CHAPTER EIGHT:
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

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FOURTH OF JULY is supposed to be spent heating up the grill, and prepping hamburgers and hot dogs to be devoured later in the day. It's spent eating watermelon and drinking a few beers as night falls. It's supposed to be spent with friends and family, watching and participating in lighting up the night sky in celebration of America and freedom. Every Fourth of July for the last few years, Danny's father has been able to get work off and spend the day with his family and friends. Danny would invite his friend group and they would spend all day sneaking beers and setting off firecrackers. Danny would flirt with all the neighborhood girls and kiss a couple under the fireworks then eventually ditch them causing them to be pissed until they eventually got over it and came back for more. The Fourth of July is supposed to be fun but the Fourth of July in 1984 was the least fun Fourth of July Danny had ever experienced.

Danny stood outside in a muscle tank that was blowing a breeze across his abdomen. Despite the nice breeze, the heat made the air thick and muggy. The dog days of summer had descended upon Hawkins and they were not being kind. Thankfully, the thick trees around Chief Hopper's cabin were protecting him from the harsh sun. Danny would've rather not spent his Fourth of July in a tiny cabin in the woods with Lucas and all his friends after fighting some interdimensional monster but then again, nothing about Danny's summer had been normal so far.

They were all sitting around waiting for Eleven to find the Holloway family or Billy Hargrove. Eleven had locked herself in her bedroom as she used the static on the television to search for them. Danny still didn't understand how she did it but thought it was incredibly cool. When Danny finally came back inside, Mike was still non-stop pacing around the room as he waited for his ex-girlfriend to come out, Lucas was snacking on some cereal on one of the couches as Max sat across from him on another chair. Will was in the kitchen with Nancy and Jonathan who were calling anybody who might have any answers as to what was going on.

"Anything new?" Danny asked as he headed into the living room and took a seat beside Lucas on the couch.

"No," Mike answered, stress in his voice as he continued to pace. "It can't be good for her to be in there this long."

"Mike, you need to relax," Max explained, her brows furrowed as she narrowed her eyes at Mike.

"What if she gets brain damage or something?" Mike asked making Danny roll his eyes.

"Oh, shit," Lucas paused his chewing as his eyes widened. "Is that, like, a real thing?"

Danny sighed at Lucas's stupidity, "Is brain damage a real thing?"

"No, it's not," Max shook her head. "He made it up. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

"Oh, and you do?" Mike scoffed.

"No, I don't, but, see that's the difference between me and you," Max sassed as Danny watched the argument in amusement. "I can actually admit that I don't know everything."

Mike scoffed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Okay, dude, Max has a point," Danny butted in, agreeing with Max and thinking that Mike was being a little dramatic. Danny knew that Mike was only being dramatic because he cared about Eleven but he still needed to calm down. "We don't know if she could get brain damage but seeing how powerful Eleven is, I think she's fine. She knows more about what she's doing than we do."

"Danny's right, the only person who knows the most about El's powers is El," Max agreed with Danny making Mike shake his head.

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm just trying to protect El!" Mike defended.

Max stood up, her anger getting the best of her as she made her way over to Mike, raising her voice, "She doesn't need protection, Mike! She knows her limits!"

Danny sat back on the couch and watched the argument like a tennis match. Mike and Max seemed to not get along very well. It also seemed like ever since the breakup situation, Mike seemed to not like Max even more. Danny sighed as they continued to argue. Danny looked over at Lucas who was stuffing his face as he watched the argument closely, seeming very into it.

Lucas looked over at Danny and held out the cereal box to him. Danny chuckled softly before reaching in and grabbing a handful. He stuffed some into his mouth as the argument continued. They both started to get more into the argument and Danny was trying to decide who he agreed with more. They both had great points and both were in the wrong about something but they were also both very stubborn.

"Do they always argue like this?" Danny asked Lucas.

Lucas nodded, "Pretty much."

The arguing got even louder with both of them practically screaming at one another. Danny stood up, ready to break up the argument as he started to think it was getting out of hand and stupid. As Danny stood, Lucas reached out and grabbed Danny's hand. Danny was shocked as Lucas put his hand over Danny's. Lucas seemed disgusted at the idea of even kissing Danny so the fact that he was holding Danny's hand shocked Danny. Lucas shook his head at Danny, warning him to not get involved.

Danny sighed and took a seat, Lucas letting go of his hand before offering more cereal. The argument went on for another minute before Max stormed over to the kitchen, "Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us? Who do you think should decide El's limits... Mike or Eleven?"

Danny and Lucas followed as Mike scoffed, "The way you frame that is such bullshit!"

They both took a seat on the table, continuing to eat from the cereal box. Max rolled her eyes at Mike, "It's not bullshit, Mike! This is your whole problem and it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass!"

Nancy's eyes widened, "El dumped you?"

"Yeah, because she is conspiring against me!" Mike defended, gesturing to Max. "She's corrupting her!"

"No, enlightening her!" Max corrected. "The fact is, she's not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions."

"She's risking her life for no reason!"

"For no reason?" Nancy scoffed, narrowing her eyes as Mike rolled his, looking even more annoyed that now not only one, but two women were disagreeing with him. "Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what!"

"Killing, flaying..." Lucas nodded.

"Transforming into monsters," Will added, agreeing with Nancy.

Danny nodded as well, "Raising hell."

"And El's not stupid," Nancy continued. Danny chuckled softly at Mike's furrowed brows and scrunched-up face as he grew more annoyed and irritated. "She knows her abilities better than any of us."

Max nodded with a smile, "Exactly, thank you."

"And she is her own person with her own free will," Nancy agreed with Max.

"Exactly!" Max agreed. "El has saved the world twice and Mike still doesn't trust her!"

"You wanna talk about trust, really?" Mike scoffed. "After you made Eleven spy on us?"

Danny's eyes widened as did the rest of the boys. Eleven and Max had used Eleven's ability to find people to spy on the boys. Danny wasn't exactly happy about it as it seemed to be a huge invasion of privacy. Lucas got off the table, "Wait, what? When?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you this?" Mike asked.

"No!" Lucas shook his head.

Danny wondered how much Eleven had seen. He wondered if Eleven had seen Danny tease Lucas. Based on the look on Lucas's face, he seemed to be wondering the exact same thing as he slowly took a step away from Danny. Danny scoffed quietly and shook his head at Lucas.

"Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us!"

Danny furrowed his brows and shrugged, "Ex-girlfriend."

"Yes, ex-girlfriend," Max nodded at Danny as Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed. "And I did not make her! It was her idea! And why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

"Yeah, who cares?" Will agreed.

"I care!" Lucas argued before turning back to Max. "How much did you guys see?"

"I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy!" Mike exclaimed as he turned to Max.

"We were just joking around," Max defended, not liking that the conversation was turning around on her.

"Wouldn't it've been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" Mike asked.

Danny furrowed his brows at Mike, "Dude."

Max scrunched up her face, "You weren't."

"But what if I was?"

"Then, gross!"

"Seriously, Mike?" Nancy shook her head.

"Is this really a necessary conversation to have right now?" Danny asked, not understanding how any of it was relevant to the problems they had.

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are!" Mike explained to everyone as he started to rant. "You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth! So, can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again!"

There was a moment of silence at Mike's love confession. Everyone stared with wide eyes as Mike slowly realized what he had said. Danny smirked at Mike as did Lucas. Danny could've called that Mike was in love with Eleven. Danny was excellent at knowing if somebody was in love. It was always in the eyes. Even if they didn't admit it to themselves or out loud, it was clear if you just looked at the way they looked at each other.

"What's going on?"

Everyone turned around as Eleven walked out of the room. Mike quickly shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing."

Lucas smiled, "Just a family discussion."

"Oh," Eleven nodded as Mike seemed to be internally panicking. "I found him."

"Found who?" Nancy asked.

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Eleven had found Billy Hargrove. It had taken her almost a half hour but she had done it and Danny was impressed. Eleven had come out of her bedroom and had instead placed herself in front of the television in the living room. Everyone crowded behind her on the couches and lounge chairs as they watched her and listened to her explain what Billy was doing. Danny watched in awe as Eleven watched and searched. He still thought she was so cool and interesting.

Danny watched as Eleven started to breathe rapidly before hurriedly taking her blindfold off. Eleven wiped her nose again, adding to the pile of bloody Kleenexes beside her. Eleven took a deep breath as Max asked, "What's he doing now?"

Eleven looked over her shoulder at Max, "He's in his room."

"And that's not normal, right?" Nancy asked Max.

Eleven stood up and went over to the sink. She filled a large glass of water from the tap and downed it, a few drops dripping down her chin and falling onto her shirt. Danny raised an eyebrow, wondering how much energy it took to search for somebody. It clearly took a lot of energy and Danny hoped she felt okay.

"Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?" Max asked, her eyebrows raised. "No, that's not normal."

"That's not normal for anyone," Danny added. He was sitting on the couch in between Lucas and Max. Lucas was still acting weird ever since Mike had informed him that Max and Eleven had spied on them. Danny was starting to grow tired of Lucas's back-and-forth attitude. He went from worrying about Danny to avoiding him. Danny wanted to question him about it but there had been no good times.

"He wants us to find him," Will spoke up.

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," Nancy admitted, nodding. "If we go to Billy then the rest of the flayed know where we are."

"Sounds kind of like a trap," Danny guessed as he leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms. "He could be waiting so he can ambush us."

"We won't be surprised," Lucas disagreed, feeling confident. "We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts."

"You mean El will kick their butts," Max corrected.

Mike shook his head, "It's too risky."

Nancy nodded, agreeing with her brother, "Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source."

"Billy knows it," Eleven informed them as she returned from the kitchen. "Billy's been there, to the source."

"Yeah, but —"

Eleven interrupted Mike, "It's a trap, I know. We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been."

Eleven placed herself in front of the television once more. Danny watched the static move around the TV as Eleven fixed her blindfold, preparing to go back into her mindscape and search around. She had tissues to the right of her for the blood that came from her nose. Danny was on the couch beside Max while Lucas and Will had gone to the kitchen for more snacks. Due to it being the Fourth of July, Danny was craving a cheeseburger or a hot dog along with a cold beer straight from a cooler.

Mike kneeled beside Eleven as she prepared, "El, I know you think you have to do this, but you don't. It's just, that you've only done this once before. And your mom, she loved you and wanted you to know what happened. And Billy's mind is -- is sick and diseased. The Mind Flayer is in him."

"He can't hurt me," El assured Mike. "Not in there."

"We don't know that," Mike argued.

Eleven turned toward Mike and gently held his hand, "Mike, I need you to trust me."

Mike sighed and looked back at Max who raised an eyebrow at him. Mike looked at Eleven and nodded, "Yeah... just be careful."

Mike sat back down in his armchair. Eleven grabbed her blindfold and tied it tightly around her head as Lucas and Will sat back down on the couch. Lucas surprisingly continued to sit beside Danny but he still kept his distance. Danny sighed and shook his head alerting Lucas that Danny was annoyed at him. Danny could feel Lucas's eyes on him but he ignored him and watched Eleven.

"Billy..." Eleven whispered as she found Billy in her mindscape. "Can you hear me? I want to see. I want to see what happened."

There was a short moment of silence before Eleven started to pant. Her face went pale and her skin started to sweat. Danny furrowed his brows, wondering if this was normal or not but judging by the look on everyone's faces, it seemed to not be and Mike made that clear as he said, "Something's wrong. El, are you okay? Are you okay?"

Eleven started to breathe slower and she sighed. Her voice cracked as she replied, "I'm okay."

"What's going on?"

"I'm... I'm on a beach."

"Okay, I may be dense —"

Danny scoffed at Lucas's statement, "May be?"

Lucas shot Danny a glare before he continued, "The last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins."

"What else do you see?" Max asked.

"A woman. She's... pretty. I... I think she's looking at me," Eleven explained before taking a couple of deep breaths. "There's a boy... Billy."

"It's California," Max informed them. "It's a memory."

"I think I see it," Eleven said. Everyone sat up upon hearing her. "The source. I think I found it."

"Where, El?" Max asked. "Where are you?"

Eleven paused for a moment, "Brimborn Steelworks."

Jonathan jumped up and rushed over to the phone. He grabbed the yellow phonebook and flipped through the pages, searching for the location Eleven had told them, "Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive."

"That's close," Nancy informed them.

"El! El, we found it!" Mike shouted to Eleven. "Get out of there! Get out!"

Danny watched as Eleven's breathing sped up again. She started to reach around her, her nose bleeding more and her chest rising and falling quickly. Finally, before Danny could jump up and attempt to help her, Eleven tore her blindfold off, "No!"

Mike jumped up and grabbed her, holding her tightly to help calm her down, "El, you're okay, it's okay."

Danny watched with sad eyes as Eleven hyperventilated and sobbed into Mike's arms. Eleven's powers were incredible but it came at a price that Danny was starting to realize. Danny watched as Eleven continued to cry and he hoped that she wouldn't get too hurt by whatever was coming for them.

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When the sun finally set and the fireworks started to light up the sky, Danny stepped outside. He wasn't expecting his Fourth of July to be spent in a small cabin with people he barely knew as they waited for some sort of monster that was possessing the douchebag that is Billy Hargrove to come for them. Danny was starting to regret getting involved with any of it but he was already in too deep and there was no turning back now.

Danny smiled to himself as the night sky got lit up. He was so into the fireworks that he didn't notice Lucas exiting the house as well. It wasn't until Lucas greeted him that Danny noticed him. Danny looked at Lucas, the colors of the fireworks lighting up his skin, "Not your idea of a fun Fourth of July, huh?"

Danny scoffed, "Nah, not my idea of fun."

"I warned you to stay out of it," Lucas reminded him. "I warned you that it was dangerous."

Danny sighed in annoyance and nodded, "Yeah, yeah..."

Danny couldn't help but grow more annoyed at Lucas. Lucas kept claiming to care but then he would ignore Danny and push him to the side. Danny knew that Lucas was struggling with his sexuality but that didn't give him the right to treat Danny like shit and be so bipolar with him. Danny had been waiting to confront him and now seemed like the perfect time. Danny looked at Lucas, "Why do you keep --"

"Guys," Mike interrupted. "I got Eleven to calm down."

Danny and Lucas shared a look before going back inside the cabin. Lucas seemed curious about what Danny was about to ask but they had bigger things to worry about. When they got inside, Eleven started to explain what had happened inside her mindscape, "He said he was building something. That it was all for me."

"Building something... is he talking about the flayed?" Max asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

Nancy nodded, "He must be."

"So, he's building an army just like we thought," Lucas nodded as he started to pace back and forth.

"An army?" Danny furrowed his brows. "Why an army?"

"To stop Eleven," Mike answered. "Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really pissed him off."

Lucas nodded, "Like, royally."

"And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him," Mike continued. Danny nodded as he took in the information. "But if she's out of the way --"

"Then game over," Danny nodded, understanding what was going on.

"He also said he was gonna kill of you," Eleven explained, her voice cracking. Danny took that moment to finally look at Eleven. She looked exhausted and her face was stained with tears. Danny felt bad for her.

Everyone shared similar looks of worry. Max was the only one to voice Danny's thoughts, "Yeah, well, that's nice."

Nancy perked up and slowly walked toward the living room window. Danny furrowed his brows at her. She stared out the window and watched. Danny didn't understand what she was doing. He thought maybe she was watching the fireworks but Nancy didn't seem like the type to take breaks during something so serious.

"Do you guys hear that?" Nancy asked.

Danny stood up straighter, trying to listen in on what Nancy was talking about. Danny could hear some faint sound but he couldn't figure out what it was. Jonathan tried to reassure Nancy that it was the fireworks but Nancy wasn't convinced. Nancy turned around and looked at Eleven, "Billy... when he told you this, it was here, in this room?"

Eleven nodded. Danny looked around the cabin and listened in even more. The sound started to get a little bit louder and there was a dull thudding. Danny felt his blood start to run cold just as Will announced, "He knows we're here."

Everyone started to flee the cabin as Nancy and Jonathan led the way. Danny followed everyone out as they ran into the woods. Danny squinted his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. As more fireworks lit up the night sky, the colors flashed and lit up the most terrifying thing Danny had ever seen. Danny's eyes widened as a gigantic, spider-like creature came rushing toward them, big enough and strong enough to knock down trees in the process.

Danny was the first to run back inside the cabin, wanting nothing more than to be at the Fun Fair eating a corndog and riding the Ferris Wheel with some random girl. Everyone followed Danny besides Nancy who went to the shed to find any sort of weapons. Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike all started to grab furniture and board up the windows. Danny started to help as well, his blood running cold and his body shaking. He didn't understand how everyone else could be so calm.

When Nancy finally came back inside, she had an axe for Jonathan and a shotgun for herself. Danny couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her. If you had asked Danny a few days ago if he thought Nancy Wheeler would be the type to use a gun, he would've laughed in your face but based on what he had seen in the last few days, Danny was sure that Nancy could handle herself with a gun. Danny helped Jonathan board up the door with the couch before everyone gathered in the middle of the room, watching all the windows and doors.

A rumbling was heard all around them, shaking the appliances and the lamps. Danny couldn't help but jump at every little sound. His breathing was shaky and the adrenaline was pumping hard through his body. Danny whipped his head around the room, waiting for the monster to strike. Danny barely noticed Lucas taking a step closer to him as if to help calm his nerves.

"It's close," Will announced.

Dust fell from the ceiling. Dishes fell in the kitchen and shattered on the floor then suddenly, everything went quiet. Danny let out one last shaky breath before a slimy tentacle busted through one of the walls. Everyone screamed and quickly moved away from it. Danny pushed himself up against the wall along with the other kids. The tentacle went straight toward Eleven but before it could touch her, Jonathan swung his axe and started to puncture the tentacle. He got a couple of hits in before the tentacle swung around and pushed him into a wall, shattering some pictures and forcing him to drop his axe.

The tentacle started to come for Jonathan but Nancy stepped up and cocked the shotgun. She fired a few shots at the tentacle causing it to wail in pain. It swung forward and pushed Nancy up against a wall but before it could hurt her, Eleven stepped forward and held her hand out, using her abilities to pull it back and cut off one of the heads of the tentacles. It quickly pulled back and back out the wall. Danny let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and cursed, "What the fuck was that?"

Another tentacle punctured the wall but Eleven quickly stopped it with her powers. And then another one came through a wall and she stopped that one as well. She scrunched her face up and pulled her arms down, causing both heads of the tentacles to come off and the arm to pull back out of the walls. Danny was impressed but he didn't have time to show it.

The roof of the cabin was impaled by another tentacle. it grabbed Eleven by her ankle and started to pull her up. Eleven screamed and Mike was the first to rush forward, holding onto her hands. Everyone else quickly ran forward and grabbed her, struggling to pull her back to the ground.

Danny looked up and saw the mouth of the creature. It had several razor-sharp layers of teeth and it roared while a tentacle was coming out of its mouth to hold onto Eleven. Danny had never been so terrified in his life. He continued to pull Eleven with the rest of them as Jonathan called out to Nancy to shoot the monster.

Nancy sent a couple of shots into the monster's face but it was still holding on tightly. Lucas let go of Eleven and grabbed the axe. He jumped onto a box and started to swing the axe onto the tentacle as Nancy kept shooting. Danny was, once again, impressed as Lucas continued to swing the axe until the tentacle was cut clean off and Eleven fell onto the floor into Mike's arms. Mike sat up and saw the mouth of the tentacle latched onto Eleven's ankle. Mike grabbed hold of it and tore it off, throwing it to the side where it scurried out of the cabin. Danny felt like throwing up at the sight.

Eleven stood up once more and used the last of her energy to tear the monster's face apart. As Eleven's energy dissipated, she fell into Max's arms. Danny quickly grabbed onto Eleven and he and Max helped her out of the cabin. Everyone started to flee as fast as they could to Nancy's car. They all piled in before Nancy started the car and floored it. As they drove away, Danny looked back at the monster that was towering over the now-wrecked cabin.

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