CHAPTER ELEVEN.
the hospital hypothesis.
outfit up top is what she wears in the second half of the chapter
this is literally a filler im so sorry
—
it was as if the mind flayer was standing so clearly in front of nineteen. she could see him and hear him like he was there. she'd never felt so buzzed and aware of her surroundings. the mind flayer was somewhere in the hospital with them. with nancy and jonathan.
her friends circle around the room, looking up at the blinking lights.
"i'm guessing that's not you?" lucas asks nineteen. she shakes her head.
"nancy and jonathan," she whispers. "we have to find them."
will walks to her side and touches her arm. "can you find them? can you hear the mind flayer?"
she nods. "elevator." she says.
they quickly walk out of the waiting room and past the lady at the front desk. "hey, hey, hey!" she starts. "two at a time!" however, they ignore her.
nineteen continues to hear the horrific growling followed by nancy's cries. she resists the urge to cry at the thought of something happening to the girl and continues running down the hallway.
they arrive in front of the elevator, where max begins to hit the upwards button repeatedly. mike looks around. "stairs." he says, looking to the right. nineteen nods, as the stairs would be faster, and they all begin running to the stairway.
nineteen ends up in the front so she can lead them. they burst through the door to the next floor and see jonathan attempting to break the glass into a room.
nineteen feels an overwhelming sense of dread. he was in that room.
eleven busts down the door telepathically and nineteen looks inside. a big, bloody, meaty creature stood before them. she'd never seen anything like it. it slightly resembled the mind flayer, but was smaller. it turns towards the sound of the door breaking off its hinges and roars.
"jesus." mike breathes.
"what the f-"
max is cut off as the monster roars and advances towards them. with a throw of her arm, eleven sends the monster flying into the wall where she pins it down. she does it once more across the other wall, then to the ceiling, and then finally sends it downwards to the floor.
it gets up slowly and eleven heaves heavily as she lifts her hands and throws it out the window. it bursts through the glass and lands with a squelch outside.
nineteen looks over on the other side of the room, where nancy is balled up in the corner, gasping quietly. jonathan immediately runs past them to his girlfriend.
"go!" eleven says as the rest of the kids make their way outside to the monster.
"what the hell was that?!" max yells as they descend the stairs.
"i don't know." mike replies. "the mind flayer's never looked like that, has it?"
nineteen swallows roughly and winces as her neck still hurts from earlier. she rips open the door at the bottom of the stairs and they run through the hallway again, past the desk woman, and out the side doors.
they stop right past the sidewalk and eleven throws her arms out protectively. the monster squelches around on the ground in front of them, moving like a liquid.
nineteen stares at it in wonder and confusion as it begins to disappear and dissolve into a sewer drain in the middle of the street. she takes a big breath in and closes her eyes. when she opens them, all that remains of the monster is a human bone.
she takes a step forward as she hears the monster move and slither underground. he moves far and slowly, but he begins to fade from sound and nineteen opens her eyes as she finally hears silence. she turns back to her friends
"he's gone." she looks back down at the drain. "for now."
-
the group goes back to the wheeler house, where they sleep for a smaller part of the night. jonathan gets them up fairly early the next morning and nancy drives the three girls to max's house so that they can shower and change clothes.
after nineteen's hair is dried and she's dressed, they return to mike's house. nineteen isn't sure what they have planned, as usual, but she thinks they want her and eleven to go under and find billy again.
her theory is proven correct when nancy walks in with her keys. "we need to go to your guys' cabin. it's the safest place and i remember where it is."
the party agrees and they pile into the car again and drive to the woods.
on the way, jonathan hands clippings from newspapers, pictures, and a flyer. they all pertained to the people who had been flayed. billy, heather, mrs. driscoll, they had all been flayed.
eleven and nineteen decide to go into their bedroom privately. this would be a lot easier if it was just them focusing. however, when they get in, eleven turns to her.
"i'll go in alone." she says. nineteen immediately shakes her head.
"yes." eleven persists. "it'll be easier if we do it one at time."
"but also dangerous." nineteen grabs the tissues off the dresser as eleven grabs their small tv and begins turning the dials. nineteen opens the drawers, looking for the blindfolds that they have. she grabs the first one she sees anyway and closes it.
"you can go alone but i'm staying here." she says. eleven sighs but doesn't resist, and instead sits down with her legs crossed and begins tying the bandana around her eyes. once the tv turns to static, nineteen joins her. she lays out the papers that jonathan had given them in front of eleven and sits criss-crossed to the side.
time feels like it passes slowly. she supposes eleven can't find anything or anyone. the mind flayer was hiding again, as nineteen couldn't even hear him.
blood begins to drip down eleven's nose again, so nineteen grabs a fresh tissue and folds it, wiping with one side and laying it down to use later.
"i can't find anything." eleven suddenly whispers. nineteen's head shots up and she bites her lip, thinking.
"are you hungry? i can get eggos." she offers. eleven seems to think before nodding. nineteen smiles, even though eleven can't see, and walks out their bedroom door.
"i'm just worried for both of them-"
mike is cut off as nineteen walks out. she rounds the corner to the fridge as nancy and jonathan continue talking.
mike starts to walk towards the bedroom, but the door is slammed telepathically in his face and locking. he groans, turning back to max, who holds up her hands. "see? she's fine!"
nineteen opens the fridge, looking around inside, but there's no sign of eggos. she scoffs, standing back on her heels before closing it in annoyance.
she walks back to the door, knocking softly. the lock clicks and she enters the room.
"we're out of eggos. sorry."
however, eleven doesn't seem to notice as she now has her hands splayed out and the bandana is pulled down around her neck. she breathes deeply as nineteen quickly sits down beside her.
"are you okay? what's going on?"
"i found him."
"the mind flayer? billy?" nineteen asks, touching eleven's arm.
"i don't... i don't know." she looks worried.
nineteen looks into eleven's eyes, searching for what eleven could have seen, and it hits her.
"billy." she whispers.
eleven's eyes widen and nineteen nods. "okay. okay." she says. "let's go tell them."
she helps eleven stand up, wiping the blood away from her nose, and walking towards the door. they stop just in front of it as a voice outside grows louder.
"-and i don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth. so can we please just come up with a new plan because i love her and i can't lose her again!"
the two girls open the door and step out. eleven goes first as nineteen leans her shoulder against the wall, staring at mike.
"what's going on?" eleven asks.
"nothing. nothing." mike immediately responds.
"just a family discussion." lucas adds with a smug smile.
"oh." eleven says, looking back at her sister. nineteen nods, standing up straight, and eleven looks back to the group. "i found him." she repeats.
"found who?" nancy asks.
nineteen steps forward.
"she found billy."
—
headcanon: if nineteen deems it necessary, she will kill other people without caring. however, her biggest fear is the death of her friends and family.