Third person pov
"Yeah, that's not creepy." Steve scoffed as the kids got out of the car along with Stella, Robin and Nancy.
"Do we really think it's the best idea for us to be here especially when Stella is about to snap like a twig at any given moment?" Dustin huffed.
"Dude, seriously?" Steve scolded.
"You're not helping." Nancy spoke up.
"Thank you for reminding me!" Stella huffed in sarcasm.
"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?" Steve asked Stella.
"We're not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna." Stella replied as she started to use her powers to remove the wood plank blocking the door.
"Because Max saw it in Vecna's red soup mind world?" Steve asked.
"Basically." Stella shrugged trying to keep her focus.
"Great." Steve huffed.
"Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he's back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max." Dustin said as Stella sighed.
"We don't think he's in here, do we?" Lucas trailed off.
"Guess we'll find out." Stella said as the plank fell down, Steve and Stella caught it.
"Ready?" Steve asked about to drop the plank.
"Mm-hmm." Stella replied.
"Max. What are you doing in here, Max?" Max could hear the distorted voice in her head.
"It's locked. Should I knock, see if anybody's home?" Steve asked.
"Are you guys forgetting I have supernatural powers?" Stella threw her hands in the air.
"No need. I found a key. Save your powers." Robin said grabbing a brick.
"Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill." Lucas stated.
"Where'd everyone get those?" Steve asked as he saw Dustin with a flashlight.
"Do you need to be told everything? You're not a child." Dustin blinked numerously.
'Thank you." Steve scoffed sarcastically.
"Huh." Dustin walked away.
"Back pocket." Dustin informed.
"They just left everything." Nancy informed the girl beside her.
"I guess a triple homicide isn't good for resale value." Robin spoke up.
"Hey, guys? You all see that, right?" Max asked as the crew walked towards her.
"Yeah." Dustin mumbled.
"Yeah." Steve said.
"Is this what you saw? In your visions?" Stella asked.
"I mean, it's... just a clock. Right? Like a normal old clock." Robin smiled.
"Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he's, like, a clockmaker or something?" Steve talked to himself.
"I think you cracked the case, Steve." Dustin scoffed making Stella chuckle.
"All I know is the answers are here. Somewhere. Okay, everyone stay in groups of two. Robin, upstairs." Nancy spoke up.
"Come on. Let's go." Max demanded to Lucas.
"I'll go alone." Stella smiled.
Steve let out a heavy sigh.
"Was that a sigh?" Dustin gasped.
"No, I did not sigh." Steve lied as Stella let out a chuckle.
"Why'd you sigh?" Dustin pouted.
"I didn't sigh. Just come on, dude." Steve walked up the stairs.
"I heard you." Dustin pointed out.
"W... We're just always partners, okay?" Steve gave in.
"You have a problem with that?" Dustin asked.
"It'd just be nice to, I don't know, mix it up a bit." Steve shrugged.
"I'm boring you? Is that it?" Dustin scoffed.
"No, the opposite..." Steve smiled.
Meanwhile, Eleven didn't know what she had just gotten herself into.
"No." Eleven cried as the lights started flickering, soon she was back in the rainbow room.
"Well, well. Look who finally decided to join us. Someone's a sleepyhead this morning." An orderly spoke up.
"Stop this! Let me out!" She yelled into the camera as she got up.
"In 1786, Nicolas Dalayrac wrote an opera called Nina." Papa spoke through the intercom.
"Papa." The girl mumbled to herself.
"It's the story about a young woman whose lover was killed in a duel. Nina was so traumatized that she buried the memory. It was as if it never happened. Every day, she would return to the train station to await her lover's return. A return that would never be. If only Nina could know the truth." Papa stated.
"This... This isn't real." She tried convincing herself.
"No. But it once was." Papa stated.
"A memory." Eleven put the pieces together.
"Very good." Papa smiled.
"How?" Eleven asked herself.
"Never mind how." Papa shook his head.
"Let me out. I want out!" Eleven yelled.
"I'm sorry, Eleven. You'll have to find your own way out. Leave your train station. Stop waiting. Focus. Listen. Remember." Papa demanded.
"I don't understand. I don't understand!" Over the course of the years she had learn not to be too afraid, and that she was her own person.
"Well, well. Look who finally decided to join us. Someone's a sleepyhead this morning." The orderly spoke up again.
"Focus. Listen. Remember." Papa said before signing off.
"Well, well. Look who finally decided to join us. Someone's a sleepyhead this morning." She heard the guy again, this time she turned around and gave in.
"I'm sorry. Am I... in trouble?" She spoke.
"Trouble? No. No, why do you think that? You're just missing out on all the fun. Training starts any minute." The guy smiled, he was tall, he had dirty blonde hair, his hands were Infront of him folded together, he was good looking.
"Okay." She smiled.
"Hey. There's nothing to be nervous about. You're going to do great today. I just know it." He informed her before walking over to Stella.
"Good morning, children." Papa said as he walked in, the orderly got up abruptly.
"Good morning, Papa." The children said in Usion.
"How are we feeling today?" Papa asked the children.
"Good, Papa." They replied.
"Good." Papa exclaimed.
"Number Twelve. Would you be so kind and open the door?" Papa asked smiling.
"Yes, Papa." Twelve sighed.
"Please, follow me." Papa requested.
Dr. Owens's pov
"How's she doing?" I asked Brenner.
"Very well." He answered me.
"She's swimming now." He added.
"Good. 'Cause I just got off the phone with Stinson. We don't have much time."
"Well then, she'll just have to swim faster."
Mike's pov
"202-968-6161." Will told me the number as I dialed it in, the ringtone sounded different.
"Is it ringing?" Johnathan asked.
"No, it's just making a bunch of weird noises." I stated making a face.
"Busy?" Will asked.
"Listen to this." I demanded as we heard modem dial-up sounds.
"That remind you of anything?" I asked all of them in general.
"War Games." Will spoke up.
"What?" Johnathan scoffed.
"Oh my God, we're not calling a phone. We're calling a computer." Will huffed.
"I don't know if Nina's a computer like Joshua or Owens' lab, but Unknown Hero Agent Man gave us access to it for a reason." I spoke up.
"We just need to find the computer. We find Owens, then warn him. Then we warn Eleven. I just need a hacker. The only hacker that I know lives... In Utah." I stated as we opened a map going back to the van.
"Wait, Utah?" Johnathan protested.
"Salt Lake City, to be specific." I stated.
"Oh my God. Oh my God." Will caught on to where I was going with this.
"What? Why "Oh my God"?" Argyle panicked.
"Turn around Look at what you see" will snag as I smiled at his goofiness.
"Oh no." Johnathan rubbed his forehead.
Third person pov
"Looks like Rick's had company." Patrick said as the basketball ball champions saw the door to ricks house opened.
"It's him." Jason stated as he walked over to the stove.
"Hey, Dustin. You there? It's Eddie. You remember me, right? Hey, if anyone's there, I really think I might be in a bit of trouble here. Okay? Wheeler? Fray? Anybody?!" Eddie spoke from the shadows into the walkie talkie.
Little did Eddie know he'd be experiencing the same hell he experienced that night with Stella and Chrissy.
"Hey, uh, Henderson?" Steve spoke up.
"Yeah?" Dustin turned his attention to the guy behind him.
"Could you maybe, uh, clarify what sort of clues we're supposed to be looking for here?" Steve requested.
"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes. Sherlock Holmes." Dustin spoke in a british accent.
"That's great. Thanks. That's great. Really helpful. Sherlock..." Steve spoke sarcastically.
Dustin left the room as Steve walked over to a went on the floor, he crouched down to examine it, little did he know black widows would be trying to crawl up on his arm.
He freaked out and stumbled out of the room backwards, he bumped into someone and abruptly turned around.
Stella's pov
"Hey." I called out to max.
"Hey, Stella." She smiled at me
"So..uh how've you been?" I asked her.
"Good for the most part I think..." She chuckled.
"You know I'll always be here for you, right?" I asked her.
"Yeah- yeah of course." She nodded, I pulled her into a hug.
"You're one of my best friends, you're like my sister, I'll always love you." I stated.
"I'm gonna get back to the investigation, I love you."
"I love me, too." Max joked making me smile at her goofiness at such times.
I was walking past a room when someone bumped into me.
"Whoa, whoa." I stumbled back, Steve turned around, horrified.
"What's wrong?" I asked grabbing him by his shoulders, he calmed down rather quickly.
"There was a spider." He stuttered out wiping his hands on his body.
"What?" I held back a chuckle.
"It's a black widow. Okay. Don't go in there." He huffed fixing his hair.
"Oh, oh. Wait, just..." I said as he turned around to show his hair full of webs, this poor soul.
"What?" He asked.
"Something?" I shrugged, not wanting him to know about the absolute mess on his head.
"shit. Okay." He said.
"Wait. Stop moving. Stop. I just... I got it. I got it." I smiled removing the cobwebs from his hair.
"Thank you." He whispered.
"If there's a spider, you're never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out." Robin came up behind me as I let out a chuckle at her statement.
"What's wrong with you?" He scolded the girl chuckling.
"Robin, seriously. She's got problems." He said.
"Oh come on, she's having fun." I defended.
"It's cool you two are friends. Maybe after we find Vecna, kill him, save the world and stuff, maybe we can all go out. You know? Me, you, Robin, Vickie, when they get together." He suggested as I smiled removing the webs.
"It's not like we're dating. Me and Robin. Not like we're dating. She told you? That we're not?" He panicked. Steve, were best friends.
"Yes. She made that very clear." I joked.
"Platonic with a capital P." Robin spoke up from a distance.
"Yep. Thank you. I mean... I would date her. It's just...We're friends. Just friends." He stumbled trying to form words.
"And she's lesbian?" I don't think he knew, I knew about her sexuality.
"Right. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his ear.
"Okay. All better." I said as I finished removing the cobwebs.
"Great. Thanks." He nodded towards me as he turned around, and that's when I realized how close we were standing.
"Well... Great. Um... Guess we should, uh, get back to the investigation." I said, suddenly I heard something, it was like chiming.
Oh fuck.
"The obvious things are not what people observe." Or... "Do... Don't observe." Or... Sherlock Holmes." Steve said.
"Do you hear that?" I asked Steve as I walked downstairs. Following the sound.
"What?" Steve asked following behind me cautiously.
"I- just..." I stumbled on my words.
I walked outside as I saw a clock.
"Steve!" I turned around, but he was no longer there.
"Ella..." I heard a distorted voice.
"Steve! Steve! Dustin! Robin!" I yelled out as everything turned dark.
Red fog surrounded me, and there was black lines everywhere, they looked like vines.
"There not going to help you..." I heard someone speak up behind me, I turned around abruptly. I saw this tall man.
Scratch that, it wasn't a man, it was vecna.
"Wha- what do you want from me?" I asked holding back tears, I wasn't ready to die.
"I want you to watch." He demanded as he walked closer to me.
I took my chance and ran as fast as I could, I ran across the house as I tried to find something I could hide behind.
"You cannot hide from me, Ella." I heard him say.
Ella.
Fuck.
Steve's pov
"Stella! Stella!" I yelled as I shook her, she wouldn't wake up, her eyes were completely white, with a hint of blue.
"Dustin, get the walkman!" I demanded as Nancy, Robin, Lucas and Steve ran out of the house.
Dustin was already at the car.
"What her favorite song?" Nancy asked as we shook her.
"Tears for fears! Tears for fears!" I yelled.
"Which song you dumbass?" Dustin yelled.
"Everybody wants to rule the world!" I yelled at his face.
We grabbed the headphones and put it on her.
Stella's pov
"You cannot escape." I heard him I looked up as I saw him Infront of me. I yelped.
I tried to run away again but in an instant he was Infront of me, with my hand in his grip, I struggled against that grip.
"Let me go!" I yelled.
"I will. But first, I need you to see this." He spoke in his distorted voice.
He put his hand to my face as I struggled against his grip, he showed me something that sacred the life out of me.
I saw everything burning down, collapsing. I saw Steve, Clary, my mom , Luke dead. Their bones shattered.
I gathered all my strength, and I used my powers to slam him back, he flew backwards as I started hearing music.
I saw Steve and everyone else Infront of me, trying to snap me back to reality.
"Stella!" I heard them yell.
"Get out of there! Come on!" I heard their voices.
I took my chance and I ran as fast as I could, stepping on puddles and rocks, the puddles splashed water onto me as I felt vecna stand up again, he didn't do anything to stop me.
That's what terrified me. He didn't stop me from leaving.
I finally snapped back to reality as I fell forwards onto Steve we both fell to the ground as he wrapped his arms around me, he seemed petrified.
The others did the same as well, as I gasped.
"You're okay! You're okay, baby." I heard Steve mumble into my ear.
"Are you okay?" Dustin asked.
"Does she seem okay?" Robin spoke up sarcastically.
"Can you get back to the investigation? Do you wanna go home?" Steve asked rubbing my head.
"I just need a minute, I'll be fine." I lied.
"All right, I got you." He said as he put my weight on his.
We soon got back to the investigation.
"I don't know, I feel like...like he didn't want me dead...he just showed me those things and he let me go.." I spoke to Steve.
"So, are you...like out of danger?" Steve asked me looking around.
"For now...I think." I looked at Steve.
"What..what did he show you?" Steve asked me.
"Uh..I saw..Hawkins..I saw my family and t-they were...I saw you..and after that I got control over my body again and I ran.." I stuttered out.
"I'm sorry you had to experience that, if it happens again...I'll do my best to save you." He smiled.
"You already did." I smiled back.
Max's pov
"I wish we had a longer loop." We had just gotten done with everything that happened with Stella, we all went back to investigating since she insisted.
"Forty-six minutes isn't bad. I think there are bigger concerns. Like... What if, by listening to this over and over, I get sick of it, and suddenly it's not my favorite anymore? Will it still work? Or will Kate Bush, like, lose her magic power or something?" I joked.
"Kate Bush? Never." Lucas gasped.
"You're a Kate Bush fan?" I asked shocked.
"Uh, yeah. Now I am." He said acting like I was insane for asking that.
"Really?" I asked smiling.
"Yeah, mega-fan. She... She saved your life. Besides, we're hot on this creep's trail. We're gonna find Vecna and kill him before he even thinks about messing with you again. All right? In fact, I bet if we hit these suckers in the right combo, we might just open a door to his secret lair." He had his nerd side showed up.
"Voilà."
"You're such a dork. I thought you were, like, one of the cool kids now." I sassed.
"I'm not cool?" He joked, faking his offense.
"I've really missed that." He said as I laughed.
"Missed what?" I asked.
"Your laugh." He smiled.
"All done. Work your magic, Kate." I smirked.
"I promise I'm gonna stop asking this, but....you're seeing that, right?" I asked him as I looked towards a bulb in a lamp.
"Yeah." He smiled nervously.
Third person pov
"Stop." Papa demanded.
"Very good, Two. Very good." He said as he gave Stella a piece of candy.
"Now, which brave soul would like to follow that? Hmm?" Papa asked.
"Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me." All the children spoke up.
"Eleven?" Papa asked for her presence.
"Remember to stay focused. Find the energy. Feel it." Peter told the girl.
"Why does he waste so much time with her?" Three joked as two looked at him with a threatening stare.
"Shut up, will you?" She scolded.
"Hey. Quiet." Peter demanded to three.
"They're laughing. At you. They think you're weak. Show them, Eleven. Show them." Papa told eleven, giving her the motivation.
"Good. Now make it move." Papa demanded.
"Waste of time." Someone whispered.
Eleven tried making them move, she couldn't bring herself to move those damn bulbs, when she took off her blindfold she looked at her hands wiping the blood off her nose.
What she didn't expect was to see her hands full of blood, her breath started picking up it's pace.
Dr. Owens's pov
"What is happening?" I panicked.
"She's going into arrest." A women spoke up hurriedly.
"Okay, that's enough. Pull her out. Pull her out!" I yelled at the people around us.
Third person pov
"It's like the Christmas lights." Nancy spoke up from the crowd of kids.
"The Christmas lights?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights... came to life. Vecna's here. In this house."
"Just on the other side." Stella spoke up.
"I think he just left the room." One of the kids spoke up.
"Did he hear us?" Robin panicked.
"Can he see us?" Lucas asked.
"Headphones." Nancy spoke up as they looked at Max.
"Wait, wait. Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out." Nancy spoke up again as they all listened to her.
"We're not gonna be able to see if we turn off our flash... lights." Steve tried protesting but everyone was all ready in too deep.
"I got him! Got him! I got him." They heard Robin soon chime.
"I... I had him." Robin said. The light then transferred to Steve as he stumbled back.
"Oh, whoa. Oh, I think he's moving. He's moving. He's moving." Steve spoke up as they walked up the stairs following the creature causing chaos.
"shit. I lost him." Steve huffed.
"No, you didn't." Stella said as max and her walked into the attic.
The others soon followed.
"It's an attic. Of course it's an attic. Hold up, guys. What if he's leading us into a trap? Guys, guys. shit. shit, shit, shit, shit." Dustin protested.
Third person pov
"Dude, he's not here, seriously." One of Jason's friend said, frustrated from Jason's bossiness.
"Shut up and keep looking." Jason demanded as his friends huffed.
Patrick kept hearing sounds, of clocks.
"Dustin?" Eddie called out into the walkie talkie from the shadows.
"Please. Are... Are you there? Never mind." He gave up as he looked around for any chance to escape, he saw a boat and something clicked in his head.
"Holy shit." The basketball players murmured as they saw Eddie in the water.
"Hey, freak! Where do you think you're going?" Jason yelled.
"shit." Eddie spoke up from the distance.
"Come on!" Jason said as he took off all his belongings and dived into the lake.
"Just come on..." Eddie tried starting the boat unfortunately luck wasn't on his side today.
"You scared of some water?" They spoke up.
"Let's go!" Jason demanded.
"...you piece of shit! Come on. Gotta help me out here, man. Come on. Come on, you piece of shit! Come on!" Eddie tried starting to boat as the engine spluttered
"Goddamn it! Nope? Okay. All right. Okay. shit. shit." Eddie gave up using the paddles to move away from Jason who is following him rather quickly.
Stella and her crew had no idea what was happening to Eddie, when they walked into the attic they saw one lightbulb that kept acting up.
"Flashlights." Dustin suggested.
"Okay, what's happening?" When the flashlights were pointed at the light bulb it started flickering more and more confusing the entire crew of what was happening little did they know vacna was right there in front of them just on the other side.
"Hey, stay back, man! Stay back! Stay back!" Eddie demanded to Jason who is swimming after him.
"Come on. We almost have him." Jason told Patrick as Patrick started hearing the clock again he looked around for any sort of proof that he wasn't going insane unfortunately he couldn't find any.
"Hey, Patrick. Patrick! Patrick! Patrick. Hey, Patrick. Hey, Patrick. Patrick!" Jason yelled out as Patrick floated into the air and his bones started breaking this reminded Eddie of everything that he had seen with Chrissy and Stella the other night.
Eddie fell backwards off the boat and into the water as Patrick's body fell down.
The light bulb that was acting up in the creel house started breaking.
Dr. Owens's pov
"Air. Get her some air, for Christ's sake." I demanded to the doctors around us.
"It's okay. It will take time to adjust. But you're safe now, hmm?" Dr Brenner told eleven. as she woke up panicked she grabbed an injection from the table beside her and jabbed it into Dr Brenner's neck.
Eleven took her chance and ran as fast as she could.
"Giving us quite the workout." A guard spoke up as they walked towards her.
"You really wanna do this again?" He smirked.
"No! No! No!" Eleven yelled as they grabbed her, she used her powers to send them flying as the lights started flickering and acting up.
"Remarkable." Dr Brenner spoke up.
"Stay away. I said, stay away!" Eleven said trying to use her powers again, but they didn't work..
"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Brenner smiled sinisterly.
"I don't understand." She said looking around.
"I do." Brenner said as the door buzzed open, now eleven had a choice, she either leaves, and her friends lose this battle.
Or she stays with us and she fights back this creature.
"Papa?" She whispered.
"Daughter." Brenner spoke up as he held out a hand for, which she took.