(      darkest before dawn      /      act two      )
episode three  |   stranger things

❛  STRANGE DISCOVERIES   ❜

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      AURORA LEFT FOR SCHOOL earlier than she should've, but it was the first on the month and she was antsy. It was almost a full year since she had seen Eleven, and every month, she would stop by the station to check up on the investigation.

      Today, she brought Hopper a donut and a black coffee because for some reason he enjoyed that. Well, she brought a box of donuts because she knew that the receptionist, Florence loved donuts.

      Entering the police station, Aurora dropped the box of donuts on Florence's desk with a grin. "You donut know how hard it it to ride a bike with a box of donuts."

      Flo laughed at the girls joke, "Good morning, Aurora. Here for Hop?"

      "Like usual," Aurora nodded as Flo pulled a donut from the box.

      "Well he's not in yet," as the woman spoke, the door opened again, and a set of heavy footsteps — ones Aurora recognized as the chiefs — entered behind her. "Just kidding there he is."

      Hopper groaned, "Come on." He beckoned the girl to follow him after snagging a donut himself. Once in his office, with the door shut behind the pair, Aurora handed him the coffee.

      "Have you found anything?" Aurora bent forward, the sweetest grin on her face. Hopper shoved the donut in his mouth, shaking his head. "Have you looked at the lab? I know that Brenner is dead but—"

      "Aurora," Hoppers voice was slightly muffled as he quickly swallowed down the rest of his donut before continuing, "I think this needs to end. Eleven" — the man cleared his throat — "isn't coming back. She's most likely dead."

      Auroras grin dropped, "No. No, she's not. You just don't want to look for her anymore. Why? Why don't you want to help us?"

      "Because!" Hopper slammed his hand on the table, and Aurora jumped slightly, "because I won't risk having to find one of your friends bodies, only this time it would be real. It's over, Aurora. Give up, she's gone."

      Aurora stood stunned, tears welling in her eyes as she watched them man she had grown to enjoy being around. She took in a shaky breath, "just because it's hard, doesn't mean you give up. You told me that."

      "It's not hard," Hopper gritted his teeth and moved around his desk to crouch next to Aurora, "she. Is. Gone."

      "No. She. Isn't." Aurora hit his arms with every word, and in the last one, she felt a slight rush of power, and Hopper stumbled to the ground, his eyes closed as he fell asleep.

      Aurora glared at the man and contemplated kicking his shin, before realizing it would be too mean. So, she left with his coffee. She stopped by the front desk again, and handing Flo the coffee before skipping out the door and pedaling to school.

      She was irritated, and her hands shaking slightly as she pedaled. Her breathing shaky, and she couldn't get her mind to settle on something as she shoved her bike into the bike holder.

      Mr. Clarkes class was fun for once. He had gotten Aurora chemistry notes to do instead of what he was teaching, and allowed her to learn that instead. And she finally felt like she was progressing. And though Phineas Gage was interesting to the girl — as he always would be — Aurora stuck to the chemistry, and actually enjoyed it.

      Aurora glanced up as Dustin threw the door to the class open, stumbling in. "I'm so sorry Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me. Really, continue, please."

      Mr. Clarke watched the boy with a hit of annoyance but mostly concerned as he began the lesson again. Aurora glanced up as the four boys huddled together, she watched them curiously before Dustin glanced behind him and mouthed AV AT LUNCH to the girl. She nodded before focusing her attention to the worksheet in front of her.

      Once she had gotten to concept, the paper was easy to finish and she had completed it with almost fifteen minutes to spare. So she listened to the last half of Mr. Clarkes lesson with mild enjoyment.

      Once the bell rang, Aurora was the first out of her seat. Bounding to the front of the room with a grin as she placed the paper on Mr. Clarke's desk.

      "I take it you enjoyed the new material." Mr. Clarke glanced over the paper, nodding slightly.

      "I did, thank you Mr. Clarke." Aurora smiled largely at the teacher, "it was easy once the concept of kinetic molecular theory began to make sense, but thank you for letting me stay in your class."

      "Of course," Mr. Clarke motioned behind her shoulder, "now, I think your friends need you."

      Aurora turned with a grin, Dustin was bouncing where he stood while the other three boys had excited looks on their faces, Max stood behind them. Aurora adjusted her bag as Dustin ran outside of the classroom, the group following.

      They made it to the AV room, and locked the door before Dustin pulled out his halloween costume's proton pack and placed it on the table. When he opened it, a slimy creature chipped at them as it crawled from the opening.

      "His name is D'Artagnan." Dustin grinned as Aurora squinted her eyes at the creature.

      "After the 3-Musketeers D'Artagnan?" Aurora questioned as Dustin picked the creature up from the cage.

      "Exactly." Dustin grinned, holding the creature close as he grinned at it. "Cute, right?"

      "D'Artagnan?" Mike questioned.

      "Dart for short."

      "And," Max tilted her head, "he was in your trash?"

      "Foraging for food." The toothless boy grinned before glancing at the two girls, "You wanna hold him?"

      Aurora took a large step back, "No way."

      "No, no," Max protested before Dustin dropped the creature into her hands. "Oh god, he's slimy!"

      Aurora laughed at the girls misery, before the creature was plopped right into her palms. Max was right, Dart was extremely slimy, and his feet felt like he had claws. She handed him off to Lucas before Will held him and then eventually Mike, who was the calmest of all of them.

      "What is he?" Mike held Dart up to his face, tossing Dustin questioning glance.

      "My question exactly." Dustin spoke as he tossed a few books onto the table. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."

      "Pollywog?" Max asked, causing Mike to send her a glare.

      "Tadpole." Aurora whispered to the girl, who sent her a thank you.

      "It's another word for the larval state of a toad." Dustin added.

      "I know what a tadpole is." Max rolled her eyes.

      Dustin held his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" He opened a book up to one page, point to some words that Aurora couldn't read upside down. "Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

      "Yeah," Lucas shrugged, "but aren't they nonaquatic pollywogs?"

      "Terrestrial pollywogs?" Dustin grinned, "yep. Two to be exact." He opened to another bookmarked page, "Indirana Semipalmata and the Adrnomera Andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash."

      "It flew here." Aurora grinned, sarcastically

      "Haha," Dustin set a glare to the girl.

      "What about, scientists brought it here and it escaped?" Max reasoned.

      "Hey guys," Mike pointed at Dart, "it looks like something is moving inside of it." Mike grabbed the light, and pulled it over the creature, only to have it screech at the group, all of them jumping back in fear while Aurora grabbed Mikes hand.

      Dart crawled out of the small loop it had been placed it, Dustin catching the creature before it jumped from the table with a slight gasp.

      "It's okay, I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that," Dustin spoke to the creature like it was a child, which gained weird looks from everyone at the table.

      "It's okay. And there's another thing." The boy spoke up, as if he was just remembering something, "reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him."

      "So, if he's not a pollywog, or a reptile..." Lucas trailed off, clearly confused.

      "Dustin just discovered a whole new species." Aurora interrupted with a grin.

      Mike had dropped her hand a moved to the other side of Dustin, using the excuse to analyze Dart better, but it just made Aurora more awkward.

      Will stared terrified at the creature, his hands shaking slightly before Aurora grabbed one, "Will?"

      He pulled away in a jump, glancing between the party, "Huh? What? I'm okay." The boy assured, but Aurora gave in a suspicious glance before the bell rung.

      Everyone rushed up, moving to grab their things and hurry to their next class. "No secrets, remember?" Aurora told Will as he grabbed his bag.

      "It's nothing," Will promised again, "promise, Rory."

      "We've got to show him to Mr. Clarke!" Lucas proposed.

      "What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin panicked as Max gave suggestive eyes between Mike and Aurora. The latter rolled her eyes in response.

      "He's not going to steal your discovery." Mike rolled his eyes.

      "You know," Dustin grinned, "I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus." Dustin wave a hand over his face as he admired the name. Aurora laughed slightly as Dustin continued, "What do you think?"

      "I think you're an idiot." Max scoffed before walking in front of the group.

      Dustin kept going on and on about his new discovery, while Will watched the five of them walk away, his mind racing with thoughts about Dart. The familiar feeling rushing to his neck, as he gripped it softly, fear running through his veins.

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      WHEN THE FINAL BELL sounded, Aurora and the rest of the party rushed to Mr. Clarkes room to show him what the group had found.

      "This is the reason I was late for class," Dustin set the proton pack on Mr. Clarkes desk. Aurora tapped her foot and glanced at the door every few seconds, waiting for Mike and Will to show up.

      "Pretty neat," Mr. Clarke tapped on the doors, "these doors function?"

      "Well, yeah, obviously," Dustin spoke, "but it's not about the trap. It's what's inside. Now, this very well may change your perception of the world."

      "Consider my interest peaked," their teacher grinned.

      "All right," Dustin looked down, "let's just clarify that this is my discovery, not yours."

      "Dustin!" Lucas groaned, "Jesus, just show him!"

      "Alright! I'm just trying to clarify—"

      "Dustin!"

      "Okay, fine." Dustin clicked the button and the doors snapped open just as Mike and Will rushed into the room.

      "Stop!" Mike ran up to the desk, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Clarke. it was just a stupid prank." Mike reached for the container, snapping the top to lock into place as he cradled it in his hands. Aurora stood taller, confusion written over her face.

      "What the hell are you doing?" Dustin threw his hands up.

      "I told him to stop." Mike heaved out a breath, "we need to go." He backed out of the room, as Dustin called his name in protest. "Right now! Right now!"

      At the urgency in his tone, the party rushed to grab their bags to follow the boy. All of them running out of the classroom, leaving a confused teacher in their wake. They rushed to the AV room, all of them but Max making it in before Mike slammed the door in her face.

      "Guys," Max pounded on the door as Aurora tried once again to go open it. Mike pulled her away, "come on! Can I come in yet?"

      "No!" Mike yelled back.

      "Mike what are you doing?" Aurora whispered, moving to open the door for her friend, but Mike pulled her away.

      "You said only for Halloween," Mike rolled his eyes in annoyance.

      "So?" Aurora scoffed, "she was here earlier! What changed?" Mike just moved around the girl, dropping the proton pack to the table harshly.

      "I don't understand." Lucas spoke, watching the proton pack in confusion.

      "What do you not understand?" Mike squinted at the boy.

      "Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?"

      "Kind of," Wills voice was shaky, "but there was no tail."

      "But then he heard it yesterday," Mike spoke, leaning forward, "the exact same sound."

      "Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin questioned, clearly hurt.

      Aurora felt the same, as she refused to glance at the boy, "I wasn't sure." Was Wills response.

      "So it's a coincidence?"

      "Or not." Mike protested. "What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight."

      "True Sight?" Lucas questioned.

      "It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin responded with a grin.

      Lucas sighed, "Elaborate?"

      "Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all." Mike spoke up, and Aurora stood from her chair, "maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down."

      "So that would mean..."

      Mike cut Lucas off, "Dart is from the Upside Down."

      "We have to take him to Hopper." Dustin reasoned.

      "No!" Aurora jumped in, "Hopper won't help us."

      "Why is that?" Mike asked.

      "Because," Aurora shrugged, "he won't help. Just trust me."

      "No way," Dustin shook his head, agreeing with the girl. "If we take him to Hopper, Dart's good as dead."

      "Maybe he should be!" Mike argued.

      "How can you say that?" Dustin glared.

      "How could you not!" Mike shouted, "he's from the Upside Down!"

      "Maybe!" Dustin shook his head, glancing at the proton pack, "but even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad!"

      "That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star doesn't make them bad."

      "We have a bond." Dustin's voice dropped to a whisper.

      "A bond?" Mike scoffed, "just because he likes nougat?"

      "No! Because he trusts me!"

      "He trusts you?" Lucas asked incredulously.

      "Yes," Dustin waved his hands wildly, "I promised that I would take care of him."

      As Dustin finished, Dart screeched from inside the box, but instead of the soft, baby like screech Aurora was used to, it sounded more like the growl from last year. The party jumped back in fear as the box shook wildly.

      It fell to the side, and Mike grabbed the microphone as a weapon, "Don't hurt him!" Dustin pleaded, trying to pull the microphone away from Mike.

      "Only if he attacks," Mike reasoned.

      "Just open it already!" Lucas pointed to the contained that continued to shake. Dustin reached for the pedal, and the doors popped open. Dart rolling out, quite larger than that morning.

      "Is it just me," Aurora whispered, "or is he a lot bigger right now?"

      Dart stumbled a second, before growling softly as two legs broke from the sides of his body. Lucas cursed as Aurora stumbled backwards. Mike went to slam the microphone where Dart was, but the creature ran. Aurora screamed as Dart ran between her feet just as the door burst open, Max standing on the other side with a triumphant grin. Only for it to fall at Dart ran out of the room, the entire party rushing after him.

      Dustin tumbled on top of Max, as Mike and Aurora glanced down the halls.

      "Where did he go?" Lucas questioned.

      "What was that?" Max was shouting in anger.

      "Dart!" Mike yelled, "and you let him escape!"

      "Why did you attack him?" Dustin cornered Mike, as the boy pinned a glare on Aurora.

      "Guys!" Lucas yelled to get their attention, "let's argue later, and find dart now!"

      Mike nodded, and pulled Aurora to the left with him, "Don't hurt him!" Dustin screamed after the pair, "Don't you dare hurt him!"

      Mike and Aurora stalked through the East wing of the school, looking for the creature, "East is clear," the boy spoke into his walkie-talkie, "no sign of Dart."

      Aurora wanted to smile at the fact that he was using the walkie-talkie she had gotten him. It made a flock of butterflies in her stomach. "It's not Max's fault, you can't blame her for this."

      "It is her fault," Mike rolled his eyes, stepping ahead of Aurora, "she opened the door and let Dart out!"

      "It wouldn't have happened if you just let her in the room! She was there before, what happened?"

      Mike didn't respond as he took a few more steps ahead of Aurora, glaring at the ground. "Where'd you go, you little bastard?" Mike grumbled as the took the stairs two at a time and headed straight. Their radio crackled with disappointed responses, as the two of them entered the gym.

      The door to the locker rooms swung open, "stay here. I'll be right back."

      Mike left Aurora and headed for the locker room, jumping as Aurora grabbed his hand. "No way, Im not staying out her alone!"

      Mike smiled softly, before picking up a mop to use as a weapon in the dimly lit space. Mike and Aurora hid behind a few lockers as objects clattered. Mike jumped out, wailing before Max scoffed.

      "What the hell are you doing?" Max rolled her eyes, before a slight grin broke out at the pairs conjoined hands.

      "What are you doing?" Mike dropped Auroras hand. "Why are you in here?"

      "Looking for Dart?" Max stated as if it was is the most obvious thing in the world.

      "This is the boys room."

      "Yeah, so?" Max scoffed.

      "So, you should go home." Mikes voice cracked a bit as a raised it. He stormed out of the locker room, Aurora and Max hot on his heels.

      "Why do you hate me so much?" Max questioned.

      "I don't hate you."

      "You act like it." Aurora spoke up, ignoring the glare Mike pinned on her as soon as the words left her lips.

      "I don't hate you. How could I hate you? I don't know you!"

      "But you don't want me in your party."

      "Correct."

      "Why not?"

      Mike turned around, "Because you're annoying! Also, we not need another party member. I'm our paladin, Rory's our princess, Will's our cleric, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger and El is our mage!"

      "El? Who's El?"

      "Someone." Mike scoffed. "No one."

      "Someone? Or no one?" Max mocked.

      "She was in our party along time ago. She moved away, okay?"

      "She was a mage?" Max jumped on her skateboard, as Aurora watched her in amusement. "Well, what could she do? Like, magic tricks or something?"

      "Something, yeah." Aurora answered. "Hey can you teach me?"

      Max nodded, hoping off her board and helping the blonde on, "I could be your zoomer!" Max argued as she led Aurora in a circle, giving the girl slight tips here and there.

      "That's not even a real thing!" Mike scoffed, "please don't get hurt."

      "It could be."

      "See?" Max pushed Aurora in a slight circle, sending her spinning around the boy, "Zoomer."

      "Mind-blowing." Mike seemed uninterested, but he was watching Aurora with a calculating gaze, making sure she didn't fall, as he readied himself to catch her.

      "Mike!" Aurora protested, "be nice."

      Outside the gym, Eleven approached the door and Max pestered Mike about joining the party, all while she was pulling Aurora in a circle on the skateboard. She had the largest grin on her face, as Mike watched the girl with careful eyes.

      Eleven smiled at the two, before Max pushed her too hard and Aurora almost went tumbling to the ground, Eleven used her powers to grab onto her for a second before Mike grabbed her waist. Stabilizing her, Eleven then glared at the redhead, "sister."

      She flicked her head and Max tripped over nothing, falling to the ground. Aurora pushed out of Mikes arms, rushing to help the girl.

      By the time Mike got to the doors where Eleven just stood, it was too late. The girl had left, just happy to see her sister and Mike again. A tear fell from Elevens eye as she walked away from gym. Mike scoffed as Aurora and Max caught up with him, as Will was radioing to let the rest of the party know he had found him.

      The three of them took off running in the direction of the bathroom. But Aurora veered off path, noticing a familiar form weaving through the hallways. Aurora could've sworn it was Eleven, just based off of the form, but her hair was longer — and slightly curly — and her form had more skin to it.

      "El?" Aurora whispered as she jogged forward to catch up to the girl. "Eleven, is that you?"

      Rounding a corner, the person was gone. Aurora stood silently in the hall for a few seconds, just her breathing to comfort her. She glanced around, into the classrooms through the window on the door, but no one was there. Aurora scoffed, tugging at her hair before pivoting on her heel and walking away from the hall.

      In the hall, Eleven stepped out of one of the classrooms. She had tear streaks covering her face as she watched her sister walk away. Eleven wanted to reach out with her powers, grab the girl and pull her back. But she knew that she couldn't do that, yet. So, with teary eyes Eleven walked away from the school, leaving out a side door that led her back into the woods.

      As Aurora slowly stumbled through the school, she glanced out of one of the doors, swearing she saw something again. "God," Aurora whispered to herself, "I'm going crazy."

      "Guys," Mike screamed into his walkie, "guys! It's Will, outside field."

      Aurora paused for a second after hearing the call, before running. She ran out the door closest to her and saw the boy standing stiff as a board as he stared up at the sky, right in the middle of the field. Mike was shaking the boys arm as the rest of them and Mrs. Byers ran towards them.

      "Will, come on!" Aurora whispered, watching the boy as Mrs. Byers rushed towards him.

      "I think he's having another episode!" Mike yelled.

      "Mrs. Byers," Aurora whispered, "I-I think I can help." Mrs. Byers didn't hear the girl, as she shook Will, trying to wake the boy from his second episode.

      Aurora moved around Mrs. Byers, and grabbed Wills arm. She focused on calming her mind and searched for her strongest emotions. Fear, anger, love. She focused on what made her feel those emotions the most — Will, her parents, Mike — and channeled everything into her power. Into saving Will.

      Aurora closed her eyes, and felt that slight tingle as she drew her power up from her mind, feeling it fill her veins before it emptied out into Will. And he dropped to the ground.

      Mrs. Byers rushed to his side, as Will cracked his eyes open. He had a scared look on his face as Aurora stumbled slightly, but never succumbed to the sleep, that desperately etched at her temple.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

little bit of a longer chapter for
you guys!
i don't really have anything else to
say besides the fact that i edited this
instead of doing my french class
that is supposed to be completely
done by may 1st and haven't even
finished a semester :0

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves