After letting Will go off with his friends, Jonathan took the time to head to the Halloween party that Nancy mentioned.  Even though he knew she will be with Steve, he still wanted to see her.  But, he was starting to regret his decision as he pulls up in front of the house and a teen dressed in a toga rushes out of the house, shoving people away, and vomits right in the driveway. 

Grimacing, Jonathan gets out of the car and is welcomed by the familiar lyrics of Duran Duran.  He avoids the vomit covered driveway and heads towards the house.  The yard was totaled by the teenagers.  Toilet paper, beer cans, cigarettes.  Trash everywhere.  He almost felt sorry for the parents who were going to come back to this.  When he walks inside, he begins his search for Nancy, but jumps when a girl dressed up in goth appears in front of him. 

"Nice costume." She says. 

"Huh?"

"Nice costume." She repeats. 

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm going as a guy who hates parties." He jokes. 

The girl chuckles at his joke and holds a hand out, "I'm Samantha." She greets him. 

Jonathan takes her hand, shaking it briefly, "Uh, Jonathan." He says and scans the room around him, seeing several people from school getting drunk and dancing like idiots in the living room to the music.  He spies a familiar Risky Business wannabe dancing with his sunglasses on and Nancy was right next to, guzzling down her punch.  She looked like she was having a great time.  He couldn't help but be jealous.  He wanted Nancy to have a good time with him.  Not Steve.  

Sighing softly, he turns back to face Samantha, "Kiss?" He asks. 

Samantha gulps her drink down, eyes him with surprise. 

He stutters and gestures at her costume, correcting himself, "The band."

Samantha chuckles at how awkward he was, it was almost cute. 

Nancy stops dancing and rushes to get some more of her 'pure fuel' punch, but Steve rushes to stop her.  She was getting way too drunk and he was worried what would happen to her.  

"No, no, no." He stops her, but she shoves him away. 

"Get off." Her voice slurs as she stumbles to get more.  She fills her cup all the way, but before she could bring it to her lips, Steve grabs her cup.  

"No, you've had enough, okay?" He protests. 

"Screw you!" She shouts at him and fights to get her cup back. 

"Nance, I'm serious. Hey. Hey. Hey. Stop. No, I'm serious. Put it down." He states, but she continues to fight him. 

"No!"

"Nance, put it down."

"Steve! Stop." She glares at him and yanks on her cup, basically tugging it out of his grip, but he wasn't going to give up. 

"Stop. Stop." He begs and yanks on the cup, but the cup slips out of his hand and when Nancy yanks it back, the punch splashes all over her costume.  

She gasps in shock at the cold, sticky punch sticking to her skin.  Soon, the entire room goes quiet, the music stops and everyone was looking at the two of them in shock.  

Nancy frown at Steve who looked at her with worry and guilt, "What the hell?" She slurs out and rushes to the bathroom.  More like stumbling to the bathroom. 

Nancy grunts as she falls against the bathroom door and shoves it open.  Steve rushes to follow her and when he gets inside, he sees her rubbing a wet cloth over the punch stained shirt.  It didn't look like it was helping much. 

"Nance. Nance, I'm sorry. That's not coming off, Nance." He tries to apologize and get her to stop cleaning herself so roughly. 

"It's coming." She mutters drunkenly.

He tries to take the washcloth out of her hand, "Come on. Let me just take you home, okay? Come here. Let me take you home. Come on." He tries to get her full attention.  

Nancy glares up at him, unable to stand still as her eyes cross, "You wanted this." She slurs her words. 

"No, I didn't want this. I told you to stop drinking." He protests, trying to calm her. 

"It's bullshit. Bullshit." She mutters. 

"No, it's not bullshit. Okay? No, it's not bullshit, Nancy." He shakes his head. 

"No, you. You're bullshit." She glares at him, hiccupping softly. 

Steve looks at her in shock, even though she's drunk, he knew that.  But he knows drunk words are sober thoughts.  Did she really just say that to him?

"What?" He stammers. 

"You're pretending like everything is okay. You know, like we didn't...like we didn't kill Barb. Like, it's great. Like, we're in love and we're partying. Yeah, let's party, huh? Party. We're partying. This is bullshit." She slurs, mocking his previous words.  

Steve shudders, his heart begins to break into two, "'Like we're in love'?"

Swaying from side to side, "It's bullshit." She states. 

"You don't love me?" He whispers.  

Her eyes crossing again as she glares, "It's bullshit."

Panting softly, Steve moves away from her.  Shocked that he just heard this, but in a way...he was relieved.  He finally hears the truth from her lips.  She never loved him.  Anger begins to boil as he moves to the door and slams it shut behind him.  

Nancy sighs and goes back to cleaning up.  Unaware of what she just did to Steve.  Steve paces out of the house, seething in anger.  Jonathan frowns when he sees a very angry Steve storming away from the bathroom.  What happened? He couldn't figure it out.  But when Steve came back, it was pretty obvious that Nancy must have said something she'll be too drunk to remember and regret it later.  

Basically, Steve told Jonathan to take Nancy home for him.  And he could see that Steve did not like the idea, but he had no choice.  

When Jonathan found Nancy, she practically fell into his arms.  She mumbles and smiles at him, but soon she goes limp.  Jonathan sighs and grunts as he practically drags Nancy out of the party and into his car.  A few people, some who Nancy called them friends, were laughing in the corner and joking about how she can't hold her liquor.  They even mocked her movements.

Jonathan ignored them all and helped Nancy to get home safe and sound.  When he got to her house, he hears her exhales as he helps her out of the car.  Carefully and quietly, he helps her up to her room as everyone in the house was possibly asleep.  He half carries her to her room and helps her into bed.  Taking off her shoes and tucks her in.  He sighs softly and looks up at her, noticing that was looking at him with a soft look.  

"Jonathan?" She whispers his name, making his heart strings tug.  Even drunk, she was still beautiful to his eyes.  

But before he could answer her, she falls back against the pillow and slips into a deep sleep.

Jonathan pulls the blanket over her body and makes sure she was warm enough.  He places his hand over the blanket, near her shoulder.  Almost touching her.  Almost, but he stops himself.  Despite how things are with them, he must set his feelings aside and let her make her own decisions.  He leaves her that night, but still hopes and prays when she'll wake up...things will be clearer for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Jonathan brought Nancy back, Mike took Will back to his place.  He didn't want to push him to tell him what happened, but he asked as best as he could to find out what caused him to freak out like that in the streets.  

With their candy spread out on the table, Will begins to tell everything to Mike.  About his episodes.  

"It's like... like I'm stuck." He says as he tells him what he sees when he experiences the episodes.  When he's back in Upside Down again.

"Like, like, stuck in the Upside Down?" Mike asks. 

Will sighs softly, "No. You know on a View-Master, when it gets, like..." He struggles to get the right words out.

"Caught between two slides?" Mike finishes for him. 

"Yeah. Like that.  Like one side's our world, and the other...The other slide is the Upside Down. And...And there was this noise coming from everywhere. And then I saw something." Will swallows hard as he thinks about the shadow creature he saw.  How it growled and stood overpowering before him. 

"The Demogorgon?" Mike asks, almost afraid of it being true. 

But Will shakes his head, "No. It was like this huge shadow in the sky. Only, it was alive. And it was coming for me." He shudders as he replays the feeling he had when he saw the creature, how much terror filled him.  He could almost feel the goosebumps crawling over his skin again. Like fluttering of air over his flesh.  

"Is this all real? Or is it like the doctors say, all in your head?" Mike asks, worried for his friend.  If it's all just a delusion, he didn't know how to help him.  If it wasn't...then...he would do everything he could to save him.  But...he wishes he had help from...

"I don't know. Just...Just please don't tell the others, okay?" Will begs as he snaps Mike out of his sad thoughts with pleading eyes. "They won't understand." He adds. 

Mike sighs, "Eleven would.  Her and her sister, Five." 

Will looks at him in curiosity, "They would?"

Mike nods, "Yeah. They would.  Especially Eleven.  She always did.  Sometimes I feel like I still see her. Like she's still around, but she never is. I don't know.  Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy." He sighs. 

Will sighs as well, "Me, too." He sniffles and looks up at Mike, "Think Jace feels the same about Five?  I'm still a little bummed that I never got to meet them.  I have so much to tell them. Like...thanking them...for helping me get home." 

Mike nods in understanding, "Gloria always tells us that they are out there and that they miss us as much as we miss them.  I just wish...I wish I knew where she was.  If she's okay.  If she's safe.  It's killing me to be kept in the dark." He grunts in frustration and runs his fingers through his hair.

"Basically going crazy." Will sighs. 

Mike sniffs and shrugs, "Hey, well, if we're both going crazy, then we'll go crazy together, right?" He smirks. 

Will chuckles and nods, "Yeah. Crazy together."

Mike shares a chuckle, but he would avert his eyes to the fort, thinking about Eleven again.  Missing her even more each second.  Where is she?  

Soon, they hear the door open and peek to see that it was Jonathan helping a very drunk Nancy to bed.  When he came back down, Will says his goodbyes to Mike and leaves with Jonathan, telling him about how fun it was trick or treating, but leaves out his episode experience.  More than anything, Will just wants to be normal again. He wants the episodes to stop and be normal.  But how?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jace lies in bed, falling deep into his dreams again.  He was almost afraid to go to sleep, but after restless nights, his body just gives up and drifts into la-la land.  Once again, the nightmares welcomed him.  But something was different.  He could hear the familiar growling echo in his dreams.  That wasn't what was different.  When Jace opened his eyes, he finds himself in the middle of an empty field.  

Jace frowns when he sees the area around him. It was cold and dark.  Ashes floating in midair around him.  He turns to look further and sees in the distance the familiar setting of Hawkins Middle.  Shivering softly, he begins to walk towards the school, feeling the cold slimy vines squelch against his feet.  

He jumps as he hears chittering around him and, soon, rapid footsteps were coming from the school.  He squints his eyes as he sees a small figure rushing out of the school.  He paces towards the figure till he could hear the heavy breathing of panic coming from their lips.  Jace slows his steps as he sees it was Will, running from the school as if something was chasing him.

Will slowed his steps and stops right in the middle of the field.  When he slowly turned back to face the school, Jace's eyes widen when he sees a gigantic shadow form hover over the school and begins to stalk Will.

"Jace!" Will's voice snaps him out of his shock as he looks back at Will, who was looking at him in pure terror.  "Help me!" Will screams as the figure begins to consume him. 

Jace yells and sits up fast in his bed, breathing heavily as sweat poured down his face.  Grunting, he dives for the pills again and swallows them to control his breathing.  Letting out another pained grunt as his head begins to hurt again, Jace gets up  and takes a few unsteady steps towards the bathroom.  Once again, he washes away the sweat and drinks water from the faucet.  He was tired of the nightmares.  But this felt so real.  He had a horrible feeling creeping up his neck.  Like an ice cold chill. It creeped up his injured arm and up his upper spinal cord.  He had the urge to call Joyce and ask if Will was ok, but it was just a dream.  He kept reminding himself it was just a dream.  Wasn't it?

Closing his eyes, Jace sighs heavily and rubs them.  He couldn't shake off this feeling he had.  He tells himself he'll check on Will in the morning.  

Dropping his hand, Jace looks up and opens the medicine cabinet for a Tylenol.  When he shuts the cabinet, Jace's looks into the mirror and gasps. 

"Jace."  Fiona's voice echoes as she reaches out to him.  There she was, standing next to him, but her form was different.  Faded.  Like she was a shadow but he could make out her face.  For a brief moment, he almost could see as if she was connecting herself to him.  Reaching for him. 

Shouting in surprise, Jace turns face, knocking over his glass that he kept on his sink and hearing it shatter.  He looks around for Fiona, but she was gone.  He looks back into the mirror, she wasn't there anymore.  Jace groans and rubs his aching head.  Now, he was having hallucinations.  He needed to talk to Glory first thing in the morning. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiona's eyes snap open as blood drips down her nose.  She lies back against the couch with her head on the cushions.  Panting softly, she feels the energy leave her.  Crying softly, she feels her heart filling with a deep ache.  She missed Jace so much.  Ever since they found this new home, she has been struggling with connecting to Jace's waves while he slept.  This was the first time she made contact.  Actual contact.  She didn't mean to expose herself, but she wanted to see him.  There were times when she would come see him while he slept, but this time he saw her.  She hoped and prayed that he won't find her.  As much as she wanted him back in her life, it was best for him to stay away.  

Fiona gasps and jumps when she hears the secret knock.  She sighs in relief and wipes away the blood.  Getting up from the couch, she moves to unlock the doors, but the bolts and chains wouldn't budge. Sighing in frustration, she knew it was sister.  

"Sister! Unlock the door!" She calls out.  

"What's going on?" Hopper calls out from behind the door. 

"Sister is angry with you.  And so am I.  But I rather yell in your face than lock you out." She grunts and yanks on the bolts again.  "Sister!" She yells again.

Hopper sighs and rests his head against the door, "Hey, kid. Open up, all right?" Hopper tries to call out to Eleven, "Look, I know I'm late. I got candy here, all right? I got all the good stuff. Please, will you open the door? I'm gonna freeze to death out here." He says, breathing heavily from the cold as his breath fogs around his lips.  

Finally, the bolts and chains are released and Fiona opens the door, but moves away to avoid being seen.  Hopper rushes inside and shuts the door behind him.  He sighs and sees Fiona standing with her arms folded over her chest as she glares at him.  He also notices that the TV was missing even though he could hear it in the distance.  He follows the plug wires and sees it sticking out from under Eleven's bedroom door. 

Sighing in realization, he looks at Fiona, ready to apologize, but she holds up her hand.  

"Oh, no.  It's not just me you need to apologize." She points at Eleven's door. 

Hopper scoffs, but walks towards the door and knocks.

"Hey, kid. Open up, would you? I got, uh... stuck somewhere, and I lost track of time. And I'm sorry. El, would you please open the door? El?" 

But it didn't seem that Eleven was going to open the door.  Fiona knew how disappointed she was and so was she.  

Hopper sighs and moves to sit on the couch, he looks up at Fiona, "Look, I know you're mad.  I know.  And I'm sorry.  We had an emergency.  The farms...something was happening with the crops and I needed to think about the town's safety." He says.

Fiona sighs softly, trying to push away her anger. She knew how important his job was.  He wasn't just their protector, he was the town's as well. 

Hopper holds up the pumpkin bucket, "I brought the candy." He shakes it, making the candy rattle.  Hoping she'll accept his apology.

Fiona couldn't help but scoff out a laugh.  She moves and sits next to him, digging into the candy to pull out a 3 musketeers.

Hopper sighs in relief, that's one down, one to go.  He reaches and grabs some candy corns for himself.  

He looks over to the door, "Well, since you're not coming out, Fi and I will enjoy ourselves to some delicious candies.  We're just gonna be out here by ourselves, eating all this candy.  Gonna get fat.  It's very unhealthy to leave us out here.  Could have a heart attack or something. But, you know, you do what you want." He calls.  

Fiona sighs as she looks at the closed door, she pats his shoulder, "Sister doesn't understand.  The doctor always spoiled us.  I see that it's hard for you to keep promises.  But it still hurts." 

Hopper munches on  another candy corn, "Yeah.  I can tell.  Look, I'm trying.  I am.  I haven't been a...a parent figure...in a very long time.  Helping and raising two teenagers is beyond my knowledge." He sighs and looks at her, "Think you can help me with Eleven?" 

Fiona grabs another piece of candy and crunches on chocolate covered peanuts, "It'll be difficult, but I can try.  For now, just let her have her space.  It's been so long in this cabin.  After experiencing the world...we have...what's the word?  Cabin fever?"

Hopper nods, "Yeah, you got that right." He was afraid of this.  He needed to find a way to snap the girls out of this.  And fast.

Meanwhile, Eleven was flipping through the channels with her mind. She flips and flips till she gets to the white noise channel.  Nothing but static fills the room as she blindfolds herself.  Drowning out everything, she focuses on the noise and concentrates of tracking Mike.  Voices echo around her as she searches through the void for him.  

Eleven sighs as she walks through the void, hearing Mike's voice echo around her and getting louder as she draws closer towards him.  Watching him sit in that fort he made for her as he calls out to her again through the COMM.  Like every night, when she visits him, he's always there.  In the fort...calling out to her. Her heart fills with heaviness at every step she took towards him.  

"It's day 353. I had a bad day today. I don't know. I...I guess I wish you were here. I mean, we all do. If you're out there, just please give me a sign."

Eleven slowly kneels next to him, just mere inches away from.  She could almost feel him.  

"Mike."

Suddenly, Mike slowly looks up as if he could sense her.  Her breath catches in her throat when his eyes meet her.  

"Eleven?" Mike calls from his room, feeling as if he had eyes on him.  As if someone was in the room with him. 

Eleven sighs and slowly reaches out to touch his face.  To feel him once more.  But before she could, Mike sighs in frustration and shoves his antenna down.  Cutting off the COMM and gets up to storm away.  

With tears rolling down her cheek, Eleven watches Mike walk away from her.  She wanted to call out to him.  Go to him and hug him.  But she knew she couldn't.  

Snatching off the blindfold and she comes back into the real world, Eleven sobs heavily in sadness.  Angry that she can't be with Mike again.  Missing him with every fiber of her being.  She wanted Mike.  She wanted to be with him.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though the best night of their lives ended on a bad note, Dustin and Lucas tried to make it up for Max with more candy.  Soon, it was getting late and Dustin managed to walk back home.  He couldn't stop thinking about Max.  He needed to think of new ways to impress her.  Some way to woo her.  Before Lucas does.  He tries to work on his California slang. 

"Tubular. Tubular. Tubular." He chuckles as he chews on a candy bar.  

He skids to a halt when he hears the same noise as last night coming from the trashcan again.  Chirping and growling.  He frowns as he walks closer to the trash can, thinking it was the cat again. 

"Mews, is that--"

THUD!!!

Dustin jumps in fright as the trashcan makes a loud thud.  That definitely wasn't Mews.  He grabs his proton pack hose and points it at the can.  He didn't have any other weapon on him, so it'll have to do. Shaking in terror, he slowly walks towards the can. 

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." 

The noises continue and the can shakes.  Panting heavily, he amps himself and gets ready for whatever it was inside.  He shoves the lid away, screaming as he points his proton inside.  

When he opens his eyes, they widen at the sight.  The creature chitters softly at him.  

"Holy sh--"