Shadows of the Night •a Stranger Things story•

What Are You Hiding?

• Chapter Five: The Flayed •

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"In the eyes of a wounded child..."

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July 2nd, 1985

Hawkins, Indiana

"Shit! Shit!" Dustin screams, his voice high with terror as the elevator in which they're trapped plummets downward at breakneck speed. The five of them cling desperately to whatever they can hold onto, their screams echoing in fear and desperation.

"We're going down!" shouts Steve, his voice rising with pure panic. "We're going down!"

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin snaps back, clutching Ronda's hand tightly for comfort, her face tense with anxiety.

Dustin rushes over to the panel again, pounding the buttons with frantic, trembling fingers. "Why don't these buttons work?!"

"Press the button!" Erica yells, rushing to his side.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Dustin yells back, his face flushed with panic.

"Come on, press something!" Steve urges desperately. "Just press the button!"

"Push it!" Erica shouts, shoving Dustin aside and trying the buttons herself.

"Stop arguing!" Ronda cries out, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, overwhelmed.

Suddenly, the elevator hits the ground with a brutal, heavy force. The impact throws them all forward, crashing into shelves and boxes. Ronda and Robin collide, collapsing in a tangled heap on the floor. Steve is pinned down, a heavy box filled with green liquid pressing against his groin.

"Ah! My groin. It fell on my groin," he mumbles, grimacing in pain. He struggles to lift the box off himself. "Dustin, get this thing off me. I can't move!"

Dustin grips the box, lifting it with effort as Steve shifts painfully, grimacing.

Ronda awkwardly lifts herself off Robin, fixing her clothes and offering Robin a hand. She looks around at everyone, concern etched on her face. "Is everyone okay?" she asks softly.

Robin rubs the back of her head, where her skull hit the cold metal floor. Ronda gently places her hand on Robin's head, checking for blood or serious injury. Relief washes over her when she finds nothing.

"Yeah, I'm great now that I know that Russians can't design elevators," Steve laments angrily, frustrated. He pushes past Dustin, punching the 'open door' button repeatedly, desperation clear in his posture.

"Steve," Ronda murmurs softly, trying to stay composed. She checks on Erica, who is thankfully still wearing her helmet and pads, her face and body unbruised.

"I think we clearly established that those buttons don't work," Robin mutters, leaning against a stack of boxes, her voice tired. She eyes Steve with frustration simmering just beneath her words.

"They're buttons. They should do something," Steve insists, gesturing wildly as frustration boils over in his expression.

"Yeah, if we had a keycard," Robin retorts, her voice tinged with a mixture of resignation.

Steve turns sharply toward her, giving her a piercing, almost desperate look. "A what?"

"It's an electronic lock," Robin explains, pointing at the glowing red scanner on the wall. "Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a keycard, it won't operate, meaning..."

"We're stuck in here," Dustin finishes quietly, the weight of it sinking in.

"Yeah," Robin leans heavily against the wall, her body aching with exhaustion and worry.

"Just so you all know," Erica begins, her tone sharp but with a hint of warning, "I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four are responsible—" she waves her arm dramatically "—she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat." She slices her thumb deliberately across her neck to make her point crystal clear.

"I don't care about Tina!" Steve shouts, slamming his hands down on a box. "Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!" He looks at Erica with a mix of defiance and desperation, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Erica glares back, her mind spinning—he might have a point, but it doesn't make this any easier.

"Hey. What if we climbed out?" Dustin suggests, staring up at a hatch in the ceiling of the elevator. Without hesitation, he and Steve quickly stack the boxes and scramble up the ladder, hauling themselves onto the top of the elevator. They look up into the dark, seemingly endless elevator shaft. Steve plants his hands on his hips, while Dustin gapes upward, his eyes wide with disbelief. The shaft extends for what seems like miles—no end in sight.

"Were you saying about climbing?" Steve mutters, voice filled with reluctant hopelessness.

July 3rd, 1984

Columbus, Ohio

For nearly eight hours, the Shadow Walker continued to explore dreams in an attempt to regain control over her abilities. The first four hours, she struggled again and again to get through to Lisa and Robbie, but eventually, she was able to make small changes. They couldn't see her in their dreams, but they were no longer nightmares. She tested it on Walter, too, to see if she could do it with a stranger, and she could. Finally, at five a.m., Chris finished successfully Shadow Walking through their dreams and could control them at will with ease, but could not be seen. It sucked to not be able to do it all, but she would take what she could get.

They left the laboratory shortly after 5:30 and Chris collapsed tiredly in the backseat of Lisa's car, unable to keep her mind on for another moment. Shadow Walking was exhausting, despite what Walter said about her staying in REM sleep the whole time. This felt different. Like learning a new skill. When it was easy, she felt rested. Now, it's an uphill battle.

While she slept, she didn't dream, and she felt at peace for the first time in days.

Time flowed but had no meaning, and Chris couldn't pinpoint how long she'd been asleep until she felt the pull of someone taking her out of her dreamless sleep.

She's in the darkness still, but this time it's the Void. She spots her father and Joyce walking through the Void unknowingly. El stands a distance away, watching them. She locks eyes with Chris, who looks away from her father.

"El," she says.

"You are...tired," Eleven says, staring up at the girl.

"What's going on?"

"Where are you?" asks Eleven, avoiding Chris's question.

With a shake of her head, Chris narrows her eyes. "You've been dodging my questions. What are you hiding?"

"He's back," El repeats.

Narrowing her eyes, Chris folds her arms, listening to Eleven explain their theory. Billy has been 'Flayed' as the party is calling it. He's being controlled by the Mind Flayer, and it's up to something bad. They can't get a hold of Dustin or Hopper, and El knew that once she told Chris, Chris would be disappointed by El trying to do all of this on her own. The timeline starts to fall into place for Chris. When her Shadow Walking started to get faulty, her intense experience last night during her Walk. They'd attacked Billy, and Nic had burned him, which in turn burned Chris.

"We'll be there in two hours," Chris explains. "Don't do anything until I get there."

"Okay," Eleven replies, reluctantly.

Chris awakes suddenly, her vision filling with the ceiling of Lisa's car. She carefully sits up, glancing at Robbie and Lisa in the front seat. Robbie is resting his head on the window. The sky is cloudy.

"I have bad news," Chris begins.

Robbie and Lisa turn to look at her, frowns appearing on their faces.

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