Will to Survive

New Mystery

Reyna was at her house playing on her Atari. She didn't have a summer job like a lot of her friends did and there weren't any plans to meet up with anyone that day, so she was just hanging out at home. Her parents were out working like they normally were, which left her home alone.

Right as she completed a level in the game she was playing, she heard a knock at the front door. She paused her game and went over to the door and opened it. There stood Mike and El, looking worried about something. Rey quickly let them inside and they sat down on the couch in the living room.

"What's wrong guys? You look worried about something," the teen asked. She hoped that it was just a simple problem. If it had to do with the lab or the Upside down, she wouldn't know what to do. Reyna was sick of the lab and still trying to get over the trauma from it, but she would help either way. That's what friends do.

"We met a new girl in the field recently. Her name is Evelyn, but she has a 015 tattoo on her arm. Then I heard her talking to someone about the gate over a supercom. Even mentioning Mike and I as the ones who closed the gate," El explained. "We're worried that something bad will happen again."

Reyna furrowed her eyes at what her friend just told her. "I don't remember any kind of 015 at the lab. She must be a new experiment or something. I always knew that Brenner's project could still be around, even in his death," she thought out loud. "Introduce me to this Evelyn girl. I want to meet her officially."

Mike nodded in response. "Sure. Just don't mention that you were a number or that you know about her tattoo. We need to get her trust so that way it can be easier to spy on her. That way she won't suspect anything," he added.

"Leave it to me. I got this."

...

Robin went into Scoops Ahoy and got dressed into her uniform. Steve was off that day, so it was just her and a couple of other workers. She was still thinking about what she and Cat had seen last night. Something was up and she had to find out what. 

As she was working the counter, Robin saw Reyna, El, and Mike come in. She waved at them as they sat down at a table, as if they were waiting for someone. A few minutes later, a girl she hadn't seen before came into the store and sat down with Reyna, El, and Mike at their table. She noticed that the three looked serious about something and that the girl looked confused. 

Robin couldn't help but eavesdrop as they were talking to each other. "So, Evelyn, where are you from?" Reyna asked the girl, Evelyn.

"I'm from Indianapolis. It's nice there. When I go back, you can visit me if you want to," Evelyn told them. "Like I said, I'm just visiting relatives in Hawkins for a few weeks before I have to go back home."

"That's funny, because you're always hanging out with us," Mike said. "Wouldn't you want to hang out with your family instead of us? You hardly even know us in the first place and we are pretty much the losers out of all the kids our age."

Evelyn shrugged in response. "I just like hanging out with you guys," she said. "Is that such a crime to want to hang out with people?" She asked them, sounding a little bit angry. 

Robin was confused by the whole conversation the four of them were having. It seemed as if they didn't like this Evelyn girl or that something was up with her. She kept trying to listen in to the conversation as she scooped up more ice cream for some of the customers. She noticed Evelyn move her left arm a bit, reveal some kind of mark on her arm, but Robin couldn't tell what it was.

El was looking at the tattoo on her arm as well. It just made her think of her own tattoo, which she was hiding by wearing a makeup Nancy showed her. It was like Evelyn wanted them to know about her tattoo and that was why she kept making it noticeable. Something was up with her and she knew that she had to be spying on them. The lab wanted her and Mike, the ones who closed the gate. That had to be the reason why she kept hanging out with them.

Evelyn then looked at the watch on her right arm and stood up. "I have to go. I'll see you guys later, okay? And it was good meeting you Rey," she said before leaving the store. 

Mike shook his head at the girl, glaring a little. "That bitch," he said. "She acts so innocent but we know that something is up. We have to say something to her before she does anything to anyone of us in the party," he added in.

"Mike, no," El said, grabbing his shoulder. "If we tell her we know about her tattoo, then she'll do something to us. We need to be careful, alright? For know, we just need to spy on her back," she explained to her boyfriend. 

"El's right," Reyna said. "As much as I would like to expose this creep, we need to be careful with every move we make when it comes to her. We need to find out what's up with her before we say anything about her being an experiment with a tattoo. Especially if she wants to hurt us."

Robin's eyes widened at the conversation they were having. Their conversation made her think back to when she and Cat saw the two people with the devices. What if Evelyn had something to do with those people? If her theory was correct, then she could help Mike, El, and Reyna with this mysterious girl. Cat could help as well since she also saw the people, but she probably didn't know about Evelyn.

As the three kept talking, Robin came up to them. "Hey guys," she greeted before cutting to the chase. "I know I probably wasn't meant to overhear your conversation, but I think I know something that could help you."

...

Once Jonathan and Keelan got off of work for the day, Nancy and them went to the community pool along with Delilah. Jordan and Ryder both got jobs as lifeguards there, mostly so they could flirt with girls, and Steve was there along with Dustin. Nancy, Jonathan, and Keelan wanted to introduce the rest of them to Delilah and be friends with her.

"Hey guys, we're here," Nancy said, coming up to her friends. That was when she noticed Jordan talking to another girl who was there. She looked over at Ryder, who shook his head at his friend.

"He's been talking to that girl for god knows how long. I'm surprised that she's even talking to him because he sucks at flirting with people. Last time he tried to get a girl, he got slapped in the face," Ryder explained.

Jordan then came over with the girl and wrapped his arm around her. "Hey guys. I want you to meet Quinn. She happens to go to our school and we've been talking for a while here," he introduced. Delilah shot her a quick confused look before nodding her head. She didn't remember this being a part of the plan.

Quinn smiles at the rest and waved at them. "It's nice to meet you guys. Jordan told me a lot about you," she said. "He's a pretty cool guy. No wonder why you guys are friends with him because from what he said, you guys are cool too."

Nancy smiled at the new girl. "It's nice to meet you, Quinn. I'm Nancy. This is Jonathan, Keelan, Steve, Ryder, and Dustin," she said, introducing the rest. "This is also our new friend, Delilah. We hope you can hang out with us in the near future as well," she added.

Quinn thanked her and everyone else started to hang out back in the pool. Delilah lingered behind so she could talk to her. "This wasn't part of the plan," she whispered. "I thought it was Evelyn spying on the kids with Grayson looking after her and I spy on the others. You said you were going to stay back at the lab and help with the devices that Ezra and Shawn are making to help the plan move forward."

"I am helping the plan move forward. I have my own part that I didn't tell anyone. You just stay focused on what you're doing now," Quinn informed her before walking back to Jordan. Delilah could tell that Jordan liked Quinn, as in more than a friend. That had to be part of her own plan somehow. It's like she knew about it and was using it. But what for?

Keelan noticed Delilah's confused look on her face. She went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" She asked her. Delilah looked over at her and nodded, smiling at her in the process. Keelan smiled back at her and they both went into the pool together.