suıʞʍɐɥ oʇ ǝɯoɔlǝʍ sƃuıɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs

Chapter Seven: The Bathtub

qnʇɥʇɐq ǝɥʇ
uǝʌǝs ɹǝʇdɐɥɔ

November 12, 1983

Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy were driving in front of me in Jonathan's car. We were heading back to the neighborhood when Hopper came to a stop. I put my car in park, pulled the emergency brake, and got out. There were people taking things from Nancy's house. "I have to go home," she said. "No, you can't," Hopper grabbed her arm to stop her. "My mom... My dad... are there," she said. "They're gonna be okay," he told her. She just glared at him and started to walk towards the house. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Hopper wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her back. "Let go. Let go!"

"Hey! Listen to me. Listen to me. The last thing in the world we need is them knowing you're mixed up in all this," he told her. "Mike is over there." I froze for a few seconds, "shit. Dustin! I have to go get Dustin," I said and started to rush towards the house. Hopper ran after me, wrapping an arm around my waist, lifting me off the ground and walking back to the cars. "Put me down!"

"They haven't found them. Not yet, at least," he said and pointed up. I looked up to see a helicopter. "For Mike?" Nancy asked.  "Come on, get in the car," he said. Before I went back to my car, Hopper stopped me. ""Look, we need to find them before they do. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?" He asked us. "No, I don't," Nancy said. "I need you to think," he told her. "I don't know. We haven't talked a lot. I mean, lately."

"Look, is there any place that your... your parents don't know about that they might go?" He asked. "I don't know." Then it hit me, "I might," I said. I looked at Jonathan and he nodded."What?" Hopper asked, looking between us. "I don't know where he is, but I think I know how to ask him," Jonathan said. We got into our cars and headed to the Byers house. We rushed inside and headed into Will's room. "I got it," Jocey said. She handed it to Nancy and she turned it on.

"Mike, are you there? Mike? Mike, it's me, Nancy. Mike, are you there?" She asked. We waited a little bit but we didn't get an answer. "Mike, we need you to answer. This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?" Still no answer. "We need to know that you're there, Mike." I rolled my eyes and took the walkie talkie from her, "Dustin you better answer me right now, you little shit," I said into it. "I swear to god, Dustin. Answer me." Hopper grabbed it out of my hands and pressed the button on the side.

"Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up. We know you're in trouble and we
know about the girl." Nothing. "We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over." We waited for a few minutes but got no answer. My mom would kill me if something happened to Dustin. "Anybody got any other ideas?" Hopper asked. The walkie crackled with static then Mike's voice came through. "Yeah, I copy. It's Mike. I'm here. We're here." We all let out a sigh of relief and then Mike told us where they were.

Hopper had gone to get the kids while we waited at the house. I didn't really take notice when I walked in but there were Christmas lights strung up all over the house. The four of us sat in the living room waiting for Hopper to get back with the kids. I was pacing back and forth until we saw headlights. Nancy, Jonathan, and Joyce stood up and we ran for the door. "Mike. Mike?" Nancy said, running down the steps. I saw Dustin and ran over to him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I said, then pulled him into me. "I'm sorry. I'm okay. We all are and we found Eleven," he said, hugging me back. "No. I'm sorry. I was just so worried about you. Mom would have killed me if something happened to you."

Mike was holding a piece of paper up trying to explain what Mr. Clark had explained at the luncheon after Will's funeral. "Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat. Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea. And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding. Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space," he said. "A gate," Dustin clarified. "That we tracked to Hawkins Lab," Lucas said. "With our compasses," Dustin clarified again.

When everyone just looked at him he sighed. "Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle," he explained. "Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked. "Yes," Eleven said. "Near a large water tank?" He asked. "Yes." "How do you know all that?" Dustin asked. "He's seen it," Mike said. "Is there any way that you could... that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this—" Jocey asked. "The Upside Down," Eleven said. "Down. Yeah," Joyce whispered. "And my friend Barbara? Can you find her, too?" Nancy asked.

We stood in the kitchen, the walkie on the table turned to just static, and Eleven sat with her eyes closed. The lights flickered then she opened her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "What? What's wrong? What happened?" Joyce asked. "I can't find them," Eleven told her. She looked upset about it and got up from the table and went to the bathroom down the hall.

"Whenever she uses her powers, she gets weak," Mike said. "The more energy she uses, the more tired she gets," Dustin said. "Like, she flipped the van earlier," Lucas explained. "It was awesome," Dustin told us. "But she's drained," Mike said. "Like a bad battery," Dustin says. Well... How do we make her better?" Joyce asked. "We don't. We just have to wait and try again," Mike told her. "Well, how long?" Nancy asked. "I don't know," he said. "The bath." We looked over to see Eleven. "What?" Joyce asked her. "I can find them. In the bath."

After she explained what she did in the lab and about a chamber filled with water the boys figured out we would have to make a sensory deprivation tank. But we had no idea how to do that. So Dustin Went over to the phone and called Mr. Clark. "Mr. Clarke? It's Dustin."