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Chapter 11

Back Again

The party sat in Mike's basement. It was still the Saturday after Hopper dropped the news and let's just say, they weren't happy about any of it. So much so they weren't even speaking to one another. They weren't mad at each other, they were mad at Hopper. None of them knew what to say or how to get mad. So, they just sat in silence with their arms crossed and a scowl on their face that said, "Look at me the wrong way. I dare you." Kinda scary really.

Karen Wheeler had even come down to the basement to grab some laundry and saw the four year olds and decided it was best not to talk at all. A few seconds after she was gone Mike got fed up with the silence.

"Are we going to do something about this?" He asked looking around the room.

"About Hopper or the fact that your mom probably thinks we're crazy?" Dustin shook his head.

"Hopper!" Mike said and turned to face Will. "Can't we talk to him and try to convince him to keep looking?"

"I tried, he's not changing his mind. He came home with a bunch of boxes today. That's it, no more." Will shrugged.

Mike sighed placing his head in his hands. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes because he stayed up late thinking about El and how it could have gone differently, as per usual.

Mike thought about the night they saw El run off. If he had known that something bad was going to happen to her, to the party, everything would be different. In that moment he felt a big, overwhelming wall of guilt crushing him. He was the reason for all of this and he knew since day one. And no matter how many times he apologized and how many times the party told him it was fine, he knew, it never was.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispered with tears forming in his eyes. "This is all my fault."

A sigh came from Will. "Mike, how many times do we have to tell you? It's not your fau-"

"It is!" Mike said looking at him. "It is, and you guys know it."

The group looked at him in silence. He was right, they did know it. But they got over it for El, they knew she wouldn't want them fighting and blaming one another.

"Look, Mike." Lucas said making Mike look at him. "The thing is, we already forgave you about that. Okay! Now it's time to forgive yourself."

Mike sighed. He knew they were right, but it's hard to forgive yourself for letting something like this happen. He thought about the hours he'd spent talking to El and keep her company while she was in lock down. He learned a lot about her during that time. He learned more about her likes and dislikes, her personality, but one thing they never really talked about was her past. He already knew enough, he didn't need more details about what she went through at the lab. She probably didn't want to talk about it anyway because from what he knew, it was horrible.

She never really got to live freely. He thought to himself. And it's all because of the stupid lab.

At that moment an idea popped into his head making him sit up straight. The rest of the party notice this and gave him a confused look. Mike didn't say anything, making a somewhat awkward mixed with an on edge silence.

"What are you doing?" Max broke the tension rolling her eyes.

"I-I got an idea." Mike said turning to the group with wide eyes.

Another silence followed as the party waited for him to continue speaking. He didn't.

"Well?" Max asked more annoyed this time.

"What if we went back to the lab?" Mike said with a light in his eye that no one saw anymore.

"What?" The party responded in unison.

"Why?" Will asked beyond confused. "Hopper all ready went there and found nothing."

"Nancy said something about trying to look for other stuff." Mike explained. "Stuff like someone like Hopper wouldn't see. Like he looked over something."

"And you're wanting to go to the lab, why?" Lucas asked raising an eyebrow.

Mike sighed. "Because, the best way to find answers for this type of stuff is starting at the finish and make our way to the beginning. Last known place Brenner was at was at Will's front yard. When we ran off they followed until they turned back, probably to go back to the lab and pack up."

"Again, Hopper's already been there." Will said. "From what I hear he looked everywhere."

"Maybe not everywhere. Maybe he missed something." Mike thought out loud. "It's a big building for one person to look over. But five people, that might help find something."

The group thought about it deeply. On one hand, they will be breaking and entering into a private, closed off government space with who knows what is in there. On the other, Hopper is Will's stepfather and chief of Hawkins.

"I'm in." Dustin said gaining everyone's attention.

"Me too." Will said wanting to help.

"Count me in." Lucas said.

Everyone turned to Max, who surprisingly has stayed quiet for the past few minutes. She wore an 'are you serious' look.

She sighed and shook her head before saying, "Okay, fine. I'm in too."

The party all looked over to Mike waiting for him to say something. Max looked over at him and asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"What are we going to do now?"

Authors note
Thank you guys again for reading. I'm learning that I really like writing this book. I like this one more than neighbors, please tell me I'm not alone on this. Maybe it's my writing style, maybe it's changed. I don't know what do you guys think? Do you like this book or neighbors more?