will honestly said as they left the desk.

"Yeah, working hard, huh?" Dustin snarked quietly.

"What was that?!" Adam glowered with anger.

Max and Mike pushed Dustin forward. "Nothing, nothing!"

Will and the rest followed Eleven who stared at the pictures of swim season lifeguards for ′85.

"That's him." Eleven pointed at the picture at the bottom right.

Mike goes to stand beside her. "Freddie? So that's our guy?" he asks, taking a closer look.

"Yes," Eleven answered, staring at Freddie and trying to figure him out.

Will joined in with the rest and saw a handsome, muscled dark-skinned guy staring back at them with a pleasant wide-toothed smile. He seemed happy.

"You think you can find him?" Max asked her.

However, she didn't stare at Freedy. Will followed her line of sight and saw a picture of Billy Hargrove. Next to Heather Holloway.

Three missing lifeguards.

They glanced at the remaining lifeguards in the booth, too engrossed in talking to each other. Will saw there's heated arguing between Zoe and Adam.

"I will." He heard Eleven declare as she ripped Freddy's picture from the board and stared at it.

"We need a quiet place," Lucas states.

And off they go as Will and the others help her get set up for the search.

Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin search for a place while Max and Eleven go foraging for something to cover her face.

"At least the place is clearing up," Lucas observes the less crowded Community Pool. "No one will bother us."

"Some use from this damn weather," Dustin grumbled.

"Hey guys," Mike called after them.

Will and the guys turn to face him.

Mike stood awkwardly. He shifted, scratching his neck and fiddling with his orange raincoat. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Mike, c‛mon, you don't have to apologize again," Will said as Lucas made a ‛uh-hmm‛ sound.

"‛Cause once is enough." Dustin quips with crossed arms.

"Dustin…" Will sighed. He didn't want them to fight.

"No." Mike raised his hand. "He's right. I acted like a jerk this summer. I've wanted to hang out with Eleven all the time. And I… ditched you."

Dustin sighs. "Dude, I… look dude I know that but seriously. I've been back in Hawkins for like five hours and we already have arson, mur-"

"Watch it!" a middle-aged woman rudely snaps as she runs, not caring if they don't move out of her way.

They jump away as she runs around like a chicken.

"…Some people," Dustin mutters, watching her go away. "But yeah, murder, government conspiracy- well, a corrupt corporate conspiracy, and another girl with superpowers. And what if…" he trails off, straightening the green raincoat.

They could have been killed. Any of them. He too was walking back home. Alone. Watching over his shoulders every five seconds. But he comforted himself. At least was gone.

"I was hoping it could be over," Will starts, "the Mind flayer gone, the Lab gone. But I can still hear him…" he trails off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Telling him to lie, to spy, to lead other people to their deaths…

The boys came to him. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin put their hands on his shoulder, faces full of support.

"Hey, that asshole is gone," Mike assures him.

Dustin squeezed his shoulder. "And if he comes back-"

"Dustin!" Mike angrily scolds.

"If he comes back," Dustin raises a finger, "we are going to kick his ass. A solemn promise."

"Yeah, we're going to kick his ass. Us, Lucas, Max, and Eleven." Mike smiled widely.

"And remember, El kicked his ass big time!" Lucas pointed out with a smirk. "As long she‛s around, that goddamn octopus is not gonna beat us."

Will chuckles. This felt good. He felt… less lonely. "Hehehe, thank you, Lucas. And Dustin. And you too Mike." He is sincere as they resume the search.

"Don't mention it. And once this is over, a D&D campaign. My basement." Mike offers.

"…Just like old times?" Will asks hopefully. He didn't want to sound too desperate.

"Just like old times," Lucas affirms, smiling.

Dustin chuckled. "Not a bad idea." He stops. "Guys, I think this is it." he declares as Will, Mike, and Lucas peek over his shoulders.

They came across the shower room. An empty row was just laid before them.

"Perfect," Lucas agreed with a smirk. "Come on, let's find the girls."

They found the girls in the storage room, messing around with a dummy. Well, Max messed around while Eleven was deep in thought, holding a diving mask with its visor taped over and Freddy‛s picture.

They gave them weird looks but asked no questions as they informed them and met at the empty shower rooms. Will however knew that Max was trying to distract Eleven, to shake her from that… state she was in.

When Eleven declared she was going to find Laura… her face… Will believed this girl standing in front of him was capable of taking on any monster. Even the Mind Flayer.

They turned on the showers, handed Eleven the mask, and stood watch. Eleven sat down in a meditative pose and began her search, holding Freedy‛s picture.

They wait and wait and wait.

"What do you think she‛ll find?" Lucas wondered after a minute of quiet tension.

"Freddy for sure." Max scoffed.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I know that! But… what about him she‛ll find?" he leans forward, intrigued.

Will was hesitant to be intrigued himself by yet another dark mystery. However, the idea that yet again, he was locked out of the loop was… a nightmare that he didn't want to admit. The Mind Flayer‛s takeover of his body was a fever dream from which he couldn't wake up. He wanted to be a part of this, despite his fear.

"Some insight on what the hell is going on," Mike grumbled.

"Some answers," Will added. "Hopefully Heather too."

"And hopefully something not horrifying." Dustin cautioned

A second later after he said that, Eleven lets out a desperate scream, frantically waving her arms.

"Nice going, Dustin!" Max snarled at him.

"Hey!" Dustin protested.

They rush to her and crouch around in worry as Eleven rips off the mask and they see her teary face.

"Hey, hey it's okay." Mike comes forward and hugs her.

"El, what's wrong?" Lucas inquiries.

"What did you see?" Dustin asked.

"Did you find Freddy?" Will asks.

He didn't like how Eleven was scared. She covered her face and sobbed. "I d-did. He was in a bathtub."

"A bathtub?" Dustin repeats.

"Yes. Filled with ice." She reveals, shivering at the mention of the word.

Will shivered as well. He liked it cold.

He resists shaking his head. They‛re not connected. They're not.

"And then?" Will dared to ask further, not willing to see the bigger picture.

"He looked at me. And whispered, "Help me." Eleven takes a shuddering breath. "I tried…"

"But…?" Max goes to hold her hand.

"Something took him," Eleven answered, disturbed by the fact. "I tried to reach him. I couldn't. He was already gone." She hanged her in defeat.

"Something took him?" Mike quietly exclaimed. "In the Void?"

Dustin shared troubled glances with them. "Is that even possible?" he whispered, running fingers through his curly hair.

"Gone? You mean… dead?" Lucas gulped.

"I don't know." Eleven shook her head.

"And you said something took him?" Mike repeated, rubbing her shoulders.

"What did?" Max gently asked, holding her hand.

"…I don't know." Eleven sounded lost.

Will shared uncomfortable glances with the rest as the sound of running water from the outside and inside fell without a care in the world.

Instead of gaining more answers, they gained more questions.

…Will thought he might know few answers. But his internal denial deprived them of their voice.

---

Approaching the property that belonged to the Hess family through Heraty Bridge Road, Joyce went through the notions that led them here as the steadily heavier rain battered Hoppers Blazer.

Kline's mansion was a tacky, disgusting place. All this time, while this bastard lived like a king, a good part of Hawkins was struggling with either losing their jobs or worrying if they were going to lose said jobs because of Starcourt and how they‛re going to make ends meet. The entire place oozed bachelor, despite the fact he was a married man. Jim told her he caught Kline a few times with another woman. Even one instance of snorting coke.

Asshole.

A generous asshole who told people his secrets when under the effects of booze and drugs. Like telling Jim the numbers for his safe and forgetting it the next day. A safe that just had what they needed. Land deeds.

The land deeds showed them that the areas in Southeast Hawkins, near Jordan Lake, were under Transigen ownership. Right near a power plant. The lightbulb clicked in their heads and a good part of it started to make sense. The power outages, and magnets falling off, but the one important question still remained.

Why? They knew it was for something bad, but what kinda bad exactly?

They stopped in front of the house, the rain drizzling outside. As the car lights made the abandoned, boarded building much clearer, Joyce felt a twinge of sadness. Someone used to live here. Built their entire lives around the place. And yet. Joyce wondered. If they too started to reconsider…

"You think anybody's inside?" Joyce asked him.

"Doubt it. This place is empty." Jim stated, exhaling smoke.

"You sure about this?"

"I'm sure." He gestured over the empty front yard. "No cars. And as I said earlier, we have to be quick. Larry was observing me yesterday. He knows what am like." Jim sneered, taking a drag. "If he calls them…"

"We better stop wasting time then and let's go," Joyce replied, exiting the car and rushing to the house porch.

Jim followed, rushed alongside, tossing the cig and moving to open the door. He turned the knob. It didn't budge.

"Locked." He stated the obvious.

"A boarded-up house locked. Who‛da thunk it?" Joyce wondered with sarcasm.

Jim's response was to kick the door. Several times. And after the fifth, the door gave up and fell with a loud creak and a thud.

"Subtle." Joyce chirped as the black sky rumbled, making Jim grunt as they moved in.

Lighting flashed and thunder roared.

*KRA-KOOOM

Raindrops made for a hollow sound. Jim brought his flashlight, pulled out his ‛66, and illuminated the living room space.

Although several chairs and small tables were lying around, the house was mostly empty. She noticed one table near a fireplace that had a white mug with blue stripes. Probably belonged to the Hess family. That's all that's left of them here.

"Like I said, nobody's home," Jim observed, raindrop sounds pattering above them.

"I was here a few times," Joyce whispered. Bernard and his sons helped them fix the roof one time and invited them over for dinner.

"Me just once," Jim added. "Though, it looks… odd being empty."

"It is always the people that make it a home," Joyce uttered in a sage voice, going to stand at the center of the living room.

"I felt the same thing when El and I fixed the cab-" Jim coughs, rubbing his mustache. "Let's do what we came to do." He moves further inside.

Joyce fondly rolled her eyes and followed him.

They walked through the hallway, searching for anything that could give them a sign or a clue to a secret big corporate operation.

"Well, nothing." Jim perceived, lighting up an empty corridor.

"So far. There should be something." Joyce insists as they pass an empty kitchen with a bare island at its center.

"We‛re looking for breadcrumbs Joyce," Jim grumbles, lighting up the way.

"Buying a house near a powerplant is not a crumb Jim." She hisses. "It's a whole goddamn cake! There has to be…" Joyce trailed off as she saw light.

They looked up and saw one lightbulb on the small chandelier flickered with power.

"Strange," Joyce observes.

"Yes." Jim agrees. "And if strange then…"

They saw another light coming from the next room to their right. They went in and saw the light in the bedroom pulsing as well.

Examining the light and stilling their breaths, Joyce started to hear faint sounds.

"Where is that coming from?" Jim whispered, looking left and right, going slowly over another room.

Joyce examined the empty bed to her right and saw a ventilation shaft. Odd.

Then a faint red light emanated from it. Suspicious.

Joyce crouched to take a better look. Her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Jim! Come see this." She called for him.

"What is it?" Jim came back to her. He mimicked her. "The hell?" he muttered, seeing through a shaft.

Joyce stared at the shaft and then at the floor. She lowered her head and pressed an ear to the floor.

"Somethings… below us," Joyce realizes as she can hear more clearly. Something was below the bedroom. A machine. How…?

"Below…?" Jim frowned. He glanced at the bed and his brows shot up. "Joyce, grab the end of it."

Joyce and Jim got up and did so, slowly lifting the bed as far as they could. And saw to their shock a staircase leading down. The pulsating sound got louder, the red light clearer and both were more intensified.

"What the hell?" Jim whispered in shock.

"What do they have down there?" Joyce wondered.

"And who could be down there? Okay. Joyce, stay behind me." Jim slowly went, eyes sharp.

Joyce did that and together they descended.

Reaching the end, Joyce realizes it's a bunker. It looked new, not much evidence of being used for long. A few junction boxes and tool drawers stood on the sides. But the biggest revelation from the front made them go still.

"Told ya. A whole cake with a cherry on the top." Joyce uttered in a low tone.

There was a large machine working in the center of the room, the size of a school bus. With several large tubes attached to it, as well as many wires spread across the floor and walls. A computer to the side, some really high-tech-looking stuff. Joyce was no science expert, but this looked expensive. She bet the boys and Bob would-

A flashback of that night makes her go still. Bob, safe and sound and out of breath, locking eyes with her, giving her a reassuring smile that graced his lips.

And then that damn monster lunging at him! Stabbing him with his claws! Killing him…!

Joyce sucked in a breath as the painful memory squeezed her heart.

"Oh damn! They're stealing power." Jim realized astonished, as he flashed the black wires that went to a wall to their side.

Joyce quickly steadied her breathing and focused on the task at hand. "Why steal? For what?"

"I don't know," Jim said as they got closer to the machine to inspect it. One small tool drawer had papers on them and he took them for inspection. "There has to be something…!" he muttered.

Joyce inspected what looked like a control panel and saw white bold letters imprinted on the side.

Transigen.

"Okay. This is now solid proof they're responsible. But again, what for?" Joyce huffed.

"Something messed up for sure," Jim growled. "Hey, look at this." He beckons her, holstering his gun and gazing at something.

Joyce joined him and observed the document he presented to her. And a picture.

Another large machine. But different, circular. And bigger, way bigger than the one in front of them. She could see several people, probably scientists and engineers responsible for it.

"What is it? Is that…?" Joyce whispered.

"This thing, they're stealing power to power that." Jim pointed at it.

"Does it say what it does?" she asks, trying to read the papers. She saw two important words in bold, red letters.

The Key.

"Yeah. What it does and why." He rolls the paper, confiscating and stuffing it in his pants. "But right now, we need to leave. They could come here." He gestures at the stairs.

Joyce smacks herself. "We should have brought a camera for evidence!"

Jim snaps his fingers. "I have one! In my car."

Joyce claps. "Great! Let's take a few quick pictures and be off."

As they went back upstairs, Joyce noticed Jim was watching her with respect.

"What?" she asks.

He smirked. "It… is amazing really." He states to her walking back through the hallway.

"What is?" Joyce wonders with a smile.

"What you‛re doing and how you think. You managed to take a seemingly unimportant detail and it led to this." He gestures at the back of the house. "And you're a civilian who had no police training."

"I wouldn't say it‛s amazing." She denies it, though the flattery is welcomed. They come to a stop in the empty living room. "Besides, I did stuff like this before." She reminds him.

"I know. And I'm serious. You are good at this. Matter of fact, you would make a great detective." Jim insists with a smirk as they near the front entrance.

"Heh. You know Bob did say I… he used to say that… that is…" Joyce had to stop.

It was coming back.

"Joyce?" Jim is concerned. He approaches her. "Are you okay?"

Joyce goes to sit on a chair. The reality of the situation slowly took hold of her. "It's happening again. Some mysterious, strange crap is happening again and the kids are in danger. And I don't how much I can take!" She reveals, a mixture of distraught and anxiety coming forth.

Jonathan talking about his job and the friends he made. Nervous if he could lose it, she saw it. And Will. After everything he went through…!

She restrains herself from crying. Her eyes sting, but refuses to cry, wiping furiously her eyes.

Jim sighed. "I know Joyce."

Joyce takes a shuddering breath. "S-Sometimes I… I just want to leave Hawkins." She mumbles looking down at the floor.

"…Is that why Gary called me a few days ago?" Jim asked.

Joyce's eyes widen but she doesn't look up. Instead, she remains silent, head hanging and her black locks hiding her face.

"Do Will and Jonathan know?" he asks further, the sound of rain filling in the silence.

"…Not yet," she answers, gazing up and watching him.

"I… get it," Jim begins in a heavy tone, putting his gun on the table and picking up that white mug. He took a chair near the fireplace and went to sit in front of her. "When Sarah died… I needed to get the hell out of New York. Run away from," he breathes in, "everything."

"Hence Hawkins." Joyce gazed deep into his blue eyes. "You know, I used to envy you." She reveals.

Jim blinked. "Envy me?" he points at himself.

"You managed to get out of this, this shithole," Joyce gives her true opinion. "It has been my dream, ever since high school. My play."

Her last chance. Everything was perfect. Then the insanity around the Creel murders happened.

Jim grimly nods. "I remember. That was, um…" he fiddles with the mug, uncomfortable.

"A disaster." Joyce waved it off. "But then I meet," she breathes in, "Lonnie. And then I had Jonathan. And Will. And despite that crap with Lonnie... it was okay. The boys were mostly all right. They had friends here. Well, Will mostly. Jonathan struggled. Typical high-school stuff. Normal stuff." Joyce started to wring her hands. "And then Will got taken. Then he was used. By that thing! Bob was…!" she couldn't finish as tears won and welled in her eyes.

She covered her face and sobbed.

Jim came to her. "Joyce! Listen to me." Joyce listened as Jim put the mug back and gently grasped her shoulders. "I know that what are you feeling is overwhelming. But right now, you have something I never had. People, who know what you've been through and care about you." Joyce looked up. Jim gazed deep into her eyes and tenderly intervened his hands with hers.

"I want you to know that you can feel safe here." He declares. "That you, Jonathan, and Will know that this can still be your home."

Joyce felt the affection in his voice. Much like how Bob talked to her. She knew how he felt as they sat in the empty house. And-

*KRA-KOOOM

Thunder flashed and illuminated the field outside. And several men on it with guns!

Joyce gasped at the sight. "Jim!" she points in panic.

Jim snapped his head at what she saw and paled.

*click *click *click

"GET DOWN!" Jim tackled her as bullets started to fly.

*BANG *BANG *BANG

---

The moment the engine turns off, Jonathan and Nancy jump from the car towards Driscoll's house, heavy rain drenching them and mud spattering on their shoes. Getting their bearings together at the porch to the sound of the torrent, Nancy knocks hastily, clenching her handbag. "Mrs. Driscoll!"

*KRA-KOOOM

Thunder flashed as the old woman didn't answer.

"Maybe she's not home?" Jonathan suggests, glancing at the stormy sky.

"The lights are on," she observes. "Plus, she's an old lady and it's pouring! Where else should she be?" she shot back, not taking her eyes off the front door. "Wait."

"Whoa! What are you doing?" he called out when Nancy turned the knob.

"Maybe she fell. She could be, um, laying down in the basement and pleading for help." She offers, glancing inside.

A sound reason for entering other people's houses.

Jonathan counters.

"Or maybe she‛s asleep, forgot to lock the door, and we‛re the burglars." Nancy scoffs, making Jonathan frown. "Look, I think we should head back and be with rest instead of chasing dead ends…" Jonathan trailed off as she opened and stepped forward while making eye contact with him. "Are you serious right now?"

"Mrs. Driscoll? Mrs. Driscoll, are you here?" Nancy called whilst Jonathan just gave up and followed. "It's Nancy and Jonathan from the Hawkins Post. The door was unlocked and we wanted to see if you're okay."

Jonathan examined the place. It was same as yesterday. An old house where an old woman lived alone. Simple. Except… being empty made it feel spooky. The lights were on but only dimly. Still plenty of dark shadowy places that he didn't like.

"I don't like this. Why is it so quiet?" Jonathan wondered. Despite the ambiance, he felt someone should be here. His gut told him to be on alert.

"She likes it that way, you know that Jonathan." Nancy lectured, glancing around for the elderly lady, her purse close to her.

"Yeah, peaceful quiet, not creepy quiet," Jonathan replies, not liking this.

He saw no sign of struggle but remained suspicious.

"Oh no! We‛re leaving mud all over." Nancy exclaims as they enter the dining room, glancing at the muddied floor.

Jonathan had enough. "That's what are you worried about right now?" he asks incredulously.

Thunder growled outside as Nancy turned to face him with a scowl.

*RUMBLEEE

"Okay, what is your problem?" she demands with a glower.

"My problem is we‛re probably going to scare the poor woman," Nancy scoffs, making Jonathan angry now, "for showing up unannounced in the middle of the night!"

"Well maybe if you had faith in me, I wouldn't have done this but since you‛ve been putting me aside this whole time!" Nancy accuses with clenched fists.

"Putting you aside?" Jonathan repeats in disbelief.

"Everyone treats me like thrash in the Post!" Nancy yells, making Jonathan flinch. "I didn't honestly expect they would just welcome me with open arms but…" she looks away, "I knew or at least thought that you would be on my side…" she trailed off.

There was bitterness and sadness in her voice. Jonathan faces the uncomfortable truth. He heard how they acted, saw how they acted. And he did nothing.

He didn't know why he didn't act. Maybe because he was accepted without question and he didn't want to throw that away. Was afraid to throw it away.

Well shit, he now felt like shit.

"Nancy, I… look the way those guys treat-"

"Jonathan." Nancy stops him, her voice serious. Dead serious. Demogorgon serious. "Look." She pointed behind him.

He turns and sees the basement door. Wide open. With noticeable claw marks marring the sides.

Jonathan goes still as Nancy comes to his side. Despite their better judgment, they approach it. As they come to stand in front of the entrance downstairs, they try to get a better look.

It was dark, near pitch black dark.

"Mrs. Driscoll?" Nancy hesitantly called.

They received no answer from the dark. Which meant…

"Your gun?" he inquires.

Nancy pulls a model 10 Smith & Wesson from her purse, "Here."

"Okay. Led on," Jonathan replies as he trusts her aim.

Slowly, they enter and descend. Thunder claps on occasion, providing them with some light.

But no sign of Mrs. Driscoll.

*KRA-KOOOM

"Mrs. Driscoll?" Jonathan calls again at the last step.

"Doris?" Nancy uses the first name, gun not raised, probably not wanting to scare her.

She will get scared when she sees the weapon.

Jonathan remembers where the light switches were, to his right. He slowly walks over to them and turns them on, revealing the basement. Partially. Still plenty of dark places like upstairs. But what they see on the floor surprises them.

Several torn bags of fertilizer, the fertilizer itself scattered all over the ground.

"What the?" he wondered as they got closer.

Nancy crouched. "I don't understand. The rats came back?" she wonders, picking up a torn bag with teeth marks.

"Those weren't rats." Jonathan grimly points out. The marks were far larger than that of a rat. "Not with the bags. And definitely not with the doors upstairs."

Something rattles in the back, making them stand still.

Jonathan and Nancy gaze over the area, trying to find a source. Jonathan spots a hammer on the washing machine.

And an empty cage where that rat was. There was blood in it. Lots of it.

"Mrs. Driscoll?" Nancy calls out, cocking her gun as he picks up the hammer.

*RATTLE RATTLE

The noise was increasing and continuing and Jonathan ignored the cage.

‛Another question for later,‛ he thought as he joined Nancy.

They glance at each other and nod.

As they begin to move, adrenaline starts to prepare them for… whatever is about to happen. They slowly go further in and stop. The place where Driscoll kept the fertilizers was ransacked. Jonathan saw a big pile of plant food on the table.

"This doesn't look good," Jonathan states the disturbing obvious.

"Why…?" Nancy tried to think, examining the area.

"I don't know. Look, let's get out-"

*SQUEEEEEAL

A roaring squeal came from somewhere, making them jump in panic.

"What the hell?" Jonathan exclaimed, alarmed and eyes searching, hammer raised and ready.

Nancy aimed at the source of the noise to their right, right where the light itself hadn't shone. And right at the moment, someone emerges from the darkness.

Both were shocked when they saw it was Mrs. Driscoll, disheveled and her face covered in… manure oh God!

"Mrs. Dr-Driscoll?!" Nancy stuttered, disturbed by the sight.

Jonathan shared that sentiment as the old lady stared at them in silence, eyes wild and unhinged.

Then the frail-looking Doris Driscoll ran. Like, managed to move in the blink of an eye to the stairs and up!

"How the hell is she moving so fast?!" Jonathan yelled in shock.

A crash resonated upstairs, making them share a worried glance.

"Come on Jonathan!" Nancy beckons him to run.

Jonathan follows her as they rush upstairs, through the dining room, and come to a stop in the living room. And see Mrs. Driscoll convulsing on the floor next to an overturned coffee table.

"Oh my God!" Nancy shouts as she puts the gun and the purse away and they sprint to help her.

"Mrs. Driscoll! Mrs. Driscoll!" Jonathan calls for her as he kneels beside her, trying to calm down the old lady by holding her down.

Nancy mimics him, trying to see what's wrong with her. "A stroke? Seizure?" she desperately tries to guess. "What's going on!?"

Through Jonathan‛s panicked mind, the word ambulance came. "We need to call-"

*POOP

Jonathan and Nancy stilled as the lights went out and darkness enveloped them. Somehow, they sensed they were not alone.

*KRA-KOOM

Thunder cracked, its lightning flashing outside and illuminating the living room, making their surroundings clearer.

And making them aware of Heather Holloway standing ten feet in front of them.

"Good evening." She greets them with a slasher smile.

Jonathan was proud that he and Nancy didn't jump at the sight. But their hearts did skip a beat as they quickly got up.

"Heather!" Nancy exclaims in shock as she stands beside Jonathan. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came on by to see old Doris." She merrily replied, staring at the convulsive old lady on the floor.

"She's having a seizure!" Jonathan points at the old lady.

"Ah. She's ready then." Heather nodded as if that was the most reasonable thing to say!

"Ready?! What are you-" In a flash Heather somehow crossed the room and grabbed him by the throat, "Urgh!"

He felt his airways being closed! How…?!

"JONATHAN!" Nancy yelled. She rushes towards them. "Let him- Urgh!" Heather easily pushed her back. Too easily. She nearly goes flying and her back hits the wall, pictures of it falling with a clatter.

"NAN-hrk!" he tries to yell but Heather‛s grip gets stronger as she lifts him.

Jonathan didn't have time to do anything as Heather spun around and threw Jonathan across the room. He landed on the floor, sliding and hitting the rocking chair.

*CRASH

Pain flared in his back. The chair didn't break, but he was sure something of his did. As with labored breaths, he tries to get up, and he sees Heather approaching Nancy in slow steps.

"Nancy! Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. Too curious for your own good." Heather mocks as Nancy barely gets up on shaky legs.

"Why are you doing this?" he hears Nancy ask in fear, backing away.

"Why not?" Heather replies with a disturbing smile.

He sees Nancy trying to grab something, anything to use as a weapon. She sees the black Kit-Kat on her side.

"Aaarh!" she yells as she manages to rip off the chimney clock and throw it at Heather. Her eyes, and Jonathan‛s, widen in shock when the clock breaks on Heather's head and she doesn't even flinch! "Oh crap!" Nancy swore in panic.

Jonathan didn't know how Heather was like this, but he was not gonna allow anyone to hurt Nancy!

He summons strength he didn't know he had, gets up, and charges at Heather for a tackle.

"AAAAA!" Jonathan yelled, tackling the crazy girl from behind. Or trying to as Heather barely moved. "Huh?" he grunts in distress, trying to move her.

Heather turns her head at him. "Oh Jonathan, if only Will had such courage." She tutted.

…What?!

Heather responds in quick moment by twisting around and grabbing him by the waist. She flung him upwards towards the ceiling.

He hit the ceiling, legs, back, and head. And fell. He managed to hear Nancy's horrified scream before hitting the floor.

"JONATHAN!"

Darkness engulfed his vision, quicker than pain.

He doesn't get up.

---

Jim shielded Joyce with his body on the floor as gunfire raged from the outside, shredding the chairs, tables, and walls. He breaks off from her and looks her straight in the eyes.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Jim urges a terrified Joyce to go forward.

Joyce snaps out of her shocked state and crawls swiftly into the hallway, Jim close behind as bullets fly over their heads.

*BANG *BANG *BANG*

Pieces of the wall, the remaining furniture, and the glass scatter around, a storm of chaos over an actual storm. Jim was sure that he and Joyce had several small cuts on their arms right now, but the adrenaline was pushing them forward, the pain irrelevant in the face of survival.

"KEEP MOVING! KEEP MOVING!" Jim hollers after her. "DON'T. LOOK. BACK!"

Through it all, they‛d managed to crawl over to the kitchen area in the back. Jim spots an island for cover.

He grabs Joyce by the ankle and points at it when she glances at him. "Go there! NOW!"

Joyce crawls behind the island and Jim joins her. He tries to find a way out while Joyce clutches her head.

*BANG *BANG *BANG

"Are you okay?!" he yells as he pulls out his revolver.

"No!" she yells back. Windows shattered in front of them, the glass flying through the air. They covered their faces. "Oh God!" Joyce screeches.

*KRA-KOOOM

Jim winces as thunder roars outside and light fills the inside for a moment. The shooting has stopped.

Jim prepares himself. If they stop, it means they'll go inside. He frantically searches for a way out.

"Now, why don't you two come out of there and we can have a nice, civilized conversation!" An arrogant voice shouted from outside. It wasn't Pierce‛s he knew that.

"Civilized conversation?!" Joyce hisses. "They'll kill us the moment we step outside!"

Jim said nothing because he had found a potential way out. A backdoor that was shot several times. The lock was destroyed. It definitely led outside in the backyard. And towards the forest behind the house.

"Joyce, look there!" he points, "I'm going to return fire. Then run like hell into the woods."

Joyce glanced back in worry. "And you?"

"I′ll be fine." He waved it off, shuffling near the hallway. He took a peek and saw flashlights approaching.

"The hell you are-"

"Joyce! Don't argue with me." Jim growled. He looked over. He saw flashlights getting closer. "Okay…Go, go, GO!" Jim raised his ‛66 and fired at the bastards.

*BANG *BANG *BANG

Thankfully Joyce listened as she slammed the door and ran outside. Jim still had to follow her. But they returned fire.

*BANG *BANG *BANG

He dove back for cover as a shower of additional debris filled the kitchen.

"Move in!" he hears a furious order filled with bloodlust. "Make them regret it!"

"Damn Transigen, damn Pierce, and damn this whole stupid, fucking mess!" Jim growled as he risked it and sprinted towards the exit.

Jumping outside, rain greets him. And he sees Joyce being caught by one of them.

"Let me go!" she yelled, struggling against the sonova bitch.

"Joyce!" he runs towards them, stopping and pointing at the bastard. "Get away from her!" he orders. "Let her-"

*CLICK

Jim stops, feeling the barrel of a gun pressing on his temple.

"Drop it," a command sneered to his left. The guy holding Joyce, some wild-haired fuck, cackled with glee.

Jim refused as he stood with the raised gun in the rain. Glancing at his left and glaring at the demanding asshole, he examined him.

Scared face, blonde, military style, with a mustache. Civilian clothing. With military gear being adorned over them.

"Are you deaf? Drop it!" the sonova bitch growled. Jim gritted his teeth as he dropped his gun. There wasn't much choice. "Good boy."

"Urgh!" He felt the air leave his body as the bastard's fist connected to his stomach.

"Jim!" Joyce yelled as Jim tried to regain his bearings, holding his stomach. He refused to fall.

In came the rest. Eight, he counted eight of them all together. One bastard came to his right and took his gun.

The leader, he assumed, came forward and kicked him down, "So, Chief Hopper! Nice to meet ya!" he greeted as Jim's face met the muddy ground.

He dubbed him asshole number one.

"Yeah, the boss sends his kind regards!" Asshole number two who took his gun kicked him in the back.

"Urgh!" Jim grunted in pain as he tried to get up but was pushed down once more by black boots.

"Say Chief, we‛re curious." Jim looked up and glared at asshole number two, who looked like a James Dean wannabe. "You saw the mess we made at the Lab. And you did nothing." Jim stilled as the guy crouched down. How did they knew? "Why didn't you, huh?" he asked, unknowingly being exposed.

So Jim responded by punching him in the crotch.

"Urgh!" the little bastard yowled as he fell, holding his privates.

"Okay, hold him down!" the leader commands, the remaining assholes crowding around him and restraining him.

Jim tries to struggle but his arms are pinned down and several of them put their black boots on his chest and stomach. He stops when they point rifles at his face.

*click *click *click

"Urgh, my balls!" asshole number two whined on the ground.

"Quit whining Elton and get up!" The leader barks at him. As Jim takes quick glance, he sees it's a bald black man with a long scar across his throat.

He recognized him. From Vietnam. He was in Pierce‛s unit.

The guy in charge turns and glares down at Jim. "So? What's the deal Chief?"

"Your mom." Jim spat in defiance.

The bastard smirked. "Funny." He lifts his foot and stomps on his stomach.

*SMACK

"Arugh!"

A punch to the face.

*BAM

"Urgh!"

They forego holding him down and start to kick him and beat him with their weapons. Pain shoots from all sides. Arms, legs, stomach, torso, head.

"NO! Leave him alone!" Joyce yelled in rage.

They stopped and focused their attention on her. Jim breathes in, his breath shallow. "…N-N-No… leave her…" he slurred as asshole one came to a stop in front of her.

"You're Joyce Byers, right?" Joyce spits in his face. "Lovely." He says, wiping his face. He responds by rearing back and punching Joyce in the face.

*BAM

"Joyce!" Jim yelled in anger as Joyce fell, her head hitting the ground. "I‛ll kill you-"

One bastard with a rifle comes and kicks him in the face.

Jim's vision is consumed by darkness.

---

"JONATHAN!"

Nancy felt immense horror when she saw Jonathan hit the ceiling and fall down with a painful thud. And then it increased tenfold when he didn't get up.

"Nancy." Nancy snaps her head at Heather. "I am so glad you came here. Now you have the great honor of joining us." She declares, spreading her hands as poor Mrs. Driscoll shakes violently behind her.

Nancy did not dare take her eyes off Heather. "Join you? What the hell are you talking about?" she walks backward, hoping to lure Heather far away from him.

Her heart ached along with her back. Jonathan was on the floor, showing no signs of being conscious and there was no way to help Mrs. Driscoll.

"Well to build silly!" Heather reveals, walking forward. "After all, we need to grow. To expand."

Nancy needed to stall. To buy time. "Grow and expand," she repeats, backpedaling into the kitchen. "Why?"

"Because this world is sick. And I'm the cure. Will provided such a lovely insight. Hehe!" Heather cackled as Mrs. Driscoll choked breaths made for a messed up ambiance.

Nancy didn't stop as they slowly entered the kitchen, but it made her brainstorm.

Will provided…? How is Will connected-?

It hit her. Just as her back hit the kitchen counter.

Oh, dear God!

It's him!

"It's you!" Nancy realized. She desperately grasped for something on the side. She felt a knife handle. "Aaargh!" she yelled, raising the weapon over her head and aiming for Not Heather.

Only for Not Heather to grab her hand and twist it.

"AAAARH!" Nancy yelled in pain as she felt her wrist being squeezed.

"It's me!" the bastard grinned, the tone now deeper and guttural.

*KRA-KOOOM

Nancy struggled to no avail. "We closed the—Aaaah!" she yelled as her arm was twisted further, forcing her to drop the knife.

"Awww. And because of it, you think I‛m gone." The Mind Flayer declares. He lowered down to her ear. "No. Turns out, more people want to open it. And guess what? They did." he turned, picked Nancy up, and threw her at the fridge.

Nancy sailed through the air for a moment. And her back flared with agony as the fridge stopped her flight.

Dropping to the floor, Nancy failed to hold back a whimper of pain that escaped her lips. She raised her head with much painful effort and saw the Mind Flayer staring at poor elderly lady in the living room. And to her left, the dining room where her purse and gun were.

He‛s back. And she needs to stop him.

"This is just the start." The monster merrily sang as Nancy willed herself to crawl over to the dining room. "A payback for that fire poker." Nancy shakily gets up. "And I can't wait-"

*CLICK

The Mind Flayer stops. He turns and sees Nancy Wheeler, standing straight despite the pain.

Pointing her Smith & Wesson.

"You're gonna wait a while!" Nancy growls, pulling the trigger.

*BANG

---

The first thing Joyce feels is pain. It stung mostly on the left side of her face, her cheek, and her jaw.

She slowly regained her bearings. She was… lying on something solid and dry. They were… they were inside the house.

Alone?

Joyce warily opens her eyes, daring to find out more. And sees a black boot standing near her face. People were talking. Bad people.

*KRA-KOOOM

Joyce quickly shuts her eyes and feigns unconsciousness. She pushes down the pain, the tiredness. She prays they haven't noticed.

"Yes sir. We caught them sniffing inside our property." The guy in charge spoke, the one who knocked her out, far away from them. "You were right. The tracking device on his car worked well."

Joyce restrains herself from visibly reacting.

A tracking device!? So that's how they knew!

"Hm? Yes sir. Right away." He replies as she hears him put the walkie-talkie away. "Okay, listen up Reavers! Pierce wants these two taken to Central Command. Also, we need to check the perimeter and the generator. Especially the generator. The integrity of the Key must not be compromised. Understood?" he commanded.

"Yes sir!" the thugs dubbed the Reavers yelled.

"Elton. Caldwell. Load these two up." the bastard ordered.

"Yes sir!" Elton and Caldwell guys complied.

"Rest of you, follow me!" he barks orders to the rest as she hears them rush off.

Joyce prepared herself to be deadweight. She was grabbed by the scruff of her neck, fingers digging in painfully, and dragged away outside.

As wet grass scratched her face, she tried to form a plan. Being dumped like a sack on the muddy ground, she listens to their conversation as the guy goes back to retrieve Jim.

"Lord, this fatass is heavy! Hey, boss said this guy was a real killer in Vietnam." Elton comments, the one who got punched in the balls.

"Well, the killer fell pretty easy. Heh, this chick put out more fight than him! Feisty!" Caldwell cackled the same bastard who caught and manhandled her.

An involuntary cough escapes her, but thankfully the rain hides it.

"Shut up Caldwell and help me!" Elton growls at him.

"Fine, fine. Ugh! Doesn't matter anyway, Pierces gonna make him talk." Caldwell huffed as they got closer.

She sensed them dump Jim beside her.

Elton groaned. "Ahhh! I'm gonna start the car!"

"Yeah, yeah." Caldwell waved off as Elton went off. A second passed. "You don't look so bad, don't you honey?" he lecherously said.

Pervert.

Wait. This is an opportunity. His attention was on her. A distraction. If only Jim had woken up.

A sound of an engine started near them and a clatter of boots approached them.

"A for fuc- Hey, watch these two I gotta take a leak," Elton demands.

"Why didn't you do it sooner?" Caldwell snarks.

"Why don't you mind your damn business?" Elton barks back. "Just watch them."

"Okay, okay, jeez." Joyce heard Elton run away. "Asshole." She hears Elton sneer.

Joyce dared to risk and took a peek. They were sandwiched between two black jeeps, with one running next to Hopper who was next to her, still unconscious. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Caldwell guy with his back turned to them, not watching them. He carried a rifle, had a gun holstered on his hip, a knife… and a grenade, Christ, these guys are ready for war!

Joyce took an opportunity to shake Hopper as Caldwell ranted to himself.

"Keep watch while it rains dogs and cats," Hopper's eyelids were moving, "you owe me, Elton."

Joyce decides to make a point of coughing loudly, attracting Caldwell's attention. She had trust in Jim Hopper to improvise.

Caldwell turned sharply at the sound, "Oh! Wakey wakey little Hozier!" the bastard got closer as she turned over and slowly crawled away from them.

Joyce's heart started to beat. She didn't have a way of fighting this guy alone. But his attention was solely on her.

"Listen sweetheart. We got on the wrong foot." He approached her, looming above her. "Don't take this too seriously. We‛re just doing our job."

Hopper's eyes were wide open now.

Joyce stared at the bastard as he continued. "Come on! You should relax. We just wanna talk to ya." He crouches down.

Joyce glared daggers at the bastard who failed to see Jim Hopper slowly waking up and taking labored breaths. Thank God the rain made a louder noise.

"What‛s the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he pokes her cheek, laughing. "Hahaha-AAARGH!" he howled as Joyce grabbed his hand and sank her teeth into his palm. "You fuckin bitch!" he growled as she made him bleed.

"Fuck you! You heartless-! Urgh!" Joyce gasped as Caldwell grabbed her by the throat.

"You'll pay-" Caldwell sneers but Jim Hopper stops him with a chokehold.

Joyce breathes in relief as Caldwell's eyes widen in panic, letting her go and desperately trying to reach his gun. Jim wore him down, preventing him from reaching his gun and increasing pressure on his neck. He had enough time to utter just one word, "What-!"

*CRACK

*KRA-KOOOM

Joyce barely breathed as she couldn't look away. Life vanished from Caldwell's eyes. He maybe looked strong but Jim Hopper was stronger.

"Are you okay?" Jim huffed, dropping the dead Reaver on the grassy ground.

"I'm… not." Joyce swallowed rubbing her throat.

Jim nods, huffing. "Let's go."

"No. Jim, they put something on your car!" Jim stares at her. "That's how they knew."

"Crap. Shit!" Jim swore, glancing at his car and then at the running car beside them. "Come on, we‛ll take their car." He declares, taking Caldwell's gun and rifle. And a grenade off his belt.

They get up on shaky legs, a heavier task for Jim. Joyce helps him get up on his feet.

"Quick! Before they-" Jim urges, opening the door.

They're about to enter the car. When Elton returned from his pee break and those Reavers emerged from the house and saw the scene. A good second passed before they realized what just happened.

"The fuck? Hey!" Elton yelled.

"They‛re escaping!" the leader roars.

All of them raised their weapons to open fire. Jim however is faster as he pulls the pin off the grenade and tosses it at his Blazer parked right in front of the house. And just in time for those assholes to see it.

"Oh shit!"

"Get down!"

*KA-BOOOM

His car exploded in a fiery ball of inferno blaze. It went up from the mere shockwave. The shockwave itself sent them all flying, including Joyce and Jim.

Joyce flew backward, landing on the green grass.

Her ears rang.

It took Joyce several seconds to get up on shaky legs. She coughs and sees the destroyed Blazer has fallen near the house. The fire burned and from it, it started to spread over the building.

"Find Jim," she told herself. They needed to get away!

Joyce turns and sees him sprayed in front of a black Jeep, the one that wasn't running.

She dragged herself towards Jim Hopper who had gotten the worst part of it. He hit the vehicle pretty hard, leaving a dent on the door.

"Jim! Jim!" she runs to him. "Jim, grab my hands!" Joyce frantically tried to lift him but failed as he just fell down again.

He coughed. "Urrgh, Joyce, you have to-"

"No!" Joyce commands, not willing to see another man she cares for to die. She won't let them! "Get up!"

With quick and shallow breaths, Jim barely lifts himself. Joyce has him put his arms on her shoulders and steers him towards the Reaver's jeep. "Get in!" she yells, opening the passenger's door and pushing him inside. Joyce managed to get to the driver's seat when bullets started to fly.

*BANG *BANG *BANG

Joyce stumbled for a key as Jim begged, "Dr-rive!" he slurred with pain.

"I-" Joyce was fumbling, staring at the steering wheel. How…?!

She saw Jim hold back the pain and yell, "DRIVE!"

Thank the Lord, Joyce regained control and hit the gas just in time.

They flew away from the property, from Reavers who continued to shoot at them as bullets ricocheted off the car. Thank God as several seconds passed, the shooting stopped.

Heraty Bridge Road was laid in front of them as Joyce drove at a rushing speed towards Hawkins. Her heart had slowed down but was still beating strongly. They needed to warn the kids. If they put the tracker on Jim‛s cars then they knew where they were!

"Jim, you OK?" Joyce takes a quick peek at Jim. Jim is slumped in the passenger seat, not responding. "Jim? JIM!"

---

*BANG

Her gun echoed like a lightning strike and the bullet found its mark right at her forehead, red blood leaking out and cascading down her face.

For a second, Nancy was sure she ended Heather's life, sure she‛ll fall and that will be the end of it, aside from the immense guilt of ending Heather Holloway‛s life.

And then her stomach dropped as Heather, the Mind Flayer stumbles for a moment, gripping the counter for support, before standing up and the bullet hole on her forehead healed!

‛…That‛s new.‛ she thought dumbfounded as the supposed life-ending damage disappeared and the bastard smirked at her with evil eyes. The blood that remained on her face made for a disturbing sight.

"Ah, crap!" Nancy uttered, seeing black veins pulsing across her face.

She tried to find another way, they needed to get the hell out of here!

Mind Flayer chuckles as Nancy noticed a kitchen locker to his side. A movable locker.

"I made some improvements." He boasted, wiping Heathers face, smearing the blood. "I am stronger than ever, Nancy!"

"Oh yeah? How about this?!" Nancy literally shoots back, aiming at the legs.

*BANG

*BANG

Her bullets found their marks again, hitting the kneecaps and making Not Heather collapse with a howl of pain.

"You-!" she (he?)- It didn't finish as Nancy rushed to the locker and pushed it down on it with a desperate yell.

"AAAAAAH!"

"Damn bitc-"

*CRASH

The kitchen locker fell hard on the monster. She heard glass shattering. That‛s not going to keep it down but it will buy precious seconds.

Nancy spat the bastard and ran towards Jonathan. He was stirring, oh thank God!

"Jonathan! Jonathan, honey please get up!" Nancy begged as she kneeled beside him and cupped his face.

"Wh-What?" Jonathan groggily mumbled.

"We have to go." She urges him, trying to lift him. "Now!"

"But Mrs Driscoll-" he pointed at the old woman who was still shuddering uncontrollably.

It pained Nancy to say this, "I know. But we have to move! Come on! Lean on me!" she said as used the human crutch method she learned in first aid. Jonathan groaned in agony. "Okay, easy, easy!"

"Where you going, Nancy?" Nancy stopped. Anger made her turn, seeing the Mind Flayer lifting the closet with one, black-veiny arm. "You and Jonathan off to-"

With a glare, Nancy cuts it off by aiming at the muscular, black veiny arm.

*BANG *BANG *BANG

The remaining three bullets fly, the biceps, forearm, and palm. All hit shots. With the growl of pain, Mind Flayer lost control and the locker pressed the monster back on the kitchen floor.

"Fuck you!" Nancy hissed.

"Great shot sweetie…" Jonathan moans.

"Oh never mind that, come on!" she urges him to stand up.

Guiding him towards the door, Nancy pushes them open and drags Jonathan outside, guiding them to their car. She stopped as she saw another vehicle next to theirs, a Ford Sierra, was parked. Probably how he got here.

As rain batters them and she nearly drops Jonathan, they manage to get to the vehicle.

She opened the door, pushed him inside, and rushed to the driver's seat. She turned the ignition.

Nothing.

"No! Cmon! Cmon! CMOON!" Nancy slammed the steering wheel, turning the key repeatedly.

The car, thank the Lord, roared. "Yes!"

Nancy wasted no time and hit the gas. As they left Driscoll's estate in haste, Nancy could focus on Jonathan, "Breathe! Breathe, okay, breathe." She stroked his chest with one arm while driving with the other.

"W-We, we have to warn them." He mumbled, holding onto the grab handle. "We have to warn them."

"Yes, we do. But first, we find a place to hide. Then call. Okay?"

"O-Okay." Jonathan complied.

Nancy drove like a maniac. She prayed the rest were in one place.

---

After finding the neighbourhood she saw in the Void, Eleven taps Max on the shoulder to stop. As the redhead breaks, Eleven jumps off the bike and marches down.

The torrent bearing down on them from the dark sky doesn't slow her down. She is determined. She will get to the bottom of this. The rest try to keep up with her, dragging their bikes that light the way. No questions were asked about what she did and why. Eleven was very thankful for their… trust.

"Does it still have to rain?" Dustin complains, glaring at the sky, nearly falling when Will stumbled on him. "Uff!"

"Sorry!" Will ha-sti-ly apologizes.

"What? Our Scooby-Doo investigation not going as you hoped?" Max mocked him.

*KRA-KOOM

Max jumps with a yelp, clutching Lucas's arm and nearly knocking him down. "Woah!"

"What? Scared of little thunder?" Dustin… quipped?- yes, quipped as Max flipped him the bird.

"Enough! Both of you!" Mike snaps at them. "Eleven has to focus."

"Can you even find her?" Lucas asked as they continued to stride across the street.

Eleven ignored them all, eyes searching for the right place. There are many houses lined up in a row, left and right, and almost every single one of them i-den-tical. But she knew the right numbers from the mailbox.

"One four three one. No. No, not that one." Eleven inspected each one. "No. No. No…," Eleven stopped at the sight of one four three eight. "There." She pointed at the house with the red door, the same one she had seen when she found Freedy in the Void.

He emerged from the ice-filled tub and locked eyes with her, they were wild with fear and terror. He whispered in a hoarse voice. "Help me."

"That's the place?" Mike asks her, shaking her from her thoughts.

"Yes." Eleven breathes as she suddenly rushes to the two-story house and stops, glaring at the red door. She turns the knob. Locked.

"Okay, what now?" Will wondered.

Eleven took a deep breath.

She feels a sensation in her brain, each time she uses her powers. There is a slight hum as the sound of metal turns. The red door unlocks and opens slowly before them.

"Sooo, we're just gonna enter some stranger's house…" Dustin trails off as Eleven steps forward. "Okaay then. We're gonna do that."

"Quiet Dustin!" Max hissed.

A light, pleasant music was playing as they cautiously entered the house. Nothing seemed out of order.

"I didn't expect this." Lucas slowly said as they moved through the short corridor.

"What exactly did you expect? A welcoming party?" Mike quietly snarks, removing their rain-soaked hoods and staring at the pale, yellow walls.

"I don't know. The lights are on, someone's home. But… somethings odd," Lucas replies looking around.

"Something is odd." Eleven grimly confirms. It was quiet, despite the weather outside. And she didn't like it.

It should be pleasant. The house was… comfy. Eleven wondered if she could convince Hopper to live in a place like this. She loved their cabin in the woods. But sometimes, Eleven wanted to live a normal life. Out in the open. And she did live it until it happened again. Something stood in the way of happiness. And Eleven was getting tired of something always happening.

At least she found out she has a sister. And if this Heather is a threat…!

Eleven clenches her fists at the thought, walking further down the hallway. She sees a picture to her left. A family of three.

"Oh." Eleven realizes as she stares at the smiling Heather Holloway, leaning on a middle-aged man with a slight grey hair and another middle-aged woman next to them.

"It's her house," Max utters as she gazes at Heather and her parents in the picture.

"What?" Lucas asked glancing back and forth.

"We′re in Heather's house," Will repeats with anxiety.

"Oh crap!" Mike uttered and Dustin kept a wary lookout for the Holloways.

The Party collectively snaps their heads as they hear a woman laughing. It came from the living room area ahead of them.

"And then I said, that my duck!" A familiar voice laughs.

"Hehe, he's so funny!" a woman giggles.

"Well, you could have fooled me!" another man cackles.

They remain silent, unsure what to do next.

"…Um should we…?" Will suggests, gesturing at the voices.

"I don't know," Max replies, throwing her hands.

Dustin frantically waves his hands, stopping them from going further. "No. Guys, we‛re in someone's house." Eleven gives him an unimpressed look. "We could get-"

Eleven ignores him, marching past him.

She stops in the middle of the living room with an active record player and sees to her right three people sitting by a table. Heather's parents… and Freddy.

He is smiling. Looks at ease. Not scared and pleading for help. …It was a trick. A lie! The horror she saw in Freedy's eyes, his pleading-

"Help me!" Freddy uttered those helpless words before he was snatched by something from below and pulled down.

Eleven screamed, desperately trying to reach him.

She failed, screaming in the Void his name.

He would not be sitting here, in a blue short-sleeved shirt, eating dinner with a smile on his face and making jokes with Heather's parents.

This… wasn't Freedy. She knew. She just knew. And Heather…

The rest hastily join her, their footsteps alerting the three people. Their smiles disappear when they see them.

"Good evening kids. May we help you?" Freedy greets them, holding a fork and knife.

"We, uh, we didn't mean to barge in." Lucas apologized.

"Yeah, we knocked but you probably didn't hear us over the storm," Max explained, pointing in the back.

"What she said," Mike added.

"Right." Freedy nods with a con-fi-dent smirk.

"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" the older man asks with narrowed eyes. Heathers dad.

The muscled teen chuckles and gets up. "Janet, Tom, this lovely little group standing before you… are my friends."

Eleven did a double take.

No they were not!

"We are?" Max elbowed Lucas. "Uff."

"Oh!" the woman, Janet, Heather's mom, smiled. "That's nice but what are you doing here?" she curiously asked, sipping a glass of wine.

Freddy approaches them. "Janet, you are right! Tell me, what on Earth are you doing here, you little rascals?" he asks them with a concerned smile. A fake smile.

"We… wanted to make sure everything was okay." Will stumbles for an answer.

"Okay? Why it wouldn't be okay? Is there something wrong?" Freedy asks with concern.

Eleven decided, as Dad did, to cut through the chase. "Where is she?" she demands.

Freedy slowly sets his eyes on her. "I'm sorry, where is who?" Freddy asked, with a noticeable hint of daring behind it. She saw his broad shoulders tensing up.

*KRA-KOOM

"Sorry everyone!" Eleven's neck nearly cracked as she watched in shock. She came from the hallway, dripping wet. "I got caught up at the Pool, the guys really… Oh, good evening." Heather Holloway greeted.

Eleven stared at her. Pink short-sleeved shirt, denim skirt. She looked as she… walked through the rain.

She shook her head. Yes, she walked through the rain, that's why she is wet, hair, clothes and everything. And yet… her clothes were slightly torn, some cuts here and there. Eleven noticed she was tired. There were notable dark circles under her eyes.

"Honey!" Janet exclaimed as she and Tom got up and rushed to her. "We've been worried. Oh, what happened?" Janet pointed at her disheveled appearance.

"Oh, sorry Mommy and Daddy! The guys and gals at the pool. Well, they were a bit confused about why I or Freedy didn't show up at work today. But… it's the Munsons. Oh, this whole tragedy shook me to the core!" she bemoaned, hands on her chest and head hanged.

"Oh, that." Janet mournfully said. "It's terrible, isn't it Tom?" she grimly says to her husband.

"An accident honey." Tom soothed. "Sadly, it happens."

‛It wasn't an accident. It was murder!‛ Eleven furiously thought, wanting to scream the whole truth.

Heather went to stand next to Freedy, "Freedy was there for me and we just kicked it right off." she gave them a bright smile as they joined hands. "Now I feel so much better."

"How lovely." Max whispered sar-cas-ti-cally to Eleven.

"Hey! I know you!" Heather points at Max, making her jump. "You're Billy's sister. Max."

"Stepsister actually." Max corrects, shifting on her feet. "We‛re, um, not related."

Heather chuckled. "Doesn't matter. And you. You're Mike Wheeler." Mike scratched his neck. "Nancy and I are in the same class." She says to Mike, her eye twitching.

"Um, yes," Mike confirms. He shifted closer to Eleven. She noticed Max and the rest were doing the same thing. Huddling together.

"And this Lucas Sinclair." Heather narrows her eyes. "Your dad works in maintenance. Right?"

"H-Heh, actually, he‛s an electrician." Lucas nervously chuckled, rubbing his arms.

"Oh! Yeah right." Heather waves off and focuses on Will. "And you're, well, everyone knows who you are." She merrily stated.

Will gave a shy nod. As he went to hide behind them, Eleven… deeply disliked how Heather watched Will. She had… how did Max say- half a mind to snap at her.

Then Heather settled her gaze at Eleven. "And I'm sorry, you are?" she asked with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Eleven‛s stare bore into her eyes. "…El."

"El." Eleven narrowed her eyes at that growl she heard. "Why did you want to know where I was?" she demanded, her voice getting… angry.

Eleven stilled and then tensed. Freddy too was staring at her with no smile on his face.

*KRAKOOOOOM

Janet warily glanced between her daughter and Eleven. Tom too was confused by the obvious feeling of tension and hostility. "Um, what's going on-"

"HEY!" Dustin yelled, making everyone jump. "Yup. Hi. I'm Dustin." He clapped his hands. "Dustin Henderson. Probably forgot about me, no problem, lovely to see you all! And guuuuys," he addressed them in a hight-pitched tone, "I just remembered, we have that big! Summer! Project! You know, for school!" he gave them a desperate look with brows high up.

"Yes!" Lucas hastily nods. "Yes, we took it as an initiative."

"It's super important." Mike joined in. "Could determine our future. You know. College and stuff."

"So, we should really be going. Because we have a deadline." Max insisted, pointing at her watch. "And our… parents are probably worried."

Freddy smirked as Heather chuckled, "Oh, I bet!" Heather said, switching her gaze, along with Freedy, back at Will.

Another tense moment passes.

Eleven jolted as Will suddenly started to push her towards the hall. She noticed he also dragged Mike by the hand.

"Will, what the hell-"

"Sory, sorry, it was nice to meet you! Great seeing you Freedy! Thanks for the help!" Will rambled, hauling them and the end of the hallway.

"Um, dude?" Dustin asked as the rest followed.

"We need to leave!" Will hissed, eyes wide and afraid.

Eleven and the rest took notice and agreed with Will. They needed to leave.

Janet and Tom followed them as they went through the front door. They weren‛t sure what to say.

"Are you kid alright?" Tom asked.

"Are you sure?" Janet worried. "It's raining dogs and cats-"

"Yup!" Will chirped.

"We're sure!" Max hollered

"Bye!" Dustin waved. "Urgh-!"

They nearly fell on the ground, stumbling out of the house and towards their bikes. Tom and Janet didn't notice that Heather and Freedy stayed in the living room.

Will didn't wait for them as he picked up his bike and went off without them.

"Will, wait!" Mike called after him, rushing with bike.

"Will!" Dustin pleaded.

"What is wrong?" Max yelled.

They follow him towards the end of the neighbourhood, right were they first came. Then Will stops. He stands there, motionless.

"Will?" Lucas ten-ta-tively asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Will," Eleven comes to confront him. He didn't look at her. "Will. Look at me. What is wrong?"

As rain fell on them, Will slowly put a hand on his back on his neck.

He turned to face them and uttered two horrifying words.

"He's back."

---

"Come on Jim, stay with me!" Joyce begged him while driving crazy.

He held on the seat's edge for balance while feeling like crap. As if a herd of bulls trampled him. That damn shockwave hit him hard. His ears still rang-

"Urgh!" he groans in pain as Joyce makes a sharp turn. "Joyce!"

"Sorry!"

"Joy-ce, we, we need to con-tact the kids…" he stops to catch his breath, his still ringing, "they have to know!"

"Our walkie-talkies were in your car." She laments. She then jumps. "Oh, I have one! A spare in Melvads!"

"H-H,-" Jim fought off the nausea, "Hurry!" he urged.

"Okay! Hang on!" she warns.

Jim grabbed the grab handle above him just a moment before Joyce hit the gas once again.

Jim fought it all off. Pain, guilt, fear. Eleven wasn't safe. Joyce wasn't safe. Will, Jonathan the kids, shit, shit!

Don't lose it now James Hopper Junior. Don't you dare you lose it. You've been in Vietnam. You returned from hell. You survived New York. When cancer took Sarah you were tossed into a blender of self-destruction and pain.

But you endured!

You have people depending on you. People that cared about you and so do you in return. You have to protect them. At all costs.

After minutes of agony, they finally entered Downtown Hawkins, its rain-drenched streets thankfully empty. But Joyce was not stopping and Melvad‛s General was getting closer and bigger at an alarming speed.

"Joyce. Joyce! Brake!" Jim braced for impact.

*SCREEEEEEEECH

*CRASH

Jim grabbed the dashboard as he was sure everyone in Hawkins could hear them. The car was sliding across, knocking down a trashcan and destroying a wooden bench. Thank Christ it stopped just an inch from hitting the store.

"Oh God! That was close." Joyce glanced at him. "Okay," she says as she parks the bad guy's car, and exits.

She went over to the other side and opened the door for him. "Jim, come on. Easy now, easy." She grabbed hold of him by the arms and at a snail-like pace, dragged him out of the car.

"Ah, crap!" Jim swore as several bruises, cuts, and God knows what else throbbed with pain.

*KRA-KOOOM

"Steady. Come on, I have the key." Joyce said as she guided him towards Melvad‛s.

"You, you, heh, hehe," Jim chuckled in disbelief, "you kept the key for the store this whole damn time…!"

"Haha, you never know when it could come in handy," Joyce uttered as they came stop at the entrance.

Jim breaks away and leans on the side, giving Joyce room for unlocking Melvads. Opening the door, she comes to Jim again, "Okay, come. Jim, just hold on."

"W-Where?" he slurred. He needed painkillers. And a nap.

"The storage. I hid it inside." Joyce explains.

Jim huffs. "L-Lead on."

*KRA-KOOM

They wobbled through Melvad‛s as the storm continued to rage outside. At least it provided occasional light. They went further in the back, Joyce struggling to hold him and Jim doing his damnest to lessen being a burden to her. At one moment, Jim urged Joyce to stop because he couldn't hold down the vomit any longer.

*bllu-blaaaargh

"Ufff…" Joyce pinched her nose at the sight.

"Oooh God…" Jim moaned, "heheh, cleanup on aisle f-five…"

"Just keep moving Jim." Joyce urged him.

They, thank God, eventually came into the storage.

"Okay, we‛re here. You sit- um crap, on the floor. Nice cold floor. I'll try to contact the kids. Okay?" Joyce checks.

"Okay." Jim gave a thumbs-up as Joyce went to find the walkie-talkie. He quickly grabbed his head as the continuous headache increased in pain. At least his ears were eased up on the suffering.

He hopes he doesn't go deaf.

"If found it!" Joyce announces, coming back to him. She turns it off, tunes it, and starts. "Kids? Kids? Do you copy? I repeat do you copy?" she knelt in front of him, clutching the device and glancing at him.

Silence. Why were they not picking up-?

"Do you copy? I need you to pick up." Joyce continued.

Jim realizes. They bugged his car. That meant…

"Joyce. Joyce." He desperately calls for her.

Joyce puts the walkie-talkie on the ground and comes over to him. "It's okay Jim." She cupped his cheeks. Her touch felt nice. "I'm here. I'm here."

"Can—us?" Their heads snap at the sound. "–you hear-"

The radio was blaring with noise. It took a moment to filter through the pain and made Jim realize it was the kids.

"Can you hear us?" It was Dustin. "I repeat, can you hear us?! DO YOU COPY?!" Joyce grabbed the walkie-talkie in a flash.

"Dustin, we copy!" she answers. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

" We‛re fine, we‛re at Wheathertop. But-"

"Dustin?" Jim's eyes focus on the device. It was Nancy! "Dustin, this is Nancy and Jonathan! Do you copy?"

"Copy! What is it?" Dustin asked.

"GUYS! We have a major problem!" Nancy declared. There was urgency in her voice. And panic.

"Yeah no shit!" they heard Mike swear.

Jim and Joyce exchanged wary looks.

"What the hell happened?" Joyce whispered with anxious eyes.

"Make that a three," Jim added in a hoarse voice.

"Wait, what happened?" It was Lucas.

Joyce reveals, "Its Transigen-"

"Heather!" Dustin exclaims.

Jim and Joyce felt shocked.

Heather?!

"You too?!" Nancy incredulously said.

"Woah, woah what do you mean Heather?" Joyce called.

"And what do you mean you too?" Dustin demands.

"We went at Mrs. Driscoll, because of- Look I had a hunch, we came there and… she was acting crazy. We tried to help her but she started having a seizure! And Heather was there! And she nearly killed us! She hurt Jonathan!"

"Jesus!" Jim heard Will cry out as Joyce gasped.

"Is Jonathan okay?!" Joyce called out.

"I'm okay Mom… I‛ve… seen better days…" Jonathan moaned. He sounded beat up.

What on Earth happened?

"And she was strong, I mean super strong, she threw us around like ragdolls!" Nancy explained.

"And Nancy shot her," Jonathan added.

"What?" Jim asked in shock. The pain and the feeling of nausea disappeared for a moment. "You shot her?" Jim prayed Heather wasn't dead.

"Yes. And it barely worked." Nancy grimly discloses.

There was a numerous echo of "What?!"

"Yeah, um, well I think we know why is that!" Max reveals in a fearful tone.

"What? You do?!" Jim demanded.

"It's because... it's him." Nancy reveals. "It's the Mind flayer."

A beat of silence passes as Joyce's hands grabbed his at Nancys uttering of those dark words.

No. How…?

"They're right. He's back. I felt him." Will uttered.

"…What?" Joyce whispered. "No, no, no, no…"!

"What do you mean he's back?" Jim says out loud.

He hears Eleven talk for the first time. "The Gate is open. Again." She explains, her voice wary.

"That's impossible! Eleven closed it!" Jonathan argued.

"I don't know, the past two days proved anything's possible!" Dustin shot back.

"Guys! Calm down! Tell me, how do you know-" Jim frowns, "Wait a minute we told you guys to stay-"

"Do you want to know how or not?" Dustin scolded him.

Jim grunted, in annoyance and pain. "Hrmm, talk."

Eleven continues, "I found Freedy, the boy I saw last night with Heather. He was at her house, having…dinner with her parents. And he was..."

"Creepy! It was like Stepford Wives but reverse genders. Heather's parents didn't have any idea what was going on though." Max added her two cents.

"And then she came. Heather." Will carried on, sounding, well obviously disturbed by the encounter.

"Who is… possessed by the Mind Flayer. And somehow managed to possess Freddy as well." Lucas concluded, disturbed by the current situation.

"Yeah, I bet fresh from kicking our asses!" Nancy growled. "We barely managed to escape."

Mike kept on. "Anyways, we left and Will-"

"I felt it." Will finished, his voice hollow.

"Not again…" Joyce whispered in anguish. "Not again. Why…?" she asks out loud.

"Hey wait a minute," Max said, "you said Transigen…"

Jim explains, "We went to investigate-"

"Oh really?!" he could feel Dustin glaring at the microphone.

"Not now Dustin." Nancy snaps. "Go on Hopper."

"And Transigen just tried to kill us." Jim reluctantly reveals.

They tried to do that… shit he didn't have any idea how much time passed!

"What?!" the kids shout, Will's, Jonathan's and El‛s voices being the loudest.

"WHAT?! Mom are you-" Jonathan asked with worry.

"I'm fine Jonathan. Mostly." She rubbed her throat and face. "Jim-"

Jim puts a hand on her shoulder. They exchanged looks.

"Dad?" El‛s worried voice calls out for him. "Are you ok?"

"Gimme it to me, Joyce."

Joyce reluctantly did so as Jim took it and along with it a deep breath.

Pain shoots through him in a short wave. But the powers through nevertheless. He needed to be strong. For her. For all of them.

"I'm alright sweetheart," Jim reassures her. "We were following a lead. At one of the properties that Transigen bought. And we found it."

"Found what?" Eleven inquired.

"A giant machine that is stealing power from a nearby power plant. The thing that made that electro pulse and it's used to power, another way larger machine.

And Jim realizes what happened, is happening right now. Joyce came to the same conclusion, her eyes widening in shock and her breathing starting to fasten in pace.

"Which means they're the ones that opened the gate." Jim finished, so many pieces coming together.

"Oh shit!" Jonathan swore.

"Oh my god!" Nancy exclaimed.

"Those…! Stupid…!" Mike tried to say something, but the rage in his voice prevented him.

"Why? Just why?" Will bemoaned.

"Morons! Do they have any idea what they're playing at?!" Dustin growled.

"And let me guess? They found out." Lucas correctly guessed.

"Yes. They shoot at us. They put a tracker on my car."

"Oh fuck-!" Max swore in shock.

"Which means wherever you are, do not come back home." Jim points out. Their cabin. It'll have to do. "Go to our place and wait there-" he orders but is overridden.

"We are not leaving you behind!" Eleven declares with haste. "We still have to find Laura."

"Not while the Gate is open. If he′s here…!" Dustin objected cynically.

"We have to focus on closing the Gate! If we don't…!" Lucas points out.

"And even if we close the Gate again, we still need to deal with Tranisgen!" Nancy adds, anxious by the increasingly dangerous events.

"We will deal with them." Eleven proclaimed with confidence.

There was a pregnant pause of silence that left them all searching for some solutions, unsure how to proceed.

Before Jim heard a familiar chuckle that made him and Joyce stare at the device in terror.

"Oh will you now?" Pierce chuckled with menace, "Eleven."

No.

"Do tell me about your plan, girl? I would looove to hear the details."

He felt ice going through his veins at Pierce's drawl. The worst scenario happened as he locked eyes with a horrified Joyce. Jim was pretty sure that all of them paled upon hearing that intruding question. And what followed.

They know. They know everything now.

"Oh, God!" Joyce uttered in fear.

"HEHEHE! Well gentlemen, looks like we got ourselves some eave-droppers!" the sonova bitch cackled.

Dustin beat him to a punch for screaming in panic.

"Everyone scatter!" he screeched, "NOOOW!"

---

Greetings everyone and sorry once again for the four-month delay on the update. I've been quite busy this year, so naturally, I didn't have much time for myself to write. I deeply appreciate the comments and your understanding for the delay.

So, this is a large one, a quick overview:

1. Nancy investigates with a hesitant Jonathan to see how Heather is a part of this whole mess and they find out what is going on the hard way.

2. "Heather" is moving forward with her plans, despite the bumps she encounters.

3. Billy's self reflection comes and he finds out there's more to Hawkins than meets the eye.

4. Jim and Joyce do their own investigation.

5. The kids as well.

6. And it all comes down the major reveal, that while it helps the Hawkins crew a significant insight, it also leaves them shaken to their core.

7. Steve and Robin are not featured in this chapter, but rest assured, they're still part of this story and will return in the next chapter.

I've wanted to more part with Laura and other characters, but I've been delaying the update for too long so here it is.

As for another thing, I've been working on another story, a Godzilla story, that will hopefully be put up by the end of May.

I wish you good fortunes and hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for more!