"I'm sorry my heart's too big for my own good! I just want to be a good person!"
~
Theodore Chambers moves from his home in London to Hawkins and realizes this town isn't what it seems
Or
In which the new kid in town is thrown into all sorts of insa...
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chapter twelve; the sauna test
The "sauna test" was ready, and had been for a few hours. The kids were ready. Everything was ready to test their theory of Billy being flayed. They waited till night fell and hid away in a closet in the men's locker room, the closest to sauna, everyone except El. El would lure him in by moving the doors with her mind, creating the effect of a child running away. Mike's voice would teased and mocked Billy from a walkie strapped to the dummy, loud enough to echo throughout. Perfect plan really—they just need it to work in their favor. Everything was in motion, and now they waited for him to fall into the trap.
Teddy rested his head against the tile of the closet, fiddling with the lock in his hand. Everyone, besides Max, had a job to do in keeping Billy in place. Teddy was in charge of the lock. He blocked out the sound Mike's voice from hyper fixating on the lock. Focusing on it also kept him in the moment and not spiraling into fear. He tried very hard recently to not let his emotions cloud him like they'd done before, to be in the moment and not lost to his sensitivity. He always wanted to be strong, to stand up for himself, to be the person his mother claimed he could never be.
You aren't a hero Teddy. Stop pretending. You are nothing, just like your mother says.
Teddy screwed his eyes shut, gnawing back a whimper—now, that was not heroic. He wanted to be useful. He wanted to fight despite his weakly nature. He wanted to be more. He wanted to be a hero, just like El... not in the superpower way, just not being a complete coward. He was learning... he was trying! He started to grow a backbone when being talked down to, it was a starting place.
A loud thud and the shattering of tiles jerked Teddy's attention back into the present and tipped the kids off. Billy fell for the trap and El sent him flying back into the sauna. It was go time.
"Now!" Mike shouted, pushing the closet door open.
The remainder of the kids piled out of the closet room, the boys charging to the door. El swung her arm out to slam the door on Billy's face as he tried escaping. They boys reached the door as it closed. Mike and Will shoved the metal pole through the door handle into the gap between the wall and the large water pipe. Lucas wrapped the chain on the metal pole while Teddy secured the lock.
"Got it!" Lucas exclaimed upon Teddy clicking the lock closed.
They scurried away from the door, backing up to where El and Max stood. El opened her hand out for Teddy to take, which the boy gratefully accepted. The two clasped their hands tightly together. Billy was far from happy with this new arrangement. He pounded on the door, grunting and growing. His frustration grew with each passing second that he couldn't get out. Upon realizing he was trapped, his gaze fell on the children... suddenly calm. A gaze that sent chills down Teddy's spine. "Max..." Billy called.
Max remained quiet as Teddy and El looked back at her. Did he think she'd let him out? She gulped but turned to Will to give to go-ahead. "Do it."
Will ran toward to the thermostat and cranked the heat up to the max level to reach the optimum temperature for this "experiment".
