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CHAPTER THREE : LINKED
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back at the wheeler household, mike & his friends & family were sitting around the dinner table. the lights were yellow & shinned onto the food that karen wheeler had prepared that afternoon. meatloaf, mash potatoes, & green beans were laid out onto everyone's plates yet the boys had yet to eat anything as lucas picked at his meatloaf, dustin played with his green beans, & mike stared at his drink.
"something wrong with the meatloaf?" mrs.wheeler asked the boys.
"oh, no i had two baloney sandwiches for lunch," dustin said as sweetly as he could. "i don't know why," a big grin on his face.
"me too," lucas added in.
nancy cut in & looked at her mother, "it's delicious, mommy."
"thank you, sweetie," karen replied.
nancy started up again, "so, there's this special assembly thing tonight for will at the school field. barb's driving."
"why am i only hearing about this now?" karen asked her daughter.
nancy's eyes widened in fake disbelief, "i thought you knew."
"i told you, i don't want you out after dark until will's found," nancy's mother spoke in a concerned tone, only wanting the best for her children.
"i know, i know, but it will be super weird if i'm not there. i mean, everyone's going."
karen sighed at her daughter, "just... be back by ten." nancy nodded & karen had an idea, "why don't you take the boys, too?"
"no!" all three of them spoke in unison.
"don't you think you should be there? for will?" karen questioned.
mike took a drink out of his milk while looking at his mom. he saw the figures of two girls walking down the stairs & he spit out his milk. dustin caught on quickly & pounded his fists on the table to turn karen's attention towards him rather than the unknown guest of the wheeler residence.
"sorry. spasm."
the rest of the table looked at him like he was insane while mike looked at the liquid that had spilled on his shirt & lucas looked at his friends confused.
"oh," karen said as holly started to whimper, "it's okay, holly. just a loud noise."
"nice," nancy said while looking at an embarrassed dustin.
el & saturn looked through the downstairs, both unintentionally avoiding the dining room. saturn opened a cabinet & grabbed weird jar full of circular treats out of it. she handed one to eleven & they both bit into the soft food. it was sweet & had a similar taste to the bread that they ate at benny's. it had little brown spots embedded in it that tasted amazing.
they ventured back around to the stairs & saturn looked at the family eating in the dining room. she walked carefully up the stair dustin gasped as he saw them again. the wheelers & lucas turned yet they saw nothing.
"what are you looking at dustin?" nancy asked. all she saw was their stairwell & the pictures that were lined up along it, but for the boys they saw the blonde & brunette walking up the stairs. saturn looked at dustin & winked as the girls went back upstairs.
all three boys looked at eachother in disbelief, they had no idea what these girls were capable of.
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the boys walked downstairs & mike called out to them, "el? saturn?" he saw el playing with his supercomm again & saturn closing her eyes trying to concentrate on finding him. "no adults, just us & some meatloaf," el stopped playing with the walkie-talkie for a minute & saturn opened her eyes. they both looked at dustin & lucas who still looked at them in disbelief. "don't worry. they wont tell anyone about you guys. they promise. right?"
"we never would have upset you if we know you guys had superpowers," dustin said with a lopsided grin on his face. mike smacked him in the legs, "ow!"
"what dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared earlier. that's all," mike explained to them.
"we just wanted to find our friend," lucas told them.
"'friend'?" eleven asked.
"yeah, friend, will?" lucas said.
"what is 'friend'?" saturn asked the boys as eleven nodded.
"is she serious?" lucas asked in disbeief to which dustin just shrugged his shoulders. "um, a friend is-"
"-is someone that you'd do anything for," mike finished off.
"you lend them you cool stuff, like comic books & trading cards," dustin adding in as he looked at the girl who sat & watched him as he explained this.
"& they never break a promise," mike said once again.
"especially when there's spit," lucas said to the girls.
"spit?" el asked as saturn furrowed her eyebrows at the boy's words.
"a spit swear means," lucas quickly spit in his hand & collided it with dustin's, "you never break your word, it's a bond."
while dustin looked down at his hand, mike went on with explaining this concept to the wide eyed girls before him, "that's super important, because friends they tell each other things. things that parents don't know."
eleven narrowed her eyes while mike's words ringed in saturn's head, all to familiar to the ones she had once heard before. 'we tell each other everything. things that they don't know.'
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the boys gathered around eleven as she went to the d&d board. saturn sat still on the ground, thinking of the lab, thinking about him. his voice was ringing through her ears & her mind was dancing with memories that were of him. his smile, his laugh, his eyes. a tear slipped down her pale cheeks & soft skin at the thought of him.
"come on!" the guard yelled at her as she made her way down the hallway. it was after training & it also meant lunch time. she entered the bare room as the guard besides her swipped his key card that allowed them to enter. she spotted the brunette boy right away & made her way over to him.
"hello miss," he said with a mischevious grin on his face.
"six," she said as a smile creeped up on her face. they both sat down as a cheese sandwich was given to each of the along with a glass of water & some applesauce. "how was training?" she asked as she took a bite out the stale bread & flavorless slice of cheese.
"it was fine, didn't get that angry today only a little," his eyes trained on the petite girl in front of him. "what about yours?"
"same old thing," she spoke to him. he nodded as he watched her eat, having yet to take a bite or drink out of any of his stuff. "you okay?"
"we tell each other everything. things that they don't know. why are you lying?" he interagated.
"i'm-i'm not-"
"stop. tell me," he said as he watched four.
"it was little & sweet, i could tell. i-i had t-t-to," she started breathing heavier as her chest rised up & down at a rapid pace.
he placed his hand on hers & she looked up at him as her eyes clouded with tears. "it's okay, i'll get us out of here in no time."
"saturn? saturn?" mike was shaking her shoulders. "are you okay?" she nodded & wiped her cheeks.
"leave," she spoke.
"what?" mike said as it gained the attention of the rest of the kids in the room.
"i leave," she said. eleven stood up from the table & tugged on her side. "find will."
"no! it's dark & just wait until tomorrow morning then we can all go, please," dustin tried to reason with the older girl.
the blonde felt all eyes on her as flashes of red came across her mind. she fell to her knees & held her head in her hand. screams filled her head as water started pouring out of her ears, mouth, & nose as it soaked the carpet below her. she quickly laid face down on the carpet as the kid turned her over to see her eyes where white & water still was coming out of her ears & nose, but had sceced from spilling out her mouth.
"no," el said as the boys looked at her.
"what's happening to her?" lucas asked.
"linking."
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saturn woke up on a concrete floor. it was cold & above her was the night sky that shimmered with stars. she gasped as she looked around & saw a red headed girl sitting on the diving board above the pool. the girl looked behind her & was thrown into the pool right before saturn's eyes as she watched, having no idea what to do.
jonathan byers watched the mystery girl walk around the pool & noted that barb had also gone, seemingly vanished into thin air & had been replaced with the confused looking blonde. he hid in the brush behind the harrington house as he watched her pace around & start to cry.
jonathan had a choice to make; stay in the shadows or help the mystery girl. he choice the latter.
he walked through the bushes & trees as he met the girl's stare. "hello? can i help you?" he asked her as she whimpered & pointed at the pool. he walked over some more & looked at the pool, nothing striking him as out of the ordinary. "uh i-"
"byers?" she whispered.
"yeah, that's me. who are you?" he asked her. her eyes widened at his question & answer. "do you need a place to stay?" he asked her. this girl was frightened & she looked like she had just watched all the horror movie the world had to offer. "come on," he took his hand & reached out to her, something about her drew him in & he had to know what it was.
she took his hand & he lead her through the forest back to his home.
3.08.20
STEVE HARRINGTON