BEING STUCK IN THE HOSPITAL WAS TRULY NO FUN.

At least in 1983, she'd been out for most of her time within the building, unaware of how slow life went when confined to one room where everything was painted the same three shades of blue and white.  But now....she was painfully aware.  Boredom was taking over her mind.

She'd called Steve twice more, because despite knowing that something was wrong and that her boyfriend wasn't going to answer the phone, there was still a form of denial set in her mind.   She was supposed to have a normal summer, and while it had already been fucked over by whatever the hell was going on with Billy.......something in her was still hoping that  it wasn't completely ruined.   That maybe, they could still have a somewhat decent summer after everything was over.

Yeah, Carla was definitely in denial—summer had already been ruined.

To keep herself from leaving the hospital to try and figure out what had happened to the Harrington boy—as well as his co-worker, who she assumed to be with him, where ever he may be—Carla had paced around  her hospital room, making sure to stray away from the phone as much as possible.

There was only so much her room offered—staring out at the town from her window, ordering a small, bland meal, examining herself in the bathroom mirror—but she'd done all of it at least twice by now, and boredom was drilling a hole in her mind.

Time went rather slow in the hospital—but it could just be her.   As she stared at the clock, the hours seemed to be ticking by slower and slower, and it didn't help that she'd been alone for almost all of them.

Besides a small re-visit from her mother, Carla had been alone for the entire day.   She hadn't even been checked on by a doctor—which sure, she thought was a little weird—but Karen would make sure Dr. Madden made his way to her when she returned.   But, if she were honest, even a doctor or nurse visit would have made her day less boring.

Back when Carla was younger, she didn't mind being alone.  She embraced the silence—though, she didn't have many friends to break it other than Jonathan, who was a loner himself—and could sit in it for hours without a problem.

But, ever since the events of '83—the monster attack, her injuries—Carla found herself enjoying being within company.  She liked having someone with her, someone to talk to or just to sit next too, whether it be her boyfriend or her boss.

Maybe that was because of the trauma bond she now shared with people. If she was alone, she had her feelings only to herself, but with people like Steve or Nancy she felt more comfortable—they'd been what she'd been through, they'd also suffered the repercussions and understood what she felt like.

Whatever the reason, for a person who was enjoying company.....sitting here made Carla feel, well, lonely.  Really, really, lonely.

While she now had an idea as to why Steve hadn't showed up, another person she was surprised hadn't shown up yet was her sister.

Now, Carla knew that her twin was a busy person.  She'd scored herself a job at Hawkins Post—though Carla wasn't so sure it was satisfying Nancy like the girl had expected—and was going around listening to paper-worthy stories, but after revealing the guilt she held towards Carla's injuries......the Wheeler thought she'd be seeing her sisters face.

Then again, she'd had terrible luck with people showing up to check on her, so was it truly surprising?

Currently, the girl found herself back in the bathroom, staring at herself like that would take up more time—she'd un-clipped her hospital monitor for more free will. She'd already counted all her bruises, splashed water on her face,  picked at her already peeling nail polish.....this was sounding kind of depressing.   It sounded like she was a robot who was only tasked with a couple of things, and was bound to repeat them until someone re-coded them.

So, with a sigh, Carla turned away from her reflection and headed back towards her room—to do what, she wasn't so sure.

But, she never had to decide what to do, because the minute she stepped out of the bathroom, her eyes caught the back of a man—a man whom she didn't quite recognize.   He was facing the window, staring out at Hawkins just as she'd done so many times within the day.

"Uh, hi?" Carla spoke up, brows knitted together with confusion.  She had no clue who this guy was, and was confused on why he'd just walked into her room without any warning.   With the thought that he'd entered the wrong room, she asked, "I think you're in the wrong room—"

"You're Carla Wheeler, aren't you?" The man cut her off with no hesitation, turning around to face her.   The Wheeler was quick to scan over his features, trying to find some form of recognition.   He was an older guy, with gray hair and an aged expression.  His eyes were cold, and he had dark bags under them like he hadn't slept.

  His face was familiar to her.  She'd seen it before—she knows she has.

Carla trailed off, voice still full of confusion, "This is she...." 

Sensing this, the man spoke again, "Nancy's mentioned you a few times."

Nancy.  He knew her sister, and based on the sentence, she could only assume him to be one man.  "Oh, are you Tom? Her boss?"

"I am." Tom—as she now knew him as—nodded, "You might know my daughter, Heather—" he continued to speak, but the rest of his words turned went unheard to the Wheeler, who'd froze the moment he'd mentioned the Holloway girl.

His daughter was Heather Holloway, whom Billy had kidnapped and allowed the monster to do as it pleased with, and if she was recalling her nightmares correctly........he'd been given to the monster too.   Him and his wife.  He was possessed, just like the Hargrove.

And with that information, Carla knew that he hadn't walked into her room by accident.  Tom had come in here to kidnap her too, to finish what Billy had started; to take her to him.

"I'm sorry, but I'm actually not feeling that good right now." Carla interrupted whatever the Holloway man had been saying, slowly walking towards the door.  She just needed to get somewhere with people.  At least then someone would see if anything happened to her.   "I'm gonna go get a nurse—"

Tom stepped forward, "You can't go yet, honey."

"I'm sorry, I just—" Carla didn't have time to finish her sentence before Tom lunged out and grabbed her wrist, his grip just as tight as Billy's had been the previous night.   He was definitely possessed. 

Carla felt a wet substance hit her wrists, and quickly looked down to see a red liquid covering Tom's hands. Blood.  At the realization—not like she wasn't going too before—Carla quickly jumped from his grip and ran out to the hallway, trying to go somewhere, anywhere, away from him.

But, the brunette girl didn't make it far before she let out a small, unexpected, scream as she almost crashed into a body.  A dead body.   

She slapped a hand over her mouth to stop from letting out another sound.  She'd never seen a dead body before—not in real life.  And it was true, what people said about them—you were never ready to see one.

A younger girl—maybe in her early twenties—laid at Carla's feet, eyes glazed over.  There was a pool of blood pooling from her head, mixing with the girl's brown hair.  She didn't deserve this.  

The slam of a door was heard, and suddenly, an arm came around Carla, locking around her throat.  Her bruises seared in pain as the man held her in place, and she let out a small cry.  Another hand came to her mouth, muffling any sound that was too follow.

"Stay quiet." Tom spoke, voice firm and emotionless, to which Carla couldn't help but listen too.  If she cooperated long enough.....maybe she could escape.

Unknowing to what was happening to her sister, Nancy Wheeler quickly walked past the hospital room after hospital rooms, eyes scanning over their numbers.  At her side was Jonathan—who she'd started dating after the events of 1984—due to the 'two guests allowed' rule she was unable to get past.   If it wasn't for that, she'd have all the kids behind her to tell Carla what they'd figured out.

"432."  Nancy mumbled under her breath, coming to a halt in front of a room.  Though the Party had reassured her that Carla hadn't been terribly injured—not like 1983 injured—the Wheeler girl was still unsure on what her twin was going to look like, and was slightly nervous to see what had happened.  Once again, she hadn't been there and her sister could have died.   She had to stop doing that.

Pushing open the door,  Nancy braced herself for her sisters figure but instead was met with.....nothing?

Her heart monitor clip was discarded on the bed, the sheets slightly ruffled but other than that, there was no sign Carla had been in here at all.

Jonathan stated the obvious, "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Nancy rushed into the room, heading for a small manila folder on a table in front of her bed.  Now, if Carla had just injured herself, the girl wouldn't be so worried, but after hearing the events of last night, that the Mind Flayer wanted Carla.....she was definitely worried by the fact that her sister was no where to be seen.

"Are you sure this is the right room?"

Looking inside the manila folder, Nancy was quick to spot 'Wheeler, Carla Michelle' at the top, signaling that this was indeed the right room.  She looked towards her boyfriend, "Yeah—"

Her words were cut off as the lights started to flicker within the room.  Both teens looked up at the ceiling getting both flashbacks to the fateful night in 1983 where this was the tell-tale sign that something was wrong, as well as an off feeling.  Why were the lights flickering if the monster wasn't here?

A voice broke through their silence before one of them could comment. "She's on her way home." 

Turning to face the door, Nancy and Jonathan stood confused on why their former boss was standing in the doorway.  "We were hoping you might come back."

Looking down at the man's hands, Jonathan took a step in front of his girlfriend, asking, "Whose blood is that?"

Nancy's heart dropped.  He didn't hurt Carla, did he? 

Jonathan continued to talk as the man approached them, lights still flickering in the background, "Where's Carla? What did you do to her!"

Watching as the man approached—eyes stone cold, face stiff, voice unwavering—as well as how the lights flickered when he did, Nancy determined that Tom was possessed by the monster too, just like Mrs. Driscoll was. 

"Tom, whatever you've done, it's not you." Nancy's voice was shaky as she spoke, her head barely peeking out from behind the Byers boy, who was placing a hand on a flower vase upon Carla's bed table. "He's making you do this—" 

To protect himself and Nance, Jonathan's hand went flying, the flower vase hitting Tom sqaure-on in the face.  The man went flying towards the wall at impact, and the Byers boy didn't hesitate before grabbing his girlfriends hand and running out the door.  "Go!"

Running out into the hospital hallways, the couple came to a quick halt as their eyes met their The Hawkins Post co-worker, Bruce,  standing in the middle of the hall with none other than Carla Wheeler in his arms.

 She had tried blood smeared over her neck from Bruce's arm pressed against it, and duck-tape covering her mouth, but she was okay. 

Black veins began to spread across Bruce's forehead—where Tom had just been hit—and the man pulled one of his hands off the Wheeler girl, placing it up to his head. "Owie."

But, this small movement was all Carla needed, and she quickly ducked underneath his arm, which had loosened on her throat, escaping Bruce's hold.  Noticing her escape, Bruce was quick to start charging at the Wheeler girl, as well as the other two teens.  He didn't care if he had to hurt them to get to Carla.  He had to get her back.

Noticing his approaching figure, Carla ripped off the duck tape from her mouth—cringing as it stung—and yelled, "Run! Let's go!"

Jonathan and Nancy didn't wait a second before following her through a stairwell door, the Byers boy paused a moment to slam the door shut.  Nancy let out a yell for her boyfriend, "Run!" 

The boy listened and sped up his pace, hopping from stairs as he followed after the two Wheelers.  Carla led the way, lungs burning as she pushed herself harder and harder, knowing that if she stopped, she'd pass out from exhaustion.   She was first out the stairwell door, her friend and sister at her heels, shutting the door behind them to make the trip harder for Bruce, whom they all assumed to be following.

Their thoughts were seen true when Bruce exited the stairwell moments after the three raced from it.  Another dead body laid at the door, but Carla didn't have time  to react to this one as Jonathan yelled at her to keep going.   She'd never ran so much.

With Bruce looming behind them, they looked around for somewhere they could lose him, Jonathan turned down an under construction area, to which the girls followed after. "This way! This way!"

They ran through a white sheet, running in between boards in the center of the hallway before pushing open yet another door, lights flickering behind them.  Panting and out of breath, the teens took a small moment to breathe, Jonathan pressing his fingers against the intercom desperately. "Hello? Hello?"

Carla wasn't sure she'd even taken a break before Nancy was pulling her into another room in the hope that they'd lose Bruce.  As the girls headed towards the back of it, the Byers paused a moment to lock the door, though the Wheeler was weary that it would do much against the possessed man after what Billy had done the previous night.

Nancy dragged her sister over to the bright red phone, the girl bringing it up to her ear as she tried to call the front desk. "It's ringing." 

  She was right in calling for help, but what was the front desk lady going to do about this? Call the cops?  Not even the cops would be able to stop Bruce—

Only she could.

"Come on, pick up!"

Carla looked back at her sister and Jonathan, who had his arms around the girl.  They were so scared.  They were so scared about something that Carla could stop.  She could stop Bruce chasing them.

The sound of shattering glass took Carla from her thoughts, and she watched as Bruce's hand came through the glass of the door.  His head was next, and he gave a small, yet utterly horrifying greeting towards them, "Hi there." 

 His blood-covered hand came through the small opening he'd created—just as Billy's hand the previous night—unlocking the lock, Nancy dropping the phone, which was still ringing, unanswered by the front-desk in fear.

Carla started to walk towards their attacker, when she was suddenly grabbed by Jonathan, who then pushed her behind him in protection, which the girl immediately fought against like a toddler fighting for her way, "Jonathan, he wants me.  Let him have me—"

"No! I'm not letting him fucking have you!" Jonathan yelled back, keeping the girl behind him. "If he wants you, he's gonna have to fucking fight for you."

"I'm here for you, Carla." Bruce opened the door and advanced on the three teens, eyes set on Carla's figure behind Jonathan and Nancy.  As he came towards her, the Byers boy was quick to try and defend, lunging forward with his hand outstretched, only for his co-worker to easily grab his throat, choking him.

Carla watched it utter fear as her best friend was choked out beside her, mouth and eyes wide as she stood, frozen.  She'd been in this very position last night.

"No!" Nancy's voice took her out of her small trance, the small girl coming towards Bruce, easily being thrown backwards by the man, hitting a metal tray table as she fell.

Carla screeched, "Nancy!" 

Before Carla could even think of what to do, Bruce let go of the Byers' neck, headbutting him before tossing the boy into a row of lockers, which rattled as the boy hit them.   He wasn't quite finished though, and grabbed a stool, lifting it above Jonathan's head as he tried to shakily rise.

"Jonathan!"

The boy didn't have time to realize what was happening when the stool connected with his back, the boy flying right back down to the hospital tile with a groan.   Carla gasped as if she'd just been hit by the stool, and looked around for something, anything, to stop Bruce from killing Jonathan—which was bound to happen, the boy already struggling to breath from the hits he'd endured.

Bruce was fighting them to get to her, and all she had done was run around and stare in horror.  She'd been useless.

Her eyes met with a pair of scissors, and as Bruce raised the stool again, Jonathan's eyes widening in fear, Carla ran and grabbed them, shoving them into the blonde man's back with force.

As expected, the man dropped the stool with a groan, but easily pulled the scissors from his back, barely affected by them.  Staring daggers at his, he muttered, "You bitch."

Nancy, who'd gotten up off the ground, came at her sisters side, interlacing their fingers as Bruce came closer, more threatening now that they'd fought back against him.  "He's not getting you." the girl whispered.

"Carla, Nancy!" Jonathan called, Bruce throwing the scissors to the side.

 "Run!"

Though she would rather have done it without her sister, Carla started running once more, Nancy shoving a cart in front of Bruce to buy her twin more time—though it truly did nothing as the man pushed past it with ease.

As Carla ran—to where, she wasn't even sure—her sister yelled behind her, pleading for someone to come and help them—patient, doctor, whoever. "Help! Help! Is anyone here?"

"Nancy." Bruce ominously called as he followed them, "You can't protect her forever."

Carla was quick to enter the first room she saw, leaving the door open for her sister, who rushed in, fire extinguisher in hand.  Wouldn't be her first choice of a weapon, but it was better than nothing.

"Carla, in here." Nancy ushered for her sister to hide with her, to which Carla did, racking out a sob once she was hidden behind the teal curtain.   She was exhausted, she was scared, and she was just tired.  Tired of the Mind Flayer, tired of him.

Looking as a tear fell down her twin's cheek, Carla couldn't help but start letting out apologies.  She was just sorry for everything that had happened because she wouldn't fucking listen to his wants.  "I'm so sorry, Nancy.  I'm sorry.  He wants me, and you guys are getting hurt because of me.  He wants me, I should let him have me.  Maybe if I had just let Billy take me, if I had just died—"

"Carla, don't." Nancy shook her head, words shaky. "There's a reason you survived last night.  Your not gonna get taken by him—I'm not gonna lose you to that fucking monster.  I-I can't."

Their small moment was short-lived, because a second later, the clicking of a door was heard, signaling that Bruce had found them. "Yoo-hoo.  Nancy Drew, where are you?  I know you have Carla."

The sound of a curtain opening told the two Wheeler's he was checking all of them first, Nancy gripping onto the fire extinguisher tightly, ready to whip it at the older man.   The girl let him search until he opened the curtain across from them. "Marco."

Nancy revealed herself, "Polo!"

The man quickly turned, only to be met with a fire extinguisher to the nose.  Disgust filled Carla's whole body as she stared at his now smashed in nose, blood pouring from it, as well as from his mouth.  But despite the disgust, she felt no pity for Bruce.  She was really, really, over him.

Bruce placed a hand against his chipped teeth with a groan, Nancy not hesitating to strike him once again with her weapon of choice, the man flying backwards for a moment before stumbling towards the two girls again before falling to his knees in front of the smaller Wheeler. 

Raising the extinguisher above her head, Nancy looked down at the man she once knew—though she never really liked him.  "Go to hell!"  Bringing the fire extinguisher down upon Bruce, the two girls watched as he crumbled to the ground, unmoving.

Staring down at him, Carla muttered, "Don't mess with the fucking Wheelers."

Nancy finally let the extinguisher fall, and Carla took the moment to grab on to her sister.   Nancy wrapped her arms around the girl, both panting and sweaty and exhausted from what they'd just done.

As they embraced, the lights continued to flicker before eventually going off entirely for a moment, and it didn't take the girls long to realize they weren't done fighting yet.  Letting go out each other, the lights started to go on and off for seconds at a time, Carla looking at Bruce's  body with a really bad feeling.

Gurgles and groans started to come from the man's body as it started moving back and forth, pieces of skin and blood melting off of his body, pooling on the floor.  

"What the fuck!" Carla exclaimed, watching in utter horror as Bruce became nothing but a pile of guts on the floor, squelches echoing through the room.   

Then, as if shit couldn't get any weirder, the pile of blood and guts and whatever else the fuck was in there starting moving across the floor on its own accord.   Carla's eyes met with Nancy's and the sisters silently agreed to follow the pile, to which they did.

Stopping in the hallway, Carla looked across to see Jonathan with an identical pile in front of him, crawling its way towards the center of the hall, towards the other pile.  When the piles met, they merged together in a big, squelching mess, which had to be the nastiest thing that Carla Wheeler had ever seen in her life.

The heap of mush began to grow taller, limbs and a whole body and what the actual fuck was even Carla watching right now?

The lights suddenly dimmed, and when they came back on—brighter than they had been—a  monster made of blood and slime and body parts was revealed to stand right where the pile of mush used to be, multiple limbs extruding from its body.  It let out a roar, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

Carla's scars began to seer in pain, and with a gasp of pain, she turned, eyes darting for somewhere to go.  The Wheeler girl threw herself against the door behind her, but was unable to open it, as something happened to be jammed behind it.  "God fucking dammit! Open!" 

She heard Jonathan suddenly yelling for her sister, and suddenly there was another force against the door.  Nancy must have had the same ideas as her sister, because now the two of them both pressed their weight against the jammed door, slowly but surely managing to shove it open.

Carla didn't wait for Nancy before she started running, which was probably a shitty move, but Carla couldn't.  She actually couldn't do this again.  That thing wanted her and despite her prior words and almost actions, she didn't want him to have her.  So, she ran, thighs and wrists burning, trying to escape the creature.

She could hear Nancy panting behind her, but she could also hear the monster's snarls and didn't look back because if she looked back she knew she'd freeze up in fear and that wasn't going to do her any good.

Rounding a corner, Carla slid into the nearest room, watching as her sister followed through, shutting it behind her.  The moment she did so, pounding echoed through the room, the creature forcing its body against the barrier, trying to get through.

The two girls stood, hands tightly intertwined together, both panting and sweaty from all the running.  Their eyes widened in utter horror as the blood and guts began to seep from underneath the door, because they were cornered.  They were so fucking dead.

A whimper left her lips as more and more goo poured in through the vents, the monster growing back to its full size once more.  From outside the door, Jonathan's voice was heard once more, his yells desperate. "No! Nancy! Carla!"

"Jonathan!" Nancy screamed back, backing away from the monster's goo.

"No, no! Nancy! Carla!" slamming followed his screams, "Goddammit!"

The monster grew to its full size, and stalked over the two Wheelers.  She'd been in this position before.  She'd been cornered by a monster, thought to be dead only to be saved by Steve.  Only for her, she knew Steve wasn't coming this time.  He wasn't coming and she was dead.  They were dead.

The monster screeched and extended a leg towards Nancy, flinging her across the room just as Bruce had done to Jonathan.  The girl slammed into a board, which broke as she hit it, falling against the floor with a cry.

As Nancy tried to get up, the slamming against the door continued and amidst the chaos stood Carla, in the middle of the room, with the monster beginning to approach her.  She knew it was the worst possible thing to do, but the Wheeler really had no where else to go but backwards, and slowly backed herself away from the monster, bare feet rubbing against pieces of tile and debris.

He wanted her and he was about to fucking have her.

Carla felt her back hit the wall, and she let out a cry because it was really hitting her hard.  She was about to die.  She was about to die—

The monster screeched in her face, causing the girl to let out another sob as she slid down the wall and down to the floor.  Her scars burned more than ever, to the point where it felt like they were on fire as the creature leveled with her, hot breath fanning against Carla's face.   She couldn't breathe or move or do anything.

Suddenly, Steve popped into her brain.

The last thing she'd said to Steve was 'See you tomorrow' which was now really ironic because Carla hadn't seen him the next day, nor was she ever gonna see him again.  Oh my god, she was never going to see him again.  She would never get to see his eyes light up whenever she entered Scoops, or feel his lips against hers. She wouldn't get to see his smile, or hear his words of comfort.  She'd never get to say 'I love you'—

"Hey! Mother-fucker!" Nancy's voice called out from behind the monster, strained.  She couldn't lose her sister.  Nancy couldn't lose Carla, not to this thing. "Look at me! I'm right here!" When her attempt didn't work, she sobbed, "Fuck! Carla!"

The monster was already set on Carla, and let out a roar, to which the girl closed her eyes tightly.  She didn't want the monster to be the last thing she saw.

Lucky for her, it wasn't.

Just as Carla expected to be screaming in pain, a different sound echoed through the small room.  The sound of a door flying from its hinges. 

The flying item crashed into the wall beside Carla, the monster turning around from its victim to see what had happened.  Even with the creature in front of her, and with tears and smudged mascara in front of her eyes, the Wheeler could still see the entire Party standing in front of the door, Jonathan too.  She could see the Byers boy grab Nancy, who still stood at the side of the room in utter shock.

"Jesus!" Mike exclaimed

"What the f—" Max began, getting cut off by another roar.

Leaving his almost-victim at the wall, the creature instead raced towards Eleven, who stood at the front of the group, blood pouring from nose.   The monster didn't get too far before the girl screamed and thrust her hand to the side, the pile of blood and guts slamming into the wall.   Her hand went the other direction, the monster slamming into the other wall with a wail.

Carla had situated herself so her knees were now pushed into her chest, hands placed over her ears.  Somehow, she was alive.  She was herself, and hadn't been taken by the Mind Flayer. Eleven had saved her.

The Hopper girl moved her hands up and down, the monster hitting the ceiling, the paneling crumbling with the impact, before falling back to the debris filled floor.  Despite her powers, the monster still tried to come at the her again, Eleven pushing her hands outward with a scream so the creature flew right on the window, Carla ducking down so she didn't get down poured with glass. 

Telling Carla that the monster was out of the room was her sister's panicked voice, "Carla!"

The Wheeler girl didn't feel totally in the moment because holy shit how was she not dead? The flashing lights, panicked voices, and the fact that the monster had been right on top of her was all starting to become a lot, and Carla just wasn't sure about anything.

"Carla, are you okay?" Nancy got on her knees in front of her sister,  hands were on her shoulders. "Carla?"

Carla's voice was rather shaky as she replied, "I-I don't know.  I really don't know."

"We need to get outside." Jonathan stated, having stayed in the room with the two girls.  He placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.  His eyes met with his best friends, "Can you walk out there?"

Carla gave a small nod, believing that her legs wouldn't give out on her.  "I think so."

With the help of the two other teens, the Wheeler girl was back on her feet and was out the hospital door.  While her legs didn't give out, she still needed the support of her sister and Jonathan, and allowed them to help her down the stairs, to which she then made a run for the main entrance doors—the front desk lady staring at them in utter confusion before yelling for Carla to get back into her room, to which the Wheeler ignored her.

Outside was the Party, Eleven in front with her arms to the sides to keep everyone back.  The three incoming teens listened and stayed slightly behind the power filled girl, watching as the monster—which was now back to a puddle of guts and blood and bone—moved itself towards an near sewer grate, seeping inside until all that was left was a few bones, unable to fit through.

No one moved for a few moments.  They were all pretty damn scared, and confused on what had just happened.

But, then, Eleven turned around and looked at her sister-figure, and wrapped her arms around the girl.  Carla could feel her fast-paced breathing, her hair was frizzy from the exhaust she'd just put herself through, and suddenly, the Wheeler didn't really care about whether she was okay anymore.  Who cared if she was traumatized when these kids were traumatized too? 

"Are you okay?" Carla cupped the young girl's face as if she'd been the one who'd been almost attacked by the monster.  Once again, Eleven had been their savior.  Her savior, despite only being fourteen.

Eleven switched the question, placing her hands on Carla's face as she looked at the older girl,  If the Hopper girl hadn't came when she did, she was sure they'd be in a very different position right now. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Carla nodding, reassuring the young girl as well as herself.  She was okay.  She was traumatized, but okay. "Because of you, I'm okay." She pulled the girl close again. 

 As she held the Hopper girl, she felt another pair of arms around her.  Looking to her side, she saw Mike with his head in her shoulder, and before long all the kids were around her—Jonathan and Nancy too—in some sort of trauma-sharing group hug which the Wheeler girl found it completely necessary. 

The only thing they could all depend on was each other.

mara's misc

longest chapter i think like ever?

carla and chad meeks-martin 🤝 having plot armor so they don't die.

i hated to steal the spotlight and trauma from nancy, but like with the whole 'he wants carla' thing mr mindflayer wouldn't ignore her.  bruce and tom were coming there for her, and nancy and jonathan didn't feel like giving her up.

also, so as i stated on my mb, i'm planning a missing re-write book! i've already re-written the first two chapters and its so fun :) my question is when would you want the book? i'm either going to do it after this book, or when i finish s4 so i still have starla content to write for the next long while bc we all knows its gonna be a hot second before s5.

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back for chapter 13