𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑷𝒀 - Dustin Henderson

008. The Gate

ELEVEN LOOKED DOWN AT CINDY. "They're not doing well?"

"You knew?" Joyce questioned.

"I saw," She replied.

Eleven walks over to the dining table and Joyce follows, pointing to the piece of paper, "you opened this gate before, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" Eleven nodded slowly.

• • •

The group came up with a plan: they would take Will and Cindy to Hopper's cabin to burn the shadow monster out of them. Eleven and Hopper go to the lab to close the gate while the rest stay back and stay safe.

Jonathon placed Will into the back of this car, and Steve put Cindy next to him, he turns to the eldest Byer, "if she dies, you die." Jonathon rolls his eyes and nods half heartedly.

"Steve, she'll be okay," Joyce reassured him. He sighed and walked back over to the porch where the other kids were standing. El and Hopper got into Hopper's car, and began to drive away with, Jonathon, Nancy and Joyce just behind.

• • •

    Once the Byers, Nancy and Cindy arrived at the cabin and tied Will to a bed and Cindy to a chair.

They set up all the heaters around the kids and turned them on and threw a match in the fireplace.

The heat soon surrounded the room, and made the two kids slowly wake up, looking around the room, they had no clue where they were, which was a good thing. Will began wriggling out of the rope and shouting for them to let him go.

Cindy tried to rip the ropes off her wrists and legs, but it was no use. The fire was consuming them and they were burning. She screamed, wriggling in the chair, "let me go!"

Jonathon wanted to turn the heaters off, he couldn't bear listening to their screams but Joyce only cranked the heat up in anger. Screeching filled their ears, meaning something was happening.

Will freed one of his hands from the ropes and went to try and get himself free but Joyce grabbed his hand, pinning it back down on the bed only for him to put his hand up to her throat and choke her.

The intensity of the burn made Will's arm drop and suddenly, a tornado of the shadow monster escaped both Cindy and Will's mouth.

It swirled out of their mouths and merged together flying out of the cabin and away into the sky.

Cindy and Will passed out, and Joyce and Jonathon sat down beside Will, trying to wake him up, praying he wasn't dead, as Nancy attempted to wake Cindy up.

The two kids woke up slowly, confused about where they were. Cindy looked around in the panic, but Nancy placed a hand on her shoulder, "it's okay. You're okay, now." Cindy looked at the brunette, seeing the relaxed expression on her face, making her relax.

Nancy untied the rope around Cindy and helped her over to the bed to sit down on. Cindy felt free for the first time in months, something wasn't lurking in the back of her mind anymore. Cindy rested her head on Nancy's shoulder and she held her close.

• • •
ONE MONTH LATER...

Everything had gone back to normal. Hawkins Lab was shut down after being exposed for the reason of Barbara Holland's death.

Cindy felt like her life was finally getting back on the right track, she doesn't have the looming threat of the upside down and now she can focus on growing up and getting back what she lost.