I had heard of Eleven but never met her. Dustin brought her up a time or two.
Hopper sighs. "It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering if we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."
Dustin turns to him. "Demo-dogs," he corrects.
"I'm sorry, what?" [Hopper]
"I said, uh, demo-dogs." [Dustin]
I merely roll my eyes at his immaturity.
"Like demogorgon and dogs. Like. You put them together, and it sounds pretty badass--" He rambles.
"How is this important right now?" Hopper asks skeptically.
"It's not. I'm sorry." I pat Dustin on the shoulder.
"I can do it," Eleven pipes up.
"You're not hearing me." Hopper shakes his head. Is this what having a good father is like?
"I'm hearing you. I can do it." [Eleven]
"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike adds.
"I thought that was the whole point." [Max]
"But the body is my brother." I insert.
"It is, but if we're really right about this...I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." Mike continues.
"Will's a part of that army." [Lucas]
"Closing the gate will kill him." I shriek.
We enter Will's room to check in on him as we devise our plan.
"He likes it cold," Mom mutters.
"What?" [Hopper]
"It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold." She walks up to his window, pulling it shut. "We keep giving it what it wants."
"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then..." I start.
"Then we need to make the host uninhabitable." Jon finishes for me.
"So if he likes it cold..." [Nancy]
"We need to burn it out of him." [Joyce]
"Mom!" I protest. She looks at me with tired and drained eyes in response.
"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time." [Mike]
"Yeah, somewhere far away." [Dustin]
Hopper comes to a realization.
***
I stood in my room after Hopper took Will outside and gave Jonathan directions. A faint voice can be heard outside my window...it sounds familiar.
I crack it open ever so slightly so I can hear who's talking around the corner of the house.
"...With Jonathan." Steve?
"No, I'm- not just gonna leave Mike." Nancy? My heart pangs in my chest a little bit.
"No one's leaving anyone." I hear him move closer. "I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but...turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter." I smile at his words.
There's a long pause before Nancy speaks up. "Steve..."
"It's okay, Nance...It's okay." Steve says softly. I hear some footsteps and the backdoor opening and closing after that.
I quickly back away from my window as I notice someone walking down the hallway. Steve pushes my door open.
"Why are you hiding in the dark?" He flips on the lights, and I wince. "They're leaving; you better go catch up with them."
YOU ARE READING
Ambivalence
RomanceON HOLD TILL FEB 2025 In the eerie town of Hawkins, where the echoes of the Upside Down linger, Y/n Byers, daughter of Lonnie and adopted by Joyce Byers, confronts supernatural occurrences. Originally in search of her half-sibling Will, Y/n's journ...