MIKE THOUGHT HE HAD BEEN HALLUCINATING when he caught a glimpse of Jasper Hopper as Jonathan rapidly drove away from Hawkins Lab. But now, with the redhead climbing out of Hopper's car, he knew he wasn't seeing things. "Jas?" He cried out hoarsely, trying to hold back tears as he saw her signature grin that he missed so much.
"Mike!" She called out, rushing over and wrapping her arms around the much taller Wheeler boy. She ruffled his raven-colored hair affectionately, laughing at the way he scrunched up his nose in response.
"Where have you been?" He questioned, still in disbelief that one of his close friends was seemingly back from the dead.
"It's a really, really long story but I promise once this is all over we can all catch up, okay?" Jasper nodded, and the two reuniting friends embraced once more.
Dustin watched the two from the hood of the car fondly, unaware of a snickering Steve Harrington lurking behind him. "Dude, you are in it so deep, you know that?"
Dustin flinched at the sudden voice, flashing an irritated gaze at Steve. "Hey, shut up, will you?" He grumbled, whirling around and briskly walking away.
Steve watched him go, chuckling underneath his breath, because the best part? Dustin didn't even attempt to deny it.
"Hey, where the hell did you go?" Hopper demanded once Jasper finished speaking with Mike, beckoning her aside. "Where's El?"
Jasper tipped her head slightly, suddenly remembering the brunette. "She went to her mom's house. The one you lied about to her." Her blue eyes bore fiercely into Hopper's, a mirror image of her blue gaze stared back at her. "I mean, seriously, Dad? Why did you think it was a good idea to tell her that Terry was gone?"
Hopper exhaled deeply, looking up to the sky impatiently. "It was for her own good, okay? And what the hell were you two thinking, anyway? Splitting up like that?"
"She was with me," Ruby emerged from Jonathan's car, folding her arms. "Somebody decided to keep me out of the loop about what was really going on at the lab, so we went on a little mission ourselves."
Hopper scoffed, annoyed at the double amount of 'Marrow sassiness' he was facing now. "Seriously? 'Mission'? Where did you girls go? And Ruby, I didn't tell you about the lab for your own safety."
"Last year I went into the Upside Down with you and Joyce to find Will," Ruby pointed out, her boots crunching the pebbles underneath as she closed in on the chief. "You weren't so concerned about my safety then."
"And we went to Ohio, by the way," Jasper inputted.
"Ruby—Wait, what?"
"Forget it, Hop," the dark-haired deputy sighed, holding up a careless hand. "We'll talk about it later."
The chief let out a hasty string of sputtered, incoherent words, following the two Marrow girls inside. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but on top of everything, knowing his fourteen year old daughter went on a spontaneous road trip to Ohio was the most normal surprise he's gotten all day.
The group split into smaller sections once everyone was huddled inside. Hopper began anxiously dialing numbers and making calls, requesting for military backup. The man would occasionally raise his voice in frustration, loud enough for the entire household to hear.
Lucas, Max, and Mike all sat limply in kitchen chairs, the Wheeler boy occasionally casting a somber glance at his best friend sleeping on the couch. Jonathan was leaning over Will's resting body, murmuring brotherly words that would fall on deaf ears. Nancy stood over him, a reassuring hand glued to the Byers boy's shoulder. A few further, Steve watched the Wheeler girl comfort Jonathan, tears glistening in his eyes.
Jasper was kneeled next to Jonathan as well, wistfully observing her friend. Dustin mirrored Nancy, looming over his redhead best friend as he examined Will as well.
The boy had stress lines imprinted on his skin that shouldn't belong to a boy his age, and his hair was slicked with sweat. Jasper didn't need to know much about what had happened to know Will had been through a lot. After all, she had witnessed herself the horrifying shadow monster that ravaged the Upside Down.
"Hey," Jasper whispered to Will quietly once Jonathan had finished his emotional monologue. Her hand slowly jutted out, but the moment her hand was placed atop Will's arm, the Byers boy's eyes flung open.
His pupils seemed to be a shade darker than his usual brown as they slowly moved to land on Jasper. As soon as he was staring at the redhead, he lashed out, his hands snaking around her unsuspecting neck.
Jasper let out a strangled gag as the air was completely knocked out of her chest, Will's hands beginning to crush her windpipe. Around her, the crowd erupted with panic as people made attempts to separate the two kids. Jasper flailed helplessly in his powerful grasp, her hands weakly clawing at Will's in attempts to pry him off her.
Behind her, Dustin was screaming and crying, profanities and all sorts of desperate pleas flying from his mouth. The Henderson's arms were wrapped around her waist as he tried to tug her away from the boy killing her.
Hopper had dropped the phone instantly once he heard shouting, the phone hanging uselessly from its cord. He was holding down Will's torso whilst ordering at the top of his lungs for Nancy and Jonathan to help shove Jasper away from him.
Black dots began dotting Jasper's vision, the commotion around her becoming unclear and merging into a constant ringing. All she could think about was how badly she yearned for air, and how no matter what, Jasper knew this wasn't Will that was strangling her.
Finally, Joyce appeared with a long syringe, plunging it into his neck, and the Byers boy succumbed to sleep again. Tears spilled down her worried face as she watched Jasper cough and gasp for air, Dustin catching her before she could collapse to the ground. "I'm sorry," she cried weakly, but nobody heard her sincere apology.
"Jas! Jas, are you okay?" Dustin wailed, unaware of the shuddering sobs leaving his chest. He had seen Jasper leave him before, but this was unlike any other pain. His best friend almost died right in front of him, and he couldn't have stopped it.
Hopper was on Jasper's other side, the two males who loved her the most in the world surrounding her. Ruby sat in front of her sister, stroking the redhead's arm endearingly.
Steve, Lucas, Max, and Mike stood in a somewhat distant corner of the room, horror filled in their eyes. What had just happened was unlike anything they had seen tonight, and they had witnessed many terrible events that night.
"What the hell was that?" Hopper growled, his eyes rummaging around the room at the various people watching with concern.
Jasper wheezed, managing to spew out a few words. "The shadow monster."
"Hey, don't talk," Dustin muttered softly into her ear, his curls running along her forehead. Their cheeks brushed, but neither of them jumped away.
Jasper ran her fingers tentatively along the bruised area of her neck, pain blooming from the contact, but the skin that was pressed against Dustin's cheek felt alive. They stayed like that for a while, even after Hopper reluctantly left his daughter to finish his call for backup and everyone else dispersed.
Once Jasper was finally no longer terrified of moving, she scrambled to her feet, finding a seat at the kitchen table as she sipped gradually on a glass of water. As the minutes elapsed, everyone began to ease again after the sudden spike of tension the strangling had brought. Jasper still remained fearful, unmoving except for her arm that brought the glass of water to her lips. Her other hand was strewn across Dustin's thigh, firmly wrapped around his own hand for comfort.
Dustin wished he could do more to help her. She had been through so much, and after what he just saw he could only imagine the unbearable terror she felt for herself. She had just looked death in the eyes and almost lost the fight.
Mike gradually rose from his seat, approaching the set of brain teasers and riddles Bob had left earlier for Will, when he thought the only problem was a fever and boredom. The Wheeler sniffled a little, strangely feeling grief for the man he barely knew.
"Did you guys know Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike whirled around, and what he saw made bitter nostalgic bite at his emotions. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Jasper, and in the other room, Will.
For a moment, with the original crew finally back under the same roof, Mike wanted to pretend like none of this had ever happened. Like he never met a girl and then lost her, losing what was potentially a first love. Like he never had to watch his redhead friend go down with her, only to return and nearly die once again. It had only been a year, but so much had changed, and they all felt it in their hearts.
"Bob?" Jasper echoed, puzzlement riddling her tone. "Who's Bob?"
"He, um, he dated Joyce," Mike replied, lowering his gaze back down at the objects in his shaky hands. "Those things got him. At the lab. He died a hero."
And Jasper wanted to cry. She knew there was no way it was her fault, and by assuming so was only being selfish, but she still felt guilt and sorrow. This shouldn't be happening, especially not to such good people.
"Was he really the original founder?" Lucas mumbled, apparent remorse in his own voice.
"He petitioned the school and everything. And then he made a fund-raised for equipment," Mike rambled on, returning to the table. "Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"
"Yeah," everyone replied in unison, a somber mood lingering in the air still.
"We can't let him die in vain," Mike stated decidedly, setting the brain teasers down.
"Well, what do you wanna do, Mike?" Dustin snapped, sounding more agitated and frustrated than before. "Hopper is right. We can't fight those Demodogs on our own. Hell, we're not even safe here since Will almost killed Jas."
"So that's what this is about," Mike started angrily, preparing himself to argue that Dustin cared more about Jasper than the safety of everyone. But he was interrupted by a light tease from Max.
"Demodogs?"
"Demogorgon, dogs," Dustin made a combining motion with his hands. "Demodogs. It's like a compound."
"Oh, you're so clever," Jasper rasped, smirking at him through the pain. "You paid attention in English class for once, I see. Can't believe I missed it."
"Well, yeah. It's a play on words you know," Dustin continued.
Jasper felt a little deflated when Dustin didn't pursue their usual banter. The Henderson had grown extremely serious and stone-faced after watching Will hurt Jasper.
"Maybe if it was just Dart, yeah, we could fight," Dustin sighed.
"But it's an entire army," Lucas muttered.
"His army," Mike whispered in realization.
"What does that mean?" Steve asked in bewilderment, the others' expressions matching his.
Except for Jasper, who violently flailed her arms out with huge eyes. "Um, hello? The shadow monster. Guys, he is like the root source of the problem. I figured that out and I just got here! Come on, aren't you guys supposed to be, like, junior detectives now?"
Everyone ignored Jasper's comment, Mike leading the way hastily into Will's room. Mike snatched a drawing from the Byers boy's nightstand, showcasing it to the others. It was a strikingly accurate image of the shadow monster. Dustin passed it to Jasper, who held it closely to her face with trembling hands.
"The shadow monster," Dustin breathed.
"It got Will on the field that day," Mike explained rapidly. "The doctor said it was like a virus, infecting him."
"And so this virus, it connects him to the tunnels?" Max inquired, trying her best to understand the complex concept.
"It connects him to everything, doesn't it?" Jasper spoke up, her eyes still glued to the drawing.
"Whoa, okay. Slow down," Steve begged, still clearly confused.
"Exactly, Jas. The shadow monster is inside everything," Mike proceeded. "And if the vines feel pain, then so does Will."
"And so does Dart," Lucas added.
"Yeah, it's like what Mr. Clarke taught us."
"Oh, that man has taught us many things," Jasper intervened, finally lowering her quivering hands that still clutched the drawing.
"Yeah so please, do specify," Steve uttered.
"The hive mind," Mike answered.
"The hive mind?"
"A collective consciousness," Dustin turned to Steve. "A super organism."
"And this thing controls everything. It's the brain," Mike gently took the drawing from Jas again, staring down at the rushed sketch marks.
"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin's eyes were huge with a moment of epiphany.
Lucas snapped his fingers in realization, and Jasper let out a tired groan.
"The what?" Steve and Max asked in sync.
"Are you serious!" Jas huffed, folding her arms sassily. "There's a deadly monster in the sky who possessed our friend and we're about to stop it using D&D terms?"
"Okay, but, if this thing really controls Will, why did it try to kill Jas?" Dustin wondered, his eyes landing on the soft gaze of his best friend. "Why would it have some sort of agenda against her?"
"I don't know," Mike shook his head, looking expectantly at the redhead. "Do you have any idea?"
"Well, it's a stretch but," Jasper blew air from her cheeks, shaking her hand in a "so-so" motion. "My mother sorta kinda created the Upside Down, and I'm pretty sure the only people able to actually stop it are me and her."
"Wait, what?" Everyone exclaimed at once, and Jasper was countered with a series of shocked comments and arguments.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" Jasper hushed them, frantically throwing her arms in the air. "Okay, it's like really irrelevant especially since we obviously have much bigger problems at hand here—"
"Hey, your life is not irrelevant," Dustin began protectively.
"Can it, Henderson, we get it. You like her bad, but now's not the time to go full Prince Charming," Steve interrupted him, earning a wave of chuckles, the middle finger from Dustin, and a pair of reddened cheeks on Jasper.
"As I was saying, I went to Ohio today and met this lawyer who worked with my mom and knows a lot of information that I will explain later," Jasper emphasized the last word. "Just for now, know that this monster kinda hates me because I could turn him into a plate of sunny Upside Down eggs."
"I'm sorry, was that a joke you were trying to make?" Max squinted her eyes in amusement, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm usually way better at that," she defended herself to Max, the two girls giggling at one another.
"Guys, can we please focus?" Mike yelled, who had crossed the room and was digging for Will's D&D book. "We need to talk to everyone. Call a meeting," he commanded to no one in particular, beelining for the kitchen with the vibrant red book.
"He's not seriously trying to make a reasonable plan using fictional characters from a board game, is he?" Steve muttered aloud.
"RPG," Dustin corrected, and the older teen slapped his shoulder as if to say 'no one cares'. Jasper shook her head, exhaling deeply through her nostrils.
"My dad is really not gonna like this one."