─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
july 3rd
wheeler's basement - russian underground base
"i found them." el spoke with a bloody nose and a tie covering her eyes.
she had been searching for jim hopper and daniel as the two had been m.i.a for a while.
"where are they?" max asked.
"woods."
"woods?" lucas frowned.
"they're with... will's mom."
"my-my mom?" will questioned as tilly laid on him, fatigued.
"what are they doing?"
"ill... annoy." el stated, "they're going to ill-annoy."
"mike! breakfast!" karen wheeler yelled from upstairs.
"not now, mum!" mike hollered at her, "illinois? illinois, like the state? the state of illinois?"
"i-ill-annoy." el repeated, perplexed.
they all shared a look before sighing in defeat. max then moved over and slightly carried tilly to the bathroom, el slowly staggering behind them.
"does it still hurt?" max quizzed the two as she sat tilly down on the cold floor.
"only a little." el croaked.
"you?" the redhead turned to tilly.
"when i talk." tilly rasped.
"well, it's a good thing you two aren't mike, then." max joked, "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. and you'd be in constant pain."
tilly let out a dry laugh, "accurate."
"blah."
the brunette turned to el who had been gazing at her, "el, i can tell your mad at me." tilly sighed, "is it about mike?"
"i-i saw you kiss him." el confessed.
"what?" max exclaimed.
"i did what?" tilly raised her brow.
"in the room at the pool." el continued.
tilly thought for a second, trying to recollect all her memories. once something came to mind, she began quickly shaking her head, "no, no. i was reaching for something behind him."
"it must have been the angle." max shrugged, quickly defending her.
"why would i kiss mike?" tilly laughed, "he has next-level cooties."
the two chuckled at her but then el frowned again, "you're wearing his jumper."
"the mind flayer is back." tilly explained, "i was feeling really cold and he was-"
"what are they still doing in there?" mike stared at the door.
"i don't know. girls just like hanging out in bathrooms." lucas offered mike the box of cocoa puffs he was eating.
"why?" mike pushed it away in irritation.
"i mean, i don't know."
"they're conspiring against me." mike suggested.
"that's what you're concerned about now?" will asked in disbelief.
"it's not my main concern." mike defended himself, "it's just a sub-concern."
"i thought it was already over." will whispered.
"it's not over, okay?" mike denied, "we're just taking a break."
"she said she dumped your ass." will reminded him, "that doesn't sound like a break."
"it wasn't!" max yelled from inside, "you guys do realise we can still hear everything you're saying, right?"
"now, go away!" tilly mumbled.
"conspiring." mike gasped, "i told you, they're conspiring."
"what's the problem though? i thought you dumped him." tilly investigated, going back to their conversation.
"wait!" lucas whispered, "listen."
"we can't just listen to this conversation." will frowned.
"just this once."
will sighed and the three put their ears on the door to listen to the girls' conversation.
"i did but-" el started.
"and i don't like mike like that." tilly added, "i've got will, remember?"
"yeah." el whispered, feeling quite silly.
"you really like him," max looked tilly in the eye, "don't you?"
"course." tilly nodded with a sad smile, "i do like him."
from the other side of the door, the boys were gently punching will as he frowned. they stopped when a knock was the heard from the locked basement door.
"not now, mum!" mike yelled as an instinct.
"mike, open the door." nancy called.
he ran up the stairs and unlocked the door. when he opened it nancy and jonathan were standing there, worried.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"code red, i repeat, code red." dustin spoke into his supercomm.
slater leaned over to speak into it too, "does anyone copy? this is a code red, we repeat, a code red."
"this is a code red, i repeat, a code red. does anyone copy?" dustin started again, "we are innocent children and we are trapped under starcourt mall. the red army has infiltrated hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture and kill us."
steve popped his head up from the elevator hatch, "hey." he grunted, "gotta take it easy on that thing. gonna drain the battery."
"the mall just opened." dustin stated.
"so?" steve groaned.
"so... someone could be in range." dustin told him.
"what do you think, petey the mall cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" steve teased.
slater laughed but quickly covered his mouth when dustin gave him a look.
"all right, why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with robin?" dustin asked while whispering.
"shh!" steve hissed, "Jesus Christ. will you just give up on your creepy dream already?"
slater shrugged, "sometimes, dreams become reality."
"not you too aiden." steve groaned.
"stop calling me that!"
"i heard you guys talking all night." dustin pointed out.
steve climbed up and made his way over to the edge, "yeah, we were trying to figure out a way to open up the door while you children were sleeping. after eight hours, we're still exactly nowhere, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why i'm feeling just... a tad cranky."
the duo of boys heard an unzipping sound and grimaced - steve had unzipped his shorts.
"steve-"
"what are you doing?" dustin questioned, a startled tone in his voice.
"what does it look like i'm doing?" steve sassed, "i'm taking a leak. look away. look away!"
they quickly turned around as steve sighed. slater walked off, back down into the elevator.
steve began urinating, unfortunately for the trio inside, he ended up peeing along the wall.
"can you redirect your stream, please?" robin yelled, her voice echoing, "ugh."
erica began slamming the glowing green cylinder with a metal barrel. robin took notice, ran over and snatched it from her hand.
"hey, hey! be careful, careful, careful! we don't even know what that is."
"exactly." erica nodded, "it could be useful.
"useful how?"
"we can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die." erica explained.
"i hate to break it to you, but this is not water." robin pointed out.
"no, but it's a liquid," erica informed her, "and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, i drink."
"i don't know about you, but if it's glowing green - it's a bad sign." slater explained.
"i've decided to simply ignore the bad signs at this point of time." erica told him.
a distant electronic whirling caught robin's attention, erica used it to her advantage and took the cylinder out her hands but slater then took it out of hers.
"hey!"
robin heard something approaching and moved up the shaft to warn the two boys, "we've got company." she stated.
two russians approached the elevator on a transport vehicle and opened the elevator door with their keycard. as the door opened, they entered and looked around.
"you smell that?" one of the men asked in russian.
"what?"
"piss."
the second man sniffed the air, shrugged and walked out. from above them, steve and robin watching in.
once the men were finished loading their vehicles with boxes, they began to drive off. the elevator door began closing but steve had managed to jump down and use the glowing green cylinder to stop the door from closing any further.
"let's go!" he ordered.
erica threw him her backpack and he slid it out, then she jumped down and began making her way through the gap.
"go. go, go, go, go."
"i'm going!"
"henderson, aiden, go, go." steve ushered them.
as the two slid out from either side of him, the vital slightly cracked.
"come on, come on." erica dictated, "let's go!"
robin quickly climbed out after them, steve following behind. once he was out, the vital shattered under the immense pressure. the liquid sizzled and had managed to make a hole in the ground.
"Jesus Christ." steve gasped.
"ooh!"
"you still wanna drink that?" robin taunted the younger girl.
dustin looked behind them and noticed the unbelievably long hallway, "holy mother of God."
the four looked behind them and gasped.
steve groaned, "we... hope you guys are in good shape. looking at you, roast beef." he patted his shoulder and walked ahead, "let's go, come on."
he led the group down the excessively lengthy hallway.
"why me?" dustin asked.
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"it was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to will last year." nancy rambled before she placed her notes on the table, "and look at this. look at the body temperatures."
tilly sat in the corner of the room, her supercomm in her hand as she tried to contact dustin, slater and her father.
wil leaned forward to look at it, "he likes it cold."
"okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertiliser-" mike started.
"mrs driscoll." nancy elaborated.
"right, yeah, mrs driscoll." mike nodded, "what time was this attack?"
"last night."
"well duh." tilly muttered, catching their attention, "he means what time."
"around 9:00." nancy shrugged.
"you waited all night to call?" jonathan questioned.
"i was waiting for the doctors to run some tests." nancy told him.
"you weren't there?" will asked his brother.
"well, i'm here now, aren't i?" jonathan snapped.
"hallelujah!" praised nancy, sarcastically.
"ooh." lucas winced.
"trouble in paradise?" tilly teased as she walked over.
nancy ignored them, "um, so, wha-what time was your... sauna test?"
"around 9:00." the group said in sync.
"well, that proves it. that proves my theory." nancy stated.
"she's flayed, just like billy." mike added.
"flayed?" jonathan quizzed.
"the mind flayer. he flays people." mike informed them, "takes over their mind. once they do that, they basically become him."
"if there are two flayed..." lucas chimed in.
"we have to assume there are more." will finished.
"heather." el spoke up, "billy was doing something to her. she was scared. she was screaming. bad screams."
"what's a good scream?" lucas and tilly questioned in unison.
"max said..."
"doesn't matter." max interrupted.
"i'm sorry, i'm lost." nancy admitted, "who is heather?"
"she's a lifeguard at the pool." max explained.
"heather holloway?" nancy asked, max nodded. the two older teens shared a look, "tom."
the group all rushed to the car nancy and jonathan had taken. lucas, max and el took the back seats, meaning the other three had to sit in the trunk.
"seriously?" mike huffed, while he passed tilly her water bottle.
"welcome to my world." will told him before taking tilly and helping her up.
"welcome to my world." tilly quietly mocked him.
"i heard that." will smiled as he climbed in next to her.
"seat belts." nancy reminded everyone as she tied her hair up.
as there were only two seatbelts in the back, will had to share with tilly.
"done."
nancy drove the car back, knocking the bike's down in the process.
"did you just?-" tilly began.
"no."
⎯ ❃ neens speaks!
hi! so this book now has 15 thousand reads and i am forever grateful for everyone has been reading and supporting me! i love you all <3