Season Three (Stranger Things ff) (Season One & Two Trilogy)

Chapter Five: The Flayed

"Well, that proves it, that proves my theory" Nancy said.

"She's flayed, just like Billy" Lucas said.

"Flayed?"

"The Mind Flayer, he flays people" Will explained. "Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him"

"If there are two flayed...we have to assume there are more" Nancy said.

You looked over at El and raised your eyebrow at her, hoping she'd understand what you were saying.

"Heather" she said. She did understand. "Billy was doing something to her, she was scared. She was screaming, bad screams"

"What's a good scream?" Lucas asked.

"Max and Y/N said..." but Max cut her off as you shook your head.

"Doesn't matter"

"I'm sorry, I'm lost. Who is Heather?" Nancy asked.

"She's a lifeguard at the pool" Max said.

"Heather Holloway?" Nancy looked over at Jonathan. "Tom"

You all climbed in Jonathan's car and you drove to Heather's house. When you were in the car, you were looking out the window when Nancy asked, "What happened to you?" She saw the bruises, not only that, she knew you usually talked a lot and you were strangely quiet that day.

You looked over at Lucas and he responded for you. "Billy got out of hand last night"

Out of hand, you thought. Ha!

"What!" Nancy shouted, she swerved the car and you all swayed in your seats as she did. "He did that to you?!"

"She's fine, she's rather not talk much about it" El told her.

She looked over at you and you nodded her thanks. She was right, you didn't really like how everyone got super worried, but you liked that they cared about you.

When you got to Heather's house. El unlocked and opened the door with her mind. There was no one home. You shuddered as chills ran through your body, it was freezing.

"Do you guys smell that?" Jonathan said.

You moved to the kitchen and you covered your nose and you scrunched your face from the strong smell. You all saw a bunch of cleaning supplies and chemicals on the counter, spilled on the table and floor.

"More chemicals" Nancy said looking in the kitchen.

"You think they're guzzling this shit?" Mike said.

"Yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree" Lucas said.

"But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals" Nancy said. "This is something new"

"Mr. Clarke, fifth grade. Posit" Lucas said. "What happens when you mix chemicals together?" he said. You knew the answer to that.

"You create a new substance" Mike said.

"What if they're making something? In themselves?"

"I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you" Jonathan said.

"Yeah, if you're human" Nancy told him.

You all kept moving through the house and you saw a blood stain on the rug.

"Yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead" Nancy looked at Jonathan. "He was attacked"

You all moved to the garage and you saw rope through on the ground.

"They must have tied them, taken them somewhere" Jonathan said.

"Mrs. Driscoll" Nancy said. "She kept saying 'I have to go back'. What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place
where all this started, right?"

"A source" Mike said.

"Somewhere he didn't want me to see" Eleven said.

"If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him. Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals" Nancy said.

"How do we find it?" Max asked.

"Mrs. Driscoll" You all turned to Will. "If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

You all then drove to the hospital where Mrs. Driscoll was. Plan was to let her go and follow her to where she needed to go. When you entered the hospital, you saw a receptionist on the phone and you all tried to pass her.

"See, you're the only one who gon' tell... Whoa, whoa, whoa! Excuse me!" she stopped you guys. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Oh, um...I was just going to visit my grandma again" Nancy tried to tell her. "And... And this...this is my family"

"Extended" Lucas told the receptionist.

"I don't care who they are. You know the rules, two visitors at a time" she said waving her phone at you guys.

"Yeah, but..."

"Two!" she shouted. She sat back down and went back to her phone call. "Girl, this child has lost her mind, she brought a whole zoo in here"

Jonathan and Nancy went up the elevator to see Driscoll, you and everyone else sat in the waiting area.

It's been a while since they've gone. You sat up in your seat and started to clear your throat. *ahem* *erm* mm-mm* *ahem*. Everyone turned to you and waited anxiously for you to say something. Once your voice was clear, you looked at them and said.

"Does anyone have money I want food"

They all sighed and rolled their eyes in annoyance. They didn't expect you to say that after everything that's happened.

"What? I'm hungry" you told them.

Your voice was still hoarse but hey, at least you could talk.

Everyone took out their change from their pocket and handed it to you. You and Mike went over to the vending machines. You punched in a few numbers and waited for the snacks to come out, but they stopped before they could fall.

"Oh, come on, piece of shit!" you tried to shout in your hoarse voice as you kicked the machine. Mike sighed, he was hungry too.

You then saw all the snacks jump out and fall off to the entrance. You and Mike turned and saw El wipe her nose.

"Thanks" Mike told her, she nodded.

You and Mike went down and started to grab all the snacks. You then turned to Mike.

"So your going to talk to her?"

"I've tried, she didn't want to talk to me" he said going back to the snacks.

You grabbed his shoulder. "Look, me and Lucas will distract Max and your going to talk to her"

He looked at you surprised but then nodded. "You know, I'm glad you can talk again, kind of"

"Yeah, you shouldn't have gotten used to the silence" you said grabbing a bunch of snacks into your arms and going to Max.

You pulled her as Lucas to the side and started to throw skittles and m&ms into each other's mouths, trying to catch them. When you looked back, you saw Mike and El talking, hopefully it was working.

You, Lucas and Max kept throwing candy at each other, but then you stopped when you saw the lights flickering. You turned and you saw Will getting up from his seat and watching the lights worried. Aw shit.