"I found him" El muttered as everyone gathered around her. After what had happened at the pool, Kali and the kids all piled in her car and headed towards Mikes house. Once they arrived, they all ran down into the basement. Kali watched over the group as they all sat silently around El, Mike and Max sitting the closest to the young girl as she searched for Hopper "he's with..... Wills mom" Wills ears pricked when she mentioned his mom "my... my mom?" He questioned "what are they doing?"
"Ill... annoy" the group looked around each other confused, Ell pulled the blindfold off of her eyes "they're going to Ill-annoy" she spoke again, she was just as confused as everyone else until Mike spoke up "Illinois? Illinois like the state?" Kali's eyes widened when she realised what they were talking about. Looks like the adults wouldn't be able to help them.
After sitting around for what felt like hours trying to figure out why Wills mom and Hopper were going to Illinois, Kali felt like she needed a break. As she stepped outside the front of the Wheeler residence, she lit a cigarette between her lips, taking a deep inhale as she tried to calm herself. It didn't take long before her mind began to wander back to Billy. There must be a way to save him right? She thought back to when Wills body had been taken over by something and how they had managed to burn it out of him, maybe it would work in Billy too? "You know those are bad for you right?" Kali was pulled from her thoughts when a familiar voice spoke, "yeah, yeah I know wheeler" she smiled as she rolled her eyes. Nancy placed a hand on Kali's shoulder, patting it slightly before walking into the house, Jonathon hot on her tail. Kali took one final drag from her cigarette before throwing it on the floor and making her way inside.
Nancy was telling the kids about this woman who had been eating fertiliser and acting strange, she went on to say how this Mrs Driscoll was in the hospital and when Nancy went to see her to find out what was going on, she started screaming and had black veins covering her entire body "what time was this attack?" Mike spoke up, looking at his older sister in anticipation "around 9" Nancy didn't seem too sure as she spoke, Jonathan's head snapped over to her "you waited all night to call?"
"I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests" Nancy shrugged, waving him off "what time was your sauna test?" She continued, her gaze falling back on the group. They all looked round at each other "around 9" they spoke in unison, everyone's eyes widened when they realised what was happening "well that proves it. That proves my theory. She's flayed, just like Billy"
"Flayed?" Kali spoke as she looked over to Nancy, "the mind flayer, he flays people. Takes over their mind" Kali's eyes shot over to Will as he spoke "once they do that, they basically become him" Kali felt like she was going to throw up, she grabbed the back of the sofa and started breathing heavily causing Max to run over to her. Kali gave the young red head a weak smile as her breathing steadied, her ears slowly began to focus back into the conversation "if there are two flayed, we have to assume there are more"
"Heather" El spoke softly as she stood from her spot on the ground, Kali looked over at her confused "Billy was doing something to her, she was screaming. Bad screams" the group all furrowed their brows at El "what are good screams?" Lucas chimed in, "max said.." El was quickly cut off by Max throwing her hand over the young girls mouth, a small giggle erupted from Kali's mouth when she realised what good screams were. She found herself lost in thought again as she thought back to all the times Billy had made her 'good scream', her face turning bright red as the dirty thoughts invaded her mind. Nancy shook her head at Kali before turning back to the group "sorry I'm lost. Who is heather?" She crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for someone to answer "she's a lifeguard at the pool" Max spoke, as she turned back to face Nancy, "Heather Holloway" Nancy and Jonathan's heads shot towards each other "Tom!" The couple ran out to the car, shouting for everyone else to follow as they drove off.
Kali had no idea where they were going as she followed behind Nancys car, her brows furrowed when she saw them pull over outside a small house. They all climbed out of their cars and made their way over to the front door, Nancy tried knocking but noticed the door slightly ajar, she pushed it open slowly and peered inside "Tom?" She called out but no one answered "Heather?" Max called out into the darkness as they all made their way inside. It didn't look as if anyone was home "Jesus it's freezing" Kali spoke, pulling her arms up to her chest in an attempt to keep warm "do you guys smell that?" Nancy questioned, the rest of the group lifted their noses in the air and took a deep inhale, Kali almost threw up as the toxic smell invaded her nose "oh god" she mumbled as she covered her nose with her hand, "more chemicals" Nancy spoke as she made her way through the house. As she walked into the kitchen she saw empty bottles of bleach on the side, she quickly ran over to the bottles, picking each other them up as she inspected them "you think they're guzzling this shit?" Max scoffed, Kali turned to her and laughed "yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree" Max joined Kali's laughter causing the rest of the group to look at them both confused "but last year Will didn't eat chemicals" Mike turned pointing to the young boy beside him "this is something new" his sister added when she realised he was right. Mike clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention "Mr Clarke, fifth grade, posit. What happens when you mix chemicals together?" He pointed at Lucas and Will who shared a look "you create a new substance" their eyes widened as they looked back over to Mike "what if they're making something"
"In themselves?" Max added, Kali was confused at this whole conversation. Science was never her strong suit. Kali shook her head as she looked at the boys "come on, if you drink this crap" she gestured over to the empty bottles "it'll kill you"
"Yeah, if you're human" Nancy seemed distracted when she spoke. The group followed her as she ran into the living room, she crouched down and ran her fingers along the carpet before lifting them back to her face "blood" she whispered, her head shot round to Jonathon "yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead" she held her blood stained fingers in Jonathan's face as he furrowed his brows at her, unsure of what she was trying to say, Nancy rolled her eyes "he was attacked" she raised her eyebrows in sarcasm as Jonathon finally realised what she meant. Nancy took another look around the room, her eyes falling on a piece of rope "they must have tied them" she looked up from the rope, noticing muddy footprints that led out of the house "they must have taken them somewhere" The group stood and watched Nancy as she spoke to herself, all of them gasping when she turned around suddenly "Mrs Driscoll, she kept saying "I have to go back" What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place where all of this started, right?" The group all looked lost in thought, "a source" El looked over to Nancy as she spoke "somewhere he didn't want me to see" Kali eyes followed the young girl as she made her way over to Nancy, standing beside her before turning to the rest of the group "if we can find this source, then maybe we can stop him" Kali looked over at Nancy "or at least stop it from spreading" she added, noticing how upset Kali looked "how do we find it?" Kali spoke softly as she tried to hold back her fear. Nancy thought for a second, it was as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head when she lifted her gaze back to Kali "Mrs Driscoll, if she wants go to back so badly, why don't we let her?" The group nodded in determination. A plan was coming together. A plan to save Billy.
Kali drove like mad to the hospital, her foot pressed hard against the accelerator as she sped through the quiet town, her tires screeched as she pulled into the parking lot. Nancy pulled up beside her, Jonathon, Mike and El were also in the car with her while Max and Lucas had ridden with Kali, both of them falling to their knees and kissing the ground as they stepped out of the car, Kali laughed at the two of them "come one you two, my driving isn't that bad" Max and Lucas both stood and looked at her before looking at each other and laughing. Nancy stood behind the three of them, clearing her throat as she spoke "guys come on, we don't have time for this" she tapped her watch, Kali nodded at her as they turned and made their way inside the Hospital.
The nurse behind the reception desk seemed distracted by the phone call she was a part of so the group tried to sneak past her "whoa, whoa, whoa, excuse me" the nurse spoke up "where do you think you're going?" She pulled the phone away from her ear long enough to speak to the group of teenagers that had tried to get past her. Nancy turned to face the nurse, a sweet smile on her face as she spoke "I was just going to visit my grandma again and this is my family" she gestured to the rest of the group who all stood behind her smiling and waving as the nurse looked at each one of them, her eyes lingered on Kali for a short while before looking over at Lucas, "extended" he smiled nervously as the nurse raised her eyebrows at him, she sighed and shook her head "I don't care who they are" she looked back over at Nancy "you know the rules. Two visitors at a time"
"But.."
"Two!" The nurse said sternly as she sat back down in her chair and returned to her previous conversation "girl this child has lost her mind, she brought a whole zoo in here" Nancy and Jonathon shared a look before telling the rest of the group to go sit down while they went to check on Mrs Driscoll. Kali slumped down in one of the chair as she watched Nancy and Jonathon disappear into the elevator, a sigh escaped her lips as she rested her head against the wall. After everything that had happened over the past couple of days, she was exhausted, she thought back to Billy as she rested her hand on her growing stomach. Kali couldn't help but wonder if they really could save him, she prayed that they could, she didn't want to go on without him and she definitely didn't want to raise his child without him by her side. Kali smiled at the thought of Billy being a father, she knew he would be amazing at it, teaching them how to surf and all about cars and tucking them in a night. He would be an incredible father. As Kali sat lost in her thoughts, she remembered that she hadn't spoken to Eddie or Steve for a couple of days and decided that it would be best to call them to let them know that she was okay. She dialled Steve's number first but there was no answer, she found this strange but dialled Eddie's number instead, hoping that he would answer "hello?"
"Hey Ed's"
"Kali! Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm okay, I just wanted to let you know that.." Kali trailed off as she tried to think of what to say, she cleared her throat before continuing "I'm spending a couple of days at Nancys, we're having some much needed girl time so no boys allowed" Eddie laughed down the phone "okay sweetheart, well thanks for letting me know, now I don't have to go hunting for you" Kali smiled as he spoke, "just make sure you look after yourself and that precious child and Kali?"
"Yeah Ed's?"
"If you need anything and I mean anything, you call me okay?"
"Okay dad" Kali said sarcastically as her faced turned red, she was so glad that Eddie couldn't see her at that moment, laughter erupted from the phone "I'll see you in a couple of days sweetheart"
"Yeah see you soon Ed's" Kali smiled as she placed the phone back on the receiver. It warmed her heart to know just how much Eddie cared about her. As she went to sit back down in her chair, the lights started to flicker, without saying a word to each other, the group quickly ran past the reception and into the elevator. Something was wrong and they all prayed that Nancy and Jonathon were okay as they watched the different floor numbers flash past them.
When they exited the elevator, Kali looked around desperately searching for Jonathon or Nancy, her head snapped over to the side as she heard banging and screaming "Nancy!" Jonathon shouted as he banged against the door. The group quickly ran over and managed to get the door open "what the fuck?!" Kali shouted as her eyes fell upon a strange creature, it's head faced the group as it let out a loud screech. El screamed at the monster and raised her hands, slamming the creature against the walls before throwing it out of the window. Jonathon ran over to Nancy as the rest of the group made their way over to the now broken window, they looked down to see the creature slowly disappear into the sewers below. What the hell was that thing?