( darkest before dawn / act one )
episode seven  |   stranger things

❛  DONT BE DRAMATIC  ❜

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MUCH LIKE THE NIGHT they first found Eleven, Mike pulled one of his larger sweatshirts over Auroras outfit. Only, this time he sat on the couch with her, waiting for her to walk up. Dustin and Lucas paced the floor as Eleven stayed in the bathroom.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Mike questioned after another long glance at the clock, forty-eight minutes had passed since they had arrived at his house. Normally, Aurora would've woken up at around the fifteen minute mark.

"She's been passing out more frequently," Lucas started, glancing at the girl in Mikes arms, "it started after the junkyard. We got to her house, and she passed out. She didn't wake up for over twenty minutes. So I started timing her, sometimes they took a few seconds and sometimes they lasted hours."

"Why?" Both Mike and Dustin voiced their concerns, as the former brushed a fallen piece of hair off Auroras forehead.

"I don't know," Lucas shrugged, and barely spared a glance at Eleven as she left the bathroom.

"Didn't you guys see what she did at the cliff?" Dustin asked loudly.

"Um, I was busy," Mike raised his hand, and Lucas rolled his eyes, before shaking his head in confusion.

"You know what I mean!" Dustin stopped paced, snapping his fingers, "She grabbed onto James's arm and he passed out! I mean how could you explain that?"

Aurora groaned, "Why are you yelling?"

Lucas was the only one that laughed, as Mike scooted away from the girl, though still at an arms reach from her. She slowly sat up, gripping her head as she kept her eyes closed tightly. But she stood quickly, like something in her mind flipped as she scanned the room as fast as possible.

Her eyes glanced over Lucas, Dustin and Eleven, before landing on Mike — who had stood up in Auroras rush, ready to catch her if she fell.

Aurora took two long strides towards the boy, before holding him at an arms length. She scanned over him thoroughly, making sure she didn't miss anything, no injuries or breaks. Once she was sure he was mostly fine, she smack his arm harshly. No one did anything, too in shock that Aurora was the one to hit Mike of all people.

Mike and Aurora just stood for a few moments, the boy not wanting to move — fear that she would pass out again flooding his mind — and Aurora still shaky from the cliff. Then, Mike pulled her into a tight hug, breathing in her vanilla and caramel shampoo.

Once they pulled away, she smacked Mikes arm hard, again, "If you do that to me again, I swear to everything I own, Mike. You do not get to die on me, fake or real."

Mike couldn't even speak, a light blush was growing on his cheeks as he just watched the girl with honey blonde hair and sea-blue eyes stare at him. He noticed each of her freckles the covered her nose and cheeks, and how long her eyelashes were. Her lips were a perfect cupids bow shape, that had now curved into a grin. He noticed every part of her face, every curve and line that was made when she grinned. He admired every part of her.

A throat clearing broke the boy from his trance, "Anyways, Rory you were right."

Aurora turned away from Mike, and glanced confusingly at Lucas, "Of course I was. But remind me what about?"

Lucas grinned, before growing serious, "Hawkins Energy guys? They work from Hawkins lab, which is where the gate is." Lucas gave the girl the shorter version of what he had mentioned to everyone else.

"It's all connected," Aurora and Dustin spoke in unison.

"And we need to hurry, because I think they know about Eleven," Lucas spoke, as Mike walked towards one of the basement windows and cursed.

"Bad men." Eleven spoke as the three boys stumbled up the stairs leaving Aurora and Eleven behind.

The blonde moved towards Eleven, "Thank you, for saving Mike, and for helping us. You really mean a lot to all of us Eleven."

"Friends?" Eleven asked, hesitant of the word.

"We're more than friends," Aurora grinned, bringing her into a hug, "we're sisters, Eleven."

Aurora pulled away as she stood up and moved towards the window, peaking out of the curtain as vans from Hawkins Energy drove up. "Shit," Aurora cursed, as the three boys rushed down the stairs.

"We need to go," Mike said as he threw open the back door, the group following behind him. They all hopped on their respective bikes, Eleven riding on the back of Mikes as they pedaled as fast as they could away from the house.

Aurora glanced back, watching a group of men walk towards them. One of them almost seemed familiar to her, but she ignored the feeling as she pushed herself to pedal harder.

"Go, go, go!"

Aurora wanted to grin as the window blew through her hair, the girl oblivious to the fact that Mike would glance at her every few seconds, making sure she was alright.

They took a shortcut from Cornwallis to Elm street, as they turned off the driveway, they caught sight of two vans, both tagged by Hawkins Energy speeding down the road.

"Shit!"

"This way," Mike shouted, though it was hard to hear him over the screeching of the vans tires, "come on!"

Mike led the group of them down a path into the an open backyard, Lucas ringing his bell to scare a group of kids off as they sped through trees and brush.

Once they rolled back onto the main road, the group slowed their bikes to a stop.

"Where are they?" Lucas questioned, panting harshly.

"I don't know."

"I think we lost them," Dustin grinned, ringing his bell happily.

"I think not," Aurora said as the sound of tires screeching filling their ears, "go, go, go!"

Everyone was yelling, and Aurora was starting to panic as she felt a bit of sleep fill her mind. "No!" She shouted out loud as sleep edged though her thoughts, another van pulled out in front of them, effectively trapping them.

Aurora made eye contact with the driver, as her eyes almost fluttered shut. She grunted as she tried to push the sleep away, before it dissolved entirely. Aurora grinned, proud of herself for not succumbing, and turned to tell Lucas her accomplishment as the van swerved to the left before flying off the ground.

The van soared over the group of kids, before landing behind them, blocking the others from reaching them. And then it seemed like silence fell over the group as they glanced backwards at the overturned van, no one speaking as shock overwhelmed their sense. Though, they never stopped pedaling.

A headache began overwhelming Auroras senses as they pedaled away from the crash sight. She pushed through it, as they moved closer to the junkyard that Lucas had been injured at.

Mike slowed to a stop ahead of them, the three others following suit.

"Holy, holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed, "did...did you see what she did to that van?"

"No, Dustin, we missed it." Aurora and Mike remarked at the same time, bringing a grin to both their faces.

"I mean that was..."

"Awesome," Lucas panted, "it was awesome." The boy moved a few paces closer to Eleven, "Everything I said about you being a traitor and stuff...I was wrong."

Eleven glanced at the boy in shock, as Aurora and Dustin grinned. "I'm sorry."

"Friends...friends don't lie." Elevens voice was weak as she spoke, "I'm sorry, too."

"Me too." Mike added, holding his hand out for the boy. After a second of hesitation, Lucas grabbed Mikes hand, shaking it and reforming their friendship.

They spent the rest of the day in the scrapyard, Lucas explained where the gate was, and how the entire lab was surrounded by a fence and guards.

"Oh Jesus, this is bad."

"Really bad," Lucas rolled his eyes as Dustin's comment. "That place is like a fortress."

"Well, what do we do?"

"I don't know," Mike answered, "but we can't go home. We're fugitives now."

"I think fugitives is a bit dramatic," Aurora laughed as Mike jokingly glared.

"Guys," Dustin stuttered as the sound of a helicopter above them filled their ears, "do you hear that?"

The helicopter came into view as the five of them began rushing around, hiding their bikes under an abandoned bus as they all piled inside. Mike yelled get down as Aurora tripped over her own feet, falling over Mikes legs. The boy held her close as the helicopter passed over them, even when it was gone and the only sound for miles was all of their harsh breathing, Mike didn't let go of Aurora.

They stayed in the bus for what seemed like hours. The helicopter sounded overhead every few minutes, and no one even tried to move — well besides Mike shifting away from the blonde girl who had fallen asleep once again — but they all were afraid.

A radio crackled to life in the distance and Aurora slowly woke up. Mike snatched his bag, rushing to open it and find the radio, pulling it out to reveal the sound.

"Mike, we need you to answer." Mikes older sister Nancy sounded from the walkie, though it was distorted from the distance.

"Is that your sister?" Lucas whispered.

"This is an emergency, Mike," Nancy spoke again, the radio whirring and popping, "Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?"

"Okay, this is really weird," Dustin spoke, before he was shushed. Lucas tried to grab the walkie, but Mike was faster.

"Don't answer!"

"She said it was an emergency." Mike waved the walkie-talkie around, as Lucas rolled his eyes.

"What if it's a trick?"

"It's your sister!"

"What if the bad people kidnapped her? What if they're forcing her to say this?"

The radio crackled again, "I need you to answer. We need to know that you're there, Mike."

The voice on the radio changed, "Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl."

"Why is she with the chief?"

"How the hell does he know..."

"We can protect you," Hopper started, "we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over."

"You have to answer!" Aurora spoke, "I doubt that Nancy and the Chief of Police were kidnapped by the bad men."

Mike sighed, "Yes, I copy. Its Mike. I'm here." He let go of the talk button and pointed at Aurora, "If it is the bad men, I blame you." Mike pressed the talk button again, "We're here."

⋆ ★ ⋆

AFTER MIKE FINISHED SPEAKING with his sister and the chief, Dustin couldn't stop pacing. Aurora had moved to sit by Lucas, which happened to place him in between Mike and her.

"Will you stop pacing?" Mike was the one to break the silence.

"It's been way too long!" Dustin spoke, "you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe this is all a trap and the bad men are coming to get us right now."

"And I thought I was the dramatic one." Aurora joked, quietly enough that no one but her caught it.

"Why would the chief set us up? Nancy, maybe, but the chief?"

"Lando Clarissian." Dustin grinned, clearly proud of the reference he made.

"Will you shut up about Lando?" Lucas shouted.

"I don't feel good about this. I don't feel good about this!" Dustin raised his voice.

"Guys!" Aurora shouted, tired of them arguing, "Nothing you are doing right now is going to help us in the long run. Maybe it was a set up, but maybe it wasn't. We don't know until help shows up."

"Or the bad men show up, ready to kill us!" Dustin shouted back.

"Oh my god," Aurora sighed, as she leaned back ready to fade to the background and ignore them until help arrived. But clearly that was soon, as the sound of vehicles approaching them filled the bus.

They all stumbled to the front of the bus, looking out to see if it was a set up. Though, when two cars showed up, neither of them a car the group recognized, they all knew it had been a set up.

"Shit!" Dustin cried out as Mike ushered them all to the back to hide. "Lando." The boy exclaimed proudly, and Mike pulled Aurora down to hide next to him, Eleven only a seat in front of them.

"You think they saw us?" Lucas asked.

"Both of you, shut up." Mike spoke, leaning out to look at them and without realizing it, he interlaced his fingers with Aurora.

Three men in suits slammed the car doors shut, approaching the bus. The kids inside huddled down, trying to hide and panic encased their bodies. Even in her worry, Aurora let a soft smile grow on her face when she glanced down at hers and Mikes interlocked hands.

They held their breath as a man approached the bus, Aurora peaked out the window slightly. Her eyes growing wide at what she saw the man holding, before realizing their location had been exposed by the boys poor bike hiding skills.

Aurora made a gun gesture with her free hand to Mike, before pointing outside. The friends all held their breath as they heard the door squeak open, before a grunt and someone falling. The other two men spoke outside, before they were all knocked out as well.

When the door squeaked opened, the friends stood up, as the chief of police entered the bus. "All right, let's go." They all stood in shock, watching the chief, "Let's go." The demand in his voice sent the friends rushing to grab their things.

Aurora was the one to let go of Mikes hand first, but she couldn't stop smiling as she ran to Hoppers car.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

THEY HELD HANDS!!!!! well they had
held hands once but it was like for two
seconds so!!!! and mike being so freaking
protective over rory is so cute>>>>>>
one of my favorite chapters i feel like i've
ever written!!!

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves