out of reach

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

It wasn't just Nancy behind the door. Behind her was Jonathan, which should've been expected, as they were an official couple. Alina was glad to see him, anyway, as it had been a few days. She'd been worried about him. And apparently, she wasn't the only one, as the same emotion was evident in his eyes, but as Mike moved slightly, allowing him to get a glimpse of the party members (including El and Max, who'd come out of the bathroom) gathered at the bottom of the stairs, he let out a sigh of relief, immediately pushing past him to make his way downstairs to throw his arms around both Alina and Will. The sheer level of relief Alina felt at the presence of her older brother shone through as she hugged him, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. He was hugging them so tightly she could barely breathe, and although it was hurting her ribs, she didn't tell him to loosen his grip.

Meanwhile, Nancy had followed him down. She didn't seem much in the mood for greetings, but she was pulled up short when she noticed Gabe. She knew Gabe well, because whenever he saw her, he would always pester her with questions about the Hawkins Post, where he hoped to work someday. Sometimes it could take nearly an hour before he lay off her.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Jonathan was murmuring. "Both of you."

"Why wouldn't we be?" Will asked nervously, because he could tell something was up. Both he and Alina could. Because Jonathan had looked genuinely terrified at the top of the stairs, and he'd practically sprinted down here.

Jonathan didn't answer. Nancy, running a hand through her perfect curls, asked Gabe, "What happened to your face? And..." her eyes moved up to the white bandage wrapped around the lump he'd acquired from the locker, "your head?"

"I got beat up with Billy Hargrove along with Alina and El," Gabe explained. At Nancy's surprised look, he elaborated slightly. "He threw me into a locker. And kicked Alina in the ribs. And nearly strangled El. He wasn't himself, though. He was being possessed by the Mind Flayer. Although, considering everything he did with Steve last year, I wouldn't be surprised if you thought he wasn't." And then, "Oh, yeah. That's a terrible way to break the news. But yeah, the Mind Flayer's back. And we're all completely and utterly terrified."

The entire basement plunged into dead silence at that for a minute, but to Alina, who'd finally peeled herself away from Jonathan, she could tell that Nancy wasn't surprised. So she had known something about what was happening.

Then Jonathan, probably just to break the silence, asked, "Where's Dustin?"

"He's been MIA for the past few days," said Lucas. "I think he's with Steve."

Although they didn't really know that for sure, it was as good a guess as any, considering the friendship the two had developed in the past year. Alina hoped he was alright, unbeknownst to the fact that he was dealing with some deep shit of his own.

Then Nancy was asking about Billy and the Mind Flayer, and everyone was gathering around to catch each other up. Mike, with occasional comments from Alina and Will, filled Nancy and Jonathan in about what had been seen in the void, Heather's house, the cookie, the bloodstains, and then moved in to talk about Will feeling the Mind Flayer during the movies, on the field, and just after he'd destroyed Castle Byers, how he'd brought them all together, and everything that had gone on during the sauna test. Jonathan and Nancy listened with open mouths as Mike weaved the tale of the past few days, and as Alina listened, she couldn't help but compare it to when Mike had been the Dungeon Master for D&D. Even after he'd mostly stopped playing the game, his talents for telling a story anyone could picture in their minds remained.

After he was done, Nancy explained her story, and now it was the party's turn to listen with open mouths. Apparently, she'd been called in to investigate a story about fertilizer-eating rats that were more than rabid—they were completely feral. Then she and Jonathan had found the older woman who'd called them about the story—Mrs. Driscoll—eating fertilizer just like the rats had. Finally, she ended with the story with a visit to the old woman, only to find her heartrate climbing, her mouth opened in a desperate scream, and her face—and this was the part that had sold it to Alina—crawling with black streaks. The same she'd seen on Billy, and what had, apparently, also been on Will last year (and maybe her, too. Nobody seemed to like to talk about the day she'd nearly died).

"It was the same thing," Nancy continued, pacing around the room, "the exact same thing that happened to Will last year. And look at this. Look at the body temperatures." She put a yellow file on the table for the party to view, and they all leaned forward to see. According to this, Mrs. Driscoll's temperature had been at ninety-five degrees. That was practically hypothermic.

"He likes it cold," said Will.

"Okay," said Mike, pursing his lips, "so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer—"

"Mrs. Driscoll," Nancy corrected.

"Right, yeah. Mrs. Driscoll. What time was this attack?"

"Last night."

"Right, but what time last night?"

"Around nine."

Jonathan's eyebrows raised at this, and his mouth curled into a grimace. "You waited all night to call?"

"I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests," said Nancy quickly. But this had made Alina pause.

"You weren't there?" asked Will.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" said Jonathan defensively. Alina crossed her arms. She found it extremely odd that Jonathan hadn't been there with Nancy the entire night, considering they were, after all, a couple. There was something he, especially, didn't want to tell them.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Hallelujah!"

Lucas winced in sympathy. "Ooh."

"Did you guys have a fight or something?" Alina asked. "I mean, why weren't you together?"

"Uh, yeah, we had a fight," said Jonathan, avoiding her gaze. "But, obviously there are more important things to worry about. So we've made up."

Nancy seemed eager to get back on-topic. "Um, so, wha—what time was your... sauna test?"

The party spoke in unison. "Around nine."

"Well, that proves it," said Nancy, looking almost gratified. "That proves my theory."

"She's flayed, just like Billy," said Mike.

"Flayed?" Jonathan echoed.

"The Mind Flayer. He flays people. Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him."

"They're just a body," said Gabe. "A body for the Mind Flayer to use at its luxury." His eyes moved to Will's, who was shrugging in on himself. He obviously didn't like being reminded.

"If there are two flayed—" Lucas began.

"We have to assume there are more," Will finished. A chill went down Alina's spine at this thought. Will was right, and she hated that. She'd assumed that last year, the two hosts thing had been a fluke, caused by the simple fact that a piece of the Mind Flayer had already been residing in her when it had chosen Will as the official one. But now, learning that there was a possibility for multiple hosts—or flayed, as they were now putting it—made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Mrs. Driscoll was just a random old lady, and Billy was just a random (well, less random) guy. This meant that anyone could be flayed.

It could be Dustin, Alina automatically thought. Or Steve. No. Surely not. She couldn't believe that her friends were flayed. She wouldn't know what to do if they couldn't get the pieces out of them.

There were so many people in Hawkins, so it was unlikely, but the thought still remained at the forefront of her mind as El's eyes widened.

"Heather. Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."

"What's a good scream?" Lucas asked. Which was totally not the point.

"Max said—"

"Doesn't matter," Max said quickly, obviously not wanting this conversation to dissolve into that. Luckily, Nancy changed the subject before anyone else had to.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost," she said. "Who is Heather?"

"She's a lifeguard at the pool," Max explained.

Nancy's eyes widened. "Heather Holloway?"

At the party's nods, she exchanged a significant glance with Jonathan, and the two of them spoke at the same time. "Tom."

"Tom who?" Lucas asked.

"Tom Holloway. He's a journalist and Editor in Chief at the Hawkins Post," said Gabe. "He's Nancy and Jonathan's boss."

It was quiet again. Gabe was good at that, apparently. Bringing silences. And then Jonathan said, "Wow, you really do your research, kid."

"Isn't he that huge, misogynistic dickhead?" Alina asked. Nancy nodded in clarification, and Alina shifted, remembering the awkward dinner and the terrifying aura around it. Well, it turned out, it had been terrifying. Heather had been possessed along with Billy, and Tom might have been as well. Before or after?

That was when she remembered the cookie. "Holy shit."

Drugged cookies. Perfect for knocking out an unsuspecting victim to lead them to be flayed.

"The cookies," murmured Lucas. They were all thinking the same thing now.

"We have to go to his house," Jonathan said. "He'll most likely be at his work, which means we can search for clues to find out if he is actually flayed."

He was right. And this was how the party, and Nancy and Jonathan, found themselves heading upstairs. Maybe the older teens (well, they were technically adults now) didn't want to take a bunch of kids to a place that could be dangerous, but any arguments they might've had were already shut down in their minds by two very crucial facts: one, Alina and El had actual superpowers, which would probably come in handy, and two, the entire party was in jeopardy now. Even though it was most likely Alina and Will who would be in the most danger (and maybe El as well—the Mind Flayer was sure to recognize the face of the girl who closed the gate and basically stopped it for a good while), the others were sure to be targeted, too.

As they began to make their way outside, Alina suddenly stopped Jonathan, because she really needed to talk to someone about what she'd seen, what she now knew was true. "When El and I saw Heather..." she began tentatively, flickering her eyes up to make sure he was listening, "I mean, after she'd been flayed... it was like she was still there. Like she was still fighting. She was screaming, begging us to help her, and she was being dragged underwater and I was... I was so close. It felt like we could... like we could help her. It felt like she was just out of our reach."

Her gaze moved to the floor. "It was like we could've saved her from whatever the Mind Flayer wants from her."

"Hey," said Jonathan softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Alina, you know there was nothing you could do. She'd already been infected, and maybe some part of her was hanging on, like you were last year, but you know that the only way to get it out of her is to burn it away, or to close the gate, if the gate's been opened. I don't think you could've done anything to help her then. But it's okay, Al, because we're going to go help her now. We're going to help them all. Even our dickhead old boss."

"Old boss?" Alina echoed, then sucked in a breath. "You were fired, weren't you. You and Nancy. For that story."

Jonathan didn't deny it. "I didn't want to tell you, because—you know—we've never been the most financially stable. But we're going to be fine, Alina, so don't worry about it. After we're finished with all of this, I'll get another job. In fact, maybe Tom will rehire both of us after proving our rat story."

"I'm not worried about that," said Alina, because it was true, she wasn't. There was too much else to be worried about. "Just you and Nancy. Did you guys fight about that?"

"We'll be fine," Jonathan echoed, and then he put an arm around her. "Now, c'mon. The others are waiting."

Alina nodded, but, as she was ushered out by her older brother, she didn't feel better. No matter what he said, she knew she would always remember Heather in the void, and how she'd been just out of reach.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧