Enemy || Alexei

Chapter Three

"SLOW DOWN, HOPPER!" I yell, trying to get him drive at the legal speed limit. "We don't have time to slow down, we gotta figure out what's going on and fast!" He says as he puts more pressure on the gas pedal.

We soon arrive at Mayor Kline's mansion, surprisingly in one piece, after Hopper's crazy driving. We get out the car. Hopper opens the passenger side and roughly pulls Kline out. "Wow, this house is so...big." I say in awe.

I stop to look up and analyze the two lion statues that towered over me. "Pretty." I whisper softly. "Hey! Let's go!" Hop yells, snapping me out of my "trance". "Sorry." I say sheepishly as I catch up with them.

We all make our way inside his house. "Wow, I love the place, Lar. Hey, you shoot this fella yourself?" Hopper asks as he hits the chandelier above him.

"That's not real." Kline says as we head upstairs. "No shit!" Hopper says in disbelief. "Really?" I whisper to my mom and she shrugs. We make it upstairs and walk inside his bedroom. Kline walks over to a safe and opens it, revealing some kind of documents. He grabs the folder and hands it to Hopper.

Hopper grabs the folder while knocking things down from his desk so he can sit. "What exactly are we looking at?" Hopper asks as he opens the folder. My mom and I stand beside him to see what's inside.

"Land deeds, transfers of property." Kline says in a raspy voice. "So your buddies at Starcourt, they suddenly start buying up all this property. They tell you why?" Hopper asks as he keeps looking through the pages.

"I already told you, they don't tell me anything."

"They're just using you, I get it. What I don't get is why you have a bunch of land deeds in a safe in your bedroom." Hopper says, handing over the folder to my mom. "These people, Jim, they're bad news." He says, eyes filled with fear. "So, what, this is blackmail?" Hopper asks.

"Protection. He's doing this for protection. Right?" I ask Kline and he nods. "Smart ass." Hopper says playfully and I smile. "Hold on a second." My mom says as she walks out of the room. Hopper and I follow her. "What is it?" I ask her.

"Hess Farm, Henry's place, Bullocks....they're all here. They're all in Southeast Hawkins, right near Jordan Lake, and what else is near Jordan Lake?"

"The power plant."

"Four nights ago, there was a huge power outage, and the next day--"

"Our magnets fell."

"Scott says that this machine would take a massive amount of power to run." My mom explains. "So, what if this machine that we've been talking about really does exist, and the reason you and Hopper didn't find it at the Lab, is because it's not at the lab, it's at one of those properties." I say.

"Um....I want you guys to quit you're jobs and come work for me at the Hawkins PD." Hopper says, looking at both of us. "And have to look at your face every day? I don't think so." My mom says jokingly and he smiles.

A sound of glass breaking makes us jump. We run to where the noise came from and see Kline trying to escape through his window. "Larry!" Hopper yells and grabs him. "Hey, where do you think you're going, pal?" Hopper says. He pushes Kline down near his nightstand and cuffs him to the bed.

"Let's get out of here." Hopper says and we all leave. We get inside the car and drive off.

*~*~*~*

"I'm so tired." I yawn. "How are you tired?" Hopper asks. "I don't know, maybe cause we've been in this damn car for hours, and we still haven't found anything." I say in frustration.