The echo of wheels rolling down the long hallway that stretched before him alerted the man that everything had gone accordingly. He stood in the darkness of a forgotten and sealed off area of the hospital, a broken light above him blinking like Morse code.

Blink, bliiiiink, blink. Blink, blink, bliiiiink. Bliiiiink, blink.

"It worked?" he asked the newcomer, who nodded in response.

The brief flickers of the light illuminated the silver slab that the newcomer was pushing. The slab was covered with a drab sheet that outlined the shape of a small body.

"The parents bought it?"

"None the wiser," the newcomer responded. He pulled the sheet aside to reveal a young girl in a hospital gown. Her head was shaved and her eyes were shut. A tag tied around her big toe read "Hopper, Sarah".

"Take her to the lab," the man smiled, looking down upon the subject.

"Yes, Dr. Brenner."

"I can't believe you beat it!" Dustin exclaimed, jumping up and down as Max's initials flashed across the screen at the top of the high score board.

"I know, I'm the best," Max smiled triumphantly, blowing on her hands and shaking them out like they were weapons.

"And that's why you're my girlfriend," Lucas smiled slyly, slipping his arm around Max's shoulders in an attempt to share the glory. Max just rolled her eyes and shoved him away.

Fed up, Will abruptly stood from the booth and started walking towards the exit. He was bored and he was sick of all the kissing and hand-holding and flirting. He just wanted things to go back to how they were before. Back when everyone wasn't so stupid and gross.

"Hey, Will!" Mike shouted as he watched Will walk away. "Where are you going?"

Will stopped just long enough to turn around and face his friends, who were now all staring at him expectantly. "Home," Will exclaimed in frustration, swiveling back towards the exit and storming off in a huff.

"What's his problem?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know," Mike sighed, pushing himself out of the booth and rushing towards the exit as he watched the door swing shut after Will. "Will, wait up!"

Mike nearly ran into Will as he shoved through the glass arcade doors. Will didn't even seem to notice. "Will! Are you okay? I'm sorry about the kissing and stuff..."

Will stood rooted in the same spot, staring ahead with his jaw hanging open. He found it impossible to form a verbal response, so instead he slowly raised his arm and pointed.

"Will?" Mike asked, following Will's finger. Once his eyes landed upon the source, Mike's face became a mirror-copy of Will's.

Walking straight towards them was a girl in her early twenties wearing a dusty black leather jacket with ripped jeans and an equally shredded Rolling Stones t-shirt. She had shaggy short blonde hair with bright red tips, making her head look like it was ablaze in the dark of the night. Any visible skin was covered in ash, scrapes, and dried blood.

Mike and Will found themselves stuck in the intense gaze of her icy blue eyes, but what was most surprising of all was the matching lightning that was shooting from her hands.

"What are you guys—" Dustin began to ask as he joined Mike and Will outside but halted when he saw the girl. Max, Eleven, and Lucas gathered around them, frozen in the same force field of the girl's glare.

Time felt like it was standing as still as they were while they waited for her to reach them. They were scared but they didn't run; both because they didn't want to and because they couldn't.

The girl stopped a few feet before them, surveying each of their faces until she landed on one: Eleven. She looked deep into Eleven's eyes, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find her voice.

"Help," the girl whispered, before dropping to the ground unconscious.

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