afterlife ➳ stranger things [2]

Chapter 2: Playing Detective

"So is anyone gonna tell her?" Max turned to the group.

"Tell her what?" Dustin asked.

"Oh hey Erin, we think your dead twin sister might actually be alive." Max explained.

"We don't have any proof." Will argued.

"We don't have any actual proof that Eleven has powers." Dustin shrugged.

"Uhh, technically we do." Mike corrected him.

"Not the point guys." Will stated.

"So we get Kali to admit that she's alive, then what?" Lucas asked.

"Then we have proof." Max shrugged.

"Just how do we get Kali to admit that Cassidy is still alive?" Eleven asked.

"Erin could read her mind." Will shrugged.

"Erin tries not to read people's minds," Dustin paused. "And Kali would make sure she never thinks of it in front of us."

"Then we find a loophole." Lucas suggested.

"What's a loophole?" Eleven asked.

"In stuff, like arguments, there's always a way out of it. That's basically a loophole." Lucas explained.

"That made no sense." Max herself was confused.

"Guys, not the point," Mike paused. "We have to trick Kali into telling us."

"How do we get to Kali in the first place?" Will asked.

"Yeah the only person who knows her number is Erin, and why would she need Kali?" Dustin questioned.

"Then we have to find Kali." Max suggested.

"How?" Will asked, looking at the group.

"We track down her receipts," Mike paused. "We go down to Boston and find her. We follow her."

"This is our first week back at school and that's what you want to do?" Lucas asked.

"Then this weekend." Dustin suggested.

"Too short. We'll only have a few hours down in Boston." Lucas shook his head.

"Then we miss a few days." Dustin suggested.

"Like our parents would ever agree to that," Will rolled his eyes. "My mom would bust us all."

"Then we do it from here. Kali was still in town, from what we know, a week ago. So she could still be in town." Max suggested.

"So we're playing detective." Mike nodded.

"Yeah," Dustin paused. "We are."

—

Erin and Eleven stood on the sidewalk waiting for Hopper to arrive.

"Did you learn anything new? Or meet anyone?" Erin asked, to break the silence.

"I met this girl named Stacey." Eleven answered, looking up at Erin,

"Oh, what's she like?" Erin looked at her.

"She wasn't nice. She told me to wear makeup." Eleven explained.

"Well fuck her." Mike smiled, walking up to Erin and Eleven.

"Waiting for Nancy?" Erin asked, smiling at how Mike comforts his girlfriend.

"She left early, she had to go do something for the baby and then had to talk to Steve." Mike explained, grabbing Eleven's hand.

"Do you think the baby would have powers?" Eleven asked, looking at Mike.

"That's a bit of a stretch, Jane," Erin paused. "But yes, I think so."

"What?" Eleven whipped her head to look at Erin.

"Yeah what?" Mike asked, panicking.

"Don't shoot," Erin joked. "But I get this feeling. It's like a sense that I get around Jane or Kali. it just happens."

"So my nephew will have powers?" Mike asked.

"Probably." Erin shrugged, stuffing her hands in her pockets of her jean jacket.

"What do we do?" Mike asked, holding onto El's hand tighter.

"We can't do anything besides tell him the truth and teach him to handle it." Erin explained.

"Yeah but how do we do that when we're gonna be in college for most of his childhood." Mike argued.

"Like Hopper would let Jane go anywhere out of state, plus Nancy knows how this stuff works. Steve does too," Erin paused. "Has Jonathan said a word about or to Nancy?"

"Not that I know of." Mike shrugged.

"Erin, do you still have Kali's number?" Eleven asked, surprising Mike.

"Yeah," Erin nodded. "Do you think she could help?" Erin asked.

"I'm sure she'd like to." Eleven nodded.

"And she's not going to college anytime soon." Erin smiled.

"Hi Jane! Hi Erin," Stacey walked towards the three, annoying Erin. "Oh hi Mike." She said in a more flirty tone.

"What do you want Stacey?" Erin asked, narrowing her eyebrows.

"You and the rest of your weird friends are invited to my sister's back to school party. This Saturday. She's a senior," She put on a fake smile. "And boys prefer if you wear makeup to parties, just saying Jane."

"We'll think about it," Erin said, acting like it would be a big deal if they came. She paused, Stacey not leaving. "Shoo." Erin waved her off, and Stacey walked away quickly.

"Do you think she meant the invite?" Eleven turned to Erin.

"She did. Her heart rate didn't pick up pace." Erin shrugged.

"How'd you get her to go away like that?" Eleven asked.

"Act like you're the person she should love, and you can almost get away with anything." Erin smiled.

Nancy pulled up to the sidewalk, Steve in the front. She smiled, waving at El and Erin. Mike smiled, and kissed his girlfriend goodbye. He got into the car, and Nancy sped off.

"You thinking about going?" Eleven asked.

"Maybe. I'll basically go if the party goes." Erin shrugged.

"I think I might go. Maybe I can make more friends." Eleven shrugged.

"She's a senior so there might be alcohol." Erin squinted, looking out into the parking lot.

"Alcohol?" Eleven asked.

"It's a liquid that makes you do stuff that's stupid." Erin explained.

"Oh." Eleven smiled.

Hopper pulled up, and Eleven and Erin piled in.