[ Location: Hawkins Middle School ][ Time: 10:50 PM ]
The silence in the gym was heavier than the 1,500 pounds of salt we'd just hauled.
We sat on the bleachers, huddled under emergency blankets. The pool water was still, reflecting the red emergency lights like a dark mirror.
El was sitting next to me, her head resting heavily on my shoulder. She was shivering, clutching my hand with both of hers like she was anchoring herself to the earth.
Mike was sitting a few feet away, looking at us with a mix of jealousy and confusion, but he stayed silent. He knew who she had chosen to trust. He knew who had fed her waffles when she was starving.
"Vivan?" El whispered, her voice rough.
"Yeah?" I whispered back, adjusting the blanket around her.
"Snow Ball?" she asked.
"What?"
"Mike said... Snow Ball. Dance." She looked up at me with big, tired eyes. "You go?"
My heart squeezed. 'Oh. She wants to go to the dance. With me.'
"Yeah," I smiled softly, brushing a stray hair from her forehead. "I'll go. We'll go together. I'll even wear a stupid tie."
She smiled. It was the first genuine smile I'd seen in hours. "Promise?"
"Promise," I said.
'System. Status.'
[ Points: 133 ][ Mastery: Telekinesis (48%), Remote Viewing (31%) ]
'Almost halfway to mastery. I can lift a person now. Maybe even a van if I didn't care about brain damage.'
I looked at the entrances. We hadn't just waited. We had prepared.
I had used my TK to stack heavy gym mats above the double doors, balanced precariously. Dustin had poured floor wax near the East exit. It was Home Alone meets Survival Horror.
The radio crackled. "South entrance breached."
"It's time," I said, my voice tight. "Battle stations."
"They're actually here?" Lucas whispered, gripping his wrist rocket.
"I told you they were coming," I said, standing up and pulling El with me. "Mike, get to the back door. Dustin, ready the extinguisher."
CRASH.
The double doors at the far end of the gym burst open. Flashlights sliced through the darkness.
"THERE! ON THE BLEACHERS!"
"Now!" I screamed.
I didn't wave my hands. I didn't shout a spell. I just looked at the stack of gym mats above the door and pushed.
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis. ]
The mats toppled.
THUD.
Three hundred pounds of rubber and foam crashed down on the lead agents. They shouted in surprise, stumbling, their flashlights spinning wildly.
"Run!" I yelled, shielding El with my body.
We scrambled down the back of the bleachers, sprinting for the hallway.
[ Location: The Upside Down - The Library ][ Time: 11:00 PM ]
Hopper and Joyce walked through the Gate in the basement of the Lab. They were in the Upside Down.
The air was full of spores. They followed the blood trail. They followed the screams that weren't there anymore.
They found the library. Or the corpse of it.
Nests of slime and webbing covered the shelves. Skeletons of animals... and people... were trapped in the resin.
"There!" Joyce screamed.
Will was tangled in the web, a massive, snake-like tendril extending down his throat. He wasn't breathing. He was gray.
Hopper pulled the tendril out. It slithered away like a living thing.
"He's not breathing," Joyce sobbed. "Oh god, he's not breathing."
Hopper started CPR. He pounded on Will's small chest. He saw Sara's face. He saw the flatline.
"Come on, kid!" Hopper roared, hitting him again. "Breathe!"
Thump.
Thump.
Will gasped. A jagged, wet intake of air.
[ Location: Classrooms Corridor][ Time: 11:05 PM ]
We tore down the linoleum corridor. My sneakers squeaked, sounding like gunshots in the quiet school.
"Left!" Lucas yelled. "Go left!"
We skidded around the corner... and stopped dead.
A wall of agents stood at the end of the hall. Guns drawn.
"FREEZE!"
We spun around. Another team blocked the way we came.
Trapped.
"Vivan..." El whispered, stepping closer to me.
She looked tired. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. But her eyes... her eyes were burning.
"No," I whispered, realizing what she was about to do. "El, let me—"
She shook her head. She squeezed my hand one last time, then let go. She stepped forward.
The lead agent raised his gun. "Take the girl! Shoot the others if—"
He stopped mid-sentence. His eyes rolled back. Blood poured from his tear ducts like oil.
Then, the man next to him. And the next.
It wasn't like the van flip. This was quiet. Intimate. Brutal.
One by one, the agents collapsed, clutching their heads, screaming silently as their brains hemorrhaged.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Holy..." Dustin whispered.
I stared. My TK was at 48%. I could lift tables. I could trip people. But this? This was biological manipulation on a massive scale.
'That's the difference between a Level 1 User and a Level 10 pro or may be max.'
El screamed, unleashing a final wave of psionic energy. The last agent fell. The hallway was silent, save for the wet sound of bodies hitting the floor.
El swayed.
I caught her before she hit the ground.
"I got you," I whispered, holding her up. "I got you."
"Drained," she mumbled, her head lolling against my chest.
Then, the lights flickered.
Buzz. Flicker. Pop.
The air grew heavy. Metallic. Like the taste of a battery.
"Is that... the power?" Lucas asked, looking at the lights.
"No," I backed away, dragging El with me. "Blood. The blood attracts him."
GROAN.
The wall next to the water fountain bulged. Paint cracked. Drywall crumbled.
Something was pushing through from the other side.
"Run," I whispered.
"What?" Dustin asked.
"RUN!" I screamed.
The wall exploded.
The Demogorgon stepped through the hole, slime dripping from its petal-face. It roared, a sound that vibrated in my teeth.
"GO! GO! GO!" I yelled, lifting El into my arms and sprinting.
We ran for the science wing.
[ Location: Mr. Clarke's Classroom ][ Time: 11:00 PM ]
We slammed the classroom door shut.
"Lock it!" Dustin yelled.
I didn't need a key.
'Lock!'
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis. ]
I slammed the deadbolt home with a mental hammer blow. It was easy now. Almost instant.
"Barricade!" Lucas ordered.
We flipped tables. We pushed desks against the door.
'I can do more.'
I looked at the heavy teacher's desk.
'Lift.'
I didn't struggle this time. The desk rose into the air and slammed down onto the pile of furniture.
[ System Notice: Telekinesis Proficiency Increased. ][ Current Mastery: Level 1 (50%) ]
'Halfway there. Just in time to die.'
I laid El gently on the floor behind the barricade. I sat next to her, brushing the sweaty hair out of her face.
"Where is it?" Mike whispered, huddled with the others. "Where did it go?"
Silence.
Then... heavy footsteps on the roof.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Dust from the ceiling tiles drifted down like snow.
"It's inside," Lucas whispered, raising his wrist rocket. "It's in the ceiling."
I gripped my shovel. It felt useless. But my mind... my mind was sharp.
'This is it. The final stand.'
El stirred. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked straight at me.
"Vivan?" she whispered.
"I'm here," I said, taking her hand. "I'm right here. You're safe."
She squeezed my hand weakly. "Bad?"
"Yeah," I admitted, looking at the ceiling. "Bad."
CRASH.
The blackboard shattered. The Demogorgon dropped into the room.
It stood up, seven feet of nightmare fuel. It opened its face and roared.
"FIRE!" Lucas screamed.
He fired a rock. Thwack. It hit the monster in the chest. It didn't even flinch.
"Eat lead!" Dustin yelled, throwing... something.
I stood up. I didn't have a weapon. I was the weapon.
'50% Mastery. Let's see what that buys me.'
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis (Max Output). ]
I thrust both hands forward. I didn't aim for a push. I aimed to hold.
Invisible bands wrapped around the monster's limbs. It screeched, struggling against the pressure.
I gritted my teeth. Blood gushed from my nose instantly. It felt like I was trying to hold back a freight train.
"Keep... firing!" I screamed at Lucas.
Lucas fired again. Thwack. Right in the open mouth.
The monster roared in pain, thrashing. My hold broke. The backlash sent me flying backward into the overturned desk.
"Vivan!" Dustin yelled.
The monster lunged for me.
"NO!"
Suddenly, a force slammed the monster backward. It flew across the room, pinning it against the chalkboard.
El walked past me.
She looked terrible. Blood was running from both nostrils, her ears. Her eyes were bloodshot.
But she didn't look scared. She looked... calm.
She held out her hand.
"El, stop!" I yelled, trying to stand up, but my head was spinning. "You'll kill yourself!"
She looked back. Not at Mike. Not at the others.
She looked at me.
She smiled. A sad, heartbreaking smile.
"Goodbye, Vivan," she whispered.
She turned to the monster. She pinned it to the wall. She screamed, pouring every ounce of her life force into the attack.
The monster disintegrated into ash.
And so did she.
BOOM.
When the dust settled, the room was empty.
"El?" I whispered to the silence.
The door burst open. Hopper and Joyce weren't there—they were still at the lab with Will. It was the other agents, swarming the building. But finding nothing but dead bodies and four traumatized kids.
We were safe. But we were broken.
I stood up, stumbling. I walked to the front of the room. I touched the chalkboard where she had been standing.
Empty.
"She's gone," Dustin whispered, tears streaming down his face.
Mike looked down, stunned. But I felt like my chest had been hollowed out.
'She promised. We promised. The Snow Ball. Wait, Why I am feeling sad…She is not gone, yes she is in upside down. I should keep it to myself for now'
I fell to my knees, staring at the empty space.
'System. Did I win'
[ Quest Complete: Survive Season 1. ][ Reward: 500 Points + Streaming points 100 ][ Bonus Objective: Participate in Final Battle (Success). Reward: Skill Upgrade Token. ]
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