Chapter Four: El, Short For Eleven

It was an extremely frail little girl, drenched in rain water and wearing nothing but an oversized yellow t-shirt. At least, I think it was a girl. Her head was shaved, so if I was being honest, I couldn't really tell, but based on facial features alone, it seemed to be a little girl. She was dripping wet, and shivering with a fearful look in her eyes, and I instantly lowered the gun.

"Who are you!?" Dustin shouted. The girl didn't answer, just continued to stare at us with wide, terrified eyes. I held a hand out behind me, urging them to stay quiet before putting my dufflebag down and unzipping it. I pulled a jacket from the bag, closing it and wrapping it around the girl's shoulders. I also handed her a pair of pants, which I was sure would be at least three sizes too big for her. She eyed them warily. I smiled at her, nodding and she gently took them from my hand. I stood in front of her, turning to face the boys as she put them on.

I fished my soggy notepad out of my jacket, writing out a message as best I could.

We need to get help.

~~~

Unsure of what else to do, we headed back to the Wheeler's house, sneaking the girl in through the back door and into the basement, where she now sat on the couch, still soaking wet and staring at us. She hadn't said a word this whole time. She was panting, clearly mortified.

"Is there a number we can call for your parents?" Mike asked.

"Where's your hair?" Dustin questioned. "Do you have cancer?"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Is that blood?" Lucas reached out towards the red stain on the collar of her shirt, but Mike slapped his hand away.

"Stop it! You're freaking her out!'

"She's freaking me out!" 

"I bet she's deaf!" Dustin clapped at her, causing her to jump. "Not deaf." I waved them off, silently telling them to shut up before sitting down beside the girl. She stared up at me.

"Maybe she's like Riley and just doesn't talk," Dustin said, "Maybe they can communicate with their mute telepathy." 

"Shut up, Dustin." Lucas told him.

"You shut up!"

"No you-"

"Both of you shut up!"

"Hi."

Suddenly all of the arguing stopped as eyes fell on me, the three extra pairs now just as wide and shocked as the girl's because for the first time in a year...for the first time since I had returned to the real world...I had spoken.

My voice was raspy from lack of use, my throat was sore, and anxiety ripped through me like a claw, but for some reason, I felt the need to ignore it. I felt like I had to talk to this girl so...I did.

"I'm Riley." I said quietly. I looked up at Mike. "You got any clean clothes? Yours will probably fit her better than mine will." He jogged over to the washing machine across the room. Dustin pointed at me.

"You talked." He said in amazement. I nodded, turning my attention back to the girl. Thunder roared and she winced, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Hey..." I put a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look at me. "Its ok...its just Thunder. We're inside, its fine." 

"Here, these are clean. Ok?" He held out a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants to her. I took them, gently placing them into her hands and taking my jacket from her shoulders. She held them against her face for a second before standing up and reaching down to pull the shirt over her head.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

"WHOA!" The boys spun around in terror and I gently grabbed her hands, stopping her.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh." Dustin repeated. I rolled my eyes, putting my hands on her shoulders and guiding her towards the bathroom.

She walked in and I went to close the door but she quickly caught it, stopping it from closing.

"You don't want the door closed?" I asked gently.

"No." I nodded.

"Oh, so you can speak." Mike said.

"Can we close it most of the way? Can we just leave it open a little?" I asked.

"Yes." She said. I nodded, closing it, leaving just a small opening before walking over to stand with the boys.

"This is mental." Dustin said.

"At least she can talk."

"She said 'No' and 'Yes'. Your three-year-old sister says more."

"Riley doesn't and she's seventeen." Dustin pointed out. "I'm pretty sure that's the most words I've ever heard you say." I shrugged.

"She's clearly been through something terrible." I said, glancing back towards the bathroom. "We need to get help."

"She tried to get naked." Dustin pointed out.

"There's something wrong with her, like, wrong in the head."

"Ok, just cool it, kid. You don't know what's happened to her." I told him.

"She just went like..." He mimicked pulling the shirt over his head, knocking his hat off in the process.

"I bet she escaped from Pennhurst." 

"From where?" Mike asked.

"The nuthouse in Kerley County?"

"Don't call it a nuthouse." I scolded.

"You got a lot of family there?" Dustin asked him.

"Bite me. Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy."

"And why she went like..." He mimicked the motion again.

"She's an escapee is the point. She's probably a psycho."

"Ok you, need to take a page out of my book and just stop talking." I said, turning around and walking back towards the bathroom. I knocked on it quietly. "You doing ok in there?"

"We went out to find Will, not another problem."

"I think we should tell your mom." Dustin agreed.

"I second that."

"Who's crazy now?!" Mike exclaimed.

"How is that crazy!?"

" 'Cause, we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?"

"So?" Lucas asked.

"So, if I tell my mom, and she tells your mom and your mom..."

"Oh, man." Dustin stated.

"Our houses become Alcatraz."

"Exactly. We'll never find Will."

"Yeah, and if you even think about going out there again without telling me first, I'll tell all three of your Moms myself." I said. 

"We'll get you a radio. You'll need to pick it up from here after school tomorrow." Mike said. I nodded. "Alright, here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight."

"You're letting a girl-" Dustin starts to protest.

"Just listen. In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door, and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do." I nodded in agreement, putting my hands on my hips.

"Its not a bad plan." I said.

"We'll be totally in the clear and tomorrow night, we all go back out." He emphasized all, looking at me so I would know that they intended on doing what I said. I nodded again, crossing my arms. "And this time, we find Will."

~~~

Dustin and Lucas left, and I helped Mike get the girl set up, making a sort of sheet fort made up with blankets and pillows and a lamp.

"Hey, we never asked your name." Mike pointed out. She rolled up her sleeve, and I furrowed my eyebrows upon seeing three numbers tattooed on her arm. 0-1-1. "Is that real?!"

He reached out to touch it but she jerked her arm back and I grabbed his wrist, holding him back.

"Take it easy, ok? No sudden movements." I whispered, turning my attention back to her. "Your name is Eleven?" She nodded.

"Sorry, I've just...never seen a kid with a tattoo before." He said. "Well, my name's Mike. Short for Michael, and you already know Riley. Maybe we can call you 'El'. Short for Eleven." She nodded.

"Um, well ok...Night, El." We both stood up and thunder boomed as we got ready to leave.

"Night Mike. Night, Riley." She said. We pulled the blankets down to hide her from sight, just in case anyone went down there before we could get her out in the morning.

"I'm serious about what I said, Mike. Don't go looking for him without me, ok? Its dangerous." He nodded. "Update me tomorrow about what happens with her." I turned, walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Riley?" I stopped, turning to look at him. "Thanks...for not trying to stop us." 

I nodded, turning around and going up the stairs, out the back door and back to my bike, making sure my Pistol was reachable in case I needed to use it before beginning the ride home.