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

❛  CRAZY THEORIES  ❜

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      "STOP HOGGING HER!" LUCAS grumbled as his eight year old sister led Aurora to her room, the boy following them slowly.

      Aurora had a grin on her faces as Erica Sinclair gripped her hand tightly, chattering on and on about the new board game she wanted to play with Aurora.

      "Erica," Lucas dragged her name out, "come on!"

      "If you don't want to hang out with us," Erica turned sharply, soundly much more like a teenager than an eight year old, "then leave, Lucas."

      "Yeah Lucas," Aurora placed a hand on her hip, unable to hide her grin as her friend was sassed by his younger sister. Erica clapped her hands, and left the two friends in the hall just outside her room. "She's sweet."

      Lucas rolled his eyes, "if we leave right now, she won't notice."

      The two of them had been connected at the hip for the days that had passed. Lucas's back had been bruised, though the purples and blues had been fading, and it didn't hurt to touch it anymore. Aurora apologized daily, even if she had done nothing wrong.

      Mike hadn't reached out. Dustin had. The boy had stopped by Auroras house one morning, and apologized for Mike. Aurora had thrown a shoe at his face ( she apologized quickly after though ).

      Lucas treated Aurora like his own sister, which meant that she and Erica hug out all the time, and the boy was getting jealous. She had been passing out much more frequently, which freaked Lucas out. Her aunts had even agreed to keep Mango, and lessened up on their overprotective approach, allowing Aurora to bike to and from Lucas's home.

      "Lucas," Aurora rolled her eyes, "no. Your sister is a doll, and we are going to listen to what she says."

      "She's a brat." Aurora smacked Lucas over the head for that, before grabbing his hand and pulling him the Erica's room. The young girl immediately pulled them to a board game she had already set up, Aurora couldn't stop grinning and Lucas glared hard at the board as Erica forced them to wear stupid hats.

      When the doorbell rang, Lucas was the one jumping up to answer, throwing the tiara Erica demanded he wear to the ground in his haste. Aurora stood up as well, handing her headpiece to the young girl before following Lucas. She watched as he led Mike and Dustin into the house, before following them.

      They all gathered in the living room after Aurora gave Dustin a tight hug, ignoring Mike. She still wasn't over her crush, even when it was clear he liked Eleven.

      Lucas paced the room for a few moments, before sighing, "I'll shake. On one condition," Mike held his hand out, "we forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate."

      "Then the deal's off." Mike shouted, pulling his hand back.

      "Fine!"

      "Fine!"

      "No, no, no, not fine!" Dustin argued stepping in between the two boys, "seriously, guys? Back me up here Rory."

      Aurora sighed as she stood, "Dustin's right."

      The boy smiled at her before turning to Mike, "do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?" Mike gave a questioning shrug, which had Dustin rolling his eyes again, "We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. It all went to shit, and we were all disabled! Why? Because we separated. So we stick together, no matter what."

      "Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room." Lucas spoke, swinging an arm around to gesture to all of them.

      "Wills not here," Aurora softly spoke up.

      "You know what I mean," Lucas rolled his eyes.

      "El is one of us now," Mike remarked.

      This time, Aurora spoke up, "No, she's not, Mike. She hurt Lucas, she betrayed all of us and then just, left!" Aurora threw her hands up, "how can you say she's one of us, when she lied about helping us find Will?" Aurora liked Eleven, she did. But what she had done to Lucas, and her even if it was just a lie, hurt.

      "She was just trying to keep us safe!" Mike shouted, "she didn't mean to hurt Lucas. It was an accident!"

      "An accident?" Lucas asked.

      "All right, accident or not, admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin grinned, trying to bring up the mood.

      "Awesome?" Lucas shouted, and Aurora was in the same boat as Dustin, it was cool, but she would never admit that to anyone.

      "Yeah she threw you in the air with her mind!"

      "I could have been killed!"

      "Which is exactly why we need her!" Mike argued, as Aurora began seeing spots. "She's a weapon. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Aurora stumbled into the couch as her vision went black.

      Waking back up was the hardest, almost like she was trying to swim up a stream made of honey. Her head pounded as she opened her eyes softly, the light hurt. As she tried to listen to what her friends were saying. She hadn't even been out a few seconds, yet those were the ones that hurt the most.

      "...cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way! And if all you're going to do to Rory is hurt her over and over, leave her out of it, Mike."

      Once Aurora's eyes had made sense of the blurry shapes and blobs, Aurora noticed the three boys staring at her. Dustin was at her side, helping her sit up.

      "We're going to the gate," Lucas motioned to Aurora, as he handed her a half-empty water bottle, "we're going to find Will."

      Lucas pulled the girl off the couch, albeit a bit harshly, before he lifted her onto his back and carried her outside. Aurora already had shoes on, though her outfit was not one for monster hunting, with a pink cardigan that fell slightly off her shoulder with sudden movements and her favorite white skirt.

      Lucas let Aurora slide off his back as he entered his garage, stopping by their bikes. He walked back inside quickly, only lasting a few minutes as he packed a bag. Aurora blinked back some darker spots on her vision as she chugged the water. He came back out, and hopped on his quickly. Aurora hopped on hers, thankful for the fact her skirt was longer as she and Lucas began pedaling away. Lucas made sure he went slower than he would've wanted to, but he needed to make sure that Aurora didn't fall back asleep as she had been doing the past day and a half.

      They both moved a bit quicker than usual as they passed a man leaving a 'Hawkins Engery' van. Lucas lifted a hesitant hand to wave back at the man, before urging Aurora to pedal faster.

      "We're really going to the gate?" Aurora questioned.

      "Yeah, and we're gonna find Will," Lucas turned to Aurora, as they turned off towards to woods, "I promise."

      They entered the woods in silence, having to hop off their bikes when the leaves and mud got too thick to ride through. They spoke quietly, worried that some thing might hear them if they were too loud. Lucas was the one with a compass, he kept glancing down at it periodically, and gave them change course. They pushed their bikes up a particular tall hill, before reaching a fence.

      "What's this?" Aurora questioned, knowing that this had to be new, because they were only a few miles from her home, and there had never been a fence anywhere near her home before.

      "This is where the gate is," Lucas glanced back at his compass, before turning left and right, "oh man."

      Lucas sighed, before turning his bike and following the fence to the left. Aurora stumbling to do the same.

      "Don't you think it's weird," Aurora spoke up, "that Will disappeared, and then we find a weird girl in the woods, then we find Wills body that isn't actually his body."

       "And?" Lucas prodded.

      "And it's weird. Like it's all connected. And I know I sound crazy but haven't you noticed all of those Hawkins Energy guys? It's like they're everywhere, and I don't even think we have a company called Hawkins Energy!" Lucas paused, and Aurora finished her soft rant.

      "You think that Hawkins Energy is a made up company, and that everything is all connected? You sound like Mike." Lucas laughed.

      "But doesn't it make sense?" Aurora sighed, "I don't know, it sounds crazy."

      "Yeah, it does." Lucas replied as they both started pushing their bikes again. This time they moved in silence. As they rounded a corner, Aurora heard shouting in the distance, and she paused.

      She heard it again, "Lucas, I think Mike and Dustin found something."

      "Like I care."

      "Come on Lucas! They could be in trouble," Aurora pleaded, but Lucas just kept walking. Aurora sighed, "Even if you hate him, you're still his best friend. I'm going to help."

      Aurora dropped her bike and started running, the voices were getting more distant, but Aurora pushed herself to run faster. She cut through the woods to the road, running straight into Mikes chest.

      The boys cursed slightly, as he grabbed Auroras arm in a panic. When he met her eyes he dropped it quickly, "Why are you here?"

      "I heard you guys," Aurora raised her eyebrows, "pretty much the whole forest could hear you. What's wrong?"

      "Guys," Dustin's voice urged them to keep going.

      Dustin watched as Troy and his friends came up on both sides, effectively trapping them. Dustin and Mike reached for rocks to hold them up, as Mike threatened them. The light reflected on Troy's knife, causing Aurora to stumble back into Mike. Dustin tried to charge at Troy, but the boy was easily overpowered, being held with a longe to his throat.

      As Mike turned, Aurora was grabbed by the other boy tightly, his hand wrapping around her chest and shoulders.

      "Let him go." Mike shouted, before turning to try and grab Auroras hand only to find her gone as well, "Let them go!"

      "Stay back, or I gut him." Troy threatened as he shoved the knife a bit harder at Dustin, as Aurora flailed in other boys arms.

      "What do you want?" Mike pleaded, as Aurora struggled harder in the boys arms. She tried to turn her head, but the boy grabbed her chin with his other hand.

      "You're watching, Sleeping Beauty," The boy laughed at Auroras struggle.

      Black dots began to bleed into her vision as she began to panic even more, "no, no, no!" Aurora mumbled to herself, trying to fight her sleep, she blocked out the words the boys spoke, all of her energy being used to fight her sleep that was bleeding into her system.

      "Jump, or Toothless here gets an early trip to the dentist." Aurora tuned in just as Troy spoke, causing her to panic more, failing to escape the boys grip as she tried to esquire, the feeling of her body beginning to shut down caused her the kick her legs and flail her arms, though she never hit anything.

      "No, Mike!" Aurora screamed as the boy turned and began walking towards the cliffs edge. Mike turned back for Aurora, and gave her a soft smile before lifting a foot in the air.

      Aurora flailed harder as sleep filled her thoughts and mind, it was a matter of seconds before she fell asleep and Mike jumped. She threw her arms out, trying to pull at the boys arm as her drowsiness fell slightly from her system and the boy behind her collapsed.

      "Mike!" Dustin's voice cracked as he glanced at the boy on the ground as Aurora collapsed too. Her head bouncing on the ground as sleep filled her mind and body, the last thing she saw was Mike falling off the edge.

      It was like time passed by slowly, as Troy and Dustin ran to the edge, only to watch Mike fly past them and land a safe distance away from the edge. That's when Mike noticed Aurora, with a cut on her head, laying motionless on the ground.

      He barely noticed when Eleven snapped Troy's arm, and didn't bother watching as he dragged a motionless James away slowly. He didn't think about Eleven. All he cared about was Aurora.

      The boy pushed himself through the dirt to reach Aurora, lifting her head and placing it in his lap. He brushed the gravel from her hair as he placed a shaking hand under her nose to feel for her breathing, just like Aurora had taught him to do. He let out a shaky breath, as he watched a tear bounce off Auroras cheek, before he softly kissed her forehead.

      "She's alright, she alright. Auroras alright." Mike whispered to himself as he noticed Eleven and Dustin moving towards the pair.

      "I'm sorry," Eleven cried, "the gate. I opened it. I am the monster."

      Mike carried Aurora back to his house. The walk thought the woods was longer, but Eleven explained the necessities to them. Lucas found them too, and almost punched Mike when he noticed Auroras motionless frame, until Dustin explained the entire thing to him. Lucas didn't acknowledge Eleven the whole walk.

      When they passed by a Hawkins Energy van, Lucas stiffened and asked them to move faster.

      "I have eyes on them now," The man in the van spoke into a walkie-talkie. "They're heading home now."

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(      LET ME SPEAK    :      )

did i have aurora side with lucas to
get more angst? yes, yes i did. this
also had me changing the story line
just a bit...but it's okay! also season
one is almost finished...😕

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves