Tʜᴇ Sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ Sʜᴇ's Kᴇᴘᴛ | Mɪʟᴇᴠᴇɴ (Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ Tʜɪɴɢs)

◇Chapter 002◇

Mike's POV

A few weeks later...

El is gone. El is gone. El is gone. And it's my fault. That was the only thing that ran through my mind.

Loosing El at the school had stabbed me in the heart, and now she had been pulled from my grasp again and the pain was back, stronger than ever.

I sat in the blanket fort with my old supercom in hand, just like I had done for 353 days before El came home. At least this time I knew where my girlfriend was; Hawkins Lab. The exact place where El had been tortured and treated like a science experiment instead of a human. Brenner was a bitch.

What hurt most was that El had gone back to the lab... just the save me. I wasn't worth it, I was willing to die while protecting her. El is my whole world; without her, my life basically has no meaning anymore.

A flipped through channels on the supercom, trying to see if I could find a connection into the lab, but it was useless. All I could hear was static crackling. It had been 2, almost 3 weeks since she was gone, and I called her, every night, hoping that she would be able to hear me.

Sure, when she was at Hopper's house, she had access to the TV and radio... but in the lab, it was a slim chance that she had access to an electronic device. Without it, her looking-into-the-Void powers were useless.

"El, it's day 27... I hope you're okay... I'm coming for you, I haven't forgotten. If you can hear me... just remember that I love you..." My voice cracked slightly, but I continued, "You are the strongest person I know. Just hang in here, babe. I'll be there soon."

I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I put the supercom on my lap. I stared at it for a minute before placing it on the floor and walking up the stairs. As I was about to close the door, the static changed to mumbled talking.

I dashed back to the supercom and picked it up. "El?"

"....Subject Eleven.... other dimension... gateway...." I could only hear bits and pieces of conversation. I instantly knew this was from the lab... so that meant.... El could hear me?

A muffled scream rang through the supercom before the noise changed back to static. I rubbed my forehead and stared at the supercom, hoping the connection to the lab would return, but it didn't.

I hope she's okay. I need El to be okay...

Hawkins Lab; El

"We give her the dosage, her connection may improve," a scientist said to Brenner who was looking at El from behind glass. Her hands and feet were strapped to the table and her eyes were dark and tired. "She may be able to gain control of the world behind the gate. If Eleven gains control, we gain control."

"And if she dies?" Brenner asked, not a drop of sympathy in his voice.

"She won't. Or at least.... I don't think she will. This subject is stronger than the other 10 that have come through this lab. There is a high chance that she will survive."

Brenner nodded slowly, the idea of being able to control the Upside Down ran through his head. "Alright. Prep her and bring her to the central room. If this works..." A cold smile flickered across his lips.

A pair of rough hands grabbed El and dragged her into the central room where she was yet again strapped down to a table. Her gaze landed on Brenner and a scientist who were prepping a needle.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to remain calm, her eyes never left the sharp tip of the needle that was in Brenner's hands. Fighting was useless; they could simply sedate her and finish the experiment.

"Eleven, this serum," Brenner sat next to her, the needle in his hand, "will help us achieve our goal. You are our only hope to control the dimension. Understand?"

El nodded reluctantly and shut her eyes as she felt the sharp pinch of the needle in her forearm. The serum felt cold as it ran through her veins and into her heart. She groaned as a sharp pain flooded her mind, making thinking impossible. Flashes of a dark world clouded her frozen thoughts as she lost control of herself.

"Initiate stage 2," Brenner demanded.

"Sir, her brainwaves and vitals are out of control," a scientist spoke up. "She's unstable, we should sto-"

"No! Begin stage 2 now!" he demanded as he watched the young girl in pain.

Anger and pain ran through El as she was unstrapped from the table and taken through a series of doors to a another room. A wall of glass seperated the room in half; the gate. The gate that El had closed had a small gap in it, as if it managed to slowly open itself again.

"No, no, no," El whispered as she was taken to the gap. "No. No. No!" Her voice grew louder before a needle was stabbed into her neck.

Her vision dimmed and her body froze as she drifted into darkness...

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El woke up a while later, her body stiff and cold. The world around her was dark and misty... and familier. Vines grew along the trees and buildings and the sky changed to a red color that El had never seen before.

She shakily got to her feet and stared into the red sky above her. A dark shadow appeared in the sky and slowly moved towards her.

El couldn't barley move, fear had overwelmed her. She couldn't seem to pull herself away from the creature that loomed in the sky above her. Slowly, she raised her hand at the monster, but she felt absolutely powerless to do anything. The experiment hadn't worked, it had only made her more vulnerable.

The monster grew closer to her and the pain in her head subsided. Her thoughts and head felt cloudy and she couldn't seem to think straight. The blood in her veins turned cool, the serum that she had taken felt like ice in her veins and body. A strange, cold sensation lingered in the back of her mind as the shadow monster vanished.

El looked around in a daze. She was in the Upside Down, she was sure of it. She wandered around, looking for the small gap that had once stood near her. It was gone; she was trapped in a deadly dimension with no escape.

'Mike, please find me...' El thought as she began to wander around, looking for anything to help her survive.