tw - none?
Hey, uh, maybe we should get going?
Yeah, yeah. Sounds good.
"EXUSE ME." MAX ASKED leaning on the community pools counter where two young adults sat.
"No one in the water until thirty minutes after the last strike." The man said monotonously, not looking up from whatever he was reading. "And don't try and argue with me. You wanna get electrocuted, go climb a tree." Viola scrunched her face up. "Who want's to get electrocuted? We're not even here to swim." She shot back.
Eleven grabbed the fanny pack in her pocket. "We found this." Eleven showed the two the bag. The lifeguards behind the counter just stared at it. "Does that belong to anybody?" Max asked, tilting her head to the side. "Oh, yeah. That's Heather's. I'll get it back to her."
"We could give it back to her." Eleven suggested. "You could." The boy agreed. "'Cept she's not here. Bailed on my today." He explained. The girls stayed quiet looking at each other. "What is this? You girls want a reward or somethin'?"
Max smiled. "No. We're just... Good Samaritans." The girl behind the counter smiled back at the red-head.
The the girls turned away seeing Eleven already leaving their side and being quick to follow her. The brunette stopped in front of a board that showcased the lifeguards, her eyes landing on Heather's picture and name.
"That's Heather?" Viola asked pointing to the girls picture. Eleven nodded in response. "Do you think you can find her?" Max asked. Eleven didn't say anything as she looked back at the two older life guards before turning back and grabbing the picture from the wall.
The girls walked to the women's shower and changing room, making sure to lock the entrance door behind them so no one would come in. Viola and Max went to each shower, turning them on while Eleven taped up some goggles that would cover her eyes.
The short-haired girl then sat on the concrete floor, Viola and Max each sitting on one of the benches beside her.
Viola tapped her foot against the floor anxiously as Eleven entered the void, first seeing a mail box in the middle of the nothingness. She walked towards said mailbox and placed a hand on it, a door fading into existence beside it as she did.
"What do you see?" Max asked, glancing up at Viola with a worried look, which Viola shared. "A door. A red door." Eleven muttered as she walked towards the door in the void, opening it.
The red door creaked open to reveal a tub behind it which Eleven walked towards, looking down and into it to see it was filled with ice. That's when Heather suddenly jumped out, looking up at Eleven with a scared, horrified face. "Help me." Heather said. Before Eleven could do anything the dark-haired girl was pulled back into the water.
Eleven screamed, trying to grab her but the tub disappeared.
Viola's foot tapped against the concrete faster as Eleven began to breath heavily and before she knew it the girl threw off her goggles, gasping for air. "El?" Viola asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, gently stroking it. Eleven placed her hand on Viola's, almost as if she was making sure the brunette was real. "What happened? El!"
Eleven didn't answer as she looked around at her surroundings, catching her breath. "El.. look at me." Viola said, getting down in front of the girl. Viola placed one hand on her cheek while the other was on her shoulder. The short-haired girl made eye contact with her visibly calming down a little. "Follow my breathing, okay?" Viola said not breaking the eye contact as she removed her hand from Eleven's cheek and to her other shoulder. Eleven nodded.
Viola breathed in and out slowly, Eleven following her actions soon calming down. Max let a small smile playing on her lips as she watched Viola comfort the girl. Again, Viola just had that sense where she knew what someone needed when they did. Even though she was really bad at reading people she knew exactly how to comfort them.
That is of the reasons Max fell for her in the first place.
Once Eleven did calm down, she leaned over her legs, placing her hands on her head. Viola continued to rub the girls back as she looked up at Max, fear evident in her eyes.
•••
SAVANNAH LAID HER HEAD on Robin's thigh. The girls sat on the middle counter that separated the backroom from the front.
Robin sat with her back against the small wall, one leg up on the counter while the other dangled down. Savannah laid with her feet on the counter, her knees pointing up towards the ceiling.
""The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly."" Robin read again before taking a sip of her milkshake, giving it to Savannah to hold as she grabbed the Russian translation book. ""Tread lightly"?" Robin repeated as she looked through the book.
Knocking on the back door made Savannah groan, "I got it." she muttered, getting up from her laying down position and jumping off the counter, walking towards the door that her sister and brother would use to go to the movies.
"Delivery for you." The man said. Savannah smiled, taking the box. "Thank you." She said placing said box on the table before turning and signing the paper. Her eyes then traveled to the man's work shirt which read "Lynx Transportation" in all capitals.
The brunette gave the clipboard with the paper back as her eyes traveled to his hat which had the same thing on it. "Have a nice day." He said. "Yeah, you too." She responded.
As the man left she peaked around the corner, the back of his shirt having a picture of a cat in silver. "The silver cat..." She muttered.
She quickly ran back to Robin with wide eyes. "Robby, I think I figured something out." She said.
When the two boys arrived back at Scoops Savannah had already told Robin everything. So the two girls instantly ran out of the store, making their way to the middle of the mall and standing on a small platform, looking around the large building.
""A trip to china sounds nice."" Robin said. Savannah looked around wildly as they repeated the phrase. Savannah's eyes suddenly locked on. a Chinese restaurant, taping Robin on the shoulder and pointing to it. Robin gasped before looking down at her notes. ""If you tread lightly."" She read out, her eyes going to a shoe store. "Kaufman Shoes." Savannah muttered, looking at the next thing. ""When blue meets yellow in the west.""
Robin looked around before her eyes went to the large clock at the top of the wall, taping Savannah to show her. "Robin? Savannah?" Steve said walking up to the girls. "What are you doing?"
"We cracked it." Robin said. "Cracked what?" Steve asked cluelessly. "We cracked the code." Savannah smiled.
•••
OLIVER FOLLOWED AFTER WILL as he ran through the forest in the woods, calling after him.
He heard the sound of smashing, mixed with thunder making him more worried. Oliver ran faster towards the noise, Will came into view making him pause and stop.
The boy was pulling apart some kind of structure made out of wood. Oliver continued to walk forwards as Will calmed down, falling onto the floor that was muddy. "Will." Oliver muttered, crouching down besides him. Will continued to sob as he looked up at Oliver.
Oliver didn't say anything. He instead sat next to Will and pulled the boy into a hug, which made Will break down even more. "I'm so sorry." Oliver muttered as his eyes traveled the destroyed structure. Will just laid his head on Oliver's shoulder, continuing to cry.
The Lockeheart boy didn't care that he would most likely get sick. He didn't care about the loud noises that reminded him of home. He didn't care that he was getting wet, bruised, and muddy. He just needed to make sure Will was okay.
And Will was grateful that Oliver did.
•••
"LOOK FOR IMPERIAL PANDA and Kaufman Shoes." Robin instructed to Dustin who had binoculars on.
Savannah sat besides Robin with her hands over her ears. Her hair was wet and stuck to her face and she was overthinking about where the twins were as of now.
Little did she know one was on the floor in the forest while the other was biking to a random lifeguards house.
"They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock." Dustin said, pointing at the man. "What do you think's in there?" Steve yelled over the sound of the rain which, in Savannah's ears, seemed to get louder and louder. "Guns, bombs?" Dustin said. "Chemical weapons?" Robin added. "Multiple things that could kill us?" Savannah yelled.
"Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth." Dustin pointed out, staring at a man who held a gun. "Great." Steve mumbled, moving his hair out of his face. "That's great."
A door began to open, catching Robin's attention. "Hey, what's in there?" She yelled to Dustin. "It's just more boxes." He yelled back. Steve reached over, grabbing Dustin's binoculars. "Let me check it out." Dustin grabbed the binoculars back. "No, I'm still looking." Steve continued to pull at the goggles. "Lemme see it."
They dropped the binoculars onto the concrete roof making a loud thud. The guards looked up towards the roof making all the kids duck down to hide. "Hey, uh, maybe we should get going?" Savannah suggested, already feeling her anxiety rise. "Yeah, yeah. Sounds good." Robin muttered, disconnecting her hand from Steve's.
The group quickly left the roof, somehow leaving before the guard could make his way up. They now walked in the back hallways. "Well, I think we found your Russians." Robin said, looking between the boys who stood on ether side of the girls.
•••
"IS THIS IT?" MAX asked as she stopped in front of a house that Eleven said was Heather's. Eleven nodded.
Viola and Max placed her bikes down on the grass, following after Eleven who was already making her way towards the front door.
Eleven slowly unlocked the door with her mind, the girls walking in after the door opened fully.
As they walked into the hallway they heard music playing from the kitchen. Max's eyes caught a framed picture in the hallway of Heather and her parents. "This is her house." Max muttered. "What?" Eleven asked confused. "Heather's house." Max clarified.
A women's laughter made the three jump and turn at the sound. They walked towards where the sound was coming from to see Billy and Heather's parents at the dinning table. "Max.." Billy muttered as his eyes caught sight of her. "We didn't mean to barge in." Max began, seeing Heather's parents faces of confusion. "Yeah, we tried to knock, but I guess the storm is too loud." Viola continued the lie.
"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" The older man asked in an annoyed tone. Viola glared at him. Billy chuckled. "I'm sorry. Janet, Tom, this.. is my sister, Maxine." He introduced. "Oh!" Janet said, excitedly. Billy stood up from his chair, walking towards the trio. "What on earth are you doing here? Is something wrong?" The boy asked stopping in front of them.
Max shook her head. "We just wanted to make sure everything was okay." She said. "Okay? Why wouldn't it be okay?" Billy asked. "Where is she?" Eleven asked, getting straight to the point. Billy looked over at her. "I'm sorry. Where is who?" He asked.
"Well, they're a little burnt, I'm sorry—" Heather cut herself off when seeing the drenched girls. "Heather! This is my sister, Maxine." He motioned to the red-head. "And this is her best friend, Viola." He then swiftly turned his hand to Viola making her back up into Max, Max protectively putting a hand on her arm. "And, I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name." He them moved his hand to Eleven.
"El." The girl said monotonously. "El." Billy repeated. "Now, what is it you were saying, El? You were looking for somebody?"
Eleven muttered a few words. "I saw... I saw you—"
"Your manager. At the pool." Viola cut the girl off, looking towards Max for help. "He said you guys didn't come in to work today, so we got worried." Max added on. "Heather wasn't feeling so hot today, so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health." Billy explained, turning to Heather. "But you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?"
Heather smiled. "I'm feeling so much better." She said. Billy turned back to the girls. Eleven was making eye contact with him while Viola and Max where still looking at Heather. "Do you girls want a cookie?" She asked, putting the pan out towards them. "They're fresh out of the oven."
Max shook her head. "No, we're fine. Thank you though." She smiled. "We should get going." Viola
said, turning towards the two girls who just nodded.
Billy escorted the teens out of the house. They grabbed the two bikes, Eleven hopping on the back of Max's seeing as she didn't really know how to ride one. Billy watching the whole time as they rode down the street and out of view.
•••
WILL SLOWLY ROSE HIS head from Oliver's shoulder as chills ran down his neck.
A normal person would say it was from the rain. But Will new better. He knew what was happening. Oliver could sense it as well.
The Lockeheart boy had heard all about Will getting trapped in an alternate dimension, all about him getting possessed by this thing call "The Mind Flayer". But he had never seen the side affects himself.
And now that he was, he could tell that Will had been affected by it. Big time.
"Will!" Mike yelled as the two boys rose from the ground. "Oliver!" Sounds of running came from behind them. "What happened? Are you guys okay?" Mike asked worriedly, seeing that Castle Byers was destroyed.
Will turned around to face the boys. "He's back."
A/N
WILL AND OLLYYY
i ate eggos while writing and reading this they hit the spot 🤭 also I love savannah's and robin's sibling relationship its so fun to write as well as savannah's and steve's