chapter twelve — confessions and confusion

The elevator erupted with frantic screams from everyone...well everyone but Irene. The girls' body remained on the floor as they made their steep and fast descent downward. Steve felt like he was going to vomit, Robin was clutching onto the shelves behind her with all her might as Erica held tightly onto the teen, and Dustin was in the corner trying not to have a panic attack.

None of them knew what to do about the girl that was unconscious with blood pooling from her nose as they were all falling to their deaths; they were lucky the elevator's rapid movement had caused her to shift onto her side or else she'd be choking right about now (hold onto that thought though). Her nose didn't bleed that bad before so something had to be wrong.

This was the second time Irene went down in front of them and not only were they terrified that they were falling to their doom, but also because she looked like she was dead. Her tan face grew a sickly pale color and the blood rushing from her nostrils wasn't doing her any favors.

With a loud BOOM the elevator came to a halt, hitting the floor below it. Gravity weighed down on all of them as they fell – Irene remained lifeless, however the commotion had caused her to move onto her back.

"My groin – it fell on my groin," Steve groaned underneath the mass of one of the boxes. "Dustin! Get this off of me." He called to the younger boy and as the latter went to go aid his friend he heard a low gurgling noise coming from behind him. He dropped the box back on Steve, earning an earful of his loud cry out in pain, and quickly shuffled his feet toward the sound.

Irene was on her back and coughing – choking – on the blood varnishing the inside of her throat. There was something sinister about the way her eyes were still screwed shut and it made the hair on Dustin's neck stand.

Shouldn't it have woken her up? He thought to himself as he quickly crouched next to her, pushing her onto her side, watching as blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. It wasn't a lot which he was thankful for, but the image was still haunting. He reached for her bag and grabbed some wipes to clean her face the best he could.

He had drowned out Steve and Robin's bickering over the keycard that was needed to open the door, understanding the both of them were too enthralled in the load of shit they had found themselves in to pay attention. His hands latched onto Irene's shoulder while he silently prayed for her to wake up soon.

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four are responsible she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throats." Erica went on behind him and he closed his eyes as a soft sigh came out from his nose.

A low mumble sounded from beneath him and his eyes shot open, looking at Irene who was still down for the count, however, words were leaving her lips with subtle determination. He leaned forward, catching tiny fragments of what she was saying.

"Cut off one head...two more grow back...Heather...He's here...Run...Protect the kids...You have to be strong...Run!" Her body jolted forward with a shrill scream that echoed against the four walls. Dustin fell back in shock and the three having a debate in the corner snapped their heads in her direction.

Irene woke with terror still flowing from the tips of her fingers to the ends of her toes. The first thing she noticed when she came to was the pungent taste of metal that coated her mouth and throat. She couldn't catch her breath as Steve grabbed onto her shoulders and asked her a slew of questions that the loud thumps of her heart drowned out. Her body ached and there was a terrible throb that sprouted from the back of her head down to the base of her neck.

She looked to the side at Dustin and noticed there was an innate fear that lingered in his brown irises – she wanted to cower at the sight. Was he afraid...of her? She trailed her eyes downward and noticed the small pile of wet wipes soaked with red. Her head felt light.

Robin crouched beside her as Erica stayed behind, confused and scared of the girl on the floor. All of them were looking at her in horror. She could deal with having one vision in front of them, but two? Especially one that made the blood gush out of her nose? It made her look nothing short of a freakshow and she knew it.

"Hey," Steve's voice filled her ears. He called again as he shook her shoulders, noticing she wasn't entirely there with them. The girl snapped her dull eyes up, mumbling a barely audible 'hm.' "I asked if you were okay. You took a really bad fall this time and according to Dustin...you were choking on your blood." He said with delicacy like his words would shatter her if spoken in any other way.

"I'm fine." She mumbled, wanting desperately to change the topic of the conversation.

"Are you sure? You were–"

A sudden inferno of embarrassment blossomed inside of her, "I said, I'm fine." She repeated a little rougher, causing Robin and Steve to look at each other.

"Rena, we're just concerned. We care about you."

She laughed bitterly, "Yeah, that's why I woke up with a mouth full of blood and why you all looked at me like I was some kind of freak, right? Cause you care?" She spoke with venom filled words, shoving the bloodied wipes into her bag. She couldn't hide the tears that pooled in her eyes. She didn't know why the situation evoked the response it did but she couldn't stop thinking of their faces. It reminded her of when she was younger; the hardships of her childhood that plagued her with wounds.

"We almost died, Irene. How were we supposed to react?!" Steve asked, taking a stand. He cherished his co-worker/friend but at the moment she was being highly unreasonable. Of course they were afraid - they were falling to their deaths and she was out cold on the floor. He wanted to help her out but he blanked and was consumed by panic. Nevertheless, he and Robin made sure she felt their empathy. He didn't know what it was like to walk a mile in her shoes, nor could he imagine the feeling, but he'd never make her feel like she was anything other than the Rena he knew and grew fond of. Where was this sudden change in attitude coming from?

She threw her hands up in exasperation,"I don't know, but not like that!" She cried and the group caught sight of her pained expression once she finally stood and looked at them.

She was afraid. The vision she woke from was gruesome and struck her to her core instantly filling her with grief. No matter how hard she tried to rip herself out she just kept falling into the sinkhole of her subconscious. She felt helpless and worried for her brother knowing he would soon find himself stuck in a pickle he couldn't slick his way out of. She watched her mother teeter on the edge of insanity as she entered their empty home and searched for her two children – not knowing who to call or where to even begin with her search. She saw awful deaths again, sacrifice, and unions being broken between people she didn't even know. She had uncovered far too many truths than she could handle; El had these abilities she'd only ever seen in movies, there was an alternate dimension exactly like Hawkins where the creature in her visions derived from, and there was an entire secret Russian base underneath Starcourt that they'd just infiltrated.

She'd seen they all were in for a rude awakening and felt paralyzed by the load of information that had been dropped on her. Her mind was full of static and the rumblings of what was to come. The last thing she wanted to deal with was her friends looking at her like she was an extraterrestrial – people looked at her like that her entire life. She was just so exhausted. She searched for the words but the frog in her throat wouldn't let her get them out.

Robin wrapped her arms around her friend and held her tightly as she came undone in her embrace, weeping into her chest. Her hand mindlessly rubbed Irene's back as she looked over at Steve, raising her eyebrows at him (Say something). He brought his shoulders up and shook his head lightly (What do I say?). They were all confused, scared and tired.

"We're not afraid of you," Dustin finally made his voice heard, having had enough time to collect his thoughts. "I got spooked because you were mumbling things while you were out and then you unexpectedly screamed when you returned to consciousness." Irene's heart dropped as she slowly turned to look at him.

"What?" She drew her eyebrows together. Sometimes she'd cry in her sleep during a vision or stir lightly, but she never said anything while they occurred.

"Yeah. Do you dream or something when you pass out?" He asked and her breath hitched.

Now's your moment, Irene. You can finally come clean, she thought to herself, You can finally take the weight off of your shoulders, I think they'll take it well. You're stuck with them, you should just go for it. They're your friends. They'll understand. 

She looked up at Dustin and softly shook her head, "I don't remember."

A beam of bright light burned Mateo's irises as he brought his hand up to shield his face, "Jesus man, do you really gotta do that?" He hissed at the teen sitting across from him.

"No, we don't." Will said, snatching the flashlight out of Mike's hand while giving his friend a sharp look. The light clicked off and Mateo blinked, adjusting his eyes to the dim setting of the basement he was shoved down into. He wasn't even given time to ride home and check up on Irene or reassure his mom that he was okay; the moment Billy was gone the kids were pelting him with a million questions. He had his own questions that needed answering though too so they agreed he'd follow them on his motorcycle to one of their houses.

"Talk." The one he found out was named 'Mike' ordered, crossing his arms.

"You haven't asked me anything." He shrugged.

"Oh, right." The teen replied, sitting straighter in his seat before looking expectantly at his friends. Mateo leaned back, studying not only the small group that was sitting across from him but the room he was in too. It reminded him of his home in California; it had a basement that his dad decked out specifically for the both of them. Irene would always sneak in on weekends when their dad was at work and the two of them would build a small cozy fort and watch cartoons. He wondered what his sister was doing and hoped she was okay.

"Hello!" Fingers snapped in front of him and he shook himself out of his trance, whispering a soft 'huh,' "We asked how you knew we were still there at the pool." Another one of the boys, Lucas, spoke up.

"I usually close on Tuesdays. I heard a loud bang coming from the locker rooms and noticed the door was locked. I knew Billy had stuck around and was still inside, so since I had the keys I unlocked it and decided to investigate." He shrugged, not entirely sure if he should tell them how he actually knew they were up to something. Sure Irene trusted these kids to a certain extent, but he hardly knew anything about them, "Now are you going to let me ask some questions or are we just going to sit here and stare at each other?" He watched the group turn inward and share whispers with each other, going off on small tangents and arguments before turning back to him.

"Fine," Max spoke up. "What do you want to know?"

Mateo leaned forward, taking a deep breath as he stared at the face of every teen sitting across from him.

"Wait. Wait. Wait! Jesus!" Mateo yelled as he held his hands up to halt the kids that were arguing with each other about the validity of some of their memories. It had been two hours since they first sat him down and confessed everything. Mateo's head was spinning with all the things they'd just disclosed to him.

They all stopped talking over each other and looked back at him with anticipation.

He rubbed his face tiredly, the dark bags that hung from his eyes were prominent,"So...you're telling me you, El, have telekinetic abilities and were stuck–grew up– inside a lab here...and then you broke out when you, Will, got stuck inside some place called...the Upside Down? Which...is an alternate dimension mirroring Hawkins and inhabits creatures like the Demogorgon, which you so cleverly coined from Dungeons and Dragons, as well as the Mind Flayer who possessed you but you put it back when she closed the portal. Does that–am I getting it right?" He asked, pointing between them before finally looking at them tiredly.

"He doesn't believe us." Lucas huffed to Mike and Mateo laughed – hysteria from the lack of sleep beginning to settle in.

"That's the thing, I actually do believe you." He admitted quietly as he dropped his head in his hands. It made all of their ears perk up.

"You do?" Will asked and Mateo, too tired to raise his head, gave them a thumbs up. "You don't think it's too...far-fetched?" The teen asked and the lifeguard across from him finally met his curious eyes.

"My sister can predict the future, little man. Nothing is far-fetched in my house." He yawned, wiping his watery eyes before registering the words that left his lips. He froze, snapping his gaze upward at the group of teens that were already looking back at him in bewilderment.

They spent the rest of the night listening to Mateo's long tale of his family heritage and the gift that weaved itself through their bloodline. After that, they all one by one fell asleep in Mike's basement. Mateo shifted uncomfortably on the floor, sleep leaving his body as thoughts of his sister in possible danger flooded his mind. He hadn't heard from her since late that afternoon and she didn't sound fairly confident in herself – he wondered if they were stuck inside some secret base all tied up and scared. He felt guilty for not believing her sooner; for not being a better big brother.

For four years–as his parents' marriage made its slow decline–he had built up a wall of resentment toward his sister. He would leave early purposefully so he wouldn't have to ride the bus or his motorcycle with her. He stopped stepping in to help when she got into fights because kids constantly picked on her. He was just someone that was forced to exist beside her–never making any tectonic movement in her life when she needed him the most.

He hoped that this time around he could make up for it.

JULY 3rd, 1985

Mateo and the rest of the teens sat across from El who was wearing a blindfold around her eyes and listening intently to the static noise coming from the tv. He couldn't even fathom how she located someone just by doing that, but he thought it was pretty fascinating nonetheless.

"I found him." She spoke to the group as blood began to trickle from the left side of her nose. The 'him' she was looking for was the Chief of Police, and apparently her dad, Jim Hopper.

His mom told him stories about Hopper, she said he was laid back and disorganized but that she admired his wit. She also said he kept to himself, but just about everyone in the precinct knew he was crushing hard on some woman named Joyce.

"My-my mom?" Will asked beside him, bringing him back to the moment. I gotta stop zoning out, he scolded himself before focusing on El again.

"What are they doing?" Max questioned, sitting below him.

El stammered, "Ill...annoy. They're going to Ill-annoy." A loud knocking noise came from the door as Mike's mom yelled that breakfast was done. He yelled back in response before leaning back over toward El who was taking the blindfold off. The brief interaction made Mateo realize he had to call his mother soon and radio his sister.

"Illinois? Illinois, like the state?" Mike asked, "The state of Illinois?"

"I-Ill-annoy." El restated, giving him a tiny shrug. Mateo pursed his lips as she stood and left to the bathroom with Max, he figured she probably only knew of Hawkins and that was it. To her, this small town was the world.

"So...Rena can really tell the future." Will said giddily, turning in his seat beside Mateo who couldn't help but smile. The boy reminded him so much of his sister.

He shrugged, "Ever since we were kids. She saved my life a couple of times, you know." He admitted and Will sat up. The real tale of Scooper Trooper was about to be told and he was soaking up as much information as he could. Irene and El really were like superheroes in his eyes; both of them on the outside were two normal girls who held such huge secrets. He listed a few heroic names he could give El and thought of how to incorporate her into his next comic.

His thoughts quickly returned to Mateo and he leaned forward, his eyes sparkling with wonder, "How?"

"I used to get into a lot of fights when we were younger, one day she told me this guy that used to bully me was going to corner me on my way home and have his older brother beat the absolute shit out of me – it would've put me in the hospital had I not taken the bus that day. I knew how to defend myself but some kids just didn't fight fair. I'm glad I had her though; she was always looking out for me despite being younger." He stared down at his hands with a sad smile, an uneasy feeling rising within him as he thought of what his sister had gotten herself into.

Irene was always willing to go to bat for anyone she cared about – even if the feelings were fleeting. She showed up, too many times to count, for people that hardly showed up for her. He believed that this group was different though; the way El protected him from Billy despite not fully knowing him was a testament to that belief. And it was only then when he realized why his sister gravitated toward them so easily – or perhaps why they all gravitated toward each other.

Mike stood up and huffed, "Something's not right. I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence." He paced in front of the three of them.

"What does it matter?" Lucas asked exasperatedly, "The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us."

Mike looked over at his friend on the couch, "Up to us to do what exactly?"

"Find Billy and stop him."

"Okay, yeah, that's a really nice sentiment, but even if El could find him again, and that's a pretty big if, then what?"

"We burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn't escape this time." Mateo lightly shook his head as the kids continued to have their debate. He thought of Heather and how odd she was acting when they looked for her, it seemed like she was under some kind of spell too.

"We got the Mind Flayer out of Will before and he just came right back."

"Cut off one head and two more grow back." Mateo muttered and Will looked over at him curiously.

"What?" He asked, pulling the other two's attention toward him.

"In Greek mythology there's something called the Lernaean Hydra. I read up all about it when I was a kid; it was said in later tales that when Heracles cut off the head of the Hydra two more grew back in its place. Think of it like this: the Mind Flayer lost one host and went searching for more. So, there's an extremely high probability Billy isn't the only person that's been attacked. In DnD the Illithids goal is to expand their mastery, thus controlling the minds of their victims and consuming their personalities — like Billy. If that's the case, I don't think it stops at him; we have to take down the Mind Flayer entirely." He explained and imagined the look of pride his sister would have given him – he was starting to get the hang of the whole 'detective thing.' Who would have known watching his cousins play a fantasy game when he would go and visit would pay off?

"How in the hell do we do that?"

"Your friend might know." Mateo motioned his head to the bathroom the two girls were in and the boys all stood, facing it. He drowned out the silent bickering that was occurring between Mike and Will, catching small pieces of it but not entirely paying attention.

He was thinking of all the details his sister had given him about her visions – which to his knowledge she had only three so far, but he knew she was probably lying about that.

He thought of Billy's first encounter with the Mind Flayer – when he got into that accident. Then he thought of the possibility that he recruited Heather when she didn't show up to the pool and was acting weird. The mental bubble chart he'd created in his mind was starting to fill and pieces were finally being put together.

A sudden knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts – for some reason it sounded different then when his mother knocked. It sounded like there was a sense of urgency behind it.

"Not now, mom!" Mike yelled.

"Mike, open the door." A different woman's voice was heard.

"Who's that?" Mateo asked, looking at the teen.

"My sister."

On the other side of town, stuck beneath Starcourt, Irene was pacing the elevator floor as she nipped at her fingernails; she was running on four hours of sleep and a dull headache was forming behind her eyes. Above her, Dustin was trying to connect to someone above the surface, however she knew his efforts would fall short. Steve accompanied him only a few moments after.

She was still mentally recovering from yesterday's events when she witnessed unsolicited horrors and broke down in front of her friends. There was an unspoken tension that hung in the air regarding it, but they were all too focused on getting out to really speak on it.

Before they fell asleep, she and Robin talked for a while about an exit strategy and then about how the latter could really go for a slice of Rogel cake at the moment. It made her brighten with a small laugh before Steve groaned that the two were being loud and annoying, but quickly joined their conversation after. The underlying feeling of inferiority had escaped her for the moment, but crept back the second she woke and remembered they were still trapped and she still hadn't told her friends about her secret.

She wanted nothing more to get the hell out of the enclosed space – all of them did and were, in their own ways, regretting ever being curious in the first place. None of them voiced their feelings out loud though, instead they continued to trek deeper into the void of chaos.

A banging noise made Irene turn her head and she was met the eyes of Erica who was hitting the tube of green liquid against a barrel. Robin rushed over to the young girl and quickly took it from her hands, "We don't even know what this is."

"Exactly! It could be useful." Irene pursed her lips at the comment, knowing that the liquid inside was anything but useful...to them at least.

"Useful how?" Robin asked but Irene knew exactly where the girl was going with her argument and stepped forward.

"You're not gonna wanna drink that." She interjected with an informative tone.

Erica looked at the teen as if the comment was absurd, "We could survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die. If it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst. I drink." She gave the older teen a tight lipped smile.

Irene crossed her arms, "Even if it fries you from the inside out?" She questioned with a challenging brow. Robin pointed at her friend, siding with her, thankful that someone in the room was being practical. A faint whirring sound grabbed her attention and she pressed her ear up against the main door of the elevator.

"Is it them?" Irene asked, relief filling her body the second Robin gave her the confirmation. While the latter went to alert the rest of the group on top of the elevator, Irene cleaned up the space to make it seem as if they were never there. She then hoisted Erica up, soon following after.

They all huddled together, holding their breaths as two Russian men entered. Irene could hear the low rumble of their voices and she knew one of them was asking if the other could smell what he did. She would have chuckled had the five of them not been in such a dire situation and she didn't want to distract Steve from looking at the tube in Erica's hands and executing the only plan of his that she actually agreed with.

Finally the idea popped inside of Steve's head and as the men rolled away with their cargo he dropped down from the ceiling and hurried to place the tube underneath the door to stop it from closing. He ushered the rest to follow and slither through the opening one by one – a rush of adrenaline coursing through all of them.

Just as Steve slid from underneath, the door slammed down breaking the jar. The green liquid that was inside oozed onto the floor, instantly burning a hole wherever it fell. The group scrambled to their feet and watched in fascination; all but one.

Robin noticed Irene standing away from the group, looking tired....bored...as if she'd already knew what the liquid was and like it wasn't the most pressing issue to her at the moment. It made her draw her eyebrows together and she thought of her friends' words to Erica —even if it fries you from the inside out — words spoken as if they were truth, not as if they were a possibility.

And as the five of them walked down the long corridor, a reel played inside her mind of all the moments where it felt like Irene knew about something before she did or luckily foretold something right before it happened.

A/N:

who else though irene was finally going to open up about her gift???

SIKE.

in all seriousness writing that scene was hard because at first i really just wanted it to be like the first time around all soft and sweet — which I mean the soft undertones were there but...i wanted to show that despite seeming comfortable with the group she still has deep insecurities that stem from her childhood and how children felt toward her when she first starting showing signs of her gift. and we see a hesitancy from her because even though she's gassing up her friends in her mind, she is still extremely afraid of opening up to them about it.

ALSO! we got to see a kind of completely different side to mateo where he is finally stepping back into his big brother role. also he's actually thinking about his actions toward his sister and how they effected her — he's growing you guys! 😭 i thoroughly enjoyed writing the interaction between him and will. not him secretly knowing dnd...🤭

alright friends that's all for today! i start my first day of fall semester for my sophomore year tomorrow and I'm really excited! in terms of future updates im thinking they'll either be on weekends or sporadic which is how they kind of are now.