CHAPTER EIGHT
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"CLEARLY, THERE are more than just the ones we saw," Lexie pointed out as they walked away from the field. Now, there was only really finding the thing to make sure it didn't hurt anyone else. As much as she didn't particularly love that idea, the thought of it on the loose was far worse.

"But you're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asked, referring to the name that Dustin had given the creature when he thought it was simply a pet.

"Yes. Had the exact yellow pattern on his butt," Dustin confirmed, looking straight ahead.

"He was tiny two days ago," Max mentioned, Lexie shaking her head because she knew that he had just kept the thing in order to impress her.

"Well, he's molted three times already," he revealed, the image making Lexie cringe. In just two days, a small lizard thing had become that. If that was the smallest of their problems, she was scared to find out what else was in store.

"Malted?" Steve chimed in, confused.

"Molted," Dusting corrected, looking over at him. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"When's he gonna molt again?"

"It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown or close to it. And so will his friends."

"You mean what we just saw there isn't fully grown?" Lexie questioned, eyes widening while she fidgeted with the flashlight in her hands.

Dustin looked over at her gravely and nodded. She started to chew her lip, the nerves she felt only multiplying. "Yeah, and he's gonna eat more than just cats," Steve said, alluding to something that they were all thinking on some level after the encounter at the bus. Lucas stepped forward and grabbed Dustin's shoulder angrily.

"Wait, a cat?" he snapped. "Dart ate a cat?"

"No," Dustin replied all too quickly. "What? No." Lexie remembered very vividly Dustin screaming about his dead cat. She exchanged a puzzled glance with Steve.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews," he told them casually, looking between the two.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asked Steve.

"Uh, Dustin's cat," Lexie replied for him, gesturing to the boy across from her. "The one that Dart ate."

"Guys!" Dustin exclaimed and Lucas pushed on his shoulder again.

"I knew you kept him!" he accused, not very happy at this fact. Lexie could only assume that they were all well aware of Dart the minute he had made it into Dustin's possession.

"No! No...No! No...he missed me," Dustin admitted after a few solid seconds of stumbling over his denials. Lexie looked away as Lucas and Dusin began to launch into an argument. They really had no time to be pointing fingers.

Lexie glanced at Steve, who rolled his eyes and then shrugged at her. His eyes shifted over her shoulder and his expression changed, Lexie furrowing her eyebrows. Steve pointed over her shoulder and she turned around, finally understanding.

There was a growl, just like the one that they had heard when they were in the bus, echoing in the distance. "Guys," Steve alerted, while he and Lexie began to step toward the noise. They were still yelling at each other with as much anger as they had started with. "Guys!"

The second time, he had captured their attention. Lexie and Steve broke into a run toward the sound, and the others followed, despite Max's protests. They came up onto a large hill overlooking the forest sprawling below them.

"I don't see him," Dustin said, despite the fact that these things were very skilled at making themselves quiet if they wanted to be. The fog that was consuming most of the area didn't help so much either.

Lucas brought a pair of binoculars to his eyes and revealed, "It's the lab. They were going back home."

The night air seemed to be a lot more cold after he spoke those words. "Well, then, that's our next stop, right?" she ventured nervously, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as she looked at the others.

The group nodded in agreement and they all began to head down the hill, stepping over plants and weaving in between trees. Lexie could have sworn this was the most time she had ever spent in the woods in her entire life.

There wasn't really a plan for what to do once they got to the lab, and she could only imagine what was waiting for them there. But they had to stop whatever was going on. Once they had finally gotten down the hill and to the edge of the woods, she could make out the silhouette of the lab entirely.

It was a big, imposing building and the lights seemed to be almost entirely off. The place looked deserted. A car was parked in front of the gates to get in, and two figures stood beside it.

"Hello? Who's there?"  a voice called out from beside the car. "Who's there?"

Once they all had finally cleared the forest, their flashlights illuminated the two figures, who seemed perplexed at their presence there. "Steve?" Nancy and Jonathan asked at the very same time.

"Nancy?"

"Jonathan?"

Lexie simply waved at Jonathan awkwardly, not really knowing quite what to say. "What are you doing here?" Nancy asked as she and Jonathan rushed forward. Lexie had never really interacted much with Nancy, but all of those high school things seemed so far away in her mind now.

"What are you doing here?" Steve repeated her own question back to her.

"Looking for Mike and Will," Nancy replied simply.

Dustin's eyes widened slightly and he glanced over toward the lab. "They're not in there, are they?"

"We're not sure," Nancy admitted.

"Why?" Jonathan asked.

Any reply that was formulating from anyone else in the group was interrupted by a loud screech echoing from the halls of the building, piercing the air around them.

"That would be why," Lexie mumbled dejectedly. "Look, if you think they're in there, that means Emily has to be too, right?" Apparently that was who her sister was with last, and she didn't even want to begin to think that she wasn't with Mike and Will. Everyone broke into a chatter once she finished her sentence, detailing the last times that they had seen all of their friends. Nancy took a few steps through the middle of the group, her eyes focused on the lab in the distance.

"The power's back," she interrupted. It didn't take a lot of convincing for them to all rush over to the security gates where they could finally get in now that the electronic locks were working again. There was no doubt that there were people in there, and Lexie very much hoped that it was her sister and her friends.

Jonathan reached the button first and hit it a few times and they all stared at the gates expectantly. Nothing happened, so Dustin stepped up to the task eagerly.

"Let me try," he said simply, stepping in front of Jonathan. Jonathan protested, not seeing how he would make it work any better than he had, but Dustin wasn't really up for an argument. "Let me try, Jonathan!"

Jonathan begrudgingly stepped back and let Dustin stand there and press the button about fifteen more times. "Son of a bitch! You know what," Dustin grumbled, jamming the button a few more times for good measure. Lexie felt her palms start to sweat a bit. What were they going to do?

Just before her thoughts could truly spiral, the gate creaked and slid open in front of them easily. "Hey, I got it!" Dustin laughed. Jonathan rushed out of the security booth immediately as the gates began to open. "I got it."

"You guys stay back here," Nancy said, gesturing toward Jonathan's car. "We'll go see what's going on up there."

Lexie and Steve simply nodded silently, not really seeing the point of dragging everyone up there. Dustin, Lucas, and Max didn't argue either as Jonathan and Nancy got into his car and drove quickly up the winding road that led to the lab.

The minute that they left, there was a nervous energy about the group. Steve was fidgeting with something from his bag that Lexie wasn't really paying attention to, and Dustin and Lucas were pacing in circles in front of him. Lexie just stood there, not really moving at all. She felt paralyzed by her own worry.

"Guys," Max alerted, taking a few steps toward the gate. The screeching of tires is what caught Lexie's attention more. Two cars were speeding down the road, honking both of their horns. "Guys, look out!"

The group dove out of the way just in time for Jonathan's car to speed past them. The second car was what Lexie recognized as one of the police cars. It stopped right next to them and now they were face to face with an even more tired than usual looking Hopper.

"Let's go," he said immediately. There was no time to ask any questions. Steve opened the door and ushered in all of the kids first, Lexie watching out behind them as well. When they were all finally in the car, Steve grabbed her arm and helped her get into the vehicle quickly. There wasn't really much room in the back, so she had to kind of squeeze herself in between the driver's and passenger seat and hope for the best.

The ride to the Byers' house was a very quick one considering they were just about doubling, if not more, the speed limit. Lexie was clutching onto the driver's and passenger's seats like a lifeline and at some point Steve had extended his arm in between those seats so that she wouldn't go flying through the windshield.

When they arrived, a few people were piling out of Jonathan's car, casting a glance over at them as they pulled into the driveway area. Steve exited the car and Lexie wasted no time in following him and full on sprinting over to Jonthan's car. She would recognize Emily anywhere.

"Emily!" she called out, her younger sister turning away from Mike and eyes landing on her.

"Lexie!" Emily cried out, her voice cracking loudly. When Lexie reached her sister, she immediately bent down and brought her into the tightest hug she was certain her sister had ever experienced. But it didn't matter, because Emily was hugging her back just as tightly. The relief crashing through Lexie was something that she couldn't quite describe. "Why are you here?"

Lexie laughed a bit over her sister's shoulder. "It's a long story," she responded, deciding to leave it at that for now. There would be time for a more detailed explanation later, but now wasn't really quite the time. All she cared about was that her sister was safe now.

When she turned around, she noticed that Hopper was watching their reunion and she rushed over to him the minute she was done making sure Emily was in one piece. Without a warning, she tackled Hopper into a hug. He seemed confused at first, letting her do her thing for a few seconds, but hugged back tighter than she thought he would.

"I'm glad you're okay," she told him quietly as she smiled in relief. All of his behavior and absence recently had her worried, and apparently rightfully so.

When they pulled away, he smiled at her warmly and told her, "I'm sorry you got caught up in all of this." Lexie shrugged, knowing that it was probably bound to happen at some point considering virtually everyone she knew was part of it to some degree.

They all headed into the house eventually, most of them settling into the kitchen. Jonathan hadn't left Will's side, who was pretty much comatose, and Nancy hadn't left his side. Lexie had no clue what was going on with Will or why they had even been at the lab to begin with, but she figured that was also a story for a time that wasn't right at that moment. She settled herself against one of the counters in the kitchen and watched as the kids circled up around the table a few feet away. Emily took a seat next to Mike, who looked extremely on edge. Hopper had immediately gotten on the phone, but she only caught part of the conversation.

"Dr. Sam Owens...I don't know how many people are there, I don't know how many people are left alive!" Hopper was saying, getting increasingly frustrated as the conversation went on. "I am the police, Chief Jim Hopper! Yes, the number that I gave you, yes. Six-seven-six-seven. I will be here." He hung up the phone with an aggressive ring and sighed.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin asked disbelievingly.

"We'll see," Hopper responded calmly.

"We'll see? We can't just sit here while those things are loose!" Mike snapped in frustration from his seat at the table.

"We stay here and we wait for help," Hopper told him firmly before walking into the other room without another word. A silence hung over the room after that, and Lexie felt like every word had lingered in the air to suffocate them. Or at least, she felt suffocated.

Hopper's words about not knowing if anyone even survived...if the police couldn't do anything then what was there next? Who would believe them? She glanced over at her sister, unable to imagine yet again how they had kept this to themselves. Lexie tried taking a deep breath, but found herself breathing much faster than usual.

She stepped forward, squeezed Emily's shoulder and mumbled, "I'll be right back." Her sister nodded and turned back to her friends.

Lexie paced over to the back door and struggled with it for a moment before getting it open. She hadn't even realized she was shaking. The growls of the creature were reverberating through her mind and all she could think about was how they could've ended up dead like everyone at that lab had. There was too much going on for her brain to process.

She sat down on one of the bottom steps to the staircase that led down from the house to the backyard. Her pants moved against the wood uncomfortably, but she wasn't really paying much attention to it when the tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Her chest hurt and it really felt like she couldn't breathe now. Her palms were sweaty and the night air was giving her chills right down her spine from how much she was beginning to sweat. Lexie's heart pounded in her chest and at that moment, she thought that surely she must be dying.

The door behind her opened, but she didn't pay much attention to it because she couldn't really think straight anymore. It was all so overwhelming. Was she going to pass out? Oh god, not only would that be embarrassing, but maybe she would get killed if she passed out here with all of those things on the loose.

"Lexie? What's wrong?" Steve asked. That was apparently who had exited the house behind her and he was now sitting next to her on the stairs looking at her in a concerned manner.

"What — if — there's no — help?" she gasped out, running her hands over her face in her best attempt to conceal the tears running down her face. Her shaky hands didn't do a very good job.

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay," he reassured, but it still felt like the whole world was imploding on itself. Just a few days ago, none of this existed. Now it was threatening the lives of everyone in her life.

She continued to try and regulate her breathing and reached her hand out haphazardly, landing on his knee. Steve placed his hand right on top of hers and squeezed reassuringly, telling her, "Just breathe with me, Lexie, okay?"

Together, they took a few deep breaths and after a few minutes she was breathing normally again. The intense feeling of dizziness and sweat was diminished now that she could breathe normally even though she was still feeling a little bit warm.

"Sorry," she mumbled, taking both of her hands and holding her head with them. She let out a shaky sigh and looked up at him sheepishly.

"Don't be," he said immediately, waving his hand dismissively like it was no big deal. "You should have seen me when I had to fight that monster thing last year. Absolutely lost it."

Lexie gave him a small smile. "Oh yeah?"

"Total mess. I know, looking at me now you'd never know it," he went on, gesturing at himself in almost a mock confident way. Lexie laughed and shook her head.

"Guys!" Dustin yelled from the inside of the house in a scolding kind of manner and Steve stood up, offering her his hand. He rolled his eyes at Dustin, but cast her another reassuring grin. Lexie smiled back and took his hand before they climbed the stairs to re-enter the house.

Lexie took another breath to get it together before the kids saw her. When the entered the kitchen, the kids were all standing around, suddenly energized and talking to each other quickly. Mike had one of wills drawings, which were scattered all over the house, in his hands.

"The shadow monster," Dustin was saying as he looked down at the piece of paper that showcased a spider looking creature that walked among power lines against a dark background.

"It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus — it infected him," Mike pointed out.

"And so this virus is connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked, glancing between the paper and the other two kids.

"To the tunnels, to the monsters, to the Upside Down, to everything," Mike rambled passionately, sounding utterly sure that he was correct. With how smart these kids were, Lexie honestly believed what they were saying. It made sense.

"Whoa, whoa," Steve interrupted from beside her, not picking up what they were laying down. "Slow down, slow down."

"Okay so the shadow monster's inside everything," Mike began to explain, holding up the drawing in question to accompany his words. "And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart," Lucas said in realization.

"It's like what Mr. Clark taught us," Mike continued. "The hive mind."

"Hive mind?" Steve asked, confused.

"A collective consciousness. It's a super organism," Dustin answered. All of them sounded a little excited from a science standpoint and because they figured it out, but where this was leading was not somewhere very exciting at all.

"This is the thing that controls everything," Mike told Steve, pointing back at the drawing. "It's the brain."

"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin connected, Lexie unsure of what he was even referring to when he said that.

Lucas snapped and looked a little bit shocked and scared. "What?" Steve, Lexie, and Max all chorused in unison.

Together, Emily and Mike hunted down the Dungeons and Dragons books in Will's room and threw them onto the table. Easily, they navigated to the page they were looking for while Dustin got everyone else from the other rooms to come back into the kitchen.

"The Mind Flayer," he introduced, pointing down at the page with the illustration in question. Lexie supposed that it was similar looking to the drawing that Will had made.

"The hell is that?" Hopper asked, unconvinced.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension," Dustin explained. "It's so ancient that it doesn't even know it's true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains and using its highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh my god, none of this is real," Hopper dismissed as he looked down at the book while Dustin explained. At this point, you could've told Lexie that Santa Clause was real and she'd probably believe you. Not much felt like it was out of the question, now. "This is a kids game."

"No, it's — it's a manual," Dustin defended, looking up from the book and back at Hopper. "And it's not for kids. And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor—"

"Analogy," Lucas corrected him.

"Analogy? That's what you're worried about?" Dustin snapped loudly. "Fine, fine. Analogy. For understanding what the hell this is."

"Okay, so this Mind Flamer thing," Nancy started, only to be swiftly interrupted by Dustin to correct her.

"Mind Flayer," he said.

"What does it want?" she finished.

"To conquer us, basically," Dustin answered. "It — it believes it's the master race."

"Like the Germans," Steve pointed out. Nancy looked at him, concerned that he wasn't getting that statement totally correct.

"Uh, the Nazis?" Dustin clarified looking over at Steve next to him.

"Yeah, yeah, the Nazis," Steve agreed like he wasn't totally sure about what he was saying. Lexie looked him sympathetically from the other side of him and shook her head slightly.

"Uh, if the Nazis were from another dimension, totally," Dustin said. Hopper had to look away and put his hand over his mouth for a second. Lexie was sure he was stopping himself from intervening in this conversation that wasn't exactly getting them anywhere. "It views other races like us as inferior to itself."

"It wants to spread and take over other dimensions," Mike added.

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it," Lucas chimed in with the most grave tone he could muster.

"That's great. That's great, that's really great," Steve said, stepping away from the table that they were huddled around and paced back and forth a bit nervously. Lexie bit her lip, trying to control her breathing a little bit. Things were still looking big and unachievable.

   "Okay, so, if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything. Then if we kill it— " Nancy started, picking up the book to look at the page herself and began to walk around the table.

"We kill everything it controls," Mike finished. Emily shifted uncomfortably next to him and glanced nervously at the room where Will was.

"We win," Dustin said.

"Theoretically," Lucas cautioned.

Hopper walked up to Nancy and grabbed the book from her so that he could take a look for himself. "Alright, so how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?" he asked.

Dustin smiled and laughed a little bit while responding, "No, no fireballs." Hopper gave him a deadly stare and he got serious very quickly.

"Uh, you summon an undead army, because, because zombies, you know, they don't have brains, and, uh, the Mind Flayer, it – it – it likes brains," he stammered, stumbling through the entire thing very unsure. "It's just a game."

Hopper snapped the book shut and threw it on the table, grumbling, "What the hell are we doing here?"

"I thought we were waiting for your military backup!" Dustin exclaimed, throwing his hands out wide as Hopper paced away in an irritated fashion.

"We are!" he maintained, louder than Dustin had raised his voice.

"Even if they come, how are they going to stop this?" Mike questioned, looking at Hopper defiantly. "You can't just shoot this with guns!"

"You don't know that! We don't know anything!" Hopper bit back earnestly.

"We know it's already killed everyone in that lab!"

"And we know the monsters are gonna molt again," Lucas interjected.

"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town," Dustin pointed out firmly.

"And we know that when they do, they're going to kill everyone," Emily spoke up, looking at Mike and then Hopper directly. "Just like they did in that lab." Lexie looked over at her, concerned, wishing more than anything she could undo what they had seen in that lab, for all of them. Whatever it was that might have been.

"They're right," Joyce said from the kitchen doorway, far outside the circle of everyone else. She was still dressed in scrubs from the lab and there were tears in her eyes. "We have to kill it. I want to kill it."

Hopper stepped forward sympathetically and agreed, "Me too, me too, Joyce, but how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

"No, but he does," Mike said, stepping past Hopper and Joyce and up to where Will was lying 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 pointed out, confused. "That he's a spy for the Mind Flayer now." Everyone in the kitchen gathered around where Mike was standing in the living room.

"Yeah, but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."