ℕ𝕆𝕀𝕊𝔼

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• 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 - 𝙱𝚎𝚎 𝙶𝚎𝚎𝚜 •

Fireworks from the Fourth of July fair can be heard from Hopper's cabin. The group still hasn't processed that they heard Beatrice's scream when they asked Eleven what she saw in the void.

"He said he was building something. That it was all for me." She recalled as she looked around the room at them.

"Building something... Is he talking about the flayed?" Max questioned.

"He must be." Nancy sighs from behind the girls.

"So, he's building an army, just like we thought," Lucas confirms as he paced behind the couch.

"Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread." Mike interferes, "He's building it to stop Eleven. Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really pissed him off."

"Like, royally." Lucas agreed and Mike continued, "And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way—"

"Game over," Lucas concludes.

"So, why'd he take Bea?" Will asked but no one had an answer except for Eleven.

"He wants to hurt Bea," El tells them. Everyone's heads snapped to her. You could almost hear their bones crack. Hasn't Billy hurt her enough?

"Wh— what does he want to do to Bea?" Will cautiously asked, for he is scared to hear the answer.

"He also said..." Eleven exhales deeply, "he was going to kill all of you after killing me. And, he wants to save Bea for last so she can scream and feel the pain of watching all of us die before he finally puts her out of her misery." That was worded a little dark but it's the gist of it. It's the truth. That has been his plan all along.

Everyone was silent before Max sarcastically scoffed, "Yeah, well, that's nice."

Remember how I said that they can hear the fireworks from where they are? Well, Nancy seems to notice that they start to sound a little odd. It sounds more like faint screeching instead of holiday festivities.

Nancy walks over to the window to check if anything is coming. "Do you guys hear that?" She shudders as she whispers to the group behind her. The kids sit up as they listen to the noise.

"It's just the fireworks." Jonathan shrugs off.

"Billy... and Beatrice." She turns and looks at El, "When you saw them, it was here, in this room?" Eleven nods and it's clear on Nancy's face that she thinks they're screwed.

He must know where they are.

The kids listen to the thudding sound in the woods. It's not the fireworks anymore. Will feels the hair on his neck stand up.

"He knows we're here," he tells them.

Jonathan and Nancy rush outside the cabin to see if they can pinpoint where he is and the kids follow them out. Once they reach a clearing, they can see the trees rustling and a very familiar monster on its way to them. The creature screeches and they all run back into the cabin.