sneak peek 

<<•••>>

The Wheelers

The sprinklers go off in the front yard as Nancy explains what's wrong to the party.

"So, what happened?" Y/n watches before Nancy.

"It was the same thing. The exact same thing that happened to Will last year."

"What was?"

"Driscoll. Look at the body temperature." Nancy places the paper on the desk and everyone looks at it. The paper says Ms. Driscoll's temperature was at a 95' on 7/1/85. 

"He likes it cold." Will looks at Y/n calmly but frightened as it brings back memories of last year.

"So, does this mean that we have to do what we did to get the mind flayer out of Will?" Y/n asks them as she places her hand on Wills softly and rubs it.

"Let me get this straight. So, this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer--" Mike goes on but Nancy interrupts. 

"--Mrs. Driscoll."

"Right, yeah, Mrs. Driscoll. What time was this attack?"

"Last night."

"What time last night?" Y/n interrupts. 

"Uhm, around 9:00" Nancy glances at Y/n then looks back a Mike.

"You waited all night to call?" Jonathan puts his hands on his hips then looks at Nancy.

"I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests."

"You weren't there?" Will asks Jonathan accusingly.

 "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

Nancy rolls her eyes as her arms meet into a crossed arm position. "Hallelujah!"

"Ooh." Lucas looks away.

"Um, so, wha--what time was your...sauna test?"

"Around 9:00." The party says in unison. 

"Well, that proves it. That proves my theory."

"She's flayed, just like Billy." Y/n looks at Nancy sorrowfully. 

"Flayed?" Jonathan looks at Y/n.

"The Mind Flayer. He flays people." Mike explains.

"Takes over their mind." Y/n adds. "Once they do that, they basically become him."

"If there are two flayed--" Lucas looks at Mike then Nancy.

"--We have to assume there's more."

"Heather." El quietly looks at the ground then Max and Y/n. "Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."

"What's a good scream?" Lucas raises an eyebrow.

"Max said--"

"Doesn't matter." Max quickly interrupts then looks at a chuckling Y/n.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost. Who is Heather?" Nancy crosses her arms once more.

"The lifeguard at the pool, I'd think you know who that is?" Y/n says to Nancy then looks at Jonathan.

"Heather Holloway?" Nancy raises her hand up watching everyone nod then looks at Jonathan.

"Tom." Jonathan and Nancy say in unison. 

Nancy heads straight to the car, everyone following behind her. Jonathan gets in the front, Max, Lucas, and El get in the back, and Will, Mike, and Y/n stand watching everyone go in.

"Seriously?" 

"Welcome to my world."

Y/n, Mike, and Will sit in the trunk seats. 

"Hey Nancy, It's kinda crowded back here." Y/n squirms then finds a comfortable spot; putting her seatbelt on. 

"It'll be a short ride, just hang in there. Seat belts." Nancy tells Y/n, then puts her hair in a bun. 

Everyone buckles up and Nancy starts the car, hits the bikes set in the driveway, and speeds off to the Holloways house. 

<<•••>>

7/11

The Russian scientist with glasses runs up to a 7/11 causing Hopper and Joyce to think he's running away.

They all open the door, making the bell door chime looking like hunters and stranded people. 

The scientist Alexei looks at all the drinks and everyone gulps down a coke.

"You all gonna pay for those?" The cashier asks Hopper as he eats skittles. 

Alexei looks at Hopper who gives the cashier a slight nod. Hopper sets down Funyuns, A beef stick, 6 pack of 'new' coke, a pack of cigarettes, and a map of Illinois. Hopper digs in his pockets for money and glances over Alexei who puts his hand beneath the slurpee machine, which squirts out cherry. 

"So, what are you, some kind of bounty hunter?" 

"I'm a cop." Hopper tells the cashier who gives him a look of non-believence. "I'm undercover."

The cashier rings up the items and Hopper looks outside to see a man in a convertible putting gas in his car; Hopper takes a bite of the beef stick. Outside, Joyce calls people on the payphone. 

"Oh, hey, Karen, it's Joyce. Yeah, I--I'm just checking on Will. Have you seen Y/n by chance?--At the movies?"

https://youtu.be/UOChD_WsjCE

(play this)

Hopper forces Alexei outside who takes a glorious sip of his cherry slurpee. "Just keep your mouth shut, all right?" Hopper loads Alexei into the convertible. "All right, all right, hop in. Come on, get in."

"Hey!" The man who owns the convertible throws his hands up.

"Hey!" Hopper yells back. "You "hey!" You "hey!" This is a police emergency all right?" Hopper flashes his badge in the mans face. "I need to commandeer your vehicle."

"What--"

Joyce, on the phone with Karen glances over at Hopper and the man. "As long as there's a...a..." She gives them a weird look.

"What is your name, sir?" Hopper takes out the gas tank. 

"Todd."

"Todd?"

"Yeah."

"Todd. Todd...listen to me. That man in there, I know he doesn't look it, but he is one of the most dangerous men in the world." Hopper looks at Alexei who sips his slurpee angelically. "He's, uh...murdered many children." Hopper gives Todd the empty beef stick wrapper and Todd gives him an extremely concerning "what?"

"Yeah, he's a true psychopath. I tracked him over two state lines." Hopper tells Todd as he's about to hop in the car. 

Joyce walks up to them. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Ah, Detective Byers. Uh, this is Todd." 

Joyce puts her hands on her hips and gives her attention to Todd, playing along. 

"He's agreed to...lend us his vehicle to transport our dangerous criminal." Hopper opens the door for Joyce who gets in the passenger's seat.

"Ah, yes...he-- the very dangerous criminal, uh, forger-er." 

"Yeah, uh, child murderer." Hopper gets in the car casually. 

"Child murderer?" Joyce breaks character.

"We should really get going!" Hopper talks over Joyce.

"Hey, how do I get my car back?"

"You just call the station."

"What station? 

https://youtu.be/UguV5330uck

(play this 1:00)

"Ooh, I like the sound of that, Todd!" Hopper turns the radio all the way up which plays 'Strike Zone.' 

"Hey, what station?!" 

"You're doing the right thing!" Hopper speeds off giving Todd the last sight of his car. His license plate.

"Hey, what the! Hey! DUDE!" Tod looks around incredulously. 

(stop playing music)

focusing on the party now and not other events. 

<<•••>>

The Holloway's House

https://youtu.be/Ql-HE5oc-aM

(play this 0:34)

The Wheeler's station wagon arrives at the house. Lucas, Mike, Y/n, El, Jonathan, Will, Max, and Nancy stand outside; Nancy rings the doorbell. She rings it once more, no answer. Nancy and Jonathan look at eachother then El, who has enough energy to open the door telepathically, Y/n nodding. She bursts the door open with a flick of her head leaving an empty house open. 

The group enter the house cautiously. 

"Tom? Heather?"

"Hey, Nancy." Y/n looks around discreetly. 

"Yeah?"

"I'm not sure if this information helps, but. Me, Max, and El, came to the Holloways a few days ago, I don't really remember but, they all seemed off and Billy was there and they seemed a little too nice."

"It might help if we find more evidence. Jesus, it's freezing."

Max tries to warm up her arms as everyone walks into the living room.

"Do you guys smell that?" Y/n looks around then walks into the kitchen, everyone following behind. 

"Oh, god." Nancy plugs her nose with her fingers and looks at the kitchen counter which has dozens of cleaning supplies spilled. "More chemicals." 

Y/n looks at the kitchen counters other side to see a part torn off, revealing the inside. "How does this even happen?"

Jonathan picks up a completely empty container then looks at Nancy. "Do you think they're guzzling this shit?"

"Yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree." Nancy looks at El and Y/n.

"That would kill a normal person. It's basically poison and that much of it would kill you in at least a day or a few hours." Y/n tells everyone concerningly. 

"Last year, Will didn't eat chemicals. Did you?" Max glances from Y/n to Will.

"No. This is something new."

"Mr. Clarke, fifth grade. Posit. What happens when you mix chemicals together?" Mike looks at Will, Lucas, and Y/n. "You create a new substance." They say in unison. 

"What if they're making something?" Y/n suggests. 

"In themselves? I mean come on, if you drink this crap it'll do exactly what you explained." Max looks at Y/n then Lucas.

"Yeah, like Y/n said too, if you're human."

Nancy looks behind her and sees dinner still left on the table. "Hey, Y/n. Look at this."

Y/n walks in and sees a wine bottle on the floor and notices a blood stain on the carpet.

"Blood." Nancy looks at it and bends down and Jonathan crouches beside her. "Yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead." Nancy then remembers the bandage Tom had on his forehead. 

Y/n picks up the wine bottle and points to blood on it. "He was attacked." Y/n notices a rug scrunched against a wall. She follows the blood stain having everyone follow behind her and opens a door to the garage. 

Nancy crouches down and touches a rope on the floor. "They must have tied them."

"They must have taken them somewhere." Y/n looks at the car in the garage which trunk is open.

"Mrs. Driscoll." Nancy says raising her finger grabbing everyone's attention. "She kept saying..."I have to go back.""

"What if it's taking place somewhere else?" Y/n asks getting Nancy to look at her. "There must be a place where all this started. A source."

El stands next to Y/n then looks at Nancy. "Somewhere he didn't want me to see."

Nancy looks at El then back at everyone. "If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him. Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals."

"How do we find it?" Y/n and El ask in unison.

"Mrs. Driscoll. If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?" Will asks Y/n then looks at Nancy. 

Everyone goes back into the car and Nancy drives off to the Hospital. 

<<•••>>

Hawkins Hospital.

Everyone enters following Nancy; she tries to walk past the front desk but that lady stops her. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Excuse me! Where do you think you're going?" The lady at the front desk puts a phone down and gets up from her chair. 

"Oh, um...I was just going to visit my grandma again. And--and this..this is my family." Nancy points to everyone who give awkward smiles.

The lady looks at Lucas and gives Nancy a 'I wasn't born yesterday' look.

"Extended."

"I don't care who they are. You know the rules. Two visitors at a time. 

"Yeah, but--"

"Two!" The lady puts two fingers up then goes back on call with her friend. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

In the elevator, Nancy pushes the button to the fourth floor with Jonathan by her side. The two stand awkwardly. 

Nancy breaks the silence. "You know, those things I said that I said yesterday, I...I didn't mean them."

"I know."

"I don't think you're like those assholes. At all. I never have. I...I was just--"

"Angry? Which I still don't get. I mean, I was just completely, utterly, mortifyingly...wrong. Don't let that go to your head."

"I won't." Nancy says and they both smile at each other. "I was just looking forward to you never doubting me again."

The elevator stops and they get off. Downstairs, Mike gets a kitkat from the vending machine but it gets stuck. 

"Oh, come on, you piece of shit!" Mike and Lucas both hit the machine. 

Quickly, all of the candy bars fall from the slots and end up at the bottom of the machine.

Both Mike and Lucas look at El, who wipes blood from her nose.

"Thanks."

El nods at him and goes back to reading her magazine as they both start to grab candy from the machine bin.

"Dude, I think that was it."

"That was what?"

"The olive branch." Lucas whispers.

"The what?"

"Oh my god. You're hopeless. Okay, i'm gonna go talk to Will, get you an opening. And then talk to her. All right?" Lucas looks Mike right in the eyes. Then, Mike looks over at El nervously. 

Y/n throws a skittle into Max's mouth and she catches it. "Yeah!"

"Got it, two in a row."

"That was great!" Y/n smiles at Max. "But can you catch this one?" Y/n throws it and Max catches it once again. 

"Best three in a row now!"

"If there was an olympic game based on catching skittles, you'd totally win."

"I know, right!" Max laughs with Y/n.

El now sitting on a chair, Mike sits down next to her.

"Hey."

El looks away for a few seconds. "Hi."

"Does your species like M&M's?"

El puts her hand out and Mike purs M&M's into her hand. El smiles.

"I like the new look, by the way. It's cool." 

"Thanks." El looks away from Mike and smiles.

Suddenly, Y/n notices lights flickering as she was about to throw another skittle into Max's mouth. "Guys." 

Word Count: 2248