the little science experiment

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The group soon figured out that by "bath", Eleven meant that she needed a sensory deprivation tank, an area where all noises would be silent, and she would be able to focus better on Will and Barbara's faces. The only problem with that was that none of them had any idea how to make one of these sensory deprivation tanks. But Dustin, as usual had a solution, and immediately began dialing Mr. Clarke's number.

Alina, who was leaning against the wall, glass of water in hand, watching as Dustin talked to her science teacher, jumped a little as somebody tapped her shoulder. She turned to find Hopper staring at her. "Uh..." she didn't know exactly what to say to him, the man who'd just saved their lives. "Hello?"

"Listen, can we talk?" Hopper did not seem like the menacing chief of police that had interrogated her about Will. He was gazing at her face, as if he could see something Alina didn't, and, like Joyce Byers, there were heavy bags under his eyes. Alina wondered how, exactly, he'd been caught up in all of this, and how he'd found about Eleven. "Alone?"

"Uh, yeah...?" Alina set down her glass of water on the table, hoping it wouldn't leave a ring. Lucas, who was listening as Dustin asked Mr. Clarke why he was "keeping his curiosity door locked", did not notice as Hopper lead Alina away, pulling her into Joyce's bedroom.

"Listen, kid..." Hopper looked like he had been through hell and back, but he was trying to hold on for everyone's sake. "That friend of yours, the one with the curly hair and the hat..."

"Dustin?" Alina raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, him. Out there, he was talking about you... being like that other girl. Eleven, right?"

"Yeah," said Alina. "Her name's Eleven. And, well... I'm kind of like her. Not exactly. This all... it started this week. I don't know everything about what I can do, but I know I can somehow... manipulate energy? Like, it comes out of my hands, and it's all red, and it... burns things? But it makes me really tired afterwards, 'cause I'm physically using the energy I'm shaping."

"What do you mean it all started this week?"

"That's when I figured out what was happening. And it only happened once before then, when I was nine. The day everyone knows. The day my mom ran off."

"Uh-huh." Hopper looked her over for a minute before taking her arm. Alina flinched for a second, before realizing he didn't mean to hurt her. "Listen, kid, I've been inside the Lab. I saw that girl—Eleven's room. She was... a subject there. But you... were you... did they ever?"

Alina realized what he was asking, why he'd pulled her out here to talk alone. "No," she said, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a bare arm. The gray fabric of the sleeve was marred with droplets of blood from her nose, and she wondered at the fact that she'd fought with Lucas only this morning. So much had happened since then. She'd been cornered by Troy and James at the quarry, become a fugitive, and was rescued. The morning seemed like years ago.

"I'm not from the Lab," Alina continued now. "I mean, my dad works there, but I've never been... experimented on... or whatever El went through."

"Okay," said Hopper, but it was evident to Alina that she'd confused him. "Okay, so you're not from the Lab. Well, Joyce—Mrs. Byers, I mean—and I were trying to find out more about Eleven, and we found out that her mom participated in these... experiments, when she was pregnant. MKUltra, I think they were called. That was how we think her... abilities developed. Does that ring any bells? Did your mother ever participate in those?"

"I..." Alina had to think for a minute. Surely Linda Fairgrieves wouldn't have participated in anything like that, right? Alina's mother, who was the most proper woman around, who monitored her nine-year-old daughter's every move to make sure she was fit enough to get a husband in the future. Old fashioned Linda, who gave Alina laundry detergent and dresses for her future children for Christmas. It seemed almost laughable.

But then she remembered the night in the rain, the screams that she couldn't help but overhear. Linda's voice too loud for Alina not to hear.

"You don't understand what I've done for her! I saved her! When I realized I was pregnant, I dropped those—those tests! She's normal because of me!"

"Tests," said Alina out loud now. "Tests... of course!" she turned back to Hopper. "I think my mom did participate, but she dropped them when she realized she was pregnant with me. Perhaps that's why it took my abilities so long to come out."

So it's my mom's fault I'm a monster, she thought wryly, another surge of hatred going through her. The memory of Linda and the switch came blossoming back into her mind, but this time, instead of closing her eyes and dealing with the biting pain as it cut into her flesh, this time Alina fought back. This time she dodged out of the way. This time she jerked it out of her mother's hand and snapped it over her knee, letting the pieces drop to the ground. This time, Alina told her no.

"What was your mother's name?" Hopper asked after a second. "Before she married your father?"

"Before Fairgrieves... I think her full name was Linda Collins."

"Okay," said Hopper. "I'll check the article I found. You're free to go, Alina. Sorry for taking up your time."

"No, it's fine." Alina really meant it. With Hopper's guidance, she'd realized something new about the mother she detested. MKUltra... she wondered what, exactly, occurred during those experiments, and what her mother had consented to. What had gone down that caused both Eleven and Alina to be born unlike everyone else?

Alina and Hopper headed back into the dining room to find Dustin just finishing his call with Mr. Clarke. A notepad lay open on the table in front of him, containing a hastily written guide on how to build a sensory deprivation tank. A surge of pride went through Alina. That was her science teacher.

"Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?" Dustin was asking Joyce.

All eyes turned to Joyce. "I think so," she said, before slowly nodding. "Yeah."

"Good," said Dustin, twirling his pencil in one hand. "Then we just need salt. Lots of it."

"How much is 'lots?'" Hopper, who'd just managed to find a spot, asked.

Dustin checked what he'd written down, before looking back up at them grimly. "Fifteen hundred pounds."

Everyone slumped in their seats at this huge number. "Well, where are we gonna get that much salt?"

Hopper swallowed. "I think I know a place."

And so, five preteens, two teenagers, and two adults squeezed themselves into two cars. Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy all went in one car, while Hopper took Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Alina and Eleven. As they piled back into the police cruiser, Alina let out a sigh at the sight of the pieces of the photo on the floor, quickly covering them with her shoe. Mike climbed into the passenger's seat and the other four just managed to make room in the back, like before.

"What did Hopper want to talk to you about?" Dustin asked quietly, as the car began to move.

"My... my abilities," Alina replied. "I found out that my mom participated in these experiments while she was pregnant with me. MKUltra. But she stopped them when she realized she was pregnant, which is probably why they're a lot weaker than Eleven's."

"Hey, they're still cool." Lucas, who was pressed between Dustin and the car door, leaned over so he could see her properly. His stupid bandanna was still tied tightly around his head. Alina kind of loved it. "Seriously, Al, don't compare yourself."

Alina shrugged bashfully, trying to hide the blush that had come to her cheeks. "Okay, I won't."

"Stop flirting, lovebirds," Mike scoffed from the front seat.

Alina raised her middle finger at him, waving it in Mike's face, then snorted. "You'd be familiar with flirting, wouldn't you, Michael?"

"Oh, shut up, Al."

Alina and Lucas high-fived, and Hopper turned back to face them. "Alright, enough. This is serious."

"We're messing around to defuse the tension, Chief," said Alina, making Lucas and Dustin laugh. She leaned back in her seat, a smile on her face. She wasn't thinking of the men from the lab or her dad. Even though what they would do later that night was dangerous, she was happy.

But perhaps she wouldn't be smiling if she knew what was to come in a couple hours, and how two people she cared about would have their lives snuffed out. Or so she thought.

Hawkins Middle School was eerie in the dark. It was if Alina was only supposed to see it during the day, a prison that only operated for twelve hours. The moonlight glinted strangely off the sign welcoming them in, and a shiver went down Alina's spine. Somehow, she knew that something was going to go wrong. But she climbed out of Hopper's car, anyway, and the teams were split up. Joyce and Eleven went into the science lab to find goggles, Hopper and Jonathan went to get salt, Nancy and Mike got hoses, and Alina found herself unloading the kiddie pool from the back of Joyce's car with Dustin and Lucas.

She wondered if they would actually be able to find Will. She imagined the headlines once he returned, something like dead boy found alive! She hoped that Will wasn't too traumatized. Hoped that when they found him, they did find him alive.

The three of them pulled it out, finding it was surprisingly heavy for something used for kids, and carried it inside, sweat beading on their foreheads. Once they got into the familiar halls, Alina stopped to tie her shoe, and Lucas took a quick drink of water. After both of them finished, they watched as Dustin rolled the pool into the gym himself. The Hawkins Middle School gymnasium was a wide, open space, and they'd all agreed it be perfect to set the pool up in.

Dustin grunted with exertion as he rolled. "This damn thing is heavy," he moaned. "Why the hell aren't you two helping me?"

"You seem to be doing fine on your own," said Alina as he made it into the center, a scowl on his lips. Just before they untied it, Dustin gave the kiddie pool a frustrated kick.

Alina, Lucas and Dustin unfolded the kiddie pool, but the process of actually setting it up to be filled with water was harder than they'd expected. After several frustrating attempts, the pool refusing to stand up straight, the ends folding in, they finally managed to get it upright.

"Jesus Christ," Dustin moaned, standing back and looking at the finished product. "Finally."

Just then, the others arrived. Nancy hooked up the hoses, and Alina and Mike began to fill the pool up with water. Lucas held a thermometer under the water, instructing Nancy to make it either hotter or colder, as the pool needed to be at an exact temperature.

Hopper and Jonathan tore holes into the bags of deicing salt they'd brought over and let the crystalline substances fall into the pool. Dustin, holding a carton of eggs from the cafeteria, let one fall into the clear water. If it floated, they knew they had enough salt.

The egg sank to the bottom, and they all let out a sigh. Alina went over to help Jonathan and Hopper, tearing up the bags with Troy's pocketknife. If it snowed next week, school would probably be cancelled. Normally, this would be something Alina would've been excited about, but right now she was numb to everything except the project at hand.

After adding more salt, Dustin repeated the test, letting another egg fall into the water. This time, however, instead of sinking, the egg floated on the surface. They had done it.

"Good job, Dustin," said Alina, as they gathered around the pool, Mike setting up his walkie talkie. Eleven took off her socks and watch, and Joyce, rubbing the girl's back soothingly, handed her the blinder they'd made with goggles and duct tape.

"You're gonna do great," Alina told her friend, and Eleven nodded, a small smile coming to her face.

Hopper and Joyce helped her into the water, the others gathered around, and Eleven lay back. It was time. Time to find the missing.

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a/n: wattpad is finally being a functioning website!! and not converting all of my chapters into italics!! anyways we're getting so close to the end... and y'all aren't ready for the next few chapters whew... ;))

anyways this is important! if you like acatalepsy and want to support me please please please go vote for it on strangerthingsclub's award book! it will take two seconds and i'll like... give you my firstborn. thank you for everyone who's voted already! :)

'till next time!