-The Night Before-

No Ones POV

Ten slumps into Hopper's hands, Ten's body begins to shiver fanatically, without stopping. Hopper looks down at Ten in horror; Before Hopper can move, El twists in the bed, causing Ten to stop. Tens entire body radiates heat, extreme heat, to the point where he's boiling at the touch. Hopper tries to calm his own breathing, forgetting about his entire purpose of coming into the room.

The moon drafts through the clouds open blinded window, a slight chill coming from the minor hole for chilly air in the window. Crickets chirp loudly in the heat, nonstop until day.

Ten groans, scaring Hopper. "You alright kid?" He questions, Ten doesn't answer. Not moving an Inch in Hopper's arms. "Kid." Hopper pushes into Ten, he doesn't move.

Hopper holds his breath until Ten breathes again. He hopes nothing happens to Ten, he's treated him wrong, he's like a son to him. Hopper looks around the room, unsure of what to do, trying to calm his teary eyes.

Should he wake El, Would Ten even allow that? Should he take him to the Hospital and have the risk of him being found out?

Hopper comes to the most logical conclusion he can. Wait it out and see what the cause is. Its probably just a really bad cold; or the seasons changing. But he knows something else is happening, it always is.

Your POV

-The Next Day, At the Wheelers Household-

You sit in front of the fan, hoping to cool yourself off in the cool July night, Mike sits in the recliner, chewing on a bag of cheesy Nacho chips. Lucas sits on the arm rest of the recliner while Will sets up the D&D game.

It's boring, you try to keep yourself satiated with the fans wind while having a drained enough social battery. You don't really even feel like talking to anyone; if El wasn't home you'd be there now.. sleeping.. it sounds nice.

"Aren't you worried, Ten?" Lucas questions, You shrug and lean forward into the fan. Blowing cold wind all over you.

A feeling of anger passes over you. "Max pisses me off." You whisper under your breath. All four of you had went to look for the bracelet after the bus left but couldn't find it. Why did it have to be her who joined the party. El never liked her, you never did either.

"What'd you say?" Mike inquires, raising an eyebrow.

"I said, I'm a little worried, Who knows what those two spit to each other." You lie, gritting your teeth. What's wrong with you these days.. this isn't you.

You know friends aren't supposed to lie but you don't want to ruin your relationship with Lucas since it's his girlfriend.

"Yes, Exactly. The female species is different from us guys. We act on logic, they act on Emotion." Mike says, shoving an entire nacho chip into his mouth.

"Precisely." Lucas looks over at Mike beside him and nods.

"Guys I'm almost ready." Will speaks up, placing a few more parts of the game up on the board.

Mike burps loudly and rubs his stomach. "You can smell the Nacho cheese from here!" He says, leaning back in the recliner.

"Ew." You murmur, disgusted in fact.

"Seriously?" Will asks rhetorically, shaking his head in frustration.

"Nasty." You add, you turn back to the Fan and let the air hit you; trying to blow some of the stink away at least.

The air hits you but the sweating continues coming and your stomach begins to twist and turn. Just make it end..

El POV

Ten/El's Bedroom.

"Mike says we don't use logic, we act on Emotion." I say, taking the blindfold off. I lean against the wall of the cabin and sigh.

"Screw Mike, Screw them all. They're all Douches anyways. Let's spin it again." Max responds.

"Not Ten." Eleven says, placing the bottle onto the board. She glances up at Max with a side eye.

"Why do you keep defending him El?" Max questions, leaning forward to stare into the brown haired girls eyes her eyes switching between El's.

"I love him." She says abruptly, finally looking into Max's eyes. "I don't want him to leave. ever." She adds, smiling. Her mind wandering back to the boy, his cute smile. His beautiful eyes, his quiet personality. All of it still makes her just as insane as when she first spoke to him.

Max smiles brightly, "Your crazy. But— if I had to guess I'd say he felt the same." She says back, "Wanna find out?" Max asks, placing the bottle of coke on Ten's name.

"I don't know are you sure? Is this against the rules?" El questions, this is her bestfriend, her partner.

"Probably not." Max says, wrapping the blindfold around El's face.

'Probably not?' Whats that mean.

"Alright now concentrate El." El nods, her breathing steadying. Her mind floods with images of the boy. Him smiling, him crying. Before she knows it, she's there.

It's quiet, nothing audible other then the water splashing under each step El takes. El closes in on someone standing in a bathroom, looking at them self in a mirror. El knows who it is though, it's Ten. His black shirt noticeable. "He's standing in a bathroom."

"Doing what?" Max questions eagerly, leaning forward. She's eager to know more about the boy too.

El steps closer reluctantly, the air feels as if it shifts. More tension fills the air, and there's a sudden feeling in the girls stomach not to look at his face. "Ten?" El calls out, there's no response.

She closes in on the boy now, standing right behind him she finally does notice a sound. Heavy breathing, coming straight from Ten. It doesn't even sound like him, it sounds more like a forty year old man trying to catch his breath. His entire back is soaked in sweat, matting the shirt to his back. His hair begins to curl at the ends, the sweat the main cause.

She slides to the left, finally getting a glance at the boys face in the mirror. His eyes are bloodshot, almost as if every blood vessel in his eye popped open. His glare is placed at the mirror, staring into his own e/c eyes.

But his vision shifts slightly, to the left, towards Eleven. Her heart stops and she can feel it jump to her throat and catch, "I think he's looking at me. It's different, bad."

"What do you mean? What's happening?" This time El doesn't answer.

This sight of Ten sends fear down El's spine, the boy who she loves. What's wrong with him right now? Is it really a sickness. This feels different though, like the mindflayer.

With that thought the heavy breathing stops. Leaving no sounds audible except for Elevens breathing.

"Eleven." The boy says abruptly, backing away from the sink. He turns his face out of sight, towards the door.

"Stop watching me." He opens the door and leaves El standing there. That didn't even sound like the boy she knew, it sounded different. It sounded evil, there's no way it could've been him.

El pulls the blindfold off, "He's just sick that's all. He's trying to get better. He just looked weird." El says.

Max nods in understanding, El is lying and Max understands. That's her boyfriend and she'll do anything to protect him. It'd be better to just move on.

"Damn." She murmurs, leaning over the board with a grin. She begins spinning the Coca-Cola bottle; eventually it lands On Billy.

"Ugh, Not my stupid brother." Max says, she turns on the radio from beside Eleven as she continues talking. "Listen, if you see him with a girl or something I-"

"Max!" El giggles, finishing wrapping the blindfold around her face. Hopefully this'll be less like Ten's.

"Yep, Shutting up."

El POV

I begin to focus on the image of Billy. As the image fades, and something becomes visible. A grey car in idle, it's Billy's car. The soft hum of the car continues as I walk towards it.

Something is way off, I continue approaching the car. Holding my breath as I do so. I circle around the hood towards the driver door. The windshield is cracked in the top left. I lean down and look into the car, it's surprisingly clean.

I look around the back of the car and see the trunk wide open, I slow down as soft whimpers begin to come out from the darkness.

I walk around the trunk and look inside. Nothing is out of the ordinary. I look around in the direction of where I heard the Whimpering. My eyes fall upon Billy on one knee leaning over something.

"I found him." I say out loud towards Max. A feeling of blood trickles below my nose, but I ignore it.

"What's he doing?" Max voice questions, her voice echoing through my head.

"I don't know yet." I answer as I continue approaching Billy.

Billy continues leaning over something or someone as the whimpers become louder.

"Do not be afraid." He says calmly, its menacing tone sends shivers down your spine and sparks a deep, primal fear.

"He's on the ground.. talking to someone." I say to Max as I continue walking towards him.

"It'll all be fine. Just be very, very still."

He whispers, barely audible. I try to peek around Billy. Hoping to see who he's talking to.

A loud yell ripples through-out the void, Billy stands up and whips around, his eye sockets sunken. The veins in his face slightly darkened.

He looks at me with pure fury, sending shockwaves of fear through me.

He can see me.

It feels as though my legs have turned into Jello and I can't move. My eyes begin to water in fear.

I rip the blindfold off, as my body tremors and shake in fear.

First it's Ten? Now Billy. What's happening?

Your POV

Loud Medieval music blares through the radio. Will stands beside the D&D table, he wears a full on wizard costume. As though it were Halloween.

You sit up from the makeshift bed of blankets in front of the fan and eye Will lazily. Mike and Lucas both sit up; both groggy and still half asleep like you.

"What are you doing?" Lucas questions, clenching his eyes to get a better view at Will.

"Yeah Will, can you turn down the music?" Mike asks sleepily, rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes.

"Please." You add, sitting up. You can feel the hot breeze around you but luckily you slept in front of the fan.

"Please address me by my full name!" Will responds, looking off at the wall blankly.

"What?" Lucas questions.

"My full name!" Will declares, slamming his stick into the carpet.

"Oh god, okay, Will The Wise." Will exhales and smiles after hearing his nickname. "Can you please turn down the music now?"

"That is not music, that is the sound of Destiny. I have seen into the future and today is a day, a day without any girls!" Will states, smiling brightly.

"What is happening right now?" Lucas asks, his eyes still shut.

"Will Come on man. It's so early." You speak up.

Will looks over at you. "Oh really Ten?" Will questions, raising an eyebrow. He walks to the D&D board and puts the stick down on the ground as he puts his face beside the Radio. "A tribe of villagers are under threat from an evil force from the swamps of Kuzatan, Is it really early Ten? Are you going to let these people perish? The kids are terrified. Now is there an early time to save them?"

Will gets off the ground and picks up the stick, acting as though it were a wizard's staff.

"Now what will you do? Save these poor people or let them perish?" Will asks, taking a glance at each of you.

"Can I atleast take a shower?" You respond.

"Same." Lucas adds.

Will sighs.

☆☆☆

El's POV

-Inside of Billy's room-

"Why do I get the feeling we're going to find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max asks rhetorically, opening the door to Billy's room. As the door opens, A stench of sweat, unclean clothes and alcohol intrudes my nostrils.

I look around the room, trying to avoid touching as much as possible. "Ugh, Gag me with a spoon." Max groans, slamming the drawer next to the bed closed.

I exit into the hall and walk towards the bathroom. Supposedly, Max and Billy have to share a bathroom since they're parents are the only ones able to use the other one.

I open the bathroom door, the room is chilly even in early July, who would want it this cold. I walk to the bathtub as Max steps into the bathroom behind me. The bag is filled with cool water, probably ice judging from the multiple empty bags scattered in the tub.

"Max?" I call her over, she stops beside me and leans down above the water. She grabs a bag of the ice and holds it up.

"It's only ice. Probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac." Max assures me. The memories of the Mind flayer wanting it cold, it all makes sense.

I look around the room with my breath trembling. As I glance around the room, they land on the drawers underneath the sink. Multiple red splotches are dried up on the white paint on the two pull open drawers.

I open it and lean underneath the sink, I look around for a second before taking a small trash can out from underneath it.

"El, what is it?" Max asks from behind me. I hold the trash can up, and take the yellow, red spotted, Keychain, out of it. Along with the red, lifeguard fanny pack. I place the trash can and the fanny pack on the sink's edge.

My eyes widen as I hold up the keychain, this is blood; dried blood. I hold it up for Max to see and she recoils, visibly surprised.

☆☆☆

Your POV

-At The Wheelers Household-

Thunder rumbles in the distance as rain droplets dance on the roof. Creating a melony of pitter-patters. You try to drown out the terrible music coming from the radio. Unfortunately, Will decided to turn it down instead of off.

"Do you hear that? But wait, it's not thunder. It's a horde of Juju Zombies! Sir Mike, Your action?" Will places four green colored zombie models in front of Mike.

"What should I do?" Mike asks, looking over between you and Lucas.

"You've played longer than me, I'm still not sure how to even play this game." You say.

Lucas shrugs and raises the pencil into the air, unsure. "Attack?"

"Alright. Uh, I attack with my Flail." Mike tells Will, not putting much confidence into it, He rolls the dice lightly and Will watches with glee.

"Whoosh! You miss. Your flail clanks the stone. The Zombie Horde lumbers towards you, and.." Will rolls the dice behind the board in front of him. "The Juju bites you, flesh tears! Seven points of damage!"

"Ow.. my arm." Mike says sarcastically, rubbing his right arm.

Will gets ready to retort but the phone rings. "Do not answer it, it's a trap!" Will yells, you look between the three of them before walking over the phone.

You take it off the hook, "El?" You ask into the phone. The person on the other line begins explaining an over priced Air conditioner. "No thank you." You interrupt them and put the phone back onto the hook.

"Dude, Ten. Just call them." Mike says.

"No. I don't want to bother them and make them more angry." You respond, walking away from the phone. "Even if I did call them, what would I say?" You ask, leaning against the table of the D&D game.

"We will say nothing! The Khuisar tribe still needs your help!" Will exclaims, pointing at the D&D game with his open hand.

"Alright then, I set fire to the chambers. Sacrificing ourselves, while killing the Juju's. The Khuisar tribe is saved. We live on as heroes to the Kalamar." Mike says, he leans against the wooden beam that the phone is hooked onto.

"Victory." Lucas says, him and Mike high-five and turn towards Will.

"You know what? Fine! Congratulations!" Will throws the stick down and throws the Wizard hat off his head. He slides out of the Jacket and turns the radio off.

"Guys, can we all just calm down." You speak up, and back away from the D&D board.

"Will, I was just kidding. How much longer is the campaign?" Mike asks, circling around to the other side of the D&D board where he sat.

"Forget it, Mike." Will says.

"You guys want to play, right?" Mike questions, throwing his hands out towards you and Lucas.

"Yeah!" You say.

"M-Me too." Lucas adds, taking his seat next to the D&D game.

Will begins to pick up his stuff. "I said forget it!" Will yells, he dashes up the steps. You and Mike follow while Lucas stays in the basement. Unsure of what to do.

"Will!" You yell, Will goes through the house and out into the garage. He presses a button and the garage door opens completely.

"Will, come on man. You can't leave. It's raining. I'm sorry, okay?" Mike apologizes, Will walks to his bike before turning over to look at you and Mike.

"It's a cool campaign. Really cool." You say, smiling. Hoping he'll stay.

Will looks over at you. "You're ruining our party!"

You go silent, those words cut through your heart like a knife. That's exactly what you wanted to avoid doing to the party.

"That's not true!" Mike takes up for you, Will turns towards him. Tears brimming in his eyes.

"Really?! Where's Dustin? You both don't care, and obviously he doesn't either, and I don't blame him! Ten you want to go swap some spit with a stupid girl, Mike, you get jealous of Ten so you act like this! You're both ruining our party."

"El's not stupid!" You object, he can talk about you as much as he wants but bringing other people into it is where you draw the line.

"It's not our fault you don't like girls!" Mike adds, You look over at him in surprise then at Will. Will looks back at Mike, Angry and saddened. "We're not kids anymore! I mean, what did you expect really? That we would stay in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?" Mike asks in a quiet tone, tears begin falling from Wills eyes and he gulps.

"I'm sorry." You say.

"Will?!" You hear Mike yell as you walk off.

Will begins to ride off into the rain, you look down at the ground in guilt. Did you really cause this?

El POV

-At The Hawkins Community Pool-

Me and Max look at the two people on the other side of the counter. The teen guy reads from the newspaper. The girl reads from another newspaper. They both eye us, obviously disinterested before going back to reading their newspapers.

"Excuse me?" I ask, placing my hands on the counter.

The man doesn't look up from the newspaper as he responds. "No one in the water until thirty minutes after the last strike and don't try to argue with me. If you want to get electrocuted, go climb a tree."

"Yeah, we don't care. We're not here to swim." Max responds, I take the red fanny pack out of my red raincoat's right pocket.

"We're here to return this." I say, holding it up for them to see.

"Does this belong to anyone here?" Max adds, The man looks up from the newspaper.

"Oh yeah, that's Heather's, I'll get it back to her." He says.

"We could get it back to her." I respond, waiting for the man to answer.

"Cept' She's not here today. Bailed on me. What is this? You want a reward or something?" The guy looks up at us blankly.

"No.. we're just good Samaritans." Max answers, smiling lightly.

I look around the community pool, I notice something we passed by on the way in here. 'Meet Your Summer of 85' Lifeguards." The board says, it shows multiple lifeguards. Including Billy.

I walk over to it and begin examining the photos. One of them shows a girl with the word, 'Heather' Underneath it. Max follows me, I look back at the two lifeguards behind the counter. The female one laughs after the guy shows her something in the newspaper.

"Think you can find her?" Max asks, I don't respond. Instead, ripping the photo from the board.

☆☆☆

Max starts all of the showers and I put the duct taped goggles on. I imagine Heather's face.

The image of her fades into my memory, everything is black besides a white mailbox with the numbers 1438 underneath it.

I walk over to the Mailbox and touch it. I look around again, there's a red door that appeared out of nowhere. It definitely wasn't there a few seconds ago.

I walk to the door and open it cautiously. Inside, a bathtub full of ice sits. Immediately, it reminds me of the bathtub in Billy's house.

I walk over to it slowly. Trying to avoid making as much sound as possible, just in case.

When I reach it, I stand there for a few seconds. A face pops out from the water, I recognize the face as Heather from the picture. She wears the red lifeguard outfit but it's absolutely soaked in water and ice. She looks up at me, eyes wide.

"Help me." She pleads, her voice echoing.

I reach out to grab her but the bathtub disappears. The bathtub's sudden disappearance surprises me, making me fall to the ground. As my head turns downwards I catch a glimpse of Heather falling deeper into the endless void.

As soon as Heather disappears from sight, I rip the goggles from my face, subconsciously. I breathe heavily, afraid and unsure of what just happened.

☆☆☆

No Ones POV

-At The House 1348-

Eleven and Max stand in front of the red door in their raincoats. El glances at Max before using her gift to unlock the door.

El and Max step into the house as the door closes behind them. They walk around for a moment, eyeing everything quickly. El stops in front of a picture, As El looks at it, Max steps beside her. "It's her house." Max says.

"What?" El asks, looking over at Max

"Heathers." As Max finishes speaking a laugh leads them into the living room. As they walk through the living room, they stumble in on Billy, An older male and female sitting at a table. Plates filled with food and drinks sit in wine glasses. The kitchen sits beside the table, the only part inside visible is the dishwasher inside it.

The three of them eye Max and El intensely.

"Max.." Billy says, looking between El and Max.

"Sorry. We tried to knock but maybe you didn't hear us over the storm." Max gestures towards the hall.

"I'm sorry but.. who's this dripping all over my living room." The male asks rudely, he places the fork in his hand onto the plate.

"Ah." Billy smiles, "Janet, Tom," He gestures towards the two of them. "That." He points towards Max. "Is my sister, Maxine."

Billy stands up and walks to Max and El. The female laughs lightly. "What on EARTH are you doing here?" He asks, looking between Max and El.

"We just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Max says.

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" Billy questions, smiling at Max.

"Where is she?" El responds, Billy looks over at El. Eyeing her menacingly.

"Where is who?" Billy answers with another question.

Someone comes out from the Kitchen. Carrying a metal plate full of cookies. "They're a little burnt, sorry." She stops walking and stands in front of the kitchen table, surprised at seeing El and Max.

"Heather! This is my sister, Maxine. And I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Billy says, turning from Heather to El.

"El." She answers.

"Well.. What were you saying, El..?" Billy draws out the two letters, almost taking in the name. Like he's been waiting for this moment. "You were looking for someone?" He finishes.

El glances from Billy to Heather. "I-I, I saw you-" She tries to finish talking but gets cut off by Max. "Your Manager at the Pool, he said he didn't see you guys at work today." El nods, following along.

"Yeah, Sorry about that. We had to take the day off to.. nurse her back to health, but you're just fine aren't you Heather?" Billy questions, smiling shows his rows of finely tuned teeth.

"Yeah. I'm way better. Do you girls want a cookie?" She answers.

Max and El quickly Exit the house, And ride off into the rain on their bike. Billy watches them all the while. Remembering something from the past.

☆☆☆

"Will!-" You yell out, something Flutters through your legs. Sending a shiver through your body. A feeling of an immense cold wreaks through your body.

You look towards Will, he stands up from the destroyed wood fort named Castle Byers. Eyes wide and afraid.

"He's back.." Will says, the terror in his voice sending shockwaves of fear through your body.