¤The Mind Flayer¤

"I wish I could get you out of my mind, but I think about it all the time. And I wish I could not think for once in my life."

"Rowan!" She gasped loudly, clutching his sleeves as her wide, tear-filled eyes met Mikes.

She swallowed the lump in her throat with great difficulty, her fingers tightening their grip on his sleeves. "They're coming..."

Mike's eyebrows drew together, his eyes flickering across her face as he saw the raw fear written on her features. "Who? Who's coming?" Rowan snapped her eyes up to him, her jaw going slack but she never got a word out. Because in that moment the alarm system blared over head, orange lights flashing around the room.

"We're too late." Rowan whispered, gripping at Mike's jacket as she looked around. "We have to get out of here. We have to find everyone." She slipped her hand down her arm to grab his hand, pulling him along with her as she ran down the hall to her brothers room.

Joyce was up the instant she saw the distressed look on her daughters face, "what's going on?"

"We're under attack." The couple chimed together, Rowan swallowing hard as the situation they found themselves in became clear.

"The spy," Mike muttered, running over to the counter and grabbing a needle. Rowan actually flinched at the sight of the needle - she hated them. "We need to make Will sleep."

"What?"

"He's a spy, Mom." Rowan took a step forward, noticing the panic that came to her Mom's dark eyes.

"If he knows where we are, so does the Shadow Monster," Mike added, making Will shoot up straight his eyes wide.

"He's lying," He snapped, making Rowan's eyes narrow in on him. She could feel her own heart beat pick up in a panic that wasn't her own. "He's lying!" He shouted over and over again, struggling against his Mom and Bob's grip.

Gunshots echoed throughout the hall, a little too close to the room they were in for Rowan's liking. "Mom, you've gotta do it. You put Will to sleep it cuts off the Shadow Monsters connection to the both of us." If Will wasn't connected to the Shadow Monster when he was sleeping than Rowan wouldn't either... at least she hoped.

Joyce hesitated, "Will! Will!" She shouted over him to get him to stop, looking into his eyes desperately. "Do you know who I am?"

Will calmed down, breathing heavily from his panic attack as he stared into his Mom's eyes, but when Joyce looked back, she knew it wasn't her son. "You're Mom."

Joyce's face sobered at the realization that her son may just be too far off the deep end to bring back. Her eyes turned to Bob, "hold him down." Will began to panic then, thrashing in Bob's grip as his Mom filled up the needle with anestisia.

Rowan felt her heart hammer in her chest violently, making her cringe as she gripped at her chest. It was this overwhelming amount of panic and fear that she'd never experienced before and it knocked the wind right out of her. It wasn't until Joyce injected the needle into her son and the boy started to slowly calm down until faltering into a deep sleep that Rowan felt her own heart calm down. She took slow breath's trying to steady her heart beat, leaning over with her hands on her knees.

A hand touched her back and she snapped her eyes up to see Mike watching her worriedly, "you okay?"

Rowan paused, taking a moment to reach into the back of her mind, but there was nothing. Silence. It was still. She nodded, slowly straightening up, "for now." She mumbled, her eyes trained on the calm face of her sleeping brother. Her connected to the Upside Down and the Shadow Monster would stay severed as long as Will was sleeping.

The door behind them was thrown open suddenly and Rowan whirled around wide eyed to see Hopper and Dr. Owens standing their. Crashing from down the hall led Rowan to peer around the two older men to see something trying to break down the double doors. "Holy shit..." She trailed off, stumbling back and into Mike as she reached a hand around to grab his.

"We gotta go," Hopper announced the obvious, quick to scoop up an unconscious Will in his arms to lead the way. Rowan quickly grabbed another hand full of the anesthetics and needles, shoving them into her jacket pocket as she let Mike pull her along to follow after the others. The sounds of people screaming had Rowan flinching as they ran, people going up and down every which way and those things attacking people right before their very eyes.

Hopper came to a sudden stop, forcing Rowan to look around him and see one of this creatures eating someone's face off. Her jaw dropped in horror. Gunshots were fired behind them, making them aware of the monsters closing in behind them as well.

"This way," Bob called over the noise, pushing open a side door and letting everyone barrel inside before closing it tight and locking it. It was some type of security room, Rowan noticed as she let her eyes wander around the line of computers. "Oh, my God..." Bob voiced her thoughts as they took in the black and white pictures on the screen. Bodies littered the hallways as those creatures prowled around like the predators they were. Rowan gasped silently, a hand flying up to cover her mouth in shock. What kind of mess had they gotten themselves into now?

The lights flickered over head before shutting off completely making Rowan jumped with a startled screech. Mike took her hand in his, a welcomed comfort on Rowan's half as she shrunk herself next to him, eyes darting around the dark room. This just went from bad to worse in not time flat.

"We're going to die." Rowan whispered, the darkness closing in on her and suffocating her. Her hand flew up to grip the roots of her hair as the indistinct growls grew more frequent and closer. "We're going to die."

"We're not going to die." Hopper snapped causing Rowan's wide eyes to snap to him, willing herself to believe his words. "We just need to get out of here. What's the closest exit?" Hoppers turned to Dr. Owens then.

The doctor open and closed his mouth a couple times before sealing his lips. He hurried over to the desk to pull out a map of the building from the drawer and a red pen that Bob offered to him. With everyone huddled around him to get a good look at the map, he began to explain the layout and the plan. "This is us," he marked the section of the building with a little red 'X'. "And this is the nearest exit. But, even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out."

"What do you mean?" Hopper, who was holding up a flashlight, asked.

Dr. Owens turned to him, "The locks are fail secure. If there's a power outage the building goes on lock down."

"Can it be unlocked, remotely?" Bob was the one to ask.

"With a computer, sure, but someone's gotta reset the breakers."

"Where are the breakers?" Hopper asked, making Rowan's eyes fly open wide. Was he really thinking of going out in that mess?

"In the basement." Dr. Owens told him, turning to mark it on the map with the red marker. "Three floors down."

Hopper wasted no time in scooping up the pages and heading for the door making Rowan's eyes widen with panic. "Where are you going." She asked, gripping his shirt before he could leave.

His eyes turned downward on the panicking girl, "to reset the breakers."

"And then what?" A voice said from behind them, and Rowan turned to see Bob standing just behind her, his eyes on Hopper.

"Then we get the Hell out of here."

"No, then the power comes back on," Bob corrected him, as Rowan's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them like she was watching an intense game of Tennis. "If you wanna unlock the doors, you have to completely reboot the computer system, and then override the security codes with a manual input."

Hopper blinked, dumbfounded, "okay, how do I do that?"

"You can't," Bob said, trying to make him see how wrong of a person he was for this job. "Not unless you know BASIC."

"I don't know what that means."

"It's a computer language." Mike called from where he was standing next to Joyce. Rowan darted her eyes back to him then to Hopper, nodding in confirmation.

Hopper frowned, looking at Bob then, "okay, teach it to me."

Bob scoffed, "Shall I teach you French while I'm at it, Jim? How about a little German?"

Rowan's eyebrows shot up at his tone, taking a small step back and touching her chest lightly, "Sassy, Bobby." She muttered, looking up and between her mothers boyfriend's.

Both men ignored her comment as Bob turned to Dr. Owens, "how about you Doc, you speak BASIC?" Dr. Owens stuttered before giving up and shaking his head in defeat. Bob scoffed like he pretty much already knew the answer, "Okay, I got this."

"No," Joyce shook her head, her voice breaking. "Bob."

"It's okay." He whispered, pulling the woman into a hug. Rowan's face softened as she watched them, taking a small step back to lean against the computer console. "It's going to be okay. Bob Newby; the Superhero. Remember?"

"Wait," Rowan called out when he went to go leave. She didn't say anything, she simply rushed up to him to hug him. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you." She whispered, feeling his hand come up to rest on the back of her head.

Bob chuckled, "it's okay, I understand."

Rowan silently let him go, rubbing at her eyes ferociously. Bob gave one last look around at the small group gathered int he dark room and gave a curt nod. He had this, he could do this. Him and Hopper headed out - the latter returning shortly after helping Bob get one of the Walkies off the guard and a small gun for protection.

Rowan had propped herself up on the counter beside where Mike was leaning up against, swinging her legs lightly and tapping her fingers together impatiently. The thrill of everything going on was starting to get to her, making her extremely jumpy. Even when the lights flickered back on, she nearly jumped out of her skin, her wide eyes turning upward. She let out a breathy laugh of disbelief, "he did it." She whispered.

The computers and camera were back up and in the center camera - the one filming the basement - they could see Bob crouched down by the circuit breaker. She hoped off the counter quickly, rushing across the room to get a better look, ducking under Mike's arm to get in the front of the group.

"He made it." Mike muttered, from where he was hovering over his girlfriends shoulder.

Dr. Owens was quick to grab the overhead mic, taking a seat in one of the office chairs. "Okay, Bob. Can you hear us?" He asked, as Rowan took a step back to let him explain what to do to Bob Newby.

She huffed out a breath, sinking down to the tiled ground and playing with the end of her shoe lace. "Hey," Mike muttered, sinking down to the ground across from her, her eyes flickered up to his briefly and gave him a small smile, but she didn't say anything. "How you holding up? Feel anything...?" He asked hesitantly, gesturing to the back of his head.

It only took her a moment to realize what he was asking, and she shrugged, "Nothing. It's radio silent."

"You think that's a good or a bad thing?" Mike asked with a slight grimace.

Rowan licked her lips hesitantly, she had been thinking the same thing if she was honest. Her eyes darted passed Mike to where Will was still sleeping. As soon as he was knocked out it stopped, so either her connection to the Shadow Monster was severed when his was, or this thing just has impeccable timing. "The Jury's still out on that one." She admitted with a dry laugh that didn't hold any real humor. Her eyes finally found his, her face softening when she saw him already looking at her like she put the stars in the sky. "I'm sorry..." she whispered.

Mike frowned at the sudden apology, "what're you sorry for?"

"If I hadn't told you to come over..." she let out a heavy sigh, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth to worry the skin. "You wouldn't have been there when we went after Hopper - when the whole thing with me and Will happened - and you wouldn't be stuck here now. So, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," His hands grabbed both of hers in his, ducking his head to hold her gaze sincerely. "It's not your fault."

"But, I told you-"

"And if you didn't I would've come over anyway," he cut her off, forcing her to go quiet and press her lips into a thin line. "You might not have noticed yet, but I'd go out of my way just to make sure you're okay. Even if it means being stuck in a hospital with a bunch of Demogorgans."

Rowan let out another short laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood, "my hero." she joked back, both of them letting out a soft laugh that was soon suffocated by the reality of their situation. Mike let one of his hands slip from hers to cup her cheek, just silently taking in her face as he brushed his thumb softly against her cheek bone.

"It's open." Dr. Owens said suddenly, making the two middle schoolers snap their attention over to him, wide eyed.

"Son of a bitch did it." Hopper muttered with an impressed smile.

"Right, I'll meet you outside." Bob's voice crackled through the Walkie.

Mike was up on his feet, holding out a hand to help Rowan to her own feet while Hopper gathered up the still sleeping boy. They had to get out of there fast. Hopper led the way with a rifle, slowly making his way down the hall. Rowan stopped suddenly, kneeling down beside a body of a guard.

"What're you doing?" Mike hissed, only to jerk back when she held up a handgun, cocking it. "Wow, okay. Do you even know how to use that?" He asked in disbelief.

Rowan tossed him a quick look, holding it aimed at the ground, "I spent a lot of time at the station with Chief." She said as an excuse, shrugging her shoulders and starting after Hopper once more. Mike just watched her go for a minute with wide eyes, a slow smile worming it's way onto his lips as he jogged to catch up to her.

They made it out the front door, Joyce stopping just there to wait for her boyfriend. "Damn it, Joyce." Hopper muttered, setting Will down with the two Middle schoolers and telling them to watch him while he ran back in to get the oldest Byers. There was a sudden scream that sounded a lot like her Mom, making Rowan's eyes snap up, her heart hammering in her chest, followed by gunshots. She was half torn between running inside to see what was going on and sitting her with her brother to make sure he was okay.

Before she could make up her mind, Hopper came running out with an arm hauling her Mom out, the latter screaming a protesting in his grip. It didn't take Rowan that long to figure out what happened when Bob didn't come running out after them. Her heart sunk at the realization, a hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock, watching Hopper try to calm down her Mom and the Demogorgans throwing themselves up against the glass doors.

A horn honking behind them caught their attention and Rowan whirled suddenly to see her brothers car pull up. "Come on! Get it!" They all switched places easily; Hopper coming to scoop up Will while Mike and Rowan both grabbed one of Joyce's arms, forcing her to move to the car despite the crying, hysterical mess she was in.

Mike, Rowan, her Mom, and Will all squeezed into the back of the car with Nancy and Johnathan while Hopper was quick to get his own Truck. They sped out of the lab's parking lot and out the front gate. They zoomed passed Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Steve who jumped aside to avoid getting hit. Rowan turned in her seat to peer out the back window at them in shock. When did they get here? She saw Hopper's car come to a screeching stop and the four kids jump in with him before they were zooming after them once more.

They'd made it... well, almost all of them made it. Rowan turned in her seat and sunk down, feeling the exhaustion hit her after the adrenaline wore off. She let her head fall against Mike's shoulder, wrapping both her arms around his one and her eyes fluttering close.

Everything was calm at the Byers residence after everything that happened, letting the events that just happen wash over them. Nancy and Johnathan were sitting with Will who they re-dosed up with the anesthetics, Hopper was trying to call the police for backup at the lab, while the six middle schoolers sat around the table in the kitchen. Rowan had her head down on her folded arms, her curls tumbling over her arms and spilling on to the table.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin asked, causing Rowan to lift up her head, resting her chin in the palm of her hand to look at the Chief of Hawkins Police Department.

"We'll see," he shrugged.

"We'll see?" Mike echoed in disbelief from where he was sitting on the other side of his Girlfriend. "We can't just sit here while those things are on the loose."

"We stay here and wait for help." Hopper said sternly, leaving no room for an argument before he turned and stalked out of the kitchenette. Rowan watched him go, tapping her fingers impatiently against the table - she didn't know if she'd be able to heed his words.

Luckily, her attention was turned elsewhere when Mike got up. She frowned, noticing him pick up the pile of brainteaser that Bob had brought over the other day, and he heart sunk at the sight of them and the memory. "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Rowan felt her eyebrows furrow together at that, shaking her head timidly when he looked at her. "He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fundraiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him."

Rowan turned her gaze down to the table top, letting out a breathy chuckle, "wow..."

"Pretty awesome, right?" Mike touched her shoulder as he came back up behind her chair.

"Yeah," Dustin and Lucas agreed while Rowan just nodded, looking back at the freckled faced boy.

He set the blue cube on the table in front of her, his eyes flickering to meet hers and then across the table at Lucas and Dustin. "We can't let him die in vain."

"What do you want to do then, Mike?" Dustin was the one to ask, throwing his hands up to the side in frustration. "The Chief's right on this one, we can't do anything with those Demo-dogs lurking around."

Max's face crunched up in confusion, "Demo-dogs?"

"Demogorgan... Dogs..." Dustin said slowly, like he was explaining something to a small child. "Demo-Dogs."

"Dude..." Rowan hit his arm, to get him to look at her. "Why didn't I think of that." That got a wide smile from Dustin, causing the dark haired girl to giggle.

Dustin suddenly got serious again, looking over at Mike, "I mean, when it was just Dart... maybe..."

"But, there's a whole army now." Lucas was quick to agree making Rowan snap her gaze between the boys.

"His army..." She whispered, jerking around in her chair to look at Mike. As soon as his wide eyes met hers, she knew he was on the same page. "His army." She said again, louder this time as she gripped the sleeve of Mike's jacket.

"What do you mean?" Steve was the one to ask, looking between the couple.

Rowan whirled back around to look at the older boy, "if we stop him, we stop his army."

"Who's him?" Steve asked.

Rowan didn't say anything, she simply jerked up from her seat and ran down the hall to her brothers room with the four middle schoolers and one teenager running after her. She snatched the drawing of the Shadow Monster of the night stand and handed it to Dustin. "The Shadow Monster." He realized and Rowan nodded.

"He got Will that day in the field," Mike told him, his words rushed. "And the doctors said it was like an virus, that it infected him."

"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the Tunnels?" Max asked slowly, trying to understand. "Both of you?" Her eyes flicked to Rowan.

"No, I'm just connected to Will," Rowan told her quickly, her eyebrows shooting up. "But, Will; He's connected to the Tunnels, to the Monster, to the Upside Down. Everything." She rushed out for the red headed girl.

"Whoa, slow down," Steve rested a hand on the young girls shoulder getting her to whip her attention to him and take in a deep, calming breath.

Mike stepped up beside his girlfriend to take over, "Okay, so, the Shadow Monsters inside everything. And if the virus feels something like pain, then so does Will."

"And then so do I." Rowan added, pressing her lips into a thin line.

"And so does Dart." Lucas added.

Mike nodded, "Yeah. It's like what Mr. Clarke taught us. The Hive Mind."

"The Hive mind?" Steve and Rowan echoed together.

Mike looked at his girlfriend in exasperation, "you need to pay more attention in class."

"Well, I don't so care to explain." She gestured for him to hurry up and get on with it.

"It's a collective consciousness," It was Dustin to jump in with the explanation. "Like a super-organism."

"Right, and this is the thing that controls everything," Mike showed them the picture once more as it had made full circle. "It's the brain."

Rowan's eyes widened in realization, snapping them up to meet Mike's, "Like the Mind Flayer." She said and both Mike and Dustin's face flushed at the realization while Lucas snapped, pointing at her.

"What?" Now it was Steve and Max's turn to be confused.

"Dustin; book. I'll gather everyone." Rowan ordered before rushing out to the living room to get everyone to gather around the table in time for Dustin to slam the book down on the table top.

"The Mind Flayer," He explained, looking around the table of everyone that Rowan had joined together. "It's a monster from another dimension. It's so ancient that it doesn't even know it's true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using it's highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh, my God. None of this is real," Hopper droned on from behind Rowan and Mike. "This is a kids game."

"No, it's a manual," Dustin corrected him pointedly, jabbing a finger out at the older man. "And it's not for kids. So, unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"

"Analogy." Rowan piped up, crossing her arms.

Dustin tossed her an impatient look that basically said no was so not the time. "Fine. An Analogy for understanding whatever the Hell this thing is."

"Okay," Nancy broke in before an argument broke out. "So, this Mind Flamer, thing."

"Flayer." Dustin corrected her pointedly and impatiently. "Mind Flayer."

Nancy sighed heavily, "Mind Flayer," she corrected herself. "What does it want."

"To conquer us, basically," Rowan answer this time and all eyes were on her as she gestured with her hand as she tried to explain. "It believe that it's the master race."

"Like the Germans." Steve piped up.

Rowan tossed him a look, narrowing her eyes slightly like she was actually trying to comprehend what he was talking about. "You mean the Nazi's?" She asked slowly.

Steve looked over at her and then down a little embarrassed for being corrected by a 13-year-old. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah, the Nazi's."

"I mean," Rowan straightened up, huffing out a breath of air that had her loose curls bouncing. "If the Nazi's were from another dimension, I guess so. Yeah." He had a good point about them believing they were the superior race and trying to conquer everyone else. Not the best Analogy though.

"The point is," Dustin broke in, getting the conversation back on track. "It views other races, like us, as inferior to itself."

"It wants to spread and take over other dimensions," Mike added, getting a nod from Rowan to confirm what he was saying.

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas brought it back home with that unsettling thought.

"That's great. That's really great," Steve bit out sarcastically, turning away from everyone and running a hand through his hair, muttering, "Jesus..."

Nancy yanked the book over to her, to look at it, "so, if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything... then if we kill it..."

"We kill everything it controls." Rowan finished for her, pressing her lips into a thin line. "We win. Theoretically."

"Alright, so how do we kill it," Hopper broke in impatiently, snatching the book from Nancy. "Shoot it with Fireballs or something."

"No, Chief, this is real life," Rowan broke in, giving him a stupid look that had him looking back at her incredulously. "You don't shoot fireballs at it."

Chief Hopper huffed out a heavy breath, throwing the book back onto the table, "what the Hell are we doing here?"

"I thought we were waiting for your Military back up." Dustin called after him sarcastically causing Hopper to whirl on the Middle Schooler.

"We are!"

"But, even if they come, how are they going to stop it?" Mike asked the real question, not missing a beat. "You can't just shoot this with guns."

"You don't know that!" Hopper argued easily. "We don't know anything!"

"We know that it already killed everybody in that lab!" Mike yelled.

Rowan crossed her arms, "And we know it's a lot stronger than pretty much anything we could throw at it."

"And we know those monsters are going to molt again," Lucas called next like they were one hte same mind set.

"And we know it's only a matter of time before those Tunnels reach this town." Dustin brought it home, the four middle schoolers listing off everything they did know to prove the Chief wrong.

"They're right," A tired voice said from behind them and they turned to see Joyce come into the room, finally rejoining civilization. "We have to kill it. I want to kill it." Her voice broke.

Hopper was quick to cross over to the older woman, "Me too, me too Joyce, okay? But, how do we do that?" He challenged the determined woman. "We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

"I do..." Rowan spoke up quietly and all eyes turned to the small girl. She played with her fingers nervously and she met Hoppers gaze across the room. "Will and I... we do. But, I can't figure out how to destroy this thing without Will. I'm only connected through him."

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore," Max broke in. "That he was a spy for the Mind Flayer now."

"He can't spy on us if he doesn't know where he is." Mike spoke up this time and Rowan turned to look at him.

She was quick to nod in agreement, "Exactly. He's gotta be awake for me to be able to spy on the Mind Flayer, it's the only way." Her eyes shifted passed Mike to Hopper and her Mom, silently trying to get them to see how important this was. That this was how they were going to beat that thing.

Rowan was the one to suggest the shed, but it was Hopper who went out there to empty it. Once it was cleared Nancy and Steve went out to go cover the windows, Dustin and Lucas went out to go do whatever it was they were doing, and that left Rowan, Mike, and Max in the kitchen. Rowan sat back on her knees beside Mike, taking the things he pulled out from under the sink and setting it aside.

"I get why El was your mage now," Max spoke up, effectively breaking the silence and catching the couples attention.

Rowan frowned at her, "what?" She asked, more shocked than she should've been. It only made sense that if Lucas told her all about what was going on with Will and the Upside Down that he told her about Eleven.

"Lucas," She specified. "He told me all about her."

"Yeah, well, he shouldn't have." Mike muttered, looking back at her. "And just because you know the truth, it doesn't mean you're in our party."

"Michael..." Rowan started, frowning at him. She was all for icing out Max when she was just a clueless bystander, to keep her safe from all of this. But, there was kind of no going back now.

"It's fine," Max cut in before the dark haired girl could say anything. "I mean, why would you want a stupid zoomer in your party anyway." Mike rolled his eyes, turning his attention to the cupboard once more. "I'm just saying, El? And you too, Rowan..." Rowan flickered her gaze up to the red headed girl. "You both sound really awesome."

"Yeah, they are." Mike muttered. Rowan smiled softly at him, reaching out a hand to take him - squeezing it comfortingly. "Until that thing too El, just like it took Bob." He tossed Max a quick look as he gathered up the boxes, and standing to his feet; he held out a hand to his girlfriend and Rowan hesitantly took it. She peeked over her shoulder at the California girl with a small smile before letting him lead her away.

They covered the shed from the ground to the ceiling, until it was barely recognizable. Rowan had been in there more times that she could count and she couldn't even tell it was her shed. Hell, she couldn't even tell if it was night or day. Once it was all set up Johnathan brought Will out to tie him to one of the chairs, a bright light shining in the boys face that Mike and Rowan set up.

Everyone else went inside except for the Byers family along with Chief Hopper and Mike. Rowan's eyes softened at the sight of her unconscious brother, latching onto Mike's arm for a sort of silent comfort. Mike tossed her a reassuring smile, lacing his hand through hers. They were going to figure this out. Hopper was the one to wake him up, with a mixture of chemicals that was thrown together. Will woke up with a gasp, that Rowan mocked without even thinking. She blinked hard at the sudden headache, groaning softly and pressing her cold hand to her forehead.

Mike's hand tightened around hers, "are you sure about this?" He whispered.

Rowan let out a shuddering breath, looking across the shed at her brother who's eyes were darting around frantically, "no turning back now." She muttered, her hand slipping from her head when the pain numbed over.

"What?" Will's voice came out groggy, jerking in the bonds. "What is this? Why am I tied up?"

Joyce was quick to him, kneeling in front of her son with soft features. "Will, we just wanna talk to you. We're not going to hurt you."

"Where am I?" He snapped, ignoring her attempt to cool things over.

Hopper came up behind Joyce, hovering over her to show him the drawing, "recognize this?" He asked. "Do you recognize this?" He asked again, getting a frantic head shake from the boy.

"Hey, we want to help you," Joyce whispered soothingly. "But, to do that, we have to understand how to kill it."

"Why am I tied up!" Will snapped instead - obviously the wrong way to go. Rowan felt her heart rate pick up in a panic that wasn't her own. "Why am I tied up!" He yelled over and over again, his thrashing movements getting more jerky by the second and the lights flickering. Rowan reached up a hand to grab at her chest, her breathing coming out short and choppy like the air just didn't want to fill her lungs. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Hey, hey." Mike grabbed her arm, a hand coming up to cup Rowan's cheek, trying to get her to look at him. And she did, but her eyes were wide with panic as the feeling of her lungs filling with air just wouldn't come to her. Mike frowned, panic flashing across his face. "He's doing something to her! She can't breathe!" Mike yelled, getting the attention on the situation Rowan found herself in. "Make him stop!"

"Will, calm down." Joyce tried to soothe over as Hopper held the boy back with an arm hooked around his shoulders; keeping him pinned against the post.

Rowan took in a big gasp of air when Will calmed down, feeling herself calm down as well. She felt light headed as black spots danced in her vision. Mike was quick to wrap his arm around her, keeping her from toppling over - which she looked like she might've at any moment then. She steadied herself, gripping his shirt and looking up into his worry filled eyes. "I'm okay..." she breathed out, nodding timidly. "I'm okay."

When everything had settled down and the lights stopped flickering, Hopper let go of the boy as Joyce moved into the chair across from him. "Do you know what March 22nd is?" She asked quietly and Rowan found her eyes drifting to her Mom. That was their birthday. "It yours and Rowan's birthday," she told him when he didn't answer. "Your birthday. When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all your friends, they got you 'Star Wars' toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie, it- it was your spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you- you must of used every color in the box," her voice cracked. "I took it with me to Melvad's and I put it up and I told everyone that came in, 'my son drew this'. And you were so embarrassed, but I was so proud. I was so, so proud."

"Do you remember the day Dad left," Johnathan jumped in without missing a beat and Rowan's eyes snapped to him as he knelt in front of his little brother. "Me, you, and Rowan... we stayed up all night building Castle Byers... just the way you drew it. And it took so long, because you were so bad at hammering. You'd miss the nail every time. And then it started raining, but we all stayed out there anyway. We were all sick for like a week after that. But, we just had to finish that didn't we."

Rowan felt her fingers tingle, causing her to snap her eyes down at her hand, frowning at the sensation. She didn't have time to think, because that's when Mike spoke up and her attention was instantly drawn to him. "Do you remember the first day that we met? It was... It was the first day of Kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and... and I just felt so alone, and so scared, but... I saw you on the swings and you were alone too. You were just swinging by yourself. And i just walked up to you and.. and I asked." Mike took in a shuttering breath. "I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes."

Rowan smiled softly at him, she remembered that day. She didn't go outside for recess that day because she didn't know anyone. She sat inside and colored and practiced her Alphabet because she wanted to impress everyone. And then, that day at lunch - her brother came to sit with her, but he wasn't alone. He had made a friend; Mike and from then on the three of them were best friends. And then they met Lucas in the first grade and Dustin in fourth.

Rowan came up beside him and Will's eyes snapped to her before she even said anything. "Do you remember when I taught you had to ride a bike?" She asked quietly, already smiling at the memory of how many times he totaled himself. "Johnathan had tried to show us and I got it right away, but you just- you couldn't get it. And you were so frustrated, because you wanted to be all grown up just like your sister. So, we spent the whole day together - just you and me until you figured it out."

A phone rang in the distance, making them all snap their gaze over to the far wall, panic bubbling up in Rowan's chest. Her wide brown eyes flickered back to Will and she saw the same glazed over look on his face as he looked back at her. "What is she doing here?" Will whispered, making Rowan's smile faltered.

"Will..."

"She betrayed him," he cut her off, his eyes narrowed and Rowan felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. "She shouldn't have done that, it upset him." Rowan opened her mouth but no words came out, and no air came in. She grabbed at her throat, it felt like something was strangling her from the inside. "He doesn't like her anymore." Rowan let out a cry of pain, grabbing at her head as it felt like her brain was being liquefied, she'd never experienced quite that level of pain before.

"Rowan!' She heard her name being called, but it all melted together into nothingness as the sound of her blood pumping in her ear roared over everything else.

Mike grabbed her arms, his eyes wide with panic as he tried to get her to look at him to figure out what was wrong. "What are you doing to her?" He snapped suddenly, narrowed eyes on Will who had his blank gaze locked on the crying girl. "Stop it! Make him stop!" He shouted. Another piercing scream left her lips as she sunk down to her knees, clutching Mike's jacket sleeve.

It was like something was stabbing her and squeezing her at the same time, a million whispers flickering through her head like white static, but one stuck out more than anything else. Will's voice. He was trying to talk to her.

Close Gate

She gasped back to life suddenly, her wide eyes trying to figure out what happened. Joyce was holding a needle, while Hopper had the unconscious boy pinned to the post. Johnathan was on his feet, worried eyes on his sister. Her eyes jerked around to look at Mike, who was on the ground with her, holding her face. Her hand shot up to cover his, feeling the tears of pain drip down her cheeks. "Close gate." She whispered.

Mike frowned, "What?"

"Close gate," she echoed, swallowing hard. "Will wants us to close the gate. That's how we stop it."

"That's great, but it knows where we are." Hopper cut in, causing Rowan's wide eyes to snap to him. A familiar roar came from the distance and Rowan felt her heart leap into her throat at the sound. "We gotta go." Hopper was quick to untie Will and rush him inside of the house with everyone else following. The best thing they could do right now, was team up, stay together, and take it as they go.

The first thing Rowan did was run over to where she had dropped her jacket when she first got home and grabbed the gun out of the bundle she wrapped it up in. She flicked open the barrel and checked to make sure it was loaded, crying out in relief when it was fully stocked. With a click,s he closed it and hurried back into the kitchen where everyone else is.

"Is that a gun!?" Dustin shrilled, his eyes wide as he pointed at Rowan. She gave him a stupid look that basically said 'duh'.

Hopper came hurrying over to them then with two of his own guns, "Do you know how to use this?" Hopper asked Johnathan, holding up the rifle that was once kept in the shed.

Johnathan stuttered, but it was Nancy who jumped in, "I can." She told him, taking the rifle easily in her hands.

Rowan smirked at her, "gun sisters. Woo!" She cheered, waving the gun around without a care. Nancy tossed her a quick look, grabbing the young girls hand to steady her and aiming the gun at the floor rather than around at everyone else. Rowan grimaced, "right, sorry."

They all lined up in front of the window, Hopper, Nancy, and Steve standing pretty much in front of everyone else with their guns/nail bat. Rowan was off to the side - after Nancy pushed her back with everyone else - next to Mike and her Mom and aiming the gun at the window.

"Where are they?" Max's voice was shaky as she stood behind Lucas who was holding his sling shot at that ready.

The screeching grew closer and closer, causing the hairs on Rowan's arms to stand up straight. A loud roar caused her to let out a startled shriek, whipping to the side to where it came from. "What are they doing?" Nancy's voice trembled, already out of breath. A loud snarl came from just beyond the living room window causing everyone to gasp and scream in shock.

Rowan felt her hands tremble, forcing her to flew her fingers around the handle of the gun, swallowing her fear. "Somethings going on out there." She whispered as the sounds of the Monsters growling turned into the screeched and clattered - almost like they were fighting something.

The glass shattered inward as one of the Demo-Dogs came flying in, causing everyone to scream once more. It took them a second, but they soon realized that it wasn't alive - it was dead and it didn't crash through the window - it was thrown through the window. Rowan's eyebrows furrowed at the realization, knowing only one person who could do that. Right at that moment the door creaked open, causing Rowan to whirl around wide eyed. A small gasp escaped her lips at who came walking through that door all punked out and ready for a fight.

"Eleven..."