sixteen

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MAX WOKE UP in the morning to hearing lucas talk on the walkie.

she opened her eyes to see y/n sleeping peacefully in front of her.

max felt a smile forming on her face, as she saw y/n sleep.

but her staring was cut short, by her hearing lucas on her walkie.

"max, do you copy?" lucas says through the walkie. "this is a code red. i repeat, this is a code red. max, do you copy?"

max picks up the walkie and scoffs as el woke up.

"shut up!" max harshly tells lucas through the walkie, then switches it off.

max then tries going back to sleep, going back under the covers.

but then, a few seconds later, she hears her phone ring.

max scoffs and rolls her eyes, wanting to sleep longer.

"you've got to be shitting me." max angrily says, and then gets up.

"i'm sleeping. go away!" max frustratedly says into the phone, and was about to hang up.

"this is mike." mike says through the phone.

max stopped herself from hanging up, she knew it was serious, since mike never called her.

"do not hang up." mike adds. "something happened. something bad. our very lives can be at stake."

"what are you talking about?" max curiously asks.

"just come over to my house." mike tells her. "we'll explain everything."

"what?"

"hurry."

then mike hangs up the phone, and max confusedly looked at the phone, eager to know what was going on.

"what did he say?" y/n asks as she woke up.

-

"i didn't think it was anything at first." will explained. "i mean, i think i just didn't want to believe it. the first time i felt it was at day of the dead."

"power went out that night, too." mike adds.

"and then i felt it again at the field near the nelson farm the next day." will adds. "then again yesterday outside castle byers."

"what does it feel like?" max asks.

"it's almost like.. you know when you drop on a roller coaster?" will asks.

"yeah." everybody replies.

"no." el replies.

"it's like.. everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but.. this is worse. your body.. it goes cold and— and you can't breath. i've felt it before whenever he was close."

"whenever who was close?" y/n asks.

"the mind flayer." will responds.

"i closed the gate." el reminds will.

"i know, but.. what if he never left? what if we locked him out here with us?" will asks with fear trembling in his voice.

will puts down a paper on the table as they surrounded him.

"this is him. all of him." will says as he draws on the paper with a black chalk.

"but that day on the field, a part of him, attached himself to me." will explains, then smears the chalk.

"my mom got it out of me.. and el closed the gate." will continued. "but the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world?"

then will puts his hand on the paper, leaving a black handprint.

"in hawkins." will adds.

"i don't understand." y/n says in confusion. "the demodogs died when el closed the gate. if the brain dies the body dies."

"we can't take any chances." mike responds. "we need to assume to worse. the mindflayer's back."

"yeah." will agrees. "and if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. a new me."

"a new host." lucas realizes.

"how can you tell if someone's a host?" el softly asks.

-

the group went to the hawkins community pool, and saw billy sitting on the chair, flicking his lighter on and off.

"i don't know. he looks pretty normal to me." max says as she spied on billy through the binoculars.

"normal? how. any times have you seen him with a shirt on?" y/n sarcastically asks max.

"i mean, it's a little weird." max admits.

"more than a little." mike adds. "he was in a tub with ice. the mind flayer likes it cold. plus everything else—"

"but he's lounging at the pool, which is the least mind flayer thing ever." max cuts off mike.

"not necessarily." will speaks up. "the mind flayer. he likes to hide. he only used me when he needed me. it's like, you're doormat. and then, when he needs you, you're activated."

"okay, so.. we just wait until he gets activated." max decided.

"no." mike disagrees. "what if he hurts someone?"

"or kills someone." will adds.

"we can't take that chance." mike says. "we need to find out if he's the host."

then mike starts to walk away, dragging lucas and will with him.

"where are you going?" el asks mike, as y/n rolled her eyes.

"i have an idea." mike replies. "boys only."

-

y/n walked into the room mike was in, he was distressed after his talk with el, but y/n didn't know about that.

"hey." y/n said as she walked in.

"hi." mike simply replied. "did you make el spy on me." mike suddenly asked.

"what do you mean?" y/n asked.

"you know what i'm talking about, did you or not?" mike repeated himself.

"well, i didn't, but she wanted to, so me and max just let her-" y/n explained.

"seriously?!" mike cut her off. "you let her spy on me? what if i was changing or something?"

"it was literally her idea!" y/n defended. "i just came in here to have a simple conversation, and you're deciding to be a pain in the ass about it."

"pain in the ass, seriously? you influenced el to spy on me." mike argued.

"you know, you're the one that caused this in the first place." y/n blamed. "maybe if you didn't lie-"

"you don't get it!" mike cut her off. "just because you don't like boys, that's not my fault."

y/n was immediately offended by mike's comment, and for once, she decided to not argue back.

mike's face softened once he realized with what he just said.

"y/n-" mike began.

y/n cut him off, by turning around and just leaving the room.

y/n was stuck in her thoughts while she was walking. what was he talking about? what did he mean she didn't like boys?

"mike, are you there?" max asks through the walkie.

"yeah!" mike replies, distressed after what just happened.

"where are you guys?" max curiously asks.

"i'm coming.. just, hold on a second." mike says, then shuts off his walkie.

"shit.." mike mutters as he closes his eyes, after realizing how much he just screwed up with y/n.

-

nighttime approached, and everybody left, except billy, and the group.

billy was drying himself after using the shower, then he heard the gate move.

"pools closed." billy says.

then he hears more noise, and clattering around the room.

"hey!" billy calls, then slams the locker. "do you hear me!?" as he starts walking to a door. "pool is closed!"

then he tries to open the door, but it was locked, then the lights switch off.

"billy!" mike calls.

"who's there?" billy asks.

"billy!"

"who's there?"

"billy! billy!"

"you think this is funny, huh?" billy asks.

mike's laughter started echoing through the whole shower room.

"billy, come and find me." mike says.

"i find you, it is your funeral." billy threatens.

"come and find me, come on!" mike continues, as a door swings shut.

billy sees a figure in the sauna door. "got you." billy smiles.

billy starts laughing.

"come and get me, you piece of shit." mike curses.

billy opens the door, he takes the figure, and suffocates it.

"hey." mike says, turns out through the walkie taped on the figure. "behind you."

billy turns around to see el standing behind him.

"hi." el simply says.

billy drops the dummy in anger, and then starts to walk up to el.

with the flick of el's head, billy was tossed back into the sauna.

"now!" mike yells.

mike, lucas, will, max, and y/n start running out.

then el swings the door shut with her mind.

the group starts putting things around the door to lock it, as billy protested.

y/n stood next to max, her heart racing.

billy stops pounding on the door suddenly.

"max.." billy whispers.

"do it." max tells all of them.

will goes up to the door, and turns the sauna up.

billy started pounding on the door.

"max! let me out of here!" billy yells. "let me out."

"you kids.." billy pants. "you think this is funny? you kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?"

billy then spits onto the glass window in the door.

"you little shits think this is funny!?" billy yells. "what is this? open the door."

billy then kicks the door, causing all of them to jump.

max grabbed onto y/n's hand, as she flinched, she soon realized what she just did, but she didn't pull her hand away, she was too scared to at the moment.

"open the door! open the door! open the goddamn door!"

billy goes onto the floor and starts screaming.

will goes up to the door to check the temperature.

"we're at 220." will tells them.

then billy started crying and sniffling.

"it's not my fault.. it's not my fault." billy whimpered. "i promise you, it's not my fault."

max walked closer to the door.

"what's not your fault, billy?" max asks.

"i've done things, max. really.. bad things. i didn't mean to." billy pleaded. "he made me do it."

"who made you do it?" max concernedly asks.

"i don't know, it's like a shadow." billy explains. "like a giant shadow. please max."

"what did he make you do?" max asks billy.

"it's not my fault, okay!!" billy snaps. "max, please."

tears started flowing down max's face too, as she shut her eyes for a bit, then opened them again.

"please believe me max, it's not my fault! i tried to stop him, okay? i did." billy begs. "please believe me, max.."

max continued crying, her emotions taking over.

"billy, it's gonna be okay." max assured, with her voice slightly cracking. "it's gonna be okay. we want to help you. you just have to talk to us, okay? you have to talk to us."

will then suddenly touches the back of his neck as max continued talking to billy, assuring him that it would be okay.

"i feel him." will shuddered. "he's activated."

mike turns to will, with wide eyes

"max, get away from the door." mike whispers.

"what?" max asks.

"get away from the door!" mike yells.

billy suddenly smashes the glass as him and max yelled.

max moved away to the side as she yelled.

"let me out, you bitch! let me out!" billy yelled. "i'll fucking gut you!"

lucas then aims his slingshot at billy, and lets go, which causes billy to fall right back down to the floor.

"max, come on!" lucas says, and max walks over to them, y/n grabbing max's arm to pull her in.

the lights began to flicker as billy got back up, with black veins coming out of his body.

billy kicked the door open.

el lifted up the heaviest weight with her mind, then she yelled out as she threw it at billy, with blood dripping from her nose, and had one arm out.

el raised her other arm as the weight began to go deeper into the wall with billy, as el grunted.

but then billy forced the weight off of him, el falling to the floor in an attempt to duck under the weight.

billy grabs el by her hair as el yelled out in fear, and then he started suffocating her.

billy looked over to max, with a sad look, but then he started suffocating el more, once the mind flayer started to take over.

the others looked in fear at el, as billy continued to suffocate the girl.

but mike had to do something, he didn't want to watch el die right in front of him, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

mike yelled as he hit billy with a pole, which caused billy to let go of el.

"go to hell, you piece of shit!" mike yells, then raised up the pole.

but billy had a strong grip on the pole, stopping mike.

el laid on the floor weakly, gasping for air.

mike started backing away from billy as he inches closer to mike.

then suddenly, billy starts getting lifted up into the air, mike looked over him to see el with both her arms out, lifting billy with her powers.

el started getting back up on her feet, as she continued to lift billy.

she turned around, as she continued to have billy in the air, blood dripping from both of her nostrils this time.

the both of them yelled, then el tossed him aside, him crashing through the wall, and landing outside, on the grass.

-