https://youtu.be/qhZULM69DIw

[ song: california dreamin' ]

https://youtu.be/9_dDsC-SwU8

[ cool edit lol ]

"All the leaves are brown," the song sang as Lili walked across the living room with pieces of planks that fell from the ceiling three months ago. "All the leaves are brown."

"And the sky is gray," Max swept some of the dust and clutter to one side of the house and sighed as she peered up through the gaping hole, looking at the overcast sky. "And the sky is gray."

"I've been for a walk," Lili rubbed her stomach that has started to show through her tight gray tank. Her hair has been thrown up in a falling-apart bun on the side of her head and she slipped on some cheap pink flip-flops. "I've been for a walk."

"On a winter's day," It's been three months after the Byers and El moved away, which means that Lili is seven months into her pregnancy. It's December now, December 7th to be exact. El should be coming down with Will, Jonathan and Joyce for Christmas in a couple of weeks and Lili was ecstatic. "On a winter's day."

"I'll be safe and warm," Lili threw out scraps of wood out the door and walked back inside, helping Max out with a bigger piece. "I'll be safe and warm."

"If I was in L.A," July 17th came and went. It was before the move, but Lili was too busy trying to keep herself busy at the auto shop to notice it. "If I was in L.A."

"California dreamin'," Lili sniffed a bit, guilt filling her senses as the lyrics sunk in. She was playing a random record from Hopper's collection. "California dreamin'."

"On such a winter's day..."

"Stopped into a church," Lili walked by a run-down chapel on her walk that she usually took to stay in shape whilst being pregnant. "I passed along the way."

Walking inside, it wasn't much different than any other church she's been in. She used to be very religious, but with the monsters running around, the only time for God was when someone was dying. Even then, she couldn't help but wonder where God was.

She walked past the wooden pews that were evenly spaced out along the walkway. Her eyes were set on the stained-glass window that depicted Mary, Joseph and Jesus with God looking down on them. A perfect family. And Lili didn't have that.

"Well I got down on my knees," Lili struggled to rest her knees on the ground, but she eventually made it. She kept on staring at the glass. It was so perfect, so well orchestrated, that she couldn't help but wonder if it was all a lie. This plan that everyone says is in place. A priest walked out from the side door, reading something from folder when he saw the girl in the middle of the aisle. "Got down on my knees."

"And I pretend to pray," Lili bent her head down and stared at the stone floor. What would she pray about? There's nothing she wanted to say to God. She always heard that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. "I pretend to pray."

"You know the preacher likes it cold," The priest smirked when he saw Lili shivering and staring at the ground. "Preacher like is cold."

"May I ask who you are?" The priest asked.

"You can ask, doesn't mean you'll get an answer," Lili mumbled. The priest moved to sit on the ground, next to her.

"I want to help," the priest said softly.

"You want to preach," Lili snapped back. Why did she come in anyways? What was the point? She wasn't religious at the moment, so why would she even bother glancing in the church's direction?

"That's my job," the priest said calmly. "But I can also be a sounding board."

"For what?" Lili chuckled dryly. "My life problems? Yeah, there's no way I'm telling you anything."

The priest sighed. "I find it easier to talk things out than bottle them in." He glanced down at Lili's baby bump. "It's not healthy to let it eat you up."

"Listen, Father..."

"Father Dave," the priest nodded.

"Father Dave," Lili said. "Even if I were to tell you, you wouldn't understand."

"I don't need to understand," Father Dave said. "You do."

"He knows that I'm gonna stay," Lili looked at Father Dave who was sitting on the floor alongside her. She then realized that he was trying to be her equal. He wasn't trying to say that he was more divine than her or that she needed to change in order to be seen as equal. He genuinely wanted to help her. "Knows that I'm gonna stay."

"It was my boyfriend," Lili said finally. Father Dave's facial expression didn't change. "He was..."

"It's okay," Father Dave said softly when Lili's voice cracked.

"He was murdered." Father Dave's expression finally did change. His eyes dropped and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Stabbed. Right in front of me. I tried to fight it, but it eventually got him," Lili whispered, careful not to hint at an interdimensional monster.

"It?" Father Dave asked and Lili turned her head to look at him with fear lacing her features.

"The murderer," Lili whispered. "It ripped him of who he used to be and stabbed him through the heart."

"Why are you telling me this?" Father Dave said suddenly. Lili looked at him.

"You said that I shouldn't bottle it all up," Lili said.

"Yes, I thought you had postpartum depression or something of that caliber, not a story about a killer that brutally murdered your boyfriend," Father Dave said. Lili furrows her eyebrows, turning to him.

"Postpartum comes after the baby comes out of-" Lili started, but was cut off by Father Dave.

"La la la!" He got up quickly. Lili's jaw hung open in shock as she wobbled to her feet.

"Oh you misogynistic fuck!" Lili yelled as Father Dave retreated back to his man cave.

"California dreamin'," Lili had never wished that she was in California more than that moment. She wished Billy was there. She wished that she and Billy were raising their child in the California suburbs without fear of monsters and government experiments. "California Dreamin'."

"On such a winter's day..."

Government experiments. What if her child has abilities? Overcome with fear, Lili walked quickly out of the church and to home.

***

"Look into the camera, please," Lili turned to look at where the voice came from above. She was at Murray's place to get some answers. Yes, she drove four hours to get answers from a man she said was a saggy ballsack. This is what the world has come to.

"The other way," the voice said in an annoyed tone. Lili turned and looked into a camera and held her arms out as if to say, happy now?

"State your name," Murray said.

"Lili," Lili said plainly.

"Your full name!" Murray shouted.

"Lili Hopper! Let me in!" Lili said angrily.

"Your full, god-given name!"

"Liliana Hopper! Goddamnit Murray-" Lili growled, but the door swung open to reveal Murray in his wife beater tank and cut offs with a robe over his whole ensemble. He had a metal detector in his hands and he started swiping it all over Lili's body. She pushed it away with rage in her eyes. "I'm pregnant, I don't need radiation."

"I need to check for weapons," Murray said.

"The deadliest weapon I have is my abilities, which is why I'm here," Lili said, stepping inside.

"I also need to check for bugs," Murray hurried after the girl, closing his door and locking all the locks. Lili rolled her eyes.

"I killed like three evil Russians, I don't think I'm conspiring against you," Lili said as she sat down on the couch.

"Why are you here?" Murray bent down to Lili's face, making hand gestures to show how disgruntled he was.

"I told you, I need help figuring out my abilities," Lili said.

"What makes you think that I could help you?" Murray asked flamboyantly.

"You said that you were a doctor-"

"I'm not actually a doctor-!" Murray pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Still," Lili stood up. "I need answers and you're the best conspiracist there is."

"I'm not a conspiracist," Murray said harshly. "I'm a journalist simply searching for the truth."

"Whatever you are," Lili crossed her arms over her belly. "You're the best. And I need help. Please, Murray. I'm scared."

"About what?" Murray sighed, sitting down in an armchair. Lili smiled a bit and sat down as well.

"First off, I want to know if my child would get my abilities or some sort of power?" Lili asked, rubbing her stomach.

"Makes sense," Murray nodded. "You were changed on a molecular level. It wasn't like you were injected with anything since that could easily die off in your bloodstream. They electrocuted you, like El, so your blood cells were affected. That means that when they multiply, they copy that recipe for your powers. That would be passed down to your child."

Lili nodded. "How about that night Billy went missing last year? I went to get him and the people who were holding him hostage had this machine. When they turned it one, I was knocked out and I couldn't remember anything about five minutes before hand. I only know about it because Billy told me.

"The same thing happened this summer, I think. I remember going into the source with El and I saw his memories of how he got Flayed, but they looked like my memories too. I remember snippets of that night, and I remember... Billy and I crashing... his screams..." Lili looked off into the distance, trying to remember that night. Murray looked at her for a few moments before speaking.

"It sounds like this machine runs on the same frequency as your brain. Your frequency is different than others, that's probably why you were affected. The symptoms though, I have no idea. Maybe the frequency was too overbearing and it wiped your memory a bit, I don't know," Murray looked into the distance as well.

"Could I get those memories back?" Lili asked. Murray gave her a look.

"Do you want to? I mean, both times you and Billy were in extreme pain," Murray said. It was weird seeing him sympathizing with her, but Lili didn't question it.

"No, I guess not," she slumped.

"When you said that you were in the source," Murray spoke up. "Were in there with El?"

"Yeah, why?" Murray put his fingers to his lips in a thinking position.

"Have you been there alone?" Murray asked.

"It's not that simple," Lili explained. "The only reason El and I saw the source was because it was Billy's memories. He let us in."

"How did you contact Billy?" Murray asked.

"El and I went into her Void to locate him and communicate without the Mind Flayer interfering." Lili watched as Murray mumbled to himself in deep thought.

"Do you have one?" Murray asked.

"One what?" Lili tilted her head.

"A Void," Murray said.

"I think so," Lili said.

"What do you mean, you think so?" Murray asked.

"Well, when El and I visited the source, we were holding hands. We had a connection in there. I fell and our hands disconnected and I fell into another Void. I think that one was mine. El just paved the way for me," Lili said.

"What was it like? Wait- What was El's like?" Murray asked.

"El's Void is pitch-black except for when we locate things or objects materialize in there. And, there's like a layer of water that you walk on, but you can't feel it. That's it," Lili said.

"What about yours?" Murray asked, his leg on top the other and his arms draped over his knees.

"It was blindingly white and it felt like I was underwater, but I could breathe," Lili said. As she spoke, she realized how much it was all fitting together.

"You see it?" Murry asked. Lili looked at him with apprehension.

"I don't know," she said nervously.

"How it all fits," Murray said. "El, dark. You, light. El, above. You, submerged."

Lili let out a breath, processing it all.

"What did you see in your Void?" Murray asked.

"A baby- no, a kid," Lili said after a minute. "With long, curly hair and blue eyes. And there were voices talking about waves and hell people who want ice water."

"That's the future," Murray laughed dryly. "In El's Void, she sees the past or present and you, you see the future. I have a theory that you can also see the present, am I right?"

"I..." Lili stopped and thought. Her power for locating people could be the present, right? "Yes."

"But," Lili said quickly. "My powers changed so rapidly this summer. I glowed, Murray. My eyes turned completely gold and my body glowed, I can now gather my power into my core and release it into a powerful pulse."

"It was probably untapped power that you never tried until this summer," Murray said. "Being pregnant and constantly being in danger probably turned on a switch in you."

"Huh," Lili fell back onto the sofa.

"Need a glass of water?" Murray asked, getting up.

"Yes, please," Lili sighed.

***

Lili got home late that night. Max was in bed and the TV was left on. Lili switched it off and left her keys on a hook by the door. She grabbed a banana from the counter and ate it since she was starving from the four hour drive.

She went into the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth. After putting on her pajamas, she slipped into bed. She dozed off to a dream that she conjured up for the past few months to help her sleep. Billy, her and their child in California.

"Lili," Billy smiled at her. "Lili."

For some reason, the way he said her name bothered her. It was like he was saying it as if he was trying to get her attention, not to just say it.

"Lili!" Lili jolted awake and saw Max staring down at her.

"What?" Lili breathed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Max nodded. "You were crying."

Lili wiped her fingers under her eyes and found them wet. "Oh," she said. "Thank you."

"No problem," Max said. Lili climbed out of bed and told Max that she was getting water. Max nodded and sat on her bed.

In the kitchen, Lili filled a glass with water and sipped the surface. She turned to go back to bed. What she saw made her drop her glass. It shattered into a million pieces and water splashed on the floor, wetting the bottom of Lili's pajama pants.

"Billy?" Lili breathed. Billy stood in front of her, looking at her with a relieved expression.

"Lili," Billy's eyes welled with tears. "God, I've missed you."

"Holy shit," Max exited Lili's room and saw Billy standing in the living room.

"Max," Billy looked at her. Immediately, Lili ran towards Billy, engulfing him in a hug. When she did so, Billy's body fell into specks of dust, crumbling before her.

"Wha-?" Lili looked at the dust in shock. The dust flew away in the breeze. But they were inside? "No!" Lili screamed. Tears fell from her eyes as she clawed the air. "Billy!"

"Lili," Max said shakily. Lili stood up to look at the redhead who was pointing at the door. Lili turned and saw a girl around her age inside by the door. She had on heavy eye makeup and her hair in a big up-do.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lili gritted her teeth and held her hands out, standing in front of Max protectively.

"My name is Kali," the girl said. She stepped out of the shadows and Lili could finally see the girl in full. She had on heavy black clothes and combat boots. Lili could see that on her left arm, was a tattoo with the number 008. So she was special too.

"I don't care what your name is," Lili seethed. "Whatever you did to make Billy... appear, if it was some sort of sick joke, then I'm going to kill you."

"I'm here to help," Kali said quickly.

"Bullshit," Lili said. "Leave now."

"Billy is alive," Kali said. Lili looked at her with a small sliver of hope.

"What? No, I saw him die. I watched as the monster ripped his heart out!" Lili screamed at Kali, tears streaming down her face as she remembered the memory.

"That wasn't the real Billy who died!" Kali said. "Billy is alive, search for him."

"How do you know about my-" Lili asked, but Kali cut their off.

"Never mind that, just search for him," Kali said.

"No," Lili said harshly. "I'm not going to put myself through that pain."

"We were chosen," Kali pulled her left sleeve higher to show off her tattoo. "Life has been hard, I know. I need you to trust me."

"Like hell!" Lili shot out a pulse, but everything fell away. She was standing in El's Void. There was water on the ground, but there was nothing else.

"Search for him, you will see," Kali's voice echoed. Lili could feel the water this time. This wasn't the real Void.

Lili gathered her power in her core and released, making the Void fall away and she was back in the real world. The pulse hit Kali, making her fall back and hit the door behind her. She got knocked out of her concentration on building the fake Void and now Lili was standing over her in rage.

"If I do, will you leave?" Lili balled her fists at her sides.

"Depends on what you find," Kali said. Lili just grumbled and closed her eyes. Her mind was sent all over Hawkins, spreading in different areas. She searched for Billy's hum, but came up with nothing.

"There's noth-" Lili started, but then she felt something. She only felt it once before. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at Kali.

"Holy shit," Lili breathed. "Billy's alive."

[UNEDITED]