CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
LENGTHY GLANCES

The group were stood outside the huge electric fence guarding the lab, Jonathan frantically pressing the open button in hopes the group could get through.

It was quite clear that the older boy wasn't getting very far. Kimmy guessed the man could have pushed the red button a million times before Dustin tried to intervene.

"Let me try." Dustin spoke weirdly calm in contrast to the situation at hand as he pushed his way next to the older boy.

Jonathan sighed, obviously quite frustrated but was doing his best to refrain himself and stay calm. "Hang on-"

"Let me try, Jonathan!" Dustin snapped, his calm demeanour quickly shattering as he pushed the boy out of his way.

The curly haired boy did just did exactly what Jonathan had done before him. He pushed the same button over and over presuming the gate would magically open.

"Dustin," Aaron sighed from his spot next to Kimmy as he looked away from the huge gate before him. "It's not going to work."

Kimmy heard Dustin sigh loudly from somewhere behind her, groaning in frustration. "Son of a bitch! You know what..."

Dustin trailed off, going back to pushing the same button frantically. Aaron rolled his eyes as he turned his gaze away.

Kimmy smiled at the boy next to her as he turned his gaze but the boy didn't notice. While Kimmy allowed her smile to drop, her gaze on the boy remained.

Kimmy often found herself staring at Aaron when he wasn't paying attention, she didn't really know why. Kimmy managed to justify her actions by telling herself it wasn't in a creepy way - it really wasn't. But still, this didn't supply any answers for the girl as to why she did it in the first place.

Kimmy secretly held it against Max for forcing the brunette to view the boy differently. Had Max not continuously insisted that Aaron liked the dark haired girl, then Kimmy was convinced she wouldn't have thought twice about the situation.

But now, the redhead had the girl second guessing every interaction she had with the boy.

Kimmy didn't necessarily believe that Aaron liked her that way, despite the blond boy doing certain things that may make her momentarily think other wise.

Kimmy would practically force herself to believe the boy was just being friendly, not wanting to read too much into the boys actions or over analyse his feelings when he hadn't actually said anything to her about it.

Despite this, Kimmy knew for a fact that he definitely treated her much differently to any other girls. Although, Kimmy often had to remind herself that she didn't really have a whole lot of proof, seeing as the only girls he had ever actually spoken to were Max and Kimmy.

However, it was clear as day to anyone within sight that Max and Kimmy were treated differently by the boy.

Aaron tolerated Max, he was nice and spoke to her when needed, Kimmy wasn't denying that. But he only seemed to reply to Max when spoke to and only ever in short answers. Sure, he was always nice and wasn't ever rude to the girl, but Kimmy found it difficult to even imagine Aaron being rude to anyone.

I'm contrast to this, Aaron seemed to go out of his way to try talk to Kimmy, even if it were only a few words exchanged between the two.

Surprisingly, Kimmy wasn't weirded out by this. This confused the young girl greatly, knowing that if it were anyone else she had noticed acting this way towards her she would have most likely drifted from that said person.

For instance, Kimmy thought the way Dustin and Lucas chased after Max was weird. Yet, when Aaron acted similarly around Kimmy, she failed to find anything wrong with it.

For some reason it was different when it came to Aaron, Kimmy wasn't really sure why.

"Hey!" Dustin yelled loudly as he chuckled, dragging Kimmy's attention away from the blond stood next to her. "I got it!"

Kimmy was surprised to find that the large wired gate had begun moving, Nancy and Jonathan frantic as they raced to Jonathan's car.

"Hey!" Steve yelled after the two as they went to enter the car. "What about us?"

"We've got to get to Mike and Will, Steve." Nancy answered briskly, clearly panicking as she got in Jonathan's car. "Surely you can wait here for two minutes."

Kimmy watched as Steve rolled his eyes but said nothing more as the car sped away from the group and made its way up the road leading to the lab at an almost alarming speed.

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek at the disheartened expression on the older boys face at his girlfriends words.

Truthfully, Kimmy felt that Steve had the right to be upset at the matter. Obviously Kimmy didn't know the whole story, but she would have had to have been an idiot to have not realised the looks Nancy and Jonathan were sending each other the entire time she was in the twos presence.

Kimmy also noticed how Steve spent his entire night looking at the two interact, not once did either of them turn to glance at the older Harrington. Almost as if they forgot he was even there.

Kimmy frowned as she watched the older boy sigh, dropping his head as he messed around with the lighter in his hands.

The younger girl had to stop herself from physically walking over to the older boy to ask if he was okay. Kimmy didn't, knowing Steve probably wouldn't appreciate her drawing the attention of the unaware thirteen year olds around them to the evident dip in his mood.

Kimmy tore her saddened gaze from the eldest Harrington brother as Max pushed through her and Aaron, nudging the twos shoulders as she did so.

"Guys?" Max gasped, looking ahead with a startled expression.

Kimmy followed her friends point of view with a curious look, her navy-blue eyes widening drastically as two cars came speeding around the corner and right at the group.

The group flinching and running off to the side as the cars honked rapidly as they got closer to the group.

The first car which Kimmy recognised as Jonathan's car went zooming past, the second car however came to an abrupt stop next to the startled children. That said cad being a police car, Kimmy recognising the driver as Chief Hopper.

Aaron groaned from next to Kimmy, crossing his arms over his chest as he mumbled his protests.

"I can't believe this." The boy whispered to Kimmy, an unamused look on his face. "It was bad enough last year, never mind adding two others to the group. This man has no consideration for anyone's safety-"

"Let's go." The man yelled at the group harshly.

Instantly, Aaron's rambles stopped and he rushed foreword, pushing Steve out of the way as he watched his older brother head for the front seat.

Aaron was sat in the front seat of the truck before anyone could take it from him, the boy slamming the door shut as Steve began arguing with him through the open window.

"Aaron, get out!" Steve yelled at his brother, Aaron looking straight ahead as he pretended not to hear his brother. "Aaron, that's where I was going-"

"Get in the back!" Hopper yelled at Steve, startling the older boy as he instantly shut his mouth and climbed in the back.

Kimmy smiled up at the scowling older boy as he squished in the back, mumbling curses under his breath. Kimmy was squeezed between Steve and Max, not as bothered as either those two appeared to be seeing as she had been in this situation before a year prior.

...

The group soon arrived at the Byers' household, Will lying on the couch in the living room, his brother staying with him as the boy slept.

Everyone else was in the kitchen, all but Steve sat around the table as they watched Hopper talk furiously on the phone. Steve stood behind the group with his arms crossed.

"I don't know how many people are there!" Hopper yelled into the phone, the sharp tone of his voice causing Kimmy to flinch. "I don't know how many people are left alive! I am the police! Chief Jim Hopper!"

There was a slight pause, as if everyone was scared to even say anything in case the older man snapped on them next.

"Yes, the number that I gave you, yes." The older man spoke into the phone sounding much calmer than he had not even moments prior. "I will be here."

The man then hung up the phone, turning to face the group with a slightly defeated expression on his face.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin sighed from Aaron's left.

Hopper hesitated, raising his brows as he tried to sound convincing. "We'll see-"

"We'll see?" Mike snapped, completely furious at the older man. Kimmy didn't think this was fair, Hopper was very obviously trying his best, it wasn't his fault if no one believed his story. "We can't just sit here while those things are loose!"

"We stay here, and we wait for help." Hopper responded swiftly, clearly doing his best to keep his temper at a semi-calm level.

At that, the man walked away, wondering out of sight as he went down the hall, leaving the group sat at the circle table, allowing an awkward silence to over take them.

Kimmy placed her chin in her hand, frowning slightly at what Mike had told the group upon their arrival.

Will's mom - Joyce's boyfriend had died earlier that night - Bob. Well, Mike assumed that's what he was, not that that fact was relevant anyway.

He'd died in the lab while the group had been stood outside, Dustin and Jonathan arguing over who should be the one to push the button to open the gate, Steve passing time by frowning at Nancy and Jonathan's closeness, as well as Kimmy staring at Aaron - embarrassingly so.

Kimmy felt a uncomfortable feeling wash over her as she thought about it. The thought that the group could be stood outside messing around with each other while a man was being murdered just behind the very gate the group was trying to open made Kimmy feel sick.

The girl frowned, it was weird to Kimmy that she was so comfortable with the idea of her life ending, yet the thought of a man she didn't even know having his life taken away from him made her heart feel like it was breaking.

Despite this, Kimmy had slowly been getting better. She hadn't tried to cut her life short or hurt herself in quite some time - she guessed it had been months since.

Yes, her parents weren't harming her as much - they weren't even talking to her anymore, which Kimmy was eternally grateful at the ignorance from her parents. Knowing that her efforts to avoid the two had been working in her favour.

However, she also guessed that Aaron had a large part to play in that too. Had it not been for him, Kimmy probably wouldn't have been sat there in that room, she probably wouldn't be doing anything. If it weren't for Aaron the girls short life would have been cut even shorter months ago.

Not only had he boy stopped her from making a rash decision the year prior, but he'd also continued to help her out for the entire year after. Looking out for her. Sticking up for her time after time, argument after argument, disagreement after disagreement.

Not once had Aaron ever made Kimmy feel like she wasn't wanted - unlike some others in the group.

Mike suddenly stood from the table, his chair scrapping back loudly against the floor, causing Kimmy to snap her head over to where he was now stood.

The dark haired boy was making his way over to a small stack of games piled against the wall between the kitchen and the living room, crouching down before it as he picked up a rubix cube.

"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike asked the group abruptly, talking in a saddened voice.

No one answered, the group sat at the table glancing to each other with looks mixed with both sadness and confusion.

"He petitioned the school to start it and everything." Mike elaborated, turning around and making his way back over to the table where his friends sat. "Then he had a fundraiser for equipment. Mr Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"

"Yeah," Lucas shrugged as Mike placed the rubix cube on the table.

Mike sighed, biting the inside of his cheek as he hesitated. "We can't let him die in vain."

"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin sighed, slight annoyance evidence in his voice as he stressed his point. "The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those demo-dogs on our own."

"Demo-dogs?" Max scoffed from next to Kimmy, voicing the brunettes exact thoughts.

Dustin turned to Max slowly, a look on his face that told Kimmy he was holding back from spitting some remark about how the girl had asked a stupid question.

"Demogorgon dogs." Dustin elaborated in a tired voice, motioning with his hands as he spoke. "Demo-dogs. It's like a compound. It's like a play on words -"

"Okay," Max cut the boy off with a wide eyed stare, as if to tell the boy she had only asked for a definition on what the word meant.

Dustin dropped his hands disappointedly, sighing as he dropped his gaze, a saddened expression pulling on his features.

Kimmy frowned, not liking to see her friend upset. Even if she was closer friends with Max than she was with Dustin, that didn't mean she would ever like to see the boy upset or feel like his opinion didn't matter like she often did.

"What were you saying, Dustin?" Kimmy surprised the group by asking, ignoring the surprised faces of the party members as well as Max and Steve. Only looking to the curly haired boy, sending him a reassuring smile as he hesitated.

Dustin, pursed his lips, looking unsure before taking a breath and continuing anyway. "I just mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..."

"But there's an army now." Lucas reminded his friend in a small voice, his brows furrowing as he spoke.

"Exactly." Dustin nodded at Lucas.

"His army." Mike muttered, Kimmy looking to him with a curious look on her face, suddenly thinking she'd missed something.

Obviously, Kimmy wasn't the only one confused, feeling relived as Steve asked the question she desperately wanted to but didn't in fear she'd be shit down. "What do you mean?"

"His army." Mike repeated louder, completely ignoring Steve's presence and question as he looked to Dustin, Lucas and Aaron. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army too."

"Mike," Kimmy sighed after gathering enough confidence to question the boy she already knew wasn't really a fan of her, the boy turning his head to look to her. "Who the hell is... him? I mean, am I missing something? I'm so lost-"

"No, I'm lost too." Max nodded from next to her, looking glad that Kimmy had spoken up.

Mike signed, turning away from the group as he grabbed a piece of paper from the drawer in the living room before walking back all at the same pace, slamming the drawing of some monster in the middle of the table.

"The shadow monster." Mike elaborated, motioning to the monster in the drawing. "It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him."

Kimmy's eyes widened, the girl looking to Will lying unconscious on the couch with a worried expression before looking back at Mike.

"And so this virus," Max spoke up, both looking and sounding confused. "It's connecting him to the tunnels?"

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything." Mike stressed briskly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down." Steve walked over to Mike standing behind Aaron's seat as he wore a disbelieving look on his face. "I still have no idea what you're talking about-"

"Okay, so, the shadow monsters inside everything." Mike sighed, talking as fast as humanly possible. "And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart?" Aaron guessed, sounding unsure of himself.

"Yeah," Mike nodded at the blond. "Like what Mr Clarke taught us. The hive mind."

"Hive mind?" Steve muttered, more confused than ever.

"A collective consciousness. It's a super-organism." Dustin shifted in his seat to instantly explain. Clearly paying more attention in Mr Clarke's class than Kimmy did.

"Exactly," Mike nodded frantically. "And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain."

"Like the mind flayer. "Dustin gasped as he looked to Will's drawing.

"The what?" Max instantly asked, her face scrunched up.

...

"The mind flayer." Dustin read from a game book he had found in the house. The group now having gathered Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Mrs Byers as they all explained Mike's theory.

"What the hell is that?" Hopper rolled his eyes, not sounding amused.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension." Dustin replied instantly, suddenly his expertise on the game coming to good use. "It's so ancient that it doesn't even know it's true home. It enslaves races from other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh, my god," Hopper groaned out in an annoyed tone. "None of this is real, this is a kids game."

"Um, no actually, it's a manual." Dustin retorted in an offended tone, Kimmy surprised he'd talk to the chief of police so rudely. "And it's not for kids. And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"

"Analogy." Lucas corrected calmly, Dustin turning to his friend with a look of surprise.

"Analogy?" Dustin scoffed, taken aback. "That's what you're worried about? Fine an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."

Nancy waved her hands to stop the boy talking anymore as she tried to understand. "Okay, so this mind flamer thing-"

"Flayer." Dustin corrected instantly. "Mind flayer."

Nancy sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment before speaking again. "What does it want?"

"To conquer us, basically." Dustin answered with a shrug, as if it were no big deal. "It believes it's the master race-"

"Like the Germans?" Steve asked curiously, trying to put it in words he'd be able to understand.

Aaron closed his eyes and took a breath at his brothers words, Kimmy hiding a smile at his dramatics.

"Uh, the Nazis?" Dustin asked in a smug tone, although his face was deadly serious.

Steve looked taken aback, slightly embarrassed as he began to stammer. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis."

"Um," Dustin sighed, his brows raising at Steve's comment as he returned his gaze back to his manual. "If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally. It views other races, like us, as an inferior to itself."

"It wants to spread, take over other dimensions." Mike elaborated with a nod.

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas jumped in, his comment earning alarmed looks from those around the table.

"Um," Aaron began as he pointed to Lucas, almost backtracking as everyone turned to look at him. "That's a worst case scenario-"

"Jesus!" Steve scoffed, beginning to panic as his voice got louder. It was clear to Kimmy then that perhaps a talent for abrupt panic was something the two siblings shared. "Jesus, Aaron! That's just great!"

The older boy then ran a hand through his hair, walking away from the table in what Kimmy assumed was in attempt to calm himself down.

"Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything," Nancy signed, ignoring her boyfriends dramatised panics. "Then if we kill it..."

"We kill everything it controls." Mike finished her point for her firmly when his sister trailed off. "We win."

"Theoretically." Lucas shrugged.

"Great." Hopper sighed, moving foreword to grab the manual. "So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?"

Dustin began to laugh, the policeman looking to the boy with an irked expression. "No. No, fire- fireballs." Dustin replied, still laughing. "You summon an undead army, because... because zombies don't have brains. And the mind flayer... it likes brains..."

Dustin cut himself off, no longer laughing as he looked up at the older man. "It's just a game- it's a game-"

"What the hell are we doing here?" Hopper sighed, slamming the book in his hands shut before dropping it on the table and walking away.

"I thought we were waiting on your military backup." Dustin scoffed, his words causing Hopper to turn back around with an even angrier expression.

"We are!" He snapped back, on the brink of yelling.

"How are they going to stop this?" Mike retorted with a tone of clear annoyance. "You can't just shoot it with guns."

"You don't know that!" Hopper retaliated with his voice raised. "We don't know anything!"

"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab!" Mike began arguing with the man, yelling back at him.

"We know the monsters are gonna molt again." Lucas backed Mike up in a much calmer voice.

"We know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town." Dustin nodded, a stressed out expression on his face.

"They're right." Mrs Byers surprised everyone in the room by saying, her voice fragile and shaky. "We have to kill it. I want to kill it."

Hopper took a deep breath, moving from his spot and walking towards Joyce as he tried to talk some sense into her. "Me too, Joyce, okay. But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

"No, but he does." Mike answered in a weak voice, walking up next to Hopper as he pointed to his best friend passed out on the couch. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know it's weakness."

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore." Max asked carefully, sounding as lost as Kimmy felt.

Kimmy's brows furrowed and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I thought he was a spy now?"

"Yeah," Mike nodded, not even turning back to look at the two girls as he spoke. "But he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."

Kimmy felt Aaron still next to her, the boy taking a shaky breath as he looked to Kimmy with a scared expression.

Kimmy tried to smile reassuringly back at him, but she could tell he could see right through it.

...

OMG 7K READS?!?! THANK YOU SO MUCH ALL READS VOTES AND COMMENTS ARE SO APPRECIATED!!!!

I wasn't going to post this until tomorrow but decided to earlier since i got 7K reads❤️❤️ hope you like this chapter things are picking up!!!!

Have a great day/night!!

- AJ :)