"Jesus, what were in those daiquiris?" Steve moaned as he climbed into the passenger seat of the green Honda Accord parked outside the bar.

"I have a brain freeze," Eleven said, clutching her forehead with one hand while she used the other to open the back door. She pushed her way into the middle seat as Will took the seat on her right and Sarah took the seat on her left.

"You guys look like you had fun," Quinn said from the driver's seat, momentarily catching Sarah's eyes in the rearview mirror after everyone had settled.

"Thanks for the ride, hon," Steve said, flashing Quinn an apologetic smile as he clicked his seat belt into place. "And for holding down the fort at the office."

"No problem," Quinn replied, returning the smile before leaning over to kiss Steve on the cheek.

Sarah felt her face flush red and she immediately turned to look out the window.

"Are you sure Robin is okay with you leaving your car here?" Quinn asked. "And do the rest of your friends have a safe ride home?"

Steve waved his hand to signify his answer to her questions before collapsing against the dashboard.

"Mrs. Wheeler is coming to pick up Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max," Will answered Quinn.

After everybody was buckled, Quinn pulled out of the Silver Cat parking lot and began the drive  to the Byers/Hopper household. The ride was mostly silent, up until Quinn's car came within a few blocks of their destination and Steve's head shot up from the dashboard.

"Take a right!" Steve shouted, startling Quinn and everybody else in the car.

Sarah, Eleven, and Will all toppled against each other in the backseat as Quinn jerked the steering wheel to the right.

"But our house is back that way," Sarah pointed out after she pulled herself up from Eleven's lap.

"I know," Steve replied. He glanced up at the rearview mirror and caught Sarah's eyes. With a smile, he said, "I want to show you something."

☆ ★ ☆

Sarah stepped cautiously across the grass, slowly sinking her weight into each footfall, like any wrong move would suddenly spring a trap. She felt her heartbeat drumming in her chest as her eyes darted across the vast, open space.

"What do you think?" Steve asked, slowly trailing behind her.

Sarah was speechless. She tried to think of the words to say but there were none that felt right. What did one say after seeing the site of all their pain and torture for numerous years leveled out into a place where families had picnics and children played games? Benches, tables, grills, swings, slides, and monkey bars dotted the park, but Sarah could still see the faint outlines of Hawkins Lab hanging in the air.

Sarah's eyes followed a young girl as she raced across the park in pursuit of her friends, collapsing onto the ground after she caught up to them. Sarah couldn't help but think that exactly eighteen years ago in that very same spot, she had been strapped to a table by Dr. Brenner and electrocuted mercilessly. Now her screams were replaced with giggles.

"Shit, was this a bad idea?" Steve asked once he noticed the pained expression on Sarah's face. "It sounded better when I was a little drunker."

"No, no," Sarah replied, her eyes still glued to the spot she had been staring at even though the little girls had gone. "It's just strange seeing it like this."

Sarah's feet absentmindedly wandered in the direction of where the girls had been, coming to a stop when they found where the entrance to Hawkins Lab once stood. Her head slowly rose to look up at tie-dyed sky, painted a mixture of pinks, yellows, blues, and purples that bled into each other as the sun began its descent below the horizon. Taking a deep breath, she entered.

Sarah followed the maze of nonexistent hallways that used to wind through Hawkins Lab, her mind reconstructing the building around her with every step she took. Her eyes traced the invisible walls and doors that passed by on either side of her, searching out a particular room. Eventually, she found what she was looking for.

Steve glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Quinn wasn't within earshot before following after Sarah, careful to keep his distance in case she needed some space. When Sarah finally came to a stop, Steve joined at her side.

"This is where my room used to be," Sarah whispered after a few minutes of silence, her voice cutting through the dense evening air.

Steve followed Sarah's eyes to the ground at their feet, studying the fading fall leaves that littered the green grass with a confetti of reds, oranges, and yellows. He had only seen Sarah's room at the Lab once, when he had saved Hopper from the cell that Dr. Brenner had been locked in, but he could still picture it. He could only imagine how much more vividly she could see it.

Another bout of silence passed between them as Sarah and Steve stood locked in their own memories until Sarah shook aside her thoughts and spoke.

"Let's go," she said, turning to head back towards the car where Quinn, Eleven, and Will were waiting.

Before Sarah could get into Quinn's car, Eleven stopped her with a hug. Sarah smiled down at Eleven when she looked up to signify that she was okay and together the five of them headed on their way.

However, they didn't make it very far.

A thick fog greeted the car after it turned onto Mirkwood that choked the street and swallowed the last sun rays. Quinn pushed her foot against the brake until the car crept along at 5 mph as the group tried to peer through the dark mist.

"Where the hell did this come from?" Steve asked, craning his neck forward to see better.

An uneasy feeling settled over Sarah and her eyes watched intently as the fog continuously rolled and changed form until eventually, one shape became more discernible than the rest.

"I think I see something moving..." Will announced, his finger jutting between Quinn's and Steve's seats as he pointed towards a dark figure in the middle of the road.

Quinn slammed her foot against the brake, causing everyone to jolt forward and strain against their seatbelts. "Sorry," she apologized.

The five of them waited with bated breaths as they watched the shadowy figure emerge from the fog, its outline illuminated by the pale beams of the rising moon. The figure's sharp claws scraped across the pavement and its sickly skin glistened with each step it took closer to the car. It stopped right before the bumper, sniffing the air before tossing back its deformed head and howling to the heavens.

"What the hell is that? A dog?" Quinn asked, her hands clutching the steering wheel tightly.

Sarah, Steve, Eleven, and Will all immediately turned to look at each other, their eyes communicating an unspoken conversation.

"Quinn, stay in the car," Steve ordered as he popped open his door and jumped out onto the pavement. Two more pops signified that the backseat doors had opened as well.

"What? What are you--" Quinn began to ask before her voice was cut off by the slamming of the car door as it swung shut.

Sarah and Eleven took the lead as they rounded the car with Steve and Will close behind. The demodog remained frozen to its spot, its stubby tail tucked beneath its body. The loud noises from the doors slamming had spooked it and a low growl was now emitting from its throat. Sarah took a cautious step towards the demodog with both hands out, prepared to zap it if it came at her, but instead the demodog took off in the opposite direction.

"El, stop it!" Sarah shouted.

Eleven tuned into her abilities and focused on the demodog, halting it mid-bound and slowly raising it into the air. She brought the demodog back towards them, keeping it five feet above the pavement. It whined and pawed at the air as its feet sought out solid ground.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as Sarah approached the animal. "Just kill it already!"

"Hold on," Sarah said, raising her hand to signal the rest of them to stay still. The demodog snapped at her as she got closer but it recoiled when she was within arm's reach.

"Sarah, don't!" Steve shouted, taking a step towards her. He stopped when Will grabbed his arm. "You're going to get hurt!"

"I'm fine," Sarah retorted. She slowly reached her arm out towards the demodog until her fingers were caressing its slimy, but surprisingly soft skin. The demodog whimpered at her touch but it made no effort to bite or scratch her. "See?"

"What the hell..." Steve muttered under his breath. "It's like the demogorgon..."

"I don't know how much longer I can hold it!" Eleven grunted as a bright red drop of blood rolled over her lip.

Seeing Eleven's distressed state, Sarah zapped the demodog with her electricity. Not enough to kill it, but enough to knock it out. After it was unconscious, Eleven slowly lowered it to the ground.

"We need to get it back to the house," Sarah informed them. 

"No, nuh-uh!" Steve said, crossing his arms in front of him like a giant X. "Are you crazy? I'm not going through another Dart situation again."

"Not as a pet, to study it," Sarah argued. "We need to figure out how these demodogs and demogorgons keep appearing when they're all supposed to be dead and why they're all acting differently so that we can stop it!"

Steve looked back and forth between the demodog and the car before sighing and saying, "Quinn is not going to like this."

☆ ★ ☆

"What the hell did you just put in my trunk?" Quinn snapped after Sarah, Steve, Eleven, and Will all loaded back into the car. "And what the fuck happened out there? Why was that thing floating and then why did Sarah's hands light up like a goddamn storm cloud?!"

Steve sighed. He had hoped that maybe somehow Quinn had miraculously missed everything, but clearly that wasn't the case. He turned to Quinn to answer when he noticed a bright red streak dripping from her nose. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You've got a bloody nose."

Quinn glanced into the rearview mirror to check her face and wiped the blood away using the back of her sleeve. "I'm fine," she answered curtly. "I hit my head against the steering wheel when I slammed on the brakes." She paused to take a breath. "What's not fine is what I just witnessed outside my windshield! You better give me some answers right now, Steve Harrington!"

Steve's mouth opened and shut like a fish as he tried to think of a semi-believable answer that would satisfy Quinn without informing her of the truth, but it was impossible. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this one.

"What we just put into the back of your car is called a demodog," Sarah answered, taking over for Steve, much to his surprise. "It's a mutated creature from another dimension called the Upside Down, which up until ten years ago, used to exist side-by-side with our dimension until I destroyed it. The reason the demodog was floating is because El has telekinetic powers and the reason my hands were glowing blue is because I have electric powers."

"Powers?" Quinn exclaimed in disbelief, turning in her seat to look Sarah in the eyes.

"Yes," Sarah answered calmly. "El and I used to be test subjects at Hawkins Lab where we were experimented on by a scientist called Dr. Brenner to harness our abilities. Any other questions?"

The car was filled with a deafening silence as everyone tried to process what had just happened. Steve just stared at Sarah with wide eyes and an even wider mouth.

"What?" Sarah asked Steve, shrugging her shoulders in defense. "She was going to find out eventually."

"Well, I guess that cements it," Eleven spoke up after the awkward silence ensued. She locked eyes with a bewildered Quinn and said, "Welcome to the team, Quinn."

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★