Stand by me (steve harrington)

Chpt 21: The Mind Flayer

We all arrived at Joyce's house. It wasn't until we arrived i heard that Joyce's boyfriend was there. He did put on the power.. But he didn't make it out.

Will was unconscious on the couch. I didn't know the full story, but i knew that something was wrong with him. Johnathan was holding his hand and Nancy was comforting him.

All the rest of the kids were sat at the table as Hop tried to bandage up my leg. "That sucker got you pretty good, huh?" he said. I let out a small laugh. He went quiet as he finished bandaging me up.

"I'm sorry i wasn't there kid" he said. "Your sorry? I'm sorry i left. And... I'm sorry about what i said. I didn't mean any of it and-" "I know you didn't. And i didn't either. Nothing about Liz was your fault. I was just angry. I was angry at the thought of loosing you both" he said.

"I know. We were stupid" i said. "Yeah, stupid" he said with a sad laugh. "Have you heard from her?" i asked. He shook his head. "She'll come back right?" i asked. "I hope so bambi. I really hope so" he said with his head in his hands.

Hopper looked at the bedroom door where Joyce was. She locked herself in there when we got home. "You can go to her. I'll be fine" i said. "No, your hurt. I'm not leaving this time. I'm here and-" "Dad, i'm fine. Go" i said shewing him away.

He gave me a sad smile as he made his way over to the door. When he went into Joyce's room, Steve sat on the floor next to me. "How's you leg?" he asked. "Never better."

He laughed. "So now, you have a fucked up leg, and a cut on your head" he said. I touched my forehead where the plaster was. With all that's been going on, i had completely forgotten about it.

"It was Jake" i said. Steve's face dropped. "What?!" he exclaimed. "He was driving fast. He stopped and i hit my head. It's not a big deal... Except he broke my walkman" i said. "That's what your worried about?" he questioned.

"It was a great walkman" i said sarcastically. He smiled. "I really thought i liked him, you know? I thought he was sweet. I mean, he was sweet, before i went back to school. Before he saw me with people. It's like he got jealous if i spoke to anyone."

"I can't believe i was so stupid, you know?" i said. "You know, ever since i saw him, i knew he was an asshole" Steve said. "Hah, funny" i said. "No seriously, he had... An assholey face" he said which made me smile slightly.

"I see it" i said. I saw Steve look over to Nancy and Johnathan. "What happened?" i asked. "At the party?"

Steve sighed. "To sum it up... I'm bullshit. Our whole relationship was bullshit and everything along with it was total... Bullshit" Steve said.

"Your not bullshit Steve" i said. He gave me a sad smile. "Tell that to Nancy" he said in a small, sad voice. I could tell what Nancy had said really got to him.

I put my hand on his. "You, Steve Harrington, are a lot of things, but bullshit is not one of them." "Well, what about you? Your not stupid. Or a bad person" he said.

I scoffed. "Now who's wrong?" i said. Steve gave me a confused look. "I just, its like i'm angry all the time. And sometimes, i just burst. Like, everything goes black and i just snap. Like that day at the movie house. Or when i get in fights at school. Or when i fought with my dad" i said.

"I don't think you're a bad person Joy. Just, someone who's had some shitty things happen to them."

His words made my heart hurt a little less. "Hmm, maybe we should listen to each other more often" i said with a smirk. "Maybe" he replied.

We both smiled at eachother until we heard the kids begin to talk loudly. Steve helped me up and helped me over to the kitchen. "Wait, whats going on?" i asked as they all looked like they were planning something.

"It's a hive mind" Mike said. "Wait, what?" Steve asked. "A hive mind. It's a collective consciousnes. It's a super organism" Dustin said. "This is the shadow monster" Mike said pointing at a drawing of a large, dark creature.

"The shadow monster is in everything. The demogorgon, the demodogs and Will." "Demodogs? Really?" i questioned. Mike rolled his eyes as he continued.

"Hopper was in a tunnel underground. He said there was vines and that they moved. So, if these vines feel something like pain, so does Will, so does the demodogs and... So does the shadow monster" he said.

"The shadow monster is the brain. The demodogs and demogorgon are the warriors and Will is the spy."

"This is the thing that controls everything. This is the brain" he said pointing to the drawing. "Like the mind flayer."

"Like in dungeons and dragons?" i questioned. They all looked at me. "You play?" Dustin asked. "I dabble." "Wait, what's the mind flayer?" Max asked.

Dustin grabbed a book from the shelf. It was a dungeons and dragons manual. "The mind flayer." "What the hell is that?" Hopper asked walking into the room.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient that is doesn't even know it's true home" Dustin said. "It enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over its brains using its highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh my god, none of this is real. It's a kids game!" Hopper said with a groan. "It's a manuel! And it's not for kids. And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"

"Analogy" Lucas said. "Analogy? That's what your worried about right now?! Fine, analogy, for understanding whatever the hell this is!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Okay so this mind flayer thing, what does it want?" Nancy asked. "To conquer us basically. It believes it'a the master race."

"Like the Germans" Steve said. I gave him a glare. "The Nazis?" Dustin said condescendingly. "Yeah, yeah the Nazis" Steve said with a stammer. "If the Nazis we're from another dimension, totally."

"It views other races like us as inferior to itself." "It wants to spread and take over other dimensions" Mike chimed in. "We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it!" Lucas exclaimed.

"That's great! That's great. That's really great!" Steve said pacing up and down. "So if this thing is the brain and we kill it, then we kill everything it controls."

"We win" i said. "Great so how do we kill this thing? Shoot it with fire balls or something?" Hopper asked.

"No, no, no fireballs. You summon and undead army because... You know, zombies have no brains" Dustin said. We all glared at him.

"What the hell are we doing here!" Hopper said slamming the manual on the table. "I thought we were waiting for your military backup!" Dustin exclaimed. "We are!" Hopper shouted.

"Even if they come how are they going to stop us? We can't just shoot this with guns!" Mike said. "We don't know that! We don't know anything?!" Hopper shouted.

"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab. And we know the monsters are going to molt again! And we know it's only a matter of time before the tunnels reach this whole town!" Lucas exclaimed.

"They're right" a voice said from behind us. We all turned to see Joyce. "We have to kill it. I want to kill it" she said. "Me too, okay Joyce? But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here" Hopper said.

"No, but he does" Mike said. We all looked to Will who was laying on the couch. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing it's Will. He's connected to it."

"But he's the spy" i said. "Yeah but, he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is" Mike said. We all looked to Hopper.

Hopper walked over to the table and grabbed more sedatives for Will. He looked to Joyce who gave him a small nod.

"I have a plan" Hopper said.