Enemy || Alexei

Chapter Ten

"WHAT DOES IT WANT EXACTLY." I ask Mike as Alexei tends to my arm. "The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave into our world." Mike informs. "And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it." Nancy adds on.

I wince when Alexei dabs the damp cloth onto my wound. "извиняюсь." (Sorry) He says and I smile to reassure him that I'm okay. "How big is this thing?" Hopper asks. "It's big. Thirty feet, at least." Johnathan says and Lucas agrees.

"It sorta destroyed your cabin. Sorry." Lucas says sheepishly. "Okay, so, just to be clear, this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic...weapon?" Steve asks.

"Yes." Nancy says. "But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made it's weapon...with melted people." Steve says. "Yes, exactly." Nancy says, trying to shut him up.

"Yeah, okay. I-- Yeah, I'm just making sure."

"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" I ask, hoping to know it was dead. "El beat the shit out of it, but, it's still alive." Max says. "Of course it is." I say sarcastically.

"But if we close the gate again--"

"We cut the brain off from the body." Max says, finishing Will's sentence. "And kill it. Theoretically." Lucas adds. "Not theoretically. Alexei told us how to shut the gate, but it's gonna be hard...and dangerous." I say.

"Yoo-hoo!" Murray yells and we turn our heads. "Yoo-hoo!" He repeats as he waves papers over his head. "I've got it! Follow me." Murray says as he walks over to a table. Alexei helps me up and we all huddle around him.

He slams the papers onto the table. "Okay, this is what Alexei called "the hub." Now, the hub takes us to a vault room." Murray says.

"Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asks. "Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so." Murray says.

"More like 500." A girl corrects as she steps forward. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?" She says and I squint my eyes. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Murray asks in confusion.

"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?" She asks, sass filling her voice. "Murray... Bauman." He says. "Listen, Mr. Bunman," I giggle silently, "I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die." She says.

"I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?" Murray says, clearly becoming irritated. "Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!" She yells and my eyes widen, including Murray's. "Erica!" Lucas scolds.

"Just the facts." She says. "She right. You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me. Sorry, may I?" Dustin asks Murray. "Please." Murray says with a sarcastic smile.

"Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way." Dustin says.

"You can show us the way?" Hopper asks. "Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your...navigators." Dustin says with a smile and Hopper returns one back.

"No." Hopper says, shaking his head. I start to feel a bit light headed and my vision becomes blurry. Alexei asks me something, but before I can answer, I fall onto the ground.

"Sammy." My mom says as she feels my head. "You're warm." She says as she touches my face. "Johnathan! Bring me a wet cloth." She says and he runs off.

"We have to get you to a doctor." Murray says. "No. I wan't to help." I say, weakly. "Sam, you're losing too much blood." He argues.

"Это все моя вина." He says as he falls onto his knees. "What? What'd he say?" I ask Murray.

"He says, it's all his fault."

I reach out and grab Alexei's hand. "This is not you're fault. Okay? You didn't do this, that guy did. This is not you're fault." I say and Murray translates. Alexei slowly nods his head and I give him a thumbs up.

Johnathan comes back and hands my mom the cloth. "Murray, ask Alexei if he can take care of Sammy." My mom says as she dabs my face with the cool, wet cloth.

"He says, of course."

Alexei comes and take my mom's place. "Let's suit up." Hopper says and they go off to prepare for battle. Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica go off in the car to Dustin's radio tower so he can help guide Murray around through the Walkie Talkie.

"Guys, listen to me." My mom says to Will and I. "I need to end this, but I will be back before you guys know it, okay?"

"I don't know, Mom." Will says. "No, listen. You're are gonna be saving safe there. It's far away from all this. You just stick close to your brother and sister and do whatever he or she says." My mom says. No matter what. Okay?" She says to Will.

"I'm not worried about me, Mom, I'm worried about you." Will says sternly. "Will, she's gonna be fine. She's a total badass." I say with a wink. "Honey, I'm gonna be fine." She says and hugs Will tightly.

"Mom. Okay, Mom. That's enough." Will says with a giggle. "Not too hard. He can't breath." I say jokingly and she laughs. "No, really, I can't breath." He says and she pulls away.

She comes up to me and hugs me tightly as well. "Take care of you're brother." She whispers and I nod. "Don't worry." I say and she nods.

"It's time to go." Johnathan says and I sigh. Alexei helps me stand up and wraps his arm around my waist. I don't know why, but I blush at his action.

"Let's go." I say and we all walk off. I look back at my mom and smile. She returns one back and waves. It saddens me to leave her, knowing I might never see her again.

I turn my head and quickly wipe the tears from my eyes. We leave the building and head towards the car. Mike and Max help El into the back of the car. Alexei helps me inside and sits next to me.

"Thank you." I whisper and he smiles. "How did you meet him?" El asks. "I took him hostage." I say with a smile. "Oh." She says and I nod.

"Is he your boyfriend." She asks and I laugh. "N-no. I just met him, H-he's just a friend." I say and she leans towards me. "Friends don't lie." She says.

Maybe, a part of me was lying. Whenever he smiles at me, I get butterflies in my stomach. Whenever he touches me, I feel my face heat up. Whenever he's happy, I'm happy too. What if I...do like him.

Nancy turns the keys in the ignition and the engine sputters. She tries again and the engine continues to sputter. "What's wrong?" Johnathan asks.

"I-I don't...I don't know." She stutters as she turns the keys again. "You can't be serious! Come one!" She yells as she turns the keys again. "Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas asks.

"Yes, I'm sure it's fine."

"Did you leave the lights on?" Will asks.

"No."

"Do we have gas?" Lucas asks. "Yes!" Nancy yells in frustration. "Come on." She yells as she turns the keys one last time.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop! Stop!" Johnathan says, trying to calm her down. "Pop the hood." He says as he gets out of the car and she does it. She gets out of the car as well and helps Johnathan.

The engine of a car roars, but it isn't us. I look out of the car window and see a blue Camaro with it's head lights shinning in our direction. The owner of the car revved the engine. "Back to the mall!" Nancy yells. We all get out of the car and quickly head back inside the mall.