She jumps in front of you, and as you fall back against a wall of slimy upside down muck, Hopper screams her name. She turns and smiles, the brightest smile you've ever seen her hold. She's about 100 meters away from you, closer to the Hawkins base. And you force the weakness in your body to subside, you know what you need to do. Only you can kill the monster, and only Elle can close the gate. "Go with her! Take my mom!" You say to Hopper, handing him Joyce's extra rifle with shaking hands. "If you want to kill this thing alone you can't, you're too weak-." He starts, "Don't tell me what I can and cannot do!" You say, swiping the dried blood from your nose and heading away, ignoring the burning pain in your heart of your mothers screams to let her go. She was alive, that's what mattered. You start opening the gasoline packets in your jacket, preparing to fight this monster, when Elle screams your name. "Y/N! Don't! He'll die!" You duck quickly under an arm of the flayer. You didn't know what Elle was talking about, but nothing was more important right now than you taking the opportunity to finally kill this monster. With its distaction between Elle and you, it would be easy. So you continue to prepare to fight, but with a heartbreaking scream Elle says, "Will is going to die if you don't come here now!" You drop the gasoline in shock. The cold feeling in the back of your neck eailer, no way was Will able to push it out to easily. It doesn't take long for your legs to start moving on their own; and although your head screams at you to stay and fight, you couldn't live after this if Will died because you weren't there. The Monster starts to chase after the both of you, and you use small attacks to keep it at a safe distance. But the next moment you find yourself falling into Mikes arms, and he's crying. He helps you up on the other side of the glass. "Please... save.. save him." Joyce says, behind him, carrying a passed out Will in her arms. "I—I don't know how long I have but— I'll try," You say. Not too long after Hopper bursts into the room, and although Joyce is worried for her son her and Elle take the time to wrap their arms around him. What a bittersweet reunion, you think, hands hovering over Wills soft skin. He's cold— cold like the dead bodies of people Brenner forced you to kill— and your skin squirms. With a shaky exhale, you release heat energy onto the back of his neck. Once, twice, three times.
And your heart drops.
He's not waking up.
Everyone in the room grows silent as you come to that conclusion, and you desperately feel for his pulse.
"Please... Y/N..." Mike is saying next to you, his voice is breaking in tears, "I cant.. I cant loose him... not again. I promised I wouldn't loose him."
Nothing.
No, No, No.
This cant be right.
So you heat his neck again, tears falling down onto his shirt.
The Mind flayer a footsteps are getting closer. It's probably less than half a mile away from the glass that is already half cracked.
If only I got here sooner. I could have saved him, now everyone will die because I wasn't quick enough- i wasn't- if only I-
A beat. Then another. Wills lips fade from blue to a pinkish red. He's alive. Barley alive, but alive. You choke a sob, and Joyce comes crashing down to you, whispering thank-yous all while never letting go of Hoppers hand. You look down at your own and find Wills there. You dont remember intertwining your fingers with his, but although his eyes are closed still you feel a small squeeze when Hopper says, "Thank God." And that's enough thanks for you. He's going to be okay.
Then the glass shatters. Dustin screams, the mind flayers arm barley inching past him as Steve pulls him to the wall, protectively standing in front of the teenagers. You get up simultaneously with Elle, and a nod with her is all you need to now. Turning back to Mike, who's standing by Will, you yell, "Get him out of here! He needs a doctor!" He looks back at Elle for a moment, then again to Will. "But Elle! I have to stay for Elle!" He cries, obviously torn as Joyce starts to fire bullets at the monster. Your heart breaks for him, having to choose between the girl he loves and his lifelong best friend, but nevertheless you yell back, "Don't worry about her, she's with me." You say it with a laugh, "Promise me; you won't let anything bad happen to her!" He screams against the sounds of shattered glass and bullets, it seems some of the American troops from earlier have come. "I swear it!" You say, taking Elles hand into your own, and he nods, picking up Will in his arms and running out alongside Max, Lucas, and Dustin. You fish for a random American solider, your hand locked on your mothers wrist. She lets you pull her aside, she's weak and confused, her eyes dazed and you pull her to a troop. "She was in captivity, take her to safety." You say, and the man nods. You look into your mothers eyes and for a second you saw the old her, the old her that brushed your hair and watched TV with you, the old her that hummed in your ear to make nightmares go away. The her before your fathers "accidental" car crash, the her before Brenner came along and tortured her. You start to wrap your arms around her, because it might be the last time you get to do it, but the moment your face lands in her chest and that look is gone. Replaced with an empty, confused, and cold shell of what was once your mother. The man drags her away, and you're snapped back into reality when a grenade is thrown at the flayer.
"Y/N!" Elle screams, and you find yourself pushing her back. "Let me." And with a group of armed troops surrounding you, you push your way into the upside down. Your cold hands meet a gasoline bottle, and as the men fire around you you focus on carefully circling the Flayer. You can feel your energy; close to bursting as you continue, kicking your feet against a few demodogs who try to attack you. The group of troops starts to diminish in numbers as they fall to the ground, and as you begin to channel energy through your hands you realize just how weak you feel. The adrenaline and fear of loosing Will almost made you forget about how tired you were from using the mind reading skills.
Persisting with every step, your heart pumps as your legs struggle to keep going, your heavy breaths coughing through the thick air of the upside down. The ring of gas around the flayer begins to burn, and the mind flayer makes a horrendous noise as it starts to shake off the flames. It hurts, hurts so bad, your whole body has nothing but pain, but you see Elle at the other side of the window, and it keeps you going. A fourth of the flayers body is fried now, and as the troops continue to fire you collapse to the ground behind some fallen debris. "FUCK!" You cough, it's blood. Your legs shake as you stand and your vision is going blurry as you continue to burn the monster. Burn Burn Burn. But your powers are getting weaker, so much fucking weaker.
"CHANNEL THE ENERGY!" Elle screams, her head poking out from the line of military men protecting her.
So you think.
Think of his face.
The anger, the hate, the fear, of Dr. Brenner fills you with indescribable rage, and you can feel it, feel your stomach churn at the thought of him. You thought of how he sat there at his desk, planning to kill your scientist father, torturing your mother until she no longer recognizes your face, laughing as he tells you to kill the only friends you've ever had, and you hate him, you hate all of it. There's no pain in your legs, no tears falling on your dirty cheeks, just fire, pure burning rage.
And the monster screams, it's wearing out. It's limbs are burning, and it hates the warmth, you know. And you laugh, because this will be, wheaten you live or die it ends here, you'll make sure of it. Elle will make sure of it.
The monster has you cornered, but it's obvious burning with pain. Through tears, you know what was to be done. The monster is distract by such disdain for you it has forgotten Elle is even there, the original target. "CLOSE THE GATE ELLE!" You scream through tears, "DO IT! NOW!" You watch as her face drops. She doesn't want you to die, of course not, but once that gate closes it will finally be the end of this mess. All of them, Mike, Will, Elle, Joyce, have had their lives turned upside down by this cursed second dimension. It ends now, It has to end with me. Why should you escape to live? For a mother who doesn't remember you? For no family to turn to? For the government to treat you like a science experiment again? To be haunted, followed by Brenners face? Your knees drop to the ground and you can feel the air in your lungs giving out. The monster is close, very close, close enough to kill you; but first you would kill it. "Burn in hell." You whisper, blood spilling out of your nose and ears like all hell.
And then the monster gets pushed back. It gets pushed back and goes flying over the edge of a tree, and you gasp at the person before you. Elle grabs your arm. "I know what you're trying to do. I'm not letting you die." She said, stern enough to shake sense back into you. "You're my sister." She says, pulling you up and standing besides you, grasping for your hand. Sister. She was your sister, and all the kids out there were your friends. Your real family. Something in your heart snaps. It's time to end this motherfucker.
Your screams harmonize as Elle floats off the ground, sweating from the heat you have been producing. An arm flies off the flayer and it falls to the ground. You take the chance, pushing Elle back. "Let me." And you take the final flame in your hands, with a final scream you watch with a smile as the monster drops to goo, black tar that seeps your feet. It screams all the way down but you continue to burn it. You have to be sure it's dead. This has to end.
When the monster is reduced to goo and dust, Elle pulls you up and drags your weak body to the safety of the now broken glass barrier. The few renaming troops rise from the ground and make their way to the same area, and you tumble down to the floor as they try to assist your shaking legs and bleeding head. You keep your eyes on the monster, as if you were waiting for a moment when it would come back to life. "Y/N." Elle whispers. You nod, grabbing her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Russian troops are pouring out from the other side, and all you can do is pray that closing this gate will be enough to deactivate this entire thing, and although it's selfish to say, leave it to the Russians to deal with it. It's not yours, Elles or anyone's problem to deal with the upside down anymore. You don't care if you have to leave those you love behind and run away for the rest of your life under another name (😏) but you would never allow yourself to be used like a tool again. You let go of Elles hand as you watch the closing gap between worlds. You know she's done this before, but her face is filled with such determination to make sure it's the last time. She screams and bleeds as now the gate is the size of bed, and your vision gets fuzzier and fuzzier and your arms heavier as you watch the gate finally close and leave nothing but a dense wall.
It's over.
Or you thought.
Then a few gunshots and a voice behind you, a recognizable, chilling and sick voice brings you out of your look of thank god we finished it loving look with Elle. And Elles face drops when she hears it, because you know that voice haunts her worst nightmares too.
"Hello, my daughters." Brenner says, shooting the last injuried troops protecting you.
"I've seen you've come here to do what you wanted." He says, stepping over the bodies on the floor and getting in the space between you and Elle. You're too weak to fight, and Elle was so shocked and tired too, there's no way you could take on him and the several troops guarding him. "Long time no see." He says, running a hand through Elles grown out hair, and a single tear falls from her face, and she collapses to the ground, frozen in fear. "Eleven... Eleven and Twelve."
hey guys sorry for a late update, i know i'm not really consistent and it's mostly because I'm in a dilemma and i have 3 possible endings for this story and i don't know which one to choose. Basically there's a sad ending, a happy ending, and an ending that would allow for a part two of this book, so yeah feedback is appreciated although most of you probably would like the happy ending lol. Anyways I have about 1 Last chapter left and then an epilogue which is almost ready to post :)