KAS The Bloody Handed

El Has Gone

Your POV

A loud whooshing sound and a blur of colour was all you could hear and see. Within a blink of an eye, El was gone. Vanished into thin air.
"El? El where are you?!" You shouted. Your blood ran cold as you searched around frantically for your friend. Something on the ground beside you caught your eye. A small black cloth. You pick it up and instantly recognise it; it's Eddie's handkerchief. Confusion flooded your brain.. overriding your fear. Why was this here? Did El have this? Why would she have it? Could this mean Eddie is back? IS EDDIE BACK?
Your friends come rushing around the corner, hurtling towards you with fierce speed.
"What's going on?" Mikes panicked voice cut through the air, "We heard you shouting! Where's El?". 
"She's gone" is all you manage to say.
"What do you mean gone?!" The panic in his voice heightened.
You can't respond.. nothing makes sense, so instead you just hold up Eddie's handkerchief. Steve, the apparent team leader of your group takes it from you and turns it over and over in his hands.
"Isn't this Eddie's?" He asks. You nod weakly, knowing that if you try to speak you might just break.
"Let me see that!" Insisted Dustin as he pushed his way through your friends. He takes the handkerchief from Steve and examines it. "This is definitely Eddie's, you see this little 'E.M' here?" He says as he points out the very badly hand stitched initials on the corner, "Eddie asked me to add something to this before... well you know. I did this, this really is Eddie's, but how? He was wearing it when the bats..." his voice trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished, but we all knew what he meant.
"Where's El?!" Demanded Mike, reminding us all of the current situation.
"Sh-She was right here, and th-then she was gone" you managed to force out. You explained what happened; you were sat out here, El jumped up, she seemed scared and the last thing she said was 'something is coming'. You heard a noise, like a big gust of wind, saw a blur of colour and El was gone. All within a matter of seconds. You also fill them in on your conversation with El in your car. It takes you far too long to tell them as you stumble over every other word, your voice breaking and tears falling.
You feel guilty.. not because El has disappeared, but because you feel excited. Right now all you should be feeling is worried, scared and maybe a bit freaked out.. but the overall sense is excitement. This is it. You were right.. you are not going insane. This means that he's back. Eddie is back.

Mikes basement

You all decided to re-convene at Mikes house to decide a plan of action.. well, at least that's what you thought you were doing. But how are you supposed to come up with a plan when you have no idea what has even happened or where El has gone. You gather together and write down a list of possible scenarios to try and ideate what might have happened. This is what you have so far:

"Who wrote vampire?" Exasperated Steve, "really? Vampire? Zombie?"
"How can you even question that after everything else we've seen?" Quizzed Dustin, "it's very possible and most likely probable, I saw him die. He was torn apart- sorry Y/N, but if he is back that means he is undead".
"Ok fair point. But we can rule out Zombie because those guys are hella slow" noted Steve.
Mike had been on the phone for over an hour now, calling around to all those that knew El, asking if anyone had seen her. So far, no luck. So many more questions had been circling in your head that you were too afraid to say out loud. If Eddie was back why hadn't he come to see you? Or your friends? Did he take El? Why would he take El?
"Why would Eddie take El?" Robin asked the question just as you thought it. Always on the same page.
"Well if he is a 'vampire', then that makes him a bad guy now right? He's probably gonna suck her blood to try and take her power or something. Am I right?" Said Steve, forever the pessimist.
Mike shot him a warning glare, as if daring him to carry on making light of the situation. Steve held his hands up in an apologetic surrender.
"Doesn't mean he's a bad guy... but.. he died in the Upside Down. If Vecna is back, then who knows? We've seen how he can control people.." mused Dustin.
"But the gates disappeared.. everyone saw it. As quickly as they spread through Hawkins they snapped right back and just... vanished" said Robin.
"Yes, but if we're right and Eddie is back.. he had to get back here somehow.. and that to me says: Gate. I think our best bet is to look for a gate. Now, where is my compass?" Dustin asked himself, as he started rummaging through boxes underneath the table.
You had sat quietly for most of the idea gathering, trying to compose yourself and make some sense of everything. You noticed that Will had also been unusually quiet.
"Hey, Will? Are you ok?" You implored. He shot a nervous glance your way and nodded just once. Ok.. he is not ok. Something is eating at him. You examine his body language. He has a faint sheen of sweat covering his brow, his eyes keep darting between his friends and his lap.. where he is fidgeting with his thumbs and fingers. His leg is jittering up and down so fast it looks like a spasm.
"Will, what's going on?" Mike asked him, ever so gently. If anyone can get through to Will it was going to be Mike. Their bromance was like no other and Will relied so heavily on their friendship.
"I-I have something to co-confess" he said nervously, "and I'm sorry I didn't mention it sooner". Mike must have given him a loving look, to comfort him into continuing.
"There was something different yet so familiar about that storm the other night.. I felt a tingle down my spine with every stroke of lightening, but I played it off. When we found Y/N at the Lake and she said she had been seeing things.. that same feeling came to me again, but much stronger. I've also been seeing... how do I describe this? Um.. purple stars? Like when you're dizzy and get a head rush.. but they come and go so quickly.. but the colour is so strong. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to worry anyone, I'm so sorry" he cried. Mike comforted him, told him it was ok.
It started with you, you started seeing things that 'weren't there' and the colour purple.. then El, and also Will. The storm was only three nights ago. No one blamed Will for not saying anything, you thought you were going crazy.. so he probably though the same. What is with the colour purple?
"GOT IT!" Shouted Dustin, holding up his compass, signalling it was time to take the first step in your very unorganised plan. Everyone got their things together - flashlights, bags, home made weapons etc, and out the door you went.. to look for a Gate, that may or may not exist. If you found it, will you also find Eddie? Will you be able to hold him again? Tell him you missed him and loved him? Oh and also find El? If you don't find a Gate.. then what? What could possibly be the next step? This is all you have.
Why can we never have a normal Summer break? You think to yourself as you all start your trek through the woods.. what bullshit is this? It's just not fair.