chapter thirteen — scratching the surface

Mateo felt like his head was going to explode with the vast amount of information he was being fed.

First, he found out his sisters' weird friends were hiding the most elaborate secret ever. Second, he realized the town his family moved to was, contrary to popular belief, anything but ordinary. Third, Mike's older sister 'Nancy' is standing in front of the seven of them now, alongside Will's brother 'Johnathan,' explaining how there is possibly another flayed victim.

He had a feeling the third point had already existed but just hearing it spoken aloud enhanced the feeling of unease that sprouted from the pit of his stomach all the way to his heart. His fingers mindlessly tugged at the skin on his elbow – something he'd done since he was a child.

Irene always caught him doing this when they would walk home from school and everytime she would loop her arm around his and start asking him random questions about baseball. His face would brighten and he'd forget about whatever troubled him moments prior as he answered her questions with ease. When she ran out of sports related questions she'd start asking him philosophical ones like why was the sky blue and why did they have to go to school. He let out a faint laugh through his nostrils, but a sudden feeling of melancholy struck him abruptly; his sister wasn't there to stop him and his elbow was starting to redden with a dull sting.

"If there are two flayed–" Lucas began and Will sat up beside the oldest Vasquez, finishing his friends' sentence, "We have to assume there are more." Mateo dragged himself out of his thoughts at the response, slightly raising his voice.

"Heather." He said the same time El whispered the name, they locked eyes and gave each other surprised yet knowing looks. Anyone with a brain knew something was off that night and seeing that El had the same idea brought him brief comfort.

He actually felt like he was starting to gain some momentum with how quick he was connecting the dots. It was hard to keep up and within the small span of hours he'd spent at Mike's house, there were times where he felt like he wasn't cut out for the rigor of dealing with all the Hawkins/Upside Down issues.

He almost left entirely before everyone woke up and was planning how he could scrub the previous events from his brain and convince his mom and sister to pack up and go. He obviously didn't – mainly because he told himself his sister would never let him live it down and he was finally starting to reconcile with her.

"Billy was doing something to her," El began looking up at the two young-adults in front of them. "She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams." El explained as Mateo turned inward yet again and began muttering to himself beside Will, going down yet another rabbit hole inside his mind.

Lucas pulled his eyebrows together, "What's a good scream?"

"Max said–"

"Doesn't matter." Max interrupted quickly and Mateo pinched the bridge of his nose at how off-track the conversation was about to get.

"I'm sorry I'm lost. Who is Heather?"

"Heather Holloway," Mateo sighed, looking up at Jonathan and Nancy, "She's a lifeguard with me at the pool." Everyone's eyes fell to his hunched frame. "That night we went to go check up on her, she seemed so out of it. She's usually not so dull like that." He shrugged and the group collectively leaned forward.

"Great so, in our case, cut off one head and three or more grow back." Lucas quipped tiredly and it made the latter let out a dry chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess that's what we're dealing with." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, running his fingers through his soft curls. All of the teens slumped back into their seats.

"We-I-might know another victim." Nancy's gentle voice filled the silence and the seven of them looked up like deer caught in headlights. Jonathan was also looking at her in wonder until realization washed over his rough features.

"Tom?" He asked and she quickly nodded her head before they all fled from the basement.

"I'll just follow you on my bike." Mateo said, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel, as he walked briskly beside Nancy. She stopped at the door of her mothers' car and drew her eyebrows together. He caught onto her confusion and motioned his head toward the motorcycle parked at the end of their driveway, which caused her face to relax and she drew her lips into a small smile.

"Oh come on." Mike groaned beside Will once he noticed he'd be stuck in the back of the car. "I'd rather ride with him." He motioned his hand toward Mateo as he put his helmet on.

"Welcome to my world." Will shrugged with the remnants of a smile ghosting his lips.

Irene was counting her steps behind the group as Dustin's voice droned on in the background about how the architecture of the base was impressive. She didn't bother to respond to half the things they were talking about because she was too deep in her mind to even acknowledge that there were people around her. Her thumb and index finger tugged generously at her right ear, toying with the tiny pearl earring that dangled.

The secret that rested against her chest was slowly suffocating her and she didn't know how much longer she would last without bursting at the seams. She trusted her friends – that was true – but there were just so many underlying factors that nestled beneath telling them the truth.

A fraction of it wasn't fair; how she was supposed to go on normally as if she didn't uncover all of these horrifying details about people she didn't even know or knew too well. Living with the weight of death and divorce and all things unholy in the world was not fair. And it didn't help that she felt like she could only step in during rare cases because whatever was in her vision called for intervention – like when her brother was going to get his lights knocked out or when her father went missing for two days because he crashed his car in some ditch and luckily she knew the area (she was eleven when that happened).

But what was least fair of all was how no one even stopped to ask or understand how it all worked – the second they didn't like what they heard or speculated something was off with the girl they practically stoned her.

Nine years of hopping from place to place because she collapsed during recess and parents thought she was possessed or because she warned her peers not to play in the ivy bushes because it would make them itch all over and the school would be in trouble (Sofia gained an earful of mothers spouting 'witchcraft' at her when that happened). Nine years of bruises, battle scars, thick skin – you name it. And four of those years she spent fending for herself in the trenches of a war zone no adolescent should ever be in because her brother had vanished after starting high school; dealing with his own demons.

Sometimes she wished she knew why it was her.

She learned to appreciate her gift, sure, but there were times when she fell prey to the shadow of doubt and insecurity. It bubbled inside of her like a boiling tea kettle – hissing with steamy frustration and unknown rage. Like now, she'd find herself deep in thought as she sat in those sharp red feelings – falling into the abyss of her mind as she remembered and questioned and came across dead ends which only frustrated her more. She'd tire herself out if she stood inside that vast part of her brain too long.

She never told anyone though. How could she? She was thirteen when she caught her mom sobbing on the sofa, a heaping glass of wine laced around her frail fingers, as she watched old home videos. Only a year later her brother screamed in her face for accidentally spilling orange juice on his class project and that was the first time she felt him truly pulling away. And don't even get her started on how without it even having to be said, she knew her father saw her as a burden. He only put up with her for so long because Mateo adored his younger sister growing up and anything he had, she had too. Once he started pulling away so did their father until finally he just got too tired and left.

She collided with a strong frame and was yanked back into the moment as Steve held her arms with wide eyes. She blinked a few times before taking a deep breath through her nose, she was about to open her mouth to say something but Dustin's walkie-talkie abruptly crackled to life.

The code was being transmitted again as the five of them all moved to crouch next to the device.

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from–"

"It's close," Robin finished Dustin's thought as the two of them locked their twinkling eyes. "And if there's one thing we know about that signal–"

"It can reach the surface." He couldn't hide away the upward curve of his lips as he finished her thought. They were scratching the surface, however Irene knew that they wouldn't be ready for when they had to take the plunge. She wasn't.

They picked up the pace, feeling a little lighter as they walked toward the origins of their mission. Irene trailed behind, her stomach grumbling as Dustin and Robin started to giddily exchange theories again. She felt a presence beside her and dropped her shoulders, trying her best to look relaxed as she stared down the never-ending tunnel.

"I know you're starting to hate us constantly asking you this, but you've looked out of it for a while and I'm genuinely concerned–"

She sighed looking up at him with an unfamiliar dimness in her eyes, "I'm fine, Steve."

"You don't look fine." Her lips pursed at the comment; she wanted to articulate that she was battling a sandstorm of thoughts inside her mind and couldn't breathe. She wanted to say that there was a truth that yearned to leap from her tongue and dance around in the atmosphere – finally free and out in the open. She didn't though and it only made Steve's anxiety worse. Something was wrong, really wrong – he and Robin knew that much.

Mateo rested his bike against its kickstand as everyone else got out of the car. He threw off his flannel and hooked his helmet over one of the handlebars before jogging toward them. Nancy was ringing the bell to the familiar red door as he stood behind, crossing his arms before his hands mindlessly found their way back to his elbow. To say he was nervous was an understatement. It all brought him back to that rainy night when he and his sister faced off with an already flayed Billy – knowing that now made the hair on his neck stand.

The two older teens looked down at El, pleading with their eyes for her to do something. With the simple nod of her head the door swung open and it made Mateo's stomach drop – he was going to have to get used to El's powers. He thought they were fascinating, but the concept of telekinesis being real was still troubling for him to grasp.

The house was as cold as the arctic and summers in Hawkins weren't even that hot. Suddenly, a pungent smell filled his and Nancy's nostrils; like the harsh chemicals their mother used when cleaning the house.

"What is that?" He grimaced, scrunching his nose in disgust.

They all traveled deeper into the house, their eyes finally falling onto the source of the strong odor. It made his head feel light and he was glad he didn't eat breakfast or else he might have actually thrown up. The smell clung to them, lodging itself inside their noses, mouths, and eyes. There were a handful of bottles and cans strew across the counter tops and their fridge that looked torn up. Mateo took a step forward and examined one of the cans of powdered cleaner that looked like it was opened with urgency.

"You think they're guzzling this shit?" Johnathan asked quietly beside him.

He shook his head, "Stuff like this doesn't come cheap, you don't waste it all on one cleaning spree."

"But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals. Did you?" Max asked, beside the youngest Byers sibling.

"No, this is something new."

"Mr. Clarke, fifth grade. Posit," Mike spoke up looking between both his friends. Mateo turned to him, intrigued by the science lesson he was about to drop on them. "What happens when you mix chemicals together?"

"You create a new substance." Will and Lucas said simultaneously and the entire interaction made Mateo's eyes glisten with wonder. He was actually kind of glad he got stuck with such a smart group of teens. The way they applied not only aspects of things they learned in the real world but things they've learned in a game they played interested him. It was tragic that they were only kids and had been through more than they should have but how they adapted to change and challenged the shadowy past of Hawkins was extremely admirable.

"What if they're making something?"

"In themselves? I mean, come on, if you drink this crap it'll kill you."

"Getting hit with a weight and then thrown into a brick wall would kill you, if you were human." Mateo reminded the red-head whose face flickered with grief. Nancy led them through the rest of the house and he thought it was strange how it seemed like nothing had been touched since that night he found Billy there with Heather and her family. How strange it was, as if it lingered there in the walls of the house still...watching them.

"Blood..." Nancy mumbled as her fingers hovered over a dark splotch on the carpet. "Yesterday. Tom had a bandage on his forehead." She recalled to Johnathan, turning to the wine bottle that was near his feet. She picked it up and stood, "He was attacked." She looked down at the spot and then her eyes traveled toward the disheveled rug in the hallway that looked like something had been dragged against it. It led to a door that was left slightly ajar, inside another door that seemed to lead to the garage. Nancy opened it slowly and the group piled in one by one.

A rope all bunched on the floor caught Mateo's eye and he motioned toward it, "They had to have tied them up...and then...took em' somewhere." He sighed, crossing his arms over each other.

A lightbulb went off in Nancy's head, "Mrs. Driscoll. She kept saying... "I have to go back." What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else. There must be a place where all this started right? A source."

El looked up, "Somewhere he didn't want me to see."

"If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him. Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals."

"How do we find it?" The question made the gears inside Mateo's mind shift and turn. He tried thinking of anything Irene told him that could be useful to the moment and then it hit him like a strong wind on a November evening.

"Holy shit," He murmured and the group all snapped their eyes toward him. He met their gazes and couldn't contain the excitement that fizzed inside of him. "My sister said she saw Billy take Heather to some warehouse building in one of her visions, she heard her screaming for help while lying on the floor. She said it looked like Billy was offering her to something. Shit, I don't remember the name though." He pinched the bridge of his nose, his excitement dissipating, and tried thinking back to the night he picked his sister up from the mall. He looked up defeatedly at the group, feeling like he'd failed them.

"That's okay, at least we know a little more than we did before. It could still be useful information, so hold onto it. We still have another option," Will reassured and now all eyes were on him. "Mrs. Driscoll. If she wants to go back so bad, why don't we let her?" He shrugged and once again the group felt like they were getting somewhere and not stuck at another dead end.

Before Mateo mounted his bike he reached into one of its compartments and dug for his walkie-talkie. He turned it on and moved the dial, looking for the channel he and his sister talked through. He whispered her name a few times and was met with nothing. He tried again. Silence. He moved the dial and tried again. Static.

Irene crouched beside Erica, behind her Dustin clutched tightly onto her backpack. They had made it to what seemed to be the base of operations. Her racing heartbeat reminded her she was alive and they were nowhere near home. We're not in kansas anymore, echoed in her mind and she would have laughed had she not been so terrified of getting caught.

Erica informed the four she'd seen the comms room clear as day, and Irene knew in the moment to trust her words. Steve was still awestruck at how quickly she surveyed the entire room and caught onto where the source of all of their looming problems was.

"That could be a hundred different things." Dustin whispered, bursting the young girls' bubble momentarily.

"We can and should take those odds." Irene turned to look at him, flashing him her pleading eyes before looking at Robin and Steve with the same urgency. The brunet sighed, shaking his head in disbelief before the five of them leaned over to look inside the room one more time.

"Alright," Steve gave in. "We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?" The rest nodded in agreement and in the blink of an eye they were on the move – ducking, crouching, and sticking tightly together. The door to the comms room opened and before Steve even had time to think about what he was doing he rushed toward it, motioning for the rest to pile inside quietly.

Irene's mouth went dry as she caught sight of a man sitting at a large paneled table with headphones on. Despite the terror that coursed through her the moment he turned, she was somewhat prepared for the interaction.

She took a step forward before he could even reach for his weapon or device, "The message!" She said abruptly in Russian. Trying her best to sound like she knew what she was doing and she'd spoken the language her entire life. "We received your message," She breathed and the guy looked at her with deep confusion etched into his features.

"Who are you?" He asked and she clenched and un-clenched her fists quickly, frustrated with how rusty she was because it took her longer to put together a reply. Nonetheless, she looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

"The silver cat." She explained, "We know about the silver cat..." She trailed ominously as she raised her brow, keeping her face composed and stoic.

"I don't understand." Beads of sweat glistened on the man's forehead as he continued to stare down at the girl in bewilderment. Her palms were beginning to clam up but she persisted; keeping her friends safe was the only thing on her mind. She turned to her friends and gulped, flashing them a weary smile. She looked at Steve and he gave her a little nod.

"Maybe we can come back later." She shook her head, back still turned. The man saw his moment and reached for his gun, but before he could pull it out of his holster Irene turned swiftly, cracking her fist against the guy's jaw. He stumbled to the side, but her swing didn't have enough momentum to knock him out. He grunted and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her backward. She roughly swung her elbow into his chest and he dropped her, erupting in a fit of coughs.

Steve then charged toward him – screaming in both fear and rage as he tackled him. He pushed him against one of the comms tables, but quickly lost the upper hand when he was flung to the side. The man threw his fist at the brunet, who luckily dodged the blow but was yanked forward and then tossed to the side again by his shirt.

Irene, who had scrambled to her feet, seized her opportunity and kicked the man, with all her might, in the area that will forever haunt his dreams. He sucked in a huge breath and drew his knees together in agonizing pain. This gave Steve enough time to grab a telephone off one of the paneled walls and use it to hit his head. His body collided with one of the tables and sooner than they thought, he was down for the count.

Irene hunched forward, hands on her hips, as she tried to catch her breath. Steve helped her stand straight, slinging an arm around her shoulder as they looked at each other in both awe and admiration. It subconsciously solidified something within Irene – the only person that ever stepped in when she got into fights was her brother. Seeing how quickly Steve put his life on the line for her made her realize that there was a possibility the group wouldn't treat her the way others did if she told them about her visions.

"Dude!" Dustin yelled, the smile on his face only grew as the two turned to him. "You did it! Albeit with the help of Rena, which was badass by the way. You still won a fight!" He exclaimed in awe and Irene patted her friends' back. He laughed softly, looking down at the guy as Dustin rushed over to grab something from his body.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting us our ticket out of here." He explained, unclipping the keycard from the mans' side.

Erica scoffed in disbelief, "You want to walk all the way back?"

"Well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe. Rena, you got any more snacks in your bag?" Irene rolled her eyes and looked over at Robin who was walking through another doorway.

"Have a picnic?! We came here for the radio!" Erica reminded the boy, but their voices soon faded once she stood beside Robin and peered into the glass window of another door. The two of them looked over at each other before rushing down toward the three.

"Guys." Robin called before she pointed behind her, "There's something up there."

Robin directed the five of them through the door and they all pressed their faces against another set of glass double doors which led to what seemed to be a room full of scientists. Beyond the room there it was – the rift Irene saw in her vision the night the power went out. Men in hazmat suits were walking near, examining it, some were filling a giant lazer-like contraption with the green liquid they discovered earlier.

She felt queasy once it dawned on her that all of it was real; from the very first vision to the last.

Mateo hated hospitals, but what he hated more than the sterility and eerie calmness to the beacon of all disaster was babysitting. He huffed as he plopped down next to Will, flipping through the magazine he grabbed from one of the racks. It wasn't doing him any favors and the moment he realized he couldn't get his mind off of the growing feeling of guilt that rose within him he tossed it tiredly to the side.

"She'll be okay," Will reassured him, pulling his thoughts out into the open. He looked at him and drew his eyebrows together, tilting his head to the side like a lost puppy. "You're worried about, Rena. Everyone can tell you've been out of it since Mike's house. I get it, she's your sister and you care about her, but she's tougher than you think." He admitted and the older teen next to him slumped further into his seat.

"Trust me, I know. She's given me a good jab or two because I deserved it; she doesn't like to fight, but she will if she needs to. It's not that I'm worried she can't fend for herself, I'm just–I should have listened to her sooner. I spent years pushing her away. I screamed at her and our mom when we were first getting settled in when I should have just shut my big mouth and listened." He sat up and placed his head in his hands.

He was terrified of all the possible things his sister could have gotten herself into. He hadn't heard from her since the night before and it wasn't like her to just disappear and leave him in the dark. They had their differences, but she'd never do that to him or their mom.

Will soon nudged him and when the older teen looked up, he motioned his head toward Mike and El who were sitting next to each other. He then got up and Mateo begrudgingly followed his actions with an obvious eyeroll. The silly love games the teens played with each other was something he wanted no part in. The two of them met Max and Lucas across the room who were chatting about random things as they tossed M&M's at each other.

Finally, after the two seemed to reconcile with each other everyone sat back down. Mateo watched them converse quietly with each other and it reminded him of cousins on his moms' side that would come and visit – the closest things to friends he and his sister had.

The memory left as quickly as it came, leaving him to mull over his overflowing feelings. He just wanted to stop and step outside of himself for a while, to think of everything and digest it all slowly like any normal person would. However, he was thrown back into himself and the moment the second the lights above them flickered and Will stood up slowly.

A/N:

literally rena and teo this entire chapter:

i like this chapter because i went a little more in depth with it because it's what i enjoy doing and sometimes i can feel like some chapters are just dialogue centric (which I enjoy too) but i know that if you don't have the flavor then your story can sometimes seem flat.

ALSO irene stepping into her power when she kicked some ass alongside steve, who honestly was terrified but had to pull through for his friends. such icons.

buckle your seatbelts friends because it's only going to get so much more bumpy from here 😳.

i'm glad there are so many of you enjoying the story! it means the absolute world to me. if you have the time go check out the graphics section i recently added to the beginning of the story! <3