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"Are there any more children I need to know about, you think?" Sloane asked her half-brother, who could only respond with a shrug. Mike and this random girl that had just entered the house and seemingly killed all the monsters outside were now hugging and the blonde was more confused than ever. Now, considering the last 24 hours, that was saying something. Sloane had heard Max refer to the girl as "El," so she figured that was a start.
"I never gave up on you," Mike said as the two of them pulled apart from the hug, "I called you every night. I called you for--"
"353 days," the girl, El, finished the sentence. "I heard."
"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?"
It was then that Hopper cut into the conversation, "Because I wouldn't let her. The Hell is this, where you been?"
"Where have you been?" was El's only response as he pulled the girl into a hug. Now, Sloane was somehow even more perplexed.
"You've been hiding her," Mike connected the dots. Oh, this couldn't go down well. "You've been hiding her this whole time!"
"Hey!" Hopper exclaimed, so loudly that Sloane found herself taking a step back out of instinct, "Let's talk. Alone."
The two went into one of the bedrooms to talk, leaving everyone in the living room. Dustin and Lucas went to grab El in a hug, but Sloane just let out a breath of relief. Whatever this girl had done, she just saved their asses from those Demo-dogs. Sloane may put on a brave front, but it was all a facade.
"Did you really pick up the phone as a weapon?" Nancy asked with a small, teasing smile.
"Yeah, not all of us have guns, Nance," Sloane scoffed, putting the phone down as she poked Nancy in the side. The danger may not be completely eliminated, but Sloane was going to take her chance to breathe while she still could. While they were talking, she noticed Joyce taking El into the room where Will was, leaving even fewer people in the living room.
The people flooded into the kitchen as El was now looking over the message Will had given them.
"You opened this gate before, right?" Joyce asked, "Do you think if we brought you back there, you could close it?"
El nodded, "Yes."
With this, they began to figure out their plan.
"It's not like it was before, it's grown," Hopper explained, "A lot. And I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."
