"CAROLINE?" The voice sounded timid and apprehensive. "Callie? Can I come in?"

Caroline had been laying on her bed right next to the open window; the only way to relieve her headache even a little bit was the cold. She turned and saw Lucas Sinclair standing in her doorway, backpack and school clothes still on.

"Oh, uh... sure," she said, sitting up. Caroline looked down, realizing she was still in her sports bra with no shirt on, but Lucas hadn't so much as glanced down there.

Instead, his eyes were glued to hers, flitting back and forth as though searching for something. He came and sat down next to her.

"Jesus, it's freezing," he said, laughing nervously. He reached up to close the window and Caroline's head pounded with warning.

He wouldn't like that.

"Don't!" She yelped, clamping a hand to her forehead. Lucas froze, staring at her.

"But-"

"Please don't," Caroline said wearily, rubbing her temples. "It hurts so bad."

Lucas looked suspicious but sat down nonetheless, touching her bare arms, which were void of goosebumps. "How are you not cold?"

"Why are you here?" Caroline interrupted, harsher than she had intended.

Lucas looked slightly put off, but clearly didn't hold it against her. "Okay," he sighed. "The party all talked at lunch about... what Will told Mike."

"What did Will tell Mike?" Caroline asked, a feeling of dread settling over her.

"Mike told us Will didn't want to tell anyone, but that night on Halloween... he saw some sort of shadow in the sky. I don't know. But it scared him. And if you two really has True Sight... I mean, if you can really see into the Upside Down, maybe you saw that shadow again yesterday.

"Stop," Caroline held a hand up, squeezing her eyes shut. "Don't. He's going to hurt me."

Lucas sat up straight and grabbed her hand, eyes blazing. "What are you talking about? Who's going to hurt you?"

Caroline didn't say anything.

"Is it Troy?" Lucas's expression darkened. His jaw clenched in a way that was way too attractive for Caroline to handle. "I will kill him."

"It's not Troy-" she said, fighting back her butterflies.

"Is it Lonnie?" Lucas lowered his voice, looking her in the eyes fiercely. "If he's going against his restraining order, we can tell Hopper and he'll throw Lonnie's sorry ass in jail-"

"It's not my father," Caroline ran a hand through her hair. "Just... forget it, okay? I'm okay, I swear."

Will walked in the room suddenly, collapsing on his bed before noticing Lucas. When he saw Caroline and him holding hands, his hazel green eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Lucas sighed, waving him over to sit next to them on Caroline's bed.

"The party was fighting over who should come over," Lucas said. Then he looked up quickly. "Because everyone wanted to come, not 'cause they didn't. I ended up winning. We think we might be able to figure out what's going on. We know about the monster-shadow-thing. Just... talk to me."

"It's like... It's like we feel what the shadow monster's feeling. See what he's seeing." Will whispered.

"Like in the Upside Down?" Lucas pressed.

"Some of him is there," Caroline bit her lip as the ringing in her ears went louder from betraying Him, but right now she was strong enough to fight it. "But some of him is here, too."

"Here, like, in this house?"

"In this house and... in us. It's like... It's like he's reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more connected to him we feel."

"And the more you see these now-memories." Lucas nodded, the realization dawning on him.

"At first I just felt it in the back of my head. I didn't even really know it was there." Will continued. "It's like when you have a dream and you can't remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that. But for Callie..."

"For me it's different," Caroline muttered, avoiding their eyes. "I don't get memories, I get pain. I feel whatever He feels. Anger, when He gets irritated... and He is punishes me, if we talk about it."

"It's like... now I remember. I remember all the time."

"Maybe... Maybe that's good." Lucas said. "Just think about it, guys. You're like spies now. Super-spies. Spying on the shadow monster. If you know what he's seeing and feeling... maybe that's how we can stop him. Maybe all of this is happening for a reason."

"You really think so?" Caroline whispered.

Lucas squeezed her hand and waited for her to meet his eyes. "Yeah," he said firmly. "Yeah, I really do."

There was a heavy silence. The kids had turned their attention to the drawing of the storm that Will had tacked up on the wall. It seemed to look straight at them, taunting them.

You really think you can beat me?  It seemed to say. I am part of you. I know your every move.

"What if he figures out we're spying on him? " A tear ran down Will's cheek and onto his sweaty shirt. "What if he spies back?"

Lucas turned to his best friend. "He won't."

"How do you know?" The lump in Caroline's throat made her eyes and nose burn.

Lucas took both of her hands and ran his thumb over the backs of them. He stared into her eyes, brown into blue, and made her a promise she knew he couldn't keep. "We won't let him."

Caroline was dreaming.

There was a man down below. Prey, to feed upon. She felt a sense of triumph at the tiny victory; the man was trapped.

He spoke on his radio even though it was no use; communication wasn't possible here. "Does anybody copy? Look, if anybody copies, this is Jim Hopper, Hawkins' Chief..."

All that came back was radio static.

The man was scared as he looked around. Bones of other victims, small animals, littered the ground as vines crawled up the walls.

He lit a cigarette and the heat instantly hurt her; burning in her skull. She shrank away from the small flame, the vines crawling backwards. The man made a torch from one of the bones and lit his jacket on fire before moving forwards.

The heat... god, the heat was too much for Caroline to take. It burned like nothing she had ever felt; like acid being poured over her skin. The man was burning the vines as he moved, until Caroline couldn't take it anymore.

She woke up screaming.

"Caroline!"

She panted in between strained cries, her body writhing. She wanted it to stop, she couldn't take it anymore-

"What's happening?" Lucas cried, trying to grab her.

Will was staring at his sister on horror. "Mom! MOM!"

Joyce Byers came sprinting into the room, closely followed by Olivia. Her face dropped in horror as her daughter sobbed in pain. "What-"

Will was white as a sheet. "We dreamed something. It's Hopper. I think he's in trouble. He's down there, lighting things on fire!"

"Baby, slow down," Joyce said frantically to Will. She pulled her daughter in close, ignoring the sweat coating her skin.

"I think he's going to die."

Olivia immediately understood. She grabbed her mother's shoulders. "You need to go. Now."

Joyce didn't need to be told twice before she left, speeding down the driveway and breaking as many laws as possible. Her remaining children stood in the doorway, watching her drive away to help Hop.

Jonathan was still MIA with Nancy.

Will had gone with Bob and his mother to trace down where Will was.

But Caroline was in too bad of a state to come.

She eventually stopped screaming in pain, which must have meant that Hopper had been hurt somehow, because the fire had been extinguished.

Now, she lay on the couch curled up in a ball next to Lucas, who held her tightly. She had begun to doze off, no longer plagued with the burning sensation. She could feel Lucas's eyes staring at her, but she felt safe as she could with him.

She was exhausted.

There was a crash from down the hall, making Caroline yelp and jump up.

"You're okay," Lucas said. "Hey. You're fine."

Caroline rubbed her eyes sleepily. "What was that noise? Or was that just me dreaming again-"

"No, I heard it too. I think it came from Ollie's room."

Caroline stood and walked down the hall, running a hand through her hair. "Olivia?"

Olivia didn't answer.

Caroline tried to open up her sister's door but it was locked. She knocked, hard. "Olivia? Are you okay?" She called in, trying to fight back her worry.

"I... I am good."

Caroline's brows furrowed. Olivia didn't sound right. She turned to Lucas, who had narrowed eyes. "Olivia, can you open the door please?"

"NO!" Olivia said loudly. Caroline heard a hiccup. "I... I'm not safe. This is all my fault, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Caroline fought back her panic and slammed her shoulder into the door, trying to shove it open. "Olivia, open the goddamn door-"

"Caroline," Lucas said quietly, pulling her back. He pointed at the door frame, which was quaking.

Caroline's eyes went wide. "Shit."

She was so stupid; she should have just told her mother in the first place...

Caroline ran to the kitchen and looked up at the cabinet where Joyce kept the alcohol. The little handle had been busted off, making a tiny crater in the cabinet door.

"She must have used her powers," Caroline felt sick.

"What?" Lucas said, not following.

"She's drunk," Caroline tried not to cry. "Olivia's been eyeing that vodka for days, ever since Halloween. She said when she drank at the party, she felt so much better."

"So she's drunk," Lucas said slowly. "What's so bad about that?"

"She's gonna lose control," Caroline whispered. "She could hurt us- or herself. People do stupid things when they're drunk; my dad used to."

On cue, Olivia's door started cracking, wood splintering.

"Olivia!" Caroline ran to her big sister's room. "Take a deep breath, alright? It's just you, me, and Lucas, and I don't know what to do..."

"Who else can calm her down?" Lucas asked frantically. "You mom's gone, Will's gone, Bob's gone, Jonathan is MIA with Nancy, who's her best friend.."

"Steve," Caroline breathed, still wiggling the door handle to try to get into Olivia's room.

"Harrington?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "As in... Nancy's boyfriend? Isn't that... against girl code or something?"

Caroline shot him a look. "Nancy took off with my big brother and is probably getting dick right now. I think that goes against all code.

"And besides," she took a deep breath, facing the door. "It's not like we have a choice."

The way Steve Harrington pounded on the Byers' front door not even ten minutes after Caroline had called him confirmed to her that she had made the right choice.

"Are you guys okay?" Was the first thing Steve asked. He walked in without waiting for an invitation, his stance wide like he was ready to take down any threat to the kids.

"Yeah," Caroline said nervously. She kept glancing at the door where her sister hid.

"What happened?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

"She just... she's been eyeing the alcohol since that party and when everyone left to go help Hopper, she must have gotten into it before I realized..."

"Hey, kid," Steve rested a hand on Caroline's shoulder as the girl panicked. "It's not your fault, alright? Sinclair, why don't you take her and the two of you go outside while I talk to Olivia?"

"She won't let you in," Caroline moaned. "Please be safe, Steve..."

"Go on outside for a little bit," Steve ushered them to the back door. "I'll take care of Olivia. You're all gonna be alright, I promise."

Caroline followed Lucas out onto the front porch, sighing with relief in the cool air. They sat down on the swinging bench she hadn't been on since she was a kid.

"You okay?" Lucas asked quietly.

Caroline sat, hugging her knees. She took a moment to form an honest answer.

"Not really," she said softly. She met Lucas's eyes, which were dark and beautiful and staring into hers. "But... eventually."

Lucas just nodded in understanding. This was one of the many things Caroline loved about him; he didn't press or force her to talk when she didn't want to.

He was just there.

Ready with a sturdy point of view and complete, blind faith in her.

She thought about this for the next hour, as they waited for any signs or news of Hopper being saved.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Caroline whispered to Lucas.

They sat watching as the last bits of the sunset disappeared into dusk, tiny stars littering the sky.

Lucas stared at her incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Serious as hell," Caroline muttered. "You're... perfect. You make everyone laugh and you're handsome and you're so smart and for some reason you like me."

"Caroline, what-"

"I'm a mess," Caroline whispered, looking up at him. His arm had tucked her into his side a little while ago, without them realizing. "I have so much baggage. I'm rude and I'm selfish and..."

"Perfect," Lucas said softly.

Caroline didn't believe a word of it, but as she stared up at him, she saw that he did.

Then he did something that was so sweet it made her tear up. He gently kissed her forehead, like an old married man would to the love of his life.

Caroline opened her mouth to say something, but a sudden horrible pain erupted in her head.

It felt like a million knives, worse than any pains she had ever experienced. A scream broke free, tearing itself from her throat as she fell to her knees on the front porch.

"Caroline!" Lucas was shouting her name over and over again.

Caroline had lost control of her limbs; everything had clenched up and she was shaking uncontrollably.

"Help! She's having a seizure!" Lucas had thrown open the front door and was yelling for Steve and Olivia.

Caroline knew that any minute now, she could lose complete control and He would take over. Will was going through the same thing.

She tried defiantly to keep Him out of her mind, fighting against Him, but she knew it was no use.

In the end, what was the point? She was only delaying the inevitable.

Eventually she had to let go.

And so...

 she did.

Hello beautiful people! This chapter was intense, and things will really be picking up from here. Caroline gave into the Mind Flayer, so that will be affecting her. Can Lucaline ever have a break?!?!

It also went a little bit into something happening with Olivia, which will all make sense if you read the next chapter of  Pulses, so make sure to read it when it is updated!

Vote, PLEASE, and comment what you're thinking!