smoked radios and sweet revenge

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

"Hey! Hey!" Mike's voice echoed across the gym, and Alina made her way towards him, determination swelling through her. "Hey, Troy!"

Troy Walsh and James Dante turned around, confusion on their faces as they stared at Alina, Mike, and Eleven. Mike spoke now, a quiver of fear in his voice, but his chin high—which still had the wound from when Troy had tripped him—and glared at the bullies. "Y-you think this is funny?"

Troy leaned forward. "What'd you say, Wheeler?"

"He said that you're a piece of shit," Alina piped up. Mike turned, seeming surprised to see her there beside him, but he looked grateful, too, and raised his head higher. He seemed more comfortable knowing he had someone beside him, even if it was the girl he didn't like too much.

"We saw you guys laughing over there," said Mike, with a nod to Alina, who clenched her fists and glared at Troy and James. Anger was swirling inside her, and her palms were beginning to sweat and itch. "And I think that's a real messed up thing to do."

"Didn't you listen to the counsellor, Wheeler?" James asked with a smirk. "Grief shows itself in funny ways."

"Oh, that's funny," Alina snapped to them, crossing her arms. "Because I thought you two didn't have any emotions. Or braincells."

Before this, she hadn't noticed a crowd slowly forming around her, Troy, James, Eleven, Mike, Lucas and Dustin, but now she felt the eyes of Hawkins Middle's student body piercing into her during this little showdown. Her palms sweat even more and the itch grew, and she desperately wanted to let her anger out, or whatever it was that she had bottled up inside.

Troy's lip curled as he stared at Alina. "Shut up, Tiger," he sneered. "Don't talk about things you don't understand." Then, he smiled, and the change was so sudden it was alarming. "Besides, what's there to be sad about, anyway? Will's in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay!"

At that, both Troy and James laughed, prancing around and pretending to be fairies. And something inside Alina snapped. She was so tired of doing nothing, tired of these two assholes walking all over her and the people she cared about. It was time that Troy and James were punished. It was time they got what they deserved.

So she let her anger out just as the itch got worse, and was bringing her arm back to smack him when something happened, but just then, Troy went barreling in front of her, slamming into the floor, and she couldn't see what she'd done, only heard a second slam as James hit the polished gym floor, too.

The crowd gasped as the two bullies groaned in pain. Alina turned to find Mike's arms still outstretched from pushing Troy. It was just like during recess, except this time it was Alina and Mike who had forced the two down, not the other way around.

James was the first to get up, cradling the side of his face. Beneath his meaty fingers, Alina could see the telltale pink of a burn, and she was just processing this when he grabbed her arms and shook her. "What was that? What the hell was that?!"

Alina didn't know, but even though a bout of exhaustion was surging through her, she managed the strength to shove him away. "Go to hell," she sneered, as Troy got up next, his face red with embarrassment and anger.

"You're dead, Wheeler! Dead!"

Troy came charging towards Mike like a bull, but before he could get close, he stopped suddenly, frozen in his tracks. His beady eyes glanced around in confusion as he tried to move, tried to reach Mike, when they all saw it. A dark patch spreading down his legs, the telltale sound of dripping liquid hitting the floor meeting their ears.

"Dude, Troy peed himself!"

At one of the student witness's shouts, the entire student body of Hawkins Middle dissolved into laughter. The giggles of both Lucas and Dustin were evident from behind Alina, and even she couldn't resist laughing, even though the exhaustion was weighing down her eyelids. The sight of one of the most racist, insensitive bullies at Hawkins Middle wetting himself in the middle of the gym was just too good.

Troy's face was red as a tomato, and even James had stepped away from him, embarrassment coloring his own cheeks. Alina knew what had happened, and turned back to find Eleven, her nose bleeding a little. Instead of smiling, as Alina had expected, her eyes went wide at the sight of her, and as she wiped off the blood from her nose she pointed to Alina's.

Before Alina could figure out what she was trying to say, the shout of Principal Coleman cut through all of the laughter. "Hey! What's going on here?"

Alina's own eyes widened, and she followed Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Eleven out of the gym. Her head was pounding with pain, and each step she took felt like a workout, but she managed to make it out of the gym into the hall, while Troy was left to stand there with a puddle of piss beneath him.

Revenge is sweet.

"Alina?" Lucas turned back with a grin on his face, but it abruptly faded. "Hey, are you okay? Did James do something? Your nose is bleeding."

Alina wiped the blood off her nose with trembling hands and sunk to her knees. The burns on the trees. The blackened doorknob. James's face. The pounding in her skull. The exhaustion. She couldn't deny it any longer.

Eleven knelt down beside her, grabbing her hand. There was a soft smile on her lips. "Magnet," she whispered. "Alina. You're like me."

And finally, Alina had figured out what she meant. Just before the darkness claimed her, whispering in her ears.

You're mine.

"Do you think she's like El?"

"Yeah, did you see what she did to James? The whole left side of his face was burnt!"

"No. No way. Al's not like the weirdo."

"It doesn't matter right now. We just have to wait for her to wake up and then El can finally channel Will."

Alina's ears were ringing when she finally opened her bleary eyes. She found herself slumped against the wall in the AV Room, the dim light humming above her head, four concerned faces looking down at her.

"Al!" Dustin and Lucas's faces immediately broke into grins. "Jesus," said Dustin, shaking his head. "You were out for a while. We were thinking we'd have to start without you. What the hell happened? It was a pain in the ass to get you in here, though, without people staring, and—"

"Let her breathe, Dustin!" Lucas snapped, before his face turned soft again as he looked back at her. "Seriously, though, what happened?"

Alina shook her head and some of the ringing went away. Her heart was pounding, and she could barely look at them, especially Lucas. So she looked down at her feet. "You know what happened," she said quietly.

Instead of inching away from her, as Alina had expected, Dustin grinned, if possible, even wider. "No way. This is so cool! We've got two superheroes in our group."

"She's not a superhero, Dustin," Mike snapped. "We've wasted enough time already. Come on, Alina. Let's do this."

Lucas and Dustin helped Alina to her feet, but she still couldn't look at them. Not after what she'd done. Not after realizing what she was. A monster. She was just like her parents.

Eleven sat down at the radio, looking serious. As Alina followed her, she took her wrist and lifted it up to the light, comparing it with her own. But as it had always been, Alina's wrist was bare of any numbers, of the black ink on Eleven's own. Just a normal wrist. Just a normal girl.

Alina jerked her arm out of Eleven's hold. For a minute, the girl looked hurt, before turning back towards the radio. Dustin, who kept excitedly talking about Alina's possible abilities, finally stopped.

"Now what?" Lucas asked.

"She'll find him," said Mike confidently. "Right, El? Dustin brightened.

"Hey, do you guys think Al—"

"Dustin."

"Sorry."

After Mike tuned the radio, Eleven lay her palms flat and closed her eyes. It was quiet for a moment, anticipation striking in the others watching. Alina stood a little back, her own eyes shut, her limbs trembling. She remembered the whispers when she had fallen asleep. You're mine. You're mine. You're mine. You're mine.

You're mine.

The lights above dimmed, and Mike gasped. "She's doing it. She's finding him!"

"This is crazy," Dustin breathed.

"Calm down," said Lucas with a snort. "She just closed her eyes."

Then, the lights went out, plunging them into darkness. Alina gasped, and she wasn't the only one. The darkness was thick and heavy and terrifying, and in her fear she found herself inching closer to Lucas, despite her realization. She was shivering, and not from the cold. In the fear of what Eleven could do. What she could do.

There was a clanging on the radio, a steady but unnatural beat that made them all lean forward, mouths open. "What is that?" Dustin asked, his voice laced with fear.

Then, the voice. A voice all of them recognized very well, even Alina.

"Mom?"

A dead boy's voice. Will's voice.

Alina's blood went cold.

"No way," Lucas gasped, and all of them leaned even closer to the radio.

"Mom," Will choked out. "Please... Mom!" The terror in his voice sent shivers down their spines. Eleven had been right. He was hiding from something. And it was way worse than the bad men at the Lab. This was pure, genuine fear, and for a moment, Alina feared that Will Byers would die right there, while they listened, his agonizing screams crackling through the radio before being dimmed.

"Mom!" Will shouted again, and Mike and Lucas leaned into the mike at the sound of their best friend's voice.

"Will!"

"Will, it's us!" Lucas yelled desperately. "Are you there?"

"Can you hear us? We're here!" Dustin cried. Even Alina tried speaking.

"Will? It's me, Alina. I'm here with Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. Can you hear us? Are you okay?"

"Hello? Mom?"

"Why can't he hear us?" Lucas asked, his voice filled with panic. Even in the darkness, Alina could see tears forming in his eyes, and, no matter what she thought about herself in that moment, she knew that she needed to be there for Will. And for Lucas.

"I don't know!" Mike shouted, just as Alina slipped her hand into Lucas's. Lucas held on as desperately as he had last night after seeing Will's body, the only thing keeping him from slipping away. But this time, Alina held on just as tight, her vision spotty. Hawkins Lab... fake body...

My dad.

"Mom?" Will called out again. "Mom! Mom... mom it's coming! It's like home, but it's so dark... It's so dark and empty. And it's cold! Mom? Mom!"

"Will!" Alina cried out, because she'd be damned if she just sat there. "Will!"

"Mom, please!"

Then she heard the growling in the background, slowly getting louder as whatever it was advanced towards Will. Mom, it's coming.

Will's voice faded out just as the radio sparked, a flame beginning to grow from the wreckage. Everyone screamed, backing away from the flame, the light flickering back on and the fire alarm beginning to ring. Alina coughed violently as the smoke entered her lungs, her eyes streaming, but Dustin had found the fire extinguisher, sending plumes of white stuff on the flames.

Mike put his hands on Eleven's shoulders, who, sometime in the chaos, had opened her eyes. "El, are you okay? Can you move?"

There was blood dripping from her nose, veins popping in her face. Eleven didn't respond, just stared at Mike, pain etched onto her face. Mike's expression turned to worry. "Here, help her up," he instructed Lucas, and the two of them helped carry Eleven out of the room. Alina followed, three words echoing in her head.

I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster.

Will was alive. Will had been screaming, pleading for help.

I'm a monster. I'm a monster.

I'm a monster.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: alina's finally figured out that she's not exactly normal! and yes, i know it's cliche to have a character with powers, especially if they're not connected to the mind, but i came up with this plot ages ago and i thought her abilities were unique? idk but i'm not changing it lol

you'll find out more about them soon!

hope you enjoyed this chapter! i'm thinking about updating every day next week because i'm really excited to get into the more heavy stuff coming up in the next few chapters, would that be something you guys would want?

'till next time! :)