Y/n's pov
After a while of biking around town I spoke up.
"Man, this feels weird without Lucas." I said.
We were literally down to three party members.
"He should've shaken my hand." Mike said.
"He's just jealous." Dustin said.
"What are you talking about?" Mike asked.
Dustin sighed. "Sometimes your total obliviousness just blows my mind."
Mike still looked confused.
"He's your best friend, right?" Dustin more said than asked.
"Well, yeah... I mean, I don't know." Mike said.
"It's fine, I get it." Dustin said. "I didn't get here until the fourth grade. He had the advantage of living next door. But none of that matters.
"What matters is that he is your best friend. And then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement and all you ever wanna do is pay attention to her." I added.
"That's not true!" Mike objected.
"Yes, it is. And you know it." Dustin said.
"And he knows it, but no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other." I said.
"Like goblins with intelligence scores of zero." Dustin added on. "Now everything's weird."
"He's not my best friend." Mike said.
Dustin chuckled. "Yeah right."
"I mean, he is, but so are you. And so is Y/n, even though she's my sister. And so is will." Mike said.
"Cant have more than one best friend and I already called Y/n." Dustin said.
"Says who?" Mike asked.
"Says logic!" Dustin said.
"Well, I call bull on your logic. 'Cause you're both my best friends too." Mike smiled at us.
"Okay." Dustin gave in.
"Uh... guys?" He spoke unsurely.
"What?" Mike and I asked.
He pointed to Bradley's big buy, a small grocery store, that had all of its windows shattered.
Not a single piece of glass was still attached to the window frame, it all lay on the ground in dangerous shards and police crowded around civilians.
"You don't think..." I trailed off.
"Definitely." Mike confirmed.
We rode our bikes around the store and into the woods behind it.
We were walking our bikes through the forest, desperately and hopelessly trying to find El.
"El?!?" I called out.
"El! Where are you? El!" Mike yelled.
"Eleven!" Dustin shouted.
"Wait, do you hear that?" Mike suddenly whispered.
We heard footsteps behind us and turned around.
Troy.
Troy and James.
Oh shit.
"Hey freaks." Troy said with a smirk, flicking a knife open.
"Oh shit!" I said.
"Run!" Dustin yelled.
Mike, Dustin and I dropped our bikes and bolted.
Troy and James started chasing us and I ran like there was no tomorrow.
"You're dead, Wheelers!" Troy yelled, running after Mike.
We ran as fast as we could, dodging trees, rocks, stumps and hills.
I almost bailed on tree roots a couple of times.
We arrived at the quarry.
How long we had been running, I did not know, and frankly, I did not care. I just wanted to get as far away from Troy and James as possible.
I heard Dustin stop behind me as Troy rounded the corner.
"Cramp!" Dustin muttered, panting.
"Shit!" I said.
Troy caught up with Dustin and put him into a headlock as James came from the other side and cornered us.
Troy held the knife up to Dustin's neck, and James grabbed me and pinned my arms behind my back, putting me into an uncomfortable pain.
Now it was just Mike, standing in the middle of us.
"Shit, shit!" I mumbled.
"Let them go!" Mike yelled at Troy and James.
"Stay back, or I cut him, and your sister's arms get broken." Troy said.
"I wanna know what you did." Troy said.
"What?" Mike asked, confused.
"You mean when you pissed yourself?" I asked, clenching my jaw.
"Yeah! I wanna know what nerdy science shit you did!" Troy said.
"Our friend has superpowers and she squeezed your tiny bladder with her mind!" Dustin said.
"Shut up. You know what? I think I'll save toothless here a trip to the dentist" Troy said, raising his knife closer to Dustin's mouth.
"Let him go, shit face!" I yelled at Troy.
James pulled my shoulder blades tighter together, which made me let out a whimper.
"Let them go!" Mike yelled.
"Alright, I'll let them go. But first, it's your turn." Troy said.
"My turn? For what?" Mike asked, confused.
"Piss yourself. Jump. Or toothless here gets an early trip to the dentist and your precious twin sister's arms get dislocated." Troy said.
I wasn't gonna lie, it did feel like my arms were going to dislocate.
"Shut your face, Troy!" Dustin yelled in anger, quickly regretting it when Troy pressed the knife closer to his mouth.
Mike walked over to the edge of the quarry.
But a jump like that would almost be one hundred percent fatal, the water would hit him like concrete.
"Wait, Mike, don't!" I said.
"I'll cut him right now!" Troy yelled at Mike.
"Okay, just hold on! Hold on!" Mike yelled.
Mike neared the cliffs edge again.
Shit, Mike.
"Mike, no. I don't kneed my baby teeth, they're coming in anyways." Dustin said frantically.
"Yeah, and we can just pop my arms back into place! It'll be fine!! We have a hospital for a reason, Michael. Mike, seriously!" I yelled at him feverishly as he continuously got closer to the edge of the cliff.
"I only have one brother! I don't want you dead!"
"Mike, stop!" Dustin and I said in unison.
"Dentists office opens in five! Four! Three! Two!" Troy yelled.
And then, he jumped.
"One!" Troy yelled.
Troy let go of Dustin and James let go of me.
We all raced over, not believing he had actually done that.
"Holy shit." Dustin said.
There Mike was.
But he wasn't falling.
He wasn't screaming.
And he wasn't dead.
He was suspended in mid air, floating.
Then I realized what was happening.
Eleven.
"Woah!" Mike exclaimed as he floated upwards and landed on his feet beside me.
We all turned to see an angry El, walking towards us.
She squinted her eyes and sent James flying into a tree.
She got closer, and flicked her head, a loud snap sounding from Troy's arm.
Troy screamed.
"My arm!!! She broke my arm!!!" He yelled.
"Go." El said.
"Let's get out of here! Let's go!" Troy said, as he and James ran away.
"Yeah, that's right! You better run! She's our friend and she's crazy! You come back here and she'll kill you! You hear me? She'll kill you, you sons of bitches!" Dustin yelled after them.
I quickly snapped back into my senses and turned to El, who was now laying on the ground.
"El are you okay? El?" Mike said as I ran up to her.
"Mike... I'm sorry." El sniffed, looking like she was about to cry.
"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" Mike asked with a soft smile.
"The gate... I opened it. I'm the monster." She said.
I kneeled down next to El.
"No, El. Your not the monster. You saved us. Do you understand? You saved all of us." I explained to her softly.
Mike grabbed me and pulled El and I into a hug, letting a few tears slip on my shoulder as Dustin kneeled down and hugged all of us.
El softly smiled as we rode our bikes home.
We biked past a white van that had 'Hawkins Light and Power' painted on the side.
We managed to sneak El back down into the basement, where I went back upstairs and made her some eggos.
Word count: 1285