EPISODE FIVE
the flayed.

NOVA HADN'T spoken much after the sauna test, only a small amount to max and lucas when they spoke to her, other than that, she was lost in thought. they all stayed over in mikes basement, deciding it was best to stick together.

eleven was currently on the sofa, trying to look for hopper since he had been missing for a little while now and after what they found out, they needed him. "i found him." she spoke up after a few moments.

"where is he?" max asked from next to nova, "woods..." eleven replied.

"woods?" lucas echoed, his brows furrowing as eleven added, "he's with...will's mom."

"m-my mom?" will frowned, sitting up in confusion.

"what are they doing?" max asked with a frown, equally as confused as everyone else.

"ill...annoy. there going to ill-annoy." eleven said unsurely.

"mike, breakfast!" karen wheeler yelled making them all jump, turning to the boy.

"not now, mom!" he practically screamed making nova raise her brows, no way she would get away with it if she ever yelled at her family like that.

"illinois? like, the state? the state of illinois?" mike asked as eleven took off the blindfold and shrugged. "ill-annoy."

max, eleven and nova went into the bathroom to help clean up eleven's nose bleed, dipping the flannel in cold water as eleven tapped the bruises around he neck. "does it still hurt?" max asked.

"only when i talk." she replied softly.

"it's a good thing your not mike. bla, bla, bla. you would be in constant pain." nova spoke up for the first time as the girls erupted into giggles.

they overheard mike arguing about them conspiring against him as they rolled their eyes. will began to argue with him about how when el said, 'i dump your ass' didn't sound like a break.

"it wasn't!" max yelled, making the boys go silent. "you do realise we can still hear everything you're saying, right?" she exclaimed as the girls laughed quietly again, nova leaving the room to share the packet of chips with lucas.

there was a knock at the basement door as mike huffed, "not now, mom!" he yelled, but it wasn't karen this time.

"mike! open the door." nancy exclaimed.

nancy burst down the stairs with jonathan as they all asked what was going on. "it was the same thing. the exact same thing that happened to will last year. and look. look at the body temperatures." she showed them her notes as they raised their brows. "he likes it cold." will spoke.

"okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertiliser—" mike began, slightly annoyed as usual. "mrs. driscoll." nancy corrected him.

"right, yeah. mrs. driscoll. what time was this attack?" mike asked, nodding along to her words.

"last night." nancy said as if it was obvious.

"right. but what time last night?" mike asked again, nancy and jonathan shared a look.

"uh, around nine."

"you waited all night to call?" jonathan suddenly asked, frowning, "i was waiting for the doctor to run some tests." nancy avoided eye contact with him.

"you weren't there?" will asked jonathan in disbelief.

"well, i'm here now, aren't i?" jonathan raised his arms up in distress.

"oh, hallelujah." nancy scoffed sarcastically.

"ouch." lucas and nova both winced at the same time, making eleven giggle slightly.

"um, so. what time was your sauna test?" nancy changed the subject, running a hand through her hair.

"around nine?" most of them answered, nancy widened her eyes.

"well, that proves it. that proves my theory." nancy smiled in disbelief, looking proud of herself.

"she's flayed, just like billy." mike raised his brows. nova noticed jonathan and nancy looking confused at his words.

"flayed?" jonathan asked, frowning.

"the mind flayer flays people. takes over their mind...once he does that, they basically become him." mike explained.

"i like that we have established that the mind flayer is a man. why can't we have a girl villain?" nova sighed in mock annoyance, max laughed and agreed whilst mike rolled his eyes, most likely not in the mood for a debate most of them haven't heard her speak for a while and were shocked at the sound of her voice, but still laughed along.

"if there are two flayed—" lucas began, but mike cut him off.

"we have to assume there are more."

nova glared slightly at him for cutting lucas off, but then widened her eyes in realisation. "heather." she spoke up.

eleven and max widened their eyes in realisation. "billy was doing something to her." eleven spoke, getting the attention off nova.

"she was scared...and screaming. bad screams." eleven whispered, looking scared.

lucas raised his brow, "what's a good scream?"

"max and nova said—" she began, but max waved her arms up, "doesn't matter." she cut her off, causing lucas to raise his brows and look at nova.

nova avoided eye contact.

"i'm sorry, i'm lost. who is heather?" nancy asked, a slightly snappy tone in her voice.

"she's a lifeguard at the pool." max explained briefly, making nancy's face drop.

"heather holloway?" nancy spoke with wide eyes, they all nodded slowly before jonathan and nancy looked at each other. "tom."

NANCY HAD ordered them all to come with her so they all ended up in the car as will, eleven and mike ended up in the boot whilst nova sat comfortably in the middle of max and lucas. "seatbelts." nancy said as she tied her hair up, they all scoffed slightly.

nova tried to ignore the fact that nancy had literally ran over hers and the others bikes as she sped off into the direction of tom holloway's house.

they soon arrived, and rang the doorbell a couple times before turning to eleven, who sighed, and tilted her head slightly, the door opening almost immediately. i'll never get used to that. nova thought.

they all hesitantly walked in, as nancy called out, "tom? heather?" nova shuddered as max whispered, "jesus, it's freezing."

"do you guys smell that?" nancy asked, they all sniffed slightly before covering their nose as they saw multiple empty bleach bottles opened all over the kitchen.

"oh, god." nancy whispered in horror. "more chemicals." she spoke as they walked in closer.

"you think they're guzzling this shit?" jonathan asked, grimacing as he looked around the room.

"yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree." nancy scoffed slightly.

"but, last year...will didn't eat chemicals. right?" max asked.

"no. this is something new." will shook his head.

"mr. clarke, ruth grade. posit. what happens when you mix chemicals together?" mike suddenly asked.

"you create a new substance." lucas and will spoke at the same time.

"what if they're making something?" lucas suggested.

"in themselves?" nova asked, frowning, "i mean, come on dummy. if you drink this shit, it'll kill you."

"if you're human." lucas finished, and they all shared a look, before walking into the kitchen. there was a bottle on the floor with a blood stain on the carpet.

"yesterday...tom had a bandage on his forehead. he was attacked." nancy realised.

the carpet had been messed up and their was more blood by the door to another room. they opened it up, but it was just a garage.

"they must've tied them." jonathan said, noticing the ropes on the floor. "then taken them somewhere." he finished, the car was gone.

"mrs. driscoll...she kept saying 'i have to go back'. what if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? there just be a place where this all started, right?" nancy told them all slowly, trying to recall everything that happened.

"a source." nova spoke up quietly, nancy nodded. "somewhere he didn't want el to see." remembering when he had sensed her in the void.

"if we can find the source...maybe we can stop him. or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals." nancy suggested.

"how do we find it?" eleven asked.

"mrs. driscoll. if she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?" will spoke up as they all shared a look, smiling lightly.

my girl nova is depressed fr

outfit inspo for this chapt and next :)