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chapter seven:
the bathtub
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"CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JONATHAN BYERS GOT ARRESTED" Sabrina stated as her and Evelyn sat next to Jonathan and Nancy. Sabrina sat on the left side of Jonathan while Evelyn sat on the right side of Nancy. Making Nancy and Jonathan in the middle next to each other.

"Sabrina, really is not the time for your sarcasm" Evelyn scolded at her best friend who seems to be enjoying what is going. "Wasn't being sarcastic, just very entertained" Sabrina told Evelyn while laughing, still couldn't believe that Jonathan was in handcuffs.

The front door of the police building opened up and in walked Joyce Byers and Chief Jim Hopper. "Hey! Jonathan? Jesus, what... what happened?" Joyce started rambling as she started heading towards her oldest son.

"Ma'am" Evelyn heard Officer Callahan start to say before Jonathan told his mom he was fine. "Why is he wearing handcuffs?" Joyce questioned the officer.

"It's pretty funny story Ms.Byers. Still so shocked and yet it was so entertaining" Sabrina told her as everyone looked towards her. Sabrina held her hands up before shrugging her shoulders. "Just saying" Sabrina muttered out as Evelyn lightly shook her head.

"Well, your boy assaulted a police officer. That's why." Officer Callahan told Joyce completely forgetting about Sabrina's little comment. Sabrina lightly laughed. "He was the officer Ms.Byers. Like I said entertaining" Sabrina told her.

"Ma'am do you want to be handcuffed next?" Officer Callahan questioned her. "I'm done. I'll stop. Your ego already went down hill after that hit" Sabrina told the officer.

"Take them off" Joyce told the officer before he can say anything else to Sabrina. The officer looked at Joyce. "I am afraid I cannot do that."

"Take them off!" Joyce snapped not liking that her oldest son was in handcuffs. "You heard her. Take 'em off." Chief Hopper told the officer this time more sterns

"Chief, I get everyone's emotional here, but there's something you need to see" Officer Powell stated before walking off with Officer Callahan and Chief Hopper.

"Where the hell did he come from?" Sabrina questioned as everyone watched the officers walk outside. Not even two minutes later, Chief Hopper walks back inside with the box that was full of the stuff they all needed to kill that monster.

He slammed the box on the desk where Jonathan was sitting at. Joyce looked in the box, confused on why her own son will have all this. "What is this?" Joyce questioned as she kept looking in the box.

"Why don't you ask your son? We found it in his car." Chief Hopper stated as he looked directly at Jonathan. "What?" Joyce questioned as she looked towards her son for confirmation that what Hopper was saying was true or not.

"Why are you going through my car?" Jonathan questioned not liking that they went through his car without a warrant. "Don't you need a warrant for that?" Evelyn questioned.

Hopper looked between the two before leaning towards them with his hands on the desk. "Is that really the questions you two should be asking right mow? Especially you Jonathan. I wanna see you in my office"

"You won't believe me" Jonathan told him before Hopper can walk away. "Why don't you give me a try?" Hopper told him before leaving towards his office.

"Intense" Sabrina stated as everyone started heading towards Hopper's office after getting Jonathan out of the handcuffs. "Sabrina. Stop it" Evelyn told her before they all walked into the office.

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Joyce looked at the photograph that Jonathan has taken that showed the monster that she's been seeing before handing it back toward Hopper.

Hopper looked towards the four teenagers who sat on the small couch that was leaned up against the wall. "You say blood draws this thing?" Hopper questioned.

"We don't know." Jonathan told him as he looked in between Hopper and his mom. "It's just a theory." Nancy concluded.

"Can I speak to you alone Jonathan" Joyce asked her son who slightly nodded his head before following her outside in the hallway leaving only Nancy, Evelyn and Sabrina with Hopper.

"So, how you been Chief?" Sabrina questioned as Hopper placed the photography on his table. Hopped looked at the young girl. "I'm just going to assume not good. Nice talk. I'm just going to be quiet now" Sabrina stated as she lightly grabbed both Evelyn's and Nancy's hand.

Hopper sighed before placing his head in his hands. Can this day get any worse than it already is.

Yelling can be heard from down the hall. Hopper opened his door before heading towards the main office. "Wonder what that is about" Evelyn questioned as everyone watched Hopper storm off.

Evelyn heard the yelling stop before she heard a voice that sounded familiar. "Hold on is that Troy?" Evelyn questioned as she walked into the main office.

Evelyn heard about Troy as Dustin will sometimes come home complaining about Troy and his friend that bullied not only him but Mike, Lucas and Will as well. She saw him once when she witnessed him try to bully her little brother before she got in the way and told him to leave him and his friends alone but it seems that didn't work out.

Evelyn watched as Troy finished up his statement before walking up and standing next to Hopper. "Did you just call my brother and his friends losers?" Evelyn questioned as Hopper looked towards the young girl.

"Evelyn, I told you and everyone else to stay inside my office" Hopper told her but he can see that she wasn't paying attention to a word he was saying.

Troy looked between each officer and his mom before looking towards Evelyn. "Did you just call my brother and his friends losers? Yes or no?" Evelyn questioned one last time.

"Who are you? Chief is this your daughter? If not then she needs to leave" Troys mom questioned as she put her shoulder over her son. "I'm assuming you're his mom" Evelyn stated.

"Yes, I'm his mom" Evelyn watched as the mom pulled Troy more closer to her side. "I think it's time you teach your son some manners. He deserves to have that arm broken with how many times he bullied my little brother and his friends. The amounts times that he called them names. I told him once to leave them alone but as you can see he didn't listen so I'm going to tell you since you're the adult and your son is going to listen this time. Leave my brother and his friends the hell alone" Evelyn told the mother and son before walking back towards Hopper's office.

Hopper watched as she walked away, he was proud to say the least. A true older sister protecting her little brother plus his friends.

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After getting Tory's statement and trying to calm Evelyn down. Hopper drove them towards Nancy house in Jonathan's car explaining to them what Troy told him.

Hopper parked Jonathan's car on hill and got out the car with Nancy following behind him. Evelyn got out as well and watched as people in suits were taken things from out Nancy's house.

"What the hell?" Evelyn whispered. She was confused on what was going on but mostly worried for the safety of her brother and his friends. "I have to go home" Nancy stated as she watched people go in and out of her house.

"No, you can't" Hopper firmly stated. "My mom...my dad are there" Nancy tried telling him worried for the safety of her family.

"They're gonna be okay" Hopper told her but that wasn't enough to calm her down as she started heading towards her house but before she can Hopper grabbed on her elbow lightly making her stop.

"Let me go" Nancy told him as she tried to get her elbow out of his grasp. "The last thing in the world we need is them knowing you're mixed up in all this" Hopper told her.

"Mike is over there" Nancy tried telling him. "They haven't found him. Not yet, at least" Hopper told her as he pointed towards a helicopter that was up in the sky.

"Wait, Hopper are they going to hurt them if they find them first? Please tell me they aren't going to hurt them." Evelyn questioned as she felt tears well up in her eyes at the thought of those kids especially her little brother getting hurt.

"We will make sure they don't get to them first but now all of you back in the car" Hopper strictly told everyone as they all got back the car.

Once everyone was back in the car Joyce and Hopper turned towards the four teenagers. "Look, we need to find them before they do. Do you two have any idea where your brothers might of gone?" Hopper questioned the two girls who were both worried.

"No, I don't" Nancy told him. "I need you two to think" Hopper told them again. "I don't know. We haven't talked a lot." Nancy told him before Hopper looked towards Evelyn.

"Evelyn, I know you and Dustin are close especially when you protected him back there in that office. Do you have any idea where he could of ran off too. I know you are worried but right now I need you to focus, not for us but for him. Focus for Dustin" Hopper told the young girl who was playing with her fingers, she was trying to calm down.

"I can't think" Evelyn told him as she was trying so hard to think where Dustin could of went too. Sabrina taken notice on how Evelyn was stressing out. "Jonathan, do you have Queen in here?" Sabrina questioned the young boy.

"Yea why?" Jonathan questioned. "Where at?" Sabrina questioned as she leaned over the seat. "In the compartment in front of my mom" Jonathan told her as he watched Sabrina open the compartment and looking through his tapes that he had.

"What does Queen have to do with any of this?" Hopper questioned not liking how they are all wasting time. "My best friend is about is clearing getting stressed out and worried since her brother is missing and bad people are after him plus his friends and this band is the only thing that can calm her down so Hopper turn this damn car on and let me put my best friends favorite band on" Sabrina strictly told him as she grabbed the tape.

Hopper sighed before turning the car on and watched as Sabrina inserted the tape in and tuned the volume up a little bit. The chorus of Bohemian Rhapsody started playing through out the car.

"Evelyn, I need you to calm down. Listen to Freddie Mercury's voice and the instruments that play out. Listen to how Brian May plays the guitar through out the song. How Roger Taylor plays the drums and how John Deacon plays the bassist. Listen to how they all sing next to Freddie's voice. Just listen to your favorite band" Sabrina softly told her best friend as she held onto her hand trying to have her calm down.

"I don't know where they could be" Evelyn started stating after calming down a little "but I do know how to ask them".

"How?" Hopper softly asked. "They all have this walkie they all use to communicate with each other. I have one but we can't go to my house in case those people are there" Evelyn told them as she tried to keep listening to Bohemian Rhapsody that was still playing.

"Will does" Jonathan told everyone. Joyce nodded her head agreeing with her oldest son. "Hopper, drive to my place now" Joyce instructed and right as Hopper told her, he listened and they were off to the Byers residence as Queen was still playing as they left.

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Hopper pulled up in front of the Byers house and parked Jonathan's car. As soon as it was parked everyone got out and rushed inside. Inside the whole place was mostly destroyed.

"Woah" Nancy breathed out as she took in her surroundings before following behind everyone else again. Jonathan opened up Will's bedroom door and began searching for the walkie. Joyce looked under his bed and yelled out that she got it.

"Who should talk first?" Sabrina questioned as she sat on the bed with Evelyn, Nancy and Joyce. "I want to say Evelyn since she's more close with her brother but let's see if Nancy can get through to them." Hopper told them as Joyce handed Nancy the walkie.

Nancy sighed before speaking into the walkie. "Mike! Mike, are you there? Mike" after waiting a minute or two for her brother to respond, Nancy decided to try it again.

"Mike, it's me, Nancy. Mike are you there? Answer. Mike, we need you to answer" Nancy tried calling out again but all she got was silence. "This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?"

Evelyn looked between Sabrina and Jonathan before looking back towards Nancy who kept trying to get Mike to answer her. "Hopper maybe you should try? Maybe they will answer if it comes from the chief of police" Evelyn suggested.

Hopper held his hand out for Nancy so she can hand him the walkie. "If it doesn't work than you're our next best shot kid. What I heard, these kids adore you especially your little brother" Hopper told Evelyn.

"Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl" Hopper stated into the walkie hoping to get a response but it still was silent. "We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over"

After getting no response from them, Hopper turned towards Evelyn. "You are the best shot we have kid" He told her as he handed her the walkie.

"Dustin! Dustin, it's Evelyn. I need to know that you are there? I need to know that you, Lucas, Mike and El are safe? Please just let me know you're safe" Evelyn called out. "I know you guys think we are with the bad men, we know they are after you especially El but I promise you, I promise we aren't with them. I will never put you guys in danger like that, never! So please Dustin, I need you to pick up, I need to know you are safe so please! Do you copy? Over!"

Evelyn felt tears roll down her cheeks as she kept thinking that the reason her brother wasn't picking up was because those bad men got him and his friends before them. "Please, Dustin! Please" she called out again as her voice slightly broke.

"Yeah, we copy" Evelyn heard Mike call out. She breathed out a relief once she heard his voice. "It's Mike. I'm here. We're here"

"Just hold on tight okay, Hopper is going to come get you guys all you need to do is tell him where you guys are" Evelyn told Mike as she handed Hopper the walkie as he began walking out to his truck that he left earlier in the day.

Evelyn smiled with tears still rolling down her cheeks. She was relieved. Dustin was okay. Mike was okay. Lucas was okay. El was okay and they were all safe.

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Night time officially rolled around since the sun was setting right when Hopper left. Evelyn kept pacing back and fourth just waiting for Hopper to pull up with her brother and his friends. The friends that she started to see as her own. Her kids.

Headlights stared shining in the living room of the Byers house indicating Hopper was back and Evelyn never ran so fast out the door in her life.

"Dustin!" Evelyn called out as soon as she saw her little brother exit out of Hopper's truck. She automatically pulled him into a hug. Dustin hugged back, squeezing her a tiny bit, not wanting to let go.

"Are you okay?" Evelyn asked as she kissed his head before pulling apart and taking a hold of his face making sure he had no injuries. "I'm fine. We are all fine" Dustin assured her.

Evelyn looked behind her brother to see Lucas and El standing next to each other by Hopper. "Lucas! Come here" Evelyn pulled him into a hug as he got closer to her.

"Are you okay?" She questioned doing the same thing she did to Dustin to Lucas. "Yea, we are fine" Lucas told her before she moved over to El.

"El, hunny come here" Evelyn softly called out as Eleven walked over to her and hugged her. Evelyn closed her eyes before giving El a kiss on the head.

"Are you okay hun? No bad men hurt you did they?" Evelyn softly questioned to which El shook her head. Hopper watched the interaction unfold. He taken notice how much those kids mean to the older girl.

"Is that my dress?" Nancy called out as everyone turned their attention to El who was in fact wearing Nancy's dress. El shifted closer to Evelyn once she found everyone's eyes on her. "Let's get inside" Evelyn told everyone as she wrapped her arms around the kids shoulders and leading them inside.

Once getting the kids inside, Mike started explaining the situation to everyone as he pulled out a drawing of flea and acrobat on a rope.

"Okay, so, in this example, we're the acrobat. Will and Barbara, and that monster, they're this flea. And this is the upside down, where Will is hiding. Mr.Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space" Mike explained as he set the drawing down on the table.

"A gate." Dustin confirmed before Lucas started finishing the explanation. "That we tracked to Hawkins lab"

"With our compasses" Dustin pointed out. The kids have taken notice on how confused everyone was. "Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle"

"Is this gate underground?" Hopper questioned as he looked towards El who still looked a little uncomfortable and scared. "Yes" El whispered out as she looked back towards Hopper.

"Near a large water tank?" Hopper questioned again. Eleven nodded her head. "Yes."

"How do you know all that?" Dustin stuttered out as the kids were confused on how the chief of police knew where the gate was at. "He seen it" Mike stated out answering Dustin's question for Hopper.

"So the gate wasn't that tree. It was just an entry way into the upside down" Evelyn whispered out to Dustin who nodded his head. "Is there any way that you could...that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this" Joyce tried to question out to El.

"The upside down" El told her as Joyce was having a hard time figuring out what to call this place that Will was in. "Down. Yeah." Joyce softly asked her. El nodded her head.

"And my friend Barbara? Can you find her, too?" Nancy questioned which El nodded her head as well to that question.

"What does she have to do?" Sabrina questioned out as the boys and El started heading toward the kitchen. "El, has to listen to static sound from our walkie so she can communicate with them so everyone has to be quiet" Mike told them as Nancy handed him the ribbed up photo of Barb and put it next to El who already had her eyes closed.

Everyone watched and listened closely as they waiting for the young girl to speak. The lights started flickering and almost turned completely off before turning back on again. "Woah, that was cool" Sabrina whispered out as everyone saw El open her eyes.

El looked toward Joyce and Nancy. "I'm sorry" El whispered out. "What? What's wrong? What happened?" Joyce tried to speak out as she kept a firm hold on Jonathan's hand.

"I can't find them" El spoke out. Joyce let go of Jonathan's hand as Jonathan turned around and started walking away. "Joyce, where is your bathroom" Evelyn called out as she walked over to El who automatically grabbed her hand.

"Right down the hall. First door on the left" Joyce told her as she watch her and El head towards the bathroom. Evelyn pulled open the bathroom door and let El in first before following behind her and shutting the door behind them.

Evelyn watched as El turned the bathroom sink on before closing her eyes and placing her hands on her face after rinsing them. "Oh no, hunny, don't cry" Evelyn told her as she noticed that El was going to cry since El feels like she failed everyone in that room.

"It's my fault" El whispered out. "Hunny, it's not. I promise you. You tried all that you can and that is all that matters. We will find another way. Right now, you are too pretty to be wasting those tears" Evelyn told her as she wiped some of El's tears off her face.

El smiled at the older girl. She felt some kind of comfort in her than she ever did with anyone especially papa. Evelyn smiled back at the young girl before turning the sink off. Evelyn noticed the El's attention was now on the bathtub.

"Everything okay?" Evelyn called out as she noticed how El wouldn't stop looking at the bathtub. El pointed at the bathtub before walking out. Evelyn looked at the bathtub, she was confused on what El was trying to say. Evelyn followed the young girl out and back into the kitchen where everyone was at.

"The bath" El called out as everyone turned their attention towards El and Evelyn. "What?" Joyce questioned as she turned around in her seat to get a better look at El.

"I can find them. In the bath" El told them as everyone looked around each other in hopefulness.

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After calling Mr.Clarke and getting information on how to do this, everyone drove towards the school since they were told they needed lots of salt to make this work. Evelyn and Sabrina decided to help Dustin and Lucas carry the pool that Joyce used for apple picking one year, and placed it in the gymnasium of the Hawkins middle school.

"This damn thing is heavy" Dustin called out they started getting the pool set up. "Come on, it's upside down"

"No, this way" Lucas called out as they kept trying to get it to stay still. "Look let's all pull it back" Evelyn suggested as they all started taking steps back and once they did they saw the pool officially stand straight.

"Hell yes" Sabrina called out as they all high five each other. The gym door opened and in walked Nancy and Mike who had hoses with them. Nancy placed the hoses in the wheel cart and began rolling the hoses towards where the bathrooms were at.

The kids plus Evelyn and Sabrina watched as water began spilling out into the pool. Lucas held thermostat in his hand as he watched the temperature of the pool go up.

"Colder" Lucas yelled out as he looked back towards the thermostat in his hand. He saw it go down a little bit. "Warmer" he yelled out. He watched as the water set at the perfect place. "Right there".

He pulled the thermostat out of the pool so Jonathan and Hopper can start putting the salt in there. "Can't believe the night we are having" Sabrina questioned as Evelyn and her was sitting on the bleachers.

"Yea, me neither" Evelyn told her as she kept watching everyone get things set up for El. "You know Evelyn, you're really good with those kids especially that little girl, who still can't believe has powers" Sabrina stated out as she was still shocked that El could move things with her and enter a void state.

"El is special, she's the most sweetest girl I have ever met even though she's still so confused yet so scared with what's going and with what she went through. It really pains me to hear about all the things she's been through. It's like a part of me knows that I have to protect her just like how I protect my brother and his friends" Evelyn stated out as she watched Mike set up the walkie on the table that Nancy bought out along with some towels.

"You're going to be a good mom one day." Sabrina told Evelyn. Sabrina knew how much those kids mean to her best friend and it seems that El officially holds a special place in Evelyn's heart. Like an older sibling protected their little sibling to a parent protected their child. Evelyn was those kids protector.

The door to the gymnasium opened up snapping Evelyn plus Sabrina from their conversation. Evelyn got up from her spot on the bleacher once she saw El walk with Joyce right next to her.

El stopped right in front of the pool and began pulling her socks down and taking off the watch that Mike gave her. El looked up towards Evelyn, making sure that the girl that she felt safe and comfortable with was still around in case something goes wrong.

Evelyn lightly smiled at the young girl before Joyce handed her the taped up goggles. Evelyn watched as El put the taped up goggles on her head and over her eyes. Joyce and Hopper both grabbed onto El's hands and helped her into the pool.

Evelyn watched from her spot next to Dustin as El floated on her back. The lights in the gymnasium started going crazy and after one last flicker the lights completely went out making it dark in room.

"Again, cool" Evelyn heard Sabrina whisper out but she wasn't paying that much mind as her main concern was El.

After a few minutes of silence, El started muttering out the name Barbara which automatically caught Nancy's attention. The lights started flickering again which started getting mostly everyone's attention away from El.

"What's going on?" Nancy questioned as she looked up at the lights that was again turned off from the flickering. "I don't know" Mike told her as Nancy adverted her attention to him since he knew a lot about El and her powers.

"Is Barb okay? Is she okay?" Nancy called out to El, hoping that El will tell her that's she's okay but instead she got the opposite of what she wanted to hear.

"Gone. Gone." El kept muttering out. Evelyn and Sabrina looked towards one another before looking back at Nancy who was trying to hold her tears. The two got up from their spot next to Dustin and Lucas on the floor and sat on each side of Nancy and pulled her into a little hug, trying to comfort her in the best way the two can possibly can.

Nancy Wheeler officially lost her best friend. Joyce grabbed onto El's hand and kept comforting her telling her that it's okay and that she's right there with her.

It seemed to calm El down as she whispered out the next two words. Castle Byers! "Will" El called out which earned a gasp from Joyce who still kept a hold on El's hand.

"You tell him...tell him I'm coming. Mom is coming" Joyce told El hoping that she will repeat the same words to Will. "Hurry!" Will weakly spoke out through the walkie on the table.

"Okay. Listen, you tell him to...to stay where he is. We're coming. We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey" Joyce called out hoping her son will be able to hear her just like how she heard him.

Whimpering could be heard on the walkie but before anyone can question about it, El shot up from the pool and was automatically pulled into a hug from Joyce.

"Oh, okay, okay. I've got you. It's okay. I got you. I got you. I got you honey. You did so good" Joyce whispered out to her as El held onto her arm.

El looked over at Evelyn. "Hug" El whispered out and Joyce looked away from El towards Evelyn who was still had her arm wrapped around Nancy along with Sabrina.

"You want Evelyn to come give you a hug, hunny?" Joyce questioned and all El did was nod her head. Evelyn automatically got up and took the spot that Joyce was currently at and hugged El.

El automatically hugged Evelyn back. "You did so good. It's okay, you're safe now" Evelyn whispered out as she gave El a kiss on the head.

❀

After getting El out from the pool, Evelyn grabbed a towel and wrapped it around El. "I'll be right back. You kids stay here" Evelyn told them as they all sat on the bleachers with El's head on Mike's shoulder.

The kids muttered out an okay before Evelyn walked out and into the hallway where she spotted Nancy sitting on floor with Sabrina and Jonathan right next to her.

"Evelyn, we are going to kill that monster. We are finishing what we started. Are you still in?" Nancy questioned. Evelyn wanted to go with them but she can't leave the kids by themselves.

"I want too but my main priority is making sure my brother plus his friends and El are safe and okay especially with those bad men still out there" Evelyn stated as she sat next to Sabrina on the floor.

"I'll stay" Sabrina stated as she looked up from the ground towards Evelyn. "I'll protect them but right now you need to go with Nancy and Jonathan. You guys need to kill it before it gets someone else and kills them again".

Evelyn looked towards Jonathan and Nancy than she looked back at the gymnasium doors that the kids were in. She wanted to end this once and for all. She knew the kids will be safe with Sabrina. She looked back towards Nancy and Jonathan with determination in her eyes.

"Let's go kill this son of a bitch!"

❀

author note:
one more chapter before act one is
officially done!! thank you guys for loving this
book, it really means a lot 🥹.

P.S Queen is Evelyn's comfort band and they
will be playing a key part come future seasons and I'll probably be putting up a plot background on why Evelyn loves this band so much :)