"I didn't think it was anything, at first. I mean, I think I didn't want to believe it." Will began to explain, sitting high on his chair, "The first time I felt it was at Day of the Dead."

"Power went out that night, too." Mike spoke up, Max and Rocky looked his way on sync.

"And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelsons farm the next day." Will went on, twisting his fingers as he spoke, "Then again yesterday outside Castle Byers."

"What does it feel like?" Max asked him between a mix of curiosity and not wanting to know. She shifted slightly, her shoulder pressed into Rockys.

"It's almost like... you know when you drop on a roller coaster?" Will asked the party.

"Sure." Mike agree.

"Yeah." Max right after.

"No." El admits.

Wills looked at her. "It's like everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but this is worse. Your body... it goes cold and-and you can't breathe. I've felt it before, whenever he was close."

"Whenever who was close?" Max asked.

"The Mindflayer." Will admited.

"But, El closed the gate." Rocky pointed out. "I was there, she definitely did."

"I know, but... what if he never left? What if we locked him out here with us?" Will looked over at him with fear and worry dancing within his hazel eyes, "I need paper, and maybe a pencil."

Mike grabbed a thing of paper from behind him, Rocky leaned far back to grab the crayon. Max grabbed his arm so he wouldn't fall. "Would be a lot easier to just stand up and grab it."

"Why would I when you could just save me?" Rocky shrugged with a half grin, passing the crayon to his brother.

They watched as he made a large scribble on the paper, "This is him. All of him. But, that day on the field, apart of hm attached itself to me."

Will rubbed his hand across the mindflayer drawing, the black left over color spreading across his palm, "My mom got it out of me and Eleven closed the gate. But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world?"

Will flipped the paper, slapping his palm down on the clean side to make a black smudge, "In Hawkins."

"I don't understand. The Demodogs died when El closed the gate." Max looked up from the paper, "If the brain dies, the body dies."

"We can't take any chances." Mike looked her way, "We need to assume the worst. The Mind Flayers back."

"I'd like to point out that fighting a Demodog almost killed me." Rocky cleared his throat with a finger rose. "Maybe let's not volunteer me to do that again."

"Maybe not." Lucas agreed.

"Yeah. And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me."
Will looked around at each of them.

"A new host." Lucas confirmed.

"How can you tell if someone's a host?" El spoke up.

"Should have knocked him out." Max looked to Rocky in annoyance.

"You told me not to." he defended himself with a crazy look.

"I thought you were doing that summer camp at the school?" Will asked as Rocky handed Max the binoculars.

"Well, I was." he agreed with a knowing look. "Then the water stopped working and the girls needed me."

"I don't know. He looks pretty normal to me." Max lowered the binoculars.

"Normal? How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?" Lucas gave a look of disbelief.

"I guess it's a little weird." Max admitted.

"More then a little." Mike cut in, "He was in a tub with ice. The Mind Flayer likes it cold. Plus everything El saw."

"But he's lounging at the pool, which is, like, the least Mind Flayer thing ever." Max explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Not necessarily." Will spoke up.

"Why not?" Rocky frowned his eyebrows. "Doesn't like to tan?"

"The Mind Flayer likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me." Will looked down the line at each of them, "It's like... like your dormant. And then, when he needs you, you're activated."

"Okay, so we just...wait until he gets activated." Max nodded in confirmation as she stared over at Billy.

"No. What if he hurts someone?" Mike spoke up, looking to Rocky again. "It's not like you can fight it again."

"I feel like you're trying to volunteer me once again." Rocky looked at him in disbelief. "I'm not doing it again!"

"You did great last time!" Mike defended himself.

"He was in the hospital." Max looked over in disbelief. "I mean, this thing coukd kill someone."

"Aw, look at you." Rocky tossed an arm around her. "Caring about me."

"Ugh, get off." she shrugged his arm off with a huff.

"We can't take that chance." Mike agreed, looking back at Billy, "We need to find out if he's the host."

Mike ran off, encouraging Lucas and Will to follow. Max gapped. "Where are you going?"

"I have an idea. Boys only." Mike called as Lucas and Will trailed behind the two.

Rocky looked over at the girls. "Does that include me?"

"I don't know." El said in return.

"Rocky!" Mike yelled.

"Assuming so." he agreed, running off with the trio.

•

kylie speaks

love a man who fights a
demodog and almost dies
from it >