One

Chapter Eight - part five

   They follow Hopper inside, all of them a little confused as he grabs a piece of paper and a pen.
   "What happened," Dustin asks.
   Hopper sighs, "I think he's talking, just not with words."
   He writes down a line of dots and lines, Steve leans over his shoulder, "hey, what is that?"
   "Morse code," the boys and Phina answer at the same time, he looks at all of them, his brows raised.
   "H-E-R-E," Hopper spells out as he writes.
   "Here," the kids say at the same time.
   The realization hits them all but Hopper explains anyway, "Will's still in there. He's talking to us."
   Phina grins, "let's hear what he's got to say."
   Jonathan and Phina set up Jon's radio in the shed, popping in one of his mixtapes. He presses play and the song Should I Stay or Should I go begins to play. He sits down in the chair across from Will.
   "Do you remember the first time I played you this," he asks, "mom and dad were both arguing in the next room so I played you the mixtape I made you. And it was the first time you got into music. Real music."
   Hopper analyzes the tapping and nods to us. It was working. Mike sits down in the seat next, talking about a campaign they had been on which Phina remembered.
   "And then the party escaped to the sewers," Mike says, "and there were those big insect things, and you guys were still on level one... Then you cast Fog Cloud and you saved us. You saved the whole party."
   Joyce then starts up a story, "you saw that little girl and she was in the sandbox and she was crying... You gave her your Tonka Truck and I told you we couldn't afford to buy another one. You said she should have it because she's sad, she's sad, Mommy. I love you so much. So, so much."
   From inside a ringing starts, traveling all the way out to the shed, to Will. His head snaps towards the noise. It stops for a moment, starting up a second later and then stopping again.
   Phina's heart beats rapidly, did that give them away? Did the mind flayer know where they were?
   Will's eyes roll back and he begins to breathe heavily.
   "Hey." Joyce leans towards him. "Hey, can you hear me?"
   He continues to pant and Hopper leans down, "it knows. It knows where we are."
   Joyce jumps up and grabs the full syringe from the table, knocking the glass bottle of morphine off the edge, shattering it, "oh, shit!"
   She rushes over, plunging the syringe into Will's arm. He passes out a second later. Jonathan, Hopper, Phina, and Mike rush out of the shed, looking around them for any sign of the Demodogs. They don't see anything but they do hear it. The haunting roars of the monsters in the distance.
   "Oh, my god," Phina whispers.
   "They're coming," Jonathan yells, running back into the shed.
   "What," Joyce yells.
   Joyce, Jonathan, Hopper, and Mike run over to Will, untieing him while Phina stands guard at the door.
   "Come on," Hopper yells, "we gotta go!"
   "Come on," Jonathan groans as he unties the ropes.
   Phina holds open the curtain as they all rush out of it, Jonathan carrying Will.
   "Come on, come on, let's go, let's go," Hopper urges.
   Once they were all out Phina lets go of the curtain, running to catch up with Mike to make sure he was safe. They run inside, running to find the rest of the group at the front of the house. The back door slams shut as Hopper comes inside after them.
   "Hey, hey," he yells, "get away from the windows!"
   The kids push away from the windows quickly and Hopper turns around, "do you know how to use this?"
   He stares at Jonathan who looks shocked, "what?"
   "Can you use this," Hopper yells.
   Jonathan stutters and Nancy pushes forward, "I can."
   Hopper throws the gun towards her and she cocks it, holding it up to her shoulder. Next to her, Steve holds up his nail ridden bat and stands in a wide stance. Phina pushes all the kids towards Joyce and Jonathan, going over to stand next to Steve and Hopper. Her hands curl into fists as they light on fire, vines growing out of her skin to wrap around her arms, Steve's jacket having been disposed of.
   "Where are they," Max stutters fearfully as the roaring continues.
   The growling grows louder and a loud thud makes all of them jump, turning towards it. The Demodogs screech loudly.
   "What are they doing," Nancy asks.
   Phina's vines curl protectively around her as the noises grow quiet in that direction. A screech from the front window has them jumping again. Phina's flame burns hot, causing everyone to break a sweat but that was the least of their worries.
   The monsters screech again, almost groaning this time. Loud noises hit their ears as if something was being thrown around. The monster screech and then it whines loudly, then it goes silent.
   The Demodog is suddenly thrown through the front window and everyone screams as it slides across the ground. Everyone points there weapons at it but it keeps still.
   "Holy shit," Dustin says.
   "Is it dead," Max asks.
   Hopper slowly nudges it with his foot. It flops over, its body completely limb. The front door suddenly creaks, making everyone jump and turn towards the noise. Phina's flames burn hotter as she moves out in front of the group.
   "Phina," Steve asks, "what are you doing?"
   The deadbolt lock sharply turns, unlocked by whatever was on the other side. The chain lock soon follows. Phina lifts her hands, the fire accumulating into a ball in front of her. She takes another step forward.
   As the door pushes all the way open, revealing who was on the other side, Phina's flames wink out. Her heart stops dead in her chest and she doesn't believe her eyes. Phina takes a stumbling step forward, her vines retreating back into her skin as tears form in her eyes.
   "Eleven," she whispers.

-1025 words-
Eleven is back!!! One more episode and seven more parts to go! It's a crazy ride so I hope your ready for this!!!!
-Morgan