"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike who had walked away from the table said with his back turned to them all.
"Really?" Lucas said in an astonished tone as Mike turned back bobbing his head," He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fundraiser for equipment" he walked over," Mr Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"
"Yeah," The two boys said together
"We can't let him die in vain" Mike admitted
"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin dragged his tone, in frustration," The chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own"
"Demo-dogs?" Max and Imogen said looking at Dustin
"Demogorgon—dogs?" Dustin said in a monotone voice," Demo-dogs. It's like a compound. It's like play on words—"
"Okay," Max stopped him before he continued to explain more getting the point.
"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..."
Lucas put his hands on the table," But there's an army now"
"Precisely"
Mike gawked for a moment at Lucas' words," His army"
Steve looked up from the counter he was leaning on," What do you mean?"
Imogen then stood up from the chair she was sitting on," His army" She repeated Mike's words as he looked at her. The others all looked at the confused at what they were getting at," Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too"
Imogen walked past them as she ran to Will's room, they all followed her and as she dug through Will's drawings finding what she was looking for.
"The shadow monster," Dustin said as he took the paper from her hands
"It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him"
"And so, this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked
"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything"
"Woah. Slow down. Slow down" Steve interrupted them needing time to process all the information.
"Okay, so, the shadow monster's inside everything" Mike elaborated," And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will"
"And so, does Dart" Lucas caught on
"Yeah, like what Mr Clarke taught us" Mike looked at him," The hive mind"
"Hive mind?" Steve asked confused
"A collective consciousness. It's a super-organism"
"And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain"
"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin said in realization
"The what?" Max and Steve said looking genuinely confused while Imogen had some knowledge of what they meant since her brother would constantly talk to her about the games he played with the boys.
The boys went around Will's room, looking for the book, and soon enough they were all gathered back outside at the dining table, with Nancy and Jonathan as well.
"The mind flayer" Dustin opened the book on the table
"What the hell is that?" Jim said shadily
"It's a monster from an unknown dimension" Dustin went to explain," It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home. 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" Jim rolled his eyes dismissing the idea
"No, it's a manual. And it's not for kids, and unless you know something, we don't this is the best metaphor—"
"Analogy" Lucas corrected him
"Analogy? That's what you're worried about?" Dustin sassed him," Fine! An analogy for understanding what the hell this is"
Imogen saw Jim about to retorted but she cut him off," Let's face it Chief, until last year, we never would have thought of any of these things existing. The Upside Down. The Demo-Dogs and" She looked at the book," The Mind Flayer"
"What does it want?" Nancy asked
"To conquer us, basically. It believes it's the master race" Dustin explicated
"Like the Germans?" Steve asked," like the Nazis?" The younger Henderson raised an eyebrow
"Yeah the Nazis"
"Uh—If Nazis were from another dimension, totally" Dustin stammered his words," Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself"
"It wants to spread, take over other dimensions" Mike continued
"Hey" Imogen leaned on the table," What about me?"
"What about you?" Dustin looked at her as she turned to Mike," Will—He somehow called me, in my sleep yesterday. I heard him shout for my name, and I heard it"
"What?" Steve tilted his head making her look at him for a second before turning back to Mike.
"Yeah, he did—I'm sure the Mind Flayer had already taken over his mind then," Mike said
"You don't have a connection with the Upside Down though" Lucas raised his hand
"What if I do?" Imogen looked up at everyone," You guys do remember what happened last year, at the school right? Before we were cornered in the science room"
"What happened?" Jim walked over leaning on the table slightly pushing Mike to the side
"I was falling behind the others, making sure they got to a secured room before me" Imogen started," I fell and—the Demogorgon had reached me, and I could have died if it weren't for leftover guards who shot him off of me"
Imogen closed her eyes trying to push away the terror she experienced," For a moment, it didn't attack me—like it saw something in me" She looked up," It was like we had a moment of connection, but it was cut off"
Jim spoke up" Why are we only hearing this now?"
"Because I don't know" Imogen's voice turned grim, but with sarcasm brimming," I was about to die, I wasn't really thinking much about it"
"Maybe that's why Will had the urge to call you, maybe it was the Mind Flayer seeing for someone else to also connect with" Mike tightened its fist
"It doesn't make sense why it chose me" Imogen hugged herself
"It feeds off of fear and sorrow" Dustin tapped his finger on the manual. Imogen flinched at the last word as she bit her lip, and Jonathan looked at her with his eyes widening.
Imogen understood from his look 'when she lost her baby' she stepped back as Steve reached over pulled him towards him as he wrapped his arms around her. She didn't pull away leaning her head on his chest.
Nancy spoke up picking up the manual "Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it..."
"We kill everything it controls" Mike responded
"We win" Dustin looked at the manual and then to Nancy
"Theoretically," Lucas said in a low tone
"Great. So how do we kill this thing? Shoot it with Fireballs or something?"
Dustin chuckled," No. No, no Fire—No fireballs, Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because—"
Imogen sighed as she watched her brother stammering," because zombies, you know, they don't have brains and the mind flayer, it...it...It likes brains"
"It's just a game," Dustin said defeated
"Oh, what the hell are we doing here!" Jim slammed the book on the table
"I thought we were waiting for your military backup" Dustin raised his hands frustrated as he protested
"We are!" The chief turned back retorting loudly
"Even if they come!" Mike grit his teeth," How are they gonna stop this? You can't just shoot this with guns!"
"You don't know that! We don't know anything!" Jim raised his voice
"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab!"
"And we know the monsters are gonna molt again!"
"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town" Imogen stated
"They're right" A weak and broken voice spoke up making them all turn seeing Joyce who was emotionally unstable after seeing her own boyfriend killed before her eyes. She was a strong woman, being able to still stand and speak after that traumatizing experience," We have to kill it"
Jim walked over to her," I want to kill it"
"Me too—Me too Joyce, okay?" Jim told her," But how do we do that? We don't know exactly what we are dealing with here"
Mike looked up," No" That made everyone look at him," But he does" is body faced Will who was on the couch as he walked over to him," 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 for the first time in a while," That he's a spy for the mind flayer now"
"Yeah, but he can't spy, if he doesn't know where he is" Imogen moved her head back, still remaining in Steve's arms.
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Imogen walked out of the Shed after tearing the last tape from the roll, placing it on the wall for easier access for when they find more things to cover the small building. She peered over her shoulder knowing Nancy and Steve should have their talk since she already her own with Jonathan.
She treaded through to search for more things but stopped and saw her brother with Lucas checking the garbage cans. She leaned on the wall in hearing distance.
"Hey" Dustin started making Lucas look up at him," I'm...I'm sorry about Dart and all. I guess I just thought that he was my friend. I was wrong. I broke the rule of law, so if you want your girlfriend to take over my spot at the party, I understand"
Imogen closed her eyes hearing how broken her brother's voice sounded, it hurt her.
"She's not my girlfriend" Lucas admitted
"I saw you two holding hands in the bus, Lucas"
"She was just scared"
Dustin shrugged his shoulder," Maybe, but I could feel it"
Lucas cocked his eyebrow," Feel what?"
Dustin looked down grabbing a pile of discarded papers," the electricity" He got up and walked away, but slowed down seeing his sister. She opened her arms as he walked over hugging her not having to say anything. All she did was sway for a moment rubbing his back and place a kiss on his forehead.
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"I don't know" Imogen looked at Joyce and Mike who stared at her. She hugged herself peeking in the shed," I'm not sure If I can even be helpful—" She then shifted her gaze to Jonathan," You three are the closest to Will"
"But you have a connection" Mike acknowledged
"What If I somehow make the situation worse? What if it tries to go into me, and you have both of us under the Mind Flayer's control?"
She paused as her eyes widen"...if it meant saving Will ...actually now that I think about it. It can help." She whispered
"Honey, I could never ask that of you. I would never ask you to sacrifice yourself" Joyce rejected her words
She reached over holding Joyce's hand," No, I'll try" She looked up," I have to—Will called out for me, and my best bet is that I can really help him"
Afterward, of finally deciding she'll join them in the Shed, Jim got the ammonia and doused it on a cotton ball raising to for Will to inhale.
They all stepped back behind the lights, as he let out a gasp. He looked around in distress as the lights made it hard for him to see them. He grunted realizing he was restrained," What? What? What is this?" He looked around trying to get out of the restraints," What? What is this?! Why am I tied up?!"
Joyce stepped forward first and knelt down in front of him," Will, we just wanna talk to you" She said gently," We're not gonna hurt you"
He snapped his head up ignoring her," Where am I?!" He yelled making Jim step forward taking the drawing the kids gave him," You recognize this?" Will shook his head," Do you recognize this?!" Jim repeated but louder and harsher and he still shook his head
"Hey" Joyce spoke up," We wanna help you, but to do that, we have to understand how to kill it"
Will frowned and then shouted," Why am I tied up?!" Imogen felt the air turn heavy and her chest felt pain," Why am I tied up?!!?" and each time he screamed the same question, his voice strained and Imogen felt nauseated as the lights flickered.
"Let me go!! Let me go!! Let me go!!" All of them heard his voice change between the pitches, not recognizing the tone.
Imogen stepped forward lowering herself in front of him right next to Joyce, as she reached over about to touch his hand, but she saw the horrified look Will gave her, making her not come in contact with his skin.
It was like he was telling her to not touch him.
"Let me go" His voice was slowly out of breath at how much he screamed. Joyce got up and sat on the chair before her," Do you know what March 22nd is?" Will looked at her," It's your birthday. Your birthday"
"When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that? It was 120 colours" Joyce bit her lip as Imogen grabbed her hand, making her continue with confidence," And all your friends, they got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colours"
"And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It was your spaceship" Will continued to look at her," A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every colour in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's and I put it up and I told everyone who came in"
"My son drew this" She then chuckled," And you were so embarrassed. But I was so proud. I was so, so proud"
"Do you remember the day Dad left?" Jonathan spoke up making Will turn his head to his older brother," We stayed up all night building Castle Byers, just the way you drew it" Jonathan knelt down next to Imogen putting his hand on her shoulder," Imogen helped as well, because it took so long, that she scolded us because you were so bad at hammering"
Imogen chuckled as she felt her eyes water reminiscing the time when everything was just so damn normal and simple, making her turn to Will," Correction, both of you were bad a hammering" That got them all to laugh," I would sit there with a first aid kit having to make sure none of you lost your fingers. Mainly on Jonathan's part but you"
"You'd miss the nail every time" Jonathan continued," And then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway"
"All of us got sick, for a week" Imogen snickered," But of you both were determined to finish it—So I stayed as well, not caring if I got sick as well" She looked down at Will's hand making her furrow her brows, recognizing the gesture, as the older Byer's continued," We just had to"
She kept her eyes locked on his hand as Mike spoke up next," Do you remember the first day that we met?" A tear fell down his face," it was...It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and—" Mike sniffled," I just felt so alone and so scared but, I saw you on the swings and you were alone, too"
Will's lips wavered a but as he looked at Mike," You were just swinging by yourself, And I just walked up to you and I asked"
"I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes" Mike gulped," It was the best thing I've ever done"
Will was faltering and his breathing was unsettled," Will, baby..." Joyce reached over to him," If you're in there, just please...please talk to us. Please, honey, please, can you do that or me?"
"Please, I love you so much" Will was breathing shakily, but then he suddenly calmed down, and opened his mouth," Let me go," He said slowly
Imogen looked at his hands making her get up quickly making the others look at her confused. She pushed past them and ran out making Jim and the others follow her as she ran in the main house.
"What happened?" Dustin noticed her run in and grab a paper from on the wall and scanned around for any writing utensil finding one quickly and running to the table.
"I think he's talking, just not with words" Imogen spoke up as she started writing the dots and dashes, she had remembered.
"Hey what is that?" Steve asked
"Morse Code," The boys said in sync
"H-E-R-E," Imogen said out loud
"Here," All the kids said
"Will's still in there. He's talking to us" Jim tapped on the table
"Yeah, he is—When I tried to touch his hand, he gave me look—" She peered up as they all stared at her," It was like he was saying for me to not touch him, because—he was warning me"
"I think it's best if you stay in here then" Joyce placed a hand on her shoulder," But—"
"Yes," Jim spoke up," You stay because if he warned you, it's better safe than sorry" She hesitated but accepted the terms.
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"Close Gate," They all said as Imogen lifted the cardboard, they were all suddenly spooked at the phone rang.
"Shit. Shit!!" Dustin ran over to the phone taking it off the receiver and hung it up immediately, a few seconds of the silence, it rang again making Imogen reach over and rip the phone off the wall and throw it to the ground grunting.
"Do you think he heard that?" Max asked concerned
"it's just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?" Steve said but he spoke too soon, as they all gulped hearing the screeching far from the distance.
"That's not good" Dustin murmured, they all ran to the windows, except for the older teens.
Jim ran in," Hey! Get away from the windows!" He then turned to Jonathan," Do you know how to use this?"
"What?" Jonathan looked at the shotgun
"Can you use this?" He said slowly like talking to a kid
"I can" Imogen spoke up making them all look at her, as she caught the gun as he threw it over to her. She stood next to Steve who looked at her prepare the gun," When did you—"
"My father was once useful, in a way" Imogen cut him off as she set ready to aim," Not really what you expect for a father teaching their daughter this—" She then shrugged," I guess it came in useful" She smirked.
"Where are they?" Max asked but no one answered
The growling alerted them making them all turn to the dining room window "What are they doing?"
"Looking for a meal," Imogen said unconsciously, which was probably the worst to say during the situation.
A snarling had reached their ears making them all shift back to facing the front door, but the groaning sounded off, making Imogen lower her gun as she eyed the moving shadows when suddenly the glass window shattered and one of the creatures had flown in.
They all stared at the creature that was not moving an inch. Jim walked forward keeping his gun raised.
"Holy shit" Dustin whispered, "Is it dead?" Max furrowed her brows. Jim kicked the corpse confirming the theory that it was in fact dead.
They all turned to the front door as the lock clicked making them raise their weapons again. But they all froze as they saw it open seeing who walked in.