CHAPTER SEVEN
MORSE CODE

        A plan was quickly formulated and put into action.  Abby is glad for the work that is taking place, she needs a distraction from everything that's happened within the span of forty-eight hours.  She's managed to convince her parents that she's staying at Isla's for the night, but she knows that they worry for her regardless.  She itches to turn around and run home to the safety and comfort of her parent's arms, she wants to go home and forget everything that's happened, to purge herself of the fear that has built up beneath the surface, but she knows that she has to stay.  She owes it to the people that she was not able to save, who lie still within the halls of Hawkins lab with ghosts in their eyes who had let out their final rattling breaths that night alone.

But when all is said and done, she finds herself tucking herself into a far corner of the house.  Hopper, Joyce, Mike and Jonathan choose to remain in the shed to attempt to break through the Mind Flayer and contact Will.  The rest of the group members are scattered around the house; she remembers passing by Nancy and a pacing Dustin in the kitchen, past Max, Lucas, and Alex sitting staggered against the walls of the hallway, conversing in hushed whispers, and past Steve in the living room as he swings his bat.  It's the first few moments that she's had to herself in a long time.

She pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her chin atop her knees as if hoping by some miracle if she makes herself small enough, she'll be invisible to the world and simply fade out of existence.  She's just so tired.  She just this all to be over—this insanity, this fear, this constant yearning to burst out into tears, the feeling of dying hope.  Hope is a fickle thing.  It comes and goes, wanes and waxes, but never remains steady enough to truly fuel people.  They've depended on hope far too much and it's only a matter of time before it disappears altogether.

Abby doesn't look up as Steve enters the room.  Not even when he takes a seat next to her just as he had only hours before on the school bus.  "Hey," he greets softly.  "Sorry, I'm still not wearing a bell.  How are you doing?"

"Not good," Abby answers truthfully.  "I'm really, fucking terrified, Steve.  I almost died today, Steve—you almost died today.  And everything's just all so wrong and twisted and I feel like I'm losing my fucking mind."  She takes a rattling breath and glances over at the boy beside her.  She doesn't know why she's suddenly telling Steve all of this, maybe it's because he's the first person in a long time that's asked how she's doing because even Abby Foster who outwardly puts on a smile still sometimes feels as though she's going to crack like a diamond under pressure.  Even her foundations need touching up from time to time.  "And people, they tell you, that things are one way, and then it turns out that it's all wrong and everything's gone all upside down and what else ... I mean what else are they wrong about?  Because now I'm not sure I know what's real anymore."

"Hey, hey, look at me," says Steve.  "This—this is all real, and it sucks.  It really does.  But I'm real too—" he takes her hand in his own and holds them up for her to see, "—see?  Real."

She expects Steve to let go of her hand as he drops them, but he doesn't and Abby doesn't mind.  His hand is warm, and warmth can mean many things; friendship, happiness, and maybe Abby needs more of that warmth in her life.

"How are you doing, Steve?" Abby asks after a few moments of silence pass between them.

Steve blinks.  It's been a long time since anybody's asked him that.  "Like right now, or in general?"

Abby shrugs.  "Whatever you want."

"Well, I'm scared too, okay, so don't go thinking you're all alone in this, because we will get through it." Steve answers.  "But god—everything's just gone to shit lately.  I got dumped by my girlfriend, am now babysitting six kids, and I'm probably not getting into college and dear old dad thinks that I'm just not trying hard enough, but it's not my fault that he's not around enough to see that I am."

Abby gives his hand a squeeze but before she can say anything, Alex appears in the doorway.  "Hey, lovebirds, I hate to break up whatever's going on here, but Hopper's here, and I think they've got something."

Steve lets go of Abby's hand and scrambles up. "Oh, no, no, no, we're not—"

"Yeah," Abby agrees.  "We're not—we're just—"

Alex raises a single eyebrow and nods.  "Uh-huh, right."

"We're not!" Steve exclaims.  

Alex raises her hands in mock surrender.  "Okay, okay, you're not.  I believe you."

Alex leads them into the kitchen where Hopper is scribbling on a scrap of paper.  The rest of the teens that had stayed in the house are gathered behind them, watching curiously.  Joyce and Jonathan hover behind them, partly concealed by the shadows, both looking rather shaken.  Alex crosses her arms as she slides in around the table next to Max.  "Alright, Hop, we're all here.  What's up?"

"I think he's talking," Hopper explains as he draws an arrangement of dots and lines on the scrap of paper.  "Just not with words."

"What's that?" Steve questions from beside Abby.

"More code," the party answers as Hopper writes the translations of the arrangements beneath the dots and lines.

"H-E-R-E," Hopper reads aloud.

"Here," Max echoes.

"Will's still in there," Hopper tells them with a relieved sigh.  "He's talking to us."

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*

Should I Stay or Should I Go plays faintly from the shed and reaches the ears of the teenagers who occupy the house faintly.  Abby finds herself bobbing her head to the beat of the music despite the circumstance that they find themselves in.  The teens gather around the table as they received signals from Hopper from the shed while Jonathan relays happy memories to Will to ward off the darkness of the Mind Flayer.  

The first letter they receive from Hopper is c (dash-dot-dash-dot).  They relay the letters to Nancy, who spells out the message in orange crayon on the back of a drawing pad.  The next letter, dot-dash-dot-dot, is L.  As more time passes and more happy memories are relayed, the letters come faster and faster.  Abby's heart pounds the more rapid the signals are, she doesn't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  Is Will losing his grip?  Will the Mind Flayer take over before he can finish the message.  They collect o, s, e, g, a, t, and e.

Close Gate.

The music shuts off and Nancy holds up the pad for the rest to see as they gather around her.  Abby stares down at the nine letters on the pad.  They all murmured the short phrase aloud, sharing looks.  It was so simple, so small, and yet Abby doesn't have an inkling of what it could mean.  Before anybody can say anything, the phone rings, suddenly, and shrilly.  

"Shit.  Shit!" Dustin exclaims as he runs for the phone.  He yanks the phone off of the wall and slams it back down, hanging it up.  They all breathe a sigh of relief as for a few blissful moments, silence fills the house once more.  And then the phone rings again.  Dustin reaches for the phone, but Nancy reaches it first and in a moment of pure panic and a spike of adrenaline, she rips the phone off of the wall and hurls it down the hallway.  It lands on the floor with a clatter and a small ring.

Alex says what they're all thinking as she collapses into a nearby chair and throws her arms up in defeat.  "Fuck."

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asks.

"It's just a phone," Steve shrugs.  "It could be anywhere, right?"

As if to answer Steve's question, a shrill screeching fills the air.  It knows where they are.  It's too late.  They aren't prepared for another attack, not when they had been so sure that this time everything would work out.  Of course, they have Steve and his bat and Hopper's guns, but she doubts that that's enough against the monsters.

"That's not good," Dustin breathes shakily.

Mike, Jonathan, and Joyce burst into the house with an unconscious Will slung over Jonathan's shoulder as Abby begins to pace the length of the room, looking for something, anything she could use to defend herself against the inevitable arrival of the monsters.  Finally, her eyes land on the metal fire poker that sits in its stand near the fireplace, and is quick to arm herself with the metal rod.  Hopper comes in next, guns blazing with a glint of determination in his eyes.

"Hey!" The chief barks as his eyes land on Alex, Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Mike who have all crowded on the old couch to peer through the curtains.  "Hey!  Get away from the windows!"  The five teenagers are quick to jump and scurry away farther into the room, searching for something to arm themselves with.  Hopper then turns toward Jonathan and holds out a shotgun to him.  "Do you know how to use this?"

"What?" Jonathan asks faintly.

"Can you use this?!" Hopper repeats.  There's an edge to his voice, desperation that Abby has never seen before.  There's a lot more to Jim Hopper than his rough exterior and drinking problems Abby realizes.  There's always a lot more to people than what's on the surface.

Nancy steps forward.  "I can."

Hopper tosses the gun to her without another word.  Standing beside Nancy, Abby brandishes the fire poker.  She only hopes that with enough force and a good enough angle, she'll be able to penetrate the monsters.  To the left of Abby, Steve twirls his bat and readies himself.  Beside him, Alex squares her fists with a determination in her eyes, and anger that is brewing in her eyes, ready to fuel her as if she expects her knuckles to be any use against the monsters—human monsters, maybe, but not this kind.  Steve only lets out a small exasperated sigh and pushes Alex behind him.  Hopper aims his gun at the window, anticipating the arrival of their attackers.  Together, the four form a shield for Joyce, Jonathan, and the remaining teens.  Lucas readies his wrist-rocket, Mike seems to be armed with a candle holder, and Alex stands protectively in front of a defenseless Max with her fists still squared and her jaw set, while Abby shields Dustin.  Joyce clings to Jonathan's jacket as she watches the windows.  

"Where are they?"  Nancy asks frantically.  "Where are they?"

Abby chews her lip as they wait.  She sees the lifeless body of Mews again, and she knows that that's probably how they'll end up.  Even with the weapons they have, it's not enough against the Demogorgons, not when half of the group remains unarmed and vulnerable.  But at least they won't be going down without a fight.

Abby's heart leaps in her chest as a loud growl followed by loud sounds from outside.  Joyce lets out a small yelp as the group whirls around in the direction of the commotion weapons raised, fists poised, breath quickened.  Abby clutches the fire poker tighter.  

"What are they doing?" Nancy asks, breathless.

The bushes rustle just outside the window and more thudding ensues followed by growling.  They let out screams and whirl around again as a router growl sounds from just outside the window.  Abby closes her eyes takes a deep breath, hoping to calm her racing heart, but even the 4, 7, 8 breathing method does nothing to calm her.  More screeching, more growling, more thuds, more rustling until, a pitiful squeal, and then silence.

Nobody lets their guard down.  They keep their eyes trained on the window, waiting for the silence to shatter and the Demogorgons to attack.  And then it happens.  One of the monsters breaks through the window, it sails through the air as shards of glass fly and scatter across the ground.  The group members grapple at each other as they let out screams of alarm.  Abby finds herself stumbling backward and trodding on Dustin's foot as the boy hisses in pain.  It soars over the couch and over the coffee table and lands with a pathetic thud in the corner of the room with its rancid, tooth-filled flowery mouth gaping open.  Slowly, Hopper approaches the Demogorgon, one small, evenly step at a time.  He holds his gun at the ready in case it springs up and attempts to sink its teeth into him. 

Dustin peers around Abby and brushes a strand of curly hair out of his face.  "Holy shit," he breathes.

"Is it dead?" Max asks tentatively.

Cautiously, Hopper reaches out a foot to prod the creature.  Its head moves limply with a sickening squelching noise.  But the creature does not move.  

Behind them, there is a creaking in the doorway and everybody whips around to face the source of the noise.  Abby stares wide-eyed with horror as the one-by-one all the safety parameters on the door become disabled.  The lock on the door twists with a loud snap.  The chain that holds the door shut slides before falling down limply.  Abby raises the fire poker once more as the armed members of the group slowly make their way towards the door.

The door slowly swings open and in steps a girl.

Abby hears Alex gasp softly when her eyes land on the girl.  She's dressed in a black jacket with slicked black hair and sloppy black eyeliner ringing her eyes.  A trail of blood runs from her nostril and there are tears of happiness sparkling in her eyes as she surveys that group assembled before her.  Abby glances around to see that their mouths are agape, and tears are sparkling in their eyes.

"Eleven," Mike breathes.

author's note: pfft i completely forgot to update this, so i'm sorry.  i also lowkey hated the steve and abby interaction, but what's done is done.  all steve and abby moments are just platonic tingz right now, but i love those two a lot.