Hell is for Children

You Belong to Me

Jim Hopper listened to the dial tone as Joyce Byers and Murray Bauman stared at him. 

"Operator" a voice on the line answered. 

"Yes! Thank God, listen this is police chief Jim Hopper of Hawkins, Indiana calling. I need to get in touch with Dr. Sam Owens. Tell him its an emergency. Tell him theyre back and theyre trying to take over and I need some help. He'll understand." Hopper bellowed into the receiver. 

"Ok sir. I will relay the message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible" the person hung up. 

"Dammit!" Hopper slammed down the phone angrily. 

"What happened?" Joyce asked. 

"They said theyll get back to me" Jim said. 

Joyce ripped the phone away from Hopper. 

"What are you doing?" Hopper demanded. 

She listened to the phone ring. 

"Operator" the same voice answered. 

"Yes. Hello! Um we just called. Listen here buddy! You need to get off your ass and go find Sam Owens RIGHT NOW! We are under attack , do you hear me?" She screamed into the phone, then slammed it down. 

"Now. We gotta go find our kids" Joyce said, determined as she walked past Hopper and Murray. Murray looked at Jim and shrugged, following her. Hopper grabbed El's radio he had been carrying just in case, and followed them out the door. 

                         Back at Hopper's cabin, Diana began to go pale as sweat beaded on her forehead and upper lip. 

"Hey guys" Max called, concerned, as she knelt down beside Diana. 

Max put a hand to Diana's forehead. "She's burning up. And did anyone find any medical supplies?" She demanded. 

"We have to go" Jonathan said, as he scooped Diana up into his arms. 

The crew filed out into the night, piling into the station wagon. 

"There's a convenience store just down the road. We can get supplies there" Nancy said as she put the car into gear. 

When then arrived, the store was closed. 

"Dammit" Jonathan mumbled as he walked up to the front glass. 

Before anyone could say anything, El shattered the glass with her powers. The gang didnt even blink, they all piled into the store, dispersing to find medical supplies. 

Jonathan sat Diana on the ground as Max opened up a large adhesive bandage and a bottle of alcohol. 

"This isnt gonna be pleasant, but who knows what has gotten into that. We need to clean it, ok?" Max dumped the alcohol onto Diana's leg before she could respond. 

She let out a shrill cry of pain as tears threatened to fall. 

As they worked on Diana's injury, Lucas and Mike found a display of fireworks. Lucas  looked thoughtfully over at Mike. 

"Hey. What if we used these to fight that thing?" He offered. He picked up the largest one the display held.

 "This one alone has the power of like, five fireworks in one" he beamed with excitement at the idea. The boys called over some of the others and began to gather up as many fireworks as they could carry. 

Max and Jonathan helped Diana to her feet, walking gingerly back towards the car. 

All of a sudden, Mike's Walkie Talkie began to pick up a frequency. 

"Griswold family, do you copy? This is a code red. Do you copy, over" Dustin Henderson came through clear as a bell, the final beacon of hope in the moment of pure darkness. 

"Dustin? Dustin! Where are you?" Mike responded. 

"We are at the mall. Its a long story. We need you ASAP" Dustin answered. 

Nancy drove the car in the direction of the mall as fast as she could. Less than a mile behind her, Billy's Camaro prowled the dark, winding roads towards the convenience store in search of Diana. 

Billy parked the Camaro out front, storming into the dark building. Drops of blood peppered the floor. He followed the trail of blood droplets down an aisle, where the drops ended in a large pool. The floor looked like a murder scene. Blood smeared across the stark white floor in a sharp contrast. 

He placed three fingers into the puddle of blood, he brought his hand to his face and inhaled. 

He knew immediately it belonged to Diana. He closed his eyes and reached put to her mentally. 

He saw her inside a car, with the same group of people who had stopped him from choking her at her house. His mind travelled until he felt connected with the entity that resided inside her. Without her knowledge, black veins rose across her abdomen. 

She was in pain, Billy felt. Her leg throbbed. He reached into her mind and took some of the pain away. When he felt her let down her mental guard as the pain subsided, he took hold of her completely. 

Inside her mind, he was standing in front of her in the blank Upside Down. 

"Im coming to get you, you know. We'll make this all right again. You'll see. I need you with me. You belong to me" he told her as he tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear. 

"What do you need me to do?" She asked robotically, completely under the Mind Flayer's spell.