my tears ricochet 𛲕 stranger things

chapter 29, spycraft

"Wait, guys," she spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Last year, El said the people at Hawkins Lab made her open some sort of a gate that allowed the Demogorgon to travel to our dimension. That must be how the other demogorgons and this Mind Flayer thing got back here, as well."

"So?" asked Lucas. "That doesn't tell us how to stop them."

"But what if it does?" said Daphne. "It's a hive mind, right? So if we close the gate, we cut them off at the source of their power."

"But how are we supposed to close the gate?" questioned Mike. "Hawkins Lab is overrun with demogorgons and we don't even know where it is."

"I don't know," said Daphne honestly. "But if we're looking for a way to kill the Mind Flayer, I think this is our only option."

"If El could open the gate, then maybe she could also close it," suggested Dustin, his brow furrowing.

"Only one problem," said Lucas. "None of us have seen El since last year."

Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne watched as Hopper distanced himself from the conversation. She narrowed her eyes, observing the way he ran his hand over his head and squeezed his eyes shut until lines appeared. He was hiding something from them.

"Okay, listen," he said, coming back to the table. "Maybe Daphne's right. Maybe the only way to stop this thing is to close the gate. So we'll just have to wait for the military backup to arrive, and then—"

"And then what?" demanded Mike. "Even if they come, how are they gonna stop this? You can't just shoot this thing with guns."

"You don't know that!" Hopper yelled back, his stubborn refusal to believe in anything other than pure logic returning with a vengeance. "We don't know anything!"

"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab," Mike pointed out, crossing his arms across his chest. If anyone could outmatch Hopper in pure stubbornness, it would be Mike.

"We know the monsters are gonna moult again," added Lucas.

"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town," finished Dustin.

"You three are a real bundle of optimism, you know that?" said Daphne sarcastically, leaning down on her elbows on the kitchen table.

"They're right," said a voice from the hallway. Daphne glanced over her shoulder, spotting Joyce in the doorway.

The woman's sunken eyes gave her the impression of a soldier returning from war, scarred and defeated. She had lost her boyfriend to the demogorgons in Hawkins Lab — Mike had told them about it once they'd returned. Daphne couldn't even imagine what she must be feeling right now. But there was a glint of determination in her eyes that made Daphne straighten up where she was standing.

"We have to kill it. I want to kill it."

"Me, too," said Hopper, his tone becoming instantly gentler. He moved over to her, stopping just in front of the distraught woman. "Me too, Joyce, okay? But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

"No," said Mike, breaking the tension between the two adults. He nodded over to Will, lying unconscious on the couch. "But he does. If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know its weakness."

Daphne had to admit, it was as good of an idea as any. Perhaps Will could give them a clue as to how to close the gate. Or something even better, like how to fight the demogorgons. They had to have a weakness...right? The group slowly moved over to Will, glancing down at him suspiciously.

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore," voiced Max. "That he's a spy for the mind flayer now."

"Yeah, but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is," said Mike.

Daphne caught his eye, and something flickered inside her brain. "Do you have, like, a shed or something? We could cover all the walls and windows so he can't figure out our location. Then you can ask him anything you want without worrying that he'll reveal our location to the Mind Flayer."

"Yes," said Hopper, almost to himself rather than them. "Yes, that will work."

He turned instantly, heading out to the Byers' back garden. Mike and Daphne exchanged a look before following him, the steely determination of Joyce Byers still ripe in the same air that they breathed. Hopper stopped in front of a wooden shack a few feet from the house, opening the door and peering outside.

"Grab anything you can find to cover this place up. Newspaper, cardboard, old cartons... And let's make it fast."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

author's note !

i broke my ankle :(

- el xx