Byler- The Unwanted Return of Everything (And How It Finally Ends)

The Parasite

Mike heard Lucas shouting a room over, trying to warn everyone about Jonathan.

"I'm gonna kill him," Jonathan muttered to Mike. "I'll kill all of you. None of you can know what's going on." He walked Mike over to the living room, where Lucas was standing and waiting for the rest of the group to come to aid him. He turned as he heard Jonathan enter, his expression panicked.

"Sorry I left you," he said quietly to Mike. "I figured he wouldn't shoot you since I'd just run anyway."

Jonathan laughed, tightening his grip on Mike's arm. "Well, I'll shoot him now, so don't try to pull anything else. Stay right where you are."

Jane ran into the living room behind Lucas, followed by everyone else... except Will. Mike squinted, looking for him. Why wasn't Will there?

"Oh my god," said Max, looking with her white eyes. "What are you doing, Jonathan?"

"It's not Jonathan," said Mike, earning a slight jab to the head. "It's the Mind Flayer."

Everyone exchanged worried glances and Jane stepped forward from the group, outstretching her hand. Mike had almost forgotten Jane had powers. Surely, she'd save all their asses and they'd never have to talk about this again. Easy fix.

Jonathan laughed, lowering Mike's confidence. "Try anything and I'll shoot. I've got fast reflexes, so don't think you can trick me."

Jane kept her hand up, her eyebrows lowered so she looked scary. "How long have you been inhabiting Jonathan."

"This entire time," Jonathan answered. "Jonathan is dead. He has been for three years. I'm simply using his body until I can reach my final host."

"Your final host?" Jane asked. Elaborate.

"William Byers," Jonathan said plainly. "He is essential to me... this body is not."

"We'd never let you get to Will," Dustin said, crossing his arms. "We'll stop you before you can even try."

Jonathan smiled. Mike couldn't see it, but he could feel the smile. "You can't stop me, Dustin Henderson. The only way to stop me right now is to kill William Byers." He looked around. "And I know you won't do that." He tapped his foot, making the room unbearably quiet for a moment. Mike was still shaking. He had no idea what to do.

"Actually," Jonathan continued. "Let's make this fun. I used to know someone who liked to make things like this fun. I think you killed him, right?"

"Vecna?" Mike guessed. "Yeah, we killed him. And we'll do the same to you."

"I'm holding a gun to your head, not the other way around," Jonathan reminded him. "Anyway, here's a deal. Just because I'm curious about what you'll do. The human brain is very interesting to me. And human emotions as well. I feel like this will be beneficial to my understanding of-"

"Just tell us what it is," Max snapped.

Jonathan sighed. " Fine. Either I kill every one of you in this room– and I am capable of that– or you kill William Byers."

The room was silent for a moment. Mike watched as everyone had small non-verbal conversations with each other, taking in their options. The answer to that question was almost obvious, obviously, you'd kill one person rather than five, but nobody was too fond of the other option either.

"Hard decision, hmm? I just wanted to see if you'd choose anything." Jonathan tapped his fingers on Mike's arm, sending shivers down his spine. "I'll make it easier. Either I kill all of you, or you bring Will to me. I don't want him dead anyway." Mike didn't like that option much better. He'd rather one of the options be I'll just leave Will alone and go back to the Upside Down. Then maybe he'd take the kill-everyone option.