Mike couldn't talk Nancy out of her stubbornness. She insisted on dragging him to Richard and Eleven for a mental check-up. Mike figured it was just his messed-up sleep schedule throwing his hormones out of whack and making his nose bleed. On top of that, the town's power grid had always been lousy; voltage spikes were everyday news. He hadn't seen anything tied to The Upside Down, so he chalked Nancy's fuss up to overreaction.
Nancy was annoyed by Mike's indifference, but she couldn't just ignore him.
Reluctant as she was to admit it, Mike was the little brother she cared about; she couldn't brush this off—she had to be sure.
At Richard's house, Eleven had already arrived ahead of them. Nancy shoved Mike onto the couch and told Richard and Eleven to run a full spirit-and-soul inspection.
The moment Mike saw Eleven he behaved himself; he couldn't act like an idiot in front of the girl he liked.
Richard and Eleven already knew, from the phone call, what had happened the night before: while Mike was in the shower he'd seen a vision; during the vision the wiring at his place had gone haywire, classic signs of Upside-Down energy bleeding into reality, and when it ended his nose had bled.
A nosebleed could be physical, but it could also mean brain damage—like when Eleven overtaxes her powers. When ordinary people suffer a violent psychic intrusion, the same symptoms show up.
Richard had been mentally hijacked by Henry plenty of times and had the nosebleeds to prove it, so he wasn't surprised. After Nancy told him Mike's story he pretty much concluded that Henry had tagged the kid.
Eleven slipped into Mike's mind with her extrasensory gift, fishing through last night's memory shards for any suspicious residue, while Richard opened his Spirit Vision and stared straight at Mike's soul to see if it bore the scars of deliberate assault.
It took only moments for Eleven and Richard to reach their separate verdicts.
'There are fresh tears in Mike's mental landscape, plus residue from The Upside Down.'
'His soul's been wounded—someone attacked him.'
Mike froze; it felt as if lightning had just slammed into his skull.
Nancy's face darkened. She drew a slow breath to steady herself and asked grimly, 'Any way to fix it?'
'No doubt—his mind's been marked by Henry,' Richard said calmly. 'It's forming a constant link. Once that connection locks, Henry can yank him straight into a pocket reality and kill him there; whatever happens to him inside will hit his body out here.
Remember the news piece on the Creel family last year? That's Henry's signature ritual—psycho that he is, he likes his murders ceremonial. Good thing we caught it early; otherwise Mike would've ended up just like them.'
Mike's heart sank. Now he was grateful Nancy had forced him to see Chade and Eleven; otherwise he'd be checking out of this beautiful world way ahead of schedule.
Eleven patted his shoulder. 'Don't be scared. I've got you. If Henry barges into your head again, I'll dive in and fight him. I'm way stronger now.' She clenched a fist, brimming with confidence; thanks to Richard and the other gifted kids, her training had jumped light-years in the past year.
Richard cracked a grin. 'Mike, you're staying at my place from tonight on. My little haunted house is steeped in resentment; it'll smother your signal. Even if Henry senses you, he won't dare make a move.'
'What about school?' Mike shrank back. He knew Richard's place was a bona-fide ghost mansion—one reason he'd dreaded coming. Swallowing hard, he laid out the problem.
'Take a leave,' Richard replied.
'How?' Mike looked lost. 'If Henry isn't dealt with, I can't go back. How do I sell a months-long absence to the teachers, let alone my parents?'
'Easy. Get your story straight with Dustin and the gang, then invent whatever lie you want. You've done it before.' Richard chuckled. 'As for the teachers, Carly can handle them—a quick illusion and they'll buy anything.'
Mike's eyes widened in shock as the realization hit.
Why was this guy so practiced at the art of lying?
'…I'm sorry to hear it. Michael has always been one of my favorite students,' sighed the principal of Hawkins Middle. To the "Whistler parents" across the desk he added earnestly, 'We'll approve Michael Whistler's medical leave. Rest assured, and we hope he returns soon.'
A few minutes later the "Whistlers" stepped out of the office looking suitably grief-stricken. Outside they nearly collided with Greg McColl, the science teacher the kids liked best.
'Oh, Jonathan—and… haha, nice to meet you.' Greg grinned at Jonathan and Carly, noticing how Carly clung to Jonathan's arm. His smile turned knowing.
To Jonathan and Carly, however, Greg looked like a ghost. Jonathan muttered, 'Nice to see you too—bye!' and the pair bolted from the building.
Greg watched the odd couple dash off, then shook his head with an amused chuckle. 'Kids these days…'
…'Mission accomplished.' Back at Richard's, Jonathan flashed an OK sign to Richard and Mike.
Jonathan and Carly were drenched in sweat; the near-miss with exposure had been a different kind of thrill.
'I swear I'm never helping with that again,' Carly griped to Richard. 'And don't forget our deal.'
'Not my deal—yours and Mike's.' Richard grinned at Mike. 'Remember, three cups of tasty Heihe Tea to our lady Carly every week—her choice, no arguments.'
Mike winced at the hit to his allowance but still managed a grateful smile for Jonathan and Carly.
Carly gave a satisfied nod, sipped the iced lemon tea Richard had served, and asked, 'What's your next move? If Henry could get to Mike, the barrier between worlds has another hole, right?'
'Exactly. I need to find where that gate is and how it opened.' Richard nodded; he had as many questions as anyone.
Because of him, Starcourt Mall was under his control; the events of Season Three couldn't kick off. He was also certain the Russians had never reached Hawkins.
In Season Three the machine that tore open The Upside Down gate had been enormous, and the moment it powered up it blacked out the whole town. If the Russians had arrived, he'd have noticed.
So Richard was sure some other factor had inserted itself into the equation.