(might be doing some edits to Emily's character. if I do, I'll post an announcement here or at the beginning of chapter two. I'm holding off posting chapter 2 until we figure it out)

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"(I Just) Died In Your Arms" by Cutting Crew played over a boombox that sat atop an old chest of drawers that was repurposed; painted yellow with small flowers decorating the trim. Next to the boombox was jewelry that was once Nancy's, kept in a chipped cereal bowl from the kitchen. The walkie rested there next to all that, turned off this time. The embarrassment of last night's date proved impeccable when the others heard everything...

Eleven kept herself and Mike at the left side of her bed because they were trying to get away with some modest kissing out of the view of the cranky policeman sitting in the Lay-Z-Boy in the living room. She was honestly lucky to be able to hold his hand with him seeing.

She tried not to make a sound when she leaned over to sneak a kiss, trying not to laugh as she did so. But knowing you can't laugh, makes one have to laugh all the more. And his reaction was similar, glancing at the crack in the door before he kissed her back. She opened one eye to subtly let the door close a bit more with her telekinetic touch to give them privacy, Hopper not noticing as he drank a beer with his favorite show on the television.

El loved kissing her boyfriend. It was still odd for her to have one, but she adored Mike, if that wasn't obvious already. She hoped he liked her as much as she liked him.

They parted for a moment, their backs against her bedroom wall as they sat atop her quilt. Her eyes went wide when she remembered something. "I read in a magazine that using your tongue when you kiss is really hot. I don't know what 'hot' means but I want to try," she said innocently with her hand on his shoulder, snuggled up like bunnies.

He frowned. That sounded gross to him but his desperation to please her with basically everything made him say, "Uh... sure..." but when he leaned over to awkwardly kiss her again, both of them recoiled from what they attempted to do and said "ew" basically in unison, spitting and rubbing their mouths as if they ate something gross.

This was a bad time for Jim to glance in their direction and he shouted, "Hey!" in a scolding tone as he clambered from his chair to go to the door, flinging it open as the two love birds shot away from each other to look as if they were doing two different things, as casual as ever.

"Hey, what's up?" Mike asked him with a comic book on his lap.

El laughed but put her hand over her mouth.

Hopper kept a deadpan look before rolling his eyes and leaving the room, but keeping the door cracked three inches like they promised.

But if Hop had his way he'd remove the door entirely when Mike came over...

Eleven and Mike looked at each other when Jim was gone and chuckled at what just went down. El even got back up and they sat where they were sitting before, mostly out of view of her protective father. She cuddled up to Mike and rested her head on his shoulder, looking at the comic he had open still. "Who... is that?" she asked curiously, not seeing this particular character before.

"Oh. That's Batman. He's pretty cool. He's mine and Dustin's favorite," he explained with an interested tone, a smile on his face. He flipped through a couple pages. "He's a vigilante and doesn't have any superpowers but he's got the coolest gadgets... and car," he added with a chuckle before looking back at her.

She smiled back, thinking his rambling was cute. She liked to listen to him talk to her, no matter what it was about. She didn't know what to say back about Batman, but she widened her eyes slightly and said, "I like Spider-Man."

"Really? Why?" he asked with an intrigued grin.

"I think he is cute," she blurted out.

"Ew," he replied with a scowl but still amused at her answer.

"Right. I mean... ew," she agreed, nodding along as she regretted saying that to him. Was she incorrect to think this way or was it because he was a boy so he didn't share her opinions like that? Either way, she pulled her lips to the side and changed the subject. "What movie are you seeing?"

"Day of the Dead. It's a scary movie."

"Ew."

He cracked a laugh at that, showing the wide smile that El loved and since that was contagious, she copied his laugh with one of her own.

They thought they heard Hopper checking on them again, both of them looking over towards the door before making amused faces at each other and relaxing again.

"Speaking of the movie, I should probably meet up with the others. If I'm late I'll never hear the end of it," he said and slid off the bed. "You can keep that tonight. Read it if you want. It's good." He smiled at her sweetly as he adjusted his t-shirt and shorts now that he was standing again.

She frowned a little in thought. "Why would... why would one want to be scared?" she asked curiously as she fixed her brown hair that was now almost shoulder length.

"Oh um... I don't know. I guess it's the adrenaline. Truth be told me and the guys like to make fun of them more than anything," he replied casually.

She nodded but she still didn't understand. "So you like to be scared?"

"No... well yeah... well... I don't really know how to explain it. Watching a movie is different than... well anything that's happened to us the last couple of years," he said truthfully, glancing around at the room as he saw the watch he gave her when they first met.

"I don't think I would like it," she said, now holding her pillow on her lap as she played with the pillowcase.

"Yeah, I don't think horror would be your genre," he added. "But maybe we can watch that new Back to the Future movie here when it's on video," he suggested with a smile. "It's supposed to be awesome."

She looked down, her mood melancholy.

"What's wrong?" he asked with his brows tugged together, puzzled.

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(track: "After Sarah" by Kyle Dixon)

She contemplated how to put what she was thinking about into words. "Do you think I will ever not be afraid anymore?" she asked slowly and then looked up at him.

His eyes turned concerned. "W-what do you mean? You're the bravest person I know. No one else could ever do what you did—I mean you saved everyone in Hawkins and possibly the world last year," he told her as he sat back down on the edge of her bed.

"I was afraid the whole time. I am still afraid. Sometimes I get dreams... bad dreams. And it's like I am back there again."

"...In the lab?" he asked with hesitation.

Her gaze was on the quilt as she thought about it, not answering him.

His expression showed incredible sympathy and he scooted back to pull her into his arms in order to comfort her.

She gladly rested against his chest and chin and hung her arm around his waist. "I am sorry that I'm making you late," she said sheepishly.

"What? No, don't be. That doesn't matter. I'm... I just want you to be happy and feel safe. I mean... that guy was a shithead who did that stuff to you and he's gone now—and Nancy worked her ass off to get that whole lab shut down so it's gone too." He looked down at the comic on the bed as he spoke. "You know why you don't have to be scared?"

She waited for his answer as she looked up at him with sweet and sad eyes.

"You're a superhero. Which means no matter what gets thrown your way, you'll win. Plus you have us. I don't think I'm the only one who would take a bullet for you."

She frowned. "I don't want that to happen," she said with confusion.

He chuckled. "Ah—no it's like a metaphor... nevermind. The point is; you single handedly beat back a city sized shadow monster from another dimension. Anything that would try to harm you would have to compete with that," he said truthfully.

That made her feel better. It was true. She was capable. And she would have to find a way to battle the fears of her past the same way.

But for now, all she was thinking about was Mike and how sweet he was to comfort her despite the other members of their friend group probably waiting on him. She felt so lucky to have met him. Where would she have been if she didn't?

"If I were you I would be more scared of what Hopper is gonna do if I'm here past eight," he added with a chuckle.

She smiled widely, letting out just the hint of a giggle. "He might start booby trapping the cabin from you," she added with humor in her tone.

He chuckled again.

Jim rolled his eyes. They didn't say that very quietly...

"Oh don't forget your radio," El said when Mike was getting ready to go and she hopped off the bed to hand it to him.

"Oh yeah, thanks." He took it with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded with a grin, excited for that.

He closed the space between them in order to give her a hug, her arms gladly returning it as she clung to him, his hugs such a comforting thing to her. She liked them very much. She took in the smell of the cologne she gave him for his birthday (Hop helped her pick it out but trying to find a suitable gift took them over a month until Joyce stepped in to help...), now a scent she loved because it belonged to him, as she enjoyed the hug until they parted.

He gave her a kiss on the cheek that caused butterflies to leap around in El's stomach and a shy grin to appear on her lips as he turned to leave, passing the old fart in the chair and wishing him a goodnight as well before exiting through the creaky cabin door.

El sighed with joy in her heart before lying down on her bed again to take in the night she had.

Mike felt much the same way but something else was on his mind as well and that was trying to bike as fast as he could to the mall so as to not keep his friends waiting any longer.

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(track: "Starcourt" by Kyle Dixon)

Starcourt was busy with Friday night activity. Teens and young adults were everywhere, eating in the food court, shopping at various different stores, playing at the arcade, seeing movies, and forming their usual friend cliques all over the place, talking and laughing as they drowned out the music on the speakers.

Lucas was pacing back and forth near the entrance, Will sitting against the granite base that held a palm tree as he kept his eyes out for a familiar face.

"I knew it. I knew he would be late," Lucas said, tossing his hands up in defeat as he stopped pacing.

"Lucas, it's fine. Going in after the lights are off will help us be sneakier," Max told him, her arms folded over her chest. All three teens were wearing high waisted shorts of different styles and color, with shirts that sported a lot of stripes. "Besides, you hate previews."

"At this point, we're missing the first ten minutes," he replied.

"Maybe we can see the later showing," Will suggested.

"No. I have to be up early tomorrow to meet my stupid sister," Max complained.

Both boys looked at her with confusion. "You have a sister?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," she replied but it sounded almost like a question, wondering why they cared.

"How come you never mentioned that?"

"'Cause I don't like her," she answered plainly with a shrug. "She didn't want to leave her life in California when we all moved here so she stayed with my dad but she's decided to come here now... for some reason—so my mom wants me up to welcome her at like nine in the morning so..."

"Why don't you like her?" Will asked innocently.

"I don't know she's girly and annoying and fake—can we talk about something else?"

"How about we talk about all the smooching Mike's probably been doing with his true love," Lucas said in a mocking tone, his volume louder than normal.

"Very funny," Mike commented when he walked up towards them. "You don't hear me talking about what you and Max do in the back of Mrs. Byers' car," he gave them a look.

"Wait what?" Will said with sudden interest.

"Kissing! It was just kissing," Lucas defended in an animated way, wanting to desperately make that clear.

"So?!" Will said with disgust.

Mike was already laughing to himself.

"Okay, it was one time," Max cut in and smacked Mike on the arm.

"Ow," he complained.

"Oh and another for being late," she added before doing it again.

"Hey, El wasn't feeling well. No offense but helping my girlfriend feel better was more important than a dumb movie," he said as they began to walk through the food court.

"Oh is that what you're calling it now?" Lucas remarked with a snicker as he caught up.

"Grow up," Mike said with a scowl.

"'Oh El, I wish we could make out forever and never spend any time with any of our friends!'," he said in a mocking tone.

"I think that's a 'no' to the growing up," Max commented over her shoulder.

Lucas gaped with offense as the group continued to argue all the way to Scoops Ahoy.

They entered the sailor themed ice cream shop and went straight to the front of the line, ringing the bell to get someone's attention.

A girl with short brown hair and blonde highlights in a sailor's uniform, turned around, her expression immediately looking annoyed as she put her hand on her hip and sighed. "Hey dingus, your children are here," she called with attitude.

Steve Harrington (in a matching uniform) came to the front and gave the teens a deadpan look. "Really? Again?"

"Yeah and we're kind of in a hurry," Max told him.

"Don't even get me started," Lucas commented before being elbowed by Wheeler.

"Fine, come on," Steve gave in, passing by his silently judgmental coworker as the four teens lifted the counter to follow him to the back.

Steve opened the door there that led to the hallway where they would receive deliveries and Mike, Lucas, Will, and Max passed him by to head down the corridor.

Harrington shouted to them, "Hey I hope you know if I get caught—"

"We're dead!" they replied almost all at the same exact time.

He rolled his eyes and shut the door.

The teens made their way down the hall and to the door into the back of the movie theater, looking both ways before heading into the dark room, noticing the previews just ended but they made it in time for the film. Relieved, they quickly and quietly found spots, no one really concerned about their choice of entry as they sat down at the back.

They passed around some snacks from Will's backpack after getting comfortable.

"Is this your first rated R film?" Lucas whispered to his girlfriend.

Max shook her head. "You?"

"Oh definitely not," he said as if he changed his answer after hearing hers.

"Are you lying?" she asked plainly.

"Yep."

She smiled with amusement at him. "Well you can hold my hand if you get too scared," she said, slightly mocking but in a joking way. "Oh and it's not rated R. It's unrated. Worse than R."

"Oh... great," he said slightly nervously.

She kept a humorous smile as she watched him and went ahead and took his hand before watching the opening to the film.

"You know, I would tell you the risks of letting groups of kids sneak into the back of a stall but I feel like the words would go right through that big head of yours," Steve's coworker told him.

"Sh—Robin—don't say 'kids' and 'sneak into the back' in the same sentence. I'd like to keep this job a little longer," Steve replied as he tried and failed to reset the cash register.

"Oh why, because you are just so good at it?" she said while watching what he was doing.

"You know this thing is broken," he snapped back.

She looked out at some highschool graduates coming this way. "Oh, you're up, Harrington. I have yet to experience the smoothness you talk so much about so I'll just observe," she said as she backed up to let him take the counter.

He looked up at the three young women who came up to order. "Hey there ladies, what can I get yuh?" Steve said in a nonchalant fashion as he lazily leaned against the counter.

"Two single scoop chocolate cones and one mint chocolate chip," the blonde at the front of the group said plainly, not giving him a second glance.

"Alright, sure," he said in a bored tone and tried to be smooth with his scoop but ended up dropping it, Robin raising her brows as she watched this train wreck.

"Uh—sorry I actually..." he stammered and tossed the scoop that was now dirty in order to get a new one and a cone. He got their orders prepared and when he rang them up, the two at the back went over to a table as the blonde stayed to pay with cash.

"So that will be three sixty," he told her. "Or maybe just your number," he offered with a smirk and a wink, leaning forward on the cash register a bit to be casual.

She stared at him with wide eyes before saying, "Here's three sixty," and handing him the exact amount before leaving with her ice cream.

He took it with a frustrated look, feeling embarrassment sweep over him again as he turned to see Robin with a white board, one side saying "you rule" and the other saying "you suck". There were five tally marks already under the "you suck" and she gave him another with her marker. "Looks like you are o-and-six Harrington. Your reputation is positively pummetting," she said in a mocking tone, knowing how the King of Hawkins High cared too much for his glorious reputation.

"Yeah well it doesn't help that this stupid hat is ruining my best feature," he complained as he gestured to his sailor's cap.

"I don't think company policy is to blame for this one, chief."

"You know when did this stop working? Girls would go crazy for my pretending-to-not-care method. Now it's just gettin' me nowhere."

"That's because girls eventually grow up and realize that they want men who aren't pretentious douchebags," she said with her somewhat thick brows raised before putting the chart away.

"Hey I'm not a douchebag I just acted like that to get girls—and now that I'm saying that out loud it does sound kind of douchey," he interrupted himself with a mutter of self doubt, his expression complimenting his tone.

"Well here's a crazy idea. How about the next cute girl that comes in here, you just tell her the truth and act like yourself?" she suggested with an attitude that implied it was an impossible thing for him to do.

"No. I'm not gonna—" he started but when he looked over his shoulder he saw another beautiful girl come in and he shrugged. "Okay, fine. I'll try your method," he "gave in" and took off his hat to talk to her.

She came up alone, her brown curly hair pulled back in a scrunchy as she read the menu.

"If you ask me the only good thing here is the strawberry," he commented honestly as he hung his hand over the register.

"Oh I'm actually allergic to strawberries," she replied. "So I'll probably just get the cookie sundae."

"Oh, well if I'm being honest I don't think they use real strawberries—I mean they probably have some sugary syrup with imitation flavors in it, not to mention the ice cream's probably made in massive vats in a factory and frozen for years before mass shipment—n-not that that is... for sure I mean. I—I love the ice cream here. It's great... except that one time I found a hair in it. But I think that was my own. I mean look at this mane," he rambled on as Robin already put a mark down under the "you suck" section of Steve's flirtation chart. "Not that I get my hair in the ice cream here in the bins—I'm very careful I..." he said as he tried to get the register to reset again but it wouldn't. "Well when things actually want to work," he added with frustration. "I-I'm sorry what did you want again?" He looked up to see Robin filling out the order and handing it to the woman. "Here you go," she said. "It's on us."

"Wha—we can't give that stuff away," Steve told her after the girl left.

"Yeah I know. You're paying for it, dingus," she told him. "That way when they fire you they won't say 'because you told our customers we have hair in our ice cream'."

"I'm sorry I panicked, you said 'be honest' and just forgot how to do that for a moment."

"Have you ever considered that might be your problem? Walking around trying to be cool instead of just embracing who you are?"

"We just saw who I am, do you want to see that again?"

"Good point. How about we just focus on the ice cream from now on?" she said and handed him his hat back.

He rolled his eyes and took his hat back. "You know I'm beginning to think it's you," he remarked with his eyebrows lifted.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. You're my cooler. I mean girls see you looking at me like a disappointed mother while I try to flirt and it turns them off."

"Well then it's a good thing it's my last day. I'll just tell the new girl tomorrow to keep tabs on the chart for me to see the proof of your epic skills in my absence," she said with sarcasm.

He couldn't help but snicker as he looked away to take someone's order. "Why are you even exchanging a job here for a job at Family Video? Isn't everything in that area going out of business?" he told her as she got the soft serve machine running for their customer.

"Until Starcourt gets a place to rent movies, no, it's not. But both of their workers quit to work here so they need people and it pays more. Plus it's closer to my apartment and that will be less gas money."

"So Veronica dipped, didn't she?" he asked as he took the customer's money to put in the register.

"Yep. And I gotta find a roommate to replace her soon or I'll have to move back in with my mom."

"Hm. Yeah I hear that. Part of me wishes I could help yuh out but after car payments, insurance, and buying food I'm left with about three cents, which is awesome. Definitely love working here where I make a dollar an hour," he exaggerated.

"Get a cheaper car," she suggested.

"Dude. No, my car's awesome," he said like he was offended.

She rolled her eyes but chuckled a little and got back to work on another order.

Mike, Lucas, Max, and Will watched the movie with intense interest. And when Lucas almost jolted out of his seat from a jump scare, Max tried her best not to crack up too loud as she put her hand over her mouth.

Mike thought the movie would be better. He was just counting all the inaccuracies of the film the whole time. Max was just enjoying the adrenaline from the film while her boyfriend tried to hold in his dinner.

Will was hyper focused on the story but as he continued to watch... he began to feel uncomfortable, the mood of the film bringing back memories he long buried that only resurfaced when provoked...

Wheeler frowned at the film and just when he was about to lean over and whisper to Max about something, he saw Will at the end of their group get up and run from the theater.

Pulling his brows together, he told the other two he'd be right back and left their row to go up to where his friend disappeared to.

Outside the theater door he saw Will leaning against the wall trying to calm down.

"Whoa, hey, are you okay?" Mike asked with sudden concern.

"Uh... yeah... sorry," he lied as he nodded and tried to smooth out his breathing.

"Do you want us to leave?" he asked, not even really caring about the movie anymore.

"No, it's fine. I just..." he trailed off as his eyes stayed ahead of him, thinking about what to say.

"I know..." Mike admitted, realizing that anything like this could always cause his trauma to come back and maybe even coming here to see a horror movie was insensitive of them. "I was honestly surprised you wanted to come see it when we were deciding what to do this weekend."

"It's just what everyone wanted to do," he said with a shrug. "And it makes sense. I mean everyone else does stuff like this and it's totally fine."

"I don't know, I think Lucas was about to blow chunks," Mike commented honestly.

He chuckled at that but then shook his head. "My point is... am I ever going to be normal again? I mean I'm sick of it. When's it going to stop?"

He didn't know what to say. It was something he didn't have much knowledge in. "...Have you considered seeing a therapist or something?"

"Yeah how am I supposed to do that when I can't tell them anything that happened?"

He looked down, unable to know what to say to that because he had a point. "...Well... how about no more scary movies for a while?" he suggested.

Will thought about it and nodded, grateful for Mike doing that for him. But he still didn't like it. He wanted them to be able to do what they wanted and for them to do things together...

Before they could say anything else, Lucas and Max came through the door. "I told you you shouldn't have eaten all those Milk Duds," Max told him as her boyfriend ignored them to run towards the closest restroom.

She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "I'm dating a marshmallow."

Mike and Will began to chuckle at that...

Nancy Wheeler opened her eyes to the sunlight coming in through the old cream colored curtains that moved slightly from the breeze. She lifted an arm only to realize both of them were wrapped around her boyfriend Jonathan Byers, as he slept facing the window. She smiled warmly and pressed her face against his back, tightening her hug around his waist. He was only in his boxers and she was only in a t-shirt of his.

As she started to become more conscious, she wondered why it was so light out when it—

She opened her eyes and shot up, looking over at Jonathan's digital clock that read: 7:42.

"Shit!" she cursed and shook Jonathan awake before jumping out of his bed to look for her undergarments.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(song: "Just Another Day" by Oingo Boingo)

He muttered and looked up at her with a tired face, his hair matted. "What's wrong?" he asked with as much concern as he could.

"We slept through the alarm," she told him quickly as she threw off her t-shirt in order to put on her bra and underwear.

"Oh dammit—" He realized what time it was and sprung from the bed only for his top sheet to cause him to faceplant clumsily onto his floor.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Yep," he answered from the other side of the bed where she couldn't see him.

Joyce Byers looked behind her when Will wandered from his room to the kitchen in a t-shirt and pajama pants, his hair not brushed as the light from the windows hurt his eyes a bit. "Hey, what are you doing up so early? I thought you guys went out last night."

"We didn't stay out as late as we planned," is all he told her as he came to the counter to pull some bread from the bread keeper.

"Want some eggs?" she asked as she scrambled some over the stove.

"Yeah thanks," he replied as he turned on the toaster.

Jonathan stumbled from his room after Nancy left out of his bedroom window to meet him in the car. He came through the kitchen to grab a banana.

"Wow, you okay? You look like you had a rough night," his mother teased, knowing everything already.

"Uh, yeah I just couldn't sleep..."

"Is that lipstick on your cheek—?"

"Uh gotta go!" he said as he was already out the door and he shut it behind him.

She smirked to herself as she continued to make breakfast.

"Ew," Will commented.

"You won't think it's 'ew' when you fall in love," she replied.

"Yeah like that's gonna happen," he muttered to himself out loud instead of in his head like he meant to do.

"What kind of talk is that?" she scolded him.

"Nothing, forget I said anything," he dismissed it.

Joyce went back to cooking but she felt bad...

"What took you so long?" Nancy asked Jonathan when he got in his car.

"What? I almost ran from the house in my underwear," he said back as he started the engine and began to pull out of the driveway.

"Hm, knowing Chloe she probably would have promoted you," she joked as she brushed her shoulder length hair. She was in a cute but professional knee length dress made of denim that complimented her complexion well. She spent hours picking it out yesterday while Jonathan was less helpful in helping her decide because he kept saying she looked good in everything.

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a chuckle as they drove.

"Jonathan, are you kidding me? Everyone knows she hates me and loves you."

"She does not hate you," he argued.

"Last time I went into her office she just told me to close the door on the way out."

"That's... okay that's kind of funny—"

"Jonathan!" she scolded.

"What—I... but it was also rude! I'm just saying," he defended with animated hand gestures.

She tried to keep a smile from forming on her lips as she rolled her eyes. "Not to mention her husband also prefers you even after I made a very intelligent comment about last week's game and all you said was 'go sports'."

"Wait, are you mad people like me? Because it's taken me twenty years to get to that point, I think I deserve some credit—"

"I liked you before you were cool, do I get credit?" she joked.

He smirked and poked her rib cage with annoyance as she recoiled with an involuntary giggle while she tried to be angry. "Not while you're driving!" she said with an amused smile. "And no of course I'm not mad that they like you... but... is it just petty of me to wish they liked me too?" she asked a bit sheepishly.

"No, of course not. And if they don't then screw 'em. You're an amazing reporter..." he said as he passed by the turn off for Hawkins Lab. "There's the proof right there."

She smiled softly as she looked where he had gestured, thinking about it before looking at him. "Couldn't have done it without you, though," she said honestly.

A smile pulled at his lips as they drove, silence taking them again.

"Ha, I got you to blush—"

"Shut up!" he argued in embarrassment as she just laughed.

The cab took Emily Mayfield down an unfamiliar drive, the sun making patterns on the car as it drove under bright green trees that lined the road. It was beautiful here, there wasn't any denying it. But part of her would miss seeing the ocean...

That being said, she looked forward to seeing her mother and her sister Max again, not seeing either of them for about a year and not very much since the divorce about ten years ago...

Part of her would miss aspects of California, but at the same time, going to a new place was always exciting for her. Even if it was seemingly in the middle of nowhere in a small cramped house. She'd missed her mom, though. And she was hopeful for her relationship with Maxine, even if they didn't get along in the past. It had been a while since they'd seen each other and she hoped to put it all behind and turn over a new leaf.

She was also slightly nervous to meet new people and was wondering what everyone would think of her. Her reputation back in California was one in the making for a while. And starting fresh was a big thing. She was grateful that at least high school was over. Being a new kid there would be a recipe for a bad reputation—She stopped herself from thinking that, reminding herself that this was a time to start over and not care what other people thought of her... no matter how scary that sounded. This wasn't the time and place to be "popular Emily". It was a time to just try and be herself.

The car at last pulled into the driveway of the modest white paneled home in a lower income part of town. The house seemed like it was taken care of on the outside despite its modesty, no doubt the work of her mother. And when she got out of the cab she paid the driver and he was nice enough to help her unload her luggage from the back.

"Emily!" the familiar voice of Susan Hargrove (Emily's mother) got her attention.

She looked up to see her coming outside with a huge grin on her face, ready to give her daughter a welcoming hug as Emily's stepfather came out behind her and Max stood on the porch.

Her face lit up when she heard her mom call out her name. Emily ran to her and gave her a big hug as she smiled. "I'm so happy to see you guys again!" she practically squealed.

"We missed you too! Didn't we, Maxine?" she asked over her shoulder after they parted.

Max just kept a plain look on her face and forced a fake smile to "answer" her mother's question.

"How have you been? What's new? Did your hairdresser get that thing off her back?" Emily rambled quickly. "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Mrs. Hargrove laughed. "Let's get your luggage inside and catch up!" she said with a wide smile as her husband came to give Emily a side hug and help her with her bags as well.

When they piled through the door, Emily was the last one to pass Max on the porch. She put her bag down to say, "Hey Maxine!" and gave her a hug that Max definitely didn't consent to.

"It's Max," she corrected her while being squished.

"Oh, right. Your nickname," she thudded herself on the head. "Hey, how's the new school?" she asked with interest after parting from her.

"It's... fine," Max replied as she glanced to her left, not really caring for conversing.

"We should go spend some time together with Mom! I heard there was a new mall here! We could go shopping!"

She forced a "polite" smile but didn't respond.

"Girls, shut the door! Flies are getting in!" Susan called to them, interrupting their uncomfortable conversation as they both went back inside.

"How are you and your boyfriend doing with long distance?" Emily's mother asked her as she sat a plate of freshly made scrambled eggs in front of her with some bacon and toast. The four of them sat around the kitchen table to eat together.

A nervousness went through Emily. "W-well Jake and I broke up before I left... It didn't work out," is all she said about it.

"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. Breakups are hard," she replied as she sat to eat her own plate of breakfast. "But I guess it would make cutting your ties easier in order to start life in a new town. Have you thought about what you're going to do here at all? College or job?" she asked curiously.

"I definitely want to go to college but I'm going to start with a job to save money for it. Maybe at the mall, like a shoe store or—"

"Well... I saw a 'now hiring' sign in the window of the Family Video down the street," Mr. Hargrove commented.

'Psh, yeah 'cause they're going out of business,' Max thought to herself as she merely listened to the conversation as she ate but didn't participate.

"Oh," Emily said with forced enthusiasm. "That would be... good," she said.

"Margaret's son used to work there. I think they said it was a pretty decent job with good pay," Susan said. "It would be a nice start until you decide what career path to choose."

"Yeah..." she replied. She didn't really have a plan. She sort of chucked those out the window when she decided to move and make more realistic choices. She would either have to settle into a boring desk job or marry someone who had a boring desk job... maybe even both. She wasn't exactly ready for that. But it was the smartest thing to do...

"Oh, um we put your things in Billy's old room. There's a hole in the wall but Neil's gonna patch that up for you this weekend."

"Where's Billy?" she asked.

"Moved out," Neil answered.

Max snickered. "If that's what you want to call 'living in your car'," she muttered with her headphones half on, leaning back in her seat.

"Hey. No headphones at the table," her mother scolded.

Max rolled her eyes and pulled them off.

"Why doesn't he live here? I don't want to take his room," Emily said with slight guilt.

Her mother was about to speak but Neil cut her off. "No. He said he was leaving. I'm not letting him come crawling back just because he can't handle being an adult," he said surely as he finished his meal.

Emily glanced to her left but didn't say anything...

Max got up just then, her breakfast finished as she took her plate to the sink.

"Maxine? Where are you headed?" Susan asked.

"Dustin's," she answered vaguely as she got her skateboard from her room.

"Oh right," she remembered. "Well have fun dear."

"Thanks," she replied with no emotion as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and left out the door, shutting it well behind her.

Susan pulled her lips to one side before looking at Emily. "She'll come around," she reassured her.

Emily half smiled, trying to not be upset. She grabbed her plate and put it in the sink before she went to go unpack.

The sudden opening of El's door woke her earlier than she wanted, the sun doing the same as it shone from her window curtains.

"Hey kid, I got a breakfast surprise for yuh before I head off to work," Hopper said with a smile, an excited look on his face before he ducked out again.

El moved her head to look at the door, wondering what he could have for her but also a bit bummed that she couldn't sleep in, tired from tossing and turning last night thinking about her boyfriend and getting butterflies, not an unusual thing for her lately.

She came out when she had brushed her messy hair and was dressed in some comfy jeans and a baggy t-shirt, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. But that's when she saw something they hadn't had in a long time: a triple decker Eggo extravaganza.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "A Kiss" by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein)

Her eyes went wide as she went over to the small table they always sat at to eat, where he had two plates ready for them. When she took a seat, she looked up at her father. "It's not my birthday," she said slowly, making that sound like a question almost.

"I know," he said with a shrug. "I just uh, thought it would be a nice Saturday treat."

She was happy and smiled at him but hesitated when looking at the plate of waffles and whipped cream, garnished with chocolate candy.

"Don't tell me you don't like Eggos anymore," he said with confusion as he sat across from her.

"L-last time I ate them I got a little tummy sick," she said honestly.

"Oh," he said with a little disappointment.

"But it looks... really good," she added with her eyes wide, not being able to resist as she leaned forward and took a couple waffles off the top of the stack and reminded herself to use a fork when she ate it, unlike she did the first few times...

He grinned ear to ear at that reaction, glad that a few things stayed the same. He began to munch on the diabetes dessert stack as well, disregarding the diet he was on for a moment to enjoy this meal with his daughter like old times. Besides, he had lost a good amount of weight so he considered it a treat.

"So I uh... I'm thinking we can order a pizza tonight when we watch—after you get back from the Hendersons'," Jim said.

She stopped chewing as her eyes went a bit wide. Uh-oh. "Oh, um... I actually have plans with Mike tonight. He's going to teach me how to play Atar-eye."

He was confused and the disappointed face came back. "Didn't you guys just hang out last night?"

She looked down sheepishly. Truth be told she always preferred hanging with Mike than anything else she could do. But that didn't mean she didn't love spending time with Hop. "W-we just want to spend time together before school starts. B-but we can tape Miami Vice and watch it tomorrow... with pizza... Compromise?"

He nodded. "Right, yeah. I'll see if I can get off work early," he decided, his tone a little less than pleased.

"Cool," she said casually before going back to eating.

"And I think it's called 'Atari'," he added.

She looked up at him with a mouthful of waffle and whipped cream on her face.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(song: "Talking In Your Sleep" by The Romantics)

"Opening shift. Of course they give me an opening shift the morning after a closing shift," Steve mumbled in complaint as he walked from the parking lot into the newly opened Starcourt.

"Nice outfit, Sally," someone told him when they walked by.

"Yeah? Aren't you the chicken suit guy from outside KFC? You really wanna go there?" Steve threatened before continuing to go inside, shaking his head. "I might be envious of Robin now," he said to himself, knowing she didn't have to put on a ridiculous uniform to work.

Going down to the first floor, he went over to the Scoops Ahoy booth to find the lights were already on. His manager was there with a girl Steve's age. A ginger who seemed small in stature but not in spunk, and more than capable of filling Robin's shoes, though he didn't know this yet.

She also had shorter hair like Robin's. But hers was a color brown that told you she had blonde hair as a baby, along with dyed ombre ends of a slight red color, though it wasn't too noticeable. She also had a face of freckles, her blue eyes popping against the sailor uniform that matched Steve's.

"Oh, hey Harrington I want you to meet your trainee," Mr. Rockford told him when he waved him over.

As Steve approached, his manager gestured to the girl. "This is Caitlyn—

"Katherine," she corrected.

"Whatever. She's already had scooping experience so you don't need to teach her that," he said as if this was a hard job.

"Really? You have a degree?" Steve played along jokingly.

"No," she replied with the same tone.

"I mean I'm a pro so it might take you a bit to get up to my level," he said as if being modest.

"Well, at least you're humble about it," she responded plainly as if serious.

"Yeah I'm really good at that."

She smirked with amusement.

"Alright save the flirting for when I leave, please," the manager said with a careless attitude as he pulled out a cigarette. "I'm gonna go find some lonely college women and drink until I hate myself. No sex on the table. See yuh," he said and turned to leave as he lit his cig.

Steve's eyes were wide as his lips were pulled inward, taking in what he just heard for a moment as Katherine seemed to make a similar expression.

"He seems really professional," she finally said.

"Yeah..."

"So what was your name again?"

"Oh-uh, Steve. King Steve. Steve 'the hair' Harrington, whatever you prefer," he said, attempting to be cool.

"Hmm... How about Steve 'try hard' Harrington?" she quipped.

"Wait what?" he replied cluelessly.

"Nothing. You can call me Kat. So show me around?" she responded, getting down to business.

He was taken aback but blinked a couple of times. "Yeah, sure." He took her to the front. "So, here's where the sausage is made," he said but then doubled down. "Well... not literally. It's just ice cream."

She nodded and looked at the different flavors.

"These are all the ice creams and the scoops are here, uh dry toppings here, drizzles here," he said as he gestured accordingly. "The main thing besides serving customers is refilling, cleaning... and I started that like it was going to be three things," he realized.

She smirked. "You're good on your feet, aren't you?" she teased.

"Yeah, can't you tell?" he said like it was actually true.

She held back a chuckle and then added, "So what else do you do here on a daily basis?" Taking in how this place worked wasn't hard. Everything was pretty straight forward to her, making note of everything pretty fast.

"Other than listening to Robin talk about goth poetry? Sitting and wishing the day was over, mostly."

"Goth poetry huh? Seems cool," she said, making small talk. "Robin? Is she another coworker? And I'm assuming a girl you're friends with as well?" she added in a different tone.

"Yeah if you like depressing literature that makes you wanna tear your hair out from boredom," he joked as he got an order for a customer as he talked to her. "Wha—well I mean if you like to read that's cool I'm not saying that reading is somehow stupid or that—uh," he stumbled over his words as he got cash back for the customer, embarrassing himself like he did all the time... When did he become such a dork?

He finished with the customer and turned to Kat. "Uh and Robin, no she's not a friend she's like an ex colleague with benefits—uh no. I mean colleagues who benefit from... the fact that... we're also friends. Loosely friends. Mostly colleagues," he waved it off with a humorous looking expression before ducking into the back room... only to pop his head out again to say, "I mean I'm not into her or anything. Like I just want to make that clear because—I uh... yep," he finished and left again. He made a face at himself, cringing at whatever that was. As he passed by the whiteboard Robin had been keeping score on, he told it to shut up as if he was talking to her.

Kat was just left with an expression of confusion as she took that in and blinked a couple of times. She wondered how he could seem so smooth one moment and a total babbling mess the next. It made her wonder what was going on inside that head of his.

But for now she went on, looking over the menus above her head to analyze all of the different options and lock them into her brain. "So what other friends do you have? Or are you the less popular type?" she asked, knowing it would prompt a defensive response.

"Hey I have plenty of friends, alright? Robin, Dustin..." he stopped and hesitated. "Started that like it was going to be at least three," he added, quoting himself from earlier.

"So, not popular. Got it," Kat teased, not really meaning it. But he was too easy to tease.

He realized ever since what happened with the Upside Down, he didn't really hang around his usual crowd, and after that it was hard to find friends that he could confide in besides the ones he "fought with" during all of that chaos. But Jonathan was busy with his new job (plus their rocky history didn't help) and Nancy was his ex so that was still a little weird. And the rest were children...

There were still some people he saw from high school that were okay but he had become quite a loner the past year and Robin was around him a lot this summer so by default he did talk to her more than anyone else...

But he still defended himself. "Okay, okay... I do have more friends than that. But I just haven't had a lot of time to hang out with people this summer, alright? Not with my dad breathing down my neck about my job and getting shit done. If anything, that's the reason. I'm just too much of a man now, you know?" he tossed her a wink, putting on his smoothness again as he went to the back and came out with a paper carton of rainbow sprinkles.

As a twelve year old boy and his dad came in, Kat intercepted Steve to take their order, saying, "Ahoy, how can we help yuh?"

"I'll take a double scoop of triple chocolate on a waffle cone, and a scoop of mint chocolate chip in a cup," he answered.

"Coming right up," she replied and before Steve could instruct her, she grabbed the scoop and a cone and began to fill out the order perfectly.

He watched her with confusion as she gave them their ice cream and worked the register without skipping a beat. "Out of three... and that's fifty cents as your change..." she hovered it over the tip jar questioningly and when they agreed she dropped it in. "Thanks so much and have a nice day!"

She turned around to Steve who she didn't realize was looking at her funny.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. I guess you don't need to shadow much, huh?"

"Oh. Well I looked at everything when I came in. The ice cream flavors are written on the backside here except for the mint but given it's the only green one, it seemed obvious that I was correct in my assumption, and the prices of the ice creams are laid out on the menu as well as the sizes of cups and the protocol seemed pretty straight forward. And as for the 'ahoy' I just thought of that last minute," she said extremely fast.

"Uh... yeah," is all he said.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yeah clearly I was popular too," she mentioned with sarcasm, realizing her missing social skills were showing again before she walked uncomfortably to the back room to check for more mint ice cream since they were running low.

Steve remained there but he smirked to himself and shook his head.

"This is Gold Leader! I repeat: this is Gold Leader! Does anyone copy?" Dustin shouted into the walkie-talkie as he rode in the passenger seat.

He listened for a response but when there wasn't one, he said again, "I repeat this is Gold Leader dammit! Gold Leader—!"

"Dustin!" his mother finally interrupted him from the driver's seat. "What are you doing?"

"They're in range. Why aren't they answering?"

"Did you expect them to be sitting beside their radios waiting for you to talk to them for the whole month?"

"Uh, yes," he answered her like that should have been obvious.

She flattened her lips, not knowing how to reply to that.

They arrived at their house soon enough and Dustin got his science camp duffel bag and his suitcase from the car to lug back into the house with his mother's help. She then left to go take a shower while he unpacked in his room. He looked at his small radio with disappointment before just tossing it to his bed. His friends probably didn't even remember he was coming home today.

As he sat pouting, a noise made him almost jump out of his skin. He looked down at whatever was beeping under his desk and it was a toy robot with wheels on the bottom that was flashing its red lights and rolling right out from under his things.

Another transformer toy that was in car form fell from the shelf and began to drive beside the robot. His eyes went to the toy tank that was doing the same thing, all of them traveling across the carpet of his room and out his door.

His heart was beating fast and he grabbed a familiar can of hairspray that Steve had recommended he get for a cool look.

Creeping out of his door, he followed the toys down the hallway, convinced he was dreaming so he could avoid having a heart attack...

Little did he know there were five very entertained teenagers waiting behind the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

And when Dustin had followed the toys all the way to the living room, Mike tapped Eleven on the shoulder as their signal and she opened her eyes, the toys stopping instantly as she quickly wiped a little blood from her nose with a tissue and glanced over her shoulder with anticipation.

Dustin was still terrified and confused as he ran over to look at the toys and at the wall ahead of him like a monster would come through... again.

But as he did this, the five kids crept up behind him with a banner held ready and on the count of three, they blew horns and shouted welcome home, only for Dustin to scream blue murder and whip around to spray Lucas right in the face.

Everyone dropped the sign and stumbled back with hands over their faces as panic erupted, that not being the reaction anyone expected to get.

"Shit!" Dustin cursed when he realized what he did, dropping the can as Lucas shouted in pain with his hands over his eyes.

"Lucas, are you okay?!" Mike asked.

"Get to the sink!" Max said.

"Okay!" Lucas replied and ran straight into the wall because his eyes were closed and he fell clumsily onto the floor.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Kids" by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein)

"Okay it doesn't look that bad," Will told Lucas to make him feel better after he rinsed his eyes out with water for a solid fifteen minutes.

Lucas kept a glare on his face. "Thanks. That means so much to me after you all laughed for ten minutes straight."

"Hey I didn't laugh," Will defended himself. "I just... chuckled a little."

"Yeah? Mike probably broke a rib from laughing."

"Maybe two," Mike replied with a smirk.

Eleven had a hold of his arm as she tried not to giggle with amusement.

"Oh man I think I bruised my brain," Lucas complained as he rubbed his forehead.

"I would make a joke about not being able to bruise what you don't have but I'll keep it to myself since you got a booboo," Max said with humor in her tone before patting his head and leaving to get another wet rag.

He rolled his eyes, which actually hurt so he put his face back in the sink.

"You guys are the best. I can't believe I was mad at you," Dustin commented with a big grin, ignoring the weird looks he got. "Come on, I'll show you what I made at camp," he added before walking to his room.

Everyone followed Dustin to his room, Lucas still at the sink with his eyes closed, asking for a rag.

When no one responded he asked, "Hello?"

Dustin dropped his duffel on his bed and unzipped it, revealing a whole bag of electronic parts...

He grinned as he looked at everyone but they had blank expressions on their faces. "I feel like I'm supposed to say 'wow' but I'm not sure why," Will said to Max beside him.

"I call it Cerebro! It's an unassembled one-of-a-kind battery powered radio tower. But that's not all. This thing carries a clear connection from north to south pole. Means I can talk to my girlfriend wherever and whenever I choose."

All four kids looked at him at the same time with eyes wider than deer in headlights. "Girlfriend?!" they asked in unison.

A grin spread on his lips.

Lucas was drying his face with a towel in the kitchen when everyone walked by him towards the door with excitement, Dustin carrying his duffel. He looked up with a frown. "Whoa, whoa, where are you guys going?"

"To talk to Dustin's girlfriend!" Max said on her way out.

Lucas's jaw dropped in shock and he threw the towel, heading out to follow them.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(song: "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra)

The sun beat down on the public pool in Hawkins, people of all ages swimming, sunbathing and playing volleyball as they enjoyed the refreshingly cool water.

A young woman with long raven black hair and olive skin sat with a modest red bathing suit and whistle around her neck on the lifeguard chair, bored as she watched the activity in the pool. Oh well, it beat other summer jobs.

But not realizing how late it was, she looked up to see the door to the lockers open and Billy Hargrove walk out ready for his shift.

A smirk took her lips and she climbed down to switch with him. As she walked towards him, she took off her sunglasses to reveal her big brown eyes. "Billy," she addressed him as a greeting when they came to a stop.

Billy stared down, starting from her legs before his eyes slowly ascended, appreciating her body before he eventually looked into her dark sunglasses, lowering his suggestively. "Heather," he said with a bright mischievous smirk.

She felt a little electricity in her veins when he said her name. But she kept that away from her expression as she remained cool. Glancing towards the pool, she said, "Not a lot of trouble makers for a Saturday." With her hand on her hip, she looked back at him with intent. "Let me know if you get bored up there," she said from under her lashes, eyeing his toned figure with admiration.

"No trouble, no fun. We'll stir some up when I'm done herding these airheads around." He winked with a last scanning glance and smiled before strutting toward the lifeguard chair.

She remained there as a smile formed on her lips. Glancing over her shoulder, she also looked him up and down one last time before keeping a smirk on her face as she went to change.

Billy's attention was held by the disappearing figure of Heather as he sat atop the tall chair, offering him a resplendent view. He bit his lip in anticipation, already scheming of the many things he wanted to do with his coworker.

From beyond the building and over the fenceline, Will, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Eleven, and Max rode along the sidewalk into view and Billy's expression shifted into a visage of discomfort and anger while his hand rubbed harshly against the right side of his neck. He had almost forgotten to breathe, allowing a single breath to escape his lungs. He cleared his throat and his senses came flooding back to him, the sound of some children roughhousing in the deep end capturing his attention. The young man took his whistle to his lips but in the scuffle, he saw the larger boy hold the smaller one under the water and rather than blow that whistle, he opted to watch, letting them continue their fight.

Joyce slightly hummed to herself as she stuck on another label to mark some toilet paper as "on sale" as she remained alone in Melvald's General Store, lost in her own world that the only thing that brought her out of it was the door opening, almost startling her. But she looked up to see it was only Hopper. Her face lit up as he just looked around in slight confusion. "Uh... you open?"

"Yep. And you're our first customer of the day," she said back as she continued to label items.

He took off his hat as he walked in a bit more. "Geez... it's practically deserted out here."

"A lot of small businesses are losing profits because of Starcourt. It's made my job somewhat..."

"Boring as hell?" he said with his brows raised.

"Essentially." She shrugged.

"Well now you know how I felt going from big city cop to small town cop," he remarked as he walked to where she was working, lingering as he looked at the stuff on the shelves.

She noticed his odd behavior and somewhat random appearance at her store, questioning with a, "You okay?" before taping another price tag onto some paper towels.

"Actually... uh... no it's El. I could use some... advice," he said, swallowing his pride.

His nervous mannerisms made her skeptical as to what he was about to ask her. But she was open to help. "What's going on?"

"Well it's her and Mike... I mean... he's over all the time and every boundary we set is pushed just a little more each time—I don't know what to do. It's like they think doing stuff behind my back is funny and it's making me not want Mike around—he's a bad influence on her. They just spend a weird amount of time together."

"Well, Hop, they're teenagers and in love, I mean it's gonna be like that for a little while. And besides, they're just kissing right?" she asked in a lower voice.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Boys and Girls" by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein)

He stared blankly, as if not really thinking of what she was implying and there was actual panic in his eyes. "Oh no I'm gonna have to give her the talk, aren't I?" he said with stress as he rubbed his hair back on his head. "It's hot in here," he breathed nervously.

"'The talk', Hopper?" She asked, giving him a look.

"The talk, Joyce. The talk. The one every parent dreads having with their kid at some point. My dad had it with me when I was ten—"

"Ten?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah he was a great dad—back to my problem," he cut her off as he paced back and forth before sitting against a floor shelf. "This is whole new terrain. Everything is different and it's terrible. What am I going to do, Joyce?"

"Okay, Hop, you're being a little dramatic," she said with exhaustion. "I don't think Mike and El are going to do anything concerning but if you have to talk to them I would suggest giving them a valid reason as to why you might be concerned and—"

"No, no, no they don't listen to that they just call it bullshit and rebel—"

"Not yelling at them. Not fighting with them. Just explain as if you are on their level, and state what boundaries must be set and that there could be a punishment if it's not met. Like Mike isn't allowed to come over if they don't keep the door open," she suggested.

"Yeah? What about when she leaves? When she's allowed to go out there and some idiot boy is going to want to do things and she goes along with it?" he panicked.

She looked at him, done with this. "What do you want from me, Hopper?"

"How about you talk to her?" he suggested, just now thinking of that.

She scowled. "What—no I'm not—"

"Yeah you're a girl and she's a girl and you can talk to her about... the... secret uh... garden and its forbidden fruits?" he said with a frown, scrambling like an idiot.

Joyce stared at him for a while and blinked. "Are you sure your father had the talk with you or did he just read you Genesis?"

He stood up with frustration. "Look, this stuff just isn't my territory. Can you please help me out and talk to her?"

"No, Hopper. She's your daughter. I can't do that. But... if you want I can help you figure out what to say, alright? Because I don't want you to ever say the words 'forbidden fruits' again."

He sighed. "Yeah me neither."

She got up to go to the counter, finding some paper to write down notes. As she rummaged through the desk, she looked outside, spotting some black SUVs driving hastily through the town. Her brows tugged together at that sight and for a moment her attention was drawn to those cars before Hopper got her attention again, saying, "How about I just lock the door and don't give Mike a key?"

She gave him that look again and a small amused smile slowly crept across his mouth, forcing a grin from her too as she rolled her eyes and they both began to work on these notes.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Hopper Sneaks In" by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein)

The three SUVs drove down through Hawkins and then took a familiar road off into the woods, the tires kicking dry dirt up behind them. Arriving at the gate, they forced their way through by breaking the locks, the pale faced man in the passenger seat of the leading car looking up to see that vines had begun to grow through the structure of the old lab.

He got out when the vehicles came to a stop, his dark grey and silvering hair slicked back with gel, and he wore a monotone suit as the others that got out sported similar clothing, some of them geared up though just in case, their backs reading in yellow letters: FBI.

They broke another lock that held the doors shut and pushed their way into the desolate building, dirt and leaves on the floor now as wind came in from a broken window.

"Where to, Ross?" one of the agents asked when they got their flashlights out.

The man scanned the room and nodding to where he remembered the elevators being, he began to walk and lead the group down the hall. As he traveled, he looked around at the floor, already noticing some areas they had pictures of... and remembering what he had seen.

They got into the old stairwell and went down several flights into the lower part of the lab beneath the ground. When they busted through the door and into the room that once welcomed parties of "demo-dogs", they found it just as desolate as upstairs. Seemed they left it as covered up as they could.

So it was time to bring some heavier equipment down.

Using jackhammers, they made holes in the concrete floor that was in the glass room, letting it collapse as they made an opening big enough to use a rope and propel down.

The space under this room was hollowed out and shining their flashlights down the tunnel, they found how deep it really went. There were also remains of an old elevator that dropped into the ground.

They used a spot light to shine down into the hole as the geared up agents went down there first, followed by Ross who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, and then the others stayed atop.

His shoes hit the dirt when they met the bottom of a surprisingly large chasm. Each man had his eyes wide as they all shined their lights around the room...

"What the hell...?" one of them said, his light finding more than just a pit, but also tunnels in every direction.

Ross stepped forward towards the wall of root and dirt ahead of him, stepping carefully as he felt a chill run through him that was almost indescribable. There was something pulling him to this wall. And when he reached out, his hand touched the moist dirt... his fingers feeling something odd. He lifted his hand to see... something... sticking to it. He rubbed his fingers together as he felt this black substance on his skin... And his expression got even more concerned and determined than it had been, eyeing this massive space of an underground cavern. He turned around to face his other agents. "I want the names of everyone who was a part of this lab. Living and dead. Now."