Under Hawkins Lab, just as Hopper is leaving the facility, men in hazmat suit can be seen everywhere around the weird tentacle like fleshy constructs. They were moving around frantically, in a hurry to prepare for something.
Doctor Brenner could be seen standing in the underground room looking at all of his subordinates move around in a hurry. Brenner watched as two men guided a piece of equipment down the floor before they secured it to the floor with long steel bolts. Brenner smiled as he waited for his men to finish the preparation.
Meanwhile, At Mike's house, El had fully calmed down from her flashback and was now heading up the stairs to the second floor. Walking up the stairs slowly, she looked around. Arriving at the top of the stairs, she walked towards a slightly open door. Pushing the door open slowly, she took a long look from side to side. The walls had vertical stripes; this was Nancy's room.
Eleven walked into the room and looked around once more when something caught her eye. A small bow sitting on top of a dresser. She opened it and immediately a soft melody began to play, but she panicked a little and closed the box. Opening the box once again, she listened to the music as a small ballerina twirl inside the box. She observes for a short while before she closes the box.
Noticing a picture board, El walks over to it slowly. She looks at all the happy expressions within the pictures and her face becomes a little heavy. Her eyes beginning to tear up, she didn't have anything like this.
If she hadn't left, no one would even know she existed. Eleven began to cry silently as she sat on the floor and stared up at the pictures. She calmed down a couple minutes later when she realized, she never had to go back there again. She could be happy just like Mike's sister, she could find a new family.
At school, Nancy walked into the cafeteria and got her lunch before she began to look around for a place to sit. Barb was nowhere to be found and she couldn't sit with Steve either. Nancy was currently wishing that she had a different schedule so she could be with John during lunch.
Feeling a little overwhelmed at the feeling of being completely alone in the cafeteria, Nancy walked over to the garbage and threw out the food she grabbed, only keeping a bag of chips and an apple. Nancy walked out of the cafeteria and saw Jonathan in the hall. Their eyes met briefly, but then Jonathan scurried down the hall and out of the school.
Nancy walked down the hall as well and walked through the door to the outside. She walked over to a bench and sat down. Nancy opened her bag of chips and began to eat them slowly as a soft breeze blew through her hair. It was the perfect moment for a picture, Nancy looked angelic, but also a little silly as she was eating a chip at the same time. Nancy spent the rest of her lunch period alone on the bench.
Meanwhile, Mike and his friends were outside for recess. They were walking around and picking up small rocks that would be great ammo for Lucas's wrist rocket. The kids around them looked at them with strange expression but soon ignored them. The only thing they wondered about is how Mike and his friends were able to get close to John, "The King of Hawkins High".
Mike picked up a stone and walked over to Dustin to show him. Mike asked, "How about this one?"
Dustin replied, "Too big for the sling." Then he dropped the stone on the ground as he walked in a small circle.
Dust asked, "So, do you think Eleven and John were born with their powers, like the X-Men, or do you think they acquired them, like... like green lantern?"
Lucas replied, "Eleven's not a superhero. She's a weirdo."
Dustin asked, "What about John?"
Lucas responded, "He at least acts normal for the most part. Although he is a little weird as well."
Mike asked, "Why does that matter? The X-Men are weirdos."
Lucas retorted, "We both know you are defending El and not John. If you love her so much, why don't you marry her?"
Mike asked, "What are you talking about?"
Lucas said, 'Mike, seriously|?"
Mike asked, "What?"
Lucas said, "You look at her all, like... Hi, El! El! EL! El! I love you so much!" Dustin grinned as he looked at this scene in amusement. Lucas grabbed onto Mike collar and Mike pushed him away. Lucas kneeled down in front of Mike as he grabbed his shirt.
Then Lucas asked sarcastically, "Mike, will you marry me?"
Mike said, "Yeah shut up, Lucas." Lucas stopped when he saw Troy and his goon, James, walking over to them. They all stood in a row as they waited for them.
Troy arrived in front of Mike and his gang and said, "What are you losers doing back here?"
James said, "Probably looking for their missing friend."
Dustin got angry and said, "That's not funny. It's serious. He's in danger."
Troy said, "I hate to break it to you, toothless, but he's not in danger. He's dead. That's what my dad says. He said he was probably killed by some other queer." The two bullies began to laugh. Dustin got super angry and was reaching into his pocket to grab the knife John gave him, but Mike grabbed his arm and stopped him.
Dustin looked at Mike and saw him shaking his head. Mike said, "Come on. Ignore him." Mike started to walk past Trot, but he was suddenly tripped and fell on the ground, hitting his chin on a protruding rock. Dustin and Lucas ran over to help him, while the bullies laughed.
Troy and James began to walk away, Troy saying, "Watch where you're going, Frogface."
Dustin and Lucas helped Mike off the ground. Dustin asked, You all right?"
Mike answered, "Yeah."
Dustin looked down and saw the perfect rock. Dustin grabbed it before he handed it to Mike and asked, "Hey, what about this one?"
Mike said, "Yeah."
Dustin asked, "Yeah?"
Mike said, "Yeah, this is it."
Lucas smiled as he held a rock. Lucas said, "Oh yeah, this is the monster killer!" Mike laughed. Lucas whooped as he admired his rock. The kids then continued their search for more sling ammo.
Jonathan was currently inside of a darkroom, developing the pictures he took the night before. He hung them with small clamps on the wall, in order to let them dry. Suddenly a girl walked into the room, greeting him. She said, "Hey."
Jonathan replied, "Oh, hey." Then he hurriedly unclipped the pictures from the wall before the girl could notice what the pictures were of. Jonathan stuffed them into his bag before he walked briskly out of the room. This weirded the girl out a little as she saw the picture of Nancy and Steve and his possie, but she soon put it to the back of her mind as she grabbed her undeveloped pictures out of her bag.
At the Byer residence, Joyce had just finished hanging all of the lights she had gotten from the store. She looked at all of the bright lights that had been hung in the living room and down the hall. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Joyce walked over to the door and opened it slowly. Revealing a smiling Karen on the other side.
Joyce sighed heavily. Karen greeted her, "Hey!"
Joyce said, "Hey, Karen."
Karen paused for a second before she said, "I brought you a casserole."
Joyce said, "Oh! Thank you, uh..." Joyce then brought Karen into the house and she sat down in the kitchen to talk. Karen put the casserole in the oven to warm it before she sat down as well. Karen asked a question that has been weighing on her mind.
Karen asked, "What is with all the lights?"
Hopper and Powell just arrived at the library and walked in through the front door. They walked up to the front desk where the librarian was. The librarian said, "You have a lot of nerve showing up here."
Hopper asked, "What?"
She said, "You could have at least called, said, Marissa! Hey, it's not gonna work out. Sorry I wasted your time. I'm a dick."
Hopper said, "Yep. I'm sorry. Uh... Maybe we could go out again next week?"
Marissa just looked over at Powell, which in turn made Powell turn and look at Hopper. Feeling awkward, Hopper suddenly said, "Newspapers? You guys got newspapers around here?"
Marissa sighed before she got out of her seat and walked out from behind her desk. Marissa led Hopper and Powell over to a filing cabinet. Marissa said, "We have the New York Times, the Post, all the big ones. Organized by year and topic. You can find the corresponding microfiche in the reading room."
Hopper said, "Okay, we need anything on the Hawkins National Laboratory."
Marissa asked, "Well, shouldn't you be looking for that missing kid?"
Hopper said, "Yeah. We are.... Uh, so why don't you start with the Times, and we'll check out the Post."
Marissa scoffed then looked at both of them before she hmphed and walked away. Powell said, "The librarian?" Hopper shook his head before he started to look through the filing cabinet for anything relevant to Hawkins Lab. Finding some info, they walked over to the computers to look for the article they had found.
Doing research, they found that Hawkins Lab was quite shady. This made Hopper even more suspicious of what is going on in that Lab. He found that Dr. Brenner had been involved in several lawsuits for similar reason. He found an article about a woman named Terry Ives suing Brenner because he took her daughter from her. As Hopper read more and more article, he became more and more concerned about Will, it could be that he was taken by the Lab for some twisted reason.
Joyce kept quiet for quite a while, avoiding the question about the lights. But when she saw the concerned look on Karen's face, she decided to lie about them. Joyce said, "You know, Will always loved Christmas. So, I thought if I... I put up the lights. I don't know, he... I'd feel like he was home somehow. It's silly, I know."
Karen held Joyce's hand and said, "No. No, it's not silly at all. I can only imagine... How is Jonathan holding up?"
Joyce inhaled deeply before she said, "You know, he's good at taking care of himself. He always has been, you know? I... I mean, he thinks I'm losing my mind, but..." Suddenly Joyce got distracted.
Karen asked worriedly, "Is something wrong?"
Joyce replied, "No, I just... We're having electrical problems."
Karen said, "Joyce. I want you to know something. If you need anything, anything at all... Ted and I are here for you."
Joyce said, "Thank you... Thanks."
Karen said, "Okay."
Joyce asked, "How... how's Mike dealing with this?" As the women continued to talk, they didn't notice Holly sneak away quietly. Holly was followed the beautiful blinking lights down the hall. Eventually, she arrived at the end of the hall and pushed a door open to continue following the lights.
Walking into Will's room, she looked at all the flashing lamps in the room. Holly was mesmerized by this, looking at them in wonder, it seemed almost magical to her. The lights began to flash around the room very quickly, so fast she couldn't follow them with her gaze. Suddenly, the lights stopped flickering, Holly gasped quietly when she heard a faint growling sound.
Walking towards the direction of the sound, she arrived in front of a wall. Standing in front of the wall idlily something began to protrude from the wall, however Joyce was able to save her in time. Joyce said, "She shouldn't be here."
Karen said, "Oh, I'm sorry. She's quite the explorer these days." Joyce noticed that Holly looked scared, and she kept staring at the wall.
Joyce asked frantically, "Wait, did you see something?"
Holly nodded her head and quietly said, "Yeah."
Joyce asked, "What did... What did you see? Tell me. What did you see? What--"
Joyce was cut off when Karen said, "Joyce... Joyce!"
Joyce turned to her and said, "Listen... Karen, thank you for the casserole, but I need you to leave. Okay?" Karen sighed as she was led out of the house by Joyce.