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The group all watched as El yanked her blind fold off with heavy breathing as Clove passed her a glass of water

"What's he doing now?" Max asked the girl

"And that's not normal right?" Nancy asked moments later after El told them what was going on and went to the kitchen for another glass of water

"Billy staying in his room on the forth of July? No that's not normal" Max shook her head

"He wants us to find him" Will nodded

"Yeah that's what i'm afraid of. If we go to Billy then the rest of the flayed know where we are" Nancy said

"It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed" Mike said as Clove looked up at him. Mike stood a lot taller then he did last summer.

"No, we won't be surprised. They'll know that we're coming and we will kick their flayed butts" Lucas said as Clove gave him a weird look

"Okay but what if there's more than what we think? El's powers are already weakening from how much she's spyed on people the last couple of days... there could be more flayed then we think" Clove said as she pulled the blanket around her more

"Cloves right, it's too risky" Jonathan nodded

"Yeah and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won't stop the mind flayed, we have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source" Nancy told the younger teens

"Billy knows it. Billy's been there, to the source" El spoke as she walked back into the room

"Wait it's a actually place? Not just a feeling?" Clove asked as El nodded

"Dark with water" El said as Clove frowned her eyebrows before she felt a pang in her stomach and a flash of discomfort flew over her face as Lucas caught that

"Yeah but-" Mike began but El cut him off

"It's a trap, I know. We can't go to Billy but I think there's another way" El said as she looked at everyone in the room

"Hey, um Clove?" Lucas asked minutes later as he followed the girl into the hallway

"Oh sorry, I was just gonna grab my jacket I left here before El starts" Clove said as she nodded toward El's bedroom door

"Oh yeah right, I just... Is something bothering you?" he asked as Clove frowned her eyebrows

"Aside from the mind flayer being out there possibly again.. i'm fine" Clove joked as Lucas chuckled

"No but really... somethings felt really different" Lucas as as Clove looked down

"Yeah just a lot is going on you know? Since last year my mind has been in so many places and I swear to god Lucas I think I might be going insane sometimes but then I remember it's a proven fact that if you went insane you wouldn't-" Clove began to ramble but was cut off

"Clove, Clove... shh" Lucas as she he grabbed her shoulders making her sigh loudly and nod

"Just breath a little. I'm here for you okay? You mean more to me then you think" Lucas said as Clove began to smile before hugging him. When they walked back to the living room, El put the blind fold over her eyes as she sat infront of the static tv. Clove grabbed Max hand as she gripped the yellow jumper in her other. They watched intensely before El began to panic

"What wrong? El!" Clove began to move toward her

"No stop! Hang on!" Nancy said while stopping the girl

"El? Are you okay?" Mike asked her as she calmed down

"I'm okay" she whispered

"What's going on?" he asked her

"I'm on a beach" El confirmed

"Okay I may be dense but the last I checked there weren't any beaches in Hawkins" Lucas said to them

"What else do you see?" Max asked her in a softer voice

"A woman, she's pretty. I- I think she's looking at me" El said as Clove frowned her eyebrows and looked to Mike

"There's a boy, it's Billy" El said as Max's grip tightened on Cloves hand

"It's California, it's a memory" Max confirmed

"I think I see it, the source" El told them

"I found it, the source" El said a few minutes later

"Where at? Can you describe it El?" Clove asked while tapping her leg

"Steele works" El said to her as Jonathan rushed over to grab a book

"Here, ugh Steele Works, Steele Works. 6522 Cherry drive" Jonathan said as Cloves eyes widened

"It's close" Nancy read her mind

"El! We found it! Get out of there!" Mike told her in a rush as Clove began to breath uneven and tighten her hand on Max's. El suddenly shot out of her trance and breathed heavy as she sobbed. Mike grabbed onto her as Clove watched with horror in her eyes. Clove stood up quickly as she suddenly felt a weird feeling within her body

"Clove? Clove!" Will yelled as she breathed heavy

"Her eyes! What's wrong, Clove can you hear me?" Jonathan asked as he bent down to see the purple and black ring around Cloves eyes. She suddenly glared as a animal growl left her lips before she threw Jonathan across the room

"Jonathan!" Nancy yelled as she ran over but Clove grabbed her arms and pushed her toward the other wall

"Clove! Clove listen to me!" Lucas yelled while grabbing her body but Clove grabbed his face and threw him backwards to the couch

"It's the flayed. She's flayed!" Mike yelled as him and El stood up

"Clove! Clove it's Max! It's Max, please" Max began to beg as Clove took steps toward the remaining four

"El! El do something!" Mike yelled before Clove grabbed his body and turned him around to put her hands around his head. Easily with one movement she could break his neck

"No!" Lucas yelled while tackling her to the ground along with Will. Cloves growl that left her her lips was intense as more purple and black marks formed along her skin. She threw Lucas and Will as they landed in the corner

"El! El stop her!" Mike tried again as Max began to cry

"I don't wanna hurt her" El said as her eyes watered

"Clove! Clove! It's Mike! It's me! Please" he begged again while El suddenly breathed heavy

"I'm sorry Clovey, i'm sorry" she shook her head before she swung her hand and sent her toward the wall as Jonathan caught sight of the movement in her abdomen

"Her stomach! It's in her stomach!" he yelled as Clove stood up again before El swung her down on the ground again

"Hold her still!" Jonathan yelled as the group all got her to the ground as El kept her power forcing her down. Jonathan cut a line from her bellybutton to her rip cage as Clove let out a yell. El used one of her hands to suddenly pull the gew that was formed in Cloves stomach. There was more then last time, a lot. The brunette was screaming as El hoped it hadn't been hurting the real Clove

"Clove please" Max cried as El suddenly threw the flayed part of Clove out the window as the girl stopped yelling, bleeding out and limb

"Clove! Clove! Wake up" Max cried as she shook her girl

"Move!" Nancy yelled as she shakingly began to sew the large wound up

"She's not breathing" Lucas said as he felt her neck

"Clove! Wake up! Wake up! Clove!" Will yelled as she hovered over the girl

"Watch out, watch out" Jonathan said as he rushed toward her. Max backed up as she began to sob, watching as Jonathan checked her heart before pumping her chest again, and blowing air into her mouth

"Clovey, Clove c'mon. C'mon come back" Mike said as he cradled her head in his lap while El went to Max as the two cried, watching as Jonathan tried to get her back to life

"I'm so sorry, i'm so sorry for everything i've done. I'm so sorry, don't leave me. You're my best friend, don't leave us" Mike cried as his shaky hands stayed on her cheeks

"Clove, c'mon" Lucas said as he leaned over her as well, also crying

"Jonathan! Help her. please" Will begged his brother as he kept his hand in Cloves with tears streaming down his rosy cheeks

"I love her,m" Max spoke as El held her crying figure in the corner. Jonathan yelled in frustration as he pushed rather hard down on Cloves chest just as Nancy quickly pushed air into Cloves mouth, not even a second later

"She's breathing. She's breathing!" Nancy yelled as she checked her heart

"Clove, Clover" El said first as her and Max rushed over

"Oh my god" Max cried with a smile on her face as she heard Cloves heartbeat as well as the five friends looked over Cloves limb yet breathing body with smiles through their cries

"Thank you" El said as her lip trembled while looking back at Nancy and Jonathan, who were also trying to catch their breath

••••

i actually started crying while writing Mike's part, but the whole Clove protection squad is about to come for me BUT now that the flayed is out of her Clove won't be getting hurt the next two episodes at all:) also i wanted to show how much the boys care about Clove and how they've been friends for so long while El and Max care about her too but haven't been around nearly as long... that's what i was trying to emphasize