charcoal drawings

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

  There were some lasting effects of the sedative. Alina's eyes drooped as she pedalled to Mike's house, a sick, heavy tiredness sinking into her with every breath. It was an unnatural feeling, which proved her point even more. That she hadn't just been exhausted enough to fall asleep in the middle of eating (which happened to be a dangerous choking hazard). That she and El had been right, and there was something going on. And Mike was hopefully going to help them figure it out.

Today, it wasn't raining, and Alina was almost hot in the outfit she'd picked out for today—another one of the collection she'd bought at the mall: a paint-splattered lavender shirt and a pair of black shorts. At least she could see El and Max as clear as day, even though she probably could've made her way to Mike's house with her eyes closed (which had nothing to do with him and more about the fact that Lucas was right next door, and she'd pedalled his way many times).

At the Wheeler household, Max had barely touched the doorbell when it flew open, where they found an exhausted-looking Mike staring back at them with bags etched under his eyes. His hair stuck up in all directions, and he attempted to flatten it as he ushered them inside. "Good, you're all here. It took you long enough. Now come on, quick. The others are waiting downstairs."

"Jesus," Max muttered, but followed Mike anyway. Mrs. Wheeler was up here, and she looked surprised to see them, but before Alina could say anything but hello, she was already being practically shoved to the basement door. There was something seriously wrong. Nothing else would make Mike be so tense. He hadn't even looked flustered at the sight of his now ex-girlfriend.

In the basement, Lucas, Gabe, and Will were waiting. Lucas immediately stood up at the sight of Alina, but, although she was glad to see him, she went to her brother first. He looked the worse of the four, with his face pale and his eyes wide. He seemed glad she was safe, and hugged her tightly. Alina hugged him back, worry shooting through her. This really wasn't good.

After some quick, awkward greetings where El managed to avoid Mike's eyes the entire time, Will finally sat the party down. Alina found herself nestled by Lucas (and Mike, unfortunately) on the couch, Gabe and Max sat on the floor and El on the chair. Dustin was nowhere to be found. Apparently he hadn't answered Lucas's calls. Again.

The somewhat-awkward mood that had been floating around dissolved in an instant when Will explained what happened, something that confirmed everything Alina had been afraid of, even though it was supposed to be impossible.

The Mind Flayer was back.

The Mind Flayer, the one who had festered her for a year, was back. This was bad. This was extremely bad. This was awful, crummy, dreadful, rough, detrimental, this was all of the synonyms for 'bad' in the dictionary. Alina could start spouting them all, but instead she found herself staring at the ceiling, as if it would suddenly transform into a red sky. She'd almost died because of the Mind Flayer, and now... now it would have a vengeance. Now it would be resentful.

Now it would come for her, and for Will, and El, and it wouldn't stop until they were gone.

Alina had to hold down vomit at that. Her chest tightened, and she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as her heart rattled fast as a hummingbird. Tears burned in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She couldn't be that weak. Not in front of her friends.

Will's voice trembled as he explained how he knew. "I didn't think it was anything at first. I mean, I just think I didn't want to believe it. The first time I felt it was at Day of the Dead."

"Power went off that night, too," said Mike. Will nodded.

"And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm the next day. Then again yesterday outside Castle Byers."

"What does it feel like?" Max asked. Her face was drooping, because now she knew Alina and El had been right. And it was difficult for her to accept.

"It's almost like..." Will took a moment to try and put the feeling into words. "You know when you drop on a roller-coaster?"

"Sure," said Mike.

"Yeah," said Max.

"Yep," said Gabe.

El shook her head. "No."

"It's like..." again, Will struggled to find words. "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."

"Whenever who was close?" Max asked.

Will stared her down. "The Mind Flayer." It was obvious. Alina had known before. But the name still sent a shiver down her spine. It was so that she didn't expect it when Will turned to her. "Al, didn't you feel it, too? I mean, you had him inside of you longer than I did. Or did you lose touch when the piece died inside of you?"

"No... I felt it." Alina took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. It seemed to be whizzing more than usual, which did make sense, considering all that had already happened. "It was like you... I didn't really want to believe it. I brushed it off every single time, thinking it was just a fleeting feeling, something that happened in the moment. And last night... the feeling was the strongest, but I was already feeling so uneasy... I thought it was nothing. God, I've been an idiot."

Lucas, looking as tired as Mike, reached over and grabbed her hand. Alina was glad he did. There was a small part inside of her still mad at him, but it was so tiny now, because of everything that happened. She used her thumb to trace circles in his palm, and leaned against his shoulder. Her head fit there like it was always meant to.

"But..." El finally spoke. "I closed the gate."

"I know," said Will, "but... what if he never left? What if we locked him out here with us?"

He stood, suddenly scrounging through the basement, and eventually procured a piece of scrap paper and a piece of charcoal. Everyone stood up, crowding around him, as Will tried to explain, using, not words, but what he was really good at. And that was drawing.

"This is him. All of him." Will drew a thick, black circle on the paper, adding legs to represent a crude Mind Flayer. "But, that day on the field, a part of him attached itself to me. And, before that, when El opened the gate, a smaller part hooked onto Alina." He swiped the drawing with his hand, staining it and smudging the paper, and, realizing what he was doing, Alina did the same. Will nodded before continuing. "My mom got it out of me, and the part in Alina died, and then Eleven closed the gate." He flipped the paper over, and Alina rubbed her hands clean, symbolizing the death.

"But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world?" he slammed his hand down on the paper, creating a faint black handprint. "In Hawkins."

"I-I don't understand," said Max. "The Demodogs died when El closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies."

"But what if the brain didn't die?" Gabe leaned forward. He looked like hell, too. "I mean, we all thought it did, but what if El closing the gate didn't kill the Mind Flayer? It just... severed the connection? Which meant that the Demodogs died, but the Mind Flayer was alive. The piece of it that remained might not have been strong enough to keep controlling them."

"Shit," Lucas breathed. Alina clutched him tighter.

"He's probably right," said Mike. "And even if that's not true, we can't take any chances. We need to assume the worst. The Mind Flayer's back."

"Yeah," said Will. "And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me, or a new Alina."

"A new host," Lucas supplied.

"Because that's how it gets its power," said Gabe. "From people. Normal people."

"How can you tell if someone is a host?" asked El. Alina remembered the ice in the bath and bit her lip.

"Well, we do know a few things," she said. "One, they'll look pale, and sickly, like Will and I did when we had the Mind Flayer inside of us. And two, the Mind Flayer likes it cold. Always has. And that means..." she trailed off, and El finished for her.

"Billy. But he didn't look so sickly."

"Maybe. But he might not have gotten to that stage yet. And I could tell there was something wrong with him. In his eyes."

She let go of Lucas's hand, beginning to pace. "We have to find him. If Billy is a host... then we have to stop him. We have to help him, as much as I don't want to."

"Al, slow down." Lucas still looked confused. "What are you talking about? Why do you think that Billy is the host?" he looked sickened by the name alone, proving to Alina that he hadn't forgotten what had happened last year, either. It would be hard to.

"Well, we haven't just been sitting around since the mall," Alina explained, continuing to pace. "We've been looking for—shit!"

She'd wobbled off balance, falling to the floor, the leftover drug from the cookie still having not made its way out of her system. Lucas immediately rushed over, helping her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Alina nodded. "Well, no. Funny story, El, Max and I went over to this lifeguard's house last night, and Billy was there. We went because before, El and I saw him doing this pretty weird shit to the lifeguard, Heather, in the void, you know? So we went over and—"

"Hold on," said Gabe. "Why were you spying on Billy? And since when have you been able to do it, too?"

"Well, officially, like two days ago, and we were spying on him because we were playing spin the bottle. Anyway, that's not the point. Heather was there, alive and well, not tied up or dead or anything, and she offered us cookies, and I took one, because I thought something about this whole situation was fishy, and I tried to see if it was poisoned or something back at Max's house, and it... kind of knocked me unconscious. It was completely bizarre."

"You got knocked out by a cookie?" Will's eyes bulged, and they did so even more when Alina nodded.

"And, apparently, the drug still hasn't left my system yet, so I'm still a little off-balance."

"Huh," said Gabe. "Well, I'd say that's weird, but considering all that's happened last year, it's positively normal."

"We have to find Billy." El seemed not to want to stray too far off topic.

"Yeah, well, he could be anywhere," said Mike.

"We can find him." El gestured to herself and Alina, but Gabe shook his head.

"I don't think you two have to go through all of that trouble. I mean, Billy's a lifeguard, isn't he? He has a job. Let's see if he shows up to that job."

"But if he's possessed—" Lucas started to argue.

"They act like they're normal, don't they?" Gabe was making sense. "So why wouldn't he go to his job? And if he isn't possessed... well, then, he'd definitely go then. I'd say we should look there."

"Okay. And if he isn't there?" Will asked.

"Then we'll get Alina and El to go look for him," said Gabe. "But I think I'm right. Can we please check the pool?"

"Sure, okay."

"Pool it is," said Max, and that seemed to settle it for everyone, as they immediately began to gather the supplies they needed. Binoculars, compasses just in case, walkie-talkies and Lucas's wrist rocket, the only weapon on hand beside Alina and El's powers. Because if Billy Hargrove was, in fact, possessed by the Mind Flayer, things might get a little bloody.

And a lot dangerous.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: we're finally at the pool during the next chapter!! and it's solely gabe's point of view!! he honestly deserves a full chapter at this point lmfao, and he's going to get a lot more! i love him so much and his relationship with will is <333

this chapter took so long to edit, and that's because it was really hard to hit 2k words lmfao. but i did, and i actually think it's better now, so i hope you enjoy!

'till next time!