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

◇Chapter 012◇

El woke up the next morning snuggled into Mike's chest. His arms were still wrapped around her and the window was still open. A cool breeze entered the room, blowing her curls back.

She pulled his arms off of her and pulled herself off of the bed. Mike still laid asleep as she snuck out of the room to get dressed and make breakfast. The house was completely silent except for the soft sounds of nature outside around the cabin. Hopper must've left early, or at least, that's what El figured.

El pulled out a box of eggos and proceeded to place them in the toaster. She stood by the counter, waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

She absentmindedly walked to the front window and stared through it at the rows of trees. Her vision flickered, once, twice. The sky turned dark and misty as the monster soared into the sky. It looked over the trees, slowly making its way towards the cabin, towards her.

El.

El.

"El?" Mike stood behind her and he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest. "Are you okay?"

She stared out the window for a moment. "Yes." She leaned back into him. "But can I have a hug?"

Mike didn't say a word and simply turned her around and wrapped his arms around her softly. El sighed contentedly and relaxed into her boyfriend's arms.

"I know what we need to do," El mumbled. "I- We need to go to the lab."

"Why the lab?" Mike asked cautiously.

"I think there's a... a..." It kept feeding her words. "Antidote that helps remove whatever is in my head."

"Are you sure, El?" Mike asked and looked at her for a moment.

"Yeah- Yes, I'm sure." She barely met his eyes.

"El, look at me." She raised her eyes to meet his and there he saw it. The coldness. "This isn't El. You're trying to trick me like you made Will trick us!"

"Mike, it's me. I'm-" The next words it told her broke her heart. "I'm telling the t-truth!"

"How can I believe you, huh?" He placed his hand on her cheek. "How do I know this is you?"

"If you truly love me, you'll believe me, Mike," El said as she looked intently at his dark eyes. "Friends don't lie, remember?" A sightly cold smile played at her lips.

He did love her, with all his heart. But it could be making her say that. But she sounded sincere. She sounded like herself.

"Okay, I believe you." Mike sighed and kissed her forehead. "Why don't you go eat your eggos and I'll tell Hopper to go to the lab, okay?"

El nodded slightly and went to retrieve her eggos from the toaster while Mike began dialing the police station's number.

"Hawkins Police, what's your emergency?" Flo asked tiredly and sighed.

"Is Hopper there? I need to talk to him," Mike replied nervously.

"Just a minute kid," Flo said. "Hopper, put down that donut! There's a kid on the phone for you! And for God's sake, eat an apple!"

Hopper grabbed the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's Mike."

"Is she okay?" Hopper asked, referring to El.

"I think so," Mike admitted. "She said there might be some antidote in the lab that can help her. I don't know if I believe her or not."

"This sounds similar to how Will tricked us in the lab before." Hopper thought for a minute. "It's worth checking out the lab though. There might be some clue or something we didn't notice before."

"Okay, I'll update you if El tells me anything," Mike said before hanging up the phone. He walked over to El who sat on the couch, eating her eggos. She smiled when she saw him.

Mike climbed into the couch next to her. "Do you want a blanket or-"

El immediately shook her head. "No! No, it's too hot."

Mike raised his eyebrows. The room was cool, not really warm at all. "El, snap out of it."

"What are you talking about?" Coldness lingered in her voice. "It's too hot, Michae- Mike."

"Holy shit, it's getting worse," Mike mumbled to himself. "El, I know you're in there. You need to snap out of it."

El jumped up and glared at Mike, her eyes nearly a pale green. "I'm telling you I'm fine. Leave me alone Mike. You are starting to get on my nerves!" El lowered her head, in prepare to use her powers. "Leave me alo-"

El met Mike's eyes,giving her a moment of clarity. She stopped and looked down at her feet, her heart pounding in her chest. El sat on the couch again and brought her knees to her chest. She leaned her head on Mike's shoulder and shut her eyes tight, fear consuming her head.

"There's my girl." Mike kissed her head and wrapped an arm around her. "You okay?" El shook her head. "We'll fix this El, I promise."

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Hopper couldn't wait. He needed to see if what El had said was true, or just the monster in her head. He was at the lab, gun in hand.

Hopper walked through the hallways, looking for the antidote. He walked through every room, knocked over boxes and opening cabinets.

He eventually found himself in the central room. The gate glowed faintly and it looked wider than before. The gate was growing. Something inside the gate hissed, making Hopper wall closer to it. The hissing grew louder.

Hopper ran back, as 4 demodogs came charging out of the gate.

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"Mike?"

"Yeah El?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? What happened?"

El looked away from his gaze. "He made me say it. He told me to."

"The antidote? In the lab?" Mike asked nervously.

"There's no antidote."

"Oh shit." Mike grabbed the phone and began dialing his number, but the line wouldn't go through.

El met Mike's eyes, her eyes mixed between brown and green. "He's going to die."