MELANCHOLY [S.T. B. Hargrove]

38

I wasn't totally sure why there were men with guns chasing Steve, Dustin, Erica, and Robin.

But, El put a quick stop to them by flinging a car at them. Quick work. Easy for her.

I adored that tiny, superpower-having, frightening child.

"Steve!" I cry, running into his arms.

"Racquel!" he gasps, hugging back so hard that my feet leave the ground for a second.

The day was catching up. I was feeling that same overwhelmingness that I had last year.

"What happened to your face?" I ask, holding his cheeks in my hands.

"Got beat up by Russians," he shrugs. "What about you? You look awful!"

"Got mentally beat up by El.. Then beat up by Billy.. Then a monster.. Then-"

"What?" he asks.

"The Mind Flayer is back," I breathe. "And he's using Billy as his new host."

"Oh.. oh, shit," he blinks.

"What Russians?" I question.

"The ones El just crushed with a car," he points to the vehicle.

"Those were Russians?" Max gasps.

"Some of them were," Steve attempts.

"What happened to the car?" Robin asks.

"El used her powers. Catch up, dude," Steve scolds.

El suddenly screams in pain.

The group scatters and hurries to where she'd fallen on the ground.

"What is it? El! What's wrong?" Mike asks.

"Le- le-" El tries before breaking off into a scream.

"Leg?" I ask.

She nods her head weakly.

"I thought you cleaned it?" Mike asks.

"I did!" I shout, pulling her pantleg up again and tearing the bandage off.

Everyone groans in surprise and disgust as the wound. Despite how I treated for it, it's like it was infected.

"Wounds don't get infected that bad within ten minutes!" I shout.

"Wait.. Wait.." Jonathan gasps. "Look!"

He points to her calf. Max shouts in surprise as something moves on the inside of El's leg.

"The flayed!" Will gasps. "It attached to her leg, right?"

"I.. Yeah, I had to rip it off," Mike answers.

"When I was taken before the thing attached to my mouth. When I got home I started coughing and spit out this thing-"

"Dart," Dusten realizes.

"So, there's a piece of the flayer inside her?" Nancy cries.

"Jonathan.. I need.. a.." I stutter. "A hot knife.. gloves.."

Jonathan stands and takes off running through the mall.

"El," I call. "El, honey, stay awake, all right?"

El rests her head in Mike's lap and sobs, nodding her head.

"Jonathan!" I scream.

Robins tarts talking about some injury she witnessed, but I couldn't hear anything other than El's crying and my own heartbeat in my ears.

"Jonathan!" I scream again.

Jonathan leaps over a counter and slides to the floor, rushing the items into my hands.

"El, this is gonna hurt like a son of a bitch, but you need to stick with me, all right?" I ask, putting a glove on.

"Here," Jonathan hands her a wooden spoon. "Bite down on this."

El follows the request. I pick up the knife and hold it over El's leg.

The thing inside her skin squirms and I pull my lips into a tight line.

My chest shakes from my cries. My vision goes blurry.

I inch the knife closer to El's leg as Dustin begins cursing in a panic.

"Rocky," Jonathan calls, grabbing my wrist. "Let me."

I hand him the knife and collapse to the side, crying my eyes out. Steve catches me and pulls me into a tight hug.

I couldn't stab El. It was necessary, I know.. But, the image alone was already haunting me.

I rest a hand on El's stomach to try and sooth her through my own panic. I could tell Jonathan made the incision by the way she screamed through the wooden spoon.

I don't look. I can't look. I force myself to sit upright and help Mike hold El down so she didn't disturb Jonathan's work through her pain.

Everyone exclaims and El screams louder. Jonathan was reaching inside her leg in search of the flayed.

"Stop it!" El screams, spitting the spoon out. "Stop!"

"Jonathan!" Nancy snaps, pulling him away.

I glance down to El's leg, but the thing was still inside her.

"I can do it," El cries. "I can.. I can do it."

Mike, Lucas, and I help her sit up straight. She holds her hand over her wound, forcing her power despite being in so much pain already.

I rub her back and Mike hides his face in her shoulder, crying to himself. El screams and the glass pane windows shatter behind us. Lights flicker around the mall. She finally forces the piece out of her leg and flings it across the room before collapsing back into Mike's arms, exhausted.

The thing starts to crawl away before it gets stomped on.

Hopper and Joyce step closer, followed by another man.