"CARLA?"

The sound of her name caused Carla to snap her eyes open.  She opened her mouth to state she was unsuccessful at entering Eleven's mind, when suddenly, her eyes caught the figure of the girl kneeling right in front of her.

"I—El?" Carla exclaimed, looking at the younger girl with surprised eyes.  Had she really been able to dream walk into Eleven's head? 

Eleven's slightly panicked voice followed, "Carla, where is Mike? Where is everybody?"

Finally taking in her surroundings, the Wheeler girl realized she was still sitting in Hopper's cabin.  Except, unlike in the real-world, the cabin within Eleven's head had a lack of people, holding only the two brunette's.

No wonder El was panicked—she'd taken off her bandanna only to reveal a home that looked just like her own.  It almost reminded Carla of her first nightmares, where she'd wake up within an Upside Down version of her house, turning a warm and comforting environment cold.

So, placing a hand on the Hopper girl's shoulder, the girl began to explain what was going on, and why no one else was here. "This isn't real, El.  You're still in your head.  I dream-walked here to get you out, okay?"

"Okay." Eleven softly replied, still slightly confused.

But, before any sort of action could be made, another voice sounded. 

"You shouldn't have looked for me."

Both girls looked to see Billy Hargrove exiting one of the cabin's bedrooms, voice unwavering.   At his appearance, Eleven let out a small gasp and Carla was quick to go into protector mode, setting a hand in front of the younger one.

"Because now I see you."  the blonde boy twisted his cigarette into a nearby ashtray, "Now we can all see you."   

The Hargrove stared at Eleven from behind her sister-figure, "You....." he pointed an accusatory finger at the brunette, "....let us in.  And now....you are going to have to let us stay."

Backing the both of them up, Carla looked at the Hopper, noticing her petrified expression.  Carla was not about to let Billy harm this girl, let alone risk it. "Eleven, look at me—" the Hopper's frantic and tear filled eyes met with the Wheeler's, "—you have to try to get out of here.  Get out of your head—"

"Oh, Carla." the way Billy said her name made Carla's skin crawl.  It was nowhere near the love-struck way it fell from Steve's lips, or the comforting way her friends said it.   Instead, it was cold and evil and made the Wheeler sick to her stomach whenever it rolled off his tongue. 

"Don't you see? All this time, we've been building it.  We've been building it......for you." The boy stared at the Wheeler girl, his lips twitching upwards in an almost smile, as if the thought of the girl being with them made the situation all the better.  "Ever since he tore your wrists apart, you've been connected.  And as he grows stronger, so does your connection. So does his need for you."

"Well you can go tell him that he's not getting me. He's failed twice." Carla seethed, putting her hand further out behind her, as if her arm was going to do anything to protect the younger girl behind her. 

"And he won't fail again." Billy stated firmly, almost sure on the matter, "After all this work, all this pain, he isn't going to let you go again, and he isn't going to stop until you are with us, until you embrace the fact that this is bound to happen."

Carla shook her head, "I am never joining you or him."

Billy ignored her, his gaze glazing over Eleven, "And, without you even realizing it, your little friend has helped us get to you."

"I-I didn't mean too." the Hopper girl racked out a sob, apologizing for opening the gate, for causing everything to start.  

Whether or not Billy's words were true, Carla wasn't about to blame Eleven for her so-called 'future'.   Eleven hadn't done anything wrong—she'd been the one done wrong too.  "She didn't do anything, Billy.  If he wants me, that's his fault, not hers."

"Oh, but she's done everything." Billy almost smiled again, thinking about what Eleven had done for their well-being.  Thanks to her searching for him, Billy could now see where she was—which was why he was currently in Hopper's cabin through her head.  She also led Carla into her mind as well, which now caused the Hargrove, as well as every other member of his army to see where she was.  "Now that you've—" he shot daggers at El, "—gone searching for me, I can see where you both are.  Everyone can." 

He walked forward, placing a hand on the girls cheek.  Carla turned away from the embrace, tightly closing her eyes—his hand was cold, and unwelcoming.  Nothing like what she was used to. 

"And now that we know.....we're going to end it."  the Hargrove's fingers dug into the hollow's of the girl's cheeks, almost forcing her eyes to stay locked with his.  Forcing her to look at the boy who'd caused her so much pain over the past week, "We are going to end you, the only person in our way—" he pointed a finger at Eleven.

"No!" El shook her head.

Carla replied, "You're not going to touch her."

"We're going to end her and the rest of your friends." Billy confirmed, watching as his target shook her head in denial, "And then, we're going to turn you into one of us—into what you've been meant to become ever since you became connected to us."

Carla felt her lips tremble as she responded, "You're not getting any of us.  Not El, not me—"

"And then with you on our side, Carla...." Billy continued, the girl continuing to shake her head at the idea.  She didn't want to be at his side, at the Mind Flayer's side.   She just wanted to be herself—carpooling the kids to the mall, laughing with her boyfriend and friend at the mall, having a normal goddamn summer.  "We're going to end everyone and everything."

Suddenly, Eleven came forward from behind Carla, going into her usual protective mode.  She was done with Billy screwing around with the Wheeler girl.  She was done with him threatening her friends. 

"Get away!" El screamed, hand thrust her hand outward, the possessed boy flying backwards.

And as the boy landed with a crash, Carla's world faded into black once more.

Carla came back to her senses with a loud gasp.

"You're okay!" a voice sounded, a hand being placed on Carla's shoulder soon after.  At the sudden touch, the Wheeler girl flinched back, only to see Lucas Sinclair at her side, a slightly worried look on his face. "It's okay, you're back, you're safe."

From in front of her, a scream echoed throughout the room, and Carla's eyes snapped to Eleven, blood pouring from both of her nostrils, heavily breathing as she searched for someone, anyone, familiar.

While Carla was still in a state of shock and panic from what she'd just heard, she was slowly starting to feel relief flood her chest—her eyes caught her brother and sister, her friends, people who'd been absent from Eleven's mind.   She was back home.  She was in the real world.

Lucas' voice sounded again, quiet as to not frighten the slightly jumpy teenager.  Lucas wasn't used to having to play the role of comforter—that was usually Carla's job, if he was honest—but he wasn't going to let her sit alone, watching as Eleven was wrapped in embraces and given comforting words.  She deserved comfort too, and hadn't really been given any within the past few days.

  "Here, you have a little blood." the Wheeler watched as Lucas handed her a tissue, finally sensing the warm substance that had begun to fall from her nose—blood.  Without hesitating, she took the item, wiping under her nose to collect whatever had fallen.

Eleven, who'd been wrapped up in Mike's arms in comfort, noticed her sister figure was back and okay and let out a whimper, "Carla."

At the sound of her name, Carla's head snapped back to look at the Hopper, watching as the young girl reached for her, wanting Carla instead of Mike. 

The Wheeler boy quickly let go of his ex-girlfriend, Lucas doing the same to Carla, the both of them knowing it was best if the two girls comforted one another, both having just experienced more than likely horrifying things. 

At the release, Carla crawled towards her sister figure, El latching on to her as if she was about to disappear—which, based on Billy's words, could be true.  

Wrapping her arms around El—one hand on the back of the girl's head, the other around her back as Eleven clutched on to Carla's shoulders—the Wheeler girl finally allowed herself to cry.   After every event that she'd been through within the week —within the past two years, really—she'd kept her emotions bottled up.  She'd push them aside and put the children's feelings first.  Put them before her, put everyone before her.

But now, after hearing Billy tell her that he wasn't going to let her go next time—that he was going to make sure he had her—she couldn't help but finally break down.    Carla Wheeler was fucking scared, and she was finally letting it show in front of everyone.

But, after a few minutes of breaking down, Carla composed herself again.  She bottled up her emotions again, knowing that she had to tell the group what had happened—crying would get her nowhere. 

Knowing that she too had to give information, Eleven eventually stopped crying too, and moved over to the couch behind them, hand intertwined with Carla's —the two girls stuck together.   If El wanted to move, the Wheeler was right beside her.

The group was very good when it came to letting the two girls take their time, sitting and standing around the couch, waiting for one of them to start speaking, which El ended up doing. 

As fireworks erupted from outside, El quietly said, "He said he was building something."

"He said, it—it was all for me." Carla added, blankly staring at the wall in front of her.  El gave a comforting squeeze to her hand at her words, which the Wheeler appreciated.  The two hadn't separated since the embrace, Eleven's head slightly leaning against Carla's shoulder, which had already been stained with her blood and tears from earlier.

"Building something....." Max trailed off, before asking, "Is he talking about the flayed?"

Nancy nods, "He must be."

"So, he's building an army, just like we thought." Lucas paced back and forth from behind the couch.

Mike agreed, but slightly contradicted his friends words, "Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread."

"He's building it to get Carla, and to stop Eleven." Will finished.

"Last year, El closed the Gate on him.  I have a feeling that really pissed him off."

Lucas agreed, "Like, royally."

"And the Mind Flayer now knows she's the only thing that can stop him.  But, if she's out of the way—"

"Game over."

Eleven then admitted, "He also said he was gonna kill all of you.....and me."

At El's words, everyone fell silent, looking at one another without anything to say.   Carla was sure the Mind Flayer was royally pissed off—he wanted her, and every time he tried, he was harmed by the same group of teens—and wasn't surprised he wanted everyone dead.....but of course she didn't want that.   Her friends didn't deserve to be harmed because she kept escaping.

Max gave an unimpressed look, letting out a breath, "Yeah, well, that's nice."

"I'm not gonna let him harm you guys." Carla started, looking at everyone as she spoke.  She was going to try her hardest to keep them safe, even if she had to get taken to do so, "You guys have been protecting me from him ever since the sauna, and you shouldn't be getting harmed because of me.  I'm not going to let Billy, or—"

Suddenly, Nancy moved away from where she'd been standing, walking towards the window.  The sudden movement had caused Carla to stop talking, and to instead watch her sister with a confused expression, "Nance? You okay?"

"Do you guys hear that?" Nancy whispered.

Everyone took a moment to listen, trying to hear whatever the Wheeler had.   At first, Carla didn't hear anything but the fireworks—once again reminding her that it was indeed the Fourth of July, that it was summer and she was supposed to be having fun—but then.......

Carla heard it; the ominous booms —booms that could be mistaken as fireworks to the non-listening ear —that were growing louder and louder, as if they were growing closer to the.....oh.

Oh.

In Eleven's head, Billy had stated that he could see where they were.  That they all could.   In the moment, she hadn't quite taken that info to heart but now, hearing the loud booms, it was suddenly hard to ignore.

The Mind Flayer wasn't heading for the cabin, was he?

"It's just the fireworks." Jonathan mutters.

Carla looked at her best friend with a slightly worried look, "I-I don't think it's just the fireworks.  When Billy was speaking, it was here in this room.   He said he could see where we were, that they all could."

Suddenly, the thudding from outside grew even louder, which put everyone on edge, now that Carla's words hung in the air.  The Wheeler girl was almost sure that they were in danger, that the Mind Flayer was on his way to them, and the burning sensation beginning in her wrists was only adding to that feeling.

After a pause of silence within the group, Will's hand raised to the back of his neck, "He knows we're here."

Jonathan was the first to exit the house, the Wheeler girls following behind with the kids, wanting to see for themselves.   Stopping at the dirt road, the group stared into the distance, eyes wide in panic as they watched the Mind Flayer—much bigger than it had been in the hospital—approaching the hospital, knocking down trees as fireworks erupted in the sky behind it.

Carla knew it was there for her and El, but, the group was not about to let their friends go so easily, and was quick to start racing around, trying to prepare themselves for the fight that was about to occur.   While the older teens headed for weapons, the kids took boarding up the house, all of which in a sense of panic.

Jonathan headed towards the nearby ax, while the two sisters unlocked Hopper's shed, heading towards the guns.  After their first monster attack, both Nancy and Carla had taken more interest when it came to learning safety precautions, and, while not having any actual licence, had at least one gun hidden in their bedroom, in case of another scenario like this.   

But, they weren't in their bedrooms, and were just going to have to work with what they could—two shot-guns, Carla grabbing a shovel as well, just as a back-up option.  

Entering the house again, the Wheeler was pleased to see the work the kids had done in the few minutes they'd had.  Windows had been boarded up, larger items moved towards the walls, and once inside, Jonathan and Nancy had moved the couch against the door.

"Get back from the windows." Carla called out towards the ex-couple, who quickly moved away and joined everyone in the middle, creating some sort of protective circle. There was someone on every side—no one was truly un-protected.

Shot-gun in hand, Carla was tense as she looked around the house, trying to find where the monster was going to pop out from.  Despite having gone through similar moments both years prior, it had never gotten easier, waiting for the monster to make its appearance.   Her hear stilled thudded against her chest, her throat dry with anticipation.

"It's close." Will stated.

Everything was eerily silent for a few moments, minus the occasional breath or shaking of an object due to the Mind Flayer's steps.  Then, as expected, things started to really shake, and the lights began to flicker on and off, showing he was close.  Dust and bits of ceiling started to fall, as well as a mug, which caused everyone to jump in fear......only for it to go silent once again. 

"Where'd it go?" Max asked.

No one bothered to answer the redheads question, but that was alright, because it was answered by the creature itself a few moments later as it's arm burst through the cabin wall, wood falling everywhere.

Carla let out a scream of shock, as did most of the group as they took positions, the kids jumping to the other side of the room while the older teens tried to make a move with their weapons, Jonathan striking the monster first as he noticed it's arm heading straight for Eleven.

The head of the arm shrieked at the Byers boy as he continued to strike the ax into it, eventually tossing him into a wall with ease, the weapon falling to the floor.   With the boy now weakened, the arm made its way towards him, about to strike when suddenly, it shrieked in pain.

"Hey, asshole!" Carla yelled, standing her ground against the arm.  She'd shot it without much thought, wanting nothing more than to protect her friend who'd put his life on the line for her the previous night.  "I'm right here!"

The arm left Jonathan and came at Carla, the girl shooting the creature with as many bullets as the shot-gun had to offer, until only the click of an empty chamber.  But, instead of backing away into the wall, frozen, just as she had in '83, the Wheeler raised her gun in front of her, about to strike the creature with the item when it was then pulled away from her.

Looking forward, Carla watched as El completely stopped the arm from lunging at the girl, the arm starting to writhe in her hold.  Then, after a few minutes of the arm squirming, Eleven dropped her hand, the head of the arm disconnecting.   Injured, the rest of the arm retracted back out of the hole it had entered from, barely missing Max on it's way out.

"Holy shit," Max commented.

A second arm suddenly burst through the house, coming through right above the Mayfield's head—who screamed and ducked down—trying to surprise the power filled girl.  Eleven held her hand out, stopping the creature when another arm broke into the cabin, targeting her as well.   Using her other hand, El held both of the arms back, panting with the amount of energy she was using.   Looking between the two, she finally contracted her outstretched arms back into her chest, yet again disconnecting the heads of the limbs

Carla was quick to run towards her sister-figure, wanting to pull her away when suddenly, the ceiling came through, revealing the Mind Flayer itself, on top of the roof.   Looking upwards, with wide eyes, the Wheeler's mouth gaped as yet another uninjured arm came through, right at her. 

 Holding her arms up as a shield in front of her face, the brunette girl expected to feel the slimy arm of the creature attacking her when she felt herself flying towards the floor. 

 Landing on the floor with a small thud, Carla got on her hands and knees to see Eleven standing where she had previously stood, the monster's arm latched around her ankle, beginning to drag her towards him.

Eleven had shoved her out of the way.

"Eleven!" Carla was the first one to scream, having realized what the younger girl had done.  Everyone was chorusing her name within seconds, and Mike was quick to rush to his ex's aid, grabbing on to her arms in an attempt to pull her down.  The Hopper girl let out screams of horror and of pain as the creature and the Wheeler played tug of war with her,  the boy pulling her back down towards him, the monster tugging her towards him.

Immediately on her feet, Carla was at her brother's side, hands over his hands, adding more strength.  Her eyes were set on the Mind Flayer, narrowed and anger filled as she stared at the creature. 

Jonathan came from under El, and soon enough Max and Will  were surrounding her too, latching on to her arms and whatever part of her body they could to pull her back to the floor.  

With the monster's screeches, Eleven's screams and everyone else's panicked, unheard, yells, the cabin became utter chaos within seconds.

"Nancy, shoot it!" Jonathan exclaimed with a panicked voice.

Gun. Carla had completely forgotten about her gun, which had fallen onto the floor with her.  Looking at her sister, she sent a message to which Nancy managed to understand, grabbing Carla's discarded gun and throwing in at her, which Carla caught with the hand she'd freed from the pile of arms around Eleven.   Slightly backing away from the group.  She then began shooting at the arm, bullets flying towards the mouth of the Mind Flayer from Nancy behind her.

"Come on! Lucas!" Max screeched, voice high pitched.

Lucas, who hadn't been doing anything, grabbed the ax from his feet and raced towards the group, jumping on to a chest that was nearby and slamming the weapon into the arm, the monster roaring.

 Eleven screamed as everything happened around her—Lucas hacking at the arm, the sister shooting at the creature, her friends yanking her.  The kids strained as the carpet began to slide from under them, and the Wheelers fired with as good aim as possible, and finally, after minutes of effort did the monster's arm break off from the mouth—thanks to the Sinclair.

Everyone who'd been pulling El fell to the ground, said girl wrapped in Mike's arms, eyelids heavy.  But, the panic wasn't quite over yet, because after a moment, Carla spotted the piece of Mind Flayer still latched to the poor girl's leg.  "Mike!"

The boy looked at his sister before meeting her gaze on El's leg, ripping the piece of the creature off of Eleven with force, who let out a scream of agonizing pain—a scream that made Carla want to do nothing but comfort the girl.

The piece of the creature was thrown to the side, and the group watched as it scurried away from the cabin and back to the Mind Flayer itself, who still sat at the top of the roof, watching.

The Mind Flayer roared, and Carla turned to look at it with an even harder glare.   She was so fucking done with this monster.  

Stepping out in front of the injured girl, Carla—with the shotgun in hand—looked up at the creature that desperately wanted her.  "I'm right here.  Fucking take me—I'm not gonna run anymore."

Was she truly ready to go? Absolutely not.....but, she had to protect her friends.  And maybe if he had her, the Mind Flayer would finally let them go for a moment at least.  

The monster believed her words and didn't hesitate to let tentacles grow from its mouth.   But, yet again, before she felt the tentacles reach her, a hand was suddenly in front of her chest, stopping her from going any further.

Looking to her side, Carla saw Eleven, matted hair stuck to her tear stained face, with a determined glare on her face.  She limped forward, blood staining her pants and shoes as she moved herself in front of the Wheeler, despite her injury.

"El, what are you doing?" Carla spoke lightly, noticing how exhausted El looked.  Why was she still pushing herself? "I'm okay, let him take me—"

"No more." Eleven firmly said in a weak voice.  The Hopper girl was tired of this creature harming her and her friends, especially Carla.  He wasn't winning this time. 

With a yell, El lifted her hands and, using all her concentration and energy, split the creatures face in half.  Throwing her arms back down, the face's  halves fell in two different directions, blood and slime dripping to the floor.

Having used most of her energy, the Hopper girl fell backwards into the Wheeler girl's arms.  But, she was given no time to rest as Nancy, who'd seen this as their opportunity to get the hell out of the cabin, demanded, "Go, go, go!"

It was a commotion of panicked voices and movements, but eventually, Jonathan managed to come forward, shoving the couch away from the door.  The kids scrambled out the door,  Mike staying at his sisters side to help get El down the stairs.  

Carla felt terrible for forcing all this movement on the weak girl—cries of pain left her lips—but it wasn't like they had much of a choice.  As they neared the car, Max came forward, stealing El from the Wheeler girl, saying something along the lines of, 'I'll fit in the back', but the brunette didn't give much of a fight and handed over the Hopper without any sort of comment.

While Mike and Max dragged Eleven to the very back of the car, Will ripped open the door so he could sit in the middle, Lucas ushering him to the far end before getting ushered to the middle seat by Carla.  As the Mind Flayer roared, signaling he was still able to fight, Nancy flew into the drivers seat, Jonathan taking passenger.

"Nance, go! Go!" Carla screamed over the wails of Eleven.

Nancy didn't need to be told twice, and twisted the keys into the ignition, reversing before speeding off and away from the cabin. As they drove off, Carla turned to see the Mind Flayer standing upon the house, face split in half, staring right at them.   

He let out a roar, and the Wheeler knew that when they ultimately faced him again, they wouldn't be getting away so easily.

mara's misc

another long chapter!

i'm going on vaca this week, so i wanted to post something so i wasn't worrying about writing :) i think it turned out pretty good, and it was fun to write the chaos that was the mind flayer and the cabin.

ahh! so yeah, carla can dream-walk! i was originally gonna save this idea for s4 but then i just decided to throw it in here, as then carla had already done it before and it was just kinda easier for the s4 plot sake.  this can come in handy later, who knows....

as you may know, i hate stealing the spot-light away from characters and giving it to carla but it has to happen.  i changed the whole billy convo with el to mostly carla since billy wouldn't just ignore carla like that.  the mind flayer did, only because his main target was el, due to her being the person in the way.  without el, he can get carla with no much of a fight.  (or so he thinks).

also, off topic from this chapter, happy speak now tv! i'm a day late but oh well. 

i had a sleepover with my friends and we stayed up to listen to the album.  we skipped two songs just bc we don't really like them and im still pissed off she changed the lyric, but otherwise it was pretty good! her voice had matured so much, and i loved how while you could hear it, she still tried to sound young <3  she added her younger vocals in songs like speak now and dear john and that was so precious.

what was your fav vault track? i am in love with i can see you, ( i really thought when emma falls in love was gonna be my fav, but i guess not).   when i first heard the 'uh-oh-oh' in the beginning, i was hooked bc it sounded so evil and hot compared to her pure, upbeat songs.  it was sooo good.

the other vaults were eh to me, i'm giving them another chance tho....

also, the speech that taylor lautner gave taylor at the concert last night was so pure.  i love how they still respect each other and are besties, (she literally called him tay-tay and i laughed.)

this is getting too long so, imma end it here 

hope you enjoyed! see you back with chapter 15 <333