Warnings: nothing severe, but there is some creepy narration regarding Brenner and well, the overall idea of what I was trying to convey was kinda essential to explain or else it didn't make sense, but I tried my best to make it not sound like the gross kind of creepy but it was kinda hard. So I apologize. Also, (kinda graphic) violence and mentions of blood.
||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
"Sir, we've searched everywhere. There's no sign of them."
Brenner and his team were currently standing in the gym in front of a kiddie pool and a few hoses.
Immediately he knew what the children had been doing.
He felt his lips form a tight line as he stared at the makeshift bath before him in anger.
He had to get his hands on Eleven. She had been gone for far too long.
And Nine, well he was not prepared to let the child escape again.
He was careful when making his promise to that stubborn chief. After finding Eleven and taking her home, and those pesky friends she had made would be left alone and indeed safe. As would the Henderson boy. But the other? - his treasured Nine - well, they would be safe. Safe with him, at the lab.
||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
I practically crash into Lucas when we rounded the corner, each of us running for our lives.
How did they find us so quickly?
Lucas seems to be thinking the same thing as he pants between breaths. "How did they find us?"
"I don't know, but they knew we were in the gym," Mike responded, equally winded.
"Lando." Dustin muttered.
The exit doors were only feet away and for one precious moment it felt like we were gonna make it. But suddenly they ripped open and a flood of white light danced from the doorways as a mass of agents stormed in.
We skidded to a halt and began backing up and we immediately whipped around and started running.
"Go, go, go, go, go!" Mike shouted.
I felt like my heart was about to explode, I was so terrified. I was worried it was gonna happen again. And it was.
My legs grew heavy and I began to slow down but luckily for me, Lucas grabbed my hand pulled me along.
"Come on!"
We ran frantically up the small set of stairs, turned the corner and went through one of the open doors into another hallway.
"There they are. Freeze."
"Back! Go back!" Mike shouted.
We skidded to a halt once more when even more agents turned the corner ahead of us and marched towards us. We scrambled for the exit and all tried to go through the doorway at once.
"Go, go! Go left!" Mike ordered.
We all ran for the hallway in front of us when out of nowhere a group of agents rounded the corner, lead by a terrifyingly stern woman who cocked her gun and aimed it at all of us.
I whipped my head around when I heard the sound of more guns cocking behind us.
This was it. We were trapped.
I panted heavily looking around terrified when I noticed El becoming later focused on the woman.
Every single flashlight began to flicker and the woman froze.
I stared in shock as the woman and all the other agents began to bleed from their eyes, all of them not moving a muscle.
Horrifying squelching noises filled the silence and men began to choke.
It looked like they were crying blood.
More squelching noise exhoed out louder than ever and the next thing I knew everyone, simultaneously, dropped like flies.
I look to the boys in shock and we all looked to El in time to see her collapse to the ground.
We all dove to the ground to aid, and Mike frantically shook her, trying to wake her.
But she wouldn't budge.
"El, are you okay?" Mike asked worriedly.
"El! Something's wrong." Mike looked at us desperately.
"She's just drained." Dustin said, although his voice gave away how worried he was.
"No, no, no, she won't wake up. El! El!"
I covered my mouth, trying not to break. I looked around anywhere else but my unconscious friend, but nausea became my only alternative as I gazed at the many bodies lying in a pool of their own blood.
The noise of the brains exploding echoed in my head made my stomach lurch in a gag.
I looked back to Mike, who shook her once more and screamed, panic getting the best of him.
"El!"
He leaned down and brought his ear near her face.
He sat back up quickly. "She's barely breathing."
"We gotta go," Lucas insisted.
Without another word we all knew to grab her and carry her out, but before we can lift her, a man spoke up and we all whipped around to see the same man from before. The man with the white hair.
"Leave her."
My breathing and heart rate picked up again, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
He walked towards us, a few men behind him. He stepped over the bodies without a second thought or even a glance.
"Step away from the child." He said calmly.
"No!" Mike yelled defiantly. "You want her, you have to kill us first."
Dustin and Lucas immediately chimed in.
"That's right!"
"Eat shit!"
Suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and pull me back. I fought back with all my strength and I saw the same thing happening to the boys.
We all screamed in protest, fighting as best as we could as the man walked forward and sat El up.
"Eleven? Eleven, can you hear me? Eleven?"
The man held her by the face and shook her slightly, and after a few moments she stirred.
"Papa?"
"Yes, yes, it's your papa." He smiled.
Tears flooded my eyes as I watched helplessly as this creep got a hold of my friend.
"Leave her alone!" I kicked and screamed as much as I could, but he ignored my protests.
Mike didn't hesitate to join in.
"Let her go! Let her go!"
El looked around at us, tears in her eyes and looked back to the other agents surround us. She returned her gaze to the man and whimpered.
"Shh, shh, you're sick. You're sick, but I'm going to make you better. I'm going to take you back home, where I can make you well again. Where we can make all of this better, so no one else gets hurt."
She met his eyes, her eyelids drooping. She seemed to gather all the strength she could to speak.
"Bad. Bad." She held out a hand towards us.
"Mike. Y/n." She whimpered.
He frowned, and then looked to the agent who was holding me back. He gestured.
I never stopped fighting or struggling, and tears were falling freely down my face.
"Leave us alone!" I yelled, finding my voice.
"You know I can't do that, Y/n."
My eyes widened and I looked at the man in disgust and fear.
"How-?"
Before I could finish he made eye contact with the agent holding me back and signaled him to bring me forward and the man complied.
"What-what are you doing?" I continued to fight and kick even harder, panic was taking over me and I began to hyperventilate.
On instinct, I turned my head enough to look at Dustin and I cried out. "Dustin? Dustin!" I yelled, fear consuming me completely.
"Y/n! Y/N! Leave them alone! Let go of them, you son of a bitch! You sick bastard, you let them go! You fucking prick, I said let them go!" I saw tears in his eyes and he kicked as hard as he could but it was no use.
"Y/n, don't fight it. You belong with us. We are your true family. Come home to us, Nine."
The man holding me hostage brought me closer and closer to the man and the boys were now out of my line of sight.
I felt my heart stop and suddenly I was calm for a split second and then everything happened at once.
A violent scream erupted from my throat, a scream that pierced my own ears and tore my throat raw.
The same powerful force of energy exploded off of me and everyone - including the man holding me - were thrown back violently. Most of the men were knocked into the concrete walls and slid down to the floor unconscious, blood dripping from their heads.
I landed on my knees, El only about a foot in front of me, who had miraculously avoided the line of energy.
Panting, I looked up to the man several feet away, laying on his back slowly coming to. And with all the remaining courage and energy I can muster, I slowly rise to my feet, breathing harder, my fists clenched.
I looked back over my shoulder to see the guys scrambling to their feet, having been knocked back in the process. Thankfully, the men holding them must have cushioned their fall. They stared at me, their eyes bulging out of their heads.
I smiled sheepishly at them and my shoulders twitch up in a weak shrug.
"Surprise?" I panted.
We all looked around when the electricity throughout the school spikspike, all the lights began to flicker.
Everyone, the man included were all staring at the concrete wall at the end of the hall as we heard the same eerie thundering sound.
"Blood." Mike mumbled.
"What?" Lucas asked.
Realizing what he was hinting at, I frantically shouted at them, gesturing around me. "Blood!"
Blood draws it out.
And we were standing in pools of it.
We watched in horror as the giant blue paw painted on the concrete wall began to crumble as the Demogorgon began fighting its way through.
The man stumbled to his feet in fear, he stood unarmed and all his men and women were either dead or unconscious.
With his attention on the beast, I quickly and quietly gestured for the boys to get El and I stumbled towards her.
I nearly collapsed by the time we reached her. Mike helped Dustin pick El and I up, and Lucas caught me before I could fall. With one arm over his shoulder, he helped me navigate through the maze of hallways to safety. I was draining fast again.
I spared a glance over my shoulder and the last thing I saw before we turned the corner was the Demogorgon tackling the man to the ground.