Yours Truly | B. Hargrove

33

Due to Mike's carelessness and ripping the remainder of one of the Mind Flayers arms off of El, she now needed some sort of medical attention. They decided to avoid the hospital, because how we're you supposed to explain a girl who never existed to the outside world, and has no record of being alive got attacked by a monster from a place called the Upside Down? Instead, they stopped in front of Bradley's Big Buy and burst through the window with a rock, beelining straight for the medical isle.

Now, if this was an ordinary night they would definitely be arrested for property damage, trespassing, breaking and entering and theft. However, the battle with the Mind Flayer still had yet to come to an end and they were in dire need of supplies. Nancy originally tried to play doctor but Max informed her she was doing it all wrong and took over. She sent the boys to retrieve things she needed, along with Nancy and Jonathan. Mike stayed back with El while Max also tried to look for things.

Eden on the other hand was in the bathroom. She swiped some pain killers from a shelf and needed them to take away the continuous pounding in her head. She was sure that she had a concussion, she had a lot of the signs. However, once she downed the pills that were supposed to ease pain, a whimper escaped her lips. Eden had never been good at masking her emotions, it was surprising how long she was able to through the night.

She was terrified, sad, angry, confused, and all that mixed together was almost too much to happen. She had to learn of a whole new dimension in one day, all because something from it happened to possess her boyfriend. Eden could not find a reason why the Mind Flayer had to choose Billy. From what she knew, he had no clue of what was going on on the other side of Hawkins. He had no clue, so why does he have to suffer the consequences? She sat with her knees pulled up to her head, letting out light sobs, wishing that this could all be a dream. Billy and Eden were supposed to be taking about California and what their future would look like, not fighting off some terrifying flesh creature.

Eden had no clue how much time had passed before she was able to pull herself together and look in the mirror. Her face was red and splotchy, eyes and lips swollen. She splashed some cold water on her face before deciding she looked okay enough to head back out with the crew. As she found everyone they all looked slightly frantic, until Max's eyes landed on the girl.

"Where were you?" She sputtered.

"Um- the bathroom. Sorry, my head hurt and i just-" she was cut off.

"Have you been crying?" Lucas pointed out and Max nudged his side.

"I mean.. yeah. My boyfriend is kind of possessed by some creepy creature and i just found out that Hawkins has a literal different dimension with a ton of creepy monsters. It's very overwhelming, you know." She deadpanned, causing Lucas to look down in embarrassment.

After Eden's small outburst, she was filled in that Dustin had tried to come through on the walkie talkie and Eleven found him. That's when they all noticed she wasn't around and started to panic, and then they started their discussion on whether Dustin was calling a movie great or saying something about an open gate. Eden decided that he wouldn't be calling a code read for a great movie, so it was decided that the gate to the Upside Down was somehow open again. From what she was told, eleven closed it the year prior for good, so how the hell was it open again?
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Before Eden could comprehend what was happening, they were headed to the Starcourt Mall, where Dustin apparently was. They arrived quickly and snuck through a back entrance, landing them on the second floor. They immediately heard commotion and walked up to the rail, spotting four guys with guns. Eden's eyes widened, but everyone else looked pretty normal. El outstretched her arm and made a car that was placed on the first level of the mall alarm go off. The four men whipped around, and just as they looked up to the banister eleven sent the car flying at them, most likely killing them in the process.

Four figures stood from behind a counter, and the group on the second floor descended down the escalator. Dustin, Mike and El reunited first, as everyone else walked at a slower pace. Especially Eden, who was completely on edge still.

"You flung that thing like a Hot Wheels!" Dustin laughed allowed as he hugged El.

"Lucas?" A little girl spoke.

"Erica?" Eden couldn't tell if the boy was pissed or confused, "what are you doing here?"

"Ask them. It's their fault." The small girl snapped, crossing her arms.

"True. Yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault." Steve spoke up and Eden's eyes widened.

"Steve.." she almost whispered.

"Eden? Holy shit, Eden?" His eyes widened as he rushed to the girl, bringing her into a hug, "how are you in this mess?"

"Billy.. he's-" she was cut off by him shushing her and pulling her body closer to his.

"She cracked the top secret code!" Dustin practically shouted behind them.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians." Steve nodded, Eden felt the motion in her hair.

"Russians, what Russians?" Jonathan asked.

"The Russians!" Steve shouted like everyone already knew.

"There's fucking Russians? There's no way this isn't just some huge prank." Eden mumbled, pushing away from Steve.

"Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asked, "and it's not a prank. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, couldn't understand what you were saying." Mike shrugged.

"Goddamn low battery!" The latter boy shouted.

"How many times do I have to tel you with the low battery?" Steve hit the back of Dustin's head.

"Well everything worked out didn't it?"

"Worked out? We almost died." Erica snapped.

"Yeah, but we didn't did we?" The boy rose an eyebrow.

"It was pretty damn close." Steve mumbled.

"Okay, Russians? As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Eden asked.

"What are you not comprehending? Am i not speaking English? We have a full blown Red Dawn situation." Dustin explained again, getting frustrated.

"So this has nothing to do with the gate?" It was Max's turn to ask questions.

"It has everything to do with the gate!"

All of a sudden, something hit the floor causing everyone to turn their attention to it. El was on the ground, laid on her side and she looked extremely pale and sweaty. Mike was the first to move, Max following quickly after.

"El! El!" Mike shouted, turning her onto her back.

"What's wrong with her?" Erica asked.

"My leg.. my leg." She barely got out.

Jonathan ripped the previous bandage away, revealing El's wound. It looked severely infected, like deadly infected. It was oozing and bleeding, the whole nine yards. Eden had to look away, placing a hand over her mouth as she gagged. Eleven wailed in pain, and others gasped. Eden turned back for a second, seeing something wriggle under the newly 13 year olds skin. This pushed her over the edge and sent her running to the nearest trash can, emptying the contents in her stomach.
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A/N: next chapter will be the last .-. Please don't hate me.