march 25, 1986
the group reluctantly followed dustin. suddenly, dustin started booking it.
"dustin? can you slow down?" eddie complained. "dustin?"
"i think we're getting close," the boy yells, almost falling into the lake.
"watch your step, big guy," eddie replied, holding him back from falling in the water.
"oh, man," steve sighs. "you gotta be shitting me."
"yeah. i thought these woods were familiar," eddie spoke.
"lovers lake," robin identified.
"this is...confounding," dustin exhaled.
max inquired, "there's a gate in lover's lake?"
"whenever the demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening," nancy theorized. "maybe vecna's the same way."
"yeah, only one way to find out," steve replies.
they uncover eddie's boat and push it into the water. eddie and steve helped robin, nancy, and beatrice into the boat. dustin attempts to join but is stopped.
"hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?" eddie pushes dustin's head, playfully. "this thing holds four people tops, okay?"
"it's better this way, okay? you guys stay here with max," nancy adds. "keep an eye out for trouble."
"you keep an eye out," dustin exclaims, heightening his voice. the group on the boat gives him a look of utter confusion. "it's my goddamn theory!"
"you heard nance," robin scolded.
"who put her in charge?"
bea raises her hand up. "i did? i am the oldest after all."
"compass," nancy commanded, reaching a hand out to dustin. dustin reluctantly gave up his compass.
"hey, there you go," steve calls, throwing dustin's backpack at him before pushing the boat off. steve jumps onto the boat.
"you said four!"
"sorry," steve says as they begin to row away.
"bedtime at nine kiddos!" robin joked. dustin responded with his middle fingers. "miss you already!"
"woah! woah, woah, woah. slow down guys," nancy exclaims as the compass starts to freak out. steve cast his flashlight over the compass.
"woah," steve gasped.
"guys, what's going on?" dustin called into the walkie. "come on, guys, talk to me. what's going on?"
robin picks up the walkie and answers. "uh, dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital 'waah!'"
steve begins taking off different pieces of clothes.
"steve, what are you doing?" bea asked as he took off his socks.
"somebody's gotta go down and check this out. unless one of you four can top being a hawkins high swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then...it's gotta be me. no complaints, alright?"
"hey, i'm not complaining," eddie says, looking at the group. "i do not want to go down there."
steve took off his shirt, causing nancy to stare. robin nudged bea and pointed to the young woman.
"i see," bea smirked, seeing nancy so entranced. steve prepared himself to dive.
"hey," eddie began. "good luck."
"thanks," steve replied.
eddie goes to light a cigarette, but robin takes it out of his mouth. "gross!"
"steve!" nancy called. "be careful."
steve smiled at her and nodded before jumping into the water.
the group waited, anxiously for steve to return.
"where we at, wheeler?" robin asked, concerned.
"closing in on a minute."
"okay." robin exhaled, nervously.
the waves began to rock the boat. beatrice looked around for the source of the waves but found nothing. suddenly, steve came up from the water, gasping for air.
"holy shit!" bea screamed, reaching out for him to grab.
"i found it!" steve pants, grabbing onto the boat.
"you found it?" nancy exclaimed.
"yeah, i found it."
the group sighs in relief. "dustin, you are a goddamn einstein," robin said into the walkie. "steve found the gate."
"it's more of a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big—"
steve was being tugged back into the water.
"shit!"
the movement stopped and his fingers gripped the side of the boat. suddenly, he was dragged under.
"steve!" they are shouted as he was pulled down.
"steve!" "no!"
"what the hell was that, man?" eddie screamed.
"nancy, really, what happened?" robin yelled out.
"what the hell was that?" beatrice shrieked.
nancy stands up, about to jump off the boat.
"wait! you're not going in there, are you?" eddie says, holding her arm back.
"i am," beatrice replies, jumping off the boat after steve.
"bea!" robin shouted, trying to grab her before she hit the water.
"beatrice!" nancy yelled.
nancy sighs and points at eddie and robin. "just wait here."
"no, nancy!"
"nancy! goddamnit!" eddie exclaimed, looking down into the dark waters.
robin drags herself to the side of the boat.
"no, no, no, no, no. what are you doing? she said wait," eddie reminded robin, scared of having to dive in the treacherous waters.
"yeah, i heard her."
"she's in charge!"
"are you kidding me? beatrice made that shit up."
"don't you go! don't you—goddamnit! why? son of a bitch!" eddie makes himself jump into the water. "this is so stupid, this is so stupid, this is so—"
beatrice falls out of the gate and sees steve being attacked by bat-looking creatures. before the others came up, beatrice took a broken-off piece of wood and it quickly grew into a wooden baseball bat. she wiped the blood from her nose on her hand and grabbed the bat.
she ran over and hit three of the bats with it, injuring them. nancy, robin, and eddie joined, holding two oars.
"hey, there," nancy exhaled out. they all began attacking the bats to free steve. beatrice stood her ground and guarded steve to make sure no more joined the party.
"kill it! kill it!" eddie encouraged.
"shit," bea whispered as more swooped down. she held her bat in a hitting stance and began aiming for a demobat. finally, steve was free. they all began to fight off any more bats coming to attack them. steve killed the last bat and they all relaxed out of their fighting positions.
"jesus!"
"jesus h. christ!" eddie shrieked, throwing his oar away.
"are you okay?" nancy asked, checking steve's wounds.
beatrice looks around the surrounding area. vines covered almost everything in sight. the sky was grey and the lightning was a terrifying red.
"well, they took about a pound of flesh," steve answered. "but other than that, yeah, never better."
the sky swelled. there was something in the air that felt off to beatrice. the atmosphere was thickened and the air made her gasp. her abilities felt more limited here. she felt more...weakened. she kept her eyes on the skies as robin rambled off about rabies.
"he knows we're here," she whispered, gasping. demobats began to fill the sky. they surrounded the gate, blocking the group's way out.
"alright. there's not that many," steve stated, taking deep breaths. the bats hissed hostilely at them. "we can take them...right?"
even more bats began to join the swarm.
"i say, we run," beatrice plots.
"the woods!" nancy agrees. "come on!"
they run over the vines towards the woods.
[REDACTED], 1979
almost all the children glared at eleven. they held a grudge for snitching on three. she held a bunch of pucks in her hands, trying to practice her use of her powers. if their stares could kill, and they could, eleven would be dead.
scared, eleven dropped the pucks. she anxiously picked them up, quickly. she went to pick up the last puck but was met with peter's hand.
"you open for something a little more challenging?"
they sat down at one of the tables with a chessboard. bea took a chair near them, observing the game.
"try not to show any emotion as i speak, okay?" peter says, carefully low. "just keep playing the game if you understand."
eleven looked skeptically, moving a piece.
"three is still in the infirmary recovering," peter whispers.
"he's being watched now, but once he is released, he and the others are going to attempt to kill you. right here," bea spoke quietly, eyes fixed on the game to not give any suspicion to the cameras. "in this room."
"and papa will allow it to happen. in fact, he wants it to happen. he's been planning it for some time now," peter admitted as eleven let a shaky breath out. "stay calm. focus on the game."
eleven moved another piece.
"there's a reason why three and the others were able to escape their rooms last night. why the security cameras were turned off. why papa punished three today. they don't even realize it but he is moving them like pieces on this board here. driving them to do exactly what he wants, which is..."
"why?" eleven whispered, confused.
"you frighten him," bea replied, rubbing her neck. she excused herself to her room claiming a headache. "i'm gonna lie down for a while. my head hurts.
"okay, dear. i'll catch up in a bit."
bea pushed the chair back so she could walk out the double doors. she quietly returned to her room, replying to guards that she had a bad headache.
"papa knows you are more powerful than the others. and he also knows he can't control you," peter adds, playing the game. "that's all he wants. control. bea and i saw all this happening. that's why i wanted to help you, but i only made things worse."
"helping me..." eleven spoke. "made papa hurt you."
"and it is why you must escape," he explained. "today. but they are watching us. closely."
"if you want to make it out of here alive, you must do exactly as i say. do you understand?"
"why do you still help?"
"because i believe in you. it is time you are free from this hell," peter reached into his pocket and handed her his id badge under the table.