Right Side Up - A Stranger Things Season 4 Fanfic (incomplete)

Chapter 14

"What are you talking about? Is El okay?" Hopper started asking, in full panic mode.

"I can't tell you over the phone. Come here, or I will. And don't you dare tell the children I told you about this!" Murray said, cutting him off, and without anothet word, the line went dead.

"Wh- Murray? MURRAY!" Hop yelled, and slammed the phone on its holder in rage.
He leaned against the wall and buried his face in his palms.

"Not again.." he mumbled, and his voice broke at the last syllable.

_______________________________________

1 hour earlier...

The kids were all hurdled around an arcade machine, cheering at Dustin, who was desperately trying to beat Max's highscore in Dig Dug.

"C'mon, c'mon.. NOO!"

The kids all let out annoyed groans, as the words "Game Over" filled the screen.

"You stupid, overpriced piece of shit!" Dustin said as he kicked the machine.

Max let out a small laugh, and patted Dustin on the back.

"It's okay, Dusty-bun, not everyone has the gift.." she said, and burst out laughing, followed by the rest of the party.

"Ha ha, very funny Max." Dustin said, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, as if the same wave of terror had passed through their bodies, El and Will felt the hairs on the back of their necks standing up.

Will's hand instinctively touched the back of his neck, and he turned to El, giving her a worried look.

El responded with the same expression, and they both got out of the arcade as quickly as possible, making sure that none of the others noticed they were gone.

"Did you feel it too?" asked Will, almost shaking in fear.

"Yes, I did. Should we call Mom and tell her?" the girl responded

"No, she's already stressed with work this weekend, let's not put any more worries in her head" Will said, shaking his head, and took a deep breath. "We could call Dr. Owens and let him know, maybe he can do something."

"Will, that's a terrible idea!" El exclaimed. "We don't know what kind of connections he has with the Russians, remember that he had his men blend in with them? Besides, only Mom has his number!" she continued, letting out a sigh.

Will nodded, and the pair sat in silence for a while.

The few minutes that passed felt like ages, until El jumped up in excitement.

"I know who we can call!"

"Who?"

"Murray of course! He'll know exactly what to do, and plus, I'm sure he can keep a secret!"

"Well, do you know his number?" Will scratched his head.

"I think I do. Mom has it written right next to the phone, and I've managed to memorize it. Do you have any change?", the girl asked, looking at her brother's pockets.

Once they found the money they needed for the payphone, El dialed the man's number and waited. Soon enough, the familiar voicemail started playing, and the girl began talking.

"Hi, Murray, it's El. I know I'm not supposed to call you, but this is urgent. Me and Will have reasons to believe that the monsters are back. We don't know if it's the Mind Flayer again, or not, but we need your help. And please, don't say a word to Mom or Hop, we have to deal with this on our own. Call back at the house as soon as you can."

El hung up and looked at Will.

"Did he say anything?"

"No, it was his voicemail. Let's hope he gets the message. C'mon, let's go back in, the others might get worried."

Little did the two children know that, Murray had listened to everything El had said on the other side of the line, and was now in full panic mode.

The girl had told him not to say anything to their parents, but how could he not? No matter how strong El was, she couldn't deal with interdimensional monsters by herself, even if her friends were to help her.

They were all just kids.

So, with shaking hands, he immediately dialed Joyce's home number and waited.

The few seconds it took for the line to connect felt like ages to him. He hoped she wasn't ignoring him like she did when he called her about Hopper.

But apparently, she wasn't.

"Hello?"

"Joyce? Joyce is that you?"

A/N: Yaay, I'm not dead! I'm really sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, but I promise it's not going to happen again! I really can't wait to show you what I have planned for the story next! Also, we hit 400+ reads, which I'm beyond grateful for. Thank you all so much for reading! :)