[16] THE JUNKYARD

THE COMPASSES LED THEM TO AN ABANDONED JUNKYARD, Mariella now next to Dustin whispering about the directions as the quiet pattern of their friends shoes followed behind them.

"Oh, no," Dustin says, stopping in his tracks as Mariella confusedly looks dowm at her compass and taps it a few times.

""Oh, no"? What's, "Oh, no"?" Lucas asks, worriedly with bitterness in his voice.

Mariella sighs as Dustin responds, "We're headed back home,".

"What?" Mike breathes out.

"Are you sure?" Lucas clarifies, hands falling limp at his sides in frustration.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Setting sun right there—" Dustin affirms.

"We're circling back. We head that way, we'll end up on the corner of my street," Mariella adds, pointing behind her as she closed her eyes and rubs her temple.

"You guys are just realizing this now?" Lucas looks to the two of them in agitation.

"Why is this all on us?" Dustin asks, looking at Mike and Lucas defensively.

"Because you guys are the compass geniuses!" Lucas argues, raising his arms them dropping them back to his sides.

"Hey, relax! Let's just think here — what do yours say?" Mariella pipes in, dropping her compass into her coat pocket and looking at Mike and Lucas with pointed eyes.

"North," They both reply breathlessly.

"Makes no damn sense," Dustin says as Mike looks away exasperatedly and Lucas sighs.

"Maybe the gate moved!" Mike suggests, looking for a probable reason why their compasses were acting up.

"Highly unlikely. If it requires so much energy to be made how would it move from its original spot?" Mariella responds, pacing around the yard of dead grass and car parts.

"Something else is screwing with the compasses," Dustin says, looking around the area in hopes to find the gate itself.

"Maybe it's something here," Mike points around, a hopeful sheen in his eye.

"No, it has to be like a super magnet," Dustin shuts down the suggestion.

"It's not a magnet," Lucas speaks up, glaring at Eleven who stood far from
The group and pointing at her. "She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she bam definitely screw up a compass," He says, harsh and bitterly.

"Why would she do that?" Mike asks, scrunching up his nose confused at the ridiculous accusation.

"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's traitor!" Lucas spits, pointing aggressively at her in anger. Eleven simply stares at him blankly with clenched fists as he walks towards her.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike questions, looking to an exasperated Mariella and stressed Dustin before walking next to Lucas.

"You did it, didn't you?" Lucas asks her, getting in her face with narrowed eyes. "You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will," He continues.

Mike stands to the side and tells him to stop, looking to Dustin and Mariella for help but they stay silent, watching the scene unfold with unimpressed expressions.

"Admit it," Lucas says.

"No," Eleven replies, barely above a whisper as she looks behind Lucas to Mariella who just sighed and shook her head, sadly. Eleven could see that the girl was losing faith in her — even if Mariella chose to defend her when the time came. Eleven had come to realize that was part of the girl's nature. To give people the benefit of the doubt.

"Admit it!" He shouts now, grabbing her arm aggressively, looking down at her stained sleeves.

"Lucas!" Mariella shouts now, walking towards the situation and getting ready to pull him away from her.

"Fresh blood. I knew it!" Lucas pushes her arm down and looks to Mariella and Mike in anger.

"Lucas, come on!" Mike shouts at him, Dustin coming closer cautiously.

"I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!" Lucas shouts back angrily at Mike.

"Doesn't mean you can grab her like that! B-Besides we don't know... If she was," Mariella stumbles over her words as she looks at Lucas with disappointed eyes.

"That's old blood! Right, El?" Mike adds, looking to Eleven who teared up.

"Right, El?" Mike repeats, enunciating his words harshly.

Eleven shakes her head, no, guiltily. "It's... not..." She cries. "It's not safe,".

Mariella looks to her with hard eyes, void of expression and walks away to Dustin and shakes her head, mumbling swears to herself as Mike and Lucas face each other arguing.

"What did I tell you? She's been playing us from the beginning!" Lucas yells, pointing to Eleven who stood by a bus alone.

"That's not true. She helped us find Will!"
Mike yells back.

"Find Will?" Lucas starts. "Find Will? Where is he, then! Huh? I don't see him!" Lucas argues, wandering off and scoping the area before turning back to Mike angrily.

"Yeah, you know what I mean," Mike says.

"No, I actually don't!" Lucas responds, walking back to Mike. "Just think about it, Mike! She could've just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn't. She just made us run around like a headless chickens," Lucas shouts before being interjected by Dustin who stood between the two.

"Alright, calm down!" He says, putting his arms up.

"No!" Lucas slaps his arm away, Mariella grabbing Dustin's arm and pulling him away. "She used us, all of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She's like a stray dog!" He throws his hands around the air wildly.

"Screw you, Lucas!" Mike yells.

"No! Screw you, Mike. You're blind... Blind because you can't realize the girl you're so in love with isn't interested in you! Wake up, man! Wake the hell up!" Lucas yells back, pointing slighting to Mariella. She chose to ignore it despite her heart dropping. "She knows where Will is and now she's just letting him die in the Upside Down,".

"Shut up!" Mike yells.

"For all we know, it's her fault," Lucas points to Eleven.

"Shut up!" Mike repeats.

"We're looking for some stupid monster but did you ever stop to think that maybe she's the monster?" Lucas asks, shoving Mike back mid-sentence.

"I said shut up!" Mike yells, throwing his arms around Lucas and pulling him down.

"Stop!" Eleven speaks up.

"Knock it off, you idiots!" Dustin yells at them.

"That's enough! Stop it! Now!" Mariella screams out, walking towards them, readying herself to pull them away from each other. She knew with the amount of adrenaline coursing through her, she could.

"Stop it!" Eleven repeats.

"Mike, get off!" Dustin shouts again.

"Michael! Get off of him, now!" Mariella screams, about to grab his bag but is stopped by Lucas flipping them over.

"Stop it!" Eleven repeats once again before she screams out a shrill scream and Lucas goes flying off Mike and sliding onto a rusted old car door.

"Jesus!" Dustin starts as him, Mike, and Mariella rush over to him, kneeling down.

"Lucas! Lucas! Lucas, are you alright?" Mike asks as they grab onto his body, shaking him worriedly.

"Lu! Wake up!" Mariella says, grabbing at his neck and checking for a pulse with wide eyes. "He has a pulse," She nods to the two.

"Lucas, come on!" Dustin shakes at Lucas' limp body again.

"Lucas, wake up! Lucas," Mike repeats over and over again.

"Come on! Lucas!"

"Lu! Lucas! Wake up!"

"Why would you do that?" Mike yells out, turning to Eleven as Mariella and Dustin try to wake up their unconscious friend. "What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?" He shouts.

"Come on, wake up! Come on!" Dustin slaps at Lucas' body.

"Just wake up, dammit! Lucas, please!" Mariella cries out, doing the same as Dustin.

"Lucas... Lucas, come on!" Mike grab his arm and begins to shake it.

"He's waking up!" Mariella shouts out as Lucas begins to stir and eventually sits up, the party breathing out in relief and asking if he was okay.

"Lucas... Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up?" Dustin asks him, holding up three in his face. He remains silent.

"Let me see your head," Mike says, reaching to check but is stopped by Lucas slapping his hand away and yelling.

"Get off of me!"

"Just... Lucas," Mike sighs. "Lucas, at least let Dustin or Mars see!" Mike says as Lucas begins to stand and Mike reaching out again but it once again slapped away.

"Get off of me!" Lucas repeats, as the rest follow and stand up. He begins to stomp away.

"Lucas, come on!" Mike calls, trying to chase after him before getting pulled back by Dustin.

"Let him go," He says.

"Lu! Please?" Mariella sighs but is ignored.

"Just let him go, guys," Dustin says, wrapping an arm around Mariella comfortingly as they look around solemnly.

"Where's Eleven?" Mariella asks, pulling away from Dustin and looking around the junkyard. The boys do the same and see no sign of the girl.

They separate and begin searching the graveyard, shouting out her name in a breathless panic.

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