Neil and Susan walked into the Hargrove household, home from the date they had gone out on in the middle of the day. "Hey guys, we're home." Susan called out, placing her bags on the kitchen table. When there was no response, she called again, "Guys? Hello?"
"Max?" The woman walked down the hallway, going into her daughter's room. She found it empty; the girl's skateboard on her bed and her window open. "Neil, honey! Maxine- She's gone." Susan ran out of her daughter's room, going up to her husband with fear in her eyes.
The man groaned, going to his own daughter's room and banging against the door. "Audrey! You better open this damn door before I beat you!" There was no response. He flung the door open, the handle denting the wall. His daughter wasn't there, he was pissed. Technically, he had told her to leave. But that's not the way Neil Hargrove saw it. He saw it as an act of defiance. His daughter going out of her way to inconvenience him. Susan was just behind Neil, knocking against the eldest of the children's door.
He had music up loud and could barely hear his step-mother. "Billy?"
"Yeah, I'm a little bit busy in here, Susan."
"Open the door. Right now!" Neil yelled at his son.
Billy pulled the door open, looking at his guardians. "What's wrong?"
"Why don't you tell us?" Neil asked.
"Because I don't know."
"We can't find Maxine." Susan explained the situation in simple terms. "Her window's open."
"And your sister's been gone since yesterday before lunch." Neil added. "Where are they?"
"I don't know." Billy shook his head, getting antsy on his feet.
"You don't know?" Neil scoffed.
"Look, I'm sure she just. . .I don't know, went to the arcade or something." He walked back over to his closet. "And didn't you kick Ru-Audrey out?" Billy tripped up on his sister's name, knowing that their father would be upset had he called her by her actual name and not her brith given name. "I'm sure they're fine."
"You were. . .supposed to watch her." Neil followed the blond into his room.
"I know, Dad. I was. It's just you guys were three hours late, and. . .well, I have a date." Billy pulled on a black leather jacket that was nearly identical to the one he had given Rylie. Nearly. "I'm sorry, okay?"
"So that's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister?" Neil asked his son, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I have been looking after her all week, Dad. Okay? She wants to run off then that's her problem, alright?" Billy yelled. "She's thirteen years old. She shouldn't need a full-time babysitter. And she's not my sister!" Billy turned off his music.
Neil grabbed his son by his jacket, slamming Billy against the bookshelf in his room. Billy was panting, looking at his father with pure hatred. "What did we talk about?" When Billy didn't answer, Neil slapped him across the face. The man grabbed his son by the chin, making him look at him again. "What did we. . .talk about?" His words were slow.
"Respect and responsibility." Billy seethed.
"That is right. Now, apologize to Susan."
Billy paused, his eyes never leaving his father's. "I'm sorry, Susan."
"It's okay, Neil. Really-"
"No, it's not okay. Nothing about his behavior is okay. But he's gonna make up for it." Neil let go of Billy, turning to his wife. "He's gonna call whatever whore he's seeing tonight and cancel their date. And then, he's gonna go find his sisters. Like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is. Isn't that right, Billy?" Billy didn't answer and Neil took a step toward him, shouting. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes sir." Billy said softly.
Neil took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."
"Yes, sir." Billy repeated more firmly, looking at his father.
"Find Max and Audrey. And when you find that little whore, tell her that I need to talk to her, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir." Billy responded, swallowing the spit in the back of his throat.
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Russell had slipped her hand into Steve's as they were walking, finding comfort in the slight contact. Her other hand occupied a flashlight so the two could see where they were going while Steve held his bat in his free grasp.
"Hello?" Russell's heart skipped at the sudden voice, not expecting there to be anyone out there in the dark. "Who's there? Who's there?" They stepped through the final of the foliage, Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers coming into their view.
"Steve?" The two new faces exasperated in unison.
"Nancy?" Steve stepped forward, Russell's hand still firm in his grasp. She subconsciously tightened her grip, almost scared that he would step to far and drop her hand. Nancy had hurt Steve, she was defensive of him. And. . .maybe a little jealous. Not that she'd admit the clutch in her chest to anyone. Not even to herself.
"Jonathan." Dustin followed the brunet forward.
"What are you doing here?" Nancy and Jonathan both went toward the group of seven, looking between them with a slight scoff.
"What are you doing here?" Rylie bit out, stepping forward to be in line with Steve.
"We're looking for Mike and Will." Nancy explained. All of them stopped, the two groups directly across one another.
"They're not in there, are they?" Lucy looked to the lab and then back to Nancy.
"We're not sure." She responded, looking between the two Harringtons.
"Why?" Jonathan questioned. As if on cue, a loud screeching came from inside the lab gates. Each of the teens looked toward the building, slight fear coating their faces.
They all started talking over one another, not allowing for each other to get a coherent word in. Nancy walked away from the group, looking at the building, "The power's back." Jonathan was the first to go, running toward the gate booth to try and open the gate. The four young teens followed after him immediately with Nancy, Steve, Russell and Rylie close behind.
When Jonathan's button pushing proved ineffective, Dustin walked toward the booth. "Let me try."
"Hold on-"
Dustin pushed the older boy back, "Let me try, Jonathan!" Dustin pushed the button over and over, just as Jonathan had, and it still didn't work. "Son of a bitch! You know what." Dustin continued to push it and the gate slid open, making the boy smile wide. "Hey! I got it! I got it." He chuckled.
Jonathan and Nancy both hopped into Jonathan's car, speeding off to the doors of the lab. There was a few minutes of the kids pacing, Russell laying her head on Steve's shoulder in exhaustion, and Rylie bouncing her foot before both Jonathan's and the Chief's cars came speeding toward the group. Jonathan's car continued past them, but the Chief pulled to a stop. "Let's go." He ushered.
Steve pulled the door open, dragging Russell into the car with him. "Come on." Steve continued to shout at the kids to hurry up.
The four kids pushed one another into the car, Rylie climbing in last and slamming the door behind her. "Hey Hopper." Rylie smiled from the seat beside him.
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"Sam Owens. Dr. Sam Owens." Hopper yelled into the phone. "I don't know how many people are there! I don't know how many people are left alive!. . .I am the police! Chief Jim Hopper! . . .Yes, the number that I gave you, yes. 6767. I will be here." He hung it up, groaning out.
"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin asked. He was standing by the Byers' family table, Lucy and Lucas on either side of him with Mike and Max on their outer sides.
The Chief turned to the group of kids. "We'll see."
"'We'll see'? We can't just sit here while those things are loose!" Mike shouted.
"We stay here and we wait for help." Hopper told them, turning and leaving to go check on Joyce.
Mike walked to the other side of the room, picking up a blue mind puzzle. "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?"
"Really?" Lucas asked.
"He petitioned the school to start it and everything." Mike turned back to them, a blue mind puzzle in his hand. "Then he had a fundraiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"
"Yeah." Dustin smiled. Lucy nodded.
"Yeah." Lucas agreed.
"We can't let him die in vain."
"Well, what do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin huffed. "Alright? The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own."
"Demo-dogs?" Max raised a brow.
"Demogorgon dogs." Lucy shrugged, putting the pieces together easily. It wasn't very hard.
Dustin nodded, "It's like a compound. It's like a play on words, you know? It's like-"
"Okay." Max nodded with wide eyes, not wanting Dustin to continue further.
"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe. . ."
"But there's an army now." Lucas grumbled out.
"Precisely." Dustin nodded.
"His army." Mike said in realization.
Steve scrunched his nose up, "What do you mean?"
"His army." Mike repeated. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army too." Mike ran off, the rest of the group from the kitchen following after him and into Will's room. Mike pulled a picture from Will's nightstand, Max looking at it.
"The shadow monster." Dustin took the picture from Max's hands.
"It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him." Mike explained.
"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked, looking up at Mike.
"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything." Mike nodded.
"Woah. Slow down, slow down." Steve told the kids.
"So what do you want to do, Mike?" Lucy asked, looking up at her friend.
"Okay, so, the shadow monster's inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will." Mike explained, looking up at Steve.
"And so does Dart." Lucas added.
"Yeah. It's like what Mr. Clarke taught us." Mike nodded.
"The hive mind." Lucy smiled.
"Hive mind?" Steve shook his head, looking down at his sister.
"A collective consciousness. It's a super-organism." Dustin explained.
"And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain." Mike pointed down at the picture in Dustin's hands.
"Like the mind flayer." Dustin went wide eyed.
"Dust-" Lucy sighed, shaking her head slightly. She knew what he was talking about but she also knew that Steve, Russell and Max wouldn't. Lucas snapped his head around, catching on.
"The what?" Max huffed out.
"What?" Steve shook his head slightly.
"The. . .mind what?" Russell frowned.
Dustin ran back to the kitchen, leading his friends back with him. Nancy, Jonathan and Rylie joined from the other room and so did Hopper. Dustin dropped a book that he had pulled out of his backpack onto the table, it flipped open to a page of information. "The mind flayer."
"What the hell is that?" The Chief asked with a sigh.
"It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home." Dustin looked between the group. "Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly developed psionic powers."
"Oh, my God. None of this is real. This is a kids' game." Hopper huffed.
"Well. . .I- It's a manual. . .And it's not for kids." Lucy scratched at her left arm, looking up at the Chief.
"And unless you know something that we don't," Dustin pointed at Hopper and then back down to his book. "This is the best metaphor-"
"Analogy." Lucas corrected.
"Analogy? That's what you're worried about? Fine! Fine! Analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is." Dustin's voice raised.
"Okay, so this mind flamer thing-" Nancy started.
"Flayer. Mind flayer." Dustin corrected.
"What does it want?" Nancy sighed.
"To conquer us, basically. Ye- It- It believes it's the master race."
"Like the- Uh- Like the Germans." Steve tried. Russell and Lucy both shot him looks, their brows pinched and their mouths gaped. What the fuck, Steve?
"Uh, the Nazis?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis." Steve stammered. Russell chuckled, shaking her head slightly.
"Uh. . .If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally." Dustin agreed. Hopper groaned, running a hand across his face.
"But, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself." Lucy muttered.
"It wants to spread, take over other dimensions." Mike added.
"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas exaggerated.
"That's great. That's great. That's really great. Jesus." Steve huffed, walking away from the group.
"Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it. . ." Rylie trailed off.
"We kill everything it controls." Mike said.
"We win." Dustin nodded.
"Theoretically." Lucas huffed.
"Alright, great. So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?" The Chief asked, taking the book from Nancy's hands.
Dustin started chuckling, "No. No, no fire- no fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because- because zombies, you know, they- they don't- they don't have brains and the mind- the mind flayer, it. . .it. . .it likes brains. . .It's just a game. It's a game."
The Chief slammed the book shut, dropping it onto the table with a thud. "What the hell are we doing here?"
"I thought we were waiting for your military backup." Dustin called after him.
"We are!"
"But even if they come, how are they gonna stop this?" Mike asked. "You can't just shoot this with guns!"
"You don't know that! We don't know anything!" Hopper shouted back.
"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab." Mike started.
"And we know the monsters are gonna molt again." Lucas added.
"And then they'll be the same size as the Demogorgon from last year." Lucy shuddered, scratching at her arm under her coat.
"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town." Dustin finished.
"They're right." Joyce sniffled, making her way into the room. "We have to kill it. I want to kill it."
"Me too. Me too, Joyce, okay?" Hopper assured, walking over to Joyce. "But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."
"No. But he does." Mike walked up behind the Chief, toward Will. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know its weakness."
"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore." Max spoke up.
"Yeah, isn't he with the Mind Flayer now?" Rylie quirked a brow.
"Yeah, but. . .he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is." Mike stated rather cryptically.
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Russell was helping Steve and Nancy pin tarps to the walls of the Byers' shed, handing Steve whatever he needed for the particular spot.
"Hey." Nancy looked at Steve, "What you did, um, helping the kids? That was. . .really cool."
"Yeah. Those little shits are real trouble, you know?" He climbed back up on the step stool.
"Believe me, I know."
Russell left the shed, going to grab another tarp from just outside in the grass. She could still hear them, but they didn't know that. "So, Russell. . .She seems. . .Cool." Nancy trailed off.
Steve chuckled, "She is."
"You know. . .It's okay if you like her."
"I- I don't."
"Oh, come on Steve!" Nancy laughed. "I can see it in your eyes."
"Okay, well maybe I do. . ." Russell felt her face flush red. "What about you and Jonathan, huh?"
"Oh. . ."
"You know, it's okay if you like him." Steve repeated Nancy's previous statement.
"Thanks. . ."
"I got another tarp." Russell's cheeks were pink, bitting at the corner of her lip as she drug the white tarp into the shed with her. Everyone came back to the shed, helping set it up until it was unrecognizable. Jonathan brought Will out, the rest of the group finding their way back into the house.
Steve started to swing his bat in the living room, Russell and Rylie both sitting on the couch watching him. The lights in the house started flashing and they all rushed over to the window with quick steps, going to try and see what was happening.
"Where's Lucy?" Steve asked, looking around at the shorter kids in front of him with the lack of his sister.
"She's in there with them, Stevie." Rylie huffed. "You really need to pay better attention to your baby sister."
"Woah, woah, woah- I can't just let her-" He started going toward the back door only to have a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Steve, she'll be fine." Russell nodded, looking up at the brunet.
"Yeah, she's got Hopper and- and Jonathan and Mike." Dustin stammered, frowning. He wanted for him to be the one in there to keep her safe. Not Mike. The Chief came in, rushing for a paper and pen. "What happened?" Dustin questioned, watching as he sat down at the table and started scribbling.
Hopper sighed, "I think he's talking. Just not with words."
"It says here." Lucy muttered, Hopper looking up at her with a small chuckle. He had only written the H down, still translating the rest.
"Hey, what is that?" Steve asked, looking between the group.
"Morse code." The boys responded, Russell nodding along.
"You're all such nerds." Rylie scoffed, shaking her head with a slow grin.
"Will's still in there. He's talking to us." Hopper assured, Joyce giving him a tight nod and a weary smile.
Lucy went off, grabbing a yellow notepad. She handed the pad to Nancy, getting a sheet of lined paper from her backpack for herself. Russell bent over the table, watching Lucy as she took the pen that Hopper was working on. Jonathan came back from his room with his boombox and a cassette.
"Dash, dot, dash, dot." Dustin instructed as Lucy wrote it out.
"Okay, got it-" Lucas started.
"It's a C." Lucy interrupted him.
They heard beeping again, Dustin telling Lucy the code. "Dot, dash, dot, dot."
"L." Lucy muttered, looking up.
"Dash, dash, dash."
"O!" Lucas shouted, happy to have beat Lucy to saying it that time.
"Dot, dot, dot." Dustin continued.
"S." Lucy nodded, sure of herself. They heard a single dot. "E."
"Dash, dash, dot."
"G."
"Dot, dash."
"A."
"Dash."
"T!" Lucas interrupted Dustin and Lucy's back and forth.
"Dot." Dustin smiled, chuckling as he shook his head.
"That one's an E, right?" Nancy asked, looking up to see Lucy nod.
The phone started ringing and they all gasped, looking over to it with wide eyes. "Shit. Shit!" Dustin muttered, running over and slamming the phone back down on it's receiver. It started ringing again, making them all panic. Dustin pulled the phone from the receiver again, going to put it back down before Nancy ripped the entire unit from the wall and threw it across the room with a grunt.
"Do you think he heard that?" Max asked, glancing between the group.
"It's just a phone. It could be anywhere. . . right?" Steve tried.
They heard the familiar screeching in the distance. "I. . .I don't think so, Steve." Russell murmured, her breaths going slow.
"Well, fuck." Rylie sighed, running a hand across her face. She walked over to the window.
"Language!" Nancy scolded, getting a sarcastic laugh from the blonde.
"I'll watch my language when Lucy does." Rylie hummed out.
"That's not good." Dustin breathed out, the rest of the group walking toward where Rylie was stood.
"Hey! Hey, get away from the windows!" Hopper yelled at the kids, coming in with multiple long ranged guns along with a hand gun. "Do you know how to use this?" He held one of the shot guns out in Jonathan's direction.
"Wh- What?" He stuttered, looking at the weapon.
"Can you use this?" The Chief shouted.
"Uhm-"
"I can." Nancy stepped forward.
Hopper tossed it to her, holding up the second one. "Who else?" Rylie raised a lazy hand, rolling her eyes slightly as she caught the gun he threw to her. He held the pistol toward Steve who just stared at it with a wide eyed look. "Oh my God." The man groaned.
Lucy walked over, her hand remaining in Dustin's tight hold. She took the gun from Hopper, flicking the safety off and cocked the bullets into place. "My grandad taught me how to use a hand-gun when I was eight."
"He didn't teach me to use one?" Steve gaped.
"He doesn't like you as much." She shrugged. Hopper cocked his own gun, trusting that the young girl would be careful. The five with the real weapons stood in front of the rest of the group. Dustin was closer because he still held onto Lucy's hand like his life depended on it. Lucas had his wrist rocket out, standing guard in front of Max, and Mike picked up a candlestick that was near him. Russell and Jonathan seemed to be the only ones without weapons.
"Where are they?" Max muttered, looking around as they heard the screeching get closer. "Where are they!"
They heard a loud growl come from just outside the house and all were quick to turn that way. "What are they doing?" Nancy panted out.
"We don't know, Nancy." Rylie grit. The group saw the branches of a bush rustle just in front of the Byers' window. There was a low chitter from the 'Demo-dogs' and an exaggerated snarl from the original place they had been looking. The creatures screeched in a way that almost sounded painful. The noises all halted for a minute before one of the 'Demo-dogs' flew through the glass of the window. Lucy shot at it, hitting the monster once, dead in its face as it was sent tumbling across the floor.
The baby Demogorgon didn't move, Hopper slowly approaching the lifeless body with his gun still pointed at it in caution. "Holy shit." Dustin breathed out, looking to Lucy with wide eyes. "You hit that thing dead on-"
"What the fuck, Lu?" Steve huffed, spinning around to look at his sister with a sense of shock.
"Is it dead?" Max asked with furrowed brows. Hopper kicked the creature's face but it didn't react. They heard the front door creak, all turning to look toward the sound. The lock snapped open and they all pointed their weapons in that direction.
"Lucy. Don't shoot." Hopper muttered. The Chief stepped in front of the group, the door chain sliding out of it's lock.
"What the fuck-" Russell muttered, grasping onto the back of Steve's coat with tight fists.
The door creaked open and a young girl in black who had blood running down her nose stepped through the door. "El?" Lucy muttered. Mike took slow steps forward, smiling.
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Word Count - 3,821
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Published - June 27, 2023
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