CHAPTER SIX:
NOTHING EVER HAPPENS IN HAWKINS
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DANNY HAD SO much to process. So much had happened in so little time and he still hadn't even had enough time to process all of it. Danny wasn't even sure that it wasn't a dream. It seemed too crazy to be real. Nothing ever happened in Hawkins, Indiana. It was one of the most boring towns in the whole country, maybe even the whole world. Everybody knew everybody and everybody knew everybody's business, and nothing ever changed. High school sweethearts married and got pregnant then bought a nice house in a nice neighborhood, and lived out their boring lives with nothing crazy ever happening.
Nothing seemed to ever happen in Hawkins, Indiana but that wasn't the truth. Hawkins wasn't the town that Danny thought it was. It all started when Will Byers went missing. Danny remembered when he heard the news. He also remembered the funeral and how not too long after that, Will was found very much alive. He thought it was weird but it wasn't so weird that he thought about it for too long. However, it was stranger than Danny originally thought. El, aka Eleven used her abilities to fight the monster from another dimension known as the Upside Down that had taken Will as Chief Hopper and Joyce Byers went into the Upside Down to retrieve Will.
Then, the following autumn, Will got possessed by another monster from the Upside Down. That was the year that Max Mayfield got involved. They had to go into the Upside Down itself to kill the monster and its army of what Dustin called, Demodogs. They won just like they had won when Will had first gotten taken. They seemed to always win no matter what but every time, things seemed to get bigger and scarier.
This time, Billy Hargrove was possessed by another monster from the Upside Down. He was being controlled by it and Will could somehow feel when it was coming. Danny listened intently to all of it as the group explained it to him while Eleven searched in her mind to try and find Chief Hopper to help them.
Danny stared at the group with wide eyes, his brain attempting to process all the information that had just been thrown at him. It was all a lot to take in and it was even harder when the group kept talking over each other. They all didn't expect Danny Buckley of all people to stumble upon their secrets of the Hawkins but here he was, stuck with them if he wanted to be or not, although, Lucas kept telling him that if he wanted to leave, he could. Lucas seemed to be the only one who was utterly against Danny becoming a part of their world-saving group. Danny figured it was because Lucas hated him but his worried face said something entirely different.
"Okay, any questions?" Mike asked as he finished explaining the very long story.
"What the fuck?" Danny sighed as he blinked a few times, not knowing what to say to that, "Um... I don't know. This is fucking crazy. I'm not even entirely sure that I'm not dreaming."
"It's crazy and dangerous. You are welcome to save your own life and leave," Lucas stood up, gesturing to the stairs in Mike Wheeler's basement that they were currently in. Danny was sitting on the coffee table while the entire group squeezed together on the couch in front of him. "This is a life or death situation which means you could die if you stay."
Danny shrugged, "Sounds cool as fuck to me."
Lucas sighed and rolled his eyes. He seemed frustrated at Danny's response. Danny furrowed his brows and was about to question Lucas before Eleven spoke up, "I found him."
"Where is he?" Max asked.
"Woods," Eleven stated. Danny watched eagerly as Eleven used her mind to find Hopper. Danny thought it was incredible that she could do something like that. "He's with... Will's mom."
Will leaned forward, "My — My mom?"
Max furrowed her brows, "What are they doing?"
"Ill... annoy," Eleven muttered, furrowing her brows. Danny furrowed his brows as well as he looked around at the rest of the group, all of them sharing similar confused looks. "They're going to Ill-annoy."
Danny guessed, "Like the state?"
Karen Wheeler knocked on the basement door, "Mike! Breakfast!"
"Now now, Mom!" Mike shouted. He turned back to Eleven, his voice softening immediately. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?"
Eleven took off her blindfold and shrugged, "Ill — annoy."
Danny nodded and looked at Mike, "She's definitely talking about the state."
Eleven stood up and headed to the bathroom as her nose had started to bleed. Danny noticed that it seemed to bleed whenever she used her powers. He wondered if it was because it took a lot out of her each time to use them. Danny still thought Eleven was extremely cool. Her powers were incredible and unique, and Danny wanted to know more about them and see her use them but he also figured that using them took a lot out of her.
As Max followed Eleven to the bathroom, Mike stood up and started to rant, "Something's not right. I can't get Hopper off my back all summer and now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence."
"Maybe Hopper and Joyce are screwing or something and the hiking is just a weird date," Danny shrugged prompting all three of the boys to gag. "And Dustin is with Steve and Robin."
"Steve and Robin?" Mike asked, furrowing his brows.
"Yeah," Danny nodded as he moved to take a seat on the couch beside Lucas. "They were all working on cracking some sort of weird code that they thought Russians created."
"What?" Mike asked, looking utterly confused as he furrowed his brows and gestured with his hands. "Russian code? What the hell are you talking about?"
Danny raised his hands in defense, "I don't know, dude. I was barely listening to them."
"What does it matter?" Lucas sighed from beside Danny. "The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us."
"Up to us to do, what exactly?" Mike asked.
"Find Billy and stop him," Lucas explained, sounding confident.
"Okay, yeah, that's a really nice sentiment, but even if El could find him again and that's a pretty big if, then what?" Mike asked, not seeming as confident as Lucas was.
"We burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn't escape this time!" Lucas exclaimed like it was the simplest task in the world.
Danny scoffed, "That sounds way easier than it'll probably end up being."
"Then what?" Mike asked.
Lucas shrugged, "Then we win!"
"No, see, that's the problem. We don't. We don't win," Mike continued to rant. Danny frowned, not liking how negative Mike was being about the whole situation. Danny understood that he had only been dealing with this for less than twenty-four hours while the others had been dealing with it for a year and a half, but he didn't think that Mike needed to be so negative. "We got the Mind Flayer out of Will before and he just came right back. We don't just have to stop Billy, we have to stop the Mind Flayer."
"How in the hell do we do that?" Lucas raised his eyebrows.
Mike shrugged, "I don't know."
"Maybe El does," Will suggested.
Mike turned around, looking at the closed bathroom door. He sighed and shook his head, "What are they still doing in there?"
Lucas grabbed a box of cereal and stuffed some into his mouth as he shrugged, "I don't know. Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms."
"Why?" Mike asked, seeming annoyed.
Danny chuckled to himself, "They usually just talk or gossip. It's really not a big deal."
"No, it is," Mike argued, disagreeing with Danny. "They're conspiring against me."
Danny furrowed his brows at Mike's paranoia, "I highly doubt that's what they're doing." Danny then stood up and marched over to Mike. "And what did I tell? Confidence, Wheeler. Confidence."
"Is that actually your main concern right now?" Will snapped.
"It's not my main concern," Mike argued. Danny chuckled once more. Will rolled his eyes at Mike while Lucas continued to chow down on his cereal. "It's just a sub-concern."
"I thought it was already over."
"It's not over, okay?" Mike disagreed. "We're just taking a break."
Danny shook his head, "It's a breakup, dude. Accept it and get over it."
"Danny's right," Will agreed. Lucas looked at Danny and glared. Danny winked at him. "She said she dumped your ass, that doesn't sound like a break."
"It wasn't!" Max shouted through the bathroom door. Danny chuckled at the boy's reactions to realizing the girls could hear them. Mike looked like he was about to shit himself. "You guys do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?"
Mike shook his head and whispered, "Conspiring. I told you, they're conspiring."
"Yeah, I'm not even in that bathroom and I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that they aren't," Danny chuckled as the boys looked at him strangely. "You guys are clueless when it comes to girls. I'm honestly shocked at how you two idiots managed to get them to date you."
A knock at the door prevented Lucas or Mike from saying anything in return. Mike whipped his head toward the door and shouted, "Not now, mom!"
"Mike, open the door!" A younger female voice replied.
Everybody furrowed their brows in confusion and looked at one another. Mike ran up the stairs and opened the basement door, revealing his sister, Nancy Wheeler, and her boyfriend and Will's brother, Jonathan Byers. Danny was confused to see them, wondering if they, too, were involved in the shit show that Danny had gotten himself involved in. As Nancy announced they had some important news to share, she paused when she saw Danny.
Nancy and Jonathan shared a similar look of confusion just as Max and Eleven came out of the bathroom. Nancy furrowed her brows at Danny then looked back at Mike, "Um... what's Danny Buckley doing here?"
"It's okay, he's cool," Mike shook his head, assuring Nancy that Danny could be trusted. "He knows."
"He is not cool," Lucas disagreed causing Danny to roll his eyes. "He shouldn't even be here and he's going to be leaving."
Danny scoffed, "Like hell I am."
"He knows?" Nancy asked. Nancy looked back at Danny. "How did you even —"
"I saw them stalking Billy yesterday, which they were doing a shitty job at by the way. Then, I followed them after the pool closed when they locked Billy in the sauna and turned it all the way up until he grew these weird, black veins all over his body and got like superhuman strength," Danny started to explain, practically ranting as Nancy and Jonathan listened with raised eyebrows. "And then, Eleven used her sick powers —" Danny turned to Eleven with wide eyes. "You're so fucking cool, by the way! Those powers are fucking awesome!" Danny then turned back to Nancy. "Eleven used her powers to kick his ass until he ran away like a little bitch."
Nancy and Jonathan furrowed their brows, not knowing what to say in response to that. Nancy looked at her brother who nodded at her, "We have a lot of explaining to do."
Everyone crowded around the basement as they started to explain. Mike and the others had to explain their sauna test and why exactly they had to do it. Danny had learned that Will had felt the presence of the Mind Flayer ever since the night of the blackout, and Max and Eleven had found Billy acting strangely like Will had been when he was possessed by the monster. Danny had also learned from Nancy and Jonathan that an old woman had complained that rats had been going crazy and eating her fertilizer. When Nancy checked it out, the rat had, indeed, been going insane. Not soon after, the old woman had started going crazy and eating fertilizer, too. The previous night, she had grown black veins and started going crazy again at the hospital. All Danny had wanted to do was annoy Lucas and help Mike get his girlfriend back, but he was in for a lot more than he bargained for.
"It was the same thing. It was the exact same thing that happened to Will last year. And look at this," Nancy set down a sheet of paper on the coffee table. It was vitals of the old woman from the hospital. "Look at the body temperatures."
Everyone leaned forward to examine the paper. Danny noticed the body temperatures were lower than what they were supposed to be. Will noticed it as well, "He likes it cold."
Danny furrowed his brows, "The Mind Flayer, right? That's why you guys needed the sauna?"
Will nodded, "Yeah."
Mike furrowed his brows, "Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer —"
"Mrs. Driscoll," Nancy corrected.
"I feel like her name really isn't important in the whole grand scheme of things right now," Danny retorted prompting Nancy to shoot him a glare.
"Mrs. Driscoll," Mike nodded. "What time was this attack?"
"Last night," Nancy replied. "Around nine, I think."
Jonathan whipped his head toward Nancy, "You waited all night to call?"
"I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests," Nancy explained to her boyfriend.
"You weren't there?" Will questioned.
Jonathan sighed, "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"
Nancy rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Hallelujah!"
Danny chuckled at the tension as Lucas winced, "Ooh..."
Nancy shook her head, changing the subject, "Um what — what time was your sauna test?"
Danny furrowed his brows as he turned to the rest of the group who all answered in unison, "Around nine."
Nancy's eyes widened, "Well, that proves it! That proves my theory!"
"She's flayed, just like Billy," Mike nodded, agreeing with his sister. Danny and Jonathan furrowed their brows, confused at what exactly flayed meant. "The Mind Flayer, he flays people. Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him."
"That's kinda cool," Danny shrugged. The entire group gave him a strange look. Danny sat up. "I mean, if it wasn't an evil thing..."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Okay, so if there are two flayed —"
"We have to assume there are more," Will answered.
"Heather," Eleven's eyes widened.
"Holloway?" Danny asked, a smirk making its way onto his face. "She's fucking hot."
Once again, the group gave him strange looks. Danny chuckled at their reactions as Eleven continued, "Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."
Lucas furrowed his brows, "What's a good scream?"
"Max said —"
Max shook her head, her eyes widening as she cut off Eleven, "Doesn't matter."
Danny snorted as he realized what Max had told Eleven. Lucas gave Danny a confused look while Max seemed to be trying to get Danny to shut up with just a look. Danny bumped Lucas's arm with his own, "Use your imagination, Sinclair."
"Okay, okay, Heather Holloway?" Nancy asked, getting the conversation back on track. Max and Eleven nodded at her, prompting Nancy and Jonathan to share a similar look of concern. "Tom." Nancy looked back at the group. "We need to go to the Holloway's."
The group listened without question and started to get up. Nancy and Jonathan headed up the stairs. Danny looked around, confused but stood up as well, going along with whatever is happening. As he stood up and followed the group, Lucas stood in front of him and stopped him, "You're not coming."
Danny furrowed his brows, "Yeah, I am."
"No —"
"I'm not doing that back and forth shit with you," Danny interrupted him before pushing past Lucas. "I'm involved now."
"It's dangerous!" Lucas reminded him.
"Lucas, what's the big deal?" Mike questioned. "He's already involved. It's his decision." Mike turned to Danny. "You in or out?"
Danny looked back at Lucas who seemed to be pleading with his eyes for Danny to back out. Danny didn't understand what Lucas's problem was. Danny smirked at Mike, "I'm in."
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danny is a part of the party now!!