Freak Show // Billy Hargrove

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Mind Flayer's Puppet

Kaity and Max stay planted in their spot as the other two pairs split off in different directions. Will and Lucas find a unlocked maintenance shed with different parts to repair things so they figure this would be the best place to look for something that would keep that sauna door shut. They begin to rummage through the tools, their backs towards each other. Lucas opens a small metal toolbox and glances back at his friend, guilt from yesterday still lingering. "Uh, Will?" Lucas asks, rummaging through the toolbox. "Um, you know, about yesterday..." He trails off, trying to find the right words to say, grabbing duct tape out of the toolbox then closing it. They could use this to attach the walkie talkie to the dummy and attach the dummy to something else to make it look like it's standing in the sauna. "It's fine, Lucas." Will sighs, not wanting to talk about it. "You don't have to say anything." Will turns around and his eyes lock onto his friends for a moment before he turns back around, continuing his search. "I know, but it's just..." Lucas grabs some lime green weed wacker line, figuring it could be useful then grabs the metal pile he found behind the bench.

"It was a really cool campaign." Lucas faces Will who had his back towards him, still searching for what they needed. "And Mike and I, we should've never-"

"I don't care anymore, Lucas." Will cuts him off. "I really don't." He shakes his head, looking back at his friend. "We have bigger things to worry about now." Will turns his attention back to the shelf he was stood in front of and picked up a small box. Lucas looked down at his feet, still feeling really bad for how he and Mike acted during the campaign. They both knew that it was important to Will and they still acted like idiots about two girls, not caring about what made their friend happy. Will reaches into the box, pulling out a heavy chain, looking at Lucas. "This should hold him." He nods confidently.

The lock on the door breaks thanks to Eleven and she pushes the door open. She walks into the room, her eyes scanning the shelves. There were jugs of different chemicals and bags but her eyes fell on the one thing she needed. El picks up the CPR dummy, holding it close to her. "Hey, I found the breakers." Eleven grimmest when she heard Mike's voice behind her. "Whoa," El turns around to face him."That thing is super creepy," Mike grabs ahold of it. "Let me see it." El lets go, allowing Mike to take the dummy. He held it on his side, looking at it. "I think this will work. Right buddy?" He asks the dummy. "Right, Mike." He says in a high pitch tone, moving the dummy's chin. Mike chuckles at himself and looks over at Eleven who staired at him with a blank expression. She rolls her eyes, reaching forward and taking the dummy away from him with a grunt. She begins to walk to the door, th dummy slung over her shoulder.

"Hey, El..." Mike's voice stops her at the door and she turns to face him, annoyed. "I just wanted to say..." He sighs, trying to find the right words to make sure he doesn't piss her off even more then he already has. "You know when I said Nana was sick?" He asks. "She wasn't. I lied." Mike confessed. "I know."

"Right, right, right. No. I just," He was searching for his words because the stare she was giving him was making it hard for him to think. "I just think it was important for you to know the context. " She narrows her eyes at him. "Hopper, he went all crazy on me, telling me I'm spending way too much time with you. He made me lie. I mean, you're the most important thing to me in the world." Mike babbles, spilling his heart out. "What if he's right?" She asks, tossing the dummy to the ground. "What?" He narrows his eyes at her, confused. "Hop." She steps towards him. "No, no, no, no." Mike shakes his head. "He's just some angry old man who hates joy."

"But if I only see you," Eleven roughly pokes his chest. "-and I'm a different species than you," She says, recalling the conversation she saw him having with Lucas. "Then I should be with my own species more." She nods, tired of dealing with his shit. "What are you talking about?" He asks, genuinely confused. Eleven turns away from him and bends down to pick up the dummy and it hits Mike what she was referring to and his gasps with wide eyes. "Did you spy on me?" She didn't answer him, slinging the dummy over her shoulder. "That's totally against the rules!" She turns back to face him, a blank expression on her face. "I make my own rules." With that, she swiftly turns on her heels, leaving Mike there stunned and confused.