In My Blood

Episode 18 - The Gate

The van skidded to a stop in front of the laboratory, dark and looming over us all. My father was the first to leave the vehicle, slamming the door behind him, while Eleven and I followed suit. I could hear the Demo-dogs growling inside, and a few rooms had yellowed lights flickering to the outside. My chest felt tight with anxiety as I struggled to breathe, remembering what had passed not even hours before. I felt a clammy hand grip my right one tightly, and I looked over to see the girl with the same expression I knew I had plastered on her face. My experience in that building was nothing compared to the hell she lived before escaping.

The trunk of the van slammed shut after the older Hopper retrieved his shotgun, jolting Eleven out of whatever memory she was reliving with a jump. Her hand let go, and her stare returned to the lab's windows. The knot in my stomach seemed to grow the moment we lost the connection, and I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

"All right," my father sighed, his brows furrowed as he joined us to look at the building. "You both let me do the heavy lifting upfront, all right? You save your strength till we're below." Below... the other side of the wall. I could see it clearly in my head: Owens leading to the room, the black shrieking vinery... weeding, he had called it. "You two okay?"

I closed my eyes for a moment before giving a curt nod, a movement that Eleven copied before taking charge and walking toward the facility's front doors. I hesitated for a moment, needing one final glance before going after her, my father bringing up the rear of our trio. The pace was kept quick, and I thought I was doing fine... until I saw Diana's mutilated body in the lobby.

"Oh, my God," I gasped. I could taste bile rising in my throat at the sight, and I was barely able to push it down. Her left arm was nowhere to be found, and large uneven chunks were missing from her legs. I only recognized her by the remnants of her shirt and matted hair; her face had been eaten into. "Oh... I'm gonna be sick-"

"Rachel?" Eleven said quietly, but it was too late. I bent over to the side and felt my stomach empty itself, my vomit splattering on the cold blood-smeared floor. My father's hand came to rest itself on my upper back, moving back and forth in an attempt to comfort me. My legs shook as I puked, the smell just adding to the rot and death that filled Hawkins Labs. Slowly, I worked my way up to just a gag or two, trying to pull myself together.

"I know..." the man tried to soothe me, stepping so that Diana's destroyed corpse was out of my view. "... I know. Come on, let's get you out of here." I nodded, letting him lead me away, but my breaths were shallow. The sickly image was embedded in my brain, taking up my thoughts as we went down the series of hallways. El and my father swapped places before we reached the stairs, her hand replacing his while he lifted his weapon and turned on the light attached to it. We only climbed down a few steps before he spotted blood on the lower parts of the railing.

"Stay here," he whispered to the two of us, and the sound of his footsteps echoes in the silence of the building as he scoped out the lower area. "... oh, shit." I peered over to see another flickering flashlight illuminating the way, held by a barely breathing Doctor Owens. "Hey Doc," I heard my father say to the other man. "Those sucks got you pretty good, huh?" I stepped down slowly to see him, Eleven staying hidden on the upper stairs. There was a decently sized slash in the doctor's thigh, and his face was shining with sweat. His lips moved to try and say something, but the words only came out as a ragged breath. "It's okay, don't talk. Don't talk... I got you. I got you."