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

◇Chapter 017◇

"Shit shit shit shit shit," Dustin paced back and forth. "Shit. Shit. Shit!"

"Dustin, shut up and calm down," Max groaned. "Don't make 'you-know-who' annoyed."

"I'm not deaf Max," Mike muttered as he held El in his arms as she nibbled on an eggo.

"I never said you were," she replied before sitting down next to Lucas.

"Oh shut up."

"Make me."

"Both of you, stop," Will spoke up.

"She's started it," Mike argued.

"Did not," Max shot back.

"Stop," El said sharply, her voice laced with coolness.

They both continued to ignore their friends.

"Did to."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did no-"

"Holy shit, both of you shut it." Lucas groaned and pulled Max closer to him. "This sounds like 1984 all over again."

El wrapped her arms around Mike tighter, making him calm down and hug her again. Will had already called Hopper for help; Dustin had called Steve for an unknown reason.

El had calmed down, but was only comfortable in her boyfriend's arms. She was scared. Mike was scared too, but his fears of the near future were greater than ever.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked, to help calm down his thoughts. "I mean, do you want anything?"

"More food," El mumbled into his shoulder. "More eggos." The coolness was gone from her voice.

"No wonder Dustin and El get along so well, huh?" Max mumbled making Lucas snicker.

"I'll be right back," Mike said, standing up and walking upstairs.

"When will Hopper-" Will started.

"And Steve," Dustin spoke up.

Will rolled his eyes. "When will Hopper and Steve get here?"

"Soon, I guess," Lucas replied as El's mind began to wander.

Her eyelids fluttered closed and she began to go through her memories, trying to recall anything that was useful. Images of the lab and her past (or at least, what she remembered) flickered through her mind.

Memories of the day she killed Brenner struck her mind, along with memories and flashbacks of the experiments and all the pain she had gone through during her years in the lab.

She thought about the recent things that had happened. She thought about the pained look on Mike's face as Brenner had pulled her into the van and the tears that were running down their faces. Even while she had been trapped in the lab, she remembered Mike's promise to find and save her again.

A shiver ran through her as she remembered the strange wave of pain and coldness she had felt the minutes after that antidote had been injected into her arm. The bruise. The scar. The pain. The coldness. The fear. That experiment had something to do with; that much she had figured out in her own. Fear and panic encased her mind as she thought about what she had gone through.

"El? El?" Mike shook her shoulders slightly, snapping her out of thoughts.

"Yes?" she asked softly, meeting his warm gaze.

"Hopper and Steve are here." Mike set a plate of Eggos on her lap. "And here are your Eggos."

"Hey kid." Hopper walked over to El and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." El nodded, looking at Steve who stood behind Hopper. "It... it was just weird."

"Tell me what happened, every detail," Hopper said and Mike sat next to her. Mike wrapped an arm around her shoulders as El shakily began telling what had happened.

"I thought we got the monster out of me," El mumbled, taking a bite of an eggo. "W-why did I see the Upside Down again?" Fear slowly crept into her voice.

Hopper took off his hat and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know kid, I really don't know."

"Are we sure the monster is out of her?" Max spoke up.

"We saw the black shadow thing go whoosh and go outside, remember." Dustin replied, doing a flying motion with his hand. "Whoosh."

"He's right. We did see the monster leave her body," Steve said, reaching for an eggo, and getting his hand slapped by El. He slowly retreated his hand.

"Kid, I need you to think really hard," Hopper said. "Do you remember anything about the lab? That experiment? Tell me what he did to you, step by step."

El nodded nervously and let her mind wander to the experiment. "They... the scientist grabbed a sharp thing and put something into it and put it into my arm. It hurt a lot after they pulled out the thing out."

"The needle," Mike said, remembering the scar and bruise that had been on her arm when she had first come home.

Hopper nodded. "El, continue."

"Right after Papa took the.... the needle out, everything hurt. I-I was screaming and I felt... Cold. Papa took me to the gate, it was open. He put me through it, and that's it. I woke up in the Upside Down, and I saw the monster. My head started hurting... and... and-" A sudden sob racked at her chest. "I felt so scared. I-I-" El buried her face in Mike's shoulder as Hopper stood up.

"Where are you going?" Max asked as he started walking upstairs.

"I'm going to the lab, I have to check something. Harrington, keep an eye on the kids."

"Do I have t-" Steve started, only to be shut up by a glare from Hopper. "Yep, I'll babysit. Babysitter Steve is back at it again..."

"Its time to end this, again," Hopper called back before leaving the house and heading for the lab.

More drama, huh?

This should be fun 😉

Don't forget to hit the star button before you leave.