CHAPTER 7
THE BATHTUB

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They found out. Everyone that shouldn't and most definitely not have found out, found out. This worried Laurel, but once the three teenagers explained everything it became clear that it was better this way. Hopper, the Chief of police, and their mother Joyce, both found out about what the Byers twins and Nancy were up to, since they would have to find out eventually that they were at the station. Hopper was, at first, concerned about all the equipment in the trunk of Jonathan's car, but Laurel spoke up and decided to explain everything, even if he didn't believe her.

But somehow, he did. And for some reason, they were willing to help. Her mother was another story. Of course, she was extremely disappointed and scared for Laurel once she found out her daughter went out alone in the forest the other night, and even got mad at Jonathan for not knowing and protecting her. Whenever someone perceived Laurel as weak though, it got her blood boiling, and her heart sank. She was angry and sad at the same time by the fact that she needed help all the time, that she couldn't take care of herself.

It was all true once before, but now she had changed over the past week, and she felt a type of courage she had never felt before, and one that no one had seen before. Even Joyce was surprised that she had actually punched somebody.

Laurel sat impatiently in the police car that occupied the three teenagers and the two adults. Mike and his friends had received a search party from this bad corporation for keeping some special girl safe, which confused the hell out of Laurel, but they had to find them anyway. Somehow this girl was connected with the monster, but most importantly all those kids were in danger. Of course Laurel cared about their safety, they were her brother's best friends.

Nancy had ran outside for a moment in desperation, staring wildly at the helicopter trying to find those kids. Hopper had ran after her, pulling her back into the car. Nancy sat back down on Laurel's left, whereas Jonathan was on her right. Thankfully she was small enough to be in the middle.

"Look, we need to find them before they do," Hopper said while turning around in the driver's seat, looking at all three teenagers. "You have any idea where they might have gone?"

"No, I don't!" Nancy answered in distress.

"You need to think," Hopper pushed.

"I don't know, we haven't really talked lately..."

Joyce then decided to turn around. "Is there any place your parents don't know about that he might go?"

"I-I don't know!"

"I might."

All heads turned towards Jonathan.

"What?" Hopper asked, waiting for an explanation.

It was like a lightbulb had gone off in her head, something the twins did often when they had the same idea. "I think I know too. Not where, but...who to ask, we know who to ask," Laurel added on. Without hesitation, Hopper drove to the destination that the twins gave, which was their own home. It seemed to confuse the other three, but the twins knew exactly what to do.

As soon as they pulled up to the driveway, the Byers twins jumped out of the car and ran inside the house, more specifically Will's room. All 5 people searched up and down, in and out, and everywhere in his room. Along the way they had explained what they were looking for.

Laurel bent down to search under his bed before her mother spoke up. "I got it!"

Joyce then gave the walkie-talkie to Nancy, who volunteered to ask for her brother.

Pressing the button, she began speaking. "Mike? Mike?" She repeated, hoping to get his attention. "It's me, Nancy. Mike, we need you to answer."

No answer was given. Maybe they had left their walkie-talkies at home. Maybe they couldn't hear. Maybe this one didn't even work.

"This is an emergency, do you copy? Mike do you copy?"

Minutes after minutes had passed with no answer. Finally Hopper had enough.

"Listen kid, this is the Chief, if you're there pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl. We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there, do you copy? Over."

Silence stung the room, the only sound to be heard was the creaking of the wooden floors that Hopper stood on. They were all defeated, hearing no response on the other end.

Hopper placed it roughly down on the dresser. "We got any other ideas?"

Before Laurel could even think of an idea, a scratchy radio voice was heard through the device. "Yes, I copy. It's Mike, I'm here. We're here."

FInally, one step closer to solving this massive, confusing, other-worldly puzzle.

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   An hour had gone by, which didn't sit well with Laurel. What if Hopper didn't make it? What if they got the boys first? What if he couldn't find where they were hiding? All her worries swarmed her head in the silence of the living room as Joyce, the twins and Nancy waited anxiously on the couch for Hopper to return with the kids. Unknown to her, Nancy's hand lingered on her own, but she was already past drowning. An hour in her own thoughts could go extremely wrong.

Her thoughts were blinded by the lights that shone through the window. Everyone on the couch stood up, a sigh of relief leaving Laurel's lips. They were home. They were safe. But maybe they weren't in the car. Maybe he was unsuccessful. Nancy's hand gripped tightly onto Laurel's as she blinked away her anxious thoughts. She almost yelped at the surprising grip, but bit her tongue. The hold didn't last long as everyone left the building, wanting to see what Hopper had accomplished.

Laurel stood with a fast beating heart on the porch, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. They were safe. They did it. Nancy ran down the porch, and gave Mike a big hug.

"I was so worried about you!" She said, holding his arms.

"Yeah, uh...me too?" He said, almost like a question. Nancy's eyes soon drifted towards the mysterious girl behind them, everyone else's gaze turning in that direction too. "Is that my dress?" A young girl, probably Mike's age, stood behind the boys in a light pink dress and a blue jacket. Her head was shaved, something that made Laurel wonder how that came to be. Hopper had explained what he found that the bad people were doing, and that she apparently had some type of abilities.

After the reunion, everyone head inside and Mike and his friends began explaining what they found out. For just being middle schoolers, Laurel found it surprising they had done all these things on their own. He began to explain this place called the upside-down, which made both Nancy and Laurel glance at each other knowingly. Mike also began showing them a piece of paper with a diagram, explaining the upside-down. With an acrobat and a flea, Laurel understood the gist of it. The only way to get to the upside-down was through a loop of time and space, or a gate. Laurel could barely believe it herself, it was like one of Will's comics, but after what Nancy and her had been through she knew this had to be true. They had tracked the gate with their compasses, which they explained confusingly.

"Is there anyway you could reach Will, that you could talk to him in the...the..."

"Upside-down?" Eleven, the name Mike had given the girl, interrupted. Joyce nodded.

"And my friend Barbara, can you find her too?" Nancy added on.

After a few moments of thought, Eleven nodded.

The group spent the next half hour trying to contact Will. Well, it was more Eleven doing the work. Everyone sat and stood around the table, the little girl being the centre of attention. Minutes upon minutes had passed in silence, but luckily it wasn't enough to pull Laurel into her own thoughts. Her eyes trained on the girl, watching her close her eyes with the walkie-talkie in front of her. Movement happened above, and all eyes glanced around the room. The lights were suddenly flickering, this had to mean something.

Eleven then opened her eyes, a sad look washing over her face. "I'm sorry," she faintly whispered, the lights above ceasing their flickering. Laurel's heart sunk to the floor, feeling a familiar weight pressing on her chest.

"W-what's wrong? What happened?" Joyce asked.

Tears stung Eleven's eyes. "I can't find them."

This didn't make sense. They had to be down there, that was the part that made sense. But what if they were wrong this whole time? But Hopper had explained that Will's body was a fake, so they had to reach them somehow down there. Maybe this was just the wrong method.

Eleven took a break and went to the washroom. Meanwhile the rest of the group conspired together to figure out another way to contact them. The three boys then began to explain how she gets drained from using her powers, and recently she used a lot of it. So now it was up to them to simply wait.

"The bath," a voice spoke behind them, everyone turning around to look at the small girl.

"What?" Joyce and her daughter said in unison.

"I can find them...in the bath."

By what, scuba-diving down the drain? Laurel wanted to say, but she held her tongue, knowing that it was a stupid joke to try and lighten the mood.

Laurel was not-surprisingly wrong. Eleven needed a sensory deprivation tank—the floaty tub Laurel liked to call it—to float in so she could contact Will, seeing as that's how she found the upside-down in the first place. The group then spent the next few hours planning and getting everything together. From figuring out how to build one, getting the materials, and breaking into the school at 11pm on a saturday, Laurel's night wasn't going as she planned it would, but she wouldn't have changed it for the world. She finally felt like this was the final puzzle piece to the mystery, and they finally had hope.

Laurel didn't feel she'd be much help carrying salt bags with her brother since she wasn't very physically strong, so once they got into the school she stayed with her mother and Eleven. Laurel made her way to her Chemistry classroom, guiding her mother and the child around the school.

They needed her vision to be pitch black, so into the cabinets she went, and once her mother spotted the tape and handed it over, Laurel taped it over the goggles she found, making it completely unseeable if worn. The young brunette turned around, facing the buzz-cut girl sitting on one of the chairs. She seemed a bit lost. Not in direction, but in her head, and in her eyes. Laurel knew that feeling; a feeling of worry and unsafety.

Walking towards her, she sat down in the chair beside her, noticing her flinch at the sudden movement in front of her vision. Luckily Laurel had experience with young kids from growing up with Will, so she knew how to make her feel comfortable.

"Okay so...this will keep it really dark, like in your other chamber," Laurel explained while handing over the goggles. Laurel noticed Eleven's eyes drifting away from the object and towards the floor.

Laurel sighed knowingly. "I know-sort of, how you feel. You're...really brave for doing this, I don't think I ever could. I promise, if anything happens, just shout for my mother, Joyce, or me, Laurel, and we'll wake you up."

Eleven nodded slowly, glancing up at Laurel with a little more light in her eyes. She had only known this girl for a few hours and she already felt like they had been connected for longer than that. "Listen...thanks for helping my brother, my family, it means a lot. You mean a lot to us."

The corner of Eleven's mouth twitched into a smile for a moment.

"You ready?"

"Yes. Ready."

After getting the perfect temperature and the right amount of salt into the huge pool they had set up in the gymnasium, it was time for Eleven to jump in. She took off her socks and her jacket, then strapped on the goggles. Joyce guided her over to the tub. Everyone sat around the pool, watching in awe as she sat in the water, and fell backwards to float on her back. Almost immediately did the lights in the gym begin to flicker, creaking noises making the hairs on the back of Laurel's neck stand on end.

A minute passed. Silence.

Another minute. All that could be heard was the swishing of the salted water that Eleven laid in.

Another minute. Laurel's heart began to race when Eleven stirred. "Barbara?" The floating girl mumbled. Laurel felt Nancy tighten up beside her. She felt like this was a good time to reach towards her. Originally she planned on holding her arm, but even with her heart beating fast and sweat dripping down her forehead, she did the impossible and reached for her hand. Last time it was Nancy who did it, but this time Laurel initiated it. Nancy's hand eventually loosened under hers, enclosing their fingers together.

Nancy Wheeler was actually holding my hand.

Their moment was soon interrupted by all the lights turning off around them.

"What's going on? Is it Barb? Is she okay?" Nancy asked worriedly, sweat building up in her hold with Laurel's hand.

"Gone...gone..." Eleven whispered in fear, making Nancy's other hand fly to her mouth. Laurel's hand tightened on its hold, hoping that Nancy got the message. I'm here for you. It's going to be okay.

Eleven began shouting it now, Joyce attempting to calm her down. Her coos seemed to help, as she stopped the words that came from her mouth. But new words formed this time. "Castle Byers."

Laurel's ears perked up, her heart racing even faster than before. It almost hurt Laurel to wait in anticipation, just sitting there as they waited for Eleven to continue talking.

"Will."

Joyce gasped, and even Laurel's breath shook as she let go of breath she never knew she was holding. "Tell him mommy's coming! Tell him to stay there a little longer!"

She repeated his words, it seemed.

Until she began whimpering through the walkie-talkie, almost crying.

Eleven sprung upwards in a flash, making Laurel's heart jump out of her throat. She could feel Nancy jump beside her in shock.

"I got you...I got you..."Joyce cooed once again, holding Eleven.

So that was it, that's all they got. But that's the closest they've ever gotten, so Laurel should have felt grateful.

But somehow she felt worse than before. Because knowing he was in danger was worse than knowing nothing at all.

Soon after Eleven was being dried and everyone got their bearings, Hopper went outside, and Joyce followed. Jonathan and Laurel gave each other a worried look, following after her.

They were out in the parking lot, and Hopper had head into his car. Joyce spotted her children, and walked towards them. "Listen, I need you guys to stay here, and watch over the kids." All while she was talking, the twins pleaded to join her, or for her to stay back, but she wouldn't listen. Laurel bit the inside of her cheek to stop the stinging of the tears as Joyce held her children in a tight hug.

"I'm gonna find him," she repeated, letting the two go and backing up into the car that Hopper called her from.

They left faster than she could even blink, and all she could do now was hope.

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   Jonathan went back into the gym, but Laurel had spotted Nancy outside of it, sitting against the wall. Swallowing her worries, she walked towards her, and sat down to her left. She never spoke, because she knew Nancy had something to say.

And soon enough she spoke up. "We have to go back to the station."

Laurel's eyebrows knitted together, head turning towards her friend. "Huh?"

"Your mom and Hopper are just...walking in there...that thing is still in there. We can't just sit here and let it get them too."

Laurel didn't want to believe it, but she was right. They had no chance in the upside-down when that creature was lurking around. So it was time to continue their monster hunting plan.

"You really wanna do this? Laurel asked, even if she knew the answer.

"I'm gonna finish what we started. I want to kill it." Nancy glanced at Laurel expectantly, hoping she'd feel the same.

She was right.

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oooo shiiiiit big bad finale nexy chapter!!! then onto next season. expect a lot of angst :) a lot of sad :) a lot of pain :)

sorry not sorry heheh