𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑| Max Mayfield [COMPLETED UNTIL SEASON FIVE]

xv. the sauna test

Max attempted to allay Eleven's worries, stating, "Heather had a fever, so she took a cold bath, but she's better now. I don't know where that blood came from, but... we saw her. You, Cassidy, and I saw her. She's totally fine."

Despite Max's reassurance, Eleven's inquisitive gaze held a layer of doubt as she asked, "What about Billy?" The room filled with unspoken tension, as the mystery surrounding Billy's condition added an extra layer of complexity to their predicament.

Max's eyes widened slightly, a subtle curiosity in her expression. "What about him?" she questioned, seeking more information.

Eleven hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "He seemed wrong," she confessed slowly. Cassidy, sensing the tension, bit her lip and walked into the room, attempting to shift the focus. "Wrong is kind of like his default," she snickered, injecting a hint of humor.

"Agreed," Max nodded, and Cassidy took a seat on the bed between Max and Eleven. "But it's nice to know he's not a murderer because that would've totally sucked," Max said with a palpable sense of relief. Eleven glanced at Cassidy, their eyes meeting in a silent exchange of understanding. The room held a mix of relief and lingering unease as they navigated the complexities of the situation.

Eleven closed her eyes, focusing on probing Cassidy's mind. As she delved into Cassidy's thoughts, a trickle of blood started to descend from Eleven's nose, a visible sign of the mental strain. In the muted realm of telepathy, Eleven couldn't discern anything until 'Cassidy' thought, "I hope they're not suspecting anything about me yet."

A surge of fear gripped Eleven as she opened her eyes, still hesitant to confide in Max about her unease regarding Cassidy's peculiar behavior. Resolute in her determination to uncover the truth, Eleven found a momentary refuge in the fact that Cassidy and Max were sharing laughter, blissfully unaware of Eleven's use of her powers to peer into Cassidy's thoughts. The room held a delicate balance between the unspoken and the unknown.

Eleven gingerly wiped her bloody nose and shifted her focus to the comics. "Who... is that?" she inquired, pointing to Wonder Woman. A gasp escaped Cassidy as she swiftly picked up the comic and held it up.

"See, this is why you can't just hang out with Mike all the time," Cassidy and Max chimed in simultaneously, a shared sentiment of amusement.

"This is Wonder Woman-" Cassidy began, attempting to steer the conversation towards a more lighthearted topic, momentarily easing the tension in the room. The comic became a transient diversion from the unspoken concerns lingering in the air.

Back to Cassidy and Billy in the Upside Down

Cassidy and Billy pressed on through the hours, the persistence of Billy's questions starting to grate on her nerves. Suddenly, Cassidy halted in her tracks, a wave of annoyance sweeping over her. Yet, her irritation transformed into a frozen stillness as a vision gripped her—a glimpse of her physical body in the real world. Closing her eyes, a trickle of blood escaped from her nose, a tangible sign of the disconcerting link between her current reality and the one she glimpsed in that vision. The air hung heavy with the eerie resonance of the supernatural.

Memory: 'Cassidy', Eleven and Max reading comics and chuckling

Cassidy opened her eyes, wiping her nose as Billy stopped and turned to her. "Are you alright?" he inquired. "Just a vision of the Mind Flayer in my body," she replied, resuming her walk with Billy nodding in understanding.