chapter twenty-five
real evil

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"WE CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER," SAYS ROBIN, letting out a sigh as she turns to Steve. He's leaning against the mall's payphone, having spent all of Scoops Ahoy's tip jar calling Ruby's house. All day, he's been calling and calling, with no answer, just the same "Hey, you've reached the Brenners! We're out right now, leave us a message!" voicemail. He was there when Ruby recorded it — Carrie said she hated her own voice, so she got Ruby to do it. Ruby had to re-do it ten times; every time she got halfway through, talking in a fake-friendly voice, she'd look up at Steve, and burst out laughing... God, he's so in love with her.

But that's exactly why he's worrying. Why hasn't Ruby answered all day? Or even El, if she's looking after her? Steve wants to leave right now, to go and check on his girlfriend, but he knows if he goes, these three dorks will chase after the Russians alone, getting themselves killed. So he's got to stay, he just wishes he could go.

"Yeah, I know," he says, sighing.

"We could always postpone...?"

"No." Steve shakes his head. "This is a matter of national emergency. We've got to do this."

Robin looks at him, nervous. "If you're sure you're OK..."

Here's their plan: there's an elevator next to the mall's delivery entrance that goes into a top-secret basement, miles underground. If they time it right, they're going to go in there, stop the Russians, save the day.

"If I was sick, the last thing I'd wanna do is talk to you," says Erica, Sinclair's younger sister. (Don't ask why she's involved, it's all giving Steve a migraine.)

They told her — like they told Robin — that Ruby got stomach flu, so to them, Steve is just being overly worried. He gets the feeling that Robin knows something else is actually wrong, but she doesn't want to ask, which he appreciates. But, anyway, Sinclair's sister is annoying.

"Thank you, Erica," says Steve, rolling his eyes. "Can we just go?"

"Now he wants to go," says Erica, making a tut noise. "Forget ten minutes ago when he had to call his little girlfriend—"

"Oh my God, could you just shut up?" he says.

"Bite me," she says back.

Steve wishes Ruby was here — at least then he wouldn't be here, grimacing at the floor because there's no one else to share his annoyance. Robin's here, sure, and he likes being friends with her... But Ruby just gets him. He could sit differently and she'd know something was wrong. He just feels weird, everything going on right now, and one day away from her feels like a lifetime.

So, they start the walk out of the mall, towards the delivery entrance. Steve keeps on thinking about his girlfriend, doubting if it was the right decision to leave her in the hands of her little sister. El's younger, sure, but her powers make her a decent babysitter, right? ... Right?

"Hang on," says Steve, spotting the final pay phone before the parking lot. Sinclair's sister groans in anger, and he waves his middle finger, slotting his final coins into the machine, dialling a new number: Hopper's cabin.

He waits a second, before there's an answer.

"Hello?"

It's Max's voice. Steve frowns.

"Uh, hey, Max, it's Steve—"

"Ruby isn't here—"

"I know! Is El there?"

"Yeah... Why?"

"Ruby said El was keeping an eye on her—" Steve looks to his side, to find Robin pulling Erica away from the door. He's taking too long. "I've gotta go, but can you get El to call the Scoops line and tell me how she's doing, if she feels any better?"

"Sure..."

"Thank you so much, bye!"

Steve throws the phone back onto its handle, before catching up to the others, now at the door. He shares an annoyed look with Dustin, who understands exactly where Steve's head is at — wishing he was with his girlfriend, keeping her safe.

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OK, DON'T TELL LUCAS, BUT MAX ALWAYS thought Steve Harrington was hot — like, how could you not? So when he calls El's telephone and Max answers — because El's in the important process of making herself an eye mask — her heart does, for a split second, skip a beat. Max wonders how Ruby hasn't had a heart attack yet. Death by hot boy.

"Hey," says Max, walking back into El's room. The eye mask isn't the normal L'oreal kind, but an old set of swimming goggles. The two plan on using El's powers to spy on the boys, and they need something (the goggles) to block out her vision.

El looks up, duct tape in hand. "Who called?"

"Steve," says Max. "He was asking if Ruby was OK?"

El frowns, which confuses Max.

"He said... you were keeping an eye on her...?"

"No..." El shakes her head slowly.

Max feels a sinking sensation in her stomach. She gets that sometimes, people make up those kind of lies to avoid people, but she knows that Ruby would never do that... OK, no, she did that to Max and El last week (they wanted a ride to the mall, her toes were still wet from nail polish). But she's never do it to Steve! He's, like, her favourite person in the world. She wouldn't lie to avoid him, especially since Ruby 'being ill' only ever means something's wrong with her powers, and that's a shitty thing to let him worry about.

So something must be wrong with Ruby,

El looks down at her eye goggles. "New plan," she decides, and Max already agrees.

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THE IN-BETWEEN SPACE IS ALWAYS COLD, but right now, there's a spine-tingling chill in the air.

Eleven stands upright, her feet standing in water, but not feeling wet. She's always hated this space, but she knows how useful it can be. And, right now, she needs to check on her sister.

She concentrates for a moment, thinking about her big sister. Ruby Brenner, the girl that accepted Eleven before any other adult did. When they first met, just before El went away for that year, Ruby noticed their similar powers, and sat El down. "You and me, we're in it together," Ruby told her. She raised her hand, extending her smallest finger. "Promise?"

"What...?"

Eleven didn't understand the small finger thing. Ruby picked up Eleven's hand, and intertwined their little fingers, explaining, "This is a pinky promise, the most important promise in the world. It means that I will always look out for you. You can't lie about a pinky promise."

"Friends... don't lie," said Eleven, because at the time, that's all she really understood.

Ruby looked confused, and shook her head. "No, sisters don't lie."

Ruby probably doesn't remember this now, explaining to Eleven what a sister was, pointing to Mike and Nancy — who were lost in a deep talk about something — as an example. But it meant the world to Eleven.

So, now, she remembers her fond memories of her sister, hoping it'll draw her towards her consciousness. She's done this so many times, and yet, Eleven finds herself straining to conjure up anything. This never happens.

Until finally, she sees Ruby.

She's standing somewhere, wearing a white top and black skirt, the one Hopper banned because he thought it was too short. Eleven recognises her shoes as Mary Janes, blood-red ones with heels, because at the start of the summer, Ruby explained the other meaning of Mary Jane to her. It's some green herb.... But she told Eleven not to ask Hopper anything about it because he's allergic and will get sad. (... This makes complete sense to El.) She watches as her sister talks to Max's older brother, who Eleven can see too. Sweat is dripping down his body.

Eleven can't figure out anything else about her sister. She starts to creep forwards, to inspect Ruby in closer detail — but before she can react, Ruby turns to her and looks her dead in the eye. Panicked, Eleven looks at Billy, too, who is also — somehow — looking at her.

Ruby grabs onto Eleven's wrist, her nails digging into Eleven's skin.

And then her lips being to part, revealing a menacingly perfect smile.

"Hello, Eleven..."

Eleven scrambles backwards, and before she knows it, she's back in her normal reality; nose bloody, head pounding, and Max looking terrified. Max jumps forwards to Eleven's refuge, holding onto her, trying to comfort her.

"What happened?" says Max.

"Something's wrong," says Eleven.

"With Ruby?" says Max.

Eleven nods, her stomach filling with dread. As Max springs to her feet, to try and call back Steve, Eleven looks down, noticing five red nail marks, drawing blood around her wrist.

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"WE CAN'T GET A HOLD OF STEVE." AS awkward as it feels to be in the same room, Eleven went straight to Mike's house for backup. Now, the group of middle schoolers are huddled around, trying to think of what to do. They were going to ask Steve, since he kind-of knew what was wrong in the first place, but he's M.I.A., so they're on their own.

"So we need to figure this out ourselves," says Mike.

"And how do you suggest that?" says Max, raising her eyebrows. "We don't know what's wrong with Ruby, just that she's acting weird and Steve knew!"

Eleven's sitting down on the basement's sofa. She can't get the image out of her mind, of her older sister looking at her, and smiling. She never knew someone could smile that creepily. Eleven keeps on telling herself, that can't be Ruby. Ruby wouldn't act like that. She's mean to people, sure, but she wasn't evil.

"How do you know she's evil, anyway?" says Mike. "Isn't Ruby already evil?"

Max groans, putting her hands on her face. "High school evil, yeah, but not real evil!" She turns around to Mike, fighting the argument Eleven feels too weak for. "Just because she thought you were annoying doesn't mean she's actually evil!"

"I'm still not sure," says Mike.

"Maybe this is why she thought that, did you ever think of that?" says Max. "And anyway, can a girl not be a little mean sometimes — and rightfully mean considering what's happened to her — without her being called evil? You're so sexist."

Mike frowns. "What does that have—?"

Eleven stands up, glaring at her ex-boyfriend. "Something is wrong with Ruby!"

This time, Mike goes quiet. Max gives him a dirty look, crossing her arms.

"I saw her, but... it wasn't her," says Eleven, and the image of Ruby comes back in full force. Her smiling at her little sister, like a predator spotting its prey. "Hello, Eleven..."

Will, who was standing to the side of the room, away from this others, clears his throat. "I think I know what's wrong..." he says. "You know when you drop on a roller coaster?"

"Yeah..." says everyone but Eleven, who says, "No."

"It's like... everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but... this is worse," says Will, and Eleven frowns, unsure what this has to do with Ruby. "Your body... it goes cold and... and you can't breathe. 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. And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm the next day. Then again yesterday outside Castle Byers... I've felt it before, whenever he was close—"

Max frowns. "Whenever who was close?"

"The Mind Flayer."

"But I closed the gate," says Eleven.

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

Will walks to the table, grabbing a scrap piece of paper and charcoal. The others exchange a glance, confused, before slowing following him over. Will starts to draw the Mind Flayer on the page.

"That day on the field, a part of him attached itself to me." Will rubs the palm of his hand against the paper, charcoal clinging to his skin. "My mom got it out of me, and Eleven closed the gate." Will turns over the paper. "But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world?" He slaps his hand back onto the paper, leaving a charcoal handprint. "In Hawkins?"

"I don't understand. The Demodogs died when El closed the gate," says Max, looking at the others for confirmation, for reassurance. "If the brain dies, the body dies."

"We can't take any chances," says Mike, looking up. "We need to assume the worst... The Mind Flayer's back."

"Yeah." Will nods, swallowing nervously. "And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me. A new host... A better host. If he's got Ruby, he's got her powers. You guys could stop me, but how can you stop Ruby?"

"She's real evil now," says Lucas, his eyes widening.

"We're fucked," says Max.

"But... I saw Billy, too," says Eleven, frowning. "Can he have two... hosts?"

Will goes quiet for a moment, partially lost in thought, partially dreading what this all means for them. "I... I don't think there's any limit to what he can do."

"OK..." Lucas moves back from the table, ready for action. "If it is both of them, I say we find Billy first, and see if he's acting weird. He's the smallest threat out of the two."

Max grimaces. "Only time he's been that."

Eleven frowns, looking up at Lucas. "But... how do we know he's a host?"

ok. this chapter's kinda short but the next one is INTENSE. it was gonna be the last half of this, but this chapter would've been like, 6000 words at least? so we'll wait. but, it means it's been written too, so it won't take too long for me to update next!!

let me know what you thought!! thank you so much for reading!<3