Mike was panting as he had just ridden his bike for quite a long distance to arrive here from school. Mike asked, "You, okay?" Eleven who had broken from her thoughts, nodded her head.
Mike said, "Hop on. We only have a couple hours." Ele looked on in confusion but quickly walked over and sat down on the back end of Mike's bike seat. Mike climbed on as well and he began to follow Lucas and Dustin. They were headed to the place Will had gone missing, Mirkwood.
Meanwhile, John and his girls were sitting in the car. John and April were still trying to cheer up a downtrodden Nancy. Nancy felt so guilty about leaving her alone in order to hook up with Steve, which she ultimately decided not to do.
John said suddenly, "Why don't we check around the woods for some clues? Maybe something scared her, and she ran into the woods." Nancy nodded her head almost immediately. John looked at April and she nodded her head, so he got out of the car with the girls.
John grabbed some coats he had in his trunk and gave one to both Nancy and April. Both the girls wrapped themselves up with bright smiles on their faces. They discretely sniffed John's scent on the collar of the coat. John noticed this but didn't tease them about it. John led both the girls into the woods, and they started to look around the area for any clues of Barb's presence.
Mike and his friends arrived at the train track after about 19 minutes of riding their bikes. They were slowed down a little because of Eleven. First, she was a little scared of falling off and second, she was a little heavy for Mike to be pedaling with her on the back. Anyway, they got off their bikes and began to walk down the tracks together.
As they walked down the tracks, El asked, "What happened to your chin?" Mike was going to dodge the question, but he decided to tell a small lie instead.
Mike said, "Uh... I just fell during recess." Eleven didn't look convinced at all and stared at Mike.
Eleven asked, "Mike..."
Mike said, "Yeah?"
Eleven said, "Friends tell the truth."
Mike sighed as he regretted saying that to her. Mike said, "I was tripped by this mouth breather, Troy, okay?"
Eleven asked, "Mouth breather?"
Mike said, "Yeah, you know...a dumb person. A knucklehead. I don't know why I didn't just tell you. Everyone at school knows. I just didn't want you to think that I was a wastoid, you know?"
Eleven said, "Mike..."
Mike said, "Yeah?"
Elven said, "I understand."
Mike said, "Oh. Okay, cool."
Eleven said, "Cool." Then they continued to walk forward in a comfortable silence.
Meanwhile, John and his girls were walking through the woods and arrived behind Steve's house. They began to look around but suddenly some rustling was heard. The girls got frightened and ran to stand behind John. John saw it, the monster El talked about. He watched it as it stalked towards them.
John stared at it as his eyes began to glow faintly, the monster saw his aura and immediately bolted away. Both of the girls were able to catch a glimpse of it as it ran away. April and Nancy said in a panic, "What was that thing?"
John said, "Some animal?"
Nancy said, "It didn't seem to have a face."
April nodded and said, "Yeah!"
John said, "Let's start moving."
April said shakily, "What about that thing?" Nancy nodded her head as she looked at John.
John sighed before he reached into his jacket and grabbed his Glock. John pulled it out and showed it to the two ladies. John said, "Don't worry. If it comes back, I'll pump it full of lead."
Nancy asked, "Is that a gun?"
John said, "Yeah."
April asked, "Where did you get it?"
John answered, "They always make it seem harder to get a gun in the movies than in real life. I bought this off a crook in a back alley."
Nancy said, "That's dangerous, John."
April said, "Yeah, you should be careful."
John put the gun in his jacket and said, "I just wanted to calm you down."
April said, "Well, you made us more worried."
Nancy said, "Yeah, way more."
John smiled and asked, "Did I?"
April said, "Yeah, how will you make it up to me- us?"
John said, "Oh, I don't know." John leaned down to kiss April, but she put her finger against his lip. She looked at him with a serious face, Nancy joining in.
John said, "A dozen roses." The girls glanced at each other before they shook their heads.
John moved closer and asked, "Jewelry?" The girls looked at each other and but remained silent.
John smiled and said, "Done." John leaned down and kissed both girls before he walked forward. Both women followed behind him holding hands with smiles stretched across their faces. John led them through the woods, and they began to near the train tracks.
At the Byer residence, Joyce was smoking a cigarette slowly as she stood in silence. Suddenly, their dog began to whine and bark. Joyce looked towards it and saw that the lights were flickering once again. Joyce followed the light and they led her through the living room and to a small shelf. Joyce moved the shelf to the side and opened the secret compartment in the wall. She didn't see anything however, so she grabbed a strand of unused lights and crawled into the small compartment.
Joyce sat there as she sniffled before she asked, "Will... are you here?" The lights shined even though they weren't connected to the light socket. Joyce gasped in astonishment.
Joyce said, "Okay, good, good, good, good. Are you... Blink once for yes, twice for no, okay? Can you do that for me, Sweetie?" The lights flashed once.
Joyce said, "Oh, good boy. Good boy. Baby, I need to know... Are you alive?" The lights blinked once. Joyce sighed happily.
She asked, "Are you safe?" The lights blinked twice.
Joyce said, "I need to know where to find you, honey. Where... Where are you? Can you... Can you tell me where you are? Can you.... Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just..." Joyce started to look around frantically. Suddenly, she had a brilliant idea and ran out of the small compartment and out to the shed.
Joyce grabbed a can of paint before she ran back into the house and began to write on the wall with the paint. Writing a letter under each lightbulb.
John and his women arrived near the railroad track and John was walking out of the bush when suddenly a rock came flying at his head. John easily caught the rock, while Nancy and April began to observe him for any damage.
John fully walked out of the woods and saw Lucas standing in front of the others in a stance. John said, "You should be careful. You almost hit me."
Nancy who was already stressed yelled, "Mike, control your friend!" John grabbed Nancy's shoulder and she calmed down. John walked forward with the two girls. Nancy and April looked at all the kids, but their gazes settled on Eleven.
April asked, "Who is this?"
Nancy said, "Yeah, who is this, Mike?"
Mike was about to lie when he saw John. Mike sighed and said, "This is El. Our new friend."
Nancy asked, "What happened to her hair?"
Dustin lied, "She is recovering from cancer."
April said, "Oh, my. Poor thing." April walked towards El and wrapped her in a warm hug. El was a little nervous but she knew that these people were with John, so they must be good.
Nancy asked, "What are you doing out here?"
Mike said, "We are looking for Will."
Nancy said, "Oh, did you find anything?"
Lucas shook his head, he said, "We have been looking for a while but haven't found anything at all."
John seeing the boys get discouraged said, "Don't worry guys. Remember, I have looked for Will for a long time and I still can't find him either. You have only been searching for a short while."
The boys nodded their heads. Lucas said, "That's right, it has only been a short while. We will find him."
John nodded and said, "I'm sure you will."
April finally stopped smothering El in her breasts and walked back over to John and held his arm. John felt April shaking slightly and said, "Okay, kids. Don't stay out here too much longer. It is getting darker and colder."
Mike said, "Okay, we will search for only a short while longer." John nodded before he walked back into the bush with Nancy and April. They walked in an almost straight line to John's car. They got into John's car and John began to drive to Nancy's house.
Hopper was still in the library with Powell. Hopper just finished telling Powell about the woman named Terry Ives. Powell said, "I don't know, chief."
Hopper asked, "What don't you know?"
Powell said, "This lady, Terry Ives, she sounds like a real nut to me. Her kid was taken for LSD mind control experiments. She's been discredited. Claim was thrown out--"
Hopper said, "Okay, forget about her. Take a look at this Dr. Martin Brenner."
Powell asked, "Who?"
Hopper said, "Brenner. He runs Hawkins Labs."
Powell said, "Okay."
Hopper leaned back in his seat and asked, "You don't find that interesting?"
Powell said, "Not really. He was involved in this hippie crap back in the day, so what?"
Hopper said, "No, this isn't hippie crap. This is CIA-sanctioned research."
Powell reasoned, "It doesn't mean he had anything to do with our kid."
Hopper said, "Come on. Look at that. Hospital gowns. All of 'em. Now, that piece of fabric that the teacher found by the pipe. That sure looked like a hospital gown to me, huh? Am I wrong?"
Powell said, "I don't know, Chief."
Hopper sighed and said, "Come on, man. Work with me here. I'm not saying there's some grand conspiracy. I'm just..." Hopper sighed again.
Hopper continued, "I'm saying maybe something happened. Maybe Will was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he saw something he shouldn't have."
Powell said, "It's a reach."
Hopper said, "It's a start.
Suddenly, Callahan could be heard through the radio, he asked, "Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?"
Hopper grabbed the radio from Powell shoulder and said, "Hopper here. What do you got?" Hopper heard something that caused his eyes to widen. He hurried out of the library to the car. They got in the car and Hopper turned on the siren before he sped down the road.
John had just dropped Nancy off at her house and was driving off to April's house. Nancy walked through her front door and as soon as Karen saw Nancy, she knew that something was wrong. Karen set down the knife she was using to cut veggies and asked, "Sweetheart, what's the matter?"
Nancy began to tear up as she walked to her mom and said, "It's Barb. I think... something happened. Something terrible." Karen brought Nancy into her embrace as her daughter began to sob into her chest.
Karen caressed her hair gently and let her cry her eyes out, all the while talking gently to her. Eventually Nancy calmed down and said, "Thanks, Mommy."
Karen asked softly, "What happened to Barb?"
Nancy said, "I can't find her, and I found her car abandoned on the side of the road. Her mom doesn't know where she is either."
Karen said, "Oh, my."
Nancy said, "I'm going to my room. I'm tired." Nancy walked out of the kitchen and made her way up the stairs slowly. Nancy walked into her room and lay down in bed, she was mentally exhausted from all the events that occurred today.
A couple hours later, Karen walked into her room and saw her daughter sleeping peacefully. Karen walked over to the bed and sat down, then she leaned over and began to caress Nancy's head. Nancy woke up after a couple minutes and opened her eyes to see her mother's face.
Karen said, "Sweetheart, dinner is ready. Do you want to come down or do you want me to bring your food up to you?"
Nancy said, "Can you bring it up, Mommy?"
Karen said, "Of course, Sweetheart." Karen rubbed her head for a while longer before she walked out of the room and down the stairs. Karen walked into the dining room and began to make a plate of food for Nancy.
Ted asked, "What's going on? Where's Nancy?"
Karen said, "She isn't feeling well." Karen finished making the plate and brought it up to Nancy. Then she made her way back downstairs to eat with Ted and Holly.
Mike was walking through on a dirt road with El next to him and looking around. They arrived at Will's house and El said, "Here."
Mike said confusedly, "Yeah, this is where Will lives."
Eleven said, "Hiding."
Mike said, "No, no, this is where he lives. He's missing from here. Understand?"
Lucas walked over to them with Dustin and asked, "What are we doing here?"
Mike explained, "She said he's hiding here."
Lucas said, "Uhm, no."
Dustin said, "I swear, if we walked all the way out here for nothing--"
Lucas interrupted him and said, "That's exactly what we just did. I told you she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!"
Mike asked, "Why did you bring us here?" Eleven stammered as she was so nervous.
Lucas said, "Mike, don't waste your time on her."
Mike asked, "What do you want to do then?"
Lucas said, "Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday."
Mike said, "We are not calling the cops."
Dustin said, "Hey, guys?"
Lucas asked, "What other choice do we have?"
Dustin shouted, "Guys!" The boys followed Dustin's gaze and heard some sirens before they saw some cop cars speed past.
Mike said, "Will..." Breaking from their shock, they climbed onto their bikes and pedaled as fast as they could. They tried their best to follow the cars, but they were quickly falling behind
Joyce had finished drawing the letters on the walls. A full alphabet now on the wall, each letter under a different lightbulb. Joyce sighed heavily before she said, "Okay, baby, talk to me. Talk to me. Where are you?"
The lights began to blink over the different letters. Joyce said, "R. Good, good, good, good."
Joyce continued to list the letters, "R-I-G-H-T-H-E-R-E. Right here."
Joyce said confusedly, "Right here. I don't understand. What do you mean? I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you? How do I find you? What should I do?"
Suddenly, the lights began to blink, "R-U-N!" Joyce looked at this in confusion, but suddenly the lights began to flash overhead and she remembered about the monster she had seen before. Joyce looked over at the wall and saw a large object protruding on the surface of the wall.
Joyce gasped as a big claw came out of the wall. The claw was connected to a long muscular looking arm. Joyce watched as the entire top half of the creature came out of the wall. Looking closely, you could see that whatever this thing was, it didn't have a face.
Breaking out of her daze, Joyce didn't waste any time and began to run out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her. She was regretting not doing exercises with Karen recently. She had gotten a little flabby.
Joyce broke out of that thought when she remembered that John had fucked her. This was enough proof for her to know that she was attractive just as she is. Remembering the monster, Joyce continued running, even when her legs started to burn, she didn't stop.