It Couldn't Get Any Stranger

The Sauna Test

You bike over to the swimming pool at noon. You are surprisingly calm about it all. Max probably thinks you are acting a bit odd since you avoid talking about why you were here.

When you arrive, you see Eleven. You try and hide the shiver that gets sent down your spine as you wave her. She waves back completely normally, if anything it scares you more.

"Hi, how you doing?" You say.

"I'm good, what about you?" Eleven says.

"I'm great" You say.

"Come on El, we need a group talk" Mike says.

"See ya" Eleven says.

"Erm, what should I do Mike?" You actually pride yourself as a good actor.

"Wait here, please could you go and get the walkie-talkie from the bike though?" Mike was clearly trying to think of something that wasn't suspicious, he was a bad actor.

You walk over to the bike rack and untie the walkie-talkie from Mike's handlebars.

"What!!! Y/n is flayed?" Lucas says.

"Shhhhh she might hear" Mike says.

He was definitely acting well now.

Will stared at you as you walk in and ask what's going on.

"N-nothing" Dustin says.

It was amusing that they all had fallen for it.

"Y/n?" Max says.

The look that Lucas, Max, Dustin and El were giving you did actually make you a bit sick inside but you ignore it.

"What's wrong?" You say to Max.

"Do you want to go in the sauna?" She asks.

"Erm sure.." You say.

El walks behind you as you walk into the sauna. You are a bit nervous. How could you even get her in there.

Just as El was about to shut the door on you, you quickly grab her shoulders and spin her around so she was standing where you were.

You quickly slam the door on her and lock it with the plank of wood.

"Y/n???" El says, pleading with her eyes.

"Y/n?" Lucas had his wrist rocket loaded and ready to fire.

"Wait! Wait!" Will yells, "This was never about y/n, we just set it up like this because we knew you would never believe us if we told you that we thought El was flayed"

"El is flayed?" Max says.

"We think" you say.

Will runs over to the sauna and turns up the heat. El kicks and screams in there

Mike looked away. He couldn't stand to see El like this, neither could Max.

It was really only you and Will who were scared and not sympathetic. You had both seen the extent of darkness within the upside down and didn't want anyone else to go through that pain.

"Y/n! Let me out" El was banging on the door.

"I haven't done anything yet. Please." El said as she tried to open the door with her mind.

"Barricade the door!!!!" Will yells.

Everyone rushes to push against the door but you run and get the crates. They were heavy to carry but you place them on the door.

"Y/n? Why would you do this, after all we've been through?" She says.

You are too determined to stop now.

"Mike, I need you to save me. Please." She says.

Mike buried his head onto Will's shoulder, you could tell he was tearing up on the inside.

Suddenly something wispy and black escaped from El.

It went into the air, through the cracks in the door and out into the night.

El fell to the floor unconscious.

"Ellllll!!!!!" Mike swung open the door and cradled her in his arms.

Was she dead?

Had you just killed her?