Charlie and Nancy had fortunately escaped the upside down. Jonathan inquired on what had happened but neither rod them could answer. Charlie was too shaken up when he returned home.
His dad was drunk and passed out on the couch. He slid into his room quietly and went to the bathroom. He stood under the cold shower for almost half an hour. He could still smell the stink of the upside down on him. It was suffocating.
Charlie, then, threw up. It was black like thick blood but darker. And slimeir. He curled up on the floor of his bedroom, trembling with cold.
"I was there, Charlie, I was in you. And I have been growing within you. Now is the time."
The eerie voice rung out and....
Charlie woke up with a gasp. He felt steady hands grab his hand, trying to comfort him.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's alright, you're safe." Hopper spoke trying to hey his son's attention.
Charlie was in the living room couch of the Byers with worried Hopper and Joyce by his side. He had been out for a couple of minutes now. Hopper was terrified to the core when he found Charlie unconscious on the floor. He looked worse than he did in the morning.
Joyce extended her hand and touched his face, comfortingly. Her motherly touched anchored Charlie to look at her and a teary sigh escaped his lips.
"It's okay, honey. We're here." Joyce spoke reassuringly.
It took Charlie more than 10 minutes to compose himself enough to speak. Joyce brought him a glass of water, which practically inhaled.
"Why didn't you tell me anything?" Hopper asked. Charlie didn't answer.
Hopper sighed and threw and arm around him. He wasn't going to trouble with further questions. Charlie though older than Will was also a kid. And he's been through so much and most of it beyond Hopper's knowledge.
"We're going to figure this out. When you can, tell us what you know." Hopper said firmly. Charlie nodded with his gaze fixed on the floor.
"It's the shadow monster Will drew. He... He's been speaking to me." Charlie said, his first words after waking up.
Joyce and Hopper shared a look. Will had said nothing about the shadow monster speaking to him. He said what the monster felt, he felt.
"It's like he's inside my head. And I have tried- I have to force him out." he took a long breath. Unspilled tears clinged to his eye lashes.
"But I think he's been there for so long. Since the day Nancy, Jonathan and I discovered the upside down. He told me- the end is near. And he is not going to stop until he's taken everyone."
Charlie now looked at his dad. The fear and pain evident in the young Hoppers' eyes.
"How does he talk to you?"
"Through dreams. Nightmares. He's in all of them. He has showed corpses of people I love and the destruction of Hawkins. I didn't think they were...connected until- until he started talking to me."
Charlie wiped away a tear and cleared his throat. His voice was failing him. His hands were involuntarily. Joyec, with a pitiful expression, held then firmly. He looked at her and she gave him a half smile.
"He just appears, suddenly I'm not here. I'm in Hawkins but not this one. I'm in the upside down-"
Hopper realized it was hard for Charlie and stopped him by squeezing his shoulder. Joyce's grip tighed on his hands.
"Will has been drawing for hours now. Let's put them together and see if it can help."
Joyce suggested and Hopper stood up. She tuned her attention back to Charlie.
"Meanwhile, do you want to lie down?"
"No. I'm good." Charlie replied monotonous.
"Just lie down, Charlie." She said softly.
He refused a bed and lied back down on the couch. His headache made it hard for him relax. His thoughts were all over the place. Joyce looked at the pale face of the boy and saw how obviously in pain he was.
She sat on the floor near the couch and started to caress Charlie's forehead. He looked at her through half open eyes.
"It'll help you fall asleep." Joyce said in low voice.
She continued to stroke his hair and slowly Charlie was slipping into a deep slumper.
Hopper watched the scene unfold. He thought about how much Charlie must have been missing his mother. Not that she was ever this affectionate to him. But only if she had stayed after they lost Sarah, maybe she would've learned to love Charlie too.
Charlie didn't lose just Sarah, he lost his mother and his father. He lost his entire family. He lost his happiness and comfort and even his sense of safety. And he went through all that pain for years in solitude. Hopper seeked comfort in alcohol which only added to the misery of his only son. Hopper knew he had been unfair to Charlie more than anyone.
Joyce stood up carefully after Charlie was asleep. She contemplated getting him a blanket but decided against it. Giving Charlie the comfort of warmth would provoke the shadow monster to hurt him further.
She and Hopper put together Will's drawings.
At first they seemed like random scribbles but they realised, every picture was like the piece of a puzzle forming a bigger picture. They couldn't figure out what the bigger picture was. Until Hopper realized something.
"He's drawing wines." Hopper omniously and walked out.
Joyce sighed, frustrated to be kept in suspense. Will kept drawing in his room and Charlie was asleep on the couch. Joyce kept checking on both of them.
Mike showed up only an hour after Hopper left. He somehow knew about the shadow monster. But the boy was far too surprised to find Charlie there.
Mike stayed with Will and talked about everything will had heard or seen. The boy was able to put a positive outlook to all this.
Towards dusk, Charlie insisted on leaving. Hopper wasn't back yet and he needed to be back with El. Joyce didn't think it was a good idea. However she couldn't keep him much longer.
Charlie hastily left the Byers and walked to the cabin. It was a long and exhausting walk. The place was eerily quiet when he got there. The door was open and Charlie walked in. It was a bigger mess than when they left that morning. An unknown dread started to fill his mind.
"El? El, are you here?" Charlie asked a little too loudly. His panic was rising. No reply came and he tried again. He went through each room. No sign of El.
The floor of Hopper's room had papers scattered all over. They were newspaper cutouts, pictures of the Hawkins lab and more. Charlie sat in the floor and went through them.
Hopper had been researching about El. Who were her parents and where she came from. Teresa "Terry" Ives was the woman who gave birth to Eleven. El's real name is Jane. El had gone to find her real mother.
Charlie sighed. His eyes burned and throat tightened. El was capable of protecting herself but he was worried regardless. Part of his worry was, he might never see her again. She left without saying anything to him. Not even a note. And whne she finds her real family, she might never return.
Charlie threw the files on the floor and got up. He walked out of the room and glanced over the cabin. It was dark, cold and lonely. El had left him. His dad was nowhere to be seen. He was lonely and miserable. Even the voice of the shadow monster had vanished from his mind.
So he laid on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. He felt exhaustion like never before. There was that feeling again. The feeling of absolute misery and pain. He was drowning in his darkness.
His thoughts went to Sarah. His mother. Billy. All those who had hurt him both knowingly and unknowingly. Both by choice and the lack of it.
His eyelids grew heavy as the horrid memories of his past and present started to crowd his mind. And he was powerless against all the nightmares that haunted him that night.
Charlie woke up, startled. Daylight was breaking and he looked around for any sign of his dad. But Hopper wasn't there. Charlie figured he didn't come at all. For a minute, he entertained the thought that, maybe Hopper had went back to the Byers. But if he had, he would've come to the cabin to find Charlie.
All night he was troubled with dreams of the other side. Tunnels, winding and confusing tunnels, occupied most of his dreams. He felt he was walking through them and he was lost. He couldn't find his way out, every turn he took brought him back to exactly where he had begun.
There was sick feeling like dread in his stomach. His headache was worse than yesterday. He went to the bathroom and lurched.
Charlie looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess. His face, pale and his cheeks were hollowed out. He looked like a corpse. He shook off the feelings of extreme self loathe. Because he had to go to the Byers residence and find out about his dad.
Since his jeep had given upon him, he had to walk again. But he really couldn't care less. The weather was cold and it helped his headache. He was shaking after walking for almost 10 mins. His finger were numb and he wasn't dressed for the weather.
He was passing the Wheeler's when Dustin's voice called out to him. He hadn't noticed the boy at first.
"Hey Charlie, I need your help." Dustin said in a hurry.
"Sorry buddy, I really can't." Charlie tried to refuse.
"You don't understand, it's life or death."
Charlie frowned. He was about to enquire when a car drove uo. Steve Harrington's car.
They both looked at each other then back at the car.
Steve got out with rose bouquet. He was muttering to himself and didn't notice Charlie and Dustin standing there.
"Hey Steve, are those Mrs and Mr. Wheeler?" Dustin asked, walking towards him.
"No." Steve answered, uncertainly glancing at Charlie.
There was something in his gaze. Something like contempt. And Charlie didn't understand why. Dustin took the flowers from Steve and walked to his car.
"Then Nancy is not here."
Dustin said opening the door and throwing the bouquet in.
"Wait, where is she?" Steve asked.
So the flowers had been for Nancy. Charlie felt like he had been punched in the gut. Steve brought flowers to make up with Nancy and get together again.
"Charlie get in," Dustin said and directed his next question to Steve.
"Do you still have that bat?"
"What bat?"
"The one with nails" Dustin shrugged.
"Yeah. Come on."
"Now?"
"Now!" Dustin said and gestured Charlie to get in.
Charlie got into the front seat and Dustin in the back. Steve took off without even glancing at Charlie once. Something was definitely wrong.
None of them spoke after Dustin gave Steve directions to his house. Charlie was breathing a little faster than the normal rate. That voice on the back of his head was back. A pit of anxiety and dread was forming in his stomach.
"Charlie, are you sick?" the question came from Dustin. The boy looked concerned.
"No." Charlie replied, blankly.
"Yeah, because we all sweat like that in the middle of winter." Dustin sassed. Charlie narrowed his eyes and said
"Watch the attitude."
"sorry." Dustin muttered, sheepishly.
Steve raised an eyebrow at the surprising good manners of the Henderson towards Charlie compared to himself. His eyes flicked then to the boy sitting next to him. His hands were trembling involuntarily. He stared out of the window with the most miserable look Steve has ever seen on his face. But he didn't ask anything.
"Are you going to tell us, why we're doing this?" Charlie asked Dustin restlessly.
"Well, a couple of weeks ago.... I found... Um a.... Tadpole."
Dustin hesitated.
"Dustin, get to the point."
Charlie looked at him through the mirror. Dustin gulped before continuing.
"Turns out it wasn't a tadpole at all. It was a baby....demodog."
"What?" Charlie and Steve asked simultaneously. They glanced at each other for a second before turning their attention back to the curly haired boy.
"Yeah... Baby demogorgon but it's like a dog."
"Bloody...a what?" Charlie raised his voice.
"Are you serious?" Steve asked.
Dustin nodded and went on.
"The story doesn't end there. It's not exactly a baby anymore. He's grown. He sheds skin like snakes."
"I told you shitheads to stay out of trouble. Do the rest of them know?" Charlie asked with all the seriousness of a babysitter.
"No." Dustin said, looking down.
"Good. Now let's get rid of this fucking thing and we are going to have a long talk about it." Charlie warned and Dustin gulped again.
The silence prevailed as Charlie grew more and more uneasy.
" Are you sure it's not just a lizard or something?" Steve asked and Charlie groaned internally.
"It's not a lizard." Dustin argued.
"How do you know?"
"Because his face opened up and he ate my cat."
"That thing ate mews?" Charlie asked.
Steve sighed and Dustin nodded.
Once the car stopped, Charlie jumped out first. He took a long, deep breath. Steve got the nail bat from the back of the car and Charlie armed himself with an axe. The tree of them stood before the locked door, listening to any sound.
"I don't hear anything." Steve declared.
"He's in there." Dustin said.
Charlie didn't think so. Whenever anything related to the upside down was happening, he could feel it. If a demogorgon was down there he would know.
"If this some kind of Halloween prank. Oswer you're dead." Steve warmed Dustin who immediately assured it wasn't.
"Dusty, get me the key." Charlie said decisively.
Dustin did so right away. Steve through light into the room, hesitating to go in.
"I'll stay here in case he tries to escape."
Dustin said and both the idler boys looked at him.
Charlie went in first and Steve followed. They carefully walked in, ready to attack.
"No fucking way." Charlie muttered.
He stared at the big gap in the brick wall while Steve picked up something with his bat, semmingly the skin the creature shed.
"Dustin come down here." Charlie called.
Dustin came down and looked as shocked as the other two.
"Well shit." he said looking at the skin.
"Oh shit." he said his eyes drifting to the wall.
The trio formed a new plan. They decided to use meat as bait to trap the demodog. While Dustin went to look for meat in his kitchen, Steve and Charlie stayed outside. The silence was so loud, it ringed in Charlie's ears. So he spoke first.
"So, you want to get back with Nancy now?"
Steve scoffed. Charlie frowned.
"Yeah, yeah I do. Why do you care though?"
Steve asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Because I thought we had something." Charlie put plainly.
"Yeah I did too. Turns out it was just me the whole time."
Steve said with some predisposition.
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, taking few steps forward. Steve moved away from him.
"You know damn well, what I'm talking about! I saw you leaving with Hargrove yesterday."
Charlie sighed in frustration. Steve had it all wrong. He tried desperately.
"Steve, you don't understand. It's not what you think."
Steve laughed bitterly.
"You don't get to lead me on anymore."
"I was never leading you on. You have to let me explain-"
Charlie didn't get to finish his sentence. A sudden pain shot through his entire body. Blood dripped from his nose as he sunk to his knees, grunting in pain. Steve immediately ran to his side, all his anger giving way to concern and fear.
"Charlie. What's wrong?"
Charlie screamed in pain. Black vains and blister type marks appeared on his arms and neck. He kept crying out in pain as Steve held him, feeling helpless and afraid. Dustin ran to their side in a matter of seconds.
"Charlie, talk to me. Hey?" Steve's voice blurred out for him.
"I have him now and it's your fault."
Blurry images came to his mind. Hopper, tunnels, vines. Joyce, Bob. Will screaming and convulsing. Hopper again strangled by vines.
"You have lost."
The pain stopped and Charlie threw up. Something black and slimy. He coughed and gasped for air. His head was on Steve's chest and Dustin had placed a hand on his forearm. Steve soothingly rubbed his arm.
"Are you okay now? What happened?"
Steve asked, each word laced with worry.
"My dad." Charlie said breathless. He looked at Dustin.
"I need to make a call."