Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter two: trick o' bullshit
A YEAR LATER... JIM HOPPER'S HOME
THE HOUSE WAS SILENT. You could only hear Axel and El breathing. For the past hour, they both just stared at each other. Axel didn't know how to start a conversation with El. He would probably be elevating off the floor if he said one wrong word.
"Um...How are you?" Axel broke the silence.
"Good." el mumbled.
Axel nodded. "So, how long have you been inside this house?" he asked.
"352 days."
"Oh."
"Do you-" Axel was going to ask El if she wanted to go outside. He felt terrible that she hadn't seen daylight in so long, but he remembered what Hopper told him.
"rule number one: make sure she doesn't go outside."
"Never mind." He shook his head.
"What?" El asked.
"Nothing."
"Tell me." El insisted.
"I can't."
"Why?" El asked.
"Because Hopper said no."
El flunks on her chair and crosses her arms. "Hopper is like Papa." She says.
"Hopper isn't a bad person; he just wants to keep you safe from the bad people."
"Bad people gone. I need to go outside to see Mike."
Axel sighs, "I can't." No matter how badly he wants to take her outside, he doesn't want to get on Hopper's wrong side now that Axel has come back to Hawkins and started working with him after his parents' death.
"Hopper is not here."
Axel sighed, placing his head on the table. He's going to regret what he's about to do.
"Okay, but don't tell him I took you outside. We have to get back here before 8:15, okay?" Axel orders as he gets up.
El smiles and nods. She gets up and hugs Axel, which catches him off guard, but he returns the hug.
