0 0 2 ━ [ 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 ]

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟹: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜

"A demogorgon?" Hopper asked with a confused look as Sarah and Steve stood before him. They had rushed back to the house immediately after taking down the demogorgon to warn the others, who were still huddled in the living room around the TV. "But there hasn't been a demogorgon in Hawkins for ten years."

"There shouldn't be any at all," Sarah explained. "My team and I killed every last one that had escaped the Upside Down before its destruction."

"Is it possible that it wasn't a demogorgon, but something else?" Joyce asked.

Sarah contemplated this but ultimately shook her head no. "It may not have acted like one, but it looked just like one. I don't know what else it could have been."

"It's dead now though, so that's what's important," Steve announced.

"But if there was one, there could be others," Will pointed out, making Steve's face drop.

"I should probably get home to check on Quinn..." a pale-faced Steve said as he slowly turned towards the front door. He gave the group a wave before disappearing through the door and a somber look settled on Sarah's face that only Eleven seemed to notice.

Eleven moved to stand closer to Sarah, offering her a reassuring smile and softly squeezing her hand. Sarah smiled back at Eleven until an uninviting thought entered her mind and dropped the corners of her mouth back into a frown.

"This all seems too coincidental..." Sarah said to the group.

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked.

"There hasn't been a demogorgon in Hawkins for ten years and then I come back and suddenly one appears, when they're all supposed to be dead, no less?" Sarah explained. "Something else is going on."

"What do you think it could be?" Will asked.

"I'm not sure..." Sarah replied, rubbing her chin with her hand as she contemplated possible answers.

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Hopper spoke up, turning all eyes towards him. His mouth was set in a firm line and he had a serious expression on his face. "Tonight is family movie night."

"Jim, aren't you at least a little bit worried?" Joyce asked incredulously. "There could be a new threat in Hawkins!"

Hopper's expression didn't change and he crossed his arms to further prove his point.

"No, he's right," Sarah agreed with a sigh and a small shake of her head. "We should remain vigilant but for now it seems to be neutralized. Until something else happens, there really isn't much for us to do. And I did promise that we'd watch some Westerns when I got back." Sarah looked to Hopper with an apologetic smile, cracking the serious expression on his face into a matching grin.

"El, would you do the honors?" Hopper asked and Eleven eagerly nodded her head before rushing over to the collection of VHS's stacked on the shelf beneath the television.

After a thorough examination of her choices, Eleven finally settled on High Noon and the group cozied in to watch. Joyce passed around bowls of popcorn for everyone and Hopper even shared his case of beer. It was shaping up to be a perfect night. But the whole while during the film, Sarah's thoughts were constantly nagged by a hovering problem and surprisingly, it wasn't the demogorgon.

"Dad, can we talk for a second?" Sarah whispered to Hopper, who was sitting beside her in his armchair.

Hopper glanced towards the screen before answering, "Sure, of course."

Sarah and Hopper quietly exited the living room, trying not to disturb the others, but Joyce watched them curiously as they left.

"What did you want to talk about?" Hopper asked once they made it to the hallway.

Sarah hesitated for a second, unsure how to broach the topic that she wished to address with him. How was she supposed to tell her dad that she had been secretly living with her mother for the past ten years and that her mother wasn't who he believed her to be? But she had to do it. Despite how difficult she knew the conversation would likely be, he deserved to know and she felt bad keeping him in the dark.

"It's about mom..." Sarah began, her eyes darting around the hallway in an attempt to avoid Hopper's inquisitive gaze.

"What about her?" Hopper asked in confusion.

"It's...I've..." Sarah stammered, struggling with the words that would come next. But she didn't get the chance to finish her sentence because just then, somebody filled the silence for her.

"Sarah."

Sarah's head snapped toward the end of the hallway where she found a woman standing in the fading golden glow of a rift behind her.

Sarah immediately looked to Hopper for his reaction and found a look of bewilderment sewed into his features. His thick eyebrows knit together and his mouth hung open in a crooked gasp.

The air between the three became heavy, so heavy that Sarah didn't speak for fear that her words would sink soundlessly to the ground. She also felt as if it wasn't her place to be the first one to talk. That right was reserved for someone else.

At last, Hopper broke the silence with one word: "Diane?"

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