✓ | 2. young blood [STEVE HARRINGTON]

fifteen.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
CLOSURE

[ THE GATE PART II ]

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When they pulled up outside the lab with a shake of the car that made Thomas' stomach lurch sickeningly, Hopper was the first out of the car, and then Thomas; meanwhile, Eleven remained hesitant in the passenger seat, before she slid out after them all. At the back of the car, helping Hopper collect all of his guns and various other weapons (Thomas even gained himself a pistol and a penknife from the man as a 'precaution'), Thomas watched carefully as the young girl moved forward to stare up at the lab.

            Of course. She hadn't been back to the place since they escaped. That was a year ago now — more. Sometimes, it still felt like only yesterday.

          Every time, no matter how many times he did it, walking back through those gates was the hardest thing Thomas ever had to do. Nothing in life could compare or prepare him for something so terrible, so impossible: standing at the edge of being devoured, staring straight into the darkness, and willingly stepping in.

          But this fear was far different from what he'd felt before. It was not the horror he'd felt in the face of the Demogorgon and the Demo-Dogs. It was not the nervousness he experienced around Billy and Tommy. It was not the fear he felt when he got too close to someone he didn't know.

          It was a child's terror. Clawing from his past, up his throat, demanding to be felt.

            The lab itself was, aside from a few oddities, was perfectly abandoned. Due to its cross shape, they could only see two squares of glass and walls and concrete meeting at a right-angle. All the lights had been shut off, though a select few windows shone green with the emergency lighting. Flickers of orange shone and sputtered; behind some windows, flames lurked. Shrieks and roars echoed from inside the depths of the place.

          "You're not mad, too, are you, kid?" Hopped asked as they unloaded the trunk.

         Thomas swallowed, glancing up at him a couple of times and choosing his words carefully before he spoke. "Because of you, she's safe," he said, voice cold, a sharp contrast to his thankful words. "But because of you, I was hurt."

         "I know," Hopper said, voice invisible. "I'm sorry. I was... I dunno. I thought it was the only way to keep her, keep the both of you, safe. But I... I should have told you. Should have trusted you. You deserved to know, and it was a mistake."

          In surprising vibrancy, Thomas could imagine that, and his heart sang with longing at the thought. What could have happened, how happy could he have been, if last Christmas he'd been told Eleven was alive, after all?