you are not alone → stranger things

xxxxi. hell in the sky

Saturday night
Jonathan's POV

"He did what?" I jumped up from Nancy's bed and glared down at Mike.

Mike bit his lip. "I know. But don't tell the adults. They'll stop him from doing the right thing."

I didn't miss Max's eye roll, and turned on her. "So you want him to die, huh?"

She looked taken aback. "N-no, of course not, I just-"

"Like your brother wanted to kill me?" I continued, balling my fists. "Does it run in the family or something?"

Tears welled in her eyes. "Jonathan!" Nancy yelled. Everyone quieted. "Don't be stupid, guys. This is the absolute worst time to turn on each other. We need to follow him as soon as possible."

Steve nodded. "I'm coming, right?" Nancy nodded without looking at him, and relief flooded across his face.

Eleven suddenly winced and pressed her hands to her head, screwing her eyes shut. "El?" Mike asked nervously, putting an arm around her.

After a few moments of silence, she looked up at us gravely, lowering her hands. "We need to get to him. Now."

No explanation was needed. I felt a surge of panic. I'd already lost him once; I couldn't lose him permanently. "My car," I said quickly, grabbing the keys from Nancy's dresser.

"Where are we going to go? He could be anywhere," Mike reminded me.

"Your house," Max said suddenly. Everyone looked at her, and she looked down nervously. "It's where he was taken first, right? If I was him, I would go there."

I paused, then nodded slowly to her and ran out of the room, everyone following me.

***

It had begun to rain. The roads were empty, and the car was silent besides the rain falling on the roof and the windshield wipers rotating every few seconds. The three kids were crammed in the backseat, Steve was in the passenger, and Nancy had sat in the middle on the console.

"Um, guys?" It was Steve, and he was staring out his window intently. "Is anyone else seeing this?"

I lifted my eyes from the road and was met with a dark red sky. Clouds crowded towards the top, and every so often there was a burst of lightning striking across it.

"That's definitely not natural," Nancy murmured. "It looks like hell took over the sky."

I heard one of the kids gasp. "I had a dream about the sky like that, and possessed Will was chasing me," Eleven whimpered.

I swallowed. "He drew that once. But with... something in the sky. A shadow with a lot of arms or necks or something. I remember thinking it was Dungeons and Dragons or something."

"Thessalhydra," someone whispered.

I gripped the steering wheel so hard it hurt. "We have to get there."

In a few minutes, I pulled up to my house. The door was wide open, and Will was standing a few feet back, staring at the sky like he was in a trance.

I opened my door. "Will!" He didn't seem to hear me, and his lips moved. I didn't know what he said. As soon as I got out, the rain soaked me, but I hardly noticed.

Everyone else got out, and Nancy and Steve stood on either side of me. Eleven went in front of us and approached Will. "El, no!" Mike screamed and ran forward, seeming to sense something was as wrong as the sky, but she threw a hand back and he froze in place in front of us.

Eleven stood right in front of him and said something I couldn't hear. His eyes slowly moved down to hers, and I realized they were red. She slapped him, but he didn't even flinch. Seeming to realize something, she began to back away, but he lashed out suddenly and, grabbing her shirt, lifted her into the air.

"No!" Max cried out, and she ran forward. We followed behind her, but I knew nothing could be done. It was too strong. Sadness rippled through my brain, and I stopped before reaching the front porch. Steve and Nancy stopped with me, but Max kept going.

The thessalhydra turned to her, smiling a sickeningly kind smile. "Oh, Max. I'm not Billy."

She seemed to freeze for a moment, but then straightened. "No. You're worse." And she suddenly strode forward and locked her hand around his wrist. "I can't do much about him. But I can do something about you." And with a single yank, she forced him to let go of Eleven and pushed her lips to his.

It froze, and Eleven quickly got up and touched Will's temple. His body seemed to relax, and his eyes opened. Brown eyes. Max quickly leaned away.

I cried out and ran for him, but Nancy grabbed my soaked shirt from behind. "We have to find that thing!"

Mike ran forward; apparently Eleven had unfrozen him. "Guys..." At a loss for words, he gestured to the sky again.

I turned and looked, and now the sky wasn't only red. There was a huge shadow taking up residence in it, growing closer and closer to us.

c l i f f h a n g e r