CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
INDEPENDENCE DAY

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   FOURTH OF JULY morning, Liz and the rest of the gang all made their way to El and Hopper's cabin. Their main goal was to find out where the hell the Holloway family, Mrs. Driscoll, or Billy was. Wherever one of them was, it would lead them to the rest. For the past half an hour or so, they had been sitting around the cabin, waiting for Eleven to finish finding them. She had locked herself in her room, searching the void to attempt to find them.

   While Eleven was doing that, Mike was pacing outside the bedroom door, Lucas was eating some cereal out of the box on one of the couches. Max and Liz, who hadn't yet been able to talk about what had almost happened the day before, were sitting next to each other on the love seat. Nancy was on the phone in the kitchen, calling anybody who might have some sort of lead or answers for them while Jonathan and Will sat at the breakfast bar.

   "It can't be good for her to be in there this long," Mike argued for the hundredth time.

   Max sighed, "Mike, you need to relax."

   "What if she gets brain damage or something?" Mike continued.

   Liz frowned at him, "Brain damage? Really?"

   "Oh, shit," Lucas gasped. "Is that, like, a real thing?"

   "No, it's not. He made it up," Max shook her head. "Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

   "Oh, and you do?" Mike sassed.

   Liz sat up, "Mike, don't be a dick."

   "I'm not!" Mike argued, prompting Liz to roll her eyes. "I'm just saying, Max doesn't know everything."

   "No, I don't," Max agreed. "That's the difference between me and you. I can actually admit that I don't know everything."

   "What's that supposed to mean?"

   Liz got up, moving toward the kitchen where no argument was happening. She had been in the middle of a Max and Mike argument before and it always ended with one of them walking away being pissed at Liz for a week. As much as Liz hated to admit it, she was the mom of her friend group and it sucked a lot, especially when it came to arguments so anytime one started, she tended to just walk away.

   As Liz entered the kitchen, Jonathan was crossing off another business they had tried to call that would give them any answers about anything. Nancy slammed the phone back down on the receiver and sighed, "Who's next?"

   "There is no next," Jonathan informed her. "Unless you want to start calling random houses."

   "Anything?" Liz asked Will.

   "Nothing," Will shook his head.

   "It doesn't make any sense," Nancy complained, throwing down her pen and paper in defeat.

   "What part of any of this makes sense?" Jonathan asked. Liz couldn't help but nod in agreement.

   "There's a pattern, okay? A consistency in their behavior," Nancy exclaimed. "They've been feeding on these chemicals since this started, and-and what, they just stop, out of the blue?"

   "Maybe they have all the chemicals they need," Will guessed. Liz looked over her shoulder, now seeing both Max and Mike standing up, screaming at each other while Lucas just ate his cereal on the couch and watched. Liz rolled her eyes and shook her head before focusing back on Will. "Maybe they've all turned into those... things."

   "But what about the source?" Nancy asked. "I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people? And even if the flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?"

   "Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?" Max interrupted as she walked over with Mike and Lucas right behind her. Both of them looked like they were fuming. "Who do you think should decide El's limits? Mike or Eleven?"

   "The way that you frame that is such bullshit!"

   "It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem," Max argued. Liz smirked in amusement as Lucas was sat next to them, still eating his cereal and watching the argument. "And also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass."

   Nancy's eyes widened, "El dumped you?"

   "Yes!" Mike confirmed before pointing at Max. "Because she is conspiring against me. She's corrupting her, just like she has been corrupting Liz since last year."

   "Corrupting?" Liz scoffed. "How the hell is Max corrupting me?"

   "Oh, please, don't play dumb," Mike rolled his eyes at Liz. "You haven't left her side since you met her!"

   "She's my best friend!" Liz laughed, not understanding Mike's argument at all.

   "No, enlightening them" Max corrected. "The fact is, El is not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions."

   "She's risking her life for no reason!"

   "For no reason?" Nancy scoffed, which only made Mike look more annoyed. "Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what."

   "Killing, flaying..." Lucas adds.

   "Transforming into monsters," Will continued.

   "And El's not stupid," Nancy added. "She knows her abilities better than any of us."

   Mike rolled his eyes as all the girls and even the guys were disagreeing with him and agreeing with Max who smiled and nodded, "Yes, thank you."

   "And she is her own person," Nancy agreed. "With her own free will."

   "Exactly!" Max continued. "El has saved the world twice and Mike still doesn't trust her."

   "You wanna talk about trust, really?" Mike yelled before looking at both Liz and Max. "After both of you made El spy on us?" Liz and Max gave each other a look before sighing. Mike looked proud of himself, thinking he had won the argument. Liz could tell it was far from over, though.

   Lucas looked very confused, as did Will, "Wait, what?"

   "Oh, she didn't tell you this?" Mike asked Lucas. "Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us-"

   "Okay, um... ex-girlfriend," Liz corrected. "And that is not what happened!"

   "No, no, no!" Max shook her head. "I did not make her. It was her idea. And why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

   "Yeah, who cares?" Will asked.

   "I care!" Lucas argued.

   "Yeah, I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy!" Mike exclaimed, yelling in Max's face.

   Max shook her head, "We were just joking around."

   "Would it have been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" Mike asked.

   Max scrunched up her face as did Liz, not even wanting to think about that possibility, "You weren't."

   "But what if I was?"

   "Then gross!"

   Nancy sighed, "Seriously, Mike?"

   "I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are," Mike explained, clearly about to go off on a rant. "You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again!"

   The whole room got silent very quickly as everyone's eyes widened and their mouths dropped open. Lucas was the only one smirking, a knowing look on his face. He had clearly known even if Mike hadn't said anything. Liz was very surprised, not expecting that from Mike, but with everything that's happened, she also wasn't surprised at all.

   "What's going on?" Eleven asked. She had exited the room just as everyone had gone quiet.

   "Nothing," Mike shook his head. "Nothing."

   Lucas smiled, "Just a family discussion."

   "Oh," Eleven nods. "I found him."

   "Found who?" Nancy asked.

◌ ◌ ◌

   Eleven placed herself in front of the television in the living room. The static echoed throughout the cabin, making Liz feel antsy. Eleven had her blindfold on, searching hard for Billy. The gang sat on the couches, their eyes focused on Eleven who was taking deep breaths as she searched. She started to breath more rapidly until she finally ripped the blindfold off. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself as Max asked. "What's he doing now?"

   Eleven looked over her shoulder at Max before stating, "He's in his room."

   "And that's not normal, right?" Nancy asked Max as Eleven hurried over to the sink, getting a drink of water. Liz watched as Eleven downed a full glass in a few seconds, all the searching clearly getting to her. She was drinking it so fast, a few drops left the glass and dripped down her chin.

   "Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?" Max explained, raising her eyebrows before huffing. "No, that's not normal."

   "He wants us to find him," Will explained.

   "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," Nancy admitted. "If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are."

   "Sounds like a trap," Liz comments.

   Mike nodded, "I agree, it is a trap. We'll be ambushed."

   "We won't be surprised," Lucas argued, looking confident. "We'll know that they're coming and we will kick their flayed butts!"

   "You mean El will kick their butts," Max corrected.

   "It's too risky," Mike spoke his opinion.

   "Yeah, and unnecessary," Nancy agreed with her brother. "Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source."

   "Billy knows it," Eleven informs them as she comes back into the living room. "Billy's been there. To the source."

   "Yeah, but —"

   "It's a trap. I know," Eleven interrupts Mike. "We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been."

   Eleven placed herself in front of the television once more, the static echoing around the room. She had her blindfold folded in front of her and tissues to the right of her in case she needed to wipe the blood from her nose. Max and Liz were still on the couch while Lucas and Will had gone to the kitchen.

   As Eleven was preparing to go in again, Mike walked up to her, "El, I know you think you have to do this, but you don't." Liz practically felt Max's eye roll. "It's just... you've only done this once before. And your mom, she loved you, and wanted you to know what happened. And Billy's mind is-is sick, diseased. The Mind Flayer is in him."

   "He can't hurt me," Eleven reassures Mike. "Not in there."

   Mike shook his head, "We don't know that."

   Eleven turned her body and faced Mike. His hand was resting on his knee as he kneeled to look at her. Eleven softly grabbed his hand, "Mike. I need you to trust me."

   Mike sighed and looked at Max who just raised her eyebrows at him. He turned back to Eleven, "Yeah. Just... be careful."

   He took a seat back in the recliner just as Will and Lucas returned to their seats. Eleven closed her eyes and placed the blindfold across her eyes. Everyone was silent as she did her thing, searching for the source. It was a couple of minutes before she started to pant, her face turned scared. Mike sat up, "Something's wrong. El, are you okay? Are you okay?"

   Eleven sighed, almost looking like she was going to cry before she softly said, "I'm okay."

   "What's going on?" Mike asked.

   "I'm... on a beach," Eleven answered.

   Liz furrowed her brows in confusion, "Why the hell would she be on a beach?"

   "Okay, I may be dense, but the last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins," Lucas explained, voicing everyone's confused opinion.

   "What else do you see?" Max asked.

   It took her a few seconds to answer the question, "A woman. She's... pretty. I... I think she's looking at me." She took a couple deep breaths. "There's... a boy. It's Billy."

   "It's California," Max informs them "It's a memory."

   "I think I see it," Eleven tells them, making everyone sit up. "The source. I think I found it."

   "Where, El?" Max asked. "Where are you?"

   "Brimborn Steelworks."

   Jonathan quickly got up and ran to the phone book. Nancy followed him as he started flipping through the pages as fast as he could, "Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive."

   "That's close," Nancy commented.

   "El! El, we found it!" Mike shouts. "Get out of there! Get out!"

   The group watched as El started to breath heavier. Her chest rose and fell quickly, as if she was having a panic attack. The group watched and waited for her to come out. Her nose started to bleed even more before she ripped off her blindfold and screamed, "No!"

   Mike quickly lept from his seat and wrapped his arms around the girl who was hyperventilating, "El, you're okay. It's okay." She fell into his arms and started sobbing as he held her.

◌ ◌ ◌

   It took a while before Eleven finally calmed down. The sounds of fireworks bursting in the sky could be heard clearly even from in the cabin. Liz wished she could be at the Fun Fair watching the fireworks and riding the Ferris wheel, maybe even eating a funnel cake, but instead she was here, preparing for what she knew would be their biggest fight yet. Still, that didn't stop her from watching the fireworks from the kitchen window. She smiled at the different colors as they reflected on her skin. She was so distracted by the fireworks she didn't even notice Max had come to watch them with her.

   "Pretty, huh?" Max asked with a smile.

   Liz turned her head and saw Max who was smiling directly at her. A pink firework went off and made Max's face light up bright pink, "Yeah. I love the Fourth of July. It's one of my favorites."

   "Me too," Max agreed.

   Liz sighed, "I'm a holiday virgin."

   Max snorted, "What the hell does that mean?"

   Liz giggled at Max's laugh, "It means I haven't had a valentine or a New Years kiss or a kiss under the mistletoe or even a kiss under the fireworks on the Fourth of July. I want to at least experience one holiday with a girl I love."

   Max smiled and grabbed Liz's hand, "Maybe that opportunity is coming sooner than you think."

   The girls still hadn't had a chance to talk about what happened at the hospital. They almost kissed and they both know it. They are both fully aware of their feelings for each other but because of everything going on at the moment, they haven't been able to do anything about it or even talk about their feelings. Liz wished she could kiss Max under the fireworks and unbeknownst to her, Max was thinking about the exact same thing.

   "He said he was building something," Eleven said, reminding both of the girls what their first priority was. The two girls, still holding hands, walked back over to the living room where everyone was surrounding Eleven. Her cheeks were stained with tears as she explained what Billy had said to her. "That it was all for me."

   "Building something..." Max trailed off. "Is he talking about the flayed?"

   "He must be," Nancy answered.

   "So, he's building an army, just like we thought," Lucas explains.

   "Yeah, but he's not building his army to spread," Mike adds.

   "He's building it to stop Eleven," Will finishes.

   "Last year, El closed the gate on him," Mike started. "I have a feeling that really pissed him off."

   "Like, royally." Lucas nods.

   "Yeah, of course it did," Liz scoffs. "He doesn't want that to happen again."

   "Exactly. The Mind Flayer now knows that El is the only thing that can stop him," Mike continued. "But if she's out of the way."

   "Game over."

   "He also said he was gonna kill all of you," Eleven added, looking around at everyone.

   They all raised their eyebrows, their eyes widening slightly at those words. Max huffed, "Yeah, well, that's nice."

   A very faint screeching noise was heard deep in the woods. It was so faint, not everyone could hear it. It wasn't until Nancy walked over to the window and asked, "Do you guys hear that?" that everyone started to listen closely. They couldn't hear anything.

   "It's just the fireworks," Jonathan tells her.

   "Billy..." Nancy turned around. "When he told you this, it was here, in this room?"

   Eleven nodded slowly. Everyone got silent. They all focused on the noise around them, trying hard to ignore the fireworks and instead see if they could hear anything else that could be the Mind Flayer. Will slowly placed his hand on the back of his neck, "He knows we're here."

   Liz cursed as she stood up, "Shit!"

   The group all fled the cabin, following Nancy and Jonathan out. Liz and Max were still holding on tightly to one another's hands, now too afraid to let go, knowing what was coming. They started to make their way through the woods until they saw what was in the distance. Illuminated by the colorful fireworks in the sky above them, down below coming straight towards them was the Mind Flayer. It was huge, bigger than any of the other monsters they have come in contact with and it was coming for them.

   The group quickly turned around and headed back into the cabin. Nancy and Jonathan went to search for weapons while the kids boarded up the windows to try and at least prevent the inevitable for a few minutes. They moved furniture and grabbed random things to guard the windows. They were doing anything they could with the few minutes they had. When Nancy and Jonathan came back inside, Nancy with a shotgun and Jonathan with an ax, they picked up the couch and used it to barricade the door.  

   They all stood in a circle. Liz and Max were no longer holding hands but they stood side by side. Everyone was on edge, searching around the room, waiting for the Mind Flayer to start a riot. They were breathing heavily, the adrenaline already making its way through their veins. A rumbling was heard all around them, "It's close."

   Footsteps that shook the house were heard outside. The tree branches scratched the windows and some glass mugs started to fall off the walls because of all the rumbling. It was like an earthquake and it scared Liz the hell out of Liz. Max reached over and grabbed Liz's hand again, squeezing hard, "Where'd it go?"

   It was quiet, too quiet for Liz's liking. Everything stopped and the room was calm. It was the calm before the storm because seconds later, a long tentacle burst through the wall causing everyone to move and scream. The kids fled to one side of the room while Nancy and Jonathan fled to the other. The tentacle was slimy and it went straight towards Eleven. Before it could do anything, Jonathan lunged forward and whacked it with his ax. It injured it but it still went towards Eleven. He hit it once more before the tentacle whipped around and hit Jonathan right in the stomach, slamming into a wall and breaking a glass cupboard. Nancy stepped up, starting to shoot the tentacle with her shotgun.

   After only a few shots, she ran out of bullets. Nancy cursed to herself and started backing up to the wall behind her. Eleven then stepped up and held her arm out using her powers to stop the tentacle from harming Nancy. She slowly pulled it away as the tentacle started shaking before she whipped her arm down, chopping off the end of the tentacle. It moved backward out of the hole it came through. Max and Liz were both next to the opening and Max sighed, "Holy shit."

   It wasn't long before a new arm burst its way into the house, coming from a different angle this time. Eleven quickly held her arm out, stopping it from reaching her. Another one came directly opposite the other one but Eleven stopped that one as well. She whipped her head back and forth, looking at both arms and clearly, not knowing what to do. She then clenched up her face and whipped both her arms down, chopping off the ends of both arms.

   It was silent again until the roof caved in, the monster creating a giant opening in the roof. An arm reached its way in and grabbed one of Eleven's ankles. It started to pull her up. Everyone screamed her name and lunged forward. Mike grabbed her arms while Eleven was a few feet up in the air. She was screaming as the monster continued to pull her. Everyone jumped forward, grabbing onto her as well.

   "Nancy, shoot it!" Jonathan screamed.

   The sound of a gun being cocked echoed before Nancy started to shoot the creature directly in its mouth where it was pulling Eleven up by. Lucas, the only one who wasn't holding onto Eleven, grabbed the ax and jumped onto a table. He yelled out before hitting the arm with the ax. He continued yelling as he hit the monster with the ax repeatedly just as Nancy shot the monster. Finally, Lucas severed the arm. Eleven fell to the ground on top of everyone who had been pulling her.

   She grabbed onto Mike, looking extremely drained. She wasn't responding and he looked down, seeing the mouth of the tentacle stuck to her ankle. He quickly sat up and ripped the mouth from her ankle, causing her to scream out in pain. It flung out of Mike's hand and quickly scurried out of the cabin.

   Eleven stood up, looking up at the monster above her. She was limping but she stood tall and held her arms up before screaming. She used her powers to tear the monsters face in half. She then fell into Max's arms as Nancy screamed for them to leave.

   The group quickly filed out of the cabin before the monster could repair itself. They piled into the car, some of them accidentally stepping on each other because of how fast they were moving. Mike shouted at Nancy to drive and as soon as she started the engine, she slammed her foot down on the gas and off they went.

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[ 3700 WORDS ]

CUTE THINGS ARE COMING
EVEN THO SHIT HAS HIT
THE FAN LMAO I PROMISE!!

also, only 3 more chapters i'm
sad omg