20.

"ʸᵒᵘʳ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ ⁱˢ ˢᵗʳᵒⁿᵍ, ᴵ ᶠᵉᵉˡ ⁱᵗ ᵇᵘʳⁿⁱⁿᵍ
ᵀʰⁱˢ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ⁱˢ ʸᵒᵘʳˢ, ᵃⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵈᵉˢᵉʳᵛⁱⁿᵍ"
—ʳᵉˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳˢᵉˡᶠ ᵇʸ ᵈᵉᵃᵗʰᵇʸʳᵒᵐʸ

"This is a code red, do you copy? I repeat, this is a code red. Max. Do you copy? This is a code red." Lucas spoke into the walkie talkie.

"Shut up." The girl spat out in annoyance before she turned off the walkie talkie.

"She turned it off." Lucas said in disbelief, Mike looked towards the phone on the wall.

"I'm sleeping. Go away." Max snapped into the phone.

"This is Mike. Do not hang up. Something happened, something bad. Our very lives can be at stake." Mike told her.

"What are you talking about?" Max asked, confused.

"Just come over to my house. We'll explain everything." Mike said.

"What?"

"Hurry." Mike instructed before he hung up the phone. The three boys turned to look at the older girl who was passed out on the floor.

"Try Dustin again." Mike told Lucas.

"He still hasn't answered."

"So, try him again." Mike said. Lucas let out a sigh before attempting to radio Dustin again.

"I think we should've brought Amber home. To Steve or something." Will spoke up.

"She was the one who wandered to us in the first place, which means she was most likely alone. Someone needs to keep an eye on her right now and Hopper is MIA." Mike told Will.

"Her nose was bleeding like El's." Will brought up.

"I know. I was there too. I saw it. This all can't be a coincidence. You felt him. She showed up. It's like last year when she could see what you were seeing. What if she has more than just true sight? What if she's like El?" Mike rambled on.

"We've known her for almost all of our lives. She hasn't been to the lab, she doesn't have one of those tattoo's. It doesn't make sense." Lucas said.

"We'll figure this out, we have to." Mike said as they all looked back towards the girl.

*

"I'm not kidding Robin. I drove around for a while looking for her. She was just gone." Steve worried as he sat there with his head in his hands.

"I have no update, she's a no show." Halle announced, walking into the backroom where Steve and Robin were.

"Guys, maybe she's alright. And just lost track of time and is still sleeping." Robin suggested.

"Where would she be sleeping, Robin?" Steve asked.

"A friend's house?" She shrugged.

"Did you try Wheeler's house? Doesn't she hang out with Nancy? And even with those children?" Halle brought up.

"I mean... she could be there. She just hasn't talked with Nancy in a while since summer started because they have both been busy working." Steve said.

"See. Don't freak out too much right now. I'm betting right now that everything is perfectly fine with her and she'll show up here in no time asking for her usual sundae." Robin tried to look on the bright side of it all.

*

In reality, Amber wasn't having a great time once she woke up to most of the children surrounding her, staring down at her with concerned eyes. She looked between the five of them in slight confusion before noticing she was on the cold basement floor.

"You little shits couldn't have led me over to the couch? Feeling the love." Amber grumbled, pushing herself up off the floor.

"Do you remember anything?" Lucas asked her.

"Not really. Just bits and pieces. Everything seemed to get really jumbled after Billy left half of a note on the porch." Amber told them.

"Wait, what?" Max let out confused.

"Yeah, it threw me off too. And it didn't even make any sense. He was basically asking me to stay away from him yet he's the one I'm constantly telling to keep his distance." Amber said.

"Okay. That doesn't seem like him at all." Max commented as she shared a knowing look with Eleven.

"But it got so much weirder after I got his note. It's like I have this strong sensation flowing through me. I feel like that's what made me really realize that I wasn't having flashes of the upside down because of ptsd. Something wrong is happening in Hawkins again." Amber explained that weird feeling she had in her gut.

"Amber, you found us in the pouring rain. We don't know how you did it but it was almost as if you alerted us as you were coming. The light Will had nearly bursted by how bright it got." Mike tried to tell her.

"That doesn't make any sense?" She shook her head.

"We think that when you were able to see Will in the upside down last year when the mind flayer possessed him that you didn't just have true sight. We think that you might possibly even be like El. Maybe that's why you were so sensitive to everything going on when it happened." Lucas briefly explained to the older girl.

"You all definitely have an imagination." Amber chuckled, all of the kids shared a look with each other once they realized Amber wasn't going to even believe their theory on that.

"What time is it?" Amber asked.

"It's 11:15." Max told Amber.

"Shit. Shit. I was supposed to work today and help everyone." Amber began to ramble.

"Amber, we're going to need your help." Will said.

"Whatever you guys need help with, you better start filling me in on it now because I have something important I have to pick up, even if I just missed most of my shift at the music store." Amber informed them.

"You might want to stay sitting." Mike told her.

*

"I didn't think it was anything at first. I mean, I think I just didn't want to believe it. The first time I felt it was at Day of the Dead." Will told them of when he first sensed the mind flayer.

"The power went out that night, too." Mike added.

"That's around the first time I started to get flashbacks of the upside down. And I heard my name being called in the distance. I thought I was having an episode of some sort." Amber said.

"And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm the next day. Then again yesterday outside of Castle Byers right before Amber showed up." Will continued on.

"What does it feel like?" Max wondered.

"It's almost like... you know when you drop on a roller coaster?" Will asked.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"No." El chimed in honestly.

"It's like... everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but this is worse. Your body... it goes cold and–and you can't breathe. I've felt it before, whenever he was close." Will told them.

"Whenever who was close?" Max questioned.

"The Mind Flayer." Amber answered for Will.

"I closed the gate." El said to Will.

"But what if whatever was in Will, never made it back to the other side?" Amber proposed.

"What if we locked him out here with us?" Will worried. Will began to explain it better with a visual. The two younger girls were having a harder time accepting this theory they were being told.

"If he's still stuck here, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me." Will said.

"A new host." Lucas commented.

"Please tell me you don't think it's me?" Amber let out.

"No. I felt him last night, but I felt you too. There's a difference between the two of you. I felt cold with him, but then right before you appeared I felt warmth." Will said to the girl.

"Well, that's comforting."

"How can you tell if someone is a host?" El asked.

"Based on when Will was the host, the host would act normal at first, but then at times you would be able to notice the little switch ups. And he always wanted it cold and hated the heat." Mike briefly explained.

"So basically, this person is going to act the most normal as they can, but in reality it's the mind flayer trying to be on their best behavior and mimicking what this person would act like. They would want to blend it to not draw any attention to what they're really trying to do. And then they'll start losing their grasp on their actual reality and forgetting even the simplest of things about them." Amber continued on.

The older girl's eyes fell onto El and Max who continued to share a look. The three boys followed Amber's eyes to see that she was looking at the girls. All of them were rather confused about what they were missing.

"Care to share?" Amber pulled their attention.

"Well. El saw something weird with Billy. And we've been trying to investigate but our theory was originally debunked by him himself. But now looking back onto it and him leaving you the note instead of giving it to you in person, it all doesn't make sense. So what if he's the new host?" Max said.

"There's no way. That can't be right." Amber let out.

"Amber. No one is safe right now. We don't know if he's not." Will told her.

"Does he work today?" Lucas asked.

"He should have his shift this afternoon." Max responded.

"Then we need to treat this situation as if he is the host," Mike began as he looked at Amber. "We scope it out and then we come up with a plan on what to do."

"Can you give us a ride to the pool?" Lucas wondered, all of them looking to Amber.

"We have to go to my house to get my car. But I need to change and then I need to run to the mall. So I can drop you guys off but I have something else I have to do. Just keep me in the loop with your walkies." Amber told them.

*

Once Amber had changed the kids left their bikes on her front porch and she dropped them off around the corner from the pool. Since they didn't need Billy seeing her car and thinking something was up especially if he saw the kids with her. Amber had grabbed her walkie and headed into the mall. Dodging masses of people who were in line to go into different stores or get food. Making her way towards the music store, she frowned as she saw the 'closed' sign. Pulling out her key, she unlocked the door and went inside. Looking around, not seeing Halle anywhere.

"She's probably with Robin." Amber nodded to herself before heading towards the back of the store where her employee locker was.

"Please be here, please be here." Amber muttered to herself, opening the locker to see the small box. Silently thanking Halle for putting it in her locker, she pulled the box out and opened it quickly. Once her eyes landed on the cassette tape she had been waiting for weeks to arrive, she let out a breath of relief.
Amber debated if she should hold onto it till the night and wait for Steve to get home. Steve.

"Shit." Amber let out, making her way out of the store, locking the door behind her before she headed in the direction of Scoops. She entered the ice cream shop, looking at the scattered customers at the booths. Her eyes fell onto the counter which had a sign on it.

Be back in a jiffy.

Where the hell was everyone? Realizing they must be in the back room or they were MIA, Amber went to make her way towards the backroom when her walkie went off.

"The idiots came up with a plan. We're going to need your help since we as girls are outnumbered." Max spoke on the other side of the walkie. Amber sighed, looking at the back room door again before turning around to head out of the mall and back to her car.

"I'm on my way." Amber told Max before pulling out of the parking lot of the mall.

Parking around the corner from the pool, Amber had made her way to the pool parking lot to see Max camped out behind a car with her binoculars and walkie.

"Hey, MadMax. Where are the rest of the little shits?" Amber questioned.

"Mike just told me he was coming." Max answered. Amber peered over to see that it was Billy she was staring at. He looked so out of place in the lifeguard chair. A long sleeve on and hat paired with his sunglasses. Billy always was one to flaunt off his tone chest and tan. And he hated having hats on his head. Amber kept her eyes locked on him until she got this wave of emotion falling upon her. Her eyes whipped over to Max before she grabbed onto the girl, pulling her down to hide behind the car.

"What was that for?" Max hissed out.

"Shhh. I think he knew I was standing there." Amber whispered to her. Her and Max peered over to see his eyes trailing over the parking lot. Max looked over to Amber seeing the girl also looking over in clear view, pushing her head down.

"If you thought he saw you, why are you looking?" Max exclaimed.

"Oh, bite me. You're in view right now too." Amber snapped, pulling the girl back down before Billy's eyes could land on either one of them.

"And honestly that's extremely hypocritical after last year when you literally gave yourself away at the Byers house when Steve was trying to cover for you." Amber recalled causing Max to grumble in annoyance. Amber looked over again to see Billy no longer looking, sighing in relief.

"I think we're good. At least for right now. I just don't know how smart it is to have me here if he can somehow sense my presence."

"You're right. But we still need you close." Mike spoke as he made his way towards the two girls. He briefly gave them a rundown on what was going to happen.

"We will give you the signal and once you hear me first call out to Billy, you start to call out to him for help. Get him to somehow 'follow' your voice but it will lead him right into the sauna room. We'll lock him in there and try to up the temp to see if it is him." Mike said. Amber nodded along. Getting that she would have to sit in her car around the corner from the pool and wait for the pool to close before she did her part for the younger teenagers' plan. She just hoped that this plan would end up proving that Billy wasn't the new host. She didn't know what she would do if he was.

*

"Billy."

"Billy." Mike tauntingly called out over the walkie. Amber tried not to chuckle knowing Mike was having fun taunting the big bad wolf.

"Billy? Billy? Please, help me." Amber spoke into the walkie. She only slightly felt bad about using herself as bait to lure him.

Amber's voice had reached Billy's ears that had him freeze slightly in his fit of rage.

"Billy. Please, he has me. I need your help." Amber had fake begged the boy. She was unaware that his mind had gone somewhere else. He had thought when she said, "him" that she meant the monster. It enraged him more after knowing he had made a deal to keep her safe.

"No. No. No." Billy muttered out, storming throughout the building. Following the voice of Mike that continued to taunt him. He saw the shape of a figure in the window of the sauna room. A smirk fell on his lips.

"Got you." He let out. Billy laughed maniacally, opening up the door but his face fell as he realized it was a cpr dummy.

"Where are you?!" He yelled out. "Where is she?!"

"Hey. Behind you." Mike said into the walkie causing Billy to whip around in anger. Eleven stood there staring at him.

"Hi." She greeted before she used her powers to throw him back further into the sauna. The kids all rush to shut the door and lock it. Then they took a step back to watch as Billy began to flip out, banging on the door.

"Max." Billy let out once his eyes fell onto his stepsister.

"Do it." Max instructed. Will rushed over to the temperature dial to turn the heat up.

"Max! Let me out of here!" He yelled.

"Let me out." He looked at the teenagers with sweat dripping down his face. "You kids... you think this is funny? You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?" Billy spat on the window. "You little shits think this is funny?" Max and Will both looked at each other with an unreadable look.

"Open the door! Open the goddamn door!" He demanded. Billy moved away from the door as Will went over to check the thermostat.

"We're at 220." Will informed them. Silence had soon fallen before they could hear Billy crying.

"It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault." Billy cried.

"What's not your fault, Billy?" Max questioned, looking at him through the window.

"I've done things, Max. Really... bad things. I didn't mean to. He made me do it." Billy told her.

"Who made you do it?" Max asked.

"The shadow. He can't have her, Max. I just need her safe, you need to keep her away. He can't have her. Please, Max, this isn't my fault."

"Who, Billy? Amber? The shadow wants Amber?" Max wondered.

"Please, believe me, Max. Keep her safe. I didn't mean to do it." Billy begged.

"Amber is fine. She's safe." Max told him.

"It's not my fault. I didn't mean to." He continued to beg as his mind seemed to flip a switch. Reaching for the broken tile of the wall that was on the ground beside him. Will raised his hand up to his neck, feeling the mind flayers presence. Amber had just gotten out of her car when she felt a heavy coldness. She felt like she couldn't breathe for a moment.

"I feel him. He's activated." Will shakingly let out.

"Max. Get away from the door." Mike instructed her.

"What?" She asked the boy confused.

"Get away from the door!" Mike yelled, Max let out a screech rushing away as Billy punched through the glass.

"Let me out you bitch! Let me out! I'll fucking gut you!" Billy yelled. While all hell began to break loose, Amber had ran to the door of the building seeing a padlock on the door.

"Fucking kids." She let out before she raised her foot to kick the lock down, breaking it. Opening the door, the lights began to flicker all over the place. The girl ignored it as her instincts began to burst, hearing the kids screaming. Rushing throughout the locker room, following the noise. Catching Billy holding Eleven by the throat then Mike instantly hitting him with a metal bat to make him drop El.

"Go to hell you piece of shit!" Mike yelled, Billy with black veins all over his body and dark eyes set his attention onto Mike. About to make an advance until he felt the heavy pressure on the back of his neck. The kids looked on in shock, El coughing trying to catch her breath as she watched.

Amber had a dark expression on her face as her eyes seemed to hold a hint of a fiery glow to them. Her fingers put more pressure onto the boy's neck before his feet began to come off the ground. All of them were too in shock to even make a comment.

"Nobody touches my kids." She spat out before she tossed him like a rag doll across the room. Shaking his head trying to recover, Billy's eyes fell onto Amber who's eyes began to illuminate more. His own face fell with a look of shock seeing the girl.

"I think it's time for you to leave and get out of his body." She snapped, her head tilted with blood falling from her nose. Billy let out a mix of strangled cries. But then he began to stand up against the pain, his dark eyes almost challenging her. It was like a fire was set throughout his body as the deep cries and Billy's cries mixed. El raised both of her hands before tossing Billy with the strength she had left out through the brick wall into the parking lot, before she collapsed in Mike's arms. The boy helped her up as they all walked towards the hole in the wall to watch Billy rush away in the dark.

Amber had turned her attention to the kids, looking over all of them before her eyes landed on Eleven. The younger girl looked at her with still a hint of surprise but also a look of tiredness. Pulling Eleven into her embrace, Amber hadn't said anything. Not knowing exactly what she should even say at that moment. The rest of the kids joined in on the hug, just relieved that they were all 'okay'. Amber had only hoped that. Steve, wherever the hell he was, was having a better time than her right now.