Abnegate [Stranger Things]

Chapter 9

Eleven and Elizah sat next to each other at Joyce Byers' table, holding hands. The rest of their fighting group either sat at the table with them or paced slowly around the kitchen. Joyce Byers was right across from the two girls. 

"So you think you could find Will?" She nodded at Eleven.

The short-haired girl nodded. "Need Sister's help," she mumbled. 

Once Eleven and Elizah had readied themselves in the kitchen, they still sat with their hands together. This time, they were facing Will's walkie-talkie in the middle of the table. They stared at each other, at Joyce, back at each other, then finally closed their eyes. 

Elizah concentrated, and suddenly she could feel all of Eleven's emotions. They were all like hers- terrified, exhausted, hungry, confused. She knew Eleven could feel her emotions. They could feel each other's hands shaking as their palms pressed harder together. Elizah let out a deep breath through her nose, then pushed all her energy towards her friend. The lights behind the girls' eyelids went out as the electricity shut down. Eleven heard a loud humming as she focused on the energy from Elizah.

An even deeper black washed across the girls' eyes. They felt a pit of dread inject directly into the bottoms of their stomachs, but they kept on going. 

There were a few minutes of silence- and internal panicking from the others in the room due to the electricity outage. The lights finally flickered back on after several more minutes passed. The girls slowly opened their eyes, then stared at each other.

"I'm sorry," Eleven mumbled. Her voice was whiny and kept cracking. 

"Wh-What does that mean?" Joyce stammered, her hands trembling. 

"We couldn't find him," Elizah declared softly. 

Eleven only stared silently at the walkie-talkie, still gripping her friend's sweating palm. Elizah's hand stretched out for a minute, then left Eleven's hand to press to her arm. "The bath."

The younger girl stared up at Elizah. "The bath," she echoed. There was a silent moment of understanding between the girls before they looked back at Joyce. Eleven gave a tired, almost-determined nod to the woman. "I can find him. In the bath."

"In the bath?" Joyce shook her head, clearly confused.

"The bath Papa would put us in," Elizah nodded. "To make our powers stronger. So you couldn't feel anything or hear or see."

"So, like a sensory deprivation tank," Hopper offered from where he paced the tile floor. "Where the hell are we gonna find a sensory deprivation tank outside the lab?"

Dustin's eyes went wide as he stood up. "Mister Clarke!"

Everybody stared at the young boy with narrowed eyebrows. Dustin nodded, giving a proud, dorky smile. "We can call Mister Clarke and ask. He's our science teacher, he'd know how." 

Dustin used the Byers' plug-in landline, dialing up the number to his science teacher's house. It was only a minute before the man picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mister Clarke," Dustin called a little too loudly. "It's Dustin."

"Dustin?" Mister Clarke's voice echoed quietly in the kitchen from the phone. "Everything okay?"

"Do you know anything about sensory deprivation tanks?" Dustin spluttered out. "Specifically how to make one?"

There was a pause from the other line. Everybody could just barely hear Mister Clarke's response. "What is this for?"

Dustin paused for several seconds before he managed to stammer out, "Fun."

A loud inhale came from Mister Clarke's line. "Okay, Dustin. It's ten o'clock on Saturday, let's pick this up after school Monday."

"Mister Clarke," Dustin called as if scolding a young child. "You say to always chase your curiosity. Why are you leaving this door of knowledge locked?"

Another loud sigh came from Mister Clarke's end of the phone. "Fine."

Minutes later, Dustin was seated at the table, pen and paper in hand. He nodded and hummed along to his science teacher's list of brief and exasperated instructions. The other people of the room surrounded the table, watching Dustin write.

When Dustin hung up, he left the phone on the table. "Okay, so basically, it'll be like a giant snowglobe. But without the snow. Do you still have the kiddie pool you bought for Fall Fest last year?"

Joyce nodded. "Still in the shed."

"Then we'll need a lot of water, and a lot of salt."

"How much is a lot?" Joyce crossed her arms on her laminate-wood table.

Dustin stared down at his near-illegible handwriting. "About fifteen-hundred pounds."

"I know where we can get that," Hopper nodded. Everybody stared at him like he was crazy before he decided to clarify. "The high school. They keep tons of de-icing salt for when the parking lot and sidewalks get slick in the winter."

"Then we're going to the high school," Joyce nodded. She stood up in an in-charge type of style. "Mike, Lucas, grab the kiddie pool from the shed. Let's get going."