A PROMISE KEPT
A STRANGER THINGS fanfiction

Image cover by @ArashiMatoi (instagram)

DISCLAIMER: Stranger Things is a work of fiction created by Matt and Ross Duffer and broadcast by Netflix. The copyrights belong to the rightful copyright holders (The Duffer Brothers, Netflix, etc). Fanfiction written in 2016; edited and re-uploaded in 2019.

Take note that the story takes place 20 months after the end of season one. This is an alternate fan-made ending to the story of STRANGER THINGS.

PART I: THE CALL

Summer of 1985. 20 months had already passed since that day; that fateful day. The day when Eleven left their world.

20 months ago, she had sacrificed herself to save her friends. Among them, there was Mike; the one who was, certainly, worth dying for. Of course, that didn't make him happy. Will had been saved by her efforts, but not once after this dreadful day that Mike didn't think that he should have done something, that he could have done more.

And 20 months later, he kept thinking as such.

But life went on during that time. It had to.

Will became extremely popular at school as "the boy who came back from death." Luckily he didn't let the popularity get over his head. His place was with his best friends; the ones who turned around heaven, earth and hell to find him. The media circus was crazy over his family, but luckily, Hopper and the police force helped keeping them at bay. After what they had been through, God knew how much peace they craved and needed. Troy and James never dared to raise a finger against the boys, or anybody else for that matter. El's passage had completely left a mark on these two; literally on Troy. They were afraid that she would come back if they ever bullied anyone ever again.

For the most of it, things returned to be the same; the countless hours playing Dungeons & Dragons in Mike's basement, the love and passion for science, the bicycle rides. The new thing that they were talking about was the coming of the most-craved video game console, the NES, short for Nintendo entertainment system. But other than this teen-like news, it was as if the town of Hawkins had regained its cozy and dull serenity.

On a tranquil and cool evening, Mike and Dustin had one thing in mind: Back to the Future! The epic time-travelling box office starting Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The movie had been available for two weeks now. It was already a mind-blowing smash hit. The good thing about Sunday evenings was the light number of people in movie theatres. It meant full comfort for the feet using the empty seats as feet rests.

It sucked, as they thought, that Will and Lucas were away. This one and his family traveled to New York to visit some relatives. As for the Byers, they were spending a week in Florida under its radiant sun. Despite being away, they promised each other they'd go watch the movie together once reunited again. Thought they would watch it where they were, nothing was better than watching it with best friends.

The duo stormed the screening room no. 4 with haste, excitement and laughs. Doing that attracted the attention of the other people in the room. In simpler terms, three. They raced to the top seats with hands and arms wrapping around buckets of popcorns, bags of juicy candies and large soda pops. Dustin nearly tripped but regained his balance remarkably.

"Got it!" he confirmed.

"You're okay?" asked Mike smiling exciting.

"I would have been pissed if it all fell!" he replied with the same fun. "No way I'm losing any of this before the movie starts!"

"Let's get our seats before you actually do."

"Not funny, Mike!" He said. Mike had a chuckle at his warning.

The previews for the upcoming movies started a few instants after they sat. The preview session lasted 15 to 20 minutes, and yet was always exciting to never miss it. Among them, their passion for the sci-fi genre bloomed when seeing the trailer for Aliens and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Dustin watched them while his mouth savored the delicious popcorn in big portions. Mike too.

His attention got diverted to a young couple sitting some rows in front of them. They must have been his age. A wave of nostalgia took hold of him like a breeze that was neither cold nor warm. Eleven appeared in his mind; the first image he ever gotten to her, her first smile, her tears... his kiss with her. A small smile rose at the corner of his lips as he refocused on the big screen. That smile though wasn't defining happiness. He was enjoying his time with Dustin, he really was. But deep down, a pinch of regret stung in him for not being able to be with Eleven; just like that couple below.

The movie finally started with grandiose soundtrack. The boys exchanged fist bumps as excitement. Luckily for Mike, his saddened thoughts had washed away for the time being.

...

"Dude, this movie was aaaaaawesome!!" Dustin yelled in glee. The best friends were riding their bicycles home, hearts filled with great Back to the Future moments.

"I know, right?" said Mike. "And you know there's going to be a sequel with that ending!"

"Talk about the best cliffhanger!" said Dustin. "I bet Marty's kids are in deep shit in the future! Like they're going to be executed for a crime they didn't commit or something!"

"Or they became so evil that they're ruling the world, and Marty and Doc must travel through time to stop them from turning bad!"

"That'd be so cool!" Dustin said louder.

Laughs and crazy theories went back and forth between them: one of them even implied aliens from space and resurrected dinosaurs from the ice age. The boys were very enthusiastic on this quiet Sunday evening after the movie.

This memory definitely would last for the rest of their lives. Above all, Mike needed that. His mind would have been about nothing but Eleven otherwise. Considering her disappearance, the memories were never ended in a good way.

The boys walked alongside their bikes as they were back in their neighborhood. A moment of silence had been sitting between them for a few minutes. It wasn't as if they didn't know what to talk about anymore. The next topics never lasted more than a few minutes as they got closer to their homes. Despite Dustin's efforts to keep a conversation afloat, Mike would cut its life support in a matter of two minutes.

Dustin knew too well what was in his best friend's mind now. Just like every single day.

"I miss her too, man." He said.

"What?" Mike replied.

Dustin cocked his head to the side. "Come on, Mike. You know what!"

"Sorry," Mike smiled a bit.

"I saw you kept creeping on the couple in front of us."

"I wasn't creeping!" said Mike defensively. "That's gross!"

"Okay, but you wish you and Eleven could have been like that, right?"

"Well, I..." Mike hesitated, and then sighed.

Mike knew how he felt for her. Dustin, Lucas and Will knew. Nancy knew. His parents, Joyce, Jonathan, even Hopper knew. They all knew.

But he never admitted it. Not once. The words never came out of his lips. He didn't want to waste the words to thin air. He wanted her to hear them first. Admitting it without her around; he felt that doing so would be so empty and in vain. This was his vow; letting her to hear these words first, or spending his life never revealing this secret with his own breath.

"I wanted to go to the Upside Down," Mike finally said. "I wanted to go after her."

"I know..." Dustin said sympathizing with him. "We all did."

"But the bad men tore down the entire building by blowing it up," Mike added, "calling it a 'freak gas accident'. What a pile of bull! And nothing could be done!"

"They're the government," Dustin said. "Lying is their shitty specialty."

That last detail had always angered the young Wheeler son. There were no words that could concretize his hate towards these "government bastards" as he frequently quoted them. Shortly after the events of '83, Mike was adamant to sneak into the facility to look for Eleven. Unfortunately, it was obvious that whoever was responsible for a place filled with such dark secrets wouldn't let it go public. And so, fire became their solution. Everything disappeared in ashes; along with the only remaining gate to the Upside Down.

"Government bastards!" Mike said in discontent. It must have been the 1000th he used these words to define them.

"You'll find her, definitely," Dustin said in a rather reassuring and confident way. Mike looked at him with questioning eyes. "What?"

"You sure sound confident," he said.

"Will you ever give up on her?" Dustin asked.

"What? Never! Hell no!"

"There you go, that's why," Dustin said, satisfied of his best friend's answer. "She's one of the biggest reasons why Will is back to us alive and well. Trust me when I say this; she put her life on the line for us. So we'll do the same for her."

Dustin tapped his fist on Mike's shoulder, "So stop mopping around on your own, dude! You're not alone in this, okay? Trust my gut! We'll find a way to get her back from the Upside Down." He tapped his stomach.

Mike breathed a laugh of relief, "Thanks Dustin." This one replied with his signature smile. Yeah, that Dustin-smile.

There wasn't any leader among the boys, they were all equals. But Dustin was the pillar. When everything was down and sad, he was that spark that shined through with his smile and his few words of morale boost. Tonight, these elements did their magic onto his best friend.

Mike was newly confident that he'd find Eleven again.

...

Mike finally got home. He unlocked the door and lit the entrance up. The Wheeler home echoed his steps to the kitchen. His parents were away for a week at a summer camp with his little sister, Holly. Mike and Nancy decided to sit this one out, feeling too old for it.

As Mike took a slice of blueberry pie and a glass of milk, a note on the fridge told Nancy's younger brother that she was staying at Steve's. Mike got along well with her boyfriend, but he could never tell his sister that he preferred Jonathan. After the events of '83, he thought they had connected more. He dismissed these thoughts whispering in his mind that her life was hers to live as she saw fit.

His room; there was a major change that made him hopeful. Two beds were in it. One for Mike of course, the other was reserved for El. It was well-preserved, covered with clean and colorful matching sheets, cover and pillows.

After Will's rescue, a long discussion from Mike's parents convinced them to take Eleven in if she was ever to come back someday. Karen was thankful to the psychic girl after she'd saved her son. She felt that she deserved a home and family that she never had. Mike was happy to hear this news when announced yet was beyond embarrassed when her mother mentioned the no-hanky-panky rule.

He sat by the window gazing at the stars. One among them shined brighter than the other lot; the North Star, always guiding through the darkness. He wondered if Eleven could see the same stars from the Upside Down. More than anything, he wished her well and prayed silently for her.

"Just hold on," he said. "I'll come for you. Somehow."

On the edge of the window laid an old, but still functioning compass and a walkie-talkie. The compass pointed north towards the star. Looking at these items brought him back those memories of their adventure. They were kids and they went through some nasty stuff, some things that adults wouldn't even go near of. (Well, some adults would.)

He held the compass in his hand and squeezed his in his palm. Dustin's words had motivated him, but at the end of the road, he needed a clue. He needed a way to find El and save her. If only she could send him a message from there, maybe he could do something. Anything.

Mike put the compass back on the window's ledge. He frowned at its sight thinking he might have broken it. But it looked intact. The compass was perfectly okay.

Weirdly, it pointed east.

The walkie-talkie became alive with rough and loud static. It was like wild electricity wanted to speak.

The compass pointing east, the walkie-talkie coming alive; it could have been one and only thing. Mike didn't want to get his hopes up. But those two small happenings defined actions by one person that he held dear in his heart.

He slowly took the device in his hand. He pressed and held the button.

"Hello?" he asked.

Static again.

"Hello? Who is this?"

Static answered once more, but with a voice. A voice that was out of breath, scared and stressed.

The sound of that breath shook him. He was now holding the device with both hands, trembling. It was just breath, but he knew that voice too darn well. He knew.

"El," he finally said, "is that you?" Concrete concern escaped his lips.

Seconds passed; the longest of his life. And then, the out-of-breath voice replied with two words.

Two words Mike had been waiting for a very long time.

"Mike..." Eleven said through the static. "Mike..."

To be continued...