Mike and Eleven played around in the living room and Mike explained about many of the things El was curious about. When Mike had explained everything about the living room to El, he asked, "Want to come see my room? It's super cool." El nodded her head slowly and followed after Mike.
Mike led her up the stairs quickly and walked down the hall to his room. Mike opened the door and grandly said, "Welcome, to my room." El looked around with a blank face, making Mike feel a little awkward. Mike pulled El into his room and closed his door before he brought El over to his table.
Mike picked up his favorite Yoda action figure and imitated Yoda's voice. Mike said, "Ready are you? What knows you of ready?"
Mike stopped his imitation and said, "This is Yoda. He can use the force to move things with his mind, like this. Woosh." Mike moved his hands and pushed all the toys on his table onto the floor. El lost interest and looked over at some picture and awards on a shelf.
Mike continued, "This is my dinosaur, Rory. Look, he has a speaker in his mouth so he can roar." Mike pressed a button, and the toy began to roar. Mike looked over at El and saw her looking at his different awards and trophies. Mike walked over to her and started to explain about them.
Mike said, "Oh, these are all my science fair trophies. We got first every year. Except for last year when we got third. Mr. Clarke said that it was totally political." Eleven looked at all the trophies, but her attention was caught by a picture of Mike and his friends. El's breathing became a little erratic and she began to move her finger towards the picture.
She pointed her finger right at Will. Mike asked, "Do you know Will?" El didn't answer as she was in a daze.
Mike continued, "Did you see him? Last night? On the road?" El continued to stare at the picture but she was soon interrupted by a high-pitched squealing sound. Mike and El ran over to the open window and saw Mike's mom pulling into the driveway. Mike was shocked, he didn't expect his mother to come back during the day.
Mike grabbed El by the wrist and said, "We gotta go." Mike dragged El behind him as he ran out of the room and down the stairs. But when they were just reaching the bottom and were standing on the landing, Karen came through the front door.
Karen was talking to Holly. Karen asked, "Are you hungry, Holly?" Holly nodded her head cutely.
Karen said, "I bought pizza and macaroni."
Holly said, "Okay."
Karen said, "Okay." Karen then closed the door and locked it behind her. Mike thought quickly and dragged El back up the stairs before Karen could notice them standing on the landing. However, in their hurry they didn't even try to muffle the sound of their footsteps.
Karen shouted, "Ted? Is that you?"
Mike was running down the hall and decided to reveal himself. Mike shouted, "It's just me, Mom."
Karen shouted, "Mike? What are you doing home?"
Mike shouted back, "One second!" Mike dragged El into his room quickly and closed the door.
Then he brought El over to the closet and said, "In here. I'll be right back, okay?" El looked into the closet with fear in her eyes.
Mike said, "Please, you have to get in, or my mom, she'll find you. Do you understand?... I won't tell her about you. I promise."
Eleven asked, "Promise?"
Mike said, "It means something that you can't break. Ever."
Karen shouted, "Michael?"
Mike looked at Eleven and said, "Please." El sighed softly before she walked into the closet. Mike quickly closed the closet door, shutting El into a chamber of darkness. El immediately began to breathe heavily as she began to remember a trauma she had experienced not too long ago.
She looked around erratically as she remembered being carried forcefully down a long white hall. She screamed, "Papa!" Her voice echoed throughout the hall and even then, no one answered her. She was sobbing loudly as the men ignored her crying and carried her down the hall. Eleven looked back and saw Dr. Brenner, or Papa standing there looking at her.
She screamed, "Papa! No!" The men turned down a hall and Eleven began to panic. At the end of the hall was a single door on the right.
She screamed, "No! No! No!" The men didn't care and threw her into the small room. The men closed the door and El was now in a world of pure darkness. The rooms walls were dark in color, making it impossible to see anything at all. The room was only 4 feet long and 4 feet wide, smaller than most average size closets. Eleven crawled up from the floor and started to bang on the door.
She screamed, "Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa." El broke down into tears and moved into the corner of the room and sat against the wall. Her sobs echoing throughout the small room.
Mike had gone downstairs and sat on the couch next to his mother when she patted the cushion next to her. Karen asked softly, "What are you doing here, Mike?"
Mike fidgeted around nervously before he said, "I just... I didn't feel good. I woke up and my head, in really hurt bad, and my throat was all scratchy, and I wanted to tell you, but the last time I told you I was sick-you made me go to school anyway, and--"
Karen said softly, "Michael."
Mike asked nervously, "Yeah?"
Karen said, "I'm not mad at you."
Mike asked, "You're not?"
Karen said, "No, of course not." Karen sighed softly as she moved closer to Mike.
Karen said, "All this that's been going on with Will, I can't imagine what it's been like for you. I just. I want you to feel like you are able to talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me. I'm here for you. Okay?"
Mike nodded his head slowly. Suddenly, a thud was heard from upstairs. Karen asked, "Is there someone else here?"
Mike said keeping calm, "No." Mike hugged his mom before he walked back upstairs to his room. Mike walked into his room and locked the door.
Mike asked, "Eleven? Is everything okay?" Then he walked over to his closet. Mike opened the door, allowing light to flood into the closet. Mike saw Eleven curled up on the floor, when she looked up at him, he could see the tears that stained her face.
Mike crouched down and Eleven said, "Mike."
Mike said, "Is everything okay?" Eleven inhaled sharply before she nodded her head.
Mike asked, "Are you sure?"
Eleven nodded her head and said, "Promise.
John had just walked into the cafeteria with April under his arm. John asked, "Where do you want to sit today?"
April said, "Why don't we sit with Nancy and Barb today?" John nodded his head and they walked over to Nancy and Barb before they sat down at their table. They greeted Nancy and Barb as they sat down. They pulled out their lunches, John pulled out a big fruit salad with many kinds of berries and fruits. Then he took out a container of granola and some vanilla yogurt. He also pulled out a meat and cheese platter.
April pulled out some chicken and broccoli alfredo that John had made for her. She also took out a small Caesar salad. John and April didn't bother waiting around and began to eat. Barb said, "John, how do you eat so much and still look so good?"
Nancy answered with a question, "Have you seen him train? He runs, I don't know how many miles and the other day I saw him do a hundred pull ups without breaking a sweat."
Barb and April said, "Oh, my. I didn't know that." They looked at each other for a while before they laughed.
Barb said, "I didn't know you payed such close attention to John?"
Nancy blushed and said, "I just happened to be looking out the window."
Barb said, "You just so happened to count how many pull ups he did?"
Nancy answered, "Yeah."
Barb said, "Okay. By the way was his shirt on or off?"
Nancy answered absent mindedly, "Off." Then she realized and covered her face.
John laughed and said, "What's the big deal either way."
April nodded and said, "Yeah, it doesn't matter." John smiled as he wiped April cheek with his thumb before he licked it. All three of the girls blushed at this public display of emotion. The lunch continued for about 40 more minutes. John and the three girls laughed together.
Right when lunch was about to end, John said, "I am leaving early today."
April said, "What? Why?"
John said, "I am going to search for Will again. Also, I'm bored of class."
April said, "Do you really have to go?"
John said, "Why don't you just come with me?"
April said, "Oh, I couldn't."
John said, "Come on, we'll go get any work from the teacher before we leave."
April looked at John with a complicated face before she said, "Okay. Let's go."
John stood up after he packed all his stuff, April doing the same. John said, "All right, see you later, Nancy, Barb."
Nancy said, "Bye, see you."
Barb said, "Bye, be careful."
John said, "We will be." John walked off with April and they walked to their next class. John walked into the class and spoke to his teacher. The teacher tried to stop him but soon gave up and handed him his schoolwork. John did the same for the other class and they were now ready to go.
They walked out of the school and walked to John's car. They got in and John backed out of his parking spot before he drove off to meet up with the search party. Along the way, April leaned against John's shoulder and closed her eyes.
They arrived a 15 minutes later and got out of the car. They walked over to where a group of people were gathering and joined in. A couple minutes later, Hopper walked in front of everyone and said, "Alright, everyone. Once again, thank you for coming out to help. Now, let's get searching." Everyone nodded their heads and they split into group and moved forwards.
John walked with April through the woods. John was holding April, so he felt her shivering. John took off his leather jacket and put it on her. April smiled and zipped the jacket up. It was still warm from John's body. April hugged John's arm and kissed his cheek before they continued forward.
Soon they came to a dirt road. Beyond the road was a giant cliff, John walked over and looked down. It had to be a couple thousand feet. April followed John but she was clearly a little fearful. John backed away from the edge and they walked down the dirt road looking for any clues on either side of the road.
They stopped when they saw Hopper standing at the edge of the cliff with Callahan. John and April were only standing a couple feet away from them so they could overhear their conversation. Hopper said, "Woah, careful. I need you alive for the next couple days, at least."
Callahan said, "Oh, hell. I could survive that." Hopper laughed.
Callahan asked, "What? George Burns made the jump. And he was drunk as a skunk. He did it on a 10$ bet."
Hopper said, "George is a liar. You make that jump from this height, that water turns into concrete. Hits you like a ton of bricks. Break every damn bone in your body."
Callahan said, "Nah." Callahan leaned over the edge a little more and suddenly lost his footing. John dashed forward and caught him by the collar. Then John pulled him up and set him down on solid ground. Callahan collapsed to the ground and began to kiss the ground.
Hopper wasn't able to react because he had looked down at his radio when Flo said, "Chief, you copy?" Hopper was quite surprised when he saw John easily lift Callahan back up onto the ground.
Hopper said, "Good Job, kid!" Hopper patted John on the back.
John said, "Yeah." Then John patted Callahan on the shoulder before he walked over to April, and they began to look around again.
Hopper watched John go and observed the young man. He remembered John from when some parents tried to get John arrested for breaking their son's legs. Hopper had been one of the officers that came to check everything out.
As they were searching, April said, "That was so cool, John." April kissed John's cheek.
John smiled and made a superhero pose. John said, "All in a day's work." April laughed as she hugged John's arm and dragged him off to continue searching.
Hopper answered the radio after Flo said, "Chief! Respond."
Hopper said, "Yeah, what's up, Flo?"
Flo said, "Hey, Chief, we got a call from over at Benny's. You need to get there right away."
Hopper said, "Copy." Hopper then walked over to Callahan and dragged him to his feet. Hopper called over Powell and they walked back to their cars while the volunteers continued to search around.
At the same time, Lucas and Dustin were speeding towards Mike's house on their bikes. They sped down Mike's driveway and ditched their bikes in the front yard as they ran to the front door. They opened the front door and ran inside. Karen heard them into the house and shouted, "Hey, no running in the house." The kids ignored her, and they ran up the stairs to Mike's room.
They knocked on the door and Mike opened it for them, then they closed the door behind them. They immediately noticed Eleven who was sitting on Mike's bed. Lucas asked, "Are you out of your mind?"
Mike said, "Just listen to me."
Lucas said, "You are out of your mind!"
Mike said, "She knows about Will."
Dustin said, "What do you mean she knows about Will? She pointed at him, at his picture. She knew he was missing. I could tell."
Lucas said, "You could tell?"
Mike said, "Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?"
Dustin said, "That is weird."
Mike continued, "And she said bad people are after her. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will. I think she knows what happened to him."
Lucas asked, "Then why doesn't she tell us?" Lucas walked over to Eleven and stood in front of her.
Lucas asked seriously, "Do you know where he is?" Eleven didn't answer her.
Lucas asked again as he grabbed her by the arms, "Do you know where he is?" Eleven's face became etched with fear.
Mike said, "Stop it, you're scaring her!"
Lucas said, "She should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us!" Lucas turned to Mike.
Lucas said, "This is nuts. We have to take her to your mom."
Mike said, "No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger."
Dustin asked, "What kind of danger?"
Lucas asked, "Her name is Eleven?"
Mike said, "El for short."
Dustin said, "Mike, what kind of danger?"
Mike said, "Danger danger." Mike made a pistol with his hand and held it to Dustin's head. Then he pointed it at Lucas as well.
Lucas didn't like that, so he smacked Mike's hand away. Lucas said, "No, no. No! We're going back to plan A. We're going to tell your mom.
Lucas walked over to the door, brushing past Mike and Dustin on the way. Lucas opened the door to leave, but it suddenly slammed shut. He tried to open the door again just for it to slam shut once again. Then the door locked all by itself. All of the boys looked back at Eleven slowly and saw her standing up with her nose bleeding.
El said, "No."
Hopper arrived at Benny's Diner and saw an ambulance along with a fire truck in the front. Hopper got out of his car, followed by Callahan and Powell. Hopper walked into the diner through the front entrance. They all walked into the seating area and saw Benny sitting in a chair, laying his body on the table as flies flew around his body. There was a revolver in his hand.
Callahan said, "Jesus!" Hopper walked around the body and observed the area.
Powell asked, "Suicide?"
Hopper said, "Mmm-hmm."
Callahan said, "Missing kid, suicide... You must feel like a big city cop again, huh, Chief?"
Hopper said, "Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then. Benny was my friend." Hopper looked around for a while longer before he left the diner.