"It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to Will last year:" Nancy spoke when she showed up, Rocky and Max walked from the bathroom to join them. "And look at this. Look at the body temperatures."

Will leaned over the sheet she laid out before looking up. "He likes it cold."

"Okay, so this crazy old lady who was eating fertilizer-" Mike began.

"Mrs. Driscoll." Nancy corrected him.

"Right, yeah, Mrs Driscoll. What time was this attack?" Mike looked toward his sister and Will and Rocys brother.

"Last night." Nancy repeated herself.

"Right, but what time last night?" Mike asked her with a curious look.

"Around nine." Nancy nodded her head.

"You waited all night to call?" Jonathan asked in disbelief.

"I was waiting for the doctors to run some test." Nancy side glanced his way.

"You weren't there?" Will asked his brother in disbelief.

"Well, i'm here now, aren't I?" Jonathan rose his hands with a shrug.

"Hallelujah!" Nancy scoffed.

"Get him, Nanc." Rocky encouraged as Jonathan gave his brother a look of disbelief.

"Um, so, what time was your sauna test?" Nancy recalled the explanation Mike gave when she arrived.

"Around nine." they all said on sync.

"Well, that proves it. That proves my theory." Nancy's face lit up slightly as she looked at each of them.

"She's flayed, just like Billy." Mike nodded his head in agreement.

"Flayed?" Jonathan gave a questionable look.

"The Mind Flayer. He flays people." Mike explained quickly. "Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him."

"Strong as hell too." Rocky nodded, answered Nancy and Jonathan's curious looks to his bruises.

"If there are two flayed-"Lucas began.

"We have to assume there are more." Will cut him off from the other side of El.

"Heather." El spoke up, looking at Max. "Billy was doing something to her. She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams."

"What's a good scream?" Lucas gave an odd look.

"Max said-" El began.

"Doesn't matter." Max added.

"I'm sorry, i'm lost. Who's Heather?" Nancy spoke up with a questionable look.

"Remember that guy I hit and his fancy family yelled at mom and ended up getting me suspected instead of just detention?" Rocky spoke up as Jonathan nodded his head. "His cousin."

"Heather Holloway?" Nancy's eyebrows went up. Her and Jonathan shared a look. "Tom."

"Tom?" Nancy called down the hallway. "Heather?"

"Jesus, it's freezing." Max commented.

"Want my jacket?" Rocky offered her.

"I'd rather freeze." she mocked.

"Okay, fine by me." he shrugged. "The devil needs some cooling off anyways, it'll be good for you."

"Do you guys smell that?" Nancy asked as they all paused in the living room, taking a sniff of the air. Walking into the kitchen, they all held their noses at the strong smell. "God, more chemicals."

"You think they're guzzling this shit?" Jonathan asked her as he picked up one of the bottles.

"Either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree." Nancy looked at the empty bottles across the counter.

"But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals." Max pointed out from the other side of the Byers boy. "Did you?"

"No. This is something new." Will confirmed.

"Mr.Clarke, fifth grade. Posit, he always talked about chemicals." Mike looked back.

"What? Like combining them?" Rocky asked, taking his jacket off and giving it to Max anyways after she rubbed her arms.

"What if they're making something?" Mike asked out loud.

"In themselves?" Max questioned as she pulled the jacket on. "I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you."

"Yeah, if you're human." Lucas shrugged. Nancy began to walk toward the dining room, the rest of them following after the girl in purple.

She leaned down to the stain on the ground. "Blood. Yesterday Tom had a bandage on his forehead."

She grabbed the wine bottle, looking at the blood smeared across the side. "He was attacked."

Nancy followed the bunched up carpet, opening the door closest to it. Rocky followed her after, keeping the party behind him. "Like a terrifying twist of scenery."

"They must have tied them." Jonathan looked at the loose cords across the floor. "They must have taken them somewhere."

"Mrs Driscoll." Nancy spoke up once more, getting their attention. "She kept saying 'I have to go back.' What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place all this started, right? A source."

"Somewhere he didn't want me to see." El went along with her words.

"If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him." Nancy nodded her head. "Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with these chemicals."

"Mrs Driscoll." Will spoke up from behind the pair. "If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

The group attempted to sneak past the woman in the front desk, failing miserably as she stopped the phone call. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Excuse me! Where do you think you're going?"

Nancy turned around with her best forced, smile. "Oh, um. I was just going to visit my grandma again. And-and this is my family."

The nurse gave a look of disbelief toward Lucas as he grinned. "Extended."

"I don't care who they are. You know the rules. Two visitors at a time." the nurse shook her head at the group, eyeing each of them suspiciously.

"Yeah, but-" Nancy began.

"Two!" she rose her voice.

"Want me to knock her out?" Rocky whispered to Jonathan. "I can make it quick."

"Do I want you to hit a nurse?" Jonathan gapped in disbelief. "No."

Rocky held his hands up. "Just a suggested."

"Just, keep everyone close together." Jonathan encouraged him with a nod. "Nancy and I will be quick. And, please, don't hit anyone."

"Zero promises are made." Rocky shook his head as the couple hurried off, leaving Rocky with the Party. He looked to the boys near the vending machine, heading toward Max while El looked for magazines. "Warmer?"

"Oh." Max seemed to forget she had the jacket, going to take it off.

"You keep it." he encouraged, sitting next to her. "Worried about Billy?"

"You don't have to pretend to care about him." Max gave a forced laugh. "After last year...I know the two of you definitely aren't friends."

"I'm not pretending. I done care about him." the boy shook his head as Max looked over. "You on the other hand I do happen to care about."

Max blinked with a half grin as she looked away. "I know he's, like, the absolutely worst. But, I still care about him."

"Did Will ever mention anything about our dad?" Rocky asked, Max shook her head. "He's a real asshole, like Billy. He use to call Will all these names, and non of us where ever good enough for him. He loved us, but only because he had hope we'd turn out like how he wanted."

Max turned to him more to listen, blinking as she let all what he said sink in. Rocky met her eye. "He's partly the reason why I just get so mad at, like, everyone. Because when I see or hear people that remind me of him, I just want nothing more then to knock their noses in."

Max went to say something before Rocky stopped her. "What i'm trying to say is that I still care about him, and I still wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him. He's the worst, and ruined so much for me, and I hate him, but he's still my dad. I still care about him."

"I thought I sounded stupid saying I care about someone like that." Max admitted honestly.

"Not everyone gets it." Rocky shrugged, squinting one of his eyes out of a habit. "I get it, though."

"I'm glad." Max stared over at him.

•

kylie speaks

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