you are not alone → stranger things

xxxiv. the gate

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don't question that video you'll get it at the end of the chapter

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Saturday afternoon
Joyce's POV

He was close. Or, at least, that portal is.

I shudder to remember that place. To imagine that he's had to be there for a week... especially since it's his second time.

I looked back at the kids. Mike and Eleven were holding hands and whispering, and Max was walking in front of them, a strange expression on her face. She looked angry and almost depressed at the same time. She caught me looking, and I smiled at her and turned back.

"Really, Hop, what are you doing?" I asked under my breath so the kids couldn't hear.

He sighed. "Remember that deal I made with them to get us in the first time?" When I nodded, he murmured, "Their price was... high. It's hard to explain. But I'm... working for them, in a way. I can get us in easy. I know this place now. Been here enough."

I shot him an alarmed look. "What?"

He sighed. "Joyce, it's fine. I'm not doing anything bad. Just getting them information."

"Hop, that's insane! You're working for the enemy!" My voice was rising.

He glanced back at the kids. "Drop it for now. Please."

"But-" I began urgently.

"Drop it," he muttered, glaring at me. I glared back and kept walking. He had been acting weirdly mean to me since I'd been seeing Bob, and, honestly, I was sick of it.

Hopper unexpectedly turned down a hallway, and I nearly tripped trying to keep up with his swift pace. He led us down a few more hallways and a few more doors until we came to a big door that required a badge to get in. I cursed, but he was already reaching into his breast pocket. "Where did you get that?" I asked accusingly when he pulled out a badge. He merely glared at me and swiped it through the sensor. It clicked, and we were in.

I heard someone sniffle behind me and turned. It was Max, wiping at her eyes and seeming to be cursing under her breath. "Hey," I murmured to her, falling back to walk beside her, "is everything okay, honey?"

She sighed. "Not really."

"Are you afraid?" She immediately shook her head, meeting my eyes, and I could see she was being honest. "Well, then, what's wrong?"

"I... I..." She looked at her feet. "Just some memories that hit me, is all. Worst time to go to pieces, huh?" she added bitterly.

I frowned down at her. "It's okay to tell people about it," I hinted. "Actually, I've heard that it makes it better."

She bit her lip and looked straight ahead. "It's nothing. Really."

"Okay," I said, slightly disappointed. "Well-"

"We're close," Eleven said suddenly from behind us.

Hopper glanced back at her. "Yeah, its right up here," he said kindly. "Are you okay?"

I cursed myself inwardly. I hadn't even thought of how Eleven must be feeling, to voluntarily be back in this prison where she'd been experimented on like she was inhuman.

"Yes," she said quietly.

I heard Mike whisper something to her and looked back at them just as they kissed. I whipped my head back around, pretending not to see, but I couldn't help smiling.

"Here it is," Hopper said, stopping in front of a door. He took a deep breath and opened it.

It was exactly as I remembered it: dark and slightly damp, with a sour smell in the air like ozone. And there was the gate: pulsing strangely, as though it were alive, and looking disgustingly slimy.

"No protection suits this time," Hopper said to me.

I shrugged. "Everyone ready?" They all nodded, and I swallowed and turned to the portal. "Then let's go."

You guys know that movie Into The Woods? lol it's just like INTO THE UPSIDE DOWN ITS TIME TO GO I HATE TO LEAVE I HAVE TO THOUGH