CARLA HAD FORGOTTEN IT WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY.

Usually, the holiday was spent out in town with her family, going to the local fairs, eating candy until she felt sick with Mike and Holly, lying in the middle of the streets to watch fireworks when the day came to a close—Enjoying the summer.

Well, let's just say Carla was doing none of the above, and certainly was not enjoying her summer.

Currently, the Wheeler girl was curled up in a rocking chair within Hopper's remote cabin, where the man had been living with Eleven for the past year.   It was a rather cozy place—definitely better than where the chief had been living—and was rather perfect for the Party—minus Dustin, who she found out also hadn't been seen in a few days, putting more stress on her shoulders—as well as the older teens to re-group after the sauna, as it provided somewhere to relax, as well as a place to work.

It was also empty, which Carla had been informed was due to Hopper being in Illinois with Joyce—why exactly, they hadn't figured it out.   Yet again, nothing had exactly made sense the past few days, so the Party was currently praying that whatever led the adults to the state was worthy of leaving the kids for.

Unlike most Fourth of July's, she'd spent zero time with her family—unless running from possessed people counted as family time.  She hadn't even called her mother, but, what was she supposed to tell Karen? A giant monster and his followers had attacked her and she'd managed to escape? 

Instead, she'd just sat quietly upon the rocking chair, silently replaying the previous night.

Carla had thought herself to be dead a few times before in the past, and it never got easier to think. To think you're about to live your final moments would always be terrifying, yet, every year, she'd find herself in at least one situation to which she'd thought herself a goner, only to survive.  Why?  Why was she surviving these events? Why wasn't she dead.

For someone who wanted her so badly, whoever he was had done a terrible job at taking her, of killing her. 

"It can't be good for her to be in there for this long." Mike's voice took Carla from her thoughts.  He was currently speaking on Eleven, who'd been locked up in her bedroom for a good hour or so, using her mind to find the people who they knew to be possessed—Billy, Bruce, the Holloway's and Mrs. Driscoll."

Max replied, "Mike, you need to relax."

"What if she gets brain damage or something?"

Lucas, who'd only been listening to his friends countless rants, looked up from the cereal box he'd been examining and to his girlfriend. "Oh, shit. Is that, like, a real thing?"

"No, it's not.  He made it up." Max shook her head, sending a look towards the Wheeler boy, who'd taken a stance behind his sister in the rocking chair.  Even though she'd only really known Eleven for a few days, Maxine knew the girl was strong.  She could handle whatever she was doing in her room. "Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

Mike fired back, "Oh, and you do?"

"No...I—"

Carla gave an eye roll at their argument—Max and Mike had argued every single day of the summer, she's absolutely sure—tilting her head back to see her twin sister, phone to her ear.  The girl had been making call after call to businesses that could be connected, via fertilizer, to the Mind Flayer.

"Uh, yes, from the Hawkins Post." Nancy spoke, pacing back and forth with a notebook and pen in her other hand, "I-I called a couple days ago about the—yes, yes, um....I was just...following up to see if anything else had gone missing, or if—okay.  Um, sorry to bother."

The girl sighed and hung the phone back up, Carla frowning at yet another no, Mike and Max's argument falling behind her.  Nancy walked over to the Byers boys—Jonathan crossing off the places his girlfriend called, Will sitting on a stool beside him—asking, "Who's next?"

"There is no next." Jonathan stated, "Unless you want to start calling random people's homes."

"It doesn't make sense." Nancy threw her notepad onto the counter in frustration.

Carla countered, "When has anything in the past few days made sense?"

Nancy turned to look at her sister, firing, "There's a pattern, okay? A consistency to their behavior. They've been feeding on these chemicals since this started, and—and what, they just stop out of the blue?"

"Maybe they have all of the chemicals they need." Will added to the conversation, "Maybe they've all turned into those....things."

"Fuck those things." the Wheeler muttered to herself from the rocking chair.  The memories from the night before flashed before her eyes—the monster over her, it's hot breath fanning over her face, its roar piercing her ears.

"But what about the source?" Nancy continued speaking, trying to state her point that something was off, "I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people? And even if the Flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?"

Before anyone could speak on the matter, Max interrupted the conversation to state her own problem, "Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?" The redheaded girl made her way up to where the others were, Mike trailing after her. "Who do you think should decide El's limits.  Mike or Eleven?"

"The way that you frame that is such bullshit." Mike argued.

The Mayfield's voice rose as she replied, "It's not bullshit, Mike.  This is your whole problem.  And is also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass."

Damn.  While Carla knew that her brother and Eleven hadn't been in the best of terms the past couple of days, she didn't know Eleven had actually dumped him. 

Nancy's eyes widened, "El dumped you?"

"Good for her." Carla shrugged.  While she loved her brother, lying about their Nana being sick wasn't the best move, especially as a first time boyfriend.  He didn't know how to apologize to Eleven, nor did he know how to win her back.

"Not necessary, Carla." Mike sent a side-eye her way at the comment before continuing on, "And, yes, because she—" the boy sent a look towards the redhead beside him, "—is conspiring against me.  She's corrupting her."

"No, enlightening her." Max corrected the Wheeler boy, continuing the argument, "The fact is, she's not yours.  She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions."

So far, Carla had to side with the redheaded girl.  While she understood why her brother was upset—he had been dumped, and was just worried for his ex-girlfriend—El wasn't his to boss around. 

"I agree with Max." the Wheeler girl stated from the rocking chair, "I get it, Mike, but Max isn't corrupting her by wanting to show her the real world.  If I'm being honest, it was really nice to see Eleven smiling, to see her exploring the world around her."

Mike sighed, "She's risking her life for no reason."

"For no reason?" Nancy repeated, looking at her brother with raised eyebrows, "Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what."

"Killing, flaying....." Lucas trailed off.

"Transforming into monsters." Will added. 

The Wheeler girl continued to talk, "And El's not stupid.  She knows her abilities better than any of us." 

Max sent the brunette a thankful look, "Exactly, thank you."

"And she is her own person."

"Exactly."

"With her own free will."

"Exactly." Max agreed for the third time, happy someone was understanding her point, "El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her."

At that comment, Mike was quick to fire back, "You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?"

Carla could feel the tension that had just entered the room, and looked between the teens, waiting for someone to say something.  She hadn't been there when they spied, and was suddenly wondering whether Max was actually being a good influence to El when no one was around. 

"Wait, what?" Lucas asked, having had no clue this had happened.

"Oh, she didn't tell you this?" Mike asked.

"No."

"Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us." 

Max was quick to counter his claim, "No, no, no, I did not make her.  It was her idea." Trying to get out of the topic, she continued, "And why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

"Honestly." Carla sighed, "I don't agree with you girls spying, but I feel like there's much more important things we could be discussing right now."

Will agreed with the Wheeler girls claim, "Yeah, who cares?"

"I care." Lucas stated.

"Yeah, I guess girlfriends don't lie they spy." Mike said, looking at the redheaded girl.

"We were just joking around." Max insisted, trying to get off of her friend case.

"Wouldn't it've been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" Mike replied.

"You weren't."

"But what if I was?"

"Then, gross!"

Nancy complained, "Seriously, Mike?"

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers." Mike stated his point, "In fact, how careless all of you are.  You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's  not a machine and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth.  So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again!"

The only thing that followed Mike's words was silence.  Complete and utter silence.

Carla looked over at her brother with a softened gaze.  He wasn't worried for Eleven because he didn't want her overworking herself, he was worried because he loved her.   If something happened to her, if she got hurt because of their needs, Mike wouldn't forgive himself.   He was in love with Eleven.

Carla understood what he was feeling.  She'd felt it with Steve before. 

The sudden opening of a door caused everyone to turn, watching as Eleven exited her bedroom and joined them.  Her brows were drawn together in confusion, noticing the silent atmosphere as she entered.  Carla was quick to wonder if El had heard Mike's confession.

"What's going on?" El asked.

"Nothing." Mike was quick to answer, "Nothing."

"Just a family discussion." Lucas replied with a smile.

"Oh." Eleven said.  Silence filled the room once again before the Hopper girl stated, "I found him."

Nancy was quick to ask, "Found who?"

Carla looked towards the younger girl, who gave a nod.  Him meant Billy.

She'd found Billy.

What Eleven had found Billy doing was more than suspicious.

According to the girl, the Hargrove boy was inside his house, sitting on his bed.  Now, in general, that wasn't an odd thing for the boy to be doing......but it was the Fourth of July, the biggest party holiday, and it was odd for Billy to be sitting alone instead of out partying with the other high-schoolers in Hawkins—he wasn't one to turn down a party.

So, it was pretty suspicious for the blonde boy to be cooped up in his room alone.

As Eleven got herself a drink, the group had yet another discussion on what they'd been told, trying to figure out what was going on with Billy.

"And that's not normal, right?" Nancy asked.

"Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?" Max shook her head, "No, that's not normal."

Will stated, "He wants us to find him."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." Nancy spoke based on the Byers' words, "If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are."

"It's a trap, I agree." Mike agreed with his sister's words, "We'll be ambushed, and it would be risking Carla."

Carla nodded, "Agreed. Not only is that painting a target on my already targeted back, all of you would be putting yourselves in more danger than necessary."

"We won't be surprised." Lucas disagreed, wanting to go and find the Hargrove boy, "We'll know that they're coming, and we'll kick their flayed butts."

"You mean El will kick their butts." Maxine corrected.

The Wheeler girl nodded and looked at the Sinclair boy, "I love the enthusiasm Baby Boy, but in all honesty, we don't stand a chance against those things without El.  Nothing we've done to fight it has done any long term damage whatsoever."

Max spoke again, giving her own suggestion. "What if we tried to kill one of the flayed?"

"It's too risky." Mike stated again.

Nancy agreed with her brother again, "Yeah, and unnecessary.  Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer.  We have to find out where it's spreading from.  We have to find the source." 

"Billy knows it." Eleven stated, joining the group once again, "Billy's been there. To the source."

"Yeah, but—" Mike began.

"It's a trap. I know." Eleven looked at her ex, "We can't go to Billy, but, I think there's another way.  A way for me to see where he's been."

With that, Eleven started to prepare herself to find Billy again via her mind, grabbing a box of tissues, her bandanna, and a photo of the Hargrove boy for reference.  As the young girl set up her items, Carla had moved to the television, turning it to the channel that held only static.

As she twisted the dial, the Wheeler girl turned back to look at the girl she saw as a younger sister. "You sure you wanna do this?"

Eleven looked at the older girl, giving a reassuring smile, "I'm sure."

Listening to the small conversation, Mike came forward, quietly saying, adding on with, "I know you think you have to do this, but you don't." His sister leaned against the television's stand, noticing Max sending a small eye roll at the boy's comment. "It's just, you've only done this before once.  And your mom, she loved you and wanted you to know what happened.  And Billy's mind is—is sick, diseased.  The Mind Flayer is in him." 

"He can't hurt me." El stated, "Not in there."

Mike disagreed, "We don't know that."

Eleven's hand moved forward, grabbing on to Mike's.  Her eyes searched through his, "Mike. I need you to trust me."

The Wheeler boy looked behind him to see Max looking straight at them, the girl giving a small 'continue on' look.  He quickly turned back to El, "Yeah.  Just....be careful."  He then moved back to the rocking chair his sister had previously been sitting in.

Will and Lucas, the two having been in the kitchen, moved back into the room, and Eleven let out a breath, picking up the black bandanna to put over her eyes.   

"You got this." Carla spoke in a comforting tone.

Eleven gave a nod before tying the bandanna around her face, allowing the darkness to take over.

The girl had been in her mind for a few minutes, searching for the Hargrove. Everyone sat around her—Max, Lucas and Will on the couch behind her, Mike in the rocking chair, Carla in front of her leaning against the television stand, Nancy and Jonathan in another chair together—silently watching her reactions, waiting for her to state what was happening.

Carla was slightly nervous for the younger girl. While Mike and Max's argument had proven that Eleven knew what she could handle, that didn't mean the Wheeler wasn't worried. El was sure she was unable to be hurt within her head, that hadn't been proven true yet. The last thing Carla wanted was for the girl to get hurt by Billy because they needed information.

The sound of El hyperventilating was quick to bring Carla out of her thoughts, and the Wheeler was quick to start scanning over the younger girl to make sure she was okay. The girl's body was slightly shaking, her chest going up and down unevenly as she gasped, breathing heavy.

Something was wrong.

Mike was quick to say everyone's thoughts out loud, "Something's wrong."

Yet, no one said anything or made a move towards the blindfolded girl until she calmed down. She still took in heavy breaths, but was less panicked. Still, Mike was quick to ask, "El, are you okay? Are you okay?"

Softly, Eleven replied, "I'm okay."

"What's going on?"

"I'm...on a beach."

Everyone looked at one another at her words, Lucas commenting, "Okay, I may be dense, but the last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins."

"He's right." Carla nodded, thinking it through. If you wanted to go to a beach, you'd have to leave the city. Which left the question.....where was El?

Max leaned forward, inquiring, "What else do you see?"

Eleven was quiet for a moment, more than likely examining her surroundings wherever she may be. "A woman. She's....pretty. I....I think she's looking at me." The brunette fell silent again, before adding, "There's....a boy." Another pause, "It's Billy."

With that information, Max was sure she knew where her friend was. "It's California. It's a memory."

"I think I see it." Eleven stated, "The source."

Carla sent a look towards her sister, who had slightly straightened up at the mention of the source. Looking at El, the elder Wheeler asked, "Can you try and get closer to it?"

The younger girl must have done what Carla asked, because a few moments of silence later, she spoke up again, "I think I found it. The source."

"Where, El?" Max was quick to question, "Where are you?"

"Brimborn....."

"Steelworks." Carla finished, realization hitting her hard. She knew that place—she'd grown to know it rather well over the past week. It's the stupid place her nightmares had occurred at, where Heather and her family had been attacked by the Mind Flayer. It was the source. "It's Brimborn Steelworks."

Jonathan didn't hesitate before racing towards the kitchen, his girlfriend staring at her sister with a raised brow. "And you know this how?"

Standing up to join her friend, Carla began to explain herself, "You remember those nightmares I would have whenever shit started up again? Yeah, they started happening again a few days ago, and each one has taken place at that steel mill. I didn't know it was the source at first, but it makes complete sense now. "

As the Byers boy returned with a phone-book in hand, both Wheeler's joined his side. He flipped through the pages, stopping when he finally found the right page. "Found it. Six-Five-Two-Two Cherry Oak Drive."

"That's close." Nancy stated.

Having gotten the information they needed, Mike turned back to his ex-girlfriend, "El, El, we found it. Get out of there. Get out!"

But, Eleven didn't seem to be listening. She didn't move from her cross legged position, or take the bandanna off her face, nor did she even reply with a disagreement, which would at least give them a reason as to why she wasn't moving.

But, no. The girl just sat, as if Mike's words to her were nothing more than a faint whisper, unheard by those who didn't care to listen.

"Oh God, she's stuck." Carla breathed, looking down at the still girl. She was quick to leave her sister and friends side, instead, situating herself back in front of the Hopper girl, watching as fresh blood fell from her nose, drying up above her lip. "She's stuck in her head."

Everyone stood slightly panicked as their friend continued to go unresponsive. Whimpers and small cries fell from her lips, which caused Carla's heart to break. This poor girl was stuck within her head—in Billy's memories—all alone. The Wheeler wished that El knew she was there. That she wasn't by herself—

Maybe she could.

In her nightmares, she was able to dream walk. She was there, and could see what was happening. Maybe, just maybe, if she tried to dream walk into El's mind.......

It was a very unfinished plan, but Carla was willing to help her sister-figure in any way possible.

With a breath, the Wheeler girl placed her hand on Eleven's knee. At her action, Mike sent her a raised brow, "Carla, what are you doing? Don't mess with her."

"I'm gonna try to get her the hell out of there." Carla stated, watching as everyone else within the room looked at her, confused on what she meant. They didn't have her nightmares, and had no clue how she planned on doing this, so the girl elaborated, "In my nightmares, I can dream-walk. I'm physically there. I think if I try hard enough, I'll be able to dream-walk through El's head and help her get out of it."

Lucas spoke up, giving an unsure look, "That seems really uncooked, Carla."

"Yeah, what if you get stuck too?" Nancy agreed, sending a slightly worried look at his sister. Carla had been through hell in the past two days, and the last thing her twin wanted was for her to get trapped within Eleven's head.

"Then do whatever you can to get me the hell out of there." the brunette girl looked at her friends and family. She needed them to trust her on this. She was the one with the connection to the Upside Down, the one who might be able to help. "Please, just trust me."

Everyone went quiet, the static from the television becoming the only sound. As the Wheeler girl closed her eyes, her hand still on Eleven's knee, she couldn't help but suddenly doubt her choices. She didn't know how to do this.

This only happened in her nightmares, when she was asleep. She'd never had to force it to happen before, and now she had no idea how too.

Come on, Carla thought to herself, mind black as she tried to dream walk into Eleven's head, You have to help El.

You have to do this for Eleven.

mara's misc!

will carla actually dream-walk? guess ya'll will have to wait another chapter.....

i actually got the idea for her to do this based on an idea i'd had for s4! but, while writing the last part of this chapter, i actually realized why not fit it in now. let's just say this could help some situations in s4 possibly.....

the argument about eleven was so fun to write, like idk....mike and max arguing is just different.

also, fun story....just got off of the surprise song live for tonight and i abt screamed multiple times.

 so, bc of the new tsitp trailer, me and my friends were set on taylor singing back to december.  so, for the first time, i watched a live last night and was thankful yet disappointed that she didn't sing it.  my cousin was there, and she really wanted it, but i didn't wanna loose it so.....

but, then we had to look out for night two.

let me remind you, my friends and i were at detroit n1 and got haunted so there is no reason for us to be so worried abt losing btd......we just are.

so anyway, the show started early tonight so i was already off bc now i have no clue when the songs will start, but luckily the acc that was doing the live put a time out so i knew.  fast forward to like 9:30pm, (my time), and i was on.

she started talking abt aaron and everyone is like its gonna be rwylm, (me and my friends are going back and forth all the while im trying to listen) and then, suddenly, the live gets so glitchy bc of the comments and the sucky service and suddenly it just ended.  

the live ended before she could announce the first song and i was actually on the verge of screaming for no reason.   so.....i  was quick to rush on to the surprise song spotify playlist which updates at every show and then i see ivy was added.  

i was now 50% safe. i'm no evermore stan so i didn't care that we lost it, (sorry to you guys who did)

so, im panicking that the live isn't working and im spamming my friends when suddenly it's available again and i click back in and its not working for like a few minutes before im finally back in and what do i see? miss gracie abrams on the piano and miss taylor swift dueting her to i miss you, im sorry (aka one of my fav gracie songs)

i was quick to assume this was going to be the second surprise and was watching in with a smile bc gracie is so cute and texting my friends that we're safe, (they'd left and were depending on me) and that she's dueting with gracie bc its her last show etc when all of the sudden.....

 taylor alison swift sat her ass back down on the piano.

i was so scared like actually

but, then she played call it what you want and the relief that washed through me was crazy.  WE SURVIVED.  BACK TO DECEMBER IS STILL AVAILABLE!!

 im so happy my other cousin, (who was forced to go by his gf and who isn't even a swiftie) didn't get btd bc i would have been pissed <3  im also going to tune into more lives bc its actually kinda fun!

hope you enjoyed the chapter and my rant! see you back with fourteen <3