SIXTEEN: GONE

THE BOYS (AND GIRL) FOUND THEMSELVES AT MIKE'S HOUSE ONCE AGAIN. That funeral had been torture for Daniel and he wished he had just left with Heather and his mother so he didn't have to endure more conspiracy theories about their small town. Yet still, he had found himself in the back of Karen Wheeler's car riding back to Mike's house.

As of now, Mike was trying to explain the flea and acrobat metaphor Mister Clarke used earlier. Daniel watched as Eleven's eyes went wide when Mike's pencil stabbed through the paper.

"It would take a lot of energy to create a gate like this," Mike exclaimed. He was sitting in close proximity to Eleven, which Daniel wasn't sure he liked. "But that's gotta be what happened. Otherwise, how'd Will get there, right?"

"R-right," Eleven nodded. She was ever so slowly learning words, but she still couldn't seem to hold a conversation. She was getting slightly tolerable to Daniel now that she wasn't acting like a scared little child.

"What we want to know is," Lucas cut in, "do you know where the gate is?"

"Unlikely," Daniel muttered, but no one besides Dustin seemed to have heard it. Dustin looked at the other boy and shrugged. He was unable to tell if that was a sign of agreement or not.

Eleven confirmed Daniel's beliefs by shaking her head as an answer to Lucas's question. Lucas, who was pretty much saying what Daniel was thinking, sighed.

"Then how do you know about the Upside Down?" the dark-skinned boy asked in a shout, clearly as tired of this guessing game as Daniel was. Everyone looked at Eleven, expecting an answer, but they didn't get one.

"The gate's obviously somewhere in Hawkins," Daniel suggested in an effort to help, but his mind was exhausted. He still had a headache left over from all the science talk early with Mister Clarke and Lucas yelling wasn't going to help anyone.

With the silence, Mike turned his attention to Dustin, who was walking in circles with something in his hand. "Dustin, what are you doing? Dustin? Dustin!"

"Dustin!" Lucas yelled, while Daniel just watched with a furrowed brow and curious eyes.

Dustin looked up with a confused expression on his face. "I. . . I need to see your compasses."

"What?" Mike asked.

"Your compasses. All of your compasses, right now!" Dustin shouted, which was unlike the curly-haired boy. He never raised his voice in such a demanding tone.

With little hesitation, Daniel took the compass he kept (per Mike's request) out of his coat pocket and tossed it into the waiting hands of Dustin. Whatever the boy's plan was, it was better than sitting around yelling at a girl who couldn't even put a proper sentence together. They tossed every compass they could find onto the table which still had the flipped Dungeons & Dragons board on it. They managed to wrangle up about five or six compasses before Dustin started sorting them out.

"What's exciting about this?" Mike asked as he watched, standing next to Daniel who was watching as well.

"More exciting than sitting and staring at Eleven," Daniel shrugged, keeping his eyes trained on the board even though he could feel Mike's gaze burning him.

Dustin shushed them before pointing at the compasses, "They're all facing north, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Lucas shrugged.

"Interrupting him isn't going to make him explain it faster," Daniel groaned, giving Lucas a bored look. "Dustin, you were saying?"

"Well, that's not true north."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked and Daniel sighed. He was keeping mostly silent because he figured Dustin would explain everything about his theory in due time and it was best to save any questions until he was done so Daniel had a full grasp of whatever Dustin was thinking. Apparently, this was too hard for his two friends.

Dustin sighed, "I mean exactly what I just said. That's not true north. Are you guys seriously this dense?"

"Dustin, you know I'm shit at science," Daniel offered, his arms crossed and his expression relaxed. "You're lucky I know what you're saying at this point."

"Fair enough, but what about you two? The sun rises in the east and it sets in the west, right?" Dustin continued, speaking slower, which means that's —" Dustin points in between Mike and Lucas, "true north." Where Dustin was pointing, which made sense, was the opposite of where all of the compasses were pointing. All right, maybe he was going somewhere with this.

Mike was clearly still trying to grasp the situation, "So what you're saying is the compasses are broken."

Dustin, who appeared to be getting more annoyed, sighed, "Do you even understand how a compass works?"

"It's attracted to the earth's magnetic north pole, right? So, there's no battery pack or anything like that necessary," Daniel suggested, he vaguely remembered learning this in one of his classes.

"Right, thank you, Daniel," Dustin nodded. The boy was proud of himself for actually getting something right. "And you can change the direction of a compass with the presence of a more powerful magnetic field."

He continued, "Didn't Mister Clarke say the gate would —"

"Disrupt the electromagnetic field," Mike finished. Way to steal his thunder, Daniel wanted to roll his eyes, but it was a small thing to hate Mike for.

"Exactly," Dustin confirmed.

Lucas seemed to finally be understanding as well, "Meaning, if we follow these compasses north—"

"They should lead us to gate."

"It can't be that easy," Daniel sighed. With their luck, something about this was going to get mixed up and things were going to go downhill very quickly. He swears he was bad luck sometimes, things always seemed to go wrong and he always seemed to be in the middle of it.

Mike shrugged, putting one hand on Daniel's shoulder. "It's science, it'll work."

And that was how they found themselves walking along train tracks following broken compasses. They were determined to find this gate and Daniel would happily go along with them, he would do anything to find Will, but he was still haunted by the last time they had been in these woods. Last time, he found out his best friend was dead. Even if they believe Will is still out there, that night took a chunk of his heart and crumpled it into a fine dust that blew away with the wind. Lucas and Dustin were leading the charge, but Eleven, Mike, and Daniel were following closely behind. Daniel was in between the two, his shoulder hitting Mike's occasionally. It was small, very small, but every time it happened, Daniel was on fire. This was getting out of hand. Daniel wanted to tell him so bad, just tell Mike everything he felt, but there was this majority of him that was beyond terrified of Mike's reaction. The only thing worse than holding all of these feelings inside of him would be to lose Mike completely.

"Hey, Daniel, you okay?" Mike asked, nudging Daniel's arm with his shoulder, "You seem tired today. Like you've been really out of it."

"There's just a lot on my mind today," Daniel sighed, the words he wanted to say were climbing up his throat. I'm in love with you. He swallowed them. Now was not the time nor the place for such confessions.

"Well, you can tell me anything, you know that," Mike reiterated even though he's said this a million times before.

Daniel was about to respond, maybe this was the right time. After all, no time was ever going to be perfect. "I'm —"

"Mike," Eleven interrupted, "Mike, turn back."

Okay, so maybe this really wasn't the right time.

"What? Why?" Mike asked, his attention no longer resting on Daniel. Damn, Daniel had almost made it through today without Eleven completely getting on his nerves. So close.

"I'm tired," was Eleven's excuse.

Daniel scoffed, "I'm sure Will is tired of being in the Upside Down, you're not special."

Mike snorted, holding back a smile before speaking, "Look, I'm sure we're almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?" Eleven stopped, turned back for a moment, before continuing. Daniel could have sworn he saw some blood drip from her nose, a sign of her using her powers, but maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him.

Eventually, the group made it to the junkyard, yet there was no evidence of a multidimensional portal. Yet this was where the compasses were pointing.

"Oh no," Dustin spoke.

"WHat's oh no?" Lucas asked while Mike, Eleven, and Daniel caught up with him.

Dustin turned around to face them, "We're headed back home."

"What?" Mike scrunched up his face like he always did when he was confused.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Daniel thought for a moment. Maybe he hadn't been hallucinating. He whipped around to face Eleven. "It was her."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked.

He turned his head to face the boys. "Mike, remember when she wanted us to turn back? I, I thought I saw her nose bleeding, I thought my mind was messing with me, but it wasn't!" his head whipped around to look at Eleven. "You messed with the compasses, didn't you?"

Eleven said nothing.

"You're right!" Lucas exclaimed, "She's been acting weirder than normal all day! If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass!"

"Guys, why would she do that?" Mike argued, every boy facing Eleven now.

"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission! Because she's a traitor!" the boy yelled, Daniel was nodding along furiously.

"I knew we couldn't trust her!" the curly haired boy exclaimed, "She did this the night Will died and she's doing it now!"

Lucas began to walk up to Eleven, whereas Daniel chose to back up towards Mike, his hand wrapping around the boy's arm due to nerves.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike asked, pulling Daniel along with him towards Eleven.

"You did it, didn't you?" Lucas asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he got up in the girl's face. "You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will."

Mike, who was getting exasperated, yelled, "Lucas, come on, seriously! Just leave her alone!"

"Don't," Daniel told Mike, "He's absolutely right, I know it."

"Admit it," Lucas snarled.

"No," Eleven's voice was barely audible.

"Admit it!" he screamed in her face. He grabbed her arm, looking at her sleeve. "Fresh blood, you were right, Daniel. I knew it!"

Mike was still trying to calm him down, but he was not succeeding. "Lucas, come on! That's old blood, right El?" El. Daniel fucking hated that nickname. Eleven, who looked near tears, said nothing. "Right, El?"

Daniel sighed, holding back Mike by the arm to make sure he couldn't do anything rash. He wished he could hold Lucas back, too, because that boy was angry. "I knew we couldn't trust her."

"It's. . . not," Eleven cried, "It's not safe." Lucas, Mike, and Daniel shared a look. The two boys were right, but Daniel never felt so bad about being on the right side of things.

"What did I tell you?" Lucas shouted at Mike, who Daniel had let go of in favor of standing a little farther away next to Dustin. "She's been playing us this whole time?"

"That's not true! She helped us find Will!" Mike argued.

"Yeah, find his dead body," Daniel mumbled to himself, which caused Dustin to place his arm around Daniel's shoulders and squeeze him lightly. They had all been a little broken since that night.

Lucas scoffed, repeating Mike's words, "Find Will? Find Will? Where is he, then? Huh? I don't see him!"

"Yeah, you know what I mean!"

"No, I actually don't!" Yeah, Lucas and everyone else. Eleven repeatedly had been leading them to dead ends, yet Mike was still defending her. Of course, he was still defending her. A lifetime of friendship was dwindling down the drain because of some stupid girl. "Just think about it, Mike, she could've just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn't! She just made us run around like headless chickens!"

Dustin let go of Daniel, who tried and failed to pull him back, to walk up to the two and push them apart, "All right, calm down!"

Lucas swat Dustin's hand off of him, "No! She used us, all of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She's like a stray dog."

"Screw you, Lucas!" Mike yelled, getting all up in the boy's face.

"Guys, please!" Daniel shouted, but no one was listening. He was getting closer to them, despite his best judgment. They were still his best friends and it was killing him to watch them scream and shout at each other. He walked up and pulled Mike back using all his strength, trying to get him to back up, but Lucas just kept getting up in his face.

"No! Screw you, Mike! You're blind! Blind because you like that a girl's not grossed out by you! But wake up man, wake the hell up!" Lucas turned and pointed to Eleven, "She knows where Will is and now, she's just letting him die in the Upside Down."

"Shut up!" the Wheeler boy screamed. Daniel had never in his life heard Mike raise his voice with such malice behind it. What was Eleven doing to him?

Still, Lucas continued, "For all we know, it's her fault."

"Shut up!"

"We're looking for some stupid monster, but did you ever stop to think that she's the monster?" Lucas asked, everyone turned to face Eleven for a moment.

Mike yelled again, "I said shut up!" Mike ripped his arm from Daniel's grip and pushed him back before he reached for Lucas, the two falling to the ground in a brawl.

"Stop!" Eleven yelled, magically finding her voice again. "Stop it!"

Dustin went to help Daniel off of the ground, yelling at the two, "Mike, get off!"

"Stop it!" The girl screamed again.

Daniel screamed as Lucas went flying across the junkyard. He got up, tossing off Dustin's helping hands and ran towards Eleven.

"What the hell?" he shouted at her, "What? Are you gonna toss me across the junkyard, too?"

"Daniel!" Mike shouted, him and Dustin running to Lucas's aid, "Daniel, please!" Daniel looked at Eleven, shaking his head solemnly before running to join Mike and Dustin at Lucas's side. "Lucas! Lucas! Lucas are you all right?"

"Lucas, come on!" Dustin exclaimed, the three boys shaking him, trying to get him to wake up. He wasn't waking up.

"Lucas, Lucas please," Daniel spoke, feeling like he was about to cry.

Mike kept repeating the same things, "Lucas, wake up! Lucas!"

"Lucas, come on!"

The Wheeler boy turned around to face Eleven, "Why would you do that? What's wrong with you?"

"Mike, forget about her right now," Daniel practically growled, one hand tugging on his sleeve while the other was still trying to shake Lucas awake. He did not give a single shit about Eleven anymore, all he cared about was seeing Lucas alive. God, he was starting to tolerate Eleven, but that had all just washed down the drain.

Finally, Lucas opened his eyes and the three boys went to help him sit up.

"Lucas, are you okay?" Mike asked, his voice breathless. Daniel rests his head on Mike's shoulder, beyond exhausted by this day.

"Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up?" Dustin asked, holding up three fingers, "Lucas, how many fingers?"

"Lemme see your head," Mike reached for Lucas but was slapped away.

"Get off of me!" he shouted, standing up and walking away from the three boys. Mike went running after him, but both Daniel and Dustin held him back.

Dustin sighed, "Let him go."

Daniel gave Mike's hand a reassuring squeeze. Mike squeezed back, but he turned to where the girl had been standing, "Where's El? El?"

"Eleven?" Dustin and Daniel shouted.

She was gone.

( note! )

lmao sorry if y'all are here for heather and steve or veronica and nancy. im choosing not to develop those relationships fully until part two because a) im not a fan of making my characters cheaters and b) i dont wanna completely erase nancyxsteve becuse the relationship is kind of pivotal to steve's character development and stuff so yeah!! anyway, this chapter was almost 3k words and im over halfway done with part one aint that wild!! sorry this chapter was really dialogue heavy lmao